Hello people of FanFiction!! I know I shouldn't be putting this up seeing as I am way behind schedule with Hemorrhage (the second one might take a while to get up) but i will anyway!! Haha...I got this idea from...actually, i Don't rememmebr. Yea...But i thought it might be pretty cool. This is a story that takes place about eight years after graduation and there will be 13 chapters and i planned it smart this time. Hehe...It's easier to understand cause it'll be very obvious but think a little okay?? And No, there aren't as many gigantic words in here as compared to Hemorrhage...Yeah, so it's basically about the stupidity of guy sometimes and more or less focuses on the drama in the upcoming chapters. Sumire isn't playing a bad charactar but newly founded (at least for me..i dint read the manga) villain, Koizumi Luna plays the shadow here...yay!! Anyway, keep a lookout for this...cause it's going to be the closest thing to humans they're going to get. They DO have their Alices but it's toned down abit so they'll seem more like normal humans...So watch out!

Disclaimer: I do not own (sniff) this amazingly backbreakingly funny/dark anime/manga (though I wish I did) and neither do I own the CIA, Paris Hilton/Tinkerbell (who would want to anyway?), Brown, Queen of Babble, any part of New York, Hershey's etc. etc. etc...


Dedicated to
archdemonlord
You've been a real inspiration to me!

In light of the situation...

...assumptions are not to be taken lightly...


"January is the quietest month in the garden. ...

But just because it looks quiet
doesn't mean that nothing is happening."

- Rosalie Muller Wright


Chapter 1: January Assumptions

Okay, maybe I did set myself up for my own misery. I know I was the one to have thought, 'Maybe he can read my minds, too!'

Maybe I thought that he was a certified genius, not the total arrogant bastard-y genius of the century. But, come on! Even Ruka, who I must say is totally way more wimpy and is happily married to Hotaru who is way more expressionless than moi (but not so much now since they tied the knot!), could figure out a way to ask her to marry him when found out what his ladylove was thinking.

I thought Natsume was smarter than that.

About six months after graduation, we'd decided we had had enough of Japan's Alice scene. So, we hitched on our bags, clamped on some Alice controllers and headed out to New York! Natsume (genius….not!) made it big in the international espionage industry (not that anyone knew about his Alice) and climbed his way up the ladder of Integrity (if his boss, Mark in the CIA explained one more time, I swear I will scream!)

Ruka (surprise, surprise!) landed a partnership with one of the best veterinarians in the city (Paris Hilton totally made out with him after he save Tinkerbell from choking on a pink diamond…much to Hotaru's displeasure). Hotaru became an internationally acclaimed (she wouldn't have it any other way) robotics engineer, specializing in children's toys; a contract with Toy Wonderland worth a Nett of 1,000,000!

As for little old me, I opted to continue college seeing as I wasn't the brightest bean in the pod. I was (surprisingly) accepted into Brown. There wasn't much one could do with a Nullification Alice (which rarely came in handy) and an (apparently) incriminatingly loud voice. But that fact definitely made jaws drop. Especially the jaw of one Hyuuga Natsume.

After four years of toiling and hard-work, I left Brown with a masters' in English literature and a degree in the history of fashion! (I totally got the idea from 'Queen of Babble' but I didn't actually thing that Brown has a course for it!) With those astounding (?) degrees on my resume, you'd think I'd have achieved something huge.

Nope.

Not a chance.

I got stuck with one of the most boring jobs known to man.

Editorial assistant at Dollars and Sense, a total knock-off financial magazine.

Even their name was boring and so unoriginal! Everyday, it took a crowbar or a burn of Natsume's Alice (which I chastised him for, having not totally recovered from the reduction of health the Fire Alice did) to pry me out of the huge Greenwich loft (well…more like a penthouse) that we shared with when we first moved here.

Then…mercy came from the high of heaven! (about time…I waited a year!)

Yuu, apparently the heir to a giant publishing behemoth, read some of the stuff I'd written when I was in college. He gave me a proposition he wanted to show to his father. Tobita-sama wanted a cornerstone for his company Jubilant Publications. So, Yuu hired me as (get this juicy tidbit) editor-in-chief, in charge of a staff of way more experienced people. He told me that it was my creativity that really mattered. Aw….

Safe to say, I was shocked beyond compare, nearly to the point of crying when I heard I was going to be able to quit the old financial-magazine-bore work grind! But that day, in my mind, whirring with all these fresh ideas for a snarky, tell-it-like-it-is and cutting edge New York magazine, In Her Head magazine was born.

