Disclaimer: I do NOT own Gakuen Alice. It rightfully belongs to Higuchi Tachibana.

Hands

"It's going to be one of those days eh." Natsume said with a sigh.

He was currently sitting up in bed, staring down at his hands. A Murderer's hands he had called them, and the name stuck. Normally they didn't bother him. But today he hated the sight of them along with the memories of the academy and his missions that came with it; the blood. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened however. Last month it was his eyes. He spent a whole week walking around with sunglasses on, having to listen to Ruka's repeated questions of what was wrong that he kept wearing them all of a sudden only removing them when he absolutely needed them to. Even Koko looked concerned and made his share of teasing Natsume of being a vampire to protect his eyes from the sunlight sort but to no avail Natsume merely shrugged at his jokes and ignored him completely. As it dragged all week long the whole group was beginning to be wary with concern for their fire-caster friend.

In the end it took Mikan a lot of coaxing, telling him over fifty times that Natsume should not hide his eyes; that they were beautiful in their own way and she could not bear not being able to look into them. When he had finally removed the sunglasses, Mikan saw a hint of tears in Natsume's eyes. Mikan could only gaze in understanding into those pools of red and smile as if she were looking into the depths of his soul; this boy in the guise of a man who constantly tortured himself for his imperfections. They stood still holding each other close. The usual love-making soon followed.

But today was different. He didn't know how anyone could make him feel better about these ugly hands of a murderer stained with so much blood. It was at that moment that Natsume's phone rang. Natsume did not have to look over the screen to see who it was. The hyper bouncy tone of the ringer said it all. As he reached over for his phone, purposely not looking at his hands, he thought that the ringer really did fit Koko. He had made a good choice when he chose that one for him.

"Hyuuga speaking."

"Ah! Natsume-kun. Formal as always aren't we now. So whattcha doing?" The bounce in Koko's voice was too much to handle this early in the morning and it was a Sunday for god sakes, he could practically feel his grin. Natsume visibly cringed but it wasn't as if Koko could see that couldn't he.

"Dammit I just woke up Koko. Try not to blow my eardrums." Natsume barked grumpily.

"Ah gomen gomen... The guys want to meet for breakfast. Want to come?" Koko's voice was barely a whisper, causing Natsume to have to strain his ears to hear him.

"What?" the fire-caster narrowed his eyes. "If this isn't important I'm hanging up." Natsume quipped irritated.

"Aw.. c'mon Natsume I'm just humouring you. You don't have to be so grumpy on such a beautiful day~" Koko chuckled.

"Well what is it?" Natsume dismissed, none too pleased for idle banter at the moment.

"The guys want to meet for breakfast. It's been a while since we gathered and—Oh! I even invited Mikan for you too!" Koko happily relayed. "So… are you coming?" Natsume could sense the begging in Koko's voice. What could he lose anyway, and it has truly been quite a while since he saw all of them.

"Alright. Tell me where." Natsume sighed in defeat.

"That's the spirit!" Koko was beaming with sheer approval. "It's at Anna's bakery; Café de Alice. You still remember where it is?"

"Yeah I do. I'll be there."

"Good! The others are on their way now so- you better hurry." Koko sweatdropped.

"An advanced notice would have been highly appreciated" Natsume's eye twitched.

"Well that's Mr. Spontaneous for you." Koko said happily. "But seriously, come okay? Losing time now Natsume, Hurry hurry~". And with that Koko hanged up. Natsume sighed, 'That moron'.

After showering, trying desperately not to look at his hands, Natsume got dressed and headed out. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked like a depressed puppy in search of its owner. Down the street, Mikan spotted Natsume and smiled for a second before her face filled with worry. Koko, naturally noticing the moods of his friends, being a mind reader and all, followed his gaze to Natsume. "Oro? What is wrong with Natsume?" he asked, as the others looked over at Natsume's approaching figure as well. They all could read it plain as day on his face that he was not happy. "I wonder what it is..." Mikan let her sentence trail off. "You should find out, Mikan-san." Aoi said with a concerned look on her face, Natsume was her brother after all. "Yeah. You are the only one who can get him to open up when something is bothering him." Ruka said with the same concerned look. However, before he could even finish that sentence, Koko had already walked off towards Natsume. The other three shook their heads, knowing that Koko waited for no one when it came to someone upset; that and it just wasn't his style.

"Natsume?" Natsume looked up to find a concerned Koko gazing down at him. "Sorry I'm late. Koko why are you looking at me like that?" he asked. "Daijoubu?" was Koko's response. Natsume was surprised at the statement but nodded half-heartedly.

"Lies. What's wrong, Natsume? You can tell me." Koko said, his eyes never leaving Natsume's. Natsume sighed and gave him a small smile. "Alright. Besides you probably already read it from my mind anyway. It's stupid but you have to promise me not to tell the others or else I burn you." he replied. None of them could ever say no to that look of genuine concern Koko had when he was worried. True enough he wasn't usually taken seriously given his aloof nature and the pranks and blackmailing he does, only 2nd from the Ice Queen in fact, they were not immune to his mind-reading abilities (with the exception of MIkan) so he knew most of their thoughts but was trustworthy enough to keep those secrets.

"Sure!" Koko sweatdropped at the firecaster.

