Pencil and Eraser

Written by The Lonely Serenade

Disclaimer : I don't own it, shame. . . XD

Dedicated to : JS KID, ShinJinIchi23, Czaristine-02, and kaWaIi TanGeRinE

Pencil and Eraser

"Hey, Natsume. Have you ever thought about losing your alice?"

The boy's head flicked to her direction, his short brows furrowed at her, realizing that there was something that's not right. His crimson orbs narrowed suspiciously at the question that the girl had asked earlier, but he continued flipping the pages of his manga like he was not a tad bothered by it.

Mikan sighed and rested her chin on her knuckles, directing her gaze to her three-month boyfriend. She had at least expected him to answer, not ignoring her and giving her a weird stare. Seriously, she knows that he's used to acting like a loner and an emotionless jerk, but they've gotten to know each other through their time in the academy and she thought that by now, he'd open up more, if not to their friends, then her. He was headstrong and cold, but he was just protecting his friends from the threat that the academy had given to him. But honestly, with him ignoring her like this, she couldn't help but felt annoyed and frustrated.

"Natsume, you could have answered my question." Mikan grumbled, resting her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes to relax on his muscular and lean one.

The lad felt the weight that's resting comfortably on his shoulder and took a glance at the person's face from the corner of his eyes. Her hazel eyes were tired and he saw those lips of hers formed a pouty expression. Oh, she was annoyed.

"What do you mean, polkadots?" He replied uncaringly, half-reading his manga.

Mikan let out a combination of snort and laugh, her tone was dead. She was trying to be sarcastic. But not everyone succeeded at their first try, and the very same case happened to her. "You know what I mean, Natsume."

She was worried.

Natsume cursed magnificently inside his head and resisted the urge to sigh and let his senses overtook him.

Mikan knew what had crossed his mind that time and a scowl formed on her beautiful face. Why does he have to be so damn difficult?

She and Natsume had gone through every kind of danger with their friends; they're always together through thick and thin, though Natsume will sometimes distance himself from them. That time when Mikan and Yuka were trying to escape, Mikan knew that she finally realized her feelings for Natsume. She couldn't deny the feeling of loneliness that was pushing her over the edge when Yuka and she ran for their escapes. The things that were running through her head that time were his safety, his feelings, and his alice.

Please don't die.

(−Just stay with me. Stay by my side−)

Please don't leave me.

(−I need you−)

Please hold me in your arms.

(−Natsume, I love you).

Yes, she loves him so damn much and it really hurts whenever he tried to act ignorant or oblivious of the disease that was consuming his life. If he wouldn't take care of himself then she would because dammit she didn't want to lose someone important to her anymore.

No, never. Mikan bit her lips and clenched her palms to his shirt, mind in rampage and her emotions were starting to leak out. "I'm serious, Natsume."

She shook her head and turned to face him but she immediately froze when she realized that his face was a mere inch from hers. When did he get so close? The…the pervert!

"What about it?" He murmured; his cold lips were unexpectedly near hers.

Mikan blushed heavily, pushing him away from their closeness. She heard Natsume gave a low chuckle and felt another rush of blood coming to her cheek. It's not even summer yet and she's already feeling hot−don't misunderstand the meaning though−in heart.

"Stop. You idiotic pervert!" She groaned and hid her already red face. Natsume's face tangled a boyish smirk when he saw her redden ears. God, his girlfriend was so damn amusing.

Not that he'll admit it out loud, but having the girl whom he has loved for five years in his arms, would totally bring up the mushy character from his cold demeanor.

"Polkadots," He called her old nickname. "I'm not idiotic."

Mikan pulled her head up, face still flushed but when she saw Natsume stared at her so daringly with those crimson orbs of his, it turned to a beautiful shade of red, much to Natsume's liking.

"What? Are you embarrassed?" his voice was low, but she could hear the tint of playfulness in it. That stupid pervert is teasing her!

"Shut up."

Natsume put his manga down; placing it on the desk. They're sitting in the classroom now. Narumi has given their class another free period.

Everybody had known about Natsume and Mikan's relationship and they knew that Natsume wanted some peace and privacy. At first, Natsume's fan club had made some serious forms of protests that were flared to Mikan, but she had stubbornly faced them and miraculously managed to survive, although in the end, a bit of glare threatening from Natsume calmed them down gradually. Even Sumire, the so-called president of Natsume and Ruka's fan club had gotten over her undying crush on Natsume. It was just a puppy love and she understood that the one for Natsume is Mikan.

Therefore, the owner of the cat-dog alice was hooked up with the infamous mind reader, Kokoroyome.

But of course, things never ended smoothly. The first time Tsubasa heard that Natsume and Mikan went out; he went on a rampage and had managed to pull an embarrassing stunt on Natsume, because no one would ever forget the picture of Natsume Hyuuga, the infamous fire caster of Alice Academy, doing a monkey dance while wearing one of Narumi's purple tutus.

A fearsome scowl appeared on his face when he remembered that one accident.

