A/N: Phew! Naomi here. This, is a whooping 7 pages! Longest chapter I've ever done! I think, it's about 3000 words? Maybe a bit more than that? I can't find the word counter on Microsoft Word! T.T If anyone knows where I can find that please tell me!
o-o-o-o
"An elevator?" Mikan chewed her piece of toast thoughtfully. "We don't even have a second floor in middle school,"
Hotaru smacked her on the back of her head, causing her to almost fall face-first into her strawberry yogurt. "Don't talk with your mouth full, idiot." Mikan rubbed her head while grumbling under her breath.
Anna smiled at the everyday-morning-routine between the best friends. They argued like a married couple! "It's not in school, silly. It's for the dorms!"
"Oh, goodie, I mean, walking halfway across the building is quicker than jumping out my window," Mikan muttered.
Her friends stared at her. Hotaru pointed her Baka Gun at her temple. "Who are you and what have you done with my cheerful idiot?"
"Mikan… is something wrong?" Nonoko asked. She has never, repeat, never heard Mikan say anything sarcastic—even though she didn't quite get the auburn-haired girl's comment, she lives on the second floor! How is she supposed to just jump out of her window?
Mikan dropped her head on the table; Anna reached out and snatched her bowl of yogurt away, so as to avoid a yogurt-covered-sarcasm-spouting Mikan.
Mikan sighed dramatically. "I have Narumi for the entire day today! And knowing him, he's going to leave us free time, and go embarrass Misaki in his own class." Only twice a week do the students at Alice Academy have the homeroom teacher of another class teach them, and these days were usually the 'fun' days, filled to the rim with art, music and physical education.
"What's wrong with that?"
"That means, I sit beside a certain devil's spawn—" Hotaru nodded meaningfully at that. "—I think I'm going to explode!" Mikan clutched her wavy caramel hair and shook her head madly.
Nonoko took one last look at the carnage she was leaving behind for Hotaru to deal with, and dragged Anna away from the mad woman for some plotting time.
"Say, Anna, did you notice how many times said 'devil's spawn' glanced at our dear, sweet, innocent Mikan today?" Nonoko waggled her eyebrows for effect.
Anna rolled her eyes. "Are you sure it's not because of Mikan banging her head on the table so hard she flipped someone's toast over on the other end of the table?"
Nonoko dug her heel into Anna's foot. Anna hissed, and glared at her sister. "Oh yes, sister dearest! I wonder why Natsume looked at Mikan so many times! But it must not be because of the large scene she was causing, because I barely noticed my glass of water vibrating when she dropped her head into the table—much like when my Godzilla of a sister sat down beside me!" Anna had such a fake smile plastered on her face by the end of her extremely sarcastic reply; Nonoko didn't even try to get the stupid look off her sister's face, but rolled her eyes instead.
"God, you're so immature."
"Why thank you, you old hag."
"Whatever, Anna; this is about Mikan and Natsume. And just so you know, I'm only two minutes older than you…" Nonoko brushed off her insult like a fly. She would get her revenge later.
Anna grew serious. "Do you think Natsume likes her?"
"Not sure, but he sure gives her the time of the day compared to other girls."
"We'll just have to wait and see."
o-o-o-o
I'm ready for whatever crap you throw at me today, you devil, Mikan glared daggers at the back of Natsume's head, and headed up the isle with her head held high, intending on giving her best friend a hug before sentencing herself to six hours of hell. Instead of coming into contact with flat ground, Mikan's sneaker-clad foot came into contact with something hard. She lost her balance and fell flat on her face. She looked up, and chuckled awkwardly as she found everyone staring at her once again. She turned in the direction of this 'foreign substance' that made her fall, and looked right into the mirthful eyes of Satan himself. She looked down, and found his foot under hers. He tripped her!
"Yawn…" The boy 'yawned' unconvincingly, and stretched his legs as if to say: 'Accident,' a smirk on his face all the while.
