Revised: September 28th, 2013.
-o-O-o-
Fridays in December
-o-O-o-
December 13th – Monday
"Here."
I blinked as a pile of books was dropped all of a sudden on my desk, before my eyes. Lifting up my gaze, I met face to face with Sumire, who looked a bit annoyed for reasons I had yet to find out. She let out a small huff after releasing the burden from her hands and leaned her hip against the edge of my desk. "What are these?" I asked while pointing at the books.
She looked at me tiredly. "What do they look like?"
I raised one of my eyebrows. "Books?"
Sumire rolled her eyes, dragging a vacant seat to the other side of my desk and sitting on it. "Why don't you check them first? Perhaps it will click something in your head."
I tilted my head, looking at the books and Sumire back and forth. Both of Sumire's eyebrows rose knowingly at me, waiting for my reaction. So I did what most people would do when they were offered something: picking it up and taking a look at it.
Unfortunately, the first book I selected was her Math notebook. Hence, when I opened the last entry and scanned it briefly, my eyes immediately swirled with foreign formulas and my head was blank. Later, my hands did their job by shutting the book close with a loud smack.
Oh, how I hated Math.
Truthfully, I never really liked Math ever since I entered high school, because it seemed complicated to me. I did understand a few, but problems like integral or algebra often overworked my brain. I had to repeat doing the problems over and over again to understand them. I was stunned once again when our Math teacher, Mr. Jinno—I preferred to call him Jinjin—escalated the level of the problems to the point where my head hurt just by looking at it.
"Not really happy, I see," Sumire remarked, her chin on her palm. "But you can at least show your gratitude by showing me a bright smile and thanking me for those notes."
"Well, thank you?" I said and placed the Math notebook beside the pile of other books. Sumire rolled her eyes and muttered something like "being grateful I have lent her the notes", which I ignored. Instead, I frowned and grunted, "I can't believe I'm left behind just because of a day of absence."
Her lips curled into a smile. "Don't worry. Jinjin had also thought about that and left you something," she added as she pulled two sheets of paper out of her bag and placed it in front of me. "Here's a get-well present from him, personally for you. Be happy."
Feeling doubtful, I squinted my eyes and skimmed through the papers. My head started to spin again upon seeing how many Math problems I had to do. Ugh, this wouldn't be finished in just one or two nights.
"Happy?" Sumire's grin was wide.
"Really happy that I feel like throwing it out the window," I bit out bitterly, folding the paper once and slipping it in the last page of Sumire's Math notebook. "He should be going easy on me. I just recovered from a severe illness."
Sumire let out a sarcastic snort. "Right. A severe illness," she chaffed. "Your fever wouldn't be that worse if only you took my advice to go home early and get a good long rest last Thursday."
"I'm a diligent student. I've decided not to be absent as long as I can manage it."
"And you were finally absent last Friday. Bye-bye to your perfect attendance."
"…You will rub it on me for the rest of the year, won't you?"
"Until graduation."
"Bah."
"Only if you bring up that topic again when you catch another sneeze in the future."
"I'm so not going to be sick again."
The bell rang, signaling that the break was over. Sumire stood up and dragged the seat she sat on earlier back to its place, then she turned to me with a bright grin on her face. "We'll see about that, dear." She skipped to her seat which was three rows in front of me, leaving me to scowl to myself.
The door opened and students filled the class to prepare for the next period, which was English. Quiet murmurs and the sound of shuffling chairs resounded in the room at once. I wasted no time joining the rest of my classmates taking out my textbook and notebook.
Just after I closed my bag, the door opened once again and our English teacher, Mr. Narumi, came in. As usual, he always had this cheerful atmosphere around him wherever he went. The class seemed to be brighter a bit when he stepped inside.
Mr. Narumi was an open-minded person. He could easily blend with the students, unlike most of the teachers in this school. Students often talked to him about their problems to see his opinion about it. Sometimes, they would also ask for his advice. I often wondered if he was a counseling teacher as well.
"Okay, class," Mr. Narumi's voice boomed in the room, silencing the noisy students. He smiled widely when their attentions were finally on him. "Today, I'll give you a fun assignment. Excited?"
Almost half of the class groaned and complained at his announcement. The smile on Mr. Narumi's face didn't waver. If any, it widened.
…That was creepy. I wondered what he was thinking. Hopefully it wasn't something bad.
"No moaning," Mr. Narumi warned. "This is a good chance to improve your English. You guys also might find an interest toward this subject."
More miserable groans.
"Not a good response, I see." Mr. Narumi sighed and turned to the blackboard with a white chalk in his hand. Despite the class' response, he didn't withdraw his decision to give us the assignment. His hand moved fluently on the blackboard, noting down the assignment in his beautiful script writing.
I wanted to moan in disagreement when he finished writing on the board. Apparently, the task wasn't that easy. Combined with Math, I would need days to finish my homework. I also still had to go to my part time work. God, was this a karma for using homework as an excuse whenever I lied?
