Disclaimer: Higuchi Tachibana is the genius who came up with Gakuen Alice, not me.

Don't think this is innocent.

I sink my teeth right into it.

My eyes and my mouth agree- you'll be coming home with me.

- Animal by The Cab

Chapter Four: Physical

"Ne, Uncle Nodacchi, where do I place this lamp?" Mikan Sakura inquired, struggling to face the shop's owner while carrying a huge hanging brass lamp.

After agreeing to the deal that was offered to Mr. Nodacchi a few days ago, the antique shop owner decided that he'd want to help out with the necessary arrangements of his shop's valuables. Last night, as he was about to close his shop, he saw a fuming brunette walking down the lamp-lit streets. He was surprised at first because she had informed him on their previous account that she wasn't feeling well but there she was, stomping her way home on the other side of the road. She clearly hadn't noticed that a pair of chinky eyes was trailing her, so he took the liberty of calling her out which made her stop walking and averted her gaze to his direction while he made his way across the street. The young lady apologized profusely for suddenly bailing out on her employer earlier that day and was relieved that he didn't demand an explanation as to why she was outside when she reasoned out that she wasn't feeling well. Instead, he just asked whether she was alright and wanted to know if she would like to help out with the shop the following day. Being the kind woman that she truly is, Mikan agreed to help out because after all, this still was her job. Her previous anger momentarily forgotten, her eyes softened as he wished he goodnight and both went on to their separate ways.

When the sun rose, he made his way to his usual routine and decided to go to the shop early only to discover that for the first time in months, Mikan came in earlier than he did. She even made time to make him a bentou for breakfast, knowing that he often skipped this meal. After eating and chatting with the brunette, they instantly went off to work. Several boxes were pieced together and they started sorting things out carefully, making sure that the fragile items were to be wrapped properly before putting them inside the boxes. They only moved the small antiques around for the big ones were to be taken care of by the truck loaders that were coming in an hour.

"Oh, ah, let me carry that Mikan-san! This is too heavy for a young lady to carry." Mr. Nodacchi commented, hurrying towards Mikan's direction.

"Mou," Mikan sighed as he took the item from her hands, "that's such a sexist's opinion. I can perfectly manage on my own. I have a strong pair of biceps, did you know that Uncle?" She winked and made a show of flexing her petite arm.

Chuckling, Mr. Nodacchi placed the lamp inside another box. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But I could use those muscles of yours if you would please place those miniature brass lamps inside the box with the label Egyptian antiques."

"Alright!" She chirped back.

Both continued doing this all throughout the morning. From urns, to vases, to lamps, and some accessories, everything else were stocked properly as well. When the truck finally came, eight other men joined their team and moved the bigger items. Mikan made a checklist and carefully crossed out the items that were loaded inside the six-wheeler truck. Finally, the grandfather clock that hasn't been packed yet signaled the laborers that it was time for lunch, much to Mikan's delight.

"Looks like everyone has their own lunchboxes but us, Mikan-san." Mr. Nodacchi noted as the other loaders were busy feeding on their bentous. She brunette lit up at this and ran to the shop's counter and went back with a large set of meal.

"Actually, I made us some lunch as well!" she happily informed him as she made her way at the back of the shop. She scooped out another set of containers filled with food and placed them carefully on top of a coffee table. "Tadah!"

"Ah, ano…" Mr. Nodacchi looked up with a worried expression, "b-but— "

"No buts! I'm going out to buy us some drinks Unlce, I forgot the thermos at home. Wait for me 'kay?" But before the grown man could even give his reply, Mikan already dashed out of the shop with a small smile playing on her lips.

