Wow! It's out on time! I'm proud. Did anyone check my profile because I kept it up to date for you guys :D
Oh, and I'm now officially a Beta! Yay :D I'm doing two jobs so busy already :)
I hope you like this next chapter of Rewind. Oh and to avoid confusion, every pagebreak is a change in POV.
Chapter 8: She Was Amazing; Natsume Opens Up
~Flashback~
Ichigo had met up with Yuri after visiting Narumi for a uniform. Thankfully, she didn't question what Ichigo was wearing. She merely took a look at it and seemingly shrugged it off. Ichigo guessed that she really had gotten used to her strange antics. After a brief greeting, Yuri beckoned her to begin their walk to the dorms.
They were nearing an intersection in the road, where it forked. One path lead to the left and the other straight ahead. As the intersection drew nearer, Yuri raised her head up thoughtfully all of a sudden. Ichigo looked at her curiously, but she shook her head at the sky, smiling slightly. She then turned to smile at Ichigo, which was pleasant but rather unexpected.
Yuri kept looking over to the path on the left but whenever Ichigo looked there, she couldn't see anything but a wide stone road with a thick lining of trees on either side. Ichigo was still thinking about this when Yuri suddenly stopped right at the fork in the road.
She said, "I just remembered that I forgot something in the gymnasium during third period. This road up ahead goes straight there, so it's the perfect opportunity to go grab it. It's getting dark, you should probably go ahead back to the dorms."
Ichigo presented her friend with a questioning look, "Are you sure you don't want me to..."
Yuri merely shook her head, and gently nudged Ichigo to the path on the left. A strange smile on her face. "I'll be fine. Go on."
Still looking back curiously at her friend who walked calmly down the forward path, she proceeded timidly down the left track... and that's when she saw Natsume lazing quietly beneath the tree where he always used to sit under.
~End Flashback~
"...and that's what happened," Ichigo finished explaining to Natsume.
"I see," Natsume responded. That Yuri, Natsume sighed as he shut his eyes. Were my emotions that loud she could hear from all the way over there? Well, I guess if it's about Mikan... He shook the thought away for fear that obvious feeling may appear on his face. Re-opening his eyes he analysed the girl before him. "Right, but that doesn't explain why the hell you're wearing a middle school uniform."
It was shocking but true. The auburn haired elementary schooler was wearing a set of female middle school clothing that was obviously many sizes too large. Heck, Natsume inwardly snorted, a fifteen-year-old would fit in there.
"Oh, well, you see," Ichigo began, "I went to Narumi-sensei asking for a bigger uniform – my old one was getting too small – and he gave me this. It isn't exactly what I had in mind, but he raised a knowing finger and said it looked cute so..."
Natsume frowned. Narumi. It's always him. Is this his idea of a sick joke? I mean, who gives children large uniforms? His frown turned into a sneer as he muttered quietly, "Paedophile..." He looked at the girl with pity. The clothes were way too baggy and heavy and it was clear she had a little trouble moving around. Even her shoes were at least one and a half sizes bigger, and he questioned how she could even walk in them. "And how long exactly are you supposed to wear this?"
"Well," the girl pouted, apparently she hadn't thought about it, "I don't really have any other uniform that fits and this is definitely more comfortable than my smaller ones... but he can't expect me to wear this for the rest of the term. Perhaps he'll let me wear it for the rest of the day or something. He said something about, "You'll know." I didn't really get it, but he didn't explain. I guess I'll go back to him tomorrow and ask for a proper elementary uniform that's my size... if he gives one to me." She chuckled nervously, scratching her head. Boy, is she thick...
Natsume found himself feeling sympathetic for the girl. He had sudden burst of aggressiveness at Narumi. That worthless, sick excuse for a teacher... if he doesn't give her a proper uniform I'll go right in there and burn him to a crisp. I bet he's doing this because he think it's funny... I'll show him funny. Natsume had no idea why he wanted to help Ichigo out so much. Maybe it was just because he hated Narumi. Or...
An important thought returned to Natsume in that instant. Before he could miss his chance, and before he could even think about his words properly, he blurted, "I'm sorry." The surprise was more than evident in the little girl's face.
Ichigo crumpled her face up in confusion. She tried to comprehend; Natsume was saying sorry. First of all, she didn't know what for. Second of all, this wasn't like him. Not the Natsume Mikan knew, at least. "We didn't get off to a great start," he explained, gradually throwing Ichigo into further shock, "so yeah, I'm sorry."
Ichigo stopped herself from gaping. She had every urge to scream, "Who are you and what have you done with Natsume!" But seeing as that would not only blow her cover but be downright weird, she didn't. Instead, she decided to react the other way. Donning a broad smile, she beamed at him, "Oh, that. That really wasn't anything to worry about, Natsume-sempai. But thank you very much for your apology anyway."
Mentally, she smiled as well, perhaps Natsume has changed for the better after all these years. Natsume had always been the one to think about others, so it only mildly surprised her that he was worried about that. But to actually be proactive enough to apologise, well that was new.
Meanwhile, Natsume mentally released a very large sigh of relief. He felt he had just had the weight of a mountain removed from his shoulders. Why it meant so much to him, he still didn't know. He had an inkling it was Mikan-related (of course) and shook his head in exasperation.
He turned his attention back to the twelve-year-old. She was beaming at him, the faintest smugness exuding from her. It was starting to get a little creepy, but somehow Natsume got used to it fast. Finally noticing that Natsume was looking at her strangely, she stopped beaming and uttered, "I'm sorry too, Natsume-sempai. I take back my words, you seem like a nice person."
