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Strange Interludes
Chapter 2

"Love is a serious mental disease."
- Plato

...

Prelude 2: Teaser

They said it was easier to live with your memories than to face the present.
But that was not my case.
My past and present were painfully the same.

.

.

He ran away.

Yeah, he ran away while Mikan was laughing at him, and worst, she just watched him ran away. Somehow deep, deep, deep down in her heart, she wanted to stop him and apologize. But being herself, her pride couldn't afford to do that.

It was not her first time to meet someone like him. There was Iinchou, who acted shyly like him. But she never touched him because her friend Anna, already owned him. And also there was Ruka, but that guy was untouchable, everyone who tried to touch him will die from the wrath of Hotaru. And their reason was for being together was love. Hell, love? That didn't exist. It was always pleasure or greed, no more, no less.

Mikan stretched her hands and looked at the sky. The sun blinded her eyes which made her remember something. She turned her gaze to the broken eyeglasses on the ground and then picked it up. She wondered if the eyesight of that guy were really poor. She stuffed the broken glasses on her pocket and made her way out of the academy.

3:50 pm…

It was the last subject of the day and…

…she was absent.

That was a relief for him. He was still embarrassed on what happened between him and Mikan. He didn't even know if he could face her again. Damn, he ran away like a coward.

"You're a terrible kisser."

What could he do? He didn't even experience to be kissed or kiss a girl in his seventeen years of living. He devoted his life to Math and Science because he wanted his parents to be proud of him. He ruffled his hair in annoyance. He once again remembered her short kiss, somehow he wanted his lips to touch her soft lips again. Her kiss was like magic, which made him feel like he was floating. It felt so good and that made his face to flush deep red, again.

He couldn't even remember how he fell for her. It just happened out of the blue. He saw her two years ago, walking happily with her friends, having the brightest smile that he could only see at her beautiful face. It took his breath away. That was the first time he became attracted to a girl. He knew that a lot of guy in the academy were after her and drooling over her. Honestly, he was one of them. Even after he saw her making out with some random guy, he could sense that she didn't really like what she was doing. He noticed that she would limit it in kisses and touches. No more, no less. He was watching her most of the time. Sounded like a desperate stalker, eh? Yes, he was. He wanted to make sure that she'd be safe and no one would hurt her when she was with some other guy. He didn't have the authority to drag her when she was in the middle of her pleasure game. That made his heart ache. He wanted her to stop.

Natsume's thoughts got cut when the bell rang, signaling that it was the end of the class. Good thing the science class was purely discussion or else, he would have hard time taking notes without his spectacles. He shook his head and began to pack his things.

"Hey, Hyuuga-san." Natsume lifted his head to see the owner of the voice. A blond-haired guy, with kind-looking azure eyes and beside him was a raven-haired girl, with a pair of emotionless amethyst eyes.

Natsume looked at them. "Yes?"

"I'm Ruka Nogi and this is Hotaru Imai. We're Sakura-san's friends. We're just curious what she had done with you a while ago."

Natsume's face turned crimson again.

Hotaru sighed. She guessed it right. "From the looks on his face, I could totally imagine what Mikan did to him."

"Hyuuga-san, as long as you can, don't fall in-love with her. You seem like a good person." He paused, his expression saddened. "She'll just… break your heart into pieces. I guess no one could stop her from doing those things." Ruka warned as he remembered those guys that had gone crazy over Mikan and ended up being kicked out of the academy or sent to some rehab center.

Too late.

Natsume's eyes sadden and lowered his head. He wanted to know why she was doing those kinds of things. He wanted her to change, and find her true happiness, even if that was not with him.

...

4:30pm…

Mikan was on her way home. Her house was not that far away from the academy. Since she ditched her class, she didn't have the time to get her car which was parked in the academy. A guard will block her if she did.

Inside her mind was still the crimson-eyed lad. She wondered if a geek like him could transform into a drop-dead gorgeous guy. She admitted to herself that he had the looks but his shy and silent attitude ruined it all. She bit her lip and remember the short kiss they shared. It was so obvious that he didn't have any kissing experience. She chuckled at the funny memory.

'I guess he needs some private lessons' She thought with a wide grin plastered on her face.

As she continued her walk, a certain shop caught her attention.

Optical Shop.

She took the broken eyeglasses out of her pocket. She smiled as she stared at it. That guy knew nothing about fashion. Who would wear rounded and thick glasses like this nowadays? Thinking about that, she didn't hesitate anymore. She entered the shop.

