Open Season

Author's Note: A thousand thanks for reviewing the first chapter. This isn't meant to be a long fic. If I'm lucky, this story will be finished in three chapters. If I'm distracted, it'll be done in five. Ü

Though it's not necessary, this may be referenced with Chapter 7 of Natsume Nullified.

Chapter 2: Fair Game

Youichi Hijiri was rarely at the receiving end of Natsume's Alice. The Black Cat had a certain fondness for him and this gave him a kind of protection not afforded to anyone else. But when Natsume's heir apparent decided to comment not too discreetly about how a six-year-old boy managed to trounce the school's alpha male, well, the gloves immediately came off.

"Ow!" Youichi hollered when Natsume's fire snaked across the picnic table and stung his hand. He leapt up from his seat and backed off but the flame continued to chase him until he was five feet away. "That's not cool!"

"Yeah well, someone needed to shut up," Natsume barked.

"You're just sore because a six-year-old managed to do what you've been trying to muster the courage to do for the last six years—ow! Stop it!"

"Walk away, Youichi," Ruka laughed. "Natsume's temper is reaching the point of no return." To support this statement, Natsume's Alice reached across the distance to give their young ward another thwack on the shoulder.

"Perfect Alice control," Youichi snorted as he picked himself up from the ground. "Like that's going to do you any good now—ow! Seriously, quit it!"

Ruka chuckled when Youichi finally walked away, huffing loudly about how Natsume never learned to be a good sport. He was right and that's why the gang was on tenterhooks wondering what would happen next. The events these last two days were enough to ignite his legendary wrath.

A six-year-old boy. Natsume Hyuuga got screwed over by a six-year-old boy. He should've expected something like this would happen. A kid had no fair knowledge of him, had no real sense of fear, an innocent. Figures, Mikan would attract an innocent. When the kid delivered that love letter in front of everyone, Natsume was quite certain he wasn't the only one who keeled.

"Mikan Sakura! Please accept my feelings."

"What the f—?"

"Natsume, stay down!"

"There he is!" somebody cried and Natsume quickly recovered from his shock. Ruka shoved him forward to give him a boost and he started running. The ensuing stampede momentarily distracted Mikan as she spun around in time to see Natsume hurtle by.

It wasn't the most embarrassing experience of his life but it had to be in the top ten. In any case, Natsume didn't witness what happened next but within an hour the whole school knew anyway. The little boy had asked Mikan out and his irksome pseudo-girlfriend had graciously accepted.

Of course she would go out with him. Of course the kid would turn out to be an adorable date. Of course the whole event would endear Mikan further to the male population of the school, and that was why they were now growing backbones left and right.

He could've put a stop to it. He had a few choice words that a six-year-old should never hear. He had also lived through enough to know what a boy at that age could survive. But then, as he was reminded earnestly by his friends, the kid was still too young— much too young for violence— and Mikan would never forgive him for spilling unicorn blood.

But it's not like he didn't try.

"Stay away from Kurama!" Mikan had cried the moment she found him cooped up at the library. It was amazing how she managed to track him down, but then she always did seem to radar him whenever he needed to be told off. Apparently, accosting a little boy merited a scolding.

"We just had a nice chat about his Alice."

"You told him to hug a landmine!" Mikan practically screeched.

"He has an Armor Alice, doesn't he?" Natsume said without compunction. "It's a good way to test his skills."

"He's six years old!" Mikan exclaimed. "You never tell a six-year-old to hug an explosive! What is wrong with you?"

Natsume scoffed, "If he goes around asking out high school girls, he'd better be ready to be counted as fair game."

"Natsume…" Ruka said with a warning.

"He is not fair game," Mikan said emphatically. "The only game being played here is between you and me. Leave Kurama out of it."

"You're not seriously going out with him, are you?"

"Yes, I am," she huffed. "And you better not do anything mean. You promised." Mikan stomped off with Natsume glaring at her back. Being sensible, Ruka pulled away the books around his best friend before they could catch fire.

