Summer Art
The soft Chinese brush left a charming trace of beautifully harmonized colors on the once plain white canvas, forming a picture that the painter carefully constructed according to his own will. The painter placed his brush in a mug that was covered with both fresh and newly dried paint that is filled with transparent muddy brown water. Traces of stray paint can be found on the crimson-eyed lad's hand, a few found its way on his face, the others on his apron.
An inaudible sigh came out from his perfectly shaped mouth as his alluring crimson eyes stared at his newly accomplished masterpiece with longing. His hand flew to his hair, messing his already tousled hair and leaving a few trace of auburn brown paint on it.
There on his canvas was a beautiful picture of an innocent looking girl. She has straight light brunette hair tinted with auburn that curled at the tips; it is tied in pigtails and held by a red laced ribbon. Her eyes were a dazzling shade of hazel that sparkled with delight. Her cute pink lips slightly parted in a cute way and a light blush adorned her cheeks. She is wearing a white spaghetti strapped dress that ended just above the knees. The dress is adorned with three red buttons descending from the top and ended an inch above her waist. A wide red ribbon is tied securely around her waist and to complete the look, strawberry shaped earrings dangled from her ears. The view is mostly at the side, her body facing at the right and her hazel eyes peeking innocently at you. Her left hand holding a small basket filled with strawberries and her right hand holding a deliciously ripe strawberry that is poised just a few centimeters from her mouth. Her background is painted with different shades of green and tiny dots of red which makes it look like a strawberry farm.
… For short: The painting is a masterpiece, made by Natsume Hyuuga himself. Although it really isn't surprising since it comes from his genes. Kaoru Hyuuga, his mother, is a well known painter and fashion designer who owned the most explicit clothing line, Crimson Iris. She has traveled near and far just to get ideas and inspiration for her work which in turn paid greatly seeing from her current status. His sister, Aoi Hyuuga, at such a young age is obviously talented when it comes to art also. Since at the age of three, when she first displayed her passion for art, she is always seen with a paint brush tucked on her ear and can be usually found where their mother is, who at most times is busy painting or making sketches for the next fashion line. We can state that Aoi is a mother's girl, which is undeniably true.
But did you know? Natsume wasn't an avid fan of art. As a matter of fact, he hated art. When he was young, he always sees his mother painting, working, sketching and painting. Whenever he asks his mother something, she would only smile at him, then say, "Ask your father." Before resuming what she was doing. She always paints, draw, paint and draw! He never remembered a day where they spent a mother-son quality time, maybe except the time where he is tucked to bed. Being a child who yearned for his mother's love started to get jealous of her hobby, which later on, turned into hate. Childish as it was, he can't believe that he was all those, but he is a child andyou can't blame him when he was acting like that, but still… he thinks it was senseless looking at himself right now, he was totally out of character.
But his view changed, his hate for art turned into the exact opposite when he met her, the same girl that he had painted in his canvas just a few minutes ago. If it wasn't for that family vacation almost 7 years ago, he would've hated art for no apparent reason at all. Thanks to her, he is able to appreciate art and at the same time, make him feel something new, though at that time he didn't know what that funny feeling is called.
If he remembered correctly, it all started a day before cherry blossoms blooms. Kaoru was smiling excitedly that afternoon as she faced her family that was all gathered up in the living room just to hear the announcement.
"I have exciting news for you!" She announced as she fought the excited squeal that was about to come out, "You all know that my first boutique was launched right?" She asked, receiving an agreeing nod from both Aoi and Ioran and a 'could-care-less' shrug from Natsume.
"And you know that it was successful right?" She asked again, earning the same reply she had earlier.
"Ioran, do you remember what I said about my dream house?" She asked as she stared expectedly at her husband.
He scratched his head sheepishly as he tried to remember what it was, "Er, that you want to live in a rural area?" He replied, sounding unsure.
She grinned, "Yup!" She exclaimed.
"So what about it?" he asked.
"I bought a vacation house near the lake in the countryside! It's a very beautiful place surrounded with trees, flowers and all kinds of cute animals!" She replied with twinkling eyes and a blissful smile. "It's a nice place for painting too! Me and Aoi can have our time painting and you boys can spend some time hiking!" she added.
