I Like You, Mikan-sensei
Chapter 21: Fired
Mikan knocked the door softly and waited.
"Come in," a voice called out from the room.
Mikan took a deep breath and entered the Principal's room.
"Good morning, Sir. Narumi-sensei told me that you want to see me. What is it?" Mikan queried.
The middle-aged man chuckled and took out a file. Slowly, he pulled out many photographs and flung them at Mikan's face. Mikan ducked a little but she didn't manage to miss them. One of them hit her face and she removed it to take a look at it. She was not surprised at all. It was a picture of Natsume and Mikan walking home together.
"Let me explain, Sir!" Mikan said.
The man laughed again and threw a piece of laminated paper at her, "Here is your precious testimonial. You may need it for your future career. Yes?"
Mikan stared at him, feeling confused. The man chuckled.
"I wonder how did you managed to pass as a teacher when you don't have any dignity and self-control over yourself! I have seen and heard everything. You don't have to explain anything either. Isn't that great? Fabulous, isn't it?"
"No! Let me explain!"
"Shut up!" he bellowed. "Shut up, or else I will hand you over to the authorities."
Mikan flinched. Everything was a huge misunderstanding. Is it wrong to be closed to and help a student?
"Sir, I..." Mikan muttered.
The man shot her a menacing glare and snarled, "Mikan Sakura, you have tainted the school's name. You are lucky that I am letting you go easy this time because I might hand you over to the authorities anytime."
"Sir, please listen to me..."
"Shut up! You should be lucky that I've written a testimonial for you, dimwit. Oh yes! As a kind principal, I am letting you clean up the mess you have made. Are you clear?"
Mikan gulped and asked, "What... What do you mean by letting me clear up my mess?"
The man shrilled with laughter again. He loved to see the tortured face of Mikan. Well, so much so for a sadist.
"Are you dumb or what? Of course, you are leaving this school as if nothing had happened and with clean hands. Isn't this better than handing you over to the authorities? You'll not have any black mark in your life record," the man said.
Mikan became afraid. She was doomed. The Principal did not want to listen to her at all. Worst of all, she had to leave this school.
"Mikan Sakura, you are fired!" the man boomed.
Mikan stared at him in horror. Tears came rolling down her cheeks. No voice came out from her mouth. It was as if something was stuck at her throat.
"Get out now. Clear your things and get out from this school now!" he bellowed as he pointed at the door.
Mikan quickly scrambled outside the room and walked briskly to the staffroom to pack her things. Nobara was in the staffroom too but she didn't even make any contact with her. Nobara could only look at the distraught teacher and felt pity for her. She couldn't do anything for fear to be fired as well.
Luna walked into the Principal's room and smiled at the Principal.
"Hey Rei, don't you think you are a little too harsh to that poor amateur?" Luna teased.
The man whose was called Rei Serio chuckled and walked towards Luna.
He put his arms around her waist and whispered, "All for my lady. All for you, my princess."
Luna smiled back and leaned forward to place her lips on his.
She muttered, "Thanks, Rei..."
Finally, Mikan had packed her stuffs and cleared her table. She left the school, feeling unjustified. As she reached home, she threw her things onto the floor and slumped herself onto the sofa. She cried uncontrollably. She had lost her job and Natsume. She felt so lost. She got up and picked up her telephone, wanting to call the Higiris to tell them her problem. However, she put it back down as she didn't want to trouble them. She changed into her casual clothes and walked out of her house. All she need was to cool herself down by taking a walk around the shopping district where there were many shops that sold food all over the place.
She walked to a shopping district where it was famous for its luxurious and delicious food sold there. She walked past a few shops while looking at the people eating their meals happily. For the first time, she didn't feel hungry, even though it was in the late afternoon. She kept walking and walking idly until someone blocked her way.
Mikan looked up and said weakly, "Excuse me. You are blocking my way."
The person who blocked her way was a beautiful young waitress.
She bowed sweetly at Mikan and said, "Good afternoon, Miss. Want to have a look at our cafe? You will definitely cheer up!"
