THANK YOU
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DEDICATIONS
This chapter is dedicated to my tita/aunt who passed away last Sunday. I love her so much and I'm putting all my heart into this chapter. Please pray for the repose of her soul, my family and I would really appreciate it.
NOW PLAYING
Hero's Come Back by Nobody Knows+ (thank you Seto's Darkness) OMG! Natsume's first Japanese song!
There is Life by Alison Krauss (thank you Manimefrances, it really fits my mood right now…)
--
Our Love is a Rock Song
Written by Keiko Oda
Chapter Eleven: What the Public Wants, the Public Gets
--
It had been a week now since Natsume gave Mikan a little peck on the forehead and the two simply couldn't get over it. There were several awkward silences between the two of them and Mikan could often feel her cheeks flush whenever she saw the raven-haired boy.
"Get over it, Mikan!" she told herself, looking at her reflection in the mirror.
"It was just a little kiss…no big deal, no big deal!" she groaned and splashed water on her face.
But remembering his warm breath on her forehead and the way she held her so close and so tight made her face flush crimson. She shook her head and undressed and then put on a white sweater, denim mini skirt and a pair of yellow socks that she happened to love so dearly. She walked out of the bathroom and sat beside Natsume who was putting on his chucks.
"What time are we leaving?" Mikan inquired, watching him tie his shoelace.
Natsume paused for awhile and looked at her. "You're watching me perform, again?"
Mikan slowly nodded. "I always do, right?"
"I didn't think you'd have the guts to since that thing last week…" Natsume mumbled, placing his foot on the floor with his cheeks bright pink but this was oblivious to Mikan since she is probably the most unobservant person in the world.
"What thing last week?" Mikan asked and after a moment's silence she suddenly remembered and felt heat creep up her cheeks.
"Never mind, Polka Dots!" Natsume snapped and stood up. "Let's go!"
--
Mikan followed him to the limousine and the two made themselves comfortable inside.
The car started moving and Natsume leaned back and turned on his Ipod. He stretched and shut his eyes.
"Don't bother me" he muttered. Mikan could hear his rock music blast through the ear phones. It bothered her so.
Mikan rested her chin on her palm and watched the buildings and streetlamps go by. She still couldn't forget about last week. It was just a peck on the forehead for goodness sake! Jii-chan has kissed my forehead lots of times so I should act like this is the first time!! But this time…it feels different…Mikan began to get a headache because her mind was in turmoil at the moment. She was so engrossed in her thinking that she didn't seem to notice that the car took an unexpected turn that was so fast that…
Mikan fell to her right side where Natsume was. Natsume yelped like a run-over cat and his Ipod fell on the floor.
"Watch it!" he yelled and opened his eyes. Mikan was right on top of him with a goofy expression plastered on her face, her cheeks flushed and her eyes glimmering with embarrassment.
Natsume suddenly realized that his hands were holding Mikan's hips and he immediately removed them. He couldn't help but smirk at Mikan's facial expression, much as he couldn't help blush.
"G-gomenasai…" Mikan stammered. Natsume enjoyed the feeling of her pig tails tickling his neck and smirked even more.
All of a sudden, the chauffer gave a quick look at them and fished out a camera from the passenger's seat. The chauffeur's cap fell off, revealing jet black hair and purple eyes.
"H-Hotaru!!!!" Mikan yelled, immediately getting off Natsume.
Natsume sat up as well. "What are you doing here?!"
"I'm working." Hotaru said plainly and began snapping away. "I had no idea you two were dating"
"We AREN'T!" Mikan screeched.
"I should've seen it before once I found out that you two were living in the same apartment" she said, narrowing her eyes.
"We AREN'T DATING!!!" the two yelled in unison.
"This will make a good cover for the magazine" Hotaru said and got out of the car.
Mikan dashed out of the car, hoping to break Hotaru's camera – but the evil photographer was no where in sight.
Mikan gave Natsume a frightened look. "I'm…I'm sure she won't really post that…she's not that bad!"
--
"Hell yeah, she is!" Natsume said the next evening, flicking the latest issue of the magazine Hotaru works for into Mikan's hands.
"W-what?!?!" Mikan spluttered, staring at the front cover.
There, before her very eyes – was a collage of various photographs of Mikan and Natsume and the limo. Half of the photographs included Mikan on top of Natsume with their goofy shocked expressions glued to their faces. On the bottom left cover, it said in big green letters:
NATSUMIKAN – THE TALK OF THE TOWN…ARE THEY ON?
