09 Poof!
"What the—" Luna's words—or blasphemy to be exact— were cut short when her widen eyes caught the sight of a small child in the arms of a foreign man she had never seen before. What's more ridiculous was that, the brunette, supposedly the actual recipient of her blasphemy for playing with her state of mind lately for refusing to tell her her whereabouts, were beaming widely at her with a pastry fork loosely hanging at the tip of her lips. She looked like she was enjoying herself with some chocolate cake, Luna noticed with her vein twitched irritatingly.
"You were here all this time eating a fucking cake?" She snapped, wanting nothing more than slammed the brunette's face into the darn cake, or maybe just lightly toss the whole plate away before squeezing the brunette with a bear hug—she didn't know for she was having a very mixed feelings upon seeing her best friend suddenly appearing in front of her just like that.
"Well,"Mikan began slowly as she put the fork down and push the plate away before dabbing her lips with a tissue. "It looked like you were busy so I figured I would say hi after you settle your work first," she explained with a warm smile. Luna couldn't stay mad after all, not when Mikan gave her that soft, soft warm smile and now what she wanted more was to just threw herself on her and kissed her cheeks because she missed her that much. The effect of Mikan was that evil on her. She almost melted on the spot.
"And also," she added, "you know I love you with your blasphemy, Luna but I hope you could tone it down a little this time," she asked sheepishly with an apologetic expression on her face. "We have a minor present right now."
"Well, no shit, Sherlock," Luna offhandedly response before throwing the child her gaze. Her blue eyes scrutinized the child who was now staring at her back in the same manner that a kid trying to figure out whether the adult he's seeing was sane or not. Luna frowned. "This kid looks exactly like you," she pointed out as her eyes squinted even more at the child, trying to make sense why she felt so. Their resemblance was truly uncanny.
"Well, obviously," Mikan chirped proudly, "because that kid is mine."
Luna's head snapped towards Mikan in just a second. "YOU HAVE A FUCKING DAUGHTER!?" Her sudden loud voice boomed across the room, surprising everyone in the process.
Instead of Luna—who apparently was busy giving her a death gaze with her pretty blue eyes and her pretty lips were now mumbling incoherent words, Mikan was the one to bow her head and muttered her apologies to the people in the room. She then spoke in a foreign language and the blonde man put his palms over the child's ears, covering them altogether.
Luna's eyes went extremely wide. "What the f— Russians!?" Her panicky eyes went back and forth between Mikan and the two strangers. "I clearly heard you speak Russians just now!" She never met one but she knew how Russians sounds like.
"For god's sake, Luna, your cursing!" Mikan reminded her exasperatedly, "Have some mercy on Haru, please." She sighed before tiredly adding, "Haru is a boy. I get that you're confused but Haru is my son."
Luna was quiet for awhile. She studied the child's face very carefully like how she would study her specimen in her lab. "Your son is very beautiful," she finally concluded out of the blue, now feeling very amazed by how attractive the child was. She had mistaken his prettiness for a girl but of course, men can be pretty too; just the same as women can look handsome as well. It all basically meant the same anyways; attractive-looking.
"Thank god you're finally talking sense," Mikan rolled her honey-brown eyes. "And Ruka," she motioned for the foreign man with blonde hair and a pair of mesmerizing blue eyes, "is Japanese." Partially, that is. But nonetheless, he's still Japanese.
Luna snorted before adding a sarcastic remark, "If he's Japanese then I'm Queen Elizabeth." She thought what she heard was truly ridiculous. "If he's Russian, then he's Russian," she said in as a matter of fact tone like why bother saying something that was not what it already was, before quietly stare at the man again as she accessed him with narrowed eyes. "It's more believable if you tell me that he's French instead."
That lookalike greek bone structure would convince her on the spot. She noticed how light his blue eyes were. They were imposing that it was almost impossible not to stare at them. She assumed the child took all of Mikan's genes instead of his since Haru's eyes were far from anything blue. His were a lot closer to Mikan's colour, now that she thought about it. And his hair was brunette too.
