A/N: took me a long time.. T-T my brain just didn't produce enough ideas lately.. too many problems.. anyway.. to those who tried to guess who spoke my dialogue cut.. hmm i wonder if all of you are right.. _
thanks for reviewing my story.. ^_^
Chapter 9 the heart knows
That night, Natsuki woke up and saw that she was alone in the room. "I guess Shizuru has gone home…" she whispered as she continues to scan the room. She slowly sat up and placed her left hand over her forehead, feeling if she still has a fever. She felt a faint heat from her forehead that told her that she was now free from the fever. She placed her hand down and a growl of hunger sounded from her stomach.
"Oh, is Natsuki hungry?" a soft voice said from the slightly opened door.
Natsuki looked at the person who spoke and saw Kanade walking inside the room with small box in her hand. She gave Kanade a weary smile and waved her left hand a little. "I thought you left already kaichou."
Kanade chuckled and sat by the empty space at the end of the white covered bed and gently placed the small box on her lap. "If I leave, nobody would take care of you right? And besides, I wouldn't want you doing something more extreme." Kanade said, slowly opening the box.
"I guess. What's inside the box kaichou?" Natsuki asked, trying to peek at the box.
Kanade opened the box completely and revealed a small chocolate mousse cake with chocolate shavings at the top and chocolate icings decorated at the sides. Kanade gladly showed it to Natsuki with a small blush on her face and a sweet smile. "It's a birthday gift. Happy birthday Natsuki." Kanade greeted cheerfully.
Natsuki cocked her head a little and looked baffled. Then she blinked for a few times and closed her eyes, tapping her forehead with her left index finger. After a few minutes of forced thinking, Natsuki opened her eyes and chuckled. "I guess I forgot that it was my birthday." she said sheepishly. "I usually remember my birthday since Shizuru was always reminding me by giving me a gift. Thanks kaichou" She added in amusement. 'Maybe she forgot about my birthday…'
Amused by the cute way of Natsuki thinking, Kanade took the plastic fork from the side of the cake and cut a small part to the cake and offered it to Natsuki. "I know you can't eat this by yourself so, here, say aah!" Kanade offered with an amused look on her face.
Natsuki blinked a few times again and looked at her hands. She forgot that her right arm bandaged. "Oh yeah, I forgot about my arm." She said with a childish laugh. She looked at the food that Kanade was offering to her and she blushed a little as she opened her mouth and felt the food gently fed to her.
"That's a good bodyguard. Now chew lightly okay?" Kanade teased as she liked how Natsuki blush and obediently opened her mouth to be fed. She took another fork-full of the cake and fed it to the blushing Natsuki.
Natsuki obeyed her kaichou without complain for two reasons. 1.) She was hungry and 2.) Her right arm was wrapped in a bandage, making her unable to use it. She couldn't relieve her face from her slight blush as Kanade continued to feed her until the cake was complete gone from the carton plate and in to her contented stomach. After swallowing the last piece of cake and drinking the water that Kanade gave her, she smiled and thanked Kanade.
"By the way kaichou, why did you kissed me?" Natsuki asked with a slight blush, scratching her left cheek with her left index finger.
Kanade smiled sweetly and reached out to caress Natsuki's face. "Because they said that a kiss can make the pain go away." She said sweetly. She cupped Natsuki's cheek and leaned forward but stopped a few inches from Natsuki's lips, making the blunette blush. She chuckled a bit and averted to Natsuki's ear. "Or maybe I just like you." She whispered. Natsuki blushed furiously and looked away from Kanade. "I-idiot!"
Kanade giggled at Natsuki's reaction. She patted Natsuki in the head and went to the chair beside the bed. She took a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. Natsuki noticed Kanade's action and looked at her kaichou with concern. "Ne kaichou, you should rest. I'll be fine so don't worry and get some sleep." Natsuki said worryingly. Kanade gave Natsuki a weak smile and leaned her head forward to the side of the bed and closed her eyes. "Good night kaichou." Natsuki whispered before slumping down to her bed and falling asleep.
