Unfortunate Engagement
By: money127
Due to FanFiction having some issues, this chapter came a little late but I think that it should make up for it with it's content. Honestly, this is some of the better writing that I've done for this fandom and I hope you feel the same.
Also, thank you to the guest that commented recently, I was starting to get a little dejected because of the lack of love this story is receiving and you picked me right up.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing chapter 10.
Previous:
"Hey Sami, feeling better?" He asked.
"Hey Mikan!" Anna shouted.
"Hey guys. If I interrupted something, I'm very very sorry. I promise to make it up to you guys." Mikan said over the phone. Koko stored that quote in his head, planning to cash in on that offer in the near future.
"It's ok as long as you're fine." Koko answered, "What are you calling about? It can't be thank me or something like that?"
"Actually it's not." Mikan said, slightly apologetic, "I have a small announcement to make."
"Wait, I'll put you on speaker phone." Koko said and laid his phone on the table.
"Hum hum." Mikan cleared her throat.
"We are taking my inheritance back!"
"And how is this, and I quote: 'Taking back your inheritance'?" Natsume walked in the school hallway, completely bored.
"We are researching our competition." Mikan was in the hallway but she chose to act like a spy, very conspicuously clinging to the wall.
"Wait! Your competition studies in our school?" Natsume was flabbergasted as the whole crew sighed in exasperation.
"Does he even go to school assemblies?" Hotaru asked Ruka, who only shrugged his shoulders.
"Uh, I'm too cool for assemblies." Natsume said like it was the most obvious fact.
"Are you also too cool to know that our high school principal's last name is Sakura?" Koko asked as he followed Mikan's suit.
"Your brother is so old!" Anna said and everyone, except for the equally surprised Natsume, did a face palm, "I didn't even know you had a brother."
"I don't have a brother, my father does." Mikan explained.
"You never told me, I always assumed your father was an only child." Natsume said.
"Well, even though my uncle is older than my father, he chose to become an educator instead of inheriting. He kind of got disowned so nobody talks about him anymore."
"Your family is really rigid with traditions, it must be very suffocating." Anna said.
"Every empire is built on a tragedy." Mikan explained, ending their conversation on a very low note.
"Indeed, in the Sakura Empire, the tragedy is us." A voice said behind the team. Everybody turned around to meet their high school principal.
"Good morning, Dr. Sakura." Mikan greeted, everybody followed suit.
"Just call me 'uncle', Mikan." He raised his hand in dismissal, "You might not have many opportunities to do so anymore; you are graduating and are being practically thrown out of the family."
"You've heard." Mikan asked, more herself than him, "My father is going to pass his seat to you."
"Do you want to discuss this further?"
"I just want to know if you are accepting the inheritance." Mikan asked.
"If it means I get back into the Sakura's graces, I don't see why not."
"That does not sound like the black sheep that you are."
"I think we need to talk more about this, alone."
"Maybe we should after all." Mikan followed, "I would like my fiancée with me, however."
"As you wish."
Natsume followed in a hurry.
"Well?" Mikan said the moment she sat down in the principal's office. Natsume sat next to her while Dr. Sakura took a seat behind his desk.
"I was not lying about appeasing our relatives; that is my wish in inheriting."
"The black sheep painting itself white?" Mikan scoffed.
"No, once a black sheep, always a black sheep. You would know." Dr. Sakura said pointedly. A silence, as heavy as a ton of bricks, fell on the room.
"Then what?" Mikan asked.
"I'm trying to set a few things right again." Dr. Sakura explained, being very vague, very intentionally.
Mikan raised a perfect brow.
"Like you. Like your father."
"What about him?"
"Do you know that Yukihira always wanted to become a teacher, just like me?" Dr. Sakura said, looking a little more cheerful if a little wistful.
"I couldn't tell, not with the way he raised me." Mikan paused a little, smiling bitterly, "I mean, with the way he didn't raise me."
"You were not wrong in saying that empires are built on tragedies. In our case, your upbringing and my getting disowned is only one of many. I'm simply giving your father the opportunity to escape his tragedy. He plans to retire early."
"Why not let him pass the inheritance to me then?" The question was obvious and predictable but Dr. Sakura took his time answering. Eventually, silence, and his sheer stubbornness in refusing the answer, allowed for a change of topic.
"Tell me, why are you so eager to have this inheritance when you know full well that it will continue its oppressive course, creating tragedy after tragedy?"
"What if I said that I can stop this pattern?" Mikan said with a straight face, whether she was bluffing no one could tell, not even Mikan herself.
"Then you would be lying to yourself, or at least to me. You know full well that the inheritor is not the only major stock holder. Even if you were to inherit, you will never have enough say in the family politics."
"And yet you are so ready to take on our bunch of vultures."
"I like how you still use the word 'our'." Dr. Sakura smiled a little, letting out a short laugh.
"Don't change the subject."
"I have no kids no wife, no young innocent beings to corrupt. I had my share of happiness being a teacher and then a principal in this fine institution, getting to meet bright young things just like you." Dr. Sakura confessed, "Now, it's time for me to go back and face my tragedy. You, my dear, are still young and deserve a happy ending."
