Author's note: currently unedited. Midnight wishes first edited version is up. please point out the mistakes you do spot.
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III. Handcuffed
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Sakura Mikan was fuming.
For the past hour, Hyuuga Natsume had been following her around, through the cafeteria, through class where he deliberately sat next to her (the gall!) and smirked openly when she wrote down what he deemed was an idiotic answer for her algebra assignment. The whole day, he had been a scant meter away from her. And it was getting on her nerves.
It was the last straw when he sat down without so much as a by-your-please next to her with his special star dinner set complete with the highest grade sashimi topped off with caviar in a crystal carved bowl, red wine and medium-done steak. Suddenly, her three-star meal, which had looked mouth watering an instant ago, seemed dowdy.
Ohhhhhhh, he was doing it just to spite her. She just knew it.
There was just something horribly wrong with the tableau. Just yesterday, their conversation had barely been civil to say the least. Three months ago, they were barely seen in each others' company and now, Hyuuga Natsume was as persistent as a leech. It was just so wrong.
When that blasted boy cocked his head slightly, unsubtly comparing the quality of their meals and had the audacity to smirk, it was the last straw. And Sakura Mikan was not afraid to let the raven haired boy know it.
Hackles rose, Sakura Mikan jerked up from her seat and accused extremely loudly in the face of the suddenly extremely quiet cafeteria, a trembling finger pointed towards to blasé looking male beside her.
"This is the last straw!"
The last word ricocheted off the walls of the wide, airy room, echoing disembodied like the after effects of an earthquake.
Vestiges of annoyance appeared in the crimson eyes that slowly lifted to fix on her. There was just something in that look that made her feel as though she had just pranced around the room in a tutu and declared her love for all frog-loving teachers in the world. She didn't cower (though she did visibly shrink back slightly); Sakura Mikan was made of stronger stuff, anti-Natsume-glare stuff for that matter.
One of his perfectly arched eyebrows rose as he opened his mouth.
From what she had learnt the hard way, combine that skeptical look and Hyuuga Natsume ready to speak, nothing good would ever come out of that killer mouth ladies wax lyrical poetry over and what was she saying? Damn, she did not just think that Hyuuga Natsume had a killer mouth. Hyuuga Natsume's mouth looked like a pair of sausages! Yes! That was it! But why was she having such a hard time convincing herself?!
In the meantime, Natsume had finally taken it upon himself and drawled out rather scathingly, "There is a whole bunch over there."
Mikan blinked stupidly. What was he talking about? Had he gone daft? If he had, it might explain his less than normal behavior.
Obviously sensing the lack of understanding oozing from the brunette now stoning in front of him, Natsume pointed languidly towards his front.
Amber eyes followed his finger over the heads of the student body (who were now watching the on-going interaction with a stillness and eagerness that was absent in their daily behavior in class) and to the innocent bunch of multi-colored straws placed neatly on the checkered buffet table at the end of the room.
Realization hit.
Amidst the snickers that rose from various parts of the room, and the smile Ruka was trying and failing to cover, Sakura Mikan gaped. And commented half-disbelievingly:
"That was so lame."
The prodigy only smirked in response and took a sip of his wine.
"You asked."
And that was that.
Like always, when Hyuuga Natsume deemed a subject was over, the whole school would deem the subject over. And left Sakura Mikan gaping like a fish out of water.
It took her a moment to remember the exact reason she had started the conversation with the someone she had swore to never speak to months ago. And it brought out all the pent-up anger within her, both from this incident and from the painful past.
"Why?" She gritted out, amber eyes trained on the nonchalant male who always had the means to ruffle her feathers the wrong way.
The heavy blanket of silence that had lifted a moment before washed over like a wave again.
Natsume stood up then.
He towered over her easily; his lanky frame slouched in a lazy posture, hands tucked into his pockets. His head of raven black swept the top of his stiff starched collar.
He needs a trim. Mikan thought absently. She didn't know where the thought came from, certainly not on purpose.
He looked down at her, an arrogant look he had mastered over the years, crimson eyes undecipherable as his voice, soft as silk, flowed over her skin.
"Why what?"
Are you speaking of the present… or of the past?
It was almost as though someone had thrown a switch. Their surroundings darkened until all that was left beside them were mere vestiges of shadows, until the murmurings around them had died down to a pleasant buzz. Only the two of them remained within the glaring light, amber and crimson clashing.
It was a double-edged question, and Mikan knew it made references to the double meanings in her own question.
Why did you push me away?
She looked away, refusing to bend to his will.
He lifted a hand to her chin, cupping it roughly, tilting it up to meet his gaze. She resisted, not wanting him to see the weakness in her, not wanting to lose.
She expected him to continue to force her to look at him. She didn't expect him to let her go with a grunt.
Sakura Mikan blinked as she saw a fist collide with Natsume's side.
The moment was lost, throwing back the world around them in a dizzying array of colors. And it was thus why she took a few minutes later to realize that the fist belonged to a certain someone standing beside them.
Makito Akio.
She had got to know the lanky ice alice from the Dangerous Ability Class through Tsubasa senpai, who had found a close friend in the easy going and gentle-natured ice alice.
Akio was surprisingly protective of Mikan, especially after Tsubasa left the school. Mikan didn't protest, perhaps because deep within, she really missed Tsubasa, and that Akio was a good friend.
