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Hungry Jacks…
Click. Click. Click.
Her daring red high heels clicked loudly against the concrete, her chocolate brown eyes scrutinising the movements of the loud children screaming frantically at each other, running across the playground. Balls came bouncing in different directions, sand castles in the process of being made. Oh how she missed the opportunities a child was promised. She sighed, staring at her mocha, inhaling the coffee-like scent. But even adults had opportunities that children had no access to. But not one could rewind time. Her happy childhood replayed vividly in her mind.
"Hey! Do you mind if I can sit there?" a little boy asked, staring at the little girl who stared at him in disgust.
"No! Boys have cooties!" the little girl stated, swivelling her head in the other direction.
She smiled as she watched the scene before her. The girl was the exact replica of her during her younger years. If ever a boy had asked to sit beside her – even during her sweet sixteenth – she would object to the idea of the opposite gender sitting beside her. She was known as…
Mikan Sakura the girl-who-hates-boys-sitting-next-to-her.
Sumire Shouda, her long-time rival had declared that ever since Mikan had moved schools all the way from America to Japan. Despite the rough treatment she had received from both genders, her childhood remained happy. Due to her undying hatred, Mikan never had her eyes set on boys; therefore the cupid never bothered aiming an arrow at her heart. Maybe she would die on her death bed, no boy would hold her hand tenderly as she whispered her last words, breathed her last breath, and stared into her lover's eyes for the last time. Maybe fate had paired her with loneliness, a loneliness that would never be quenched with love or company. But she was fine with that and happened to be living a great life so far—
"Mikan-chan! How's your life so far?" a woman shouted, waving her arms.
Mikan groaned, covering her face from the cause of her existence. "Alright, mother. What do you want now?"
Yuka said, "Tut, tut. Is that the right behaviour? I thought I taught you how to act like the perfect daughter, sister—"
"I don't have a sister," she interrupted.
"—friend and wife! Oh, you really do need to take up lessons with Ms. Leota again, don't you?" Yuka raised her eyebrow doubtfully.
Mikan gasped, "No! I'm terribly sorry, mother! I swear I'll act like the perfect daughter, sister, and friend and…" she found it rather difficult to swallow, the word stuck on the tip of her tongue. Yuka stared at her expectantly. "Wife," she sighed.
Yuka beamed. "That's my girl! And no, you still need lessons with Ms. Leota."
"But–!" Mikan glared at her.
"Ladies don't swear, Mikan," she scolded.
Mikan rolled her eyes. "Just because I said 'I swear I'll act like the perfect yada yada', doesn't mean I actually swore, mother."
"Do you have any single idea how many lessons you've skipped for the last two years?"
Mikan twiddled her thumbs nervously. "Erm… 150?" she squeaked.
"Wrong! 151!" Yuka sighed, rubbing her temples as her daughter chuckled nervously.
"Oh mother, I'm not sixteen anymore!" she complained.
"Ah, you're twenty-two!"
"Twenty-one," Mikan corrected, gaping.
Yuka chuckled. "Ehe, whoops! My bad, sweetie, the wrinkles are getting to you. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Are you still hating on boys?"
Mikan narrowed her eyes suspiciously and nodded.
Yuka sighed, "Well, you should give yourself a chance to redeem the opportunity of meeting someone who's actually a boy. Have a good life!" With that, she sped off, desperate for a hideout.
Mikan shook her head, "Mother. Such a hopeless woman." Inhaling her mocha, she sipped the brown liquid, eyes resting on the children playing happily together.
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Gloria Jeans…
"Eh! Are you sure?"
"When am I never sure?"
Sweat drop. "But this is Natsume Hyuuga we're talking about! She'd never accept this!"
"If you don't recall ever experiencing this, growing up changes people, if you haven't noticed."
"Well, your love and passion for money hasn't changed as we grew older and as the years keep on passing by."
"Your love for your boyfriend hasn't changed either."
"That's completely different! Koko happens to be the perfect match for moi."
"Yeah, and Nogi is my perfect match."
Gasp. "You just admitted your feelings for Ruka-san!"
"Have you met sarcasm, Shouda? I've got connections with sarcasm."
