Stuffed Turkey
by Autumn Win-Dow
A dozen pairs of eyes shifted to him as his stomach gurgled with unrivalled intensity.
Natsume's hand immediately moved to where the growls came from as he redirected his gaze towards the power point screen. The presenter, however, still stared at him like the others, and Natsume arched an eyebrow at the silence in an effort to hide his embarrassment.
"Where were we?"
The presenter flinched out of his shock and attempted to divert his attention from the bizarre moment he had just witnessed. "A-Anyway, my proposal combines..."
Natsume zoned out of the conference, unable to concentrate on anything but the feeling in his stomach. He hadn't eaten for the whole day-Mikan had promised to cook for him, and he had pledged to keep his stomach empty for the whole day until he arrived at her house for lunch. But the hunger had started to become unbearable for him, as his stomach would not cease to grumble for the whole day.
Damn it... bear with it, only a- He glanced at his watch. Twelve thirty. A grimace ensued.
Seven goddamn hours.
He wasn't allowed time to wallop about it, as his stomach commenced its round two in the conference room.
"When did you last eat, Natsume?" Ruka asked him while examining the mouth of a cat, as the black haired man was seated in one of the plastic chairs in the clinical room.
"I had a coffee last night." He answered monotonously as he watched the vet work, leaning his elbows on the table in exhaustion from working with nothing in his system.
"What?!" Ruka withdraws his fingers from the cat's mouth and stares at his best friend in worry. "That's not even an actual meal! Why?"
"Mikan's cooking me dinner tonight."
"So she told you not to eat?"
"No. I promised her I wouldn't."
"Why would you do that?" The blonde sighed as he continued to examine his patient. "You should've thought about the consequences instead of being so rash. Yet again, when have you ever listened to me over your own instinct?"
Natsume remained silent, and Ruka groaned at his lack of compliance.
"Eat something, Natsume. I'm sure Mikan will be okay with you eating to save your life and keeping you consciousness for your dinner date."
"She almost burst a vessel when I promised her that I'd read Fifty Shades of Grey. I don't want to endanger the idiot's life this early."
"But you still broke your promise, and you guys are still together, with Mikan all in one piece, right? Anyway, at least you tried reading-"
"I will personally skin you alive if you tell anyone about it. Especially your girlfriend." He spat, and Ruka huffed in amusement.
"I'm too busy keeping myself safe, so don't you worry. But seriously, I will force you to eat. I'll tell Mikan that I did."
Natsume raised an eyebrow at his friend's promise. "You sure?"
The blonde smiled. "Trust me, Natsume. There's rice in the fridge at the back. Have a bowl."
Damn it, I ate too much.
Natsume stood at the door of Mikan's house, with a completely full stomach. After a few mouthfuls of rice, he couldn't resist eating more until he was completely full.
I hope she doesn't notice, he thinks to himself as he presses the doorbell.
"Coming!" He hears her shout from inside, and a sudden feeling of weariness sets upon him.
Natsume quickly regained his composure as soon as the door swung open, revealing Mikan in a pink apron.
"You're here!" She beamed. "Ready to taste my cooking for the first time?" Mikan tilted her head to the side as she gave him a look of mock suspicion. "Did you eat anything today?"
Ruka didn't tell her. I'm going to kill him.
Natsume forced a smile as he invited himself in. "Of course not," He ended up saying.
As he passed, Mikan froze. She suddenly caught a scent which wasn't in the house before his arrival.
I didn't cook rice.
"Are you coming or not?" She heard him call out from the kitchen.
Mikan pressed her lips in a tight line as she put all the pieces together, realizing what had happened.
He lied.
"I'll be there in a sec!" Mikan replied as the gears in her head starting turning, in contemplation. A smile formed on her lips.
Natsume's heart sank as soon as she placed the large dish on the table.
"...You prepared an entire turkey?" He choked, hiding his worry.
"Of course!" Mikan rejoiced with a proud grin. "I imagined that since you didn't eat for the whole day, you'd be starving! So a huge dinner seemed sufficient."
He felt himself tense up at her words. "I am starving," he forced with a smirk, as he picked up the giant knife and carefully cut a small piece.
Mikan arched her eyebrows in skepticism. "Why are you cutting such a small piece?" Taking the initiative, she grabbed the knife from Natsume and confidently sliced a piece as large as his fist from the turkey, and placed it on his plate.
The man felt like vomiting.
"I-I was thinking that I'd... savour the flavor."
He stared at Mikan as she pondered, and to his relief, she nodded with a grin.
"I guess you're right," she started, and Natsume started to see a thin ray of hope appear, "because you're going to need a lot of space for everything else I made tonight!"
The light was immediately shattered, as his fake smile vanished instantly as he whispered, "...there's more?"
He felt his back pressing against the wood of his seat as he stared at the dishes on the table, enough to feed an entire family.
"You... cooked a lot."
Mikan sat at the other side of the table, elbows on the table, watching him with anticipation. "I know. I guess I got carried away with thinking that you would eat it all for me."
Natsume struggled to keep his composure as he cautiously took a bite of the turkey, anxious for Mikan to break her gaze from him and concentrate her attention on something else.
Unfortunately for him, she didn't.
"How is it?"
He swallowed, and it was then that he decided that it was the most painful consumption of food he had ever made in his life.
"It's great."
"Yay!" She rejoiced. "Have more!"
He hadn't been expecting it when she leaned over and held a piece of turkey near his mouth expectantly.
He had no choice to accept the food as he opened his mouth, and could say nothing to his cheerful girlfriend.
This hurts.
After countless mouthfuls of food-half of them fed to him by Mikan who felt happy just watching him rather than eating-Natsume felt like he was going to explode.
"Are you full already?" She asked him as she prepared him another piece of salad. "I thought you didn't eat."
"I didn't." He replied all too quickly.
"Good, because we've still got dessert!" She said as she fed him another piece.
I can't take this anymore.
Natsume couldn't help but laugh at his misfortune, as he shook his head and surrendered. To his surprise, however, Mikan was also laughing at him.
"Mikan," He gasped, smiling bitterly, "I can't-"
"You ate before you came, didn't you?" Mikan commented bemusedly, as she nibbled on a breadstick. "I know you did. Don't lie."
The man froze mid breath, as he leaned back in his seat and glared at his smug girlfriend. "You knew."
"You reeked of rice when you came in," She admitted, patting his shoulder.
Natsume was annoyed, but he had somehow seen it coming. "Then why did you feed me to the point of torture? I was starving, I had to eat something."
"I didn't tell you to starve yourself for my sake, Natsume! I just asked earlier because I was worried!" She scoffed, as she placed her hands on her hips. "And I didn't do that because you ate, I did it because you lied to me. If you had told me the truth, I would have been fine!"
Upon letting the words sink in, he placed his face in his hands in despair. "Damn it."
He felt a hand pat his back, and could hear her giggle.
"You're laughing at my pain."
"Now you know not to lie to me, right?" She asked in a sing-song fashion, grinning at him.
He raised his head and stared at Mikan with droopy eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"I know."
"Don't ever do that again."
"Only if you don't."
They both chuckled at the predicament that had just occurred, and Mikan gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
"So," Mikan grabbed his tie and leaned forward, "you taste like turkey. I want strawberries instead."
As she let go of his tie and ran to the kitchen laughing, Natsume jumped out of his chair with unrivalled energy and followed her into the kitchen in a panic.
"Don't you dare!"
A/N: I wrote another story. I'm on a writing spree at the moment. I tried humor, I hope it's somewhat funny for you! And I hope you liked it. :)