xviii. Eyes

a the window to the soul

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"You look lonely, Miss Sakura." Feeling someone's hands touching her arm, Mikan looked up, and her gaze met two unfamiliar eyes. "Do I know you?" she asked the man standing besides her, not at all polite, in rather a rude manner. Her opponent, seeming not at all to be bothered by her lacking refinement, laughed benignly, and although she made to take a step away from him, encroached upon her personal space.

"No, indeed, Miss Sakura. We haven't had the pleasure. My name is Reo Mori. I would like to ask you to do me the honour of dancing with me."

Mikan wasn't at all in good spirits this night, and she had a mind to rebuff this gentlemen once and for all. However, before she had even had the chance to utter a word, he had already grasped her hand and was pulling her toward the other dancing guests. Mikan wanted to protest, not caring about creating a scene, but his arms felt steely around her, and he did not seem inclined to let her take her leave.

Furthermore, she thought she could smell alcohol in his breath. Quite icily, she eyed him, and was about to tell him off for his rude demeanor, when help came from an unexpected source. "I believe this dance is mine." Natsume Hyuuga's smooth voice sounded urbane and slightly ironic as usual, but Mikan thought she detected a slight hint of hardness.

Quickly catching on, Mikan supported his claim. "Yes, I am sorry, Mr. Mori, but I promised Mr. Hyuuga this dance earlier tonight and I intend to stand by my word. Another time perhaps?"

Reo Mori looked a little overwhelmed by the turn of events, and so Natsume had no problem taking hold of Mikan and putting his arm on her waist, pulling her to him, and they were dancing. They had danced together so many times throughout the last month that by now both were accustomed to the other's movement while dancing, and fitted together well.

"I believe that means we are even, Miss Sakura." His voice sounded void of emotions now, as if he was loath to let her see what was going on behind that handsome face of his.

Mikan was, of course, aware of what he was referring to, quite clearly remembering how she had picked him up in the park when he was about to collapse from an ailment. He had hardly deigned to thank her for her help, not that she had expected him too, and left shortly after he had recovered enough to stand, and thankfully, no workd had got out that he had spent time, a night even, in the Sakura's town residence, which housed their young, unmarried daughter.

Since she had seen him at his weakest, he had lost some of his harshness, and she didn't find him half as detestable as before. She gave him a small, mischievous smile, and replied. "Always thinking of gain and profit, I see."

"Of course.", he replied rather stiffly. "I always pay my debts."

"Oh, my dear Mr. Hyuuga. You aren't indebted to me. You don't owe my anything. What I did, it was freely given, and I never expected gratification or compensation. Your life must be truly bleak, I suppose, when you constantly suspect all your compatriots of having designs on your person."

He snorted. "You are trying to convince me you acted out of the goodness of you heart? Miss Sakura, you woefully underestimate my intelligence." - "Indeeed? I rather think I had woefully underestimated your common sense. Doesn't always expecting others to have the worst intention ever get boring? But I do confess, you have piqued my curiosity now. What ominous plan do you think I hatched that entailed carrying you off to my home, running the risk of ruining my reputation?" She pretended to ponder her own words for a second, then she exclaimed sarcastically.

"No, say nothing! I know! You are under the impression that I would try to get you to marry me! Yes, I see it quite clearly now. Is it not common place that the saved falls in love with his savior? Yes, I do think helping nursing someone back to health can ignite tender feelings in the ailing party, and also in the heart of the nurse."

She laughed heartily, and followed it with a derisive, decidedly unladylike snort. "Oh please. I would never want to marry someone as disagreeable as you, Mr. Hyuuga, and I do believe we would be quite unhappy together anyhow. Not that any of my words matter, since you are dead-set on not believing a word I say. I thought I had made my stance on your character clear before tonight, no? Either you must be quite daft, or very much convinced of your own superiority. Or possibly, and this I find highly likely, you are both."

Natsume had let her talk, never bothering to interrupt her, and now he was ashamed to admit to himself that he really liked her. He had tried to convince himself that the warmth he had felt for her while he was suffering from a disease had been caused by his vulnerable state. Yet her bluntness, her insolence, the wicked glint in her eyes all mesmerized him, and he saw now that it had not been a momentary misjudgement on his part. He had to admit to himself that it all attracted him immeasurably. Natsume had already realized that he had quite misjudged her character, that she was not at all scheming, not at all playing a role. She was being honest, and he found her honesty so refreshing that he couldn't help appreciating her frank jabs at him, the insults she so rightfully shot at him and which were more or less warranted.

"Perhaps." he conceded, and it evidently came unexpected for her, since her eyes widened in surprise, before again his ears were treated to a round of her joyous laughter. "And I will grant you that I do owe you an apology, Miss Sakura, but do you not think further attacking my vanity might not be wise considering I have the power to destroy your reputation?" He was being half playful, half serious, and he was keen to watch her react to that.

"Oh, destroy away." she surprised him by saying. "At least then I would finally have a reason to leave this good-forsaken town behind. Anyway, I am thirsty, and my thirst desires to be quenched. " Her eyes sparkled with merriment during her last words, and Natsume found himself unable to look away, utterly captivated by her lively spirit. "Would you do me the favour of getting me something to drink?"

