Chapter 5 – Partners Chapter 5 – Partners

"Oh, great," I moaned, rolling my eyes. "I have a bitch in my class." I knew that I was provoking her, since Luna hadn't said anything to me in the past five minutes. (Of course, both of us had been shocked into paralysis since the past five minutes, but whatever.)

"What are you doing here?" she asked instead. "I hope you aren't here to flirt with Natsume. He's already taken." She twisted back in her seat to look at Natsume and when she saw that he didn't look murderous, (well, why would he? He looked so completely immersed in his comic book, that I doubted he could even hear us) she turned to look at me with an expression of conceit. "By me."

I laughed so hard that I had to grasp the wall for support. "By you? Yeah, there are two problems with that," I said in between snickers. "First, I doubt he would date something as ugly as you. Second," I straightened up, my expression suddenly serious, "he is not taken." I fought the urge to cover my mouth and scream. What did I just say? Was I actually defending Natsume??

"Natsume, darling," cried Luna, running to Natsume, where she instantly attached herself to his arm. "Look what she's saying to me!"

I really didn't know what Luna was expecting, but it was certainly not what she got. "Get off me, you pig," grunted Natsume, irritated that he had been disturbed while he was reading his comic book.

He shook her off, and Luna stared at him, her eyes welling up in tears. "How could you, Natsume?" she wailed, running out the door.

The room was silent for a minute, then we all burst into laughter. Koko was rolling on the ground, and even Yuu was laughing so hard that his eyes were watering. I fought my way through the crowd of people (most of which were on the floor, like Koko) over to where Ana and Nonoko were sitting. (Hotaru looked busy talking to Ruka) They were both giggling too, and the moment they saw me they burst out talking.

"OH MY GOD. That was so cool! You should've seen Luna's face!"

"Yeah, she looked horrible!"

"I haven't seen her like that since Koko pushed her into the pool last year."

"That was Koko? I thought it was Yuu."

"Don't be ridiculous. Yuu's much too nice to do that," said Ana, going into an almost dream-like state.

"Yoo hoo," I said, waving my hand in front of her. "Please don't tell me that you're going all lovey dovey about Yuu." Ana snapped back from her dream (something told me that I didn't want to know what it was about) and started blushing like crazy.

The door opened, and everyone stopped talking, watching the entrance. "Well, hello everyone, its nice to see you all again," sang an all too familiar voice.

"Hey Mr.Narumi," called a few voices, but the rest were still giggling over Luna's dramatic escape.

I groaned, mouthing 'Narumi?' at Ana and Nonoko. They shrugged, and turned their attention to the teacher.

"I see quite a few familiar faces here," said Narumi, sitting down on the teacher's desk. "Well, as today's our first day, I'd like you all too do a small project and submit it tomorrow, just to see how good you are at photography." Everybody shouted in protest. Homework – no – a project on the first day of school. How wonderful.

Narumi just laughed and continued. "Don't worry, it's really small, and you'll be doing it with a partner, so it should be easy." I relaxed. He was right. Doing a project with a partner was definitely easier than doing it on your own – especially if your partner was a straight 'A' student. Like Hotaru. I turned in my seat to ask her, but what Narumi said next stopped me. "I'll be choosing your partners, so you don't have to worry."

"Worry?" I whispered sardonically. "Why would there be a need to worry? I mean, the worst that could happen is being paired with an arrogant toe rag," I said, indicating Natsume and his posse. Ana stared at me, incredulous as to why I wouldn't want to be paired with one of the hottest guys in school, while Nonoko just giggled.

"Oh, Mikan, why don't we start with you?" asked Narumi, suddenly at my side. "Lets see, lets see…" he muttered, looking around the class. "Oh, I know," he said, crossing the rows of benches to stop in front of Ruka. "Ruka can be your partner."

I smiled uncertainly. Even though Ruka was definitely nicer than Natsume, I didn't think that Hotaru would be happy with me being her boyfriend's partner. She wasn't. Hotaru looked like she was ready to crush me, until a sudden gleam lit her eyes. She smirked, and I could practically see the gears turning in her head as she though up some evil plan.

"And Hotaru can be paired with… Natsume." I fought back my snickers. I mean, I really couldn't see Hotaru working with Natsume, any more than I could see pigs fly.

