Skylines and Turnstiles by MCR

Let me break this awkward silence,

let me go, go on the record,

be the first to say I'm sorry.

"I hate you!" Mikan stomped her foot on Natsume's a stormed out of his room, slamming the door behind her.

Natsume watched her storm out silently. They had been fighting again now, and she had left. It hadn't even been anything serious- just Natsume teasing Mikan. She had protested, and things had gotten out of hand.

Natsume flopped down on his bed, closing his eyes and wishing that he could fix this somehow. It had been their worst fight in a few weeks, and he hated the silence of the empty room after he left.

Natsume stayed splayed across the bed like a lazy cat for hours, but he had no choice but to get up when the sun glared into his eyes. He rolled out of bed and turned to face the window, slamming the blinds shut.

He stood and shifted nervously from foot to foot, wondering if he should go apologize to her.

With a shrug of his shoulders, he was into his uniform and walking down the halls, using allies to dodge rabid fan girls as he went.

"Where is she?" Natsume snapped at Hotaru as he entered homeroom and didn't see the only reason he had turned up.

"How much are you willing to pay me?" Hotaru's hand was resting too close to the Baka Gun version 3.0 for Natsume's liking.

"Three thousand," he snapped and her eyes widened.

"Then you really must not care enough," she began to write down some calculations onto her notepad. "Ten thousand," she glared at him, daring him to resist.

"Fine," Natsume threw the money at her. "Now where is she hiding?"

"The usual place," Hotaru ignored his glare as she slammed the door behind him.

"When are you going to stop being so mean to him?" Ruka asked Hotaru nervously.

"When is he going to stop being such and idiot and pay attention to what's in front of his face?" Hotaru raised an eyebrow as Ruka fell silent, knowing that neither of the odd-looking pair could answer that question.

"Exactly Ruka," Hotaru then looked at the door, scowling slightly. "I just hope he doesn't mess up this time."

Natsume was walking towards the Sakura tree, his crimson eyes searching for Mikan when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Persona," he coldly said.

"Hello Natsume," the Death Alice user walked by him, ignoring him completely after he had returned the greeting.

"What are you doing?" Natsume reached out to flame Persona before thinking better of it.

"It's not like it involves you, you conceited child," Person continued walking away from the flame-caster, a slight smile tugging at his lips. "Have you found someone to dance the Last Dance with yet?"

It was a low jab and both of them knew that. Persona knew the ongoing relationship between Mikan Sakura and Natsume Hyuuga, and he wanted to keep all distractions away from his weapon..

"You know that answer to that," Natsume turned and left his handler behind, walking towards the Sakura Tree in hopes that Mikan was still there.

"You won't find her there. I suggest you try Central Town," by the time Natsume had whirled around, Persona was gone.

And with that simple sentence from the adult he hated the most, Natsume Hyuuga set off on a wild-goose chase.

Soon enough he was in Central Town, looking for any idea of where Polka was. He passed all the sweet shops and looked for any sign of her friends. He even bought her some Howalons for when he found her. But Natsume Hyuuga searched in vain, unaware that the world was conspiring to keep her hidden away from him.

Natsume headed to the very last building in Central Town- weary after a long day's search. He began to yawn, but froze when he noticed the huge sign over the building.

'CENTRAL TOWN'S ONE DAY ATTRACTION- ENTER THE HAUNTED HOUSE AND FACE YOU FEARS!!!"

What the hell-, the flamecaster grumbled mentally as he purchased one ticket for himself.

Soon he was walking alone down the hallways as he ignored the ghouls and ghosts that popped out at him. Illusions shimmered at his feet, but the only thing he was interested was getting through the damn thing and finding Polka Dots.

Suddenly the power surged and went out, leaving him in total darkness. As he lit a flame over his hand, he heard a small sob and whirled around, enlarging the fire so that the cavern of the warehouse let him see the only person he wanted to see at this moment.

For a few minutes the two of them glared silently at each other, daring for the other to say something. The awkward silence stretched long and thin, but seemed to Natsume that it was a heavy blanket lying over them, smothering them under it.

Without saying anything, Natsume held his hand out to Mikan, but she turned her face away from him, clearly shunning his approach.

Letting her remain silent, he sat next to her, the two of them facing opposite directions. Inwardly, both of them smoldered, trying to work up the courage to say something.

That's right, Natsume Hyuuga was afraid, afraid that he was going to screw things up again. Only one thing in the world made him afraid, that that was losing Polka, or Sakura Mikan,

Knowing that she wasn't going to say a single word to him, he turned his face a few centimeters so that he was facing her. He took a breath and told himself, be a man or be ashamed of yourself for the rest of you life.

He laid a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back against his chest, hugging her gently.

"Hey Mikan?" he said, and she gave a strangled noise. The flameuser rolled his eyes and decided to just tell her.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out and felt her relax slightly.

"I know. I overreacted," she leaned her head back, so that she was looking up at him.

"Yeah," he mumbled just before sealing his apology with a gentle kiss just as the lights flickered back on.

"Do we have to face them again?" Mikan mumbled.

Natsume grumbled as he heard footsteps approaching. "Not just yet." And he leaned down for another kiss.

Just wanted to repost this sweet little story about Natsume and Mikan. I'm reposting most of my old stories on here after changing my username, so here ya go. Love ya all for reading through one of my oldest stories. CLICK THE GREEN BUTTON DOWN THERE PLEASE! :D Also, all of my old stories will be posted on this account. If you have any requests, please let me know, and if you want me to work on multiple stories at once, I'd be pleased to do so! Just give me an opinion peoples!

Well, gotta run and work on the new chapter for Tears Don't Fall. :D Au revior people and thanks for reading!

~AAR