Natsume inwardly groaned while maintaining his stoic façade, "I don't want to go. You guys can go and spend some family quality time and such. I'll stay here." He objected, his voice sounding monotonous.
"But Nat-kun!" his mother whined, "You're too young to be left alone!"
"I can manage." He replied, "Or I can sleep over at Ruka's."
"But Ruka's family are spending their summer in France." She reasoned.
"Then I'll go to Koko's."
"They're going back to the province."
"Then I'll go to Imai's, I'm sure they're at home the whole summer, if ever there's an outing it'll just be in this town." He replied, his voice sounding triumphant as a smirk adorned his features. "Besides, they're family."
She groaned in frustration before fixing an adorable looking smile as an evil aura oozed out from her, "Nat-kun," She said in a forced calm voice, "We're going together." Then she exited with little Aoi trailing from behind her.
The next morning, Natsume found himself in their car wearing a dark blue shirt and loose skinny jeans that was held tight by a black belt. His outfit is paired with a navy blue converse. His arms were crossed stubbornly on his chest as he silently cursed in his mind while hearing the excited rants of his mother who is seated on the passenger's seat. His sister would reply every once in a while with whatever their mother is saying and he could always care less and would usually smirk or roll his eyes every once in a while, which probably went on for the whole 3 hour ride.
Around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, they finally arrived at their destination; the lake house that was bought by his mother.
Natsume visibly sneered at the lake house as one obvious word came out from his mouth, "Tch." He said as he observed the Lake's surroundings. The lake glitters brightly under the sun, its crystal clear waters wrinkled with the slightest movement from the wind. It is surrounded with Sakura trees and you can see its leaves fluttering with the wind, there were also flower bearing bushes, sweet smelling wild flowers and a girl…?
He blinked. 'What is she doing here? Didn't she know it's a private residence?' He thought. He cautiously approached the little girl who was humming a cheerful song. He could see her hands moving gracefully with the tune.
He peeked closer and saw strokes of beautifully blended colors painted on the sketchpad which irked him since… well, you know the reason
"Oi." He said to gain the girl's attention.
Hearing him, the girl yelped before placing the brush on a nearby rock then faced him with a confused expression printed on her face, "What?" she asked politely, her voice is whispery, soft and innocent, much like an angel's. Her beautiful hazel eyes shimmered with confusion as her cute pink lips met in a pout. Her entire face displayed a look of pure innocence as she stared at him.
'Cute.' He thought out of nowhere, but as soon as it came, he quickly shook the thought off and glared at the girl, "What are you doing here?" He asked somewhat rudely.
"Eh? I was painting." She answered back, her voice shifting from whispery soft to a slightly rough one, which is only natural since she's irked by Natsume's rude tone.
"I can see that." He retorted with huge sarcasm, "Why are you painting here anyway? You do know it's a private residence right?" He asked smugly.
The girl's right hand flew to the back of her head as she sheepishly scratched it, "I know that." She replied as she grinned sheepishly at him, "But the view is just so pretty." She answered, "I can't help but to paint it. My hand practically itches to paint it."
"It's still not a good reason to trespass someone's property." He scolded monotonously as his gaze shifted from her to the sketchpad she's holding, which contains a partially done painting. What he saw surprised him, though he didn't show it. The output of the drawing is like a professional's; its colors are well blended giving off a 3D appearance, the transparency of the house's reflection on the water is just right, making it hard to be believe that a kid around the same age as him was the one who made it. The painting is almost the exact replica of the place, with a few more brushes here and there, the painting would be complete.
"I know." She replied, "But I do hope that you won't mind." She said politely, "I would really love to paint this."
He looked around as if thinking and smirked, "Sure," he agreed, "But before that, what's your name?" He asked.
"Mikan," She replied, "Sakura Mikan, and yours?" She asked
"Natsume." He replied, "Hyuuga Natsume."
Mikan smiled brightly, "Well Natsu-kun, let's be friends from now on." She exclaimed cheerfully which he replied with a "Tch."
It didn't turn out to be a boring summer after all…
Natsume arranged his materials neatly on a nearby shelf filled with art materials before covering his newly accomplished painting with a white cloth. His gaze turned to the side, his attention got caught on a framed picture. He went to get the frame and stared at it as his lips tugged up to show a small rare smile. Mikan. He thought. It would be nice to see you again. His thoughts added as he placed the frame back to its place. He stared at the mirror located five inches beside the frame and look at his reflection as he starts pondering on things, only to get interrupted by the loud ringing of his phone. He inwardly groaned before reaching his right hand out to pick it up. Once his hand got in touch with the metallic device, he flipped it open and accepted the call.
