Disclaimer: I do not own the Gakuen Alice animé or manga. It belongs to the great Higuchi Tachibana.

Important Notice: This is an old story I wrote back in 2008. I took it down last March 2011 for it undergo revision. That, however, turned out unsuccessful due of my busy schedule and my tendency to procrastinate. There are still loads of typos here and there, but I got too tired to finish revising everything (since each chapter is more than 3000 words long), so I think I'll leave it as it is until I get the time to properly revise.

I just thought I'd post this back up for people who wanted to read it. In this revised version, Hotaru is no longer the reason why Mikan came to Alice High. I apologize in advance for the numerous errors that you spot here. :)

Fate Strings

Written by EzMouse

.

It's just another modern day fairytale. Not.

ACT II
Meeting Prince Charming

It turned out to be a rainy morning the next day. Mikan went downstairs, hesitant to go to school. She got up fifteen minutes late than her supposed wake up time, as usual.

All the stress from her first day had greatly affected her. Not only were her classmates making it hard for her, but she got herself involved with Natsume Hyuuga. There was very little known about him. Nobody gave her a straight answer when she asked and that hinted something very unusual.

"I'm going now," Mikan said, leaving her unfinished breakfast. "I'm late."

"Don't forget your umbrella, sweetie," Yuka, her mother, added.

"Oh, thanks, Mom. Do you think the weather will clear up?" Mikan asked, looking outside the window.

"The news said it'll clear up soon."

"Oh…"

Mikan kissed her mother goodbye and headed out the door.

She walked to school, carrying just an umbrella to shield her from the rain. Most people hated this kind of weather, but she was different; she loved the rain. The sound of raindrops tapping against her umbrella soothed her.

A sharp, sudden wind blew and Mikan, carried away with her thoughts, had unconsciously let go of her umbrella. It got dragged along with the wind as it twirled on the ground. She attempted to catch it, but it ended up flying through a tall fence.

"Oh great," she mumbled.

Mikan stood under the rain, staring at the fence. There was no hope of retrieving her umbrella whatsoever. She glanced at her wristwatch; only five minutes left before school started. So much for that Perfect Attendance Award.

Her head fell, hanging.

"Sakura-san?"

Mikan's face lit up when she heard the familiar voice.

Ruka stood there, holding a blue umbrella, its body resting on his shoulder. He didn't know if it was the rain, but as he looked at Mikan, he was sure that her eyes looked almost teary. He didn't bother asking any further.

"Walk you to school?"

Mikan was unable to utter a word. The event that happened the other day flashed back in her memory and so did the embarrassment that she felt. She hesitated to give an answer, but her head nodded involuntarily. Before she knew it, she was already talking to school, sharing and umbrella with Ruka Nogi.

And she never missed the stares that the students directed at her.

Both Mikan and Ruka got to class late, but there was no teacher in the room when they entered. Their classmates started whispering to each other the moment they saw them together, which Mikan uncomfortably took and Ruka completely ignored. Their first period teacher was absent, so both of them were safe from being late. Mikan had already dried herself up and changed her clothes.

It had gotten much noisier ever since Mikan had arrived and there was hardly enough quiet time for her to read her notes. She caught sight of Ruka who was reading a pocket book as his bunny slept on his desk. She then remembered she still had his jacket with her. She immediately rushed towards the locker to get it and came running back to the classroom, taking a deep breath as she walked up to him.

"Excuse me, Ruka-san…"

Ruka looked up from his book to see Mikan bowing down to him.

He saw the black jacket in her hands and sighed, "I told you to keep it."

Mikan looked up. "But, it's yours. I can't just take this."

Ruka sighed, closed the book he was reading, and took the jacket from her hands. He rolled it to the size of a small throw pillow and put it down on the desk, taking his sleeping bunny and gently laying it on the jacket. He then took out the recent book he was reading and added "Now, if you don't mind…"

Mikan, who got distracted from the cuteness of the bunny, shook her head. "Ah, of course. Sorry to disturb you."

