Chapter 8

If you have the opportunity to play this game of life you need to appreciate every moment. A lot of people don`t appreciate the moment until it's passed.

(Kanye West)

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"Hyuuga-san," Shiyo replied. "I think it's not possible. We found a number but it can't be reached."

She waited for the reply but the intercom was already off. Shiyo Yazumi smiled at the intercom box and thought about finishing her paper works for real not until a hand slammed on her desk. She looked up in confusion. "Hyuuga-san?"

He was staring at Shiyo, he dangled his suit over his shoulder as he buttoned his shirt neatly. "Very well then, I'll just go there myself."

Shiyo wasn't interested in Natsume Hyuuga, her desk was just about three doors down from his office and seeing different girls every night go with him for about the five months she's been working in the Hyuuga estate, it was enough for her not to be interested in him. This, however, got her attention. "Do you know how to get there?" She stopped, trying to make herself polite. "You might get lost."

"I'm not stupid." He replied. "Give me my car key. The Ferrari one."

"I don't think so." Shiyo pointed at his shirt, his buttons all in the wrong places. She smiled up to him and handed him a key. "But go get her, Natsume-san."

He grabbed the key from her and stopped after realizing what she told him. "What?"

"Mikan Sakura. You like her, right? You never brought her in the house. It's very unusual, Natsume."

"Natsume-san." He rolled his eyes. "You might just want to call me –sama after your next paycheck." He walked for a bit and stopped, turning back to her. "And I don't like Mikan Sakura. Right now, I'm planning to give her hell."

And the look in his eyes told Shiyo that he'll do everything to get what he wants.

And right now, what he wants is revenge.

--

"I'm home!" Mikan placed her shoes by the door and threw her bag on the couch. She went straight to the kitchen and there, to her surprise, was her grandfather eating bread by the window.

He looked at Mikan and smiled. "Welcome home, Mikan."

"You're… home." She repeated. Her grandfather usually isn't at home at weekdays. They only have one relative in Osaka. Mikan didn't even have any idea whether her aunt in Osaka was still alive. The last time she saw her was when she was eight and she didn't look like her aunt at all. A grandmother could fit the description, though. "That's weird."

"Not really…" He looked at his bread absentmindly. "I'm sorry for being non-supportive, Mikan."

"It's okay…" She smiled, sitting in opposite of him. "I understand. I'm going to the path where my mom went. But I'm not going anywhere. I'm still here. My feet's on the ground and I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving you, grandpa."

He smiled, tears filled his eyes. "I know… I'm just," He stopped himself and stood up to throw the bread he was eating in the trash bin. "I don't know, Mikan… I don't know what to do anymore."

Mikan stood up and hugged him. She placed a light kiss on his forehead and smiled. "You don't have to be confused, Ji-chan. I'll take care of you. I'll be right here. Like I said, I'm not going anywhere. I love you."

"I love you too." He smiled at Mikan, closing his eyes. "I'll be right here too. Be your number one fan and cheer you on. I'm so proud of you, Mikan."

He meant what he said. What he didn't really mean was being there for her because at the end of the day, he had to face reality; that he's not really going to make it.

--

Tsubasa wasn't at home when Natsume came with his grey Ferrari. He impatiently knocked on his door and to his surprise, Misaki Harada, answered it for him. "Misaki?"

"Natsume?" She looked at him, stunned. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that. I'm here for Tsubasa… you're… you're his designer too?"

Misaki laughed. Misaki Harada is a close friend of Aoi since they're both into drawing and fashion. He met Misaki a lot of times since he travels frequently in Europe. Misaki Harada even does his wardrobe sometimes. Like the suit he wore when he met the Queen last month. It was a Misaki Harada design. Seeing the pink-haired gal reminded Natsume of his sister.

"No, I'm not, silly." She placed a hand on the doorframe and leaned on the door to keep him from entering. Her eyes, from light and friendly, grew dark and grim. "What do you want from Tsubasa?"

"What's it to you?" He spat. Well, other than being friends with Aoi and making clothes for the Hyuuga, she's enemies with Natsume. He's not exactly the type of friend she wants to hang out with and she wasn't the type he likes too… well, do stuff with either. Truth to say, they're just plain acquaintances. "It's none of your business."