Mikan just gave a cheery smile and dusted herself off. No way, Lucifer; No way in hell are you ruining my day. She slipped into the seat beside Natsume and pulled out her notebook, doodling in it. She drew a boy who looked uncannily like Natsume, and a girl with the word 'SAKURA' across the front of her shirt. The girl sat in her desk, laughing evilly at the boy on the ground. He had fallen, just like she had. The boy's expression was comical, where his eyes were scrunched up, so they looked like an X sideways. Mikan admired her masterpiece smugly. She was going to frame this.
"You're missing a bit of detail right there," A voice said, she could almost feel him breathing down her neck; he was so close to her. Mikan jumped. Natsume continued talking, pointing at the skirt of the doodle-girl. "I happen to know, this 'SAKURA' wears polka-dotted panties." Now, it was his turn to be smug. He watched as the girl gaped at him with her chocolate eyes. "She showed this boy—" He moved his finger onto the boy on the ground. "—her panties the other day, when she pretended to fall."
"I did not!" Mikan burst out; and the entire class zeroed in their attention on her.
"We're just discussing this drawing, are we not?" Natsume asked innocently.
Mikan, realizing his victory, 'humph'-ed and turned her back on him. Real mature, Sakura. She sneered at herself. How did someone like Natsume reduce her to a stubborn ten-year-old?
One-Nothing Natsume.
o-o-o-o
What I don't like about Natsume:
He's annoying; he's frustrating; he's a pervert; he's rude; he's—Mikan scribbled furiously on her paper. "Hotaru, I'm coming up in a bit," She mumbled into the communication earmuffs Hotaru had given her and made her way to the elevator. It's there, so why not use it? Besides, Hotaru's room is on the fourth floor, she reasoned with herself. But for some reason, she felt like it would be her worst decision yet.
'Ding!' The elevator door slid open. Mikan stepped in cautiously. It was empty. She didn't know what she was so scared about; it's just a forty-second elevator ride… She pressed 4.
'Ding!' The elevator door slid open again. It's only third floor though, Mikan thought. And in stepped Hyuuga Natsume. What? Why? No! Dear God, what do you have against poor old me? What did I do in my past life that is so horrible, you feel the need to set this… this monster on me? She shrank into a corner of the elevator, horror written all over her face. The cause of her panic just waltzed in as if the elevator was empty, and seeing the 4 button was already lit, he leaned against the wall, sticking his hands deep in his pockets.
Mikan wished she would disappear. Or, if that's too much to ask for, she wished time passed by, a lot quicker. No such luck. The lights in the elevator flickered, and it came to a sputtering halt. And the light went out all together.
Mikan let out an indignant scream; Natsume watched as his vision adjusted, and the Five Stages of Being Stuck In An Elevator With Hyuuga Natsume unfurled right before his eyes.
Denial:
"No! This can't be happening! Tell me I'm dreaming, you devil's spawn!" Natsume glared at her, but didn't do anything. This girl was definitely under some serious emotional stress. "Yes! I must be dreaming!" Mikan laughed almost deliriously. "I called you a devil's spawn, and you didn't do anything!" She then moved to pinch Natsume's cheek. "See? Aren't you the most adorable when you're nice and calm?" Natsume growled; Mikan flinched.
Anger:
"Why am I stuck in an elevator anyways? This only happens in movies! And books when the author doesn't have a single clue how to get the main characters together all lovey-dovey! And in stories! Unoriginal authors who don't have unique ideas! This is an outrage! This is a cliché!" The girl stomped her foot. Natsume snickered. Mikan glared at him. "Why are you laughing?" She snarled. Natsume raised his hands in mock surrender. He didn't want a crazed girl loose on him in an elevator.
Bargaining:
"Dear God, why must you do this to me? Have I been a sinner? If you get me out of here, I swear—promise, I will never, ever, try to insta-glue Natsume to his chair again; I won't ever bribe the cook to drown Natsume's burgers in mustard again; and I won't ever make Ruka leak me information about Natsume—which I planned on photocopying and posting all over school and set his fan girls on him—ever again!" Natsume snarled, his eyes glinting dangerously as he watched the stupid girl confess all her 'sins' to God right in front of him; all of her 'sins' involved trying to kill him too! He dug her fingernails into the palm of his hand. I will not hit her. I will not hit her. I will even try not to make her cry. "—and I will throw away all my pink and purple paint which I had planned on decorating Natsume's room with!" Mikan looked pleased with herself, and turned to face the shaking boy. "What's wrong, Natsume?" The girl looked at him with such an angelic look on her face; he couldn't bring himself to stay mad. You're lucky I didn't actually get glued on my seat, he thought.
