Kiss of Fate
by Esa MaRie
Chapter 13
It was the last day of the festivities and everyone was busy preparing for the last event of the Alice Festival.
Everyone was busy. Busy preparing setting the stage, the decorations, the food, looking for an appropriate attire, or even looking for date. Everyone… that is, except one…
Natsume grunted as he removed the manga from his face. 'Idiots. What's so special about this day?' he thought distastefully. He lifted himself from the sakura branch that he's currently resting and settled himself into a sitting position, leaning his back against the trunk of the sakura tree. From where he is, he could see the scrambling of the students and faculty members preparing for the dance. He opened the manga to the page where he left off before he went to sleep and began to read. It was one of his favorite series, but as of the moment, he couldn't seem to understand what he was reading as the image of a certain brunette came into his mind.
The last dance is your last chance. After that, her fate will change. You're going to lose her…
'Dammit!' he cursed silently. Just then, a slight movement below made him look down and saw Ruka looking up to him.
"Natsume," Ruka called. "What are you doing up there? I've been looking for you since this morning. Aren't you going to attend the dance?"
Natsume just shrugged, then turned away. "It has nothing to do with me."
Ruka stared at Natsume trying to figure out his thoughts.
"Is it because of Mikan?"
Natsume sighed, then closed his eyes. "What about that idiot?"
"Stop pretending, Natsume. You know exactly what I'm talking about," Ruka snapped. "You're in love with her, aren't you?"
"Who knows?" Natsume muttered as he covered his face with his manga.
"You've been so distant lately. Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" Ruka persisted.
Natsume jumped from the branch and faced Ruka. "I don't care anything about that idiot."
Ruka smiled. "Natsume, I think you have forgotten that I used to be in love with Mikan. And so did you. Although we're bestfriends, I still thought of you as a rival back then. The main difference was I got over it. You didn't. You always watch over her, don't you?"
Natsume just gave him a cold glare and walked away.
"Hey Natsume! You can still ask her for the last dance, you know," Ruka called out to him.
The last dance is your last chance. After that, her fate will change. You're going to lose her…
'What difference would a dance do? She already has someone else.' he thought as he walked away.
"Ne Mikan-chan, what can you say about my dress?" Anna asked twirling against the mirror.
"Hn."
"Mikan-chan!" Anna called out in loud voice causing Mikan to jump.
"Ah! Gomen…" Mikan apologized. "D-did you ask about something?"
Anna sighed.
"Baka," Hotaru muttered.
"Are you okay, Mikan?" Nonoko asked.
"Y-yeah," Mikan replied. "I w-was just thinking about something." She let out an embarrassed laugh to cover her obvious state.
"Eh…?" Anna then smiled mischievously. "Maybe you're nervous with anticipation for the last dance tonight with Souma-kun. Right?"
"Oh, how sweet!" Nonoko gushed.
Anna and Nonoko began to squeal with excitement over the dance. On the other hand, Hotaru was not really interested about the dance or Akira Souma. She had been observing Mikan's reactions since the start of the festival. To others, she still remains to be the sweet and clumsy Mikan Sakura. But Hotaru knew her more than anyone else in the academy. And she knows that excitement isn't what she's feeling right now.
Mikan excused herself from Anna and Nonoko, then went inside the bathroom. Hotaru followed her.
"What are you doing to yourself, baka?" Hotaru asked with her usual expressionless voice.
"W-what do you mean, Hotaru?" Mikan asked softly, trying to evade the question.
"You're not yourself," Hotaru observed.
Mikan smiled a little. "Because I'm not clinging over you?"
Hotaru just stared at her. "I'm not sure why Souma-sempai became your boyfriend when you're not in love with him."
That surprised Mikan. How did Hotaru know about that?
"Maybe you admired him before, but there's someone else that you love," Hotaru continued.
Mikan gave out a fake laugh. "Come on Hotaru. Akira-kun is my boyfriend. There's no one else." She continued laughing and walked away… only to trip and fall flat on her face.