So…here I am, eight years after flying from the Alice scene that nearly killed us all, a proud graduate of Brown University, a terrible job at a financial bore of a magazine, my best friend's wedding, an amazing dream job I never expected to happen and a move from Greenwich to Park Avenue and visiting places I'd only ever dreamed about while on assignment, I find my boyfriend (didn't really believe it myself) and I are twenty-six, living together for an odd amount of years (moving from Greenwich was hard after Hotaru and Ruka got married…heck, so many memories…I even lost my virginity there!) and yes, Hyuuga still doesn't have a clue!

Bloody hell, I could have paraded in front of him in nothing but a thong with the words tattooed across my forehead and he still wouldn't know head or tails as to what I was thinking! Can a man so damned smart be so damned thick?!

Apparently, he can.

My colleagues, Anna (engaged to Koko, their wedding is in fall) who is my managing director; Nonoko (just back from her honeymoon with Yuu in St. Bart's) who is my in-house photographer and Jansen Ives (my ultimate gay best friend with a fashion sixth sense that helped me through my more depressed days…I swear, he's the best creative director I've ever met!) all say that maybe I hadn't quite dropped enough hints.

They're just trying to be comforting.

Not enough hints?

Bah!

That's SO not the problem!

I've strategically dropped, placed, hidden, pasted and stuffed magazines EVERYWHERE all over the apartment!! I've changed my ring tone from '4 minutes to save the world' (my new favorite song! I swear, Madonna will last forever!) to Pachelbel's Canon in D Major (my ideal violin suite). I've stared at that platinum engagement ring in Tiffany's for hours while we (yes, while he's with me) walk along the Upper East Side.

HELL!!

I've been wearing excessive white lately for EVERY FRICKING DAY!!

And you might think he would've gotten the memo!

You would think…

…did he get it?

NO!!

I'll admit that he's an annoying jerk and deserves to rot for all the misery he's put me through, in and out of the Academy. That he'll always call me 'Polka' (he dropped 'baka' after I got into Brown…after dancing around him in a jubilant circle). That'll he'll never admit to himself what I learned after over eight years with him…at least not properly.

I'll admit that I am totally, irrevocably, unconditionally, immortally, undoubtedly in love with Hyuuga Natsume.

And that I want to marry him…

…if he ever figures it out and asks me…

…if I accept (of course I WILL!)…

…if he ever stops being so stupid…

…Oh Lord…

…I want to marry him…

…and I'm actually waiting for him…

…I'm was so stupid.


--,--,--,

I skipped down to Barry's, my favorite bakery after leaving a soft-smiling Hotaru. She was smiling a lot more nowadays thanks to Ruka. It was wonderful and terrible what marriage did to a human's life.

It determined how your life was going to change. It mellowed you with a sort of warmth and made you all happy and giddy inside, as if you got a whole sack of Hershey's even if the euphoria lasted for only a short time.

If it took a turn for the worst, it would go horribly wrong. It would crack you wide open for the world to see. Your mistake. I was afraid because the chances of that happening because the odds are two million to two at the most. And I wanted us to stay together forever. But we'd been through so much, I knew we'd click!

I think.

Oh Lord…I'm doubting it.

I sound like a New York-ized version of Pollyanna or Anne of Green Gables.

Then again, I always was that optimistic freak you tried to run away from. I always believed in the motto of In Her Head; breathe deep, live life to the most. The words always graced the cover in a pretty fuchsia highlighter. I opened the door to Barry's eighteenth century-styled bakery and was immediately attacked by a bombshell of aromas that must have come straight from heaven.

Behind the counter, kneading bread while leafing through a copy of In Her Head's December/New Year issue, Barry was the epitome of a grandfather. His hair that used to be chocolate brown was streaked here and there with grey and he had a face so adorably sweet, I could have imagined him and Jii-chan being best friends. His hands made magic and he had a heart made of gold.

And he made the best savarin in the whole world!

I came in, smiling widely as I could. "I think he's going to ask me tonight!" I exclaimed to him when he looked up from his bread. He grinned and began toweling off his hands. Coming round the counter, he swept me off my feet and hugged me.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I really, really think so!"

His grin faded to a sad smile. He had a young daughter who got her hopes up a little too high with her long time ex-boyfriend. The higher she flew, the harder she hit the ground when she realized he wasn't going to commit. She got married to a nice man later but Barry swore he would never let anyone he knew go through that kind of same pain she went through.

