STILL YOURS
CHAPTER 6
A/N and Disclaimer: I don't think anyone is here anymore lol but I'm still going to continue this! 2018; nope.
"Sumire just texted, they're all waiting for us at the restaurant." Hotaru says looking down at her phone, "We better go."
Walking towards the elevator, Mikan called Leila asking her to deliver the flowers to her hotel room, which the blonde happily obliged.
As the elevator doors opened, it revealed a tall, slender man in his 20s, with jet black hair, and crimson for eyes, with a smirk plastered on his face as soon as he saw the brunette.
"Hn,"
"What are you doing here, Hyuuga?" Hotaru Imai asks while stepping inside the elevator.
"Ruka's waiting at the basement," Natsume says, not taking his eyes off the brunette, "He wanted me to come get you two."
"You? Taking orders from Ruka?" Hotaru implies as she now looked at her best friend, "That's new."
Before Hotaru could catch Mikan's attention and gesture her inside the elevator, Leila, Mikan's blonde secretary, approached the brunette and handed her three blue folders waiting for her signature.
"Ah, yes," Mikan says as she reached for the folders and reviewed them again, "Please, send this along with the flowers to my hotel room."
"Yes, Ms. Yukihara," Leila says as she took the folders back and the bouquet of red roses along with her.
"Mikan, let's go!" Hotaru says as she catches the brunette's attention.
Natsume eyes the bouquet being taken away and glares at it. Before the elevator doors could close, Mikan hurriedly steps inside without glancing at Natsume, who was staring at her.
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"So, who sent those flowers?" Natsume finally asks.
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"Just someone," Mikan says plainly glancing at Hotaru.
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"What's it to you, Hyuuga?" Hotaru says as she gave Mikan a reassuring nod.
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"Hn,"
As the elevator door open, they were greeted by Ruka, who gave Mikan a small wave and a small peck on Hotaru's cheek.
"What took you guys so long?" Ruka asks as he motioned them to his car. "Everyone's waiting,"
Natsume walked passed everyone and silently went in the passenger's seat.
"What's with him?" Ruka looks at his girlfriend who just gave him a small shrug and enters the car along with Mikan as Ruka walks to the driver's side.
The drive to the restaurant was quiet, everyone afraid to break the awkward silence. Until Mikan's phone rang.
"Sorry," Mikan says before answering, not looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"
"Hi," a husky voice says from the other side of the line.
A smile played on Mikan's lips, "Hi,"
"Comment allez-vous?" (How are you?) The voice asks in perfect French.
"Je suis bon, toi?" (I'm good, you?) Mikan answers as she looked at Hotaru and the others who were now eyeing her. She sees Hotaru shaking her head before looking away, while Natsume and Ruka had the same expression plastered on their faces. Mikan bows her head.
"I'm good, are you busy?" the voice asks. Before Mikan could answer she wasn't, they were already at the restaurant.
"I am actually," the brunette says instead as she looks outside the window, "I'll call you later, okay?"
"Alright," the voice says, "I'll look forward to it. Au revoir, Mikan."
Mikan ends the call and looks at Hotaru, who gave her a serious look nudging her head to Natsume who was hurriedly getting out of the car. Mikan looks at his figure as he was now entering the restaurant, not even waiting for everyone.
Ruka opens the door for Hotaru and Mikan and closing it behind them. The blonde was worriedly looking at the brunette, "Who was that, Mikan?"
"A friend," Mikan says as they walk inside the restaurant, "overseas."
Ruka simply nods and escorts his girlfriend inside, taking her hand in his.
"Good evening, do you have a reservation?" A short man in a black and white suit greeted them at the reception area who walked towards the small podium.
"Ruka Nogi, VIP room."
"Ah yes, good evening, Mr. Nogi," the man says smiling, "Please follow me,"
They followed him upstairs who led them to a door and opened it for them.
"Thank you," Mikan says as she steps inside. As soon as the brunette saw her friends, Anna and Nonoko, she immediately ran towards them. Greeting them both with a tight hug.
"Mikan!" Anna and Nonoko say unanimously as they hugged the brunette back. "We've missed you!"
"I've missed you both, too!" Mikan exclaimed as she broke free from the hug. "How have you both been?"
"Well," Anna says clearing her throat, and proudly shows off a promise ring with a ruby heart in the middle. "Kitsuneme and I are finally together,"
Mikan squeals as she took Anna's hand examining the ring, "After 3 years! I'm so happy for you, Anna!"
"Ehem," a green haired girl interrupts. "I'm here too, you know,"
They laugh and Mikan hugs her as well, "Hi, Permy."
