Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice belongs to Tachibana Higuchi.
A/N: Thank you for everyone so far who added the story to their favorites. I'm silently praying for reviews, so please... :)
CHAPTER THREE: BLITHE DAYS AND HUNCHES
"Ohayou, Natsume!" Mikan greeted her boyfriend as soon as she entered the infirmary room where Natsume was confined.
To her surprise, the doctor and his nurses were inside, checking developments in Natsume's condition. The three smiled at her when she entered, rendering her embarrassed. She was about to leave the room for them when one of the nurses, after taking off the pipe of the dextrose attached to Natsume, told her that they'll be over soon so she doesn't need to leave. Mikan nodded and sat down the couch. She watched as the doctor instructed the nurse to take off Natsume's shirt for a short stethoscopic check-up. When the nurse did as told, Mikan couldn't help herself but blush and look away.
"Okay, that's it for today, Hyuuga-san. You'll be discharged tomorrow, then just continue your rest back at your room for the next two days, and you will be fine by then," stated the doctor which made Mikan delighted and Natsume sigh in relief. The doctor continued, "I guess having a cute girlfriend to take care of you when you're sick is perfect for your recovery."
Natsume's cheeks were tinted with soft red. "Baka," he murmured but audible enough for the doctor to hear.
The doctor chuckled and stood up. The nurses gathered the instruments and left the room, with the doctor in tow—all three giving them both amused—rather, teasing smiles. Mikan turned red in embarrassment. The door had closed for a while already but the two occupants of the room remained silent.
"Oi, Polka, how long are you going to stand there?" a baritone voice broke the silence.
Mikan, aware that the irritated tone in Natsume's voice was because of awkwardness from the doctor and the nurses, ignored his temper and shuffled toward his bed. Seeing that his upper body was still bare, she looked away while handing him his new shirt.
"Put this on," the brunette ordered.
Natsume let out a soft chuckle. "Embarrassed seeing me naked, or jealous after seeing me getting undressed by another girl?"
"Baka! Just get this shirt and put it on," Mikan insisted, careful not to look his way. She was still red with embarrassment and the crimson-eyed boyfriend of hers really knew how to make things worse.
She felt him take the shirt from her hand. She waited for a few minutes before turning around to see him. At the moment she turned, she was startled—to bump her face on Natsume's chest. Natsume being seven inches taller than her made her look like a child in a father's arms. She didn't mind of course, yet the proximity and the surprise made her heart thump faster.
Mikan, finding her tongue working again, muttered, "W-what are you—"
Instead of answering, Natsume pulled her into a tight embrace. The brunette, giving up the protest, returned the gesture and hugged her boyfriend close. It was the first embrace they had ever since Natsume was confined, and she admitted…she missed having herself in his arms. She felt safe, as if all her worries were gone in an instant. Natsume planted a soft kiss on her hair then released her.
"I'm relieved I was wrong," the flame-caster mumbled, looking straight into Mikan's hazel eyes.
She saw the truth of those words in his crimson orbs, though she didn't understand what he meant. His usually cold demeanor wavered, showing his tender side that he only shows to no one else but her.
"It bugged me…all through last night," Natsume whispered, as if fearing someone would hear his vulnerable words. He continued, "—I thought you…don't love me anymore."
He continued to stare earnestly at her face, waiting for her to say something.
Her face flushed as the words sinked in. "W-what? Why would you think that, Natsume no baka?"
He frowned. "Because you were odd yesterday. It's your fault, idiot."
"Hey! I said don't worry about me, right?"
Natsume's gave her the look. "How could I not? First, you were acting strange… and lying. When confronted, you completely became silent and avoided the topic. Then you lie again about having your period, goes off leaving me, then suddenly stops to come back and kiss me," he sighed, looking annoyed at himself for sounding like a nagging wife, but continued, "—Somehow, last night, random thoughts just entered… that you're… leaving me."
She was stupefied at his misunderstanding. Though she could understand why he must've thought that way, she still couldn't help but find the misinterpretation funny…and at the same time, heart-warming. Mikan knew the issue must have been pesking Natsume's head for the whole time, making him talk about it openly like this.
She pulled him close and embraced him once more. Unable to suppress the amusement about his behaviour, she let out a soft giggle.
"Baka. I'm still in love you. And whatever happens, I don't think that'll change," Mikan paused and broke away to look directly at his crimson orbs, "--so stop thinking stupid thoughts that are so not like you."
