This Chapter is dedicated to :xXaoi-to-midoriXx

( thanx for always making me happy .. ^^ )

LAST CHAPTER ;

' Both of them are important to me.' He thought as he hugged Hotaru more tightly. All he can do now is making her feel warm again. Like old days..

' Hotaru.. ' the name came out from his lips before his eyes shut tight.

And unknown to him.. the one he hugged were also saying a certain name..

' Ruka.. '

In the night, both of them were on the floor.. hugging each other tightly.. asleep.

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

The small figure on the bed began to stir. It seems like she begans to wake up. And thus, the brunette eyelids opens slowly.. and all she can see is darkness.. pure darkness..

" Is this heaven?" she thought for a while and then only find herself closing off her eyelids again. " No.. it's definitely hell.. i died right..? Am i..? "

The brunette pull out her hands and began to rub her eyes as she changed her position on the bed. After a while, the brown hazel orbs began to wander at the unknown room she is in. Her hair is let free from her usual pigtails and was let down.

" Hey. Why am I laying on this bed?" she asked herself noticing her situation. As she tried to stand up, her body seems to be hurting everywhere. Again, she feels weird. " What exactly happened?" she thought as her hands trail up to the bandages on her face and some scratches on her hand.

Her dress had been changed again. This time, another white coloured sleeping gown. Maybe the maids changed them when she was unconsious.

Wait a minute.. unconsious..?

She froze a moment. Her mind registering what she had said just now. Her eyes widened after a while.

" Natsume!" she thought. " He.. he saves me?!" The memories of the frightening moment slowly come back to her mind.

FLASHBACK

She was busy.. busy fighting with Natsume. It's always been their routine. Or more like a habit that is..

She heard it..the familliar sound. The sound of.. the baka gun. But she was too busy and thus ignoring it.

And then.. in less that a second. She heard a loud CRACK and then.. a pillar. Yes, a pillar was supposed to hit before she even got hit. She remembered being frozen to the floor.

She wanted to run, but in that state of shock.. she can't do anything. Deep in her heart, "Someone, help!"

She had close her eyes, waiting for the impact to come to her. What does it feels to be crushed down?

Will she be shattered ?No..

Human can't shatter.. their bones broke.

Ouch! That'll hurt a lot..

Before she can even think of other possibilites, a figure came to her, running and yelling, yeah.. his face.. she had never seen those face on him. This is the first time.

" Mikan!"

And also.. the first time.. she had ever heard her name.. being called by him.

The rest that she remembered is.. blank.

END OF FLASHBACK

The door creaked as she walk out from the room, searching for a person..her best friend.

Too bad. If only she had glanced to the sofa at the dark room, she would probably had noticed a pair of people hugging and sleeping together. But sadly.. she didn't.

As she was walking down the corridor, the sound of the clock hinting it's exactly 1 a.m in the morning greeted her. Wow.. she's been unconsious for a long time, she thought. "Maybe i'll try to find where Natsume is!" she exclaimed, excited.

Well..until the sound of her stomach growls, loudly.

So much for finding that guy, anyway.. Her number one priority now is.. FOOD!

She was on her way down towards the staircase when she noticed a black kitten staring in front of her. She picked up the kitten, ignoring it's whimpering and scratching as she stares at the kitten red-ruby eyes.

" A kitty!" as her eyes shines with excitement. "Where did you come from, little one?"

" You know.. you reminded me so much of someone, kitty!" Mikan claimed as she stares deeply at those elegant eyes. " The same eyes, hair colour and even your personality! Can i call you Natsu-chan..?"

The kitten just stared back and stopped his whimpering and attemps of scratching the innocent brunette in front him. As if it understands what the girl was talking about. Slowly it began to cuddle in Mikan's arms, having appeared to like her warmness. Mikan smiled and walked her way down the staircase. A soft giggle escaped her mouth as the kitten playfully bite one of her fingers.

"Bad kitty! "

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Natsume couldn't sleep at all. Everytime he tried to even close his eyes, somehow.. the images of a certain brunette managed to appear in it.

" Damn! " he muttered as he get up from the bed and sit himself on the couch. His eyes darted to his things on the coffee table. A pair of keys for his house and his car, his cellphone, a file containings some bussiness documents, and a P.D.A .

He boredly reached out for his P.D.A and read his suppose to-do list. Hm.. great! Only 6 more left to do..

To-Do

- Discuss some documents with the Imai Family.

- Expect father and mother to call and explain the family matter.

- Pick up Akio at the airport when he arrives in Japan.

- Expect that maybe Aoi will come along with Akio because she said she will, the last time she called.

