Chapter 4: Months Without Adults.

It has been for 2 months since Mikan stayed at Natsume's residence. Nobody else knew that she was staying there, or else, the Natsume fan club will make a huge deal. Natsume told Mikan that she might be trampled to death by the fan girls. He obviously was trying to threaten her. Hotaru Imai, Mikan's current best friend in Tokyo, was getting fishy about where she stays.

"Mikan…" Hotaru said, as she turned her head to her. Mikan stopped from eating her bento. "I'm curious… Why are you so frightened when I asked where you lived?"

Mikan choked on the onigiri she was eating, Natsume winced and Ruka gave a loud gasp. Hotaru turned to her and then behind her. Mikan panicked, "No, ahaha… I meant, my house is a wreck; I don't want anyone to enter it. That's why!"

The violet eyes swivelled from Natsume and then to Ruka. She gave a sly grin and then looked at Mikan. "Of course… I believe you, Mikan…" Ruka heaved a sigh. "Then, I'll go to your house and help you clean it." Mikan's hair started to rip one by one. "Why, is there any problem? I hope not…"

Ruka talked to Hotaru, "Em… I think Mikan doesn't really want to let anyone to visit her house, Imai…"

"… Fine…" Hotaru managed to say.

After the school, Mikan took separate ways with Natsume to reach the house. Since the coast is clear, she managed to enter the house after talking to the guard. The guard did not notice that behind Mikan was Hotaru.

When she turned the doorknob open, Natsume and Youichi were watching the television and Ando was reading a magazine on a sofa. "Hey guys! I'm back…" Tsubasa waved lazily at Mikan, welcoming her back.

Natsume ignored her but he detected someone was standing behind Mikan. He walked up to Mikan and shoved her away. "As I expected, Imai…"

Mikan jumped forward and turned back. "H-Hotaru!!"

"Hi, Mikan. Nice house… Staying with the most popular kid, Natsume Hyuuga?" Hotaru said expressionlessly. "Interesting…"

Mikan begged, "Hotaru, please. Don't tell this secret to anyone, please…"

Natsume moved his eyes towards Mikan. He scoffed and turned away. "I doubt that. She might tell the whole world…"

"I promise not to tell." Mikan and Natsume widened their eyes. "But in return, I would like to stay with Mikan for a month here."

"Up to you…" Natsume walked up to a sofa. "Make yourself at home." He continued watching the television.

Mikan's face lightened up, "Hey, this is so cool! Stay at my room, okay? We could play some games! And with Youichi too."

Hotaru opened her bag and it reassembled into a big luggage. Everybody stared at her baggage. "It's a school bag as well as a travelling bag. I'm staying alone in my apartment back in 3-Chome, so, I don't need any permission from anyone. Mikan, where's your room?" Mikan nodded and brought her upstairs.

Tsubasa paused from reading and then faced Natsume. "Is it all right for you? You trust that Hotaru girl?"

"Whatever…" He ignored Tsubasa's commentary.

Back to Mikan and Hotaru, they entered the room. "Here, this is my room. It's pretty big but it'll be all right if both of us stay here, right?"

Hotaru gave a look around the room. "I guess that'll do. Mikan?" She looked at her. "Are you related to Natsume? Or is he your boyfriend?"

Mikan gaped at her and blushed. "No way! He's not my boyfriend. Anyway, I'll tell you why I'm in Tokyo…"

X

Later, that night… Mikan wanted to invite Youichi to her room to play a board game with him. Hotaru was taking a bath, so Mikan took the initiative to ask Natsume permission.

He opened the door after hearing a knock. "What now?"

"What do you mean? I didn't ask anything today, jeez…" Mikan mumbled. "May I borrow Youichi for a while?"

"No."

"Come on, be sporting! Just for a board game…!" Mikan whined. He turned his back and sat next to Youichi who was doing his homework.

"He's busy now." Natsume was giving full attention to Youichi's workbook. "Close the door, if you're done."

He's helping Youichi with his homework… How sweet is that?! I didn't know he's that kind… She was smiling non stop and made Natsume annoyed about her.

"Oi, stop giggling like an idiot. Get out now." Natsume growled.

Mikan shook her head and walked towards him. She squatted down and said, "You're so kind, helping your little brother with his homework. Hey, maybe you should teach me sometimes!"

"It'll be a pain teaching an idiot. I don't want to waste my energy." He corrected Youichi's mistake and showed him the right way. Consciously, he felt that she kept staring at him. He darted his eyes to her. "What are you staring at?"

"Hm…" She drew closer to him, still staring at his eyes. "It's different…"

He blushed red and pushed her away by placing a hand to her face, in order for her to stop staring. "Stop doing that, it's annoying!"

"Ah, it returned back!" She was gazing at him. "Your eyes. It changed."

"Stop talking nonsense things. Get out; you're in a guy's room!"

