Sorry for the delay. Some things came up. I have to memorize lyrics for choir, I had to study for a vocab quiz, study for a science test, and when I come home, I am way too tired because I play with the Jr. Boys' Volleyball team for no reason :P Love volleyball.

Anyways, this chapter didn't get beta-d either because the connection is still pending. R&R

The way the story cuts off, yeah, I rushed it because I thought it was getting way too long XD It's a normal-events chapter :P

Mikan

The next day - well, a couple of hours later, Mikan, the kids, and Yuka were the only ones still left sleeping in their own beds. Everyone else was either working (real jobs), doing chores, or homework.

Now with Mikan, she's still in the same clothes she was in hours ago when she saw her beloved Natsume, again, after 5 long years. She's currently deep asleep and sprawled on top of the covers of her queen-sized bed, her hair everywhere. Not until her phone started to quietly hum a familiar acoustic song as the ring tone and buzz on her nightstand next to the bed.

She let out an annoyed groan of being woken up and rolled on to her back to reach for her phone. She answered groggily, "Whaaaaaat?"

"Polka, you're still asleep, huh? Same old, same old." Natsume, obviously, scoffed on the other line. "It's 1 o'clock. Get your butt up. You'll get fat if all you do is sleep and eat."

"Do I seem fat and/or unhealthy to you?" Mikan grumbled, glaring at the phone as if she was glaring directly at Natsume. 'course she was healthy and has impressive stamina. It's required.

"For now, yes." He smirked. She may not see it, but she knows it's there. "Where's Nobu and Maki?"

Mikan smiled at the curiosity she heard in his voice even though it was just a slight trace for, and she knew, he didn't want to really show how happy he is. "They must be sleeping, too. They would wake me up if they wake up before I do."

"Good kids. Tell them I said, 'Happy Birthday'. I'll see you at my place around 4. Jaa ne. I love you."

"I love you, too! Jaa ne. By the way, if you don't have a present, it's okay. I don't blame you for not getting one. You just being there for the first time is enough for them." Mikan said cheerfully and reasonably, now fully awake and alert. As she hung up and placed her phone back on the nightstand, she walked over to the conjoined door, slowly opened it and took a peek inside.

On one side, Nobu laid on his side clad in only black briefs, his blankets tangled and wrapped around his limbs. Across the spacious room parallel to Nobu's bed was Maki's bed. Maki is dressed in one of Mikan's really old PJs from when she, herself, was a kid. Saves money when it comes to the 4 youngest people in the house who gladly accept the hand-me-downs. Thank goodness for that.

Mikan slowly closed the door slowly just letting the latch quietly click and stay securely closed. 'So, Kou is out with Koji preparing and prepaying the twins' favourite cake, mango cake, for tomorrow whilst they study with flashcards on the bus looking stupid. Takeo-nii will come home later from work with all of our presents for them that we hid all over town (because somehow the twins always find them.) and Jun-nee and Persona-nii are probably organizing the house right now. What to do 'til four?' She contemplated over the possibilities of what to do to make time pass quickly.

Her mind stops for a second as she realizes, "I need to get out of these clothes, shower, then do laundry." She first writes on a yellow sticky note for Maki and Nobu in case they wake up before she's done and sticks it on the other side of the conjoined door swiftly and quietly.

Natsume

Natsume has been in the worst mood today, even after he called secretly and privately called Mikan minutes ago. The wedding hasn't started yet because Koko's having issues getting to the church with Kitsu. Permy's single female guests, who she forgot to warn, were all over him. Good thing he actually decided to dress properly and not his usual unbuttoned, untucked shirt and loosely tied neck tie style that the ladies love more. But still kept his messy, sexy raven hair. It surprised everyone really. Including Hotaru.

'Something good happened to him and that never happens.' Hotaru concluded from afar as she lightly held Ruka's hand. 'I'm going to find out what it is.' She began to plot on how to get information from the Aho, seeming as if she were merely listening to Kitsu and Anna talk to her and Ruka.