Narumi continued making pairs, until everybody in the class was either jumping in joy, or groaning in dispair. "Ok, so the project is a collage. You – and your partner – have to take pictures of things that interest you both. Then, you can arrange them in such a way that they bring out the artistic…" the rest was all crap. Mostly it was about how a good photographer should be able to make the pictures come alive, and all that. "So don't forget to bring your projects in tomorrow," called Narumi as everybody hurried out of the class.

The moment I was out, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Mikan, I need to talk to you." I relaxed, finding out that it was just Hotaru. But then my heart just beat faster. What if she was mad that I was partnered with her boyfriend? What if she set one of her crazy inventions on me?

"What?" I asked, trying to be polite. I mean, she had perfect rights to be mad at (or maybe even jealous of) me. But when I turned around, instead of the anger I expected to find, Hotaru's eyes had the same gleam that I saw in class. Uh oh.

"I think we should switch partners." Talk about being straightforward.

"Well, ummm…I don't think I can do that." I'm not dumb. I remembered who her partner was, and all the sympathy suddenly vanished. No way in my life was I going to work with Natsume Hyuuga. "And even if I can," I added, trying not to sound egoistic, "I won't."

Hotaru smirked. (Wow, all she needed were horns and a tail, and she would look like devil. That is, if she wasn't one already.) "Oh, don't worry, you will. And consider this the payment for driving you to central town."

"Never."

Yeah, well, here I am, running around looking for Hyuuga. Damn that Hotaru. I can't believe that she would actually blackmail me. And I thought that I was her friend. Besides, how the hell did she get into my baby pictures? I thought that I had them locked up!

I weaved through the thinning crowd that was headed outside, cursing Hotaru and her damned photos in my mind. "Hey, Hyuuga," I called, catching my breath. "Hotaru asked me to switch partners with her," I said, so fast that it came out as one word.

Natsume turned around, fixing his eyes on mine. "Slow down, idiot. I have no clue what you said."

I groaned. Like it wasn't hard enough to say it once without feeling disgusted, I had to say it twice. "Hotaru asked me to switch partners with her," I said, really slowly, as though I was talking to a toddler.

He smirked. "What?" He leaned in, cupping his hand around his ear. "I can't hear you."

"Natsume, I know perfectly well that you can hear me, so don't act stupid. Thanks to Hotaru, now I'm stuck with you, so we might as well get this project over with."

"Right, are you sure that you're not the one who begged Imai to switch with you?"

I scowled. This guy was completely impossible. "Yes, I'm sure," I said, counting from one to ten in my head. "Now, are we going or not?" I tapped my foot on the pavement, crossing my arms over my chest.

Natsume eyed me, and then said, "Fine. You might want to drop by your dorm to change out of your uniform. Then we can go take pictures." Without pausing to hear my response, he tugged my arm, pulling me to the parking lot.

I saw the sleek sports car, and at once, I felt weird, almost as if I was…I was…happy to be doing something with Natsume. I pushed the thought back. It was probably just a reaction to something in today's lunch. How stupid.

I climbed in, and we sped through the roads, most of which were jam-packed with students heading back to their rooms. Eventually, (after a near death experience for a little boy under the tires of Natsume's sports car) Natsume parked in front of the dorm, and got out. I followed him, and slammed the door.

"Where are we going, anyway?" I asked, wondering whether or not I should ask my mom to send my car over. I didn't want to have to be driven around by someone every time I had to go somewhere.

"Central Town, of course," he said, looking at me in surprise. (surprise as in I-can't-believe-that-you-are-so-dumb kind of surprise.) "There'll be lots of things to take pictures of there. Now go and change. I don't want to spend any more time with you than I have to."

"Same here," I muttered, shaking my head. I definitely must have done something horrible in my past life to be stuck with a moron like Natsume. In my frustration, I didn't notice a small rock that was sitting there on the sidewalk, and the next thing I knew – Crash. I was kneeling down on the hard gravel, my hands having stopped my fall. They were pretty badly scraped, but luckily, they weren't bleeding.

"Hey, you need a hand… polka dots??"

Polka Dots? I thought. And then it dawned on me. Natsume had seen my – had seen my –

"NATSUME YOU PERVERT!!"

