Disclaimer: The usual...

Heehee, not long now 'til my first idea! :D I'm so excited, haha xD Also, the A/N's at the bottom of the chapter is very important, you have to read it!

Chapter 14

Bonding?

Friendship and love are two of the things that bonds you to people

~Ruka Nogi

[Normal POV]

The next morning, Mikan woke up earlier than usual. She even woke up before her alarm clock! She decided to get an early shower. She stripped her clothes, switched the shower on and stepped in. And positively swore loudly. A bright start to the day!

[Mikan's POV]

Well, shit! I forgot the water needs to warm up before you step in the shower. Bloody hell... I must've woken up too early, my brain isn't functioning properly yet. I hear a growl coming from the direction of my bedroom. Oops... I must've woken Thunder up with my colourful (and loud) stream of words.

"Thunder, I'm in the shower." I call to him.

"Yes, I can hear it. And I heard your words."

"Whoops, my bad... I forgot that the water needs to warm up before you step in it."

"Well, yeah, naturally you would be the one to forget that."

I laugh out loud and I hear a low rumbling coming from Thunder. Well, at least the shower was only one blip in my day. Well, too bad that it's kinda gotten me into a bad mood, even though Thunder has cheered me up considerably. I wash my hair with my fave shampoo and then wash my body. I finally step out of the shower and dry myself. I feel so refreshed now, even though my first blast of the water was freezing cold. I pull on my uniform (the winters one again) and towel dry my hair.

"Aren't you going to blow dry it?" Thunder asked.

"No way." I say out loud. "I want to leave it damp."

Don't ask why. Then, to add to my bad mood, my alarm goes off. Sighing, I switch it off and go to brush my hair. Thunder stands up and stretches like a big cat. Ok, I'm ready for school, on time. Something that I haven't been for years... Good times, those were. I practically bang my head on the wall for thinking about those happier times. Blimey, I feel like a freaking house elf. You know, the house elves from Harry bloody Potter. Love that series, but anyway, that's not the point... I walk out my dorm, Thunder following close behind. Maybe I should just go for a walk until school starts. But then I might be late. Ah, stuff it, I'm going for a walk. The teacher's can kiss my ass if they don't like it when I'm late. Me and Thunder-oops, I meant Thunder and I-go around the school campus. And guess who we run into? Why, nobody but my 'best friend' Hotaru Imai! The one and only! Haha, jokes, I'm pulling your leg over here...

[Hotaru's POV]

What on earth is Mikan doing here, out so early? It's unlike her. Whether it's the old her or the new her. She has never gotten up early before, the lazy ass...

[Mikan's POV]

Oops... Guess I wasn't joking... We really did run into Hotaru. My bad... Anyway, I really can't be bothered with anyone right now.

"What are you doing here?" we both ask at the same time.

"I asked you first." we both say again.

Hotaru narrows her eyes at me. I just roll mine's. I mean, I hello...? I have the Mind Reading Alice, for goodness sake. Of course I can reply at the same time as her if I have that. Besides, this is funny. I'm annoying her, I can tell.

"You never get up early." we both say.

"Stop reading my damn fucking mind and replying at the same time." Hotaru practically roars in her head.

I put both my hands up in mock surrender.

"Ok, ok, I was just having fun. Jeez... No harm done." I reply out loud.

We glare at each other, each of us not moving or backing down.

"To answer your question, I am out here because I wanted to take a walk. It's a free country." I finally say.

She keeps glaring at me while I cock my head. Did I just hear...? No, I couldn't have... But... Yeah, that is him! Ruka's here!

[Normal POV]

The blonde-haired-blue-eyed teen walked out from the woods and stopped at the scene in front of him. What was Hotaru Imai doing standing there, glaring at Mikan Sakura, who had her head cocked to the side? Suddenly, Mikan turned and looked at him.

"Well, hello Ruka. Nice to see you here too." she said.

Hotaru's head whipped round to look at him. Well, more like glare.

"Uh... hey... um, am I interrupting something?" he asked nervously.

"Oh no, me and Hotaru was just ah... having a pleasant chat, you could say."

"Well, uh..." Ruka stuttered.

There was a rustle, and a crimson eyed teen walked out from the woods.

"Oh, hi Natsume." Ruka said, obviously relieved.

"Hn." was the reply that came.

