A/N: I just got back last night from trip, earlier than scheduled because we worked fast and hard, worried that we'll get stranded due to storm. It made me happy to be back early because it meant earlier rest before working hard on the result of the field work, and also because my fingers itched to touch my laptop haha ;)

The Punishment is the most picked by folks who humored me in the last babbles I had in Alphabet. Either the title pricked your curiosity or it's because I've mentioned this title before in one of my babbles in Alphabet. Be ready then, because this contains lime/lemon whatsoever ;) I initially planned to make this a sort of series of Excapade (my shortened term for s.. escapade), but I've changed my mind. If ever I return to my original thought, then I could easily add the word Excapade at the title, right? ;)

So, this is my 4th KWMS story posted here. And no, I don't own Misaki and co. (hint: fanfic). And as usual, read at your own risk!

Also, this story is a spoiler to Chapter 60 of the manga. Let's assume that the events in Chapter 61 didn't happen ;)

-x-

"The Punishment"

-Arvendell-

Chapter 1

-x-

"What is it now?" Ayuzawa Misaki asked tiredly when she saw none other than Usui Takumi entered the door to the Student Council Room. Her brows furrowed when he turned and locked the door. Her puzzlement quickly turned into alarm when he turned and gazed at her with a serious look in his face. Involuntarily, she stood up from her seat as she anxiously watched him strode towards her purposefully.

"You can't escape me, Ayuzawa Misaki," Usui said calmly and seriously, his eyes pinning hers, stopping her where she stood.

"Huh?"

Misaki looked at Usui with confusion and surprised as he called her with her full name with a serious face.

'He's serious. What it is now? This can't be good.'

Misaki tensed when he was finally near her, and struggled reflexively when he made her to turn around with her back facing him. When she attempted to turn around to look at him, he stopped her by holding her shoulders.

"Let's have a talk, shall we?" He commanded as he sat himself in the chair she previously sat on. He surprised her once more when he pulled her in his lap and enclosed her in his strong arms.

"Wha…What do you think you're doing?" She hissed, finally snapping out of her trance as she felt his warm body surrounding her. She struggled to free herself, but it was a futile attempt.

"Ayuzawa, I will punish you for what you've done. Leaving me alone in the clutches of those girls during the whole trip while making me jealous, you will pay for it," he whispered in her ears that immediately reddened at the first gust of his warm breathe.

"W-what? I didn't…" she once again tried to face him, but his hold on her was strong, restricting her movements.

"So you are trying to say that you didn't do it on purpose? You just don't care if I was surrounded by girls, asking me to take a picture with them, to go out with them, to become their boyfriend? Is that what you were trying to say?" He asked mockingly.

Misaki tensed at his words, feeling a bout of anger and a tinge of jealousy. She was angry that he would accuse her of not caring about him, and at the same time felt jealousy as she remembered how the girls flocked around him like bees on a flower.

"I wasn't throwing you on other girls," she denied vehemently.

"Should I believe you?" He asked with mild sarcasm.

"And why not? If you don't trust me, then that's not my problem," she snapped, getting angrier. She waited for his witty comeback, but was surprised when he remained quiet. She was even more surprised when he stood up, bringing her with him, before he let go of her.

"I see. I understand."

It was all he said before he walked towards the door, leaving her to look at him in bafflement and alarm.

"I…h-hey…"

Misaki tried to say something to stop him from walking away, but found herself unable to think of anything to say. Stupefied, she watched him walked away until his form disappeared behind the closed door.

"What is this feeling?" She asked, placing a hand on her chest. She felt like she couldn't breathe.

Feeling drained, she plopped on her seat ungracefully, almost falling on the floor. Her wide eyes gazed at the door, her mind racing in thousand thoughts but nothing of coherence. She didn't know what just happened. Somehow, he was angry. And hurt.

'What was he trying to say?'

She tried to remember everything that happened at the trip to Kyoto just the other day. They had rarely talked, she admitted. But that was because she was busy making sure that the students of Seika High wouldn't go overboard, wouldn't be in trouble as well as cause trouble. And during those days, he had attempted to be alone with her, she knew. However, someone seemed to always appear out of nowhere during crucial moments, such as the fan girls, Maria-sensei, Shintani Hinata, the idiot trio, or the other students of Seika. Thus, the trip ended with them barely having time together. She thought he understood her. She had even asked for him to wait. Apparently, they didn't understand each other.

'Idiot Usui.'

Placing an elbow on the desk, she rested her head on her hand.

'Ugh! Why are you acting like this?'

She tried to understand what happened, blaming him for every minute that passed as she got confused at his behavior and of her feelings becoming agitated at the knowledge that he was somehow hurt by her. She closed her eyes, the scene of him leaving her not so long ago playing in her mind. She tried to block the memory, but failed. In fact, the emotionless tone he had used at the end and his unreadable face, his slacked shoulders, they played in her mind over and over.

"Damn it!"

'Is that the reason why he only showed up now when normally he would be pestering me early in the morning?'

Misaki stood suddenly, causing her chair to topple down. Ignoring it, she dashed towards the door, her heart racing with worry that he had already left. She was determined to talk to him and sort things out.

She slammed the door open and made to run along the hallways, thankful that it was already late so the school was already deserted with students that might see her breaking the rule about running in the hallway. She was hoping that he was still within the school premises. Who knew what would happen if things didn't get straightened out immediately. She didn't want the day to end with them having misunderstanding. Her heart felt heavy at the thought of it.

'He's probably at the rooftop, or anywhere inside the school premises.'

She almost fell flat on the floor for suddenly skidding to a stop when she saw a familiar figure leaning on a wall right after she made a turn towards the stairs leading to the rooftop. It was his strong arms that prevented her from hurting herself.

