xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

-Sweet Nothings-

Niane Anne Marie

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Authors' Notes:

PLEASE READ IMPORTANT!

This chapter has been updated because we forgot to write the part when Ruka asked Hotaru to be his date... So, if you have read this, please read the last part. That's when he asked her. If you won't read, it'll be very confusing once you will read the next chapter. It's just up to you...

- - -

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Chapter 4:

They are now in front of Mikan's door and Natsume carefully and gently placed her on a bench beside it. Successfully, he didn't wake her up. He then looked inside her pockets for her room key and found it.

"Here it is!" he said as he placed the key in the door knob and slowly turned it.

It didn't open

"Darn! This damn thing is broken!" he cursed. He kept on turning it but it still wouldn't open. He then realized that the key had a letter B printed on it.

"B? hm…" he thought, trying to figure out what it means. And in just a few seconds it hit him.

"B is for Bathroom!" he said and faced Mikan. "She brought her bathroom key instead of her room key! Oh well, what do expect from a clumsy idiot like her…" he again carried her bridal style. But this time, they had a new destination… his room.

On their way there, Mikan murmured something from her sleep…

"Natsume…"

"Yes polka?" he asked, thinking that she had finally woke up. But to his surprise, she was still fast asleep. "Hn. sleep talking" he said.

They were now inside Natsume's room.

He placed her on the left side of his bed and he lied down on the right. He put his hands at the back of his head as he sighed.

Then, when he was about to close his eyes, Mikan whispered again.

"Natsume…"

He sat up looking at her. She was still sleep talking but her face looked so serious like she was about to tell him something really important.

He asked in his thoughts. "What is it she's trying to tell me?"

"Natsume… I… I…"

"Speak up Mikan! What is it?"

"I ---"

BaAaAnG

A loud bang from outside was heard when Mikan continued. Natsume didn't here the rest of what she said and got mad at the sudden noise that occurred. He stood up and walked to his window.

"Would you shut the hell up?!" he yelled.

"Sorry about that!" the guy from below replied as he ran and disappeared in the darkness of the night.

Mikan woke up after the loud BANG and looked around.

"Where am I? Why am I here?" Mikan asked, confused.

Natsume noticed that she was awake and faced her after he closed the window.

"You're in here because you brought your bathroom key instead of your room key, idiot."

"Oh… I guess I'll be going now… Hotaru has a duplicate of my key and she's been working on an experiment of hers and maybe she's still up on this hour… So, thanks anyway…"

Mikan said as she stood up and walked to the door. Natsume grabbed her wrist which made her face him.

"What was it you're going to tell me?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?"

She then recalled her dream. The dream in which she confessed to him. She thought that maybe, she was sleep talking again and told Natsume about her feelings towards him. But why would he be asking her about it? Didn't he hear it? Perhaps not. For there was a loud bang from outside that Natsume didn't hear her. Maybe it was because of that.

She then snapped back to reality and away from her thoughts. She now realized it was because of her dream that he asked such a question.

"I have nothing to tell, really…" she said and looked down hoping Natsume would just forget about it. For she was not yet ready to tell him. Unfortunately for her, Natsume is not that kind of guy who just immediately forgets about it and leave things the way they were. No he is nothing like that. And besides, he was also eager to know about it. And also hoping that it was those words he wanted to hear. He then pinned her to the nearest wall.

"I know you're bad at lying, So tell me…" he said, getting impatient.

"Okay! I love you Natsume! There! I said it! I know you hate me… But please, Let go of me!" she said as she tried to struggle from him.

"I love you too Polkadots…" He replied and hugged her. She hugged back.

After a while, Mikan broke the hug. "The Last Dance is coming… So, are you going?" she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. She recalled what happened 2 days ago after Ruka had confessed to her when she was running in the hallways.

Flashback…

2 days ago when Mikan left after Ruka confessed to her (chapter 1)

"Oh no! I'm gonna be late! My sempai will be disappointed again! I don't want that to happen!" the now panicking Mikan said as she ran as fast as she could when she caught sight of Natsume inside their classroom and was about to greet him when a blond girl walked up to him. She immediately hid herself behind the door but still peeked at them.