There was another one of those awkward silences that seemed to follow these four wherever they met. At last, Mikan turned around.

"Well Hotaru. It was nice to talk to ya, but I really gotta go now. Both for my training and classes."

She started walking away but Hotaru grabbed her upperarm, effectively stopping her. Mikan flinched at the contact and Thunder growled.

"Truth or Dare. I dare you play it with me." Hotaru said emotionlessly.

Ruka looked at Hotaru in surprise and Natsume looked mildly interested and amused. Mikan froze. What was she going to say? She doesn't ever back down to a challenge these days.

"I accept your dare." was her reply.

She turned back around abruptly and sat down. The three of them remained standing.

"Well?" Mikan demanded. "I don't know about you guys, but I can never play Truth or Dare whilst sitting down."

Hotaru narrowed her eyes again but sat next to her. And, without them agreeing to play the game, Ruka and Natsume sat too.

"Now that we're all seated, the game has started officially. Ruka."

He jumped at his name.

"Y-yeah?"

"Truth or Dare?"

Ruka badly wanted to choose Truth, but then they would see him as a coward. He also wanted to choose Dare, but this was Mikan Sakura daring him here! Maybe if it was in the olden days when it was an innocent Mikan daring him, he might've chose Dare. The old Mikan would've gone easy on him and chose something predictable, but this was a new Mikan Sakura. So obviously, he chose the safest option available.

"Truth."

"Aw, you're no fun!" she pouted. "Ok then... If you were stuck on an island with no means to escape, who would you be stuck with?"

Ruka flushed and mumbled something.

"Sorry, what was that? I didn't quite hear it." Mikan said, even though she knew fine well what he had just said.

"Usagi!" he repeated, loudly and clearly.

Mikan smiled at him smugly and Natsume quirked an eyebrow at him. Hotaru was eyeing him coolly, but she had a hint of amusement on her face.

"Ok, my turn." Ruka said, still embarrassed. "Natsume." he added, after looking round the circle.

"Hn." was the reply.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." Natsume said with no hesitation.

"Ok um... I dare you to uh..." Ruka cleared his throat. "I dare you to do seven minutes in heaven with Mikan."

Hotaru raised her brows. Natsume deadpanned. Mikan, on the other hand, looked impressed.

"Wow Ruka! What a dare! Never thought you had it in you!" she let out a laugh then stood up.

They all looked at her.

"Well, seeing as their is no broom closet or anything, I guess me and Natsume will have to just do it a little way in the woods."

"You're... you're really going to do it?" Ruka stuttered.

"Well of course. It's just a fucking dare." Natsume growled and stood up.

[Natsume's POV]

God, out of all the fucking dares Ruka could pick from, he had to go and choose seven minutes in heaven? It's more like seven fucking minutes in bloody hell. Damn... I've just let Mikan read my thoughts. Well, whatever. As if I care.

"You coming or what?" I say, not in a very good mood.

She follows me silently into the woods.

"You do know, when people gets this dare, they only ever stand in the broom closet?" she says after a while.

"The hell if I care."

"They don't really ever do anything, not even kiss, unless, of course, the two people goes out with each other."

"Shut up asshole."

Her eyes flash dangerously and I instantly know that I'll come to regret it. But not now. Now I'm just too much in a mood. There's more silence between us, and after what felt like hours, but was probably only a few moments, I decide to speak.

"How long has it been?"

"Only two minutes."

She went back to staring into the trees and I go back to kicking at stones, my hands buried deep into my pockets. These are gonna be the longest seven minutes of my life. Mikan snorted and I look back at her.

"You're not the only one here kitty." she says.

There's more silence, or as silent as it ever could be when you're in the woods. All of a sudden, I wanna do something. To be more specific, I want to actually do a little bit of the dare. I'm starting to feel reckless.

"It's been seven minutes." Mikan finally says. "Ruka's coming to check on us."

Sure enough, I hear a rustling. A split second before he approaches us, I grab Mikan and kiss her. Full on the lips. Inwardly, I groan. Why. The. Fuck. Did. I. Do. That?