Mikan felt her eyeballs drop out of its sockets. She crumpled the magazine. "H-how could she do this?!?"
Natsume shrugged. "The little scum" he murmured and leaned back.
"Aren't you going to do something about it?!?!" Mikan yelled, throwing the magazine at him.
"It's been done" Natsume replied coolly.
"Don't you even care?!?!"
Before Natsume could reply, the elevator opened and in burst a disoriented Ruka. Eye bags hung from his deep blue eyes and his blonde locks hadn't been brushed. He held a cup of espresso in his right hand and an aspirin in the other.
"A-Are you two really dating?!?!" he yelled, gulping down the espresso.
Mikan immediately shook her head. "We aren't!!!"
Ruka then fished out his own copy of the magazine from his schoolbag. "Then – p-p-please explain this!"
Natsume rolled his eyes. "She just went on top of me, got it?"
Ruka gulped. "W-what?"
"W-what Natsume means, is that Hotaru-chan drove so fast that I ACCIDENTALLY fell on top of him!"
The blonde boy looked like he had just seen a ghost. "Why was Imai driving the car?!"
Mikan shrugged. "How should we know?!?!"
"Do you know what you two are putting yourselves into?!?! GOD! Now I'll have to be blackmailed again just to have Imai republish this month's issue!! ARGHHH!!!" Ruka yelled, placing the aspirin on his tongue and gulping it down. "I still have to catch up on my projects...maintain the cleanliness of my apartment…"
He then turned to Natsume. "Please, Natsume!! Have mercy on me!!! I still have a life you know!!! You're putting me in jeopardy here!!!"
Ruka's face suddenly fell. "Oh God…I almost forgot…You have a gig tonight!!!"
"WHAT?! Why didn't you tell me before?!?" Natsume yelled, sitting up.
"I would have if I wasn't so stressed!!" Ruka yelled.
"STOP IT!" Mikan yelled, pushing the two angry boys aside.
"Look Ruka-pyon," the brunette said, turning to Ruka. "Why don't you take a day off and I'll take Natsume-kun to wherever his gig is? You don't have to come, anyway…you can just sit back and relax…"
Ruka gulped. "But the public might…"
"I don't care what the public thinks!!! This is my chance to tell people that we're not dating!!" Mikan yelled through her gritting teeth.
"Come, Natsume!" Mikan said and went to her room to get changed.
--
Once they got out of the apartment, they were bombarded by paparazzi and angry fan girls. They were asked questions such as:
"Natsume! Mikan! Are you two really together?!?!"
"NATSUME!! How could you break my heart by going with a pig-tailed noodle-headed girl like her?!"
"Mikan! Do you have anything to say about the photographs that were on the latest issue of Now Music?!"
"Natsume!! How does Mikan's lips taste like?!?!"
They were attacked with so many preposterous questions that the two couldn't answer a single one. They couldn't even walk for everyone was blocking their way.
"Natsume! Let's go!" Mikan yelled, taking Natsume's arm as the two pushed their way to the limousine.
"Are you two going on a date?!" someone yelled from the crowd.
The two got in the limo and locked the door. Mikan stretched and sighed.
"Thank God we got in here in one piece!" Mikan breathed and leaned against the window pane.
"Driver – to Tokyo Plaza" Natsume said.
The driver grunted. "Mikan Sakura, you are grounded for life!"
Mikan gulped. "J-jii-chan?"
"What the hell?!?! Can't we at least have our regular chauffeur?!?!?" Natsume groaned, purely exasperated.
Jii-chan turned back with his face redder than a tomato. "H-how could you do such a thing?!? You're only fifteen!!"
"Jii-chan!! It's just a rumor!!" Mikan spluttered. "You see…Hotaru-chan was driving and then she turned the car in such a way that…"
The brunette then gulped. "That I fell on top of him" she whispered.
Jii-chan raised his eyebrow. "Well…there's nothing we can do about it right now except ignore the rumor but…"
"Good choice, Natsume" he said, nodding at him in approval.
"W-WHAT?!?!" Mikan yelled. "We aren't dating!!!"
Natsume simply felt a blush creep up his cheeks and turned to the window.