After dramatically putting a firm dot in the end of his sentence, Mr. Narumi turned to us with a beam on his face and said, "Make a short story in English. The minimum length is three pages of A4 size paper. Six is the maximum. The theme is friendship. Any category is fine, but please keep the story T-rated. I wouldn't want to be sued because I let you guys write some sexy M-rated friendship stories, okay?" He finished his speech with a wink. "This will be your homework for the winter break, so do it well."
That lightened me a bit. At least I didn't have to work on it now.
"For those who get lower than C," he continued with an eerie smile, "you will have to make a paper which theme will be decided by me."
Tension immediately filled the classroom. I noticed a few students getting depressed upon hearing his threat, and some had started to work their brains for some ideas. As for me, I closed my eyes and heaved a resigned sigh. I hoped I could do it well.
But first, there was Math extra homework.
Ugh.
-o-O-o-
"What are you doing?"
I looked up to see Natsume towering over me, his hands in his pants pockets. I could tell he was curious from the way he scrutinized the lone paper on the empty box I used as a desk.
"Ah, this?" I asked, lifting the paper and waving it in the air. His eyes followed the movement of the paper inquisitively. Natsume's behavior was so innocent that it brought a smile to my face. "It's an extra homework from my teacher," I said in discontentment while staring at the paper. "Apparently, he cares about me so much that he went to the extent of giving me this."
Natsume snatched the paper from my hand and looked over it. "Why so?"
"Because I was sick last Friday and he believed I needed to catch up." I lay my head down on the box and moaned. "I really hate Math."
"The answer boxes are still empty."
"Because I don't understand at all," I grumbled, kneading my eyelids lightly to relax them after thirty minutes staring at the problems and finding no answer to it. "My brain is already at its limit." Ugh, I thought I would get sick again. I felt like puking numbers out of my throat.
My fingers were still rubbing my tired eyelids, until cold fingers stopped and peeled them away from my eyes. I looked at Natsume questioningly. He stared back at me and said, "Don't rub it like that. It will do nothing good for your eyes."
I blinked once. Natsume let go off my hands and then dropped himself behind me. He caught me by surprise when he pulled my head to rest on his chest without warning. I froze on my place, not knowing what to do. My cheeks heated up at the sudden closeness. "E-Eh… N-N-Natsu…"
"Don't move," he commanded in a low voice, positioning his thumbs on my temples and starting to massage them gently in a small circular motion. "What hurts is your head, not your eyes. Therefore, these parts are the ones you need to knead."
I swallowed and let my body went still on his chest despite of the fast, uneven beating rhythm of my heart.
"You're tense," he murmured, his thumbs still kneading my temples in a slow, steady pace. "Relax your shoulders and back."
Oh yeah, it was so easy for him to say so. How could I relax when I was this close with a male I barely knew, and he was actually letting my head rest on his chest and massaging my temples with such intense move? It was another thing if he was my brother. But Natsume wasn't even a human!
"I said, relax."
Goodness, his lips were so close that I could even feel his breath!
"Hey."
Oh God, oh God, my hands were sweating!
"…"
"That hurts!" I yelped when he pressed his thumbs hardly on my temples. I quickly regained my sense back, slapped his hands away, and turned to him. I couldn't believe this guy! His face remained impassive even after I gave him my deadliest glare for what he did to me just now. "What did you do that for? It really hurt!"
He shrugged and crossed his arms in front of his chest as if he did nothing wrong. Ugh! The nerve of this guy!
"Mikan?"
I diverted my gaze away from Natsume and found Nonoko sticking her head into the staff room through the small gap between the door and the doorsill. "Ah, there you are," she said with a smile. "We need help in the shop." Her attention then moved to the paper and the carton in front of me. "Are you working on something right now?"
"Math homework." I stood up, holding the paper to my chest and setting the box aside to the wall. "But don't worry. It's not a big deal. I can do it at home later."
"By continuing to stare at it," Natsume added, coming to stand beside me. "Even an idiot can finish one problem in thirty minutes."
"Mind your own business," I hissed at him, all the time smiling at Nonoko. "I'll be in the shop right after I put this paper into my bag," I said. Nonoko confirmed with a nod before she went back to the shop again.
Whew, that was so close. If only she came in right when I was scolding Natsume, she would think I was crazy and her good impression of me would shatter to nothing. I wondered if Nonoko heard me yell a while ago. I hope she didn't. But I needed to straighten this matter out with Natsume, just to be safe in the future. It wouldn't be funny if I was fired and sent to the mental ward just because I let my irritation toward Natsume slipped and ruined everything. Well, that boy indeed could tick me off easily.
After making sure no one was coming into the staff room anymore, I turned to Natsume and stared straightly into his eyes. "Listen. Don't talk to me or tease me or try doing any contact with me when there's other person in the room. They will think I'm crazy if I talk to the air."
He snorted. "Human should just accept it if they encounter a few people who can see what they can't see. It's a gift that not all of them have."
"I don't think it's a gift in my case," I groused, rubbing my forehead wearily. "Besides, I believe that you're also a human in the first place."
"Then how will you explain the one-month limit to my existence? How about the unlimited power and access I gain only on Friday?"
"Well, that's… I have yet to figure it out." I smiled sheepishly.
