DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gakuen Alice. All credits go to the great Higuchi Tachibana. ...
a/n: Before you guys burn me at the stake, I think you ought to give me the right to explain. I have at least 2 very valid reasons why I haven't updated for so long. ONE: My PC crashed and I had no way to update because of that. TWO: I just took my last entrance test so I have been trying to actually think about that and not updating. For all its worth, I'm not going to apologize because I haven't done anything wrong. I hope you guys understand.
P.S. By the way, I just wanna reassure you guys that Tsubasa is definitely not hitting on Mikan; their relationship is purely platonic. Tsubasa looks at Mikan as a little sister, same goes for Mikan. No worries in that department. :D
Explanation of term(s):
ethereal- heavenly: belonging to the sky or the celestial sphere
pertinent- relevant: relevant to the matter being considered
petulant- sulky: ill-tempered or sulky in a peevish manner
peevish- irritable: bad-tempered, irritable, or tending to complain
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Chapter 10. Irrationality
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"Why am I not surprised, my dear readers. Why am I not surprised. Hyuuga
Natsume strikes again! After weeks of apparent silence from the roguish
bachelor, we see him once again trifling with a lady. And while this piece
of news is admittedly not new at all, so apparently is the lady in question. I
have it on good authority to say that he has been seen with the same lady
on several occasions for more than three months now, and considering his
previous track record, this is very puzzling indeed! "
-Melissa's Society Papers-
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"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Paradise Hotel." Natsume greeted the crowd gathered in front of him.
The crowd was silent, all astounded by the sheer beauty of their surroundings. From the lobby to the surrounding gardens, everything looked perfect. Even the weather did not dare destroy the majesty of the place; the sun was shining brightly but not too harshly, giving the whole place an ethereal charm. Paradise Hotel, indeed!
"Sheila will inform you of the pertinent details. Sheila?" Natsume called.
"Hai. Good morning once again, ladies and gentlemen. Let me convey our sincerest welcome. You all have been given the keys to your respective rooms together with your tickets. Your respective luggage would all be in your room when you arrive, if there is anything you may need feel free to request for the assistance of our staff; they will be more than happy to help. Second, you are all invited to visit our different facilities to relax and enjoy. And finally you are all invited to a cocktail dinner this evening. We wish you a beautiful morning." Sheila ended with a respectful bow and a smile.
The crowd dispersed, all intent to visit the spot of their choice. Mikan was on her way to her room when her boss's voice stopped her on her tracks.
"Ms. Sakura!" Natsume called.
Mikan took sighed, took a deep breath then turned around and said, "Anything I can do for you, sir?" she asked politely.
Natsume was silent for a few seconds, staring blankly at Mikan's impassive face; he cleared his throat then said, "I...I would just like to remind you that we will be having a meeting with our clients this afternoon."
"Yes, I do remember. Anything more, sir?"
"Just one more thing. Will it be alright for you if I ask you to report 30 minutes earlier? I have some materials that I want to go over with you and Sheila."
"Of course, sir. I'll be there at 1:30 sharp. Is that all, sir?"
"Yes."
"If you'll excuse me, I'll go and unpack."
"Of course."
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'Damn! What was I thinking?!? Why the heck did I have to make up that crap about going over some materials? Now I have to think of some things that still needs to be ironed out. If worse comes to worst, I'll have to delete a friggin' file to make that request look authentic.' Natsume thought angrily.
Natsume strolled angrily to his suite; he has, once again, gone and done something idiotic. He didn't really have anything in particular that he wanted to tell Mikan when he called out her name earlier, it just slipped out. He regretted it the moment it came out of his mouth and prayed that his voice would be drowned out by the crowd but as always, his prayer wasn't answered.
'What the heck was I supposed to tell her? That I called out her name by accident? Instead I made up that lie to cover up my idiocy. God, I'm pathetic.' Natsume scowled darkly at the beautiful scenery outside his window.
At first, he didn't know what the heck he was supposed to say when she turned around and asked what she wanted, he briefly considered admitting that he didn't have anything to say when the idea about going over some materials entered his mind. It seemed to be such a good idea at that time.
'That girl seems bring out the worst in me. I can't remember the last time that I had to lie just to save my sorry ass from embarrassment. All my sense of self-restraint and logic gets lost along the way when I'm dealing with her.' he continued petulantly.
Natsume's peevish musing was interrupted by the ringing of his cellphone. He glared at the offending object and contemplated on turning off the damn thing and continue to wallow in his misery, he disregarded this thought when he saw the caller's name on the screen.
"Mother." he greeted the caller politely.
"I assume that you have arrived?" Hyuuga Anko asked her son mildly.
