Hellooooo lovely readers :) I'm so glad about all the feedback I've gotten these past few days and were quite surprised by some of them too haha. I've already started my senior year in high school too! Whoop whoop! I'm so very thankful that you've guys have been continuing to read this story and hope you'll stick with it til the end whether you like it or not ;) Happy reading!
Disclaimer: The plot is mine! ALLLL MIINE! Muahahahahahaha! :)
Ch. 7
The summer went by in a blink of an eye for Mikan. Tomorrow she would have to go to her school and retrieve her schedule, locker, and the such. Tomorrow, everyone would see the effort and work Mikan had put herself through the entire three months of the vacation. It was a given she would be a nervous wreck the day before. She didn't need to wear her school uniform since there were a few weeks to go before school actually started. Before, Mikan would wear a sweater and sweats even though it was hot. If it was hot enough to cause a heat stroke, Mikan would settle for shorts and a big T-shirt.
Now that she had lost 52 lbs, she could wear anything her heart desired, but confidence was what Mikan greatly lacked. Beside the coaching, Misaki had helped Mikan with her wardrobe. Misaki didn't hide her disgust in Mikan's fashion sense when ridding Mikan's closet from the ridiculous outfits. "Why is do you own a lot of sweaters?" Misaki questioned. "Last time I checked, Winter wasn't an all-around season."
Misaki took Mikan and spent their money's worth bargaining at thrift stores and Targets, choosing carefully what would look good on Mikan and the style Mikan suits best.
"Don't hide your body anymore. Show them your beauty Girly!" Misaki slapped Mikan's shoulder.
Nervously scanning her newly filled closet, Mikan paced and paced, "Can't I just go there when everyone else leaves?" she said to herself. Mikan got even more anxious as the night was getting closer to becoming morning. "That jerk." she muttered, thinking back to Natsume's comment.
She was mentally cursing him, when her phone started ringing. "Hello?" she drawled but after hearing the voice on the other end, she immediately sat up. "Hello sir."
The other end sounded gruff as he spoke. "I'm fine, Grandfather but what brings you to call me so late?" Mikan replied sounding a bit robotic. "I've been busy this summer so I couldn't-" her Grandfather cut her off.
"I'm sorry but that-" he cut her off again. "Grandfather, there is no need for that. I assure you I didn't forget you. Yes I'll visit you in Osaka the next ti—week. I'll visit you next week sir. Goodnight to you too." Mikan flipped her phone shut, heaving a sigh as she tossed her phone somewhere on her bed. Her grandfather on her father's side was a little strict. Well not a little but a lot. In his time, he was a magnificent sumo wrestler and after slamming into other big, gruff guys, his voice box was somewhat damaged. He wasn't fond of Mikan's mother, since her mother and father eloped causing the legacy of sumo wrestling in the family to stop at one generation. Some time after Mikan's dad passed away, Grandfather had blamed Mikan's mother for his accident. Mikan being the only child her father has, Grandfather took a liking to her and tried training her to become a female sumo wrestler. All went wrong once Mikan had broke a bone causing Grandfather to become furious at her and called her weak. She closed her eyes, an ocean of thoughts flowing through her mind.
;p
"What the hell?" Were Hotaru's first words once she set her eyes on the new Mikan in front of her. Mikan gave off a nervous laugh, looking down at her outfit. She was wearing a maroon baseball tee, with blue straight cut jeans and low top converse. Her auburn hair was tied up since she didn't know what to do with it. It was a simple outfit indeed, but it showed the curves Mikan had gotten from her weight loss. With her hair tied up, one can notice Mikan's newly defined jaw line under her rosy cheeks. "Do I look weird?" Mikan asked, scratching her left cheek. A habit she does when she's nervous and/or embarrassed.
Hotaru scanned Mikan atleast thrice before replying, "You look different but you're still the idiotic girl that you are. I approve." Hotaru continued, crossing her head and nodding.
"I don't know whether that was a compliment or an insult, but thank you Hotaru." She hugged her friend, "Atleast someone appreciates the way I look." Mikan grumbled to herself.
