Well, nothing much to say, except enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

On, and I've decided that this will be the fan fiction you requested, Xian-pyon. I'm afraid I might not be able to make another one on time. I assure you that I'll try my best to meet your terms.

Summary:

Valentine's Day spells roses, confessions and tying of knots. Is that true? Well, we shall find out now….

Mikan's batch: 13 years old.

….

.;"Love Is In The Air",.

"Hey, Hotaru."

Munch, munch.

"Hotaru, are you listening?" Mikan asked exasperatedly, whirling around to meet her friend in the eye.

Chomp. Munch.

Upon receiving no reply, the brunette waved a hand in front of Hotaru's face. Unfortunately, being the clumsy girl she was, Mikan knocked away the cake Hotaru held in her hand.

"Oops." Mikan gulped. Her friend turned her head slowly. Violet eyes rested on the female before her, scrutinizing her with an amazing coolness that left Mikan in a puddle of perspiration.

BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!

"ITAI!"

"That's for wasting my cake," Hotaru murmured and walked away, leaving her friend in the dust.

"You're so evil, Hotaru!" the brunette yelled after her friend's retreating back. Suddenly, something swooped down to hit her squarely in the face, eliciting a cry of pain and surprise.

"What's this?" she murmured, pulling the thing off her face to get a better look at it. It was a beautifully decorated card of a shocking pink colour, with a big heart set in the centre.

'Happy Valentine's Day!' It read in big golden letters.

"Er, if you don't mind, can you return that card to me?" a girl asked shyly. Mikan looked up to see a young girl a few years her junior with fair hair and deep blue eyes.

"What, this?" The brunette held up the card in her hand. "Here you go!"

The girl smiled gratefully and received it, not forgetting to help Mikan up before she left.

"Thank you," Mikan said, brushing dust off her skirt. "By the way, what is that card for?"

The latter opened her mouth to answer, but was distracted at the last minute by a passing boy. She flushed scarlet, muttered a hasty 'goodbye' and ran off to meet him. Mikan saw her twiddle her thumbs nervously as she went up to him, head bent down so that her fringe covered her eyes.

Why? That was not the first time Mikan had witnessed the scene, either. Throughout the morning, students had confronted those of the opposite sex and stumbled over their words like young children do over the letters of the alphabet. Some girls came out of it teary and heartbroken, whereas others jumped for joy and hugged the boys for no apparent reason.

As for the boys…they were thrilled. Well, some of them, anyway. Natsume Hyuuga was an exception.

Before her very eyes, she had seen him ignore countless fan girls, ranging from those who were head-over-heels in love with him to those who had but a mere crush on the dashing fire alice. He looked extremely pissed off, she recalled.

And why were they doing this again? Her mind drifted back to the card she had held earlier. Valentine's Day…

"What IS Valentine's Day?" Mikan wondered aloud. Her train of thoughts screeched to a halt when someone lunged at her and proceeded to shake her teeth out of her head.

"MIKAN SAKURA!" Sumire stormed, baring her teeth ferociously in front of Mikan's face. "Do you mean to tell me that you don't know what Valentine's Day is when you've studied here since you were ten?!"

"Er. Can you tell me what it is?" the latter squeaked.

"Hmph. I shall not give you the pleasure of understanding the importance of this very special day," Sumire snorted. "Go pester someone else with your petty questions. I'm off to look for someone."

Was Mikan dreaming, or had Sumire's eyes turned into hearts?

"Tata!" Sumire sang, walking away happily. Mikan started forlornly after her retreating back.

After that rough shaking, she still had not gotten the answer she wanted.

What on earth was Valentine's Day?

Her mind was in turmoil. Finally, she could not take it anymore and started to cry. Tears rushed down her cheeks not unlike water off a tap.

You look 30 percent more ugly when you cry, stupid.

Mikan blinked. Hotaru. Of course! Why had she not thought of it before?

….

"Please state your name," the robot asked politely, barring the way into Hotaru's lab.

"Mikan Sakura."

The machine stared ahead blankly for a moment before speaking. "Mikan Sakura, identified. Please come in."

Mikan let out a breath she did not realize she had been holding and ventured timidly into the lab, looking at each and every one of her friend's inventions in awe. True, she had seen most of them before, but that did not stop her from appraising them both silently and out loud.

"Wow," she whispered as her eyes rested on a magnificent invention that resembled a pharaoh in all its glory. Tall and imperious, it seemed to keep its eye on her as she took baby steps across the room.

"Why are you here?" Hotaru's cool voice jerked her out of her stupor. Mikan whirled around, but she could not see her friend anywhere. Suddenly, the young inventor emerged from behind the pharaoh look-alike the brunette had been admiring, scaring her out of her wits.

"You scared me, Hotaru!" Mikan exclaimed indignantly, trying to calm her frantically beating heart. The latter did nothing but stare at her friend.

"What do you want?" she finally asked, running a hand through her short black hair. "It had better be important because I'm very busy with my new invention."

"This?" Mikan touched the torso of the invention lightly. "What is it for, anyway?"

