26 Blackmail
Mikan walked inside the room as the door closed behind her. She saw her two friends inside the room. The raven-haired one was seen sitting casually with her legs crossed on the sofa, a coffee cup in one hand and a phone in her other hand. Her face was void of any emotion but you could hear her mumbling something incoherent as her forefinger constantly scrolling down on the screen of her iPhone. Her other friend, the one with strawberry blonde hair, had both her legs propped up on the coffee table, looking extremely bored, polishing her nails with her nails buffer.
They looked up after hearing the door closing. Luna was more than relief to see Mikan standing there in front of them. "Thank god you're here. I was so damn bored." She stood up and stretched. "Just so you know, I've had to polish the same ten nails I have repeatedly since Hotaru won't let me touch hers." She gave an exasperated sideway glance towards Hotaru. "If you're late another thirty minutes, I swore I would go mental."
Mikan walked inside the room and flopped herself on the seat next to Hotaru. "Did you bring the clothes?"
Placing the cup on the coffee table, and without lifting her eyes from her phone screen, Hotaru nodded her head and pointed towards the paper bag placed on the adjacent sit to where they were currently sitting. Inside were Mikan's change of clothes.
Mikan heaved a grateful sigh. "Oh thank the lord!"
She took off her mask and threw it on the desk. "It's damn suffocating having that on my face." She scratched her not-so-itchy eyes at the corners. "I don't see the point of wearing make-up either since I have half of my face covered most of the time," she muttered in dissatisfied tone.
"Here, let me take them off of you," Luna offered. She walked to one side of the room and motioned for Mikan to follow her. "It's cool that they provide washrooms inside their waiting lounge. I have to give YE some extra credit because not many thought of it. I don't know where they got the idea but it's truly very handy indeed," she announced. Taking her make-up pouch along with her inside the washroom, Mikan followed suit.
"My, my, my, apparently someone is awfully absent-minded with his belongings," Luna said cheekily by the washroom door, as she spotted a silver watch and a phone on the marble vanity unit. She picked up the grey iPhone, strangely curious. "Damn it, it's fingerprint locked," she mumbled disappointedly after tapping on the screen. She thought she could have a look of what's inside. What kind of man forgot his own phone? On top of that, a grey limited edition iPhone too. If it was her, she won't even leave it out of her sight at all.
"I suppose you're not curious enough to hack this phone, Hotaru Imai," she called out from inside the washroom door.
"Leave the phone alone, Koizumi. The owner might come later to fetch it," Hotaru warned her. Eyes glued to the screen of her phone.
Mikan peeked behind the door and looked oddly at Hotaru. "What exactly is she doing?" She asked Luna, who was at that time, still debating whether she should just give up on hacking the phone. Luna shrugged, finally setting the phone down. "She's been obsessing about the new game she recently downloaded from the app store." Just before Mikan could probe further, Luna held up a hand to stop her. "Don't ask me what game, Mikan Sakura. I rather not know, please."
"Now, give me your face. We'll start with wiping them off." She took out a face tissue from her make-up pouch, pouring some make-up removal liquid on it and began dabbing it on Mikan's face before starting to wiping them all off with more force. " Auuww!" Mikan cried in pain. "Why are you doing it with such brute force, Luna. It hurts!"
Luna slapped Mikan by her forearm. "Oh just hold still, Mikan Sakura. This won't take long. Don't be so weak." She pulled off Mikan's wigs off too. Mikan never felt more relief to be more comfortable with her own hair for once.
Minutes later, they were done but Mikan was still cringing in pain because her face was horribly contorted. Just as they sat back on the sofa, the door suddenly opened and stood there, was the most unexpected person they would ever think of. But then, he pulled the door closed back in just a few seconds.
The three girls sat there unblinking and totally astounded. Just when they're about to ask each other the most obvious question, the door opened again. And in walked, the same person whom they had seen before opening the door to their room. His silky blonde hair shined awfully bright inside the room, which was just too weird. He walked in without making eye contacts to any of them and had a vacant expression too. He went straight towards the washroom, disappeared behind the door and was out again seconds after that.
