First of all, I want to thank those who reviewed me from the previous chapter:
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Author's Notes: Thank you so much for reviewing. People, in the preview I've stated in Chapter 13, it was supposed to be Christmas. But then, the season which is currently happening in the story was autumn. So, for me not to make any confusion, I will delete that chapter.
And I also want to apologize for not updating sooner. Here in my country, summer has ended (I'm in the Philippines) and school has started. So please accept my apology… I'm really sorry, everyone. Well, here's the 14th chapter of this story.
Chapter XIV – Mikan's Birthday
"RING!!" the annoying alarm clock woke up the sleeping Mikan from her bed. She stretched her arms, and yawned so she'd be awake. Then, she scratched her head, still feeling sleepy after the stretching she made.
After that, she went straight to the restroom, took a bath, and dressed up for the day. But she wasn't reminded that it was her birthday… today. She went downstairs, and prepared breakfast for Natsume, and her little son Youichi.
Later on, Natsume wakes up, cranky after being a guest at a live show at 12:00 AM, and recording some songs on 1:30… he only had some sleep for about 3 hours. And still, he can feel his headache.
He stood up, and noticed that his clock stopped moving. So, he searched for the batteries inside his drawer, but it seems that he forgot to buy some batteries for them. So, he decided to head to Mikan's room to get some batteries.
He opened the door without knocking, and went inside without a care. He opened Mikan's drawer near her bed, and saw some batteries. He took them, and went back to his room. But before he was able to go out, he noticed something on the calendar.
"Wait a minute" he thought. And when he saw the calendar, he saw: My Birthday!!
"It's her birthday?" Natsume thought as he smiled, and went back to his room.
Natsume went downstairs to eat some breakfast, while Mikan kept on sighing to herself. Natsume noticed the frowning face, so he asked; "Oi, why are you frowning like that? It seems like the world's problems has landed on your shoulders."
Mikan replied with a sigh. "Well, it seems like you were mad the other day because I didn't go on a date with you… but it was really important that I have to stake my life on it! I mean, how come my boyfriend's grave is near your wife's grave?"
"You mean Andou Tsubasa? Yeah, I often see his grave. But you were his girlfriend? I'm still terrified since I didn't know that guy would date such an idiot like you—,"
"SHUT UP!" Mikan shouted as silence filled the room for a moment. "Tsubasa is not like that! If you want to mock him, just mock me instead!"
"So you're protecting him?"
"Of course… he was… my first love." After what Mikan said, Natsume saw a teardrop flow from her eyes. "Anyway, we can't stop on being ourselves. So, be you. Mock anyone you like to mock. Insult them and do whatever you want. But you don't know what you're doing. Why don't you think first on how the person will feel before you say something from your toxic mouth?"
Mikan walked out of the room afterwards, without another word. Natsume was kind of feeling ashamed of himself. It seems like he only made her special day worse.
OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO
"Hello. Hikari, is that you? Well, you know that it's Mikan's birthday and--. Okay, okay, fine."
"Hello, Anna and Nonoko."
"Well, lookie here. It's Natsume Hyuuga on the phone." Anna said.
"Look, its Mikan's birthday today… and I think that I only made her day worse."
Nonoko replied in a fast matter. "So you called us here to tell you some things about Mikan so she can have a perfect day and she won't be mad at you?"
"Um… yeah."
"Works for me! Alright, here are Mikan's likes and dislikes." Anna whispered on the phone.
OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO
"Mikan" Natsume called while Mikan was on the computer, writing her latest novel.
"What is it?" Mikan asked
Stop asking and let's just go out for dinner." Natsume grabbed Mikan's wrist as they went outside.
"Wait, wait. What did you say?"
"You idiot. You forget things easily!"
"What are you talking about? I left the computer open, I'm a mess and why the hell do you want to have dinner with me?!"
"Aren't you aware that it's your birthday today?"
"My birthday?" Mikan asked herself, thinking about her birthday… until, "AH! It's my birthday today! So Natsume, you're treating me dinner?"
"No. I will send you to the mental hospital."
"Well, why do you want to do that?"
"You know what; you become more idiotic in every birthday of yours."
"How about Youichi?"
"There's this program at school where grade 2 students get to sleep over the school. It will help them to become more independent especially in a young age. He gets to stay there for a week."
"Is that so? Well, I have no objections! I'm starving now so let's go for dinner!" Mikan replied with a sweet smile.
"What the—," Natsume thought as he curved his lip. "Maybe this will do."
OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO
"Thanks Natsume for treating me dinner. But are you sure because you had to cancel your meetings and other stuff?" Mikan asked.
"Its fine, it's fine. I just do these on birthdays so pipe down." Natsume replied as he continues to hide his face under the menu book.
