Love on the Wheelchair

7th Wheel

-2006-

Mikan's eyes brightened at the sight of Natsume heading towards the school gates. She waved goodbye to Hotaru and pushed her wheelchair forward, wanting to join Natsume for a quick chat before going home. She knew she had not been talking much to him lately because she was always talking to Hotaru, and she felt bad about it. She hoped that he would not be angry although she knew he would be.

"Natsume!" she called out to him, but he still continued to move.

"Natsume!" she called again.

However, he still did not respond to her. Mikan furrowed her eyebrows, feeling guilty for making him so upset with her. She sped up, mentally telling herself that she could beat that hundred kilogram motor wheelchair with her arm strength.

Or maybe not, obviously.

He suddenly left the main walking path and went into the dark grey area with white lines on it - the carpark. Mikan panicked. How could he not care about his safety? She knew that crossing the carpark is the shortcut to the school gates, but she would not expect Natsume to daringly take this shortcut when he was unlike other students who could watch out for cars behind them and run for their lives if they saw one. Without thinking, she changed lane and entered the carpark too. As she followed him quickly, she kept trying her best to look behind to check for incoming cars. It was difficult to do so due to her disability but at least she knew that he was safe from danger.

Just then, she caught sight of Natsume's father coming out of his car which he had just stopped outside the main gates. He stared at his son, just as horrified as her when she first saw him doing that earlier. His eyes darted to the left and his jaw fell. As he stared back at his son, he began to run towards him as fast as he could. At first, Mikan was not sure what made him even more horrified until she saw something appeared from a corner. It was a blind spot.

"Natsume! Move away!" both his father and Mikan shouted at the same time.

Finally, Natsume stopped and turned his head a little. He could not see her because of his limitation but she knew he had finally noticed her. That was no longer the point. The car was coming and Natsume was going to be hit at this rate. Mikan sped up once more, eyes focusing on her best friend. The wind brushed roughly against her skin, the world became thin steaks of bright yet blurry lines, the loud horn blasted and held. This instance reminded her when she was an athlete years ago, doing the beep-test for warm up before the start of every fencing session. Her long slim legs would carry her fast and quick. At that time, she had always wondered if her male schoolmate with SMA had ever experienced the joy of moving around in running speed.

Her eyes were fixated on Natsume, envisioning the possibility of getting him out of the car's way safe and sound. His father would never reach there on time to save Natsume. Even if he did, he would be hit either. The only person who could save him was her. Only her.

From metres to centimetres. From centimetres to millimetres. She moved so quickly against time and within seconds, she rammed her wheelchair against the wheelchair which weighed almost two times more than hers. Natsume felt himself being thrown forward but was luckily restrained by the two straps of belt around him. Before he knew it, he was already moving towards his panicking father... slowly.

Then, he heard a loud 'bam', followed by a sharp cry of his name behind him. At this moment, his heart stopped for the longest time ever.

Time is selfish. It will never stop during the worst events ever. It can never rewind for those people who really need it to change their lives for good. It will never slow down for anyone or anything. Time just runs, like some famous scientists suggested, in the speed of light. However, only for Mikan, time was suddenly frozen.

Once again.

-:-:-:-

-2000-

"How's your day, Son?"

Natsume looked at his father who was sitting at the opposite side of the table. His thoughts were jumbled up due to an exciting reason. He slowly put his spoon into his bowl of rice and let out of soft hum. Upon seeing Natsume thinking hard about his day, the father smiled warmly.

"You know, Dad, I met this girl today."

"Oh! A girl!" his father exclaimed loudly. "And yeah?"

"She pushed my wheelchair up the ramp," Natsume continued.

His father stared at him silently for a moment before a breathy 'oh' escaped from his mouth. Even though Natsume did not express himself well, he knew that Natsume was happy that someone helped him in school. A simple gesture could really make someone's day.

"Did you thank her after that?" his father asked with a smile, hoping that he did because he was the type who would keep quiet when he became shy.

Natsume bit his lower lip and looked away. The older man's smile was instantly wiped off. It was so obvious that he did not thank the girl and it occurred to him that Natsume had never learnt to thank others despite how many times he had reprimanded him.

"That's rude, Natsume."

Natsume looked at his father meekly and then looked away again. "I did."

"Did what?"

Natsume continued in a softer voice, "Thank her."

"Oh, really?"

"Softly," Natsume mumbled as he pressed his forefinger and thumb together to emphasise how soft he thanked her.

However, when he saw the frown on his father's forehead, Natsume knitted his eyebrows too and bit his lower lip again.

"Could she hear you?"

"Eh... No?" Natsume replied, but it came out more like a question instead.

"You are too soft. Thank her again next time when you see her," his father instructed sternly. "Give your thanks sincerely. Not some squeaky thanks which others can't hear. That's no longer a thank you."