He was seen shoving something inside his pant pockets and Luna assumed it would be the phone she saw inside the washroom. The watch too, was already on his wrist. He didn't say anything, acting like he had not noticed them there inside the room at all. But it was pretty obvious he's just pretending to be oblivious though. He was out in just a matter of time too.
As soon as the door closed, Mikan's shoulders sagged against the seat. Did that just happen? "Do you think.." she looked anxiously at Hotaru and Luna back and forth. "that he, would recognize me, do you?"
Hotaru sighed tiredly as she finally threw her phone away to massage the bridge of her nose. She was startled too by the encounter. "He'll be dumb not to."
"Oh god." Colors started to drain from Mikan's face. "What should I do?" She's starting to get panic too. "Will he tell the others?" She stood up and started pacing in the room. Damn it, it's because she took off her mask and wig. "Who am I kidding, of course he would tell the others! A bunch of male posse, those guys." She spun around and held up both her hands up exasperatedly. "Everything's over! It's only my first day and Nogi already knew! Good god, out of so many people!"
Hotaru clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Stop moving around like a bunny wanting to mate, Mikan. It's disturbing my eyes."
"You should go and fix it, Mikan Sakura," Luna finally suggested.
"Pray tell, how on earth should I fix it?" She asked with half attempt, shoulders slouched and voice sounded as though she's already giving up.
"Blackmail always works," Hotaru recommended. Well, that's how she handled things in her own way.
"That's your way of doing things, Hotaru. I don't—that's bloody brilliant, Hotaru!" Her eyes lighted up like all of a sudden, hope was slipping in. Grabbing her wig from the vanity unit and her mask on the coffee table, she rushed outside just before hearing Luna yelling at her back, "Wear them first before anyone else see you!"
On the other hand, Ruka Nogi, he was both at loss of words and at loss of what to think. He was damn sure he saw it right. His eyes couldn't possibly betray him. His eyesight for both eyes was perfect and the view was so clear to his eyes too. He could still see it in his mind right now.
He had thought he had seen it wrong when he opened the first door. After all, he only looked at them, like only a few seconds. So his judgment could be wrong;
most likely she's the spitting image of whom he thought she would be.
But damn it, his eyesight is perfect and he could see it clearly too. He noticed her clothes. At first, he thought he saw Ellys Emerys without her mask, but then he noticed the hair color was totally different. Only later he realized it was none other than Mikan Sakura, because the presence of Hotaru Imai and Luna Koizumi inside the room too, confirmed everything. He silently gulped. He could not think of any logical explanations for it.
His mind was buzzing like mad so he slammed the door closed. He shook his head like crazy, forcing the images away. No, he refused to admit it; he didn't see anything at all! Acting like he had not seen the three familiar looking girls inside the room, he went to the next room, keeping his thoughts one way; searching for his lost things.
But unfortunately, the second waiting longue was locked when he twisted the doorknob. Ruka groaned in defeat. Looks like he went to the previous room and left his watch and phone there. Standing in front of the first waiting longue again and straightened his backs, he hoped he would get his stuff quickly and get the fuck out just as quick too. And that's what he did.
"Ruka Nogi," Mikan called out as she reached the lobby and saw him. Ruka was already by the entrance door. He turned around when he heard someone called out his name and to be honest, he already suspected it would be her. To be honest, he's more puzzled than she was. Mikan halted her steps and saw the rest of the guys inside a four-wheel drive behind Ruka, just outside the entrance automatic sliding glass door. They somehow spotted her and now she had baka Kokoroyome and Kitsuneme hanging their heads by the car window at the backseat, staring curiously at her. Natsume Hyuuga was behind the wheels and Yuu Tobita was sitting beside him, both looking at her too.
