Sorry for the infrequent updates, I've been sick for a week and just got better on Monday TT

That night Mikan came back alone, Natsume was called to attend an emergency meeting after Ruka sent him a string of rather cryptic messages saying: 'Natsume,' 'emergency,' and 'Imai.' He initially didn't want to go and was about to ignore all 3 messages from his best friend but Mikan convinced him to go and told him that they already had their fun for the day and that he should go help Ruka.

As she walked back to the dorms she recalled her little 'date' (she might as well call it that) with the fire-caster and thought about all the new sides to Natsume she had discovered just from their time together.

First, on the way to Central Town, Natsume had shown some slight concern for her and offered her his jacket which left her shocked because Natsume Hyuuga never gives anyone his clothes. Let alone show anyone apart from Ruka, Youichi and his little sister Aoi concern.

Then they went to a famous French restaurant in the academy called 'Mont Blanc', probably recommended by Ruka, and as soon as she saw the prices of the food there she suggested that they split the bill seeing how overpriced most of the food was. Natsume remained stoic at her request and told her to order anything she wanted. They had a great time, and it was the first time that she had probably ever seen Natsume show some degree of surprise - and that was when the waiter brought them salted snails. When she pointed out the look on his face he merely rolled his eyes and said that Ruka told him that they were meant to taste nice, but grinned afterwards at her expression when the desserts started coming.

And her biggest surprise after that was when she went to pay for her half of the meal, only to realise that Natsume had paid for it all.

After bickering a bit about the bill and Natsume stressing that she's being an idiot for getting so worked up about it, the sun had already set and the pair were soon strolling through the blinding lights of the bustling streets of Central Town before Natsume decided that he wanted to take her somewhere. He dragged her away to a quieter part of the town, it was a greener space with a few flowering trees and a small bridge with an Italian inspired canal flowing under it.

"I didn't know that an area like this existed in the academy!" Everywhere she looked in the area reminded her of a little European town, the cafes had little awnings with small potted trees surrounding them and the more fashionable ones that were surrounded by other couples had a high-end feel to them that Mikan felt as if she was no longer in Japan.

"Of course you wouldn't know about this area, you only come to Central Town for your sweets," he flicked her forehead gently and dragged her towards the canal where couples were waiting to get into little boats.

"Hey, Natsume! I don't only come here for my sweets... And what's this?" She noticed that they were in line for something, she peered over the head of the pair in front of her and saw them pay by card before getting into what was probably the highlight of their date. She turned to Natsume and tugged on his sleeve, "hey Natsume, I'll pay for this."

He looked at her blankly and raised a brow. When it was their turn to pay, Mikan got her card ready to pay but got beaten by Natsume who had a contactless one and paid for the two of them in less than a second. As soon as they got into the boat to get rowed away by their robot captain, Mikan crossed her arms at him and turned her cheek away from him.

When Natsume noticed this, a flicker of amusement appeared in his eyes and he shrugged carelessly at her as if to say 'two can play this game.'

As soon as he realised that she wasn't dropping her act, he ruffled his hair and turned to face her, "you can pay next time since you're so bothered by it." She eyed him and shuffled around a bit, never fully looking at him in the eye.

"It seems like you're trying your best to make sure that I'm having fun and I just want to make sure that you're having just as much fun..." She pouted and the latter was divided on whether he should try to make her feel better or take enjoyment in what was happening. Instead of being a normal 'date,' he collected a small amount of water from the canal in his palm and threw it at her.

Mikan nearly screamed when she felt the coolness of the water touch her warm cheeks. She glared at Natsume and returned the water by collecting two handfuls of it and made sure that she aimed for his face.

Natsume (being Natsume) easily dodged the attack and smiled smugly at her which caused the water throwing fight to escalate. When their little rowing trip had finished, the ride which was meant to be romantic ended up being a competition between the two on 'who can drench the other one the most.' Natsume got out of the boat first and turned the selfie camera on his phone, although his clothes were a bit wet, his face remained unscathed and only his hair was left dripping wet.

Mikan, however, was soaked through. Her white dress had stains of water left on it and her hair was left drooping, Natsume turned around to look at his partner and smirked much to her annoyance. She gave him her best dagger eyes and pinched his arm, it didn't affect him and he just laughed it off. Noticing that there was a group of people behind them, Natsume took her by the hand and the two were soon walking through the dimly lit streets on the outskirts of Central Town.

The two walked side-by-side, the air around them was chilly and Mikan (still soaked) could feel herself shivering as the evening air hit her skin. She was about to ask Nastume if they could stop by a clothes store so she could buy a jacket, but when she looked up to talk to Natsume she was hit on the face by a heavy lump of fabric.

"OUCH!" She cradled her nose and glared at Natsume, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"

He just shrugged and carried on walking ahead, "it's annoying when you keep shaking like that."

As soon as he said that she picked up the white hoodie from the floor and looked back at Natsume's retreating figure, "wait!" She ran up to him and gave him a huge smile, "thanks for giving me your hoodie Natsume! I guess you do have a sweet side to you." She put it on and immediately felt warm again, "when did you buy this?"

"Some time ago," he replied nonchalantly and took her by the arm, "let's go."

As they were walking, Natsume's pocket starting vibrating. At first he ignored it, but when it vibrated again he clicked his tongue and took it out of his back pocket.

"Natsume...

...Emergency

and... Imai?"

He showed Mikan his messages, "what's up with him?"

Mikan furrowed he brows and she read each individual message, it wasn't like Ruka to be so cryptic. "Maybe Hotaru is teasing him again, you should go help him Natsume."

She noticed the somewhat conflicted look on his face when she said that, like her, he was re-reading the same three messages over and over again before trying to call his friend. When Ruka didn't pick up, he sighed and placed his phone back in his pocket.

"You can walk back yourself, right?" He asked her while looking up at the night sky, there were no stars out tonight and even the moon was covered by thick clouds. Natsume did want to walk back with her, he didn't like the idea of Yuusuke waiting in her room for her, but he also wanted to check up on Ruka to make sure that he was okay but his dorm was a good few minutes walk in the opposite direction from the Special Star's dorm - and he didn't want to drag Mikan along with him either since she looked tired.

Mikan slapped him on the arm and gave him another wide smile, "I'm not a baby Natsume, of course I can walk back by myself! I'm a special star, I think I'm quite powerful with my alices."

While it was true that many students respected Mikan because of her alices, Natsume couldn't help but a feel a bit uneasy as he nodded and ran the opposite way to Ruka's dorm.

Now that Mikan was outside her room, she realised that Natsume hadn't returned yet and she really hoped that Hotaru hasn't disfigured poor Ruka. She smiled as soon as she saw her hoodie though, she's going to make sure that she wears it as often as she can because it's the first time that Natsume has ever given her clothes.

She opened the door to pure darkness, the room was suspiciously clean and there was no sign of Yuusuke.

"I'm... back?" She looked around as saw no-one, until she heard the sound of footsteps coming from the bathroom.

"Welcome back, cheater."