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Strange Interludes
Chapter 3

"Fantasies are more than substitutes for unpleasant reality."
-Barbara G. Harrison

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Prelude 3: Game

Humans were such an uncertain creature.
They tend up to put a perfect smile, pretending to be happy.
They tend to create a world of fantasy, escaping the feeling of pain and sufferings.

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Who said that all wealthy people were cool, attractive and popular? Well that was wrong and Natsume Hyuuga was a living proof of that. His family owned a company and it was doing great in the business industries. Yet, here he is, wondering why he was being called a geek or nerd in the academy. It just suddenly happened out of the blue. He was a silent type of person and at school, he mostly get a perfect score for most of the exams and poof! Automatically, his classmates called him geek and it spread to the campus like a virus.

Now here he was, in front of their big house, making his way to the front door. Maids welcomed him and he simply replied with a thank you. He went straight to his room and lied down on the bed. He removed his new eyeglasses that Mikan gave him and stared sadly at it. Why? Because on his way home, he saw her again, this time in the bloody corridor, with a guy doing her game again. They didn't even notice him passed by. Seeing that scene with a random guy made his heart broke in many pieces. Was it really fun to play with guys like that? It was kind of dangerous and that made him worried. If he only knew why she was doing that, maybe he could help her. But that girl was the type that didn't tell something so easily without being sarcastic or stubborn. Only if his feeling for her will go away, he didn't need to be so problematic like now.

His deep thoughts were cut when he heard the door creaked open. A 10-year-old girl with shoulder length black hair and alluring crimson eyes enter the room.

"Onii-chan?" the girl called as she entered the room. Natsume sat up and wore his eyeglasses again.

Natsume smiled at the girl. "Aoi. Why?" he asked. The little girl sat beside her brother.

"I heard you were already home so I came here to greet you. How was school, Nii-chan?" Aoi asked sweetly.

"It's still the same, nothing much happened. How about you?"

"I had a great time, Nii-chan! Youichi treated me an ice cream, I was so happy!" Aoi squealed in excitement.

Natsume gave her a questioning look. "Youichi? Your boyfriend?"

Aoi shook her head. "No, he's my classmate, you know, he's so silent and cold, but he's so nice to me!"

Natsume watched and listened to his sister that kept on telling stories about Youichi. Her voice was full of excitement and happiness. At young age of ten, it looked like her sister found her future boyfriend. Unlike him, he was stuck with a girl that didn't even know that he actually existed, for real and not for her game.

"…and he was so cute!" Aoi finally finished.

Natsume ignored his own thoughts and focused on his sister. "So, you like him?" he asked. Aoi blushed and fell silent. Natsume chuckled a little at his sister expression. He patted her head lightly.

"That's okay Aoi, you're still young. You have the time to think if he was the one you want to be with for the rest of your life."

Aoi chuckled. "You talk like a love adviser on the radio Nii-chan. Anyway, thank you. I'll remember your words of wisdom until I grow up like you."

"I want to meet this Youichi sometimes. I want to see if he really deserves my beautiful sister." Natsume teased. Aoi nudged him playfully on his shoulder.

"Hmm. Sure! I'll invite him sometimes! By the way Nii-chan, I thought you'll buy new eyeglasses with me in the mall, but it seemed like you already bought one by yourself." Aoi pouted, showing his brother a disappointed face.

"Oh this? I didn't buy it. Someone give this to me as exchange to the other one." Natsume reasoned.

"Is it from your girlfriend?" Aoi curiously asked. Natsume shook his head and sighed.

"I don't have a girlfriend Aoi." Natsume replied.

Aoi snorted. "But you tell me that you love one!"

Silence…

Natsume smiled sadly. "Yeah…" he lowered his head, not wanting her sister to see the expression of his face. "…but she doesn't love me back. All I can do is to love her by myself."

Reality hurts, really.

"Onii-chan…"

Everything fell silent. Aoi didn't like the sad face of his brother. She knew it hurt; it didn't need a degree in science to know that. But what could a kid like her do to help in this matter? She simply hugged her brother, wanting him to feel better.

…

An hour ago, back to the Academy…

Panting.

Mikan leaned on the wall, breathless. She just had a great time with this guy who was obviously her senpai. The guy sat on the floor, feeling great and tired.

"That was great." The guy said, panting.

"I know."

The guy diverted his gaze to Mikan. He stood up and faced her.

"Why don't we go to somewhere private?"

Mikan laughed. "Sorry, but that's all I can give. Everything about us ends here." She stated clearly.

"So news is true? You're just playing and leave us in the middle of it."

