A Prince for Mikan
By: Esa MaRie
Chapter 6 – Tsubasa Andou
"What do we have here?"
'Shit!' Natsume tried to get up, pushing the girl on top of him. If worst comes to worst, he had no choice but to fight. But for now, he had to come up with an alternative or wait for Andou to give him any signal on what to do.
"Get up brat!" one of the men shouted at him giving him a kick.
Natsume grunted as he felt pain on his side, but when he saw the man deliver another kick which was aimed at the girl, he pulled her into his arms protecting her from the beating. He clenched his teeth as he felt another kick on his back. 'Damn! If it goes on like this, I have to use my alice.'
Just then someone stepped out and tapped the guy beating him. "You don't have to be so vicious, Sato. They seemed to be lovers who have eloped," the blue-haired guy with the star under his left eye intervened.
"You're too soft Kail. Innocent or not, they're not supposed to be here," another man said, then turned to his companion. "Kill them."
The guy called Kail gave a wicked laugh. "Who said I'm being soft?" he asked in amusement. "I just want to have a little fun." He let his gaze travel the girl's body enveloped in Natsume's arms and began to lick his lips. "The little girl's pretty."
The other men seemed to understand what he meant. "Your pervert and criminal side is showing up Kail," one of them laughed.
"Leave them to me. They won't be able to escape," Kail said. He stepped on Natsume's shadow and leaned towards him. "Welcome to your nightmare, lover boy."
-o-
"You're a bastard Kail."
The blue haired guy winced at the prince's tone. Well, he didn't have a choice anyway. It was for their own safety that he had to act a little too harsh and tied them both, although he knew too well the prince could burn the binds in an instant with his alice. "Come on, your highness. My little acting should deserve an award," he grinned at him which only earned a glare in return. Giving a loud sigh, he began to untie his binds and turned a serious look at Natsume. "You know you shouldn't be here. But I'm thankful you didn't expose yourself. All my hard work could have gone to waste."
Natsume grunted as he massaged his sore hands. "Who were they?" he demanded.
"Hirazakis."
"Figures," he murmured in disgust, then lifted his brow at the older boy. "How come they trusted you that easily?"
The blue-haired boy just gave him another of his irritating grin. "Because I introduced myself as Himitsu Kail. One of the most wanted criminals in the Hyuuga Kingdom. Of course, the real one was already dead, not that the public is aware of it. All I did was to ask his majesty to change the picture to mine. And viola, I'm a hotlist criminal." He sat in front of him, and looked with amusement at the prince's get up. "Nice disguise, your highness," he commented.
"Stop calling me that. You know damn well this is not the place to use formalities," Natsume glared at him.
The guy just shrugged. "They all have left. We're the only ones here right now, so it's still safe."
"How do you know?" Natsume asked, uneasily looking at the closed door from time to time.
"I'm a shadow manipulator. I can survey areas using the shadows. That's why I'm the perfect man for spying jobs," he said as he squatted beside him.
'No wonder it was easy for him to catch me before,' Natsume thought in disgust.
The guy glanced at the unconscious girl lying on the floor. "By the way, who's the pretty lady?'
Natsume gave the girl a glance and scoffed. "She's no lady. She's an idiot."
A smirk formed on the guy's mouth. "So, his highness likes idiotic girls."
"Shut up Andou," Natsume glared at him. This guy had been a pain in the neck since that one time he had served as his bodyguard.
Andou Tsubasa laughed. "You're still angry over that time I caught you during one of your escapades, huh?"
"I said shut-up."
"Okay, okay," Tsubasa grinned, holding up his two hands in surrender. "Anyway, going back to the little girl. What's she doing with the prince?"
"She doesn't know anything," Natsume sighed.
"Eh?" Tsubasa cocked his head. "Then why would she be with his highness?"
A tick formed on Natsume's forehead as he heard that formal address. "Stop calling me 'your highness' or 'prince' or whatever," he demanded. "You're going to expose me in no time. That girl doesn't know anything, so it's better to let it stay that way."
They paused when they heard a slight moan and they turned to see the girl slowly getting up. "Ouch! My head hurts," she mumbled. She gasped when she realized that her hands and feet are tied and while the pervert Natsume was rubbing his sore hands. She felt terror as she gazed to the other man in the room.
