"Paper-Cut"
Sometimes, the littlest of things can turn into something special.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any of its subjects. If i did, the story plot might have gone along the lines of The Three Little Pigs. And the Little Red Riding Hood might've been out of a job.

To SnowMirage: Here it is. Again, I'm sorry about the delay :/ Its a really complicated story, i'll tell yah about it later :-)

Decidated to my friend Anna, as she dared me to write on the topic of 'Paper Cuts'.

"Itai!" A girl's loud screech brought angry glares from her classmates.

The girl, oblivious to the fact, groaned.

"I got a paper-cut…" The said girl whipped her bronze pigtailed locks around to face her best friend.

"Ne, Hotaru, would you kiss it?" She asked, holding out her bleeding index finger.

"Baka Mikan. Why would I do that?" the violet-eyed girl snapped.

"Because," Mikan replied cheerfully, "grandpa used to tell me that if you kiss a paper cut, your finger would heal faster, and it would make the pain go away."

Undoubtedly, the elderly grandparent must have said so to stop her from crying when she had last gotten a paper cut. Hotaru sighed. She did not want to tell Mikan how untrue and mythical that was – her grandpa had said it, after all. She couldn't wrong the only parent who had brought up her best friend.

"Baka. I am busy, and I do not wish to get your idiotic germs on my mouth. No go away, or else I will hit you with my baka gu—" Hotaru froze, stopping mid-sentence. If you were to zoom in and take a deeper look at her figure, you could see that evil glint in her eyes…the one that always appears when there is money to be made, and blackmailing to be done.

Yes, dear readers, Imai Hotaru had an idea.

"...Mikan." Hotaru's voice was softer than usual, and the tone immediately captured the cheerful brunette's attention.

The hazel-eyed girl adverted her eyes from the tiny speck of red fluid on her finger to her best friend's face.
Mikan grinned. "Will you kiss it now?"

"No." Hotaru's sweet tone was gone, annoyance taking its place.

"I was thinking…why don't you ask someone else. Like…Ruka, to kiss your finger."

"…Why?!" Mikan whined.

"Be-cause. People of the opposite gender cure paper cuts better. Remember your grandpa? He was a guy. See how fast he cured your paper-cut?"

Mikan Blinked. Then a wide smile spread across her face.

"Arigatou, Hotaru! You are a genius!"

And she rushed off to find Ruka.

Meanwhile, Hotaru, too went off to find Ruka. But, she pondered, smirking, it had nothing to do with paper-cuts.

Ruka's P.O.V.

How I love the barn. Rarely anyone comes up here, so it's just my animals and I. But just when we were getting ready to sing Old McDonalds, the barn door burst open.

"Ruka-pyon!" the intruder sang.

I froze. The nickname, the cheerfulness, the two long twists of auburn hair that swung as she closed the door…these characteristics could only belong to one person. Sakura Mikan.
I felt my heard beating faster and my cheeks turning red.

"M-mikan…what are you doing here?"

"Sorry Ruka, for interrupting you…but I was wondering if you could give me a kiss!" she replied, ever so innocently.

"WHAT?!" Ruka looked shocked, bewildered, nervous, confused, and happy all at the same time. (A/N: If you can make such a face, I would like to see it. I would sure do with a few laughs! End/)

"K-Kiss…you?"

"Yup!" Mikan replied cheerfully.

Ruka frowned. Yes, he liked the girl…but he was getting more and more uncertain about his feelings each passing day. And besides, his best friend needed her more than she did.

So, still not understanding the real meaning of what the girl really meant, Ruka answered, "I'm sorry…I need to feed the animals. Why don't you ask Natsume? I'm sure he would love to help you."

And Ruka marched away, feeling proud of what he had just done, his animals trailing behind him.

Natsume's P.O.V.

I flinched ever so slightly as I slowly moved my arm to heave myself up from my sleeping position.

I should have been more careful and spent more time bandaging it, I thought, checking my left long sleeve for signs of blood. Damn that Persona.

Just as the I was about to doze off again, feeling the nice breeze of the lake, the sound of a pair of boots clumsily thumping the grass could be heard.

"Natsume!" a carefree brunette sang. "Natsume, I've been looking all over for you!"

