Chapter 42 (Miki)
'Damn that cat,' Miki thought to herself as she sneezed again. Hyuuga-sensei had took a look at them both and promptly burst out laughing when he came to them to escort Aria to the 'jail'. Aria had raised an eyebrow at her teacher at that, and Miki sneezed away when the cat decided it'd be fun to snuggle up to her legs despite her dripping wet.
The S class teacher had told Miki that she could go change before hunting down the last member of the mission team, but the brunette figured that even if she did change, her pull-over jacket would still be wet - and that totally destroyed the point of changing in the first place. Aria, on the other hand, jumped at the chance of changing into dry clothes, and waved at Miki with a happy smirk - the frigging cat mewed at her before it trotted off after Aria.
"My eyes..." the poor allergic-to-animals teen whined as she rubbed at them. Her walkie-talkie was out of order thanks to the tumble into the pool she took courtesy of Aria, so there was no way for her to contact any of her team members in 'jail'.
...Well. There was always trying to 'pull a Joong Ki' again, as Yuiren put it, but she was drenched, and she really didn't want to slip and slide around the marble flooring of the villa.
She jogged over to the living room window nonetheless and knocked on it - Aria had already changed (damn, she was fast) and was toweling her hair dry (there was an extra towel beside the celeste-haired teen; for her after the game was over, perhaps?). Syo-kun charged up to the window and opened it, taking in her drenched form with concern.
"You fell into the pool?" he asked, and Miki pointedly stared at Aria. The heiress shrugged when the strawberry blonde turned his gaze to her, and he sighed.
"My walkie-talkie's dead thanks to that," the brunette told him. "Gimme yours."
Syo-kun handed his over to her without much fuss, and Miki rose an eyebrow at the red-faced duo of the mission team. "What's with them?"
Jinguji-san was the one who answered - though really, all he did was chuckle and the aforementioned two turned even redder. Miki grinned before she waved and hopped backwards where the sun was the strongest in hopes of getting her clothes at least partially dry.
And then she decided to be a monkey.
Natsuki had been searching the second floor when a loud splash caught his attention. The bespectacled teen turned his gaze out the nearby window and watched, with surprise and growing worry, as Aria surfaced the water and made her way to Miki. The younger teen had clung to the celeste-hair, but sneakily ripped off the heiress' name tag when she was back on solid ground.
He felt his worry abate when the brunette stood once again, attempting to squeeze the moisture out of her clothes. Hyuuga-sensei approached the two teens as the announcement declaring Aria's elimination rang, and Natsuki had to duck under the window when Miki looked up. Did she spot him?
The blonde's fears were washed away when Miki walked off in the direction of the main entrance, and Natsuki renewed his search with vigor. There was only Miki's card left to find, so he hoped to eliminate her before she found him.
Then his walkie-talkie crackled, and he heard the 'jail' team exclaim loudly about how Miki would break a bone if she fell.
...wait, what?
For the first time in a long while, Natsuki clicked on his walkie-talkie. "What's going on?"
"Miki's climbing the trellis to the second floor balcony," came the reply from a normally quiet Yuiren. "Wait, Miki, don't!"
"Miki, if you fall, Saeki's gonna have my head, you know that right?" that was from Syo. He heard Miki's voice, but due to the distance, it was soft.
"What, you... ughhhh..." that was Syo again, and it was with much surprise that he heard Miki's voice come through his walkie-talkie.
"Natsuki-san," the brunette's cheery voice came through, "You're the last man standing. I know exactly where you are. Be prepared, mmkay? Also, walkie-talkie frequencies are fun to change."
That particular sentence answered Natsuki's question on how she managed to get into his team's frequency. Then he processed her words and turned to run out of the room. If she knew where he was, it's game over - he can't outrun her despite his longer legs.
He was stopped by a happily grinning Miki. "Mitsuketa," she sang, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. Natsuki couldn't help but rake his eyes over the smaller teen's form; the way her damp clothes clung to her like second skin, the rather breathless look on her face...
He flushed and quickly turned his head away. 'No, Natsuki. Bad thoughts. Bad!'
Miki giggled. "Say, Natsuki-san..." she said - she was walking towards him, judging by the jingling. "Did you know...?"