She left him without another word and returned to her seat.

"Hi Ruka-kun! Have you seen Natsume-kun by any chance?" came Sumire's voice as she bounced next to Ruka when Mikan had left. Ruka, who was still busy reading, completely ignored Sumire's question, as he turned to the next page of the book. Sumire sweatdropped, "Okay… I'll ask somebody else."

Mikan giggled as she saw this, thinking that Sumire never really had a chance with the two guys she admires so much. Unfortunately, Sumire heard her laughing and marched towards Mikan.

"What are you laughing about?" Sumire asked, slamming her hand on the table.

Mikan stifled her laughter. "I was just laughing. Why, is there some policy that new students aren't supposed to laugh?"

"Yes, there is," Sumire deadpanned.

"You just want Natsume Hyuuga to notice you, right?"

Sumire blushed and looked away. "It's none of your business, new student!" she said as she hurriedly got away from her.

Mikan smirked once more and turned around. But unknown to her, the same person they were talking about earlier was standing right behind her.

"How long has he been standing there? He didn't hear what I just said, did he?" she thought nervously.

She slowly glanced back at Sumire, whose face was covered with a book, obviously embarrassed and was hiding her face.

"You," Natsume said as he pointed his right index finger straight at Mikan, "loud-mouthed little girl, follow me outside… now." He brought his arm down and snapped his fingers. With that, his allies gathered around and followed him as he headed for the door.

Mikan raised an eyebrow. "But I just got here and I won't skip class just for you!"

Natsume stopped at her words. "Well starting today, you will." He continued to walk until the door closed behind him.

"You're in trouble now," one of Natsume's allies said.

Mikan blinked twice, "In trouble? What did I do?"

A screeching sound, which came from a chair being pushed back, caught the attention of the class. Ruka Nogi stood up and grabbed his sleeping bunny together with his jacket. "He took your challenge seriously," he answered.

"But I wasn't challenging him at anyway at all!"

"It sounded pretty convincing to me." Ruka shrugged. "Let's just say that your threat to Natsume is being tested,"

"T-Tested?"

Ruka smirked and started to leave the room. "We'll just see if you could beat him in his own little game, Mikan Sakura."

Mikan's right eyebrow twitched. "I told him I was going change his nasty attitude…" She gritted her teeth. "…What have I gotten myself into?"

She nervously walked towards the exit of the cafeteria door, knowing that Natsume was waiting for her. Who knows what he might do to her. She felt like her life would end once she stepped outside the cafeteria. Before any more scary thoughts came across her mind, she inhaled deeply and shook her head. Natsume Hyuuga wasn't going to bring her down. It was the other way around.

She'll stay true to her words.

"There's no turning back now," she said, slowly opening the cafeteria exit door.

She closed the door behind her while scanning the empty campus. No sight of anyone. She started to walk a little until she saw a figure from a distance.

"I didn't know you would come out so easily," the familiar voice said, walking towards the brunette, revealing that it was Natsume himself.

Seeing from inside the cafeteria window that Natsume had already appeared, everyone—with Sumire leading—tried to storm out, until three of Natsume's allies blocked the door.

"No one is leaving this cafeteria. Orders from Natsume-sama," Mochu said, crossing his arms.

Everybody had no choice but to desperately watch outside from the windows, some even squeezing their way through the crowd just to get a better view.

"For a moment there I thought you would chicken out," Natsume snickered.

"Who said that I would chicken out? And if you're thinking about hurting me, I'm an expert at martial arts, so if you even dare lay a finger on me, I'll break your arm!" Mikan said, trying to imitate what looked to be a Jackie Chan fighting pose.

She lied, of course.

Natsume smirked. "That's really interesting, little girl."

A vein popped on Mikan's head. "Stop with the name-calling already! What did you want me here for?"

"Tell me, do you know who I am?" Natsume asked, his tone serious.