"Don't worry. He's not a bad guy. He's a Hyuuga soldier," Natsume said.
Mikan's eyes widened in surprise. "You know each other?"
"I caught him once trying to steal some ladies underwear," Tsubasa laughed which earned him a glare from the prince. He then walked towards Mikan and untied her binds.
Mikan visibly relaxed. The man was quite young, in his early twenties maybe. He looked a bit scary, considering the way he dressed in rugged and dirty clothes making him look like a criminal. But when she heard he was a soldier, she let down her guard. And his eyes were gentle as he looked at her making her trust him even if she doesn't really know him at all.
"Andou Tsubasa at your service, my lady," he winked playfully at her, which made her giggle. "But in the underground community of criminals, they know me as Himitsu Kail." He twisted his face to look like his wicked and dangerous criminal personality.
Mikan giggled again. "After seeing your real personality, I'm not sure I could imagine you acting like a criminal, Andou-san."
"I'm a good actor," Tsubasa boasted. "And just call me Tsubasa. Or better yet, Tsubasa-niichan."
"Mou, even your cruelest face won't match that of pervert Natsume," Mikan chided, then her face softened to reveal a serene smile. "I never had a brother before."
But Tsubasa was no longer listening, too surprised at what he heard. "Natsume?" he raised his brow. He couldn't believe that the cold prince would allow anyone, aside from his family and bestfriend, to call him by his first name. "You're calling him Natsume?"
Mikan's face had gotten red. It was one thing to insult the prince's name in front of the perverted boy but to say it in front of a soldier was another thing.
"I… er… I sort of gave him that name," Mikan hastily explained. "I guess it's too far from his real name, huh?"
Tsubasa chuckled. "I don't know his name either. He's just some brat who likes to cause trouble." He smirked as he gave a look at the frowning Natsume. "But why the hell would you name him after the prince? Does he even look like a prince?" he asked, trying to hold his laughter.
"She probably fantasizes on the prince and she's just using me to fulfill her fantasies," Natsume snorted, but his amusement was cut short when he felt a shoe connecting against his head.
"I DO NOT!" Mikan yelled. "WHO WOULD LIKE THAT STUPID EGOISTIC PRINCE?! AND IF YOU HAVE SIMILARITIES WITH THE PRINCE, THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE BOTH FREAKING JERKS!"
Natsume shrugged as he massaged his head and turned to Tsubasa. "There goes the answer."
Tsubasa looked shocked as he stared at Mikan who had cupped her mouth after realizing what she said, then his shoulders began to shake, then they heard a loud shout of laughter from him.
"O-oh m-my K-kami…" he managed to breathe while laughing. "This is priceless!" He looked up the annoyed prince, and he began laughing again.
"Y-you're not going to execute me?" Mikan asked hesitantly, confused at the soldier's reaction.
"Why should I?" Tsubasa grinned. "That was the funniest thing I ever heard. I never knew any girl who would think that way against the prince." An evil smile formed on his face. "By the way, do you know why the prince doesn't show his face in public?"
Natsume's brows furrowed as he glanced at Tsubasa. 'What the hell is this idiot talking about?' he thought.
"Why?" Mikan leaned, intrigued at what Tsubasa was to reveal. "They said he's so handsome that girls flock over him whenever he shows his face."
"Hah! You believe that rumor?" Tsubasa scoffed. "A face that can launch a thousand ships? Hahaha. More like a face that only a mother can love. Truth is, the prince isn't handsome at all. The one rumored to be handsome is actually his bestfriend, Lord Ruka Nogi. But you know the male ego. So, he doesn't show his face and the rumor just began."
"Really?" a huge smile crossed Mikan's face, then she began laughing also. "What about the news that the princess of Kamigawa Kingdom fainted when she saw him?"
Tsubasa laughed again. "That was because she was surprised she mistook the prince as the guard."
While the two exchanged stories and theories about the prince, Prince Natsume sat there on the corner fuming at the insults at him that kept on going.
"You idiots," he growled.