"Well, I had to cancel my 3 photo shoots, my movie rehearsal and the live show. But this will do… it's for Mikan." Natsume thought. "Of course, I was surprised about Anna and Nonoko's advice."
FLASHBACK:
"Is it necessary?"
"Mikan likes that, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. But just be more careful about your words; don't let your guard down."
"Oh… you mean that Koizumi Luna who knows your secret?"
"Just shut up. And if this advice doesn't work, I'll file a case against you two and assuring that you two will be sent to jail. Is that clear?"
"Argh… LEARN HOW TO CONTROL YOUR TEMPER!! GEE, I WONDER WHY MANY GIRLS ARE IN LOVE WITH YOU WHEN YOUR ATTITUDE IS SO… Argh!!" Both of them shouted on the phone, and hung it afterwards.
END OF FLASHBACK
"Anyway…"
"Oi Baka, it's your birthday today, right?" Natsume asked
"Yeah, so?"
"What would you like as a birthday present?" Natsume asked
"Me? Well, I can't think of anything. I mean, I've never received any gifts anymore ever since Tsubasa died."
"What do you mean?" You've never received any gift for the past two years?" Natsume asked. Mikan, in reply, shook her head with a sad face.
"How about Anna and Nonoko? Why don't they give you gifts?"
"Anna and Nonoko never gave me a single gift. They fear that if they'd give me a gift, bad luck will surround me. But against all odds, Tsubasa gave me the most valuable gift of my life. I treasure it the most."
…
"So… what gift do you want?"
"May you excuse me?" Mikan said as she stood up and headed straight to the bathroom. Natsume can see a tear drop from her eyes. She still missed that guy.
Natsume sighed. "If only I had the power to make that Tsubasa come to life… I'd make her happy… I guess I'd better follow those twins' crappy advice."
Natsume left the table afterwards, leaving Mikan alone in the restaurant. He ran to a shop, and bought a present for Mikan; a present that will make her happy for the rest of her life.
After a few minutes, Mikan went out of the bathroom, and went back to her seat. She noticed that Natsume was gone, but she didn't bother.
Mikan was waiting for Natsume for 30 minutes. Afterwards, she thought that maybe she got stood up so she planned to leave the place. She paid for the food, and walked going outside… until she saw a panting Natsume in front of her way.
"I can't think of any gift that I can give to you, so here." Natsume said as he handed out a box. Mikan got a held it, and she opened to see what's inside.
When she opened Natsume's gift, tears ran down in her face. She was smiling; she felt overjoyed by the gift.
"Thank you Natsume." Mikan said as she walked towards Natsume, and kissed him on the cheek. Natsume didn't blush, but he felt good inside.
"I'm really happy that you gave this present for my birthday." Mikan said as she continues to cry. "I'm really, really happy."
What Mikan received that time were Fluff Puffs, her last meal with Tsubasa. But since Natsume gave it to her, she was able to, again, taste those sweet Fluff Puffs. And deep inside the box, was a diamond necklace, which Mikan didn't notice until she finished her meal.
She was overjoyed by Natsume's gift… "Maybe he did have a sweet side after all."
OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO
The next day, while Natsume gazed at the sky with a hue of orange and red, Mikan walked to him, and joined him in staring at the sky.
"The colors really brighten my eyes." Mikan said. "I'd really love to soar up high."
"Um…" Both of them said. "You go first Natsume."
"Since Christmas is coming, would you like to go on a winter vacation?"
"Really? Wow!!"
"Of course I'll be including Youichi, Ryu and Luna." Natsume said. "Is this your first time on a winter vacation?"
"Um… kind of… I mean, every Christmas, I go to Anna and Nonoko to sleepover since I tend to be alone. I guess I'll be asking Hikari to join." Mikan replied. "As I was saying… Natsume, I want to thank you for your gift to me last night. It touched me so deeply. And you don't need to buy me a diamond necklace."
"Well, what I'm trying to say… is…" Mikan said, "I'll be doing my best to forget about Tsubasa! I know it's hard but, I'll be doing my best. So don't worry!"
Natsume, at first, was annoyed by Mikan's spirit, but he was getting used to it all along. So he curved his lip, but didn't show it to the brunette.
"Hey, you're smiling! This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!! BANZAI!" Mikan cheered
"Oi Baka!" Natsume said. "Nothing"
End of Chapter
Sorry everyone for the long wait! And if you think this chapter's short, sorry again! It's just that I don't have that much time to update my stories.
But here's a preview of the next chapter:
"Where's Hikari? Where's she?"
"From what I've heard, she left her luggage in the other building from afar. But with this blizzard, she maybe stranded there."
"I'll be searching for her!"
"I'm sorry, Mikan. I had to lie to you."
Please review! And sorry for the long wait…
XOXOXO
--HaNaMii