Till There Was You
The Sky Collapses
Natsume practically skipped to the library, hardly waiting to see her. He simply could not help himself. While he was stalking the girl on Facebook, he realized that his behaviour was not normal. At least not normal for supposed acquaintances or friends. The way he was behaving was more like being in love…
But was he?
Not yet. But he was getting there. He seriously liked her and he decided that he is going to ask her out today. On a date. On a serious date. Maybe even tell her to bring Mr Bear with her, so the dog would not be alone. He did not really have a plan yet, but he was going to come up with one once he walks into the library.
Most probably, he will stop thinking as soon as he sees her smile, but who cares. He can stutter his way out dammit.
He had been going through her Facebook photo albums and could not help himself but admire her. She and her friends were traveling a lot and on each of the pictures, she looked beautiful. At least to him. And when he thought about the way she spoke and they she sounded and smelled… His world changed at that moment. He felt like flying. He had to put down the words and the melody and he had a new song.
He admitted. He was smitten with her.
And today, he would ask her out.
As he walked into the library, his whole body reacted as he saw her. She looked up and her eyes paralyzed him, made him lose breath, and he stopped thinking.
''Hey…'' Mikan greeted him with a soft smile as he walked into the library. Natsume smiled back at her, looking cool and confident and Mikan could not help but feel her heart beat a little faster.
''Hey… What do you have for me today?'' he stared at her with his steady red eyes, making her hands and legs shake a little. He made her very nervous and not because he was the star of Japan, but because he was he. The way he was; how he looked like, how he behaved, how he smelled, spoke, moved… He made her feel like a love-sick girl.
He stopped in front of the counter and leaned on it, watching her move around. She had thick books all around the counter and she started putting them together. ''Plenty, actually. So here's GRRM's next book, a few from Tolkien, and others are from authors that aren't that known – but they are also really good.'' She explained through her word diarrhoea. She was blushing all over her face and she looked confused. Natsume grinned at her, as if knowing exactly what was going on with her. He most probably did of course. He did know quite a lot about girls. And this one in particular seemed quite sensitive to his presence.
He leaned a little closer and heard her breath hitch. She quickly moved back and hit a box of books with the back of her leg. A few books fell to the floor for the pile was bigger than the box and Mikan crouched down cursing. She heard the man on the other side of the counter laugh and playfully glared at him. He winked at her and moved away from the counter to walk around it to help her. But before he could make a step, the door of the library opened once more.
Mikan was just gathering the books when she heard a gasp of shock. ''It is him!'' a man yelled and Natsume turned towards the voice in surprise. Suddenly a horde of photographers, reporters, and paparazzi rushed in with flashes of cameras and thousand and one question. Mikan slowly stood up and stared in shock at the mass of people that surrounded the superstar like a wave of water. Other people who had been in the library all this time came looking what was going on and took a few pictures with their own phones.
Questions and screams filled the whole library, people gathering around a stoic Natsume Hyuuga like bees. He glanced at Mikan for a few moments, taking in her surprised and a little frightened expression, making her look at him in question and panic for the well-being of her library, before he turned away, put his shades on, smirked confidently, and made his way through the mass of people towards the exit. Mikan watched his figure disappear.
The mass followed him and in a minute Mikan and those who had been working and reading in the library stayed behind. Outside the building, the jumble continued and got even bigger as pedestrians noticed the commotion and tried to get closer to see what was going on. A few reporters made photos of the library and even tried to get an interview from Mikan, but she was in such a shock she was not able to react. They soon left her alone and went after Natsume.
There were even TV reporters talking about finding the biggest star of Japan, who should have been on vacation, here in Tokyo in a library. It was huge news and everyone went crazy about it. After some time, the people in the library calmed down and went back to their previous task.
Mikan on the other hand was still in shock. She was staring at the door, hardly believing what just happened.
She sat down on her chair and needed a few more minutes to come to herself. When a few of her customers came to bring back books or borrow them, she worked on autopilot. She did not answer those few questions regarding Natsume Hyuuga and simply smiled and at people, telling them the usual stuff she had to tell the customers.
