Promises

Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish, Gakuen Alice is too good for me. :(

Mikan crossed her legs and leaned on her chin, breathing in the bittersweet aroma of freshly made coffee. She found her gaze wondering outside the window where people were scurrying around, some holding business folders and others carrying bulging shopping bags. Everyone was so engrossed in their own world.

Suddenly, Mikan found herself looking at someone distinctly familiar, someone she hadn't seen for exactly five years, someone with red eyes and ebony hair. It was a person that she hated.

Natsume.

Mikan's heart skipped a beat and she blinked. Immediately, the Natsume-look-alike disappeared amongst the crowd of people. Was it him? It couldn't be, right? Natsume had left Gakuen Alice and left for America five years ago and had never contacted anyone except for his best friend Ruka. It couldn't be him, definitely.

"Mikan, hello? Mikan!"

Sumire snapped her fingers impatiently in front of Mikan's face and raised an eyebrow expectedly.

"E-Eh, Permy?"

"Seriously, you had me worried for a moment there, were you doing your staring-off-into-space thing again? You know if you keep on doing that, you'll get into big trouble one day, and no one will be there to save you."

Mikan sheepishly laughed and quickly stirred the lukewarm coffee in front of her. She turned her head to find Hotaru looking at her with a mildly worried expression on her face.

"Hotaru, I'm fine, really," Mikan assured her.

"Who said I was worried," Hotaru snapped and looked away.

"Anyways, onto what I was saying," Sumire said, "I heard that Natsume's returned to Japan!"

Mikan gagged on her coffee and hurriedly put it back down on its saucer before she dropped the cup.

"What?" she exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you liked Natsume back when you were…what was it…sixteen. After he left, being the idiot you were and are, you kept on sending him those letters yet he never replied, not even once. You sent those pathetic things continuously for a good two years–"

"Permy!"

"Oh don't get so flustered–"

"PERMY!"

Sumire stopped and raised an eyebrow at Mikan who was gripping her cup tightly with trembling hands. Mikan looked down at the table and tried to ignore the unpleasant memories that came flooding back. She had finally learnt to forget Natsume, to let go, to forget him. Mikan had done everything to forget him; she stopped reading magazines in order to not see his sprawled face on every cover with thousands of featured articles on him. After many years, Mikan had finally forgotten about him.

And then now he returns.

Why did he have to leave? Why did he not even call her, not even once? Why didn't he respond to her letters and emails?

Why?

Mikan wiped away the angry tears prickling at her eyes and stood up, knocking her chair over. The clatter echoed in the now silent café, however Mikan couldn't care less right now.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling too well, I'm going now," Mikan muttered and grabbed her bag before running out of the café, crashing into the door on her way out.

"Will she be alright?" Hotaru sighed.

Mikan pulled her blankets over her head and curled into a ball. Everything that she had tried to hard to forget came crashing back.

"Do you really have to leave?" Mikan asked, tears at the edges of her eyes. Natsume tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his warm hand brushing her cheek sending tingles down her spine.

"I'm sorry, but I have no choice," he murmured in his velvet voice and pressed her forehead to his chest.

"You'll forget about me," Mikan whispered and looked down. Pulling her chin up with a finger so that she was looking into his eyes, Natsume said, "You're wrong, I will never forget about you."

"Really?"

"Mikan, I love you. Don't move an inch and wait for me, I'll definitely be back. I promise."

Natsume leaned down and crushed his lips to Mikan's. He found his hands snaking through her hair and hers clenching his shirt tightly in response. Natsume took a step back before he lost himself and faced her, wiping a tear from her eye.

"I love you Mikan and I always will," he said.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

oOo

Mikan dialed his number for the hundredth time, however, as usual, it was switched off. She knew that Natsume was doing fine through Ruka, however, she still worried. Was there some reason to why he wasn't responding to her letters or her calls? He wasn't the type that went back on his word. Mikan's gaze landed on the TV where a news reporter was standing in front of the Hyuuga Corporations headquarters, a massive building with hundreds of thousands of windows and employees.

"The renowned Hyuuga Corporation, under the new CEO Natsume Hyuuga, is rising from its fall when founder and former CEO, Kaoru Hyuuga, passed away. Stocks are rising and soon, Natsume Hyuuga will be the world's youngest and richest boss, not to mention his looks–"

Mikan pushed the off button on the remote and threw the pillow that she was hugging at the TV, which was now a blank screen of black.

Slowly standing up with her eyes a dull brown, Mikan tossed anything that reminded her of Natsume into a bag and took a lighter.

Mikan stepped outside where it was raining and turned the bag upside down, tipping its contents out into a pile on the ground. It took her a few times for the fire to finally catch, it was raining after all, and when it did, it burned through photos, letters, everything. The rain hammered down on the burning pile, however the fire didn't go out. At last, the fire swallowed the remains, only a charcoal mess remaining. As Mikan stood up, she suddenly noticed a glint in the pile of ashes. Frowning, she bent down and pushed aside a burnt piece of paper to reveal a necklace. It was the necklace Natsume had given her just before he'd left.

"As expected of something Natsume Hyuuga made," Mikan laughed bitterly and slipped the necklace into her pocket after a moment of indecision. Whether or not that was a good decision to keep the necklace, Mikan didn't know, but somehow, at that very moment, it felt right.

Dangling the necklace in front of her, Mikan held it up to the light and watched it throw sparkles around her room. Mikan sighed and slipped it back into the box she kept it in before closing her eyes. Suddenly, a vibrating sound was to be heard and Mikan grabbed her phone to see the caller ID, Kokoro Yome (Director) in black letters and his face. Mikan pressed the green button and held the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Mikan! Come over to my office right now, I have something I need to discuss with you."

"N-Now?"

"I know it's already late, but this is urgent. Ok? Oh, I've got to go now, anyways, be at my office in ten minutes."

Saying that, he hung up. Sighing, Mikan grabbed a jacket and hurried outside. It was chilly outside, her breath being a white fog. The moon was high in the sky surrounded by clouds and a row of streetlamps shone brightly in the darkness.

Hugging her jacket closer to herself, Mikan jogged into a building with the words 'Acting Stars' on it and pressed the lift button continuously. Although Hotaru always scoffed at her doing so, Mikan was sure that pressing it more did help make it arrive faster. Contrary to her theory, the lift arrived a few painstaking minutes later.

"So what did you want to talk to me about–" Mikan said as she entered the office. She stopped abruptly and lifted a wavering finger at the person next to Koko. The person was wearing a suit with a loose tie, his black hair messy and his crimson eyes as alluring as usual. He had his feet propped up on the table, a smirk on his face.

"Yo Mikan, did you miss me?"

This is a prologue, giving you guys a taste on what the story's going to be like. Things will get more interesting in later chapters.

Continue or not?