- Meet Persona with Akio for clearing some family matter. (Aoi will not know about this )

- Be ready for the polka's challenge. ( In case. )

He stared at the last line stating about polka's challenge. Oh Great, for the sake of Lords, he had forgotten all about it.

He smirked. And that means.. " Hn. The little girl must have forgot about it too. "

No worries, he'll make her remember their deal back. With a more twisted scheme played in his mind involving his favourite brunette toy, he make his way down to the kitchen of the mansion. His smirk never leaves his face. Oh.. he can't wait..

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The crimson eyed-guy grabbed himself a bottle of milk from the fridge and sat at one of the chairs. Dressed in only jeans, he shuddered thinking if there are the maids of are all probably asleep now or else they will be fan-girling him at this time. Well, who won't want to see Hyuuga Natsume bare chested? They would probably be taking pictures of him! Tch! They're annoying. Ever since he was born, he was being crowded with fan-girls. Being born wealthy and handsome does have the price people says. Fan-girls had crowded in his life. Well, except for a certain brunette. He half smiled as his memory trails back to when he had first met the girl.

flashback

An image of a 10 year old child with brown brunette hair covered by a cap following their homeroom teacher was totally obvious to his eyes.

" A new student." His mind simply noted before pulling his glance outside the window, not bothered.

" Now.. Sakura-san.. Introduce yourself please." Their teacher instructed. The child nodded slowly and take a glance towards the classroom.

" .."

" Sakura-san.." The teacher repeated. This child..

The child let out a sigh. " Mikan Sakura."

All the girl began to swoon when they see this cool Natsume, almost-almost laugh. Someone like him, huh?

But as we knew.. Natsume never laugh. He smirked. "What sort of parents give their son the name tangerine? Surely, what a girly name."

" So? What's your point?" the new student spoke back. A glare in his hazel eyes. Something wrong somewhere.. "I'm not a gu-"

"Sakura-san, please take your seat." The teacher interrupted. She unfortunately had to sit beside Natsume as it's the only seat left. Both of them spoke quitely together until 5 minutes.. later.

" What the hell is wrong with you?!" she arise from his seat. "What i'm wearing is my own personal enjoyment! It have nothing to do with you, jerk!"

Natsume eyes darted back to the new student pink coloured shirt and smirked. "A pink shirt for a guy. How embarassing!"

"Hey!! i told you, i'm not a –"

KRINGG..!!

Once again, fate had forbid her to tell the exact thing she wanted to explain earlier. The teacher packed her things and was about to leave the class and then remembered a detail.

"Ah! Natsume, can you please be Sakura-san partner? Please show her around the school." He requested and walk away.

The whole class went into a silence mode. Nobody interrupted the intense moment until Natsume breaks it. " It's P.E." He stated as a matter-of-factly. Everyone took this as a warning and rush out of the room hurriedly, leaving a certain brunette and the kuro neko inside.

" Aa.. shouldn't we go to P.E too? " the brunette asked in confusion. A moment later, Natsume walk his way through the door of the class. " Let's go."

" Where?"

Natsume leave the question unanswered. In his mind, this boy sure is a stupid person. He sighed. This going to be a long day. After quite a long walk by the hallway, they arrived in front of a room. The brunette take a look at the sign at the door and widen her eyes.

"Hey! This is the boy's locker room right?" she asked again, making Natsume beginning to get annoyed.

" ... "

"Hey! Dont ignore me, you jerk! "

Natsume continued to ignore her and went inside. But of course, followed by the clueless and angry brunette who kept on rambling about what a jerk he is. He opened his locker and pull off his shirt revealing his bare chest. The brunette realized what he is doing and blushed as she turn away from him.

"Wh- what are you doing? Why are you taking off your.. your shirt?" she asked with her face still flushed.

"Changing." He answered, almost immediately. " Aren't you?"

"What are you talking about? I told you, i'm a gi-.. !!" Her statements are muffled by the loud sounds of footsteps outside the locker room.

"You a what?" His ruby eyes narrowed as he is getting more irritated.

Suddenly, the door to the locker room opened and there stood, Miss Hanazono, the P.E teacher. "Natsume-san! Until when are you going to keep me waiting?!" Her voice sounds angry and impatient. However, her angry ceased when she saw the sight of a new student beside him.

"You are..?"

"Ah! Mikan Sakura! "

"The new student right? Well, hurry up! Since you dont have a P.E shirt yet, you can borrow Natsume-san spare shirt then!" She suggested.

