I do not own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters. But a girl can dream…

The Bet

By Claire-ify

Chapter 1: Beginnings

A young woman woke up to the sound of rustling cloth. As she took in her surroundings, she realized that the noise was coming from the man who spent last night with her. He was lean but had a muscular body accompanied by tanned skin. His spiked, dark hair fell into place as he ran a hand through it. The woman felt her breathe hitch in her throat when those gorgeous, crimson eyes bore through hers. It took a moment for her to realize that her amazing boyfriend of two days was leaving.

She smiled. "Oh, are you getting coffee? How sweet! I'll have a-"

"Are you stupid or something?" he interrupted her with a hurtful glare.

The woman blinked. "Huh?" Why was he so different? What happened to the charming man from the past two days? He was always cold, but not this cold.

"So that's a yes, then. Listen, I'll make this simple for you. We are not a couple. Just because I slept with you for two days, doesn't mean I'm your pathetic boyfriend willing to be at your beck and call. You mean next to nothing to me." He said all of these horrible words in a monotone voice. It seemed as if he were used to this speech.

Tears sprung to the woman's eyes. She felt her heart shatter in the hands of this man who she thought was the one. "But why?" she sobbed, " I thought we looked so good together! How could you do this to me, Natsume!" she screamed as she brought her hands to her face.

The man identified as Natsume merely sighed and walked to the door. When his hand grasped the doorknob he stopped. "I don't normally do this but," he turned to face her, his hand still on the doorknob, "Do you really want to know why I'm ending this?"

The young woman, still sobbing, nodded vigorously.

"You annoy me." he said, matter-of-factly. She let out a strangled cry. "You're materialistic. All you think about is yourself. Not to mention you're a gold digger. I bet you'd marry an old geezer if he promised you riches and a big house, right?" He didn't wait for an answer. "To tell you the truth, the only thing I like about you was your body." Natsume opened the door. Before he left the hysterical woman's apartment for good, he told her one more thing. "You're not for me, so stop crying, Luna," and he walked the rest of the way out of the building without so much as a second thought about the broken-hearted woman he so cruelly left behind.

It wasn't as if this was the first time he's done such a thing, not at all. In fact, he had done this so many times with countless women, that he began to wonder if maybe it had lost some of its fun.

In front of an impressive-looking building, a young woman of 24 years walked down the street with a very calm and content smile on her face. She was thin and a little on the short side, but had long, luscious hair with different shades of brown highlighting it. Her eyes were wide and held way too much innocence for someone who saw as much as she did. Her name was Mikan Sakura.

She smiled as she looked at the sky. Today's going to be a beautiful day, I can tell, she thought.

Her thoughts drifted until it reached her painful past. By the time Mikan realized it, she couldn't stop the memories that engulfed her into depression once more.

It all started when she was ten and her best friend, Hotaru, had been taken from the very academy that she had been fleeing all her life. Hotaru and her had been very close and were more like sisters, even though Hotaru didn't show her feelings for Mikan very much…or at all. Still, it broke her heart when she learned that Hotaru was leaving her for the academy willingly.

Her mother, Yuka, had escaped the academy when she was still a student and had told her about all the horrors of the school. Her mom had promised to protect her from Alice Academy as long she could. Mikan remembered how she never said the word death, because in their world, death was a big possibility and speaking of it so carelessly was not appreciated.

Mikan remembered how, after Hotaru had left and the dangers of being wanted by Alice Academy increased, she had become cold and cruel. She was ruthless and merciless when it came to defeating her enemies and did whatever she could to help protect her mother. She was feared by so many.

It wasn't until the death of her mother a few years later that she changed back to her old self, to the person she was today.

Two years ago, she sat beside her mother's unmoving body behind an old, rundown warehouse, crying out her soul from the unfairness of it all. Her mother had been hit by several bullets and was minutes away from death. There was nothing Mikan could do. That fact alone made her cry even harder. Mikan remembered her mother opening her eyes slightly and saying, "Mikan, why are you crying, baby girl? I like it so much better when you smile. With your smile, you have the power to warm the hearts of all those who have forgotten how to… Including me. So, my little angel, I want you to smile more, like you always used to before Hotaru left. I don't like seeing you like this, all sad and much too independent. Sometimes you have to rely on others, baby girl. So be happy, like you used to be. I just want to see one more smile before I leave." It took a few tries before Mikan could manage to smile a big, full out smile so that her mother could die a happy woman. But she did; Yuka had died with a smile.

Mikan spent a lot of her mother's savings so that she could be buried next to her father's grave. A few days after her funeral, Mikan was captured and taken to Alice Academy. It was there that her spirit had officially come back, for she had been reunited with Hotaru, and befriended two others: Sumire Shouda, a sassy, green-eyed girl who had stayed at the academy to support Hotaru, and Misaki Harada, an up-beat, determined girl a few years older than them who was, like them, a teacher.

None of them wanted to be there. It was horrible with all the missions and what-not, so Mikan had blackmailed the Elementary School Principal and got all of her friends out of the school with both the money they earned and the money another teacher, Narumi, had given them, which was a lot. They had left as soon as they said good bye to the children.

The four girls had paired up with each other and bought condos in buildings right across each other (it was the closest they could get to each other). Sumire was paired with Misaki, since they had a special relationship, and Mikan felt it was only right that she shared a condo with Hotaru, considering their history and everything. Within two weeks, they had all settled in and had gotten real jobs. But best of all, they were happy and that was all Mikan could ask for.