Mikan turned her head at him when she heard his voice. "Oh, Tsubasa-niichan. I forgot we have a prince fan boy here," she giggled. "Sorry Natsume-kun, your namesake doesn't seem who he was."
"Oh sorry I forgot you're a Prince Natsume fanboy," Tsubasa guffawed which earned him an angry glare from the prince. All of a sudden he felt heat under his buttocks.
"Yeowwww!!!!!!"
"What happened?" Mikan asked worriedly.
"Eh… n-nothing. T-there's something sharp under me," Tsubasa lied. Maybe he had gone too far seeing how irritated Natsume was. If Mikan wasn't around, he was sure he would end up roasted alive.
-o-
"I've been thinking on a plan so that both of you can escape without forcing me to reveal my disguise," Tsubasa said after they had eaten their food. Mikan and Natsume both turned their attention on him. "I've secretly sent a message to one of my comrades and they're going to take action tomorrow."
"Why the hell tomorrow?" Natsume asked impatiently. "We can leave now and be done with it."
Tsubasa turned a serious look at him. "I'm on an important mission right now and their trust on me is the only thing that I need to hold on. I can't mess this up, and you know that damn well."
He stood up and took their plates. "I believe they're not going back till morning so I'm going to pull this out before they try to harm you both." He smiled gently as he looked at Mikan's worried face and ruffled her hair. "Don't worry, I won't allow them to hurt you." With that, he left the room oblivious to the prince's frown when he saw his affectionate gesture towards the girl.
Mikan turned her head towards Natsume and saw him glaring at her, which she returned back. Then she noticed the bruises on his face. Her expression softened, feeling a little guilty when she threw her shoe at him. She then crawled towards him.
Natsume's eyes narrowed at the girl as she gets closer to him. "What do you want, Polkadots?" he asked in a cold voice.
Mikan just ignored him, and sat in front of him. She reached for the end of her skirt and tore a piece, then dipped it on the water provided by Tsubasa. Then, she leaned closer to Natsume.
Eyes widening, Natsume stiffened as her face leaned closer to him. "Hey, what the hell…?"
"Stop moving around and let me clean your wounds," she said calmly.
Feeling stupid at his little blunder, he grunted. "You don't have to, idiot."
"Thank you," Mikan responded softly.
Natsume's eyes widened. "You're thanking me for calling you an idiot?"
Mikan felt the urge to roll her eyes but calmed herself. At least he had stopped protesting and allowed her continue her task. "No, thank you for protecting me," she said quietly as she continued to clean his face. "I wasn't fully unconscious when I fell on you. So I felt you covering me with your body while they were beating you," she explained gratefully.
Natsume sat still observing the girl in front of him. Hell, he didn't know what came in his mind that he protected her from those thugs. But he got to admire her. She was prideful, but she knows when to bow down. He could tell that she was sincerely grateful. As he sat there doing nothing, while allowing her to clean his bruises, he took the time to finally scrutinize the girl who had been the object of his amusement for some time now. Andou was wrong. The girl isn't pretty… she's beautiful. Though it was severely hidden under that hideous clothing and ridiculous pigtails. She's a teenager already for pete's sake, not some grade school kid. Some girls younger than her are already getting married. But looking at her now, despite her disheveled state, her long brown hair had loosened from their usual pigtails and were now cascaded over her shoulders, revealing a part of that concealed beauty within her. Natsume's eyes traveled from her hair to her eyes, and paused on her lips.
Mikan felt him staring at her and it made her uncomfortable. She looked up at caught his gaze. "What are you staring at?" she asked in an annoyed voice.
A slow smirk crossed Natsume's face. "I was just thinking… our lips had already met twice. But I really never got to taste you."
Mikan gasped as blood came rushing to her face. She smacked the cloth on his face and went back to her area, seething over the chuckle that came from him. "You pervert," she hissed.
Suddenly, the door slammed open and Tsubasa rushed inside. "Damn, they're coming back," Tsubasa said in a panicked voice. He hurriedly went to Natsume and tied his hands. "I'm sorry prince but I have no choice," he whispered. Natsume nodded and calmly leaned against the pillar. Tsubasa closed his eyes as he touched a shadow trying to read the movements outside room by connecting the shadows of different things.
