The Princess of Sakura Kingdom: Chapter 1
...xXx...
"Welcome to Alice Academy, Princess Mikan," Narumi-sensei gestured with open hands as he smiled at Mikan.
"You don't need to be so formal with me, Narumi-sensei," Mikan said and looked at the teachers around her, greeting her with much care and respect.
"Pleased to meet you, everyone," Mikan greeted with courteousness.
The teachers felt the warmth in her greeting and replied in unison, "Pleased to meet you, Princess Mikan."
The grand gate of Alice Academy swung open for the arrival of the awaited princess and sakura petals rained her way to the huge door of the academy.
Narumi-sensei trailed behind her as she began, "My father told me a lot about this school. He, too, had graduated from here. Please take care of me from now on."
"We already received the letter from your father, so don't worry about it," Narumi-sensei said with a small smile. "We will help you as much as we can, Princess." He bowed humbly, pleased by the princess's presence in their prestigious school.
"Thank you very much, Narumi-sensei."
Narumi-sensei handed a golden key and a white mask with a sakura print on the right side. "This is the key to your room and your mask as you requested. You can start the class tomorrow."
"Thank you." Mikan nodded before putting the mask on.
Narumi-sensei offered her another smile. "Then, see you tomorrow, Princess Mikan."
...xXx...
Someone's here, Natsume thought in alarm. He looked down from the branch and mentally gasped. A masked girl?
This place is sure a relaxing place, Mikan mused as she sat down and leaned against the tree. Closing her eyes, she started humming a song, which made all the sakura petals started to gather and form a small, pretty fairy. The fairy started to dance along the wind as she sang.
Who is she? Is that her Alice? Natsume looked at Mikan curiously.
When Mikan finished singing her song, she held her palm, prompting the little fairy to sit on it. "May I know your name, little one?"
The fairy bowed at her. "My name is Fin. My friend, the wind, speaks about you a lot. You must be Mikan-sama, the Princess of Sakura Kingdom."
Did the fairy say Sakura Kingdom? Natsume thought in disbelief. The Sakura Kingdom was famous for their ability to control nature. Rumour said that the princess had the ability to control each and every element, and that gained herself a nickname—the daughter of the gods.
"Oh, so you already know about me. Yes, I'm the Princess of Sakura Kingdom." A smile was formed upon her lips.
Fin's little eyes stared at her. "Why you are wearing a mask, Princess?"
Mikan smiled. "It's because I attend this school as a normal person, not as a princess. I heard from Narumi-sensei that it's okay for me to wear a mask since some of the students here also wear one." Looking at her watch, she said, "I'm sorry, Fin. I need to go to my room now."
Before dissolving into the wind, Fin replied, "You can call me anytime when you need me, Princess."
Natsume's eyes were fixed on her back as she walked away from the sakura tree. Jumping down from the tree, he then walked back to his room. He smirked. The Princess of Sakura Kingdom, huh?
...xXx...
"Good morning, class," Narumi-sensei greeted cheerfully, but only a few students greeted him back.
"Alright, today, we will have a new classmate." Narumi-sensei informed, but as always, the class was busy with themselves.
Our fire caster covered his face with a manga while his best friend, Ruka Nogi, was busy playing with his rabbit.
"Please come in, Mika-chan," Narumi-sensei said with a sigh.
Mikan walked into the class, and the student became silent at once.
A beautiful brunette with a pair of hazel eyes, walked with grace towards the teacher. Although half of her face was cover with a white mask, everyone knew that she was indeed a beautiful girl.
"I'm Mika Yukihira. Pleased to meet you, everyone." Her honey-voice chimed as she introduced herself.
"What kingdom do you come from?"
"Are you a princess?"
"What's her Alice?"
With questions darting one after another, the class grew noisier by the second. A certain fire caster, who couldn't stand the noise, got annoyed with his fellow classmates. With a twitch in his eyebrow, the room got hotter. The class went rigid because they knew who was behind this. Suddenly, the room's temperature shot to normal almost in an instant, and the class went puzzled by the sudden change.
"I'm sorry. That was my Alice. I have the Nullification Alice which cancels out other Alices." Mikan giggled nervously. "I'm from Sakura Kingdom, and no, I'm not a princess."
The class looked away from her, disappointed.
"What? Not a princess? That's not fun at all."
"I thought she was princess since she's very beautiful."
Is it really you? A certain someone with a pair violet eye thought. Her eyes narrowed, thinking deeply.
"All right, who wants to be Mika-chan's partner?" Narumi-sensei asked, but none had their hands raised up because they either had a partner, or they just didn't like the new girl.
Why did it become like this? Narumi-sensei thought with a mental sigh. He then looked at Natsume. "Ahh… How about you, Natsume-san? Would you become Mika-chan's partner?"
The class gasped in disapproval.
"Narumi-sensei, this girl can't be Natsume-sama's partner."
"Yeah, yeah, after all, Natsume-sama is the Prince of Hyuuga Kingdom."
"Even though she came from Sakura Kingdom, but she's not even a princess."
Narumi-sensei was thrown with so many disagreement glares and complains. He then held up his hand to silent the class. "How about we ask Natsume-san for his opinion?"
Narumi-sensei then gazed at the raven-haired prince. "What do you say, Natsume-san?"
The fan girls started praying Natsume would refuse.
"Whatever," Natsume replied, seeming not interested at all in the matter, but deep inside his heart, pleasure engulfed him.
"It's settled then! Mika-chan, you will have to sit right beside Natsume-san," Narumi-sensei said cheerily.