"Natsume-kun… Can I ask you something?" the blond girl said as she moved her body a few inches closer to his.

"What?" Natsume impatiently said. He was still deep in his thoughts about Mikan and Ruka being together.

"Uhm… Can you be my date for the dance?" the girl pleadingly said.

Natsume didn't reply. Instead, he held her hair as if he was about to put it behind her ear when…

"Mikan!" Tsubasa yelled from not so far away calling Mikan's attention.

"Oh! Tsubasa-sempai!" Mikan said as she stood up and ran towards her sempai.

"Come on! You'll be late! We still have a lot of things to prepare after Jinno said that instead of just looking for the venue we will help in preparing the foods!"

"Really?"

"Yup!"

"Hooray!" Mikan cheered as she and Tsubasa walked to their meeting place. But deep in her thoughts, she wanted to stay and find out what really happened between the girl and Natsume.

"Maybe he accepted her… After all, she's really pretty and her alice is also very powerful and is one of the most famous and well-known girls of this academy…" she sadly said in her thoughts.

Meanwhile, Back to Natsume and the girl…

He held her hair as if he was going to put it behind her ear. The girl felt so excited and expected him to say yes when she suddenly smelled something burning. She felt heat on top of her and surprised that her hair was on fire.

"AaAaAaAaAaHhHhHhHhH!!!!" the girl screamed as she ran like a torch to the nearest faucet.

"Hn" Natsume smirked. He never did care of the girl. He only cared for one specific girl in his life and that is, Mikan Sakura. The only girl that he loved.

End of Flashback

"Why? Because you're going with Ruka or that Andou guy?" Natsume said angrily as he remembered 2 days ago.

Flashback

Natsume went to the Northern Woods after he burned the blond girl's hair.

He saw his favorite Sakura tree and as always, he sat down and leaned on the trunk and read his manga.

He suddenly heard people talking. He turned to his left as he saw his dear beloved Mikan and that Andou guy.

He eavesdropped on them and heard only the last part of their conversation.

"Thanks Tsubasa-sempai" Mikan said as she hugged her sempai. "Your welcome, Mikan…" Tsubasa replied.

Natsume got jealous of this and walked away.

"I'll burn that Andou guy!!!" he said angrily in his thoughts.

But what really happened earlier was…

(continuation of the last flashback… the part when Mikan and Tsubasa walked to their meeting place with the rest of the Special Ablities Type)

When they arrived, Tsubasa was greeted by Misaki with a pair of angry eyes as she yelled.

"Tsubasa! Your late! I told you to be early!"

"Sorry…"

Misaki calmed herself and turned around.

"With that, your punishment is… You'll be the one tasting the food if it's delicious or not. Since no one volunteered to be food taster when I asked."

"NoOoOo! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be late!" Tsubasa begged her. But her mind was already made up. He just accepted his defeat.

Misaki looked at the not-so-happy Mikan behind Tsubasa.

"Hi Mikan-chan… everything okay in there?"

"Yeah…" Mikan replied as she faced Misaki.

Tsubasa noticed this and was about to ask her about it when a certain member of the Special Abilities Type barged in.

"Misaki!"

Misaki turned to her right and saw the one calling her. She then replied.

"What?"

"We need you to help us!"

"Okay!"

She faced Mikan and said. "I'll be going now… Just talk it over with Tsubasa okay?" She then elbowed Tsubasa who was beside him. "Right Tsubasa?" she asked.

"Yeah sure…" Tsubasa assured her.

"Good… Bye you two!" Misaki said as she left them.

"Hey, that's not the Mikan I know! What happened? Is there something wrong?" Tsubasa asked as she faced her.

"Well… well…" she couldn't take it anymore. She cried as she continued. "I haven't confessed to him yet and now he already has one!".

"You need to tell him ASAP!"

"What if he rejects me?"

"You never know until you try…"

This made her feel a lot better.

"Thanks Tsubasa-sempai" Mikan said as she hugged her sempai. "Your welcome, Mikan…" Tsubasa replied.

