Not beta-ed. Please excuse the grammatical errors.
After they drove Mizuno back to her home Natsuke passed out due to exhaustion. Natsume was surprised that the little girl seems unfazed with all the tiring things they've done. Honestly speaking, even Natsume, himself was tired with all those places they went, they jumped from one place to another, and ate a bunch of food along the way. Heck, he never knew it was this bothersome to babysit, and somehow he finally understand why his father was complaining a lot when he was taking care of them.
"I'm quite surprised," Mikan mumbled to herself in the back seat, which of course, was heard by Natsume.
"What?" he asked through the mirror facing him which led directly to the brunette's warm eyes.
Mikan smiled, "I've never had this fun for so long."
Natsume momentarily paused, a little bit taken aback by the declaration, but understood what she meant, "Yeah, same here."
There were silence after that, no, not the awkward and stuffy silence they once had before, but the peaceful and soothing kind, and for once he never knew he could feel this relaxed.
They stayed like that for awhile, but Natsume knew he had to break it, or else gathering all his courage to speak to her once more would be turned into waste.
"So," he drawled, "about what we talked about earlier, when are we going to see each other again?"
The moment those words escaped his lips he wanted to bit back his lips and swallow what he said and rephrase it again, stupid him! He just made her think that he actually wanted to see her once more!
He thought that Mikan would be surprised and do what he thought she would do, but it seems like he was wrong.
Instead of being shock, she just gave her a sweet smile, the kind of smile that she always give to others whenever they're troubled, the exact state he's in right now.
"Of course," she beamed, "Natsuke's always free on 3 p.m. but make sure to contact me first before fetching me up, OK?"
He wanted to hit his head in the steering wheel for being disappointed that she mistook what he meant. But hey, at least he doesn't need to explain himself, right?
Yeah, right.
His gaze moved down to Natsuke, who looked damn comfortable on his position, his little head was on his mom's shoulder, both his arms possessively embracing the woman's neck, but it has enough space to let her breath and relax.
"Is he that possessive?" was exactly his thoughts yet Mikan managed to spit it out of her lips. It looks like she was watching him while he was checking the kid out. Damn her, she can still read him too well, even with that emotionless face he always portray.
Suddenly she laughed, "Haha, and now you're mad on how I can easily figure you out."
He rolled his eyes, "Funny."
Another laugh came out.
Damn it. How can that one laugh easily bring him on the edge? Looking at their situation now made him remember the times they spent together 6 years ago, when he would drive her home late at night and laugh on all the things they've done at work, made fun on every mistake they do, and tell each other their encounters with people, laugh whenever they realized that they were too engrossed with talking that they already passed her block. They would continue the talk inside until midnight, and before they knew it they already made love throughout the night.
Fuck, it was giving him the chills. Slowly and surely, the memories were becoming vivid. It was driving him crazy that he didn't know what to do anymore. It was like his frenzied self was slowly burning that he was sure that he was going to melt.
Yeah, he admits, he missed this. Miss how her face flushes on every sweet thing he said, missed how tender her lips was when they kissed, missed how soft her body was when they make love.
Fuck, it was throbbing. Not his fucking dick but his fucking heart. Fixing a throbbing dick is easy to solve. But a heart? Heck, a heart doesn't need a fucking pussy to stop the pain. It needs something more. It'ssomething more than just a fucking genitalia.
He gritted his teeth, feeling utterly distressed. He knew he should do something, and fast.
"Natsume?"
Suddenly, he was brought back to reality, to the fact that he was driving that if he delved into his thoughts furthermore would only led to their early deaths.
Gack, is he sweating this much?
He has to stop thinking about these stupid things.
Mikan called him once again, but this time, her voice was louder than before, she seemed to take notice of his sudden blankness. He moved his gaze on the rearview mirror, causing it to reflect on her caramel colored ones.
"Are you OK?" she asked while caressing her tender fingers to Natsuke's soft and silky raven tresses.