"It contains a corpse, of course," Hotaru replied emotionlessly, as though handling corpses was the most casual thing to do. Poor Mikan freaked out at the mention of the dead body, probably rotting and emitting a dreadful stench, with empty sockets staring at her, seeking revenge….

"A CORPSE!" she screamed, backing away from the case as fast as she could. "Hotaru, how could you!"

"A man-made corpse," the latter replied, frowning. "Honestly, Mikan, you should learn to listen before you open that big mouth of yours."

"Well, I'm sorry." Mikan pouted and crossed her arms. "You should have mentioned it earlier. I nearly had a heart attack back there!"

"Anyway, the corpse can travel to and fro from the realm of dreams, and is programmed to fulfill your revenge against a person by haunting one constantly with one's worst fears and nightmares. It will become increasingly worse until the person cannot stand it anymore, or the one commanding it makes it stop."

"Freaky." The brunette shuddered. "Why did you create it, Hotaru?"

"I might be able to make Ruka obey my wishes with this."

Mikan sweat dropped. Sometimes, even she could not fathom what was going in the mind of the born genius. What's more, she was supposed to be her best friend!

"I ask you for the last time, Mikan. Why are you here?" Hotaru broke into her daydreaming.

The girl blinked stupidly several times before Hotaru's words sank in. "Oh, that. I just came here to know the significance of Valentine's Day," she explained, rubbing the back of her head.

Hotaru stared at her with those unnerving violet eyes of hers, setting off warning bells in Mikan's head. Sure enough, the inventor whipped out her baka gun and shot her friend with it mercilessly.

BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!

"That's it?" she asked incredulously, looking down at the weeping heap on the floor.

"Y-Yes," Mikan choked out. Timidly, she reached out to touch her head and winced when her fingers brushed against three very painful swellings, courtesy of Hotaru and her baka gun.

"Do you really want to know, regardless of the price I set?"

"Hotaru!" Mikan quailed under her friend's glare. "Fine…"

In the blink of an eye, Hotaru reverted from being cruel to business-like, turning around to fumble with something behind her.

"It should be here," she murmured. Mikan craned her neck to catch a glimpse of what Hotaru was searching for, to no avail.

"Ah, here it is." She produced what looked like a packet of scrumptious cookies with fat chocolate chips decorating the surface. "Eat one."

"What are they?" Mikan asked tentatively, poking the small packet.

"Special biscuits. Eat one, and you'll know the meaning of Valentine's Day to teenagers like us."

"Really?" The brunette sounded dubious. How could one cookie help her understand that?

"Look, Mikan. Either you eat it now, or forget it and get out of my lab," Hotaru said exasperatedly.

"No! I'll eat it!" Mikan gulped and took the packet from her friend. One hand reached up and tugged at the string that kept the mouth of the plastic closed. It came off easily, allowing a tantalizing aroma to waft up her nose.

The smell dispelled her fear and she dipped her hand into the bag, picking the cookie with the most chocolate chips. Without further ado, she popped it into her mouth and started chewing it.

"It's delicious!" she squealed, chewing happily. Crumbs spewed out of her mouth and onto the floor.

Unfortunately, she forgot Hotaru's instructions and shoveled more cookies into her mouth, exclaiming softly in delight whenever she swallowed.

Hotaru's eyes widened slightly when she saw what her friend was doing. "Stop it, Mikan!" she cried, wrestling the packet out of Mikan's protesting hands. But it was too late – all of the biscuits had been eaten.

"What's wrong?" Mikan asked innocently, licking crumbs off her fingers. "They're delicious! Thank you, Hotaru!"

The latter sighed. No use crying over spilt milk, now is there? "Run along now. You'll find what you want soon enough."

"Okay, thank you Hotaru! Bye!" Mikan smiled brightly at her and ran out of the door, eager to know the effects of the seemingly ordinary cookies Hotaru gave her.

Hotaru waited until she was out of sight before calling out softly to someone hidden in the shadows.

"Nogi, I know you are there. Come out."

The person gulped and hesitated for a split second. The sound of Hotaru's baka gun made him rush out immediately to face the stoic girl.

"Hiding from girls now, are we?" she said pleasantly, catching him off guard.

"Well, yes, if you put it that way…"

Hotaru grinned and advanced slowly. The boy cowered under her gaze.

"As the price for staying in my lab without permission, you have to wear this." With that, she clapped a bracelet on his wrist. Ruka stared at it in astonishment.

"A bracelet?" He said blankly.

"Just shut up and you can stay here."

"O-Okay!"

Ruka gulped. Who would dare defy her, anyway?

….

Mikan skipped along the corridor happily, humming a random tune. Her eyes were closed as she inhaled the cool air. As a result, she bumped into someone, really hard.

"Ouch!" she groaned, rubbing her bottom. "I'm sorry!"

"I didn't mean to," a male voice quoted her thoughts. The boy extended his hand for her to take.

Mikan looked up, surprised. "Oh, it's you, Kokoroyomi!"

"Hello," he replied, smiling at her. Suddenly, something clicked in her mind and she blushed lightly, looking down demurely.

Her friend was puzzled. He tried to read her mind, to no avail. It was as though there was a barrier in her mind. All her thoughts were jumbled up and so…blurred.

