13A/N: If the title sounds familiar to you, you must be a Merlin fan! Mikan's and Natsume's past life is strongly based on Merlin. But this is NOT a cross over.
I started writing this story as a guilty pleasure. I wanted to combine some of my favorite tropes [reincarnation, time-travel, epic magic, secret identity, vigilante-hero] with manga tropes [high school life, slice of life, rom-com, childhood best friends] using the Gakuen Alice cast. Our Heroine Mikan has not one, not two, but three identities to balance! Two of which she must hide until the time is right! Once you start reading this, I think you'll understand just how indulgent I am with this story. Prepare for an epic and BAMF-Mikan like you've never seen her!
IMPORTANT: This story is incomplete. And to be honest, I don't know if I will finish it. But I have about 9 chapters and 32K plus words written for this story already. At the very least, I'd like to share what is written so far.
Chapter 1
Mikan eyed the blank stationary with great trepidation. She was supposed to be writing a letter- not having a stare off with an inanimate object. Attempt 34, this time for sure she was going to get it right. She would word her confession just perfectly. A half an hour later she put her pen down with a deeply satisfied sigh and sealed her future close.
"Just wait a little longer Natsume." She whispered softly, holding the card close to her chest with a sense of relief and nervous tension mixing in her stomach. Tomorrow she will tell him. Tomorrow, Mikan will tell Natsume, her best friend in the entire world since her toddler days, that she was in love with him.
She stared at the pictures lining her desk, mesmerized by how such a handsome boy had become her best friend, and her first and only love. She knew it was love because the feelings she had for Natsume were intense. They were unfathomably strong. So much so she often wondered if the emotions were her own. Natsume was a natural part of her life, not seeing him for even a day was like having a leg one day but not the next.
Perhaps too strong for someone who was just starting their high school career but as the years went on she just accepted it. She was in love with Natsume Hyuuga.
Mikan slumped over on her desk and suddenly groaned. Why did tomorrow have to be so far away? She closed her eyes and thought about Natsume.
FLASHBACK
"Hey little girl. Wanna play ball? Oh wait, you can't. You're just a girl!" A young boy with reddish hair made fun of a small pig-tailed girl and kicked dirt in her face. The little girl cried loudly.
"Please don't bully me!" She sobbed loudly. The second grade boys in front of her only laughed harder.
"When you say not too, it only makes us want to bully you more!" Another boy sneered at her.
"Waaah! I hate you, you meanies! Leave me alone already!" Mikan's cries became louder. The boys smirked cruelly, and reached for Mikan's skirt. The five-year old's hazel eyes widened impossibly and she froze.
'No. Someone help me. Please!' She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and prayed. The boys stepped closer, their laughter and the smell of sweat coming closer to her.
"Ready little gir—OOMPH" The boy suddenly groaned. Mikan quickly looked up and saw the big freckle-faced boy who had started the bullying, lying flat on his face, twitching. Mikan's jaw dropped, forming a tiny 'o' shape with her lips. There was a second "Oomph" and a thud and suddenly another boy collapsed.
Mikan blinked in surprise. She looked up and saw another boy around her age with dark ravenous hair and reddest eyes she had ever seen in her life standing in front of her with his fist still held out. The red-eyed boy's deep gaze fell on the last second grader still standing.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to pick on little girls?" The boy snapped and let his fist connect with the meaty second grader's nose. The boy went down like a deflated balloon. He stood no chance against the raven-haired boy. Said boy finally turned his red eyes to Mikan. Something unexplainable happened at that moment. Mikan's entire body turned warm and her heart began pounding in her chest painfully. It hurt but for some reason it wasn't a bad kind of hurt. She felt the strangest urge to reach out and poke the boy to see if he was real.
The boy had a strange expression on his face as well; he quirked an eyebrow at her and extended his small stubby hand.
"How long are you going to stare at me polka-dots?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. Mikan blinked. Polka dots? She looked down.
"Kyaa! Pervert!" She cried, and slapped that boys hand away. Her panties were showing from when she fell back.
"Hey! I just saved you from those jerks, little girl!" The boy snapped. She flushed and quickly stood up and bowed.