I sighed. Yes, I loved the girl. But that doesn't mean I enjoy it when she interrupts my rest time. Okay, well, maybe a little bit…wait, what am I saying?!

Augh. I'll deal with this later.

"Natsume-kun! Could you kiss me?," Mikan asked when she caught her breath.

I was...more than startled. And what was that…excitement? But, being able to control my emotions, I was able to hide it.

"Why would I do that, polka-dots?," I responded, making sure my indifference was in place.

Mikan pouted. "Stop calling me that! Its because I got a paper cut today. Grandpa said that if someone kisses my hurt finger, then it would heal faster!"

"Why don't you ask your best friend, Imai? Or Ruka?"

"Ruka and Hotaru were both busy." Mikan responded sadly. I felt myself heat up. She had asked Ruka before me? So she liked Ruka better than I?

"I'm busy too, then." I snarled. "Now go away."

"…Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"NO."

"Pretty, pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top and a—" Mikan pleaded with all her might, but I interrupted her.

"Alright!Now be quiet!," I snapped. I bent down and quickly pressed my lips to her finger. There. When was this woman going to grow up? Can't she learn that people needed to be left alone once in awhile?

"Thank you, Natsume-kun!" she squealed. And to my horror, she bent down and gave me a big hug.

I gasped out in pain. I couldn't help it. The pressure she had put on my scarred arm was too much.

She realized I had stiffened at her touch, and quickly let go…but not quickly enough. My right arm grabbed hold of my left arm on instinct.

I took a quick peek at her…a big mistake. Her eyes showed concern at the arm I was gripping, and as I locked my eyes with hers, she had taken notice of the pain and suffering my eyes reflected.

Silence.

"Natsume-kun," the brunette whispered softly, "let me take a look at that wound."

I would have responded defiantly, if it wasn't for the agony that my arm had brought me. Reluctantly, I watched her carefully roll up my sleeve and unwrap my hastily-done bandages.

After all the bloodstained pieces of cloth were removed, the both of us stared down at the injury. Then, Mikan took some of the lake water (Remember, Natsume was not down at the Sakura tree, but near the lake…if there is one! Haha) and splashed it on the wound. I watched her face as she gently dabbed at it, cleansing it. She was so beautiful…

The wound was now clean, the scattered blood gone, and I was surprised to find that my wound was only a deep gash.

I had expected more than that.

"…You know, Natsume-kun. Your wound is nothing more than a huge paper-cut."

The softness in her voice jolted me out of my thoughts.

"A paper-cut?" I raised an eyebrow. What was going inside this woman's head now?

She nodded. "Yep. And with a kiss, it will heal faster and make the pain go away."

With that, she brought her face up to my hurt limb, and gave it a soft kiss. I let out a soft gasp and my cheeks reddened slightly. The spot on my arm where she had kissed was tingling, but I didn't feel any pain at all.

Silently, I watched Mikan take my bloody bandages, rinse them in the lake water, wring the water out of it, and bandage me up.

She tapped my shoulder when she was done.

"I have to go to class now. Jinno-sensei is making me take after-school prep because my grades are too low." She heaved a sigh. "Ja!"

"Wait, Polka-dots!" I called out, using my uninjured right hand as support to sit up straighter.

"What is it?," she asked, turning around.

"Thanks." The word tumbled out awkwardly on my tongue, as if I was pronouncing a foreign word.

She smiled – a bright smile, the ones that I have looked forward to everyday. "Your welcome, Natsume-kun! Take care of yourself!"

And off she went.

A few days later…

A brunette nullifier holding a picture book, sitting on one of Central Town's park benches, emitted a surprised gasp. Her hand was in mid-air, clutching a page.

The hazel-eyed girl quickly released the paper, and clutched a spot less than a centimeter away from her upper lip.

"I think I got a paper-cut…"

-End-

Revised: 5/19/07 - Due to some critical errors, I've decided to get my lazy bum on working this thing :-p Thanks for everyone who reviewed to improve this story.

Author's Notes: Hurrah! You managed to read through...or at least, scroll down and got the the end of the story! Was it good? Harsh
critisizing and flames accepted - It's my first time writing a fanfiction (or at least posting one on the web), so I would really be interested to know what I have to improve.

If not, at least spend a few seconds and drop a review my way, please? I would be forever grateful :-)