A/N: Yay quick-ish update! Oh joy! Thanks everyone for reviewing!
Disclaimer: Ugh can't somebody else start doing this for me? I'm tired of facing the facts… I don't own btw.
Chapter 14 Undesired Encounters.
(Normal PoV)
"No! You're doing it all wrong! You gotta-"
"I'm doing fine! You multiply this 3 here and then you get the answer…" Mikan scribbles some numbers and letters down on her notebook.
"Yeah… 5 0… My, that makes complete sense!" Natsume rubs his temples and let's out a long sigh.
"Shut up! I did everything you told me and yet it came out wrong! Whose fault do you think it is?!" she tells him pointing an accusing finger at her math tutor sitting across the table.
"Do you honestly want me to answer that? Cause you're not gonna like the answer…"
"Well it's not that weird if you think about it…" she says tapping the end of her pencil on her chin.
"Course not…" he rolls his eyes. "Okay let's go over this again…"
"Forget it, I can't do it." She drops her head on the table. "I give up…" she finishes throwing her pencil against a wall.
Natsume picks it up and places it on the table. "Come on get up…" he grabs her shoulders and pulls her back so that she is sitting up. "You can do this just give it another try…"
"But it's too hard!" she whines.
"That's what she said."
Mikan stares at him as if she's just seen a ghost.
"What?" he asks blushing lightly.
"Did- did you just make a 'that's what she said' joke?"
"Is it wrong?"
"No…"
"Then yes I did…" he answers plainly.
She suddenly burst out laughing. "I never thought you were the type to make that kind of joke…" she says taking a deep breath to calm down.
"Great. Can we go back to math now?" he points at her incomplete work lying forgotten on the table.
"Fine" she answers scoffing.
After a couple of hours of writing, pencil-chewing, glaring, head-banging and sighing, Mikan suddenly stands up.
"I DID IT!" she shouts happily.
Natsume who's been half asleep for some time falls off his chair and quickly picks himself up to look at the now correctly solved math problems. He stares at her amazed for a second.
"I can't believe you actually did it…" he says smiling teasingly.
Mikan starts jumping up and down smiling widely "I did it! I did it!" she repeats constantly. She grabs Natsume's hands and forces him to jump around the room with her.
"Calm down" he tells her grabbing her shoulders to keep her still "We haven't finished yet…"
"Are you kidding? We've been studding for like a googol hours! "
"Well we've covered all you need to know for the test on Thursday so I guess…"
"You can do what you want… I'm gonna take a bath and then I'm going to bed…" she states and walks to the bathroom.
"I'll fix us something to eat, it'll probably be dinner time when you get out…" he sighs and walks to the kitchen.
"Sure…" she waves a hand behind her head dismissing whatever he said.
True enough, two hours later Mikan comes out of the bathroom, a long towel securely wrapped around her, and she sits at the table.
"I hope you like spaghetti…" Natsume's voice rings from the kitchen.
"Sounds good" she shouts back as she hears his footsteps approaching.
"It's not much but it's the only thing I could find I'll go buy some groceries tomorrow after school and- OH M'GOD WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!" he screams almost dropping the two plates on the floor but luckily managing to place them on the table.
"I am not naked." She says looking down at herself.
"Right, let me rephrase that. Why are you wearing no clothes?"
"Because I just came out of the bath…" She explains simply.
"Couldn't you throw some clothes on at least?"
"I didn't see the need to…" she shrugs and reaches forward to grab a plate and starts eating.
Natsume sits across the table and does the same, all the while staring at his food trying his best not to look at her but stealing an accidental glance every once in a while… (A/N: No matter what, he's still a healthy growing boy…)
"This really bothers you a lot" she breaks the silence as she finishes her dinner and heads to the kitchen to place the dirty dishes in the sink.
Still not looking up from his now empty plate he nods stiffly.
She walks over to him and leans down giving him a full view of her… um, cleavage. His face turns as red as his eyes and he starts fiddling with his fingers as he glimpses to the side and notices the smirk on her face (amongst other things he notices)
"Night Natsu-chan" she teases, places a quick peck on his cheek and walks to her room shutting the door behind her.
As soon as she's out of sight he runs into the bathroom turns on the cold water, rips off his clothes and without a second thought steps into the shower.