Natsume rolled his eyes. "You better be concerned about your homework. If not, that teacher you treasure dearly will give you more homework."
"Ew… sorry to upset you, but I don't have any funny feeling toward my Math teacher," I said, scrunching my nose in dislike. "I even hate the subject he teaches." And I couldn't even imagine I was all over Jinjin to begin with. That seemed utterly impossible.
"Love and hate aren't something you can decide will last forever," Natsume wisely said. "Feelings are fragile. Sometimes, even the smallest thing can change them drastically."
That, I had to agree. But it still didn't change my view about what I felt for Jinjin. If only Natsume knew how austere the Math teacher was, I was sure he would have the same opinion.
But I couldn't help thinking that those words he uttered just now somehow made him sound more human. Could it be—
"You better go now, or they will come back to check on you later," Natsume disrupted my thoughts.
I blinked. "Oh. Yeah," I mumbled and ambled to the door. Turning the doorknob, I pulled the door open slightly and looked back at him. "Natsume?"
"Hn."
"I think you were a human." I beamed at him and left the staff room, vaguely hearing him say 'idiot' before I shut the door completely. Strangely, I felt happy for unknown reason.
"Did something good happen?" Nonoko asked, her hands full with rolls of colorful wrapping paper.
I smiled at her. "You can say so."
No one would understand it anyway.
-o-O-o-
December 14th – Tuesday
"Mikan, have you heard?" Sumire asked out of the blue in the middle of her explanation about Math formulas to me.
At the moment, we should have been having Japanese subject. But since the teacher called in sick, we were told to study by ourselves. The students, of course, exploded in excitement the moment they knew that it meant a free period. Forget studying. They chatted and commenced paper ball war instead.
But I was different. Well, I tried. Besides, I had more important things to do rather than joining the crowd throwing the paper balls. One of them was the stupid extra homework Jinjin gave me. That was the only thing that inhibited me from relishing the rare free period. Even after coming home early from work yesterday, I was only able to get three problems done. The rest was still blank, because I fell asleep after getting stuck in the fourth question.
And so here I was, glaring at my homework paper with Sumire sitting across from me. She finally agreed to teach me after I nagged her ceaselessly since our meeting at the school gates this morning.
"Mikan," Sumire called again, sounding exasperated this time. "Did you hear what I was talking about just now?"
I clicked my tongue on the question number seven and grumbled, "No, I didn't. Hey, how do you do it from here?"
I heard her sigh before my Math homework paper was being snatched away from my view. "Hey, Sumire! Give it back!" I bellowed, standing up and leaning over the desk to reach for the paper in her left hand.
Sumire disregarded my demand. Sticking out her tongue at me, she stretched her hand, moving the paper further from my reach. "No one get away after ignoring me."
I groaned. "I need to finish that homework or Jinjin will give me more." With a detention in tow.
"I will return it," Sumire said as she eyed me unconvincingly, "only if you promise to hear what I want to tell you."
Well, what choice did I have?
"Okay," I agreed and stuck out my hand. "The paper first."
Thankfully, she did as I requested and placed the paper on my hand. I wasted no time sitting down and resuming to work on the problems. But this time, I had learned not to ignore Sumire when she was talking, so I did my best to listen to her while doing my homework. "Okay. What is it?"
Leaning her chin on her palm, Sumire smiled in satisfaction. She then faked a cough and leaned in. "So, yesterday when you cooped yourself inside the staff room doing who knew what—"
"I was doing this stupid homework," I butted in unhappily.
"Thanks for filling in." Sumire rolled her eyes and put on a serious face again. "Anyway, I heard that Alice Gift shop will be closed soon."
The moment the sentence came out of Sumire's lips, my head went blank and my hand stopped writing. It took me a moment to recover and recall her words over and over again until my brain finally digested what the statement meant. As soon as understanding dawned upon me, I looked up at her in shock and gaped. "Seriously?!"
Sumire waved her hand. "It's still a rumor," she said and stared at me with a meaningful gaze. "Have you come to like that place?"
I blinked once, twice and leaned back in my seat. "…Yeah, quite."
It was not a lie, although there was another reason why the shop became special to me now. The place was the silent witness of my meeting with Natsume and, despite the fact I had just met him more than a week ago, I already felt a strange attachment to him. I meant, I felt comfortable now when he was around. Heck, I didn't even mind him seeing me in my shabby appearance when I was sick. That didn't seem to bother him much either. It felt like we were some kind of old friends.
Until Sumire mentioned about the rumor just now, the thought of Alice Gift shop being closed had never crossed my mind. Well, that kind of possibility could happen, perhaps a few months again from now, or years later. But I wondered, if the shop was really gone one day, what would happen to Natsume? Where would he go? Would he disappear along with the shop? Would we lose the chance to meet again?
I frowned. Somehow, realizing that we might not be able to see each other anymore one day made me a bit restless. If I thought about it all over again, he was one heck of a fun friend, with his unique appearance and ability. I still couldn't figure out what he was though. Perhaps I would settle on the odd-yet-friendly ghost for now.
"Oi, did you hear me?"
