Fate Strings, a Gakuen Alice fanfic

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DISCLAIMER

I do not own Gakuen Alice Animé or Manga.
It belongs to the great Tachibana Higuchi.

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AUTHOR’S NOTES

Hi guys! Welcome to my seventh fanfic! I miss publishing stories here!
So now I present to you a story that I’ve been working on since I was on hiatus.
Oh yeah, they don’t have alices here in this fic. Character thoughts are in italic so don’t mix them
up with regular dialogues, m'kay?

“Dialogue here.” – Conversations
“Dialogue here.” – Thoughts
And the words that are in italic are stressed, m’kay? Just for effects, hehe. ;)

Hope you enjoy reading Fate Strings! Send reviews!

FATE STRINGS

Written by EzMouse

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... PROLOGUE

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Sakura Mikan, an twelve year old girl with auburn hair and hazel eyes. She loves to smile, play and have fun most of the time. Even though she has a lot of problems to deal with, she tries her best to make her life look easy. You can say she can be the ideal girl, if only she wasn’t so naïve and idiotic, as her best friend points out. But despite these, she has her optimistic and carefree attitude that always covered up the not so good traits that she had.

Imai Hotaru, a twelve year old girl who has raven hair and pale purple eyes. The best friend of our protagonist. She’s the kind of person who you will never hear laugh even at the funniest jokes somebody could possibly think of. She’s quite emotionless most of the time, and will do anything to get her way. But even though that is the case, she has a soft side for the people she loves, but you will never see her express these obviously. And if you did, it rarely happened. In a way, she wasn’t so bad once you got to know her.

You may be asking how the two became the best of friends, despite the oppositeness of their attitudes. Well, it only comes to one conclusion; opposites attract. Let’s put it this way, the more these two “so-called” friends fight, the stronger their friendship gets. But the saying, ‘opposites attract’ isn’t only for the case of friends - it is also very compatible to a topic we call love.

A lot of people found Sakura Mikan cute especially when she smiles, yet some also found her unattractive in a way. Was it because she was a klutz? Was it because she wasn’t smart? Was it because even though the situation was bad, she could still smile about it? Maybe that was why – but what about those who saw beneath those things as deeper realizations form in their heads? These traits can be found very interesting to some and may lead to opening a locked door to someone’s cold heart.

It all started on an incident that led to our hero’s best friend having to transfer schools in Tokyo. It was a very hard decision for Mikan to let go of Hotaru but after she promised that she will keep in touch, Mikan hesitantly agreed. But Hotaru did not keep in touch and it sent Mikan on haywire. All she ever got from Hotaru was one postcard that read:

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Mikan,

If you’re asking, I’m doing fine.
My school is really great, compared to our old school.
I won’t be able to visit you for awhile because I have a ton of things to do.

I’ll send you phone number when I’m not busy.
But since I know there is no phone there, I won’t bother.
Oh yeah, say hello to your parents and Jii-chan for me.

P.S. – Don’t forget the watermelons I asked for, okay?

Hotaru

And it was sent just three days ago, even if Hotaru had already gone for five months now. Mikan was really exasperated by her best friend’s inconsiderate actions towards her. So she had this wacky idea; she desperately asked her mother to transfer her to the school where Hotaru was studying at Tokyo. Her parents disagreed of course—for the reason that they will have to leave her Jii-chan alone.

They lived with Mikan’s grandfather in the province. But no way was her Jii-chan coming with her if ever they were to move to Tokyo. He had lived there nearly all his life, so he didn’t have the heart to be parted from it. But even if that was the case, he was still on his granddaughter’s side. He wanted her to be happy. So which much persuasion from the both of them, Mikan’s mom finally agreed.

They arrived to Tokyo a week later and Mikan was enrolled to Hotaru’s school. Yet Mikan was having thoughts if she will be accepted, considering it was an exclusive school for academically-inclined students. And no way was Mikan academically-inclined at all.

But a few days later after taking the test, she passed. Yup, the Sakura Mikan we all know and love has passed her entrance exam. But don’t think she passed because the score she obtained was high—it wasn’t. But Mikan wasn’t going to think that it was just luck that got her though, but it was fate. She was meant to be with her best friend. But was that the only reason?

Sakura Mikan, age twelve, now a student at Japan’s most prestigious academy... Alice High School.

And this is how her fairytale begins...

..ooO“.0.”Ooo..

“Mom, I’ve got butterflies in my tummy!” Mikan said, trying to calm herself down as she stared outside the car window.

Tokyo was a big place, a big, big place. There were a lot of tall buildings, vehicles, stoplights, stuff that you won’t find in her hometown. But her parents weren’t really new to this. They had lived in Tokyo way before Mikan was born.