Mikan mentally sighed in relief. Thank god, she caught up to him first, which means that he had no yet tell them. She just had to fix it from here. Mikan suddenly frowned. Here means, she had a bunch of hawk-eyed guys watching her every move from a very close distance. "I need to speak to you," she told him as she—without holding back nor shy and embarrassed—tugged at his shirt by his forearm to move a little further into the building. Ruka was silent but he followed till they're a few feet far from the glass door. Behind his back, Kokoroyome's eyes were bulging out.
"You saw me," she started while having her arms crossed on her chest. "Hotaru said you're not stupid so you would recognize me straightaway."
Ruka was amazed that she could handle this so well. He thought she would already be panicking or bawling her eyes out by now. He was puzzled by the fact that he had just found out her secret, but pushing that kind of expression away, he schooled his features to a feign calm one. "To be honest, I'm really surprised," Ruka responded with a tilt of his head. He stared at her, most likely trying to put the pictures together. "Never have I thought that behind the mask, is Mikan Sakura." He flashed her his infamous smile as he leaned his side on the marble wall. "It's indeed a small world huh." He was playing with words. That's how he handled things.
Mikan scowled at his way of handling the matter at hand. It was as though he's enjoying the fact that he found out about it. "I'll get straight to the point then." She took a step closer to him. "I was understood that it was your guys' dream to debut. Out of so many offers from other recording companies out there, YE made the best one but what's holding it back is me." She hated having to resort to blackmailing but if it's what will get it done to close his mouth, she would do it. After all, she got nothing in her mind to figure out on how to fix this in such a short time. This one would be the quickest route.
"I'm telling you, Ruka Nogi," she said seriously, using his full name for more force on the serious matter, "if you open your mouth to your friends that I'm actually Mikan Sakura, mark my words, I will pull out from the group. I don't care if the contract is already signed and I have to pay the fees for breaking it, but for you guys, you will lose your opportunity to debut properly as a group." Ruka slowly straightened his posture. Now he didn't feel too good seeing the dark smirk she's giving him. His tummy was churning so badly like a black whole was swallowing his insides. Ruka cleared his throat. "You can't leave the group. If you leave, you have to pay the 50 million yen for breaking the contract."
"And you think I don't have the capabilities to pay such amount?" Mikan raised her brows, taunting him. She was playing with words too right now. Ruka's eyes widen. Now he wondered if she's really capable of paying it, that's why she looked as though she didn't mind if she break the contract or not. 50 million yen was not a pinch. They're talking about 50 million yen here! And she said it so confidently too. Her words were twisting his mind. Or was she just threatening him psychologically? Like, using empty threats. Ruka thought of it hard and he still couldn't push away the possibility that she really meant her words. It's still 50-50 either way. He's putting his group and their dream together, on the line here.
He finally sighed in defeat. "You do realize you're threatening me, Sakura-san?"
"Believe me, I don't have any intention to do so in the first place." Mikan gave him a sickeningly sweet smile. "But Hotaru gave me such a great idea to do it!" She clapped both her hands together giddily. "Ah I know!" She grinned widely, thinking of something brilliant. "How bout I throw in something extra for you too? To not make it sounds so much as a blackmail."
"But it's already a blackmail though." Ruka's awkward smile trembled. What more does she want to threat him with?
"No. We'll change it to a bargain." Her grin grew wider. "You help me with this, I'll help you with Hotaru." Mikan watched as her words finally piqued his interest as his blue eyes sparkled a little at the mention of Hotaru's name. "I know you're head over heels for her but sad for you, Hotaru doesn't care about you at all. I know Hotaru all my life and I'm the closest friend she has so I know everything about her. And I can help you with that. So how bout it?"
Ruka's forehead's forming a line as he's deep in thought. Her offer does interest him though, there's no use denying and he knew she knew that too. "Does the previous threat still stand though?"