"You? Who would want to get to know someone like—?"

"I'll ask again, little girl. Do you know who I am?" Natsume glared.

Mikan looked at him, confused. "You're the perverted jerk that I met on my first day, Natsume Hyuuga." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"That's it?"

"No, you didn't let me finish."

"Well, please continue, then."

Mikan began counting on her fingers. "You're rude, you're obnoxious, you think the whole world revolves around you, and what's more, you are so not cute!"

"Tell me something about yourself."

Having realized what Natsume just said, she stopped talking. "What?"

Natsume smirked. "You're someone I'm really going to enjoy torturing."

"Enjoy…" Mikan gulped. "…t-torturing…?"

"Have your fun while you still can. I'm giving you about… three days. After that, it's my turn," Natsume said in a threatening tone.

"Three days?"

"Are you just going to repeat everything I say?" Natsume said, obviously annoyed by the girl's naivety.

Mikan had lost her patience with him. "Don't be so arrogant! Remember, I didn't come to this school to be tormented by a perverted jerk who thinks he's king of the school! You're not, okay? Deal with it!"

"That's where you're wrong, little girl." Natsume started making his way towards her.

Mikan backed away at every step Natsume made. His figure really threatened her. She was just at the level of Natsume's shoulders, or maybe a few more inches shorter than that.

"I am, in fact, the King."

Mikan twitched at Natsume's sudden actions. His face was just a few inches away from hers. If somebody had accidentally pushed one of them, they could kiss at any moment. But luckily, Natsume pulled away before anything else happened.

"Yeah, right, Your Majesty," Mikan said ironically in an attempt to annoy him.

Natsume smirked. "It's good you see things my way, Polka Dots."

Unfortunately, he annoyed her more than she annoyed him. To Natsume, it seemed more like a compliment, being called "Majesty".

"Stop calling me those stupid names, Hyuuga! I've had it with you!"

"Aww, is the poor baby going to cry?"

"Shut up!"

"Well, I've wasted my time here too much already. See ya," he said, waving his right arm back at her as he walked back inside the cafeteria where all the fangirls and students were anxiously crowding the cafeteria door.

The people immediately returned to their places once the door opeend. They acted as if nothing happened and that they weren't a least bit interested in the heating rivalry between the "King" and Mikan Sakura.

"Natsume-kun!" Sumire said, running up to Natsume with concern. "Did that new student say something mean to you? Just say so and the Natsume Hyuuga Fan Club will take care of her for you!"

"Shut up," Natsume sneered, ignoring her. "You're more annoying than that girl." Sumire backed away from Natsume words, completely heart-broken. "Ruka, let's go."

Ruka smiled. "You go on ahead. I'm going somewhere."

Natsume walked off. "Suit yourself."

"I can't believe the teachers here give so much homework. It's torture!" Mikan whined as she rested her head on her table.

"Ah, why don't you just go to the library?"

She looked up and found a bespectacled boy come up to her.

"Hello, my name is Yuu Tobita. I'm the class president. It's nice to meet you," he said, smiling.

"Nice to meet you, too, Mr. President," she greeted back. "You're officially my first friend here."

Yuu smiled. "I'm honored."

"You mentioned something about the library?"

"Yeah. If you're having trouble, you'll probably get the right answers if you check the right books," Yuu said. "You'll find that Alice High's library is quite helpful."

"Alright, let's go there!" Mikan said, immediately standing up and heading towards the door, but before she could turn the doorknob, she looked back at Yuu, "Um, where is the library, anyway?"

"I'll accompany you there, don't worry," Yuu chuckled as they walked out the door.

Upon walking, they came across two huge doors with the sign, "The Library" engraved on a golden plate stuck to the wall on top of it. The door was about sixteen feet high. It was painted white,s and its golden doorknobs shone so much that you could see your reflection in it.

"Mr. President," a girl with blue hair came up to Yuu and Mikan.

