Disclaimer: I don't own GA.

Chapter Six: Side by Side

No matter how much Mikan otherwise wished, Monday morning arrived as sure as the sun. Mikan had slept very poorly, and on that morning commute in the crowded train, she felt rather faint. She wanted nothing more than to get off the train, get out of the station and grab a taxi straight back to the flat.

Her stomach was in knots. She was incredibly nervous, on the edge of the edge.

In an attempt to distract herself, Mikan unlocked her phone, but her heart stopped and jolted erratically when she saw she had an email from Natsume Hyuuga. Her eyes were wide, and that same shakiness from yesterday returned. Terrified, she opened it…

… He was just asking her to change the 2 o'clock meeting with the historical author Noda to 3 o'clock on their calendars.

She paused, taking in his words. Then, she sighed, utterly relieved.

Mikan did not know exactly how she felt about Natsume Hyuuga. Of course, when she had first met him, her first thoughts did linger on his attractive countenance but these starstruck thoughts dissipated swiftly: his cold and taciturn behaviour had completely nullified his good looks.

But to think! To think that this very same man who had made her feel so unwelcome for the first few weeks now had a crush on her!

Mikan had spent all Sunday restlessly pacing, sighing, gripping her hair.

"What am I going to do tomorrow? What am I going to say?" she had asked her flatmates desperately. "Tell me what to do!"

"Just go with the flow!" had been Sumire's advice, whilst Hotaru had only remarked that she had enjoyed Saturday night and wouldn't be opposed in seeing him again with Mikan.

As Mikan made her way to the office, she kept replaying bits and pieces of Saturday night, and words of comfort and advice that her friends had offered her this morning.

It's okay… just go with the flow…

When she arrived at the office, she spotted Natsume Hyuuga immediately. It was as if he was highlighted in her mind—his very presence stood out from the rest. Breathing steadily, she walked towards their desks, and just before she reached her own, Natsume noticed her and looked up.

She opened her mouth to say good morning first, but no words came because he got there first: he smiled at her and calmly said, "Good morning,"

She averted her eyes before she mumbled out a, "G' morning…"

Nervously, she shuffled to her desk and placed her bag down.

"Back to pink?"

She did not know why, but this made her blush. She looked down at her dress, "Yes, um… it's new."

"It's nice."

"Thank you…"

Internally she berated herself. Stop being so awkward, argh! Stop it, stop it—

"Um, Hyuuga-san," she cleared her throat, doing her best to ignore her fast-beating heart, "Can we maybe talk—"

"Good morning team!" trilled Narumi's voice; they both looked to see their manager waving in their direction. "How are my angels on this glorious morning?"

Mikan was kind enough to respond to Narumi's greeting. Together, they small talked about the good weather. Once Narumi sat down and pulled out his laptop, Mikan returned her attention back to Natsume.

He resumed the conversation as if she had never left, "Do you want to have lunch together? We can talk then,"

Lunch! With Natsume Hyuuga?!

"Um, okay then," she nodded.

He smiled at her one last time before he turned back to his laptop, "Oh, thanks for rescheduling the meeting with Noda."

"No problem…"

That morning, Mikan could hardly concentrate: she made silly and simple spelling errors and just now, she had photocopied 100 sheets of a document instead of 10. All she could think was about Natsume Hyuuga and lunch, and how every passing minute brought her to lunch time.

She was mentally berating her careless errors and mishaps when the office phone suddenly rang. It made her jump, but on instinct, she picked up the phone and answered it.

"Shouda Publishing, this is Sakura speaking… Oh! Noda-san… Yes, we have your manuscript right here—" with one hand still clutching the phone, she reached over to her desk to grab the documents in question when the wheels on her chair suddenly skidded back, "Oof!"

She had stretched too far, and her chair rolled backwards—

Before she could registerwhat had just occured, Natsume Hyuuga grabbed her, cupping her falling back with one arm. She had kept a firm grip on both the phone and Noda-san's documents, and now, she just stared up at Natsume, her eyes wide. He was staring down at her too.

Then, after a charged pregnant pause, he took the phone from her hand, "Hyuuga speaking. Yes, Noda-san, we have it here with us. Yes, Sakura is fine."

Mikan could not stop staring.

OH MY GOD, it hit her like thunder, HE'S SO GOOD LOOKING.

