Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.
Claimer: This fan fiction, its OCs, Azure Yacht, the Seňorita, and the Quidnunc, are mine.

This story follows only the anime, and takes place seven years after its timeline. This means the events in the series have already happened, and I might use them for reference.

The interpretation of characters presented in this fic is my own, and has been drawn up based entirely on the anime. I don't read the manga, so please overlook any inconsistencies with it that will undoubtedly turn up.

The Game of Let's Pretend

"Lookie here," Natsume told his fan girls, pissed off. "I don't have time for this. I already have a girlfriend."
He put an arm around Mikan's shoulders. "Here she is. And you're making her really jealous."

"Everyone is playing the game of let's pretend."
~ Hilaire

Chapter One

Meet Natsume's Sweetheart

It was an ordinary afternoon in the Alice Academy. The lunchroom was loud and busy, with the continuous arrival of student. Some were eating, while others engaged themselves in a food fight. In a corner, Mikan, Hotaru, and Yuu were eating their lunch. In the far end was Natsume and Ruka's table. Elementary, middle school, and high school girls were squealing their hearts out in an attempt to capture the two young men's attention.

It was a very typical day.

"Honestly!" the seventeen-year-old Mikan exclaimed as she glared in the direction of Natsume's table. "Those girls spend more time watching Natsume eat than studying their lessons! I don't understand what they must have seen in him!"

"Calm down, Mikan," Yuu said, smiling at his friend understandingly. It was several hours ago that Mikan's hair nearly reached its demise when the young woman irritated Natsume Hyuuga with her incessant lecture about punctuality. "There's no use getting angry with Natsume."

"I can't calm down, Yuu! It's already been seven years, but Natsume still won't quit setting my hair on fire!" Mikan complained, putting down her fork with a sigh. "I can't even believe it's already been seven years." It was astounding to realize how much time had passed them.

It had already been seven long years since Mikan first entered the Academy. With Yuu, Hotaru, and the many friends she had made along the way, she learned how to manipulate her alice, improving it for the better and using it to help other people inside the school. It hadn't been easy, considering the fact that she never knew anything about alice until she arrived in the school by mistake. In the course of her improvement as an alice, her perseverance and determination both proved to be useful, and it was with these two things that she was able to be in control of her ability. She knew she still had a lot to learn, but everyday she made progress, and she prided herself with this fact.

Throughout the years, she had also learned to appreciate her alice. As she grew older, she came to realize that it would be to her disadvantage if she took every criticism to heart. She taught herself to take criticisms in a stride, to learn from them every time, and to know when to listen and when not to. She had faith in her ability, and she knew, somehow, that no alice was useless, and although she might not understand it now, there had to be a reason that her nullifying existed and continued to coexist with all other alices inside Alice Academy.

"I can't believe I still have the same problem from seven years ago!" Mikan said, the pigtails of her long hair quivering as she shook her head. She had grown much taller over the years, although for most part her appearance hadn't changed that much. "I wish I didn't have Natsume in my class!"

Yuu only laughed. "At least Hotaru and myself are with you in Class A, Mikan," he said, giving a shy smile that would have left half the female population of the school gasping for air. The dutiful Yuu Tobita had grown up to be one of the most charming young men in the Academy, and he was beginning to attract the rather dangerous attention of the girls in the school.

"A wonder, don't you think?" Hotaru said. Her dark raven hair was still cropped short, her violet eyes as mysterious as her attitude had always been severe. "Why is Mikan with top star students like us in Class A?"

Mikan heaved a sigh. "I'm trying my best to earn my third star, Hotaru," she said, looking down at the two stars on her dark high school uniform. "It's just so hard for me, and it doesn't help that Natsume burns my hair every single day of my life."

Hotaru shook her head. "Natsume always burns your hair because you're so loud. It pays to shut up sometimes."

The brunette pouted, asking the same question she had always asked in the last seven years, whenever she and Hotaru had this argument. "Whose side are you on exactly, Hotaru?"

Hotaru scoffed, only to give the same answer she had always given in the last seven years. "Myself, of course."

Some things never could change, after all.