"Ah, Nonoko, how may I help you?" Yuu asked.

"Mr. Jinno wants to talk to you."

"I'll be right there. Oh, yeah, this is Mikan Sakura," Yuu added as he gestured to Mikan and back. "Mikan, this is Nonoko Ogasawara."

"Oh, I remember her. Nice to meet you, Mikan! You can call me Nonoko," the girl said, extending her hand to Mikan.

Mikan shook hands with her and smiled. "Same here."

"Sorry I just got to talk to you now. I didn't have any time," Nonoko explained, "But I really thought you were kind of cool, standing up to Natsume-san like that! No one has even dared to do that before!"

"Uh, yeah… Thanks." Mikan faked a laugh.

"Almost everyone saw how you stood up to him. You're going to be really popular now."

"Me? Popular?"

"Yes… but in some ways that aren't as good as you might be thinking, I guess." She smiled then turned to Yuu. "Shall we go?"

"Ah, yes," Yuu answered, "Mikan, you'll be fine on your own, won't you?"

"Of course I will. See you later."

When Mikan entered the library, she saw rows of bookshelves lined up. It was all incredibly unbelievable. She had never seen so many books her entire life. She quickly placed her backpack on an empty table and checked out her notes.

"Let's see, I guess we have a quiz on English next week. I better go find a book so I can study and get a high grade for a change."

Mikan started to search for some books. Impossible as it may seem, the library was humongous, and she couldn't find what she needed due to the wide selection. She didn't even bother to ask the librarian for help. If only she knew that there was this thing called, Card Catalogue. Yet, good things happen to those who are patient, and Mikan was able to find what she was looking for, an hour later.

"Ah, here it is!" Mikan shouted in glee.

"Please be quiet!" the librarian hissed and the other students looked at her,

Mikan bowed her head, "S-Sorry. "

She sighed when all the students went back to their business. She immediately grabbed the book she was looking for and headed back to the table.

"I can't believe I spent an hour looking for this stupid book. But now, I can relax and study in peace…" Before she sat down, one interesting book caught her eye. "What's this?"

She was about to reach for it when she instead, grabbed a hand that seemed to be reaching for the same book. She looked to the direction of the owner of the hand she grabbed, only to be surprised.

"Ru-Ru-Ruka-san!" she exclaimed, pulling her hand away. This caused another 'shh' from the librarian and she immediately bowed apologetically.

"What are you doing here, Sakura-san?" Ruka asked, kneeling and waving a hand in front of Mikan's face.

Mikan quickly jolted up at the sight of his face. "Ah, no… I just thought I'd come here to study a bit," she said, showing Ruka the English book she found earlier.

To her surprise, Ruka grabbed her wrist and took a closer look at it, causing blood to rush up to her cheeks.

"For our English exam next week?"

She simply nodded. Mikan was flustered by Ruka's actions. It really weirded her out, but at the same time, made her heart beat fast. And it beat even faster when he flashed her a charming smile that made her cheeks heat up again..

"You're really unique, you know that? Studying for an exam a week earlier—you must be real studious, huh?"

She couldn't utter a word, and she began mumbling to herself as she slowly backed away from total embarrassment. She couldn't take it any longer, her heart was pumping like mad and she felt like she just wanted to get away from him.

"What's wrong, Sakura-san?" Ruka asked, taking a step forward.

That did it.

Mikan turned around quickly. "Thanks a lot, Ruka-san!"

She wanted to run away, but unfortunately, she was blocked from behind. Then she saw her worst nightmare.

"Natsume?"

The librarian instantly stood up and went over to the three, furiously irritated by the noise Mikan was making. "Sakura-san, if you can't keep quiet inside the library, I suggest you leave immediately!"

Mikan got tongue-tied. "S-Sor—"

"It was my fault, not hers," Natsume cut her off.

Mikan couldn't believe that he would take the blame for her and as she was about to protest, Natsume placed a finger in front of his lips, signaling her to keep quiet and to just play along. Mikan was too embarrassed, so she just remained silent.