[Mikan's POV]

What on bloody earth is he doing? He can't just expect to grab a girl and kiss them! Besides, why on earth would he kiss me when he called me an asshole? Why? And why-oh-why am I enjoying it? I'm not meant to! Or at least, I'm not meant to enjoy it so much! I was so stupid! I reacted on instinct and closed my eyes! And then I fucking gave him entrance to my mouth! If anyone says that it was shocking, they should get their eyes checked. It would be the understatement of the year.

[Natsume's POV]

Someone tell me what's going on. I would appreciate it so much, even though I wouldn't show it. I need to know why I'm enjoying this as much as I am. I need to know why she gave me entrance to her mouth. Why do I have my hands in her hair? Why is her arms around my neck? Her smell is surrounding me, a smell that I don't think I'll ever forget, no matter how much I tried. A smell of orange blossoms, vanilla and strawberries, all mixed in one. A delicious scent. And-shit! Why am I thinking this disgustingly gooey stuff?

[Normal POV]

Natsume and Mikan finally broke apart. They were enjoying the ahem-kiss-way too much to remember that Ruka was there. Until he cleared his throat loudly and awkwardly, and that was when they broke apart. Mikan was flushed, but she looked emotionless, maybe just a little red. Natsume looked the same. They both don't know why they reacted the way they did. They thought that maybe it was just hormones or something. But they were both too smart to think it was just normal teen stuff egging them on. To react the way they did, there had to be at least some attraction to the opposite sex. After all, babies don't just appear from nowhere.

"So..." Mikan said. "We can go back now?"

Ruka nodded jerkily.

[Ruka's POV]

Ok, that was so not the thing that I expected to come across. I just thought that I would just walk in on them just standing there and talking, like most people do when they have to do seven minutes in heaven. And Natsume and Mikan, of all people! Talk about down right bizarre. I mean, don't they hate each other? What happened to that? God, I'm so confused...

[Normal POV]

Ruka wasn't the only one that felt confused. Even though they wouldn't admit it, Natsume and Mikan did too. That was why when they reached Hotaru and Thunder, Hotaru studied all of them and then raised her brows.

"They did it then, I presume..."

Ruka nodded, even though it wasn't really a question. They sat down again.

"Sakura." Natsume said.

Mikan glared at him. Ruka and Hotaru was able to see that, even though they did the dare, they still felt the same way about each other; the other was irritating.

"I pick dare." Mikan says, even before Natsume could ask her the question.

"I dare you to lick Imai across the forehead."

Mikan snorted.

"Is that the best you can do?"

Now it was Natsume's turn to glare, not that he's been doing it ever since Ruka had found them. Mikan crawled to Hotaru, who stiffened.

"Touch me and you'll be dead." she threatened.

Mikan smirked.

"In that case-"

She froze Hotaru.

"-I won't let you kill me."

And she leaned forward, licked Hotaru across the forehead and sat back. Natsume glared at Mikan even more, who just smirked back and unfroze Hotaru.

"What? You didn't actually think that I would back down at a measly dare like that? I've done far worse dares."

Mikan and Hotaru exchanged a knowing glance and, for a moment, it seemed like nothing had changed at all in the three years of Mikan's absence. But it was only for a moment, then it was gone and they were back to who they are now.

"Hotaru, Truth or Dare?" Mikan challenged.

"Dare."

"I dare you to skip lessons all day." Mikan replied simply.

There was a stunned silence. Everyone knew that Hotaru Imai never skips class on purpose. Especially not on a dare.

"Very well." Hotaru finally said, annoyed that Mikan knew what to say to annoy her. "Mikan, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

Boy was that a mistake.

"What happened after you disappeared?"

"Nothing."

"Mikan, it's the Truth."

"I'm not ready to tell yet."

The two girls glared at each other, each not showing a sign of weakness or backing down. The wind rustled their hair, crickets could be heard and birds were chirping to each other in the air. But neither girl looked away. They didn't even flinch when Natsume lit both of them on fire. Well, just one of them anyway.

"Take the fire out now, Hyuuga." Hotaru said, not taking her eyes off from Mikan's.

"Yeah Hyuuga." Mikan said. "I never gave you permission to burn my best friend."

"At the rate you's are going, you could be mistaken for enemies, never mind best friends." Natsume snorted.

But the fire spluttered out anyway.

"Now, I do believe it's my turn." Mikan said. "Hyuuga, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

Ruka looked at him in surprise. He didn't think that Natsume will ever say Truth.

"Ok. What's your little sister's name?"