"So it's not confirmed?"

"Erm, no," I faltered. Then I grinned again. "But I really do think it's REALLY going to happen!"

"Remember the close attack last Christmas?"

"Don't remind me."

"So, why do you think the blur case is going to finally propose?"

"Well," I said, smiling thoughtfully at the memory. "I was putting away the laundry in his underwear drawer (by the way, did you know he wear black boxers with pink flamingoes!?) and I saw this velvet box among the boxers! It wasn't the type of dark blue velvet but this pretty white velvet case! And there was a blue ribbon on it!"

"And the colors have a significance?"

"Hello?" I said, chastising him. "Read In Her Head lately? Tiffany's! I know he's going to ask! I just know it!"

"Did you open the case?"

"Well, no, I mean, invasion of privacy!"

He smiled wickedly. "No, Mikan," he said in a teasing tone. "Opening an unwrapped velvet box is satisfying curiosity. Sifting through a guy's underwear drawer? That's invasion of privacy."

I shrugged. "It's not as if the laundry is going to walk to the drawers and fold themselves. Oh, wait," I said as Pachelbel's Canon started ringing. I faintly registered the look of sympathy on Barry's face as Jansen's voice echoed in my ear. I was given this tiny Palm Pilot sized laptop phone from Hotaru for my last birthday; it's one of her most promising inventions and I got the first one! "Hey, darling, what's up?"

"Oh, doll, I found the absolute best coverline for the January issue!"

"Talk to me."

"Okay," he said. "Get this. 'New Secrets for a New Year, What Really Happened On New Year's Eve'. We get some celebs to spill some of their most secretive secrets, accidents, events etc. that happened during the New Year's Eve party."

"Can I tell you again how much I love you?"

"I know, darling," he replied. "Okay, Yuu wants us to do something about that same old advice thingy they always do about relationships. You know the drill. 'How to keep your man satisfied', 'Ten steps to a successful relationship', yada yada yada…"

"Change it," I ordered. "Something snarky…something…ooh! Get this, 'How To Lose Your Loser'."

"Love it! Fabulous as usual. And Nina wants to know what's on the 'Off-Diet' food section."

"Barry's Bakery," I said with a smile at the said owner.

"Got it."

"How's tonight's plans going? All done?"

"Girl, Ted owes me for ditching that dinner date for that last minute 'Queer Eye For The Straight Guy' Christmas episode. He'll do anything to get back in my good books."

"Only you, Jan, only you."

"Right back at you. So I'll meet you at your house at sixteen hundred hours?"

"What?"

"Four o'clock, doll. We need to catch you up on your military movies."

"You need to tone it down. How many times have you seen Vin Diesel half naked and soaking wet on the big screen?"

"Countless darling."

"Okay, kisses!"

I turned back to Barry. He had pulled out the dark chocolate coated moist chocolate cake I'd ordered this morning and was putting the finishing touches. 'Happy Eighth Year Anniversary, Darling! We're Still Together!' was piped onto the surface and I felt a soft smile on my face. "He so doesn't deserve what he's getting," Barry proclaimed after looking at his masterpiece. "You especially."

"I don't deserve him," I replied.

"Oh, yes you do," he retorted.

"I don't know how to tell you how much I don't deserve him."

"Do you want to know what you really don't deserve?"

"What?"

"The period of time he's made you wait."

"I'll forgive him for that."

"Hell if I let you."


--,--,--,--,

I smelled the savory aroma of lamb shanks the moment I the elevator opened to our apartment. I wasn't supposed to be home from Japan for a couple of hours but hey, I didn't really think of Japan as home anymore. Wherever she was, there was home. I grinned to myself when I saw a slender figure toiling away in the kitchen and scrutinized her.

She'd been constantly wearing the color white lately. I thought It was just the trendiest color of late (I wasn't sure…as much as I loved her, I hated fashion as much as the next guy). Odd. I vaguely recalled her saying it was dark green.

Also, she'd changed her ringtone (4 minutes to save the world? Pfft! I've saved it a million times in only two!) to Canon in D Major. That was weird since I didn't peg her for the classical music kind.

Then there was that whole staring episode at the Tiffany's on the Upper East Side. That was embarrassing since I'd walk three blocks when I finally realized she wasn't with me and she thwacked me within an inch of my life for not remembering her.

