NEKO nin-gyo: Hah! Thought this chapter would never make it, didn't you? Well, I'm back! And I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, I was quite busy, tired and lazy... Okay okay, I was just lazy :p My humongous apologies for interrupting the first chapter so much too -.-' To those ppl who think Natsume is OOC -i agree-, sometimes it's 'better' that way, but if you think it's just lame, that's your opinion. Oh and this chap is really dramatic and long xD
THANK YOU Luci Ferre, supertonia, canrolli, XxXSmileyXxX, pinkstarpatricia, ladalada, Leenstarz, girlonthemove210, sarahpatrick, maplecat, xXxNaNa-cHaNxXx, natsume18 and Cee-Chan
It was official news that Ruka and Mikan were a couple. They would usually be seen together and Mikan's arm never fails to be hooked to Ruka's, much to the dismay of his fangirls and Natsume.
Mikan's POV-
Oh who am I kidding? Every time I'm with Ruka, my gaze still travels to Natsume to see his reaction.. Plus I'm too cruel and unfair to Ruka, taking advantage of his favor towards me.
But how can I NOT care about how Natsume thinks?? My heart still aches when I see his expressions remaining indifferent…
HOW COULD HE?! THAT JERK! WAS THAT WHY HE DIDN'T TURN UP?? So the kiss was nothing? Is this all a joke??
What everyone didn't know was that Mikan stopped pretending when she was out of their sight. But Ruka wasn't pretending, and all he could do was to sit aside, rejected as a man, accepted only as a friend.
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Natsume headed back to his room, not wanting to think of any other upsetting matters. Suddenly, he spotted something shiny on his desk. Curious yet cautious, he went forward to get a closer look.
It was a CD, without any identification tag whatsoever. He placed it into his CD player and perked up his ears to listen carefully.
It was Mikan's voice.
Natsume Hyuuga is a total jerk! He never cared for my feelings anyway, so why should I take him seriously?? It really makes me wonder why I even THOUGHT about wanting to be with him! People like him, really don't deserve the concern of others. No, people like him, really don't deserve to live at all!
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Back to Ruka and Mikan
Ruka was once again alone with Mikan, which made it unbearable for him. Mikan, so innocently beautiful, sat before him.
"Mikan…" He murmured, leaning in on Mikan.
He placed a hand on her cheek and the other on her hip, starling Mikan.
What surprised Ruka was that Mikan didn't make any assertive move to free herself.
Unfortunately -again-, before he could kiss her, clicking sounds were heard.
"Ho-HOTARU!!" Mikan shrieked, blushed and ran towards her 'best-friend', "Delete that! It's embarrassing!"
Too bad for Mikan, because thanks to one of Hotaru's inventions, her money-hungry friend vanished.
"I… I-" Mikan stammered uneasily, looking from the spot where Hotaru vanished to Ruka, who was unexpectedly emotionless about the blackmail.
Ruka, who kept his gaze on the floor, spoke lowly, "We are a couple now, pictures of us together would only be embarrassing, if you never regarded us as a couple."
Ruka got up and left.
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Natsume was gravely, gravely hurt by everything he heard. It wasn't the things that were said about him that were painful, but to know who said it was.
'Why did she say I didn't care for her feelings?' He thought sadly, the entire content in the CD, especially the sentence: It really made me wonder why I even THOUGHT of wanting to be with him! continued to replay in his mind.
'Wait a minute…' He pondered, thoughts slowly leading to other thoughts.
A rush of questions ran thorough his mind. 'Where did this CD come from? Why was Mikan unreasonably angry with me? How did Mikan sound so smart in the CD? Who would she tell if she was TRULY mad at me? When was this recorded? WHAT IS GOING ON?'
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Ruka's POV-
I know, I'm just a replacement, an object, to make Natsume envious. I mean nothing to her except a tool to use to get his attention… my purpose… is just to render Natsume's jealousy.
She is not with me because she wants to BE with me, but because of another guy. Living for her this way is to live for Natsume…
But, despite all that, pessimistic thoughts aside, it is still pleasant to have Mikan around.. all the time. Her smile, just that simple movement of hers, speak a hundred words, touch a thousand people, and heal a million hearts. For her to be alive, is truly a blessing to the people around.