The female attendant smiled and bowed as Mikan entered the shop. "Good afternoon, Ma'am! Welcome to our shop, how can I help you?"

Mikan approached the attendant and gave her the broken eyeglasses.

"How bad is the eyesight of someone wearing an eyeglass like this?"

The attendant examined the glasses.

"Ma'am, based on its lens, the owner of this is farsighted. They could see things clearly that were far away but, the total opposite to anything nearby them."

"Oh, I see. Miss, can you give me the latest and fashionable glasses with the same lens as that one?"

"Gladly, ma'am."

...

5:20pm…

Mikan entered the tall gate of her house. Being a daughter of rich couple, the Sakura residence was a huge cream white mansion with elegant design. The garden was surrounded by Sakura trees that Mikan really loved. Once she arrived at the front of the mansion, the huge oak door automatically opened revealing a 19 years old guy with messy and shiny dark blue hair and matching sparkling blue eyes. Mikan blinked and stared at the man.

"Are you the butler now, Tsubasa?" Mikan asked. She didn't like seeing him opening the door for her.

Tsubasa chuckled. "No, I saw you coming through the security camera so I decided to open the door for you. I miss you, you know that."

"Well, I don't miss you. Can you move? You're blocking my way." Mikan commanded showing no emotion on her face. Tsubasa's eyes saddened but he kept the smile on his face. He opened the door widely and moved out of the way. Mikan entered the mansion and the maid approached her and took her bag.

"Geez, how cold. Can you at least act normally around me? Like you do with your classmates and friends? I guess that will be better."

Mikan rolled her eyes. "That's the warmest greeting I could give to you." She went to the living room and sat on a sofa. Tsubasa followed her.

"You didn't hate me right? Can you please act the same way you did before?" Tsubasa asked. His tone was pleading, but Mikan didn't seem to care.

"No. You're just my brother in mother's side and I don't want to treat you as my brother...again. Even if I try, I can't. Sorry for that." Mikan explained, keeping her voice straight.

"Mikan…" Tsubasa sighed. "I understand." He added and left Mikan alone.

Mikan and Tsubasa used to be so close together. Until that unfortunate event happened two years ago. A truth that she couldn't even believe. A truth that ruined their relationship. Those lies. Anger became powerful than understanding in Mikan's heart and mind.

...

The next day, all of the students of Class 3B were thinking of the same thing.

There was a miracle.

There was still a 30-minute vacant time before their Math class start. But the beautiful hazel-eyed teen was already in the classroom, watching the scenery outside the window. Well, everyone knew that she liked to ditch classes and go somewhere to do her little game, especially when it was Math time. But today was different, why? One, she was early. Terribly and horribly early. Two, she was going to attend Jinno's class which she rarely did. It seemed like she only attended the class for 3 times in the last 3 months since the class started.

Mikan noticed the stares and whispers around. She guessed that she surprised her class again. But she didn't care about that, she was waiting for someone.

The door of classroom opened.

Speaking of someone, the crimson-eyed lad she was waiting for entered the room. Unlike yesterday, it seemed like he attracted few female population in the class, saying that they liked him without those thick glasses. Some greeted him and he greeted back. He made his way to his seat, but seeing that she was there, he wanted to step back and run away again.

Mikan waved her hands. "Morning, partner." She greeted with a smile.

His face turned red again. Oh, how Mikan liked that blushing face of his.

Even if Natsume hesitated, he still sat beside her, feeling nervous as ever.

"Good morning, too." Natsume managed to reply, but his voice was cracked.

Mikan laughed at him. "Are you still thinking about what happenned yesterday?" She asked. Natsume remained silent. Thinking that he was still wearing his eyeglasses, he unconsciously touched the crook of his nose.

"Don't mind it, I can teach you how to properly kiss sometimes." Mikan whispered at him with seductive tone. Natsume shook his head.

"No. I don't want to." Natsume replied, not looking at her. The truth was he wanted it. Feel her kisses, her touch, but not this way. She was playing with his feelings, and he didn't like that idea. He guessed he was her new target now.

Mikan flashed a meaningful smile at him. She adored his hard-to-get attitude. In her two-years of playing and teasing other guys, no one ever rejected her. She could feel excitement in this one.

She shrugged. "Fine, then can you do me a favor?"

Mikan took a blank paper and pen under her desk. She put it on the top of the table.

"Can you write my name and yours in this paper?"

Natsume blinked, confused. Why did she want him to do that? Mikan handed him the pen. Natsume pointed the tip of the pen on the paper, scribbling the first letter of his name, but his eyesight blurred. He squinted his eyes and blinked thrice. He tried to write again but Mikan snatched the pen and paper away. She wrote something on it before diverting her gaze back to him.

