4. Who Wears a Hat Like That in July?
MikanxNatsume
He thought summer was a load of crap. Heck, he knew it. It was always too hot; no matter how short your shorts were and how many buttons you let loose. It was a useless season, really. Simple tasks like walking to classes, climbing out to lie on the roof as he just did, and even blinking was enough to make you sweat.
"Ironic," he thought. Most people complained about the freezing cold of winter. Here the guy with the fire alice was grumbling about the blazing temperatures of the three months of hell. There was no kryptonite to beat the heat, either. Popsicles and ice cream were a little too sweet for him, usually. The academy's pool was indoors. All you could do was suffer.
Not that his stupid health was good enough anyway. He could barely do anything these days, let alone something refreshing like swimming.
Academics were hitting a lazy point. It was too hot to learn, though Natsume would give up anything to study his brains out instead of doing the ridiculous amount of missions that stacked up on him like pancakes lately. He had just snuck away from an ability meeting and went straight to the roof of the dorms.
All he was doing was lying down and he was almost sweating! Yet that may have had something to do with the sun hitting on him like a very desperate girl. Summer. Sucked.
He sighed and longed for his manga. Watching the clouds would have to do, though he didn't care if he had nothing to occupy his time with. It was a lot better then being dragged out to yet another stupid mission and coming back late at night, with wounds dotting his body like salt on a cracker.
All he wanted was to be happy. Even a little. Like… like polka dots. In a way. He wanted to be happy without acting like a schoolgirl. She was always smiling. Always. She had that bizarre… gift to make people even like him feel compelled to smile too.
He thought it was weird. How could that girl always be so joyful? Even when things were absolute crap, she found ways to pull through. She may have been stupid, but he had to admit, she was strong. He closed his crimson eyes. He pictured her. It was almost a reflex for him. When in pain, the fierce Natsume Hyuga instantly thought of a beaming Mikan Sakura.
He knew he had to acknowledge his feelings someday. He liked her. A lot. But he shouldn't. His health would do nothing to help, either. He was trying to convince himself that she would be better off with Luca. It was the logical choice. Everyone would get hurt if she ended up with Natsume.
Convincing was harder then it sounded.
Another sigh.
"You know what I really want right now, Tsubasa-senpai?" The all too familiar voice rang in his ears. His eyes snapped open and he bolted up. There she was, walking hand-in-hand with that shadow. The fire-castor felt the urge to jump down there and rip that senpai's same hand off.
As if he could feel the glare of daggers directed at him, Tsubasa glanced to his left and caught sight of Natsume. He smirked and pulled Mikan close to his side.
"Hm?"
She grinned up at her beloved older classmate. "Howalons, of course!" That wasn't shocking. She craved those things like a smoker craved nicotine.
"I'll buy you some, then. If you want." Blue eyes gazed back down at her, the middle-schooler well aware of the blood lust behind him. Natsume was too fun to tease.
"Really? I love you, senpai!" She stopped them both dead in their tracks and gave Tsubasa a big bear hug.
That was pushing it a little too far for our kuro neko friend. He leapt down from the roof flawlessly and started strolling towards the two. His plan? There was none. Just to make that shadow feel some serious pain.
Very unwary of Natsume, Mikan was still all smiles. She knew some of the best people…
"I love you too, shortie."
He just pushed it off a cliff.
Natsume's eyes narrowed into slits and his anger degree rose so high it broke the thermometer.
He set the bastard's hat on fire.