Finally deciding that he should pour all of his attention to his girlfriend, Natsume turned his head to her direction, his crimson eyes clashed with hers in a mere second. "So, what is it about my alice again, little girl?"

Mikan twitched again. Had he actually been listening to her properly? How could he ignore her preaching like that? That's just downright insulting, not to mention, infuriating. "Can you please get serious, Natsume?" Her tone changed and she felt another sigh escaped her lips.

He focused his crimson orbs to her direction, searching for every trace of the emotions on her face. No need to say, Mikan was like an opened book. Her emotions were too easy to read. He could tell whether she was mad, sad, annoyed, or happy. But what entrapped him the most was the fact that his girlfriend was feeling sad and gloomy right now. When she was with him. Hell that bothered him alright.

"What's wrong?" He asked, now tone completely changed.

Her hazel eyes glared blurrily at his crimson ones and her hands reached out to touch his cheek. Natsume stole a look from the corner of his eyes at the hands that are stroking his cheek and he had the sudden urge to hug her tightly, completely erasing the sorrow expression on her beautiful face.

"I'm just worried about your health."

Natsume flinched immediately after hearing her statement.

They had had this talk long time ago, and he thought that she had forgotten about this matter. That time when he first asked her to be his girlfriend, he had warned her about his health and the fact that he might left her soon. Yes, he was the powerful user of the fire alice. People admired and scared him; they respected him in every way. But they never knew that he—the fearsome black cat−has the fourth type alice. The one that drained his lifespan every time he used his alice.

He was taken to the academy when he was nine; therefore he had started doing missions and worked for the academy for three whole years. When he was twelve, the DA class was banned as Jinno had taken the new position as the Elementary School Principal. Natsume using his alice to the fullest for three years were not a light matter. His coughing had gotten worse, and he had stopped using his alice when he was on missions. It was not efficient of course; he had to rely solely on his raw power.

"No need to worry polkadots. I'm fine," He grunted. That is a lie, last night you were coughing blood again.

"But Natsume—"

Her words were interrupted as Natsume pushed her away, and then brought the girl back to his arms, enveloping her in a warm and tight embrace. "Shut up polkadots." He uttered as he now rested his head on the crook of her neck. "I've promised that I'll always be there to protect you, haven't I?" He murmured through her skin.

Mikan's breath hitched, but she started to relax afterwards. She, of course, remembered his promise. There was also that time when he had gotten home from a mission that nearly killed him; but he had promised that he'd always be by her side and protected her. Sure, she was happy and contented with relief when Natsume made that promise. But she couldn't erase the feeling of wariness that's swirling through her stomach every time she saw her beloved in pain.

She would not let that happen for a second time.

"Natsume, your alice nearly killed you. It drain—"

"Mikan." He stopped her. Her hazel eyes were starting to form tears.

He sighed and reached his fingers to erase those tears away. He turned Mikan's body so she could face him and pushed her head to his chest, hugging her tighter. "Listen, this is my alice, my pain, and it's not yours. True, having it really pains me, but that's a gift. A gift that I should be grateful with," He murmured as he talked through her hair, sniffing in her scent of mint and sandalwood that managed to cool his senses. "It's because of that, I could meet you."

She only tightened the grip on his shirt.

"Yeah right, you've known that it brought pain to your body yet you keep on using it for useless things." He heard her muffled noise.

He pulled his head up from her hair and frowned. "Useless things?"

Mikan snorted. "The fact that you always almost burned those boys when they're trying to pick up my book for me. Seriously, they—"

"Are trying to look at your panties. Those bastards deserve it," He hissed and his eyes darkened as he recalled the memories.

"Don't call them bastards! Remember Hoshino-kun? You almost burned him when he was just talking to me, and we haven't met him since he left four years ago!"

Natsume clicked his tongue in annoyance, anger started to build up in his body. "Tch, that stupid guy was flirting with you."

"Stop being so narrow-minded!" She scolded.

Natsume's grip on her body tightened and his crimson eyes were ablaze. "I am not narrow-minded," He grunted.

Mikan sighed and traced her fingers on his chest, trailing them gently to calm his anger. Mushy or not, it worked. "You know, I appreciate it that you're just looking after me. I mean, you're cute and all when you're so overprotective−"

Natsume rolled his eyes and scoffed, resting his head on hers again. "Good thing you notice." Sarcasm dipped on his tone.

"But you need to lessen your protectiveness, okay?"

"Sure." Not.

"Natsume?"

". . . . . . You hair smells nice." He uttered and started to play with her locks of auburn hair.

Mikan gave an amused smile at his stubborn side. She pushed him even closer, circling her hands and buried her nose on his neck, taking in his warm of presence. It's not every day that Natsume was being snuggly, and while she had the chance, she's going to enjoy his warmth to her heart's content.

"That's totally random, pervert." She muttered slowly.

"Hn."

Mikan sighed again and closed her eyes, lips pursed in a tight line. "You know what Natsume?"

"Hn?"

"I think you're right, we're kind of like pencil and eraser."

Natsume's head went down to look at her grinning face. His brows were slightly lifted, and his lips tugged a scowl. "I don't like the sound of it. I never said such things." He drawled, "That sounded ridiculous, not to mention—gay."