So Kurama lived. The date was broadcasted all over the school and Natsume was out for blood. Normally, that should be enough to warn other boys off but the fact that Kurama had survived because the Black Cat had kept his word just made them braver.

"I promised," Natsume said with derision. "She can't hold me to something I said in the middle of an argument. Can she?"

Ruka laughed. "And you say you're not in a relationship."

Natsume lay down on the wooden bench then glared angrily at the beautiful blue sky. "At least it's just a kid. It's not like she's stupid enough to actually get involved with him." Ruka coughed significantly and he scowled. "What?"

"I heard Mikan was going to Central Town again this afternoon."

Natsume bristled. "With who?"

"She's having an early dinner," Ruka went on, as though on a script. He looked away. "And I think she was going to catch a movie afterwards."

This time Natsume sat up. "With who?"

"Hotaru said she'll be back early," he said quickly. Natsume bared his teeth and it looked like he was ready to forget the best friend clause. "It's just a friendly date, after all."

"You better be talking about a first grader."

Ruka mumbled out the rest of his story but even at the unintelligible volume he chose, Natsume's cat-like ears picked up the information and his blood boiled.

"Tsubasa Andou?"

Mikan locked up her bedroom then cheerfully headed for the stairs. She needed to catch the next bus to Central Town and she had a good half hour to do so. She was surprised when Tsubasa called to tell her he was back in school. Now a college junior, he was doing some research at the school library for his thesis. Since Misaki Harada hadn't come along this time, he had called Mikan so that they could catch up over dinner. God knows they weren't able to do that after the Alice Academy prom, which was when he was last here.

He'll probably ask me about Natsume, Mikan thought. Tsubasa was always curious about that, but she doubt he'd be impressed by the pseudo-relationship they were in.

Mikan turned a corner then gasped when a hand shot out and wrapped around her upper arm. Before she could react, she was pulled into a closet and a hand clamped over her lips. The door slammed shut and she found herself standing against another person in the dark.

"Tsubasa Andou? Are you kidding me?" Natsume hissed in her ear. When he was sure she had identified him and would therefore not scream he let her go. Mikan turned around, squinting at him in the shadows.

"The janitor's closet? Are you for real?" she retorted. She plunked her hands on her hips. "Is this another one of your perverted fetishes?"

Normally, Natsume would've just said 'yes' then possibly taken advantage of the situation, but that was for another day. Preferably one when he wasn't so comically infuriated by the girl he could be dating. Nothing put him in this mood as effectively as Tsubasa Andou did.

"Well played Sakura," he muttered darkly. "Calling out a manhunt, saying I can't interfere then getting your old senior to come back. Well freakin' played."

She laughed. "This isn't about you at all. Even if we weren't fighting I'd still be meeting up with Tsubasa."

Like that made him feel any better. Natsume turned to flick on the closet lights so that they could stop arguing in the dark.

"You can't go out with him. That's foul." He turned to her. "What do you expect to happen? What would that achieve? What— what the hell are you wearing?"

Mikan smiled then gave a little twirl. "It's nice, right? Don't you remember? We bought it two weeks ago at Central Town."

"I was there?"

"You picked it out."

Natsume was almost ready to believe that he really was a boyfriend because, for the life of him, he couldn't remember ever picking out that dress. But then, it did look like something he'd choose for her. The light fabric draped softly, accentuating feminine curves in all the right places. The v-neck ran low but was modest enough to leave the rest to his imagination. Her skirt hung just above her knees, showing enough of her slim calves to taunt him. And the color? It matched his eyes.

"So what do you think?"

Natsume could have said many things to put her off. Her hair was too long. Her skirt was too short. Her neckline was too low. Her heels were too high. But instead, he clamped his mouth shut and his jaw ticked dangerously.

"You don't like it?"

No, damn it. He liked it too damn much. That was the damn problem. She was playing this game her own goddamn way and was doing it damn well.

"Are you swearing at me in your head?" she asked mildly.

"Shove off."

"Why are we in a closet?" He didn't answer so it was left to Mikan to piece things together. When she got there, she bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Are you still being chased around?"