"To Tokyo Plaza, then…"
--
Karadajuu fuu no wa shinzou ni
Hageshiku chi narase yo stoping
Taeru tsuki wo ukasu call me
Kawarisugiru ga nuki ka story
Come on everybody stand up
Agero kyou ichiban no jikan da
Me ni mo tomoran no speed wo handa
Dare mo nobinattori ko kanba yeah
Come on everybody hands up
Mata ashita no heroes wa comeback
Tsuujou kazoe hibi wo countdown
Let's go, 3-2-1 make some noise
Hey yo mou basho nori tsuku wa kakugo desho
Nankai korondatte tatsu keredo
Nade aida naze kami hito e no seisho
Irikunda kanjou kizuki ageta desho
Mochiagaru kansei ga yuuki to naru
Tashiagareba ima kurushimi tomonau
Sore demo saikou wa kitto aru
Subete sarau to shouri no kansei
Everybody stand up
Agero kyou ichiban no jikan da
Me ni mo tomoran no speed wo handa
Dare mo nobinattori ko kanba yeah
Natsume put down the microphone. "Arigato minna-san…"
The host took Natsume's hand. "Let's give a round of applause for Natsume Hyuuga!!!!"
The crowd cheered and screamed out his name. Natsume closed his eyes. Oh, how he loved the sound of his die-hard fans…
"And let's give a round of applause for his girlfriend in the back!!!" the host said, and suddenly a spotlight hit an astonished Mikan who was watching in the back row.
The audience squealed with joy and Natsume grabbed the microphone from the host.
"See, here…she isn't my girlfriend!!!"
The host smiled sheepishly. "Natsume, you sly fox! Don't deny it!!!"
"She isn't!!"
At this moment, Natsume felt victimized.
"The magazine says it all!!" the crowd said in unison.
Natsume slapped his forehead and shook his head sadly.
--
"YEHAYYY!!" Mikan squealed, jumping up and down.
Natsume sat up and rubbed his head. He just had fallen asleep and he was awakened by the news program on TV and Mikan's deafening screaming. He placed the shounen manga he was reading before he dozed off on the coffee table and grunted.
"What are you so happy about?" He said, sitting beside her.
Natsume was angry for coming home from his performance was rough. He and Mikan were bombarded by paparazzi and furious fangirls and it was exhausting to push through the fighting crowd that were making such a fuss about the two of them. And the only time he could get enough rest for tomorrow's performance that Ruka booked him, is when Mikan decided to watch the news program.
"My song There Is Life is number seven in the oricon!" Mikan squealed, dancing around.
The music video of her song began playing in TV.
"
You'll have to know
When nature sleeps she dreams
There is life
And the colder the winter
The warmer the spring
The deeper the sorrow
The more our hearts sing
Even when you can't see it
Inside everything
There is Life...
Oh...
After the Rain
The sun will reappear
There is life
After the pain
The joy will still be here
There is life
For it's out of the darkness
That we learn to see
And out of the silence
That songs come to be
And all that we dream of
Awaits patently
There is life
The video was a natural theme. It was predictable – with butterflies flying around Mikan and flowers blooming around her. Natsume scoffed at this but he had to admit to himself that Mikan looked so beautiful in that tight lime-green dress that she wore during the video.
She's fifteen years old!! Get a hold of yourself! Natsume thought and glanced at Mikan. Why does she have to be so freaking cute?!?!
Mikan turned off the computer. "Natsume-kun, I'm going to buy some dinner. You coming?"
Natsume shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I don't have anything to do in this place, anyway"
The two dressed up and went downstairs. They were greeted (again) with a crowd of screaming people.
"N-Natsume-kun…What do we do?" Mikan asked, clutching onto his shoulder for support.
Natsume raised an eyebrow. "Give them what they want" he said coolly.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Natsume took her arm and slid his fingers down to her hand and held it. Mikan blushed and felt her heart skip a beat as he stroked her palm with his fingers. The astonished brunette just played on as the crowd made way for them to walk, they were as shocked as she was.
"What the public wants, the public gets" the raven-haired boy whispered.
Mikan simply nodded and walked with him. She couldn't feel her legs for they seemed to vanish once he took her hand.
What the public wants, the public gets?
He probably meant…
What Natsume wants, Natsume gets!
--
To be continued…
Er…yeah. That's it. Haha. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter! Please stay tuned for the next chapters and please leave a review! Thanks! Take care everybody. Requests are temporarily closed.
