** Cotton Candy **

Natsume was supposedly doing the after school chores with Mikan. Supposedly meaning he reads Naruto while Mikan rushes to get all the cleaning done before 6 o' clock. Also, when she complained, he'd say something that would push her over the edge, but showed no reaction to 'get back at him.' Truthfully, he was glad; she made a lot less noise that way.

"Mou, Natsume, why do I have to do all the work?!" she would ask.

"Because, Polka-dots, you probably made most of it," he'd smirk, and go back to reading his manga.

After going through this quite a few times, Mikan began to grow tired of his snide remarks.

"Fine, then, I'll just do it all myself."

"Go ahead," he paused to turn the page. "Even if you get dirty, you won't get any uglier." She took a deep breath, trying to keep her cool, and went to go tell Narumi-sensei that she was done with the chores.

When she got back…

As she walked in, she saw Natsume was still reading his manga. It didn't bother her much, because, as a reward for doing all the chores without help, Narumi-sensei gave her a bag of cotton-candy.

She sat next to Natsume, and immediately started to smile, enjoying the treat.

"Hey Natsume," he expressionlessly looked up. "Thanks."

"What for, Ichigo?"

"Since you made me do everything myself, Narumi-sensei gave me cotton-candy!" she flashed that closed-eye-smile, the reason why, even though she never saw it, Natsume's once-cold eyes had grown softer, sweeter.

"Oi, give me some," he held out his hand.

"No, you wouldn't help me, so I won't give you any!" To prove her point, she grabbed a tuft of the candy and put it on her tongue and stuck it out. But then, Natsume did something- he kissed her. Her cheeks flared, not in anger but embarrassment, as his tongue flickered across hers, not leaving a trace of the cotton-candy. Once he pulled away he muttered, "It tastes sweet."

"W-what was that for?!" she was getting mad now.

"What was what for?" he obviously saw nothing wrong with his actions.

"Why'd you kiss me?!" she whisper/screamed, not wanting anyone to know.

"That wasn't a kiss, I just wanted to try it," he stood up, smirked, stood up, and began walking towards her.

"W-what're you . . ." she took a step. And then another and another. "What're you d-doing?"

"Showing you. . ." he took another step. Mikan's back pressed against the wall as Natsume put a hand on the wall and the other lifted Mikan's chin up. "That—" He slowly brought her face up to his and kissed her, closing his eyes and letting his instincts take over. Finding a part in her lips, he slipped his tongue between them, and began to feel around her mouth. He, deciding to see her limits, rubbed his tongue against the roof of her mouth. As he expected, a shiver rippled down her spine. As he pulled away, he started laughing.

"W-w-what's so funny?!" she demanded.

"You," he sputtered. "You're reactions are so funny!"

"W-what's that supposed to mean?!"

"I mean, you're just like cotton-candy," he smirked. "You melt in my mouth."

"Wh-what?!" she stammered.

Just then, Natsume heard Narumi-sensei coming, so he grabbed his manga, and, while he was on his way out the door, he called, "Glad to join you again next time."