Mikan rounded another corner and faced her bakery. It was built in an old fashioned style and was decorated with red and blue trimmings which stood out against the calm yellow of the walls. The small building had a window that displayed all sorts of different kinds of candy and baked goods. Above the window was a sign with intricately painted writing that read, Sakura's Bakery: Sweets and Wonders. Mikan stepped into the shop. The tinkling bell sounded when she opened the door.

Her bakery didn't have the 'wonder' part of its name until Anna started working as a chef there. Anna had the cooking alice which enabled her to make weird/cool/amazing things that she cooked. She was also a classmate of Hotaru and Sumire. Anna was a very sweet girl and her personality matched her cooking skills. Because of this, she and Mikan had immediately hit it off. Mikan never made any big decisions without her consent.

"Anna, I'm here!" Mikan called out with cupped hands around her mouth. "Sorry if I'm late!" She waited for the flour-covered girl to come out of the kitchen to greet her. She walked behind the counter.

As expected, Anna walked out of the swinging kitchen door holding a large, silver bowl with steaming purple dough (at least, that's what Mikan hoped it was) bubbling inside it. Her curly, pink hair was dusted with flour, as was her apron and clothes. "No problem," Anna said. Her crystal, blue eyes shone mischievously. "Did you meet someone on the way here? Perhaps a male someone?"

"Ugh, will you just leave me alone about the whole boyfriend thing?," Mikan said after her eyebrow was finished twitching. "I don't want a guy right now. I'm perfectly capable-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself and have been doing so for years." Anna finished. She sighed. "Mikan, having a boyfriend isn't just about having someone around to take care of you. It's-"

"Hey guys, I'm back from my mom's!" announced a dark blue-haired girl. It was Nonoko, Anna's best friend from Alice Academy. She had midnight coloured eyes that matched her straight hair. Nonoko sometimes helped out at Sakura's Bakery to spend time with Anna and Mikan, but had a real job as a chemist, which suited her alice (alice of chemistry) perfectly.

"Nonoko! I'm so glad that you're back. Putting up with the boy-obsessed freak over here was really starting to wear me out," Mikan said as she returned Nonoko's hug.

"Hey, what about me?" Anna asked as she put down the large bowl and moved to hug the two as well.

She let out a disappointed sigh. "Come one, I'm not that dirty," she said after she crossed her arms and glared at them.

"Yes, you are. You're covered in purple-god-knows-what. You're filthy," replied Nonoko simply.

Mikan giggled. "You sound just like Hotaru when I try to touch her." All three of them laughed at that. Everyone knew that no one could be like Hotaru. "Oh!" Mikan exclaimed. "Sorry, but I have to deliver a few things to Grandpa and Misaki. Nonoko, could you please work the counter?' she asked, gesturing to the two packages to her right.

"That's what I'm here for," was the reply.

"Thanks. I don't know what I would've done without you two," Mikan said gratefully.

"Hire new employees?" suggested Anna, earning a laugh from everyone. It was a known fact that many people wanted to work at Sakura's Bakery because of the great pay and thrill of seeing Anna's creations and Nonoko's experiments with chemicals on her free time.

"I'll be back in and hour or so," Mikan said as she picked up a small package, "and please do not set the place on fire while I'm gone this time, okay?" She glared at the two shrinking figures.

"It was an accident… I said I was sorry…" mumbled a flushed Anna.

"It was just a few experiments gone wrong… Only happened once or twice." Nonoko was defensive again.

Mikan just laughed and waved good bye. Once she was outside, she shifted the package to a more comfortable position, then began the short walk to her grandpa's apartment.

"I already told you, I don't need a husband or a boyfriend," Mikan told Grandpa with an exasperated sigh. What was with everyone and telling her to go and get hitched? She was just fine by herself and all of her friends.

"Mikan, sweety, I know you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself and have been doing so for years," Grandpa started.

Mikan's eyebrows wrinkled together. Did she really say it that often?

"And I know that you say you're not lonely. But I've known you for years. I see the way you stare out into space and I know that you're thinking about you're mother. Hotaru has also told me that she's noticed you looking at small children with a 'disgustingly sad' look on your face."

Good-for-nothing traitor, she thought. When exactly did Hotaru start talking with her Grandpa anyways?

"Mikan." His voice interrupted her thoughts. "Do you want a child?"

She couldn't lie to him. She could never lie to her grandpa. "Okay, fine! So what if I want a child? It's natural for a woman to wish for children," Mikan fumed, 'And it's only 'cause I've wanted a family of my own since Mom died… A real family…" she trailed off.

Damnit, he won again. I hate how easily he and Hotaru can read me, she thought bitterly. Mikan looked up to see Grandpa's sympathetic face staring down at her. She sighed at the unnerving feeling of emotions tumbling inside of her. Yes, she was a little lonely, but that was to be expected, right?

"Look Grandpa, I just came here to bring you some candy, I didn't come here for-" Mikan cut off. She forgot the candy Misaki had bought back at the bakery. "Crap, I gotta go, Grandpa. I forgot something back at the bakery." She kissed his cheek and fled out the door, missing her grandpa shaking his head at her forgetfulness.

As Mikan sped through the streets, she had no idea how one stupid crack in one stupid sidewalk was going to cause her a lot of heartache…And something else, too.

Author's Note: So what do you think of my first story? RxR and tell me what you think ;) Though I'm pretty sure who's gonna be one of the first to review...

*cough* XxfreedreamerxX *cough cough*