..Mikan, My Love..
By Snowmirage
Summary: The story of how Daffodil came about, of how Mikan recieved the flower from Natsume. Unabashingly Natsume and Mikan pairing XD
Chapter two: The Flower in Question
To give or not to give, that is the question.
A few minutes later after Anna and Nonoko had headed off in search of Misaki-sensei (poor guy)...
"Mou! Natsume baka!" Mikan stormed back into the now empty room after childishly sticking out her tongue at the dark-haired boy and sat down at the dressing table, her face propped up in her hands as she stared back at her own face.
"But then, Ruka-pyon was really sweet." This was said in a soft whisper, barely audible, and a light blush stained Mikan's face even as a small smile lit on her face.
Then she thought of Natsume again and her face underwent a three-hundred-and-sixty-about change.
"Geez, sometimes I wonder why Ruka-pyon even bothered to be friends with someone like that idiot. Baka, baka, baka Natsume."
Behind her, Hotaru was quietly observing Mikan's very expressive face through the mirror, an undecipherable expression in her eyes.
It may only be slight, but in the moment Natsume had called Mikan 'ugly', she had seen the flash of hurt and disappointment in Mikan's eyes.
She walked over and clamp a hand onto Mikan's shoulder, shoving a make-up kit into the startled girl's hands.
"Do your make-up again. I need to talk to someone."
That said, Hotaru marched over to the door and jerked it open, ignoring Mikan's calls.
Oh yes, she was going to talk to someone.
And maybe punch some sense into that someone at the same time as well.
After all, no one was entitled to make Mikan sad besides her.
Natsume was going to experience what it was like to have a Conversation with Imai Hotaru.
Natsume settled comfortably onto the soft ground beneath the tree he always frequent and proceeded to bury his nose into the book of manga he held in his hands.
It was the newest edition of Naruto, something that he had been looking forward to for a month now.
But now, the book suddenly seemed to have lost its appeal.
His mind kept drifting back to how that baka youjo had smiled when Ruka had complimented her.
And no, he wasn't jealous.
Hell no.
Well, maybe a little.
He had known for a long time that Ruka liked her, just as Ruka knew that Natsume likes her, no matter how Natsume may deny it every single time he was accused of it.
And he knew Imai saw through him every time.
Before, even though he had willed himself not to stop and look back when Ruka had stopped to talk to Mikan, his feet seemed to have grown a mind of its own.
And he knew Imai saw.
He could feel the power of the coolly discerning piercing violet stare within a kilometer away.
"Hyuuga."
Maybe not always.
The cold, detached tone that came out of no where would have caused any other people to jump and shriek their lives away, but somehow, Natsume managed to keep his reaction to a minimal jerk of his head.
Even so, it put a small smirk on the violet-eyed girl mouth as she stared insolently at him from where she was seated on her floating duck creation.
"Nani?" Natsume snapped, unhappy at being smirked at.
He always does the smirking.
No one else. (A/n: Male pride, what can I say? Insufferable.)
"I want to talk to you about something."
Seated as she was on the obnoxious creation, Natsume had to tilt his head all the way back to talk to the girl and it wasn't exactly putting him in a good mood, uncomfortable as the position was.
It was on the tip of Natsume's tongue to refuse her, but the glint in Imai's eyes stopped him.
He had seen the same look in her face the day Ruka had adamantly refused to buy her favourite crab roe for her. The next day, they had found the poor beleaguered Ruka tied to a tree, hanging a few inches from the mechanical snapping turtles below.
Ruka had never not listened to Imai ever since.
Taking his silence as consent, Hotaru started talking.
"You like Mikan."
It was a statement, not a question.
"I do not like the baka."
Natsume had barely finished the sentence when he found himself in full-range of the infamous Baka gun.
"Don't lie to me idiot. It is written all over your face."
Ouch.
The girl certainly knows where to hurt a person the most.
Natsume suddenly recalled why he had never liked Mikan's creep best friend.
Exactly because she couldn't be handled in a way other normal females could be.
He glared back sullenly at her. As if he could deny.
"You will ask her to dance the Last Dance with you."
Again, it was a statement, not a question.
Natsume contemplated setting fire to that annoying hovering duck and its owner, only to have to settle with glaring when the aforementioned owner coolly informed him that she had sprayed on a Fire Alice proof repellent, Invention Number #176.
"Why should I?" Natsume raised a brow, an uninterested look in his eyes.
He was Hyuuga Natsume after all.
Listening to someone had never been one of his strong points.
Going against someone was.
"Because I would if I were you." This was spoken in a tone that would have sent grown men running away in another direction.
Natsume simply stood up and proceeded to walk away, with a simple," Like I care."
"Hyuuga." Against his will, he stopped.
"She likes daffodils."
The irrationality of the sentence had him staring at the now smugly smiling female as though she had grown another head.
"Who cares? Crazy woman." The last was muttered under the boy's breath as he stalked away, contemplating what a lovely world it would be without Imai Hotaru in it.
"You do." This was murmured under Hotaru's breath as she saw Natsume steal a glance at the wild daffodils growing on one side of the walkway, their bright yellow petals swaying gently in the evening breeze.
Stubborn idiot.
A/n: Almost finishing! Last chapter left! (Heaves a breath of relief.)
Thanks to the lovely people who found time and took the effort to pen those thoughtful and encouraging reviews! You guys are the best!
Will Natsume give the flower to Mikan? Will their last Last Dance be with each other? Or will Natsume's pride get in the way? All will be known in the next chapter! (Or not, for those of you who have read Daffodil)
