a/n: finally updated... sorry for leaving this hanging for so long. It seemed as if my life just gets busier and busier.

How busy can a thirteen year old get?

Don't ask, don't ask.

Dance: Shattering

-

I vaguely remembered how we were arguing back outside.

I resisted the urge to smile. No girl has ever dared to argue with me before. Neither have guys, either. Yet that girl was up at my face, insulting me without a thought. If she's not an idiot, I don't know what she is. I turned away, a smile shadowing my face. But it quickly diminished as I remembered Ruka.

She is happy now.

But I shouldn't get close to her.

I shouldn't drag anyone else into my mess anymore.

I don't want anyone else hurt just because of me.

"Everybody, next week's the dance!" Mikan sang, twirling around, hugging everybody. Some people murmured excitedly, while some groaned miserably. Hotaru pointed the baka gun at her threateningly. "Shut up, idiot. You're giving me a headache." Mikan's smile didn't falter, and she continued her hugging session.

"Oh yeah, the costume draw is today, isn't it?" Ruka asked, after hugging and letting go Mikan. "Yeah, and I hope I get a good costume this year!" Mikan said hopefully, her face flushed—partly because of the excitement and also because of Ruka's hug.

"Don't be naïve and honestly think you'll be lucky." Or maybe unlucky… Hotaru thought, and then returned to her book. Her eyes momentarily flickered over to Mikan. Are you not afraid you'll be with him again…?

"But I do hope you get a light costume, as you do not dance very well. It will be painful for both your unlucky partner and the others who will most likely suffer amidst your clumsiness." Hotaru said. "You're so cold, Hotaru! But you know I still love you!" Mikan laughed, and then hugged her friend. "Just don't hurt your partner… like last year."

At this, Hotaru's eyes let out an odd glint of the same that belonged to Mr. Bear. "… It's was simply an experiment." She said, and although she said this tonelessly, an eerie smirk shadowed her face.

Ruka shook his head, knowing that the girl did something horrible again. And he didn't want to know. "Oh, do you know where Natsume is? I haven't seen him since this morning." He said, looking around.

"Right here." Everyone turned as they watched the raven haired boy entered. Since his seven weeks of entering this school, he had already become one of the major heartthrobs of the academy. And it wasn't exactly surprising. Not only was he good looking, his athletic and academic abilities were so outstanding that the teachers asked him to teach the class. He did sometimes, with simple explanations that were brief yet easy for everybody to understand, and everybody paid attention. It was mostly because no one could take their eyes off his handsome face though.

Natsume didn't exactly care whether anybody's academic process improved or not, and although he scowled, sometimes he wondered if he didn't mind the attention. So when only one person in the class didn't pay attention—you guessed it, Mikan Sakura—the scowl on his face only darkened. Natsume tried thinking that maybe it wasn't her favorite subject—although that was hardly an excuse—but boy, was he wrong.

Mikan Sakura fell asleep in all classes.

And each class, Natsume would watch her from the beginning of class. From the start, she would just stare at the board, face hard and determined; pen in one hand and the other gripping her notebook.

Yet about half and hour later you can see her face on the desk, mouth open, gently snoring, the pen still hanging loosely in her hand. Natsume could only shake his head. What a hopeless girl…

Then Natsume found himself studying Mikan in the time besides in class. He knew he was acting somewhat like a stalker, but he found that he always discovered something new with her. She was exciting to be around—she may not excel particularly in academic or athletic areas, but at least she wasn't boring. And the more he watched her, the more it seemed… that she wasn't that bad.

Natsume thought of this as he walked across the classroom, and his eyes flickered over to Mikan, who was still hugging everybody. What is that idiot doing? His eyebrows knit together.

"Um, Natsume-kun?" Natsume's gaze moved to the girl beside him, who was nervously playing with her fingers. Natsume stuffed his hands in his pockets, feeling irritation creeping up to him again. "What?" The girl looked slightly startled, as if shocked that he had spoken to her. Natsume was no longer looking at her. He knew it was another confession. It seemed to be a daily routine now. "Um… I-I really like you, will you please go out with me?" She stammered out. Natsume's eyes flickered restlessly back and forth from her face. She looked as if she were near tears.

He hated girls who cried.

He took a deep breath and said as gently as possible to prevent her from crying, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I cannot accept your feelings." A small whimper escaped from the girl, and then she burst out into tears anyways. Natsume sighed in irritation and walked away from her. He always felt uncomfortable around girls who cried. Tears… tears were so useless. They never made anything better. They were a waste of time. Not to mention you always feel horrible and look horrible afterwards.

What was the point of it?

"Ah, Natsume, I was just looking for you!" Ruka said, waving him over. Natsume's eyes once again moved over to Mikan. "What is that idiot doing?" He said, scowling as she let go of another classmate. Ruka followed his gaze, and then laughed. "Oh, you mean Mikan? She's having her little own celebration by hugging everybody because next week's the dance." "Tch. What kind of celebrating is that?" Natsume muttered.