“Don’t worry, sweetie! Everything will be alright,” her Mom said, making her daughter feel better as she steered her way through the busy streets of Tokyo.

Mikan didn’t like transferring schools. She thought that it was hard to fit in at first, and since she was new to Tokyo, it would be even harder considering she wasn’t used to all the latest technologies around her. She wouldn’t be able to go with the flow that easily. Though even if that is the case, just the thought of being with Hotaru once she enters through the academy doors, she was willing to take it no matter what.

Without a second later, they were already in front of the academy gate. Mikan got out of the car and her mom left, giving her a kiss good-bye. The gates automatically opened as Mikan was approaching it. The school was huge. You had to walk a long garden path before getting to the school building itself. Good thing the bulletin board was already there when Mikan entered. It saved her time to look for it.

Although she couldn’t deny the fact that she was lost. She didn’t know where to find her classroom. Before she got even more lost, she saw a blonde person walking by.

“Excuse me! Excuse me, Ma’am!” she called out, assuming that person was a woman because of the length of her blonde hair reaching her shoulders.

But as the person glanced at her, it just shocked her that the person wasn’t a woman after all. “Hm? Were you referring to me?” he said in a tone that definitely wasn’t a woman’s.

“Sorry, my bad,” Mikan said. “You looked like a woman from afar is all. So I thought...”

“No need to explain. I get that a lot,” he smiled.

“Uhm... why are you wearing earrings?” Mikan asked

“Well, it’s just something I’m used to wearing,” he said.

Mikan opened her mouth to say something else, but the guy had already read her mind.

“And no, I’m not gay.”

“Okay...” Mikan looked at him. His smile looked nice enough to say that he can be trusted.

“Oh, I remember you. You’re the transfer student, right?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m Mikan, Sakura Mikan,” the brunette answered.

“It’s great that I found you already. I’m Narumi, I’m a sensei here,” he said.

“S—Sensei...?” Mikan asked, blinking twice.

“Yes, specifically your class to be,” he said, smiling.

Mikan was surprised. Her new teacher was younger than she expected him to be. A lot younger. She was used to having teachers who were already between 40 to 50 years of age. Well, it was great that she gets a more tolerant teacher this time. There were less chances of her being scolded all the time.

“I’m sure that you’ll like it here at Alice High. It’s just normal to feel a bit nervous, you’ll get over it,” Narumi-sensei said.

The school bell rings. Mikan’s heart began to pound again. But Narumi-sensei patted her head so she felt a little better. He then accompanied Mikan to their class.

“So, why have you decided to study here in the first place, Mikan-chan?” the blonde teacher asked.

“I have a friend who studies here, you see,” Mikan answered.

“Oh, so you came to see her? Well, what’s the name of this friend of yours?”

“She’s Ho” Mikan got cut off when Narumi-sensei covered her mouth with his hand. He just signaled her to be quiet.

Mikan peeped to where his sensei was looking at and saw the weirdest thing. She saw a boy, about the same age as her, wearing a cat mask as he bent down and held his knees, breathing heavily as if he was just running away from somebody. “Kuro Neko…”

“Stay here,” Narumi-sensei instructed Mikan as he walked towards the boy.

The boy stood straight this time, but his hard breathing could still be heard.

“Running away again, are we?” Narumi-sensei said. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. When will you ever stop?”

“Running away? Why’s he running away? Could this person be some kind of troublemaker?” Mikan pondered in her thoughts.

“Tch,” the boy said.

All of a sudden he charged towards Narumi-sensei. Narumi-sensei was about to catch him, but the boy was able to avoid him easily. The boyhad such fast reflexes that Mikan hadn’t noticed that he was already charging towards her. He wasn’t able to stop right and he ended up bumping into her.

“Ouch!” Mikan was lying on her back, unaware of what had happened. She heard a thump, and saw the cat mask fall off.

When she looked up, she found herself faced-to-face with the weird-looking guy, who wasn’t really weird-looking after all. He had dark hair with raven streaks and crimson red eyes that were staring directly at her hazel ones. It took Mikan quite awhile to realize that their faces were just a few inches away from each other and that...

“AHHHH!! GET OFF ME!!” she shouted.

He was on top of her.

“Ouch!” the boy exclaimed.

“What are you trying to do to me, huh?!” Mikan shouted.

The dark-haired boy just glared at her with his crimson-red eyes.

Mikan nervously sweatdropped, “Boy, he’s creepy! Looking straight at his eyes felt like staring into death itself, or maybe I was just exaggerating...”

“Are you two okay?” Narumi-sensei asked, running towards the them.

The boy stood up and was about run away again but was stopped by the blonde teacher’s words that must’ve gotten into the his nerves.