He smiled. He couldn't help himself. He couldn't remember the last time a genuine smile had managed to sneak upon his face during a societal event such as this one, and he marvelled at her ability to paint it there.

"Miss Sakura, for a lady you are surprisingly sure of what it is you want." They were walking over to the buffet now, and he watched her from the corner of his eyes. Her hair had come half undone, something, he now realized, happened to her a lot, and it was probably due to her unconscious playing with it. Her forehead was creased, she was frowning, listening intently to what he was saying, and her lips looked very red.

I want to kiss them. The thought came out of nowhere, and left Natsume confused and on edge. "Oh, but Mr. Hyuuga, have you not realized it by now? I am no lady!" She turned her full face toward him now, her eyes filled with mirth, her white skin glowing delicately, and their dance had left her cheeks slightly flushed. She was perfect in her imperfections, and Natsume couldn't believe he hadn't realized before that, although she wasn't conventionally pretty, there was something about her face that made other people want to keep looking at it (or maybe it was just him, since besides Mr. Mori, hardly a gentlemen had paid her any attention, but the again, her family wasn't particularly well-to-do.)

He noticed he was staring at her, in awe, not answering to her last sardonic line, and hastily made to say the first thing that was on his mind. Natsume was usually an accomplished conversationalist, gallant and keen, very knowledgeable in conventions, yet she managed to bring out the worst in him. Either he behaved unspeakably rude and dismissive towards her, as he had done the few times they had met under similar circumstances, or like now, he had completely lost track of what was going on around him.

"No, you are right. You are something else entirely."

If he had thought she would be offended, he had erred. She merely laughed. He loved her laugh. He wanted to hear it again. "And what would that be?" she inquired gaily, accepting the glass he was handing her.

Something infinitely better, he wanted to say. But he swallowed his words, and merely replied. "You are an eccentric, Miss Sakura. A very trying one." A very enchanting one.

She smiled at his words, and turned, letting her gaze wander through the crowded room. Up until that moment, Natsume had completely forgotten that other people even existed in their universe. Now, he was acutely aware of the many gazes fastened upon them, of the many rumors that must be circulating, the talk they must be inciting. He wished them all away, to be alone with her. He hated them, in that moment. Usually, he reserved contempt and derision for them, but at that moment, he only feared they would taint this untainted girl he had found, and he wanted to shield her from their eyes.

Destroy away,she had said. She really should be taking these matters more seriously.

She, too, had now realized they were being observed, and extended her hand to him (in what he feared was goodbye). He took it, and looking into her hazel eyes, he thought of how she had never lied to him, and how he had spent a night in her house, rooms away from her, never knowing what he was missing, what an opportunity he allowed to waste away. He recalled too, how he had refused her assistance at first, out of pride, out of a feeling of superiority.

He regretted it now. He wanted to go back in time and do everything differently, since the first time he had laid eyes on her and decided that he would play with her like a cat would with a mouse.

He pressed her gloved hand to his lips, his eyes fixed to hers, and with an intensity he felt had to be burning. He saw the exact moment when the mischievous glow in her eyes turned to something else, when she realized that she was being gazed upon with longing. He saw her swallow, saw her arch her back, and then trying to move her hand back abruptly, as if she was being burned.

"Mr. Hyuuga..." she began hoarsely. "My...my hand." A smirk was playing around his lips, still hovering above her hand. "What about it?" he inquired mockingly.

"You are clutching it." She was biting her lip, discomfited. His eyes were resting on her lips now. He marvelled how his contempt for her had turned into desire so fast. Or if maybe he had felt this attraction all along and had simply misinterpreted it.

"Yes. I daresay you are right." he said, and as his eyes moved back up to hers, he was certain that her eyes had been fixed on him the whole time, mesmerized by his actions and his influence on her.

"Such a pretty hand it is. Parting from it, I must, yet only with utmost reluctance. I am pleased to have had the honour of dancing with you tonight, Mikan." The audacity of having used her Christian name wasn't lost on either of them, but when he saw her lips curl sardonically, he knew she didn't mind.

"You are right." she told him after a pause. "Parting, we must. Good night." And with these last words, she turned and swept from the room, calling out to her chaperone to follow her, and although he hid it well, Natsume's eyes followed her retreating form until it was no longer visible.

He smirked triumphantly. He might have let her get away now, but he would have her later, and for now, he had the satisfaction of being the only thing on her mind, of her puzzling over his actions, of her burning cheeks when she thought back to these last few fleeting moments.

He had already ignited a fire within her.

A/N: Written 6/30-7/1. Set before Breaking The Rules and Regret, but after Provoke, Trouble Lurking and directly after Disease, if you hadn't guessed. This is staring to get a bit confusing because of the jumping in the time line and how it isn't in chronological order.

I'm very sorry I didn't update last month, but I got a job (part time) and it's all very stressful. Anyhow, thanks very much for your wonderful reviews, Haruhi-chan131, moonalice, and Cute Tangerine204 (actually, English isn't my first language either, hence all the grammer mistakes I'm making; glad you like my oneshots and have as much fun reading them as I have writing them).

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter as well.