She then frowned when she noticed the corner of the man's lips curled slightly as if he was amused about something. The frown became deeper when he appeared to be covering the small mishap when he noticed she was staring at him. Does he found Japanese people entertaining for him?
"I knew I would find you here."
A 6 feet red haired appeared, walking casually towards them and almost immediately Luna's mood plunged to the ground when she saw him. She clearly didn't expect him to be here nor she would ever wanted to see him here either. Now where in the world did that man heard to miraculously find both of them here altogether?
Mikan, on the other hand, was smiling—much to Luna's confusion. "Fancy seeing you here, Rio," Mikan spoke. She was smiling but her tone definitely wasn't. Her posture changed, Luna noticed. It was barely noticeable but she definitely saw it. Her back was hella straight now and she was holding her head high too; it was as though she's facing an enemy.
What the hell happened between them? She knew they broke up—much to her astonishment because she knew Mikan liked the guy and they were even engaged too before this! Funny how she knew about the separation from the man himself—the one she made it obvious to everyone that she disliked to the core—instead from her own bestfriend herself, who apparently at that time, were busy running away from home and happened to not tell her about it; yes she still felt bitter about this. The idiot didn't tell her anything except for giving her her new address, that turned out to be the residence of her colleague that she crashed with?! And that so-called colleague was not even a woman!
A man, for goodness sake! Mikan had been living with a man who Luna had never knew of before!
"I heard from our mutual friend about Koizumi's academic conference," he began before quickly added, "Congratulations by the way, Koizumi," to which Luna offhandedly response with a dismissive wave of her hand, looking not the least bit interested with his lack of sincerity in congratulating her. He continued, "and figured I could find you here if I went. Knowing you, you definitely won't miss Koizumi's first big event so you would definitely come."
"It's 50-50 at first but I'm glad I did come." He trailed off with a smile but his hooded gaze meant something else when he continued, "If I didn't, I wouldn't have known that you already have a child…" His aggrieved gaze landed on Haru before moving towards Ruka. "...after getting knocked up by a gaijin."
Mikan's vein twitched vexingly at the slur but she remained calm. She didn't feel the need to explain the misunderstandings to Rio either. Rather, she had thought he didn't deserve to hear it anyways. So she plastered her biggest and fakest smile ever and spoke, "Did you come all the way here in hope to catch me so you can proudly give me your wedding invitations?" His flinched of surprise didn't go pass her eyes. Bet he was surprised of how she knew the reason why he came. Social media was truly the fastest news spreader ever. Luna on the other hand, had her eyes bulged out between them both. What wedding?!
"But oh my god, right? Instead of finding me looking miserable for leaving you, you found me with a child," she chuckled, mocking him in the process. Her eyes were sparkling when she went on emphasizing, "My child." She smiled innocently but anyone could see she was taunting him. It was more of a dark grin instead.
"You told me you couldn't get pregnant," he snarled through gritted teeth. He was slowly started to seethe. "That's why we fought in the first place!"
He needed an heir in order for him to inherit his family ryokan business. That's how the business was passed to the next head knowing that the next, next head was already decided. That's the tradition of the Mori family business. The business wasn't a conglomerate but the Mori was indeed the biggest business owner in that piece of a dead small town. His father became the next head after he was born. He lived all his life knowing he too would be the next head after his child is born next. But then Mikan told him she couldn't conceive!? They ended up fighting because not only they were also set to marry in order for him to take over the business but knowing that his future plan would be ruined just because she couldn't get pregnant?! He felt like he was betrayed so he got mad.
"We were still young, Rio. If you were a bit more mature and willing to figure things out with me instead of getting mad at me for the fact that I couldn't get pregnant, I was sure things would work out one way or another. After all, with how fast-paced our technology is growing, nothing is impossible," she shrugged nonchalantly before continuing, "but of course, you're one desperate man. Too ambitious, and too desperate." For a moment, her honey-brown eyes turned vacant and her face turned impassive before an innocent smile broke on her face like her expression didn't just turned dark for a second. "It was truly a miracle that I could actually ended up getting pregnant."
