Winter Holiday Gone Wrong

Written by The Lonely Serenade

The greatest weakness of most humans is their hesitancy to tell others how much they love them while they're still alive — Orlando A. Battista

Disclaimer : GA and their characters do not belong to me, okay?

Chapter 7 — Unexpected Surprise

It was a chilly morning, and a girl with long auburn hair was calmly sleeping, her mind wandered somewhere that other people couldn't possibly think of. The girl groaned lightly as she felt a weight press on to her body, making her squirm uncomfortably on her bed.

Through her half-open lids, she saw the holy light that was brightening the morning, faint sounds of the birds chirping, which was annoying her, so she buried her head even more.

An attempt to wake Sakura Mikan was never an easy task.

Mikan stretched up again, a shiver ran down her spine at the cold weather; and she squeaked loudly when her blanket was being pulled up by someone. Instantly, her eyes snapped open, glaring dazedly at the person who dared to interrupt her beauty sleep. Yeah right. . .

Visions of the color of crimson splashed into her head and she didn't have to ask who the person was. She knew only one person, probably in the whole universe, who had the color of crimson as their orbs—of course that was an exception for the vampires, anyway, again, the only person who had the color of crimson as their orbs was none other than Hyuuga Natsume.

She felt her heart slumped when her mind clicked in. The guy was already messing with her in the morning.

"Natsume, get out of my room. If you don't, I'll kick your balls and screech or do anything to make you unmovable for a while," her voice was awfully cold and annoyed.

Instead of hearing the usual snorts or scoffs, Mikan found herself blinking at the sight of another pair of crimson orbs, which were slightly bigger than Natsume's.

She done the most usual thing a person do when they found themselves looking at an unfamiliar figure standing on their room.

She screamed.


Okay. She was still sane right? She couldn't be wrong, right? Were her eyes deceiving her? Was that an illusion? No, it couldn't be. The person looked real.

She rubbed her eyes rapidly; shaking her head, slapping her cheeks and did many incoherent things to wake her up from this state of reverie. The first question that came to her mind: Who is she?

The person looked like the exact replica of Natsume. You know, raven hair, crimson eyes, beautiful face. It all fit in. But the person standing in front of her was a female!

A freakin' female.

Did Natsume have a twin or something?

Nah—that was impossible. She recalled that Ruka had told her once that Natsume only has a little sis—

. . . . Wait a minute. Could she be Natsume's little sister? Aoi? Somehow, she did look like her. But if she was not, then Mikan herself must've been having some demented dreams.

Lucky for her, the female person giggled, and she felt relieved knowing that she was not having some demented dreams.

When she was going to approach the still giggling girl, she didn't see the blanket that was carelessly sprawling on the ground. The blanket was the innocent villain, and Mikan herself was the victim of such innocence.

She tripped.

Now she was sure that the giggles turned into a series of maniacal laughter; but she didn't care. Mikan laughed along with the person. Heck, she just made a fool of herself in front of a stranger that she didn't know, and the stranger could be Natsume's sister.

"I'm sorry; people tend to tease me for my clumsiness." Mikan started a conversation.

The stranger stopped laughing and smiled sweetly; extending her hands to help Mikan stand from the cold floor. "That's alright; your clumsiness fits your cute face. I'm happy that I could finally talk to you."

Mikan raised her brows. "Do I know you?"

The person shook her head. "No, but I hear you a lot from the letters that Ru-chan sent to me."

"Ru-chan?"

"Yes, by the way, my name is A—"

"Aoi!"

Both head turned to the speaker and Mikan was partially dumbfounded. Now she was having doubts whether she was having a dream or not. What in the world was Ruka doing here? She thought Ruka had gone to Hokkaido? What was it about again? Oh yeah, to pick up something important.

Ruka was not alone; a familiar figure was there too.

"Ruka-kun and Tono. What're you doing here?" Mikan asked wryly.

Ruka gulped whilst Tono offered her his so called charming smile. "Well, Mikan. Meet Hyuuga Aoi, Natsume's—"

"My little sister, polkadots." A husky voice spoke from behind Ruka.

Thus, Mikan rolled her eyes and stated dryly. "Oh, hello Natsume."

Natsume smirked. "What's with the long face, polka?"


Though Aoi was a constant victim of Natsume's fists, she loved her older brother dearly. He cared for her; she knows that. He hushed other boys away from her; she knew that. But she never knew that his brother has actually grew and harbored feelings for another girl. Never in her whole life had she seen Natsume with a playful expression like that. She couldn't actually blame him for that.