0-0-0
At Shizuru's apartment, she had to leave the hospital since she remembered that she had to get Natsuki a present for her birthday. She was by her study table; looking at all the drawings that 'K' or Natsuki gave her. Reading each and every poem that's written at the back of the drawings and feeling warm inside her heart. A particular poem made her smile and added proof that it was Natsuki who drew the drawings.
Is that how it is then its war!
Seeing your fans from afar.
Hating, glaring at every little fan,
Everyone who couldn't even understand.
They couldn't even see your façade,
Unlike me who knows every face you made.
She giggled after reading the poem. 'She does scare those fans of mine' she took a deep breath and remembered that the only person she showed her true self was Natsuki. She placed her hand over her aching chest and closed her eyes. 'Are you aching because I never listened to you?' She asked her heart. It was like her air had been cut off from her throat and her heart beat faster than normal. She frowned and slumped down to her bed. 'Is that a yes?' she asked again to her heart. She lies down on her bed and let her thoughts linger on Natsuki.
She thought about how she felt when she found out Natsuki was nowhere to be found in Fuuka. It was like losing your better half. Then her thoughts went to how she liked to see Natsuki blush. It was so cute and she never could have enough of seeing Natsuki blushing. She blushed as she remembered how Natsuki smile at her, only to her.
She smiled. Remembering how Natsuki occupied her life made her feel like she wasn't a kaichou, a top student or little miss perfect. It was when she was with Natsuki, she could be herself. She was having fun when she's with Natsuki. Hitching a ride with Natsuki, teasing, fighting over Natsuki's mayo addiction and going to pet stores to look at the dogs that Natsuki likes.
But then she felt sad and hurt. She hurt Natsuki in the worse possible way and she doesn't know how to ask for forgiveness. Even if Kanade told her that Natsuki forgave her, there's still the fact that she hurt her most precious… love…? 'Love? Am I falling for her? But…' she again had her mental debate. She couldn't tell if she love Natsuki or just feeling too guilty.
All her thoughts and debates came to an end and a resolution when a single memory came into her mind. A thought at churned her stomach and made her heart beat faster and harder again. "How can she just let that girl kiss her?" she whispered with venom in her tone.
0-0-0
The next day, rustling noise and loud arguments woke Natsuki up. She groggily opened her eyes and saw the whole Miyagami seitokai was in her room, bickering or fighting. "Can't I get some sleep?! It's Sunday and it's my rule that I wake up at noon!" she growled, making the whole seitokai look at her.
It was Rino who first smiled and jumped onto Natsuki. She has tears in her eyes as she hugs the blunette in her waist. "Natsuki-Sempai! Natsuki-Sempai! Are you alright?" Rino asked worriedly. Her right hand that has Puuchan raised up and faced Natsuki. "Yo wolfie! How are you? Still alive eh?" the puppet taunted.
Natsuki felt that Puuchan smirk at its taunt and she felt a vein bulge from her forehead. She made a fist on her left hand and she has her annoyed look on her face. "Devil puppet better shut up or I'll make a pin cushion out of you. And Rino, get the hell off of me!" She yelled, wriggling her body off from Rino's hug.
"I guess Natsuki-sempai's fine. So let's party!" Minamo cheered out, lifting a basket.
"Natsuki-sempai's well, fit, fine! Party! Party! Party!" Rein said happily, swinging Sayuri's hand back and forth.
Kuon placed her hands over her head and shook her head a few times. "I wonder if they are really worried about you Nastuki." Koun said with a tired smile.
"Now, now Kuon-san shouldn't think too much. You might have wrinkles." Siena teased, earning a quick glare from Kuon.
Mayura on the otherhand had a worried face as she glanced up on Natsuki. Natsuki saw this and smiled. "Don't worry Mayura-san, I have my insurance in this so it won't come out of the budget." She jested. "Natsuki-san! I don't care about the budget as long as you're fine." Mayura protested with a worried look on her face. Natsuki could only laugh at what Mayura reacted and looked around some more.
She saw everyone in the seitokai in her room. Kaori was eating some food which obviously made by the landlady. Rino, whose now detached herself from Natsuki's waist, is having fun with Minamo and Puuchan's comments. Siena, Kuon and Nanaho were busy taking out the other foods from the basket. Rein and Sayuri were playing cards, betting some of the hospital materials in the room. Cindy was nowhere in the room since the red head's usually at her car. But the most odd was Kanade's not with them. "Where's the kaichou?" she asked to everybody.