"Hey polka dots, hand me the camera."

I whirled around, and hissed, "I told you not to call me that."

Natsume just smirked, looking unaffected. "Well, it's not my fault that you're so clumsy when you wear a skirt."

"It's not my fault that you feel the urge to peek," I protested, managing (with great difficulty) not to shout in front of everyone.

"It's not my fault that you showed it to me."

I scowled. "Pervert." I didn't say any more, due to the audience that was already gathered around us.

"Idiot."

I rolled my eyes, and continued clicking pictures of everything – the lamppost, a balloon, even a piece of gum stuck to the road. (Gross, I know) Narumi had asked us to take pictures of things that we found interesting – the only problem was, Natusme didn't (or at least claimed not to) find anything interesting, and the things that interested me were things like soccer, and other sports, and I knew that if I went to the field, I would ditch Natsume and the camera, and make a run for it.

"Why do you need the camera for, anyway?" I asked, distracted by a pigeon that was circling the gum, trying to peck it off with its beak.

"To take pictures, obviously."

I didn't bother turning around. If I did, then I knew that I would end up fighting with him again, and I didn't want to waste my precious time. Instead, I zoomed in on the pigeon, trying to get the best shot. "Well, duh. I wanted to know what you're going to take pictures of."

"Anything but a piece of gum stuck to the road. That's gross, not artistic."

I lowered the camera and glared at him suspiciously. "Oh yeah? And what do you know about being artistic?"

"Why don't you give me the camera and I'll show you?" he asked, a slight smirk playing around his lips.

"Do I hear a challenge?" I asked, eager.

"Sure, I guess you can think of it that way. If I get the best pictures, you'll do whatever I want you to do for…two weeks. And if you get the better pictures, then I'll do whatever you want me to do."

I grinned, handing the camera to him. "Oh, it's on."

The car screeched to a halt, and I launched myself out the door. I started tapping my foot impatiently, waiting for Natsume to get out of the car. We had both taken pictures, and then gotten them developed at a store in Central Town. I was now clutching two envelopes in my hand, one full of Natsume's pictures, and one full of mine. Since I hadn't seen his pictures before the shop owner had put them inside, I had no clue which photos would be better. I knew that I wasn't any good at taking pictures, but I was hoping that Natsume would be even worse. If he wasn't… well, lets just say that I could wave my freedom good-bye for the next two weeks.

"Lets go," said Natsume, twirling his keys around on his finger.

We had decided that we should go to Natsume's room to work on the collage, and I wasn't looking forward to seeing how a teenage guy's room would look like. Especially one who was bigheaded as Natsume was. I ran to catch up with him, wishing I had gotten nose plugs with me. (Who knows, his room could've smelled like gym socks, like they do in books.)

We headed up the stairs, until we reached the last landing. There were only four doors on the whole floor, when there should've been at least ten. Natsume walked up to the third door, the one that was the farthest away from the stairs. He fitted a key into the slot, and pushed the door open. Surprisingly, a slightly sweet smell drifted out from the open door, a smell that reminded me of an air freshener that my maid used to spray in my room back at home.

As I walked through the doorway, I was even more amazed. The room was easily twice the size of my own, and (judging from the fact that there was only one bedroom door) Natsume was the only person staying in it. The living room was very big, and instead of the small loveseats that me and Hotaru had, there was a huge black 'L' shaped sofa (with gray, fluffy looking pillows on it) facing a sleek plasma screen TV. The archway leading to the kitchen showed a glimpse of a high-tech refrigerator and a glossy black countertop. There was a door to the bathroom, but there was probably another attached to Natsume's room. Beside the door to the bedroom, there was a huge floor length window that had a great view of the park where a couple of little children were playing in the fading light. And best of all, it was neat.

"You're easy to impress," smirked Natsume, pulling me inside the room and shutting the door.

I fought down my blush. "How come you have such a big room all to yourself?" I asked, ignoring the comment.