Natsume, whose patience was running out with these dolls, and fast, began to walk over to the other side of Ruka. Ruka gazed at Natsume briefly and saw the message in his eyes. 'Fake dolls. They won't leave me alone. Do or say something useful!'

"Ru-chan, help me bail out Natsume quick as soon as he gets here." Ruka whispered to Hotaru. She smiled mischievously, "That should be easy." Then Natsume steps next to Ruka with a bunch of unwarned, single women following close behind him. No less than a second later, those women were all drenched and dripping with water, no, sticky apple juice that made their caked on make-up run down their faces.

Natsume just shrugs non-chalantly at them and turned to Ruka. "You asked her for help? Remember what she did last time?" He asked with raised eyebrows. Ruka smiled a cheeky smile, "Of course. But I didn't know how I could help this time."

"Aho," Hotaru interrupted, pointing a small water gun at Natsume. 'Where'd the baka gun thing go?' Natsume thought. "What happened to you? You're dressedproperly."

Ruka scanned Natsume's form again with his eyes, slowly nodding his head. "Something good must've happened. You saw Mikan again or something?" He patted his back in a light teasing manner. Before Natsume could think of something to say to Ruka's half-joke, they were being arranged to their positions. Since Mikan obviously couldn't come no matter what, he paired up with his younger sister, Aoi.

'Can't wait 'til this is over.' Natsume sighed inwardly, hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Onii-chan, can I come over-" Aoi was cut off by Natsume's stern voice.

"No. I told you, another time."

"I think Katsumi would like to have new friends."

"He's only 11 months old, it's not like he'll remember them. Another time, Aoi-" He was interrupted by some blunt object chucked at his head. Natsume turned around to the cause. No surprise, it was Hotaru, but with a small smile. 'What the fuck? Creepy.'

Before he could ask what that was for, his phone vibrated. From Hotaru. "Let me see her you fucking aho. Holding out on us, huh?" Was what she sent. He looked back up and glared at her from a couple feet away.

"Crazy bitch. She'll probably drag me along to see you and Ruka eventually." Natsume replied before they all walked down the aisle in their designated pairs. Best man and maid of honour paired up at front.

-14:43 (2:43)-

"Why did that take so fucking long?" Natsume complained as he loosened his neck tie and unbuttoned the first 3 buttons of his white dress shirt. Somewhat his usual style. He was leaning on his car in the church parking lot with the company of his sister, Ruka, and Hotaru. Everyone else left for home 'til the reception at 5 o'clock or are preparing the ballroom in the hotel not too far from here.

"Maybe you just can't wait 'til you can see Mikan, again." Hotaru said nonchalantly. Ruka stiffened for a second. He looked at Hotaru first, then Natsume. " 'Again'? You saw her at the cliff didn't you? I told you so!"

Natsume just groaned knowing what was coming up next. "Can we see her, too?" The 3 asked in unison. "No. Only when she tells me so."

"What about-" Natsume glared hard at Aoi before she could say a word about the twins. His twins. "Mine and hers."

"What are you hiding?" Hotaru asked, reaching into her bag and gripping the apple juice filled water gun. "I know you're not going to the reception. What you two have said so far was enough. I'll empty this out on your seats if you don't tell me, Aho."

"Temee- (Informal 'You')" Natsume was cut off by his phone ringing.

~I want to live, I want to live and run to your place right now
I can't see anything in the pitch dark, even if it's scary, I'm all right
The countless starry sky is still here now, forever
I won't cry because the sky I saw before with you was beautiful~

He knew exactly who it was and quickly got into his car and locked the others out, key in the ignition but still off. "Polka." He answered smugly.

"Daddy/Otou-san!" Two high-pitched voices cheered on the other line instead of the husky, happy voice he was expecting. His eyes squinted a little at the shrill of happiness. Aoi, Ruka, and Hotaru were just watching him from outside, but couldn't hear nor read lips. The only things they could ever read were names and nicknames, but didn't see the first thing out of his mouth. They had their suspicions though. The car was made soundproof from inside-out and bulletproof, too.