Natsume showed her a gentle smile—one rare smile that never failed to make her heart swell with a million of emotions. He fondly worked his finger over to lift her chin up, carefully inched his face closer to her, his lips locking with hers. Mikan hypnotically closed her eyes, savoring the moment—his breath fanning softly on her face, his thin soft lips encompassing hers, dancing in their own sweet rhythm. She wondered why, despite the increase in frequency of them kissing like this in the past months, the emotion and enchantment within the action never ceased, never changed. It never failed to amaze her, how so much can be conveyed in a simple lock of lips.
Feeling the 'rhythm' end on its own, she slowly pulled away from him. The heat that crept up through Mikan's face was still evident so on instinct, she turned away from his gaze.
She felt Natsume's hands intertwining with hers. The flame-caster sighed in deep thought. When their eyes met, Mikan felt a gentle squeeze on her hand—as if saying 'hey, listen'. He spoke.
"Me too. I think, if by any chance I suddenly lose my memories, I know I will still love you. I don't know why, I just feel I will do."
Mikan's eyes widened at what he said. 'He will still love me even if he loses his memories?' She stared at him. Hazel orbs met crimson. She saw nothing else but the glaring truth of his words. Mikan suddenly felt a lump in her throat.
"A-are you sure?" she asked, afraid, but hopeful.
"Yeah, so if that happens, don't give up on me," Natsume said, following his line with a wink.
She bit her lip, touched by his words. She felt as if he had the idea something was going to happen between them, and here he was, indirectly telling her what to do. She tried her best to suppress her tears, but the relief that flooded over her was so strong that she wasn't able to endure it. She clutched Natsume's shirt and started crying, while he pulled her close and planted soft kisses on her hair.
After a while, Natsume chuckled softly, while running his fingers through Mikan's hair. The latter was still crying and the flame-caster found it stupidly funny…that his idiot would cry so much for an extremely obvious statement.
"Crybaby."
Mikan retorted after a sob. "Smooth talker."
"Insecure."
"Emo."
He chuckled again at that. "Look who's talking."
"You're insecure too, baka. Suddenly thinking I don't love you anymore…"
Natsume chuckled, pulled Mikan away from him and looked at her in the eyes. He gently wiped her tears away.
"I only wanted to hear you say you love me, baka," he said, the amused smirk back on his face.
Mikan playfully smacked him at the arm and smiled, knowing he was just trying to sound cool after what happened. It was so Natsume. "Don't try to be cool since I already know every single uncool part of you, stupid," she said, sticking her tongue out. She let go of Natsume's hold and walked to her back at the couch and rummaged her belongings. "I made some bento, let's eat?"
He smirked. "Nothing in there that'll get me hospitalized for another set of days? I'm sick of it here."
"You're mean!" she pouted, carrying the bento boxes and holding them in front of Natsume's face. "I've improved in cooking, because in case you didn't know, I practice every night ever since I got into my three-star room where I have my own kitchen."
"Well, I can be your poison tester for today," Natsume teased, circling his arm around Mikan's waist and ushering her near the small coffee table in front of the couch.
Mikan protested, kicking him softly on the foot; while the raven-haired guy tickled her at the side for revenge. Their bantering continued…as usual.
***
Mikan was peeling apples for Natsume when a knock at the door was heard. She looked at Natsume who was busy reading manga, so she put down the peeler and walked to the door to see who was there. Familiar faces dawned on the brunette.
The distinct cheerful voice of Narumi-sensei filled the room. "Hi, Mikan-chan!"
"Narumi-sensei!" Mikan exclaimed with glee. She was about to rush at him for a bear hug when she noticed two pairs of orbs staring at her—cerulean and purple. Totally forgetting about Narumi, she squeaked in delight, "Hotaru! Ruka-pyon! Come in!"
She cheerfully held Hotaru's arm while ushering the visitors inside. When she saw Natsume recognize the visitors, she swore she just saw his face turn grim after seeing Narumi and Hotaru. His distaste for the two persons close to Mikan never changed.
"They came to visit you, Natsume," Mikan announced the obvious. The fire-caster just scoffed.
Hotaru, looking around the room and seeing Natsume without a dextrose, huffed an annoyed sigh.
"You look perfectly fine. What a waste of time."
Ruka, apparently scandalized by her words, wasn't able to help himself but 'scold' her in his own subtle manner. He whined, "I-Imai—"
"What, Nogi, you have something to say?" the purple-eyed girl, eyes twitching with threat, glared at Ruka. The animal pheromone wielder chose to shut up.
