A/N- This chapter is rated T+ for minor sexual themes. It's not a lemon though, don't worry!

Chapter 12: Temptation

Natsume relaxed across his bed, surrendering himself to the heaviness in his eyes. A wave of exhaustion had swept over his body and he sighed. Perhaps it was time lag, or the really loud party he just escaped from. Or maybe it was the fact that Hotaru hit him hard with her improvised baka gun version 3.2.01. When did she even have the time to make that thing? Who knew? The restful sleep he craved for called his name, and he was just about to take advantage of the chance to relax, when the door slid open.

"Natsume?" a familiar voice called out. Natsume opened his eyes and sat up. Mikan stood in the doorway. Without dropping her gaze on his, she pushed the door behind her shut. The soft slam made Natsume jump a little. He noticed she had changed from her party outfit to...one of his old t-shirts? Where did she get that? She must've stolen it when he wasn't looking, but either way, it was far too big on her and looked great.

The small lamp by the corner of Natsume's bed was the only luminescence in the room. The light poured onto Mikan's legs and shimmered off her smooth skin. With her long hair falling down her back and shoulders, Natsume couldn't help but think she looked absolutely perfect. He stood up from the bed and walked over to her.

"Shouldn't you be at the party still?" he asked, running his fingers up and down her arms. Goosebumps appeared on Mikan's skin at Natsume's touch.

"I was getting a little tired too," she answered softly. "I just wanted to be near you, though," Her voice had something that he hadn't heard before. But in the end, it was her eyes. Something in her eyes was screaming for him. It made Natsume nervous and excited all at once. When she placed her hands on his chest, he shivered. Her fingers ran over the hard surface. "I just wanted to be with you, that's all," Mikan whispered for only the two of them to hear. Mikan slid a hand up under his shirt and felt his skin. Her nails gently grazed his skin as her eyes examined his chest, arms, face, everywhere where she could see.

Natsume stood there frozen, but then he wondered why he was so nervous. Wasn't this what he wanted? A little intimacy with his fiance? The ice broke, and the nervousness was gone.

He brought his lips to hers and rested his hands on her waist. Their lips moved together slowly. Natsume's exhaustion was replaced by a passionate adrenaline. They swayed at the perfect rhythm, their lips dancing against each other. Natsume's hands slipped from Mikan's waist, to her hips. He ran his hands up and down, feeling every curve and indentation. Mikan's hands ran through Natsume's hair, twirling it and pulling at it. She deepened the kiss and opened her mouth slightly, allowing Natsume entrance.

What was a sweet, loving kiss turned into a passionate battle. Mikan bit Natsume's bottom lip and pressed herself against him. As they devoured each other, Mikan slowly pushed Natsume toward his bed. Natsume wasn't aware of what Mikan was doing until his legs hit the edge of his bed. Natsume continued kissing her as his arms swept around her body. He lowered her onto the bed, her back falling onto the soft comforter. He pressed open mouth kisses along her neck and cheek, gently licking her skin with each kiss. He shoved the t-shirt away from her shoulder and pressed butterfly kisses on her pale skin. Mikan moved his head back to her lips and kissed him hungrily. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged him closer to her. Natsume's body was on fire. Everywhere she touched felt like it was bursting into flames.

Natsume brushed Mikan's hair away and nibbled her earlobe.

"Let me know-," Natsume started, adding kisses in between each word. "-if you want me to stop." Mikan pulled away and placed her hands on his cheeks.

"Don't stop." Natsume grinned and crushed his lips on hers. His hands grabbed the hem of Mikan's shirt and pulled it up over her head, revealing her polka-dotted bra and panties. His eyes took in every ounce of her creamy colored skin. He placed a soft kiss on her stomach. He pulled back and stripped off his own shirt, revealing his six pack abs. Mikan's eyes widened. She looked like she wanted to say something but only shook her head, brought her lips back to his.

Mikan laid back flat against the bed, with Natsume hovering above her. Her eyes still shut and mouth still sealed against his, she messed with the belt of his pants and stripped it off. Natsume took off his jeans himself and tossed them aside. Mikan pulled him down so that he lay on top of her and ran her fingers over his back. She felt a fleshy scar right beneath where his heart was, and rubbed it with her hand. A scar left from an epic battle. *

Their kisses had become less fiery, as they focused more on removing Mikan's articles of clothing. Natsume's breath was heavy and messy. The two of them were slightly sticky with sweat from the heat.