A sleek white Porsche 911 Turbo swiftly parked itself in front of the cold park. Several heads, males mostly, turned their heads as the car approached and couldn't help but admire the interior and how eye-catching the vehicle was. Some even whistled as they silently admired, yet at the same time envied, whoever was driving the automobile. But the stares from the male population paled in comparison to the awed stares given by women who were passing by. Some even stopped as the driver stepped out, revealing soft golden tresses and a pair of magnificent aquamarine eyes. His features almost looked feminine except for his well sculpted jaw and his toned body sporting a pair of ochre jeans, a white polo with a black tie topped with a royal blue cardigan which accented his orbs, and a pair of dark brown loafers. A teenager walking her dog openly stared at the man in front of her with her jaw hanging which the young man returned with a smile, causing her to blush madly and tried pulling her chowchow away who in return wanted to get as close as possible to the automobile owner.

He greeted each stare (even glares from the men whose partners gushed about how good looking the stranger was) with a very friendly smile. He took his phone out from his pocket and proceeded walking the sidewalk, clearly looking for something. When he took another glance at the small screen, the young man failed to notice that a running woman was making her way towards his direction. It was too late when two bodies collided and several clinking sounds echoed as about five cans rolled away. Luckily neither one of them landed on their bottom. Two confused pairs of eyes blinked at each stranger's direction when it finally dawned to the young man what he needed to do.

"Ah! I'm really sorry, I wasn't looking! I really didn't mean to, I'm so sorry mademoiselle." His hands raised slightly as if surrendering then bowed deeply. The young woman in front of him giggled and shook her head in return.

"No, it's alright. It was partly my fault as well." Mikan replied to the fop in front of her, which in her opinion, looked highly adorable. She looked down and saw the cans of Attaka Lemon Cs rolling all over the sidewalk.

Both of them crouched down and started reaching for the nearest cans. As they did so, Mikan saw another can rolling away from the sidewalk. She stood up and chased after the furling can on the street and successfully grabbed its warm can when the lass failed to notice a cab racing towards her direction. She was too stunned to scream when she felt a pair of hands pulling her to safety. Relief flooded her orbs and turned to look who her savior was and discovered that it was the same person who she bumped into earlier. He was still holding her shoulders while she craned her neck to face him. Worry and alarm was clearly seen on his aquamarine pools.

"Are you alright?" he asked frantically as Mikan properly faced him.

"If you were a few seconds short then I wouldn't be." The young woman placed her hands and the cans she was holding on to her chest and let out a sigh of relief. "You do realize you deserve a monument for saving my life, right?"

"E-excuse me?" He replied, confused. Mikan beamed back.

"I sure am glad it was you who I bumped into today sir. Otherwise I wouldn't be here breathing. Though that wasn't the first time something like that happened. I have always attracted accidents, you see. And oh my god there was even a time whe—" she stopped as she saw him chuckling slightly "Oh, you think it's so funny now do you?" She asked, pretending to be offended.

"Ah, no no! I'm sorry. Seeing that you're reminiscing like that, it seems that you're alright after all. That was a close call, mind you." He smiled adorably back. Mikan had the sudden urge to hug the man before her. He looked so cute!

"Yeah, I know. That's why I owe you my life."

"Please, don't exaggerate. It was a pleasure saving a beautiful woman such as yourself." He replied.

"You know what? If someone else told me that, I would've been under the impression that they were hitting on me." The survivor giggled. "But I'm under the impression that that's not what you were doing. And as a token of my thanks for saving my life, for complimenting me, and for showing me an adorable smile earlier, I present to you a prized can of warm lemonade!"

The female protagonist made a show of bowing down and presenting him the can of juice. When she looked up, he chuckled once again and shook his head in amusement. He took the "prized" metal cylinder from her small hand and gave her the two others he had helped pick up earlier.

"If some random woman told me that, I would have thought the same thing." He was smiling warmly now, as warm as the beverage he was holding on to. "Would you like me to help you with those?"

"Maybe I am!" She joked back. They were both laughing now and it was the brunette's turn to shake her head. "No, thank you. It's fine, my place is just around the corner. And I would really love to express my gratitude some more but I need to carry on. My uncle's waiting for these drinks, you see."