"What's with Natsume?" Sumire asks as they broke off from the hug, "He was pissed when he came in."
The girls looked at Mikan, who like them, doesn't know what happened.
"We all know how Nat is," someone says from behind. "He's always been like that,"
"Koko!" Mikan exclaims as she tackled the sandy haired boy into a bear hug. "You look good!"
"How about me?" another voice says, Mikan looks up from Koko's shoulder and sees Kitsuneme, who was grinning from ear to ear.
Mikan let go of Koko and hugged Kitsuneme, as well. "How could I forget?"
The brunette hugged every one of their friends before taking a seat beside Nonoko.
"Are you staying here long, Mikan?" Nonoko asks as their waiter serves their food.
"Long enough," she replies, smiling at her blue haired friend, "All I have to do is finish this season's fashion show, only then can I relax."
"That's great!" Nonoko says as she took a bite from her food, "I can't wait for us to hang out again! Just like old times."
Nodding, Mikan took a sip from her drink. She noticed a pair of crimson eyes staring at her intently, watching her every move. But she couldn't turn to look at the owner's eyes. They were his eyes, and she couldn't bear to get her heart broken by those very eyes once again.
They talked, and laughed, and drank, and ate some more, until it was almost midnight. Everyone was having a great time, until it was time to go. "We have to do this again, some time," everyone suggests and everyone agreed.
They walked out the restaurant and hugged and bid everyone farewell. But still a pair of crimson eyes was following the brunette's every move, examining her carefully.
The brunette turns to her best friend, who was hand in hand with her boyfriend, "You go ahead without me, Hotaru. I'll just walk back to the hotel,"
"Are you sure, Mikan? It's almost midnight," Ruka says concerned for his girlfriend's best friend, "It might be dangerous for you walking alone,"
"I'll be fine, Ruka," Mikan smiles at the blonde, "Just take care of my best friend for me,"
Nodding at the brunette, Ruka motions Hotaru to the passenger's seat of his car and looks at the brunette once more.
"Call me if anything happens," Hotaru says as she got in the car.
Mikan waved them goodbye as she looked at Ruka's car drive away.
The brunette looked at her watch and then she started her walk, away from the path back to their hotel.
"Brave little girl," a voice startled her from behind.
Shrieking she turned to look who it was, and found Natsume standing, or rather, hiding in the shadows. His crimson eyes gleaming in the dark.
"What the hell?" Mikan exclaimed, placing her hand on her heart, "You scared me!"
"Sorry," Natsume says as he steps out the shadows and into the light, nearing Mikan, "I'll walk with you."
"No thank you," Mikan tells him as she starts to walk away from him, "I can manage."
But Natsume being Natsume, wouldn't take no for an answer, and so he followed her. Walking behind the brunette silently, watching her from a safe distance.
As soon as they passed by the first block, Mikan turned to look at her stalking companion. And as soon as she looked at him, she couldn't look away.
Hazel to Crimson.
Crimson to Hazel.
"Please stop following me," Mikan finally says, still not able to look away from those crimson eyes.
"But you're going the wrong way, Polka," Natsume simply says and points to the other direction, "Your hotel is that way,"
Mikan rolled her hazel eyes, "I know, I don't want to go back yet,"
"Why?" Natsume's crimson's stare at her hazel's intensely, "Don't you have some French dude to call again?"
Mikan blinked, "What?"
Natsume was the one to look away, "Earlier at Ruka's car, weren't you talking to some French guy?"
Ah.
Mikan couldn't help but laugh at Natsume's reaction, "He can manage without me,"
"Qui était-ce, de toute façon?" (Who was that, anyway?)
"Tu parle français?" (You speak French?)
"Of course, Polka," Natsume says proudly, "I'm the CEO of a company, I should be able to speak and understand different languages."
Mikan stopped laughing as soon as she heard Natsume call her the nickname she once loved hearing him say. Because then she knew he was hers, "Please stop calling me, Polka, you pervert,"
Now it was Natsume's turn to laugh, but it came out with a smirk plastered on his Adonis face, "You used to love when I called you that, Polka,"
"Used to," the brunette says plainly as she continued to walk again towards the park entrance.
As she continued to walk, she heard Natsume's familiar footsteps still following her. She sees a park bench and walked towards it. But as she neared it, it was a bench she recognized. The very bench she sat on waiting for Natsume in the winter cold.
She hesistated at first but pushed that bitter memory aside and she sat at one end of the bench. Natsume, still following her, sat on the other side of the bench, allotting a small and careful distance between them.