"Don't act all condescending to me." Mikan was just a little angry, at this point, "Unlike you, at least I have the guts to take my place in the Sakura family."
"Guts or cowardice?" Dr. Sakura was quick to comment.
"Yeah, which one was it when you chose to leave?" Mikan didn't miss a beat in answering. With that, she stood up and walked towards the door, Natsume behind her.
"Last thing," Mikan said as she opened the door, "how are you planning to run a real estate empire without even knowing the first thing about it?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Dr. Sakura smirked.
Mikan slammed the door shut.
"Well?" Koko asked as Mikan walked towards The Group in the cafeteria.
"I took his handkerchief to check for feces. With all the stuff that he said, I suspect his mouth is a cow's butthole." Koko burst into a hearty laugh.
"But seriously." Ruka asked, "Did you change his mind?"
"What part of "a cow's butthole" did you not understand?" Mikan asked in exasperation.
"Hey." Hotaru looked threateningly, "Back off before I punch a good attitude into you." She pulled out what looked like a small cannon head, putting it on her hand. Mikan took a few seconds to calm down.
"I'm sorry, he is just so smug." Mikan said, "Just like how you were that time we met on the rooftop. You know, that time I pulled your pants off." She pointed at Natsume.
"Hey, you can only do that to me!" Natsume warned.
"I bet it's still not as smug as Koko gets sometimes." Anna complained.
"I get especially smug when you pull my pants off." Koko winked, making Anna blush like a tomato.
"Ugh, guys!" Mikan groaned, "Get a room."
"Maybe I will get a room" Anna said, looking at Koko, "for you, in an asylum."
"Indeed, I am crazy." Koko said, dramatically, "Crazy in love with you." He said as he kissed Anna's ear, not giving her enough time to pull away, "But you don't believe me." He whispered.
"I don't." Anna said quietly back.
Koko just smiled bitterly, "Now what?" he asked everybody else.
"I guess I will have to meet the devil himself." Mikan said in gravely.
"You mean your father?" Anna asked innocently.
"Yeah, my father, the devil." Mikan confirmed casually and ordered her lunch.
"Why am I even surprised that by 'meet' you meant 'Skype meet'?" Natsume asked Mikan as she picked the right lighting for the laptop camera.
"It's not my fault he is too busy." Mikan argued.
"Is it also not your fault that you don't dare see him in person?" Koko asked, hitting Mikan's bull eye.
"Shut up! I'm not scared of him rejecting to see me or not paying attention to me even when I am right in front of him or just throwing a credit card in my face or…"
"We get it, he is just busy." Anna comforted Mikan.
"Do you think I look good on camera?" Mikan asked, looking at herself in the mirror.
"I think the camera doesn't do you justice but you are gorgeous anyways." Anna hugged Mikan. Who would've thought that this beautiful accomplished young lady could feel so insecure behind her mischievous façade.
The Skype call ring tone rang and everyone stopped to look at the screen. It was Mr. Sakura.
"All right." Koko said, leading Anna out of the room by the waist, "We will let you two talk this out." Natsume followed.
Mikan slowly approached the laptop, about to answer when Koko ran back in.
"Listen, don't get defensive during the conversation. If you open up a little, you actually might get somewhere."
With that Mikan was left to face her demon.
"You are surprisingly relaxed for someone who shoulders a family debt." Koko said as he drove Anna back to their mansion.
"That's because I know how to pay it back." Anna said, looking out the window at the passing shops.
"And how is that?" Koko asked, a little amused that his fiancée could solve her problem so quickly.
"Well, you, actually." She must have meant his inheritance. Once he was in control of the finances, he could easily pay off her family debt to the Sakuras and then divorce her. Or have the debt money as part of the settlement. Either way, Anna was using Koko the way he has thought to use her. Ah, how cruel she was.
"Not to say that I will not win the inheritance but don't count on it."
"Why not? I think you are a brilliant person, a genius, really. Your father would be a fool not to utilize you and appoint you as the head." Koko was a master of the poker face but even then, it was not easy to hide the blush that slowly crept up his cheeks.
"You really think I'm a genius?"
"You are also a jerk." Koko laughed a little, "But yeah, you are a very smart person, cunning too, of course."
"Are those favorable attributes for you?" He prodded, trying to be casual.
"No, cunning jerks are not my type." Another stab at the heart.
"Funny you say that 'cause I was definitely your type when you agreed to marry me. Or are you going to say that I tricked you into loving me."
"As much as you think that you are in control of my decisions and that you can simply manipulate me into whatever actions you see fit, I am completely in control of my own decisions. So yes, I chose to fall for you and marry you." Koko's heart skipped a beat at Anna's words. What kind of confession was this? And yet, it was the sweetest words he's ever heard her utter. So he remained speechless, "However, since it turns out that you are even more of a cunning jerk than I thought you were, I also chose to stop loving you." And Anna broke his heart in the same heartbeat. Ah, how cruel she was.