"Please do be careful on your way back, mademoiselle."

"Likewise, monsieur." The lass giggled. "Kind of sounded odd, coming out from my mouth. Anyway, thank you again and continue saving lives okay!" She waved goodbye, which in turn the golden boy waved back to, and ran off. But once she spotted the huge truck in front of the shop, the young woman slowed down and realized that she had to at least ask for her savior's name.

"The odds of meeting him again is pretty slim anyway. I'll just continue thanking him from the sky." She thought, unaware of the fact that as soon as she rounded the corner and disappeared from the foreign looking lad's vision, someone had called him.

"Are you there yet?" A deep voice from the other line asked.

"Not yet. But I bet I'm pretty near now since, well, I kind of met her in advance." He informed him with a smile on his lips. "She's a pretty attractive woman, and it's not just her looks but her cheery personality as well. Who would've thought the day would come wherein you'd actually pay attention to a decent woman."

"Shut up." He snapped. But instead of frowning, the clear blue eyes crinkled in amusement from this retort. "If you're so infatuated by that woman, then be my guest. She lacks the wit, I tell you, and the manners of a proper lady. It's disgusting and she makes any individual's ears bleed."

"But you're clearly smitten by her." There was an unmistakable growl from the other end. "Alright alright. Good thing I saved her, otherwise you would've lost the apple of your eye." Another growl.

"How vile. Just hurry up." Click.

He hung up on him. Again. He sighed and smiled despite this, though.

"Typical Natsume." And walked off.

"Aaaah! That definitely hit the spot!" Nodacchi contently sighed as he patted his lips with a napkin. Both had just finished eating the bentous that Mikan made for them and the fact that the woman was a brilliant cook was an understatement. "Arigatou, Mikan-san. You really do know how to spoil this old man."

Mikan giggled. "You're not old, Uncle Nodacchi!"

"But I will be, soon. How am I supposed to attract women if I end up losing my hair?" Another melodious giggle was heard.

"I'm sure that women are bound to line up soon, Uncle. You're even more handsome than the foreign man I met earlier."

"Foreign man? Was that the reason why it took you so long to buy our drinks then? Because you met up with a man in secret?" If he could squint his eyes any further, he would have done so.

"No! I was just running so fast that we ended up crashing to one another." Began her explanation. "Then the cans rolled all over the place and he ended up helping me out. In fact, he saved me from another near-to-death scenario! But this time, it was a cab speeding its way. Luckily, he was there to pull me back to safety and I felt really silly. Imagine, if he wasn't there, a ridiculous headline would've appeared saying 'a highly attractive woman got hit by a taxi due to saving a can of lemon juice'! I think I deserve better than that, thank you very much!"

True enough, these sort of accidents weren't all too unusual to the young woman. Despite this, a huge goofy smile never left her angelic little face. But even though it wasn't uncommon, she never fails to amaze him how she could take these incidents lightly, let alone make jokes out of it. Before he could inquire whether she was alright or not, her lips opened again as she placed her finger on her chin, leaving the impression that she was deep in thought.

"But I don't think he was Japanese though. You see, I saw a few ladies sneaking him looks as they passed by and one even mouthed that he was absolutely stunning but I think he's more of the adorable kind. He reminds me of a bunny, actually." Her eyes twinkled at this. "He was really cute! And I bet he's a pretty kind man as well."

"He doesn't have big teeth, does he?" Nodacchi asked, amused with her description.

"No, no! On the contrary, he had very white and even ones. I think he's French, the golden hair kind of gave that away as well as the fact that he kept on calling me 'mademoiselle' . Oh when he said that, it sounded really charming coming from his lips! And he had clear blue ocean eyes, a few feet taller than me, and his skin was definitely fairer! He's really pretty, too pretty for my taste. Sadly though I wasn't able to ask for his name—"

"Do you mean, like this man behind you?" He was looking past Mikan with a curious expression on his face. The lass's eyebrows furrowed and whirled around. True enough, there stood the man who had saved her from the disaster earlier.

