Title: I Know You
Inspiration: Knowledge. Impulses. Hot chocolate. Guhhhh. -_-
Dedication: Everyone who made my birthday so amazing special-tacular :D I think it's the best birthday (online with my buds, that is) I've had in awhile, so sankyuhs so very muchh :))
Spotlight: Mikan and Natsume
Genre: Romance/Humor
Side note: For a little something called May Madness I decided to participate in [see A/N]. I AM A WARRIOR. THEREFORE I SHALL TRY. RAWR.
Natsume used to hate missions. He hated everything about them. He hated the looks he got when he received them and the dull feeling throughout his body when he was done that, for some reason, made him want to take a long nap and perhaps never wake up. Even now, he can't stand looking at the word without feeling a chill course through his body.
He still can't stand missions but now they feel slightly more bearable. He can't exactly say he jumps up and down for joy when he gets them, nor when he's going to complete them, but when he's finished he can't help but feel a bit—excited. Instead of taking his time getting back to his Special Star room, he goes as fast as he can without pushing himself too hard. For the first time in a long time, he can't wait to walk through the door.
Because he knows what's waiting for him when he does—hot chocolate and a smile.
Natsume likes the monotony of his daily schedule. He wakes up, goes to class, sits there for a few hours, and then goes back to his room and sleeps until the next day. If he has a mission, he comes back a bit later than usual, but normally at the same time. On Saturdays and certain days of the week he's forced to hang out with the Dangerous Ability class members, which, unless everyone's being strangely compliant, is complete and utter hell, and on Sundays he can do whatever he likes. Each day is practically the same, and there's nothing really surprising to expect. Sure, sometimes someone might come in with a major case of anger management issues, or some girl may start PMSing about random girl things that he doesn't really care about, but aside from that, nobody ever really changes. The D.A. class is still annoying, and class B is the same—and always has been—since elementary school.
In a way, it comforts him.
Someone may call this whole thing boring, but he hardly considers any of it boring. Compared to the many other times in his life—indeed, it's the farthest from boring you could get. Monotony is just fine with him—especially if it's the kind that he enjoys.
Like right now, he notes as he strolls down the hall of the floor his room is on and smells the light scent of chocolate and strawberries. The last part of his daily schedule before he goes to sleep and starts all over again.
Natsume pushes open the door gently to see the dim light from a lamp by the couch, where a change of clothes is neatly folded on the seat. The air smells like the same chocolate and strawberries mixture he smelled in the hallway, only more so, and the room would be cold if not for the radiator whirring quietly in the corner.
She never forgets to turn the radiator on.
He doesn't notice the light on in the kitchen until the door swings open slowly and she walks out with a mug of hot chocolate in her hands, a first-aid kit tucked under her arm and a big smile on her face. Natsume looks at her for a long time, storing the whole scene in his mind, before he says in a calm voice, "Yo, Polka."
Mikan's nose wrinkles slightly but the smile never leaves her face. She thrusts the mug into his hands. "Drink, you idiot," she says, the same thing she says to him every time when he greets her with such a phrase. He chuckles and plops right down on the floor at the place he was standing, and Mikan sits down next to him. As he lifts the mug to his lips he notes her eyeing the various wounds on his arms and legs, calculating the damage—what she normally does.
"Do they...hurt?" she asks him hesitantly, almost cautiously, gauging his reaction.
Actually they don't hurt at all, even when she gently touches one, but he knows if he says they don't she'll just get that guilty look in her eyes when she thinks he's lying to make her feel better. So he replies, "A little bit," and gulps down some of the hot chocolate. It tastes just the same—sweeter than his taste buds can tolerate.
Mikan sighs before she opens the first aid kit and begins to wrap bandages around his arms. After a bit she says, "I knew you'd do this. Again," and looks at him irritably.
"How?" He rolls his eyes, just to humor her, and she sticks her tongue out at him.
"Because I know you," she simply says, starting to wrap the other arm. "Better than you think I do."
"You don't." It comes out—unintentionally—as an insult, but Mikan doesn't even flinch. Instead, her eyes light up.
"Yes I do," she insisted. "I know your name is Natsume Hyuuga and your birthday is November 27 and your astrological sign is Sagittarius. I know who your parents are and your little sister Aoi and your best friend Ruka."
"That's basic knowledge." Again, Natsume rolls his eyes. "Anyone knows that about someone they're around a lot."
"Oh yeah?" she challenges. "I also know that you actually don't get good grades, even though you're smart, and although you hate sweets you like ice cream, especially mint chocolate chip, and you always eat exactly three and a half scoops of it unless you're in a bad mood—then you eat four." Natsume raises an eyebrow at this, but still Mikan goes on, "I know you have approximately ten different moods but there are four main ones: neutral, content, cranky and melancholy. I know that you only like going to Central Town to buy manga, you hate anything that involves the word "fun", you quietly help people when they don't realize it, you lie about your pain and you never eat your dinner and only eat one thing before you leave the table and go sleep—" She puts the bandages back in the kit and closes it, staring at the red cross on the front. "And the list goes on and on and on," she finishes quietly. "I know that you know a lot about me. I just want you to know that I know a lot about you too."
Natsume opens his mouth to say something, anything to take the look off of her face before she stands up and points at him. "Sleep, you idiot," she says, smiling again. "Or else you're gonna sleep in and be late for joint classes tomorrow." She stands there for a second, seeming indecisive, until she quickly kneels down and wraps her arms around his neck in a quick, embarrassed squeeze before rushing out of the room, her face slightly tinged red.
Wait a second. She knows how much he hates his joint classes—
She really did know him all too well.
Okay I tried. That was my attempt at being a warrior.
God I half don't even feel like editting this thing. I just feel like hitting the "Add Chapter" button and not giving a damn whatever isn't right and then going to bed and sleeping in. I need more sleep 'cos I haven't been getting enough. Guhhhh. Anyways I know I'm getting a bit rusty from not writing for awhile so this may not have flowed that well, and I wanted to make the "I know you..." part longer but my brain is running on sheer willpower right now and I just blehhh. I can't. -_- And ya know that after a long hiatus, I just HAVE to write about...
Yeah I'm sorry May Madness. I fail.
A short summary of May Madness, constructed by yours truly: an event in which you update as much as you can, post new stories, try writing things you've never written before, etc., in order to bring life to GAFFN and turn it back into the epicness that it used to be. It's not a contest, but, well, if you want it to be, and if it'll make you write, play pretend. Basically, go nuts with your writing. But don't do anything seriously crazy. Nobody wants to have to clean that up.
It sounded fun so I decided to join in :D Plus May is particularly special to me because it's me and my little sister's b-day month so I felt I should contribute in some way to the GAFFN community. Like I said, though, I am now a failure at updating. I guess I'll go dig up all those drabbles I never started and start writing and posting them. But you should join in too. You know you wanna...
And before you go...review pleasee? :D
Thanks for reading and get swirled up in all that May Madness,
~Ariisha-chan