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"Na-Natsume!" Sumire stuttered, apparently delighted at his appearance.
"This CD," Natsume said, holding it up, "Has your fingerprints on it."
"Th-that's impossible! I used gloves to…"
"To what, shoda?"
"I-I.."
"I want an explanation, and now." Natsume demanded.
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Mikan couldn't help but contemplate about Ruka's words. She had to break up with him soon, to lessen the hurt Ruka would receive in the end. 'It just isn't fair to him at all,' She touched her cheek, where his hand was, 'Isn't fair at all...'
Engrossed in her opinion, she didn't hear Misaki calling her until she touched her shoulder.
"So the lucky guy was Ruka, huh?" Misaki asked earnestly. –From the 1st chapter-
All Mikan could do was to smile uncertainly.
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Natsume came out of the room, satisfied with the fresh information he gathered.
He even managed to save a young girl with the alice to make people forget specific moments from the blackmailing hands of the fangirls.
-The fangirls blackmailed her to use her alice to make Mikan forget what had happened-
All he had left to do, was to find Mikan.
'If she's not in her room, she should be with Ruka.' He thought silently.
Speak of the devil, Natsume noticed him outside, and alone.
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"I don't know where she is." Ruka said coldly upon Natsume's arrival.
"I'm not here to ask about Mikan." The black cat said in a monotone.
"Then what is it you're here for? I don't quite wish to be disturbed right now." Ruka snarled rudely.
"Don't let her ruin our friendship," Natsume remarked, keeping a steady gaze at his friend. "Not that she's trying to or want to, I just-"
"JUST WHAT?! I mean, what right do you have to deserve her?" Ruka stood up furiously.
"I love her."
"Oh yeah, right. You love her. Yeah, you love her so much you don't care about how she feels, is that it? Love?!"
"And you do? You care about how she feels, good Samaritan?" Natsume continued calmly to Ruka's angry reaction, "Or is your definition of love forcing someone who doesn't like you at all to like you?"
"Hey, what makes you think you should be saying that?! When she's upset, do you go to her side and provide comfort?? Or just sit around and say 'depends'?"
There was a moment of silence before Ruka slumped back onto the floor.
"You don't care about her, yet she still..she still…" Ruka palmed the upper of his face, "I don't understand…"
"Love was never meant to be understood." Natsume muttered before walking off.
"You bastard." Ruka stared at Natsume –from behind- getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared, "You lucky bastard."
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"Actually, I thought it would be Natsume who was the lucky guy." Misaki commented casually, "Because although he doesn't say it, it's quite obvious he cares about you."
Seeing Mikan's crumpled face, Misaki hastily asked, "I'm sorry! Was it something I said?"
The younger brunette shook her head, "He is."
"What? Who is?" Misaki asked, a little confused and uncertain of what to expect.
"NATSUME IS THE LUCKY GUY! I really messed it up!" Mikan burst into tears.
"There, there." Misakin patted her juniors head comfortingly. "Tell me what happened."
"After Natsume kissed me that day, he's been acting kinda nice towards me, so we sorta went on a date but he didn't turn up and I was really mad that he was playing me like this so I agreed to be Ruka's girlfriend to make him jealous but he doesn't seem to care a whit and I know I really like him but Ruka would be so hurt so I.. I don't know what to dooo!!"
"That's no big thing." Misaki soothed, "You like Natsume right? So just tell him and ask why didn't he turn up that day, I'm sure it's a misunderstanding cos he is fond of you. As for Ruka, he'll understand, don't worry okay?"
Mikan nodded numbly, then smiled, "Misaki sempai, you're the best sempai ever!"
"Eh, what about me?" Tsubasa popped up.
"Tsubasa sempai too!" Mikan was feeling much better; there were so many caring people around her.
"You have to go now don't you, Mikan?" Misaki reminded gently.
"She does? Aww I just came!" Tsubasa jokingly-whined.
"I'm sorry I have to go now, we'll talk another day." Mikan bowed politely and left.
As soon as Mikan was out of sight, Misaki murmured, "She's cute, isn't she?"
"Of course she is, I'm almost beginning to feel sad I didn't ask her out."
"WHAT?"
