Hi people! I'm back. I was a bit busy these days so I didn't have enough time to update any of my stories. My apologies.
Even amidst my busy schedule I couldn't stop myself from coming up with this new story. This is my first time ever writing a one-shot or a short story like this. I dunno how it turned out in the end, so feel free to share your opinions as well.
OUR INFINITY
"Don't fall for me" were the first words he said to me when we first met and I just couldn't believe that there was a conceited jerk like him who thought the world revolved around himself.
~/~
It was my last year in college. The graduation was around the corner and so were the final year exams. I was called into the office once again and this was like the hundredth time already. The reason was always the same. For the record I was the one who received the lowest grade in physics. I wasn't even surprised.
Jinno sensei, my physics teacher was looking at my this month's physics pop up test paper with a visible frown. He sighed for the nth time before he looked at me and then at my paper again. I bet he was wondering what to do with me.
I, Mikan Sakura am doing Biology as my major and Physics as my minor. I was surprised at my unwavering courage as well, when I decided to choose physics knowing very well that I suck at it. It was the only way to stick around Hotaru who did two majors – Math and Physics. It's not like I had much choice and I would never choose Math in the first place. The only reason I was promoted to the higher grades so far was all because I had a very high score in Biology. How can a Biology expert possibly fail in Physics you may think, but believe me it's possible.
I stared at Jinno sensei whose face was more wrinkled than the usual. It was fair for him to be worried I mean if I grandly failed the finals, his name would be tainted forever. It's crystal clear that I'm going to fail anyway and I will grow old here in the college grounds trying to get a passing grade.
"I'll call the department head" was all Jinno-sensei said before he pushed his spectacles up his nose bridge and strolled out of the room. Oh well, it was still the same old thing. The department head, Narumi Anjou will come inside, give me one of his best smiles and encourage me to do better. So far none of this got me anywhere. I felt sorry for Narumi-sensei because he had wasted his energy all these years for nothing.
It didn't take long for the blonde man with blue eyes who was in his late thirties to walk inside.
"Hello, Mikan-chan!" he said cheerfully and I suddenly felt guilty to even look at him.
"I'm sorry Narumi-sensei" I mumbled with my head hung low.
"It's okay dear. Let's-" he wasn't done talking, but I cut him off saying; "I don't think there's anything else to do about this" It was the bitter truth. I had done everything possible to raise my scores, but it was still at the very bottom.
"There's still one last hope" he said with a hopeful face and I just couldn't say no without giving him a chance to speak.
"I will get the best student in Physics to tutor you"
"You mean Hotaru? But she did and it didn't work." My best friend Hotaru Imai had tried numerous times to help me flip the score around and yet it was either still the same or even worse. She stopped trying two years ago.
"No-no- last year's best" he said with a wide grin.
"You're calling a college graduate? Won't that be too bothersome for that person?"
"Nope. He didn't graduate last year"
"Oh… but how can the best not graduate? It doesn't make any sense." I said titling my head to the side. It actually was nonsense; I mean that person was the best! He can't possibly fail.
"He didn't sit for the exams last year"
"Oh!" Now that's something. Maybe I could skip it as well or maybe not because then things would get more complicated.
I was told to wait after the lectures ended, and meet this person who also happens to be in the same lecture hall as me. The hall was huge and it had so many chairs occupied by so many last year physics students that I gave up guessing who the genius award winning physics student was. It had to be one of those from the front row.
However after the lectures ended, a tall guy from the very back of the class approached me. He had messy raven hair and an alluring pair of crimson eyes. He was good looking and I was mesmerized for a couple of seconds. It somehow only lasted till he spoke.
~/~
"Not in a million years, you jerk" those were my first words to him. How could he say something so conceited even without introducing himself first?
He shrugged and ran a hand through his messy raven hair. Then he started walking towards the entrance. Was he going to leave just like that?
"Are you coming?" he asked stopping in front of the door. Where was he going?
"Wait! We didn't even discuss anything about the tutoring lessons" I yelled after him.
"We ARE - he emphasized- going to start it NOW" it didn't make sense, but I followed him suit to wherever he was heading to. It didn't take long for me to realize that it was the boys' dorm.
"W-what are we doing here?" Don't tell me he was going to teach me in his dorm room.
"I'll be teaching you wherever I like. You might as well quit if you don't want to come" his face was stoic and expressionless and somehow he seemed like he wanted me to quit.
