Updated! Okay, for 'Konnie', who reviews but is anon so I can't reply (if you made an account I could actually answer your questions, but there's no point asking as anon because there's nothing I can do), and other people mentioning Hotaru last chapter, she is kinda ooc, but that is because I have tried to blend her character with a medically accurate representation of someone with autism. I've tried to make her quite high-level autistic while retaining as much of her character as I can, but more will become obvious about her as she re-enters the story. If you don't like ooc-ness why are you reading this story? It's AU and has very weak ties to canon.

This chapter finally takes us overthe 80k mark, woo! It's odd because it doesn't feel like that much, but I guess it is. :P

This chapter is a bit mismatched, because it's more a combination of several scenes I needed to have and a time skip rather than a writes-it-itself-ish chapter of pure N/M interaction.

Anyway, I hope you like it either way.

Mikan and Natsume went to bed early that night... although it was not necessarily for the purposes of sleep. Part of it was curiosity; they'd already gone over the fact that Natsume had decided he did not need to go home, call his parents or let them know what was going on, and would instead stay here without so much as a word to anyone. A vicious row was had in which Mikan tried to persuade him otherwise took place, but she had no such luck. Natsume was staying the night, and that was final.

They called it a day when they finally got bored of television and talking – talking could be done when there wasn't a spacious double bed just begging to be fucked on, or in. It was the third time they'd had sex that day, but it only seemed to reinforce the concept that no matter how many times they did it, it would still be very good.

Natsume had never realized how many different types of 'good' there were, though. He'd grown accustomed to one 'genre' of fucking, his style, but the more he had sex with Mikan - just for its own purpose - the closer he was to romanticism, gentleness... not just hammering away at it hard and fast until they both collapsed from pleasure and/or exhaustion.

This most recent time was the farthest from this yet; although, he was still tired enough to fall asleep right after – he barely even noticed Mikan wrapping her arms around him and moulding into the contours of his body; it just felt normal, if a little sleep-muddled.

As she settled down to sleep, Mikan felt Natsume's breath slow, and the immense heat that always radiated off him drew her into him like a moth. Normally she slept with pyjama bottoms and a nightdress on, because a double bed – although comfortable – was hard to keep warm with just one small body. However, with Natsume 'better than a hot water bottle' next to her the temperature became quite comfortable.

She also wasn't used to sharing a bed, not with someone she was in a relationship with, at least, and the feeling of having sex and then just curling up to sleep was foreign and instantly likeable. She held him close and tangled arms and legs together, skin against skin, until she could feel his heartbeat as strongly as she felt her own, and his breath was close enough to softly disturb a few stray hairs in her fringe with each exhalation.

It was only a day they'd spend together, but it had been a long day, and a nice day. She fell asleep not long after he did.

When Mikan woke up, it was to some curious sensations; mostly because she had managed to forget for the moment she was sharing the bed with her boyfriend – this being the first time such a thing had happened – so she was startled at first by the knee pressing hard between her legs and the hot mouth sucking up and down her neck.

"Huh?" she murmured groggily; drowsy and confused from sleep, but instinctively moving against his leg in pursuit of stimulation. She realized what was going on when his lips captured hers in a familiar kiss. "Oh," she gasped as they drew apart for a breath, and she ground herself harder against his thigh. "I see."

She had no idea what time it was, why he was awake or what had even started this, but the situation was what it was, and in spite of their being half-asleep it was possibly the best sex they'd had yet; straightforward and unhampered by anything; intimate, fulfilling and hugging orgasm like a familiar old friend -- possessing the entire body and soul.

He didn't say much... in fact, he didn't say anything. Not with words, at least. He told her plenty with actions; a touch for arousal, a squeeze of direction, an embrace of gratification, and a kiss goodnight at the end: she read them easily enough. Body language was all they needed in the middle of the night, in the dark, like this. This was also the first time they'd slept together in absolute darkness, and without the visuals everything felt more intense - clumiser, as a hand missed the mark or a shift of position caused them to bump together by accident - but without sight everything else, the touches, the smells, the sounds, became more vivid, and even more of a turn-on.

She eventually fell asleep again on top of his chest, warm and lightly sweating, but content and not alone. She couldn't be alone now if she tried, and she hadn't felt so safe in quite a while.

However, in the morning things were not so romantic.

"Shit!" Mikan screamed as she sat up in bed after making out the time on her clock. "I'm late!"

"What the fuck?" Natsume groaned beside her, and she did a sudden double-take before she remembered what the hell a naked guy was doing in her bed.

"Late! We're going to be late!" she cried, jumping out of bed – naked as she'd slept – and started to run around the room.

"Then just be late..." Natsume retorted, but lost coherence as he noticed his rather attractive girlfriend running naked around the room. "Hey," he muttered suggestively, "come back to bed."

"Are you crazy!?" she screeched, practically jumping into her underwear and starting to drag him out of the bed by an arm. "I skipped yesterday; that gets us in enough trouble. The least we can do is get to school on time!" Natsume smirked and rolled away from her; propping his face up on one hand and watching her dash about like a headless chicken.