It was finally she was. The woman-no, the person- he loved the most in the world. The woman he'd give-make that gave- his life for. Finally naked before him. How many wet dreams did he have about this moment for the past four years? This feeling he got as he examined every inch of her bare body for the first time, was wet dreams were nothing compared to this feeling. She was more beautiful than he had imagined in his wet dreams.

All that was left, was Natsume's boxers.

And she slide it down using one of her hand and tossed it away on side of the bed, revealing something that only he had seen uptill now. It was pure ecstasy.

Despite all those feelings, something in Natsume's heart twinged. It felt rough enough to get his attention. And then he just knew. This wasn't...

"Appearances can be deceiving my dear friend, always listen to your heart. Don't give into temptations " Paradoxes voice echoed in his mind, and he knew something was wrong.

Something in Natsume's heart twinged. It felt rough enough to get his attention. And then he just knew. This wasn't…

"Stop," he ordered. Her hand was right about to grab onto the last cloth he wore. He glared at her with eyes so intense, they almost hurt.

"What's wrong, Natsume?" Mikan asked with confusion and hurt dripping from her voice.

"Who are you?" he demanded. She was angry now.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" He shoved her away from him and looked at her.

"You look and sound like her," he noticed. "But you're not..." She took his face in her hands and forced him to stare into her eyes.

"Look at me," she said. "See, it's me." But Natsume had looked into Mikan's eyes enough to know that they weren't hers. He knew her eyes so well. Whenever they met his, they would reflect pure innocence,love and joy. But this Mikan's eyes were far from reflecting innocence. They were lustful. Mikan's eyes were filled with lust and desire. There was no love. And he knew his Mikan would never do such a thing out of lust. She would do it for love. She would want him for their love, not her lust.

Just as he was about to push her away, the door opened. Natsume's attention was drawn towards the intruder. How careless of him not to lock the door. Meanwhile the 'Mikan' underneath him had already changed her appearance to a stranger. But h his gaze was fixed at the intruder to notice the change.

"Hey Natsume, why did you lea-" What? Mikan was halfway into the room. She was fully dressed and had a piece of "Welcome back!" cake in her hand. If that was Mikan standing there, then who was...?

Natsume looked over to the naked girl under him, expecting to see another Mikan, but it wasn't. In fact, he didn't quite know who it was. It didn't really matter who it was, but it mattered why she wasn't Mikan. Natsume looked at the real Mikan, ready to explain himself, but the heartbroken expression on her face stopped him. She looked shattered. Her eyes filled with tears and her entire body quivered. She dropped the cake on the ground, and it splattered onto the floor. Her Natsume, her fiance, was lying naked on his bed with another naked girl. How could he? She ran out of the room and slammed the door.

"Shit, that wasn't supposed to happen," the girl mumbled. Natsume looked over at her, and the girl had changed again. Of course. He was such an idiot.

Sitting next to him was Scarlet from the AAO that was after Mikan.

She was putting back on her clothes and getting ready to leave. Natsume glared at her. He reached out and grabbed her neck in his hand. Squeezing slightly, he shoved her against a wall.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you," Natsume growled. Scarlet gasped a few times and gave Natsume a look he couldn't decipher.

"How could you tell?"

"What?" he asked, tightening his grip on her neck.

"How could you tell it wasn't Mikan?" He wasn't sure exactly.

"Stay away from her," he warned. She coughed and rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't exactly her I was here for."

"Then what were you trying to accomplish?"

"I was going to shock the seal off her Alice," Scarlet answered through gasps. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.

"By pretending to be her and having sex with her fi-?" Scarlet interrupted.

"By killing you, Natsume." He was silent. Instead of answering, he flung her to the side so hard she crumbled to the floor. Her hand landing in some spilled cake. She gasped for air and clutched her shirt. Natsume stepped on her chest and gave her the deadliest glare he could manage. He squatted down to her level, his foot still on top of her.

"Stay away from her, away from me, away from this school, and everyone in it," he warned. "If you don't, I will personally be the one to make sure you die a slow and painful death!"

Natsume stood up and ran to the door to chase after Mikan. He turned for one last look at Scarlet, but she was gone. And in a split second, so was he.

