Let Me Read Your Heart

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice and anything related to it do not belong to me, but Higuchi Tachibana.

He doesn't latch onto her as much as he used to.

Sumire frowned. Leaning against the railing, she watched from her perch high atop the high school Gakuen Alice building as Koko and Kitsuneme joked amongst themselves and their classmates. Koko's perpetually smiling face irked her.

His smile once caused her fury. She could remember her Alice yowling within her to use her claws wipe that constant smile from his face.

Now it's only a mild irritation, like an itch you can't scratch. She could withstand that itch if not for that white-hot ball of anger that forms in her chest when he directs that smile to people that aren't her.

After all, she was the one who first caused that smile to appear.

Sumire met Koko when they were both four. The memories since then have grown hazy over time, but through the hazy mist of latent memories, she can distinctly remember the slight furl of his lips forming into a tentative smile after an afternoon of consistent prodding and lecturing on her part. Sumire smiled nostalgically at her uncouth behavior in her younger years. Thirteen years later, she's a little surprised that she didn't further damage him emotionally with her rough behavior.

Mreow.

Sumire felt the whispers of her Alice nudge her.

Someone was close by.

"He knows you're watching him."

"He can read minds," Sumire scoffed. "Of course he knows."

Natsume settled himself next to her, leaning against the railing beside her with casual indifference. He was close enough that she could feel the warmth of his natural body heat linger against her side.

She shivered.

"He doesn't read your mind."

"Of course he does!" Sumire bristled. "He was blabbing about the girls' plans for Valentines." A blush blossomed against her cheeks, "Him and his big mouth. It was supposed to a surprise."

'It's always a surprise nevertheless." The sides of Natsume's lips quirked slightly, "Although I assume it will be the usual all out bombardment?"

"Of course," Sumire huffed, a teasing smile on her lips. "I expect you to resign yourself into accepting my chocolates as usual."

"Always." Natsume rolled his eyes, his smile deepening as she lightly bumped her shoulder against his.

Once was a burning hot passion for Natsume, bordering on obsession, receded from an unimaginable wildfire to a flame, similar to a fireplace: strong, resilient, comforting. It was a companionship. Despite all the rumors or sneaky side-glances Natsume received throughout the years by students of Gakuen Alice, Sumire vowed she would look at him with unwavering olive eyes, honest and truthful.

In elementary school, after the incidents with the Elementary School Principal had settled, Sumire raised her hand, offering friendship.

Natsume accepted, holding her hand as she cried in relief.

They were both very lucky people.

"Anything in it I should be particularly concerned about?"

He burned every single picture of Tsubasa and him hugging after THAT incident, except for the one copy Hotaru kept in her personal vault. He was still in the bargaining process with her to get the negatives and whatever copies.

"You mean-"

"No love potions."

"Of course."

"Hmph."

"You know," said Sumire matter of factly, "It doesn't work when you're already in love."

"That time-," Natsume countered.

"That time" she cut him off, a finger to his lips, "You were being all lone wolf and she wasn't aware of your feelings. One-sided love doesn't count."

Natsume hmm'ed, looking at her thoughtfully; suspicion still lingered in the corners of his garnet eyes. "Then what's in it?"

"Chocolate, milk," Sumire listed with her fingers. "And none-of-your-business," Sumire said teasingly. "It's a surprise. It wouldn't be as fun if you knew."

She leaned further along the railing, laughing as Natsume sulked. Her laughter was light like tinkling bells and warm like the chocolate she would be handing him in the next few days. She raised a hand and ruffled his hair.

"It'll be tasty!"

"If I have a pig nose-" Natsume moved away from her hand, running a hand through the disheveled locks. He only made it worse.

"It won't be bad. Funny, but anything that happens to you will just make you more adorable." Natsume scoffed at the 'adorable' remark. "Besides," Sumire lifted a hand to shade her face from the blinding sun overhead, warm and comforting. "You'll be eating most of her chocolates anyway."

"She said she wouldn't make me any," Natsume replied, scuffing his shoe against the roof of the building. "She overreacts."

Sumire stuck her tongue out at him. "We both know you're going to get chocolates from her." She grabbed the lapel of his Gakuen Academy jacket, forcing him to resume his former position next to her. He huffed, but complied. She smoothed down his hair from her previous ruffling and his own attempts to fix the tousled hair, the raven strands sliding silkily between her fingertips. "You two always fight before Valentine's Day. In fact," she giggled as a sudden recollection hit her, "if you two didn't have one fight a week, I'd think one of you swapped souls."

Natsume remained silent, staring down at his feet.

Men.