He didn't answer, but at least managed to nod his head once and returned his focus on driving. Damn, it's already this dark, much worse it's already 11:56, as much as he remembers Natsuke still has school tomorrow. He should really stop being a slowpoke and hurry up.
It was already 12:23 when they arrived at Mikan's block, Natsume was a bit relieved that the place doesn't have any curfew or else they would have to walk all the way to her house. He was a bit impressed with the subdivision since there were guards patrolling even at this time of hour, the residence living in the area were already asleep, and the only noise they can hear was the noises of the cicadas and the strong wind blows.
It didn't took them long to arrive directly at her place, this was the third time he went there, he didn't really bothered looking around the place the first and second time he went there since he was seeing red and doesn't give a fuck at his surroundings that time so he never really noticed how nice her place was.
Her house was pretty cool, just enough for a family to live, it was a 2 storey kind of house, with a well cared front and back yard. For a year they've been together, he bet a thousand bucks that she has a garden on the backyard, he still haven't step a foot inside the so called yard but he knew it deep inside his guts that there really is a garden inside.
His thoughts was disrupted when he heard a soft "tick" on his side, apparently Mikan had opened the door with Natsuke still on her arms.
"You should've given me the kid; it's hard to open the door with you carrying him."
Mikan gave him a soft chuckle, "Nah, I've gotten pretty used to it, as you can see, I didn't have any difficulties unlocking it, right?"
He just gave her a shrug.
"Plus," she added, "Natsuke'll immediately wake up when he noticed that someone other than me is carrying him."
With eyebrows creased, he asked, "How so?"
Smile. "I've been carrying him for the past 6 years and he knows my body too damn well to notice."
"Wow," he breathed out, "that's some skill."
She laughed, "He probably got it from you."
Her statement made his eyes widen a bit. Wow. Damn, she still remembers that. He actually thought she already forgot that. But she is right though, he is pretty much the same with the kid, he can quickly decipher who's hugging him even without looking. And that skill was very active when it comes to someone who's very close to him.
"You look pretty surprised," Mikan commented. "Take a seat on the sofa while I move Natsuke on the bed."
He did exactly as told.
Natsume waited for a few minutes, taking his time to check out the indoors. He can't help but think that the place was cozy and comfy, exactly as home. Well, honestly speaking, Mikan was good with making her home place comfortable and relaxing for herself and her guest. He remembered the time when they still used to go out 6 years ago, whenever the two decided to go on a date he would prefer just spending it on her house instead of going outside. Apparently, he never really liked going out on dates, he find it quite troublesome, and coincidentally though, Mikan was the same. But there was a time when they spent their date outside for a change, he think it was during their 6th monthsary, they went out in the amusement park, and ironically, they didn't feel any amusement but rather, dull.
Just like any celebrities, they were surrounded with a lot of people asking their pictures and numbers whenever their separated from each other.
So, yeah, that's why.
He let out a stifled laugh, "She didn't even changed at all."
"Changed? Who?" Mikan asked as she went down through the stairs. She was wearing a white t-shirt and a pink pajamas, her hair in a messy bun. Damn, she looks cute in that get-up.
Thankfully, he managed to smooth his nerves a little. But shit, it was hard.
"Hotaru," he spit out the word, his tongue feeling numb. Shit. For all the names that he knew he just have to spit that witch's name. Fucking Imai.
A loud sneezed boomed inside the entire Hotaru Imai Nogi Laboratory.
"Are you okay, hun?" Ruka asked to his lovely wife while soothing her shoulders with a massage, obviously, at this time of the hour, the Nogi couple is still wide awake. It was nothing new, especially to the lovely amethyst eyed beauty.
The woman nodded, "Yeah. It's probably your stupid best friend fouling my wonderful name again. I'm not surprised."