"Oh, Hyuuga-sama, I'm sorry. I'll leave you now," the librarian said as she walked back to her desk with a goofy yet forced smile on her face. Deep inside, she was pretty annoyed with the Mikan. When Mikan took a quick glance at the librarian, the expression on her face was enough for her to get the message.

"Don't be such a loud-mouth, Polka Dots," Natsume said, scratching his head.

Mikan, annoyed by Natsume, dragged him out the library on the arm by force.

"Hey, where are you taking me?"

"Ah, Sakura-san, Natsume…" They hadn't even realized that they left Ruka. Before he followed them, he remembered something and headed to the Fiction area and pulled out one of the books. He grinned then headed towards the librarian's desk. "Excuse me, I would like to borrow this."

When they finally got out, Mikan pushed Natsume's arm hard before she let it go.

"Loud-mouth?" Mikan hissed, rolling her fists into a ball, ready to smack Natsume's handsome face right then and there. "Why do I always end up being in trouble whenever you're around?"

"You're so ungrateful, you know that? You even had the guts to touch me," Natsume said, brushing the sleeve of his uniform as if it was touched with such filthy hands. "And to think I covered for you back there."

"Stop acting like royalty!" Mikan shouted, attempting to crash her foot down onto Natsume's. He avoided this without much effort even as Mikan kept stomping her foot down. This went on and on for a good ten seconds until Natsume had enough and quickly grabbed one of her pigtails and pulled on it.

"Ow! Hey!"

"Haven't we discussed this before?" Natsume said, slowly getting closer. "I am royalty. I'm the king, remember?"

Mikan smirked and pushed Natsume away from her. "And who am I? Princess Mikan Sakura from the land of Far, Far Away? Ha! Only you would think so high of yourself when you're just a bullying jerk!"

Before anything else, the library door opened and out came Ruka, who was surprised to see the two. "Oh, you were still there? Did I interrupt something?"

"It was nothing, Ruka-san!" Mikan said, faking a smile.

"Well, in that case, Natsume, let's go?" Ruka said.

"Whatever," Natsume answered.

"Sakura-san," Ruka called out, walking towards Mikan. He then placed a book in her hands.

"What's this?"

"I borrowed it for you."

"W-What? F-For me?"

Natsume looked back, eyeing the two of them. He had this annoyed look in his eyes. You couldn't explain it.

"You were reaching for it earlier, am I right? Read it when you have nothing to do. It's pretty interesting. I think you might relate to the main character. You can return it to me when you've finished with it."

"T-Thank you, Ruka-san!" Mikan thanked him.

Ruka patted Mikan's head and turned around to catch up with Natsume.

"Wait, Ruka-san!" she called out. Ruka glanced at her from his shoulder. "Hm?" "I… I forgot… to thank you… about this morning…" she stammered unconsciously.

Ruka stared at her for a while then smiled. "Don't mention it."

With that he gave a wave and both he and Natsume walked off.

Mikan stared at the book that Ruka gave her, blushing madly as she did so. She was grinning widely to herself.

"Hey," Natsume called out, surprising Mikan before she could continue fantasizing about what happened. The two boys stopped from their tracks. Natsume put his hands behind his head with his elbows pointed up. "See you later…" he said, smirking a little. "…Princess."

With that, they left a confused brunette, gaping at the two who were walking away.

"P-Princess…?"

"Okay class, today we will be discussing about…"

Mikan stared at the long confusing formulas that were being written on the blackboard by Mr. Jinno. She uninterestedly sighed as she rested her chin on her palm, trying hard not to fall asleep. It wasn't at all too hard to resist sleeping, since she had Natsume as her seatmate. What's more, he, too, was obviously not interested in the subject as much as she was.

