Author's Note: OMG, I'm so sorry guys if this took so long. I've had busy, busy weeks. And the playoffs are on! Any Nash fans out there? Haha, oh well, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice, or anything, and everything, else in this story that is copyrighted.

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Melts in Your Mouth

By: flamecaster

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Narumi's Box Unleashed

"Wait! Don't, Narumi!" yelled the other teacher, a tone of alarm in his voice. "It could be a bomb!"

"Nonsense," was all Mr. Narumi said, and, in one fell swoop, ripped the top of the box off.

All the other teachers covered their ears and cowered under their desks, expecting a huge explosion. The detonation, however, didn't come right away.

'Any minute now, any minute now…' chanted Mr. Jinno. "Oh no, I'm going to die!"

"You're not going to die, Jinno." Mr. Narumi sneered, looking down on the cowering teacher. And pointing to the box, with a dazed look in his eye, he added, "Look".

Sure enough, there was the box, its top ripped open. It was like any ordinary box. However, slowly and subtly, a faint glow radiated from its inside. One by one, the teachers cautiously approached it.

"M&Ms!" Mr. Nouda squealed and made a grab for the colorful packets inside the box. "Peanuts! Crispy! And Original! Oh how I love these!"

"Well, there's your bomb, Mr. Jinno. Nothing but--" Mr. Narumi began.

gobblegobble

"—nothing but a bunch--" A vein popped up on his forehead.

gobblegobblegobble

"--NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF--" Another vein popped up.

GOBBLEGOBBLEGOBBLE

"Mr. Nouda!" Mr. Narumi finally yelled, a whole lot of veins throbbing on his forehead.

Turning to the sound of the gobbles, the teachers were met with the sight of their co-worker, in the middle of a sea of chocolate wrappers, with his face blotched up in chocolate. He returned their mortified expressions with the most innocent look he could manage.

"How did you manage that much candy, Nouda?" asked one of the lady teachers. "They all can't have possibly fit into the box."

"Time travel." Mr. Nouda managed to answer, his mouth stuffed with chocolate, and then proceeded to eat again. When it was clear they wouldn't get anymore out of him, Mr. Jinno spoke.

"I guess he ate the chocolates from this time, and every —err— second before."

Turning back to their comrade, the teachers could only manage to stare in amazement as Mr. Nouda gorged down the chocolates.

"Well, I think someone's had enough chocolate for one day." Mr. Narumi burst out, trying to compose himself. When he made to take the box away, Mr. Nouda lashed at his hand, hissing as he did so.

"Nouda, you fiend!" Mr. Narumi yelled, pulling his slightly bleeding hand away, his eyes blazing now. "My beautiful skin!"

-----

Natsume was walking down the hall when it began to shake, followed by screaming. It went somewhat like:

"Give it back!"

"No!"

"It's mine!"

"No, it's not!"

"Chocolate!"

"It's bad for you!"

"How would you know!"

"Nouda!"

A loud boom, then silence.

'Chocolate? Nouda?' Natsume thought. 'What's all that about?'

He was just in front of the faculty door when it burst open. Standing in the doorway was a heavily bruised, scratched, scorched and panting Mr. Narumi carrying a huge tattered box, almost in the same condition.

"Oh Natsume!" he called out.

"Mr. Naru-" Natsume tried to acknowledge the teacher.

"Hi-how-are-you?-You­-like-chocolate,-don't-you?-Please-take-this.-It'll-really-help-a-lot.-Thanks-very-much!" Mr. Narumi huffed out in one breath, and dumped the box on the child.

"Narumi! Hurry!" went a voice, which Natsume thought sounded like Mr. Jinno's. And with that, the faculty door slammed on the boy's face.

Natsume was left in that lonely school corridor to comprehend what had just happened which left this huge box in his care. And what was that about chocolate, Mr. Narumi was talking about?

He had decided to move away from the faculty door, since the screaming and shaking had returned. "It's not my problem."

Looking at the enormous box, he couldn't help but wonder. The box was so huge, yet it was easy enough to carry. He even thought that there might not be anything in it.

"Natsume!" came the familiar cheerful greeting of a certain little girl. Natsume pretended he didn't hear her and went on walking. "Hey, Natsume!" she kept calling out. When he still didn't reply, she tried to overtake him, but instead, she tripped.

"What do you want?" came the icy voice of Natsume as Mikan picked herself up.

"Wow! What's that you have there, Natsume?" Mikan asked.

"None of you're business," Natsume responded. "Oranges."

At this, Mikan turned scarlet, shouting, "Natsume, you're such a—". She ran after him, only thinking of pummeling him when she catches him. The two of them ran across the campus, not without overturning a few of the property.

Mikan had finally tired by the time they reached the park. She sat under a tree to catch her breath. After a while, she noticed a long blue pack handed to her.

"Take it. You've got to be drained after that run." Only then did she notice that Natsume had sat beside her, the box down beside him. She didn't want to take the pack because she still didn't want to forgive Natsume. But she had to admit that she was hungry.

"Thanks, Natsume." She smiled, taking the pack. "I love M&Ms." Natsume only looked away in response. "Here." Mikan continued, handing him a few pieces of M&Ms.

The boy could only look at the smiling little girl in front of him. "Thanks" was all he could muster. The two of them ate quietly, watching the setting sun.

When Mikan had finished, she saw that Natsume still had one piece left in his hand. "What's wrong?" she asked. The boy was still staring intently at the blue chocolate bead.

"Do you know the tagline for M&Ms?" The boy finally responded.

"Something like 'It melts in your mouth, not in your hand', right?" Mikan answered.

"Yeah, well, look." Natsume showed the pigtailed little girl the bead in his hand. "I've been holding on to it for a while now."

"And so?" Mikan took a closer look, inching her head closer. But suddenly…

Swoosh A gust of flame exploded from the boy's palm. The flame scorched Mikan's face, making her cry out in pain, but Natsume didn't move.

"Why the heck did you do that!" Mikan cried out, caressing her slightly burned face. She was about to let out another shout when she noticed that the M&M in Natsume's hand was still in tact.

"Hey, it didn't melt."

"Exactly." Natsume finally stirred. "Something's going on here."

"Why? Just because the M&M didn't melt with your fire?"

"Not just that. See? It's glowing." Mikan drew nearer to see the glow the boy was talking about. Her head was so close to him now that he could smell her shampoo. Even as the wind blew across them, the air around them grew warmer. 'Just a little more' was all Natsume could remember thinking.

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Author's note: Sorry to leave you hanging! I can't help it, I love surprises! evil laugh Anyway, if any of you have any comments and suggestions (especially for the next chapters), they're very much welcome. Hope you liked!