"No I'll come, but you can't do anything weird to-" I didn't get to finish my sentence as he said;
"Whatever. I'm not interested in girls like you with that kind of a body anyway"
He walked inside the building without even waiting for me. What's wrong with my body? Seriously?! This guy was a total jerk and a pervert. I couldn't believe it at that time that Narumi sensei wanted him to teach me.
His dorm looked too neat for a guy and way neater than my own dorm room. It was very spacious compared to my own one as well. The best students here get the best facilities anyway.
"Natsume Hyuuga" I heard him say as he casually took a seat on his couch without even bothering to invite me to sit.
"Mikan Sakura" I said while giving one of my best smiles and offering a hand to shake which he ignored. Jerk.
~/~
I had lessons every day after the morning lectures ended. At first it was one hell of a torture. He'd call me an idiot and say that even a grade school student could get the answer right whenever I got it wrong. He started from the scratch and gradually explained every rule in Physics -which I didn't even, knew that ever existed- like it was a piece of cake and for the first time ever, I finally understood most of it. He always yelled at me saying that I should actually see the subject without just looking at it. At first it didn't even make sense. Later I understood that he was asking me to mutually understand it- you know, like I should see it from the inner side rather than the outer core.
It was annoying to see him seated on the couch reading a manga or a magazine when I was sitting on the ground near the table solving hard equations and boring questions. Not to mention receiving a forehead flick each time I got my answer wrong. It was amazing that I didn't get any bruises on my forehead.
However as time passed, I got used to it. I couldn't believe it myself either. In the mornings I'd go up to him before lectures started and greet him even though he'd ignore me most of the times. I would sneak a peek at him to make sure he's in class and then get annoyed when I see him listening to his iPod instead of the physics lectures. I would go looking for him when he cut his lectures and end up under my favorite Sakura tree when I failed to find him.
Shouldn't he be the one to make sure that I pay attention during lectures and that I attend lectures daily? I didn't know why I paid attention to a conceited-perverted-jerk, but I simply did. It was inevitable. The finals were only a few weeks away and I hadn't seen him touch a single book to study within the couple of weeks I've spent with him. Did he wanted to fail purposely or was he a born genius who didn't need to study? I had no idea.
It was weeks later that I found out that Natsume Hyuuga's secret hideout from lectures was actually my favourite Sakura tree as well.
That day I had been looking for him everywhere and was exhausted that I decided to sleep under the tree without returning for the lecture. I was sure that Hotaru would kill me for this but the rational part of my brain was out of order at that time that I didn't mind. As I opened my eyes later, I found my head lying on someone's shoulder and that person happened to be the very person I've been looking everywhere that day, Natsume. To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. I was beyond shocked to find him in a deep slumber leaning on the tree trunk beside me. Yet I couldn't get myself to stop staring at his peaceful face. It looked calm and serene. Unconditionally my heart beat rose up to the point where I could practically hear it beat inside my rib-cage.
It didn't take long for him to open his eyes and yell at me for carelessly sleeping under random trees. "Good thing I was always lying on the top branch" he had said.
That day I figured out that he actually did care about people around him even though he pushed them away from him. It was also the day I first realized that I, Mikan Sakura had fallen in love with the biggest jerk in the universe, Natsume Hyuuga.
During my free times in-between lectures I'd always got to the Sakura tree just to see him lie on its branch while his head rested on top of his right hand. "Oi little girl, what are you doing here?" he would ask and I would give a random excuse just to sit under the tree for a little while longer. Sometimes he'd get off the tree and sit under it, next to me saying he was bored sitting on the branch.
Days passed without knowing and I finally sat for my finals. It was all thanks to him that I finally managed to get a fairly good score afterwards as well, which was not a failing grade as I imagined. Narumi-sensei was over joyed and he said that he was very proud of me. Jinno-sensei looked relieved and congratulated me. All those extra wrinkles were nowhere to be found on his face.
Everything fell into place except for the fact that I didn't get a chance to confess my feelings to a certain raven haired person. After the exams he suddenly got busier and would walk away even before I could bring up a conversation. He was nowhere near the Sakura tree or his dorm room. The only sane explanation as to why I couldn't find him in the college grounds was that he probably was avoiding me.
The graduation ball came and I knew it was my last chance. He was nowhere in sight during the dances, yet I knew that he had to be somewhere near. It was compulsory to attend this event after all.
I walked to my- I mean our- Sakura tree only to find him sitting there handsomely, under the moon light. His bangs were covering his face and he was leaning on the tree trunk. I silently sat next to him and he looked surprised for a while.
"You shouldn't be here you know" he said in a barely audible voice. He looked worried and I wasn't sure why.
