Chapter 4
"Natsume? Natsumee.." she called out, clucking her tongue as if looking for a lost cat. Natsume was supposed to return fifteen minutes ago for his audition, but there was no appearance of the dark-haired male. Mikan neared the Administration building and entered, sighing in relief of the cool-blasting air-conditioner.
Misaki peeked up from her desk. "Oh hey, Mikan. You're back again. What's up?"
"Hey Misaki, I was wondering if Natsume is still here," she said and looked around. No sight of Natsume. Only a few of the regular office members looked up, smiled, and continued on whatever they were scrutinizing with.
"Natsume? That brat?" Misaki asked, confused. "He got in a fight with Tsubasa again and stormed off awhile ago."
After thanking Misaki for the piece of information, the brunette set off again, stumbling in the blistering heat. Why couldn't the university start later and not in the peak of its summer heat? She walked behind the Science building and sat on a nearby bench, relieved from its massive infrastructure shade. It was a very nice spot to nap around, and she felt her eyelids droop heavily.
"Meow..."
Her eyes fluttered open, and her ears perked to the direction of the meow. She found herself staring at a black cat being petted by...Natsume. Mikan was about to pounce on him for ditching class, but she drank in the sight of the scene. He was scratching it affectionately behind its ears, and it brushed against his knees, meowing in pure happiness. They didn't take notice of the brunette.
Sniggering, Mikan popped out a phone and snapped a photo (and a video to further humiliate him). After stuffing it back into her pocket, she spoke up. "Is that your cat?"
The boy and cat both jumped in fright from the sudden voice as Natsume swiveled his gaze to her. "No," he replied and sheepishly took his hands off the purring cat. "I see this little guy time to time."
"Ah...I see... Here kitty, kitty~" she whispered, clapping her hands towards the black cat. It looked at her, sniffed pompously, and pranced away. "Rude!" Mikan exclaimed after the strutting cat.
Natsume coughed to hide a laugh. "Youchi rarely hates anyone. So you're the first."
"Stupid Youchi," she muttered, crossing her arms and feeling dejected after the cat's rejection. "Anyways," she continued, "why are you here? Tsubasa should've told you your audition was after mine."
He merely shrugged and slumped into the bench next to Mikan. "Just felt like ditching."
"...Narumi's still waiting for you. So if you don't want to be put in dance one..." Mikan said, letting the words linger in the air. While she spoke, she couldn't help but blush when the male plopped down next to her. Even though they were in the shade, her heart thumped wildly, and a new heatwave emitted from the pit of her stomach. Only a few inches of space separated them.
Feeling a bit woozy, Mikan purposely adjusted her position to scoot away a few more inches. As much as she hated to admit it, she felt attracted to his physical features. The lean, muscular body and soft raven hair paired with crimson-red eyes could set any girl's heart on fire. She gawked when he ruffled his shirt from the environmental heat.
Natsume didn't notice her reaction as he continued, "Dance is a minor for me anyways. It doesn't matter."
"But dance is..." She bit her lips. "Didn't you feel angered...when Narumi said you were automatically placed in dance one?"
That put him on the spot. He hesitated in the brief silence.
"Thought so," Mikan sighed. "I don't know why you're suddenly unmotivated. If you're not going back to dance, Narumi is giving you three days to go audition. I'm going back. See you." She stood up stiffly and walked away to the Music building, not before hearing a reply that caused an explosion of red on her face.
"See you, Mikan."
O w O
"Congratulations, Mikan! As expected of one who's majoring in Dance, you have been selected to be a part of Dance Crew!" Narumi clapped joyously. The five other members also began to clap when Narumi shot them a glare.
"Ah, thanks," Mikan smiled.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ruka." A prince-like blond male stood up and majestically (was that even possible?) strolled in front of Mikan while holding up a hand. "It's a pleasure for you to be here with us," he spoke silkily.
"T-thanks!" she stuttered nervously, intimidated by his elegant posture.
"And I'm Kokoroyomi! But you can just call me Koko, Miki!" Another boy popped up next to Ruka. He had a playful, boyish attitude, and a goofy smile spread across his cheeks. She breathed a sigh of relief and grinned when Koko slapped her gently on the back.