Mikan just stared at the charming waitress while the waitress took her by the hand and led her into the cafe. Mikan got a shock of her life. There were a few waitresses in the cafe serving the customers. No, that was not the problem. The waitresses were cosplaying as some anime characters and not only that; there were more male customers than female customers. Mikan felt uncomfortable. Was this some cosplaying waitress cafe? Well, it was her first time seeing one.
The waitress who led Mikan into the cafe gave her an empty table and asked, "Miss, today's menu is our famous Chocolate Pearl Cake with Banana Ice-cream Split. Do you want to try them?"
Mikan nodded with some hesitation. The waitress smiled warmly at her and left. Mikan looked around the shop. The cafe was very well-designed and luxurious. The cosplay was not bad either. There were also many customers as well. That showed that this cafe's business was not bad at all. Almost immediately, the waitress came back with her order. Mikan started eating the food. Surprisingly, the food was delicious and she squealed. Mikan liked the food so she began digging into the shortcake and ate the split. It was so fabulous that she wanted to order another round of food.
The waitress smiled at her and said, "I'm glad you have cheered up, Miss!"
Mikan blushed. Another waitress came towards that waitress who had been serving Mikan all these while and passed a piece of paper to her.
She said, "Nonoko-chan, please paste this advertisement outside our cafe. We need more waitresses."
The waitress who was called Nonoko nodded and took the paper from her. Nonoko walked to the cafe entrance and pasted it there.
"Anna-chan, I'm done!" Nonoko shouted.
That waitress who was called Anna smiled and nodded while walking back into the kitchen.
Nonoko went back to Mikan's side and asked politely, "Miss, what else can I do for you?"
Mikan thought for a while and queried, "Are you guys employing new waitresses? I'm looking for a job but I haven't found one that suits my taste. I might consider signing up for this one and I don't mind doing part-time too. All I need is some reasonable salaries to support myself."
Nonoko gasped and called Anna out, "Anna-chan! We have an interested cosplayer wannabe here!"
Mikan jumped. Interested cosplayer wannabe? What was that supposed to mean? Anna rushed out of the kitchen happily and Nonoko pointed excitedly at the dumbfounded Mikan. Anna hugged Mikan tightly, suffocating her.
"Thanks for joining us at the Cosplay Cafe! First, you must read the terms and conditions before filling in this form," Anna chirped while passing the particulars form to Mikan.
Mikan did as she was told and Anna pulled Mikan into the washroom.
"Before I even allow you to join us, you must show us your cosplaying and serving skills. I want it right now, Mikan-chan!" Anna ordered.
Again, Mikan did what she was told to do. She grabbed a random costume and changed into it. When she was done, she stepped out from the cubicle and looked at Nonoko and Anna with anticipation.
All she could see the two dramatic waitresses gasped and soon, one of them actually passed out while the other just stood there petrified.
Did Mikan look really horrible?
Here is a small peek for Chapter 22:
Chapter 22: Craziness
She picked up a tray of glasses of lemon juice and walked out of the kitchen to serve the customers. The male customers were staring at her in awe; some were blushing while some were whistling to her, trying to gain her attention. Mikan was used to being stared at by a class of students but not in this way whereby everyone staring at her with perverted eyes. Even Natsume, Ruka and the high school boys were not like that. She sighed as she placed the order on her customers' table. Much to her dismay, those customers were a group of middle-aged men.
"Sir, what else can I do for you?" Mikan asked politely and confidently as she could not show her awkwardness to her customers.
One of the male customers asked, "One question, are you new here? We have never seen you before. How old are you? 16?"
Before Mikan could answer, Anna appeared out of nowhere and interrupted, "Yes, she is new here but is under trail! She is only 16 years old. Cute, right?"
"Is she a Lolita?" another customer asked while laughing.
"I'm not, Sir!" Mikan shot back.
Anna nudged Mikan to keep quiet and then said cheerily, "Yes, she is. Her nickname is Lolita-chan! Though she is 16 years old, she behaves very maturely like a 24-year-old lady. Very attractive, right?"
Good luck, Mikan... Of course, she is not 16 years old. Find out what happened to Anna and Nonoko after seeing her wearing that cosplay dress and why they said that Mikan was 16 years old in the next chapter! :)
Please review this chapter and tell me how it is! Thank you! :D