She felt like melting into a puddle of mush. Her heart was racing—

As he spoke to Noda-san, Natsume gently propped her back up so she returned to her upright position. She noticed that others, including Yuu, were staring at her and Natsume. She glanced at them all apologetically, bowing her head down to apologise for the commotion she had just made. When Natsume hung up the phone, Mikan stood up, and bowed towards Narumi.

"I'm so sorry! I apologise for the noise and—"

"Oh, Mikan-chan! You don't need to apologise, I'm just glad you didn't hurt yourself. But be careful with these chairs in the future."

"I will,"

"And Natsume-kun! That was very chivalrous of you," Narumi clapped enthusiastically, "You totally made my heart skip!"

A few female laughs rippled across the fourteenth floor: clearly many people agreed with Narumi's statement.

Mikan now took her seat again and leaned towards Natsume. Again, she bowed her head to her mentor, "I'm so sorry, Hyuuga-san!"

"It's fine. Are you okay?"

"Yes, thanks to you!"

"It's nothing."

It was not nothing to Mikan, because it was the only thing she could think about for the rest of the morning. The way he had grabbed her so quickly, with his strong arm, and his burning intense gaze of worry then relief…

At 12, Mikan and Natsume stood up from their desk to go get lunch. Without saying much to each other, they made their way towards the elevator halls.

"What would you like to eat, Hyuuga-san? My treat."

"You don't need to—"

"You saved me! My treat," Mikan insisted.

The elevator hall was quite busy, as everyone usually rushed out to grab lunch at noon. If Mikan had not been so solely focused on Natsume, she would have perhaps noticed that their surrounding colleagues were looking at them rather curiously, intrigued at the nature of their relationship. It was one thing to see the workaholic Natsume Hyuuga leave his desk for lunch, but another thing entirely to see the antisocial Natsume Hyuuga with his mentee during the lunch hour, looking comfortable and content.

"I know a place," Natsume replied, "Soba place. Do you like soba?"

"I do! Let's go there, then."

When the elevator came, they stepped in. It was quite busy, so it was a relief when the doors opened on the ground floor. They stepped out, and together, they left the office building. Natsume led the way.

It was a beautiful day, and side by side, they walked down a little alley, away from the main high street where Mikan usually frequented for lunch.

"It's a small and dingy place, but I promise the food is good."

When they arrived, Natsume paused, and let her walk in first. She smiled at him before she entered, and he followed straight after. True to his words, it was a rather small and dark establishment with little decor and light; the paper menu on the wall peeling from old age. But it smelt very good inside.

"Natsume! Long time no see,"

To Mikan's surprise, the man behind the counter recognized Natsume immediately.

"Hey, Jiro-san. Yeah, it's been busy at work."

"Who's this? A colleague of yours?"

"Hi, I'm Mikan Sakura! I work with Hyuuga-san."

This man was probably in his early 50s, bald and short, with a great big grin.

"Welcome, welcome! Take any seat you want,"

"We'll take the back seats, thanks." Natsume said.

Mikan followed Natsume to the secluded seats in the back.

"What do would like to eat?" Natsume asked her.

"What do you recommend?"

"The tempura soba is good."

"Okay then," she smiled up at him, "I'll get that."

Natsume called to Jiro-san, relaying their order of two tempura soba and two cold teas.

"Do you come here often?"

"I used to. But not recently."

"Oh, I see…"

Determined not to leave the main topic at hand unattended for any longer, Mikan left the small talk and launched straight into her apology, the one that she had been bursting to reiterate since Saturday evening:

"Hyuuga-san, before anything, I want to apologise—I shouldn't have ever called you those names; it-it's childish, and unforgivable and I really regret it. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay,"

"No, it's not okay," Mikan insisted, recalling how mortified she had been when the subject of Mr. Meanie had come up on Saturday, "it's cruel, and it goes against everything that my grandfather has ever taught me—"

"Let's be honest though, at the beginning, I acted in a way that did warrant that name." Natsume said, "So I should be the one apologizing. I'm sorry for my poor behaviour; I was mean and unwelcoming towards you. I shouldn't have been so hard on you."

Mikan did not know what to do with the apology.

Natsume then continued, "Besides, everyone speaks ill of their colleagues and clients at home. You should hear some of the things I say about people."

"I… I'm just embarrassed and I feel terrible. I don't like to think that I might have hurt someone with my careless words…"

"I just hope I'm doing better now," Natsume said, his voice a bit softer and a bit more vulnerable than usual, "I hope you don't see me like that anymore."

