Days later, I sat in the kitchen, drinking a cup of hot chocolate. It was already 11PM. Tsubasa walked in together with Yuu and Ruka. I could tell that they were surprised to find me there. Ruka and Yuu sat down across from me and smiled. I returned the smile and looked over at Tsubasa pouring hot chocolate for them. I made way too much for myself. He gave Yuu and Ruka a cup each and took one himself before sitting down next to me.

"What's bothering you, Mikan-chan?" Tsubasa asked me after a few minutes in silence. I looked at them and all of them were looking at me, waiting for an answer. I could see worry in their eyes and smiled a weak smile.

"It's nothing." I said, looking down at my cup. My grip around the cup tightened a little.

"It's obviously something, since you say that it's nothing". Yuu said and they chuckled. I giggled before giving in.

"Well, it's nothing important". I told them with a smile.

"Come on, tell us..." Ruka said. I looked at him and we stared at each other for a tiny while. I sighed and looked down.

"Who..." I started. "Who is that person from the restaurant a few days ago?" I blushed and hid my face. I could hear them chuckle.

"Oh... That was Hiroto-kun." Yuu said. "A childhood friend of the Hyuuga's"

I looked up and stared at them. They laughed at my surprised face.

"Ne, Mikan? Do you like Natsume?" Ruka asked.

"What?"

How can they think I like him? I don't.

"Okay, he's handsome and he has many talents like always getting good grades, cooking and probably even more than that, but I don't like him." I looked away.

"But he kissed you."

Ruka and Yuu turned around since their backs were facing the door. We saw Aoi standing in the doorway.

"He did?" The boys almost shouted and looked at me shocked. I blushed like crazy and nodded slowly.

"It was a dare!" I quickly explained.

We heard the front door open and we sat in silence as Natsume entered the kitchen.

"Hey." He said.

The others greeted him, but I just sat there staring at him. He got a bottle of water from the refrigerator and walked over to us. He didn't sit down, just stood there. He looked at me.

"What?" He asked.

I looked away, blushing. I shook my head.

"Nothing." I mumbled. From the corner of my eye, I saw him shrug his shoulders and take a sip from the bottle. The guys were staring at him with wide eyes.

"What?!" he snapped.

They got up and dragged him upstairs, him protesting and asking questions without response. I heard a door slam shut. Aoi sat down across me and stared at me. I felt a bit nervous, knowing she would demand answers to the questions I knew she had.

"Well, do you?" she asked firmly.

"What?"

"Do you like my brother?"

"Well..." I paused. "Not in a romantic way."

"How did you react when you saw Hiroto hanging on him?"

I stared at her. "Aoi, I'm not crushing on your brother!"

"You didn't answer."

I sighed. "I was surprised, that's all. I that Hiroto-san was a girl."

"Jealous?"

"No."

"No romantic feelings at all?"

"None."

Aoi sighed and looked disappointed. I giggled.

"Why do you want me to have them?"

"Because! My brother changed when you came. He talks more and he seems more comfortable around you than any girl I've ever seen him with. He used to be arrogant and cold to people he didn't know. You're the complete opposite of him and I want you two together!"

I laughed really hard at that. I didn't stop laughing for minutes.

"Aoi, you're so cute!" I yawned. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't feel anything romantic towards Natsume. He's a nice guy, but not my guy, you know? I'm going to bed. Good night."

I heard Aoi mumble a sour "night" back.

I woke up and looked at my alarm clock. It read 5:34AM. I got up. I knew myself, I would only oversleep if I went back to sleep. I walked to the bathroom and put the 'busy' sign up and made sure it wouldn't fall off. I took a shower and got dressed. I applied light make up, but not much. Just some mascara, a weak coloured eye shadow and some lip gloss. I walked downstairs, thinking I would make breakfast for everyone. It was already 6AM when I entered the kitchen, and I was greeted by a lovely scent. I looked around and saw someone cooking. To my surprise, it wasn't Natsume. The person turned around and glared at me. I smiled nervously.

"H-hey..." I stuttered.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

I frowned. He really didn't like me. "Sakura Yukihara Mikan. I live here."

"You live alone with six guys?" Hiroto-san raised an eyebrow.

