Chapter 1 : 12 Days Before It Happened

"Umnn… You-chan, aren't you finished yet?" Mikan asked as she peeked through the side of the canvas, her bright eyes staring right through Youichi's. He shrugged as he continued to move his pencil, finding the perfect angle to draw her with.

"We just started, Mikan. I doubt I can finish this in less than a minute." Mikan frowned but she never started an argument again. Youichi placed his pencil on the nearby table and stood up. He went over Mikan's seat and stretched her cheeks, making her yelp in surprise.

"What's with that face? And here I thought I can use this ugly face of yours once in a while."

Mikan glared and said, "I'm not ugly!"

"Yeah right." Youichi scoffed. "But you can totally smile for me, right? I don't want to paint an ugly girl's face. More so, if the stupid frown is making her uglier."

Youichi retreated and sat on the stool again. Mikan muttered the word, 'meanie' as she decided to flash him her brightest smile. Youichi smiled a small smile as he proceeded to sketch her figure again. It wasn't all that hard to draw her but copying her unusual eccentric attitude was harder than the person itself. He stared at Mikan intently, observing how every line should be in its place while his hand was moving through the canvas.

After a few moments, Youichi's stern expression softened as he looked at his work, completely satisfied.

"I guess this will do. I just need to put more colors into it." Youichi said as Mikan moved from her spot and instantly went near him. Her eyes widened as she beamed, "You-chan, you're so great! It looks exactly like me!"

Youichi tried to adopt a somewhat unpleased look but she knows that he is happy upon receiving that kind of compliment. Mikan grinned and hugged Youichi which seemed to surprise the teen.

"W-what are you doing, you ugly hag!? Get off me!" Youichi said, struggling to break free of the girl's arms. But to no avail, Mikan didn't let that happen and only squeezed him tighter and continuously muttered her words of gratitude.

"I didn't even finish it yet. Why are you so happy?" Youichi grumbled as Mikan slowly removed her arms and placed it on her back.

"Well, you painted it for me right?"

Youichi instantly turned crimson as Mikan smiled.

"W-what the hell!? Stop daydreaming, ugly! You just seemed to be a very interesting subject as for now and that's the only reason I'm doing it. That and nothing else!" Youichi defended, slumping his back at the chair and eventually, due to the sudden force exerted, he fell down straight on the floor. Mikan stifled laughter as he glared icily at her, threatening her not to do so. It failed tremendously though because, as Mikan helped him up, she laughed so hard that her hands were trembling so Youichi decided to take revenge and pulled her down with him, earning a few knocked down paints on them.

They were now flooded with several mixtures of paint as they grunted strings of incomprehensible words. However, the moment they saw one another, their expressions flipped as they instantly exploded into a fit of laughter which echoed throughout the whole room.

"W-what's with that face!? You look like a zombie!" Mikan said as she playfully punch Youichi's arm, unable to contain the laughter in place. Youichi glared at her but soon smiled mischievously which gave her a bad feeling.

"What's with that smile?" Mikan asked, unsure of what to do next.

"Mikan, look over there!" Youichi shouted, pointing his finger to the window while she obliviously obeyed. He smirked and dipped his finger on the can of paint in a fraction of second. Then, as Mikan turned her head around to complain about how she's not seeing anything special outside, Youichi silenced her by stroking her face with black paint.

"Youichi" Mikan said, not in her usual angelic tone, but it was like she was warning him in her most threatening voice. Youichi blinked childishly, trying to look as innocent as possible as he laughed and instantly, Mikan knew that he did something to her face.

"Oh no, you won't get away with it!" Mikan said, grabbing one of Youichi's largest brushes and dipped it on the can. Youichi ran away from her instantly and laughed as he yelled, "Loser!" Mikan stood up, her weapon clearly in her hand as she is determined to get her sweet revenge and leave the room satisfied with no regrets. She started to go after Youichi and managed to trip several times for she is not really athletic. Youichi laughed hard every time she did and stuck his tongue out in order to annoy her more. She noticed that the paint is dripping on the floor and then, an idea flashed in her mind.

She feigned her grogginess and fell on the floor but not before she kicked a can of paint in front of her. Youichi stopped in his tracks and looked at Mikan, doubting.

"You're faking it. You're a bad actress."Youichi said as he started to walk towards her. Mikan grunted, mimicking pain. Youichi began to worry and ran over to her side, only to be welcomed by a slip and made his grand kiss with the floor. As he was regaining strength, Mikan pinned him down and smiled triumphantly.

"Who's the bad actress now, You-chan?"Mikan said with her ever joyous smile as Youichi clicked his tongue in annoyance. 'I shouldn't have fell for it' He thought as Mikan stroked a cat-like whiskers in his face, much to his dismay.

Youichi's face turned red when he realized their position. Mikan was on top of him and her body is leaning on his chest while her hand is drawing on his face. Youichi glanced sideways, his heart pounding as several thoughts passed in his mind.

'Damn hormones'

Youichi wouldn't even try to make a move on her but his thoughts were urging him to do so. Youichi even doubted that Mikan would have that kind of thoughts. His final resort came and he pushed Mikan gently and stood up.

"How's the feeling of revenge?" Youichi asked Mikan, smirking as she smiled.

"Great" Mikan responded as she asked for Youichi's help to stand up. He reluctantly did and as he wasn't paying attention, he actually pulled her with an unusual force and brought him near his face. Mikan looked surprise but actually hugged him, both parties neglecting their paint-stained clothes.

"Thanks for the painting" Mikan mumbled through his shirt as he gave him one of his rare smiles.

"I told you, don't thank me when it's not yet finished. You don't even know if it will be a good one"

"What are you saying, You-chan!? It is going to be good simply because it's made by you!"Mikan said, hugging him tighter.

"Dummy" Youichi muttered as he tried to suppress the growing blush on his face. The uneasiness that filled the room was slowly becoming suffocating and Youichi was the one who broke their hug. Mikan frowned but suddenly, smiled and offered, "Shower?"