"Geez, so what? I've went to my guy friend's room a lot back in Nagoya. We played a lot of games, especially cards. What's so unusual about that?" Natsume's ears twitched. "I know! Why don't you join the game along with us? It'll be better!"

"No way."

Mikan pouted and scribbled her finger on the floor. "Are you sure? Tsubasa agreed to. Come on…" She pulled his sleeves. "Nat-su-me!!"

He still ignored Mikan, but Youichi closed his book after finishing his homework. "Ah, you've finished?" The boy nodded. "All right, go to sleep then."

Mikan hugged Youichi and said, "Come. With. Us." She gave a puppy dog eyes at Natsume. He managed to avoid it, and stood up.

"I said no! Can't you understand Japanese?" Mikan released Youichi from her. When Natsume wanted to walk away, she snugs his jacket. The problem is Natsume. He was walking fast but when she tugged his jacket so hard, it made him trip and… landed on top of Mikan. Youichi clasped his mouth and blushed red.

Mikan was alarmed with the position. His face was 5 centimetres apart. He realised what he was doing, so he stood up quickly. "Idiot, don't just snag my jacket like that! Look what happened just now. Jeez…"

She crawled towards the door, with a blushing face. Mikan was shocked with her actions that led her into a deeper problem. Natsume understood what she felt, so he didn't say much either. She practically crawled her way to her room, finding Hotaru in pyjamas. Hotaru sensed something was wrong, so she started first.

"Something awkward happened to you?" Hotaru asked calmly, while taking out a CD from her bag. Mikan immediately shook her head and approached her. "Liar, I could see something in your eyes…"

Mikan surrendered to Hotaru. She told her the whole incident. "Wah, Hotaru! Why is it Natsume? He's such an idiotic, fool, and arrogant--"

Tsubasa entered the room, because both Hotaru and Mikan invited him to play a board game. He cuts in Mikan's sentence. "Maybe he likes you?"

Mikan winced and looked back. "Tsubasa… you're here! And no way in hell that he likes me. Come, sit here." She patted on the floor next to her. He walked towards them and sat down.

"Well, I thought the same way Tsubasa did, though…" Hotaru said as she was eating a slice of apple pie. "It's just a hypothesis. Don't take it so seriously."

Tsubasa let out a huge grin on his face. "Well, my girlfriend back in Hokkaido used to hate me a lot. But she came to like me. Maybe it will happen to you, huh Mikan?"

Mikan messed up her hair and whined, "Stop saying those stuffs for now. I want to play…" She assembled the board game and then out of no where, Youichi sat next to Mikan. "Eh? You-chan? What are you doing here?"

"Natsume-niichan let me to go and play…" Youichi said in a child-like tone. "He said that I need rest…"

Tsubasa placed his finger on his chin and smiled. "All right. Let's start the game, shall we?" Everybody in the room said 'Yeah!'

X

Natsume woke up and began to make up his bed. After doing so, he checked his little brother whether he is asleep or not. Youichi's still there, sleeping like an infant. He smiled and covered him with the blanket. He is often grouchy in the morning, so in order to cast away that mood, he took an early shower at 5.30am, even though it's only Saturday.

He turned off the charger of his cell phone and snuck it into his pocket. Natsume wore an AX sleeveless top and a khaki pants. As he walked downstairs, he met up with Tsubasa and Mikan, talking in the living room. "What's that idiot doing with him at this hour?"

"No way!!" Mikan screeched in a girlish tone. "Man, it's too expensive!!"

Tsubasa almost fainted with her voice, since she was sitting next to him. "Mikan, everything's like that. It's an average price!"

She pointed to the magazine. "Hey, back in Nagoya, it's not that expensive! Jeez, a normal cell phone without a camera function costs 50,000 yen?!" She shook her head. "No way… I have to keep my money for my dad!"

"Yeah, I know that, Mikan. But…" Tsubasa paused to point the magazine. "Which phone do you want to buy? Since you've missed your friends so much…"

Natsume silently walked behind them and sat on a sofa in front of them. "Ah, ohayo Natsume!!" Mikan wished him.

Ignoring her wish, he said, "Cell phone, huh? Why don't you use the house phone?"

Mikan shook her head. "I don't want to. The bills might be expensive if I talked too long."

"Don't tell me all this while you haven't had a phone?" Tsubasa asked Mikan.

She lowered her head. "I had 2 but… it's confiscated." Tsubasa patted her back. Mikan stood up and said, "I'm going out…"

Tsubasa quoted, "Sorry, Mi-chan. I can't follow you because I have to meet up with my college friends at Meiji Shrine Park near Harajuku…"

"No, never mind me. I'm only saying that. See you, Tsubasa!" She saw him walking out of the house, waving at her. "Hey, Natsume?"

"What?" He said, not looking at her.

"Come along with me, all right?" Mikan requested politely. "I need a companion…"

"What about Imai?" He looked at her.

