The Tenth Episode

"What exactly did you dream about? Anyway, did you get kidnapped or what?" He asked simply, in a cool manner. He was still leaning against the wall, even when I was screaming for everyone to get out just a minute ago. Cold sweat drenched my back. I heaved.

"How many days?"

"..." He pointed to the calendar on the table beside me.

Two days. I was gone for exactly two days. I lay down back on my bed and closed my eyes.

"You are not allowed to go to sleep unless you answer my question."

I groaned.

"It is none of your business. Shut up and leave me in peace."

"There will not be peace if you do not answer my question."

"What?"

"What did you dream about? Did you get kidnapped or what?"

"When is that your business?"

"It is not. My parents want to know. You don't tell them, I won't have peace. So, you have no choice but to tell me."

I glared at him. I was not in the mood to deal with him. Not at all. I just wanted to lie down and think about what has happened in the last two days and the nightmare. Was it connected to my childhood memories? What had that Bitch gave me? What kind of pills was I given in the nightmare? Hotaru, did she manage to find out anything? I so need to speak to Mum and Dad about this again. Here I was, disturbed by a Jerk who does not even know the meaning of get out.

When I turned to face him again, I shrieked and pushed his stupid face away from mine. His face was so close to mine that our noses were just inches away from each other. I placed my right hand on my chest and exercise deep breathing immediately. Darn him. He stood beside my bed, waiting for my answer. I thought about lying to him, but thought otherwise. Never in my life had I managed to lie without getting caught. It would just be a waste of effort. I took a deep breath once more.

"Just some awful childhood ordeal. No, I was not kidnap, I was tricked."

"Typical of an Idiot."

I shot a scowl at him.

"Now, I want the details of the dream."

"Natsume Hyuuga! Know your limits! I shall not, and will not answer this question!"

"You shall, and you will."

He sat on the bed and leaned forward.

"Wh- What are you doing?"

His eyes continued to stare at me like I am his prey, then, he pushed me down and lay comfortably on top of me. Damn him. I struggled and even tried fighting back. Damn, he is good.

"Natsume Hyuuga, if you do not get off, I am going to scream."

"I dare you," He replied in a calm and chilly voice. Somehow, this voice was similar to the one in the nightmare that I was petrified. I could not say anything, nor do anything. Then, flashbacks automatically run through my head again. No, not now. Not now..! I pushed him away from me and screamed. Stunned, Natsume stopped moving for a second but soon recovered. He was about to cover my mouth when Mr and Mrs Hyuuga barged in. He froze as I continued to screech.

"Natsume Hyuuga!"

Mrs Hyuuga dragged Natsume from the bed and quickly went out of the room. I could hear them reprimanding him outside. I gasped for my breath, those images had to stop. It had to! I clutched my head with both of my hands and tried stopping the flashback in my mind. Stop, stop, please! I cannot take it anymore! I suppressed my urge to shriek. A doctor came in. Seeing me like this, he immediately told me to calm down and started to do deep breathing exercises with me again.

"You have a panic disorder, according to your past records," He spoke with an Australian accent. I nodded. I was fully aware of that.

"Good. I supposed that you are quite traumatized by your kidnapping experience, so I will prescribe some nerve calming pills for you."

Pills... Pills...

I started shaking my head like a maniac and muttered, "No, not pills. No pills, no pills."

"All right, all right, no pills. No pills," He immediately soothed. "Would syrup be fine?"

I nodded. It would do just great.

"There is nothing wrong with you. No injuries, memory loss or diseases, besides a panic disorder. So, we would like to keep you here until your panic disorder is not on the edge of attacking you. Is that all right with you?"

I shook my head. That would not be fine. He looked as though as he could not help me.

"How about you stay as short as possible, a few days maybe, so that we ensure that you are healthy?"

Looks like I have to stay in the hospital no matter what. I nodded my head. He smiled. Then, the doctor left the room. I stared in to space. White room, white mattress, white pillow, white blanket... How bothersome... I hate white. I hate it. I hate hospitals. My head... I looked around me. I need my hand phone, my laptop... I need so many things but I do not have them right now...

The nightmare... Could it be that my recent kidnap had been so similar to the kidnap that had happened when I was young? Had it evoked my hidden memories inside of me? Is that why I had such a horrible dream? An image crossed my mind. I shuddered. Things that people do not really want to think about are the things they really need to think through. I do not want to think about it. However, I had to. I needed to get to the bottom of this. I just need to. The thought of those images made an instant stop to any progress though... It was hard. Maybe I should stop and take some rest. Maybe after that, my mind would be clearer and I could really sort things out.

I looked down and gazed at the bed and sighed.

I don't think I can fall asleep for awhile.

I lay down, forcefully closed my eyes and waited for sleep to take over me. A few minutes later, I shot out of bed. I cannot do this I really can't. I closed my eyes and went back to bed. This time, I just let everything take over me, and hopefully, it would be less painful.