I just noticed Sumire's hand moving in front of me trying to catch my attention. "Uh, sorry?"
Sumire gave me a blank stare, as if she was contemplating about something. It lasted for seconds before she broke it off and snatched my paper again.
"Sumire! Give it back!"
She stuck out her tongue derisively. "No one get away after ignoring me."
Damn it.
-o-O-o-
December 15th – Wednesday
"How's the homework?"
I stopped organizing the Christmas colorful ornaments in the glass display case and switched my attention to Natsume. He was leaning against the display case, the usual bored look on his face.
Geez, I thought I had warned him not to talk to me so freely when there were many people around. I guessed he was aware he could be careless about that since no one would notice him, but, hey, what about the dubiety of my sanity?
Heaving a sigh, I closed the display case and moved to a corner where wrapping papers were gathered in a big cylinder box. Fortunately, the spot was quite deserted right now and there weren't many customers coming today. I couldn't possibly keep on hiding in the staff room just to talk to Natsume or Anna would think I was lazing around.
I stood for a while in front of the cylinder box, waiting for Natsume to catch up, and then pretended to the arrange wrapping papers. Once he was standing beside me, I answered his previous question in a low voice, "No drastic progress. I still have two days to work harder on it."
"To be expected from you."
I glowered at him from the corner of my eye. Why did he enjoy infuriating me so much?
"I'm just stating the fact," he added.
I let out a quiet humph. "I already told you not to talk to me in public. You might have no problem with it, but I do."
Natsume didn't look like he cared even the slightest. He just shrugged his shoulders, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You should stop worrying about people's view of you. You could hardly enjoy your life this way."
"Some things are worth to be worried about," I countered. "I don't care what people think of my appearance or behavior, but I do care about their doubt of my common sense. I am sane enough, thank you."
"You don't care what people think about your visible flaws?"
"No, I don't."
Natsume's eyes brightened with amusement. "So, can I utter my opinion about you?"
"Go on," I challenged, placing my hands on my hips.
He crossed one arm across his chest while his other hand touched his chin. "I have this matter which has been bugging me for quite a long time now," he started, a smirk playing on his lips. That expression was enough to make me immediately regret my overconfident statement just now. "You know, your body odor—"
"I'm not going to hear about that again," I cut him off and turned away, feeling heat creeping up my cheeks.
"You agreed that I can convey my view about you."
"Yeah, but—"
"Then you have to hear it. I think you smell like—"
"Natsume!"
"—orange."
His last word caught me off guard. But before I could turn to face him again, my whole body went still when I noticed Nobara staring at me. She was standing not far from me and apparently in the middle of placing a few new dolls in the display. Her lips curled into a smile when our eyes met.
"Who's Natsume?" she asked kindly, but that question alone sent shivers down my spine.
"A-ah…" Lie. Lie. I had to think of a good lie! "He is my neighbor! I just remembered I left my pudding in his fridge yesterday! Damn! He must have eaten it!"
Ugh. Not a good one. Whatever. It was better than nothing.
Nobara chuckled. "You two seems to be close enough."
If only she knew. "Not really. He's a big meanie—OUCH!" I yelped when I felt my hair being tugged backward hardly. Tears of pain glazed my eyes right away, but it didn't hinder me from seeing who the culprit was. I caught a glimpse of Natsume's annoyed face above me before he let me go and walked away. Rubbing my sore scalp, I sent a menacing glare at him, wishing it could burn a hole in his back.
Jeez, what was his problem after all? I needed to make up a lie!
"Mikan, are you all right?" Nobara asked, worry evident in her voice.
I faked a laugh. "Ah… My neck felt stiff all of a sudden. Hahaha…" Damn you, Natsume.
"Really?" Nobara got even more worried, her eyebrows creasing. "Do you want to take a break? Maybe you're tired."
"No, no! I'm fine! It happens sometimes! Don't worry!"
She gave me an unconvinced look for a few seconds before she finally said, "Okay then. Just take a break if you have to. Don't push yourself too hard."
"Roger." I gave her a sailor salute. Judging by the smile on her face, I concluded that Nobara believed me wholly. I returned the smile and she went back to her task.
Thank goodness it was over. I couldn't imagine what I should do if Nobara didn't buy my lie.
This was all that cat-boy's fault.
I turned to give Natsume another glare, but he was nowhere to be found.
Where did that guy go?
…Ah well. Why did I have to bother with him?
Shrugging off Natsume's face from my mind, I headed to Nobara's direction with the intention of helping her. However, before I could move more than three steps from my previous spot, something hard knocked against my head, stopping me from going further. I groaned and turned to see what it was, only to find a lone wrapped candy lying innocently on the floor. Crouching down, I picked up the sweet. I found my lips twisting into a smile at the text on the candy's wrapper.
It was orange flavored.
-o-O-o-
When I reached home that night, I decided to make something for dinner, due to my good mood. My brother had cooked for us most of the time, so this was a good chance for me to take over his role. I decided to make my specialties, which were fried egg and sautéed spinach with sausage. These two were best combined with rice.
By the time I finished placing the dishes on the dinner table and taking out plates, my brother came into the kitchen, still with his coat on. His eyebrows rose at the sight before he looked at me and grinned. "May I ask what day it is?"
