Indigo's Corner
A drabble to celebrate the one-year birthday of my FFN account.

Disclaimer
Disclaimed.

Buckle Up Tight

The summer they turned nine was a huge turning point for both of them.

The Hyuugas and Sakuras were driving to the countryside in two SUVs. The two children bickered over the seating arrangements but it was made. The fathers; Youichi, the toddler; and the elderly drove in the lead SUV. Following them were the mothers; the teens; and in the back, Mikan and Natsume, both in a foul mood having to sit with the other during the two hour drive.

It didn't help that it was dark and gloomy and rainy that day either. There was a fog outside that restrained them from seeing anything worthy to see outside the car window.

From the moment they got inside the car, Natsume had pulled out a book and started reading, or pretended to read it. Mikan couldn't tell and didn't care.

She had her own devices of entertainment. She uncoiled her iPod and blasted the music in order to drown out the classical music that the mothers put on the car radio, and to distract her from the fact that she was sitting beside Natsume Hyuuga.

"Can you turn it down?" he snarled. "I can hear the song from all the way here."

She took out a piece of Trident gum and popped it into her mouth. "No."

"Tsubasa, can you tell your sister to turn her music down?"

Tsubasa turned around and called, "Mikan, turn your music down."

Mikan ignored him.

He gave Natsume a shrug. "I tried."

Mikan smirked, as she shook her head to the beat. She was enjoying every minute of this.

He leaned toward her and growled, "Sakura, if you don't turn the music down right now, I'm going to rip those earphones from your ears."

"Mom!" Mikan called. "Natsume's threatening me!"

"Natsume, be a good boy now," Kaoru's voice came from the front. "Don't make me come back there."

"Can I have some ear plugs at least?"

"We don't have ear plugs, darling."

Natsume scowled and reached for some paper tissue. He ripped it in half and stuck each half in a separate ear. It didn't drown out all the music but it did make it a whole lot softer, almost like the constant hum of a car engine while it drove. He settled for that and continued reading where he left off.

He was at the part of the book where Harry and Hermione had to solve a riddle when he saw Mikan shifting in her seat out of the corner of his eye. Discreetly, Natsume lowered his book and peeked at her. What he saw was snigger worthy. Mikan was trying to reach for a can of pop in the box under Nobara's seat but the seatbelt was restraining her.

She unclicked her seatbelt gentle enough so that the people at the front couldn't reach and was about to lean forward to grab a coke.

That was when he saw a flash. Out of instinct, Natsume reached forward and grabbed her, pulling her up onto the seat again. Terrified, he wrapped his arms around her as tight as he could as a screech of the brakes was heard.

The subtle bump that came as the two cards collided gently into each other gave both of their hearts a sharp jolt. The two children looked to each other, terrified. Their eyes were wide and their jaws dropped.

There was a moment of silent comprehension as they stared into each other's eyes. Natsume gave Mikan a little squeeze before he let go of her and snatched back his book. After quickly buckling up her seatbelt, Mikan inched closer to him so that they were touching. She grabbed his hand and hid both of theirs behind her back. The two exchanged looks as the mothers opened the doors and hopped out of their seats to see if they were okay.

"No one's hurt right?" Yuka inquired in a panicked tone. "Everyone in one piece?"

"We're alright," answered Mikan.

From behind her back, Mikan squeezed his hand gently.

Natsume nodded. "Yeah. We're fine."

No one ever knew but them.

End.

Always put your seatbelts on, everyone.

Review? ;)

Lovelove,
-Janet