"Hey kids. Sorry, I thought it was your mom that called. Happy birthday." Natsume struggled to keep a smile off his face for he was being watched. Otherwise, he would've smiled since no one would be able to see. "Arigatou!" They cheered in unison together again.

"We just woke up so we wanted to call you." Maki yawned. Then in the background there was a sound of plates clattering and crashing, then breaking. "Mikan Sakura!" Yuka, if he guessed correctly, yelled in the background and soon heard the slam of a door close. "Maki, Yuki-chan, why are you on the phone?" Mikan sounded as if she was out of breath.

"We called Otou-san." Nobu answered truthfully. Natsume just kept listening 'til someone spoke into the phone to him

"Natsume?"

"Speaking, Polka."

"Hey. So why'd they call? Not to sound like I didn't want them to call."

"I don't know; all I know is that they just woke up and they just felt like it. So why are you in trouble?" Natsume smirked - he couldn't help it - in a teasing tone.

"Oh, ha-ha, 'bout that," Mikan chuckled lightly. "I tripped on a chair leg, then grabbed onto the first thing I could get my hands on, which was the table cloth, and down came mom's favourite china plates."

"Clumsy as always." He teased some more just imagining her cute pout as she huffed on the other line. "Calm down. You know I was kidding...kind of."

"Whatever! So, 4 o'clock, ne? Anything you want me to bring?"

"Hmm..." Natsume thought of what there is he needs to know. "Did you record anything I should see?" He was just too curious and would probably not be able to bring it up again later.

"Oh!" Mikan suddenly jolted. "Now that you mention it, I have boxes of videos, pictures, and journals specifically all for you to look at since you missed A LOT." He felt a tinge of happiness and warmth swarm through him hearing that and felt guilt at the same time because he didn't exactly record what has happened the 5 years she was gone. He's given brief summaries in the letters though.

"Okay bring 'em all-" There was a tapping on Natsume's window. Aoi. He sighed, "Aoi wants you to meet Katsumi the next time she has the opportunity to see you. She wants to meet Maki and Nobu, too. If you're wondering, she got it out of me this morning."

"Okay, some other time then. Hey, we needa go eat then get ready. See you later."

"Alright, don't hurt yourself."

"I lived 5 years didn't I?" She giggled.

"Bye Daddy/Otou-san!" The twins yelled in the background. Natsume could only chuckle, "Jaa ne. Happy birthday; I love you." He directed to all 3 of them. He knows he's on speaker phone.

"We love you, too!" They cheered in unison. He smiled for a split second before hanging up.

He looked outside. Aoi, Ruka, and Hotaru were still watching and waiting for him to say something. Natsume turned the key, bringing the car to life. He rolled down his window. "I'm leaving. Bye." Before they could protest, he shifted into reverse, then geared into first and drove out the parking lot on his way to his place. Aoi's finacée's picking her up anyway.

Natsume, being the protective brother he is, still doesn't really like Mamoru for he was the cause of Aoi giving birth before she even got married. Sure, they were engaged by that time, but it was still before marriage and his sister's also an idiot. 'I guess his name fits his personality. At least he's not a coward considering he actually accepted my offer to fight just to get his ass beat. He's lucky all I did was pinned him hard on the floor and not punch him or Aoi would've been so pissed.' He thought and then remembered why he's not allowed to make fun of Mamoru anymore.

Aoi knows her brother's reasons for not liking him and always says to him "Mikan-nee-chan had twins at 16 and you didn't even propose to her then. Mikan-nee-chan is also related to Tsubasa-nii and the relationship they have is closer, not by much, than what Tsubasa-nii and Mamoru have." He hated how Tsubasa was considered a brother to Aoi now, too.

"Damn her." Natsume rolled his eyes. That's the only fight he doesn't win with against anyone.

