Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

Matchmaking Club

...

"I'm waiting for you. Are you so blinded with happiness because you're going out with me that you can't see what's in front of you?"

-Natsume Hyuuga.

...

...

"But he never leaves his friends in trouble. He hates to disappoint his family. And he loves me."

-Mikan Sakura.

...

Sumire was drying her hair with a towel after getting a nice cold shower when her cell phone rang from her bed side table. She sprung to it and excitedly answered it, knowing that the caller was her close friend, Mikan Sakura.

"Yes, Sumire speaking," she said animatedly. She could barely contain the enthusiasm laced on her voice as she spoke. "What is it Mikan? Have you made up with lover boy yet?"

She heard her friend snorted. "Please...that nickname doesn't suit him. If you know what he really is then you're going to sort him with a devil."

"You're pretty harsh when it comes to the people you love." She heaved a very deep sigh. "If you keep this up, then you're going to lose him."

There's a hearty laugh on the other line. "He loves to quarrel with me each time we meet and he enjoys being tongue tied every time. That guy might be a masochist and he's keeping it a secret so that his image won't be ruin."

"I doubt it." She hung her towel around her shoulders and let herself fell in the bed with a contented moan. "He just loves challenge and being with you is a challenge."

"Hey! What do you mean by that?" Mikan protested. "I'm fun to be with."

"Yeah...Like you're so blunt and couldn't keep anything. You say what's on your mind regardless of what the others would feel or think. In short, you're one heck of a woman and a man who would go out should be rewarded for his dedication and patience."

"You make me sound like some damn company..."

"But it's the truth dear." Sumire snuggled to the nearby pillow and smelt its flowery scent. "It's time for you to change a little bit. Be kind. Be sweet. Be sensitive."

Mikan clicked her tongue. "I'm not going to change because I fell in love Sumire. I am me before I become his girlfriend. He had to learn to like everything about me."

"You really admitted you love him..." Sumire squeaked with delight. "You're both so cute. You're really lucky Mikan."

"Isn't that the point of our conversation?" Mikan asked coolly.

There was a pregnant pause before Mikan spoke again. "Ruka is coming home from America."

Sumire's eyes widened and she sat abruptly. The towel fell from her shoulders and she ignored it. "What did you say? Ruka? He's coming home?"

"He tried to call me a while ago. But I was out with Natsume and missed it. He left a voice message for me," she replied.

Sumire closed her eyes and said, "I think it's going to be alright. He's your best friend."

"Yes...I know that!" she heard her friend gasped on the other end. "But he's an overprotective best friend. Did you forget that incident with Reo Mouri?"

Sumire cracked one eye open and smirked. "You mean that incident when Ruka beat the poor guy into pulp because he tried to make a pass on you. It's alright Mikan. He wouldn't do that to Natsume. He only did that because Reo wanted to do perverted things with you."

"That's the point Sumire!" Mikan hollered exasperatedly. "Natsume is a pervert. Do you think Ruka would accept him?"

Sumire's eyes were both open now. "I don't think Natsume is a pervert."

"You'll be singing a different tune if you know what he truly is."

"Mikan, let's just hope they'll get along..." Sumire finally said. "Don't get worked up."

"Yes...I hope so...Sumire..."

...

"What the hell are you doing in front of my apartment?" Mikan asked loudly. She is looking at Natsume who had his arms crossed in front of his chest and was leaning on his car.

"I'm waiting for you. Are you so blinded with happiness because you're going out with me that you can't see what's in front of you?" Natsume answered with a smirk visible on his face.

"I might as well be blind if the person I would see the first thing in the morning is you," Mikan returned evenly, returning her boyfriend's smirk with a glare.

"Oh come on baby...Are you always going to be like this?" Natsume straightened up and went towards Mikan. He snaked an arm in her waist and brought her closer to him. He was about to lean down to give her a kiss when he felt a pain in his hand.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed, removing his arm around her. He saw his hand being pinched by his girlfriend. "Hey...What is this?"

"It's so early in the morning and you're doing perverted things." Mikan smiled sweetly then tossed his hand away. "Can't it wait until later, sweetheart?"

She walked away from him and passed by his car without a glance.

"Hey...you're going with me in my car, stupid!" Natsume said. "Why are you walking away?"

Mikan didn't paid attention to him and continued to march away from him. Natsume growled and went in front of her, blocking her way.

He smirked. "You're going with me, whether you like it or not."