"This is your fault!" he exploded. "I haven't had a proper meal in two days. Ruka keeps bringing me salami as though it's the only sandwich he knows. I can't walk into my room because there's a sea of fan gifts outside my door. Everyone thinks it's hilarious…"

He trailed off when Mikan suddenly stepped forward to brush the hair out of his eyes. She knew it was an action that calmed him down. He fell silent and waited until she was finished. Natsume had learned to laugh, she knew, but laughing at himself was a feat yet to be achieved.

"You wanted to see other people."

Mikan glanced up at the quiet accusation in his voice. "Not really." She brushed at his shoulders then quickly straightened his tie. "What I wanted was an apology."

Damn it to hell and back again. She knew he wasn't good at that.

"Look, I'll give you a tip," she said when he didn't respond. "Choose someone. Go out with one girl. Your fan girls should calm down when they see you're off the market again."

Why are you so ready to get rid of me? he wanted to yell, but that wasn't manly. He looked away. "Fine, I'll do that."

Mikan frowned slightly. "I didn't think you'd jump at the suggestion."

"Jealous, already?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm hanging out with Tsubasa tonight. I think we both know who's more pissed right now." Sometimes, Natsume could shoot himself for rubbing off on her this badly.

"Foul. That's just foul," he said then reached for the door.

Mikan sighed heavily. She may have a soft heart but she also knew being too malleable around Natsume wasn't going to win her any points. Natsume glanced over his shoulder.

"Hey no-star, you said I picked that dress out, right?"

"Yes."

"Then only wear it for me," he muttered. Natsume stepped out and left her alone in the janitor's closet in her pretty red dress.

"Tell me again why I'm here?"

"You're a decoy."

"Flattered," Wakako Usami said then rolled her eyes.

Natsume turned to his fake date to clarify. "I can't show up in public without being mobbed and that stupid little no-star is pushing all my buttons. I need the girls to leave me alone for a minute."

"So why are we here?" Hotaru asked from her end of the table.

"We're on a double date," Ruka told his girlfriend. "Natsume thinks it's much more believable than just going out with Wakako."

"So we're decoys too?"

"Quiet," Natsume hissed then he suddenly brought the menu up to his eyes. Instinctively, his three companions turned to see Mikan enter the restaurant with Tsubasa.

"Ooh, that blue dress suits her well," Wakako said in approval.

"She looks better in red," Natsume muttered, though he was somewhat placated that Mikan had changed. They all turned back to him at his bitter remark.

Wakako hid her smile behind her glass. She had nearly fainted when Natsume asked her to go to Central Town with him but she knew better than to get her hopes up. "If it helps Natsume, I think it's really cute that you're so jealous."

"I'm not jealous."

"You should be nicer to your date," Hotaru baited. "She might walk out on you."

"Mikan is looking this way," Ruka cautioned everyone before Natsume could retort. "Why don't we order?"

Instead of listening, Natsume put down his menu to glare at Tsubasa who had also looked over. Tsubasa wasn't put off and he simply raised his glass in a toast. Natsume growled.

"Did they ever train you on Tactical Operations in the Dangerous Ability Class?" Hotaru asked offhand. "Because I must say, this is a low-caliber strategy for the Black Cat."

"I'm with Hotaru," Wakako chimed in. "I don't think seeing the two of us together would make your girl jealous."

"I'm not trying to get her jealous," Natsume said irritably. "I'm just doing exactly what she told me to do."

"Mikan asked you to stalk her?" she asked in surprise.

"I'm not stalking her. I'm not jealous, and would you all just pretend to be having fun."

Click.

"Oh, don't worry Hyuuga. I'm having loads of fun," Hotaru smirked as she fished out the Polaroid.

"Nogi, control your woman," Natsume said through gritted teeth.

Ruka laughed. "As soon as you handle yours, buddy." Natsume narrowed his eyes when his best friend fist-bumped with his blackmailing girlfriend.

"Clearly, you don't have my back today," he grumbled. In retrospect, perhaps Yuu, Nonoko and Anna would have been a more manageable ensemble for this operation.

