Disclaimer: Don't even.

The Art of Observation

"A-are you sure this is a good idea?" Koko gasped, struggling to keep himself upright. "You know, Kitsunume would have been a much—" He made a choking sound when Mikan, who stood on his shoulders, squirmed a little—"much better choice for a job like this."

Mikan sighed exasperatedly and removed the binoculars from her eyes for a moment to look down at him. "Yeah, but I chose you. Because you're a really good friend and Hotaru still has that video of you putting Jinno-sensei's frog inside his coffee mug last Friday."

"She's a bad influence on you," said Koko dryly. "Stop hanging out with her, or you'll start hitting people with baka guns."

Mikan gave a mock gasp. "Heavens no!" She dug her foot into Koko's shoulder, making him protest in pain. "Now will you keep quiet? And stop moving around. I can't see!"

She impatiently brushed away a few branches blocking her view of Central Town's entrance gate, where a timid-looking boy with glasses waited anxiously.

"We could have watched from somewhere else," Koko said, a pained look on his face. Despite her appearance, Mikan really wasn't as light as she looked. All those fluff puffs must have put on some weight. "If we were just a bit closer, I could have read his mind to see who he was waiting for!"

Mikan scowled at him, looking very put-out. "Where's the fun in that?"

"There's no fun at all in this!"

She rolled her eyes. "Would you like some cheese with that whine?"

"Oh ha ha," he laughed sarcastically. "But seriously, Mikan. Why do you need to know who Iinchou's meeting with?"

The girl held her binoculars to her chest and squealed. "Because you don't understand! This is like, Iinchou's first date! I feel like a mother bird watching her little chick spreads its wings and—" She spread out her own arms in imitation of a bird and flapped around, looking very much an idiot. "—fly! I must document each and every second of this!"

"Ugh!" Koko groaned pitifully. "Fine, fine. But can you please hurry it up? My back is gonna break soon if we keep this up for any longer."

"Weakling." Mikan put on her binoculars again. Yuu was now glancing at his watch every now and then, and then around him. It was obvious he was waiting for someone. But who, exactly?

"Maybe it's Anna?" she murmured to herself.

Koko frowned. "Our Anna? Pinky Anna? Nah. She's dating Kitsunume, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Mikan said, nodding. "How about... Nonoko?"

"Maybe..." Koko said thoughtfully. "She's at the science convention in Italy, I think."

Mikan blinked in realization. "Huh. When is she coming back, by the way?"

"Tuesday, I think. Do you think it could be... um, Misaki-sempai?"

She glared at him. "You idiot! No way! Misaki-sempai's meant for Tsubasa-sempai, of course! She just hasn't realized it yet!"

Koko scuffed his shoe against the sidewalk. "Okay, okay. Sheesh, don't need to shout."

"Maybe... Permy?"

Silence.

"Nah..."

"Who is it then?" Mikan moaned in frustration. "When's that girl gonna come? What if—what if she stood him up!" She gasped in outrage. "Why, I'm gonna beat her up, and get Natsume to burn her hair, and—"

"Calm down. You don't even know if Iinchou's meeting a girl or not."

She gasped in shock. "Are you saying he's gay?"

"W-what? No!" Koko said quickly. "I mean, maybe he's not on a date? Maybe it's some meeting... for the, er, festival or something. He's the student council president now, right?"

Yuu Tobita had in fact become the president when he turned sixteen years of age, a year older than the other students of the former Class B. The Christmas festival was approaching, and, as always, the student council took charge of the preparations.

"He's on a date," she said confidently, a smug look on her face. "Don't tell me otherwise, because I know he is. I've got proof."

Koko looked at her strangely. "Do you stalk the guy, or what?"

"No!" Mikan scowled at him. "I don't. Creepo. Why would I stalk him?"

"Because you're a creepo."

"I AM NOT."

"Are too."

"AM NOT."

"Are—wait, just shut up! Keep your eyes on Iinchou, please. The longer this takes, the longer till I can get back to my dorm and watch Captain Tsubasa." Koko heaved her a little higher on his shoulders, holding onto her feet.

Mikan sighed, but nevertheless relented, staring at the spot Yuu—wait.

Where was he?

"Mayday, mayday!" she screeched. "I lost him!"

Koko seethed. "You idiot! I don't care if you're my partner in crime or not, I'm missing Captain Tsubasa for this! I NEED TO GO BACK. LIKE, NOW. SCREW YOUR MESSED UP PLAN."