Mikan noticed this, and then followed by an awkward silence.
She didn't know why he was here with her tonight, or why he was following her all the way to this park, and why on earth he kept looking at her. She wanted answers, but she couldn't get herself to ask him such questions she knew he would just brush off easily.
"So," Natsume starts, breaking Mikan's train of thoughts, "you speak French,"
The brunette nodded slowly, "I had to learn it,"
"Why?" Natsume starts asking, "So you could talk to your French friend?"
Mikan simply shrugged, "Think what you want to think, I'm not doing anything,"
This reply made him look at her, "But you are doing something, Polka,"
"What?" Mikan asks, afraid to look at his crimson eyes again.
"You're making me jealous," Natsume states, "Just like what you did 3 years ago,"
Now this made Mikan look at Natsume, "What are you talking about?"
"Three years ago," Natsume starts, "Weren't you out on a date with a blonde haired guy?"
Mikan couldn't follow where this was going, so she kept quiet, urging him to continue.
"You had a date at the movie theatre downtown," he continues. But the brunette still had a blank expression on her face, still not remembering such event.
"You don't remember?" Natsume asks and Mikan shakes her head.
"Whatever," Natsume says moving closer to the brunette, "As long as you don't do it again,"
"What do you mean, Natsume?" Mikan finally speaks, noticing Natsume moving closer.
"Can we go back to the way we were? Before you left for New York?"
Mikan's hazel's widened, did she hear it right? The Natsume Hyuuga wants to get back together with her? She didn't know what to say, or what to do, so she stayed quiet. She couldn't look at him, she couldn't think clearly.
"Please, Mikan," Natsume says, saying her actual name, not Polka, for once, "I've been miserable without you,"
"No, you weren't," the brunette says, finally turning to look at her jet black haired companion, "You've been happier,"
"I wasn't, Mikan," he says, "I've been lost without you."
Mikan didn't reply, so he continued. "I kept telling myself that I was okay, that everything was okay. I've spent years convincing myself that I've moved on, but when I saw you that day at the airport. I knew. I knew I wasn't over you."
Mikan looks at him, and once again, Hazel met Crimson.
She looked for signs in his eyes; signs that this was all a joke, that he was just testing her to see if she'd moved on from him. But all she saw was honesty in his eyes. She saw how genuine his words were.
But she doesn't speak.
A few minutes passed, and no one said anything more. Only Natsume's last words clung into the air. Mikan felt as though she needed to say something, but she couldn't find the words to express how she feels.
Mikan glanced at her watch, 1:55 am.
She stood up and glanced at Natsume, who had his head bowed down, "I thought you'll walk with me, c'mon."
She started walking away not looking back at Natsume who had stood up abruptly and followed her again.
Their walk back to Mikan's hotel was quiet. Natsume walked behind her slowly, his head still bowed. But she couldn't say anything; she had nothing to say to him.
She felt a sudden chill from the cold wind, and unconsciously blew on her hands to keep her warm. And just then, she was covered by a coat. Natsume's coat.
Mikan looked at Natsume, who was then walking beside her, rolling his sleeves up and adjusting his tie. "Thanks," she says quietly, but loud enough for the boy beside her to hear.
As they neared the hotel, she felt a hand grab hers, making her turn to look at those wonderful crimson eyes again.
"Please say something," Natsume starts, "Anything. Please,"
Mikan was startled, she hadn't heard Natsume beg before, and that's when she knew he was being serious about what he's said to her earlier.
She softened against his touch, and squeezed his hand in hers.
"I don't know what to say, Natsume,"
"Tell me what you want to try again too, Mikan," Natsume stares at her, not wanting to let her go.
"I can't," Mikan says as she to stares at him, "I'm sorry,"
Natsume let go her hand, eyes widened with what he's just heard. "But why not, huh, Mikan? Is it because of that French guy?"
"Natsume, please," Mikan tries to reason with him, but he's furious now.
"You know what, its fine,"
Now it's Mikan's turn to question him, "What?"
Natsume takes a deep breath, and soon enough a smirk forms, "I'll just have to steal you away from him."
Hi, I'm back with a new chapter! A little longer than the first six chapters published, but I thought that this would be worth it. I mean, I love how this chapter ended! With Natsume's smirk and that pickup line, I'm swooning! How about you, guys? Did you guys like it? Please tell me! I'd love to read your reviews. Suggest what you think would happen next or what should happen next. Also, please tell me if I've made any errors, I'd love to continue improving. Good and bad reviews are welcome. 3