"Wasn't that fun? Oh boy, Sorry," Mikan started and looked at him with puppy eyes. "I'm so scared to give my first time to anyone. I think that will kill me. I have a reputation at stake. Don't you think it's such a big waste?" She added imitating a voice of a very scared little girl. The guy was taken aback, looking unbelievingly at her. This girl was the biggest player of the academy that he knew. But with that kind of look in her face and her scared tone, he wanted to comfort her…like a brother will do to his sister. And that thought scared him.

"O-oh, is that so? I'm sorry for that. I'll leave now, take care!" The guy stammered before leaving.

When the guy was totally out of her sight, she released a short laugh.

How stupid. Sheesh.

Mikan always believed that humans are greedy living creatures. Doors of opportunities open, and they just couldn't help but walk through them, smiling selfishly around at the amount of treasures worth stealing. Boys were like pieces of hanging string to them sometimes. She could twist, tie, tangle, wrap, to her own needs and advantages, and amusing, especially when she was bored. This was her game: being complete tease to them. Play with their emotions. Get them tangled up in their own sexual desires and leave them completely unsatisfied.

She started to fix herself and then started to take her leave. On her way out of the gate, she frowned. Standing there was her homeroom teacher, again, smirking at her which she really hated.

"Hi, Mikan-chan. Sorry to block your way but your uncle wants to see you."

"Again?" Mikan scowled and rolled her eyes in frustration.

'5th time for this month.'

Mikan had no choice but to come with Narumi. She was thinking of running away but that wouldn't make any difference, he would meet him surely, whatever happened.

…

Mikan and Narumi entered the headmaster room. Mikan slumped in a couch with her arms cross in her chest. She watched the tall man around his 40's, who was standing in one corner of the room, feeding his pet birds. His chestnut hair was neatly combed and his jaded colors eyes showed kindness in it. He flashed a smile at Mikan and sat beside her. He was her uncle, Kazumi Sakura.

"Mikan, how are you?" his kind voice asked.

Mikan frowned. "I know you knew the answer to that, Ji-chan."

"Jinno-sensei reported me something a while ago, that was not good, Mikan."

Mikan grunted. "So now it was my fault that Jinjin had hidden desires for me," She shuddered in disgust. "…it's not like I raped him in front of the class," Now, she wanted to throw-up. "…and you know I will never, ever do that. I'd rather die than to do something with him."

Kazu heaved a sigh and scratched his nape. His niece always gave him big problems which started two years ago. From students to parents and now a faculty member. But he loved this cute niece of his; he was still hoping that she would change again for the good.

He showed Mikan a hopeful smile. "Mikan, Jinno-sensei got humiliated in front of the class because of that, can you apologize?"

Mikan released a toneless laugh. "Hell no!"

"Mikan, what's happening to you? You ditched almost all of your classes and then someone saw you making out with some random guy again. It's not good at all. Your teachers can't compute your grades because they got nothing to compute at all. Your parents will be disappointed at this. You're much better than this."

"F.Y.I. Not parents. It's only my father."

'She's still not over it.' Kazu thought as he watched his dearest niece bored expression, tapping her feet on the floor impatiently.

"You gave me no choice." Kazu stood up and get something from the drawer of his table. Mikan watched him curiously. He returned with an envelope in his hand, with lots of paper inside it.

Mikan stared at him curiously. "What's that?"

"Math, English, Science, Music, P.E. and Home Economics paper works. This is all you've missed from the start of the class till now. You need to answer this all or else, I have no choice but to tell your father to do some action."

Mikan frowned. "Are you joking me, Jii-chan? That's too many!" she wailed.

"I already called your partner to help you. You need to cooperate with him and finished this as soon as possible. You're lucky to have a smart partner. Tomorrow is Saturday and no classes, I advise that you and your partner start doing that."

Hearing the word 'partner' made Mikan's mood to change. Her scowl turned to a playful smile.

"Fine, I'll do it with him." Mikan chirped and happily accepted the envelope.

Kazu eyed her suspiciously. "Mood swing? You're becoming more and more unpredictable, Mikan."

"Oh, it's nothing, really, I need to go home now! Bye Jii-chan!" Mikan kissed him in the cheek before leaving cheerfully.

'You just did me a great favor, Jii-chan. Let see how hard-to-get that partner of mine will act tomorrow.'

When Mikan was already out of the room, Narumi approached the headmaster with his usual goofy smile.

"Do you think that will work? I mean, she's too... Er… playful."

"I hope so. That Hyuuga kid… from my observations, was something different. Maybe he could help her, even a little. It's not bad to hope for something like this, right? Narumi-sensei?"

"Hmm… Maybe we need to go to the church and pray for Natsume-kun's safety." Narumi joked and then chuckled. Kazu frowned, which made Narumi…sweat dropped.

"Na-ru-mi." Kazu muttered threateningly.

Narumi grinned nervously. "Sorry, sorry! He-he."

End of Preludes