"And I'm glad that my child is not yours." Again, she was mocking him. It was more vexing because she seemed like she enjoyed doing it so.
"You're the one who left me and ran away! If anyone who should be the victim here, it's me" he snapped as the angry glower on his face became apparent. "We were engaged! But you left without a word and you—"
"That's right, we were indeed engaged," Mikan cut him off with a dead gaze set directly on him. Her face turned cold and forbidding. "I'm surprised that you were fully aware of that." She crossed both her arms under her chest. "Instead of blaming me for disappearing without a word, did you ever think why I did such things? When I liked you so much."
That question caught him off-guard and he stood there, silent.
She bet he never thought about it properly. He could never had guessed why because this man with unyielding ego, insisted on thinking that it could be anything else but him be the reason why what happened, happened. That's why he put the blame on her. He would never consider that he was actually, the reason why it happened.
"I came back to your place that night, by the way," Mikan started, nonchalantly studying her well-manicured clean nails, feigning disinterested. "That night after we fought, I came back to your place in hope I could convince you that we could work things out." Mikan paused and looked at him straight in the eyes, unwavering. "But of course, you didn't know that, did you?" Mikan smirked tauntingly. Her words were coated and when she saw him flinched, this time, more apparently, she knew he had read between the lines of what she actually meant. His face had gone stiff.
"So I closed your bedroom door and left the key to your place. I deactivated all my social media, blocked your number before changing mine and I just left that deadass town. I texted your parents and told them I wanted to break off the engagement. I didn't tell them why," the corner of her mouth curled up darkly, "but I figured they knew why the next day though."
She completely removed herself from him and didn't offer a shred of explanation or opportunities for him to defend himself. She disappeared from his life after his betrayal. She thought it'd not only help her to focus on herself more without his presence but also, by completely shutting herself off from him would hurt worse than anything when he thought on how good he had it with her the last few years.
She suddenly blinked rapidly, "Ah," and covered her mouth dramatically, horribly acting out like she just realized something before provokingly adding, "You didn't know that as well, did you?"
By the look of realization dawned on Rio's pale face, he finally caught what Mikan had meant; his parents had went to his place the next day in hope to knock some sense into him or most likely interrogate him on why Mikan suddenly wanted to break off the engagement, and saw him together with another woman on his bed.
His parents knew. All this time, his parents knew.
What kind of a bastard he had been all this while in front of his own parents.
Mikan leaned forward and propped her chin on her palm as she placed her elbow on her now crossed leg. "I figured you'd be a dad soon after that. Didn't expect you two to get married 3 years later instead," she casually commented. She raised an eyebrow and smirked, "What, experiencing trouble in heaven already?"
She was so into provoking him, she didn't even realized the sudden movements passing her by like a gust of wind and it was only a moment later that she saw Luna had already had her pen prodded at the side of his neck. It looked like she was planning to jab him with it. The startled Rio was frozen on the spot. The small Luna had managed to pull the man's head down in the process of gripping around his neck. If he didn't die by asphyxiation, she had intended to jab him as an alternative. She was that fucking mad.
Listening to the two talking—rather it sounded like Mikan was provoking him instead in half of the entire conversation, she had put two and two together. The conclusion she immediately got was, that fucking ugly ass bastard fucking cheated on Mikan!
She knew Mikan wouldn't had left and disappeared just like that since she really liked the guy, but that bastard Mori had the audacity to tell her that it wasn't his fault that she ran away!?
"You're a fucking idiot for lying to me, you ugly ass Rio Mori. I told you this crazy bitch will find you," she snarled. "Even a pen could kill, y'know." She probed the pen deeper against his skin to prove her point. "It's not exactly a weapon made to kill but if I put enough strength, even I could kill you right now," she threatened in a harsh whisper. "You fucking bastard, you dare to cheat on Mikan!" she hissed.
Flustered Mikan immediately stood up and rushed to Luna's side. She awkwardly laughed loudly to ease the sudden tense air of the drama, "Luna, you're going too far with your joke ha ha ha." The people are watching, damnit Luna!