He lifted her and carried her in his shoulders like a sack.

"Natsume! What are you doing? Bring me down!" Mikan shouted, banging his back like crazy. "Let me down, you fool! Idiot! Bastard! Arrogant! Stupid! Pervert!"

Natsume strode towards his parked car, opened the door and chucked Mikan inside. Then he went inside and slammed the door shut.

"What are you doing? Let me out!" Mikan shouted. "Natsume? Natsume Hyuuga!"

Natsume smirked at her then kissed her fully on the lips.

...

Natsume was in a good mood. He seems to give off a flowery feeling, as per stated by Koko and he received a glare and some threats after that. No one crosses Natsume Hyuuga, no one.

After he deals with Koko, he went off to some unknown space, lost over his fantasies about a certain brown haired girl. He didn't even notice that his homeroom teacher entered the room. He most certainly didn't notice that a new student was being introduced to them.

"My name is Ruka Nogi..." the new lad said. He has blonde hair and gentle blue eyes. Whenever he smiles, he kind of sparkles and the world seems a brighter place.

The girls' eyes were bulging out of their sockets and they started to swoon over him. Their wailings reached Natsume and he snapped away from his day dreams. He looked forward and saw the new student. He tilted his head and he looked confuse.

Who the hell is he?...he thought.

As if reading his thoughts, Koko leaned over and whispered, "His name is Ruka Nogi, a new student. He seems to have charmed the female students."

"Don't know, don't care..." Natsume replied. He was just annoyed because of the noise. He placed his elbow on the table and propped his head on his palm. He is now watching the new student as he interact cheerfully to the swooning girls. "What is he doing? Is he leading them on?" He scowled. "Tch...What a boring boy..."

"Now, now girls...we don't have much time. We still have to talk about the cultural festival." The homeroom teacher scratched his head. "You can interview him all you want later at break time."

The teacher ushered his students back to their respective places. Then he assigned Ruka to a vacant seat in front of Koko.

The blonde lad stepped forward and guided himself to his seat. He settled down and turned around to greet Koko with a smile. "Hello, Koko-kun."

"Now there's someone who's not hot headed like this person beside me..." Koko said, returning Ruka's smile with his trademark grin.

"Shut up..." Natsume hissed.

"Hey...Koko-kun...Do you know a girl named Mikan Sakura?" Ruka asked politely.

With that, he got Natsume's full attention. "What do you want with her?" the crimson eyed lad questioned.

"I want to see her," Ruka answered truthfully. "She's my best friend and I haven't seen her for a while. Unfortunately, she's not in this class. Do you know which class she belongs to?"

"Oh...She's your best friend?" Natsume folded his arms around his chest. He grimaced and looked away. "She just transferred yesterday."

"That can't be possible!" Ruka and Koko said at the same time.

The blonde lad shifted his attention to Koko. "Do you know her?"

"Certainly..." Koko uttered cheerfully. "She came yesterday and was asking for Natsume." He turned towards his fuming friend. "Am I right Natsume?"

Natsume sent Koko a chilling glare and steered his head to Ruka. "I'm her boyfriend. You got a problem with that?"

Ruka raised his right hand and banged Koko's table with his fist. "I don't know that she had such a liar boyfriend. I don't approve you at all."

Koko was startled by the sudden outburst that he nearly fell from his seat. Natsume's face remained stoic and his gaze bore to Ruka.

The teacher, of course, tried to scold them but failed miserably.

...

The signal for lunch came.

Sumire rose from her seat and went towards her friend. "Ruka is not here. There is a possibility that he's –"

"Natsume's classmate..." Mikan supplied glumly. "Talk about bad combination. Those two would never get along with each other."

"Especially if Ruka would know that you two are dating," Sumire added.

"Mikan..." She heard one of her classmates called her.

The two friends didn't turn around. Instead, Mikan just spoke, "What is it?"

Her classmate seemed nervous. "Mikan...Uh...Ah..."

Mikan sighed and whipped her head around. "What is it?"

She stopped when she saw Natsume, together with Ruka, stood in the doorway. Both seemed agitated and perplexed.

"R-Ruka..." Mikan gasped. Then she looked at Natsume, "And I see...you met s-sweetheart."

"I didn't know you have someone like him to be your boyfriend, Mikan." Ruka pointed at Natsume and clicked his tongue. "You really have bad taste with men."

"What do you mean by that?" Natsume shouted. Then he steered his attention to Mikan. "I didn't know you have a boring best friend, baby."