Depression:
"Natsume, we're going to die," Mikan suddenly threw herself at the startled boy, and proceeded to sob in his shirt. "I haven't even tried Howalons yet…" She wailed.
"Get off me idiot. We're not going to die." Natsume soothed; it came out gentler than he thought it would. "And when we get out of here, I'll buy you some Howalons. Just stop crying, you look ugly like that."
Mikan sat down beside him. There was a moment of silence.
Acceptance:
"Natsume?"
He grunted.
"Tell me a story." Mikan said softly, and rested her head on his shoulders. All of this felt surreal.
A couple of seconds passed.
"Please?"
o-o-o-o
"Where's Natsume? He said he would come to my room after dinner," Ruka mumbled to himself while chewing on a pencil. Maybe he should go down to Natsume's room and check on him. He pressed the elevator button; and waited. And waited. And waited. "What's taking it so long?" Ruka shrugged, and headed down the stairs.
o-o-o-o
"What do you want to hear about?" Natsume gave in to Mikan's insistent pleas.
"You," She said softly.
o-o-o-o
"Imai?" Ruka had almost run over Hotaru in his haste to get to the stairs.
"Nogi, have you seen Mikan?" Hotaru's breathing was irregular; it seems she's been running too.
"No, have you seen Natsume?"
"She was supposed to be at my room an hour ago! No, haven't seen him."
"And Natsume was supposed to be at mine an hour ago!"
"Why are you taking the stairs?" She asked suspiciously.
"Why are you?" Ruka narrowed his ocean-blue eyes at her.
"The elevator wouldn't come." Hotaru sighed.
"Same here," Hotaru's eyes widened, and a split second later, realization dawned on Ruka.
"You-you don't think…"
"I do think, Nogi." She snarled impatiently. "What are you waiting for? Call a teacher, preferably Misaki."
"Got it, Narumi will get all gushy and 'Oh, my students are growing up! I bet they're making out in there,' Jinno will be all 'You distracted me from my stare-at-my-beautiful-reflection session, die.' And Misaki is more—ah, neutral."
Hotaru cracked a small smile. "Just go."
"Yes, m'am."
"You better hope your friend is not up to anything funny in there, or someone loses some very important child-producing body parts."
"Ha-ha… that someone's not me, is it?"
"Hurry!" Hotaru snapped.
o-o-o-o
Once upon a time, there lived a six-year old boy and his younger sister. He had a lovely mother who he cared for deeply. She would make time for him, no matter how busy she was; she would offer the boy her wisdom whenever needed, but never try to control his life. His sister was also a large part of his life; she was two years younger than him, and knows him like the back of her hand. His father, on the other hand, is cold and distant towards him; cares more about his business than his family; and brought no love to the little boy's life.
The boy often wondered. Why does father hate me?
Some nights, when he simply could not sleep, and his father was on one of his numerous business trips, the boy would wander to his mother's door. He would reach out to turn the doorknob, and freeze when he hears sobbing coming from the other side of the door. He would step into the room, and sit down on the bed beside his mother, and simply offer her his presence. Eventually, his mother would usher him away, assure him she was okay, and tell him to get some sleep. But deep down, he knew she was not okay.
The boy would go back to his room, and dream of hurting the one who hurt his mother.
The young boy grew to detest his father. He and his sister was packed up and sent to a foreign school for 'business reasons' seven years later as their mother teetered on the verge between depression and insanity, far, far out of their reach. She loved him, but he hurt her, and now, he's taking all who she hold dear. He was pushing her into insanity.
The boy made a vow to himself.