I nodded nervously.

"Stay away from my Natsume."

"your?"

"Yes. So stay away from him."

I was surprised when someone put their arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a one-arm hug. I looked up. Speaking of the devil...

"Hiroto. Stop it. Don't order her around." Natsume said. I looked at the floor, blushing. I glanced up nervously.

"But... Natsume!" He pouted.

"No buts. What are you even doing here? How did you get in?"

"I wanted to make you breakfast..."

"I don't need you to make me breakfast." Natsume spoke calmly. He let go of me and walked over to the refrigerator.

Hiroto-san looked down at the floor, his face red. He looked up and glared at me. I could see the tears in his eyes. It took me a few seconds to realize what happened next. I heard a loud crash and saw a broken plate and some pancakes at the floor. Hiroto had pushed me to the wall with his hands holding around my neck. I had trouble breathing.

"What did you do to my Natsume?!" Hiroto was shouting. Natsume turned around and got wide eyes. He hurried over to us and pulled Hiroto off me.

"The hell is the matter with you?!" Natsume yelled. I was still leaning at the wall, so I slowly slid down onto the floor, holding my own neck with a weak grip. I took deep breaths, trying to calm down. I couldn't hear anything around me. Everything around me was spinning, so I closed my eyes. I got my senses back a tiny while later and opened my eyes to see Natsume in front of me. He held my shoulders, shaking me carefully. He was panicking and I tried to say something. I opened my moth, but nothing came out. He gave me a bottle of water. I took a few sips and looked around us.

"What happened? Where's Hiroto-san?"

"I made him leave. Don't worry, he won't come here again." He told me. I smiled weak as I heard how worried he was by the sound of his tone.

"It's okay. You didn't have to kick him out. He just cares for you."

"Damn it, he straggled you!"

I gave him a weak smile again.

"I'm fine. He loves you. He just cares for you. Is it that hard for you to give him some positive attention?"

"... I can't love him the way he loves me."

That shocked me.

"What? What do you mean?"

"He's gay."

"Natsume, that's mean! He might be a little girly and clingy to you, but that doesn't make him-" I stopped when I saw the seriousness in Natsume's eyes. We stared at each other for a long time. Then it hit me.

"He's gay?!" I almost shouted.

Natsume sighed and nodded. I stared at him with wide eyes.

"No way!"

"It's true." Natsume stood up and walked over to the cabinet under the sink to get the broom. He started to clean up the broken plate and the pancakes on the floor. I slowly got up and walked over.

"Need any help?" I offered.

"Just stay there so you won't cut yourself."

"Oh." I nodded. "Where are the others?"

"They're all heavy sleepers. Banging a spoon to a pan barely helps."

I giggled. "What about Aoi?"

"Worse."

I giggled again and saw a smirk forming on his face. He got up and threw the broken plate and pancakes into the trash can. He started to make breakfast. I set the table while he was finishing.

"They should be getting up soon."

"Do they wake up by themselves around this time? It's already 7AM."

"Ruka does. I need to wake the others."

I stared at him amazed. He is really responsible and mature. I didn't know.

"By the way... Thanks for earlier. About Hiroto-san." I said. .He looked at me and nonned.

"Ne, can I try to wake them up?" I giggled.

"Sure."

We walked up the stairs and I knocked on Yuu door. We got no answer, so we walked in. The room was really dark, since the shades where covering the windows. I went to open them and saw something on the bed flinch when I did. I turned around and saw a ball under the duvet. I went over and used a minute to drag the duvet away from Yuu. He was clenching it so hard I struggled a bit. I gave Natsume a glare when he laughed at me. I went over to Yuu and leaned down.

"Ne...Yuu?"

He growled.

"If you don't get up right now, I'll take a picture of your underwear with cars and send them to Nonoko." I whispered into his ear. I've noticed him staring at her during class. I walked over to Natsume again.

"That's it?" he asked.

"Wait..." I giggled.

"NO, YOU CAN'T!" Yuu jumped out of the bed and ran to his closet, took some of the clothes and ran to the bathroom. I started to laugh hard. I knew Natsume was holding his laughter, but he wasn't able to hide the smirk.

"Impressive."