… "Whatever! Let's just proceed with this stupid plan already!"
"What plan? The plan where I blackmail you into a different country or the plan where I set up the idiotic idiot with the idiotic idiot who happens to have cooties?"
"Erm, the latter."
Stare.
"Please?"
"You honestly think of me as a courteous person?"
Sigh. "The cash will be on your doorstep tomorrow morning, literally. Let's just get on with this stupid plan Sakura's mother begged us to do."
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Hungry Jacks…
Mikan heaved a sigh as she swirled the silver teaspoon aimlessly in her drink.
Cough.
She looked up, staring at the handsome man who stood there, smirking, red eyes staring into her own brown doe-like eyes. He said politely, "Hey there. Is this seat taken?" Her eyes widened as she recognised the voice, the smirk, the aura… the eyes.
"You!" she accused, but did not finish her sentence.
Flashback…
"Hey there!" a 5 year old girl chirped, hopping around the place.
"Hn."
"You aren't very social, you know that?" Mikan frowned, leaning towards the boy who had his face covered by a comic.
"Hn."
"What's your name?"
"Hn."
"Well, 'Hn', aren't you going to ask what my name is?" she urged happily.
"Hn. I don't need to know your name," he retorted.
"Oh and why is that, 'Hn'?" She blinked curiously.
"Because I've already decided a name for you, Polka," he said stubbornly.
"What the hell–!" Her eyes turned darker in fury, "Ew! You're such a pervert! Oh I know! You're one of those stupid boys coated with cooties, eh? Well guess what, Mr. Perverted-Hn-I-have-cooties! I'd like to thank you! I now have an excuse to why boys shouldn't be seated next to girls or anywhere near them, for that matter!" Harrumphing, she stormed away, flipping her hair in his face angrily. "MIkan Sakura. Remember the name!"
End of flashback…
"Oh my gosh! It's Mr. Perverted-Hn-I-have-cooties!" Mikan shot him a deadly glare, "What do you want?"
His lips tugged up in amusement, "Glad you remembered my beloved nickname, Polka. Glad to be your acquaintance."
"We're not acquaintances! We're rivals! No, scratch that, we're enemies!" she cried angrily, pointing a manicured finger at the man standing before him.
"Aw, I thought we were more than that, Polka," he pouted despite the mischievous glint in his eyes.
She clenched her fists. "You're such an–"
"Can I sit beside you, please?" Although his tone sounded force and polite, his smirk was still plastered on his face.
Well, you should give yourself a chance to redeem the opportunity of meeting someone who's actually a boy.
Mikan's eyebrows twitched, deciding in finality that maybe she should be the one to change her future. "Fine," she said reluctantly, sighing for the umpteenth time in the day. For a second, she could've sworn his eyes glinted in happiness. "I swear your eyes twinkled in happiness!"
"Stop swearing!" Yuka screeched, jumping out of the green bush, leaves and twigs stuck on her hair and clothing. "Oops," she added as Mikan's expression turned venomous.
For the first time in her life, Mikan Sakura the girl-who-hates-boys-sitting-next-to-her had finally had her conversion to Mikan Sakura the girl-who-doesn't-mind-boys-sitting-next-to-her. If she was missing her childhood five minutes ago, she's definitely missing the past five minutes where no male human could persuade her into a tumbling darkness of adventure and love.
But at the back of her mind, she knew it would still be worth the long ride.
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REVISED! no major/minor changes to plot, and mistakes may still be found. Please tell me if you do find any.
OKAY! I'm so sorry to those who haven't seen me update anything at all! I'm going to try updating GMH as soon as my Japanese exchange student has gone back to Japan. I'm going to miss her. And about Crashing Funerals, it'll be a very slow update. But if you haven't already heard, I'm on Hiatus. It may be a one month hiatus or even a hiatus that may reach Christmas! Who knows…? Sorry, my reasons are personal. Review if you liked it? I was inspired when I was in Hungry Jacks yesterday, staring at the little kids who seemed to be having fun like I was when I was their age. SIGH. Excuse me and my mistakes, not bothered editing this yet. Oh and the prequel to Airplanes won't be coming any time soon, so don't go PMS on me. Thanks for your patience!
~Joy.