"Hello?" He asked with irritation evident on his tone.
"What's wrong Hyuuga? Got up on the wrong side of the bed?" The caller teased and by the tone of voice, you could tell that the caller is amused.
"What do you want Imai?" He retorted. He really didn't want to converse with his irritating cousin right now because whatever she's going to tell is bad news. Always.
"My bestfriend will be coming here from the province and I want you to pick her up." She answered nonchalantly, "Then I want you to give her a short tour around town."
"I'm not your butler Imai and I don't want to be." He replied harshly.
"I'm doing you a favor here Hyuuga." She replied with the same tone.
"I don't care Imai." He replied back before hanging up.
He threw his phone on his bed that landed with a soft thud just five centimeters below the black pillows and on top the black and red comforter than cascaded to the sides of his bed.
He stared into space for a bit, his brain reminding him of his happy childhood… surprised? Natsume has a 'happy childhood' too, a summer where his once rare smile can be seen quite often and where his once rare laugh could be heard through his silent chuckles. This of course, was caused by the same girl. Mikan.
Five days have passed since they arrived at the countryside and it has been five days since Natsume slowly started smiling, this of course, made his mother gawk, his father shock, his sister beaming and him with the same "could-care-less" shrug.
Blissful nightingales chirped merrily as they glided gracefully with the wind. Swallowtail and Blue Triangle butterflies were hovering freely over the flowers while a few Peacock Pansies can be seen gathering nectars. Bees buzzed happily as they went from flower to flower. A few of Cherry Blossom petals were fluttering in the air and falling gracefully on the floor along with a few fresh green leaves. The fresh earthly scent wafted through the air filling the nostrils of the residents living there. Sighing blissfully, Mikan gathered her materials and flipped open her sketchpad, her paint brushes sprawled neatly on the floor according to their thinness and thickness and other necessary coloring materials were settled a few spaces above it. She smiled; her hand is practically itching to paint this scenery. Her early morning bliss, she can't help but to start her days like this, even though it means sneaking out of the house and slipping back in without being noticed. Still having that blissful smile on, her slender fingers reached out to the ground and picked one random brush before painting away in her sketchpad.
Natsume yawned sleepily as he forced his heavy eyelids to wake up while stretching his arms. The sun was shining brightly, going through the red and white curtains and illuminating his cute Adonis like face. He yawned again, jumping out of his bed, dragging his feet towards the bathroom.
…He did his usual morning routine.
After than, he hastily went downstairs, zooming past the dining table as he sneaked with him a few cookies that his dad baked the night before and went outside. Once he got out, he looked around; looking for the person he expected to see, since it's her morning routine to paint first thing after she changes her clothes.
"Oi." He called out once he saw a kneeling figure facing the bushes and shaded by the sakura tree.
The figure looked up, showing a pair of cheerful hazel brown eyes accompanied by a cute pouty smile. Neon blue paint smeared on her left cheek, "Natsume!" She called back, acknowledging him, "Ohayou Gozaimasu! (Good Morning)" She greeted as she waved her right hand that is currently gripping the paint brush smeared with blue splashing a few of its colors somewhere below.
He approached closer peering on her, "Not bad Polka." He commented at her painting.
"You think so?" She asked innocently, a cheerful atmosphere suddenly radiating from her. Then she remembered the nickname he gave her, "polka?" She repeated as her blissful expression immediately got replaced with confusion.
Hearing this Natsume smirked, "Aren't those the pattern of the underwear you wore yesterday?" He replied teasingly, referring to the incident that happened yesterday where she tripped on a random rock and fell, face first and accidentally flashing her childish underwear.
Hearing his reply, she wailed, "PERVERT!" She screamed at him. "You shouldn't be peeking at little girl's underwear! It's rude and ungentlemanly." She scolded before turning her attention back to her painting.
Having heard her reply, he lightly chuckled before squatting next to her.
"Ne Natsume…" She called out softly as she continued to brush the paint brush against her sketchpad.
"Hm?" He replied, not taking his eyes off what she's doing.