"I do hope that you're not saying those things to hit on me?" He smiled shyly, which made Mikan blush because he had clearly heard her earlier. He lifted his hand to shake her hand. "My name is Ruka Nogi. Natsume sent me to fetch you."

Mikan couldn't believe what was happening. Earlier that day, when she first met the man driving the car she was in, she would have laughed at anyone who would have told her that this man was associated in any way possible to the pompous jerk that she considers as Satan's right hand man. They had left shortly after telling excuses and lies to Mr. Nodacchi. When he asked where Ruka was taking the young woman, he told him in the kindest manner that they were to meet up with a very good friend of Mikan's and that she had clearly forgotten about it so that was why he came to the shop and picked her up. The lass, in return, couldn't even utter a single word for she didn't want to make her dear Uncle Nodacchi worry. Ruka tried to talk to her on their way to his car but when he saw that she wasn't really into the conversation, he chose to just keep quiet.

"A very good friend my ass." She thought dejectedly.

"Excuse me?" Ruka peered to his right, making sure that he still had his attention on his wheels.

"Did I say that out loud?" Mikan looked at him, panic written on her face.

"Say what out loud? You didn't say anything, but you did growl when I apologized."

She was taken aback. Her thoughts were clearly busy and failed to hear him talking, let alone his apology.

"Ah, no. I'm sorry, I wasn't growling at you. It's just… Well, forget it. It's not important. So you were saying?"

He chuckled. "That's a relief. I do hope that you aren't mad at me. I didn't mean to deceive you earlier, it's just that I recognized you a minute too late so I wasn't able to properly introduce myself. And if I did say or do anything which you didn't like, then I apologize for that as well. I know we just met but I feel quite uneasy that you've been giving me the silent treatment because I have a feeling that you're not usually like this, unless you hate the person." He took another glance at his passenger and felt a smile tugging his lips as he heard her giggle.

"It's not that I hate you or anything. I guess I was just surprised, that's all." They entered a building's parking lot and just like the previous hour, he had swiftly parked his Porsche and the engine died. "So fret not! Besides, you don't really strike me as someone who'd make allies with that sorry excuse of a man Hyuuga, so I guess we're good. So tell me, did he blackmail you into this?" she asked, the twinkle in her eyes back.

He just smiled and got out of the car, hurrying to Mikan's side and opened the door for her and offered her his hand like the perfect gentleman should do. She accepted it and smiled at him. "So? Should I kick his ass for you as well?"

Ruka simply chuckled. "Come on, my office is on the fifteenth floor."

They made their way up, and Mikan couldn't help but feel amazed that every time the elevator opened, those who were supposed to join them greeted him warmly which he reciprocated. They didn't get on though, despite Ruka's insistence. Her pools peered curiously at the young man beside her and couldn't help but wonder who exactly he was. However, when they reached the designated floor, she couldn't help herself anymore. The floor looked lavish, the same lavishness she had witnessed when she entered Hyuuga's office two weeks prior. Except this one had a few frames of famous ads and products of various companies along the hallway. And the place, as the female noticed, had a more inviting feel in it. Her eyes landed back to Ruka who was now holding a door open for her. She got in, and once again, his office looked quite identical to Natume Hyuuga's. Only this time, more colorful furniture and bookshelves filled with advertising awards greeted her. There was even a huge picture frame hanging on the wall with what she had assumed were his parents.

"Please do have a seat. Would you like something to drink? This is going to be a pretty long afternoon." He informed her as he took his and Mikan's coats to his coat-stand.

"Thank you. Anything is fine." He walked over to his desk and asked his secretary to bring some coffee. "Nogi-san, can you please tell me the reason why I was brought here?"