I couldn't hold back the urge to roll my eyes. "You should be glad that your sister made you dinner," I remarked and sat down. "Take off that coat and eat already. The food won't be so tasty anymore when it's cold."
My brother held out one finger. "One minute." He then ran away from the kitchen and, true enough, came back in just seconds with no coat in sight. His grin was wide, showing his perfect white teeth, as he went to his seat and took the chopsticks. "Bon appétit!"
"Bon appétit," I reiterated and munched on my own dinner.
"Mmm… It has been a long time since I tasted your sautéed spinach," my brother said with a heavenly look on his face as he savored the dish. "You should make this more often."
I scrunched up my nose. "You'll complain and say you're bored eating it every day."
"That's true."
I sent a kick to his leg under the desk. It wasn't hard, so he knew I wasn't that annoyed. He chortled and resumed eating the dinner.
"I guess this is not bad for my parting party."
I stopped eating at this point and brought my gaze slowly to meet his eyes. A cheerless smile graced his face. "What do you mean?" I asked stiffly. What the heck was going on?
My brother moved his chopsticks to the sautéed spinach and picked some of it. "I'll be going out of town tomorrow to attend the company's annual meeting. I'll fly back home on Saturday."
"Where to?"
"Okinawa."
"Ah… It's quite far from Tokyo," I mumbled, looking down at my rice bowl. It saddened me knowing he would go far away, even though it was just for two days.
Two days without my brother. Two lonely nights. I would have no one to chatter with in the morning and night for those two days. I wouldn't be able to hear his teasing and laugh and eat his cooking. I would be missing him so much.
"Hey." My brother patted my head. "It's only two nights."
I would also miss his kind touch and calming presence.
"Come on. You won't send me off with that face," he coaxed, messing my hair.
I slapped his hand away gently and managed to grin at him. "What face? You better bring home some Okinawa snacks," I said, trying hard to suppress the disappointment in my chest. It was an important work. I shouldn't be hindering him from going. I was already seventeen. I was big enough to take care of myself if this kind of thing occurred.
"Oooh, here comes my pig sister." He shook his head.
"Oh, shut up."
My brother smiled again at me and patted my cheek. "I'll be back before you know it."
I nodded. "Yeah, I know."
Still, it didn't lessen the loneliness that started to spring inside me.
-o-O-o-
December 16th – Thursday
When I ambled to the kitchen this morning, my brother was already gone, leaving only a plate of toast and sunny side up eggs on the table. In the note he left beside the plate, he wished me two happy days of freedom and reminded that he would come back on Saturday.
I read the message over and over again, and couldn't help let out a smile as I imagined how he would look like and sound when he said the message out loud. Only two days, I told myself and sat down, facing the breakfast my brother had made for me.
"Bon appétit."
-o-O-o-
"Aw, poor Mikan is being left by her brother," Sumire cooed while hugging me.
It was lunchtime, and Sumire glomped me all of a sudden after I told her about my brother's departure to Okinawa today. Even though I hesitated to tell her about the matter at first since it didn't seem to be significant enough, I felt lighter after I poured them all out. Sumire had listened to them attentively, and that was how we got into this position.
Not that I minded it. Instead, I felt comfortable to be embraced like this, especially since I would be alone at home later. I knew I was a bit spoiled, but I had never been left alone in house for days, so this kind of condition was a bit foreign to me.
"If you pity me, then why don't we hang out later at the mall?" I muffled against her arm, realizing a few students started to give us strange looks. Jeez, what was wrong with two girls hugging? It was just a friendly consoling act.
"No can do," Sumire said and let go off me. "Today is my shift, honey."
Oh yeah. Her shifts were on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
"Aww… Everybody leaves me alone. Boohoo," I sighed dramatically and leaned my head on the desk, my hand playing with the juice can Sumire had bought me a while ago.
"Then come to the shop and play," Sumire suggested.
Well, that didn't sound like a bad idea.
"I'll think about it."
In the end, I decided not to come to the shop and went shopping for groceries instead. I needed them for the next two days if I wanted to survive. I couldn't depend on fast food too often. My late parents often reminded me that it wasn't good for my health. Even my brother tried to carry out their will by cooking our own food.
By the time I exited the market, I had one big bag of groceries with me, filled with raw vegetables and a few cup noodles. I would only eat the cup noodles when I was too lazy to cook. So no worries, Brother.
On my way home, I noticed I was about to pass by the Alice Gift shop. A row of colorful blinking lamps and a decorated Christmas tree enlivened the exterior of the shop, giving out the Christmas atmosphere. There was also a Christmas wreath hanging on the door.
I slowly approached the store and peeked inside. It was quite crowded today, and I could see the workers pacing back and forth to serve the customer. The motive of the work apron had been changed to suit the Christmas theme. It was a red apron with tiny Santa flying in a sleigh and his reindeers leading the way through the snowy night sky. It was so cute. I couldn't wait to wear that apron tomorrow.