"U-Usui!" She exclaimed, looking up at her savior.

"Why are you in a hurry, Pres?" He asked as he gently pulled his arms away from her. She didn't like it. She shocked him when she pushed herself on him and clutched at his uniform.

"Usui…"

Feeling all the adrenaline rush fading at finding him, she sagged on him, thankful when he returned his arms around her, supporting her weight.

There in Usui's arms, Misaki let herself to calm down.

'Why is it like this? I don't want him to let me go. I don't want him to ever let me go. I don't want to see him walk away from me'

Misaki's heart clenched at the thought of him leaving her. She couldn't bear the thought of it. Suddenly, all calmness left her as she started to hyperventilate.

"Ayuzawa, are you alright?"

She heard his question and the worry in his tone. However, she couldn't seem to bring herself to answer him as she tried to breathe evenly. She burrowed herself further into him, as if wanting for her to be one with him, to never be apart from him forever.

"…?"

She looked at him with surprise when he lifted her, bridal style. His answering gentle yet worried smile halted her from voicing any protest, if she was going to protest. Instead of protesting, she leaned her head on his shoulder and let him take over the situation, mildly surprising him once more.

Usui retraced Misaki's steps until she heard the closing of the door and the familiar sound of the lock clicking in place. She understood where they were, and when he set her down on her feet, she finally felt the embarrassment to her actions. Blushing, she looked away from him as he picked the toppled chair. She squeaked when he pulled her.

Once again, she was in his lap.

"Usui…"

He stopped her from saying anything by placing a finger on her lips.

"Shh…I'm sorry for being unreasonable, Ayuzawa. I know you didn't do things on purpose to hurt me. I apologize that I let my passion overrule reason," he whispered, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Usui…"

She didn't know what to say. Here he was, apologizing to her when it was more her fault than his.

'Is it really bad to let the school know that I'm dating him? That I like him and he likes me?'

She closed her eyes and held the hands resting on her stomach.

"Usui, l-let me say s-sorry, too," she whispered. She knew him. Most of the time, he'd rather take the blame himself rather than for her to admit her mistakes and mentally scold herself in the process. He always wanted to protect her. It wasn't right for him to take all the blame. And it wasn't right for her to not make up and correct her mistakes.

She turned around in his arms, and surprisingly, he let her. She sat on his laps sideways as any more turn would cause her to straddle him, which she found extremely embarrassing.

"I…I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. I'm sorry that I left you alone to fend for the girls when you could have me by your side instead, when I should have been at your side instead. I'm sorry if I let Shintani hang around me instead of you. I'm sorry if…"

Her words were once again cut by a finger placed on her lips.

"That was a lot of sorry, Misaki."

Usui smirked teasingly when she tensed in his arms and blushed profusely at the call of her first name.

"It's all in the past now. You forgive me, I forgive you," he said gently, smiling at her cuteness when she looked down shyly. "Now, why don't you finish what I interrupted before? I know you have a lot of things to do because of being away on a school trip for several days. But as usual, my tough girlfriend let the others leave early and takes it upon herself to do things on her own," he said with mild dismay. He dropped a kiss on her nose when she flushed once more.

Before she could give any reaction to his actions, she found herself facing her desks and the papers she left undone when she chased after him.

"Okay. Let go of me now so I can work," she said, trying to stand so that he could leave her chair.

"Eh? No way. I like it here," he complained, tightening his hold on her so that she couldn't stand.

"What? No way, pervert! Let me go!" She demanded, struggling in his arms.

"No," he said seriously, stopping her protests.

"What?"

Somehow, whenever Usui used a serious tone on her, he made her obey him with cautiousness. She knew how to handle his playfulness and even pervertedness, even if poorly considering he always had his way in the end. But the serious side of him was still something new to her, and she was always at a loss how to react properly.

"I might have forgiven Ayuzawa for wasting such opportunity to be with me at the trip, but I didn't say that I won't make her give something in return. As punishment, Ayuzawa will stay in my lap."

He leaned to her ear and nibbled on her ear lobe, causing her to shut her eyes tight. Her heart raced again at his action, and her already red face reddened some more.

Once again, Misaki knew she lost against her persistent boyfriend.

'Stupid Usui.'

"How about you work on those papers now, Ayuzawa? The longer you take to finish them, the longer you'll stay in my lap," he whispered, blowing air on her ear. "Not that I have any complaints to have my cute girlfriend in my lap.

Her body tensed and goose bumps appeared on her arms at his action and words. Nevertheless, she did as he had suggested, committing herself to ignore him and to pretend that she was sitting on her chair and not on his warm lap.

-x-

A/N: After this, I'm going to post Warmth, slightly because this is the title that ranks 2 among the choices. The main reason, however, is I want to post it before Chapter 62 of the manga comes out because the story takes off after Chapter 61. It's a rated M story, too (I think haha ;)

As for other babbles in Alphabet, if you're reading this, Iris petals, then I'm giving you the first chance to read the Y version 1 of Alphabet because seriously, I think you've commented on every update that I had ;) so an incentive is on the way, if you're interested, that is ;) If you are, then please send me a message on where will I send the copy ;) Other folks, don't worry. In my next update, I'm going to inform who are next in line ;)

With regards to the last chapter of Alphabet, let me get my bearing first haha ;) because I have to read the chapter again (I did it a few times before and every time I did, I changed things. Every. Single. Time. I think I've gotten tired of it haha so I'll give it some time before I read it again. If not, then whatever is the last draft I have, that's what I'll post.

-11 June 2011-

1:40 PM