When she finally looked up again, it was with a goofy smile plastered on her face, one usually reserved for fan girls. It unnerved him.

"Kokoroyomi, I-I think I…" she gushed.

"Hello! Oh, there you are, Koko!" Anna chirped, slinging her arm around his. "Hi, Mikan!"

The brunette started and stared at the pink-haired girl in confusion. After a while, she managed to snap out of her daze and smile at the two.

"Hello!" Noticing the intimacy Kokoroyomi and Anna shared between them, she grinned and added, "Are you two a couple now?"

The two teenagers blushed and nodded discreetly. Kokoroyomi read his girlfriend's mind by accident and was rewarded by complimenting thoughts she had of him.

He grinned and helped Mikan up. "Yup, we are. And thank you," he said courteously as he read her mind. "If you don't mind, we'll leave now."

"Sure," Mikan whispered, a barely-noticeable wave of nausea washing over her. "Bye…"

Her brown eyes stared after them sadly, although she did not know why. His departure had somehow touched something in her heart, and it hurt ever so slightly.

A sudden tap on her shoulder scared her. "Who is it?" she exclaimed, whirling around.

Yuu smiled benignly at her and adjusted his spectacles. "Hello, Mikan. I was just wondering, why are you alone today? Usually, you would be hanging out with Hotaru or one of the other girls…" he trailed off. "Mikan, are you alright?"

"Yes, I am," she said softly, blushing. "Thank you for your concern, Yuu!"

"Oh, Yuu! There you are!" The boy turned around to find Nonoko running towards him.

"Hello Mikan," she said breathlessly when she arrived. "If you don't mind, can I borrow Yuu for a while? We're planning to go somewhere and…Mikan, are you alright?"

"What? Yes, I am," Mikan replied slowly. What was happening to her, and why was she swooning over every guy she met? She didn't like it, not one bit.

Nonoko smiled warmly at her and waved goodbye, pulling Yuu along with her.

"So the two of you are together now," she murmured, placing a hand over her heart. Tears threatened to fall and she fought them back fiercely.

Why did she feel as though she were squeezed tightly to the point she could not breathe? No, that wasn't right. She should not be going crazy over Kokoroyomi and Yuu! They were her friends!

Dejected and confused, she walked aimlessly about the campus, allowing her feet to take her wherever they pleased. Her mind whirled with the information she had gained and her recent experiences, trying to piece them together and come up with a rational answer.

"Oof." Mikan fell flat on her face, shocking her out of her trance.

"Polka dots. Clumsy as ever, I see."

Mikan looked up to fire a retort at the boy, but the words never left the tip of her tongue. She was hopelessly captivated by his handsome looks, a face with high cheekbones and with locks of black hair brushing against it. Even the way his crimson eyes stared disdainfully down at her was somehow translated as a sympathized glance.

"N-Na…" she stuttered, at a loss for words.

Natsume raised an eyebrow. Why did polka dots not screech at him like some noisy parrot? And what was with the look in her eyes?

Slowly, Mikan crept up to him, never looking away from his face. He could not take his eyes off her, either. He was too baffled by her actions to do so. Soon their noses were dangerously close to touching. Still he did not budge.

"Natsume…I think I love you," she whispered, playing with a wayward lock of raven-black hair. No! What am I saying? She thought, flabbergasted.

The boy stared at her for a long while, unmoving and eerily silent.

"Natsume, please, answer me," Mikan found herself begging against her will.

"Do you…d-do you love me?"

"…" He was speechless. No jibes rolled of his tongue, no teasing her, nada. Unknowingly, the brunette had accomplished a spectacular feat. Mikan Sakura had managed to make Natsume lose his ability to jeer, and that was saying something.

"Are you serious?" he finally said, barely louder than a whisper.

"Yes." Mikan exhaled near his nape, allowing him to feel the rush of warm air down his neck. The fire alice could hardly believe his ears.

It sounded too good to be true. Way too good. In any case, he wasn't one to back out of an opportunity like that.

"Well, I am, too," he admitted slowly, wondering whether to hug her or to push her away. Mikan took care of that by snaking her arms around his thin frame, resting her head on his chest. The scent of tangerines wafted up his nostrils and he inhaled it hesitantly, still unable to grasp what was happening.

No no no no nooo! Mikan screamed in her head. This shouldn't be happening!

Hotaru's face appeared dimly in her mind's eye, grinning in a subtle way that only she could accomplish.

Hotaru. Hotari Imai was responsible for her, Mikan Sakura's, actions. Mikan's heart burned with anger.

That, however, dissipated as soon as it came to life when Natsume placed his hand on the back of her head, pressing her closer to his body.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Natsume," she whispered drowsily. Oh well, this might be an effect of those godforsaken cookies, but she did not care.

In fact, I think I enjoy it…

Mikan smiled and snuggled closer to him. Effects of invention or not, this was the best Valentine's Day in her life.

….

I hope you enjoyed it! And now that you've read from the beginning to the end (I hope you did, anyway), mind telling me your thoughts?

The second half of this two-shot will be up when I have the time.

In the meantime, please review!