She also ignored the constantly ringing phone next to her for she knew reporters wanted to speak with the library stuff to get more information. In the end, she called the operator to change the phone number. Once the day was finally over, she cleaned her desk, made her way out of the library, and locked it up. Today she was the last one to go. Usually she always let her co-workers lock up – she was always the first to arrive and therefore went home before the others. However, today, she stayed behind, not saying much.
As she walked down the street towards her flat, she felt empty. Natsume Hyuuga, Japan's biggest music star had been her regular customer for several months. Reporters found him in the library and made a big deal out of it. He will most probably never again step into her library.
She breathed in and out, her shoulders falling. She came to like the man and he just walked out of her life. She felt so much sorrow and regret, she grimaced and gulped down tears. Just what had she been thinking? A super star and a librarian? This was not a movie. And why in the world would someone like him go after someone like her? Right now, he most probably think she was the one who called the reporters. That she was like his ex. That she wanted attention.
All she wanted was his attention.
She wiped away a few of those tears that managed to escape and looked down to the floor to hide her face from pedestrians. As she came home, locking the door behind her, and Mr Bear awaiting her like the good dog he was, she finally lost her control and cried. She sat on the floor, leaning on the door behind her. Mr Bear came to her, whining in concern and licking her cheeks.
Mikan threw her arms around her dog and buried her face into his neck. The dog sat in front of her and let her hug him, licking her here and there, waiting for her to calm down. They stayed like that for a very long time, and only as it was late in the evening did Mikan calm down. She smiled sadly at her friend and scratched him behind his ears. ''I'm sorry, Bear. I'm going to give you food right away, all right?''
She slowly stood up, turned a few lights on, and walked into her kitchen. Mr Bear was following her, wiggling with his tail. Mikan prepared Bear's food in silence, her eyes glassy and her mind far away. As the dog ate, she watched him, thinking about what to do now.
Today she had been hoping for a date with Natsume Hyuuga. She would have asked him out for coffee and then hope for a next time. It was Friday and she wanted to make the best of it, but now… Now she was here alone, with no hope for more.
She prepared Yakisoba for herself, sat down in front of the TV and ate it without really tasting it. She turned on the TV and came across the news. Of course, Natsume Hyuuga was right there, attacked by the horde of reporters in front of her library.
''The lead singer of the band RED, Natsume Hyuuga is not on vacation anymore. Just today an anonymous caller informed the press that he spends his time in one of the local libraries-'' the camera showed Mikan's library. ''-and as promised, he really was there.'' The hot female reporter told into the camera. Then the scene was changed into one from that afternoon.
''Hyuuga-san! What are you doing here?''
''When did you come back?''
A mass of questions was thrown at the man Mikan saw just a few hours ago. He was not smiling the same way he did as he was with her. He wore that cool, confident smirk that made many people skip a beat. The only comment he made before he disappeared again was: ''I decided to spent some time home. Technically, I'm still on vacation and will be until our band and managers sign a new contract. Thank you.'' Then a car pulled over and he jumped in. He disappeared down the street with the press running behind the car.
Mikan changed the Chanel, came across a TV series, a romantic comedy, and stared blankly at it, while eating Yakisoba. Mr Bear came lying under her feet once he ate his meal and let her caress him with her toes.
''I hope he won't get in trouble.'' She said to herself. As she ate everything up, she put the plate on the small table and pulled her legs up, her knees supporting her chin. She whimpered and cried again. ''And I thought maybe…''
Bear whined under her feet and then jumped on the couch next to her, pressing himself on her. She hugged him and buried her face into his neck. After some time she calmed down and sighed. ''I'm really such a dork. Desperate and dorky. And a huge idiot.''
She looked at her dog and smiled. ''Tomorrow is Saturday, so we'll go on a long walk, I promise. And I think we'll spent the whole day in the park. All right?'' she talked to the dog like it was able to understand her and he barked back.
Mikan had a few friends who she could call and tell them her problems, but she could hardly talk about Natsume Hyuuga here. She did not tell anyone she knew him personally and she had no intention of letting anyone know. Not if he disappeared from her life.
That is how Mikan spent her Friday evening – staring at the TV and hugging her dog. She felt like such a loser.
