CHAPTER II: Forget? Remember? CONFUSED!
"Shut up!" retorted Natsume to Mikan who kept complaining how mean he is.
The new student wrote his name on the board and then he introduced himself.
"My name's Nogi Ruka. Nice to meet you all." The new student introduced.
Mikan was shocked by this. "Ruka?" After the introduction, they heard the ding dong from the clock tower, which signified their dismissal time. The classroom was emptied fast. The only people left in the classroom were Mikan, Natsume and Ruka. Ruka went near the two and he talked to them.
"Konnichiwa! Iisashiburi da na Natsume, Mikan." greeted Ruka enthusiastically.
"Oi Ruka, you surprised me. Why didn't you tell me that you were coming back?"
"Well, it is a surprise. Mikan-chan, daijobu?" Ruka and Natsume looked at Mikan who was spaced out. But when Mikan heard Ruka's voice once more, she regained her consciousness.
"Ruka? Gomen, I almost forgot how you looked like. I mean seriously, it's been years since you went to Paris. And I bet that you missed everyone here."
"Well, of course I missed the Class B. Come to think of it, why did they separate the two of you from our class? The whole Class B is now in Class A if I'm not mistaken. Well, except for the three of us."
"I know, they're so mean…they separated me from Hotaru and they left me with this jerk." protested Mikan.
"Natsume do you know anything about this?" queried Ruka.
"Hmph. Beats me. I don't know what's going on in the minds of those teachers." retorted Natsume brusquely.
"Well, let's go back to our dorms then." said Ruka.
"Yeah, that would be great." Mikan agreed then she stood up immediately. "C'mon Natsume." Mikan pulled Natsume until he stood up. After that, the three of them started heading to their dorm rooms. Mikan and Natsume were in the same dorm room because they were both Special Stars, Ruka was in the dorm rooms for the single star, double star, and triple star because he was already a triple star. The dorms for the Special Stars were co-ed while the dorms for the other star ranks were separate, according to gender. But the boys' dorm is just near the girls' dorm.
After a while, they were already in their dorms. Mikan and Natsume's room were just beside each other. When Mikan got to the front of her door, she reached for the key in her pocket but she felt that it wasn't there. She checked for her other pockets but it still wasn't there. There was one more thing; she tried to look for the key inside her bag. Natsume just opened his room then he entered.
Meanwhile…
Ruka was on his way to the boys' dormitory when he saw a familiar face walking towards him. He stopped and he talked to the lady.
"Hotaru?" the lady, called Hotaru looked at the person who mentioned her name. She was shocked of who she saw. "R-Ruka?" uttered Hotaru in astonishment.
"Hi! How have you been?" asked Ruka while he smiled.
"I'm fine. You?"
"I feel better now that I'm back. You've changed a lot." stated Ruka looking at Hotaru who was really beautiful. Her hair was now long, she has a perfect figure and she really looked like a lady.
"Don't you dare think that I'm a lady because I'm not. My physical features might have changed but not my attitude."
"I can see that. So, are you going to your lab?"
"Yeah. Well, nice meeting you again. I better get going."
"Wait, can I come with you?"
"Why? What for?"
"Hey, don't get me wrong. I just wanna see the lab."
"Suit yourself." And with that well said, Hotaru and Ruka went to the lab.
Back to Mikan…
Mikan rummaged through her bag but she didn't see her key and that's when she remembered that she forgot her key, AGAIN. She had no other choice but to ask help from the jerk next door. She knocked on Natsume's door. She was taken aback when the door immediately opened. "What so you want airhead?"
"I left my key inside my room again. Can you please get it?" pleaded Mikan.
"Why should I?"
"C'mon Natsume, please…hey, it's not the first time I'm asking you to help me. You've done this a lot of times before and this isn't different from those. Please…" begged Mikan while she clasped her hands together.
"Fine. But I'm doing this because of that stupid contract. I'm not doing this for you."
"I know that." Natsume went out through the window then he went to Mikan's window. When he was opening it, it didn't open. He tried everything but it still didn't open. After a few minutes, he went back to his room where Mikan was sitting on the couch while she waited. When Mikan saw Natsume come back, she immediately asked. "So, did you get my key?"