"I know the owner of the school. He's a…family friend." He plopped down on the sofa, running a hand through his hair. I felt my heartbeat accelerating, and my palms stared to feel sticky. What was wrong with me?! "So, are you going to open those envelopes, or not? I'd love to have you as my slave."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't get so cocky yet, Hyuuga. I have a fair chance too, you know." I strode over to the sofa and sat down on the floor. I laid out the envelopes side by side, and took a deep breath. Ripping the thin paper open, I let the photos slide out. "Oh," I murmured, gazing at Natsume's pictures.

Beautiful would have been an understatement. He had captured the light and movement in such a way that some of the shots of the pigeons looked like they were about to jump out from their pictures and soar into Natsume's room. Even a picture of a tiny brown leaf looked stunning. "Oh," I said again, this time in disgust as I saw my own pictures.

"I have to agree with you," said Natsume. He had slid down from the couch and was now sitting right behind me, his breath warm on my shoulder. I could feel my palms growing sweaty again, and my breaths came quicker, more irregular. "So does that conclude your servitude, or would you like a contract?" he asked, and I could almost see the triumphant smirk that would be on his face right now.

"Fine, you win," I scowled, still facing away from him so that he couldn't see the blush on my face. Pull it together I thought to myself. "Now why don't we get started on the stinkin' collage already?" Curse that Narumi for giving us this stupid project!

"Hold on a sec." I could feel Natsume getting up behind me. I took a deep breath and felt my heart slow down. That's better. Natsume sat down next to me this time, setting the glue and chart in his hands. "Here. Since my pictures are obviously better, we can throw those away," he said, indicating the small stack of my useless pictures.

I picked them up, happy to get rid of them. I didn't want to have reminders of how much I sucked at photography. "Where?" I asked, ignoring his snide remark.

Without looking up from his evaluation of the photos, he replied, pointing over his shoulder at the kitchen. "The cupboard under the sink. And don't take too long sniffing the trash."

I rolled my eyes, and walked through the archway and into the kitchen. It was neat and spotless, just like the rest of his dorm. I opened the cupboard, and found a small (and empty) trashcan. I dumped the photos inside, a bit puzzled by the absence of dirt anywhere.

"Hyuuga, do you have some type of cleaning disorder or something?" I asked as I sat down next to him. He was still bent over the pictures, the glue in his hand. I seized one of the pillows on the sofa and whacked him on the head. "Hello? Did you hear me?"

Natsume turned around, a scowl on his face. He got up, grabbing a pillow too. "Two can play at that game," he smirked.

I jumped up, arming myself with another pillow, and throwing it right at his face. He caught it before it hit, and threw it straight back at me. I jumped over the couch, and the pillow smacked into the wall at the other side of the room. As more missiles flew at me, I ducked down, and crawled the rest of the distance to Natsume. I leaped up, expecting to see him there, but instead, I only saw the wall. Where was he?

"You should always be on guard," said a voice from behind me, but before I could turn around and whack him, I felt the pillow thud against my back.

I slowly turned around, and said, "You're tricky, aren't you?" As I threw another pillow at him, I was surprised to see a grin light up his face. Not a smirk, a frown, or a scowl, but a genuine grin. I was rendered speechless. When he was smiling, Natsume certainly did look good. No wonder he had so many fan girls. I mentally kicked myself. What was I thinking? I snapped out of my trance as a pillow hit me. "You're going to pay for that."

And the pillow fight (or should I say pillow war?) continued until we were both covered in feathers. I glanced at the forgotten collage, and said, "You realize that we haven't done anything in the collage yet? And not to mention we're covered in feathers." I ran a hand through my hair and got quite a handful of white fluff.

Natsume laughed, "Who cares?"

I laughed along with him. He was right. Who cares? The only thing that mattered to me right now was that I was having fun, a word that I would never have put in the same sentence as Natsume. Even though it was only a small feeling at the corner of my mind, was I actually beginning to like Natusme?? Impossible, right? Or maybe not…

Hey guys. Sorry about the late update, but i was on a vacation to my grandma's place, and they dont have a computer there, so...yeah...

I've been thinking about changing the storyline, so that thre's no soccer, or Luna. Sorry for all of you who love seeing (or reading) Luna getting humiliated. Its just that i kinda...forgot the last storyline, so i had to change it. Stupid, i know.

Would it be too much if i asked for 50 reviews?? i'm sure u can do it... for me?? At least for the next chapter?!

Next Chapter - Invitations :)