"Well, I was under the impression that Natsume would have already explained it to you." He looked startled, but when she shook her head, she gave her a slight bewildered look. "Unbelievable, that guy." He mumbled. "How about the role you would play into the plan?"

"He has. In a very insulting manner, in fact. So I think I get the picture." She replied.

"I'm really sorry about the way he acts. He's not usually like that, he can be quite out of hand with his attitude but he'll eventually warm up." This made Mikan snort. "The thing is, you will need to at least familiarize yourself with the people you will eventually meet. We need you to be prepared when strange questions come up and to make sure that you'll know how to deal with these people. But don't worry; it's not a lot really. And it's not like you'll have to memorize each and every one who will attend the party."

" Y-you mean to say that I'll actually have to talk to these people? I thought I was only blackm— I mean, obligated to concern myself with one person?"

"You are. But questions will be raised, and we don't want things to get messy. It's better to be prepared."

"And you're actually a part of this, Nogi-san?" Her lips turned into a frown as she stared intently into the person in front of her.

"Trust me Sakura-san, I didn't want to be a part of this in any way possible at first. But the man we are dealing with is a very, very wicked one. He's done a lot of things in the past, and this has affected a lot of people. I want him to stop, and so does Natsume. Please do understand." It sounded as if he was pleading her to understand and he looked so helpless that Mikan couldn't help but lower her guard down and allow her gaze to soften. She had a feeling that he wouldn't tell her anything further, so she'll just wait until he, or that devil, does. Besides, since he asked nicely, how heartless could she be and tell him off that she wouldn't do it?

"Okay fine, where do we start?"

After that question of hers came out of her mouth, she instantly regretted it. Ruka thanked her profusely, making her wonder whether he knew under what circumstances led her here. He took out a tall pile of documents about the people she has to at least memorize until the deadline, and boy was it a lot. If he had thought that it wasn't much, it clearly wasn't the case with our heroine. What made her feel dizzier was when she realized that most of them were executives from various companies; from secretaries to CEOs, the wives of the businessmen, high end profiles, and even some endorsers she was vaguely familiar with. Despite this intense session, she had found out that Ruka could be quite the pleasing companion to be with. He was very easy to talk to and for the first time in weeks, she had felt safe. He also didn't mind her questions and explained to her things patiently, be it about the records or some random ones. She had even asked whether he thought that a woman would still or would no longer look attractive if they grew mustaches. They had a few laughs themselves and both felt like they've been very good friends for such a long time. Then finally, Ruka stood up and took the folder from Mikan's hand.

"Ah, I'm not yet done with that!" Mikan protested.

"It's already almost nine in the evening. And I told you we'd only extend for an hour after the takeout, Sakura-san." He smiled. Mikan glanced at the clock and sure enough it was indeed getting late. They ate some Chinese food earlier for dinner which she had thoroughly enjoyed. "You must be tired. I'm going to drive you home now."

"No, it's fine Ruka-pyon! I can go home by myself, I swear." She told him as she got up and gathered her things. She failed to see his startled look with the new nickname she had just called him.

"But I insist. It's late, so I'm driving you back." He insisted.

"I'll take her." Both whirled around and saw the raven haired man leaning lightly on the door frame.

He clearly came from work because he was still wearing his business attire, only without his coat. He had a red untucked polo on with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a loose black tie, and his usual black slacks. His ruby pools looked bored and the chronic blank expression was what greeted the two. "Yo, Ruka."

"Natsume! I didn't know you'd actually drop by." Ruka's smile broadened at the sight of the man before him. He walked a few steps closer to give him a friendly pat when all of a sudden, he heard a stomp from behind him.

"The hell you will." Mikan spat, anger reeking out from her voice.

Ruka frowned at the sudden change of the sable haired woman. Just a few moments ago she looked harmless and adorable, but now the young Frenchman concluded that she was a woman whom he didn't want to mess with. He looked at Natsume with a confused gaze and silently asked what was wrong which he just replied with a quirk of a brow and a nonchalant shrug.