[Natsume's POV]

What? How the fuck does she-? Oh. Of course... The Mind bloody Reading Alice. I scowl, I can't help it. Old habits die hard, you know.

"Can't you just read my mind?"

"I can." she replies.

I keep scowling at her. Well? Isn't she reading my mind?

"Just to tell you, it's the Truth. That's why I'm not saying anything."

"You expect me to believe that crap?" her eyes narrow. "What? I'm not the only one that wants to keep their secrets that way."

"My case is different. What's a sibling's name compared to what I went through?"

If whatever she went through was really bad, then she-God forbid me from saying it-must have a point.

"Aoi. Her name is Aoi."

[Normal POV]

Mikan nods at his answer, although he didn't stop glaring and scowling at her. And so the game of Truth or Dare continued...

Mikan, Hotaru and Natsume each played a load of dares, Ruka decided to play safe as the game got more heated between the three. He decided that he wouldn't mind if they saw him a coward just this once because he was glad that he wasn't doing any of the recent dares. One of them consisted of eating a slug. Literally, and not just putting it in your mouth for a few seconds (mian's dare)! Another dare had been to put your pants on the highest branch of a tree (Hotaru's). But Ruka had fun nevertheless. Sometimes, Natsume, Ruka and Hotaru tried to get more answers out of Mikan's past few years, with no such luck. So Ruka decided to change tact and used the Truths (or as little as Mikan chose) to get to know her better. Sometimes, Natsume did the same, wanting to find out more about her with no explaination (or any available to him anyway). Hotaru was relentless with her questions, but sometimes asked questions referring to Mikan's childhood (such as who she had fancied then). All in all, the game was pretty fun, but then someone had to come and spoil it...

"Mikan. Did you forget your training with me?"

Persona had appeared from nowhere.

"Don't bother me, I'm having fun." Mikan glared at the ground.

"I suggest you do what he says, Sakura." another voice came.

Mikan's head jerked round and her eyes found the very person she dreaded.

"ESP." she ground out.

He smirked in response.

"Now, you know the rules. If you don't do as you're told, you won't have any more ah-fun-with your friends." the ESP said.

Mikan stood up so fast that she was just a blur to the others. Thunder sprang up onto his paws, bristling.

"And who are you to threaten my friends?" Mikan demanded, turning her glare to him.

"I am who I am." was the ESP's reply.

Mikan gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into fists.

"Now, now Mikan. You don't want another murder on your hands, now do we?"

The ESP's eyes glinted cruelly. All the breath that Mikan had been holding in anger rushed out of her in one breath and she paled. Now it was Hotaru's turn to stand up (in fury, I might add).

"Mikan had nothing to do with her father's death!" she raged.

"I think, Imai," Hotaru narrowed her eyes. "that I considerably know more about her father's death than you do."

Mikan tensed.

"I'm still here, you know." she said quietly, glaring at the ground again.

"Then, Sakura, you will understand that it will be regrettable if your friends so happened to just come to their untimely deaths, and you will have another three murders under your name."

If possible, Mikan paled even more. She looked back at the ESP. Her eyes had that look of half madness.

"I'm not a murderer! I didn't kill them!" she yelled.

"I never said you had." the ESP said calmly.

"I'll come with you's! I didn't kill them, I swear!" she said, deranged.

Her eyes now had panic in them, as well as half madness.

"Then come. You have your training to do."

The ESP and Persona turned round and walked away, into the woods. Mikan, her face terrified and pale, stumbled after them, Thunder following behind, keeping a close eye on her.

The three people that were rooted to the spot suddenly stirred.

"I... I feel for her..." Ruka said.

"She won't let anybody help her. She's too stubborn." Hotaru replied.

"I wish we could do something." Ruka said.

"Lets just call today the first step-Bonding." was all Hotaru said.

"Bonding?" Natsume and Ruka said together.

"That's right. We were bonding today."

With that, Hotaru walked away.

[A/N's]

Ok, this chapter was just a spurn-of-the-moment thing, and I felt like I really needed to do it, right before my first idea! Now, for that very important notice! Next Tuesday, I'll be away for three weeks, and I have no idea when I'll be able to get on to post chapters up during that time, so I'll try and get as many chapters up during this week, as much as I can!

Now, review please, it'd be much appreciated! ;D