"Know what?" he asked as he tried to keep his gaze away from her - why didn't she change, for goodness sake!
He did not need to look at her to know she was smiling. "You... have a rather interesting second personality."
What? Second pers-and Miki snuck up on him and pulled his glasses away, and his mind went blank.
Climbing up the villa to the second floor was risky business, Miki knew, but she did it anyway. It certainly wasn't as easy as the Assassin's Creed series made it seem, but heck with it. She made it up safely, didn't she?
And, really, she wasn't lying when she said she knew where Natsuki-san was. Much like how he seemed to know where she was hiding, Miki had the same instinctive feeling as to where the blonde was. It was odd, the brunette knew, but she liked that fact.
"Mitsuketa," she sang when she blocked the elder teen from exiting the room he was in, and he backed away when she stepped into the room and closed the door. His green eyes went over how her clothes was sticking to her body, and he promptly flushed and turned his gaze away.
Miki couldn't help the giggle. "Say, Natsuki-san... did you know?" she asked as she approached him, and the bespectacled teen did his utmost best to not look at her as he backed away.
"Know what?"
She smiled. Natsuki-san had cute reactions when he was embarrassed. "You... have a rather interesting second personality."
That caused his head to whip back to her - looks like what Syo-kun told her was the truth; he didn't know about it. Interesting. Miki took his confusion to sneak up on him and pull his glasses away, and she backed off slightly with the glasses in hand before said second personality could lash out at her.
Narrowed green eyes regarded her for a moment before he spoke. "You..."
"Konnichiwa, Satsuki-san," Miki greeted instead. "How've you been?"
"Natsuki doesn't need to know!" he hissed at her, and Miki resisted the urge to flinch. She quirked an eyebrow at him instead.
"Why not?" she shot right back. "Natsuki-san and Satsuki-san were originally 'one', anyway. Granted, I don't know what happened that caused you to split from him, but it doesn't mean you-!"
Miki felt her mind blank when the blonde pushed and then pinned her against the wall. 'Too close too close too close,' her mind supplied, and she felt her cheeks heat up. What was she saying again?
"What I do to protect Natsuki," came the low growl, "is none of your business, Oikawa!"
Oh, right, she remembered now. Resisting the urge to pull the (as she labeled him) 'sadistic' personality in an armbar, Miki calmed her racing heart, reached out... and proceeded to pull his cheeks.
"It. Is. My. Business. Sa. Tsu. Ki. San," she intoned curtly, not missing the way his eyes had flashed in shock and mild amusement as he wrenched her hands away from his face. "Natsuki-san is precious to me, too," she told the taller, and stared back into his narrowed gaze intently. "If you ask me to sit around and let things be as it is, Satsuki-san, sorry. Won't happen."
Satsuki-san let out what sounded like a huff of hair. "Right," he deadpanned, "I exist because someone hurt Natsuki, and I'm not going to let that happen again." He glared at her, and Miki rolled her eyes - his glares are not going to work on her. "What makes you think you won't hurt him?"
"Simple," Miki answered with a shrug. "I don't. I don't know if I'll hurt him, or if he'll hurt me instead. I don't know what happened, and until either you or he tell me about it, I won't pry." She sighed. "But," she added, flicking her eyes over to the door - she's certain Hyuuga-sensei was nearby. "There are certain... feelings... involved that I can't mention right now, and I'll swear on that."
Satsuki-san quirked an eyebrow right back at her, and the brunette rolled her eyes again. "That's all I have to say," she said as she stepped up and held the glasses out to him. He took it after a moment's pause. "Maybe it's high time you reveal yourself to Natsuki-san. Oh, and thanks for saving me that day."
The blonde allowed what-seemed-like an amused chuckle slip past his lips. "You're interesting, Oikawa," he finally said as he turned. "I still don't believe you."
"Didn't expect you to," Miki answered, and watched the even more interesting transition from Satsuki to Natsuki. The 'innocent' (again, as she labeled it) personality blinked in confusion, and Miki giggled.
"I'm giving you a five seconds head start, Nacchan," she told him, remembering that Ittoki-san called the other that. "Five..."
"What?"
"Four..."
"Miki-chan, what just happened?"
"Three..."
"You're serious, aren't you?"
"Two..."