"Thank you for helping me…"
"Natsume." The boy supplied.
"Thank you for helping me Natsume-san!" She said with a great big smile on her face. The boy, Natsume, frowned at her.
"Are you a baba or something?"
"Huh?"
"Who bows anymore?"
"Hey! Jii-chan taught me to always be respectful! Don't insult my Jii-chan!" Mikan cried indignantly.
"Okay, okay," Natsume put his hands up in defeat. "But bowing isn't going to cut it little girl. You're gonna buy me something from that vending machine over there."
"Ehh? Is that why you helped me?"
"Why else would I help a polka-dotted brat like you?"
"Grrr! I don't like you!" Mikan declared and marched towards the vending machine anyway. Natsume followed her with a triumphant grin. He pointed to a strawberry milk and Mikan burst out laughing.
"Who's a little girl now?" She laughed. Natsume flushed an interesting shade of red.
"Shut up."
Mikan thought that was the last she'd ever see the little red-eyed boy who saved her from the bullies. But the very next day on her way to kindergarten she ran into that Natsume fellow again.
"Oi, little girl!" A voice called out while Mikan was happily humming and skipping to school. She stopped when she heard his voice and spun around with a look of horror in her eyes.
"You! Stalker!" Mikan cried. Natsume flicked her forehead.
"I'm not a stalker, we go to the same kindergarten."
"We do?"
"Ba-ka."
"Natsume! I heard your papa is making you a fence!" Mikan, now a first grader, exclaimed enthusiastically.
"He's not making me. I'm doing it because I want to." Natsume snapped at her. Mikan pouted.
"But what's so fun about painting fences all day?"
Natsume deadpanned. He flicked her forehead. "I'm not answering that baka question, baka."
"Ow!" Mikan cried, clutching her head. Her nose scrunched up and tears formed in her eyes. She stuck her tongue at Natsume and stormed away angrily. She found out what fencing meant from her Jii-chan the next day.
During their recess, she ran up to Natsume excitedly and announced she was going to learn just like Natsume. He laughed and told her that fencing was for boys and that girls should just dance or something. It made Mikan cry and she told him she hated him and ran away with his strawberry milk.
Natsume found her after school sulking under the Sakura tree. He grabbed her hand firmly and pulled her to her feet. "Come with me Polka," he said in a no nonsense tone that only Natsume could pull off as a six-year old. He dragged her to the gym and made her sit in the bleachers. Mikan was confused when Natsume left her there. A few minutes later, third and fourth graders started piling into the gym. They were all wearing weird white marshmallow outfits with even weirder masks on their faces and wooden sticks in their hands. The boys began hitting each other with their sticks when the sensei instructed them and Mikan quickly realized this was Natsume's fencing class.
She looked for her friend, and found him in the back corner fighting a boy almost twice his size. He wasn't bad but Natsume fell many times and was whacked directly in the head many times too. Each time Mikan cringed but then gaped in awe when Natsume just got up again and again and kept fighting the big kid back. When the class was over Natsume pulled his marshmallow suit off and sat beside Mikan.
"You smell." She told him. Natsume glared at her.
"You're gonna smell like this too if you fight with the boys." Natsume teased her. Mikan made a face of disgust. Then she saw the light bruise on Natsume's head and poked it. "Ouch brat!" Natsume whined and held his head. Mikan instantly felt bad.
"Sorry...does it hurt?" She asked innocently.
"Of course it does! That's why you should just stick to dance or whatever girls do." Natsume grumbled, smoothing his hair down.
"Do you like girls that can dance?" Mikan asked curiously.
"Uhh yeah sure…" Natsume answered distractedly. Then Mr. Hyuuga came to pick up Natsume and Mikan. That night, Mikan begged Jii-chan to let her take dance lessons. Jii-chan said no at first but when she asked enough he said yes. Mikan went to school smiling and giggling the next day. She didn't get to tell Natsume during class so she waited till after school. When she went to watch him fence with the older boys and improve so quickly she decided to only show Natsume her dancing once she was good.
"Sorry Natsume, it's a secret for now." She whispered to herself and watched Natsume practice enthusiastically.