"I don't believe you. I don't believe you have stopped loving me." Was that a fact or denial?
"Well, I don't care about what you believe in." Anna retorted, not wanting to admit that, perhaps, Koko was right.
"What if I do love you, what then?" Another attempt at appearing casual.
"That is a silly question. You don't love me." Anna was not sure if she was stating the truth or trying to convince herself.
"But I do." Was this a lie or the truth? Anna didn't know and Koko wouldn't tell.
"But I don't believe you."
"Why would you?" Koko sighed.
The flow of the conversation was so intense that Anna did not notice the change of scenery until the car stopped in what seemed to be a suburban area with spars architecture.
"Where are we?" Anna asked.
"They make some of the best steak in Japan." Koko said as he opened Anna's door, "I figured that we, as meat lovers, should explore the fine establishment."
"I do love meat." Anna said as she looked around.
"Then let's not waste any more time."
"I really can't believe you rented out the whole restaurant, again!" Anna said as she sat down, looking around the empty room.
"I think it is important to have our privacy during the few intimate moments that we get." Koko said as the two steak plates were served.
"This is not an intimate moment." Anna was adamant even though they were sitting at a candle-lit table right out of a rom-com.
"Did you honestly think we were only going to eat meat together?"
"No, the reason why it's not intimate is because we are not in a romantic relationship." Koko decided not to dwell on the pain that Anna inflicted with her words, instead, he decided to say and do whatever the hell he wanted. After all, if Anna did not believe him, his words were of little consequence.
"What do you say would make it a romantic relationship, then?" Koko asked, taking Anna's hand and bringing it to his lips. In that moment, the steak was completely forgotten,
"Should I tell you that my favorite color is pink because it reminds me of your eyes and hair?" He asked, kissing Anna's left pinky.
"Should I bring you red roses to signify love or would you prefer yellow to remind you of my hair?" This time, he kissed her ring finger, being sure to touch her engagement ring.
"Can I make your scent into perfume to smell you in my dreams?" He only touched the tip of Anna's middle finger.
"Can I record your laugh for it is music to my ears?" Koko kissed Anna's pointing finger.
"Better yet, can I ask you to never leave my side?" The thumb was the last destination, Anna was sure.
"Should I say that I am passionately, insanely, almost unbearably in love with you?" She was wrong as Koko slowly brought his lips to her palm.
At this point, Anna could no longer breathe. In these moments, Anna could feel her judgment and wits fade away. Thankfully, some of the blood that rushed to her cheeks managed to get to her brain as she regained some of her cognitive abilities.
"Why would you tell me these things when they are all lies?" Anna asked but Koko was not deterred.
"Because they are sweet," bitter, his face slowly inched closer to hers, "sweet" and closer and closer, truths, "lies". Anna knew that old habits die hard so she let herself be kissed by Koko, or so she would like to think. God forbid she ever admits that she was not in control, neither of this moment nor of her heart.
"And don't you have a sweet tooth?" Koko teased as he parted from Anna.
"I don't want to get cavities." Anna extended the metaphor.
"Then maybe you should just brush your teeth after eating sweets instead of not eating sweets at all." At this point, the two were simply bickering, the metaphor irrelevant.
"Yeah, I guess I will." Anna said as she took stabbed at the side broccoli, washing away the lies that tingled on her tongue.
Nature's toothbrush, Koko thought, how fitting.
"All your silly antics aside, that steak was amazing." Anna said on their way back to the mansion.
"That steak aside, our time together was amazing." Koko mimicked.
"You have been saying some really silly stuff this evening. Should I do what Mikan did and check your handkerchief for feces?" Anna threatened, making Koko laugh. How cute.
"Actually, if you graph the amount of feces found in my handkerchief in the last few months you will find a significant drop today." Koko retorted in a matter-of-fact tone.
"All that gibberish is not gonna hide the fact that what you're saying is a lie." Koko sighed
"No doubt about that." His sing-song voice did not give away even a hint of distress.
Koko's ringtone stopped the conversation at a very convenient time.
"Hey, how did dealing with the demon go?" Koko asked, putting Mikan on speaker.
"Ugh, nothing! I got nothing out of this conversation!" Mikan answered.
"Did you get defensive?" Koko guessed and he was very sure of the answer.
"You know what! Being defensive is my reflex, ok? And jokes on you, he was also defensive so we are even!"
"Basically, you failed." Koko deadpanned.
"Uh, no!" Mikan argued, "He topped up my card and I bought new shoes, so I basically succeeded." She could hear two palms hitting faces.
"Mikan, you know that's not what I'm talking about."
A silence the length of the Amazon River fell on the phone call.
"Anyways." Mikan cut the silence and the awkwardness, "I have decided to ambush the enemy and overtake the command tower!" Her voice spoke of the days of honor and glory, of knights and dragons and conquered lands… Basically, not now.
"You mean you will meet your father at his office?" Koko, ever the deadpan master.
"Dang it, Koko! It sounds cooler my way!"
Everybody laughed in spite of the storm that was to come.