Among the crowd of customers in the shop, I spotted Natsume standing beside the door to the staff room, his red eyes watching the activity in the shop listlessly. He didn't seem to notice me at that time, and I didn't wish he would. I also didn't have the intention to walk in and tease him either.
"Snap out of it, Mikan," I scolded myself, moving away from the window. "You have to quickly go home and cook, or you'll have nothing for dinner tonight."
So I did just that.
Once I arrived at home, I dumped my bag and coat on the couch, and then sauntered into the kitchen to make something from the ingredients I had bought.
I tried to make an omelet using the technique my brother taught me a long time ago, but I had a hard time when I tried to flip it over. It ended up not as amazing as my brother's. The taste itself actually wasn't that bad, but it felt rather vapid. The unusual silence in the room also suffocated me, and I found myself losing my appetite. I ended up pushing the plate aside and drank a glass of water instead, my gaze wandering to the empty seat across me all the time.
I already missed him, all right.
-o-O-o-
December 17th – Friday
"You seem off today, Mikan."
I stifled a yawn and looked at Anna. "You mean, tired."
Anna tilted her head and smiled. "Well, that too. Did something happen?"
"I worked on my extra homework until dawn since I had to submit it today," I mumbled, slapping my cheeks to keep me awake. Heck yeah! I finally got the damn homework done today! "It doesn't matter anymore. The hell was already over when Jinjin took back the papers this morning. I'm already free!" I grinned at her.
Anna chuckled and patted my back gently. "Well, that's good for you. Just don't push yourself too hard. Tell me if you want to go home early, okay?"
"M'kay."
If I had to be honest, that wasn't the only reason why I wasn't feeling great today. Just by remembering I had to endure one night of lonesomeness made me feel down. But then again, my brother would come home tomorrow and everything would be back to normal soon.
"That's right, Mikan," I persuaded myself once Anna was out of sight. "Today is the last day you will be alone. You can go through it. You will be fine."
"You're absolutely not fine."
I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at the person standing to my right. "I'm perfectly fine, thank you. And stop bugging me. I think I have told you not to start any conversation with me in public."
"Twice." Natsume rolled his eyes. "I know my place, all right. I didn't talk to you when it's really crowded here."
"Why, thank you for your understanding."
"It didn't sound like you appreciate it."
"Okay. Sorry." I heaved a submissive sigh and held my hands up. "I'm just not myself today. I need to straighten out my head. Perhaps I really need a good sleep," I babbled, more to myself, and walked away from him. It was no use though, since he would trail after me. "But there's still one hour until my shift is over. I have to hold on until then." My view of the room started to sway, so I quickly leaned my side against the nearest wall and closed my eyes. Gosh, I really needed my sleep.
My arm was grabbed roughly all of a sudden and I was being pulled away from the wall. I gasped and snapped my eyes open, shocked when I found myself being dragged across the room to the back door by Natsume. "What are you doing?" I hissed at him, attempting to pull my arm back. "I'm in the middle of work!"
"Your shift is already over for today," was all he said before he stopped just right in front of the back door and turned to me. He clapped once and the work apron I wore was gone. Instead, I was wrapped in my coat, my bag slung over my shoulder.
"Don't kid me!" I seized my arm back and glared at him. "I can't go home now!"
Natsume mumbled something I couldn't decipher under his breath, looking annoyed, and then he grabbed my shoulders and pushed me to the counter where Nonoko was in charge.
"Natsume!" I hissed at him, attempting to pull away from him at the same time.
"The owner said you can go home early. She told you not to push yourself."
"I'm not pushing myself!"
"You are."
"I'm not!" I stomped on Natsume's left foot. He cussed, but his hold on me didn't loosen. He did stop pushing me though.
"You little ungrateful…" Natsume snorted and removed his right hand from me, his left hand circling around my shoulders instead, still refusing to let me go. "You give me no choice," he mumbled before dangling something in front of me. It was a necklace, an exquisite gold pendant with wings and shield carved in the middle of it. In the middle of the wings, a ruby colored stone settled comfortably, glistening under the lamp in the shop.
I couldn't help but stare in awe, amazed by the beauty of the jewel. My full attention was on the tempting ruby color as it swayed slightly left and right.
"It's beautiful, right?" Natsume voice rang right beside my ear.
"Yeah…" I mumbled, slowly feeling sleepy as I watched the jewel move gracefully. Something seemed off.
"Now, you'll hear me." Natsume's deep voice was so soft and alluring. "I want you to go to the girl at the counter there and say you want to go home ear—Ouch!" Like a spell which had just been broken, the gentle tone in Natsume's voice was gone as he glared deadly at me, swaying his left leg which was in pain due to my hard stomp. "What did you that again for?!"
I pointed an accusing finger at him. "You were trying to hypnotize me!" I said and rubbed my eyes to wipe the sleepiness away. It was no use. My head felt cloudy and heavier than before.
Natsume scoffed, wearing the pendant around his neck. "I wouldn't resort to that way if only you heeded my advice," he grumbled.
"Where did you learn that?"
Natsume rolled his eyes. "From one of the books lying around in this shop. Your kind sure have interesting spell here, though it's a big failure."