Christmas when Mikan was in the fourth grade was shaping out to be one of the worst Christmases ever, because her Jii-chan had to work that day and couldn't celebrate. She was prepared to cry and mope all Christmas when Natsume suddenly invited her to spend Christmas with his parents.
"I just don't want to see your ugly crying face everyday." He told her gruffly when she enthusiastically tackled him in a thank you hug. She was so happy she held Natsume's hand, despite his complaints, the entire way to his house. She got really nervous at the door but then Natsume just rolled his eyes and said, "Come on already, polka dots," and pulled her inside.
Mikan was instantly in awe of Natsume's house. It was her first time over and everything looked so big and fancy.
"Tadiama," Natsume announced as they walked into the living room. Natsume's mom and dad were kneeled against the christmas tree by the fireplace decorating when they came in. Hyuuga obasan was the most beautiful mama she had ever seen in her life, and Hyuuga-ojisan was the most handsome papa she had seen too. Mikan shyly hid behind Natsume.
"Okaeri Natsume." Hyuuga obasan greeted with a big smile on her face, she knelt in front of Natsume and stared intently at Mikan. "Who's this? A friend?" Mikan was mesmerized by Natsume's mama's voice.
"Yeah this is polka dots. She's spending Christmas with us." Natsume answered bluntly and shook Mikan off to plop down onto his couch. Natsume's papa laughed loudly.
"He's only ten-years-old and he's already bringing girls over, that's my son." Hyuuga ojisan laughed. Mikan blushed, although she didn't know what ojisan was saying she had a feeling he was laughing at her.
"Ioran, stop teasing her!" Hyuuga obasan yelled at ojisan. "My name Kaoru Hyuuga, what's your name sweetheart?"
"Mikan Sakura. I'm ten too!" Mikan greeted politely with a bow, just like her Jii-chan taught her.
"Haha, baba is back!" Natsume snickered. Mikan turned red with anger.
"Nat-su-me!" Mikan screeched angrily. Natsume gulped and made a run for it. She wanted to chase after him but was stopped by Kaoru Obasan.
"Wait a minute princess, you can beat up my son later, you have my full support to teach him a lesson. Do you want to help me make cookies in the kitchen?" Kaoru-san asked with a sweet smile, her violet colored eyes boring into Mikan's chocolate brown ones. Once more Mikan was entranced by Natsume's beautiful mama.
"Hai, Oba-san!" Mikan answered cheerily. With big smiles, both girls happily baked sugar cookies in the Hyuuga's gourmet kitchen while Natsume and Ioran finished adding the decorations to the tree. Kaoru-obasan asked Mikan all kinds of questions about how Mikan and Natsume became friends, and Mikan told everything with a great big smile on her face. Her smile was contagious and Kaoru-san found herself laughing and smiling with the young girl. While Mikan was telling the story of how Natsume played a prank on her, Kaoru-san leaned over to whisper:
"Nee Mikan-chan, do you have a crush on Natsume?"
"Eeeh?!" Mikan cried, turning tomato red and dropping her whisk. She knew what a crush was, all the girls in her class kept talking about who they had crushes on. It wasn't until Kaoru Obasan asked her about Natsume did Mikan realize she might actually have a crush on Natsume. "I-I think so…" she stammered and hid her face in her hands.
"Aww, you are such a cutie!" Kaoru Obasan giggled and scooped Mikan into a great big hug. "Mikan-chan you have my permission to marry Natsume, okay?"
"Eehhh?" Mikan cried again.
Later when they were all sitting around the fire, Natsume and Mikan were drinking hot chocolate and fighting for the last cookie, while Natsume's parents were sipping coffee and "secretly" making bets on how many years it would take Natsume to realize Mikan's feelings. As they were about to head off to sleep, Kaoru Obasan announced she had some big news. She and Ioran Ojisan shared a look, and Ioran Ojisan held Kaoru Obsan's hand with giddy smiles on both their faces.
"Natsume, by the time you and Mikan enter the fifth grade, you will be an Oni-san."
It was the best Christmas of their lives.
