DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GA.
CHAPTER 26: It's not even a part of my job
"So, is everything set?" a raven haired inventor asked.
"Hai." Youichi replied. "I already convinced the old man and mom to let Jun-san and the kitchen crew to have the day off today. That way Natsume-nii would have a chance to cook or something."
"That's good." Aoi uttered. "But I have a question. What's he doing here?" She asked while referring to the lad with the star mark on his cheek.
"Yeah, what are you even doing here?" Ruka asked while he looked around the people inside Youichi's room. "I don't remember having him around in our conversation last night."
"Hey, relax, ok?" Tsubasa stated. "I'm here to help."
"Haven't I told you guys that he doesn't want to marry the baka because he's still in love with clone girl from the doppelganger kingdom?" Hotaru spoke.
"Oh, I see." Youichi and Aoi chorused. "So how are we going to let nii-chan cook or something? It seems pretty impossible if you ask me." Youichi added.
"What are the things that provoke him to do something anyway?" Hotaru asked.
"Uhm, if he's the real nii-chan that I have, he does something unusual once he gets challenged to it." Aoi spoke.
"She's right." Ruka butted in. "The Natsume we know never backs out on a challenge no matter how difficult it may seem."
"Yeah right." Tsubasa scoffed. "But the challenge of admitting his feelings for Mikan-chan is something that he can't even do. How hard could it possibly be? You just tell her and that's it!"
"Well, for every rule there is an exemption, right?" Youichi answered. "Let's just give it a shot. But we still need Mikan-nee on this one. How would we do that without her knowing the whole thing?"
"Mikan may be smart but she can be oblivious of the things that are so obvious." Tsubasa stated. "I bet she wouldn't even suspect a thing."
"Okie dokie then. Let's just have him cook some snacks for all of us. He's really good in making desserts. And I also bet that Mikan-nee would love sweet stuff." Aoi stated.
"Tell me about it." Hotaru and Youichi chorused.
"If x is 14 and if y is 10, what would be the square root of xy? Do not use your calculator and show your solutions." The brunette read her math book. "What the heck? No calculators and then show your solutions? This Natsume has to be kidding me! What the heck is purpose of a calculator if you won't use it?" She uttered to herself.
"Giving your calculator a break would be nice to put your brain to good use." Someone uttered. "If you even have a brain for that matter."
"I know that voice!" She thought as she turned around. "You meanie! For your information, I DO have a brain! It's just that it's not functioning well when it comes to math and such."
"Tch. Whatever." Natsume replied. "Just finish that thing already. You have to submit that first thing in the morning tomorrow. I won't be accepting late papers. Tardiness is a very unprincess-like habit, don't ya think?"
"Boo hoo, now you sound like Jun-san, Natsume." Mikan spoke. "Speaking of Jun-san, where is he? I haven't seen him around and he didn't take my breakfast here in my room today."
"For a princess, you sure don't know the things happening inside your own palace. You really are a baka. The butler and the kitchen crew are all sent for a day off."
"Really?" Mikan beamed. "That would be nice! At least they would get a chance to rest!"
"But having all them for a day off all at once is something weird." Natsume thought.
"Although I'm quite hungry as of the moment." Mikan continued. "I know!" She beamed again as she headed out her room while the flame caster just followed her. Mikan then went to the royal kitchen to see if something good could be eaten in the fridge and upon reaching her destination, she saw everyone else there as well.
"Ohayo, minna!" She greeted with one of her bright smiles. "What are all of you doing here?"
"We're hungry." Youichi simply replied.
"You're kitchen people are out." Tsubasa stated. "Mom and your parents are out as well. I think they attended a royal conference in the Water Kingdom so we're the only ones here other than the people in charge of the cleaning."
"Okay then. Let's all eat together!" Mikan declared as she searched for whatever would be edible inside the fridge. "Uhm… there's a lot of stuff in here but none of them seems to be… you know… actual food or something like that. We still have to make our own food."
"Does a baka like you even know how to cook?" Hotaru asked.
"Of course. Youichi and I are taking up home economics classes ever since we were young. Those classes have different stuff in it like cooking, sewing, cleaning, and the like. I could cook for you guys if you want to but you just have to wait for a little while before we could eat though."
"This is bad. If Mikan-nee would cook, then our plan of knowing if the Natsume here is really my brother would all go down the drain." Aoi thought.
"Tch. Knowing you, we might end up having stomach aches or worse, food poisoning." Natsume stated.
"You meanie! Why would I even do that to my friends?"
"She's right." Tsubasa stated as he wrapped his hand around Mikan's waist which made Natsume twitch. "I know that Mikan can cook. She learned cooking ever since we were young. You talk as if you're good at it though. I bet you don't even know how to cook yourself." He added.