"No. I didn't because you locked you window, again!"
"Ugh…I'm psyched. Why do I always forget to unlock it."
"You're really an airhead. This is annoying!"
"What is?"
"The one you're doing. It's like it's (it has) become your ritual or something. Every week, you forget your key and you forget to keep your window unlocked. Are you joking me? Or maybe, you're doing this on purpose to just spend time with me!" stated Natsume in a frustratedly arrogant manner.
"What? In your dreams! I'm just really forgetful, that's all."
"Forgetful? How old are you anyway? Are you sure that you're 16 'coz you're 'forgetfulness' occurs like you're already 65!"
"Would you just cut it out? What the heck are you bringing up? I don't get the thing that you want to say! Just tell it to me straight!"
"I don't want to tell you anything. Matter fact, I don't want to talk to you at all!" Natsume headed to the door and then he got his coat.
"Then don't talk to me!"
"I won't! Don't try to make yourself at home!" shouted Natsume before he went out of the door.
"Ugh! I really hate that guy! Besides, he agreed to that contract! It's not my fault that he needs to accommodate me if I left my key or for other things. He's not the only one getting tired here. I just wish I didn't agree to that contract either." stated Mikan while she stood up and she looked outside the window.
On the other hand…
Ruka and Hotaru just entered Hotaru's lab. It was bigger and better than before. "Wow! Did you pay for the upgrade of this room and these things?"
"No, the academy decided that it was time to change it. They said that if I really wanted to make inventions, I should use equipments that are more advanced."
"That is true. Equipments here are almost as advanced as the equipments in Paris."
"Oh yeah…I forgot to ask you, why did you go to Paris?"
"My mom transferred me there because she found a girl that would suit me well but it didn't work out."
"You mean, you had a girlfriend there? You just went there to get a girlfriend?"
"She didn't become my girlfriend. We're just close friends. She was the one who thought that we're a couple. She was getting really clingy and possessive of me, she told every girl in the school that they shouldn't talk to me or come near me or else, she's gonna hurt them with her alice. I told my mom everything and then she asked me if I wanted to go back and study here. I said yes so I came back."
"Okay. That's weird."
"Yeah. That girl reminded me of Sumire."
"I guess you can say that."
"Well, I better go back to the dorm. I still have to fix some things."
"Okay."
"Aren't you coming?"
"No, I'll stay in the lab for tonight."
"Alright then. Bye, nice talking to you. See ya tomorrow." Ruka bid Hotaru goodbye and then he headed for the boys' dormitory once again.
Meanwhile…
Natsume went to the rooftop and he sat on one of the benches there. He looked at the sky and he saw a lot of stars and the moon shining brightly.
"heavy sigh Why am I getting angry at her? I should really be accustomed to it already. Ever since my dad visited, I've been feeling more hot tempered."
Natsume thought of things. He laid down and he looked at the sky. He thought of things deeply. He thought of what his father said. But all this deep thinking disappeared quickly when Mikan's smiling face entered his mind. 'That girl. I should really go back.' thought Natsume as he stood up.
He went back to his room. When he was walking towards his bedroom, he saw Mikan asleep on the couch. He went to his bedrooms then he got a blanket. He covered Mikan with the blanket then he turned on the television then he lowered down the volume so that Mikan wouldn't wake up. But after a few minutes, she woke up. She sat down and then she rubbed her eyes.
"Natsume?" muttered Mikan while she yawned.
Natsume looked at Mikan. "I thought you were asleep?"
"Couldn't really sleep. I just took a nap. Where'd you go?"
"Nowhere."
Haya: Well, that's the end of Chapter 2. Did you like it? Hope you did. Anyway, comments please. Criticisms, flames and suggestions are welcome. Please keep on reading this story until I finish. Ja matta ne! See you on the next chapter of Arranged Marriages: Oh boy! Questions? Arguments? Here We Go Again!
Mikan: Ja-ne! Thanks for reading.