-16:23 (4:23)-

Natsume was waiting patiently in the small study room next to his bedroom downstairs, looking through some pictures and information about each photo along with 2 documents that were attached. He was happy his job didn't require him to always leave his home to attend the meetings, but occasionally. He's gonna have to go tomorrow for this one though.

This file contained a couple pictures of 2 dead men in an alley with an ocean of blood beneath one of them, a pool under the other. He had to admit that the man with his eyes out of his socket and wound around his neck made him shudder. The other he found the result more ridiculous than gruesome, but not by much, because he recognizes this 'work' and the signature of the killer that he/she has left behind. "There's never any fucking finger prints! It has been almost 3 years and we've never caught them! God dammit!" Natsume groaned frustratedly, ruffling his hair with one hand and a picture of the man with, what looked to be, a throwing knife jabbed through his hands and head like a kabob in the other. That part wasn't ridiculous. The word 'Idiot' carved in really girly writing was what he found ridiculous.

"Don't run!" He suddenly heard a familiar female voice from his slightly opened bay window. He leaned his chair over a little to check. And there they were making their way to the front door. As he put everything back in the folder and into the drawer of his desk, he looked at the clock. "16:25" it indicated.

The chimes of the doorbell softly rang throughout the house right before he opened the door. Immediately, Maki and Nobu latched onto each of his legs. "Hey." He looked down to the birthday kids and patted their heads as they smiled up at him. He looked back at Mikan. "You're quite late."

"Well someone said to bring these-" She placed two big boxes down by his feet. "So it took awhile."

"Well, come in." Natsume said nonchalantly, moving aside for them to enter. Maki and Nobu entered first and already figured Natsume was an organized person and intelligent. More than their original impression they had through the journals, videos, and when they first met. Mikan was about to pick up the two boxes she'd just put down until Natsume stopped her. "I'll carry it since I made you bring it." He offered in his usual bored tone. But she knows he means to sound nice. "Thanks." She, of course, smiled.

When the two adults entered, they noticed the kids pointing out a couple children's books in the T. living room with a single bay window lighting up the room, conserving energy. He's not rich, y'know.

"Ne, Natsume, why do you have some children's books here?" Mikan asked with a puzzled look on her face as she walked over to the kids and picking up a random paperback book. "'Jack & Jill'?" She read out the title. "Their Aoi's and Mage's." Natsume answered as he placed the boxes down to lock and close the front door. "Aoi would read those to Katsumi for fun and Mage's kid, Hikaru, would practice reading with Misaki's help."

"Basically, your house is everyone's storage?" Natsume nodded. "Kitsu, Ruka, and Koko leave their game consoles and games in the upstairs living room, all the girl's most precious clothes and accessories in every single closet available except mine, Yuu's books that I actually don't mind to keep safe in that-" He pointed at the dark brown bookshelf close to them. "bookshelf, a lot of Katsumi and Hikaru's things are in a big basket upstairs, Andou's best alcohol upstairs in the wine rack and fridge, and Imai's newest tools in my garage." He explained, rolling his eyes. They find the place as a vault since there's enough room with just Natsume living in it alone, even though it's not that big. Few rooms but spacious, if it were only his stuff. Right now, it looks as if a whole family lived here.

"Wah, you are nice. Not exactly like how Mama said you were cruel and maybe a bit of a sadist in the journals." Nobu added the last part about the journals absentmindedly. He's the one who usually has the slips. His hands flew to his mouth and gave an apologetic look when he realized, Maki sighed for now they have to tell Mikan what they know and probably get scolded. "Good job, Nobu." Maki said sarcastically and emphasizing the nickname.

"So they really are mischievous. 'thought they were innocent troublemakers like you." Natsume directed to Mikan, implying a few incidents from the past which she chose to ignore. "I've had my suspicions they were reading them without permission so I won't yell at them. For today that is." Mikan gave the twins a serious look.

"So since we're celebrating, let's celebrate." Mikan suddenly beamed, same with the twins. 'Freaky.' Natsume thought, dealing with three Mikan-copies. "What're we doing today?" Mikan asked. "Well, I don't know what they like, so wherever they choose to go."

