The next morning Natsume woke first to the sight of a sleeping Mikan beside him. Her night shirt had slightly lifted up, exposing her bare navel. An unexpected tingle in his loins had him sitting up quickly. He was definitely in trouble if such a small thing bothered him so much. He quietly walked to the bathroom, freshened up and headed to the living room where he picked up the morning paper and milk. He kept the milk in the fridge and settled on the couch to read the paper. Mikan woke to the sight of a different ceiling and shot up as she recalled the events of the previous day. The bed had been too comfortable and she had slept really well. She freshened up quickly and looked into the living room to make sure Natsume was still in the house and hadn't abandoned her for some mission. The sight of Natsume sitting on the couch, his shirt half opened, teasing her with a wide view of his upper body made her feel warm. Noticing her, Natsume looked up and raised one eyebrow quizzically. Mikan realised she was staring and spoke quickly, "Just making sure you haven't run off on me..." Natsume narrowed his eyes, "You may not have noticed but this is my room and that bed you were snoring in is mine too.. If anybody has the option of running off, it would be you." "I was NOT snoring!" "Then it was probably a tractor ploughing the field that woke me up this morning!" Mikan growled as she turned away, "Very funny." Natsume chuckled and went back to reading the paper. She headed to the kitchen to make breakfast, "I heard you told Elia to take the week off. So I guess I'll be making breakfast." Natsume exhaled to try and calm down, "Elia is supposed to be discreet. You are not supposed to question her. And most importantly you shouldn't be trusting her because her primary loyalty is to the management and the council." Mikan rolled her eyes as she said, "Despite what you think of me, I am not stupid. I didn't ask Elia about you. I overheard Elia telling Mr.Narumi about it. Why would I trust Elia with anything if she leaves you to fend for yourself when you're injured? I mean if she really cared about you, she would have stayed no matter what you said! Now if you're done with your interrogation, you should go take a shower while I make us some breakfast so that I can have the room later." She walked off into the kitchen without a backward glance. Natsume sighed as he headed to the shower. It was too early to be arguing with her. Mikan smiled when she heard the water running in the shower. She had won that round but it wasn't over yet. She cooked as she thought of a plan. Cooking had become second nature to her over the years and even though he'd never admit it she knew that Natsume preferred her cooking over any other food. So she had no worries about getting him to eat. But how would she be able to convince him to take the tablets she had received from Hotaru? Natsume may allow her to get away with some things but even he had his limits. She couldn't mix them with the food because he would definitely make it a point to ask her if she had tampered with his food after what had happened the day before. And there was no way she would be able to lie to him convincingly. It was then that she remembered the deal they had made for calling Hotaru off! She smirked as the plan started to refine itself. Breakfast was almost ready when she heard a knock and opened the door to see Youichi standing outside. She smiled widely as she ushered him in and had him sit on the huge bed. "What a pleasant surprise Youichi! Have you had breakfast yet?" Youichi shook his head and Mikan beamed. "That's great! There's enough food for all of us!" She heard the water cut off and saw Natsume come out wearing only black pants, his hair dripping wet and his injury covered in a plastic sheet. Her mouth became dry at the sight but she forced herself to focus. "Sit down a minute. I'll help you clean the wound and dry your hair. Then we can all eat!" Natsume, who had wanted to see the visitor, glanced at Youichi, ignored her and went back to his room as he told her, "The wound doesn't need cleaning and my hair will dry on its own." Mikan followed him in with Youichi tailing her, and cleared her throat as she asked sweetly, "Um do you remember the conversation we had yesterday afternoon when you made a certain deal with me?" Natsume froze as he realised what she was getting at and sighed, "You're going way overboard with this shit!" Mikan glowered as she pointedly looked toward Youichi, "Language, Natsume! And I'm not the one being a baby here." Natsume sighed again as he took a grey t shirt from his wardrobe before plopping onto the bed next to Youichi. Mikan