"Tsubasa's my boyfriend, Natsume." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "If this is about Mikan Sakura, then I won't let you talk to him either. She's my friend and she's very special to me so why don't you do me a favor and go home. I don't feel like entertaining guests right now."

"This isn't your house."

"It will soon be." Her face grew hot and she found it embarrassing to say it out loud. But even so, she repeated the same words in her head. Yes, they would soon be a home. Her smile disappeared after looking at Natsume. "Get it? Now go away."

She slammed the door in his face but his foot was in the way. Natsume looked at his shoes and then at Misaki. "This is from a 2010 Louis Vuitton collection made specifically for me. This is twice than what you earn a month."

"Brag all you want, you're not coming in the house, Hyuuga."

Her words went right back into her mouth when he pushed the door open. "Don't you get tired when I always use force with you?" He turned to her and smirked. "You should be with me, Misaki. I've always liked the older girl and the younger guy tandem anyways."

"I'm not interested in the pink-haired girl and the arrogant bastard tandem. We're not goddamn Naruto, Natsume."

"Sure we are." He welcomed himself in the house and walked by the coffee table in which a big framed picture of Mikan was placed. He lifted it and looked at it for a moment before dropping it on the cold floor. "Dattebayo."

"W-what…"

"Look, I came here for Tsubasa." He placed a hand in his pocket and handed her his calling card. "I'm not in the mood to play games right now. But I'll call you if I am—" "Bastard!" "—Tell that Andou that he better be ready."

"Better be ready for what?"

He shook his head and played the car key with his fingers. He turned to Misaki before heading to his Ferrari. "It's for them to figure it out."

"So, we're playing Detective Conan now?"

--

"Hello?" Mikan removed the phone on her ear to look at the numbers. It wasn't familiar but she was using her private phone. No one but her friends knew about it. They even swore secrecy about it.

"It's me, Kira-chan. It's going to be our second time working together like this. Aren't you excited?"

At that exact moment, Mikan was holding her phone in one hand and a cappuccino espresso in the other as she fought with the busy travelers in the city of Tokyo. "I am… I surely am. I was just… where are you?"

"Well, we've been waiting for you. Well, you and your manager."

"My ma… Tsubasa's not there yet?" She almost dropped the drink she was holding as she swiveled to her right. Almost there, she told herself mentally.

"He's not with you? Oh well, hurry up then. Ruka and I will be waiting for you."

"Okay."

Mikan arrived a few minutes after the call. The caffeine she was holding had turned cold and an assistant threw it in the trash bin as soon as they started putting make-up on her.

"You're prettier." The stylist said, dabbing lip gloss on her lips.

"Excuse me?"

"You're prettier than what I've expected you to be." The stylist found it embarrassing to say it out loud in front of her but it was pretty okay since Mikan was closing her eyes due to her still-wet mascara. "Your mother… you look a lot like her that it's really amazing."

Mikan felt heat rush to her cheeks. Ever since her overnight transformation, she had never heard anyone tell her that. Lately, people are much more focused on her status with Natsume Hyuuga. "T-thank you."

"Don't mention it." She took a step back and gave Mikan a quick glance-over. "You're good to go."

"I am?"

"You look cute." Kira Hanazono said. Mikan only met her personally approximately only three times excluding her appearances on TV. "Don't you think Ruka-pyon?"

"D-don't call me that!"

Mikan turned to see Kira leaning on the door frame and Ruka behind her. Kira was eating a healthy bar and Ruka…well, he's just got deep red. "You're close?"

"Oh, we're not close." Mikan liked her a lot. She's blunt, pretty and has a lot of talents. "I just found out that he liked rabbits as much as modeling. I saw his baby pictures in Natsume's house." She laughed. Mikan was too engrossed at looking at the carefree expression Kira had to quickly notice that she mentioned going to Natsume's house.

"You went to—"

"It's time for the shoot!"

