Title: The Courage to Tell
Summary: Mikan Sakura was in love with Natsume Hyuuga. But no one knows about it but herself. AU, one-shot. RXR
Dedications: To Cielo and Cecile, who are celebrating their birthdays on this months of June and July. (Lol, sorry about the mistake, Cecile XDD)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Rated T for language.
Because sometimes, you just have to have the courage to tell him how you feel.
She sat there at one corner of the room, talking very lively with some of her friends. Her eyes twinkled as she smiled and laughed, with one of her hands gently clutching her stomach, probably because of so much laughter.
They fell silent when Anna opened her mouth to continue her story once again. Her brown eyes darted to the door's direction when it opened. A tall figure entered the room, and Mikan felt her heart pounding against her rib cage.
Her eyes followed his every movement… the way he carried his bag, his soft raven hair which was messily styled (if there was such a thing), and the way he lazily plopped both his feet on a chair adjacent his. It was her seat but, oh well.
Yep, you guessed it right. She was in love with him.
Mikan Sakura was in love with Natsume Hyuuga.
But no one knows about it but herself. Not even Hotaru knows about her feelings about him.
Pathetic, right?
Agreeing to herself, she sighed and looked away from him.
It was the first time she saw him. He was new to their school but he already got almost all the people's attention.
Mikan was in the library, studying for a quiz in trigonometry. If she fails on the quiz Jinno-sensei would give them, God, she wouldn't know what the teacher would do to her.
She frowned as she stared at her notebook. She really didn't get why they had to solve for x. And she's sure, for the rest of her life, she's going to hate that certain letter. Forever. Hmm.
She suddenly looked up at the person who was towering above her, looking at her scratch papers and her notebook.
"Idiot, that's not how you do it," she heard a voice say. Her voice got caught on her throat when she finally came face to face with the… know-it-all person just behind her.
Mikan smirked before telling him, "Oh, if you know it, why don't you do it?" Hah! Take that! Hmm. My sentence kind of rhymes. Hehehe.
He returned the favor and smirked at her before getting the notebook from her. He then got some papers from his own bag while before sitting on the chair beside her. And just like that, in a flash, he answered the question with that sarcastic smirk still on his elegant lips.
"That's how you do it, idiot," he said before standing up and walking away from her. But before he turned right to who knows where it would take him, he turned back to look at her and ask her, "Oh, do you know where the principal's office is?"
Her upper lip twitched because of annoyance. Ha called her an idiot, didn't he? And now… the nerve of this hot guy!
And that was the start of their colorful relationship… as classmates.
He was mean, he was rude and he even teases her with her choice of underwear. But these things didn't stop her from falling for her.
Oh yeah. She just woke up one day feeling all these strange feelings for him. Her heart didn't beat that fast even for her previous crush, Ruka Nogi, who instantly became Natsume's best friend after just a few weeks of studying there at Alice Academy.
He even got a fan club formed solely for him.
Oh well.
"Could you please remove your feet off my seat?" she asked him. He looked at her before putting both his feet down.
Weird, she thought. He didn't even say anything to me.
The bell rang afterwards, signaling the start of their classes. And instantly, Narumi-sensei was in front of them, asking them to get one whole sheet of paper for their quiz.
Crap. She forgot about that quiz.
Double crap. Natsume wasn't talking to her like the usual. Not the talk talk, but at least he's talking to her. Got it?
After almost a week, Mikan couldn't take it anymore. He would always avoid her, like she has some infectious disease He wouldn't even look at her in the eyes.
And to end her confusion, she went to talk to him.
They were alone inside the room, and he was just about to go outside.
"Natsume?" she called her softly. She saw her cringed when he heard her voice. And she was getting annoyed.
"What?" he gruffly answered.
"Are you mad at me?"
He sighed before shaking his head. "No. Jaa."
"He said he's not angry, but he didn't even look at me. That jerk," Mikan mumbled under her breath. She got her bag and walked outside the room. She'd just go to the howalon's store and buy two boxes of howalons to ease her depression.
She hummed softly while walking near the gym. She then noticed two figures walking side by side, with the girl's arm wrapped around the guy.
Mikan didn't know who the girl was but she knew the guy too well. Too well and it hurt. Oh yes. The guy was Natsume.
She bit her tongue to stop the tears from falling from her eyes. She couldn't help it. It hurt, even if she didn't want to.