Natsume hung his head low and gave a slight nod. He felt wronged because he did not mean to thank her insincerely. He was so embarrassed to say anything. She had made him feel and witness something special which he would never had the chance to do so.

The feeling of running and moving so rapidly.

A small smile plastered on his face as he replayed the memory of his rapid vision and the sound of her joyous laughter. She was not one of the better-grades students in their cohort, neither was she the prettiest girl in the school. She was like any other girls in twin tails, studying very hard for her exams and practicing fencing every day. However, she was so special to him, and so beautiful in her own way. Every greeting and word she had spoken to him was little precious treasure which he knew that he would keep in his heart for life. The words might not matter to her, but they did for him.

The following day, he was set to thank her loudly and clearly. He had mentally rehearsed the scene of how to say a proper thank you without being seen as too cold and forced. He knew that he had the tendency to maintain a straight face while thanking people... softly. It was not because he was aloof and cold to others, but he was in fact too tense to even blink while saying a word of thanks to others. He was not the type who stuttered a lot under social pressure or tense situation. Instead, his mouth would always decide to keep his lips seal tight and his eyes would then stare hard at the person in front of him. If not, he would mutter a soft thank you which could not be even heard by others before moving away far from the person. Anyone would obviously think that he was either rude or cold towards him or her.

As he entered the gymnasium, he saw students in white and black robe with a protective armour covering their bodies. They were sitting in a formation of a ring, watching a fencing match between two students. Both were wearing helmets which framed their head and had wires before their faces. Just by looking at the dark brown eyes behind the set of wires and a small hazel brown ponytail sticking out of the helmet, Natsume immediately knew that one of the sparring members was Mikan.

Despite how warm and nice Mikan was, she was a skillful fighter whose aim to beat her opponent within seconds the moment she entered into her fighting stance with her sword. Her movements were graceful and fast, dodging every attack and striking her opponent with her sword with precision. She hopped, feet gliding across the floor and made all kinds of gentle small steps which made her look as if she was dancing. All Natsume could do while admiring her 'dance' was just watching with wide eyes which were no doubt filled with fascination and awe.

"Hu-ah!" Mikan suddenly shouted in a surprisingly strong low voice and with a steady strike, her opponent's sword flew out of her hands and landed a few metres away from them.

Appalled to see her sword had left her grip, her opponent turned her head towards the direction where her sword lay. Taking this chance to make a second attack, Mikan brought her own sword forward swiftly and pressed the tip against her opponent's front armour as gentle as possible. Then, a whistle was blown and just like that, the spar ended so quickly. The two fencers removed their helmets and bowed to each other before making their way to the side of the gymnasium to have a good rest while watching the others spar. Seeing Mikan take a seat on a bench without anyone around her, Natsume decided to approach her with all the courage he could muster. Truthfully, he was nervous and he was going to say thank you to a girl whom he had seldom talked to.

He moved closer to Mikan slowly. Even though he was so sure that he purposely ran on slow motor, the distance between him and her seemed to narrow too quickly, worsening his anxiety in the process.

"Hyuuga?"

It was totally unexpected. He did not really expect himself to be caught on by her that early. He wanted to be the one calling out to her but in the end, she was always the one calling out to him no matter how far or near she was from him. Her bright brown eyes were staring straight into his with pure astonishment and curiosity. For a moment, he felt so uncool and looked away with a slight frown.

"I'm surprised, Hyuuga. Did you come to see us spar?" he could hear her cheerful voice ringing into his ears.

He stole a glance at her and he could clearly see her anticipation for his answer on her face. She was smiling brightly at him like always, as if she held no regard to his rudeness towards her all these while. He shifted his gaze away from her again and unconsciously stuck out his lower lip as he thought about how to break the 'thank you' words in a less abrupt manner and cooler way.

"Are you all right?" she asked Natsume worriedly as she stood up and took a few steps towards him.

Natsume turned his head back to the front and immediately felt the urge to make a reverse. Just right in front in him, Mikan knelt on the ground and took out a small packet of napkins from her side pocket. She pulled out a piece of napkin and folded it into half.

"I'm sorry..."

Natsume frowned harder. Why was she apologising?

"... for not noticing you earlier."

What?

Before he knew what was happening, Mikan pressed the napkin against his forehead and gently moved it across his forehead and down the left side of his face to his chin.

"You are perspiring so much and you look so pale. You must have been here for quite long," she continued to mumble as she cleaned off the small beads of perspiration at the other side of his face.

She was wrong, he mentally corrected. He had come all the way to the gymnasium and came in at least three minutes before the spar had ended. He did not really spend so long in the enclosed building. More like the heat outside was the reason why he looked so pathetic. He raised his hand a little and touched her wrist which was hovering in front of his face. It was his first time touching a girl and he never knew how cold her wrist was. Either his hand was very warm or Mikan's body mechanism made her lose too much heat from her perspiration as well. Well, her robe had many large wet spots around her collar and chest areas, and her wrist was no doubt sticky. Natsume made a small smile which went unnoticeable to the girl in front of him. He wished time could be frozen right then so that he could hold onto her cold hand a little longer.