Mikan gulped and quickly refuses saying that she'll be fine. There's no way she'll wear the jerk shirt and changing in front of him! No way!

When they had arrived at the gym, Natsume began to eyed the boy in front of him. Something was wrong from the start. But what is it? Mikan Sakura.. petite body, bright hazel eyes, pink lips.. Hm.. He narrowed his gaze at Mikan's hat. Slowly, as he sighed. " What are you wearing these cap for? It's P.E." And as soon as he finished saying that, he pulls the cap from her head. Only to be greeted by.. a long brunette hair. And then.. it clicked!

Weird name, petite body, bright hazel eyes, pink lips, long hair..! This new student.. is a girl!

"You..'re.. a girl..?!"

end of flashback

As soon as Mikan arrived at the last stairs, the kitten leapt from her lap and runs towards the kitchen in a if someone was waiting for him.

" Natsu-chan! Wait! Where are you going?! " she cried and followed the kitten. She can see the kitten is entering the kitchen and there's some light's on. "Someone was awake?" she thought.

She entered the kitchen and went wide eyed when she sees Natsu-Chan is practically.. is in Natsume lap? What the hell? Wait.. where is his shirt? Is he.. bare chested?!

Natsume was at that time were enjoying his milk and his eyes closed. He felt someone presence and barely opened one eyes.

" It's probably one of the maids," he thought. But when he sees the brunette in front of him, he almost-almost stumbled down his chair.

A moment of silence went past them. Until..

" What are you doing here?" Natsume began. His face returns to stoic.

Mikan was having a hard time explaining until.. the sound of her stomach intrudes, loudly. She gulped. She had just embarassed herself in front of the jerk! Arghh..!

"Hungry?" Natsume asked. Without any reply from Mikan, he stood up. " I'll cook for you."

Mikan was dumbstruck. Had she been hearing well? Natsume want to cook for her? What does he is thinking? Doesn't he think that she is annoying? Wait. What is there bandages on his left hand? Wait! "It's from the time he rescued me!" thought Mikan as she remembered instantly. As quick as she can she hurried past Natsume and grab his right arm. Natsume was suprised all right. "What are you doing?!"

"Sit down! I'll cook myself." She says as she drags Natsume back to the chair. "Your left hand.. it hurts doesn't it? So, let me do the cooking by myself."

Natsume stays silent after that. He remain quiet all the time Mikan was cooking. In fact, he was staring at her all the time. Somehow, he wonders how this girl managed to get into his heart. Unlike any other girl, she was different all right. Always acting so tough. But then, maybe that characteristic of her had made him, Hyuuga Natsume fallen in love.

"Natsume! It's finished!" Mikan sing-like as she put down at the table 2 plates of omellete. ( is this the correct spelling?) " Taste them! Taste them!"

Natsume stared at the omellete in front of him. Surely, eventhough with her boys-like behaviour, polka sure does well in cooking, he noted. And then, his devil mind decided to tease the brunette. "Hey, polka. Are you sure you didn't put anything weird inside this thing?"

"Hey! I didn't put anything weird! It's edible!" Mikan pouted. She was sure she had cooked everything well.

Natsume smirked as he sees the pout Mikan is making and then slowly he began to eat. " It' delicious, all right." he commented.

"Really? It's delicious?" Mikan giggled as she also taste her cooking.

"Hey."

"Hm? What's wrong, Natsume?" Mikan asked unaware of the little piece of omellete by her right side of cheek.

"Stay still."

"Eh..?"

Natsume's fingers brushes against her cheek. Taking away the little piece of omellete and then he licks it. Meanwhile, Mikan.. had already blushes into a deep red.

This romantic moment sadly was only watched by a pair of eyes. The kitten. And he just watched the moment with amusement in his red eyes.

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Okay.. i'm sorry cuz it's not as long as i promised . I'm sorry! I had long forgotten to update this story! ^^'' My bad.. anyway.. i hope you guys aren't mad or anything please?

Ah! And one more thing. I hope you guys would somehow put this story on alert cuz.. i also dont know when i'm going to update. Well.. maybe.. after i reach 110 reviews? Yeah.. maybe that's the limit!

Ah.. and thanx to everyone who had reviewed me and somehow make me update back. Ah.. my grammar and style of writing is bad.. yeah.. i know it, but what to do? I write stories like this! I'll try to improve somehow.. thanks for the advices, anyway!

About next chapter! Yeah! i'm gonna make sure their dare/competiton between Natsume and Mikan arise back! Yeah.. i know.. it's like i totally forgotten about it too!

haha.. *sweating nervously*

Till then..! ^^

Bubbye ~~