"The park!" The twins immediately cheered in unison. "Of course the park is their first choice." Natsume rose his eyebrows in question. "They love the peace and simplicity of nature. Maki loves lotus flowers and frogs and pretty much anything involving ponds/water. Water snakes included as long as she doesn't get injured.

"Yuki-chan loves how the sun shines between the leaves of any tree, giving off the godly effect and how the sun makes the grass become vibrant green and gleams because of the dew. Both of them love the sounds of nature, too." Mikan explained with a warm smile. Feeling proud of the kind heart they have.

Natsume was a little surprised to hear that. But was proud the kids love life and it's beautiful surroundings they have seen so far. Soon it won't be so beautiful when you really look at what's around you. Natsume picked both of them up with a smirk on his face. "My little girl," He kissed Maki's cheek, making her giggle and laugh, more happiness jolting through him. "And my little man." He said gruffly and proudly. Nobu raised his fist, fist-pumping and yelling "Osu!"

Mikan watched this and was so touched and happy about their easiness with each other just after a few hours of meeting each other. She walked up to Natsume and reached for Nobu. He ruffled their son's hair teasingly with his now free hand. "So whose car are we taking?" Nobu asked. "Natsume's."

"Mine?"

"Yes."

"Nande? (Why?)"

"Because I know your pride is still pretty big and wouldn't want people to see a woman driving and you in the passenger's seat." Mikan poked his chest with a smug attitude knowing she's right. "Hn." "Exactly."

"Lemme get the keys in my room then." He put Maki down before walking over to his room near the end of the hallway. He opened it partially and reached for a hook with his only set of keys hanging on it that contained his house keys, car keys, and key chain Mikan gave him on his 9th birthday. 'course he'd keep that along with other things.

"Aww. He still has the key-chain of us 12 years ago." Mikan thought, eying the said object. The key-chain was a picture small picture of her and Natsume laughing with chocolate smears on their faces. Natsume thought they were alone at the time of event so he laughed with her in his backyard. He was wrong and his mother had taken a picture from the window and trusted Mikan with the picture rather than him. He wouldn't have deleted it, he actually liked it but didn't show it.

"Why is your room down here?" Mikan asked as he was walking back to them. He shrugged, "The two rooms upstairs are bigger than this one and I don't fill much of the room. Also, neighbours tend to fight right in front of my house a lot so I gotta get rid of them."

"You scare them away?" Mikan asked skeptically, one hand aimlessly unlocking the door and keeping her gaze on the intimidating 21 year-old man. The twins walked out first and stood next to the car, waiting for it to unlock.

"Yelling at them through an opened door works more effectively than out my window since it faces another house." Natsume defended himself. "I think you just walking out with your grumpy face is enough." "They never learn." Natsume slung his arm around her shoulders and led them out. He slightly turned so he could lock the dor with his free hand. He pressed the unlock button on the remote so the twins could get in.

"Don't fall asleep." Natsume teased. "Did you purposely pick the new car smell and leather air freshener? You have real leather for crying out loud." "Well you know I like the smell of both." He smirked as they both got in. "And you also know it makes me fall asleep." She pouted as he chuckled and turned the car on. "At least the park is only a 5-minute drive."

-Park-

As Nobuyuki and Maki were feeding ducks breadcrumbs by the pond, Natsume and Mikan sat on the slope of the hill watching over the twins as they talked. "You know how hard it was for us to find you? We even got damn blood hounds and they couldn't find you." Natsume said, leaning back on his hands keeping him up.

"Blood hounds?" She asked herself quietly, tapping her chin and contemplating how they couldn't find her with freaking blood hounds. If it was the year she disappeared, then maybe it was when she jumped into a freezing lake to cover up the scent from the AAO's dogs. "Damn dogs. That lake was cold." She grimaced at the memory for a second before speaking again. "I have no clue how you didn't find me with blood hounds." Mikan shrugged. She kind of wasn't lying. Another possibility would've been if the dogs didn't catch enough of her scent that time if just once.