“Natsume-kun, I suggest you go back to class. Hyuuga-sama wouldn’t like it if he found out you are running away again like always.”

The dark-haired boy glared back at them, at Narumi-sensei, but then mostly looked at Mikan with an eyebrow up and an annoying smirk on his face that made Mikan wonder.

“Don’t be so clumsy, Polka-dotted Panties Girl...” he said.

Mikan’s eyes shot wide open, “Did I hear him say what I think he said?!”

A smirk crawled on the dark-haired boy’s face. That did it.

“PERVERT!!”

Instead of running away, the boy placed his hands in his pockets and started walking away, opposite the direction he was about to run off to earlier. When he passed Narumi-sensei, he mumbled, “This is not over, Naru.”

“Hey get back here! I’m not through with you yet!” Mikan shouted, attempting to chase after him.

But the dark-hared boy just kept walking away, as if he didn’t hear a thing she said.

“Are you alright, Mikan-chan?” Narumi-sensei asked, as he helped her stand up. “Just let it rest...”

“I’m okay. But who was that? Man, he’s annoying!” Mikan asked, brushing her skirt clean.

“You’ll find out later...” he said, giving of a smile. “I have a good feeling about you, Sakura Mikan.”

Mikan noticed that the, boy so named, “Natsume” left his cat mask n the ground. She picked it up and stared at it. “Kuro Neko mask…”

Narumi-sensei approached Mikan, “Shall we go to your new classroom?”

“Yeah but, what about this?” Mikan asked, holding up the cat mask.

“Oh, that well let me…” Narumi-sensei was about to reach for it but stopped. He smiled as if he had thought of a crazy idea. “On the second thought, you keep it.”

Mikan looked at Narumi-sensei, “Huh, what for?”

“Well as you may already notice, Natsume-kun hates me and would probably kill me if he found me with his mask. He doesn’t want anyone touching his stuff, especially people he hates. So I guess it’s best you give it to him yourself. Surely he wouldn’t do anything to a little girl like you.”

Mikan thought for awhile and put on the cat mask, “Well, alright. But when I see him, I’ll kill him for being such a pervert!” She took the mask off and placed it in her backpack.

“Shall we?” Narumi-sensei extended his hand to Mikan, about to escort her to her new classroom.

Mikan grabbed her sensei’s hand, “Yeah!”

..ooO“.0.”Ooo..

“Class, we all have a new student today, please meet, Sakura Mikan-san,” Narumi-sensei said to the class.

Mikan bowed her head and flashed her usual perky smile, thinking that it would make a good first impression to everyone. But she was wrong.

“A new student? Not another one!” a student said.

“Look at her stupid pigtails!” one more student said.

They all started to make booing noises and threw paper balls and other school materials at Mikan. Poor Mikan couldn’t do anything but pathetically dodge everything that was being thrown at her, though it didn’t quite seem to work.

“Yeah, Imai-san was okay, but this one looks like a clumsy idiot!” another student booed.

Mikan was about to shout at her new classmates when she heard Hotaru’s name. Good thing too. Who knows what could happen once her anger exploded.. But Mikan was glad to hear that she was in the same class as her best friend. She wanted to see her so badly. She scanned the room, but too bad Hotaru wasn’t there yet.

“That’s enough class! Mikan-chan, please take a seat at the back,” Narumi-sensei said.

For some strange reason, the students stopped throwing stuff at Mikan upon their teacher’s words. As Mikan makes her way to her seat, all began whispering to each other and staring at her.

“What’s up with those expressions on their faces?” Mikan thought, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

But that wasn’t going to get her down. Mikan maybe afraid of ghosts and dark places and maybe even bugs but that’s a different story. She was going to be with Hotaru no matter what.

She sat down and sighed. But all the students were still staring at her. When Narumi-sensei started his lesson, thankfully, her other classmates stopped staring and just acted like she wasn’t there.

Mikan paid no attention to Narumi-sensei’s lectures. She was actually staring outside the window, watching the birds fly from tree to tree. It was practically alright since she was at the back and didn’t have a seatmate to tell on her; she would’ve been caught. This was the only time she felt so bored in class. It surprised her. She knows she was usually very attentive, even though she wasn’t considered one of the smart ones. Maybe because Hotaru wasn’t there. Hotaru was one of the reasons why Mikan went to school.

She hadn’t notice the time and the school bell rings. The students immediately ran outside the classroom like a stampede.

“Don’t forget to do your assignments, okay?” Narumi-sensei shouted to the students while waving.

Mikan approached her teacher, “Sensei, don’t you think those kids are being a bit rude to you?”