The next morning Natsume wakes up to the smell of fresh coffee and opens his eyes to find a tray with a steaming cup of coffee and a slice of chocolate cake.
After finishing up his breakfast (god knows where it came from) he gets out of bed and selects some clothes to wear from the stuff that Ruka picked for him a couple of days ago. He walks up to the bedside table, grabs the contact lens and earrings and walks to the bathroom. He washes his face and teeth and carefully puts the contact lens on.
Yawing he picks the earrings Mikan got him and places each one exactly where he had the previous time remembering he's supposed to have his ears pierced.
He checks his watch and notices he's already wasted twenty-five minutes just to get ready for school, not counting breakfast. 'Is morning routine gonna take this long from now on?' It usually took him like ten.
"Finally" Mikan exclaims as he comes of his room. "I thought you were never coming out Sleeping Beauty… Were the hotel premises to your liking your majesty?" she mocks him with a bow.
"Oh yes, very much. Breakfast was delightful, although I must say that the staff members are a little rude, one 'blondette' girl in particular…" he smirks.
"Oh I'm deeply sorry sir, we'll make sure she's ruder next time, we weren't aware she wasn't doing a good enough job…"
"We should probably get going… We'll be late otherwise." he says pointing at his watch.
"Whatever HER majesty commands, your carriage is ready and waiting for you outside milady." She laughs and leads him to her car.
"I'd rather walk if you don't mind…" he says before they reach it.
"Huh? Why? I'm offering to drive you there. Why would you wanna walk?"
"I like the morning breeze?" he looks at her as if waiting for a reply to his question. "I don't know… I just enjoy walking in the morning…"
"Suit yourself… I'll see you at school then." She walks over to the driver's side.
"Actually…" he grabs her wrist to stop her "Why don't you walk with me?"
"Yeah sure… Me walk?" she snorts.
"I can't believe I'm actually walking to school…" she says irritated.
Natsume laughs at her tone.
"It's the first time in my life I'm actually doing this…" she admits annoyed.
He shakes his head slowly "Even though it's such a nice road from your house…" he looks around to take in the scenery. "I'm sure it's a lot nicer in spring though, with the trees and flowers in full bloom…" he starts smiling absentmindedly.
"Yeah well it's late November so no flowers, plus it's cold cause it's almost winter, so why would you wanna walk?"
"Why do you have to complain so much? It's not even that cold…"
"Well my hands are cold…" she glares at him.
"They say cold hearted people have cold hands…" he shrugs.
Mikan looks at her hands and rubs them. She looks at him with puppy eyes "That's not true, is it?" she asks sounding like a little kid when he's told that if he watches too much TV his brain will rot (which is so NOT true.)
Natsume smiles at her childish attitude and takes both her hands in his. "I don't really believe in that…" Nearing their hands to his mouth he blows softly "But you don't have cold hands anyway…"
They continue walking in silence until they reach the school. Mikan spots a blonde girl leaning against the school gates as they walk. The unknown girl glares dangerously at her and Mikan can't help but shudder.
When they are about to go in the girl suddenly walks up to them and prevents them from walking further. Shooting Mikan another death look she turns to Natsume and smiles sweetly.
"I've missed you so much Natsume-kun!" and with that she throws her arms around his neck and crashes her lips against his.
Mikan gasps in horror as she watches Natsume go into statue-mode. When the girl finally pulls away he stares at her wide eyed.
"Wha- wh- who are you?!" he asks completely dazed.
"You mean you don't recognize me?" she asks faking (poorly) to be hurt by his words.
"I- I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt your feelings but… I- honestly have no idea who you are…" he confesses nervously.
'You gotta be kidding me. He can tell when I'm lying but he falls for this girl's lie that easy?' Mikan thinks getting a little pissed off. 'Hold on a sec, this girl's voice…' it suddenly hits her who this girl is 'Although I've never seen her before, there's a high chance she's…'
"HEY YOU!" Mikan shouts at her "Get your filthy hands off of him…" she hisses.
The girl scowls and turns to Mikan "And who are YOU to say this to me?"
"If anyone should introduce herself here that is YOU not me…"
Natsume stares at both girls in shock not really wanting to get caught in this fight.