I rubbed my palm over my face. "Now I'm feeling even worse, thanks to you."
"You're welcome."
Damn this guy.
I turned away from him and headed to the counter, where Nonoko looked at me with both eyebrows raised. "You look really tired, Mikan," she commented while leaning one elbow on the desk. "Do you want me to tell Anna that you'll take early leave?"
"Yes, please." I sighed. "I'm sorry I can't help until closing time."
Nonoko smiled and patted my arm. "It's fine. We can handle the rest. Don't worry."
I returned her smile and moved from the counter. "Thank you, Nonoko. Please tell Anna I'm sorry."
"Noted." Nonoko waved at me. My mood lightened for a moment, before it dropped once again when a certain cat-boy walked by my side with his hands in his pockets.
"It's not that hard, is it?" Natsume grumbled. "If you pushed yourself and resumed working, you would have fainted."
I squinted at him. "I would have been fine if you didn't try to hypnotize me. Now I feel even more sleepy."
Natsume snorted. "I don't understand why you're being so adamant." He placed his hands on my shoulders and propelled me to the back door before I could argue again. "Now, go home."
"Fine. Fine." I shrugged his hands away and stomped to the door. "Jeez, why did you have to—woaahh!"
At the next second, I found myself lying face down on the damn cold snow.
"Idiot."
Bah.
-o-O-o-
Eventually, Natsume used his power again to teleport the two of us to my house. We landed right at the porch, and I fought the urge to shower him with my endless complain for what he did at the shop. I was too tired after going through so many things today. "Thank you," I muttered and thrust my spare key into the keyhole.
"Hn."
The front door finally opened and I stumbled into the vestibule. After he came in, I locked the door again and took off my boots. I wasted no time making my way to the couch and toppling my whole being there. "Please make yourself at home," I mumbled at Natsume who was standing before the couch. "I'm sorry I couldn't serve you anything. Or perhaps you want a glass of water?"
He shook his head and dropped himself on the floor, right in front of me. "It's fine."
"I'm a bad host," I breathed, closing my eyes to cease the dizziness.
"Where's your brother?"
"He's been out of town since yesterday. Working. He'll be back tomorrow."
"Do you miss him?"
"Of course, dummy. What kind of question is that?"
"I can—"
"No!" I snapped my eyes open and stared at him hardly. All of a sudden, the exhaustion seemed to dissolve and I found my strength back. I moved to sit properly on the couch and leaned forward. "Don't. Involve. Him," I hissed. "He doesn't know anything about you. He can't see you. Just leave him alone like what you have done with other people."
Natsume's face twisted in displeasure. For a moment, I thought he would do something reckless with his power to put me in my place. But he only closed his eyes and said, "Okay. I'll leave him alone."
I smiled in satisfaction and stretched my arms, relieving my tense muscles. Standing up, I ambled to the kitchen. "So, do you want to eat something? How about instant noodles?"
"I don't feel like it," he replied, following me into the kitchen.
"Really?" I opened the fridge and checked out the contents. A lone bottle sitting in the corner caught my attention and I grabbed it, knowing Natsume wouldn't be able to resist it. I glanced at him and lifted my hand which held the bottle. "I have a bottle of cold milk here." I tried hard to suppress a giggle that threatened to come out when I saw his cat ears twitch. "Want some?"
"Only if it's warm."
Jerk.
But damn, he was cute.
I smiled. "Okay. Wait a minute. I'll warm it up."
Minutes later, Natsume finally had a glass of warm milk on the table in front of him. He stared at the glass for a few seconds, before he lifted it up and sipped the milk slowly. While he enjoyed his milk, I couldn't help but grin at the way his tail waving to the left and right indolently. He was one heck of a cat I would love to take care if only he wasn't annoying.
I blew at the smoke coming from the cup noodles in front of me before chewing the noodles. Ah, it tasted really good for someone who was hungry yet too lazy to cook. That described the current me perfectly. And this atmosphere, to have someone eating along with me—well, Natsume was drinking— made me feel content. Though it wasn't as cheerful as when I was with my brother, it was still nice and pleasing. It was far better than eating alone.
"Can I have another glass?" Natsume clunked his empty glass against the bottle, which was now filled with warm milk.
I giggled. "Help yourself."
He poured himself another glass of milk and savored it again. His eyes closed in bliss as he swallowed the white liquid gradually.
"Like it?"
He managed a nod and continued sipping the milk.
Wow, he really liked, no, loved it.
After he finished with the second glass, he looked at the bottle again, perhaps contemplating whether to get another glass or keep his manner in check. His gaze then wandered away from the bottle to the stove, refrigerator, and the whole room, before they finally settled on the middle room.
"Where are your parents?" he asked out of the blue.
I smiled upon hearing his question and swallowed down the noodles before giving him a reply. "They had an accident six months ago. The car they were in crashed into a huge truck."
"Ah," was his short response as he turned to face me. "You said your brother is currently out of town."
"Uh-huh." I drank the remaining soup in the cup.
"Then, are you all alone in this place right now?"
I put down the empty cup on the dinner table and gave him a strained smile. "Yeah."