"Yes, it does." She nodded her head with a mild sneer. "I'm helping you out here, Ruka Nogi. I see my blackmail burdens you so I'm giving you something extra to ease it up a bit. In fact, it's you who wins here; you don't have to do anything but just close your mouth about who I am and not only your group gets to debut, you also get a shot with Hotaru," she proposed and added, "That is, with my help of course. I'll help you with Hotaru. I'm serious." Hotaru would torture her for this, Mikan scarily thought.
Well, she was right for one thing, Ruka mentally agreed. It's his win in this. He just needed to shut his mouth and they would be on their way to debut and plus, he would get a chance with Hotaru Imai. Come on, it's not that hard to do right? And it's not really in his place to spill it to the guys that Ellys Emerys is Mikan Sakura. Perhaps she had her own personal reason for pulling off such thing, who knows.
Ruka fought an urge to grin so so so wide. He rather liked the idea of her helping him with the love of his heart. To be honest, he liked that idea best. Sure he did not wish to jeopardize their plan to debut within the time but face it, he won't lie. The main reason he's gonna say yes without further thinking anymore would be because of Hotaru Imai. Certainly the previous threat really worked on him. Either way, he won't open his mouth because he didn't want to be the sole reason the whole team went down but with her new offer, it had become more of a solid reason to have his mouth sealed.
"Alright then. I accept your offer so you have my word," he finally agreed.
A huge grin etched on Mikan's face. "Bless you, Ruka Nogi!" She clapped her hands together and jumped on him to give him a hug. Ruka was stunned. His eyes widen in surprised but then they watered and his forehead creased. Damn, is she crushing his ribs on purpose?!
Mikan let go and happened to realize the look on Ruka's face. "Sorry, I was damn ecstatic." She did; the huge smile still stuck on her lips. She forgot the Ellys Emerys façade entirely due too so much happiness. "Well, thank you for your cooperation. I'll keep my words if you keep yours so please take care of me from now on." She bowed her head a little.
Ruka awkwardly scratched the back of his head and bowed back a little. He should get use to her split personalities. "Yeah, same." He remembered the guys was waiting for him inside the car so when he spun around, he felt like a girl caught lying, biting his inner cheeks. Koko's mouth was hanging down so low, he thought his friend was having a loose jaw. Kitsu with his eyes wide open and Yuu was looking at him with such a twisted looking expression. Natsume was glaring at him; the one he most feared. He sighed. "I need to get going. Natsume isn't fond of waiting," he informed, turning his head back at her.
Mikan peeked behind him and snickered. Nogi was right; Natsume Hyuuga was openly glaring. Looking at him, she suddenly remembered something. Thinking about it again, wasn't today the first day back after she had last seen him at the charity event? And she had not seen him previously too, before the event. Mikan thought hard. That happened after that thing happened in the library. Instantly, her hand flew to her shoulder. The hickey had long gone but she still remembered it being there, like his kiss mark was carved under her skin permanently. Mikan blushed.
She remembered him as a narcissist egoistical parasite but he was never mean to her. He teased her a lot but other than that, he's honest with his words. She didn't look much at him too just now when they met at the café because her mind was too absorb with keeping up her Ellys's façade and the thought of knowing that her okaa-san is the YE president. Wait, why did she blush in the first place, anyways? Her face getting even redder when she noticed that she's actually blushing of Natsume Hyuuga.
Ruka peered down at her when he noticed she suddenly became silent. "You okay?"
Mikan flinched. Thank god for the mask! If not, her red face would definitely raise questions. Mikan looked away and waved a hand dismissively. "Yep, never better." She quickly changed the topic to distract him from looking at her face again, "Which reminds me, why are you guys wearing your uniform? It's weekend. You still got classes?" She knew AA didn't hold classes on weekend but there's no harm in asking.
"Koko and Kitsu got held up for extra classes because they flunked algebra test previously so we're accompanying them," Ruka shrugged and added, "Yuu said it's for moral support but I think he wanted us all to be there to make sure those two won't skipped." Ruka brazenly grinned.