"Will you paint with me?" She asked, pausing before facing him.
He shrugged, "Sure." He replied unthinkingly, which caused Mikan to smile contentedly before going back to what she's doing.
Ever since that day, he started to fully appreciate and love art… though the first few results aren't favorable for his side.
Natsume groaned remembering the first picture he painted, it was very childish and unbelievable that it greatly embarrassed his pride as a Hyuuga, the son of Kaoru Hyuuga who is, as stated earlier, a well known painter and fashion designer. And if you're interested to ask what it looks like, don't bother asking.
Thinking that he has nothing better to do, he decided to pass the time by buying a few art materials. He quickly grabbed his denim colored hat, black sunglasses and his leather jacked which was hanging loosely by his wooden chair just a few minutes ago. Then he hastily got his keys and wallet before heading out the door.
"Natsume? Where are you going?" His mother inquired once she saw him heading for the door.
"I'm going to buy a few HK Holbein, "Duo Aqua Oil" and Lukas Berlin, also, I need to buy a Linseed oil, I'm running out of them." He informed.
"Oh." Kaoru replied before fixing a proud grin, "My son's starting to become like me!" She exclaimed happily as she dashed towards him to give him a tight hug which was quickly avoided by him. Once Kaoru realized that she landed on their velvety red sofa instead, she pouted, "So cruel." She commented.
"Tch." Came his abrupt reply, "I need to go now." He said as he headed for the front door.
"Wait! Natsume!" His mother called before he even could take one step outside.
"What?" He asked, his voice coated with slight irritation.
"Buy these for me." She replied as she handed Natsume a short bond paper folded lengthwise.
He stared at the paper for about 30 seconds before glancing at his mother, "You're cooking?" He asked.
"Yup!" She exclaimed proudly.
"Then I won't." He replied bluntly as he remembered those days where his mother attempted to cook… with more emphasis on the word "attempted", she attempted to cook once and what she claimed to be as a soup looked like some sort of icky gooey substance that looks a lot like burnt phlegm… if you can imagine that. Then there's also another time when her mother attempted to bake chocolate cookies and came out like charcoal, and he swear it almost smelled like one, but the latest incident he remembers happened two weeks ago when she decided to try the easiest, heating leftover food in the microwave, apparently, instead of using a heat resistant bowl, she placed the food in a Chinese porcelain plate which caused the microwave to explode.
Kaoru looked offended as if knowing what her son is exactly thinking, "Those were accidents Natsume and I'm not the one who's going to cook, I was just kidding!" She informed as she lets out an exasperated sigh, "We'll have guests arriving." She added.
This got his attention, "Who?" he asked.
"Hotaru and her best friend," She replied. "Apparently, Hotaru's best friend is the daughter of Yuka, my long-time bestfriend. They once lived in the province where I bought the lake house."
"Can't we just order from a restaurant?" He asked.
"No can do Natsume," She replied, "Your father has an important announcement later which calls for a celebration! Your father insists in making dinner himself."
He shrugged as he snatched the paper away from his mother's hands and held his right palm open in front of her.
She stared at it, seemingly confused, "What?" She asked which caused him to roll his eyes at his mother's idiocy.
"You can't expect me to buy this with my money, can you?" He replied back.
Natsume surveyed the racks containing his needs and halted in front of the place where Lukas Berlin is located. He stretched out his right arm and reached out to take it, at the same, another hand –a slender one, reached for it at the same time which caused them to have skin contact. Having the contact both jerked their hand away to allow the other one to gain access of the material.
"I'm sorry, I didn't notice that you are about to grab that one." The lady apologized in an all too familiar whispery soft tone coated with pure sincerity.
Curios of what the lady with the familiar voice looked like, he turned to the side and was shocked with what he saw –but he being him didn't even show it, but come to think of it, even if he shows it, it'll be barely noticeable since he's wearing specs that tints depending on the light and the shade of his hat is covering half of his face, the collar of his jacket was popped out so it covered his neck and a bit of his chin.
Once he saw the lady beside him, he can't help but notice the similarity she has with his childhood friend. They have the same brunette hair that is slightly tinted with auburn, same dazzling hazel eyes and pink plump lips. But he also noticed the make-up so he isn't sure if they're the same since make-ups can change a girl's looks.