"What'd you say?" Hotaru asked.
"Nothing." Mikan quickly replied. Hotaru eyed her warily, having an idea whom she might be talking about.
The two friends walked around the school grounds, dealing with getting their pictures taken for their Ids, turning in registration forms, finding their lockers, and lastly getting their schedules.
"Hey Hotaru!" A quirky voice yelled. The two girls turned around to face a smiley Anna. "Oh, hello." she said courteously to Mikan before turning to Hotaru. "Hotaru, where's Mikan? I haven't seen her all day!" When they didn't respond, Anna looked back and forth at the two girls, doing a double take at Mikan. "Woah, what the. Mikan? Holy shit!"
"Nice choice of words Anna." Hotaru replied sarcastically as Mikan giggled, blushing. "Mikan you look hot!" Anna said.
After a fun chat, they waved bye to Anna before moving on to pick up their schedules. "In the old cafeteria? That's too-ow!" Hotaru jabbed an elbow at Mikan's rib cage, "What was that for?" She rubbed the pain, feeling a bruise forming. "I don't think that was-"
"Shut up you idiot, it's Hyuuga." Hotaru barely got to finish her sentence before Mikan managed then failed, but tried again and successfully dragged Hotaru in the other direction. That Hotaru is one steady rock.
"Let go before I rip your arm from your arm socket. What the hell is going on?" Hotaru demanded an explanation. Mikan took a deep breath in, "Natsume was being a jerk and I don't want to see him that's all."
Hotaru arched an eyebrow, "Don't be childish."
"He said he liked me better..fat. Is that a insult?" Mikan sincerely asked.
"Moron."
"Well, is it?" she asked again.
"Ask him yourself if you want an answer. That's how it works now a days, if you want to know then you have to ask him yourself." Hotaru started walking towards the old cafeteria.
;p
"What was that?" Ruka asked, looking over his and Natsume's schedule. "She totally ignored you! What'd you do now?"
"Don't want to talk about it." Natsume simply replied. The day was hot and long, after seeing Mikan trying to ignore him, it'd put his mood on a more worse level. "Why's it so fuckin' hot?" he yelled in frustration.
"Maybe cos it's still summer? Dude, I swear sometimes I just want to smack some sense into you." Ruka commented earning a glare from his friend, "But I won't cos you know, you're kind of scary."
;p
The rest of Mikan's day was spent with Hotaru. Boring meetings with clients who would turn on the charm and vow some sort of big business deal if Hotaru was to wed them. Yawn. "Hotaru, how do you stand doing this all day?" Mikan slouched in her rolling chair.
"Sit up straight and stop complaining. Are you trying to embarrass me and make me lose millions?" Hotaru retorted making Mikan immediately sit up; the wrath of Hotaru is something one should not tamper with.
It was finally lunch time and time to bring up the elephant in the room. "What's the deal with you and Hyuuga?" Hotaru asked, scooping up a spoonful of crab roe. Mikan continued with her caesar salad, trying to put her thoughts into words. "Well. You know. It's. It's complicated." she finally said in between bites. Mikan didn't want to bother with her puppy crush on Natsume anymore. "He's with Sumire now anyway, so it doesn't matter how I feel about him."
Hotaru's eyebrow arched, "And how is it you feel about him Mikan? Elaborate."
"How I feel? Just a little crush." Another bite of green. "Well I'm sure it's only a little, cos I've known him for almost my whole life! It'd be weird if I didn't not like him. Plus how can you not like his dimple? He's not ugly either, only his personality, but he could be nice at times. Maybe not. There are times though, just really really rare. I'm starting to babble but I can't help it cos not only is my dimple fetish taking over but you've seen that little sparkle in his eye whenever he genuinely laughs right?" Mikan paused for a reaction from Hotaru. "Say something Hotaru. I do not like the guy, if I did then I'd know it. It's just a tiny crush and you know how those go. I'm totally over it. Oh my gosh, don't look at me like that. Why are you smiling?"
Hotaru took another bite of her crab roe, "You've fallen for Hyuuga." Mikan looked down at her food in disbelief, "No way."