Hotaru narrowed her eyes at Mikan's retreating back. "Both of you are real idiots," she muttered.
The dance event had progressed as planned. Everyone seems to be having a lot of fun. The stage and decorations were perfect, the food was delicious, and the music was great. Laughter was heard everywhere as couples danced to the lively tune. Other students were just contented chatting about anything.
Mikan and Akira just finished dancing and they went to a corner to get some rest. Mikan laughed at Akira's comical face as he told his joke.
Suddenly Akira took hold of Mikan's hand and stared at her seriously. Mikan stopped laughing and began to feel uncomfortable.
"Mikan, do you still love Hyuuga?" Akira asked.
Mikan turned her head away.
"I love you, Mikan. I know that everything right now is just pretense. But please give me a chance," Akira pleaded softly. "I'll do everything to make you forget him."
"I know it's inappropriate since I'm not even your real boyfriend. But I'm taking the chance. In a week, I'm going to be transferred to an alice academy abroad. They have negotiated with the academy here since they are in need of my expertise with chemicals to finish a certain project." Akira continued. "I want you to come with me."
"A-akira-kun…"
"If you really want to forget him, this is your chance. The academy won't stop you since you will transfer to another alice academy," Akira explained.
Mikan stared blankly at Akira. Forget Natsume… forget Natsume… forget Natsume… "A-akira-kun, I…"
"Yo Akira-kun!"
Mikan and Akira turned to see some senior students (Akira's friends) coming their way.
"Gomen, Sakura-chan," one of his friends said. "Can we borrow Akira for a while? There's something we want to show him."
Akira sighed, then turned to Mikan. "Mikan, if you want, you can join us."
"No, it's okay." Mikan smiled at them. "I'm a little tired from all the dancing. I think I'll take a little rest for now."
"But…"
"Just go with them," Mikan said softly. "I'll be fine here."
Akira stared at her, then nodded. "Okay, I'll try to be back immediately."
Mikan's eyes followed Akira as he went away. She sighed as the image of a certain raven haired boy came into her mind. "Natsume…" she whispered.
"Where's Natsume-kun?"
"I bought a really expensive dress just for him."
"Oh, I'm so excited. He's going to be my last dance."
"Oh yeah? Dream on, 'coz he's going to be mine!"
Well, ever since the rumor that Natsume Hyuuga is in love with someone, a lot of hopeful females prepared well for the dance hoping that one of them was the girl who had captured the heart of the infamous firecaster.
Ruka and Hotaru passed by the fan club and heard the argument. Hotaru turned to them and said, "He's not going to dance any of you."
"What?!!!!" the fan girls shrieked.
"The fortune teller said that the girl Natsume Hyuuga kissed is the one he's in love with, right?" Hotaru asked.
"What are you talking about? We just know that Natsume-kun is in love with someone," one of the fan girls snapped.
"You were not even there," another girl commented.
"Is that so? But I know everything that happens in this academy. And I know who the girl is," Hotaru said.
"WHO IS IT?!" they scrambled to Hotaru.
"Five thousand rabbits each," Hotaru said with her emotionless voice.
"Hah! She's just bluffing," one of the girls said. "Anyway if it's Natsume-kun's first kiss, we already know who it was. But they have broken up long ago, so Natsume-kun is no longer in love with her. Come on, girls."
When they were left alone, Ruka turned to Hotaru. "You really know something, don't you?"
"I already know it long before," Hotaru said. "Who in his right mind would kiss an idiot if he's not in love with her?" Hotaru glanced at Ruka, one eyebrow raised up. "You know what I'm talking about, right? Because you kissed her also before."
Ruka blushed deep crimson at that. 'How the heck did she know that?'
Mikan glanced around the dance floor noting how happy and carefree the students were dancing with their respective partners. It has been a fun night. She was enjoying every bit of it. She was happy. She lifted her hand to her chest. 'Then why do I feel incomplete?' she asked herself. 'Is it because he's not here?'
