The Guardian of Gakuen Alice: Chapter 4

#06: Gakuen Alice (Natsume & Mikan)
...xXx...

"Mikan-samaaaaa," a dark red-haired girl called out and hugged Mikan.

Mikan smiled as she returned the hug. "How have you been, Eri-chan?"

Once they broke the hug, Eri's deep crimson eyes twinkled with happiness as she smiled brightly. "I'm fine. I missed you so much, Mikan-sama."

"Me, too." Mikan smiled at Eri, the Guardian of Fire Element and also the youngest guardian among the four main elements.

"Still the same cry baby, huh?" a deep voice said behind them.

A smirk graced his handsome face as the two girls turned to look at him.

A vein popped up on Eri's forehead as she clutched her fists tightly. "I'm not a cry baby!"

"You've proved it yourself now," Kira countered, and Eri gritted her teeth in fury.

Mikan shook her head. "Kira-kun…"

"Please forgive me for my rudeness, Mikan-sama." Kira smiled as Eri glared at him angrily.

Kira had a long dark brown hair and a pair of deep brown eyes. He was the second youngest guardian of the main elements, The Guardian of Earth Element.

"I see all of you have arrived," a masculine voice greeted beside them.

Three of them immediately bowed humbly at him and greeted in unison, "Kazuma-sama."

"Shall we begin?" Kazuma inquired with a smile.

Mikan replied, "As you wish, Kazuma-sama."

Soon, at the centre of the palace, four guardians stood across from each other. They closed their eyes at the same time. "Behold all of the guardians of this land, we, the guardian of four elements, shall welcome you with the head of guardian's acceptance."

The fire, earth, water and wind were created right above their heads. The elements became one and formed an ice crystal stone with a fire as the heart of the stone. Right after that, a bright magic light started surrounding the ice crystal stone from the bottom to the top. When the magic light reached the top, the ice crystal stone slowly broke into a million pieces and spread around the palace. As the magic light dimmed, the broken pieces of the ice crystal stone started forming different sub-guardians. Mikan, Kazuma, Kira and Eri formed a perfect line in front of the throne when a man started materialising before them. He had a gold crown symbol at the centre of his forehead. His long dark brown hair was tied in a low ponytail. His emerald eyes scanned the guardians. "As the head of guardian, I welcome all of you to the palace."

"Thank you for the invitation, Kazuya-sama," Mikan greeted with a polite bow. She did the greeting alone because she was the oldest guardian among them.

Kazuya nodded in reply and commanded, "Let's begin our meeting."

After a few hours of arguing among the sub-guardians, Kazuya stopped the meeting to take a break.

Right after Kazuya disappeared, Kazuma immediately went to Mikan. "Mikan, my mother wishes to see you."

Mikan smiled. "Please lead the way, Kazuma-sama."

Kazuma took her hand and left.

As soon as they were alone, Kira asked Eri, "Do you think what I'm thinking right now?"

Eri nodded. "It was Kazuma-sama who tried to change the rules regarding the marriage among guardians."

"Regarding the rules, you will be Kazuma-sama's future wife. It was the same case with me and Mikan-sama," Kira said, and Eri nodded again.

"Tell me, do you like Kazuma-sama?" he asked suddenly while looking into her eyes.

Her deep crimson eyes widened in surprise. "What are you talking about? Of course not, silly! I only look at Kazuma-sama as a brother since he was the second oldest guardian among us."

Kira took her hands and dragged her out from the meeting hall.

"Kira-kun, where are we going?" Eri asked, confused, but Kira remained silent.

When they reached a flower garden, he turned to her. "Is there any guardian you like?"

"Huh?" She stared at him, bewildered.

He sighed. "I asked you, is there any guardian you like?"

Eri blushed and looked away from him. "It's none of your business."

"Yes, it's my business."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"No."

"Yes."

Kira smirked proudly.

Eri clasped her mouth immediately and punched his chest. "You’re cheating!"

"I'm not, cry baby." Kira grinned.

Eri glared at him angrily. "I'm not telling you anything!"

"So you have someone you like, huh?" Kira concluded.

She groaned. "Leave me alone!"

When she was about to walk away, Kira grabbed her wrist. Before she could give him a piece of her mind, he kissed her on the lips. She gasped in surprise, and he used this chance to deepen the kiss. She was immediately melted into his kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. Their faces flushed red because of the heat, and the colour of the symbol on their foreheads became brighter. Seeing this, they broke the kiss immediately, realising they almost broke the rules, the same rules they were discussing about for hours. They stared into each other's eyes as they realised the same thing.

They loved each other.

"No," she mumbled and tears started forming in her eyes.

He pulled her into his arms and gently told her, "Please don't cry, Eri. We will help each other. You know Kazuma-sama loves Mikan-sama for centuries. That was why he tried to change the rules now. Why don't we help them, so we can be together, too?"