“Don’t worry, Mikan-chan. I’m used to them already,” Narumi-sensei said.

“I just don’t think it was right to run out of your class like that. They didn’t even say good-bye!”

“I appreciate your consideration, but forget about it, Mikan-chan.”

“You know, one way or another, I’m going to change the ways of this class.”

“I’m sure you will.” Narumi-sensei said as he patted Mikan’s head. “I’m sure...”

Mikan went back to her desk and gathered all her stuff. It was not very long until a boy with glasses and blonde hair entered the room and approached Narumi-sensei.

“Sensei, I’m sorry we had to skip your class because of the council meeting we had,” the boy said.

“It’s okay, Yuu. It’s an important meeting so you’re excused. Ah, by the way, I’d like you to meet your new classmate, Sakura Mikan-san,” Narumi-sensei said as Mikan approached them.

“Hi, I’m Tobita Yuu, but most of the students call me, Iinchou,” Yuu said, shaking Mikan’s hand.

“Nice to meet you, Iinchou!” Mikan answered.

“Oh yeah, and this is another one of the class presidents of our class, Imai Hotaru,” Iinchou said.

When Mikan looked behind her classmate, she saw her best friend, the person who she followed here in the first place.

“NO WAY! Am I dreaming or is Hotaru really standing here before my eyes?!” Mikan stared at the raven-haired girl in front of her with a mouth open.

The raven-haired girl just stared at her friend gaping at her with a surprised and confused look. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“HOTARU!!” Mikan shouted and leaped onto Hotaru. “OUCH!”

Yup, Hotaru avoided her. The usual Hotaru.

“What are you doing?” Mikan asked, crying.

“Don’t go jumping on people like you’re some kind of monkey,” Hotaru said.

“Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“How could I be happy when I finally see my best friend but she looks like a snot-faced freak?”

And she was right. Mikan came all the way to Tokyo to visit Hotaru and she surprises her with a snot-faced Mikan. Some greeting that turned out to be.

Mikan wiped her face clean, “Hotaru, I missed you so much. That’s why I came.”

“Is this what happens when I leave you for a couple of months? Who said you could come here all of sudden? Don’t tell me you left your Jii-chan just to be here. You’re so selfish, you idiot.” Hotaru said, looking away.

“I’ll explain everything later, Hotaru. But for now… can I at least get a hug?” Mikan said, slowly approaching her best friend.

“Just…” Hotaru looked at Mikan with the corner of her eye. “…don’t get any of your boogers on me.”

Mikan ran to Hotaru and hugged her tight as if she didn’t want to let go.

“So Hotaru is the friend you were talking about. Wow, what a great friendship you two have,” Narumi-sensei said.

Mikan was just so glad to see Hotaru again. She thought all her problems were to end now that she was with her best friend. But she doesn’t know that her problems were only getting started.

..ooO“.0.”Ooo..

It was lunch time. Mikan walked with Hotaru and Yuu to the cafeteria. She still couldn’t help admire how big and classy her new school was. She wasn’t used to this.

Before anything else, the three sat down on a table and began eating.

“Okay, explain why you came here without my knowledge,” Hotaru said.

But being the excited new student, Mikan couldn’t eat a single bite of her mac and cheese without any of her questions being answered.

“How come you haven’t been calling or writing to me, when I send you a ton of letters every single day?” she asked, completely ignoring Hotaru’s question.

Hotaru sighed, “I did send you a postcard.”

“Just one! How busy were you, anyway?” Mikan asked.

“Hotaru has been caught up with school work, and so do the other students here. But since she’s also a class president like me, we have more work to be done than everybody else,” Yuu explained. “This is not actually your everyday normal school. You have to be real gifted, if not smart, to pass and study here.”

“Yeah I know, that’s why I was wondering why I even got admitted here,” Mikan said.

“Maybe they got the wrong files and mixed it up with some genius kid who was really supposed to be in your place now,” Hotaru said.

“Hey!” Mikan shouted.

“Just kidding,” Hotaru said.

“Narumi-sensei must’ve seen something in you that’s why you were accepted. Didn’t he tell you? He’s the one who takes care of transferees, if they are worth studying here or not,” Yuu said.

“And what could’ve Narumi-sensei see in me, Iinchou?” Mikan asked with an eyebrow up.

Before anyone could answer, two boys came in the cafeteria. One of them had dark hair with raven streaks and crimson-red eyes. Hey! This description sounds familiar... And the other one had blonde hair and blue eyes, with an emotionless face.

Though Mikan couldn’t see who the two kids were, everybody already knew who the two were, considering all the fuss that was happening. Well, that was the only time everybody made such a fuss about someone. The boys took a seat on what looks to be the popular kid’s table as a few more kids and almost a hundred girls went closer and surrounded them.

