Nessie-chan: Yo, minna-san! Lols, I forgot to put an A/N in this one XD I fail ^-^ Anyways, here's the next chapter. For those who are wondering why (or thanking me for) getting this out REALLY quickly, I feel I should tell you that it was already done. I was just waiting for the right amount of reviews (five, last time) to pop up for the first chapter.

Ruka(-sama): Umm...Nessie-chan, do I really have to say this. It feels kinda mean...

Nessie-chan: Please say it, Ruka-sama. I don't want to sell this picture of you in a speedo to everyone, and I'm sure that's the last thing you want, as well. *WAY too innocent shadow smile*

Ruka(-sama): *gulp* This time, Nessie-chan is demanding six reviews for the chapter, or five weeks to go by before she'll post. She also doesn't promise that chapter three will be done by the time she gets six reviews (although, if five weeks go by, she'll be done). So, if she gets six reviews before the chapter's done, she won't post an unfinished chapter.

New Swim Class Rules, New Antics

Chapter 2

The next day they had swimming lessons again. The teacher had finally shown up the day before - it was Jin-Jin. The reason he wouldn't come was because he didn't want to wear a bathing suit. As soon as the class saw him it was obvious why: Jin-Jin was old. He looked old. He might not have a paunch, but that didn't mean that he didn't look old. Him in a pair of swim trunks was a sight EVERYONE wanted to forget. The only problem was, he would be their teacher the next day, too.

Hotaru tried to skip the class the second day. She'd already gotten her pictures (she'd even gotten some of Jinno, just in case she ever needed to blackmail him), and she didn't want to be forced to swim.

Hotaru couldn't swim. It wasn't that she hadn't learned how - she actually had the "non-swimming Alice." In other words, she had an Alice that made it impossible for her to learn to swim. She knew Jinno would give her a kick-board and/or floaties to help her, but it wouldn't work. Her Alice made it impossible.

As I was saying, Hotaru tried to skip. It didn't work. Ruka, predicting (correctly) that she would probably try to skip the second day, almost literally dragged her from her lab to the pool. He'd told Mikan that Hotaru might forget her bathing suit, so Mikan had brought it. She made Hotaru change.

The second day, Jinno got Narumi to teach the class for him. This would have been an improvement for the students, had Narumi not decided to dress up. When asked, Narumi said that they were men's swim trunks that he'd altered, but they looked suspiciously frilly. They almost looked like the bottoms to a girls' bathing suit.

Also on the second day Natsume's fangirls had a better idea than just wearing bikini's to get Natsume's attention. They'd all had the same thought: If we get out of the changing rooms before Mikan, then we can start talking to Natsume before she does, and he'll HAVE to notice us! They were pretty stupid, so they didn't even think about saying "notice me" to themselves. They just wanted Natsume to focus his attention to his fangirls.

Because of this, they all wore their bathing suits underneath of their uniforms. That made it easier and quicker to change, since all they had to do was take off clothes, not put something on. They got out before Mikan.

As soon as the fangirls (Sumire at the front, of course) rushed out of the changing rooms, they rushed at Natsume. They weren't stupid enough to try to corner him in a circle, like with Ruka, but they did surround him.

Mikan had insisted that she put a nullification barrier around him, making it impossible to use his alice unless she took it off. She knew he wouldn't let her go on missions, so she took it partially off when he had to do that, but just then, he couldn't use his Alice on his fangirls. They didn't know this, of course, so they thought he was being nice to them for a change.

They started talking to him all at once, asking him questions, asking him to dances, and on dates. He knew he had to escape, but they'd cornered him. There was a tree behind him, but it was on the other side of a fence, and the fence was too high to jump on top of. He'd have to climb it if he wanted to escape. The other thing was, Hyuuga Natsume doesn't "escape". He leaves before there's trouble. But without his Alice to get rid of the fangirls, he was at their mercy unless he escaped.

Mikan came out of the changing rooms, and - seeing the knot of fangirls - assumed Ruka was finished changing and was being pursued by his usual fans. Therefore, she didn't stop to help her boyfriend when she passed. When she didn't see Natsume, she figured he was skipping class, but SHE didn't want to skip class that day, so she didn't go look for him.