"Tch, don't talk as if you know me."
"Then don't talk as if you know Mikan-chan that much as well." Tsubasa retaliated. "And judging by the way that you talk to me, it sounds like you might have known a thing or two about cooking. Would you prove it to all of us?"
"And why would I do that?" Natsume stated back, "My job here is to tutor those two and not to cook for them. Cooking is none of my business."
"This one sure is stubborn." Everyone else thought.
"You said so yourself that the only job that you do is here is to teach. Teaching sure is different from taunting and teasing. And from the day that I stayed here, you do tease and taunt Mikan-chan a lot. That's not even part of your job."
"He's right! A single day never ends without you annoying me!" Mikan commented.
"Since you've been doing some things that are not really part of job from the very start, you might as well show us a thing or two with what you know about food. If you even know something, that is." Tsubasa stated. "I challenge you, Hamamoto Natsume. If you're able to present to us something good and edible, I'll let you off with all of the teasing sessions that you have done to my little Mikan-chan. But if we're not satisfied, be ready to face the consequences."
"Tch. My little Mikan-chan? She's not even yours you dimwit!" Natsume thought. "Tch. Consequences huh? You can't even do anything. All you do is follow what your mother tells you. Are you even sure that you can pull of some sort of punishment if ever I accept your petty challenge?"
"Of course. Never ever underestimate a person like me. It's a piece of cake just by telling King Izumi here that you're not doing your job properly as their tutor and you even say words that offend the princess. And as a smart commoner like they say you are, I presume that you know that it's against the rules to offend a royal in any sort of way." Tsubasa explained. "If I tell the king and queen what you have been doing, they might even choose for a better tutor than you are. Honestly speaking, I even wonder why they took a mere commoner as the royal tutor where there are many capable professionals from elite institutions here in Alice who could even do the job."
"Tch. Getting fired from my job huh? That can't be. The earnings that I have in this tutoring thing is just enough for the medicines of my foster father and for our daily living. And if I get fired now, I won't get the chance to see Polka anymore and that would mean that she would get married off to this bastard that easily. I definitely can't let that happen."
"So if you still want your little job back, you better do what I just said." Tsubasa stated once again as he signaled everyone else to leave the kitchen. "We'll just be at the garden for a stroll. You can just call us when you're done. Ja." He ended.
"Uhm, Tsubasa? Don't you think you went overboard?" Mikan asked. "You know that I'm used to him teasing me and such and I can just cook for you guys. You don't have to threaten him about his job. It's the only thing that he has as of now. He needs the rabbits that he earns here for his foster father's medication."
"What is done is done. We just have to wait on what he could actually do." Tsubasa replied. "Gomen ne, Mikan-chan. I can't tell you that we planned everything. We would tell when the right time comes."
"Ok then. Just promise me that you won't threaten him again. His job means so much to him."
"Hai." Tsubasa said as he kissed Mikan's forehead. "That's a promise, your highness."
"Oi! You two go and get a room if you want to do things like that!" Youichi stated.
"Public display of affection is not really pleasant for my eyes." Hotaru added. "So if you do that again, be ready to meet baka cannon and baka bazooka at once."
"Uhm, I guess I'll be going back to my room. I still need to finish the last math problem left in my homework." Mikan stated.
"But Mikan-chan, I thought you're hungry?" Ruka asked.
"Don't worry, Mikan-nee. I'll just call you when it's done." Aoi said with a smile. "I know how hard Math is so you really need time for you to understand it fully. I'll go to your room later when it's already time to eat." She continued.
"Hai. Arigatou, Aoi-chan." Mikan replied with a smile as well. "Ja, minna. Matta ne."
"Whoa. You sure know how to push Natsume-nii." Youichi stated when his sister was already out of sight. "You hit the land mine. I know that he cherishes his job here very much that's why he could never back out. He works really hard just for his foster parents."
"And besides, I'm pretty sure that he thought that if he was to leave the palace, he would never ever see Mikan again." Ruka added.
"I just hope that he really does know how to cook." Aoi wished. "I mean, if he doesn't know how, he's doomed."
"Hey, it's not like I'm going to take that consequence seriously." Tsubasa uttered.
"But if you don't, you're the one who's done for it." Hotaru simply stated.
"Hotaru's right." Ruka stated. "He seems to have cared for his foster parents a lot. He'll never forgive you for threatening him just like that."
"Come to think of it, your shadow manipulation alice is no match for his fire." Youichi mumbled.
"I'm ready for everything that he will do." Tsubasa stated.
"Let's just hope that everything goes for the best." Aoi mumbled.