She patted his hair once more, happy with the results. "You're getting chocolates, silly. You don't even need to question it. She doesn't even consider it a blip in her thoughts because she knows she's going to make chocolates for you no matter what."

"Is this a woman thing?" Natsume glared at her.

To think Sumire would be giving Natsume women advice in the future was never a path she thought she would ever follow.

Sumire smiled at him.

For all his intelligence and wisdom, he was still naïve about the aspects of the female mind. "It's not a women-thing." She made the quotations marks with her fingers to further irate Natsume.

Sumire paused, closing her eyes as a small, content smile appeared on her face. "It's an 'I adore you so much, that you're not in the forefront of my mind because'" she tapped a finger against her chest, right over her beating heart. "'You're always here' sort of thing."

"Who's on your mind?" Natsume breathed, his breath caressing her cheek. Her eyes snapped open, and his ruby eyes locked onto her startled ones.

She leaned too far from surprise. Her body froze as she felt her world momentarily turn sideways. People say your life flashes through your eyes when you're supposedly near the brink of death. In her mind's eye, a pair of hazel eyes flashed through every one of her memories.

It only lasted the briefest second.

Natsume securely grabbed her arm, using his own weight and strength to pull her back away from the ledge and tumble into the ground and into his arms.

She laughed into his shirt, her adrenaline pumping through her veins and body trembling as Natsume wrapped his arms securely around her, holding her tight.

"Who was at the forefront of your mind?" He suddenly leaned close to her, strands of his hair tickling her cheek. "Am I still there?"

She inhaled, the lingering smell of oak and charcoal filling her senses. Now that she considered it, she much preferred the scent of clean, freshly cut grass and sugary smell of sugar that had been by her side since pre-school. She turned to look at him, garnet colored eyes met with her olive ones. Her voice cracked, her heart beating a mile a minute.

The answer was automatic.

"Always."

Against her back was the strong beating of Natusme's heart. A heart that was full of love and loved in return, not only by Mikan but also by so many other people.

"You'll always be my first love and dear friend."

She chuckled, gently prying herself away from Natsume's hold. Her hand rested against his shoulder, comforting, familiar.

Sumire never had a chance for Natsume's heart. She remembered realizing this in elementary school and soaked a pillow with her tears, a smile on her face as she recollected Natsume's face looking down gently at Mikan's.

Instead, she gained a friend that would last beyond their Academy years. In fact, she gained two.

The smell of citrus was nearby.

Natsume laughed, throwing his head back and chest quaking as he pulled her into a hug. Her response was self-assured and blunt. So Sumire. "Is that so?"

"Yup," Sumire beamed at him, her vision blurring slightly from unshed tears.

"Then who's been in your heart all this time?"

Sumire paused. Unlike before, she actually had to think about it.

A flash of brown flickered in her mind.

Oh.

Of course it would be him.

Sumire patted his cheek, smiling at him in a way that made the sun pale in comparison, "You tell me."

Mikan marched right up to him and made sure to poke him pointedly in the chest. Ouch.

"You could've been hurt."

"I'm not."

"You and Permy almost fell off the building!"

"We didn't though." Natsume shrugged, "We would've landed safely anyway."

"What?"

"I've jumped off further and Sumire would've used her Alice to land on the ground." Natsume pulled Mikan close until she face planted against the junction of his neck where it met the curve of his shoulder. His shoulders quivered slightly, betraying his words. "She's a Dog-Cat Alice after all."

Mikan knew he was right. It didn't stop her from wrapping her arms around his middle, attempting to close whatever distance between them, if any, were left. "Let me pout though."

"You're always pouting."

He grunted, cringing from the pinch she just left on his back from his remark.

"At least you're here to see me pout."

Natsume buried his face into her hair, remembering the encounter prior.

"You'll be okay up here?"

"Yeah, yeah. I promise, no more leaning against the railing," Sumire waved her hand lightly, still pale from the almost fall. "Go. Mikan is nearby, isn't she? I smell her. Her scent says she's freaking out." Sumire's scoff was full of affection, "The crybaby."

Natsume nodded, eager to see Mikan. He could feel her whispers of worry on the fringes of his mind.

Still…

"Go!" Sumire made a shooing motion with her hands, "Or I'll make sure Anna helps me with my chocolate!"

Natsume turned away, feeling his stomach quiver at the mere mention of Anna's Alice in any way helping to produce his chocolate. He could already imagine a food spirit or germ wiggling its way toward him in his chocolates.

"See ya," Natsume murmured, as he made his way downstairs. Her back was already turned to him, her eyes looking at the ground below, searching for a familiar face.

"Watch over her," Natsume muttered, assured that even with her cat-like hearing, she wouldn't hear him this far down the stairwell.