Narumi chuckled and patted Ruka's head. He walked over to the chair beside Natsume's bed, but before he could sit, the fire-caster glared daggers at him. The teacher just sweat-dropped at the unstated threat.
Ruka, who had winded his way to his best friend, spoke. "Natsume, how are you feeling?"
"As you see, just fine," Natsume replied, putting away his manga.
Mikan then came over holding a plate of sliced apples. "He's going to be discharged tomorrow," she handed the plate to Natsume, "—and the doctor said after two days of home rest, he'll be fine."
Ruka sighed in relief. "That's good to hear," he faced Mikan and smiled, "—thank you for looking after Natsume, Sakura-san."
Mikan laughed in embarrassment and sat beside Natsume, who was not paying attention and eating apples, at the bed. "Of course, Ruka-pyon, no problem about that."
"Hyuuga's just pretending to be sick to get pampered by the idiot, so there's no use staying here. Let's go, Nogi," Hotaru mumbled while staring outside from the window.
Ruka and Mikan chorused on shouting her name, while Narumi laughed, and Natsume boring holes at the back of the inventor.
"Well, actually, I came to get Mikan-chan, Natsume-kun," Narumi said, shortly after Hotaru decided to wait a little longer.
The crimson-eyed guy gave him a cold questioning glare, though Mikan voiced the question out. "Why, Sensei? You need something from me?"
Narumi, nervously averting from Natsume's glower, looked at the brunette. "Well, you see…"
A shot from Hotaru's Baka Gun echoed through the room. All heads spun to her direction… except Narumi who was shot squarely in the head.
"The idiot skipped extra-curricular activities today to visit you, Hyuuga, so she's having detention until 5 this afternoon," Hotaru crossed her arms and glared at Mikan, "—She probably thought there was nothing going on at school since its Saturday."
Mikan protested. "B-but, I was sure there wasn't—" *Hotaru's glare* "—I didn't hear that—" *Hotaru's glowering threat* "—O-okay, okay, yeah, I wasn't paying attention during class, sorry!"
Ruka just sweat-dropped, while Narumi silently massaged the lump on his head. Hotaru humphed and returned to staring outside.
Natsume eyed Mikan and gave her a soft knuckle on the head. "Idiot."
The brunette faked tears and pouted. "B-but—"
"Go with this fag here and just come back after," the fire-caster grumbled.
Narumi was about to protest at the reference 'fag' when Natsume glared at him, causing him to shut up.
Mikan held her boyfriend's face and tilted it to her direction. "A-are you sure you'll be fine?" she inquired.
Natsume, embarrassed, yanked away from her. "Yeah, just go. I'm planning to take a nap anyway."
"You heard that? Let's go," Hotaru voiced, preparing to leave the room.
Ruka looked at Natsume, asking if he would be really fine alone, and when the raven-haired lad nodded, he waved goodbye to his best friend and followed Hotaru out of the room. Narumi followed the tow too, telling Mikan he would be waiting for her outside the infirmary. Mikan smiled and said she'll be there quick.
When the room left them alone, Mikan stood up from her place beside Natsume and stretched her arms.
"I'll be back as soon as it's finished," the brunette said, handing Natsume a pillow kicked off the bed.
He grabbed the pillow and just nodded in response. He observed his girlfriend as she faced the mirror near his side table and combed her hair.
"Mikan," he called out.
The nullifier stopped and faced him. "Yes?"
He looked at her earnestly. "Wake me up when you've come back."
Mikan smiled and took him into her arms. "I will." She planted a kiss on his head and ushered him to lay down. "Now get some sleep and I'll be getting ready for…ugh, detention. How annoying."
Natsume smirked and lied down his bed. He continued to follow Mikan with his eyes until she finished arranging everything and picked up her bag to leave. At the door, she waved at him and muttered 'I love you' before heading outside.
He closed his eyes as the door closed. 'Something's certainly strange. They're keeping something from me," he thought to himself. Ignoring it for the meantime, he yawned and decided to get some sleep. He will get answers from Mikan when she comes back…definitely.
A/N: Sorry if the story's going on a slow pace. I actually intended this to be a two-shot but I find it more fun to write if I elaborate on some things more. :) And I was too caught up with the 'romantic'/'carefree' mood between Natsume and Mikan after I read GA Chapter 120, thus the mood for this chapter :p Anyway, hit the review button please! ^_^