...xXx...

"Good evening, Shina-sama," Mikan greeted with a polite bow.

Shina smiled. "How have you been, Mikan?"

"Good, Shina-sama."

Shina took her hands. "It seems my son has been bothering you."

"I have not," Kazuma answered quickly.

"Kazuma-sama only gave me an honour by visiting me a couple times in a month, Shina-sama," Mikan added.

Shina sighed. "I believe the meeting is not finished yet."

Mikan nodded, and Shina looked at Kazuma. "Do you know what you are doing, Kazuma?"

"I’m aware of what I’m doing, Mother," Kazuma replied confidently.

"Can you leave us alone, Kazuma?" Shina requested, and Kazuma immediately looked at Mikan, who gave him a nod.

Kazuma smiled. "As you wish, Mother."

When they were alone, Shina looked at Mikan. "Have you considered my son as your future husband, Mikan?"

Mikan remained silent as she didn't know how to answer that question. She knew it was because of Kazuma that this meeting was held right now. Everything was because of her, or rather than because he wanted to be with her. By law, she had to marry Kira, the Guardian of Earth Element, not Kazuma.

Shina held Mikan's hands as she softly said, "You’re not in love with my son, are you?"

Mikan closed her eyes, and Shina smiled. She already knew Mikan would never love her son Kazuma. Not because of Kazuma was not a great guardian nor not love her enough. Mikan was just heavily tied to the humans because of Yuka Sakura, her mother and the former Guardian of Water Element, who had fallen in love with a human a long time ago. Yuka was frozen forever as a punishment because she didn't want to give up her feelings toward the human.

...xXx...

Where am I? Natsume thought after he opened his eyes. Once again, he was greeted by the morning sun. He then heard a melody that was playing not far from him. He inspected his right shoulder, and as expected, it was healed. He had a good idea that it was Mikan who healed him. Slowly, he stood up and walked to the source of the melody. His eyes widened at the sight in front of him. A big version of a fairy hummed softly as the wind along with the leaves created a fairy house. When the melody was ended, the fairy turned around to look at him.

They stared into each other's eyes. Silence engulfed both of them.

The fairy broke the silence, "I see that you’re awake. How are you feeling?"

Natsume was stunned. Is she the one who saved me? I know she's a fairy but who is she?

"It looks like you've forgotten who I am." The fairy sighed and looked away from him. Her three pairs of white wings started flapping, and she slowly lifted to the mid-air. With a snap of her finger, her appearance returned to her small version.

His eyes widened in realisation. She was the first fairy I met. Fin.

"So, how are you feeling?" Fin asked.

"Where's Mikan?" he asked, ignoring her question.

A vein popped up on her forehead as she glared at him. "You should call her Mikan-sama."

"She was the one who asked me to call her Mikan only."

She turned silent. Don't tell me Mikan-sama already invited him to the castle...You're way too nice with the humans, Mikan-sama...

He stared at her as he waited for her answer.

"Mikan-sama is having a meeting with the other guardians." Fin flew towards her house and added, "I don't know when she will return."

He didn’t want to admit it, but he was disappointed. He turned his heels and walked back to the academy.

...xXx...

Three days had passed. At the moment, he was trying to get some rest after his mission but failed miserably. He groaned before getting up from bed. He then walked to his balcony and stared up at the sky. He sighed. For now, he would admit that he missed Mikan, so much that it became a headache. He looked at the clock, and it read 02:30 AM. He made his way out from the room and went to favourite place, under the sakura tree. The night was cold of course, but because of his Alice, he was perfectly fine. He sat down on the base of the tree while leaning against the trunk. He closed his eyes for several minutes. However, he snapped his eyes open when he heard soft footsteps. He was greeted by a warm smile of the girl he missed so much. He clenched his fists as he tried to control himself from hugging her right away. She sat down beside him without saying anything. Truth to be told, the silence was unbearable for him.

"How are you doing, Natsume?" she finally asked.

"Hn," he replied shortly and looked up at the sky again. He couldn't look at her in the eye, afraid that he might not be able to hold himself.

She hummed before looking up at the black sky as well.

Ignoring his pride, he uncharacteristically asked, "How about you?"

She nodded with a hum. "It was good, I guess." The silence returned, and she sighed mentally. She stood up. "I think I will leave you alone now."

When she was about to walk away, he caught her wrist.

She turned to look down at him. She looked at him quizzically. "Yes?"
"Stay," he muttered softly. His bangs were covering his eyes. He closed his eyes before opening it again and stared up at her. "Stay with me…"

Prev Chapter 1—The Unknown Saviour Chapter 2—The Land's Guardian Chapter 3—The Invitation Chapter 4—The Meeting Chapter 5—The Child Chapter 6—The Choices Chapter 7—The Requirements Chapter 8—The Ascendant's Memories Chapter 9—The Guardian of Gakuen Alice Next