His statement was met with a self-deprecating smile from the person huddled in the corner of the stairwell, "I'm not as useful as you."

Natsume turned the corner, leaning down to peer at Koko. The other was holding his knees to his chest, his eyes downcast at the floor. "Useful in comparison…no," Natsume smirked; he could almost see the cloud of gloom surrounding Koko despite the other's smiling face. "But…you mean a lot to her. That's all that matters."

Koko shook his head vigorously, "I read her mind." His ever-present smile wavered, "W-when I was asking her about the Valentines Day chocolates, my face wasn't in her thoughts at all."

Natsume sighed.

It's an 'I adore you so much, that you're not in the forefront of my mind because you're always here' sort of thing.

Natsume lightly rapped the other's spiky, brown hair with the back of his knuckles, "Don't be a brat." He ignored the other's yelp of pain/surprise. He'd recover. "Stop avoiding her and stop trying to read her mind. Talk to Sumire, you idiot."

Koko didn't respond as Natsume left the stairwell. He looked up, where Sumire still stood, and closed his eyes. Koko could hear the familiar hum of her vibrant mind, sweet and crisp, like the first bite of watermelon on a hot summer day.

He could almost reach her.

"They'll be okay," Mikan's voice was muffled against his neck, her breath tickling against his skin.

Natsume huffed into her hair, "Oh yeah?"

"Look at us."

"Hm?"

"We're not completely messed up."

"True."

Mikan smiled against his coat, "Then they'll surely turn out wonderful."

"You can do this," Sumire muttered mostly to herself. She could still remember cooking boot camp with Mikan in elementary school. If she looked closely enough, there were still some scorch marks on the ceiling. "Surely, after all these years, I can make something without supervision…?"

Tightening her package close to her chest, Sumire peeked into an empty kitchen that would hopefully remain empty while she accomplished her task. She closed her eyes, her cat ears and whispers appeared. Her cat ears twitched nervously.

Silence echoed throughout the building. She inhaled deeply; the whispers of the other students only traceable through their lingering scents.

Dropping her package on the countertop, Sumire languidly stretched, listening to the bones in her back pop in place. Making chocolates with the girls earlier was no small task. She smirked, remembering Anna's chocolate creations. She almost pitied the boys that would receive her chocolates.

Almost.

Tying her apron shut firmly behind her, she turned around. The bars of chocolates scattered across the kitchen countertop stared back at her.

Intimidating.

Sumire grimaced. Fire extinguisher next to her and an emergency bag of chocolates stuffed away safely in her bag, just in case the first batch didn't turn out well. The chocolates she made earlier with the rest of the girls were stowed away in her room. This was important, no one needed to know whom this batch of chocolates were for specifically. She wanted these chocolates to be made by her hands only.

"He'll like these chocolates," Sumire stated to no one in particular, her voice echoing in the quiet kitchen. "Definitely."

"NATSUME-KUN!"

"WHERE IS RUKA-KUN?"

"Misaki-sensei, would you please humbly accept my chocolates?"

"Ur…"

Large, teary eyes of DOOM.

"…thank you."

"They have all my feelings for you!"

"…yay…"

"Narumi-sensei! I made this for you!"

"Ohohoho, thank you." A peck on the cheek.

Swooning was to be expected.

Koko poked at the cleverly decorated plastic packaging of his chocolates. He had a basketful of chocolates, all professing various comments of adoration.

'Thank you for being my friend! –Mikan.'

'Friendship chocolate for you. P.S Please don't read my mind. – Anna/Nonoko.'

'Koko. This is friendship chocolate. I expect you to return the favor in the near future. – Hotaru.'

He wasn't entirely sure if what Hotaru wanted to use his Alice for was entirely ethical or a fair-trade off for chocolate, but he accepted it anyway.

The crinkle of the glittery wrapping sparkling up at him, did nothing to lift his spirits.

He smiled anyway.

"Whoa, you got a lot this year, Koko!"

He bashfully rubbed the back of his neck, motioning toward Natsume and Ruka's location near the back of the class. There was a small mountain of chocolate on Natsume and Ruka's desks, respectively.

Fortunately, before the two could possibly cause an avalanche be buried underneath the towers of chocolate, both were mysteriously absent.

A horde or girls screeched past their classroom doors, intent on finding them.

Gathering his chocolates, Koko dropped them into his bag and left.

He wanted to sulk in peace.

Sumire didn't even think enough of him to give him friendship chocolate this year. He was only joking when he read her mind aloud, wanting desperately to find some sort of indicator that maybe, maybe this year…

"Hey." Sumire dropped down to sit beside him on the bench. "You got a lot of chocolate this year."