He wondered briefly what it might be like if this was a permanent thing, if he was always here. With this place around there'd never even be a need for her to move out if they wanted live together, he could just move in. On the other hand, this was the first time they'd ever spent more than a few hours together, and early days still, so he warned himself not to go so fast. The opportunity was there, but one good day did not a domestic haven make.

Neither did screaming girlfriends throwing things at him either.

"Where did you leave your clothes!?" she accused, as she threw balled-up socks and CD cases at him to encourage him out of bed.

"Uh, somewhere," he replied bluntly, and a few squabbles over the length of her skirt, the smell of his day-old shirt (once they'd found it under the bed), and whether they had time to eat breakfast later, Mikan and Natsume left the house.

"It's almost like you live here or something," she joked as she locked the door and ran down the path with him, and he went very quiet. Had she been thinking the same things he was?

"Hn," he grunted.

"What? It was just a joke, Natsume," she said cheerfully. "It's just weird to wake up with someone and go to school together."

"There's nothing wrong with it," he muttered, and she laughed and put her hand on his arm soothingly.

"'Course not. It was really nice. But I'm sure we'd end up hating each other if you actually..." she started, and then petered off as they both tried to comprehend the situation. Would they hate each other? Would it ruin everything? What about what she was going to say about him moving in?

He couldn't say, but he knew one thing. So he grabbed her by the shoulder and wrapped her up in a hot, morning-scented kiss. Spending a day together meant that the individual tastes and traits of each other were fading, and it was more of a convoluted mix of both of them. Eventually Mikan pushed him off, reminded them again that they were late and then promptly threw herself back into his arms; her lips hungry for his and their tongues lashing out desperately for more contact.

"Why can't I get enough of you?" Natsume murmured as the flash of passion passed, and Mikan shrugged as she dried her mouth on her hand.

"I could say the same," she replied. "Still. We are going to be so late now, so be prepared to run."

"What?" was all Natsume had time to say before she started to sprint away, and he struggled to keep up with her.

At least they got the chance to be pressed together on the train, and Mikan didn't have to worry about being surreptitiously molested in the cram anymore, because with a guy's tongue half way down her throat people tended to get the message that she was spoken for.

They noticed a few looks being sent their way as they walked into school, ranging from suspicious to somehow-all-knowing, but they didn't really give anything much regard until one of the teachers caught sight of them.

"Hyuuga?" the teacher cried. "Is that him? Yes, it is!" He turned around to talk to someone inside. "He's here!" he bellowed. "Call his parents now!"

"Huh?" Mikan made a confused sound as Natsume walked a step closer to her, so she could feel his warmth through her shirt. "What's going on?"

Another teacher dashed out to see if the first teacher was right, and stopped dead when he saw Natsume.

For the first time in his life, Natsume's parents had called him in as missing when he didn't come home – largely because they had called in at Ruka's place in the morning but discovered that their son had not stayed with them that night, but also because they had their suspicions about where he was.

Of all the times they could decide to suddenly care about the whereabouts of their son, they had decided it would coincidentally be when he was with Mikan.

"What the fuck is this?" he muttered as someone rushed up to him, with a phone on one ear and a handful of paperwork in the other, and insisted to the person on the other end of the line that it was definitely him.

Natsume was in trouble. A lot of trouble.

"Just how were we supposed to know where you were?!" his mother screeched.

"I don't know," Natsume grunted. "I don't care, either" he added under his breath.

"Where were you?" his father demanded.

"What does that matter?" he retorted viciously.

"Answer your father!" his mother shouted.

"I was with Mikan, okay!" he snarled, and he saw the triumphant look passing between his parents.

"Mikan?" they echoed.

"Yes, my girlfriend, I believe you know her," Natsume said bitterly.

"We forbade you from seeing that girl," his mother announced icily.

"No, you said you 'didn't approve'," he quoted, "and I don't give a shit about your approval, so I ignored you."

"You should show more respect towards us!" his father snapped.

"You should show more respect towards her!" he retorted. "You don't know her at all, but you've taken into your heads that she's not good enough. Well I care about her, and it's probably a lot more than either of you care about me," he growled, and then stormed off to his room. He always seemed to say too much about how he felt when he was with his parents - things he didn't tell Mikan.

"That is a lie!" they called after him. "We are your parents, Natsume!"

"I wish you weren't," he muttered angrily to himself, stamping hard on the steps as he climbed the stairs.

In response to this argument, and the many more that preceded and followed it, it was decided that if Natsume would not stop seeing Mikan of his own accord, they would simply ground him, and it was a week of full agony – only able to see each other at school – before Natsume managed to spring a leak in their defences.

He'd been calling Mikan almost every night on the phone, but it just wasn't the same.

"Sorry this sucks so much," he said one evening.

"It's not your fault if your parents hate me," she replied sadly.

"It doesn't matter," he argued. "I like you; that's the only thing that matters."

"I wish I could believe you..."

"Do."

"I... I can...I'dunno..."

"..."

"Ah, I can't do this stupid problem!"

"Are you doing work?"

"Yes. Exams are soon, in a way it's not so bad we can't go out, because at least then I'm more likely to stay in to revise."