"So you just love his dimple and sparkly eyes?" Hotaru dabbed at the corners of her mouth with her napkin. Mikan didn't know how to respond.
;p
It seemed as though it was yesterday Mikan was talking to Hotaru about her obsession with Natsume's dimple and yet here she was, standing in front of her school. Her peers walked by, some wouldn't look at her and some of them ogled her. She sighed before walking towards the grand building as the first bell rang.
Walking into class, she felt herself breathing again when she didn't see Natsume anywhere. "Mikan!" a hand waved her over.
"Hi Koko! How was your summer?" Mikan asked, sitting down next to him. "It was alright but damn Mikan. Let's talk about you and your rockin' new bod!" Koko smiled, giving her a thumbs up.
Mikan smiled, "Not much to talk about, I only lost a couple pounds."
"Don't be so modest Mikan. You lost weight! How does it feel?" he lightly slapped her shoulder. Mikan giggled, "Stop acting like I won a prize Koko. Anyone can lose weight if they put their mind to it." With Koko in her first class, time went swimmingly.
"Have you talked to Natsume lately?" Koko asked during break.
"No why? Is he being ever so broody again?" she asked, stretching. "Oh. Maybe that's why he was so mad." Koko mumbled.
"Why would he be mad?" Mikan asked, catching what he sed. "It's not my place to talk about that." he replied.
"Then you shouldn't have mentioned it in the first place." Mikan retorted. "Why would he be mad? Mad at what?" she kept asking. Koko still wouldn't say anything so Mikan dropped it, her mood turned sour.
;p
Mikan walked around the campus, hands in her pocket, thinking about what Koko had sed earlier. "What reason would he be so mad about? That annoying jerk." she mumbled to herself. She walked over to the garden, carefully sitting on the bench. Staring at the blooming colors, Mikan's mind went blank as she sat in peace. "What are you doing?" Natsume's voice rung her out of her stupor. Mikan leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. "Resting." she replied.
Natsume sat down next to her, turning his head to look at her. Mikan's eyes were still closed, her hands folded into her lap. After a few minutes, "About what I sed earlier..about saying you looked better before," he paused before continuing, "I didn't mean it in that way. I guess I wasn't used to seeing you look like those girls who were desperate for attention. How you looked like before made you unique, it made you look like you." Natsume turned to look at her again, waiting for a response. "Say something. I feel stupid talking to myself."
Mikan hesitated before slowly opening her eyes. She thought back to what Hotaru said 'You've fallen for Hyuuga.' Mikan sat up, looking at Natsume's face with determined eyes. Her eyes traced every feature on his face when Natsume turned to look at her once more. Her heart was at it again. Pumping and swelling abnormally as she stared into Natsume's blazed eyes, searching for that sparkle. "Do you like me or hate me?" Mikan finally asked.
Natsume's stoic face betrayed him as he was startled to hear Mikan say those words. He didn't say a word for a few seconds as he still couldn't process the situation. "Am I the only one who feels this way? When we're together, when our eyes meet, it make my heart beat faster. Am I the only one...who feels this way?" Mikan continued, the butterflies were dancing in her stomach, the words spewing out of her mouth.
In that split second of dancing butterflies and silence, Natsume leaned forward his face inching towards Mikan's face. He stopped, their lips two centimeters apart. "Does this answer anything?" he asked.
Mikan blinked, whispering a quick no before closing the gap between their lips. The adrenaline burned through Mikan's veins. A different kind of burn as when she was working out. This burn didn't ache any part of her body, but intensified it even more. Explosion upon explosion of butterflies making way into her entire body. Their lips moved slow and passionate, making Mikan quiver at the touch of Natsume's hand caressing her face.
Mikan suddenly broke from his lips and stood up as she put her hand over her heart. Her breath was becoming rapid and pained. Natsume stood up too, confusion painted all over his face. Mikan turned and rushed out of the garden, patting her chest as she tried to regain her breathing. "Crap." she said.
Phew! Didn't see that coming huh? Haha. Til next time! :)