۞۞۞

"Natsume! Please take me out!" one girl screamed, clutching her hands to her chest.

"No! Take me!" the others screamed.

"Ruka!" other girls yelled. "I'd love to take care of your pets for you!"

"I'm very interested in animals, Ruka! I would be honored to spend some time in the barn with you!"

"Natsume!"

"I am so in love with you, Natsume!"

"I'd go anywhere with anyone of you!"

The seventeen-year-old Sumire Shouda effortlessly shoved them away, gasping as she finally pulled herself out of the horde of fan girls. "Back off! He's mine!" She turned to Natsume, batting her eyelashes beautifully. The seven years that had gone by hadn't at all changed her feelings towards the most sough-after young men in the academy, and she was still a devoted Natsume-Ruka admirer. Time did nothing to soften her dangerous temper, and almost everyone who knew her agreed that she was even snottier than she had been when she was younger.

At that moment, she was feeling rather confident that she would get Natsume's attention. She didn't know why it was so, but the other fan girls seemed more agitated than usual, and as a fan of both Natsume and Ruka she felt somewhat obliged to match their excitement. "Right, my darling?" She then sighed like a lover, earning a glare from the dark-haired young man from across the room. "See? Natsume looked at me!"

Natsume grunted, glaring at the female population with annoyance. "Tch," he hissed, his eyes falling on the wall clock. "I knew it was a mistake to be here."

Ruka grimaced in agreement. The fan girls seemed even more restless today, and he wondered could possibly be up. What's their problem? They're usually less crazy than this, he thought, realizing that he didn't even know why he and his friend were even there to begin with. Both of them hated the lunchroom (and the fan girls in it), and he had been surprised when Natsume asked him to have lunch there that afternoon. "Natsume –" he started, only to pause when he noticed the crowd calm down; like someone commanded them to.

Huh?

"Get out of my way," a black-haired, rather pretty high school girl amongst the fan girls ordered. Unbelievably enough, the other girls made way for her, so that in no time at all she was staring at Sumire in the eye. "And who might you be?"

Sumire raised her eyebrows at the other girl's uninterested tone. The nerve of this person to look bored while talking to her! "Sumire Shouda, the president of the Natsume-Ruka fan club," she snapped. "More importantly, who are you?"

"Sumire Shouda?" the girl repeated, the lack of expression in her face almost scary. She gave a mirthless half-smile, her dark blue eyes appraising Sumire with a mixture of smugness and dark amusement. "My apologies. I don't think I've heard of you before."

"What?" Sumire asked disbelievingly, feeling slightly insulted. Who has never heard of the president of the Natsume-Ruka fan club? She eyed the other girl belittlingly. "Don't worry; I've never even seen you before today myself."

The girl cocked her head to one side. "Of course you haven't. I've only been here for a couple of months, and I've been busy mastering my alice."

She gave a slight nod, her pale features only accented by her short black hair. The careful, calculated look in her blue eyes gave the impression of cunning beyond her years, like she knew so much more than she should.

Despite herself, Sumire thought that the girl was too proud and too sensible to be a fan girl of Natsume.

"I'm Mina Morisato," the girl finally said, handing a small card to Sumire as she did. "Here."

Sumire took it, furrowing her eyebrows as soon as she read what it said.

Mina Morisato

President

Official Natsume Fan Club

"Official?" she exclaimed, her eyes widening in astonishment. "What made it official? Mine is the official one!" That's not true, but who cares? she thought. It was bothersome; she was sure she had vaguely heard of this before, but it was far from a club with IDs and a president. "I thought this club fell apart many years ago?"

Mina only shrugged, adjusting the fan club I.D. as she clipped it back on her necktie. "Let's just say I put it back together, then," she said, and without waiting for her response, started walking over to where Natsume was. "I would be very interested to have you in our club, Miss Shouda. We're always open to new members, after all."

"Why you…" Sumire growled indignantly. Unfortunately, the young woman had already walked past her to where Natsume was, followed by a horde of squealing fan girls. "Don't get close to Natsume!"