"You're not going out?"

"Not without you. Well, not every night... I know how it makes you feel" He was quietly appreciative and just a little adoring with this remark.

"What are you stuck on?"

"A math problem."

"Is it in the text-book?"

"Yes."

"Wait, I think I have that somewhere... ah! Here it is."

"What are you doing?"

"Which one is it?"

"Uh, page 294. What are you doing?"

"It's probably something easy you're stuck on... these all look pretty straightforward."

"Numbers make my head spin, okay?!"

"Hey! I'm trying to help you here!"

"Oh, yeah... sorry."

"Which one?"

"The third."

"Oh... easy. You just need to..."

This was actually how Natsume started tutoring Mikan in the end, because denied physical meetings they had resorted to indirect ways to talk, and if she was going to do classwork while they chatted he might as well help her with it – he was right, because it usually was something simple that she was missing anyway, and although they ended up in rows a few times, he was more of a help than a hindrance at the end of the day.

However, after a week of grounding, and it wasn't even as if he could sneak out when they were out of the house, because his parents had taken to putting on the deadlock on the outside door when they left so he was effectively locked in, Natsume managed to find a chink in his prison. Helping Mikan with her homework was one thing, but he'd really much rather be having sex with her.

"Hey," he rushed, in his muted version of excitement, as he tackled Mikan in a hallway and almost sucked her face off walking between lessons – a week without any opportunities for sex was beginning to wind him up, and their public displays of affection were escalating more and more.

"Hey," she echoed, the focus of their interaction not being what they said, and more appropriately what they were doing; Mikan was also beginning to crave him in that way too, even if she wasn't as open to admit it as he was. "I've got a plan."

"You have?" she replied with a grin. "What sort of plan is that?"

"I'm allowed out with 'Ruka' tonight," he explained, with the kind of light in his eyes that meant he was genuinely excited, "but you're coming too."

"Am I?" she said presumptively. "I have plans though, me and Sumrie were going to go to..." She had a brainwave, and broke out into laughter. "Oh!" she squealed. "Perfect! You and Ruka come out with me tonight, okay? Some of us are going to a live music house to hear a band."

"Some of us?" he inquired. "Sumire?" He had, at last, remembered her name; however, the way in which he said it was less than encouraging.

"Well... yes," Mikan replied - she could hold up the deal she made with Sumire now. "She's my best friend after all. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"She's into Ruka," he stated plainly, and Mikan jumped in surprise.

"What?!" she squawked. "How would you know something like that?!" He sighed, and released her from his hold.

"It was the reason she approached me... back then," he said coolly. "It was obvious, even then. That's how I used her." Mikan scowled – 'back then' was still a sore point with her.

"Well..." she muttered. "That was a long time ago. You want to see me, don't you?" He didn't reply, just glared at her for asking such a stupid question. "Yeah. Well, that was what I've got planned, so if you're allowed out then you have to come too." Her face brightened up a little. "Do you remember the deal? I've been staying in talking to you for ages so you definitely owe a trip out with other people." This much was true, and Natsume had promised her some attempts to socalise with other people.

"You say it like I never do it," he murmured resentfully.

"You don't," she teased, pouncing on him for a quick kiss before they got too late for lessons. "But come, okay? We're gonna meet by the station at eight or something. Tell Ruka, he could use going out more as well anyway." She winked cheekily and then dashed off, and Natsume heaved a sigh and started to plan how he'd sell this thing to Ruka.

"Fine," said Ruka before Natsume had even finished his efforts at persuasion. "I'll do it."

"Huh? That easily?" he said curiously.

"It means you'll get a chance to see your girl, right?" Ruka said plainly. "I'm your friend; of course I'll do it."

"Thanks," he said offhandedly.

"I'm happy if you're happy," Ruka continued, and Natsume cut him off with a faint smirk.

"Yeah, I get it. I get all weird when you go emotional on me, okay?" he joked, and Ruka simply laughed.

"So, where are we going?" he asked.

"To see a band or something," Natsume informed him. "I've never heard of them, and it'll probably be shit, but she's going so it's my best shot. She won't change her plans even if I beg her to."

"She's got you whipped, you know?" Ruka taunted, and Natsume rolled his eyes.

"I haven't had sex in over a week, give me a break," he said. Even mentioning it was almost too much for him. To hell with Mikan even daring to refuse him tonight, if he didn't fuck her soon he was sure he'd go insane.

"The things you'd do for a lay," Ruka chuckled.

"The things I'd do for her," Natsume corrected – shamefully so – but it was true. He no longer chased after any old sex, it had to be with her.

And being apart only made him want her even more, it would appear. He wasn't going to bother arguing with that.

Only a little editing, 'cause this is kind of a hot-off-the-brain kinda fanfic, so I'm just letting it all flow freestyle and hope I cross the finish line before my brain dies.

In other news, are there any yaoi fans reading? My next WiP that I'm planning (but not writing yet) is going to be an attempt at a very canon, in-character, and comprehensive Natsume/Ruka. Anyone interested should drop me a line or read it when I get around to write it.

In the meantime you can tell me what you thought of this chapter in a review, right? :D