"Yeah." Koko shoved his bag further away from Sumire. If it wasn't her from, none of the other chocolates he received mattere-

"Want some of mine?"

Koko gaped at her.

"If that's a no-" Sumire popped open her box, staring at its contents pensively.

It was a chocolate cake.

"N-no! I mean, yes-yes, I would really like…" Koko blushed, turning away, mumbling, "Some of your chocolate."

"Oh?" Sumire dipped a finger into the box. "If you only want it out of pity…"

Koko blushed, looking at the edge of his peripheral vision. "No! That-I, I really-"

'You should look at me, Koko…' her mind suddenly whispered to him.

He turned toward her only to-

Sumire leaned forward, pressing her chocolate stained lips against his, kissing him short and sweet. Her fingers lightly brushed against his cheeks, her thumb sweeping over his cheekbone as she moved away too soon for his liking. Nervously, he licked his lips, surprised to taste the rich, heady chocolate linger on his tongue, a touch of cinnamon grazing his senses.

"I…uh…" Koko paused, Sumire's tongue flicked out, distracting him as she licked at the remnants of chocolate at the corner of her mouth.

Sumire smiled coyly at him, her olive eyes betraying her sudden shyness as they twinkled with laughter. Tucking her chin on her knees as she motioned toward the box sitting beside him, "Here's the rest of your chocolate."

After that, how could he possibly want to eat more chocolate? That is, until his eyes flickered to the box to see that instead of chocolates, it was a small cake. Instead of roses or flowers that decorated the top of the cake like some of the other cakes he noticed others receiving, carefully written in white frosting it said, "Kiss me."

Who was he to deny Sumire anything?

Koko leaned forward, his eyes intermittently switching from her dancing eyes and smug lips.

He would give her something to smile at.

"You're going to choke if you don't sit up properly." Sumire sighed, but grinned down at him regardless, a light blush decorating the delicate bridge of her nose.

"But it's more enjoyable this way." Koko protested, refusing to budge. Sumire's lap made a very comfortable pillow. He opened his mouth wider, "More!"

Breaking off a piece of the chocolate cake, she lowered it to Koko's waiting mouth. She was like a mother bird and her kid, Sumire mused. She jolted in surprise when Koko lightly bit her fingertips, his tongue sweeping the sensitive pads of her fingertips.

She took back the analogy about the mother bird.

Her blush reddened, the bridge of her nose turning bright red. Sumire bristled, attempting to pull her hand away but Koko grabbed her wrist. He pressed a kiss in apology to the tips of her finger before loosening his hold on her wrist, her fingers still wrapped loosely around her slim wrist. His thumb absently traced her franticly beating pulse.

"May I read your mind?"

Sumire rolled her eyes. "You read it without asking for permission, why ask now?"

"For the sake of asking and decency," he deadpanned.

"You could," Sumire started, leaning down, her breath lightly brushing against mouth. He shivered. "Or you could ask me directly want you want."

"It would be faster to read your mind," Koko breathed, wanting to close the gap between them. "I can literally read a woman's mind. Men everywhere are jealous for my ability."

"But," Sumire pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, "Guessing is what it makes life fun."

"Oh?"

"Uh huh," Sumire freed her wrist from his loosened grasp, lacing their fingers together so that they rested both on his chest. "Can you guess what I'm thinking right now?"

"Guess…?" Koko was too distracted by Sumire's soft, smirking lips to use his Alice, but instinctively moved up, capturing her mouth with his into another kiss.

Pulling away again, she squeezed his hand, "Good guess."

"Let me make another one."

Koko pulled her down toward him again. He would use as many guesses as he could to find out how many kisses it took before he actually had to read her mind.

Sumire pulled away from their kiss, they stopped counting their kisses somewhere in the teens.

"You're reading my mind, aren't you?"

"You're thinking about me right now."

"You're right in front of me," Sumire gave him a 'duh' look. "Right now."

Koko turned away, his thumb resting against her rapidly beating vein. Her pulse was delicate but strong pulse. "I wasn't in your mind when you were talking about making chocolates.

"Ah," Sumire didn't respond immediately. Instead, she popped a piece of cake into her mouth and leaned down, sharing another piece of chocolate cake and hoping to make the pout on his lips disappear.

Koko stopped Sumire from moving away, licking at her lips delicately for remnants of chocolate like a kitten in front of a bowl of cream.

"You're not always in my mind," she chuckled, leaning down to place a chaste kiss on the corner of his lips. "Because you're always in my heart."

SS: This was originally for Valentine's Day, but I sorta...dropped the laptop containing this fic. haha I can't believe it's taken THIS long for me to get it back and post up my awesome story. haha Review please!