I shrugged before saying; "Neither should you". There was a comfortable silence between us as we sat there listening to the light sound of the music played in the near distance.
"I love you" I blurted out even without thinking properly. The music in the atmosphere was to blame. I couldn't help, but blush afterwards. I've never directly confessed to anyone before. It was always the guys who asked me out, that confessed first. Truth to be told, since I turned all of them down I've never had a boyfriend before.
"Mikan I-"
I heard him say. This was the first time ever that he called me by my name. Yet there was something wrong in the way he said it. Was he going to decline? Say that he doesn't like me? I wasn't sure. I held my breath.
"You can't" he finally said getting up from the ground.
"Why not?" I asked standing up as well.
"Because I- I'm sorry" he said as he started to walk away from me. i couldn't comprehend anything.
I just ran up to him and hugged him from behind. It felt warm despite the cold atmosphere. He turned stiff and stopped moving as we both stood still. I felt him breathe rapidly, yet I myself forgot how to breathe. I felt him hold both my arms for a while before taking them off from around him and turning to face me. And suddenly his soft lips met mine as he kissed me gently yet passionately under the moon light. Words weren't needed to explain how he felt as it was all conveyed through his warm lips.
He held me tight, close to his chest afterwards before saying the words I've fantasied in my dreams along with another few words that wrenched my heart; "I love you too Mikan Sakura, but I don't have much time left"
It was the happiest and the saddest day of my life. The guy I had fallen in love with was suffering from a heart disease that might steal his life away any moment. The clock was ticking and the time we had for us was numbered.
~/~
I could still remember myself crying for days and days thinking as to what I should do. Should I listen to his words and completely forget him or should I follow my heart? The answer was obvious though.
After graduation, we both got the jobs we worked hard for and he bought a little apartment for himself.
"Forget me and live a better life without me, Mikan" he had said, but he too knew well that I couldn't.
"I don't want a better life without Natsume Hyuuga in it" I didn't know any other way to convince him that it was what I wanted – to stay with him till the end.
Later under a huge Sakura tree in the public park, he proposed to me with the most beautiful ring in the world. The ring had a little white diamond in the shape of a Sakura petal and carvings that read; N~M FOREVER.
A few months afterwards we got married and I moved into his apartment. Every day was special and important to us.
Soon a new guest joined our little family. Youchi - our adorable son. It was like living in a never ending dreamland. Life wasn't always smooth, but we were fine with it.
~/~
"Mommy, look at this Sakura petal. It's weird!" You-chan said as he sat next to me. We were sitting under the shade of a huge Sakura tree in the park. Sakura trees are very special to me as it marks most of my precious moments in life.
"Yes, honey. Isn't it pretty?" I asked as I kissed my seven year old son's forehead. He nodded eagerly as he examined the Sakura petal more closely.
A strong arm enveloped my shoulders in a tight hug. I looked into his warm crimson eyes that glistened under the sunlight. My heart skipped a beat as I leaned on to his muscular chest.
"Seven years" he whispered in my ear as he smiled gently.
It's been exactly seven years since he proposed to me under the Sakura shade. I still get butterflies in my stomach whenever he smiles at me and my heart still skips a beat each time we hug.
The hour glass sand is still dripping and the clock is still ticking. The time we have left for ourselves maybe short, but the days I've spent with him feels like infinity.
Just like there's an infinite amount of numbers between zero and one (0.1, 0.2, 0.01, 0.0001, etc.) there's more than those numbers between zero and two. If you consider zero and million, the amount is much bigger. Just like that, some infinities are just bigger than the others. Like he always say; ours' is still infinity no matter how short it may be.
"It feels like infinity" I said as I hugged him back. This is our infinity where time never stops and dreams never end.
~LOVE IS ALWAYS READY TO TRUST, TO EXCUSE, TO HOPE AND TO ENDURE WHATEVER COMES~
So, how was it? Hope it was okay (?) Feel free to share your opinions.
Actually I was originally planning to end this as a tragedy, but I just couldn't get myself to do so.
This is not entirely based on a true story, but my best friend's late aunt's life was a bit similar. Her uncle had married her aunt knowing her aunt's bad heart condition and yet they lived happily for a long time with their daughter. I don't know anything about their love story, which is why I came up with my own tale.
I might write Natsume's point of view about this whole thing in the near future. Not sure yet, so this might also remain one-shot forever. – It depends –
Thank you so much for reading xoxo
I will update both Clarity and Wrapped soon so do keep tuned.
Sue-chan.