Most of the girls on their school was his fans. The other parts were those lesbians or gothic girls.

She found the girl in front of her interesting. She was beautiful, in spite of being on her pyjamas, Sakura Mikan was indeed charming, and she deserved to be with her brother more than anyone did.

"So, can I call you Mikan-chan?"

They were sitting on the sofa to clear all the confusions and misunderstandings that were lingering before.

Mikan, in response, beamed at her. "Of course, in return, may I call you Aoi-chan?"

Aoi clasped her hands in agreement, squealing like a hyena while hugging her brother's arms. "Natsume, you never told me that you had such a wonderful friend! I'm not surprised that Ru-chan's been blabbering all about her in the letters he sent!"

This statement made Mikan blush.

Natsume narrowed his eyes. "Why'd I bother to tell you about her? She's just a stupid idiot who likes to show her panties."

Mikan glared. "You're the one who peeks at me, don't accuse other people for your mischief, jerk!"

Aoi grinned at the pair. They had chemistry between them after all. "Don't worry Mikan-chan. That's one of Natsume's traits to show his affection by teasing you."

This time Natsume glared at her. "Shut it Aoi. I've had enough headaches today, and I don't need two bubbly idiots to make it worse."

"You've never been sick, you always told me that." Aoi pointed out.

Mikan grinned mischievously. It seemed she had something to make fun of him. "Oh, you're wrong Aoi-chan. Natsume was having a fever yesterday and a high one too. Good thing I was there to help him."

Natsume rolled his eyes. "It was hardly called helping. You just made my fever worse; it was thanks to my immunes that I was able to cure faster. So don't flatter yourself."

"Oh, don't worry. I am flattered."

Natsume was cursing wonderfully at his brain on how her goody goody two shoes act dispersed so quickly. He was influencing her with his smug attitude, and he didn't like it if she applied it to him. It was damn cunning. Everything that he had said earlier looked so amusing in her eyes.

"So, what're you doing here, Aoi?" he purposely changed the topic.

Aoi laughed. "Are getting you old, Natsume? It's November, and one week from now, it'll be your birthday!" she exclaimed, but then split her eyes in mockery. "Don't tell me you actually forgot about your own birthday?"

Natsume was a man with full of pride. "Of course I remember." Smooth lie.

Mikan laid down on the couch and said with derision, "Oh, so you're having a birthday," she didn't look like she was excited, Natsume noted that himself.

"What? Planning on giving me some birthday presents?"

Mikan snorted. "As if, in your dreams, pervert."

Aoi was having a mental battle on her mind; the expression on her brother's face was priceless. She should take a picture of him now secretly, then she'd send it to their Mom. It'd be fun; but she'd have to pay the price of a fist from Natsume if he ever found out.

"Well, aren't you guys lovely?"

Natsume bristled. "Sure, we are, aren't we?"

"Your sarcasm was never amusing to me, pervert."

"You never wanted to admit it right, Sakura."

Aoi cleared her throat. "Anyway, I'm going to Ru-chan to talk about something. You guys have fun!"

She escaped from the still glaring couple. Pfft, why can't they just admit that they're in love with each other? Natsume's affection was pretty obvious, but it seems that Mikan had a long way to go before realizing that her brother was smitten with her. She sighed desperately.

Aoi saw Ruka in the kitchen, washing the dishes and she decided to help him. "Hey Aoi," Ruka greeted her.

"Hey, Ru-chan."

He heard the tone of her reply. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Aoi smiled. "No, nothing. I'm just curious about Natsume and Mikan's relationship. Are they always fighting like that?"

Ruka tensed. "Yes, did you notice it too?"

"Notice what?"

She didn't know. Ruka shook his head, "Never mind, I was just talking to myself."

Aoi was getting suspicious. "Do you love Mikan-chan?"

Target locked. "Of course not, she's just a friend. Besides, I think Natsume loves her." That's why I decided to step back.

"Oh."


Their glaring contest went on, even after Aoi had gone to the kitchen, none of them made another move from their seat. Both of their eyes were locked deeply at the other. Both companies hadn't given up yet. Not for this matter. Mikan finally decided to break up their eye contact. She could ever be herself whenever she looked into Natsume's eyes.

"Stop looking at me, Hyuuga."

This time Natsume hissed, "I thought we were over with surnames calling?"

Mikan laughed sarcastically. "Oh really? Why should I call you that, Hyuuga?"

"It's Natsume, not Hyuuga." His breath hitched. "You call Aoi by her first name when you just met her, so what's the difference with me?"

"She is a girl."

"And I'm a boy."