"Just to damage your ego, if I were to choose between getting a ride from either the two of you, you wouldn't be much of a competition against Ruka's offer. In fact, there's no competition at all." Mikan broke out, destroying the silent conversation between the two male.

" You're not much worth of a prize either." Natsume countered with an even tone. This made the lass even more furious. "I'm going to save you from the trouble of taking this girl home." He addressed Ruka.

"I told you you son of a—"

"B-but Natsu—"

Both spoke in unison.

"You need to rest, Ruka. You just came from a flight, and I know that it must've been a grim afternoon for you having only this girl as your companion." This earned a offended 'hey!' from the only female in the room.

"Are you sure? I mean, it wasn't as awful as you make it sound like." He was talking to the man leaning on the doorway but his eyes were focused on the enraged woman standing beside the couch. "And aren't the two of you friends? Did you two get in a fight?"

"Friends my ass! This filthy hypo—" She stopped midsentence when she saw the dark looks he was shooting towards her. Normally, she wouldn't have been fazed. But something about his gaze threatened her that if she continued whatever she was supposed to say, the protection she was clinging on for her dear brother's life would be at stake. "—ppotamus friend of mine and I did get into an argument. And how come you didn't tell me that you just got back from a trip? I wouldn't have asked to extend our session, Ruka! Now, now. We should probably get going and you should too! Come on Ruka!"

Even though her voice suddenly got a pitch higher than usual, Ruka failed to notice this and sighed. "Oh, so that's how it is. You two go ahead, I'll just fix some things and I'll head off as well. Besides," he looked at Natsume whom he had a feeling was still hiding something, "you two need to patch things up. I wouldn't want to get in the way."

Natsume simply shrugged and waved goodbye as he walked off down the hallway. Mikan picked her things up and mustered the cheeriest smile she could manage to make.

"Thanks for today, really. Thank god you're the one helping me out with all these bios, and not to mention you saved me earlier from that mad cab driver."

"The pleasure is all mine, Sakura-san."

The ride home was surprisingly a quiet one. Both chose not to talk to the other in hopes of aggravating the opposite. Yet, Mikan couldn't help but feel the dark hostile aura the man beside her was emitting and was silently hoping that instead of the slight nervousness that she was feeling, he would feel the hatred coming from the core of her being. It wasn't until they were nearly at her place that she finally broke the eerie silence.

"So what's the relationship between you and Ruka?" She asked. When she didn't receive a reply, not even the slightest twitch of an eyebrow, she snapped. "Why do I even bother asking? You clearly won't tell me anything, the same way you didn't tell him a single zilch. What, did you blackmail him into taking part of this little charade as well? How low could you possibly get, Hyuuga?"

"As you could see, I'm the man behind the wheels. Have you ever heard of not getting into the driver's nerves?" His grip tightened on the steering wheel but his face remained calm and unchanging.

"What will you do? Crash this thing somewhere?" Mikan shot back.

"I'm sure you'd look more decent with bandages covering your face."

"Ha! I'd like to see you try." She crossed her arms on her chest and glared at his direction.

"Don't tempt me." Finally, his lips curved into a smirk. All of a sudden, he hit his Lamborghini's accelerator fiercely and didn't let go. The engine roared in such ferocity that Mikan's gooseflesh stood up.

"W-what the heck are you doing?! You'll end up getting us both killed you piece of crap! AHHH! Stop it you moron! Hey, I told you to stop!" They were running so fast that she could barely make out the details of the lamp lit streets and the people passing by. Panic started to cloud her heart as familiar images began flashing through her mind. "N-no! I'll shut up, I'll shut up! Just stop this freaking car!"

When she couldn't take it anymore, her arms flew to his and held onto them tightly. The next words she uttered were so faint that it was a surprise the lad even heard her.

"Please.."