"My name is Koizumi Luna…" she spits venomously making Natsume flinch. "I'm Natsume-kun's fiancée." She finishes tightening her grip around his neck.
'I knew it… Damn that old man, going as far as sending her here.' Mikan grits her teeth trying to think what to do next. "Well I don't give a rat's ass whether you're his fiancée or some crazy hag but I'm Sakura-."
"Mikan?" Hotaru's voice sounds from behind her. "What are you doing here? I thought you hated walking…" she walks to face her.
'Just what I needed… Now I can't say I'm his girlfriend. How do I get rid of this hag now?' Mikan puts up the best fake smile she can "Ho- Hotaru good morning, I just-."
Hotaru turns to stare at Luna "Who are you?" she asks with her usual bored tone.
"Well I'm Ko-." The blonde starts but is interrupted by the one who asked the question.
"Forget it, I don't care. More importantly let go off him." She says pointing at Natsume with her thumb. Mikan stares at her stunned.
"Who are you to tell me to let go?" Luna glares at her.
"I'm the most dangerous woman in the world, and right now I'm in a pretty bad mood because I just woke up, so if you piss me off, my face will probably be the last one you see in your life." She says, her expression never changing.
"Humph you don't scare me you psycho freak."
Hotaru remains unfazed as she starts pulling out something resembling a gun from her bag. Luna's eyes widen and she suddenly releases Natsume from her tight grip and backs away.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU CRAZY BITCH?!" Luna screams at her. Her high-pitched voice suddenly snaps Natsume back to reality.
"I thought you weren't scared." Hotaru smirks and pulls something that looks like a water-gun.
Mikan grins. "The infamous baka-gun…"
"You" Hotaru says looking at Natsume "Carry this." She places her bag and many heavy books on his hands.
"Why do I have to-?"
"Starting today you're my slave, you'll do as I say without a question."
"But-." He tries to defend.
"This is my revenge, be grateful I'm going easy on you. No complaining, you said so yourself."
Natsume sighs in defeat and nods, after all she is right. Forgetting completely about Luna's presence he starts following Hotaru to her classroom as she starts walking away.
"I don't want to see your face around here anymore." She tells Luna before she disappears with Natsume in a sea of people.
Both Mikan and Luna stare at their retreating figures in confusion and then at each other.
"What was that about?" the blonde speaks first.
"I'm not quite sure… I'm as lost as you are…" Mikan admits 'Why did she go that far? Was she actually jealous?' she giggles "Well that's a first…"
"When Satoshi-san told me that Natsume-kun had a girlfriend… I honestly thought she'd be cute, that girl isn't good enough for him…" she says glaring the way Hotaru just left.
'She thinks they are a couple? Well that's good, maybe she'll give up now… That aside, has she ever really seen him before today? Going as far as saying that Hotaru isn't good enough for him…' Mikan stares at her lost in thought.
"What are YOU looking at wannabe Barbie?"
Dismissing the insult Mikan tries to calm herself down to get any information she can from this girl. "Say… Luna was it? You said you were that guy's fiancée but… don't you find his appearance rather different from before?" she tries to go the subtle way.
"What do you mean different?"
"Um… when was the last time you actually SAW him?" okay if subtle doesn't work…
"I haven't seen him since we were like four… why?" she asks suspiciously.
"Do you… remember what he looked like?" she picks each word carefully.
Luna ponders on it for a second before actually answering. "All I remember is that he had beautiful crimson eyes and that he was the only one who was nice to me…"
"So you had no idea until now what he really looked like and yet you self-proclaimed yourself his fiancée?"
"Who cares about what he looks like? If he's the same Natsume-kun he was back then I don't care about that sort of thing…" Luna answers truthfully, still glaring at Mikan though. "And I'm not gonna let a crazy bitch snatch him from me… Natsume-kun is MINE"
Okay, so aside from being a crazy spoiled brat, the girl had a point. 'I wonder if she'd seen him on Friday morning if she would have said the same though…' she chuckles.
"What are you laughing at wannabe Barbie? That's a warning for you too… Stay away from MY Natsume-kun…"
"Look who's talking about Barbie wannabe… At least I can pull it off hag…" Mikan smirks.