“Okay, back it up! Back it up! Hyuuga-san and Nogi-san don’t want to be crowded, you know,” a boy said and the students did as they were told.

Mikan then quickly recognized that one of them was the same kid she bumped into this morning.

“Hey, I know him, from this morning!” Mikan pointed.

“Who, Hyuuga Natsume?” Yuu asked.

“Yeah, the perverted jerk!” Mikan said as her grip tightened on the juice box she was holding that caused it to squirt out. “Eewww...!”

“Perverted jerk...?” Yuu and Hotaru asked at the same time.

But Mikan’s attention shifted to the kid next to “the perverted jerk”, who seemed to be patting a white bunny resting on his lap.

“Awww... how cute,” she thought. “Hey, who’s the boy next to that snobby-looking kid, the blonde one?”

“Nogi Ruka,” Hotaru answered.

“Nogi Ruka-san is Natsume-kun’s best friend, and practically theonly one whom Natsume-kun really talks to,” Yuu added.

“A person like Natsume has a best friend?” Mikan asked.

“Hey, new girl,” an annoyed voice uttered.

“Yeah?” she answered, searching the voice who called her.

She had black hair that was permed a little and olive green eyes. She went closer to Mikan with an annoyed face.

“Were you talking about Natsume-kun just now?” she asked.

“Maybe...?” Mikan answered, sweatdropping. “I think I know her. Wasn’t she in the same class as I am?”

She glared at Mikan, “You like him don’t you?!”

Mikan blinked twice, “What are you talking about?!”

“You’re not a member of the fan club so you can’t have touchy feelings with Hyuuga Natsume-san without me knowing about it!” she pointed out.

“Fan club? And who would have touchy feelings for an obnoxious jerk like Hyuuga Natsume?” Mikan shouted, which probably wasn’t a very good idea.

Everybody in the cafeteria stared at her, including Hyuuga Natsume himself. Uh-oh, she’s in trouble now. Some students, who looked to be Natsume’s allies, grabbed and dragged her outside. Yuu was about to stand up and help her, but Hotaru stopped him.

“But Hotaru...” Yuu worriedly looked over at Mikan who was desperately trying to break free from the bullies’ grip.

“She can handle herself,” Hotaru said.

“Are you sure?” Yuu asked.

“You’ll see...” Hotaru said, taking in a spoonful of banana pudding. “This is gonna be interesting...”

..ooO“.0.”Ooo..

The students who dragged Mikan out, pushed her to the ground.

“What are you doing?!” Mikan shouted out.

She saw Natsume making his way towards her, followed by a couple of students who looked like troublemakers like himself.

“What should we do with her, Natsume-san?” a boy asked.

Mikan butted in before Natsume could even answer, “Hey, you’re Neko-san, right? What’s this all about, huh?”

“Neko-san?” Natsume repeated, but in a questioning tone.

“Just look at that girl answer Natsume-san like that!” whispered a boy to another.

“I know. Let’s teach her a lesson,” another boy said and the two of them ran off somewhere.

“Just, who are you exactly?” Natsume asked, turning his attention to the girl before her.

A vein popped on Mikan’s head, “What, you have amnesia? We met earlier this morning, remember?”

“Hm?” Natsume thought for awhile. “Oh, I remember, you’re Polka-Dotted Panties Girl.”

Mikan clenched her fists, “Just who the heck are you to tell those perverted things to me?!”

He looked down at Mikan, acting as if he was the most powerful person on earth. Mikan just sat there, staring back into his crimson eyes. “Maybe you’re the one who manipulated our classmates to doing rude things, especially to Narumi-sensei! How could you?!” she added.

“Don’t act like you know everything, transfer student!” said the same girl who came to Mikan earlier.

“Why do you always have to interfere with me?” Mikan asked, unafraid of her.

“I am none other than the president of the Hyuuga Natsume Fan Club, Shouda Sumire. I have every right to interfere with you!” she said.

“So that’s what the whole fan club you were talking about was. Why start a fan club for him? He’s not worth your affections, being the president and all,” Mikan smirked.

“That is none of your business! You’re just a newbie here so you don’t have a say in this school,” Sumire said.

“I wasn’t—”

SPLASH!

Two of Natsume’s allies who were whispering to each other earlier, dumped a bucket of water on Mikan.

“Who do you think you are, talking to Natsume-sama like that?!” one of Natsume’s allies, Mochu, said.

“S—Sama...?” Mikan asked, confused.

“Don’t you know anything? Natsume-sama rules this school. He can get you expelled if he wants to, you know!” he said.

“Mochu, shut up,” Natsume said.

Mochu stopped talking upon Natsume’s command.

