Chapter 4

One Week after Natsume left:

Narumi's POV:

"So it seems your plan backfired." I said calmly to Toushrou.

"So it would seem indeed. But I wonder how long they can keep it up." he answered coldly.

"They're always on the phone, and yet Natsume's work is beyond excellent. I think they can keep this up the entire time he is not here." I retorted, trying not to sound smug. I don't think I succeeded.

"Maybe. Or maybe, soon he'll be so busy, he'll hardly have time to breathe, let alone talk." Toushrou said coolly, and I scowled.

"He'll still be able to listen. You should not underestimate them." I said as I stood up. Then I smirked. "On second thoughts, feel free to underestimate them. I would so like to see the look on your face when they show you just how strong they are." I said quietly. I was tired of the games that this man played with his family. I had thought, foolishly, that all that was done and over with, once Shou died, and that he actually cared for these children. I was not pleased that he had proved me wrong.

Toushrou gave me a long speculating look.

"Don't judge me Narumi. I do have my reasons, and I do care for those children." Toushrou Hyuuga said in a surprisingly gentle voice.

I just nodded before leaving his office.

I did not have much to say. I would believe him when he showed me proof that he only had good intentions, because I was honestly sick of testing those kids (Natsume, Mikan, Ruka) at every step of the way. They had proven themselves time and again, and they deserved better than this.

One Month After Natsume Left:

Mikan's POV:

I crashed on the bed, tired as anything after a miserable lab. Usually I had a video chat with Natsume before I went to bed, but today he had been exhausted when he had gone to bed so I did not wanna wake him up. It was a 17 hours time difference between Tokyo and San Francisco, so it wasn't all that easy to manage everything, and yet somehow we did it. Mind over matter, I guess.

I stared at our photograph (poster size) that hung on the wall in front of my bed and sighed. I wanted to see him. Not on my laptop screen, but actually see him. I was worried about him. He had strain lines around his eyes, and I had a feeling he had lost weight. He needed a break, had needed one since even before he had left, and instead he was working almost 20 hours a day just to be done early. I was not going to forgive Grandfather for this.

All his staff in San Francisco was having trouble keeping up with him, and I knew he had lost his temper on them many times. He'd said his colleagues thought he was a work demon or something. Super strict, unsmiling, unfeeling and cold. Natsume had been amused at their perception of him, while I had been furious. How could anyone think that about him? He was wonderful and it was their loss for not finding that out. Hmph!

Natsume was not going to be able to come home for Christmas either since they only got the 25th off, and would be working on every other day. He was not even going to get a long weekend. I wished there was something I could do to make him feel better. To make him...

I stopped. There was something I could do. Why had I not thought of this before. How could it have not occurred to me until now. I jumped up from my bed. I was such an idiot. How could it take me this long to figure out something so simple?

I rushed from my room to find Uncle Narumi. I would have asked Ruka for help, but I did not want him to get into trouble with Grandfather. Plus, it would be harder for him to keep it a secret from Natsume. Uncle Narumi would do that just fine.

Suddenly, it seemed that all would soon be right in my world again.

Natsume's POV:

I scowled at my phone. It had been nearly 24 hours since I had last talked to Mikan. I placed the phone on my desk, scowling some more.

Just then my secretary knocked on the door before entering.

"Yes?" I asked coldly.

"Sir, there was a call from Mr. Ian Smith just now and he wants to reschedule the meeting to this morning from tomorrow afternoon." she said in a businesslike tone.

"What time?" I asked.

"In an hour." she answered. "You do not have anything scheduled at that time."

"Very well then. Call him to say yes, and send me all the related documents." I said and she hurried out of the room.

I kept glancing at my phone all through my meeting with Ian, but though he raised an eyebrow, he knew better than to make any comments. I was grateful. Ian had become a friend, and so I would not have lied to him, but I did not feel like explaining the fact that I was missing my girlfriend either.

When we were almost done with the meeting, my phone finally rang, and I pounced on it. I saw Ian smile out of the corner of my eye but ignored him.

"Yes?" I said, my voice not giving away anything.

"Natsume!" Mikan said brightly.

I felt a smile tug at my lips. "Hello to you too. Where have you been?" I asked, gesturing an apology to Ian. He waved his hand to tell me it was okay.