"You two are intimidating her! Well, mostly Ruka." Another voice chimed in, reprimanding in tone. The source was a beautiful pink-haired girl with cyan eyes that twinkled in the dance lights. "I'm Anna Umenomiya and this..." She pointed to an equally beautiful blue-haired girl with straight hair and neatly cut bangs. "...is Nonoko Ogasawara. We're cousins~"
"Nice to meet you guys," Mikan said in awe, jealously admiring their well-kept figures. She then noticed the fifth member, another pretty girl with a dark pixie-cut. She currently was fidgeting with a machine that was in the shape of a gun and pointed it towards the door and shot it. Mikan watched the bullet ricochet off a door and smack Ruka on the forehead. He rubbed the wounded spot in a confused manner and didn't seem angered.
"Annnddd...last but not least, that's Hotaru Imai," Anna introduced with a sigh. She then dropped to a whisper. "Gotta be careful around her. She's in love with money. Any embarrassing moment that happens to you, she will snap photos, print a million copies, and distribute them to students for cash. She's known as the blackmail queen."
Mikan gaped, not knowing how to process the information.
"And her major is actually engineering. I'm not quite sure why-OW!" A plastic bullet landed clean on Anna's forehead and deflected to hit Ruka again on the same spot.
"I can introduce myself, Anna," Hotaru coldly replied and entered the conversation. She had violet eyes - Mikan noticed - that gave off a mysterious and dark aura. Hotaru peered at Mikan, who gulped. "You. You're the new member?" she asked.
"Yea," the brunette squeaked.
The dark-haired female then pranced around her, inspecting as she tapped Mikan's calves, arms, and abs. With little hums and nods, Hotaru finally stopped in front of her. "She has a good build," she announced and patted Mikan's shoulder.
"Er. Thanks." Mikan offered.
"As you have heard from Anna, I take pictures of people's most embarrassing moments," Hotaru unashamedly said. "If you don't want to embarrass yourself, practice and don't mess up when I'm here."
The brunette began sweating profoundly, remembering frequent instances of her crashing, tripping, and smacking into the random-est of things. "Isn't there a deal we can make?" she nervously asked.
"Speak and I shall decide," Hotaru narrowed her eyes.
Scrambling for her phone, Mikan looked through and smiled evilly at a certain photo. That's what he gets for ditching, Mikan sang to herself and pulled Hotaru to the side, much to the curiosity of the other dance members. The brunette pulled up a photo of Natsume affectionately petting a black cat. "How much will this last me?" she asked.
Hotaru's purple eyes widened as her fingers gripped the phone. "Where was this?" she demanded.
"Back of Science building. Took this twenty minutes ago," Mikan replied smugly.
The blackmail queen looked at Mikan. "A year."
"Two years of immunity," the brunette insisted. "Two years of immunity. I'm not even shooting for four."
"One year."
"Two. Final offer before I take away this photo."
Hotaru scowled, "Fine, two years it is. That's only because Hyuuga's the catch around here."
The brunette laughed lightly. "Then it's a deal. Two years. Remember that. Want me to send it to you?"
"No need," Hotaru replied and took out a pair of glasses from her pocket. She placed them on and clicked a button on the right frame as a little snap sound resulted. "I have the photo now."
Mikan openly gaped at her as Hotaru walked back to the group. Dear lord, she was up-to-date with all of the technology.
"So how did it go?" Anna squeaked as Mikan stood by her. "Did she do anything to you? What were you guys talking about? Tell me!"
Full of smugness, Mikan whispered into her ear, "Two years of immunity. Hotaru can't take any embarrassing photos of me now."
"What?!" All of the group members (except Hotaru, who hummed as she cleaned her invention) crowded around the brunette with openly shocked faces. "How did you do it?!" Koko demanded.
"Skill." Mikan couldn't help but feel like she was on top of the world. Somehow, making a successful bargain with the blackmail queen was considered a huge success. However at the same time, she felt very sorry for Natsume.
"Hey," Everyone turned around to Hotaru, even though the queen was only addressing the brunette. "Remember, this offer goes invalid two years from now on August 15th at 12:13 PM. I am strict with timelines."
"Yep!" Mikan gave her a thumbs-up and grinned when Hotaru gave a ghost of a smile.
O w O
A/N: Lame update, I know. Sorry. I don't know where I want this fanfic to go for now because of this huge writer's block (whatever people call it).
Anyways, to let you guys know, I will update The World is Still Beautiful or Buttiful. It will be next in my list (I know right? I haven't touched that one in forever). And after that, I shall update Her Gaming Life in GA. Just a heads-up. Thank you for reading! C: And thank you very much for the reviews!
-blessifier