Alcyon Moire

The next morning, I woke up gasping. The horrific images of my past had haunted me in my dreams all night. Frantically, I looked around. Where am I? Wasn't I supposed to be staying in the hospital? Where is this? Then, my memory clicked. The doctor had allowed me to go back to the Hyuuga's place last night. I am back there again. I took in deep breaths, calming myself, reminding myself that I was now safe. But still I could not help but wonder: For how long?

Suddenly, my cell buzzed. I looked at the screen:

You have (1) new message

I picked it up. Who would bother messaging me now? Hotaru had already called to say that she would be coming to visit me next week. It was unlikely that she would bother wasting any of her precious money on a message.

From: 9163828943

U alright?

I frowned. An unknown number… Had my parents heard about my kidnapping? Maybe this was yet another of their 'disguise' numbers.

"Mikan! Come down for breakfast!" came Aoi's cheerful voice.

I got up quickly, glad to get away from the bed in which I had spent such an uncomfortable night.

"Mikan!" Aoi called again. "Are you alright? Need any help?"

"No, I'm coming," I replied.

As I was getting dressed, it hit me that Aoi's words had been uncannily similar to the message that I had received. Had Aoi sent it? That was weird. Why would she bother messaging me when we live in the same house?

When I opened my door, I found Aoi standing there.

"Good morning!"

I looked at her suspiciously. There was something off about her smile today. It looked as though as it was forced.

"Aoi, what's wrong?" I asked quietly.

She jumped. "Huh? Nothing, it's just that…We were all just so worried about you! Especially Natsume because of that incident 8 years ago… I'm sorry! Forget that I said any of that, I'm not really supposed to mention it and it just…"

"Relax Aoi, I already knew," I said.

She stopped blabbering. For some reason she looked really happy now. "Did Natsume tell you?" she asked excitedly.

"No" I said taken aback.

"Oh." She pouted. "I hoped he might since you're his girlfriend and-"

"I'm his what?"

"Stop interrupting me! And seeing as he was so worried about you-"

"Natsume was worried? About me?"

"No, about your kidnappers. Of course about you, silly."

I walked downstairs and was so dazed that I only noticed that Aoi was no longer by my side when I reached the dining hall. I looked back. She was nowhere to be seen. Where had she gone?

"Mikan! There was no need to come down! The doctor said that you needed rest!" exclaimed Mrs Hyuuga.

I shook my head. "It's okay. I need to get out of my room for a bit."

"Have you taken your medicine?" asked Mr Hyuuga, looking concerned.

"No, I'll take it after breakfast."

As I sat down I felt a strange sensation wash over me. Despite everything that had happen since I came here, from my kidnapping to Kaoru's cosplay, this place had started feeling like home. I shook the feeling off, reminding myself that I would have to go away soon.

Natsume walked into the hall. As usual he wasn't wearing much except his pants, this early in the morning.

Involuntarily, I froze. When had Natsume Hyuuga, the annoying perverted jerk grown so hot? Woah, wait a second, had I just used the words Natsume and hot in the same sentence? Something was definitely wrong with me today morning.

Just then, Aoi came in from the other door and sat down. That left only one seat since we weren't dining in the main hall today. After the food fight, Kaoru had declared that room as off-limits to all of us because of the expensive decorations there.

As Natsume sat down next to me, I could feel my face burning.

What the hell was the matter with me? Since when did I get so obsessed with tiny details?

Calm down Mikan, you're probably still over-excited because of your dreams the night before, I told myself.

Yeah right. I was such a lousy liar. I couldn't even convince myself.

But still I should totally stop this nonsense. I didn't have the time for it. I needed to figure out exactly who Luna Koizumi was and what she wanted from me.

"Pass that dish," said Natsume casually.

Not all the calming thoughts in the world had succeeded in controlling my blush. My face flamed fiery red. I wished a black hole would open up in the ground under me.

"What are you waiting for, dumb head? Are you still so slow-witted? Pass the damn dish."

Okay, now the red in my face wasn't a blush anymore. It was anger.

"You can get up and pick up the dish yourself!" I screamed, surprising everyone, including myself. Only Natsume looked utterly unfazed. In fact, he was smirking. That only annoyed me more.

"Err… Mikan? I think you should go up and take your medicines immediately," said Mrs Hyuuga tentatively.

"Fine," I said and stomped off, unable to stay in the same room as that ill-mannered, disgusting…

As I left, I could hear Karou's voice telling him, "Really Natsume! Can't you just stay out of her way till she gets better. She is ill after all and you…"

I headed back to my room and took my medicine. As I sat down on the bed, I massaged my head as though as it hurt. So many things and now, Natsume Hyuuga? I have got to be out of my mind. I could not help but feel slightly worried. Sure, it was nice of Hotaru to come to Australia to visit me, but does she know where? Was she for real? I sighed. It was best to contact my parents first. Then, everything would be solved. They would know.

I stretched for my phone and dial my Mum's number.

...

I was redirected.

...

Again, I was redirected.

...

Then, my Dad picked up the phone.

"Yes, Mikan?"

As fast as possible, I summarized what had happened to me the past few days, leaving out some 'minor' details, which included my tiny skipping of heartbeats this morning and Hotaru's coming and my nightmare.

"Well, what do you have to say for this, Dad?"

Lady Drama