"Tch." He uttered as he proceeded to grab the material which caused the girl to puff her cheeks in annoyance.
"Hey, don't be ru–, "She started, but was immediately cut off by him, when he handed her the box, "Um, thank you." She uttered as a blush adorned her cheeks out of embarrassment and stared at him instead as she accepted it, clutching it tightly with her right hand.
"Hn." He said replied in a nonchalant tone as he got one for himself and walk around her to head for the cashier. But as he passed by that girl he smelt the familiar scent of both tangerines and strawberries that his childhood friend once had, which caused him to hope that that girl is indeed Mikan. But he shook those absurd thoughts away. That's too impossible, why would she be here in the first place?
He silently fell in line as he waited for his turn, the lady he met earlier lined up behind him causing him to smell the blissful scent of tangerines and strawberries and though he wont admit it, he's actually taking his time inhaling that sweet smell, but him being him, it wasn't made obvious.
Natsume exited the store, tucking his materials in his backpack. His right hand went to his pocket as he shuffled for the list his mom gave him. Grumbling, he turned to his left only to see the embarrass look of the stranger he met a while ago.
"Um… stranger-san, can you please tell me where this place is?" She asked, flushing wildly from embarrassment as she showed him the paper with the neatly written address.
"Hn." He said as he peeked at the paper only to be surprised that the address is the same as his.
"Um… s-stranger-san?"
"What's your business in the Hyuuga mansion?" He asked, suddenly suspicious of the lady in front of him.
"My friend Hotaru told me to go there." She answered.
"Hn." He replied as strings of curses flew in his head, which of course are meant for his one and only annoying cousin, Hotaru. "Yeah I know that place."
She beamed, her lips forming a relieved smile. "Arigatou kami-sama." She said to herself, "Can you please lead me there?" she asked.
He thought for a while, "Sure." He replied, "But first, help me do the groceries." He added before walking away.
"Sure." She replied cheerfully as she went after him, dragging her luggage behind her.
Natsume entered the house silently with the stranger still trailing behind him.
"I didn't know you own this house stranger-san, you must be Hotaru's cousin." She spoke softly.
"Unfortunately." He mumbled in reply before facing her, "You can wait here, I'll go call my parents." He ordered as he took off his glasses, jacket and hat and threw them on the nearby sofa.
The girl smiled thankfully at him as she took a seat. Then she opened her handbag and pulled out an old wrinkly paper folded neatly.
He stared at the paper for about five seconds before grumbling at himself. "Tch." He uttered before heading towards the kitchen. Strange thing though, he thought that that paper looks familiar.
Mikan stared silently at the old piece of paper that her childhood friend drew. If she remembers correctly, it all happened 7 years ago when this raven-haired friend of hers visited the lake house for the first and last time. She really misses him, and the only memorandum she has of him is this piece of old sketch showing the lake house, drawn neatly and delicately, she giggled, it took him weeks to finish this drawing while it only took hers approximately 4 hours.
She's a prodigy when it comes to drawing; she can't deny that fact. It was an inherited skill coming from her mother, Yuka. Her mother once told her that it was how she and Kaoru, her mom's long time best friend, spent their days merrily, her mom is proud that Kaoru attained success because of that simple talent and right now, they are thinking of collaborating their business. Yuka Yukihara and Kaoru Hyuuga, owner of the most explicit clothing lines, Alluring Sakura and Crimson Iris, are thinking of collaborating their works, opening a new clothing line called Crimson Sakura.
But she didn't know that their mother's plans are more than that…
"MIKAN!" Kaoru screamed excitedly from the kitchen as she ran full speed and tackled the stranger with a hug causing the paper that she's holding to fly out from her hand and into the air.
Mikan? Natsume thought as he caught the paper with his left hand. He looked at the it shock crossed his features, which was quickly replaced with his usual stoic façade. It was the drawing he gave his Mikan 7 years ago.
"Aunt Kaoru, how are you?" Mikan, his Mikan, asked.
"I'm fine Mikan-chan!" Kaoru replied, "Where's Yuka?" She asked as she abruptly stood up, her eyes wandering from place to place in search of her friend.
"At home, mom is sick with fever. She told me she wanted to come with me, but I told her to stay. Her fever might get worse." She answered politely as she sat up.
"Aw, that's too bad, we won't be announcing the news together." She pouted.
