Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice, masterwork of Tachibana Higuchi.

Chapter the First

Enter Mikan

"… And this is the lounge; we usually crash here after a hard day or just to escape life. The coffee machine's broken, but if Mochu ever remembers then it'll be fixed in about three days. That's about it, I guess… Mikan?"

The slender brunette blinked owlishly at her companion, a petite young woman with pale pink hair whisked up into a loose bun. "Oh… what?" Mikan shook herself. "I'm sorry, Anna, I spaced out, didn't I?"

Anna Umenomiya offered her a sympathetic smile. "It's alright, Mikan, it must've been a long day for you. The jet lag must be kicking in, too, right?" The woman patted her arm. "Well, the tour's over, so you can rest until Wednesday – wait, no, Monday, sorry. Narumi wants to introduce you to the crew before filming."

"That still leaves me three days to rest, it's fine, I can handle it." Mikan gave the pink-haired manager a bright smile. "I'm just tired because I got stuck next to this obnoxious fat guy on the plane, and he wouldn't stop talking and eating…." She shuddered dramatically. "I should be fine after a good night's sleep, thanks though, Anna. You were awesome today."

Anna nudged her playfully and started walking down the corridor. "The crew lives only a block away from here, same building, so you can meet the others before Monday. It'll be less awkward than if you meet them all for the first time at once, right?"

"Yeah… question: why do we all live together?"

"Narumi," was the simple answer. Realizing that the other didn't quite follow, Anna shrugged and pressed the button for the elevator. "He's big on making us a family of sorts, and insisted that we live together to know each other better. I hate to say it, but it works, so we don't complain as much as we used to."

Mikan quirked a brow at this, a smile tugging at her lips. "As much as you used to?"

Anna shuddered. "Oh God, the first few days were awful, I'm serious. Natsume and Hotaru were terrorizing the others while trying to kill each other because Hotaru wouldn't stop picking on Ruka, and that is a big no-no for Natsume…." She shook herself and gazed at Mikan solemnly. "Misaki and Jinno were this close to tossing them out the window, and Yuu was reduced to tears once after Koko and Kitsuneme ganged up on him. Be glad you weren't there, Mikan, be glad."

In all honesty, though, Mikan thought it sounded fabulous. The last time she'd heard of such chaos was at high school, where she tended to be in the thick of things. But she was twenty turning twenty-one come New Year, and her career as an actress hadn't allowed her much freedom. Her manager – Serina Yamada, scary lady – had insisted that she behave, especially after she'd become famous overnight. One moment she was an aspiring actress and the next, she was dodging paparazzi. It had been overwhelming and if Serina hadn't been there every step of the way, she probably would have unraveled.

Then something Anna said struck her with the force of a freight train.

"Wait, Anna," she said, abruptly stopping in her tracks. Anna turned around curiously. "Did you say Hotaru? As in, Hotaru -"

" – Imai?" Anna finished. "Yep, Hotaru Imai lives with us. Have you heard of her?"

Mikan stared dumbly. "Heard of her? I know her, she's my best friend – wait – why didn't she tell me this?!" She scowled at nothing in particular. "She's not even an actress… unless she forgot to tell me that, too."

"Ah, no, Hotaru's not part of the acting crew," Anna said hastily. "Actually, we're not really sure what she does, but when she's not inventing some ridiculously brilliant gadgets and generally being a billionaire, she's something like a financial advisor for Narumi and head of Tech with Yuu." She looked over. "… Mikan?"

The brunette actress had pulled out her phone and was muttering under her breath as she waited for the call to connect. Impatiently, she waited.

"Imai speaking."

"Hotaru!"

"… Ah. Mikan."

Mikan bristled. "Don't you ah, Mikan me, Hotaru! Why didn't you tell me that you were a part of the Cantarella team? I told you everything!"

"Mikan, calm down -"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Mikan began to pace, gesturing wildly with her free hand. "Hotaru, I thought you were in Sweden, for God's sake, and all of a sudden it turns out you're in Japan? I mean, really, what gives? Why didn't you tell me?" She tried to make her voice as pathetic as possible, in hopes of touching a sliver of her best friend's admittedly cold heart.

Hotaru didn't sound too affected. "I didn't see a reason to."

"Didn't see - ! Hotaru Imai –"

Click.

Mikan pulled her phone away from her ear and looked at it in utter disbelief. "She hung up on me!"

Anna hid a smile and patted the actress on the back, steering the woman out the front doors of the building. "C'mon, Mikan, let's get you to the HQ."

"She hung up on me!"

The next day found Mikan Sakura throwing her phone at the wall in a fit of sleep-induced rage.

"It's a freaking Saturday!" she shouted. "I deserve to sleep in!"

"Well," said a very dry voice, "it happens to be half past eleven in the afternoon."

She stared. The person stared back.

Mikan shrieked and scrambled off the bed, narrowly avoiding a fall as she tripped over the covers. "What the – who are you?" she demanded, holding a hand to her heaving chest, trying to get her breathing under control.

The intruder strode into the room, smiling blithely. "I'm Kokoro Yome, but everyone calls me Koko," he introduced himself and then glanced around the room, smile never faltering. "Wow, they got you a pretty good one, didn't they?"

Meanwhile, Mikan had pressed herself against the wall and was eyeing the man suspiciously. He was tall and had a head full of shaggy dirty blond hair that he pushed out of his eyes every so often but he didn't seem like a threat, even if that smile was kind of creepy.

She sighed and headed to the closet, pulling out a worn blue cardigan and shrugging it on over her tank top. "Well," she told the man matter-of-factly, "I think you're pretty creepy, Kokoro Yome."

"Koko," he corrected. "And I'm not creepy."

"What kind of decent person stands in the corner and watches someone wake up in the morning?"

Koko looked thoughtful. "If you put it that way…."

Mikan scooped up her previously thrown phone from the floor and checked if it was still working. It was; of course it was, Hotaru had made it for her. "Moving on," she said, "I'm Mikan Sakura, it's… interesting… to meet you?"

"Great!" Koko nodded. "Now get out and help Anna wash the dishes, noob."

With a cheerful smile and a wave, he walked back out like he hadn't just treated her like some lowly servant. Mikan stared after him blankly.

Maybe she should have reconsidered accepting Narumi's offer.

A/N: *peeks out from corner*

Er, hello. I've been pretty much dead to you all for a while now, but this admittedly cliché idea hit me and I decided I was going to give it a shot. So basically, if this chapter was so terrible you were confused – I apologize if it really was that horrible – then the basic premise is that this is an AU story, with the normal Gakuen Alice gang as actors and such. Cantarella is the name of the show Mikan will be starring on, and I'm still not sure if Natsume will be the male lead or not. I'm leaning towards not.

Well… I'm alive, somewhat functioning, so… reviews are always appreciated, thank you bye have fun. :D

Eurwen de Vrill