“Natsume rules the school? What does he mean by that?” Mikan wondered.

When Natsume looked at her again, this time, she felt fear enter her entire body and she couldn’t move one bit. He slowly walked around her, as if he was inspecting Mikan’s wet self.

Hotaru watched from the cafeteria door, all that was happening to her best friend. She crossed her arms and leaned herself to the wall. Even if her friend was in trouble, she chose not to do anything, not because she was afraid of Natsume because she wasn’t, but because of her own reasons.

Natsume crouched in front of Mikan and stared at her for a full five seconds. He then held her chin up and said, “You’ve made a big mistake getting in my way, little girl.”

Mikan fearfully stared back into his crimson eyes, unable to utter a word, nor move a single part of her body.

“I’m going to make your life so miserable, you’ll regret ever coming to this hell of a school,” he continued.

And with that he let go of Mikan’s chin and stood up, about to leave.

But knowing our protagonist won’t let anyone bring her down, Mikan snapped back to reality. “Hey wait a second!”

Natsume stopped from his tracks and looked back at her from his shoulders. “Hm? You have something to say, little girl?”

Mikan stood up, “I don’t know who you are, or what your position is here. But even if you do rule this school, I’m not afraid of you!” she said, slowly walking towards Natsume until she was only a meter away from him.

Natsume just stared at her, and so did everybody else.

“Because I’m not the kind of person who you think I am. I’m Sakura Mikan. Sure I may look like a nobody to you now but listen to me very carefully, Hyuuga Natsume; I’m somebody who’s gonna change the ways of this school you’ve influenced with your grubby acts and your nasty attitude! You won’t be acting all high and mighty as long as I’m here to stop you from doing so,” Mikan clearly stated everything she wanted to say.

Everybody stared at her, surprised at her courage to answer the great Hyuuga Natsume.

Hotaru smirked when Mikan finished talking and shook her head. “You idiot, you don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into. But that’s one thing I always really liked about you.”

Natsume walked two steps forward as he inserted his hands in his pockets, “I’d like to see you try, little girl.”

Mikan took a step forward and faced him while crossing her arms, “Just watch me.”

The two stared, or more like glared in two each other’s eyes. But it got interrupted when a blonde-haired boy, who was Natsume’s best friend, cleared his throat loudly, obviously trying to tell them that they had been glaring at each other for more than ten seconds already. Mikan blinked twice, realizing what she had done when she saw her classmates watching with shocked expressions on their faces. It just came to her senses that Hyuuga Natsume really was someone not messed with in this school - and she was the first one to do so.

“Huh,” Natsume smirked. He snapped his fingers, signaling his pals to follow him as he left.

“Ah, I’m coming, Natsume-kun!” Sumire said in a sweet yet annoying tone as she hurriedly followed Natsume who was heading back to the cafeteria. “You’ll pay for that, transfer student!”

Hotaru who was there next to the cafeteria door, still had her arms crossed as she leaned on the wall.

“Hey Imai,” Sumire called out. “You shouldn’t make friends with a person who doesn’t know her place around here,” she said in a loud voice, making sure Mikan heard it clearly.

“I know,” Hotaru emotionlessly answered as she entered the cafeteria after the last person who was following Natsume. Mikan was shocked of Hotaru’s answer. “Hotaru... how could you...?”

When Mikan was sure that Natsume and his friends had left, she exhaled and fell down to her knees. “What was I thinking?” She gave out a loud sneeze after that.

Then she saw a pair of feet walking and stopping in front of her. When she looked up, she saw... him.

“Nogi... Ruka?”

..ooO“.0.”Ooo..

Mikan thought Ruka was going to do something mean to her but to her surprise, he didn’t. He just passed her, or did he? She then felt somebody place their jacket around her.

“That took a lot of guts,” Ruka said, carefully placing his jacket around her.

Mikan was surprised why Ruka lent her his jacket, of all people; he was Natsume’s best friend for crying out loud.

“I...” Mikan murmured. “...got carried away...”

“Hm? But you meant it, right?” he said, smirking a little.

Mikan embarrassedly looked at him, “...I don’t know...”

Ruka crouched beside her and patted his white bunny as looked at the sky while his hair was gently being blown by the breeze. The breeze made Mikan hold on to Ruka’s jacket tighter. When Mikan looked back at Ruka, she saw his eyes staring into hers making her blush. “What is this I’m feeling?”

When he finally looked up to the sky again, Mikan stared at him with the corner of her eye. For some reasons, she couldn’t help it.

“Thank you,” Mikan blurted out.

He looked at her and said, “Don’t get the wrong idea,” Proceeding to stand up and leave.