Mikan spent every day after school at Natsume's house that year and over the summer. Just before their fifth grade year began, Kaoru Obasaan went into labor and she and Natsume were sitting excitedly in the hospital trying to pick names. Kaoru Obasan said that if it was a boy, Natsume could pick the name, and if it's a girl, Mikan could pick the name. Natsume wanted Youichi and Mikan wanted the name Aoi.
"Youichi."
"Aoi-chan."
"Youichi."
"AOI-CHAN!" Mikan insisted. Natsume smirked teasingly, knowing he was getting under Mikan's skin. As they were arguing, Ioran-san with a solemn face came up to the two fifth graders. At the time, Mikan and Natsume thought nothing of it. They didn't know how much his next words would change their lives.
"Ojisan over here!" Mikan called excitedly. "Is it a boy? Is it a girl?" She asked, bouncing in her seat, unable to contain herself. Natsume was sitting on the edge of his seat. He wasn't the type to outwardly show his emotions, but Mikan had known Natsume long enough now to read his excitement.
Ioran sat down heavily, his face was turned away from the children. "You have a little sister, Natsume." He answered numbly. Mikan and Natsume, still oblivious to Ioran's tone, celebrated with a hug. When they realized what they were doing, both eleven-year-olds pulled away, embarrassed.
"When can we see Mom and Aoi, dad?" Natsume asked excitedly. Ioran's shoulder dropped. Natsume finally caught on that something serious had happened. "Dad?"
"I'm sorry, Natsume. Mommy didn't survive the operation. She's dead."
Natsume's world shattered in that moment. The Natsume that Mikan knew wasn't the kind of boy to wear his emotions on his sleeve, and she'd certainly never seen Natsume upset before. But that night, Natsume cried and cried more than Mikan thought was humanly possible. She cried as well of course. She'd come to love Kaoru Obasan and even pretended she was her real mother sometimes.
Ioran-san had to take care of Aoi and other hospital things, so Natsume was sent home with Mikan and Jii-chan. It was the first time Natsume had slept over at her house, but they were too devastated to make an event out of it. Natsume was broken and Mikan couldn't bear to leave him alone. After Jii-chan fell asleep, she snuck into Natsume's room and crept into the bed with him.
"Natsume I promise I'll never leave you." She whispered, even though she wasn't even sure if he was awake or not. Natsume turned over in his sleep and pulled Mikan against his chest like she was a teddy bear.
"Good." He whispered back and fell asleep like that. I love you Natsume, Mikan had almost told him that night.
"NATSUME!" A shrill shriek echoed through the Hyuuga household. Ioran looked up from his coffee and morning newspaper with an amused smirk. A second later, Mikan and Natsume were running across the kitchen, Mikan with a hairbrush in her hand and Natsume running away with a grin on his face. "What did you do to Aoi-chan's hair?" Mikan yelled as she ran after him. She vaguely heard Ioran-san laughing into his coffee.
"Nee-chan!" A third voice cried, chasing after Mikan and Natsume. A two-year-old Aoi Hyuuga also entered the kitchen with her hair spiked like horns with her brother's hair gel. This time Ioran spit his coffee onto his newspaper.
"NATSUME!" Ioran was soon also chasing after his son. "Don't tease your sister!" Ioran yelled loudly, putting a giggling Aoi on his shoulders as he ran after his son.
The Hyuuga family was full of love and laughter. Since Kaoru Obasan died, Ioran Oji-san and Natsume just weren't the same anymore. Mikan kept the promise that she made to Natsume that night. She spent every afternoon and the weekends of the last two years, since Obasan's passing, with the Hyuuga family and taking care of Aoi. Although the Hyuuga males were devastated those first two months, the laughter and joy that Aoi-chan brought helped them recover slowly. Somewhere along the way, Natsume and Mikan had become Aoi's official babysitters.
Natsume's smile was back now and every time he flashed that smile at her, her stomach filled with butterflies. They were closer than ever, but things were a little rocky for them at school nowadays. Their classmates no longer believed in cooties and girls were falling for Natsume left and right. Mikan had always thought Natsume was handsome, even when they were in Elementary school together, but she was quite shocked at how quickly his popularity was increasing. But all the girls knew that Mikan was Natsume's best friend, and apparently, except for Natsume, the entire school knew about Mikan's feelings. She was horrified when she found out but when her friends told her at least half the school was rooting for her, Mikan felt better.