Mikan nodded her head, understood.
"Okay, free period for all of you," Narumi-sensei chirped before leaving the classroom.
Just when Mikan wanted to go to her seat, a green-haired girl and her friends intercepted her.
"Hey, new girl, don't think you can just sit beside Prince Natsume so easily," one of the girls sneered.
"Even I, the Princess of Shouda Kingdom, Sumire Shouda, can't have a chance to become Prince Natsume's partner," added the green-haired girl. She looked at Mikan in disgust. "What about you? A nobody! Who do you think you are?"
"Don't think highly of yourself when you are only a commoner," snarled another girl.
Just when Sumire was about to open her mouth, three fists were sent across her face, sending her flying across the classroom.
BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!
"You talk too much," the inventor stated in a monotonous tone, holding her Baka Gun.
"Ah, Princess Sumire, are you alright?" one of the fan girls asked and helped Sumire on her feet.
"Princess Hotaru, how could you shoot Princess Sumire like that!" another fan girl protested.
Hotaru gave her a glare. "Do you want a taste of my Baka Gun also?"
That successfully shut them from questioning her. She then dragged Mikan away from the classroom.
The rest of the class was confused because the famous Hotaru Imai, the Princess of Imai Kingdom, would never help a normal person without a fee.
Looks like Imai knows her as well, Natsume thought as he left the classroom in silence.
...xXx...
"You must be Princess Hotaru from Imai Kingdom, right?" Mikan confirmed politely.
Hotaru frowned a bit. "Cut the crap. You can fool others, but not me, Mika-san. Or should I say, Princess Mikan from Sakura Kingdom?"
After a long pause, Mikan sighed. "You caught me. You're still wonderful as always, Hotaru-chan." She took off her mask for a while and put them back on again, just to prove her identity.
"I told you, you can fool others but not me. Why are you here, Mikan? I always thought the King will never let you out from the castle," Hotaru asked, curious by her presence in school. She knew perfectly well about Mikan's ability to control every element, which made her being targeted by wicked people. So, the King had never let her out from the castle even for a minute.
"We made a deal. He will let me out if I could keep my identity from the other students," Mikan explained.
Hotaru nodded and muttered, "I see…"
"But if the other students found out about my identity, the King or should I say, my father will take me back to the castle again." Mikan sighed, and Hotaru tapped on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll keep your secret, but you will need to pay me a certain amount of rabbits for each month," Hotaru said with a wide grin.
Mikan sweat dropped and mumbled, "Meanie."
Before leaving Mikan, she said, "This school is full with baka people who always think highly of themselves. I might not be able to protect you every time, Mikan, so please take care of yourself."
"Arigatou, Hotaru-chan." Mikan waved at her. Instead of going back, she entered the Northern Forest.
So, she really is the Princess of Sakura Kingdom, huh? Natsume thought as he discreetly followed after Mikan.
Standing in the middle of the Northern Forest, Mikan closed her eyes and started humming a very beautiful song. Slowly, everything around her started to gather and form into beautiful fairies from different elements. As she finished her song, she opened her eyes, delighted to see many fairies around her and played with them. When it was getting dark, she decided to go back to her room and get some dinner. Just when she turned around, she met a pair of crimson eyes who were staring at her with pure interest.
"A-ano… y-you must be Prince Natsume from Hyuuga Kingdom," Mikan stammered, frozen on her ground. She then walked backward when Natsume approached her with his eyes fixed on hers.
"Are you afraid of me?"
"N-no, it's just… I-I…" Her mind went blank as she didn't know what to say.
"I know about your identity, your real name is Mikan Sakura, the Princess of Sakura Kingdom." He smirked, causing her to gasp in panic.
"Please, please don't tell anyone about this. I want to stay here," Mikan begged as tears started to form in her eyes.
He eyed her meticulously. "I won't tell anyone, if and only if, you agree to become my girlfriend so that stupid fan girls won't come near me anymore."
"G-girlfriend?" she stuttered, confused. This was the first time for her to have a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship.
"Don't tell me you never had a boyfriend before?" he asked bluntly, and she blushed. He smirked again as this was also his first time for having a girlfriend because most of the girls were annoying creatures, so he decided not to have one.
"Your answer?" he asked while looking at her closely. His eyes showed no emotion, but his thoughts were doing the opposite, Say yes!
"O-okay," she agreed, avoiding his gaze.
He smiled a little, but she didn't notice it. He was happy, but he didn't give any sign on it.
"Good girl. Since you are my girlfriend now, I will give you something special." He chuckled darkly, and she gave him a confused look.
He took off her mask, and thankfully, she didn't protest. He gazed at her beautiful face. I won't let any other guy see your face, Mikan.
He leaned closer to her face, and she flushed deep red. He cupped her chin and pressed his lips with hers while hugging her tense body. It started with a gentle kiss, and then, he gently bit her lips, asking for entry. She froze on her ground. She tried to protest, but she couldn't. His grip around her waist was too tight and strong for her. She gave up and slowly gave in to the kiss. She let him guide her. The kiss lasted for minutes before they broke apart, giving each other space to breathe. They looked into each other's eyes.
"I'll never let any guy touch you, Mikan. Do you understand?" he whispered into her ear.
"Y-yes," she stuttered, feeling weak on her knees. Still in shock and couldn't believe what she had done, she let the darkness engulfed her mind.
Nastume, who was aware about her current state of mind, was there to catch her unmoving form and carried her in bridal style. He kissed her forehead tenderly and smiled. "What a good girl. That's my Mikan Sakura."