Nice person? He smirked. "Pft," he snorted. "Don't go judging people so fast, kid. Just because I apologised doesn't mean anything. I merely felt obliged to."
Then again, Ichigo pouted as she thought, maybe he hasn't changed at all. She silently cursed herself for being swayed so easily. Still, he apologised and that was something. Careless as to whether they would go back to the initial routine, she stuck her tongue out, "Don't make me take my words back again, you big meanie."
The childish reaction earned her a chuckle from Natsume, "Are you really twelve?"
This only made her more frustrated. She uttered, temper shortening, "I can see why you didn't get along with that Mikan person. From what I've heard from Nonoko-sempai, she was really nice and friendly. You're probably too arrogant to appreciate her at all, let alone anybody else." She made a dramatic 'hmph' sound and lifted her head up defiantly, eyelids shut.
She knew her words were part lies. Natsume had, in his own mysterious way, shown some sort of affection. But right now, she was just irritated. She'd apologise for it later because she was too stubborn to give in at the moment.
A long silence ensued.
Ichigo found it the slightest bit awkward, but her stubborn attitude would not give way. She just had to wait it out. Maybe he'd apologise again. But, he didn't really do anything wrong... Ichigo admitted to herself that she was being overly dramatic and stubborn. Perhaps she should say something now. She swallowed her pride and was about to speak, when something stopped her.
"She was amazing."
Natsume watched the look of utter shock and confusion forming on the little girl's face. In his mind, he smirked, but he kept his tone serious. He took a deep breath; this was his resolve. Even when he had apologised to the girl and felt a million times better, he felt something was lacking. She didn't just deserve an apology; she deserved an explanation. Perhaps it was necessary for his own well-being to give one as well.
"Mikan Sakura," he explained. Without Yuri, the dense emotion escaping from his lips whenever he said that name could not be hidden.
Though the confusion had disappeared from Ichigo's face, the shock was still there, if not more magnified. Sure, the statement was unexpected, but for her to be this surprised was sort of strange. Natsume shrugged it off and determinedly continued.
"At the first glance, she wasn't anything special," his words dripped with honesty, "a loud mouth, idiot who cared too much for her own good. I was a victim of that prejudice too." He seemed the slightest bit ashamed of the last statement. "But she had unfaltering tenacity; she was determined to always be cheerful. It was unavoidably infectious," he chuckled humourlessly, "she even managed to affect me."
"She had a knack for bringing a strange warmth and cheer to the life of anyone she came across," he had clearly been impacted by the said warmth. "Her contagious smile that she wore in the good and bad times, her optimism – everything. It just made it all better.
"She was even masochistic enough to try and help me, and somehow, it worked." His eyes glistened with melancholy at all of the memories, "She'd follow me around, talk to me, and unknowingly made me succumb to her extraordinary powers."
His voice had gotten shaky from the sudden out-pour of emotion as he concluded, "Gradually, I realised just that. She was amazing."
Ichigo's eyes were expanding wider and wider until he finished and they were the size of the moon. She never knew that Natsume thought about Mikan in that way. If he showed any sort of affection whatsoever, it was never direct; always mysterious and questionable. It felt so overwhelming to hear him say that about her.
She briefly wondered whether he even thought that he had gotten the feelings through before, and after a moderate silence, she asked, "And did you tell her all of that?"
The deepest regret was evident in his eyes as he admitted, "No." Even though she had gotten her answer, Ichigo could sense a 'but' coming and so she waited. Sure enough, "But I would give anything for a chance to do so." She almost pitied the boy opposite her from the tone of his voice.
"Sorry, this may be rude but," Ichigo voiced her own thoughts, "why are you telling me all of this?" After all, she wasn't Mikan right now, she was Ichigo.
"Because," he answered simply, "you remind me of her and you deserve an explanation."
"K-kay," she replied. However, at that moment all of his words registered themselves into her slow mind. Natsume wouldn't say all that stuff about just anyone. Her heart gave a jolt as she croaked, "Y-you sound like you love her..."
The raven haired boy answered plainly, "Yeah, I probably do."
Ignoring her malfunctioning pulse, Ichigo continued, "I'm guessing you didn't tell her that either."
"Nope."
"I'm sure she knows," Ichigo smiled slightly, a knowing face.
Natsume raised an eyebrow before replying, "She's too thick."
Ichigo stopped herself from hitting him and smirked, "No, I'm sure of it now."
Natsume shot her a look of askance. She merely stood up and grabbed her belongings, "I've got to go now, Natsume-sempai. It's getting dark. Bye." And with that she proceeded to walk back to her dormitory, leaving Natsume in a state of utter confusion.
Overcoming the confusion that came from the girl's mysterious words, Natsume called out to her before she left, "Wait!" She stopped and turned around. He continued, "Tell Yuri 'thank you' for me."
She obviously had no idea what this was all about, but nodded politely nonetheless, "Sure thing." After that, she turned around and disappeared from Natsume's vision.
He continued to rest underneath the tree. He would stay here a little while longer. A contented sigh escaped his lips; he hadn't felt this good in a long time. It felt like he hadn't a care in the world. All that mattered was that he had made it up to Ichigo and in the process, confessed. For some strange reason, it felt like he had confessed to Mikan instead. Yeah, it felt good.
Natsume was about to close his eyes when he heard a loud, ear-piercing shriek, not too far away.
Finally, some decent fluff, right? Sorry I left you on a little cliffhanger, tell me what you think. Well, next chapter should, again, be up in the next five days. Check my profile for changes and updates on my progress. As always, I love your reviews :))