"What news?" Natsume asked monotonously.
"You and Mikan-chan are engaged!" She replied excitedly as she pulled the two into a group hug.
"A-aunt Kaoru! I never heard this!" Mikan said while blushing furiously.
"It was a surprise!" She admitted as Natsume pulled away from the hug as disgust crossed his face.
"Don't hug me like that mom." He said.
Kaoru pouted again, "Natsume's so mean." She said.
Mikan laughed, "Natsu-kun was always like that." She pointed out which caused him to look away.
"Tch." He said.
"Natsume-kun, please show Mikan to her room." She said before skipping back to the kitchen.
Mikan smiled as she surveyed the room, it was painted white, with pink sakura patterns swirling on the walls. The king sized Victorian styled bed lies in between two life-sized french windows covered with see-through pink satin curtains embroidered with red colored sakura petals. She sighed in delight as she placed her luggage beside the huge walk in closet. "Wow." She said in pure admiration.
Natsume smirked, "Never seen anything like it, polka?" he taunted, which caused her to flush tomato red (well, it's an exaggeration, but get the picture?)
"Stupid Natsume, still perverted as ever." She replied back as she flopped in the bed, "Hey, what do you think about the engagement?" She asked.
"Hm? What's with the stupid question?" He retorted.
"It's not a stupid question!" She defended, "Just plain curios." She added.
"Well, I was shocked at first, but because you're the one I'm engaged with, I guess I couldn't ask for more." He replied sincerely which caused her to blush even more madly, "How about you? You must've been ecstatic to know you're engaged with me." He teased as a conceited looking smirk graced his face.
"Shut up!" She said as she threw one comfy pillow at him, "I wasn't ecstatic, just happy." She retorted, "But you know what, I'm glad to know that I'm engaged with my childhood friend." She added, "Eventhough you're conceited, not to mention perverted." She mumbled under her breath.
"Ecstatic, happy, there isn't much of a difference." He pointed out.
"Hey, may I see your drawings?" She asked
"Why would you want that?" He replied, "Enjoy disappointment when you'll see how much I surpassed you."
"Tch. Conceited much? Just wanted to know if you're drawings aren't as bad as before." She teased
Mikan's candle-like fingers, delicately traced the outlines of the old painting she did 7 years ago as her lips tugged up into a warm smile. "You kept it." She exclaimed.
"Of course I did, idiot." He replied.
"Hmmph!" She grumbled as her eyes wandered from painting to painting, sketches to sketches and drawing to drawing, but stopped at one painting that was covered with white cloth. "Ne Natsume, what's that?" She asked as she went closer to it.
Seeing what she meant, his mind ran around in panic as he raced infront of it and blocked Mikan's way, "Nothing important." He said.
She cocked an eyebrow, "Don't believe you." She said as her hand reached for the cloth and pulled it, once it was pulled down, her eyes shimmered with delight as he looked down, his bangs covering the faint blush spreading across his cheeks.
"You know Natsume," She stated as she stared at the painting with pure amazement, "I really missed you." She said as she tackled him with a hug.
He smirked, "I missed you too polka." he said, "But can't you wait after our wedding? It's just too early for us to do 'it' yet." He said as wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"PERVERT!" Mikan wailed as she playfully slapped his chest when she realized what she meant.
Hi everyone! It's been such a long time! :) I missed FFN so much! Anyway, I hope you liked this one shot... I'm currently writing another one, entitle "Tainted Cinderella" .
Crappy ending, I know, but I don't know how to end it. The plot I created last summer just flew out of my head. When I was browsing through my documents, I came across this one and decided to finish it. I'm so sorry if it's not nice. I haven't been writing for a long time, and to be honest, I don't know if I'll be able to finish "Mikan's Diary" and "Life of A Star", but I'm currently working on the latter.
Well, READ and REVIEW, they make me happy, and when I'm happy, I might be able to upload a new chapter or story soon :)
Zen
Oh and thanks for all those people who reviewed on "Equation", thanks a lot for trying your hardest in solving it, though most of the answers are incorrect, but thanks for the effort. :) Hmm... Before I forget, I would also like to thank those who reviewed on my other stories as well, especially on "Dance With me" since it's the first one-shot I've written -though I only got 7 reviews- but thanks anyway!