End of Flashback

"Huh? I thought you're going with that blond girl?"

"That blond girl?" Natsume chuckled a bit upon remembering the running torch.

"Yes! You're going with her right? You touched her hair and uhm… you're about to put it behind her ear and maybe you said yes…"

"I burned her hair afterwards…"

"You did that? That's so cruel of you!"

"Hn" He smirked. "Who cares?"

"So, can you go to the dance with me then?"

"I'm not going to the dance…"

"Okay…" she said, a bit disappointed. "I'll be going now…"

She then went to the door and opened it. She was about to go out when Natsume put his foot and made her trip.

"It's rainbows today, huh"

"You pervert! Why'd you that for?"

"I'll be going with you to the dance…"

"Really?" Mikan said in excitement as she stood up. "Thanks Natsume!" and gave him a peck on the cheek as she continued her way out like nothing happened. "Good Night!"

"Night, idiot…" Natsume softly said. A sweet smile crept on his face as he closed the door.

- - -

On that same night, two people also had their luck. Ruka was chasing Hotaru for taking a picture of him wearing his pajamas.

Flashback...

Ruka had a nightmare... Well, not really. He had a bad dream. He fell from his bed and Hotaru got the picture. She has her cameras everywhere in his room. He woke up after he fell and a familiar flash was heard.

"Imai!" he yelled as he caught sight of Hotaru popping behind one of the cameras.

"Hehe... Idiot..." she smirked and began to run to her duck.

That started the chase.

End of Flashback

"Give that back!" he shouted at the raven haired girl. He was getting tired of running everywhere for the sake of that photo. Still, he would never give up. Think of how embarrassing this could be for him.

Hotaru yawned ignoring the blond's yelling as the clock striked 12. It was getting late by the second. Her duck had a new improvement - it can drive by itself. So, She leaned on its head and slept. Little did she know that the duck was almost out of gas. It stopped and landed while she was still sleeping.

"Imai?" a questioning look was evident on Ruka's face as he ran to where the duck landed. He saw her sleeping peacefully and admired every bit of her figure. "She's very pretty... like a princess..." he whispered as he slowly and gently took off the picture from her hand. She woke up.

"Hm... You took the picture... Give it back..."

"On one condition..." he paused and took a deep breath. "You will be my date for the dance" He had been thinking about her all this time. And now, he realized how much he really loved her. He was very ready to ask her.

"Of course I will, Nogi..." she softly spoke as she smiled sweetly. He hugged her and she hugged back.

"Thanks Hotaru... My princess..." Ruka said, breaking the hug.

"Princess?" She spoke sofly, locking gazes with the blond.

"Yes... My princess..." he emphasized the word "my".

She giggled. And he smiled ever so sweetly at his date.

"You know, you look very pretty like that... stay that way..."

"You should too..."

"Thanks..." said Ruka thinking twice if he should kiss her on the lips or not. First, he examined her look. She would be very nervous if he did it. So, he planned doing it tommorrow.

"yawn... Night Ruka..." Hotaru said as she smiled warmly and turned to the direction of her room. She began to walk dragging the duck with her. Ruka followed her, helping her drag the duck. "I'll help you..." he softly said giving her a peck on the cheek. She blushed slightly and smiled sweetly. "Thanks..." A sweet smile was his reply.

On there way there, Hotaru kept on yawning and almost falling asleep when Ruka just carried her bridal style leaving the duck behind.

Hotaru smiled and fell asleep. She didn't anymore care for her duck and anyway, she could always get it back the next day.

They reached her unlocked room and he placed her gently on her bed and successfully not waking her up. "I love you" he whispered and he walked to the door. When he almost closed it, Hotaru murmured, obviously half awake. "I love you too..." and went back to sleep. He smiled upon hearing and closed it.

-

-

-

Notes: Ruka and Hotaru are so cute together! Bagay kaayo cla! Kinikiligz ako! -That's Bisaya... hehe... Please tell us what you think about this chapter and REVIEW! hehe... Thnx again to those who reviewed! We really appreciate that! TC alwayz... Ja Ne!