She tried yanking Luna by her beige blazer and leaned in to whisper in a rush, "Are you crazy, Luna!? You just successfully had your first academic conference and you're trying to jab a man here wide in the open? With your colleagues and supervisors present?!" But when Luna didn't budge, Mikan yanked her again once more, this time with more force. "You'll be in jail for attempted murder. It's not worth it, Luna. So stop it," she commanded.
Seeing sense in Mikan's words, Luna gritted her teeth in irritation but she eventually let go and stepped back. "You're right, my joke of survival instinct went a bit haywire," she remarked dryly. Her mouth twisted into a grimace as she held out a hand. Feeling slightly relief having the horrifying pen removed from his neck, Rio gave her a quizzical look. Annoyed, Luna barked, "Your wedding invitation card, dumbass."
Rio immediately took out the 5"&7" invitation card from under his jacket and handed it to her like a kid was ordered into giving his extorted money to his bully. It was a funny sight, Mikan had to cover herself from laughing out in the open. Rio had never looked so awkwardly out of place before with Luna so near. It was almost looked like he's at Luna's beck and call now and it's the most pathetic sight of him she had ever seen before.
"Even your taste in choosing the design is ugly," Luna mumbled, scanning the card in one go before pocketing it inside her blazer. "We'll make sure to attend." Then a very ghastly sweet grin broke on her face, a smile that didn't match the storm in her cold blue eyes. "After all, I can't wait to see this sickeningly nice bride of yours," she cracked the joke with a deadpan expression before snarling her last words at him, "Now that you're done, scram!"
The man scampered away like a scolded overgrown puppy, leaving behind a huffing strawberry blonde, a brunette trying to hold back her laughter, an entertained foreign blonde man and a confused looking child, and a raven-haired silently watching the whole thing while munching on crab sticks.
"I swear to god, that shameless ugly ass excuse of a human being, if I weren't in Japan, I would have stabbed him there and then," she dissatisfiedly murmured under her breath before turning around and she went sweat-dropped. She didn't expect to see a sudden new appearance joining them there. "When did you get there, Imai?" Nobody had even seen her then. How did she move so silently?!
"I came in the midst of the whole mystery, action telenovela you guys were playing out just now," she casually responded with her usual impassive face.
"The suspense, it was interesting," she commented. Then again, nobody in the conference room was actually that extremely shocked to see how Luna had acted. Hotaru assumed all the people presence were in the same field as theirs so they must had already heard of Luna's infamous crazy alter ego where she stabbed everything and anything just to survive living there. It's not surprising if she went on a stabbing rampage; it's not like she could throw away her survival instinct instantly after just getting back to Japan. Habits die hard after all.
"Don't just casually sit there and eat that like you're enjoying the show with popcorn, you heartless woman!" Luna went off before grabbing for the plate of crabsticks and slamming it down on the nearby table. Where the hell did she get the crab sticks anyways? It wasn't even on the menu they had prepared for the conference! "You knew Mikan's coming here!"
"So you two have met," Hotaru pointed out. Her eyes glancing at the plate where her crab sticks were.
"Obviously, damnit!" Luna huffed. She took a deep breath before letting out a tired sigh. "You didn't even tell me where she was all this time." She massaged her temple and proceeded to point a finger accusingly at Mikan. "And you suddenly showed up like poof!" Her eyes lingered at the foreign blonde and the child as she trailed, "saying you have a child and whatnot." When she shouldn't be able to in the first place.
Luna exasperatedly slumped herself on a chair. "You guys are mean for keeping me in the dark like this," she criticized them. Her weary expression was obvious. "Now tell me what the fuck is going on," she demanded.
At the far back of the conference room where the exit door was near, a dirty blonde haired man stood silently next to his raven-haired superior. They were away from people on purpose, silently watching.
Yuu knew what he had heard. He knew Natsume heard the same thing too.
His boss had a very hard to decipher expression on and he dreaded to think what's been on his mind at this moment.
Ahhh now his throat felt more parched then ever.
TBC.