"Of course not!" Mikan was quick to say, and she unconsciously leaned forwards to show earnestness. "You've been so nice to me these past few weeks, and-and I was happy that our relationship was improving and now— …" she remembered that Natsume's revelation, and suddenly embarrassed, she could not bring herself to finish her sentence.

Natsume seemed to have understood what she was trying to get at, because he picked up from where she left of, "And now you know I fancy you."

Immediately, Mikan went pink, her blush starting in her cheeks before spreading prettily towards her nose and ears.

"… D-Do you really?"

"Yes," came his honest response.

Mikan felt her insides ignite and squirm. The only thing she could say to that was, "Wow."

He smiled and laughed at that. "Yes, wow."

"I-I just can't believe it… I wasn't sure if you even liked me as a person. I thought you just tolerated me."

Now, Natsume seemed rather sheepish, "I thought I was giving you hints."

Mikan was surprised to hear this. Hints? That he had a crush on her? Really?

"Like what?"

Natsume was downright shy now. "I, uh, bought you snacks a few times. I stay and work overtime with you and leave the same time you leave. I also offered to treat you for dinner last week,"

Mikan recalled all these little actions. Now she knew of his feelings, she felt that each of these little actions were much more significant and grander than before.

"I thought you were being nice, a good senpai,"

At this, Natsume snorted, "I'm generally not known to be a nice senpai. Ask anyone."

"Two tempura sobas and your teas!" Jiro-san came with a tray of their ordered goods. He placed them all down on their table, "Enjoy!"

Both Mikan and Natsume thanked him, before they snapped their wooden chopsticks. They dug in—

"Oh, wow! It's so good!" Mikan remarked, impressed by the texture of the noodles and the taste of the soup.

He smiled at her, before he resumed eating himself.

They made comments about food and their favourite dishes for the next few minutes as they ate, but once their food was all gone, Natsume returned to the subject of his feelings.

"Nothing needs to change. You're not obligated to say anything to me. I'm just glad that my feelings are out in the open now."

His gaze was intense and burning coal, and Mikan took a large sip of the cold tea.

Mikan decided to be as honest as she could be, "I'm still reeling from the shock, so I think I need a bit more time. Is that okay?"

"Of course," His eyes were so kind, "We should get going. We need to prepare for Noda."

Mikan stood up. "I'll pay,"

When she went to Jiro-san with her purse, Jiro-san looked at her, with an expression of genuine surprise.

"Thank you for the meal! It was delicious. How much was it?"

Natsume now joined her, standing behind her.

Jiro-san looked at Natsume, "You're seriously not going to let her pay, are you?"

"Of course not," Natsume responded and very nonchalantly, he passed two notes to Jiro-san from behind Mikan. "Keep the change."

Jiro-san smiled brightly. "It was nice to meet you, Mikan-chan. I hope to see you here with Natsume again."

She politely smiled and bowed towards Jiro-san, before she followed Natsume out of the restaurant.

"Hyuuga-san, you didn't have to—"

"I wanted to," he replied very easily, glancing back at her. "Shall we get something at the convenience store before returning?"

She nodded, determined to buy him a can of coffee to demonstrate her gratitude. They entered the nearest 7-11, and Mikan quickly made a beeline towards the drinks section, in search of that can coffee that she always saw Natsume drink. She found it soon enough and plucked it from the shelf.

She paid first and waited for him outside the convenience store. When he appeared, she presented him with the coffee.

"For you!"

He smiled again, then stretched out a hand to take it from her. "Thank you. And these are for you," he now passed her a small box of sakura mochi and strawberry daifuku.

Mikan gasped. "My favourites!"

"Mine too."

She looked up at him with a bright smile. "Thank you so much."

Together, they walked back to the office; Mikan spoke animatedly as Natsume listened attentively. All that worry from earlier this morning had melted in Mikan's mind—as she stood next to Natsume, smiling and chatting, she felt totally relaxed and immensely content. Walking by his side was so much easier and more pleasant than she could have ever fathomed, and she was glad that she did not have part with him even when they reached their desks.

Everything looked more beautiful in Mikan's mind after her first lunch with Natsume Hyuuga.

A/N: Hope that was sweet enough! At this point, I'm thinking there will be 8 chapters and a very short epilogue.

Stay tuned! I think I'll upload again this week :)