Mikan stared at him with her hazel eyes that were filled with a mixture of confusion and irritation. The next minute Natsume knew, she had pushed him away and rummaged her hands through her bag before flashing a glare at him.

Her face brightened when she found a scribbled paper and she immediately shoved it to him. He himself with an irritated expression plastered on his face; took it and read it out loud.

PENCIL AND ERASER

Pencil: You know, I'm really sorry . . .

Eraser: For what? You didn't do anything wrong.

Pencil: I'm sorry because you get hurt, and that's because of me. Whenever I make a mistake, you're always there to erase it. But as you make my mistake vanish, you lose a part of yourself. You get smaller and smaller every time . . .

Eraser: That's true, but I don't really mind. You see, I was made to do this. I was made to help you whenever you do something wrong. Even though one of these days I know I'll be gone and you have to replace me with a new one, I'm actually happy with my job. So please, stop worrying, I hate seeing you sad.

H.N.

Natsume finished out and he couldn't help but felt his crimson eyes widened. This was tremendously scary. Was it Koko who wrote this? Did Koko read his mind? Who the hell read his thoughts and give this to Mikan? Who the hell dare to read his thoughts?

He growled and scrunched the paper. "Who gave you this, polkadots?"

Mikan puffed her cheeks in annoyance. "What? I thought you're the one who give me this. Just look at the initial! It's H.N! Hyuuga Natsume!"

Natsume clenched his fist and slammed the paper to the desk. "But it's not me idiot! I wouldn't give my thoughts out loud like this!" He blurted.

But then he realized his own mistake in a second. Oh shit.

Mikan grinned cheekily. "So you did care about me? You think that we're like a pencil and eraser?"

Natsume cursed himself mentally for being so careless. Whoever read his mind will get a payment from him. Good payment alright.

"Shut it polkadot—"

She kissed him. A sweet kiss on his lips that managed to melt his heart. Too bad it didn't last longer than five seconds because Mikan had pulled away—of course without Natsume groaning that he wanted more than a peck. But seeing Mikan's blushing face really made his day.

She was embarrassed because of a simple peck. Tsk, stupid little girl. Stupid cute little girl.

"You could've given me a more passionate kiss you know." He answered wryly.

Mikan's brows started twitching in annoyance. You could always count on Natsume for ruining the romantic moments. The glee. What should she expect? Her boyfriend was certainly not your every day romantic type of boy. Hell, he gave her a set of colorful panties rather than a flower for her birthday! Breathtaking, right?

"Dream on, pervert." She hissed in irritation.

Natsume shrugged and a playful smirk formed on his handsome face. His crimson orbs twinkling mischievously at her. "I could always make that dream come true."

Natsume pulled Mikan close to him and before she was able to realize his intentions, he had crushed his lips over hers. It wasn't a deep nor was it a passionate kiss. It was a very sweet and chaste kiss but to the both of them, it meant more than any other kisses they had done. It felt like the time stopped, and they were the only one in this world, sharing their love together. Mikan was sure that anyone from across the room could hear the sound of her heartbeat. It was like she had flown so high. There was nothing but happiness lurching in the bottom of her stomach that would make her burst out when Natsume deepened the kiss.

After a breathless minute, they finally pulled away from each other; both panting and a pretty blush crept to the girl's cheek. Natsume grabbed Mikan's hand and enveloped her once again in his embrace, his warm lips brushed over her knuckles in feather light fashion. "How's that for a romantic note?" He murmured.

Mikan chuckled and grinned. "More like a dream come true to you."

Natsume's mouth curved into a smug smirk, and he mused deep inside his mind.

He guessed he could kill koko krunch later.

"I love you, Natsume."

Or maybe he could thank him for reading his mind.

The sandy haired boy restlessly squirmed behind the bushes. His grin was replaced with an unusually worried frown. "Imai-san, are you sure that Natsume won't kill me for reading his mind?" He whispered.

Imai Hotaru stopped her sight from her video camera and turned it off, putting them back as she closed her mouth tightly, but opened it again.

"Yome, trust me," The ice queen deadpanned, "The only thing Natsume-kun would give you was a smirk as a token of his gratitude."

Koko let out a confused frown. "How would you know? You're not the one who is working here. I'm the one who read his mind," He bawled nervously.

Hotaru sighed and rubbed her temples. "You're such an idiot," She remarked in annoyance. "Say one more thing and I'll spread the thing about you and Shouda to the whole academy."

Koko shivered at her tone and nodded obediently.

There was a brief silence before Hotaru unexpectedly broke it.

"But I guess, a little bit of his mind and some note could always make my idiotic friend happy." A small smile plastered on the ice queen's face.

And Koko couldn't help but smile with her too. The ice queen was not that bad after all.

"Her happiness made me rich."

—or maybe she just wanted some money to buy crab brains.

A/N: Just some thoughts that I have when I received the pencil and eraser message from my friend!

Please read and review. It's highly appreciated by me.

The Lonely Serenade.