Even before the seitokai could answer, the door opened up and two girls came in from the door. Natsuki looked at who was her new visitors and saw Kanade and Shizuru.
"Nevermind my question." Natsuki mumbled as she gaze and blushed on the sight of Shizuru.
Shizuru was wearing a cream colored shirt that showed her sexy body and black colored fitted jeans and pair merrell arabesque casual sneakers. It was a sight that could make Natsuki's heart stop beating or atleast make her nose bleed. It was very…
"Beautiful…" Natsuki whispered as Shizuru smiled and greeted everyone in the room. She stared at her beautiful brunette deeply, unconsciously blushing and mouth slightly open. 'baka! Stop staring! She couldn't be yours so stop!' she mentally scolded herself as she continues to gaze on her beautiful goddess. It was when a slight pain surge into her body that broken her stare at the brunette. "OUCH!" she yelps in pain, holding her right arm. She glared at the person who dared hold her broken arm, only to find blue eyes staring at her. Well everyone was staring at her.
"What?!" she barked, glaring at everyone except Kanade and Shizuru.
Everyone whom Natsuki glared at went back to doing what they were doing. Kanade was besides her trying to soothe the pain from Natsuki's arm, saying that she was sorry to tap it. Shizuru was slowly making her way to Natsuki, carrying a plate with sandwiches. Mayo sandwiches that is.
Shizuru has a devilish grin on her face as she snickers in her mind. "Here Natsuki, I brought you breakfast. It's your favorite, MAYO sandwich." She stressed up the term mayo to get Natsuki's full attention. 'This way, that girl won't have your full attention!'
Hearing the term mayo, Natsuki's ears perked up and she practically drooled when she smelled the aroma of the sandwiches. A childish smile appeared on her face after she wiped the drool away and gulped the remaining saliva that built up inside her mouth. "R-really Shizuru? You'll give me mayo sandwich?" she asked in confirmation.
Shizuru has a sweet smile on her face as she looks at Natsuki's reaction on the word 'mayo'. 'ara! I wonder why I didn't notice that cute look on her face when it comes to mayo. This should be fun.' she took a seat on the open space on the bed and placed the plate-full of sandwiches on her lap. "As much as I hate to see you eating this fattening condiment, I believe it's best if I let you have it for today. Take it as my ½ birthday present." She said with her true smile.
'she didn't forget… even if it's a late greeting but she didn't forget.' Natsuki thought happily. She was going to reach for her sandwiches when Shizuru stopped her. She pouted and still had her eye on the sandwiches. "Mou! Shizuru, give me my food. If it's your present, then shouldn't you give it to me?" she pouted.
Shizuru smiled like she has an evil plan. "fufufu, before you could get your hand on this lovely treat that I made…" she leaned forward near Natsuki's already blushing face. "I would gladly give your next gift before you eat this." She whispered with a seductive smile, her hot breath touching Natsuki's lips. Without waiting for Natsuki's reaction, she kissed Natsuki in the lips for a few seconds before pushing away gently and smiled. "Now that was my second gift. Fufufufu." She said with a cheerful laughter.
This scene made everyone in the room except Kanade drops their jaw. They all have a bewildered expression on their faces. The two fuukukaichou just coughed and hid their blush. Siena's still smiling face tried to explain a well-not-too-informed reason to her little sister and Rino. Kaori and Sayuri are just silent and blushing.
"Whoa! Yuri! Yuri! Yuri!" Rein said dreamily, crossing her arms around her waist and swaying her hips.
"Oi stop that Rein or I'll cut your daily snack!" Nanaho scolded, hitting Rein's head with the rolled paper plate in her hand. Rein pouted both hands over her head. "You're no fun Nanaho-sempai!"