“Ah, w—wait—!” Mikan said, standing up. “What with the sudden attitude change?”

Mikan was disappointed that Ruka was about to leave. But she felt a little better that she had a little company after what happened. “Ruka-san, your jacket!”

“Keep it, I have plenty more where that came from,” he said.

But still, Mikan chased after him, but Ms. Poise wasn’t on her side today and she tripped.

“Ow... ow... ow...” Mikan mumbled as she scratched her head. When she looked up, she saw Ruka yet again right in front of her. He knelt down with one knee and reached into his pockets. He got out a blue handkerchief and wiped Mikan’s face much to her surprise.

“You’re a mess, go and change,” Ruka said, continuing to wipe the dirty girl’s face.

Okay, Mikan was having a serious moment here. She couldn’t understand why her heart was beating fast. She couldn’t understand why her face felt so hot. But there was one thing she does know; she was way embarrassed right now.

She panicked and said, “Ah! S-Sorry!” She stood up and bowed, “Thanks and... sorry again, Ruka-san! B—Bye!!” With that she ran away and hid behind the closest wall she could find.

Mikan could imagine Ruka having this confused look on his face, and he did actually, but she didn’t dare look back at him. She just sighed and cleared her thoughts. She can’t just keep his jacket so she thought about giving it to him tomorrow. “Yeah that’s it. Tomorrow.”

She turned around hoping that Ruka wasn’t behind her and he wasn’t. Yet she finds herself in front of the same person who threatened her and whom she threatened back.

“Natsume!” she exclaimed out of shock. Gladly, he was alone. None of his more annoying allies were with him. Then she realized she was holding Ruka’s jacket so she hid it behind her. “Uh... Hi...?” she said, putting on a nervous goofy smile.

A simple greeting won’t hurt, she thought. But it was really a discomfited moment to say hello to him now, with the argument they had earlier.

But Natsume came closer. And Mikan just closed her eyes, too afraid of what he might do this time. Yeah, she looked awful. She was dripping wet and because she fell on the ground earlier, she was covered with dirt. “Perfect timing, Natsume! I bet you’re just so glad to see me look so dirty so you can call me more stupid names.”

Natsume just continues to walk closer and... just passes her. With this Mikan was able to breathe properly. She was actually holding her breath until Natsume said something, but gladly he didn’t.

“What happened, you took a swim in the dumpster?” he said, still walking.

But then again he did.

But Mikan hadn’t any time to shout at him back. For this time only, she ignored him and continued on her way.

Natsume looked back at her, still walking. “Weird girl...”

Mikan went to the locker room and looked at herself in the mirror. She really was a mess. Then she recalled the incident with Ruka that made her heart pound again. But she shook her head, trying to forget. She opened her locker and found some clothes.

“Good thing I have an extra uniform in my locker.”

..ooO“.0.”Ooo..

Mikan was already dried and dressed. She left Ruka’s jacket in her locker for the meantime since people might get the wrong idea that she stole his jacket from him. She decided to head back to class after that. As she was almost going out, Hotaru came in.

Mikan just stared at her quietly, thinking that it would be awkward to talk to her now, considering she nearly embarrassed Hotaru, making her look like some weirdo, hanging out with someone like her who clearly was an outcast to everyone. But she thought that Hotaru shouldn’t have treated her like Sumire and the others.

“Stop staring,” Hotaru said.

“Hotaru, I—”

“Before you say anything, let me explain,” Hotaru started as Mikan listened. “When Shoda told me not to hang out with people who don’t know their place, she didn’t know that she was referring to herself. I wouldn’t hang out with her even if she paid me.”

Mikan smiled, almost crying, “Hotaru...”

“There you go again. Stop crying, will you?” Hotaru said. “You’re even uglier when you cry.”

“Hotaru I’m sorry about earlier... I doubted you...” Mikan said, wiping her tears.

“You haven’t really changed at all since I left. You’re still such an idiot. You act before you think, that’s why you always get into trouble,” she said, making her way towards her locker.

Mikan puffed up her cheeks, “Don’t be mean!”

“Well, I already knew you wouldn’t let Hyuuga get the better of you. I knew what was gonna happen before it even started,” Hotaru said, closing her locker.

“So you’re psychic now?” Mikan asked, slightly giggling.

“No, just smart,” Hotaru answered.

“You’re not mad then?” Mikan asked.

“No, not really,” she answered.

Mikan felt so happy that she proceeded to hug Hotaru, but she hit her with what looks to be a huge boxing glove.

“But you still came here without telling me first. Didn’t I tell you not to do that?” Hotaru said.

“Hotaru!!” Mikan whined.

“Though I am glad you came here,” Hotaru said. “Go on ahead. I have something to do for awhile. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Sure,” Mikan said as she went out.