I will become strong, and I will protect the ones I love, no matter the cost.
o-o-o-o
Mikan reached for Natsume's hand after some time and grasped it, hoping to bring him some comfort. "Natsume… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to tell me something so personal."
The boy shook his head, both to deny Mikan's statement and to clear the thoughts swirling around in his mind. "No, I wanted to tell you. I would have told you about Ruka's pet rabbit if I didn't want to." What is wrong with him? Why does it feel so right to be with this girl?
"Ruka has a pet rabbit?" Mikan asked. Even in the darkness, Natsume could tell she was smiling. And just like that, the tension evaporated.
o-o-o-o
"Fix it," Hotaru held her Baka gun at Misaki's head, and gestured at the elevator.
"I don't know how!"
Hotaru sighed. "You're so stupid." She then started to pull tools out of her pocket—or that's what it seems like. Ruka gaped. The girl had managed to produce large, unrecognizable items out of a non-existent pocket. The only thing he recognized out of the pile of tools was a screwdriver. She pulled on a pair of safety goggles and proceeded to work her magic.
"Why did you drag me away from my dinner if you planned on fixing it anyway?" Misaki sat cross-legged by the elevator door, looking dejected.
"I didn't anticipate how stupid you were," Hotaru answered without looking up from her work.
"I teach Biology! I don't do elevator repair!"
Ruka looked at Misaki sympathetically. "No one wins against Imai." That shut him up effectively.
o-o-o-o
"—which is why nachos are delicious!"
"Pig."
"Natsu—did the elevator just move?" The lights flickered back on. Mikan squinted against the light. The elevator jolted, and began to elevate, slowly, but surely. "Yes! We're going to live!"
"Shut up, Polka Dots. You're giving me a headache." Mikan just smiled fondly.
"That's not true!" She sang. "I'm giving you a migraine!" She sat with her arms tucked under her bent knees and started singing Mary had a Little Lamb loudly. Natsume narrowed his eyes, and gave her a small push; she fell on her side, her arms still tucked under her with a shriek.
"Sakura print today?" He noted with a smirk. "Suits you."
Mikan flushed. How could she forget something this important? She was wearing a skirt, for Christ's sakes! "You pervert!" She jumped on him, knocking him to the ground. She sat up on his stomach, whipped out her phone, and took a picture of Natsume while she pulled mercilessly on his cheek. He glared at her, emitting a dark, deathly aura. Mikan swallowed. She flew off him and started banging on the elevator door.
"Someone save me! Natsume wants my life!" She yelled. Natsume pushed himself off the ground, and was sauntering towards Mikan. She turned to face him, hiding her phone behind her back. He put his hands on either side of her head, and glared down at her. Right on time, the elevator door slid open. The two tumbled out into the hallway, Natsume on top of Mikan. He tried to wrestle the phone away from the girl under him.
"What, are you two doing?" Ruka had an oh-my-God-what-did-I-just-witness? Look on his face.
"Hotaru, catch!" Mikan yelled, and tossed her phone to her best friend. "I took a picture of—mmmph!" She was cut off when Natsume slapped a hand over her mouth. Misaki took the chance this chaos offered, and slipped back to his room. His dinner must be cold now.
"Hyuuga, get off her, or this picture gets sent to… hmm, let's see. Everyone." Hotaru threatened. Natsume growled, but rolled off of Mikan. She breathed a sigh of relief, and scrambled up, dusting herself off. Ruka took a look at the picture, and burst out laughing. Natsume scowled at him. He covered his mouth, but he could not stop the snickers from escaping.
"This is gold you dug up, Mikan, gold. I'm proud of you." Hotaru praised, leading her friend away.
"Come on, Natsume, get a hold of yourself," Ruka smirked. "It's not that bad."
"You're not the one in the clutches of Imai." He grumbled. Ruka laughed.
o-o-o-o
A/N: Hope you enjoyed that! I just needed to get some of Natsume's past outta the way. And yes, I used the elevator cliché 'cause I have no other I idea! T_T also 'cause it's kind of canon, except in an elevator, not a haunted house.
Reviews are appreciated!