Her husband sweat-dropped, "Isn't it too unfair for you to judge him, hun? You must be having a cold. Come here," he helped her stand up from her chair, twirled her to the side, and kissed her fully in the lips. Giving her a loving look, he added, "Let me warm you up."
And another upcoming invention of Hotaru Nogi was delayed once again thanks to her sex-driven husband.
"What's your decision?" Natsume attentively asked the lovely brunette in front of him while looking at her directly in the eye. Finally, the time has come for them to talk about Natsuke. He just noticed it now, but actually, Mikan had intentionally made him drive the kids around and made sure that Natsuke is deadly tired in order for them to talk properly.
Smart woman, he though smirking, and here I thought she was just being nice to the kids.
It took her quite a lot of time to answer his very simple question. "It still didn't change. But are you okay with it?"
She must be talking about the "pretending" thing. Well, it's not really a bad idea. In fact, it was the best resolve for their problem right now. And it's not like he can just say, "Hey, brat. I'm your dad. Give me a hug."
His eyes squinted in the thought.
"Yeah," he said coolly, "I'm good. It's not like he can accept me that easily, I need to make sure we're in good terms first before we tell him." Yeah, right. As if. That kid has the same hardheadedness as me.
The brunette gave a small smile of relief, making him momentarily stop breathing for a second. "Thank god. I thought you wouldn't agree with it and move on your own."
Fuck this woman. "I'm not that stupid, Sakura."
Another smile came, "Hey, you haven't called me that for a long time."
He hid a smile in the corner of his lips. Yeah, she's right. It was what he always calls her whenever they met each other, when they were still not that close. When what they do when they met each other in places was point and bicker.
"Yeah," he trailed off. But for some unspecified reason, couldn't even say more than that.
After that, silence engulfed them. Sounds coming from outside masking the silence they brought forth.
"I should probably go," he finally said, standing up.
Mikan followed suit, standing up as well and dusting off the imaginary dust on her bottom.
"Thank you for everything, Natsume," she said as soon as they were already outside, the chilly breeze of the wind brushed her shoulders, so she rubbed her hands on both sides to at least warm them up.
Natsume nodded, not failing to notice how chilly she was already, "You should probably get inside, it's cold. You don't want to end up with a runny nose, do you?"
The brunette chuckled.
"Yes, sir."
The man opened his car door and hopped inside, fighting back the urge to offer the lady a ride around town despite the late hour. Plus, Natsuke is inside the house sleeping, so he doubts she'll come anyway. And it would be totally out of character of him to offer such thing.
He turned on the engine, the machine giving out a groan indicating that it's still good to go. The gas tank was almost empty, so he really needs to go home now.
"Bye," he said to the brown-eyed woman who was still in his side, apparently she wasn't planning on going in until she sees him go.
Mikan nodded her head gently, "Bye, you take care."
He gave her a faint smile, "I will."
After that he drove off, his eyes stuck on the rearview mirror checking up if she's still there. He saw her standing while waving her hand, but then in a few seconds she finally moved to her side and went in to her house.
His eyes were now focused on the road, yet his mind was in shambles. He can't believe that he'll actually meet Mikan once again. They didn't meet each other for such a long time that he doesn't even know how to act around her anymore.
"This is fucked up," he sighed to himself. Closing his eyes for a moment and opening them again.
He decided it was unnecessary to sweat over this thing. Past is past and he has a lot of things to mind.
And getting his son's trust was one of them.
A/N:
Oh, my gawd. I've been away for so long that I almost forgot that I still have some unfinished job here in FF. I know a lot of you are still waiting for this story and I'm sorry for making you wait for long. A lot had happened in the past months and I wasn't given any chance to open my account and write. Actually I'm starting to get a bit rusty that I don't know if I can still continue this fanfic. Let's just hope that I'll manage to move on with this so that I can finish this fic, it still has a long way to go. I still have a lot of characters to introduce so I hope I'll make it through.
This chapter is short, and I'll make it up in the next chapter. Thank you for reading and I hope you'll give a review. :)