She shook her head trying to clear out her mind. 'I need to forget him,' she thought. Her eyes caught the dark brown hair of Akira who was quite a distance away. 'Akira-kun loves me. And I used to have a huge crush on him. I-if we stop this pretense of a relationship and make it real, will I learn to love him? If I go away, will I forget Natsume?'
She felt her heart constrict that she felt a need to get some fresh air. She went out of the dance floor, walking while deep in thought.
Before she knew it, Mikan found herself walking towards the Sakura tree. When she was near, she noticed a glimpse of something or someone behind the tree trunk. Her heart began to pound wildly.
'Natsume…'
Before she could stop, she found herself walking closer to the tree. Then she settled herself at the other side of the trunk. They are now sitting opposite each other, their backs leaning against the tree trunk.
"You're such an anti-social, Natsume. You're boring yourself here. Why aren't you joining the festivities?" Mikan asked softly.
There was a short silence followed by a curt reply. "It's a complete waste of time. What do you want, Polkadots?"
Mikan sighed. 'Polkadots again, huh?' But she felt so tired that she's not in the mood to argue with him. She just leaned against the tree and looked up at the stars.
"I just liked it here. It doesn't have anything to do with you.", she answered back. "The last dance is going to start in a little while. Don't you have someone in mind?", Mikan asked curiously. "I heard that there's some girl that you like? Why didn't you ask her out?"
Silence.
Mikan laughed. "Then it must be a rumor after all. Besides, if you really have someone you liked, you would have dated her already. You don't seem to have any problems asking a girl out."
Silence.
Mikan sighed. "Oh well, if you don't want to engage in a conversation, I'll go back now to the auditorium. Akira-kun might start looking for me. You should learn to enjoy even once in a while, Natsume-kun." She let out a sad smile as she listened to the disco music that was loud enough to even reach their location. 'I guess this is goodbye, Natsume. I've decided. I'm going with Akira-kun.'
She stood up and started to walk away when she felt Natsume grabbed her hand. She turned in surprise to find out that he was already standing behind her. They stared into each other, and as if on cue, a slow music was played in the auditorium.
Natsume pulled her close, his hand resting on her waist.
"You said I'm boring myself by not taking part of the activities. So, would you care to grant me this dance?', Natsume whispered as he stared at Mikan's hazel eyes.
Trapped by those crimson orbs, she found herself lifting her hands up to Natsume's shoulders as they swayed slowly into the music. Mikan felt the loud pounding of her heart as she showered through the warmth in Natsume's arms. Why is it that being here with Natsume just felt so… nice?
So entranced with the moment that she wasn't able to protest when Natsume cupped her cheek and captured her lips in a kiss. Mikan was shocked and tried to protest but only caused Natsume to deepen the kiss. Natsume coaxed her to respond until she finally gave up and wrapped her arms around Natsume's neck and abandoned herself to the kiss.
Sigh I hope you guys don't hate me for updating so late… I'm currently reviewing for an examination on June. So I have to juggle my time between my work and the review. My mind is totally information overloaded. Anywayz, the next chapter might be the last one. I haven't thought of the exact ending yet, but it's either I'm going to end it in the next chapter, or I'll add an epilogue. Whichever it is, this fic is finally going to end. Yehey! Gosh, this one was really hard since I only planned the first 2 chapters. I just wrote whatever I had in mind for the subsequent chapters. There were even times I even forgot what the plot was supposed to be. Hahaha!
Thanks for all those who reviewed this fic...
Diana, I'm Traumatized, lADYsUGAR, fLowSprak'07
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There were some comments in terms of grammar. Well, I'll greatly appreciate it if you could point it out specifically. Sometimes, I do get confused with the tenses and I would miss it out. But thanks for being honest.
I hope you'll like this one. Read and review please!