Never Apart
Chapter One: Let's Get Literal
By aBitterLoveSong
Natsume and Mikan can't stay away from each other, literally! One of Hotaru's inventions gets used recklessly, and now they can't be more than two feet apart! What happens to the two of them now?
-------------------------
"Mikan, are you going to play today?" Nonoko asked Mikan. They were heading for the gym for their Physical Education class.
"Play what?" Mikan asked, tilting her head to the side.
"We're having a basketball game today." Nonoko sighed, she wasn't looking forward to it.
"Really!" Mikan said enthusiastically. She turned her head to the side to face her quiet friend beside her. "Hotaru, are you going to play?"
"I don't know."
"Oh, come on, play! It won't be as fun without you!" Mikan begged, holding onto her friend's arm. Hotaru tried her best to shake the girl off but she held on like an insect.
"Fine. I'll play-"
"Great!" Mikan let go of Hotaru's arm in triumph.
"But I'm playing on the other team. I want to play in a team worth my effort." Hotaru finished tonelessly, fixing the bag on her shoulder.
"Ehh..." Mikan grumbled. That wasn't exactly what she was hoping for, but at least Hotaru was gonna play.
Someone called out for her. "Mikan!"
She turned her head to find Tsubasa waving at her from far away. "Tsubasa-senpai!" She cried out and waved back. She excused herself from her friends and ran for him, her pigtails flying after her. When she reached up to him she held her knees to support her as she caught her breath. At this rate, she wasn't going to survive a basketball game.
"What class do you have next?" Tsubasa asked her curiously, patting her on the back. That unknowingly got him an irritated look from two boys observing Mikan and him.
"P.E." Mikan replied, standing up. "We have a basketball game, but I don't think I'll live through it."
Tsubasa laughed, "Sure you can. Make sure to breathe." He winked as he fondly stroked her head.
Mikan kept her head down as she blushed. "Thanks Tsubasa-senpai. I'll make sure to do that."
She was about to say something else when someone shouted, "Mikan! Stop flirting and get over here!"
An irritated shiver shot up Mikan's spine. Tsubasa looked up to see who had called for her. Mikan slowly turned her head to see that Sumire had called her, her hands on her hips. She also saw an annoyed Natsume and an uncomfortable Ruka behind her. "What do you want?" She asked icily.
"Get over here!" Sumire repeated, motioning for her while her green eyes were shining maliciously.
Mikan sighed dejectedly. "Well, bye Tsubasa-senpai. I'll see you later."
"Sure." He smiled.
She waved goodbye and started for Sumire as Tsubasa shouted, "Good luck!"
Mikan smiled as she looked back at him. When she reached Sumire she stopped and crossed her arms. "What Sumire?" she asked.
"Are you going to play today?" Sumire asked, grinning.
"Yes..."
"Well I just wanted to say that you better get ready to lose because I'm not going to hold back." Sumire said confidently, then she pointed for the two boys behind her. "And I'm going to have Natsume and Ruka in my team."
"I'm not going to hold back, either!" Mikan said toughly, standing up straighter to look the part. She looked at the two boys behind Sumire. "And even if you have them in your team, you won't win."
"You sound confident." Natsume said, looking up at her.
"That's because I know we'll win." Mikan said without thinking. She automatically wanted to take it back.
"Don't be so sure." Natsume smirked then walked for the gym, his hands in his pockets. Ruka closely followed after him and so did Sumire, after she stuck her tongue out at Mikan.
"Hmph." Mikan said to herself as she watched the three. "I know we'll win."
-------------------------
"Pass the ball, Yuu!" Mikan hysterically cried from the other end of the court. Sweat trickled down her forehead as the fourth, and final quarter of their basketball game was nearing its end. Her team was down by two points!
The boy frantically looked around for someone to pass the ball to. Each of his teammates were being closely guarded by people from the other team, and he wasn't strong enough to throw the ball all the way to Mikan. As a last resort, he made an illusion to pass the ball to Anna, instantly making Sumire run after it.
Sumire lunged for the ball, but then it disappeared. "Eh?" She said, right before she fell face first onto the court's shiny, wooden surface. She stayed there for a while, like a bug crushed by a shoe. She grumbled as she lifted herself up, to see Anna holding the real ball in her hands.
Mikan jumped up and down, waving her hands in the air. She was right under the other team's basket, so she had a chance to score and tie the game. "Anna! Pass it to me! Me!"
After hearing Mikan, Anna threw the ball as hard as she could towards her. The ball was nearing Mikan, her hands were getting ready to catch it, only to be intercepted by Natsume who jumped in front of her. "Natsume!" She shouted, clearly surprised.
Natsume was already dribbling the ball down the court, ignoring her.
"You're not getting away with that!" Mikan shouted, running after the boy. He was nearing the court's halfway point when she was close enough to steal the ball. Everything seemed like it was in slow motion as she reached for it, her feet still running after Natsume.
She grabbed the ball with a swift jerk, but Natsume wasn't letting go of it. They both had stopped, but they were both still holding onto the ball, trying to steal it from the other person's arms.
"Let go of it!" Natsume barked.
"No, you let go!" Mikan replied, crouching down with the ball under her to make it harder for Natsume to pull it away.
Still holding onto the ball, Natsume let go of one hand, getting ready to start a fire in it. "I said, let go!"
"No!" Mikan yelled.
"Fine!" In a second Natsume had lit a flame in his palm. He raised his arm, but before he could shoot the fire for Mikan, someone poured water all over his hand, extinguishing the flame. Natsume spun his head back in surprise, to find Yuu holding his now-empty water bottle. "D-don't do that." was all the boy could utter.
-------------------------
On the sidelines, Hotaru observed Natsume and Mikan, her backpack on the bench. Many people had ran up to the two to stop them, but Mikan kept kicking them away, and Natsume kept scaring them away with his fire.