"Forget that. I need you to do something for me." she said almost chirping.

"What?" I asked.

"I need you to play a game with me. You have to do it!" she said happily. I frowned.

"Have you been drinking?" I asked.

"Will you play or not?" she snapped, and I sighed.

"What do I need to do?" I asked and I was sure she was grinning like an idiot.

"I need you to step outside of whatever room you are in, and go to the elevator. You must do it immediately!" she told me, and now I scowled.

"Mikan what.." I started but she cut me off. "Can you not do something so simple for me?" she begged.

I sighed again, and stood up. "Yes fine. I am going to the elevator." I said leaving the room. A highly entertained Ian followed me.

I reached the elevator to find most of the staff from my floor standing next to it.

"What's going on?" I asked coldly, and they all parted, trying to get out of answering me. My secretary stepped forward.

"Sir someone unauthorized..." she started but the elevator dinged, and my eyes were drawn to it, and then I just stared. The phone dropped from my hand, but I hardly noticed, so shocked was I to see who was in front of me.

"Natsume!" Mikan cried out before she threw herself into my arms. Without thinking about it, I hugged her back. But only after a moment she was leaning back, and then kissing me. I kissed her back, our audience be damned. When we finally parted, the jaws of everyone around us had hit the floor, and Mikan was giggling. I chuckled as well, making people gape all the more. I swear any more of seeing us, and some of them would've fainted.

Then Mikan gave me another hug, making me smile.

Behind us Ian cleared his throat, and I was brought back to reality.

I turned to him, my arm firmly wrapped around Mikan.

"Ian, meet my girlfriend Mikan, and Mikan, this is Ian, our main liaison with the other company." I introduced them. Some women did faint now. Whatever.

Mikan gave me a kiss on my cheek, before she high-fived Ian. I stared.

Ian chuckled at my dumbfounded expression. "Well someone needed to pick her up from the airport and other details like that." he said shrugging. I raised an eyebrow at Mikan and she smiled at me.

"Uncle Narumi set it all up." then she placed her arms on my shoulders. "Your expression was so worth it."

I laughed. I could not help it, and more of my staff looked like they had seen the world coming to an end.

"Right. I'll let you two be. See you guys later." Ian said before heading to the elevator, ignoring all of my stunned staff. I decided to do the same as I led Mikan to my office.

Mikan's POV:

I sat on the couch, next to Natsume, his arm around me, but we could not keep our hands off each other. I wanted to touch him to make sure he was real, see how he had been doing, and he seemed to be feeling exactly the same way. But that was not all. Even though we had been talking over the phone all the time, we still had so much to talk about, so finally we sat together, holding hands and just talking.

I jumped at the knock on the door.

"Come in." Natsume said and a woman entered the cabin.

"Uh..Sir..I was wondering if you will be attending any of the meetings today?" she asked, almost stuttering, and throwing furtive glances my way.

"What time does he have his meetings?" I asked, and she looked startled, and glanced at Natsume before answering.

"Between 1 pm and 4 pm." she answered.

"I see. Does he have any meetings tomorrow? Now that the one with Ian is already done." I asked again.

"No, Mr. Hyuuga does not have any meetings tomorrow." she answered, regaining some of her crisp speech.

"Fine. He is attending the meetings scheduled for today, and he is taking tomorrow off." I decided and she looked completely taken aback.

"Do as she said." Natsume told the woman and she nodded before leaving, looking shell shocked.

I turned to Natsume. "I like Anna more." I said and he chuckled.

"Give her time. Nonoko is efficient too, and nice, when she is not being completely thrown off by sudden arrival of people." he told me, and I grinned.

"I wonder what she would say if she ever heard that?" I asked, and he pointed behind me.

"She's blushing." Natsume said wryly and I whirled around, only to realize that Nonoko was not there. Natsume had just been pulling my leg.

"Why you!" I exclaimed, and he chuckled, his eyes lit up in amusement. I snuggled close to him. It was so good to be with him. Since tomorrow was Friday, and then Christmas was on Saturday, we would have an entire long weekend together to celebrate Christmas. My heart soared at the thought, and I knew that he was looking forward to it just as much as I was.