"She went out already. Hotaru will be back at 5 pm. I have no idea what she's doing but…"

"I'm going out with Ruka." Natsume said, while he was walking to the kitchen.

"Oh…" She replied in disappointment. Natsume sensed the odd tone from her, so, he stopped walking. "Well, all right. I'll be back within an hour or two, okay?"

"No, I meant, we could go out with Ruka." Natsume turned back. Mikan turned her head to him. "Let's wait for him, idiot."

Mikan felt so happy that Natsume is going to accompany her, along with Ruka. She advanced forward and gave him a light hug. He blushed red. "I'll prepare a breakfast for your kindness, all right?" She let him off.

"No need, idiot strawberries…" Natsume tried to frown, but failed. He was still affected with the hug. "I can cook myself… I'm not disabled!"

She let a growl, "Hey, I'm not an idiot!" She marched towards the kitchen. He smiled faintly and heard the doorbell. It must be Ruka.

He casually strolled to the door and unlocked it. "… Who are you…?"

Mikan opened the fridge and took out the necessary ingredients for the meal. She was overjoyed with Natsume's unusual politeness. Suddenly, the memory of him being on top of her accidentally came back. She shook her head violently to erase it fully.

"Oi, ichigo kara…" Natsume called from the dining table. "Someone… is here. Quickly get you bums here, idiot!"

Feeling both curious and confused, she wiped her hands on a dry towel and peeked from the kitchen entrance. Who would want to meet her…? Her eyes widened when she saw that person. With her right arm pointing at the person beside Natsume, she squealed.

X

"This must be crazy…" Mikan said as she walked towards the escalator of Nakano Mall. "Why didn't you tell me that you migrated here, Kaname-senpai??" Natsume and Ruka just followed behind her, in jealousy. "It's impossible, I'm dreaming!"

Kaname Sono, a high school student, 18 years old and owned a super bishounen look. At the first glance, he is like a superstar. He had a blond hair just like Ruka, but a softer expression. "My family had a business here. Anna and Nonoko helped me quite a lot, Mi-chan. They gave me the address, suggesting that I should pay you a visit. I hesitated because they said you lived in a guy's house…"

Behind their backs, Ruka whispered to Natsume. "They seem pretty close, huh?"

"I don't even want to know about her private life…" Natsume said coolly, keeping a twinge of resentment towards Kaname.

"Eh, Anna and Nonoko?" Mikan asked, "Jeez, I only told Kitsuneme my address. They managed to dig it out…"

"Well, they're pretty good when it comes to secrets…" Kaname gave a small laugh. "So…" He turned to his back, pointing at both Natsume and Ruka. "You said that they are the ones who became friends in the first place?"

Mikan gave a nod, "Yeah. They're really nice." Natsume shuts his eyes and walked faster, followed by Ruka. They headed to the cell phone shop.

"Hey, major idiot!" Natsume called for Mikan. "Do the flirting later, get your stupid phone first…" Everybody stared at Natsume with a sweat drop.

"NAT-SU-ME!!" Mikan's face felt hot because he had just embarrassed her in front of the crowds. "Y-you!!" She rushed towards him and gave him a scolding.

"She's still the same…" Kaname whispered with a sweat drop on his head.

Several hours of arguing, Mikan managed to get a cell phone. With the help of the three bishounen, the price of the latest cell phone model dropped from 70,000 yen to 40,000 yen. (a/n: I know how to convert the currency, so… I'm kind of right.) It's quite useful to have good looks, huh?

"Yay, I could call my friends!" She cheered. The three shounen behind her was aiming to get her number, but, the problem is, how to ask? "Hey, could I know your numbers?" That was easy…

Ruka, Natsume and Kaname took out their cell phones, simultaneously. Kaname, with his boyish charm said, "Switch on the signal. It'll immediately save inside the phone memory…" After doing so, they took a walk at Shinjuku Gyoen Park.

"Hey…" Mikan said aloud. "I'm thinking of working now…"

"Idiot, it's only 10 am…" Natsume replied.

She stretched her arms, "Well… I could save money, right? Oh, Kaname-senpai, I want to show you the best cake shop in this area. It happens to be at my working place. Would you like to have a dessert there?"

Kaname gave a smile, "I'd love to but… I have to go back at my dad's office. He needs my help right now…"

"Ah, yes. You're going to replace the position as a manager soon, right?" Mikan asked. He only gave a nod. "Go on, later we'll have some." Kaname excused himself and walked through the subway tunnel.

"Hm…" Ruka said while he was looking at Kaname leaving. "He seems like a nice man…"

Mikan laughed, "Yeah. He's known as the 'Flawless Boy' in our school. I used to look up to him in every aspect of life."

"It's funny that an idiot like you actually cared about the aspects of life…" Natsume muttered. She stuck out her tongue at him and walked away. "Huh… idiot…"

At that moment, Ruka had just witnessed something that was unusual about Natsume.