As he drew back him arm for another hit, Mikan finally moved. "Akio-senpai no!" She cried out as she latched onto the latter's arm even as Natsume prepared to retaliate.
"Damnit, let go of me Mikan!" Makito Akio's usually calm and smiling grey eyes were a hard steel-grey, his mouth drawn in a tight line. "He hurt you, look at this bruise!" His eyes softened as he reached out a hand and pressed a gentle thumb onto where Natsume's hand had been a moment ago.
Mikan flinched from the unexpected pain that the gentle touch had brought up. Amber eyes shot up in surprise to Natsume, who simply stood there unrepentant.
"Akio-senpai," Another pleading tug to his sleeve. "The bruise will heal over time. Please. Natsume didn't mean it."
"Hiding behind a woman, Makito?" At that moment, Mikan wanted to punch Natsume.
Akio gave a growl of fury and took a step forward. Those nearest to him flinched and shivered as the temperature dropped drastically.
"Natsume stop it!" Mikan yelled out, furious at the raven-haired male for provoking Akio. "Akio-senpai, please. Stop. I don't want you to get hurt."
There was a tense moment as the two males glared at each other, each unwilling to back out first.
Perhaps reacting to the plea in her tone, or that Mikan's weight was preventing him from doing considerable damage to the cocky flame alice, Akio relaxed his guard.
Visible weight lifted from the watching audience.
"I won't fight with you over this, Hyuuga. But I want you to get away from Mikan."
Bated breaths.
Natsume lifted a brow. And took a few lazy steps back.
The crowd that had gathered behind him parted obediently like the Red Sea.
He pulled his left hand out from his pocket and lifted it up. Mikan saw the chunky bracelet that encircled his wrist, glinting a polished silver in the artificial light. And realized with a start it was an exact copy of the one on her wrist, of the one Hotaru had given her just this morning.
"Hey! That is the exact copy of my bracel-Ommph!" Mikan had barely started when Natsume jerked his hand backwards rather violently…and Mikan followed suit and met the ground in an unsightly heap at Natsume's feet.
Moaning in pain, Mikan lifted her head from the leather of Natsume's shoe and shook it furiously, trying to rid of the dizzying sensation that filled her. One minute she was just standing on her two feet; the next moment, she felt as though her wrist was going to be jerked out of its socket.
Natsume's voice was extremely patronizing and sarcasm-laden as he drawled lazily, "As you can see, Makito, 'getting away' is an unrealistic dream."
Mikan snapped.
"NATSUME!" She scrambled up to her feet, one hand reaching up to massage the imprint of Natsume's shoes on her cheeks, the other pointed accusingly at the raven-haired fire alice.
"YOU…YOU PANSY STALKER!"
Natsume's eyebrows rose until they disappeared behind his far too long fringe at the rather unusual accusation being thrown his way.
"Pansies?"
"THAT IS NOT THE POINT! WHAT DID YOU DO?" The high-pitched shriek from the brunette had the crowd cringing and edging back quickly.
In the face of the thunderous brunette, Natsume remained infuriatingly calm.
"What did I do?" Amusement tilted the edges of Natsume's mouth into a smirk. "Why don't you ask your best friend, dimwit?"
"MY……" Mikan trailed off as realization struck.
Who had given her the bracelet this morning?
Who had smiled and said it looked good on her?
Who had made sure that the bracelet was properly snapped on and locked?
Imai Hotaru did.
Mikan gaped.
And amber eyes zoomed in on the quiet best friend who had been calming sipping tea at one corner throughout the whole brawl.
The too-quiet best friend.
There was a clatter as Imai Hotaru placed the said tea cup back onto the saucer, and lifted her striking violet eyes up to the disbelieving ones of Sakura Mikan.
"I did tell you about it. You were just too distracted by the Howalons on my table."
"That is ……." Mikan paused, a dismayed look on her face. "You trapped me with howalons?"
Hotaru blinked before saying matter-of-fact. "Not so. I was merely carrying out orders. In the fastest way possible."
"I … I am your best friend!" The last came out as an accusing wail. "How could you do this to me?"
The surrounding crowd stepped back cautiously as they felt the numbing power of Mikan's alice seeping out from her.
Hotaru got up from her chair smoothly, pushing the cup away from her as she did so.
"Believe me. You will thank me for this one day. Oh, and remember, keep within three meters of one another, or, as Hyuuga kindly demonstrated, landing on your butt is never fun."
With an enigmatic smile, Hotaru left the cafeteria without a backwards glance, her exit timed nicely with the ring of the bell signaling the start of classes.
Thank her? THANK HER?
Sakura Mikan though not, especially when she was jerked rudely by the invisible link between her and the abominable Hyuuga and the curt order that came from the devil's mouth itself.
"Move it, baka youjo."
As she stumbled and half-ran after the retreating figure that was Hyuuga Natsume, she could only smiled reassuringly at the worried Akio senpai and wonder if her life after this would be hell on earth.
And promptly fell flat onto the smooth ground with a painful thud as Hyuuga Natsume, with a terrifying smirk on his face, jerked the handcuff far out of the range.
Sakura Mikan didn't wonder after that.
She knew it would be hell.
to be continued...