quickly checked on breakfast and grabbed his first aid kit before settling on the bed. "Let me see it." Natsume gingerly removed the plastic sheet and the gauze. He then removed the cotton, wincing as he felt it burn. Mikan forced herself to ignore the hurt welling up inside her as she brought out the iodine for cleaning the wound. Natsume paled as he noticed it and quickly slid back further into the bed. "Shit Baka, you don't need to use iodine every day! The wound was closed all day. There's no dirt in it to clean!" Mikan glared at Natsume, "Mind your language! Youichi is here! And the iodine is necessary everyday to keep your wound from festering. I know this because I took a course on first aid last year." Natsume looked at Youichi, "Have you never heard the word 'Shit' before now, Youichi?" Youichi pursed his lips to stop himself from grinning when Mikan climbed onto the bed on all fours and reached out to grab Natsumes legs so she could pull him towards her. Natsume held himself down so she wouldn't be able to pull him. Knowing she was no match for him, Mikan glanced at Youichi and asked him, "Are you hungry?" Youichi nodded, "I'm very hungry!" Mikan blew a breath, "Good then help me hold him down while I clean the wound quickly. Or else we won't be able to eat!" Youichi looked from Mikan to Natsume to Mikan before settling on Natsume. Natsume inhaled as he realised that Youichi was siding with Mikan and tried to get up but since Mikan was still holding his leg, he couldn't move without hurting her. Youichi released three spirits two of which quickly held Natsume down by his shoulders on each side and the third held his feet as Mikan positioned herself by his wound. Natsume glared at Youichi, "You're not getting away with this. I'll definitely get you back for this!" Youichi turned toward Mikan with a tear in his eye, "Onee-chan, Natsume onii-chan is scaring me!" Mikan fell for it and came to his rescue by spraying the iodine directly on the wound without any warning. Natsume stiffened and hissed as he felt the burn spread like wildfire. "What the hell Baka!" Mikan smiled sweetly, "You should focus on your healing instead of threatening cute little boys who try to help their sister." He closed his eyes as he spoke through gritted teeth, "Someday I will get you both back for this. Mark my words." Mikan shook her head she she finished cleaning and dressing the wound quickly and thanked Youichi for his help. She then went into the kitchen to bring out the food leaving Youichi and Natsume alone for a few minutes. Youichi spoke quickly and quietly, "Word's out that you're injured. Too many people are looking for you." Natsume grunted, "I knew word would get out eventually. I can take care of myself." Youichi raised an eyebrow, "What about Onee-chan? She's always with you." "I'm doing everything I can to get her off my back but nothing is working. What do you want me to do? More importantly, Keep an eye on Matsuda. He's spying for Persona. Alert our people but no moves yet. He might end up useful later." Mikan who had placed the food on the table in the living room, entered the room and they both fell silent, making her suspicious. "What were you two talking about?" "I told him I will get him back for his stunt today." Natsume lied smoothly and diverting the topic by aiming a hard flick to Youichi's forehead. Youichi ran to Mikan, hugging her and crying. Mikan hugged him back as she rubbed his forehead, "Oh you poor baby! Does it hurt? Don't worry. I'll put some balm on it." She cooed as she rubbed a balm on his forehead and then turned her attention to Natsume. "Just what do you think you're doing to him when all he did was help me! Apologise right now!" Natsume gaped at her. "You want me to say sorry to the runt who held me down while you invaded my gut? Not happening!" Mikan rolled her eyes at Natsume, "Don't you think you're being a little dramatic! Since you won't apologise, I'll have to make it up to him myself. You just let me know if you need my help with anything at all Youichi!!" Youichi beamed, stuck his tongue out at Natsume and went to sit at the table. Natsume glared at them both and got up to wear his shirt. "What exactly do you think you can help him with? His studies?" The thought made him smirk and Mikan hesitate. Youichi intervened. "We should just ignore his crankiness since he is injured. I'll definitely ask for your help when I need it, onee-chan!" "That's so mature of you Youichi! I'm so proud of you!" Mikan beamed with pride and kissed him on the cheek. Natsume huffed as he mentally berated himself for being jealous of a 11 year old kid and left the room heading for the table.