"Trying hard eh?" Mikan asked. Natsume sighed.

"I can't write without my eyeglasses."

"Well, I don't feel sorry for breaking it." Mikan stated. Natsume heard her opened something but he was too reluctant to look what it was.

"Hey partner, look at me."

Natsume turned his head on her side and got surprised when she put something around his eyes. A new, square-shaped eyeglasses which fitted around his face perfectly.

"There, you look gorgeous." Mikan spoke softly and focused her eyes on those brilliant emerald eyes behind the clear, transparent glasses. With this, she could have a perfect view of his crimson eyes. Mikan felt lost in his eyes, the same how Natsume got lost in hers.

He smiled at her. "Thank you."

How could he stop falling for this girl? Maybe she liked toying others people's feelings, but she was so nice, kind and cute in her own way. It was simply irresistible.

Mikan winked at him. "Just for my partner." She grabbed the loose necktie of Natsume and gently pulled it so that his face would be near hers until their foreheads touched. "Just for you."

Their faces were too close. Mikan smirked, enjoying his flushed face. Natsume gulped, it was happening again. He felt weak just by staring at her beautiful eyes. They totally forgot that they were inside the classroom and being watched intently by the whole population of class 3B. They were staring at each other's eyes, feeling how their heart pound loudly in their chests. The class was waiting for some more action from Mikan. They knew her, she was the biggest tease they ever knew.

"SAKURA! HYUUGA! What do you think you're doing? !" A loud, angry and croaky voice yelled which made the whole class of 3B to gasp in terror. None of them noticed that their Math teacher had already arrived for they were busy watching the scene at the back. Even Hotaru was watching the scene with amusement. This was something different for her eyes.

Mikan let go of Natsume's tie and pushed him away gently. Natsume was so embarrassed so he lowered his head while Mikan acted like nothing happened and smiled at the grumpy teacher.

"Well, good morning to you too, Jinjin." Mikan greeted lazily which made Jinno's face to fume in anger.

"That's so rude of you Sakura, how dare you to call me with that name…again?" Jinno roared. He was clenching the stick in his hand, calming himself down, for he wanted to throw the stick straight to the girl at the back.

"It fits you more, and I want to be sick when I call you 'sensei'." Mikan replied coolly. This grumpy man was her Math teacher since 6th grade and she seriously enjoyed annoying him.

Jinno's face became red in anger. "DETENTION AFTER CLASS!" He boomed.

"I will NOT go. Don't you get tired of announcing that I got detention?" Mikan stood up and approached Jinno. She stared intently at his eyes, which made the teacher drew a deep, shuddering breath.

She tip-toed and leaned her head closer to Jinno's right ear while touching the chest of the bewildered teacher for support. The teacher shivered in panic. Mikan got the reaction she was waiting for to continue.

Mikan smirked. "Jinjin, I know you want me." She whispered seductively.

The class tried to contain their laughter when they saw Jinno's face crept a thousand shades of red and his mouth and eyes wide open. Mikan stepped back and smiled sweetly at Jinno.

"Thank you, Jinjin. No more detentions, right?"

Jinno dropped his stick, trembling. He couldn't utter a word. Staring at her sweet face made him want to go…go…

BAAMM!

…out.

The laughter that the class contained finally burst out. Jinno dashed out of the room as fast as he could, feeling humiliated. It was the first time she did it to him, which she found really amusing.

As I thought, that teacher had hidden desire for me. How gross.

Mikan went back to her seat and picked up her bag. She turned around and started to walk, but…

"Why did you do that to our teacher?" Mikan heard his seatmate and partner asked. She stopped on her tracks.

Mikan looked over her shoulder. "For fun, what else?"

"That's not good at all. He's still older and a teacher." Natsume lectured, but Mikan just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She turned her heels around, went to Natsume's seat and left a small piece of paper on top of his desk.

"Thank you, too. See you later, partner. We still have some session to make." Mikan sarcastically replied before leaving the room.

Natsume just watched her leave. She could make, even a loveless teacher, to fall and go crazy over her in a short period of time. There would be no chance for her to realize that someone truly loves her if she kept on doing that.

He looked questioningly at the paper she left on his desk. It was the same paper where she asked him to write his name and hers. He read what was on the paper and sighed.

Natsume Hyuuga is a terrible kisser.

His face contorted into a scowl and he unconsciously slapped his forehead.

'I want her…to stop this.'