"Yes. Any particular reason why you called, mother?"
"Nothing. Just checking." she huffed, clearly affronted.
Natsume sighed, "Tell you what, mother. I'll call you back later, okay? I'm not in the disposition to talk right now."
"Oh, alright. I'll be waiting for your call."
"Later, mother."
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"Oi, Natsume! Wait up!" Ruka called out.
Natsume stopped, turned around and waited for his friend to cross the short distance. The two continued walking to the hotel's restaurant together; Natsume still inwardly fuming and Ruka smiling brightly at the people they pass. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, they found an empty table and sat down.
"You seem to be in a worse mood than when I last saw you." Ruka observed blandly.
Natsume growled at his friend. "Mind your own damned business, Ruka."
"Definitely worse, you even growled at me."
"Shut up." Natsume said; half annoyed, half desperate.
"Alright, alright. I'll drop the subject."
Silence once again reigned after that, a few moments later, however, it was once again broken.
It was Natsume who broke the silence this time. "Say, Ruka. Have you ever experienced letting your mouth get the better of you?"
Ruka raised his eyebrows in amusement. "What exactly do yo mean by that?"
"You know, when you blurt out something you didn't mean to say or do some impulsive thing that you've never really done before. That kind of stuff."
"Meaning, have I ever made a complete and utter fool of myself?"
"Yep. You nailed it."
"Well, I guess I have. Before." Ruka said mildly.
"Really? When?"
"While I was with Hotaru. Nothing I ever did felt rational at all. My mind gets away from me whenever I was with her. Be it when she smiled or laughed or cried or got mad. Everything just felt so unreal, so irrational."
"I see."
"Any particular reason why you inquired?"
"Nothing really. I was just wondering." Natsume stated as inconspicuously as he could.
"Really?" Ruka asked amusedly.
"Yep, really." Natsume said with a smile.
"Fine, fine. Do you have anything to do this afternoon?" Ruka asked.
"Unfortunately, I do. I have a meeting with a few clients at 2 pm. Why?"
"Too bad, then. I was hoping that we could catch a few waves this afternoon. Wake boarding."
"Too bad, we haven't wake board in a long time. Maybe tomorrow, I'll check with Sheila or Ms. Sakura if I'm free."
"Yeah, do that." Ruka said with a smile.
Their food arrived then and they ate while exchanging a few more words. Ruka was about to tell Natsume something when he spotted Mikan approaching them from the corner.
"Sakura-san is approaching us. Any idea why?" he asked his friend.
"Is it 1:30 already?" Natsume asked, bewildered.
Ruka glanced at his watch then said, "Yeah. Why?"
"I asked her to meet me here at 1:30"
Ruka raised an amused eyebrow at Natsume.
"What? Don't look at me that way. I asked her to come because we need to review some materials before the 2 pm meeting." he said, somewhat defensively.
Ruka smirked at him but made no comment. "Good afternoon, Sakura-san." he greeted Mikan with a smile.
"Good afternoon, Nogi-san, Hyuuga-san." Mikan said with polite smile and a bow.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Sakura. Please have a seat." Natsume said, motioning at the empty chair beside him.
Mikan complied and for the first time took notice of the coffee cups that replaced their plates after having lunch. "I'm sorry for interrupting your meal, sir." she said, addressing it to no one in particular.
"It's quite alright, Sakura-san. I was about to leave when you showed up anyway." Ruka said with a kind smile. He turned to Natsume then said, "I'll be taking off then, Natsume."
"Yeah. Later." Natsume said.
Mikan was about to stand-up and bow when Ruka- who saw what she was about to do- smiled and said, "No need to rise, Sakura-san."
"H-hai." Mikan said with a timid smile.
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"Mitarashi-san is not yet here, sir?" Mikan asked politely.
Natsume inwardly sighed, then said, "I didn't get around to calling Sheila because as I was poring over the materials, I realized that there are only a few minor things that needs to be ironed out."
"I see. Shall we begin, sir?"
"Actually, I have gone over and revised the things that needed revision awhile ago, while Ruka was here." Natsume replied a bit sheepishly.
"Is there anything else that needs my attention, then?" Mikan asked.
"There's nothing really. Though I'd appreciate some company before the meeting starts." Natsume winced at his words.
'Damn! What did I just say?' Natsume asked himself incredulously.
"H-hai." Mikan replied, a bit surprised.
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a/n: That ends my 10th chapter. LOVE it? HATE it? DROP me a REVIEW, so I can continue. I also ask you to PRAY that I MAY PASS all the EXAMS that I WILL BE TAKING! :D
By the way, the review isn't a request...it's a command! :))