1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

the boys in this fiction are 18 and the girls are 17. please review when your done reading!! i will accept anything you can throw at me! this is a one shot by the way.

scene 1: the cafeteria

it was lunch time in gakuen alice and our favourite characters were split into 2 groups, boys and girls.

boys: natsume hyuuga, ruka nogi, kokoroyomi and tobita yuu.

girls: mikan sakura, hotaru imai, anna and nonoko. (gomene, i dunno their last names)

everyone was happily eating when suddenly, koko read the innocent mikan's mind and he wasn't at all happy with what he heard. so, he decided to tell natsume what he heard. mainly because he knows how much natsume loves mikan or so he says.

"natsume"

"hn"

"i just read mikan's mind and she said that shes sick and tired of being the only girl who hasn't done it yet and she would make the lucky guy who dances with her longest at tonights masquerade ball, the one!! you have to do something!!". ruka immediately spat out his drink, yuu fainted and natsume almost jumped out of his seat but since his manga fell, everyone could see his shocked facial expression. hotaru took a couple of pictures while the other girls remained oblivious. ruka came back to his senses when he saw hotaru's camera flash. an idea struck him.

"ne ne, natsume, why don't you tell her how you feel and get it over with? you two have been in love since we were in elementary b. now that we're in high school, its about time you told her."said ruka and natsume knowing full well that his best friend was right simply said, "i'll tell her the truth when i feel like it! how do you expect me, the natsume hyuuga, to confess to a mizutama wearing idiot?!"

"look into her eyes and just come out and say it! even 'the great natsume hyuuga' can accomplish that much!" exclaimed the animal lover. but koko had a better idea. "hey natsume, since mikan loves music, why don't you write her a song? a song that tells her that its worth it to wait for the right guy?". natsume scratched his forehead. "thats not a bad idea. i'll get right on it."

scene 2: sakura tree

natsume sat at the bottom of the tree, a notebook in his right hand and a guitar sitting on his lap. the only thing written on the page is "save yourself mikan". in the 2 hours he spent under that tree, he only thought of those 3 little words. he tore up the page and threw it on the ground amongst all the other crushed up balls of paper. he cursed himself for being so thoughtless. then, the

unette came running towards him and grabbed the guitar in one swift motion catching the fire caster off guard but he thought fast and quickly grabbed the girl's waist

inging her to sit on his lap.

she was of course speechless by his sudden actions. she just obediently sat there admiring the black and red acoustic guitar she had in her hands. she started strumming it and was mesmerized by the sound it produced. natsume snatched the guitar, pushed mikan back a bit but not too far, just enough to fit the guitar. he started playing 'hey there delilah' by plain white ts, he also sang the lyrics, much to her surprise but she loved it all the same. she sat there listening to the song with her eyes closed as if the very song made her soar through the clouds.

when natsume stopped playing, mikan put the guitar aside and hugged natsume as a thank you for the song but the minute she pulled away natsume pulled her back making her rest her head on his chest. he had his arms around her waist preventing her from leaving. he managed to say "sleep mizutama" before drifting off on his daily afternoon nap. mikan smiled and did as she was told. they looked like a couple. natsume leaning on the tree trunk, sleeping. mikan on natsume's lap, also sleeping.

it was a beautiful sight. too bad, the people who passed them by didn't have a camera but rest assure dear readers, our favourite blackmailer and crew where stationed behind a nearby bush. out of everybody hidden behind the bush, hotaru was the only one recording the scene while ruka, koko, yuu, anna and nonoko were merely snapping shots from different angles in different shading.

"its about time they did something like this! i was starting to get poor!" said hotaru in her usual emotionless voice. "hotaru. you shouldn't be too greedy but you are right about those lovebirds over there." replied ruka. he was in love with hotaru and he had already confessed his love to the ice queen but instead of rejecting him, she told him to wait for natsume to confess to mikan. only then will she accept his love for deep deep deep down her icy cold heart, she was madly in love with him.

scene 3: the masquerade ball

mikan's room:

mikan stood in front of her full length mirror, twirling around. she wore a strapless white dress, a thin ribbon on her rib cage exactly under her bust, that showed off her petite figure. it stopped right under her knees. her hair was slightly permed and she had a white gold necklace with a silver diamond butterfly pendant around her neck. her nails were painted silvery white and she wore sparkling white strapped heels. in other words mikan was in all white.

at that moment, hotaru walked in wearing knee length lilac dress. also strapless. the top part of the dress was bordered with black. her shoes were like mikans just black and she wore a black choker. she handed mikan a white butterfly mask while she put her black one on."you look nice for once idiot."

"arigato hotaru! you don't look so bad yourself! let's get going or we'll be late!" replied mikan. they proceeded out the door and down the hall to the ceremonial hall where the ball was held. all the boys were wearing the same kind of tuxedo and all of them looked handsome though their masks were different. natsume had a white mask on (yakitate!! japan's meister kirisaki's mask without the feathers). ruka also had a white mask on ( the phantom of the opera's half mask).

narumi - sensei went up on stage and annouced that one of the students requested to sing a song, "so please welcome natsume hyuuga". everyone gasped. they were all shocked even mikan. but of course hotaru was holding her trusty video camera. she shoved a normal camera in ruka's hands. they were ready.

natsume went up on stage and his voice echoed throughout the hall, "i dedicate this song to everyone in the crowd. i hope u understand this songs message. i originally made this song for someone special to me because i heard that she was going to make a hasty decision so, to my someone special, this song is especially for you. its called 'save yourself'." then he sat on the provided chair and started strumming his guitar.

turn out the light

just say goodnight..to yourself

may i remind you

when you find you, you're all alone is when you've got to be strong

cause that's when they call you...in the night

he's got your picture in his mind