Both Kanade and Shizuru chuckled at what they reacted. Natsuki blushed furiously but her insides were practically jumping for joy. 'That was just a friendly kiss! But it was warm… No! I can't… she only thinks of me as a friend. I must divert my mind!' she mentally debated. She couldn't allow herself to succumb to her feelings for she knew she would get hurt. She looked at the plate of sandwiches to avoid her gaze on Shizuru and again her mayo addiction got ahead of her. "Mou Shizuru! Give me my sandwich already. You have your fun, now give me mine." She whined, trying to swipe the plate off from Shizuru's hands.
"fufufu, but before I give this to you. Tell me first that you love me." She said in a half serious tone.
Everyone's gaze was either at Natsuki or Shizuru. There was silence that filled the room until Siena took hold of Rino, Kaori and Minamo and took them outside the room.
Natsuki felt a furious blush overcome her face and nervousness in her heart. She took a deep breath and looked seriously to Shizuru. Shizuru felt a hard pound in her heart as she saw the seriousness in Natsuki's eyes. She still remained her composure and smile, waiting for Natsuki's words. 'She's serious… I was just teasing her but her face shows that she'll say it. kami! My heart's pounding so fast.' Shizuru thought as she carefully examined Natsuki's look.
"Shizuru… I… I love..." Natsuki stuttered.
Everyone was watching how Natsuki would say those three words. Even Kanade stared at Natsuki's seriousness. But to everyone's surprise, as well as Shizuru, Natsuki reached out to Shizuru's hand and swiped the whole plate of sandwiches from the brunette with a wide lopsided grin on her face.
"Shizuru I love mayo sandwich for breakfast!" Natsuki happily said as she took a sandwich and bit a large portion of it.
Her sudden action made the seitokai laugh even Shizuru. Natsuki began munching on her sandwiches with a wide smile.
"I see you're having fun Kuga-san." A male voice said from the door.
All of them looked at who spoke and saw Mai, Mikoto and…
"Kanzaki… what are you doing here? Don't you have any flirting to do?" Natsuki said in a harsh tone. She let her half eaten mayo sandwich fall down to the plate and glared at Reito.
Reito has his usual toothy smile as he made his way to the side of the bed where Shizuru was sitting. Mai and Mikoto on the other hand introduced themselves to the whole Miyagami seitokai before giving Natsuki a happy wave. Reito introduced himself as well before giving Shizuru a concerned hug. "You got me worried Ru-chan. Where were you yesterday?" Reito said in concern.
This little scene gave a hard tug on Natsuki's heart, a painful hard tug that is. She twitched as she took a small glimpse of Shizuru who was, 'she's smiling… figures… who wouldn't smile if is hugging you…' she thought with a sigh. She looked down on her arm and suppresses the tears that threatening to fall from her eyes.
Shizuru gently pushed Reito away from her and straightens her position. "Ara, Reito-kun should know that I'm very much worried about Natsuki." she said with her perfect façade and Kyoto-ben accent. Reito just smiled and gave Shizuru another hug. "I know, I'm worried about Kuga-san too. But shouldn't you tell me first where you've been going?" Reito said in concern.
This made Natsuki gagged up and placed the plate of half filled mayo sandwich to the side of the bed and tried to get out of the bed and the room. 'I can't take this anymore…' she thought sadly, removing her IV off her left hand.
"Natsuki what are you doing? It's not a good idea removing that IV." Mai said in concern. But Natsuki didn't even listened and tried to position herself to get off the bed.
Shizuru looked back at Natsuki who was now trying to get off the bed. "Natsuki shouldn't be trying to move much. And you should eat your food." Shizuru said in concern. She placed her hand on Natsuki's shoulder and tried to stop the blunette. Natsuki ignored Shizuru and had gotten off the bed.
"Ne Kaichou, can we go home? I'm kinda getting bored here." Natsuki said coldly. Her bangs hid her almost watery eyes.
Kaande noticed Natsuki's behavior and let out a deep sigh. She smiled and placed her hand over Natsuki's injured arm. "Natsuki… yes we can go home. But I think Tokiha-san wants to have a small party for you so let's wait till evening alright?" Kanade said in a sweet manner.
"I see, if that's what you want kaichou. Can we go and fix the papers for my release?"
Kanade nodded and stood up from her seat and went out of the room with Natsuki by her side. Everybody looked at the two who left and gave them a perplexed look. while Shizuru felt a sting of pain struck her heart.