"Quiet, quiet," Wakako said urgently. "He's saying something to her!"

Or Sumire, though Mochu wouldn't have liked that. Natsume could've brought Sumire and capitalized on her dog-cat Alice to listen in on the conversation, because just then Tsubasa was leaning close to Mikan and was saying something that made her blush madly.

Stupid cute little idiot, he thought, and was immediately grateful that he hadn't brought Koko. Tsubasa suddenly laughed out loud at something Mikan said. In response, Natsume viciously stabbed his dinner roll with a fork.

"We really should order before they throw us out," Ruka said again, glancing uneasily at the hacked bread. They opened their menus.

Hotaru's finger ran down the selections. She glanced at Natsume. "You paying?"

"Yes."

"Let's go check out the buffet, hon," Hotaru said, sliding back her chair. Ruka laughed, threw a not-so-apologetic glance at Natsume then followed his girlfriend.

Mental note: Never include Hotaru Imai in an operation without getting her buy-in. Going out with Ruka didn't soften her up one bit.

"What's our objective?" Wakako suddenly asked. Natsume glanced at his date who shrugged. "You might as well tell me what we're trying to do here so that I can help."

He exhaled. "We're just watching. You can order anything you want."

Wakako studied him. "I thought you told Mikan you wouldn't be around if her dates tried anything funny."

Did everybody remember what he said in the cafeteria? "I'm not going to do anything," he grumbled. "I'll keep my word and Tsubasa will walk out of here with both legs."

Wakako giggled and he smiled briefly at her, making her heart flutter. She shook her head to clear it. She hadn't been lying. Natsume looked endearing even when he was throwing daggers with his eyes at the neighbouring table. He was barely restraining himself from murdering Tsubasa, but he was keeping his temper in check just because he swore not to harm any of Mikan's dates. Adorable.

"Sumire and I used to stay up trying to figure out why you liked Mikan so much," she commented casually.

"And?"

"Well, it was never really anything that we could see. You didn't talk more or smile more but you were definitely happier when she was around."

He wasn't very happy now. "Hn."

Wakako decided to push her luck. After all, she didn't get the Black Cat all to herself very often. "Why do you like her?"

It was a million dollar question with an easy enough answer that Natsume didn't think he had ever said out loud. "She gets to me," he said curtly. "Nobody else does."

"That's it?"

"She got to me then," Natsume said grimly when he heard Tsubasa laugh again. "And she's really getting to me now."

"You know, people who are just friends don't stalk each other on their dates," Wakako spoke carefully. "Nor do they keep looking over when they're supposed to be with someone else."

"Guilty."

"Well, Mikan keeps looking at you too, so I guess it's only fair."

He glanced over again in time to see Mikan look away. He smirked then at length, he stood up and gestured for Wakako to join him. "We're on a date, right? Let's eat something."

Things would've gone smoothly after that if only Mikan and Tsubasa didn't head for the buffet at the same time. Ruka and Hotaru were nearing the end of their rounds but when they saw the two couples on the floor, they stopped to watch.

"Hey Mikan, imagine seeing you here," Wakako said briskly as they all fell into line at the Soups and Salads bar. They kept their dates two people apart.

"Yeah, what were the chances?" Mikan sighed. She looked worriedly at Tsubasa and Natsume who were sizing each other up.

"Hyuuga."

"Loser."

"Natsume!"

"Andou," he amended. He grabbed a plate then handed one to Wakako. Mikan was still looking at him as though he was liable to start a food fight with the seafood chowder at any moment.

They moved down the counter. Tsubasa and Mikan began discussing the selections. Natsume picked up a particularly expensive plate then handed it to Wakako.

"You'll like this," he said quickly before turning to the other pair. "Mikan doesn't eat buttered vegetables." He reached around Tsubasa and seized a small plate of Caesar salad. He shoved it at Mikan. "Here."

"I don't want that," she said promptly. "I want… this."

He snorted. "You don't eat eel either."