When I asked Imai (apparently sort of daze-y due to her newlywed status) she merely clucked her tongue and glared at me with an are-you-dumb look then proceeded to shoot at me with that blasted Idiot Gun of hers. Bloody invention freak. I don't know what Ruka sees in her. That part, I will never understand. Other than that, the apartment seemed like a newsstand of late. Everywhere I went, a bridal magazine was sitting there (even on the toilet seat). I figured it was just the after-effects of Imai's wedding.

My thoughts had been whirling around Mikan lately. She was a one-of-a-kind girl I'd always wanted and though I'd never said it out loud yet, I loved her. The first girl I ever kissed, the first girl I'd ever punched. The first girl to have ever slept with me (and not in the platonic way either). She was a lot of firsts for me.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and laid my head on her shoulder, breathing in her scent. It always smelled the same; the kind of smell that sunshine seemed it would smell like, mixed with the sweet scent of chocolate. She turned to me, a dazzling smile on her face when she saw it was me. But years of training had taught me never to trust a smile unless it reached the eyes. This one did but there was a lot of surprise mixed in there too.

"You seemed surprised to see me." It wasn't a question. "What, do you have another man in bed or something?"

"Not exactly," she said, smiling. My grip slacked but she laughed. Obviously the expression on my face pleased her.

"Ah, what a happy scene," I heard. I spun, ready to punch the heck out of the guy that was canoodling around with my girlfriend. All that I saw was that oddball of a gay friend of hers, Jansen Ives (even his name was prissy…damned fag). "Relax, Hyuuga," he purred. "Unless I have to help you in the bedroom." I felt my face flush as I tried to imagine what he would do.

I remembered that when I first met him, he didn't know who I was and tried flirting with me. Probably the most horrifying experience in my life. Ugh…I will forever be scarred. "Chill, I was just here helping little Mikan prepare the welcome dinner which you are…oh, two hours early for! Didn't you know you're supposed to be fashionably late? It never goes out of style that habit."

I heard her gurgle out a laugh and my heart sped up. Damn it.

She smiled shyly as realization and a blush (I don't do that very often…just more than I used to) came upon my face. "Uh, thanks," I mumbled.

Jansen smiled and left, leaving us to get on with dinner. "I wasn't expecting you back so early," she said after a quiet dinner with light conversations in between. We were on the white, thick carpet on the floor, sipping red Cabernet Sauvignon. No lights but the fireplace (even if it was only January, winter was still there, just winding away) crackled.

"Yeah," I said then pulled her close. "But I just couldn't wait to get to my couch."

She laughed and I felt a warmth in my gut, somewhere that I never really was conscious existed. Just indigestion, I thought.

"Dummy."

"Whatever," I said with my trademark smirk and felt hot desire rush up to my heart. "Now pull those pants down and let's the real anniversary started."

Many glasses of wine and one sweaty sex-drenched hour later, we were lying in the huge bed, snuggled up against each other, just lying there, reveling in the closeness. I looked down at her hazel hair and thought, damn, this girl is mine. And for some reason, I felt a tender tug in the gut again. Then I recalled something.

I got out of bed and went to my underwear drawer (I think I heard her snort) and pulled out a palm-sized velvety box. Settling back on the bed, I heard her gasp and a choking sound. I looked to her face and wonders be, I saw the brightest smile I'd ever seen on her face. I pressed it into her hand and her eyes widened. I thought, Good job, Hyuuga. She tried to say something but I covered her mouth with a kiss. "I know," I whispered. "Open it."

She did…

…and gawked.

She lifted out the tiny Palm Pilot I'd bought while I was in California. "State of the art organizer, tiny as a cell phone, just about the best of the best on the market. You can use it for anything, just in case your memory gets a little foggy."

"I-I…I…I don't know what to…say," she garbled out, tears forming in her eyes. Ah, tears of happiness.

"No need to thank me," I said. "Plant one right here and we'll be even." I gestured to my lips. She leaned down and kissed me but it felt like kissing a marble statue. "Darling, that dinner was fantastic, you know that? I hope you stay with me forever. Happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary to you too. Thanks," she said…

…before bursting into tears. She dropped the PDA on the bed and made a mad dash for her closet. Then it hit me.

Those weren't tears of happiness.

I didn't notice the despair, thinking it was happiness in her eyes.

She just ran into her universal closet…complete with an elevator down to the in-house restaurant and the back door.

Good job, Hyuuga.

Just wonderful.


Author's Note: So you've read it...it is more on the lines of a Little Black Dress Book but I hope you like the New York scene i created..hehe...yum..l8r aligator!