Dark Hood
Chapter 15
Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice nor its characters but this story is entirely mine.
"No? What do you mean, no?!" I erupted like dominant volcano that finally decided to erupt.
"It simply means no. There are certain things you can't do, Hyuuga-san. And I'm afraid I cannot - " Harada blabbered on, her face passive as if I deserved this treatment.
"Then screw you!" I snarled and slammed the office door, kicking the desk once the door swung shut. "Damn it..."
No? What does she mean by no? This was volunteer work. I simply can't be forced to stay here. Although the pay is better and I'm in a higher position; I don't speak their language and I don't like it. How could the higher-ups not let me go? I mean, I'm a good staff member but what the hell?
Grabbing fistfuls of my raven hair, I let myself think deeply for five minutes before coming with a conclusion.
"Harada!"
"What is it Hyuuga-san?" Harada asked, her hands on her hips, "If it's about resigning - "
I glared at her, "Then it'd be none of your damn business. Arrange a meeting for me and the head of the company... Today."
She sighed, knowing I'd do something rash as usual, "Yes, Hyuuga-san. But you know he'll just say the same thing as I did."
"Hn"
My eyebrow arched as the awkward man twirled in gleefully. His amethyst eyes settled on me before his expression became stern. "Are you sure Natsume-kun? I'm not saying that I will, but your position will be given away and you won't be able to come back. The place in Japan isn't secure either. You understand right?"
"... Yes."
"If you resign, all the work in the past years will go to waste. It's not the best move Natsume-kun," Narumi warned again.
He glowered, "Don't you think I've thought about that already? I just wanna resign."
"This department? The entire company?"
"Hn"
He sighed, flicking his locks back and throwing his long legs onto the converence table, "Just hand in your letter but there has to be at least a two weeks' notice. Make sure everything is under control and all I can do is wish you luck with Mikan-chan."
I frowned. Does everyone know? "Whatever." I left the converence room, hoping never to enter again.
"How many more idiotic choices are you making?! I thought we agreed on none!" screamed Ruka. His voice seemed strangely daunting from the phone.
"Exactly," I replied, taking down yet another stack of files.
"What about your mother? Did you not remember your damn agreement on the Hyuuga house and name? You have to get to the top soon. And trust me, this time she'll disown you," he threatened, "Keep your stupid job or I'll tell Mikan-chan."
"Ruka, you're my rival. Why are you helping me? Without her being my secretary, my chances have pretty much just dropped to zero," I reminded him.
"Did you consider her feelings?"
I smirked, "What should I know about them? Just recently she was your girlfriend."
"Still is," Ruka scowled, "Just on bad terms."
"So she going to break up with you? Anyway, she loves her grandpa more than anything. You (or I) will never be her number one. At least you're important to her." The use of long speech was starting to tire me out. How dense is he?
He scoffed, "Important?"
I groaned. This kid seriously doesn't get it. "Whatever. I'll see you in two weeks' time. It won't be long before I have her."
"Natsume, you just said it yourself: two weeks."
Then he cut me off. Again.
Without two weeks to slack off, I wandered around Paris. Idling here, wasting there. I visited everywhere and packed my bags, preparing for the long flight ahead. Mikan and Ruka are probably in Tokyo by now. The last call was the one I previously got. Not that I care, I had to spend some time with Harada settling things.
"So don't sign this contrat unless you've signed this one," I finished and I watched her carelessly scribbling it one of her flashy notes.
"Got it. And what about the one with the old people's home? We can't move that one," she put the top of her pen to her lip, considering her choices.
I shrugged, "Just leave it."
"That's cruel! The old people need along care of, you know!" she frowned, disappointed at my attitude towards this sort of thing. "I thought you'd care."
"I never had grandparents," I confessed. Not that I didn't have them - everyone does - more like, I've never met them. I didn't dare to even think of useless things like that.
"Oh. I'm sorry... I did though, and they were amazing. I mean, they are your parents' parents. Jii-chan passed away a while ago. So I'm keen on this project!"
Jii-chan... Passed away? Didn't we send him off? Is it another Jii-chan perhaps? "Mikan's grandpa?"
She nodded, "Didn't she tell you? She took a few days off for it." Harada waved her hand to dismiss the subject, "So will you restore it?"
"Whatever. I'm resigning anyway," I grumbled. Even though on the outside I remained calm, the inside was beginning to boil.
Was she lying? Was she even capable of it? What the hell is going on?!
As I packed, I still couldn't believe it. So as I flew, I felt absolutely exhausted with the useless arguing in my head. When I landed, I began a completely new debate on whether I should trust the girl I want to court. By the time I got home...
"Welcome back!" cheered Ruka, the party popper in the air. All the confetti covered my head, irritating me to no end. How irksome.
"Why the hell did you break into my apartment?" I glowered at my cheery best friend. "Get out."
"That's mean Natsume!" Mikan whined as usual. I ignored her. No point in starting being nice now is there?
"Hello!" grinned Koko.
"I don't even know you," I scowled.
"Mikan-chan!" he cried, "Natsume is being meaner than usual."
"He's just grumpy from the long journey."
"Exactly. Get lost... All of you," I growled at them all with a fierce rage. I don't care who it is, I need rest. And they obviously weren't going to give it to me.
"Geez. What a spoil sport. Well Mikan-chan, I'm off to work. Bye Ruka-pyon, I'll see you next time!" Koko chuckled. He turned to me and punched me lightly on the arm, "Good to see you back."
I couldn't help the smirk that crawled up to my face. He gave me a knowing grin and headed off. Ruka sighed, "Well, I guess I'm stuck with that nickname. Bye Natsume. I'm be here nice and early in the morning so we can head to the office together - with Mikan-chan of course."