۞۞۞

"Oh, and will you look at that," Natsume said, his expression turning just a bit grimmer by the second. "One of them is approaching."

The dark-haired girl stopped a few paces from their table, giving a stern smile to Ruka in particular. "I apologize, Ruka Nogi. Our club is particularly interested in the Black Cat, and I didn't mean to bother you, too, with all this." She paused, and added: "I should warn you, however, that the Official Ruka Fan Club president has also been making plans of talking to you herself."

Natsume huffed, noticing the unease that the remark caused his best friend. "So what does your stupid club want from either of us?" he asked, getting to his feet as he felt his patience slipping away.

The young woman met his gaze squarely. "Please don't call it stupid, Natsume Hyuuga. It is, after all, all about you," she said, holding up an I.D. that almost made him swear in incredulity. "I'm Mina Morisato, the president of the Official Natsume Fan Club. I'm here to invite you to a dinner the club has prepared for you."

Natsume only stared at her, clenching his jaw at the insanity that his fan girls were subjecting him to. And what the hell made that fan club official? Did he approve of it or something? "A dinner?"

Mina gave a slow nod, steady and perfectly calm under his glare. "We're celebrating the club's seventh year within the next eight weeks, and the members are hoping that you'll honor the celebration by dining with us." A dark smile fell on her lips. "As the club president, I'm asking you on their behalf."

Ruka was shaking his head at the preposterousness of it all. "Natsume, let's just get out of here," he whispered, noticing the dangerous frown on his best friend's lips. "I'm sure they'll understand that you have no time for this… thing."

Natsume shook his head, his gaze never leaving Mina's. "I've long lost my patience when it comes to them and all these schemes that they keep on pulling to get to us both, Ruka," he said, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "I can't stand them bothering us everyday."

The Black Cat stared over to the rest of the female population. "I think It's time we make them realize they should stop this nonsense."

۞۞۞

"Excuse us!" Mikan said as she, Yuu, and Hotaru made their way to the lunchroom's door. The place seemed more crowded as minutes passed by, which was rather unfortunate for her, considering she still to cram her homework due next period. "Please, let us through – " she repeated, only to squeal when the girls from one side shoved her – hard.

"Ow!" she yelped, landing on her butt with a loud thud! "That hurt! What did you do that for?" she started, caressing her back when she realized that she had been shoved so hard that she landed on a sort of clearing – where the object of the crowd's attention was apparently standing.

"Natsume!" she exclaimed, quickly pulling herself up despite the twinge in her back. "What's happening here?" she demanded, only to pause when she realized the answer to her own question. "Oh."

"Are you all right, Mikan?" a gentle voice asked, prompting a smile on her face when she saw that it was Ruka, standing a few paces away from Natsume.

"I'm all right, Ruka," she assured, smiling through her grimace. "Don't worry about me," she said, distracted by the fact that Natsume was very close. Hah, there was just no way she'd miss this chance to get back at him for this morning. "Oh, and will you look at that, Natsume! So many girls are surrounding you! I bet all of this is getting to your arrogant little head again, huh?"

Natsume shot her an irritated look, as if telling her to shut up. No way I will! she thought, only then taking notice of the dark-haired young woman that he seemed to be talking to. She started toward the girl, halting her tracks when she saw what was written on the other girl's I.D. "You actually have a fan club?" she asked in incredulity.

Just what the hell did these girls see in the arrogant, heartless pervert that was Natsume Hyuuga?

"Lookie here," she heard Natsume tell his fan girls, sounding so pissed off that Mikan had to think twice about annoying him in front of so many people. "I don't have time for this."

"And why is that?" the girl asked, her pretty face so calm and devoid of emotion it almost made Mikan flinch.

"It's because I already have a girlfriend," Natsume said as he suddenly put an arm around Mikan's shoulders. "Here she is. And you're making her really jealous."

…to be continued…

So yeah, this is a product of my boredom. It's my first attempt at NatsumeMikan. I'm not a fan of the pairing; I'm actually more interested in RukaHotaru and Narumi and Noda. Oh well. It doesn't hurt to try something new, does it? :D

Hilaire
05.15.07