Author's Note: Natsume and Chiaki need more fics. And I'm kind of in love with this pairing. Hope you like my take on it! Very short and sweet. May turn into a Beelzebub oneshot series with multiple couples I fancy or just more NatsumexChiaki love. Who knows?

Rating: K

Warning: Slight aggression, slight OOCness, fluff, pairings, introspective character reflection, blah blah blah

Summary: He didn't know what possessed him to talk to her, but when he did, he was pleasantly surprised. NatsumeChiaki, oneshot.

Reading Between the Lines

Natsume had just been on a yogurt run for Kanzaki when he saw her – quiet, solitary, but far from being alone. She stood by the girls bathroom, probably on guard for any perverts that would try to sneak a peak while her friend was busy, and the blank expression on her face was much more telling than he realized when he saw the sparkle of amusement in her eye as she scared off a lesser delinquent with a flick of her wrist and a flash of her weapon.

He stopped in his tracks and couldn't help a moment of reflection.

They were quite different despite their similar positions of silent support behind their respective leaders, if he cared to think on it. She was not vocal person unlike the rest of her posse, preferring to use nods or hand gestures to convey her meanings, but it was easy to know what she wanted to express with just the slightest change in body language. It was fascinating to Natsume, who had only ever used his smiles to deflect insults and inquires alike, always hiding what he thought or felt and content to just blend into the background and observe until he was needed.

He didn't really know what possessed him to go up to her, easygoing smile on his face, but when he did he was pleasantly surprised.

"Good afternoon, Tanimura-san." He greeted politely, default smile in place as he stood a safe, non-threatening distance away, slouched with his hands in his pockets. "How are you today?"

She glanced at him warily for a moment, and he could visibly see her weighing the pros and cons of interacting with him – their alliance against Lord En had seemed so long ago, followed by the destruction of Akumano High School at their hands, but it was a unique experience nonetheless that had no doubt loosely bound their eclectic groups together. She was also cautious of him, that much was obvious, suspicion warring with respect; Nene must've told her about what happened between him and the MK5 all those months ago, when Oga was still considered just an upstart and Aoi was being set up.

Seemingly coming to a decision, her hard exterior softened like it only did around people she held some amount of trust in, and greeted him back with a small nod, followed by a tilt of her head in her own silent query.

Ever observant and gentlemanly, Natsume widened his smile for a brief moment, "I'm fine, thank you. I see you and yours are busy with patrol. No trouble, I assume?"

There was a small quirk at the corner of her lips, and Natsume was surprised to feel a small swell of pride at drawing that kind of reaction out of her – he didn't know her to be this expressive outside of her group. Her eyes glittered a bit, shoulders straightening slightly with pride as her hands brushed where her weapons were held as if saying, Of course not, we're the Red Tails. This is nothing.

Natsume felt his smile becoming dangerously close to genuine.

"Chiaki! Let's go, we're behind schedu-" Nene stopped short, loud voice suddenly silent when she noticed him only a few feet away from the girls restroom. Her eyes narrowed, "What're you doing here?" she growled, hand reaching for her chain.

Natsume gave a disarming chuckle, hands up in a gesture of harmlessness, "Hello, Omori-san. Glad to see you are doing well."

Nene didn't relax, but the fact she had even stopped to speak to him before attacking was indication enough that she didn't think of him as an enemy. At least for now. It was, surprisingly, Chiaki that stayed her hand, expression closing off again as their exchange of pleasantries was cut short and back to business. A quick shake of her head stifled Nene's objections, and the redhead grudgingly released her weapon. She gave a gruff, "Let's go." and stalked off to finish their patrol, Chiaki close behind.

Natsume's smile fell a little as he watched their retreating backs, but before he could turn and leave to go his own way, the dark-haired young woman turned back for a split second, and he could see the half-smirk on her face.

See you around.

Surprise colored his eyes for a moment before content and something else filled him, an honest, light, amused laugh bubbling from his chest. Yes, she'd definitely see him around, especially with all these new, interesting occurrences cropping up around their esteemed general.

It wasn't until he got back to his groups' room that he realized, for the first time in three years, he'd forgotten Kanzaki's yogurt.

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed my take on this budding relationship! I may or may not add oneshots for this pairing just because I do like them together, but I don't really have much characterization to go on. Some ideas would be nice, if you don't mind sharing just for fun. May or may not turn into multiple Beezlebub pairing oneshots that I'd like to see more of. May include yaoi, yuri, or more hetero. Idk. Thanks!

PS Sorry if that's not how he addresses them, I haven't seen the anime for a while and the manga doesn't show much exposure between those three characters. Clarification would be great!