"What did you say?" Ruka glared at the crimson eyed lad. Natsume didn't back down and returned his glare equally with his own.

"Alright...Don't fight here..." Sumire went between them. "We're in the classroom. And both of you don't want to embarrassed Mikan, right?"

"S-So for the meantime..." Mikan stammered. "L-Let we eat lunch and I'll introduce you two to each other properly."

...

The cafeteria was packed with a lot of people. It was so noisy and cluttered. In a table on the corner, a storm was brewing.

"R-Ruka...He is Natsume Hyuuga. He is my boyfriend," Mikan said and continued, "Natsume...He is Ruka Nogi. He is my best friend."

"I thought Sumire is your best friend," Natsume uttered coldly.

"Well...I have many best friends!" Mikan retorted. She faked a smile to her boyfriend and leaned towards him, muttering, "Don't be so difficult, Natsume."

"I am not being difficult," Natsume hissed. "It's just your best friend is getting on my nerves. Who does he think he is...your father? I think he's more protective than your father."

"Technically speaking Natsume, you haven't met my father," Mikan spoke on the side of her mouth. "If you meet him, you'll eat your words."

"Oh Gods...I forgot. He is your father. I bet he is more sarcastic than you are," Natsume sneered.

"Bastard..." Mikan hooted.

Natsume neared his mouth on her ears. "What? Cat got your tongue? Can't answer back when your boring best friend is here?"

"S-Sweetheart..." Mikan smiled sweetly and stepped on his foot.

Natsume yelped. Mikan smirked.

"Mikan..." Ruka slump his hand on the table.

The brown haired girl jumped a bit. She blinked her eyes for a moment and looked at her best friend. "What is it Ruka?"

"What did you see in him?" the blonde lad asked abruptly, pointing a shaking finger at Natsume.

Mikan did a double take and stuttered, "D-Do I really need to answer that?"

Ruka nodded. Natsume looked solemn. He seemed uninterested at Mikan's answer at first but he bend down so he could listen more closely.

Mikan had a hard time answering the question. In fact, she didn't know how she should reply. She admitted to herself that she liked Natsume. Reasons? There might be a hundred reasons for it. If you liked someone, you don't care why? You should care how you will show it. Although she's kind of a bitch to him now, deep inside, she knew she really cared for the arrogant jerk.

"Mikan..." Ruka called her. "What are your reasons for liking and dating him? He's an arrogant bastard, a jerk, and most of all a liar."

"Hey!" Natsume shouted.

"And he's loud too..." Ruka hastily added.

In a small voice, Mikan answered, "Do you need a reason?"

"What?" Ruka frowned.

"Do you need a reason to like someone?" Mikan said. "I know she's an arrogant bastard, a jerk, a liar...and he's perverted too."

"I'm not!" Natsume protested.

"And you're right. He's loud too." Mikan ignored Natsume's string of protests. "But he never leaves his friends in trouble. He hates to disappoint his family. And he loves me."

There was a pregnant pause. Natsume was the first one to speak. He placed a hand on the back of his head and said shyly. "T-That's kind of cheesy."

Mikan's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. She whipped her head around and glared at Natsume. "Shut up!"

"What?" Natsume scooted closer to her. "And here I thought you're beginning to warm up to me." He crossed his arms against his chest and looked away, pouting a little.

"Anyway..." Ruka slammed the table with his fist again. "Whatever you say Mikan, I still don't approve of him."

He stood up and told his best friend, "I won't give up. I'll make sure you break up with him. I'll open your eyes and make you see that he's not suited for you."

With that said, the blonde lad walked away from the cafeteria.

Natsume was left livid. "That boring boy...How dare he wage a war against me? And what...does he say?" He glanced at Mikan. "He said that I'm not suited for you. Me? The great Natsume Hyuuga."

Mikan rolled her eyes. "There it goes...your obnoxious side."

Sumire who was silent for a while, began to speak up. "Natsume...patience," she reminded him. "Ruka was just overprotective of Mikan."

"I don't care. He dares to belittle me!" Natsume roared. "I'm not going to back down. He'll know how great I am."

Mikan sighed. "There's no changing him."

From the other side of the cafeteria, Luna Koizumi was watching how the events unfold. She placed her pointy finger on her lips and smirked. "That Ruka Nogi...I can use him to break those two apart." She laughed a little. "Natsume is mine. He can't go to anyone else but me."

...

Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading and leave some reviews while you're at it.