Ruka'd actually managed to run away from his fangirls. He was hiding in the woods, having ran there so he'd have more animals to help him. He decided to skip out on the class, this time.

Natsume's fangirls continued to bombard him with questions: "Natsume-sama, what's your favorite band?" "Natsume-sama, will you go with me to Central Town? There's a new pastry shop that opened that I wanted to check out." "Natsume-sama…" Natsume-sama…"

Natsume-sama. Natsume-sama. Natsume-sama. Isn't there anything else these stupid people can call me? And where the hell is Mikan, Natsume thought. I'd've thought that if she saw this she'd have a jealous freak out like with Luna.

Mikan was freaking out. But not about Natsume. She was worrying about Hotaru swimming. She knew Narumi-sensei wouldn't let Hotaru drown (he wasn't even letting out of the three feet zone), but she still didn't want Hotaru to drown.

Mikan took a big breath, let it out, took another one, and dove into the ten feet. She was quite an accomplished swimmer, now. Her mother had forced her to learn just in case they had to run from somewhere and the only way to run was to swim. She swam laps back and forth in the pool, making sure to keep breathing, and to swim nearly as fast as she could.

Which was quite fast, now. Yuka'd had her steal a "speed" Alice while they were on the run, and she'd become quite used to it by now. She'd also had her steal a "strength" Alice, so Mikan was also especially strong. Even she wasn't stupid enough to swim as fast as she could, but she was swimming rather fast.

Natsume really wanted to use his Alice, but he didn't know where Mikan was. He didn't have any type of extrasensory Alice, and even if he did her Alice shield would have made it impossible for him to use it. He might have tried to overcome her Alice, but that would tire them both out, because instead of her removing the shield and getting the energy back, he'd be dissolving the shield. That would use up about twice the energy of the shield on him, and just about the same amount as the shield had on her. He didn't want that for either of them.

He knew that if he yelled for Mikan to help him, she'd hear and probably help. The thing was, he didn't want to have to yell for help. He didn't do things like that. But the fangirls were still all around him. Still not calling him anything but "Natsume-sama." It was so creepy. Plus, with so many of them all jabbering away at once, they would never hear him if he told them in his usual voice to get the hell away from him. They probably wouldn't go away, anyway.

For once, he hoped Kokoroyomi would read his mind. He really did. I don't want to be stuck here, and if Koko had any decency at all, Natsume thought, he'd try to get me out. Also, Natsume thought he might incinerate Koko later for his insubordination. After a mission, and before Mikan could put her stupid shield up again, he reasoned.

As if he'd heard this thought, Koko immediately went to where Mikan was in the pool. She was still swimming laps, after almost a half hour. She was on something like her hundredth lap when Koko interrupted her.

"Oi, Natsume wants to talk to you," he said.

Mikan came over to the side, having heard the name, but nothing else. "What?"

"Natsume wants to talk to you."

"Well then he can come over to where I am. You don't have to be the messenger."

"Umm, actually, Mikan, he can't come over."

"Spit out whatever you mean, Koko. I was on a roll. I think that was a hundred and two."

"It was, Imai was counting. And what I mean is, Natsume's stuck over there." He pointed to the knot of girls crowding and jostling one another to get a look at "Ruka."

"There's no way that's Natsume. He'd just burn the girls' hair. I thought it was Ruka-pyon."

"I just heard Natsume actually calling for help in his mind. Trust me, that isn't Ruka."

"Natsume doesn't even call for help when he's in extreme pain. Trust me, I know. All he does is-"

"Well, he's not in "extreme pain" he's in extreme headache-y annoyance. Those girls won't shut up, and they're stopping him from being able to move. And they've been doing that since before you got out of the dressing room. Trust me, he's asking for help."

"Why'd you come get me?"

"He asked for you, specifically," said Koko. He was blushing a little as he said this. Those types of thoughts were the only ones he didn't usually see.

It was rare when someone loved someone else so deeply that that person was not only the first, but the only person to enter the first person's head when thinking about someone who could help. Also, even in Natsume's mind - no, perhaps especially in Natsume's mind - Mikan's name alone was a Goddess. When he thought about her helping him, he both shied away and yearned for it. It was almost scary how much Natsume loved Mikan.

