A/N: Hi! =) Please enjoy Chapter 2.
I chuckle with triumph as I walk home. What goes around, comes around, they say. It's not my fault that he got a bloody nose. He provoked me and I was provoked so I threw a provokingly punch from a provoked girl. What if he has a photo shoot tomorrow or a film recording? As if I care. He got what he wanted and I just gave it to him without hesitation.
A wind passes me and it makes me embrace myself. It sure is a chilly night. I wonder what Sumire is up to? I just left the house without locking it. OH CRAP. I sigh. I hope that friend of mine has a bit sense of responsibility. Well, she made me hurry up. Thanks to her, my night is ruined.
I am a university student and live alone in a condominium unit. I don't have any siblings at all. My Dad is a company owner and a happy-go-lucky guy. If he is, I wonder why Mom didn't go abroad with him? Maybe the reason is that he's TOO happy-go-lucky. Yea, I bet it is. One time, he knocked on my door and asked me if we can go swimming. When it comes to swimming, there's no problem but the main thing is that he asked me in the middle of the night. Now, Dad followed Mom and lives with her. Oh Mom, good luck.
I've met Sumire when we went to a business party. At first, I didn't like her but we became friends. She is the always-up-to-date-to-fashion chic. She acts cool and all but she can't do it. Of course, I'm always by her side. The real cool person that glances can make you feel a shiver is me, or so they say. Nevertheless, she is a good companion. Sumire is always there to cheer me up. She comes often just to bring me a pint of ice cream. Also, she is my personal stylist. I, who has no sense of fashion in my blood, am being taken care of her. It is thanks to her, somehow, I am not going out with just gym clothes and thanks to me that she can barely pass the exams.
My boots crunch fallen leaves on the ground. Ugh. I am beginning to feel the numbness under my toes. These shoes are killing me and later, I'm going to kill Sumire for my wasted time, my feet and my aching knuckles that punched an asshole.
I drag myself to the nearest convenience store and buy some band-aids for my sole. A surge of relief fills me, especially my feet. I sit on the bench outside and check the time. 8:59 pm. It's getting late. I should hurry and stick these on my feet and return home. I put two of them, one on my ankle and one around my smallest toe. I stand up and slowly walk away from the store.
It's been a minute since I started walking and I think I can hear a voice. I glance around. No one. Hmm. Maybe it's my imagination. I start to walk again and I can hear it, a resounding voice… "Mizuki…r-run…Don't let them catch you" A cold sweat runs down my head and continues on my cheek. What is that? Who is that?
Who is Mizuki?
A tap on my shoulder wakes me up from my reverie. It's maybe from a movie that I watched before but, I can't remember what the main plot is. