DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN GAKUEN ALICE… manga and anime. DONE.

This is my first one shot so I hope you like it! Please review! ENJOY!

SUMMARY: Holding hands under the Sakura tree, Natsume and Mikan remember a moment that happened on the same day 2 years ago…

LAST JANUARY 4, TUESDAY

REVISED

BY ‘orange-ideas’

Note: They’re already 15 years old here.

Expect the characters to be OOC.

Christmas and New Year was now over. Classes were about to begin again, the start of a new semester in school. Everybody thought it was a drag. Except maybe 2…

“Natsume hurry up! You don’t want to run out of Fluff Puffs do you?” said Mikan all excited.

“And so?” asked Natsume grumpily. Mikan noticed that he seemed tired.

“He probably went on another mission yesterday…” she thought, her eagerness diminishing a little.

Unknown to Mikan, he was up all night preparing for a surprise or rather, looking for the surprise. Why? Because of a promise made 2 years ago…

“What’s so special, that you ‘desperately’ need Fluff Puffs?” he asked again in an annoyed tone.

“Come on! Don’t tell me you forgot what happened on this day!” she said giving a slight frown.

“Yes, I did”, he replied with his usual bored expression.

“Idiot! We need to celebrate today! It was our promise, remember?” she said taking something out from her pocket.

She took out a small, orange, clover shaped keychain and dangled it in front of him.

Natsume grinned. His faced brightened a little, seeing her act like that brings back old memories. “Innocent as ever”, he thought.

“I know, I know. I’m not old like you”,

“Shut up!” Mikan said playfully.

He kissed her cheek and they held hands, walking towards the Fluff Puff store.

(Okay, this is actually the start of the fanfic)

Note: In this part, they’re only 13

-Natsume’s Memory-

-Classroom-

The Holiday break was over, and yesterday was the start of classes once again. Natsume was alone, reading his manga. But unfortunately, he couldn’t concentrate. His thoughts were bothering him… well actually, his friends’ statements.

Ruka and the others have been trying to force Natsume to tell Mikan her feelings. Last January 1 was her birthday and they all thought that he’s going to tell her his feelings then. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. He was scared. Natsume Hyuuga was scared.

---.:.---.:.---

“She’s the one we’ve been waiting for… especially you…so go on, tell her Natsume”, said Ruka. (They were on the roof, as usual)

“You want her Ruka, I don’t. So why don’t YOU tell her”, he replied.

“No I don’t. I thought I did, but now I know she’s just a friend. And besides, you both WANT and NEED her”,

---.:.---.:.---

“That’s not true Ruka. It’s not true”, he thought. And clenched his fists. He tried to deny it several times… but the feeling was stronger than he thought.

---.:.---.:.---

“Why are you so stubborn, Hyuuga?”

“Ask yourself the same question, Imai”,

“You do know that the Idiot still doesn’t know”,

“I don’t care”,

“When are you planning to tell her?”

“Let’s see… never”,

“Very funny, Hyuuga”,

Natsume rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t know the infamous black cat who handled deadly missions in his lifetime couldn’t even confess to the girl he loves”,

“I didn’t know that the genius, Hotaru Imai was a busybody like every one else”, he replied.

“I can be anybody I want to be. Especially for Mikan”, she said.

“You sure don’t show it often”,

“Like you”, she snapped back.

Silence…

“Afraid of rejection, huh?” she said.

“No”,

“Or afraid of the consequences”,

“Just leave Imai”,

“Fine. Have it your way. Just remember Hyuuga, With LOVE as your motivation, you’ll never make a mistake”, with that, Hotaru walked away.

---.:.---.:.---

“Love huh? Does she even love me?” he thought.

“Yes she does”, said Koko from behind.

“I thought I told you to go away and leave my thoughts alone”, he said calmly without glancing back.

“Natsume, you just don’t know how lucky you are to have friends like that who thinks of what’s best for you”,

“Well then, maybe they should think of something that’s best for themselves”,

“But-“,

“Enough Koko. I’ve had ENOUGH”, Natsume exited the classroom.

“Just so you know, she’s under the Sakura tree”, Koko called out.

Natsume went outside, he was going to head for the Sakura tree… but then he stopped.

“Damn this pride of mine”, he thought clenching his fists. He turned around, to the direction of Central town. “What now, Natsume?” he asked himself.

A memory appeared in his head.

“Why are you so against the world Natsume?” Mikan asked as she sat down beside him.

“I have my reasons polka dots. Now why don’t you just run along like a good little idiot”, he replied sarcastically.

“Your impossible! Why do you want to alienate everyone around you?”

“And why do YOU have to annoy me all the time?” he shot back.

Mikan pouted. “Ruka’s so lucky…”

“…”

“ ‘Cause he’s able to see you without your mask…”

Her last sentence echoed in his head.

-Mikan’s Memory-

-Under the Sakura Tree-

Mikan looked at her watch, 3:30pm.

“Where is he?” she thought annoyed and worried at the same time.

“Come on Natsume. Where are you… of all the days why today… now that… that I’ve understood…” Mikan blushed at what she said.

“The way he looks at me or rather glares at me … the way he smiles at me, even though they’re just grins or even smirks… the way he talks to me, even though half of them are insults… the way he acts... he may be mean but deep inside he’s kind and gentle…but… it’s weird… of all the people… I’ve never expected it would be him…”

“All of this is too confusing… why him? Why now?”

Mikan remembered him telling her…

“Don’t look into the darkness you’re not supposed to see… with that silly head of yours… that doesn’t think much”

She didn’t understand what he meant back then. It’s not because she was stupid to comprehend it. It was because she couldn’t think straight… he finally called her Mikan. That time, her mind went blank. His voice echoed in her head, calling out her name.

3 years later, she finally understood it. Now… Mikan has loved Natsume ever since she saw the other side of him.

She didn’t know why and how it happened. It was like magic.

Now she’s going to confess to him.

-Flashback-

“Oh! Darn that Natsume! I hate him! I hate him!” said Mikan.

Then Hotaru hit her with a baka gun.

“You idiot. What happened now?”

“Well first he was nice to me, then he returned to his old obnoxious self!” she said in rage.

Hotaru hit her again. “Idiot. So tell me… what do you feel about him?”

All of the sudden Mikan’s heart began to thump… she suddenly blushed but tried to hide it.

“What do you mean? Nothing”, she replied.

“If that’s so, why do you think his words affect you so much?”

“I don’t understand him! Not at all! Most girls see him as this hot guy… guys see him as an idol, and others… I don’t know!” said Mikan more troubled.

Hotaru shot her once more. “Use your brain Mikan! It’s only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye”, (I got this quote from the book ‘The Little Prince’. It was actually our book report when I was in Grade 6)

“What do you mean by that Hotaru?”

“You don’t have much brains so try to use your heart to understand”, Hotaru rolled her eyes as she said this.

-End of flashback-

Mikan laughed at the sudden flashback.

“Oh Hotaru… thank you. She makes things easier for me… for everyone… even without her inventions, she’s a true genius!” The thought of her best friend motivated Mikan a bit.

She imagined Hotaru telling her.

“Don’t get this wrong, idiot”,

“I won’t Hotaru! I promise!” she said in her mind.

“I know that pervert will come… I just need to wait for the right time”,

Patience. Another of Mikan’s assets. Everyone knows she has a lot of patience to those whom she loves. Even if she gets mood swings easily, she never gets tired of caring and waiting for people. Even to those who are branded as cold-hearted, like Natsume and Hotaru, no matter how badly they treated her, she’s still there, waiting.

It’s ironic. How the ones she loves the most are both similar… the attitude that is. (I’m referring to Mikan’s best friend, Hotaru and her , Natsume) How she can see through the mask of others. How she melts the ice around a person’s heart. How she never gets tired of chasing other people, and never pities herself for this. And how she manages to smile for other people, despite the troubles/ worries she has.

These were the assets of Mikan Sakura that probably attracted Hotaru and Natsume.

Natsume and Mikan bought the Fluff Puffs and ate it under the Sakura tree.

“Delicious! Fluff Puffs will always be my favorite!” Mikan said.

“You never change”, said Natsume, he raised an eyebrow at her.

“Of course. You don’t either”,

Natsume chuckled a bit.

“Look! The sun is setting!” Mikan said. She stopped eating the fluff puffs and admired the view in front of them. “Beautiful!”

“You really haven’t changed…”, Natsume thought.

He got hold of her hand and they laced fingers.

-Later-

Mikan fell asleep under the Sakura tree waiting for Natsume.

Natsume came and saw her sleeping. He sat down beside her trying to think of a plan to…

Mikan unconsciously rested her head on his shoulder. Natsume blushed and looked away from the sleeping Mikan.

“No wonder I can’t think straight”, Natsume said under his breath.

“She smells nice”, he thought glancing at her.

“This scent…” she thought gaining consciousness. She opened her eyes and looked up.

She saw Natsume’s face, only inches away. They both blushed hard.

Mikan moved away.

“Oh… hi Natsume”, she greeted him uneasily.

“Hn”,

Silence…

“What now?” they both thought.

“Hey… polka dots… you smell nice”, Natsume said. (W/ much effort, if I may add!)

Mikan blushed, then smiled. “What’s this? Natsume Hyuuga giving me a compliment?” she said teasingly.

“Must be your lucky day… and it’s about to get luckier”, he said.

“What do you mean?” Mikan asked.

Natsume pulled something out of his pocket. It was the clover shaped keychain.

“Here, catch”,

Mikan caught it. “This is for me…”

“It’s beautiful! But you already gave me a gift during my birthday. You know, the stuffed pig”, Mikan looked at Natsume. She was shocked to find out that he was staring at her very intently, but she couldn’t understand the expression on his face. Mikan blushed and looked away.

She looked at the key chain again and noticed something. There was something was engraved… 1/4/3

“Well whatever it is…Thanks…Oh and look! You even had the date engraved. January 4, Tuesday”, she said smiling.

“That’s not all…”

“Huh? What else?”

Then she remembered Hotaru’s words. “Use your brain Mikan! It’s only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye”,

Mikan thought hard. “1… 4… 3… I … Love… you…”

Mikan looked at Natsume who was blushing a little. He looked away. “You figured it out then”, he said.

Mikan nodded. She blushed, and shed a small tear. A tear of joy.

“Well then I guess you’re not such an idiot after all”, he said teasingly.

“Natsume…” But looked away again.

“I’m sorry Mikan… I-I shouldn’t have fallen in love with you… you’re too different...” his voice faded away.

Mikan was unable to speak.

A few minutes of silence…

“I can’t love you, but you made me feel that I could-” but Mikan suddenly cut him off.

“And should”, she continued.

He looked at her. She was holding the keychain near her heart.

“It’s okay… I love you just the way you are”, she said.

Mikan went closer. She kissed him on the cheek.

Natsume went scarlet. Mikan giggled.

She offered her pinky to Natsume. “Promise me every January 4, we’ll stay here and watch the sunset, just like now”,

Natsume stared at her then gave her a rare smile, only for her. They shook pinkies.

Mikan rested her head on Natsume’s shoulder, now wearing the necklace he gave her with NxM engraved.

Natsume bought that necklace in Central Town years ago. It was the one that he wanted to give Mikan that day, not the key chain. But he thought he was being too straight forward with it. And if Mikan rejected him on that day, she could still keep the key chain. Nobody would ever think 1/4/3 meant ‘I Love You’ at first glance. Natsume had been up all night searching for that necklace.

They watched the sunset together. And will continue to do so forever. Till death do them part.

Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking together in the same direction

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Author of ‘The Little Prince)

-Never END-

Well? I revised this fic a little, hoping you’ll like it more! It’s still OOC though… but that’s how I expected it to be since it’s ‘The Confession’. I’m sorry if it’s mushy. I wanted this to be a ‘kilig’- I mean romantic fic! Please review! And tell me if it got better or if it’s gotten worse. I really want to improve my writing skills… so I’d appreciate it if you’ll give me some advices or comments on my fic! But if you just want to compliment it or me, I’d still appreciate it ‘cause it’s the source of my inspiration!

Thanks in advance!

-‘orange-ideas’-