Mikan was dead bored and she couldn't find anything else to draw her attention to. The closest one was the window, but every time she tried to even glance to her left, she meets a pair of crimson eyes glaring at her. Yeah, it was horrible for her. She couldn't help it any longer so once again she attempted to glance at her left, and luckily, Natsume was looking the other way. This gave Mikan the chance to admire the outside of the classroom.

"I borrowed it for you."

She recalled those very words that came out of Ruka's lips and took out that certain book out from her backpack in an instant.

"Princess Academy," she whispered to herself. "I'll read it when I get home!" She beamed to herself widely, nestling the book in her arms. She even managed to take a peek at Ruka, who was charmingly sitting across the room.

"Hey, Princess."

Mikan was immediately interrupted by the familiar voice that called out to her. Moreover, she wasn't a wee bit comfortable by the new nickname she was given, especially when he said it. She looked to the direction of the voice to find her Natsume staring at her with an eyebrow up and a bored look on his face.

"Stop daydreaming about Ruka," he droned.

Her eyes shot up. "W-What are you saying?" she muttered, trying hard not to raise the tone of her voice.

Natsume smirked at this. "I can't believe you fell in love with Ruka so fast."

"I didn't! Stop saying that!"

And at that moment, she had realized that all eyes were on her, especially the eyes of one very mad Mr. Jinno.

"Do you find my lecture uninteresting, Sakura-san? If you do, then I suggest—"

"No, Mr. Jinno!" she interrupted, "I don't find it uninteresting at all! I just saw… I-I saw a cat! I'm sorry!"

"Do not interrupt my class again," Mr. Jinno said, adjusting his glasses as he continued with his lecture.

Mikan slouched on her seat, not forgetting to give Natsume one of her glares before calming herself down.

"A cat, huh?" Natsume said to himself.

Mikan pouted at total embarrassment and out of the blue, a smile crawled on Natsume's face as he rested his chin on his left palm, practically looking like he was staring at her with amusement. Having realized this, he blinked twice and looked away, covering his mouth in the process.

"What's his problem?" Mikan wondered at Natsume's unusual behavior.

Natsume sensed he was being stared at, so he returned her stare with the usual "I-am-King" look. "What are you looking at?" he simply asked.

"Not you," Mikan answered, redirecting her eyes back to the blackboard.

This will never end.

Slowly, one of the doors of the library creaked opened, revealing Mikan making her way inside once again, carrying only the book that Ruka had given her.

"This library really is huge," she said, looking over the shelves until she caught sight of a staircase that lead to the second floor of the library. "I wonder what's up there."

She started going up the stairs, inspecting every picture that was hung on the walls. When she got there, she saw that no one was in sight. There were empty chairs and the tables were close to being dusty. It seemed that it had been unused for quite some time.

"I guess this might be the perfect spot for me to read since nobody's here."

Mikan sat down, and opened the book in her hands and started reading the first chapter of the book. It had been exactly twelve minutes and she was already on the fourth chapter.

"Wow, this is really interesting! An academy for princesses?" she said aloud—maybe a little too loud.

"Will you shut up over there?" an annoyed voice called out.

Mikan didn't know why, but her body trembled at once. No, it wasn't Natsume Hyuuga's. It was a bit calmer, yet with those very words, it made the voice sound almost as terrifying. She heard something moving from the corner of the room and was surprised to see a blonde-haired guy lazily trying to sit up. It seemed as if he was sleeping a while ago before she woke him up by accident.

She neared the person and apologized, "Sorry for disturbing you…" she said, trying to see the face of the person in front of her. She really didn't want to make more enemies than she had now.

"How could you be so—" The boy stopped when he saw her face. "—Sakura-san?"

Mikan's eyes widened and she found a pair of blue eyes staring back into her hazel ones with a surprised yet sleepy expression.

"…Ruka-san?"

End of Second Act

Author's Notes: I didn't edit this part much, so I'm terribly sorry for the inconsistency with the sentence structures and for the errors. Leave a review if you haven't read it yet? :)