"Yes, darling, turn right… Kira to Ruka… Yes, Mikan… Perfect. Very beautiful." The photographer looked into the computer screen before looking at the real models. "I like how you express your body language. It's like… very meaningful. So artistic and yet… so fabulous, what do you think?"

"I think we deserve a rest, don't you think?" Kira shouted over to the photographer with a smile that even with such frankness, couldn't make him mad.

"I think you do. How about you three come here and let's look over the pictures."

"I'd pass." Ruka said, stretching his arms. "It's nice to have a photo shoot here in Japan again. I really missed the system of Japan when it comes to modeling."

"Is it?" Mikan helped herself get up from the sitting position she was in to follow Ruka who was walking off to somewhere. "Can I come with you?"

"Sure." He smiled. Mikan noticed how different he smiled at her. Different in such a way she knew how to differentiate Ruka Nogi's million dollar smile and Ruka-pyon's crooked grin. "How's it going… with you and Natsume?"

"I don't know…" She started. It was half-true. She didn't know what happened to them. After the incident in the club, she never heard of him elsewhere and he didn't meet up with her or even called her. Not that he should. It was that… he used to be really annoying before. And now, to Mikan, she just missed him enough. "I think I made him mad… I don't know… I…"

"Hey," Ruka ruffled her hair, laughing. "No pressure there, kid. Don't worry about Natsume. He'll come to it somehow."

"You sure?"

"Yep. I'm sure."

"Thanks."

"Stop it, Andou!"

Mikan and Ruka turned to where they heard the shout. And there was, indeed, Tsubasa Andou with the photo shoot manager in a fist fight.

"Tsubasa, stop it!" Ruka caught her wrist before Mikan rushed off to Tsubasa. "Stop it! Ruka-kun… Tsubasa!"

Kira ran over to Mikan and held her down. "It's okay. There was a slight problem and…"

"That's okay? You think that's okay?" She pushed Ruka away from her and ran to Tsubasa, pulling his shirt away from the photo manager. "What are you trying to do? I might lose my job if this keeps on going!"

"Lose your job?" This caught Tsubasa's attention. He turned to Mikan and grabbed her shoulders. She noticed his face was red and he looked really mad. "You've lost everything, Mikan!"

"W-what?"

"You told Hyuuga to leave you alone so he cut off his ties with you including your whole career!"

Mikan clutched her hand on his shirt gripping it real tight. "Y-you're kidding, right?"

"You think I am?" He pushed her away and walked over to the exit. "We've lost it. Everything we worked hard for… gone in a blink of an eye."

Mikan stood there and watched his silhouette fading as he walked out. Everybody helped the photo shoot manager to get up and bring him to the infirmary as Mikan stayed and rethought everything over. She didn't even listen to Kira and Ruka as they tried to comfort her.

What for?

She just lost everything, right?

And without her noticing, the tears from her eyes just kept on flowing.

--

She lives in a fairy tale

Somewhere too far for us to find

Forgotten the taste and smell
Of the world that she's left behind
It's all about the exposure the lens I told her
The angles were all wrong now
She's ripping wings off of butterflies
keep your feet on the ground
when your head's in the clouds
Well go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Well go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle; bury the castle
Ba da ba ba da ba ba ha
So one day he found her crying
Coiled up on the dirty ground
Her prince finally came to save her
And the rest you can figure out
But it was a trick


And the clock struck 12
Well make sure to build your house brick by boring brick
or the wolves gonna blow it down
keep your feet on the ground
when your head's in the clouds


Well go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Well you built up a world of magic
Because your real life is tragic
Yeah you built up a world of magic


If it's not real
You can't hold it in your hand
You can't feel it with your heart
And I won't believe it
But if it's true
You can see it with your eyes
Or even in the dark
And that's where I want to be, yeah
Go get your shovel
We'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle


Guys x2:
ba da ba ba da da ba da......
Hayley x2:
ba da ba ba da ba ba da.....

(Brick By Boring Brick, Paramore)

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Author's Notes:

Here's the next chapter, sorry for the wait. I hope you like it! :) If you're going to ask me I really liked the part where Natsume and Misaki argued. They're so cute! :3

Thanks for reading and please review!