"You could've used Hotaru's inventions." She suggested knowing that was the first thing they did. "First thing we did. With no charge which was a surprise." "Did they break?" Natsume nodded. "Overheated. All of them." He said. Mikan knew what happened there. Yuka refused to let the 3 of them find her for the first 2 months, so she tampered with the equipment. It was amazing how she still did that. Even at the age of 35 then; 40 now.

"What other ways did you try?" "For me, I was just hoping I'd run into you." "Yeah, you almost did. Only if you knew I had twins." Mikan recalled the memory of the time when Maki and Nobu were only 10 months old and Mikan had seen Natsume with Aoi at a perfume gallery in a mall. Mikan was with Persona at the time and both of them wore fake, high-quality wigs so no one recognized them. Since the twins were babies and couldn't wear contacts, you could clearly see their crimson eyes. "Since I haven't up until now, where have you been?"

"I have been living with my mom, cousins, and adopted brother and sister." Natsume rose his eyebrows at the last part. "'Adopted brother and sister' ?" "Their names are Kou and Koji-" "Saito?" Natsume asked. Mikan became wide-eyed, and nodded. Speechless.

"Youichi's dating the girl. They're fraternal twins right?" She nodded again. Thinking of ways to kill the girl for not telling her. "She didn't tell you did she? That's why you're surprised." "It's not that she's not allowed to date. But she HAS to tell us. Wait. Are they together today?" Natsume thought for a bit then shook his head no.

"You know Youichi. He's a good guy."

"But You-chan is convinced I'm dead."

"True enough. By the way, they've been dating for about a month."

"She's dead." Natsume smirked at this. "You know how I feel about Aoi being engaged with Andou (Mamoru)." "I like You-chan whereas you don't like Mamoru-kun. I'm not being overprotective like you; It's just that she has to tell us. Otherwise, we wouldn't care - Hey, you didn't tell me this before." She nudged him with her knee lightly. He shrugged. "It slipped my mind all those times." Mikan sighed.

"Anyways, how is Aoi, Mamoru, and Katsumi?"

"Aoi's doing fine. She's still the same if you ask me. Andou isn't that much of a coward anymore; and Katsumi's hair grew a little longer. That's pretty much it." Natsume thought about his nephew. The boy had blue-black hair, dark, azure eyes and the same star-shaped birthmark as Tsubasa and Mamoru on his nape. It was clearly visible since Katsumi's hair is still really short. "Do you have a picture?" Mikan asked. Natsume tossed her his wallet with a sigh. She stifled a laugh when she opened the wallet and spotted the picture. "Aoi did that to you?" In the picture, Natsume had a black eye that she knew they tried to cover up with some foundation as he held Katsumi. "No, Katsumi. He kicked me while he was asleep. Aoi got a video of it so she used that to blackmail me."

"You don't like taking pictures with kids?" Mikan asked in a quiet, innocent voice; sounding like she's about to cry. Natsume's eyes widened and turned to his beloved, "It's not that! It's just the fact that I don't like Aoi's fiancee that much!" Mikan suddenly beamed at him with a grin. He narrowed his eyes a little at her for making him panic for nothing. "Good because they love pictures." She said.

"I would figure through the amount of albums. How many? 30? More?" "I honestly have no clue. Probably - Oh! That reminds me -"

"MAMA!" They suddenly heard Maki whine loudly. They turned their heads back in front of them where the kids still were. Just one of them was partially wet. "What happened this time?" Mikan grunted as she hopped to her feet and started walking down the hill. Natsume got up and followed behind her, looking at Nobuyuki who wasn't looking at either of them. Instead was looking at some other boy who seemed to be walking away from them. "Interesting." Natsume thought, guessing what happened.

"I was talking to Sora-kun from school and then Nobu splashed some water at me." Maki pouted angrily, her fists clenched tightly by her sides. Nobu looked away from, probably, Sora and looked at his sister who was obviously mad.

