I Like You, Natsume-oniisan
Chapter 25: Conversation
"Mikan, where are you going?" Misaki asked as she saw Mikan sitting at the foyer and putting on a pair of sandals.
"I'm going to Runo's concert. I have promised Hotaru that I will attend it," Mikan replied.
"But your injury..."
"It's all right, Mum! I can take care of myself too. Don't worry so much! See you!"
Mikan slowly stood up and limped out of the door. Misaki shook her head and sighed. Her leg was obviously still in pain and had not recovered yet.
"Mikan, where is the place? I will take you there."
Mikan and Misaki turned around and noticed Natsume all dressed up in his casual clothes. He put on his shoes and walked out of the house.
"Answer me," he demanded monotonously.
Mikan took out the ticket and showed it to Natsume. He scanned it and then returned it back to her.
He walked over to his car and said, "Hop in. I will take you there."
Mikan bit her lips and limped towards the car. After getting into the car, Natsume started the journey. It was actually very awkward. It seemed like they had not talked for ages. In fact, they had not really talked properly to each other, as in having a long conversation with each other, since Mikan's confession. Unlike the past, their conversation would usually end within a minute or maybe less than that, and Natsume would be the wet blanket or the fun spoiler. Whenever Mikan said or asked something, he would respond with a short sentence or two, unless it was necessary for him to talk more than two sentences.
"What time will the concert end?" Natsume started the conversation first.
"Six o'clock in the evening."
"Okay. I will pick you up."
"Thank you."
There was silence again.
"I have noticed that you have been a fan of whatever Runo person since junior high. What is so good about his songs?" Natsume started another conversation.
"Oh! Hotaru introduced him to me at that time and I immediately like his voice. He's a very good singer!" Mikan exclaimed and added a dreamy smile.
"He sounds gay to me."
"No, he's not."
"He is."
"No, he's not! He has so many fans all over the world! Only people like you don't know how to appreciate music," Mikan snorted and looked out of the window.
"You are just crazy over him. Who would paste his photos all over her room like some stalker?" Natsume tried to keep up with the conversation.
Mikan turned to look at him and pouted.
"I don't paste his photos all over my room! I only had two posters of him pasted on the wall of my room."
"Isn't that the same?"
"No, it's not."
"Whatever."
There was another silence again. Mikan looked her watch and let out a giggle. Natsume raised his eyebrows in curiosity.
"What? Are you insane?"
"Nope." Mikan laughed harder. "It is just that I realised that our previous conversation had lasted more than a minute and was closed to two minutes. I hope we can talk like this in the future."
"Oh. That's... great."
"So, let me start the conversation this time. Hmm... How's work?" Mikan asked.
"Fine. Nothing special."
Natsume was obviously not keeping up with the conversation. Even if he did try, he still failed at it.
Mikan sighed. "Now, it is your turn to ask me questions."
Natsume thought for a while and asked, "Is Nogi-san your boyfriend?"
Mikan nearly wanted to spit out her saliva at him for saying ridiculous things like Hotaru.
"How many times must I say that I have no boyfriend? And why Ruka-pyon has got to do with being my boyfriend?" she grunted.
"As if I would believe your words. You don't go around calling boys 'pyon-pyon' unless you are really close to him."
"Geez! He is just a friend! Giving nicknames to close friends are quite fine too."
"So, you two are just close friends?"
"Yeah. What's with you and Hotaru? Both of you cannot stop making fun with us. Geez! Should I call you Natsume-pyon too?" Mikan giggled.
Natsume's ear twitched in annoyance and he bellowed, "Do you want me to drop you off now?"
"N... No thanks. I'm sorry."
Natsume thought of another topic to talk about and finally said, "About yesterday, thank you."
Mikan scratched her head and laughed sheepishly, "Haha! It's nothing. I was just trying to help you, that's all. Hotaru also did help me too."
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry that I had to make you worry about me."
Mikan laughed again, "Saying sorry is so not like you at all, Onii-san."
"That means when I say that word, I really mean what I say."
"Haha! What a joke! Anyway, saying thank you is also out of character for you."
"That means I really mean it when I say that," Natsume said and suddenly braked the car because the traffic light flashed red in colour. "And sorry for treating you quite badly over the past few weeks. I was in a very bad mood because of Nobara."
"It's okay. I understand your problem, though I have no idea about your secret. It must be important, right?"