The corner of Mikan's lips curled up. "Yeah, your friend Tobita does look like a mother hen though." She looked behind him again and saw Natsume Hyuuga, looking extremely pissed already. He hates waiting, it seemed.
"You should get going now. Hyuuga looks like he's ready to explode any second."
"Yeah, that could really happen." Ruka chuckled, knowing too well of Natsume's temper. "I'm looking forward in working with you. I'll see you later." He tipped his head down and turned around, heading for the door.
Just as he got inside the car—mind you, he got an awfully amount of open stares from his friends—he turned around for one last glance at her to see if she's still there. She was there alright and she muttered something but Ruka couldn't guess what though, but he knew she's saying that on purpose. Because just then, he happened to see that one particular smile she was giving him as they drove off; it was a wicked grin. Ruka suddenly wondered if accepting the offer was really a good idea if it's going to torture him in the near future.
…
Koko was openly staring at his blonde Kaichou and he's not ashamed of it, nor was he embarrassed for doing so. If he could, he wanted to stare so close to his face until they're only a few inches apart so his friend could get the memo of what he's implying. It was Ruka who felt uncomfortable with the closeness instead. He understood what Koko was trying to say—more like what he's trying to do. He wanted to know what just happened. But he's not saying it; he's making it clear with his action. Yuu chuckled. He kinda felt sorry for Ruka's part. "What's that about?" He asked, giving Koko a helping hand of speaking his mind out loud.
"Quit it, man. It's making me feel uncomfortable," Ruka finally spoke, dragging his arse on the seat further to the left but the only thing stopping him is, he couldn't move anymore. He's dead flat against the car door already. However, he's not gonna withstand another minute of that stare. He's getting the shudder with Koko's weird stare. He sighed. "She just asked me if we had already signed the contract or not, that's all," Ruka lied. He ain't telling what he found. The bargain was worth more than anything.
Koko scoffed. "For just a mere question, you guys took awfully long to discuss."
Ruka rolled his blue eyes. Koko's so persistent right now so he needed something else to make up. "Well, she also asked me why did we turn up wearing our school uniform and so I told her about the reason that two bakas," he gave a look towards both of the occupants sitting beside him, "ended up having extra lesson because they failed their algebra test and we came to give them our moral support."
Natsume snickered. "Moral supports my arse. I'm just here because you guys dragged me." He glanced at the rearview mirror at the baka twins. "You're damn lucky I wore this for you two on a weekend." The guys knew how loathsome Natsume can be about AA uniforms. Despite AA strict uniform rules, he hated wearing it on weekdays, let alone on the weekends. "If you guys still fail the upcoming back up test, I'll roast your arses and feed them to Ruka's bunny."
"Stop getting her involved, Natsume," Ruka said scornfully. "Usagi-chan is not a mental psychopath bunny who feeds on human flesh."
"Yeah right." Koko scoffed at Ruka's reply. He remembered how creepy Usagi-chan can be at times. He used to have one of those shivers too.
"She just randomly bites people for fun. Well, I guess that's a cool hobby she develops," Kitsu added sarcastically. Yeah, he was one of the victims.
"Stop discriminating her!" Now he felt like hitting Kitsu's on the head too after Natsume.
Yuu laughed. The topic regarding Ruka's love towards his pet bunny became a teasing topic again. His love was unconditional and remotely funny, the guys just had to tease him about it. Despite that, they knew how much he adored Usagi-chan. She has been with him longer than his friendship with Natsume. Even if the guys sometimes saw her eyes creepily shined under the dark or the fact that, she bites people that she hates despite being a cute, cuddly bunny and to top it all, whenever Ruka wasn't looking, she would look at them with a glare that meant to kill their souls—knowing all of these, Ruka adored her still. A grown up man with his bunny, what's not to make fun of?
And just like, miraculously, Ruka was saved since the topic regarding Ellys Emerys was forgotten and strayed to Usagi-chan. Oh how simple minded they can be at times.
TBC.