"I'm kidding, kidding!"
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Mikan ran as fast as she could. He should be in his room…
Suddenly she caught sight of someone sitting behind a tree. As she got nearer, she noticed that the someone was wearing shorts -uniform-, so it was a he.
"Natsume?" Mikan titled her head forward to extinguish her curiosity.
What she saw was blond instead of raven hair.
Ruka's POV-
I never knew we could the sound of hearts shattering. So now I know; I heard mine. Why was the first person she could think of Natsume? When she saw it was me, the disappointment that filled her eyes… I really didn't want to see that, at all.
"Oh, hi Ruka!" Mikan squatted down to level herself with the boy. "Ruka..?"
Mikan's POV-
And he kept staring at me like that, like he could see somewhere far away in my eyes. He looked so.. forlorn. And pitiful. And weak. And all the other words to describe sadness. And this is all my fault. I broke the heart of one guy just to get the attention of another.
"I'm sorry, Ruka." Mikan mumbled, looking away. "I shouldn't-"
Mikan's POV-
He just leaned forward and hugged me. I guess it was a little embarrassing, until he said my name in this kinda assuring. And repeated it, over and over again. Then he pulled out of the embrace, smiled and said something I would least expect him to say.
"Sorry, Ruka dear," Sumire interrupted, not bothering to look at Mikan, "I need to have a word with her."
"No problem." Ruka replied casually.
Sumire thanked him and walked off briskly, unconcerned if Mikan could keep up.
"W-wait!" Mikan fumbled to get up and follow.
"Mikan," Ruka called, "Don't forget what I said."
The girl paused, nodded and rushed off. While running after the Sumire, Ruka's words kept ringing in her head. Not looking out for where she was going, Mikan bumped into Sumire.
"Watch it." The cat-dog girl hissed.
"S-sorry… what is it you asked me here for?" Mikan asked, relieved that she could finally stop running.
"I want to make it clear that it was Natsume who made me do this confessing/apologizing thing, not that I am doing this willingly. I am…s-sorry for ruining your date with Natsume." Sumire read aloud reluctantly from a piece of paper held in her hand.
"On that day, I sent you and Natsume a each a note to meet at different directions, then the other fangirls and I sorta kidnapped you and forced you to say terrible things about Natsume. We recorded every word and used someone else's alice to erase your memory, while Natsume was unaware and waiting at another place. The recorded speech was left in Natsume's room the next day and he found out.. The other pranks like the glue on the chair was also my fault…" Sumire explained awkwardly, then added, "But you deserve it, he's our Natsume!"
"Um," Mikan uttered.
"That's all, I'm going. IT'S NATSUME WHO MADE ME DO THIS."
Mikan took 5 whole minutes to digest what she heard, "So it was a misunderstanding…" She murmured, "Oh no… he must have been wondering why I was mad at him! And he still helped me out of the glue and chair incident."
She smacked her forehead, feeling really stupid. "Now not only do I have to tell him I like him, I also have to apologize…" She thought sheepishly.
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Mikan was still walking slowly after she heard what actually happened that day. 'This is so embarrassing… telling him is even tougher now.'
Not looking at where she was going again, she bumped into someone.
"S-sorry…" Mikan apologized, too disturbed to look up and walked on.
"Mikan," The 'someone' grabbed her arm.
"Huh..?" She turned around, and saw…
Natsume.
Before she knew it, he knelt down in front of her, with a bouquet of flowers in his hand.
If not for his long fringe, you could tell Natsume was blushing.
"Would you.. agree to be my girlfriend?"
"…" Mikan didn't know what to say, it was so sudden; thinking of how to tell him, and now he was before her, with a bunch of roses.
He wouldn't admit it, but Natsume was afraid of being rejected. 'Maybe she really likes Ruka… Or I'm not good enough…' He thought.
Mikan bent down and kissed him.
"Why would I say no to a guy who cares for me so much?"
Mikan's POV-
Ruka was right; Natsume was waiting for me, just like how I was unconsciously waiting for him. I'm so lucky to have someone like Natsume with me, if only I knew earlier! But that's not the point, is it? I know love exists and I've finally experienced it.
DONE! hope you liked it and sorry if it's too abrupt in any way.