Natsume

"Quit breathing down my neck, Polka-dots, and tell me what you want," I snapped, tired of Mikan's bony chin resting on my shoulder, though she didn't smell terrible at least. "Will you puh-LEASEEEEEEE come to Central Town with me?" she begged, attempting puppy-dog eyes but failing miserably. "Yeah, whatever," I replied, more pleased with the offer than I'd ever let on. "Meet me at the bus stop in 30 minutes or I'll buy an entire box of howalon and stuff it down my throat in front of you."

"You wouldn't!" She gasped, looking genuinely shocked. I rolled my eyes. "I'll burn them, if that's what you want. Now better go get your little girly stuff ready before I leave without you." I snatched a manga out of Ruka's hand, whispered "Sorry," and continued to exit the building. He stared after me, baffled, but eventually shrugged and continued his walk.

An ear-grating, yet pleasant voice jerked me awake God knows how long after that. "Get that Manga off your face and get on the bus with me!" Mikan hissed, grabbing my hand and dragging me to the bus before I could even pick up Ruka's book. I apologized to him mentally, and all guilt floated out the window.

Groggily, I turned to Mikan on the bus. "Why did you want to come to Central Town so badly?" I muttered, rubbing my eyes. She merely blinked at me. "Howalon, of course! I got my allowance, and Ruka-pyon gave me money, so-" I grunted. "Ruka GAVE you money? Chump." I barked, feeling I had to defend myself in some way, though I'm pretty sure I ended up making myself look worse. "Hey! Ruka-pyon was very kind to give this money to me! Don't be so stuck-up," she chided, pushing me lightly in the elbow. I sighed and looked out the window. Ruka was, of course, my best friend, but these not-so-subtle hints had better knock it off before I stop them dead in their tracks. Mikan sensed my unease, clearly, as she cocked her head almost crazily and stared at me. "So what will you buy in Central Town?" she asked excitedly, the pure joy emitting from her almost causing the space-time-continuum to rip due to it's magnitude. "Um, I don't know. One of those chicken cookies, maybe?" I grumbled, devising plans of different ways to burn Ruka.

The bus pulled into the station a few minutes later, Mikan's giddy face pressed against the glass sliding doors before they even opened. I grabbed the top of her head and steered her to a stop. "Whoa, pony. Settle down." she had been running to greet Hotaru, who was walking along the street with Class Rep. "You asked me to come with you, not me to come with you and Hotaru and Class Rep." she huffed. "Fine. Where is the howalon stand?" I jerked my head toward it, putting my hands in my pockets casually as she raced toward the stand with what I swear was hearts and rainbows flying from her feet.

"Two packets please!" I heard her announce, my interest piqued. She skipped over moments later with two packages. "One for me, one for you!" she grinned, popping the fluffy ball into her mouth. I glanced at the box nervously. "You got one for me?" I asked stupidly, snatching the box from her abruptly and glancing inside. She nodded, rather confused. "Well, yeah! Why do you think I wanted you to come with me, silly!" she giggled, watching as I pulled the ribbon delicately from the box. "Uh-huh…" I mumbled, putting the box in my bag and walking the other direction. She called after me. "Natsume-kun! Why are you leaving without even eating one?" I shrugged and turned around. "I'm going to buy Ruka another manga since you made me leave his on the muddy sidewalk." I may not be happy with him at the moment, but I'm not so cruel to him as to leave his manga on the sidewalk. I would, however, gladly burn him. Our relationship is complicated.

Mikan huffed angrily and stomped her foot, but followed me anyways. I turned around and brushed a cherry blossom from her hair. She blushed lightly. "What was that about?" she demanded, walking alongside me into the store as if we were on parallel tracks. "You had a blossom in your hair and it was bothering me. There is no deeper meaning to flicking a blossom from someone's hair." I muttered, flipping through manga and cringing at some of the cheesy storylines.

"Yeah, well, most guys don't just randomly touch other girls' hair!" she retorted, crossing her arms. I rolled my eyes and stood up with a manga retelling the story of Snow White. I thought Ruka would just love that. Mikan looked down at the manga. "Snow White? Natsume, that's-" I ignored her, slapping a few rabbits on the counter and glancing at her. "For the record, you need to shower. Your hair was greasy." It actually wasn't. I just wanted her to shut up about the manga. She shut up about that, but not in general. "HEY! That's also not something you're supposed to do to a girl," she whined, throwing her head back in defeat. I shrugged and walked to a Sakura tree in the far corner of Central Town, flopping down and motioning for her to shoo. "Whaaaaa!" she gaped, clearly pissed I wasn't offering her a seat next to me. "Hey. I went to Central Town with you. Now scram." she wasn't going to give up that soon, which some stupid part of me was thankful for. "No way! The entire point of coming here was for us to share howalon!" I grunted. "And why is this so special to you?"