Luna scowls and grabs one of her pig-tails and pulls on it "Listen this is the last time I'm gonna say this… stay away from him, you and your psycho friend." She growls into her ear.
Mikan shoves her out the way "As much as I'd like to stay here and exchange compliments with you hag, I'm running late for class…" She walks into the school "And just for the record, I have no interest in 'your Natsume-kun' …" she calls over her shoulder. (A/N: Yeah right she doesn't…)
When he enters the classroom Natsume is met by the stares of many of his classmates. Many start whispering behind his back stuff like.
"Who's the new kid?" or "Yeah I saw him at the party he's Hyu-something…" apparently not many of his companions knew about his existence before the make-over. Sighing he walks over to his seat and… well sits.
When the bell rings the rest of the students do the same and the blond teacher, Narumi, enters the classroom.
"Minna I have great news for you today!" he says smiling brightly at the group of bored looking teens. "Today we have a new student joining us!"
Natsume and Mikan suddenly become interested and stare at the teacher, both fearing the same thing.
"She's from America!" he says loudly trying to get the rest of the class to listen.
'Oh no…' they both think.
"You can come in now!" he calls and the door slides open.
'She couldn't possibly go as far…'
"Class I'd like you to meet Koizumi Luna!" the teacher chirps happily pointing at the blonde girl standing next to him.
Natsume and Mikan simultaneously slap their foreheads 'I knew it…' (A/N: Gee we all did…)
Hotaru looks up from her textbook and stares at Luna with her blank expression, the other girl shoots her a death glare in return.
Luna turns her attention to Natsume and then back to the class, smiles and bows "My name is Koizumi Luna; it's nice to meet you all. I hope we can all be friends this year."
"Okay Luna-chan, you can take the empty seat next to Natsu- are? Where's Natsume-kun?" Narumi asks looking around the classroom.
Natsume raises his hand "Sensei…"
"Yes what is it? I'm sorry are you also a new student?" he walks over to Natsume and places his hands on top of his desk, leaning forward to be at his eye level. His eyes widen and he gasps "Na- Natsume-kun?" he asks disbelievingly.
Suddenly everyone turns around to look at him and he feels like a murder suspect in an interrogation room. He smiles nervously and nods once.
Narumi covers his gaping mouth with his hand "Oh my! I almost didn't recognize you! You look so… so…"
"Different?" Natsume provides for him.
"Well that's an understatement!" he quickly adds. (A/N: I'll correct for Narumi-sensei. That's the mother of all understatements!)
Gossiping can be heard around the classroom once again but this time it goes somewhat like this:
"There was a Natsume in our class?" or "Ah! I wish I'd noticed before so that I could compare now!"
This only proved his theory that he was indeed invisible… until now at least.
"Sensei… Do you think we could get on with the class? I feel rather awkward being put in the spotlight like this…" Natsume says nay pleads.
"Oh, right… Like I said Luna-chan you can take the empty seat next to Natsu- are?" (A/N: He just can't finish that one sentence…) He looks at both sides of the crimson eyed teen only to finally notice the two NOT empty seats next to him. "Ho- Hotaru-chan? Mikan-chan? Since when-?"
"He's my slave, so I gotta keep him by my side in case I need him…" Hotaru explains casually.
"He's my protégé, so I gotta keep him by my side in case something happens…" Mikan says glaring openly at Luna.
Natsume sweat-drops "Sensei please…" he begs looking at Narumi.
"Right, Luna-chan gomen ne… Sit anywhere you like…" he says walking to the front of the class "Let's continue with the class okay?"
Easier said than done…
In truth, the only one who continued the class that day was Narumi, the rest of the students were too busy gossiping or glaring or trying to become invisible once again, well in Natsume's case at least.
A/N: Well I don't have any thoughts on this one… It's like 5 a.m here and I have to be at school in like 3 hours so… yeah.
And if you have a minute leave a review with your thoughts on this one… I'm honestly feeling a bit uneasy about it… I feel like I'm sort of dropping information from the sky…
I dunno maybe I'm just feeling a little discouraged because I'm only giving my fic like a third of the time I used to give it…
I hope you still like it anyway…
Ja ne minna-san!