"Shit! There's not much time left," he grumbled as went to Mikan, the grabbed her and forced her to lie down
"Tsubasa nii-chan…!" Mikan gasped in surprise which caught Natsume's attention.
That hurt look didn't go unnoticed by Natsume. "Andou! What the hell are you doing?!"
Tsubasa ignored him as he gave an apologetic look at Mikan. "Shh… trust me on this, Mikan. I need to do this so you'll both live."
He tied Mikan's hands on the pillar ignoring both their protests. Mikan trusted him completely, so what happened next shocked the hell out of her. He tore a piece of Mikan's skirt which made Mikan yelp. He then stuffed the cloth on Mikan's mouth.
"You son of a bitch!" Natsume yelled, a flick of fire glowed in his hands.
Noticing this, Tsubasa turned to him. "Stop it Natsume. Shit! I'm doing this for the both of you!" he yelled back, then turned a pleading look at Mikan.
"Cry! Do anything, think of anything that could make you cry!" Tsubasa said in a hurry.
He began tearing Mikan's clothes, showing half of her breasts, her skirt hiked up to her thighs.
Natsume's eyes burned as he saw what Tsubasa did. "What the hell are you doing Andou?! Get off her!" he shouted, activating his alice but Tsubasa was quick enough and caught his shadow, throwing him off guard.
"I'm pretending to rape her, you idiot!" Tsubasa hissed as he unbuckled his pants hovered himself on top of the struggling Mikan. "Continue to struggle, Mikan," he whispered.
"Get off her you bastard!"
Just then, the door opened and revealed one of the men. He took one look at the furious boy in binds and the girl in ripped clothing whimpering under his comrade and shook his head.
"Stay out of this, Sato," Tsubasa growled at him, showing irritation at the disturbance.
"You really are a bastard, Kail," he grinned and closed the door.
Tsubasa let out a sigh of relief and lifted himself from Mikan. He took off his jacket and covered her. Then he took the cloth from Mikan's mouth.
"I'm sorry Mikan." He untied Mikan's binds and embraced the sobbing girl. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry."
Just then he felt his hair being pulled, releasing his hold of the girl and found himself facing the prince. The next thing happened so fast, and he only felt a hard punch connecting against his cheek
"I'm going to kill you Andou!" Natsume growled as he held Tsubasa's collar. He was about to deliver another punch on his face when Mikan threw herself shielding Tsubasa from Natsume's wrath.
"Stop it Natsume-kun," Mikan pleaded, her face against Tsubasa's chest.
Natsume was dumbfounded as he stared at the pair. Tsubasa smiled sadly as he gathered her in a comforting embrace, then turned to look at Natsume. "Look, the world isn't as simple as you think. If you want to survive this kind of world, you need to think and not let emotions overrule you," he quietly said.
Mikan wiped her tears and released herself from his hold. She clutched the jacket over her torn clothing and looked up to him. "It was necessary, wasn't it?" she whispered.
Surprise was the right word to cross Tsubasa's face as he stared at the girl, then it was replaced by admiration. He was worried that he had traumatized the girl with what he did but she was stronger than he thought. "Yes, it was necessary."
"Then, you have nothing to apologize for," Mikan smiled at him.
Tsubasa smoothed her hair fondly and turned to Natsume. "By the way, nice acting, Natsume-kun."
Natsume gritted his teeth and looked away from them. And he wasn't acting. He couldn't understand what he felt when he saw Andou tearing Mikan's clothes. He felt anger like he had never felt before. He tried to control himself knowing that Andou would never rape Mikan for real but seeing him touch her made him boil with rage. And what infuriate him more was Mikan's reaction. Even after everything Andou did, she still clung to him, trusting him with her life.
'What's with Andou that made her trust him like that?' he thought angrily.
-o-
Happy Valentine's day everyone! Please read & review…
Thanks for everyone who reviewed...
Assassel: (sighs) Cinderella Monogatari is one anime that is hard to find. I tried checking the torrents and I can't find it. I found it in youtube but it's in French (uh, I'm not sure). It was once shown in a local TV station and was dubbed in Tagalog. I loved that version of Cinderella!
callisandra: cute little (?) darling, huh? hahaha! Just joking! Peace pao!
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