Mikan nodded, "Don't worry. Iinchou has worked most of it out, you just have to -"
"Just get out. Ruka, I'll call you tonight," I added as I shoved them out the door before I slammed the door in the faces.
A certain feeling came down on me as I looked around. I could smile gratefully as I thought: Home at last. The comfiness and the messiness of it, the odd smell emitted by the burnt kitchen and even the annoying noises from my neighbors... I was glad to be back.
Turning on the warm water for a bath, I tried to imagine what would happen tomorrow. I was going to get my job back.
Due to the odd jet lag, I found myself in the worst condition possible. My eyes dropped and looked almost lifeless. Ruka pretty much dragged me to work but didn't succeed with dressing up. Thus, I was a complete wreck - not that I minded.
"Hyuuga-san, welcome back," greeted Tobita as if I'd never even left. The place looked much tidier than the way I left it. My files were categorized andspray splattered across my desk. My name plat was still shining in front of my desk along with my computer.
"Hn. So do I have to speak to the board?" I asked with complete boredom.
"No. They settled it a while ago," Iinchou shrugged, "It's your decision if you want to visit them but I doubt you do."
"Alright. Thanks Tobita."
"You're welcome."
It didn't take more than ten minutes to get use to the typical lifestyle of 'Scary Boss Hyuuga'. So time flew by as I skimmed through things I'd missed and more boring things. Quite bothersome but I had to keep up the reputation. Plus I need to prove to my mum my 'responsibility' since I was such an idiot.
"Natsume, here's your coffee," Mikan grinned, "I've improved since last time. You said it was good!"
Her light cheery smile brightened up the room as it usually did. I was home. The aroma of the fresh coffee beans began spreading around the office again. Since when did I forget this smell?
"You wish," I scoffed and sipped the drink she put so much effort into.
"Then why don't you show me?" she pouted, "That way you can critize all you want and I know you understand what good coffee is."
I raised a challenging brow. Good coffee? How wouldn't I know what good coffee is? "Fine. Lunch break."
"Um... Natsume, our lunch break is at different times."
Damn! "So? Can the head not reschedule lunch breaks whenever he wants?" I quickly covered up for myself. Why is my head all fuzzy? I can't think straight.
"Okay. I'll tell Yuu. Let's go then!" she giggled as she skipped out my office as if she did absolutely nothing. Did she know my heart was probably faster than the bullet train.
I made sure my wallet had money - imported fresh coffee beans are expensive - then I ruffled my hair to calm down. It didn't work so much when my heart sped up as I began to wonder what we'd do today. Maybe I should tell her today... Ruka's not here. We're alone. It's fair.
"Yuu says it's fine, Natsume!" Her head suddenly popped back, her pigtails falling to the side. "Let's go! I'll just grab my coat."
Or maybe it's not the best idea...
The snail-slow elevator only made it's way up to the third floor even though we violently attacked the button millions of times. And at no point am I willing to go down by the stairs.
"Maybe it's broken? I should call Koko. He's a great mechanic. Last time, he fixed my TV. I was so relieved. I thought I had to buy another one and I just couldn't afford one after the medical bills," Mikan sighed but put on a weary smile as if encouraging me, "But I've paid them all off so it's fine now! I could get a plasma! What's your TV Natsume?"
"Hn"
"You could at least help bring up a conversation," she whined as she patted her dull jacket.
I furrowed my brows. Well, we have time... "What - ?"
"Oh! The elevator's here!" she exclaimed abruptly, interrupting my unasked question. "Hurry up Natsume! You're such a slowpoke."
"Tsk." I followed her lead and entered the elevator and she pushed the ground floor. If I remembered correctly, the elevator was on the fourth floor when -
"So what did you want to ask?" she blurted out, again disturbing my thoughts.
Damn. What did I want to ask? Do I have memory-loss? You've got to be kidding me. It was important. It was something to do with what she said wasn't it?
"What medical bills?"
"Jii-chan's of course!" Mikan chuckled, "He's all well now and apparently he might head to Hokkaido. We're not sure. But since summer's coming..."
"You aren't getting an early vacation," I snapped. Crush or not, I'm still a boss. No one could
"Hey~ That's mean!"
Her Jii-chan... Oh yeah, that's what it was. Harada mentioned it: Jii-chan passed away a while ago...
"Is your Jii-chan - ?"
A yelp escaped her lips as the lights flickered. The elevator came to an abrupt stop just as the lights decided to fade. Darkness enveloped us.
"No! We're stuck!" she screamed.
Crap.
End of Chapter 15
As usual, you reviewers flatter me so much. I don't deserve it since I've had a major writer's block. Apparently it's very common but I've never had it! Oh goodness... I need to recover. (A more detailed account is on my profile!) So this chapter is my apology to all you readers!
Yuri Hannah - I'm so sorry! I really wanted to concentrate on the friendship for a while but it kinda took over... So I will work on it. Kiss scene? It's kinda embarassing... I stink at writing kiss scenes because... fhgiusjcneiogwvnhe! Sorry... Just recent events. Is it a compliment? (The bad Natsume thing) I'm worried! But thanks for your comment! It gave me tons of ideas!
adrienna22 - The mystery will need some help. I'm stuck! So in the end I might just say 'and it was all just a dream...' Kidding! It's just recently I've had the worst time writing. No luck whatsoever. Thank you very much for mentioning that part! I really wanted to emphasize that Ruka and Natsume are super close!
Crimson Flares - Sorry for the long wait Imoto-chan! Thank you so much for your support! So I'll do my best no matter what. Did I happen to mention to everyone here that our birthdays are coming up? Whoo! Getting all hyped up for no reason...
Mikanatsume4eva - Confused? Can you kinda explain? Because I'm starting to confuse myself as well... Hehe... Thanks for loving it! And also for taking the time to type down a review!