"Well, Hotaru mentioned once that best friends buy boxes for one another and eat from the other's box! It's supposed to be a sign of friendship!"

Friendship? God, this girl was clueless. Which was a blessing under most circumstances. "And we were merely acquaintances thus far?" I muttered, presenting the box of howalon from my bag and glaring up at her. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Uhhh, no… I just thought it'd be a nice thing to do for you, Mr. Grouchy-pants!" I shrugged, grabbing her box of howalon. "So why give one box to the other when you just end up eating the other person's anyways? Why not just cut out the middleman and eat the boxes you got in the first place?" She crossed her arms. "It's not the point! It's supposed to be… Ugh! Nevermind, you don't understand this stuff." I felt as if a fist had hit me in the chest. I allowed my baffled look to show on my face. Oops.

"...What, Natsume?" she asked, a concerned look crossing her face and furrowing her eyebrows. I shook my head. "Nothing. Are you gonna eat from my box or what, idiot," I snapped, wishing I hadn't the second afterward. I'd never admit it, of course, so don't expect me to.

"I already did…" she said cautiously, eying me uneasily. I blinked. Apparently I'd been too caught up in my thoughts to notice. "Um… Okay. So that's over." I threw the box of howalon into my bag and stared out into the distance. She sat next to me, fidgeting. After a few minutes of her uneasy movements, I whirled to face her. "Can you sit still, dammit?" I hissed, to her intense anger. "I can, you jerk! Can you be nice for a minute?"

"Can you shut up for a minute?"

"...Can YOU shut up for a minute, though?"

I stared at her and smirked. "You can't do comebacks, unfortunately." She shifted again, her brown hair falling over her shoulders in pigtails. "You've got some fluff on your lips or something," I stated, pointing at her face. She wiped it with the back of her hand, but either missed somehow or it was hopelessly stuck. "It's still there," I said, leaning closer to figure out what it was.

It was leftover Howalon.

Hmm.

"Hey, Mikan, look at that!" I jerked my head behind me, and as she turned her head I locked lips with hers, explaining this fiasco to myself as an attempt to get the howalon off her lips to prevent her own embarrassment.

Of course, this was not the reason, but 99% of me screamed that my reason was stupid and therefore I had to devise an excuse. It was a damn good excuse.

She pulled away after a few blissful moments, and I licked the howalon from my lips and smiled mischievously. "I think someone needs to look into marketing me as a cleaning product," I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder and waltzing away without saying another word. She gawked after me, baffled. I jerked my head toward a lake and muttered something about looking at her reflection to see how stupid it was, but I'm not even sure it ever escaped from my lips.

Unfortunately, I had to ride on the bus back to the Elementary Division with her. She fidgeted in her seat, a blush permanent on her cheeks. I finally flicked her ear, which pissed her off so bad she finally turned to me. "What do you want, pervert," she spat, which only made me grin. "Hmm. If I'm just such a pervert, then why are you blushing like that, pervert woman," I retorted, turning my face toward the window and attempting to mask the oncoming laughter. Mt. Mikan was about to blow. "Uggggh, Natsume!" she whined, shaking my shoulders. "Why did you have to kiss me! Nobody will marry me now because I'm not innocent and pure anymore!" I rolled my eyes, standing up as the bus skidded to a stop. "I can probably take care of that problem for you…" I muttered under my breath, but regardless of the quiet tone she heard. "Wha?" she gaped stupidly. I flicked her in the forehead. "Love you, stupid girl." I said reluctantly, stepping off the bus in a hurry and attempting to stride into the building without saying another word to her. Unfortunately, she caught up with me. She placed a howalon in my palm, smiling. "I love you too. Or… Uh… Something like that." I raised an eyebrow. "This is an extremely impromptu confession, Polka-dots," I muttered, squeezing the howalon in my fist. She gasped in horror but stared at me regardless.

"Well, the whole howalon thing is for friends, right?" I said slowly, in the hopes she'd understand. She nodded. "So that's all you ever refer to us as unless I say otherwise, okay?" I sniffed, shoving my hands in my pockets and walking the other direction. I popped the squeezed howalon into my mouth, since she couldn't see, then on an impulse turned around. "Oh, and Mikan?" I called after her, grinning. She looked back at me. "Just saying, you taste like howalon. Might wanna get that checked out or something." I ran away, oblivious to her cries of anger and protest, because boy did I have something to shove into Ruka's face.

The manga, of course.

I'd never tell him what happened.

Idiot.