Now if only she could tell him….
It was their final year of middle school. Natsume and Mikan were still best friends, but lately Mikan kept getting the feeling that Natsume was drifting from her. Sure they always worked together in pairs for class projects, and she was always at Natsume's house after school taking care of Aoi-chan while he was at fencing practice, but lately whenever they were at lunch, Natsume's attention seemed to be on everyone but Mikan. When they stayed after school for study session, Mikan found that she actually had to wait in line for her turn to get Natsume's help.
She wasn't too worried about it until mid-way through their eighth grade when Natsume started becoming withdrawn and throwing himself at fencing and studying with a vengeance. Something was wrong and Natsume wasn't coming to Mikan about it, so one day she cornered him after school.
"What do you want Polka? I'm not in the mood for games." Natsume sighed tiredly. Mikan just stared at him evenly.
"You can make fun of me all you want Natsume but you know you can't hide it from me." Mikan told him plainly. He responded with a glare to which Mikan gave him a pointed look. Their staring competition continued for a few minutes then Natsume finally gave a deep sigh and sank down against the wall.
"Dad's not happy about my grades dropping." He finally admitted. Mikan sat beside him and waited for him to continue. "With his new job and all, Dad is under a lot of media pressure to appear like a perfect 30 something year old leader. 'Young, dynamic, and charismatic'" Natsume mocked.
"It's a great job for him Polka, his dream. I can't mess up my dad's reputation. I can't just be good at sports or school…I need to be the best." Natsume finished with an embarrassed sigh. Mikan hmmed in response and put her head on his shoulder.
"I don't think Ojisan expects you to be 'the best' at everything, Natsume," She said, making air quotes. "Wouldn't he want you to just be yourself?" She didn't know what she said wrong, but Natsume suddenly pushed her off his shoulder.
"You don't understand polka. A lot of people look up to Dad right now. I don't want someone to say 'How can he fix our country if he can't even take care of his kid,' one day. I have to be the best." He answered angrily, and then Natsume did something he'd never done before. He stormed away.
It hurt her badly, but Mikan was not going to let Natsume get away from her. The next day she marched up to him with a plan in mind. When she got to her first hour, she went straight to Natsume's desk and smacked a pamphlet on the desk.
"What the hell Polka?" Natsume jumped in surprise.
"Gakuen Alice. It's the best high school in Tokyo. We're going there next year Natsume." Mikan told him. He looked at her like she was crazy but picked up the pamphlet anyway and quickly scanned the contents. Then, there it was, a ghost of a smile.
"With my grades, I'm sure to get in. Think you can handle this Polka?" Natsume teased her. Mikan huffed indignantly.
"Watch me!" She declared like a war cry. They spent the remainder of their middle school year stuffed in libraries and textbooks whenever they could, mostly to help Mikan study for the high school entrance exam. And in the spring, both Natsume and Mikan passed. They were going to Alice Gakuen.
FLASHBACK END
Mikan woke with a big smile on her face. It had been a long time since she had a dream about her and Natsume's childhood, and this particular night she got to see all the best and worst moments. Her feelings seemed to blossom and overflow overnight. She could barely contain her excitement as she pulled her hair into her signature braids and put on her neatly pleated Gakuen Alice uniform. Adding a flower clip Natsume had given to her at the fall festival in middle school, she was already to go.
"Jii-san, ittekimasu!" Mikan called out as she rushed out the door.
"Hey brat aren't you forgetting your breakfast?" Her Jii-san yelled back. Mikan felt like facepalming. She ran back into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of toast with rose jam, her favorite, and then dashed into the kitchen to kiss Jii-san's cheek and say good bye again. Jii-san flushed red as he always did when Mikan kissed his aged, withered cheeks, but like always let her get away with it with that fond expression in his eyes.
She barrelled into her first class with her usual spunk and vigor.
"Ohayo Minna!" She greeted brightly as usual and as usual her classmates gave her a bunch of blank stares. Mikan chuckled sheepishly and skipped to her seat next to her new hopeful friend. "Ohayo Hotaru-chan!" She greeted.