"Nobu," Natsume called from next to Mikan. The said boy looked at his father. "Was it because you're doing your job as the brother?" Nobu nodded, smirking. "Yuki-chan, you're only 5. What can happen?" "Yeah Nobu!" Maki was now being carried by Mikan who was helping to dry the wet part of her daughter's shirt with her free hand holding a handkerchief. "When we're a lot older, Sora-kun might remember something Maki did one day at this age or maybe a little older and think it meant something else. It can happen. I hope he remembers this though." He shrugged.

"And splash me?"

"What? You love water. I'm still nice so I didn't splash him even though I wanted to. I knew he'd leave if you called Mama over because you got wet."

Mikan sighed at the two's constant bickering and just kept swaying Maki to calm her down. "I'm not going to take you to see Ruka-kun and Hotaru next week if you don't resolve your problem now." Mikan said, speaking to Nobuyuki more rather than Maki. "Sorry. At least I didn't push you into the pond." "You're too paranoid, Nobu." Maki very subtly accepted the apology from her brother as Mikan put her back on the ground. Her shirt a little more dry now. They started playing and laughing together again like nothing ever happened. "She did a good job on raising them for 5 years." Natsume admired, staring at the young woman.

Mikan felt like she was being watched and looked at Natsume. "What?" She asked. He shook his head. "Oh yeah! Before Maki called..." Mikan trailed off as she reached into her jeans pocket. She fished a palm-sized notebook out of the pocket. "This is a summarized journal of the month before I had to fake my death." Natsume took the notebook and flipping through it, catching glimpses of words as he reached the blank back cover. "Just so you know, I wasn't a hundred percent sure if I was pregnant 'til the week after I faked my death. You can read that now if you want or later along with the other things I gave you."

Natsume just nodded, meaning he'd take a look at it now. He estimated about 170-200 pages and her writing wasn't too small but there were more words on one line than the average person could write. He was a fast reader and was used to her writing - unlike others, including teachers, when they were in highschool, they complained how much they could barely read a damn thing of hers - so he couldn't see why not. Plus, it'd be good because if he needed to ask any questions, he could just ask the girl right now. This won't even take him an hour to finish.

By the time the twins wanted to go eat, he had already finished the whole journal and asked Mikan a couple questions. He had a lot to ask, but most were answered as he kept on reading. As he read, Mikan had placed her head on Natsume's lap and played with his free hand, tracing the lines on the palm of his hand.

"Natsume, where are we eating?" Mikan asked as they walked onto the dirt path leading to the parking lot as she carried Nobuyuki on her back and Maki on Natsume's. The said man shrugged. "What do you want to eat?" He directed to the twins, wanting to know more about his own offspring. "Other than sweets and candy." He added, seeing the grins on their faces which was soon replaced by a frown on Nobu's face, but the same grin on Maki's.

"I don't really have an obsession with candy and sweets anyway." She laughed, "I want sukiyaki. Nobu would want a full roll of dynamite roll."

"You can tell Yuki-chan has my sweet tooth." Mikan said. They could see the silver car now. "Yeah, I can tell. Do you want howalons?" Natsume suddenly asked, curious to the twins' reaction. Nobuyuki started to throttle Natsume and grabbing his father by the shoulders, agreeing to the offer. Mikan just sighed as she was also being throttled back and forth by Maki. "Okay. Okay. I get it." Natsume grumbled irritatedly. "Gomenasai." Nobuyuki apologized, draping his arms by Natsume's neck again. "I'll pay for the howalons." Mikan offered. Natsume looked at her and saw the excessively large grin on her lips. "You want some too don't you?" He smirked. "Of course." "Do you even let them eat anything healthy-" "Yes! I'm not irresponsible!" "I'm just kidding." "Just get in the freakin' car." Mikan narrowed her eyes at Natsume before letting Maki slid off her back and hopping into the car.

Woo. Done. Thanks for reading. R&R

-Shiro0529