What was he thinking!? Mikan screamed in her head. Regardless of how dark it was, she found herself sitting against a tree. The stars were covered by night clouds and she had nothing to look at except darkness. Hotaru told her men were confusing, but dedicating almost their entire life to you only to cheat on you with some girl you don't know. What was Natsume thinking? Was he just so hungry for sex that he thought he could get it from just anyone? That couldn't possibly be it. She'd known Natsume for a long time now, and this was the first time he ever betrayed her for real. What was his reason? There had to be one...right?

"Natsume is a really great kisser," a voice above her cooed. She looked up and found Scarlet, the shape shifter from the AAO.

Now Mikan's brain is very small. She can put two and two together, and she isn't as dumb as she seems, but she can only process one thing at a time. The first thing she processed was, Oh my god, she tricked Natsume. The second thought went something like Oh my god, she's here to capture me and no one's around. And the last thought was a solid and loud, Oh my god, I am such an idiot.

"What'd you do to him?" Mikan seethed. Scarlet brushed off the comment and placed her hands on her hips.

"Nothing, relax." Scarlet gave Mikan an approving look. "But he is great looking."

What Mikan did next surprised even her. She brought her hand up and slapped it clean across Scarlet's face. She couldn't even come up with the right words to say. The red mark on Scarlet's cheek was enough of what Mikan wanted to get across. But the casualness was gone, and they knew that Scarlet wasn't there just to talk. The grave expression on her face said that she meant business.

Scarlet grabbed Mikan's wrist and pulled her close.

"My Boss needs your Alice and you've never cooperated before, but you're going to now." Mikan's heart stopped.

"Let go of me!" she screamed. Mikan struggled against Scarlet's grip, giving it all she had. Scarlet's long nails dug into Mikan's skin, drawing blood and the pain her flinch. The effort Mikan gave in escaping, Scarlet gave back two-fold. And quite frankly, Mikan was tired. She was exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally. She knew Natsume hadn't cheated on her intentionally, but it still ate her away inside. The thought of Natsume with another girl, the thought of that girl being Scarlet. Part of Mikan wanted to give up.

But Mikan never gave up. No matter how difficult things got, no matter how tired she was, no matter how much her heart broke, she never gave up. And so she fought. She screamed and kicked, but Scarlet was much more advanced than she. When her body started to tingle like it did before she teleported, she yelled out one last, "Natsume!"

And she was gone.

All that was left was a dropped student ID.

Natsume called out her name into the darkness. When she wasn't in her room or at the party, Natsume knew that he could find her under the trees somewhere. He searched for what seemed like eternity, until something caught his eye in the moonlight. He picked it up and his eyes widened. Oh no.

The doors to the main building swung open. Several staff members looked up and saw the teenage boy standing with a horrified look on his face. Shiki and the HSP excused themselves to see what the raven haired lad wanted.

"She's gone," Natsume breathed out.

"What do you mean she's gone?" Shiki questioned.

"That shape shifter from the AAO must've gotten her when Mikan's guard was down." He handed the adults her student ID. "I found this outside near the northern forest," Natsume said in horror.

"We need to figure out where she is. Why don't you look at the security camera footage and see which direction they went in. Call Serina-sensei; her fortune ball will be of use too. Pull in some of the students who might know about the AAO and where they're at. Go on the records and..." Natsume tooned out the orders.

Mikan was gone.

His Mikan was gone.

And she hated him right now.

Gone.

Gone.

"I'm going to find her," Natsume announced. The two teachers looked at him like he was insane.

"You can't do that," the HSP said.

"I have to," Natsume started. "This is all my fault, damn it." They didn't have the opportunity to question him because he was already out the door. He managed to slip out of the academy the way he normally would for missions, and headed onto the streets. He was a dangerous ability, and he knew where Mikan was. The AAO didn't know what was coming.

A/N-

*-The scar Natsume received when a student controlled by Luna stabbed him in chapter 162.

What'd you guys think? Pretty crazy, huh? Leave us a review with comments and suggestions. You guys keep us going! This chapter was written by Neverlookback756 and edited by edwardelric108 and Sonic-keyblade007.

Q/A

Rima: "I have a question, Is Scarlet someone Natsume knows?"

Answer: No, prior to this chapter, Natsume and Scarlet have never met each other. Although Natsume has been used as Scarlet's replacement by Persona ever since she betrayed the academy as seen in chapter 10.

Rima: "You will start a mikan in the study without any problems, I hope to increase the problems but without killing

Answer: Mikan and friends will run into many problems in this story, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will resort to killing their enemies.

Well that's it for now, be sure to leave us more questions in your reviews and we'll be sure to answer them. ^_^