“And don’t forget, you still have to explain to me how you got here and how you talked your parents and Jii-chan into coming here,” Hotaru added.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mikan answered.

When Mikan opened the classroom door, she saw everybody staring at her again. It was already starting to get on her nerves. To make matters worse, Natsume was already there. He was reading a manga, while his feet were positioned on top of the desk. He doesn’t bother looking at her and it bugged Mikan a lot. He was still acting high and mighty. But there was one thing that bugged Mikan the most. “Why’s he sitting on my seat?”

That was the reason why everyone was shocked when they heard she was gonna sit at the back; it was his seat. But since Mikan already proved to Natsume that she wasn’t afraid of him, she spoke up.

“I think you’re in the wrong place, Hyuuga Natsume, but you’re sitting on my spot,” she said without any trace of fear in her voice.

Natsume, not looking away from what he was reading, said, “You’re the one in the wrong place, little girl. This is my seat. Yours is over there,” He said, pointing to the desk next to his.

Mikan blinked twice. She already thought that Natsume might’ve moved her place somewhere else – somewhere very far from him. But he just offered the one next to him. This confused Mikan even more when she saw Ruka was at the far end of the seats. Since Natsume and Ruka were best friends they should be seated next to each other.

“Wouldn’t you prefer Ruka-san sitting next to you? I’ll be more than happy to switch places with—”

“Just sit down and shut up! You’re ruining my day as it is,” Natsume said which hushed Mikan up.

“Fine already, you don’t have to shout!” Mikan raised an eyebrow at him.

“Don’t go thinking that Natsume-kun has accepted you by agreeing for you to sit beside him. He’s just too cool to care about some nobody being his seatmate,” Sumire said.

“Yeah whatever, Permy! If she likes Natsume so much, then why doesn’t she go sit with him? I wouldn’t care at all,” Mikan glared at Sumire.

“Mikan-chan, why are you blocking the door?” Narumi-sensei said from behind.

“Uh, sorry!” she answered as she got out of the way.

Mikan proceeded to her desk, staring at Natsume. But he still doesn’t bother to look at her for even a bit. He just put his manga away and stared outside the window as his chin rested on his palm. Natsume chose that place so that he would be next to the window, his favorite spot – he barely listens to Narumi-sensei anyway so it was best he has something else to draw his attention to.

Mikan just grit her teeth and sat down, moving to the very edge of the seat so that she doesn’t have to be too close to him. Before anything else, Narumi-sensei started class. Mikan managed to survive the whole afternoon without having to talk to Natsume or at least catch his attention for something she did—well, he was busy spacing out and looking outside the window anyway. But it can’t be helped that Mikan’s classmates kept looking back at the two of them with different expressions on their faces, especially Sumire who was obviously jealous that Mikan was seated next to her beloved Natsume-kun, even though she was already seated next to Ruka.

When classes ended, Mikan went straight home. But of course she didn’t forget to visit Hotaru to ask for their phone number. She may be an idiot but she sure wasn’t that dumb. Mikan also did her assignments that night and called Hotaru every ten minutes because she wanted to know how she was doing every now and then. Of course Hotaru hung up whenever Mikan said something stupid.

Well, you could say that Mikan’s first day at Alice High was not as good as she expected it to be but at least she got to be with Hotaru again. What’s more, her encounter with Ruka made her discover some feelings she has never felt before. Some not so good things that happened were, her classmates hated her the first time they saw her, she became someone’s “so called” rival for her classmate’s crush against her will, and she made herself an enemy she never dreamt of having... Hyuuga Natsume.

Well maybe Mikan’s fairytale didn’t turn out so good. But hey, it’s just the first chapter, right? So we shouldn’t rush things. Not everything has to be perfect at the very start. Something great might happen as the story progresses, and I assure you something will.

As Mikan looked outside from her bedroom window, she saw dark clouds covering the entire night sky, hiding the stars from her sight.

“I have a bad feeling that it’s going to rain tomorrow...”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-XX

... END OFPROLOGUE

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Author’s End Notes: Phew! How was this fic? Do you like it? It’s been a long time since I made a new fic. You may have noticed that my writing style has changed a lot. But I am happy about that because I know my grammar has improved. This fic was just something that came into my mind while I was writing in my diary one night. I don’t know how but it just did. I’ll tell you more about the other characters’ background, like Natsume’s and Ruka’s, on the next act.

I hoped you’ve enjoyed reading Fate Strings! Please send reviews! Be it comments, suggestions, constructive criticisms or ideas! But don’t be too harsh on me okay? Love yah guys! Please stay tuned for the next act!

-- EzMouse / Nikki-chan

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