Natsume nodded and said, "Maybe I will tell you the next time when the right time comes."
Puzzled, Mikan tilted her head and stared at him quizzically. His eyes slowly moved away from the traffic light to hers.
Mikan felt all weird again.
Those crimson eyes of his looked like they were trying to hint something to her but she did not capture any hint at all. They kept staring at each other until someone honked at Natsume's car, startling both of them. For the first time, Natsume actually fumbled with the gear clumsily and immediately straightened himself up before driving again. As for Mikan, she immediately looked away and stared out of the window with a flustered face.
"Yesterday, you said that you don't like me at all. Is it the truth or some lie to protect yourself?" Natsume spoke again.
With her face still looking away from his, she replied, "It's partially the truth and it's also partially to protect myself."
"How is it so?"
Mikan did not like this topic at all. It was making her feel hurt again as she remembered her rejected confession. She had somehow gotten over her love for him but she was still hurt over that confession bit because she was rejected in a very straightforward manner.
"I... I don't like you as in that way which I used to have, but I like you as a brother whom I treasure a lot like I do to Mum and Dad," Mikan explained. "It takes a lot of effort to get over it but with Hotaru's and Ibaragi-san's help, I actually did it."
"Nobara helped you?"
"I hate to say this but she told me to give up on you because you were already engaged to her."
"She can be very harsh in her words."
"That was why you listened to her like a dog."
"Do you seriously want me to throw you out of the car?" Natsume growled.
Mikan pouted and grumbled, "Petty."
"Stubborn."
"Ill-tempered."
"Nosy."
"Hey! I helped you yesterday! How dare you called me nosy!" Mikan whined. "You are a dork!"
"Stop whining, whinny piggy."
"Biggest meanie!"
"I will drop you off here." Natsume suddenly stepped on the brake.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Mikan shouted.
Natsume glared at her and said, "What's fair? We have already arrived. All you have to do is just walking and joining the queue. Do you need me to carry you there?"
"No thanks!" Mikan shouted again and swung open the door.
After stepping out of the car, she waved goodbye to him and he drove off. She looked around to see if Hotaru had arrived. Just then, she saw Hotaru buying prawn crackers from a stall along the road side. She called out to her and waved excitedly to her. After paying the stall owner, Hotaru turned to look at Mikan and flashed a smile.
"How's your leg, Mikan? You know, if you can't make it, I can always pass the ticket to someone else," Hotaru asked worriedly as she walked over, staring at Mikan's left bandaged leg.
"I'm fine, though it still hurts when I walk. But it's okay, Hotaru! Don't worry about me!" Mikan reassured.
Since she was injured, she could not wear jeans so she wore a dress instead. The girls slowly walked into the queue and waited for their turn to show their tickets, then they entered into the concert hall.
'Beep! Beep!'
Mikan looked at Hotaru.
"Is it your handphone message ringtone?" she asked.
"No. I think it's yours."
Mikan took out her handphone from her pouch and checked it. True enough, there was a text message and it was surprisingly sent by Natsume who had never texted her ever since she got a first handphone in her last year of junior high school. Curiously, she opened the message and read it.
'Hey, I will pick you up at six o'clock sharp. Don't be late because I know crazy fans like you would ask for his autograph. And the conversation we had earlier lasted for about twenty-four minutes. -Natsume'
After reading it, she laughed silently to herself. She did not realise that they had talked for about twenty-four minutes. It was a great improvement. She pressed the reply button and typed her message before sending it to him.
'Sure. I hope we can talk to each other more like the last time we used to have when we were still very little. Haha! See you later, Onii-san!'
Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 25. As usual, the first chapter of a new part of this story is a filler chapter. The next chapter is the start of the revelations of...
Ruka Nogi and a little more on Natsume's dirty secret. ;)
Next, I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 24. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D
Here are the reviewers:
- Sia
- Scarlet Ammo 19
- sinables
- Natsume Reo
- mooshy3712
- aurora0914
- Sariko-chan723
- Kuro Karasu Onna
- sakura-san29
- NanaShinozaki
- Mirai
- TsuragaKyoko
- Rae-chan179
- .311
- ACuteChibiAngel
- xNatsuMikanx
- AnimeMango
- jennifer8-Mikan Hyuuga
- lisaOpine
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- pandabear8520
Lastly, I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)
And don't forget to leave a review! Thanks! :)