"But I think I'll give it a try tonight," she said irritably.

"You'll make yourself sick."

"If I want to eat eel until my insides are dancing, that's my choice," she sniped. Natsume glared at her.

"Ooh, eel," Tsubasa said cheerfully. He spooned out a hefty serving. "Wakako, is it? Why don't you try this too?"

"Um, okay. Thanks."

Natsume turned. "Andou, stop hitting on my date."

He chuckled. "Well, since you're trying to take care of mine, I thought I'd return the favor." Natsume clenched his teeth then they continued their way down the counter.

Their progress was slow since Mikan and Natsume seemed determined to disagree on everything. Tsubasa and Wakako watched them while helplessly smothering their laughter. At one point, Mikan forgot herself, seized a spoon then placed a dollop of cream on Natsume's pie.

"There! Eat that! Now shut up so that we can return to our table."

Natsume's lips twitched. "We didn't come together, idiot."

Mikan reddened. "Our table— mine and Tsubasa's. Who the hell invited you here anyway?"

Tsubasa turned to whisper to Wakako. "The hell. When did my sweet, little Mikan learn to swear?"

"It's the Natsume Effect."

"We're never doing buffet with Natsume and Mikan," Ruka muttered to his girlfriend.

"We should consider it. It's kind of fun," Hotaru countered as she snapped another picture that captured Natsume ducking as Mikan fervently flung custard in his direction. Natsume laughed.

"Oh, he's definitely happier when she's around," Wakako giggled.

"Maybe, but Mikan doesn't look like she's having as much fun." Tsubasa stepped towards them, getting ready to mediate.

"Why are you being such a pig?" Natsume was saying in exasperation. "Don't you have enough on your plate already?"

"Hardly!" Mikan snapped, "Because half of what I wanted to eat is on your plate!"

"Mikan," Tsubasa broke in before Natsume could answer. "It's really all right. We can just come back for second servings. I think you should listen to your boyfriend."

Taboo!

Mikan's lips twisted into a sneer. She scoffed at Natsume. "What boyfriend? I don't have one."

The heat from the live fires in the buffet seemed to suddenly jump out in vehemence, causing panic in the kitchen. Tsubasa caught the furious look on the Black Cat's face. Hotaru was snapping pictures madly. Ruka and Wakako looked equally scandalized. Seeing some damage control was needed, Tsubasa cleared his throat then casually loosened his collar with an index finger. His eyes darted from Mikan to Natsume.

"Are you sure?" he asked, hoping she'd take it back. "I mean, that's not what I hear. Aren't you— at the very least— seeing each other?"

"No, we're not," Mikan seethed.

"But just supposing—"

"I do not have a boyfriend."

Natsume did not appreciate the pitying look Andou was giving him. Only an idiot would try to salvage the situation by pursuing the subject further. Tsubasa was clearly trying to prod Mikan into some kind of an admission but the whole Academy could testify that getting a confession out of the two of them was like trying to get a turnip to dance. Only the right Alice could do the job. And that Alice was not Tsubasa Andou.

Burn him, an inner voice coaxed earnestly. Burn him to a crisp and he'll shut up.

But that couldn't be done, because regardless of how he felt about it, Tsubasa Andou was Mikan's date for the night. And because he was bound by word that no harm would come to anyone who was with her (in fact, bound by word to practically keep her dates safe), Natsume decided to vent his frustration on someone else.

"Natsume!" Mikan shrieked when her skirt suddenly caught fire. Tsubasa scrambled for a glass and poured soda down her front. "I can't believe you!" She put down her plate then stomped off to clean up. Tsubasa hurried after her. The others approached Natsume wearing varying degrees of hilarity.

Not have a boyfriend, Natsume fumed. Where does she get off? Stupid, sympathetic Andou. Why does she have to have such a good relationship with him anyway?

"I'm not jealous," he hissed, still looking genuinely pissed. His companions exchanged knowing looks but only his best friend was brave enough to say it out loud.

"You just set her skirt on fire." Ruka grinned. "Either you're ten years old or you're jealous."