"Ah, wait!" At Koko's abrupt movement (for some reason, he had forgotten she was standing atop his shoulders) her body began to tilt backward; she reached out to grab a hold of something, anything—but it was too late.

The two crashed onto the ground with a painful thump.

"Ow..." Mikan rubbed her head pathetically, her eyes swirling.

"Eh..." A hand was timidly placed in her line of vision. Without thinking, she grabbed it and hoisted herself up.

"Thanks..." Mikan said gratefully.

"N-no, problem, S-Sakura-san." Wait... I know that stutter!

"I-inchou!" she cried out in surprise. Indeed, the glasses-wearing boy stood in front of her with a blush and an apprehensive smile. Koko, who still laid on the ground a few feet away from her, groaned out in pain. She pulled him up with a stagger, and then the both of them faced their, er... stalkee.

The brunette grinned sheepishly, flicking away a few leaves from her hair. "S-so, Yuu! Fancy seeing you here... in the forest... yeah..."

He blushed, pushing his fingers together. "Er, y-yes, Sakura-san. I was going to meet somebody in Central Town, but..."

Mikan shot a triumphant look at Koko, who rolled his eyes and looked away.

"But I sorta forgot that I was supposed to meet Serina-sensei at three..." He glanced at his watch. "It's only one right now, so I'm too early." He chuckled embarrassedly. "My bad, e-eh?"

Mikan's mouth dropped open. "S-serina-sensei?" Koko's face was pretty similar.

The shy boy nodded confusedly at the looks on his friends' faces.

Mikan placed a warm hand on his shoulder seriously. "Iinchou," she began, "I know you make good judgements, you're the president after all, but..." Her face softened sympathetically. "Don't you think Serina-sensei's a little too... old for you?"

Yuu was positively confused. "E-eh? Too... old?"

She nodded, sighing. "I never took you for the type to prefer older women, Iinchou..."

"E-eh?"

"But, I guess that's alright... it's your first time after all, so might as well make it with someone, er, experienced."

"E-eh?"

"But seriously, Yuu? Serina-sensei? Isn't she with Narumi-sensei?"

The poor boy's spluttering, unfortunately, didn't reach her.

"Yuu?"

The three teenagers turned to see the woman herself, Serina, holding a basket of apples. She smiled. "Ah, there you are. Do you mind carrying this for me please? My hands are a bit tied up."

"O-of course, sensei!" Yuu immediately reached out for the basket, holding it carefully in his arms.

"I'm really grateful for this, Yuu. I know you're busy and all that with the festival coming up soon, but really, thank you."

He blushed. "Uh, y-you're welcome, sensei! Oh, and Narumi-sensei told me to tell you that the oranges are with Umenomiya-san. She's waiting for you at the shop already."

Mikan was confused this time. "Huh? What shop?"

Serina smiled at her, laughing. "Oh, it's nothing, really. I've just decided to set up a smoothie shop here in Central Town. But you know me, I'm too weak to carry all the fruits to the stand, so I asked Yuu to help me. He's a good boy, mhmm." The aforementioned boy reddened sheepishly and smiled.

"It's no problem at all, sensei. I'm glad to help."

"Well, it's nice seeing you two," Serina said, waving as she and Iinchou left the forest, walking back towards the main gates of Central Town.

Koko and Mikan were left standing, gaping at empty space.

"So he's not dating anyone after all."

"No, I guess not."

"Oh well. Better luck next time."

"Hey... how about we set him up on a blind date?"

"Huh? That's way too troublesome."

"I just wanna see Yuu socialize with more people! I've got friends who really like the megane type."

"...Do you have friends who like the smiley type?'

"Don't you already have Permy, Koko?"

"Oh yeah. Hey, what time is it?"

"Uh, just a quarter before three, why?"

"AH! CAPTAIN TSUBASA'S ALMOST FINISHED!"

Okay, so that was fun to write. :)

Sorry I've AWOL all the time, you guys! I don't really have an excuse, other than the fact that I was too busy reading fanfiction to write fanfiction. Forgive me?

Anyways, this was supposed to be for Survival of the Ultimate Achievers, but it got too long to be considered a drabble, so I just posted it here. I know, I know. Mikan is so Sumire-like. But it's okay. I mean, she's been made into a Natsume-clone way too many times before in other fics, right? Haha.

Well, hope it's nice enough for you to review. ;)

Tearless Sonnet

Her tears are bound to pass,

In this lifetime that won't last.

Read the pages of her lone heart,

And there you shall start.