Sumire spotted her from the court and ran up to her. She shouted, "Do something Hotaru!"
Hotaru turned her head and asked Sumire calmly, "What?" World War III was going to start in front of her, but she didn't seem to be affected.
"Do something before that girl hurts my Natsume!"
'Isn't it the other way around...?' Hotaru thought, but she didn't bother to say it out loud. She looked away from Sumire to continue watching the fight. "I don't have anything."
Infuriated, Sumire reached for Hotaru's bag and opened it. She rifled through the things in it and found one of Hotaru's gun inventions. Without hesitation, and without thinking about what it was for, she grabbed it. "This is gonna stop those two!" she said out loud.
When finally realizing what Sumire was doing, Hotaru looked back at her. "No, don't...!" she said, raising her voice.
But it was too late; Sumire had aimed the gun for Natsume and Mikan and pulled the plastic trigger.
-------------------------
"Alright, foul!" Kokoroyomi, the unofficial referee, shouted. He blew his whistle to grab everyone's attention.
"Where have you been!" Ruka asked him, frenetically waving his hands in the air. His rabbit followed suit.
"Sleeping." He answered, with that same smile in his face. He walked up to Natsume and Mikan. Natsume was on the ground with the ball under him, but Mikan still had her arms around the ball shouting, "LET GO!"
"Come on, come on. Jump ball." Kokoroyomi said, bending down in front of them to separate the two from each other.
"Let her let go of it first!" Natsume ordered.
"Let him!" Mikan ordered back, motioning her head for Natsume.
"How about I'll get the ball, is tha-" Kokoroyomi began.
A cry from Hotaru came from the benches. "Watch out!"
"What?" Kokoroyomi casually looked up at her. He saw her beside Sumire, who was holding a large gun. Then he saw the large plastic bullet heading for the three of them.
"Woah!" He shouted, immediately jumping out of the way. He fell on his back, missing the large bullet by an inch. Natsume and Mikan were too caught up with grabbing the ball from one another that they hadn't noticed the bullet and it hit the both of them.
The gym was engulfed by intense light. Everyone shielded their eyes with their hands right before the light died down and everything was visible again.
Mikan was lying on the gym floor, unconscious. And so was Natsume.
The ball, free from both of their hands, rolled down the court.
-------------------------
"Mikan..." someone called out.
Mikan's head stirred, someone was calling out for her.
"Mikan..."
What was this? She was lying down on something soft, something even- a pillow. And... she was on a bed? Where... what happened?
"Mikan..."
Her eyes fluttered open, and for a moment her pupils got used to the bright light from the ceiling. With her eyes refocused, she realized she was in the infirmary. She turned her head to see Hotaru looking down at her from the edge of her bed. "Hotaru?"
"Yeah, it's me." Hotaru said softly.
"Why... why am I here?" Mikan asked, sitting up. "How'd I get here?"
"We-"
It was only then when Mikan felt the weight pressing against her other side. She turned around to see Natsume sitting on the other edge of the bed, his back facing her and his arms crossed. "Aaah!" She shouted, shielding herself with his arms. "What are you doing here? Get away from me!"
She pushed him away from her, but he didn't budge. "There's no use doing that." He snapped back.
"Wha- what's he talking about?" Mikan looked back at Hotaru, hoping for an explanation.
"I was going to explain before you interrupted me."
"Uh... sorry." Mikan looked down. She jumped off the bed and in a second she was standing right beside Hotaru. "Can you explain no-"
"Eaargh!" Natsume shouted, he fell backwards and he was lying down on the bed, his arms and legs spread out in surprise.
"What's wrong with you?" Mikan asked coldly, peering down at him.
"Stop moving!" was his reply.
"He's stuck to you." Hotaru said simply as she walked for the infirmary's exit.
"What!" Mikan asked, following after her friend. She looked back, and there was nothing sticking the both of them together.
"Eeeaaargh!" Natsume fell of the bed, but landed on his feet. His legs reluctantly followed after Mikan as he began to start a flame in his hand. "Stop moving!"
"You stop moving!" Mikan snapped. "And quit following me."
"Don't you get it?" Hotaru sighed, holding the doorknob. "He can't quit following you. You're stuck together."
"I don't get what you mean!" Mikan said loudly, raising her arms in confusion.
"Do you remember what happened in PE?"
"Umm..." Mikan stopped to think.
"The bullet." Natsume said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh yeah!" Mikan hit her palm with her fist. "The bullet! What about it?"
"Well, Sumire fired the bullet at you two to stop you two from fighting, so thanks to that you two are stuck together, which means you can't be more thanfive feet apart from one another." Hotaru said rapidly. She didn't want to waste more time explaining. She opened the door and slammed it behind her.
"Wha...?"
No way. She was stuck with Natsume Hyuuga... forever! How will she marry now? She can't have a guy stuck to her! Wait, how will she find her husband! She can't date with a guy right beside her! And a guy like Natsume Hyuuga!
Natsume wasn't looking at her, and he was unusually quiet. Wait- he was always like that. "Are you just going to stay quiet!" she cried out, finally getting Hotaru's point.
He looked at her. "Fine. I have one thing to say."
Mikan rolled her eyes. "What?" she asked exasperatedly.
He leaned in closer to her. "You better be a good little girl and listen to everything I say. Because we're going to be stuck together, for a very long time."
With that, he opened the door and walked out of it, and involuntarily, Mikan's legs followed after him.
-------------------------
AUTHOR NOTE:
Just an idea that's been playing around in my mind. I was planning to use it for an original story in my Fictionpress account, but decided to use it here.
Please review and tell me what you think so far! Please leave some content in your review, like, if anyone seemed out of character, state it! Thanks for reading!