A pregnant silence filled the space between us. I dared not to break it. I didn't want to talk anything about my late parents, because I was sure I would shed tears if I ever spoke it out loud, which was why I chose to be quiet and waited until we could find another topic to talk about.
However, Natsume didn't seem to realize how hard it was for me to speak about this. "What do your late parents look like?"
"You can see them there," I said, nodding my head to the direction of the small table beside the couch in the middle room. My brother and I decided to put our family photos there so we would never forget about the time when we were still together. He said we didn't have to forget the happy times with them to move on. Instead, we kept the memories and made it our strength to go on. Because of that reason, I also kept one of our family pictures in my wallet.
Natsume got up from his seat and walked to the said table. He bent a bit and tilted his head while he scrutinized the photos intently. I realized his tail had stopped moving by now. It dangled motionless behind him as he watched the pictures. I didn't know what was going through his head at that time. He looked dead serious.
"Natsume?"
"I've promised you that I won't involve your brother," he said all of a sudden and made his way back to the kitchen. "I also can't bring back the dead." He leaned on the counter and looked at me. "But I can do this." He clapped his hands thrice.
And poof!
The remaining empty seats were filled by my late parents and my brother all of a sudden. They were sitting exactly on the place where they used to sit. All of them looked at me warmly and smiled, and I found myself petrified by the sight I had been longing for the past six months.
"How's your day, Mikan?" my 'mother' asked, her hands intertwining in front of her.
"Have you found a boy you like? Introduce him to me. I'll judge whether he's good enough for my daughter or not." My 'father' huffed and hit his chest with his fist.
"Father, stop being so protective," my 'brother' remarked. "She can take care of herself."
I blinked in disbelief and brought my gaze to Natsume. "H-h-how?" I stuttered.
"They're just illusions," he explained smoothly. "You can touch them. You can talk to them. Just like they're truly here in front of you—"
"…Is this for real?"
Natsume rolled his eyes. "No, they're just illusions. Didn't you hear what I say seconds ago?"
"Yeah…" Something inside me stirred. My throat also dried. I always thought I would like to feel this moment once again if I was given the chance. And yet, when it was granted, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. My chest tightened to the point I almost couldn't breathe.
"But they're still illusions. It will all be gone the next day because—"
"Thank you."
Natsume stared at me.
I gave a quiet chuckle.
This was wrong, I knew. This was undoubtedly wrong. But I felt happy. I was glad I could feel this warmth once more. Even though they were just mere illusions. Even though it was just for one night. It was fine.
Wiping the unshed tears from my eyes, I looked up at my 'parents' and 'brother' again. They stared at me worriedly and asked me if I was okay, if something bad happened. I shook my head and gazed at Natsume. "Thank you," I repeated with a smile.
"It's nothing." Natsume neared the table and filled his empty glass with milk again. "Just treat it as my gratitude for this milk."
"This is more than I hope for," I breathed. Just for tonight, I assured myself. Just for tonight, I would indulge myself in this warmth. The warmth I had been longing for. The bliss that I was still reluctant to let go. "Thank you, really."
"Hn."
And it was thanks to Natsume, that I had one more chance to have this happiness.
-o-O-o-
December 18th – Saturday
"Hey." I poked Natsume's shoulder to get his attention.
He diverted his gaze to me, one of his eyebrows rising in wonder.
The shop was quite busy today and, thankfully, the customers were too busy surveying the displays to notice me standing passively in front of the displays near the back door. The staffs also focused on their tasks and only greeted me when our eyes met. I tried to keep my voice low so no one knew I was talking to Natsume.
"Thank you for yesterday." I smiled toward the display, though I was sure he knew the smile was for him. "I thought I was strong enough to accept the fact that my parents were already deceased, and that I was fine being alone. I guess you proved me wrong."
"I understand," Natsume murmured, his gaze now on the display cases before us.
"What?"
"Being alone," he said. "Although I'm only aware of my surroundings in December, it doesn't change the fact that I'm by myself all this time."
I hummed in agreement and nudged his arm. "But now you're not." I raised my head to meet his eyes and beamed when I knew he also had his attention on me. "I can see you and talk to you. You can hang out with me every Friday. I also can visit you if you want me to."
I thought I saw a vague smile across his lips before he turned away and said, "Thank you."
Something was moving inside me, especially in my chest. It bubbled up and wanted to burst out right there and then. I was sure it wasn't a bad feeling. If I closed my eyes and savored the feeling deeper, that 'something' was kind of similar to… happiness.
Was it because I realized I was useful to him, that I finally could erase the loneliness which engulfed him all this time? Or was it something else I had yet to recognize?
My cell-phone rang all of a sudden and I quickly took it out of my bag, muttering 'sorry' to those who was disturbed by the sound. I saw my brother's name in the screen and my lips stretched into a big smile, knowing he might be on the way home. I quickly pressed the 'answer' button and held my cell-phone to my left ear.
"Brother! Where are you now?" I greeted, hoping to hear his gentle voice.
"Miss Mikan Sakura? I'm Shuichi Sakurano, Mikami's coworker. I want to inform you that your brother just had an accident. He is currently in the ICU room."
