Disclaimer - All Gakuen Alice characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi

3 - Sweetly Sick

Mikan finally reached what she believed to be Natsume's room, and lifted her hand up, hesitating slightly as she knocked on the wooden door softly. A few minutes passed without an answer and she frowned at the door handle, considering just walking in, but she knew for certain that if he was in, he'd burn her to a crisp.

"Natsume?" She called out quietly, glancing down the deserted hall, "Natsume are you in there?"

"Polka Dots?" A hoarse voice came from behind the door, and Mikan stared at it in shock, thinking that she'd gotten the wrong room, but he had called her Polka Dots, and nobody but him used that name

"Yeah, it's me…" After hearing his voice sound so gravely, she wasn't entirely sure how to react

"You can come in," There was a slight cough, before he continued, "The door's unlocked."

Peeking down the hall again to make sure nobody was coming; she gripped the door handle, pushed open the door, and stepped into the room, a gasp escaping as she took in the size of the room. It was triple the size of her own, with its own kitchen and living area and it took everything in her to close her open mouth and the door behind her.

"Did you need something?" She followed the voice and located Natsume lying on his bed, which she noted was also triple the size of her own, and walked over to stand closer to him, feeling anxious in the large area

"No, I was just looking for you because Narumi-sensei said he needed to talk to you…" She stared at his flushed face, and ducked her head, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were sick… I'll leave you alone if you wa-"

"-No, I want you to stay." Mikan snapped her head up to look at him in surprise, he was being suspiciously nice

"But if you're ill then you need to rest," She smiled sheepishly, taking a step back towards the door, "So I think it would be best if I just left…"

"Mikan," He called out her name in a gruff voice, his eyes staring intently into her own, "I want you to stay."

Mikan shifted uncomfortably, before she looked away and broke the eye contact, heat flooding to her cheeks. Natsume watched her carefully from his bed, before attempting to push himself up into a sitting position, coughing loudly as he did so, and causing Mikan to rush to his side, her hands helping to prop him up. When he finally felt comfortable, he pulled Mikan onto the mattress beside him and let his head fall against his shoulder, gaining a squeak from the girl.

"What-what are you doing?" Her voice was too high-pitched, and he smirked at her flustered state

"You're comfortable; just stay still for a bit," She complied, her body relaxing from its rigid state after a few minutes, "What did that stupid Narumi want?"

"Huh? Oh, I don't know." Mikan shrugged, noticing the heat his body was emitting, "You're really hot."

"I always knew you had a thing for me, Polka Dots." She knew he was smirking, could hear it in his voice, and she directed a glare at the top of his head

"I'm being serious, stupid. You have a bad fever, and I know it's not just your Alice!" Pushing him off her arm, she moved to get a closer look at his face, "You're bright red, Natsume. Maybe you should see the nurse or something,"

Mikan placed her palm on his forehead, her eyes widening at the high temperature.

"You have amazing eyes, you know."

Her hand flew away from his head and she stared at him, her cheeks heating up and her mouth forming an O shape. Something was definitely wrong with him, he was never nice to her, and would never compliment her on her eyes.

"I seriously think you should go to the hospital, Natsume." Mikan gazed over his ill form, his face still burning red and his eyes glazed over, "Come on, I'll go with you."

"No. No, I don't want to go." He shook his head slowly, his eyes never leaving her face, "I want to stay here with you, Mikan."

The way he said her name made her cheek turn red again, and she hung her head in an attempt to hide it, wondering if blushing too many times could be bad for you.

"You should wear your hair down." Natsume's hands clasped around the ribbons holding her pigtails in place, and he pulled them out, letting her hair flow over her shoulders, "You look better like that."

"Stop it," Mikan looked up at him, tears beginning to appearing in the corners of her eyes, "Stop being so nice to me all of a sudden, Natsume. You're always mean to me, and if you're only nice to me when you're sick then, that's just stupid Natsume! Stop being sweet all of a sudd-"

"-You don't look as cute when you cry." His words stopped her short and she glared at him, tears falling from her eyes, as he ignored everything she had just said, "Stop crying, Mikan. I don't like it when you cry."

His voice was still husky, and his eyes still glassy but as he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, she didn't care that he was only being kind because he was ill and probably didn't know what he was doing, she buried her head in his shoulder and relished in his warmth.

"Why can't you be nice to me all the time, Natsume?" A sob escaped her mouth, and she clutched the front of his top, "I know you're not really a bad guy, but it's so hard to remember that when all you do is insult me."

He pulled back away from her, and she closed her eyes as she felt his lips begin to kiss her cheeks, removing the tears as she continued to cry.

"I'm sorry." Natsume murmured, before capturing her lips in his and kissing her desperately

She could taste her tears on his lips, and could feel the heat from his fever, but she ignored it as her hands released the grip on his t-shirt and reached up to push his hair off his forehead, disregarding the layer of sweat, as her hands grasped the hair at the base of his neck.

"You're going to make me ill too, you know." Mikan breathed as she pulled away slightly, her face so hot it felt like he already had

"If that happens, then I'll look after you." Natsume gave her smile, a smile she thought she'd never see, "Will you stay here tonight?"

"Wh-what," Images of what he meant flooded into her mind and she covered her face with her hands, "No Natsume! Don't be a pervert!"

"I didn't mean like that, Polka Dots." He pulled her hands away from her face and kissed her forehead, "Just stay here for one night, okay? I won't do anything."

Mikan nodded carefully, looking up at him through her eyelashes, "You should be sick all the time Natsume, you can be really sweet, you know."

A/N: I really don't think that this one's very good. I know Natsume's OOC but i guess that he's kind of meant to be... Oh well.