"Also," added Koko "he was thinking about some type of Alice shield. How he didn't want to burn it down with his Alice, but he would if he had to-"

He cut off as Mikan mind-yelled "Oh, GOD!" and whispered it softly and intensely to herself. He couldn't do that, she thought frantically. That shield, I had Mom help me practice it while we were on the run. I made it especially strong for him. He'll kill himself!

She was, of course, exaggerating. But not by much. Natsume would probably exhaust himself to the point of passing out, and she had made her mom help her practice that particular thing so that it would be strong for him.

She needed to remove it, but to do that, she needed to be near him.

"Kokoroyomi-kun, could you help me get them out of the way?"

"Idiot," said Hotaru. She'd heard most of Mikan and Koko's conversation, and was actually going to help. Having blackmail on Natsume like what she'd overheard was plenty of payment for helping. "I can't believe you thought that was Nogi. If it'd been him, he'd've been screaming for someone to help him escape long ago."

Mikan thought about that for a second before realizing that Hotaru was right, and that she'd been an idiot for not realizing that it couldn't be Ruka earlier.

"Hotaru, help me~!" Mikan said, attempting to hug her. Stupid Mikan…

BAKA!

Will always get hit with the Baka Gun when she does things like that.

"Don't hug me, idiot. And I'll help, but only because I got paid already."

Mikan tried to figure out what Hotaru meant by payment this time, but Koko cringed, accidentally having read Hotaru's mind. Mikan paled a little, knowing that when Koko cringed, the thought was bad. She decided not to pry.

Hotaru used her BAKA Cannon to hit every single fangirl of Natsume's at once. He actually looked relieved for a second, which made Mikan worry, but then his expression went back to normal.

"Mikan, I swear, if you ever put that stupid shield on me again, as soon as it comes off I'm burning all your hair."

"Not if I don't take the shield off ever again."

"You don't want to do that. I'm still physically stronger than you."

Hotaru smiled her sweetest, most charming, most creepy, evil and sadistic looking smile and said to him "I wouldn't do that, Hyuuga-kun. After all, you don't want to get hurt…" Hotaru trailed off, the smile never leaving her face.

Natsume actually gulped, not wanting to know what that smile was about. "Never mind, Polka. Just get the damn shield off me."

Mikan came towards him, but as soon as she got next to him she realized that he was only wearing a speedo, and she was wearing a two piece bathing suit. He seemed to notice at the same time, and nearly froze. Mikan carefully put her hand on his chest, the place where she'd started the shield from last time, and began to siphon off the shield.

When she was done, she didn't move. The fangirls had all scampered off after Hotaru showed up (she was WAY scarier than Natsume), but Hotaru and Kokoroyomi were still there. They saw that Mikan and Natsume were staring into each other's eyes, with her hand on his chest, and began to back away. As soon as they were far enough away, the turned and went back to their other friends. Everyone else was at the other end of the pool, now. The lesson would soon be over, since it only lasted an hour.

Natsume and Mikan were still staring at each other, and Mikan's face began to heat up. She felt her heart speed up as Natsume stared at her, and she felt his heart speed up, too.

Oh my God, she thought, I'm touching his chest. She knew she should pull away, but his eyes had made her incapable of movement. They didn't even notice it when Narumi told everyone they could leave. Narumi just left, too. He knew they were still there, but he'd seen Mikan swimming, and figured Natsume and she would be safe together.

"Do you want to go for a dip, Polka?" Natsume asked.

Nessie-chan: So, how was it? Was it good? Bad? Horrible? Wonderful? Don't care what you thought as long as you review! SO, REVIEW, PEOPLE! REVIEWS MAKE THE WORLD GO 'ROUND!

Ruka(-sama): Umm...Nessie-chan, you sound kind of desperate...

Nessie-chan: I DON'T CARE! JUST FUCKIN' REVIEW, PEOPLE!

*Ruka and everyone else - minus Hotaru and Natsume - (they're all here - Hotaru, Natsume, Mikan, Narumi, everyone) sweat drops*