Mikan gestured her position and sighed. She had a feeling that this conversation was getting long. Pretty much, the act she revealed was unnecessary. But she was just disappointed. She thought that after that bonding they shared when she treated him, it was a sign that he wanted to open up more to her. He was the one who started it. Then he'd shoo her away like usual.

"Why didn't you even bother to tell me that your birthday was getting closer and closer? It seems that you haven't trusted me enough to even tell me your birthday. So why should I even bother to call you 'that'?"

Natsume smirked. So that's why she was angry.

"Because you'll blubber and make a big deal about it, just like little Aoi did."

Mikan fluttered. "I won't."

Natsume looked at her again.

"Fine, maybe I will!" she hissed, annoyed. "But that's just normal right? It is a birthday! An occasion that happens only once a year! So of course I'll make a deal about it!"

Natsume sighed. "You don't have to; besides, I think Aoi was planning something for me. You could join her if you want to."

Mikan's eyes brighten. "Really? I can?"

Natsume chuckled, surprisingly enough. "You do care about me after all. So, what are you going to give me for my birthday?"

"You're so cocky."

"But that's what makes me charming."

Mikan frowned. "Yeah, right. Reeeeaally charming."

"So, are we okay?" he smirked at her reaction.

Natsume was calling out a peace offering. It was pretty much unusual. Who knows if what was behind the peace offering was something unexpected.

But he was damn wrong about how her reaction would be. He thought that she'd shout at him or do anything that her little mind could think of, but no. Back again, he cursed fate for being such a bitch, as to make her his temptation. That was not his fault, it was fate's.

But he couldn't just blame fate for that.

He was supposed to blame her for this. Her smile was intoxicating, alluring him to his deepest temptation. Maybe, fate was being an angel because fate actually thought that Natsume deserved someone who had a smile like her. Her smile did manage to throw his scowl away. Maybe, he really needed her smile more often.

But couldn't she just notice that her smile was dangerous and infectious?

He sighed, raking his raven hair in salvation. Other boys might launch at her for showing such a smile, probably, they'd have devoured her lips already. But Natsume was different, he had self control. Who knows, that self control might actually snap sooner than he thought. No wonder Ryuki was so protective of her sister.

"Come here, polkadots."

Mikan glared. "Why, Natsume?"

Natsume actually showed her a little smile this time. She was calling him Natsume. "Fine, I'll go over there."

They were seated across each other.

"You know that opposites attract right?"

Mikan laughed. Beautiful. "What's with the corny line, Natsume?"

But her words soon turned into a yelp because Natsume's strong hands grab her waist, held her body and pulled her into a hug. Natsume was hugging her. He was hugging her instead of doing some perverted antics at her. She didn't care if his hands were embracing her so tightly that could put up into crushing; she just never felt Natsume act gentle like this. "So if I do something like this to you, my reasons are that," Natsume muttered.

"That?" Mikan whispered shyly. She was sure that her blushing face appeared again. That stupid jerk for making her blush again!

"Opposites attract." He answered.

"I know," she was smiling again. She never thought that Natsume could actually make her smile. All this time, she just thought of him as her arch nemesis. She never did look at him as something more. She'd have to reconsider that now. "Natsume."

He pulled away, and then frowned. "Why are you smiling?"

"Because I realized that you're not a jerk."

He scoffed. "Just make sure that you don't show that smile of yours to someone else."

Mikan made no protests for that. "I just don't smile to everyone."

That line alone made Natsume freeze, before he sighed in desperation. He was pretty sure that she was testing his level of sanity. "That'll do it."


"Are you sure that they're not dating Ru-chan?"

Aoi was dumbfounded by the scene that was playing in front of her. Ruka was amazed himself. Natsume, the sly fox. "I never knew about that either Aoi."

"A rather unexpected surprise," Ruka sighed. "If they're able to act honest, just then, maybe one of them will make a move."

"Then why don't we act as a cupid?"

Ruka smiled at Aoi's honest question. "Let's try then Aoi. Be a patient cupid, at that. Natsume was never the one who was honest in revealing his emotions."

"Oh don't worry Ru-chan," she grinned slyly. "I'm going to be the most patient and understanding cupid you've ever seen."


A/N: Well, I'm really sorry for the short chapter. I'm supposed to update this story one week ago, but my mid-terms was postponed until Wednesday. So yeah, I'm sorry if this was not much. But I was really touched that you guys are willing to wait. I promise I'll try to update even faster from now on.

Special thanks for reading this story. Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks for being an awesome reader! Uhh, really, please do review! :)

The Lonely Serenade