"Who gave you permission to use my name?" Hotaru Imai, otherwise known as the Ice Queen of Gakuen Alice, was Mikan's seatmate. Though most people were wise enough to stay out of Hotaru's way and leave the Ice Queen to her own devices, Mikan found Hotaru fascinating, especially since she's seen Hotaru constantly working on some gadget or another during class with a text book poorly propped up as her cover. It worked though. Hotaru never got caught.
"Oh come on Hotaru-chan, I thought we were friends already?" Mikan asked innocently. Hotaru also happened to be one of the few girls that talked to Mikan. It wasn't like Gakuen Alice was filled with mean people or anything, it's just that the students here had known each other since elementary school and the cliques and groups had long since been formed. Mikan found it hard to squeeze in anywhere. There was also the fact that Mikan just barely passed the entrance exam and had gotten a little help from a recommendation from Ioran Ojisan.
It wasn't like that for Natsume though. Natsume was assimilated into the Gakuen Alice cliques like he'd been there from the start. He made fast friendships with a group of guys. The only ones who Mikan really knew were Ruka Nogi, this sweet guy who liked animals, and their class rep Yuu Tobita. The girls at Gakuen Alice were no different from their middle school. They'd been throwing themselves at Natsume's feet since the first day of high school and after entrance ceremony, in which Natsume had given a welcome speech as student who'd scored the highest marks on the entrance exam, even the teachers and nerds in the school were quick to accept Natsume.
"No, I don't believe I agreed to this so called friendship." Hotaru spit the word out like it was a disease. Mikan sank into her seat deflated. Hotaru was a tough cookie to crack but Mikan just knew that once she got past Hotaru's icy exterior, there was a warm Hotaru inside who'd become Mikan's best, best, best friend—next to Natsume, of course.
Speaking of Natsume, her best friend was already in his seat surrounded by some of his new guy friends and a few girls that Mikan recognized from different classes. Those girls certainly weren't in their homeroom, especially that raven haired one. She looked familiar.
Mikan chewed on a pen cap trying to figure out where she had seen that face before. Then it clicked (no pun intended), that girl was Wakako Usumi. Her day instantly turned for the worse. Wakako was a great big bully and a drama queen. Mikan wasn't quick to judge people but the more she watched Wakako try to rub her breasts against Natsume's arms while reading over his shoulder, the more she felt inclined to dislike her.
"Don't worry Mikan, after lunch you'll never have to worry about her." Mikan whispered to herself, trying to get hyped. Then her insides became all wobbly like noodles. She felt like it was melting and freezing at same time and the butterflies in her stomach morphed into killer bees.
"Talking to yourself Sakura? That's never a good sign." A green-haired girl named Sumire Shouda shook her head sympathetically as she walked by Mikan. Sumire Shouda was a lot like Wakako Usumi, a bully and drama queen, the only thing that separated the two was that Sumire was not cruel, she was witty. Despite her daily tauntings, Mikan actually liked Sumire. It was more of a game to get the last word rather than a quarrel between them.
"It's called thinking aloud Permy. If you did it more often maybe people will think you actually use your brain." Mikan responded sweetly. Sumire's face flushed red and she stormed away angrily. Mikan felt she was well on her way to gaining Permy's respect.
Crap, between Hotaru and Permy, Mikan had nearly forgotten to give Natsume her letter. There was a minute before their homeroom sensei walked in and Wakako's posse finally dispersed. Mikan had to sprint to Natsume's desk and nearly barreled into him.
"Natsume!"
"What Polka? Isn't it a little early for this?" His voice was the same old, same old, teasing. It made her heart swell a little. She blushed faintly and placed the letter on his desk.
"Read this later, promise me!" She didn't give him a chance to respond and sprinted back to her seat. She managed to catch a glimpse of the confused expression on Natsume's face; a part of her wondered if it was because her heart was beating so loud that even he could hear it….naaah.
How was it? We got to see all of their childhood in this chapter :)
Man, knowing what's about to happen next really breaks my heart for Mikan. Also, I wrote most of this in 2015...or was it 2016? If something feels outdated, that's probably why.
Kiki1770