Natsume pulled his hands from his pockets and held them out. Koko looked down at them, blinking. "They're ugly," was all Natsume could say. Koko shook his head and grabbed Natsume's hands in his own. "No they're not. They're cute!" Koko said, smiling. Natsume shivered inwardly. It was at that moment that Natsume seriously had to wonder if Koko had been gay all along and he'd been too stupid not to notice. He shook the thought from his mind. This was simply how Koko was. He cared about his brothers; despite they were not biological brothers. Natsume bit back a smile and put his hands back in his pockets. "Thanks Koko."

With that the two of them walked back towards the others. Koko knew that he had helped at least a little but Natsume was still down. He knew who could make it all better, but Natsume made him promise not to tell anyone besides who wants to get burned. Koko wracked his brain as to how he could hint to Mikan what was wrong. They all went inside and found the table where the others were seated. After ordering, Mikan naturally tried to take Natsume's hand under the table, as was their custom when they went out. However, Natsume refused to release his hands from his pockets. Mikan was hurt, but vowed to find out what was wrong, some way or another. He got a slight nudge from Koko on his other side and when she looked over; Koko's eyes told her that he knew what was wrong with Natsume. But the worry on Koko's face told her that Natsume had made Koko promise not to say anything. Koko repeatedly looked down at his lap, trying to get Mikan to look at his hands under the table. Mikan blinked a few times and glanced down. He saw Koko making grabbing motions with his hands. When Mikan looked back up, Koko glanced at Natsume, and it all became clear. She knew what he had to do.

After breakfast, Natsume tried to go back home as soon as he could, but Mikan begged him to go shopping with him. Natsume could never say no to Mikan, no matter how hard he tried. He reluctantly went along and couldn't understand why Mikan insisted on going shopping for mittens and gloves when it was only September. It wasn't that cold yet! To make matters worse, Mikan made him try on pair after pair, wanting to buy some for him. Natsume tried to put on his best mask, tried not to let Mikan know this was bothering him. However, after trying on around thirty pairs of mittens and gloves, Natsume had had his fill. He half glared at Mikan, then felt bad for it the minute he saw the look of hurt on Mikan's face.

"Why are we buying gloves anyway? It's not even winter yet." Natsume asked, trying not to blow a fuse. Mikan looked down before responding. "I want to find the perfect pair for this winter. I want to make sure your hands stay warm this winter," she said meekly. Natsume shrugged, his calm returning. "It's not that big of a deal Polka." he said, but before he could continue Mikan butt in. "It is to me. I love your hands." she said, taking the opportunity to grab Natsume's hands before continuing. "Small in size, long fingers, but perfect." Natsume shook his head. "No. They're not perfect. Far from it," he said, feeling the blood surface in his cheeks at the suddenness of Mikan's actions. Mikan shook her head. "They are perfect..." He turned Natsume's hands, palms upward, raised them to her face and kissed both palms.

Before Natsume could react, Mikan put one hand on her chest, over her heart and interlaced the fingers of her other hand with Natsume's. Natsume felt as if his blood were on fire, the pulse of his heartbeat slowly gaining. However, before he could even ask, Mikan continued. "See? They're perfect. Perfect to feel my heart beat and perfect for my hands to join," she said, a serene smile on her face. There was a hint of a smile in Natsume's eyes. "How do you always know what I need to hear?" he asked giving her one of his extremely rare smiles, a genuine smile.

"We are connected, Natsume. I always know when something is wrong," a soft chuckle escaped her lips before she continued "But this time I had help."

Natsume smirked. "Koko told you, didn't he? I made him promise not to tell," he said. Mikan shook his head before replying. "He did keep his promise. Not a word was said. He was making grabbing motions under the table this morning and looking at you," she explained, laughing.

Natsume couldn't help but burst into laughter. "And your first thought was actually right?" he asked, "I would have thought he wanted to grope someone!" The two of them laughed together for a while before leaving the store. Mikan reached over and took Natsume's hand in her own, interlacing their fingers as they walked. Up ahead they saw Koko leaning against the railing. He smiled when he saw them and waved.

"Nice to see everything is right again," he said, that big grin on his face. Natsume released Mikan's hand and walked towards Koko, a smirk visible on his face, setting a small flame on Koko's hair. "You!" he exclaimed, as he made a mess of Koko who was frantically waving his hands about in the air trying to put out the flame in his hair before Natsume finally extinguished it.

Koko sighed in relief and lifted his hand to the back of his head and laughed. "So you found me out eh? You didn't have to burn my hair though" he said still smiling. Natsume smirked at Koko and nodded 'Thanks'.

Koko chuckled and smiled. "I can't help it. When something is wrong, I have to find a way to fix it, even if it means finding the perfect person to fix it," he said, looking over at Mikan. "Ah well I better be off. I just wanted to check on you," Koko continued, half walking away already, "I have to meet someone for dinner".

The three waved and Koko jogged off. Mikan and Natsume smiled, watching him go. "You know," Natsume said, watching Koko's back fade into the distance, "What are we going to do with him?"

Mikan chuckled as she replied, "I don't know. But I'm glad we have him around to keep us smiling. Now if we could just find him a girlfriend to divert his attention to."

The two of them started walking home, hand in hand. Natsume stopped for a second. " We didn't get any gloves," he said.

Mikan smirked, leaned over and kissed Natsume on the cheek. "We won't need gloves when we get home." Natsume returned her smirk and merely nodded, letting Mikan lead him home.

A/N: So… who's in the mood for fluff? I know I am. Hahaha… Anyway this was a random spur of the moment kind of fic but I kind of like how it turned out. At least I think so; what about you guys? Let me know by reviewing. ^^