Upon hearing this, Natsume started to slow down. They were only a few blocks away from her flat but the young woman didn't notice it. She was still holding on to his arm as if her life depended on it, in which case it partially did. When they finally reached her place and she still hasn't let go, he spoke up.

"Hey."

She finally looked up and he expected to see tears in her eyes. But to his bewilderment, not a single tear was shed. Instead, her citrine eyes contained the darkest shade of contempt and spelled the brutality of murder. Before Natsume could even make a snide comment, she clamped her teeth hard on his arm which made him yelp in pain.

"Fuck! Are you some kind of a dog, woman?!" He snatched his arm back and resisted the urge to strangle her.

"My pleasure, asshole. You think you're the only one with the upperhand here now, do you? Well guess what. I'm only allowing this because of my brother, but if you tempt me, then there'll be hell to pay!" Came her outburst. She grabbed her bag and was about to go out when the door wouldn't bulge. "Open this damned door you jerk!"

"You have no rights to make demands, remember that."

"I'll demand whatever I please! You're going too far! First you blackmail me into this situation, then you step on my will to protect my brother, and then you made me lose my job! I detest nasty pricks like you! Oh boy I've been trying to hold myself back but for pete's sake why couldn't you be like Ruka for once? He's your complete opposite, the perfect gentleman! And he would never drive a woman home like some complete lunatic downtown! You have issues Hyuuga, and I suggest you get yourself a nice fancy room in a mental institution and—"

Then he did the worst possible thing. He took her wrists and pinned them beside the tinted windows and kissed her.

Hard.

She squirmed against his touch and tried so hard to fight him off of her but it seemed that her efforts were for naught. It didn't help much either when his tongue unfurled itself inside her mouth, drawing from her the sort of response she had no intention of giving. She felt as if he had taken control of her will as his tongue commanded hers to wield and allow him to conquer her cave fully. Natsume had pressed her back against his car's door as he continued to assault her senses. His teeth took her bottom lip in a grazing hold, only to release it for his tongue to salve its swollen surface in a sensuous glide. The brunette could feel an unfamiliar hot need shoot up from within her, and she knew that she had to stop this madness before she completely loses herself.

But she couldn't.

Just when it seemed that the kiss would last forever, her assaulter lifter his mouth off hers and looked straight into her half-open and delirious eyes, only inches from the swollen lips he had left behind. The car was dark so the young woman couldn't tell that even his ruby pair was so red and heavy-lidded with flaming desire as well as mirth.

"Still hate me?" He asked, not masking the fact of how amused he is at the moment. Mikan narrowed her eyes and sent her tongue out before answering.

"Oh you bet. As much as ever, and if possible, even more."

"Good. I wouldn't want you to become a lovesick fool over me just yet." He let her go and pressed something, unlocking the doors from his vehicle.

Mikan scrambled out of his car, yet before slamming the door shut, she hissed. "I don't mind you and your car falling off a cliff tonight."

"Next time maybe. I'll bring you along too." Natsume replied, only to have the door slam shut. He watched with merriment as she sprinted and banged her door close, only then did he bring his engine back to life and drove off.

Whimsical Panda's Notes: I've got some good news and bad news! GOOD NEWS: I have already started with chapters five and six and I got myself a summer job! BAD NEWS: Because of my summer job (and the endless list of bondates with my friends), it's going to take even more of my time so I do apologize profusely for my late updates in the future. Also, I've only got less than a month before I return to college, eep!

But this I swear, my beloved readers: I will never abandon this story. I might take a while, but I'll make it up to you as much as I can. :) Like this chapter, for instance! The last scene was supposed to be written on chapter six, but since you guys deserved as much, I decided otherwise. I'm not all that good with describing intimate contact between two characters, so I apologize if you didn't like the way I wrote things. Also, thank you for those who appreciated this story, those who reviewed, and the adorable critters who PMed me! I appreciate you lovely fellas. Ja!