"Jealous?" Natsume turned around and found Hotaru looking at him. "What the hell." "You didn't answer my question." "What?" "Are you jealous?" "Tch. Why would I be jealous?" "Oh really." Hotaru looked at him doubtfully. "You never know, though." Natsume turned away from her. "Who would be jealous of that idiot?" Hotaru's eyes gleamed, and a mischievous smirk formed on those lips. "If you say so."

"Natsume, you're here!" Natsume turned and saw Mikan walking towards him. "What do you want?" "A hug!" "Wha—?" Caught off guard, Natsume's eyes widened in shock as he felt a pair of arms encircle his waist. It was a brief hug, and once it was over, Mikan smiled at him.

Natsume felt an odd feeling then, but it diminished as quickly as the embrace.

And then he felt himself saying, "You idiot. Don't touch me with your dirty hands."

Mikan's good mood immediately disappeared. "You jerk! And I was thinking you weren't so bad after all!" She yelled, pushing him. Natsume felt himself smirking. "Polka Dots." This really ticked her off, and she yelled at the top of her lungs, "NATSUME, YOU IDIOT!"

Then, her face in an angry pout, she stomped away. Natsume felt himself smiling.

Meanwhile, Hotaru studied this from behind her book. Interesting indeed. She took out her camera from her backpack and snapped a few pictures. She looked at the pictures she had taken. This is going to sell well. After all, it's rare that the Natsume Hyuuga smiles.

"Natsume, you're smiling." Ruka said, his blue eyes wide. Natsume walked past his friend, the faint trace of a smile still shadowing his face.

"Oh really."

And that was all he said.

"This is rare… one of the ultimate Thieves is actually hesitating to act." The masked man said, sneering unpleasantly.

Natsume turned away from him. I thought of this a lot. If I want to steal a crimson heart, I would have to get close to her. And that means that I have to make her fall for me. But if she does, all I would do is hurt her afterwards. I don't want to hurt her… but I also need that heart to save her…

"Why are you not speaking?" Persona questioned, taking a step forward. He tipped Natsume's face delicately so it faced him. "Tell me, why are you not making your move yet?"

Natsume did not speak, his crimson orbs hard as they bore into Persona's. Finally, he said, "Why do you want Sakura's heart that bad?"

Immediately, he felt a stabbing pain across his jaw, and the next second he was on the floor, tasting blood from his lip.

"Wrong, my little black cat. That is not the answer I need. What was the rule? Oh yes, no unnecessary questions." Persona said coldly. Natsume glared at him, and Persona smirked. "I like you. Since you've been doing well before, I'll just answer this single question."

He leaned against the wall and said, "Mikan Sakura has the Special Body Type A. There is a special substance in her body that can make her connect to the Thief Society, which means that she can see everything we Thieves do. And that's dangerous for our society. So you must steal her heart. When you steal her heart, that substance will be taken from her body, and she will no longer have the ability to see us."

Special Body Type A? Natsume crushed his hand into a fist. I guessed as much.

Persona glanced at him coldly, and then said, "Okay, how about this? If you give me that heart, then I will give her back to you. Deal?"

Natsume snapped and stared at him. If I get her heart… then…

"All that's left is for you to decide, little cat."

"Hey, what did you get?" "Hey, I got this!" "Oh my gosh, you two would look so cute together!" "Kyaa! I'm so happy!"

The classroom was unbelievably noisy as everyone drew their costumes from a box.

But everyone's eyes were on Ruka as he walked up to the box. He could also feel everyone's stares, and although he felt a little uncomfortable, he smiled and pulled a piece of paper from the box. He unfolded it, and read what was written on it.

"Prince."

The room immediately exploded with noise, every girl trying to see who has "princess".

Then he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around. Hotaru was holding a piece of paper in front of him, her face expressionless. Ruka's heart pounded. Don't tell me…

"I think I'm your partner."

Ruka felt as if he had just fallen into a pitfall of doom. And then, the next set of information gave him another devastating blow.

"I think you read your piece of paper wrong, Ruka." Hotaru said, as she took the paper from Ruka's hand. She held it out and said, "See, you forgot to unfold this crease… now it says 'princess'."

"'Princess'?!" Ruka almost choked. "T-Then… you…"

"… I'm 'Prince'."

He took the slip of paper and walked towards her classroom. He remembered… he remembered that it was this classroom.

He could finally see her again…

He could explain the misunderstanding… he never meant for that to happen…

Never…

"Hey, Natsume, what did you get? I got 'Rabbit (F)'. I got the girl rabbit costume!" Mikan said, excitedly, waving her piece of paper around like a flag.

Natsume threw his paper towards her uninterestedly. "I got 'Cat (M)'." He said, and looked out the window. "Oh." Mikan said. Well, then he's not my partner. Then who is?

"I wonder who my partner is…" She murmured, staring at her slip of paper. She looked at Natsume, but he looked as if he had something heavy on his mind, so she didn't say anything.

"Hey, Mikan, a senpai is waiting for you at the door! Is he your boyfriend?" Some classmates teased. Mikan laughed and said, "What are you talking about? I don't have a boy—" Her gaze followed her classmates' fingers, and she suddenly stopped, staring at the boy standing near the door.

There was complete silence.

"W-Why… why are you here?"

a/n: I know it's not really satisfying, but this is all I could manage. Hope you liked it anyway and please review! Until next time. :)