Surprised by his touch, Mikan dropped her gaze to Natsume's eye level and paused whatever she was doing. Even though his hand was small and thin, his touch was very warm. The heat from his skin seemed to seep into her pores, warming her wrist and slowly rippled to the tip of her fingers and even to her heart. Natsume finally regarded her presence after so long. He was always so collected and did not really interact with her despite how much she tried to talk to him. The growing warmth in her heart caused her to beam at him again and forget that she had to continue to wipe his perspiration off his face.

Without warning, Natsume pulled her hand away from his face, earning a confused stare from the brunette in front of him.

"Hyuuga, I..." Mikan's voice quivered and she immediately withdrew her hand. "I'm sorry! I should have respected your space... I didn't mean to touch you so casually! I'm sorry!"

Natsume was stunned and only a lame syllable escaped his lips, "Ah..."

He did not mean to make her so flustered and keep apologising to him for no reason. All he wanted was to look at her face and directly tell her that he was grateful and thankful for the experience the day before. He thought it was a great atmosphere to do so and get it done with smoothly. But it appeared that his actions had brought about a lot of misunderstanding. It had always been like this anyway. It hurt him to see Mikan looking upset because of his misunderstood action. She was looking down, fidgeting with her fingers while the crushed napkin locked between her thumb and palm. She looked terribly dejected as if he had just said something bad to her.

"Hey," he managed to find his voice despite his nervousness as he stared at her with a straight face. "Thanks..."

Surprised, Mikan's eyes widened and she looked up at him. As if an automatic response to her intense stare, Natsume turned his head to the side and frowned when he felt his heart race.

"It's nothing much. I just helped you to wipe your sweat away," she said with a soft laugh. "Really... I was..."

"For both yesterday and today..." he interrupted her, still looking away from her. "Thanks."

With that, he reversed and made a deep turn to his right till his back was facing her. He wondered what kind of face she would be making. Would she be too surprised that he still remembered what she had done to him? Would she find him strange? Would she misunderstand him again? He wanted to turn his wheelchair and take a good look at her face before making his way out of the gymnasium. But he was afraid to know the kind of face she would be giving him.

Just then, he heard her voice, "You're welcome!"

Upon hearing her voice, he smirked to himself. He could clearly see her radiant smile in his mind and that was enough to relief him. He had said his thanks and he had received something more satisfying than he could ever imagine.

Happiness.

-:-:-:-

-2006-

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" his mother cried as she covered her tear-stained face with her hands.

"Dear, please," his father comforted her, wrapping his arms around her. "It is nobody's fault. The driver couldn't see us and..."

"I don't know what to say anymore!" his mother cried even louder, shaking her head hysterically. "Why has it to be her? Her again?! Why!"

"But she jumped in."

His mother finally removed her hands from her face and glared at her husband.

"That's why," she said in a soft voice. "She should hate us. Hate me for being so mean. What do I get now? Not hate. But this!"

His mother's face fell into her hands again and began sobbing away while murmuring something behind her palms. His father sighed and tightened his embrace around his wife, masking his guilt and remorse with a poker-face. Everything seemed to go back in time when the couple were desperately hoping that their son would be alive after suffering from a respiratory attack previously. The only difference this time was not their son in the operation room; Natsume was sitting in his wheelchair just outside the glass sliding entrance door of the operation theatre, with a pair of trembling arms and pale face.

Instead, the one who was lying inside the theatre was his saviour, the one who had saved him from the car accident.

Finally, after three hours, the red light turned off and a few surgeons and nurses walked out of the operation theatre. He could see bloodstains on the surgeons' coats and the sight of the fresh red blood made him dizzy and break inside. They were her blood and he had caused her blood to spill. He moved towards the surgeons and blocked their way. His parents who was seated behind him all these while rushed towards the surgeons as well and began demanding for his saviour's condition. The following response of a surgeon was devastating. The surgeon with his mask on closed his eyes and hesitantly shook his head. He bowed to the Hyuuga family and his medical team behind him put their hands by their sides and lowered their heads.

Seeing this, it broke his heart even more but he was too devastated to even cry out her name in pain. He just remained still and let time slipped through his fingers as the head surgeon pulled his mask down and revealed the result of Mikan's operation.

Hello everyone! As promised, this chapter is updated on time! Yay :D
The next chapter will be the final chapter and it will be updated next week. Do keep a lookout for it. :)

Thank you, Anilissa, for reviewing the previous chapter. Here's the reply to your review: Instead of Hotaru thinking that Natsume is shady, the chemistry between Hotaru and Natsume doesn't seem to work quite well here because they are kinda reserved. They need someone to help them bond together. However, it is more like Natsume being the one who thinks Hotaru is a suspicious person. Haha

And thank you to those who have also favourited and followed this story!

- Crimson Knights