Natsuki-san turned and bolted out the room. Miki grinned.
"One."
She ran after him, saluting an amused Hyuuga-sensei as she passed. Natsuki-san had already made it to the stairs and was running down them three at a time, and the 'jail' exploded with noise once again. Miki had no reservations to her own safety at the moment though, and literally jumped five steps at a time before she tackled the taller blonde.
"Run, Natsuki!" Ittoki-san yelled even as they toppled to the floor.
"Go Miki!" Syo-kun cheered with much amusement.
"Seriously, where's the camera?!" That was Jinguji-san, and Miki took a moment to flip him the finger before she continued the wrestle for Natsuki-san's name tag.
The taller blonde managed to flip them over and made a break for it towards the kitchen - potentially hoping to use the back door. Miki rolled back to her feet and took off after him, her still-damp sports shoes squeaking against the tiling.
"Five minutes left," Tsukimiya-sensei's voice declared, and Miki sped up. Even though the Chasing team would've won - Mission team failed to find all eight items, after all - the brunette wanted to 'kill' the last person 'alive'.
"Whoa whoa whoa, Miki-chan, stop!"
"Nope, sorry!"
Miki grinned and ducked under his tackle - he was stronger than her strength-wise, after all. In a swift movement, she latched onto his name tag and pulled, making a turn as she did just in case he tried to swipe at her again.
"Shinomiya Natsuki, OUT! Shinomiya Natsuki, OUT!"
An explosion of cheers and groans resounded from the living room at that, and Natsuki-san graciously escorted her to the 'jail' with a smile. When they arrived, the eliminated members of the Chasing team were quick to congratulate her, and Aria came over to drop the towel on her head.
"You insane woman, you," the celeste-haired teen told her, and Miki grinned from under the towel. She never denied her insanity.
"Annnnd... game oveeeeer!" declared their nuthead of a Principal. Where he came from, they had no idea. "I-sama has decided who among you baby-tachi should perform!" The Mission team members rolled their eyes at him, and Nanami-san looked like she knew who the Principal would pick.
Shining Saotome did a ridiculous twirl before nearly shoving his finger into her eye. "Miss Oikawa Miki, I choose you!"
"...I feel like a Pokemon," came her immediate response, and Yuiren hid a giggle. Then Miki processed his words, and she gaped. "Me? Seriously?"
Jinguji-san reached over and ruffled her hair through the towel. "I can't say I'm surprised, lady," he said. "You deserved it the most out of all of us."
"Eh? But... me? Seriously?"
There was a round of chuckles and giggles at her expense, and Miki blinked owlishly. She didn't get it - why was she chosen? Though, when she thought about it, the Principal rarely made sense.
"That's not all, Oikawa-baby!" The proclamation made them pause. "You-san is expected to compose your own song to open the festival with!"
Miki froze. W-what...? Everyone exchanged glances in confusion, but Syo-kun looked ecstatic - of course he would, he knew she liked composing better. But she... for Saeki-
The Principal's hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts, and he smiled at her, looking uncharacteristically serious... and proud. "It's because it's you that I set it that way," he told her. "Your brother requested for it, too, should your team win."
S...Saeki requested...? It...It made no sense, why would nii-san...?
Syo-kun came and clapped her on the back. "You can do it, Miss Composer-in-Idol-course," he told her, and Miki took in the no longer confused faces of her peers - in fact, they looked more interested than anything else.
Miki took a breath. "I...I understand," she told the Principal, and he grinned and went back into his fool of a persona.
The brunette found she didn't pay attention to what he said after that. Her head was starting to hurt, and the back of her throat itched. Yuiren, with all her experience from her younger siblings, took notice and ushered her to the bathroom for a shower, and as the dark-haired teen dried her hair for her, Miki fell asleep.
Yuiren allowed herself a soft giggle as she laid the now-sleeping brunette on her bed. She pressed a hand on the younger teen's forehead and another to her own, and nodded. Her suspicions were confirmed. She exited the room and bit back a laugh at the concerned looks she was getting from everyone else.
"Miki's sick."
Author's Note: Ah Miki, I have no comment...again. To think it was Author Miki's idea to do this whole game thing for the summer.
Please R&R if you like and do stay tuned!