Better make that two boxes four, she thought.
She was laughing, smiling as if nothing happened. But she wouldn't talk to him. Not even look at him.
Natsume was annoyed. He already said that he wasn't angry with her, right? What was her problem now?
Okay. Maybe he was angry, but not to her. Ugh. It wasn't his fault that that Tsubasa-senpai was hugging her tightly almost a week ago. No, he wasn't angry. He was jealous.
He snorted at his thoughts. Jealous? Hah. No.
I am not jealous.
He looked again at her direction and his blood almost boiled because of annoyance when he saw that Yome with his arm around her shoulders.
Now, who's saying that he was jealous again?
He looked at her direction again (thankfully, Yome's arm wasn't around her shoulders anymore), her eyes were twinkling every time she laughs, or smiles. The expression on his face softened.
It was the first time that he saw her. She was at the library, busily chewing on the end of her pen while frowning over a notebook and some piles of paper.
She looked annoyed and she looked pretty. That's the reason why he walked over to her direction and told her she was an idiot.
He cringed at the memory. She almost yelled at him if they weren't inside the library that time.
But because of that, she never left his mind. Not even once.
She went to sit next to him when the bell rang. And she didn't even glance at his direction. His eyebrow rose when he heard her curse under her breath.
He sighed. She probably forgot about the quiz they were supposed to have today.
Which reminded him of two days ago. He was annoyed with her sister Aoi because she clinging to him like there's no tomorrow. It was their mother's birthday that day and her sister decided to pick him up at school.
He then saw her walking quickly towards the school gate. And she looked like crying.
Natsume could only wonder why.
It went on like that every day. They wouldn't talk to each other. Some people noticed it.
Hotaru asked Mikan why. Mikan answered her with her innocent voice that nothing seemed wrong between Natsume and her. After all, they were just classmates, like everyone else. She didn't even know if he considered her as one of his friends.
Hmm.
Ruka asked Natsume why. And being Natsume, he didn't even answer the question. Because he himself didn't know the answer to that simple question.
It was one fateful day when they were forced to talk to each other again.
They were partners for a certain project and being partners, they were supposed to talk to each other.
They were inside the library, on the table where they first met. They were supposed to talk about their project but no one's talking.
She coughed to break the tension. She looked at him, only to find her heart… ugh. Just like the last time he talked to her. Nothing new.
"So… what are we supposed to do now?" she asked. Oh, how he missed her voice. So to keep her talking, he got her pen from her and her pen and scribbled something on it.
"We should do something like this."
Mikan looked at her notebook and saw his plans. A wide smile suddenly grew on her face.
"This one's good, Natsume!"
She suddenly stiffened when she realized that she was almost hugging him. Natsume smirked secretly.
Mikan sank on her seat as she glanced at Natsume's direction. His face was expressionless like always but there's something in his eyes that's… she couldn't understand.
That's why she started talking.
"Sorry, Natsume," she started. The raven-head looked at her when she continued talking. "I've been ignoring you these past few days. But I just want to tell that I'm not angry. No, I probably won't be angry with you for the rest of my life."
The brunette sighed. Natsume stared at her as she continued ranting.
"You know, I really missed this, Natsume. The two of us, I mean, being like this even before… you know. I started to ignore you. I just got jealous of the girl you were with last time that I couldn't find the courage to talk to you again."
Natsume was still staring at her, listening intently to all her words. She was blushing. What did she say again?
"So yeah. I got jealous that I started ignoring you, Natsume. Because you know…" her voice started to decrease on volume.
"Wait. You're what?" he asked. He couldn't believe what she just said.
Mikan blushed harder as she looked at him straight in the eyes.
"I got jealous. There! Don't make me repeat it again."
Natsume smirked. So all this time…? Heh. He started to tease her.
"Why are you jealous anyway?"
"Because I love you, you jerk!" She blushed even harder.
"Really now?" he said, his smirk deepened.
"Yes. And because of that, I-I… goodbye!" she said as she got her bag and stood up. But before she could take a step away from him, he got hold of her wrist. Natsume then whispered something on her ears. Her eyes went wide as his smirk grew into a gentle smile.
I love you, too, idiot.
They finally had the courage to tell each other how they really feel.
A/N: The way this turned out wasn't what I wanted it to be. Lol XD Sorry for that.
Like? No like? Uh… review? :)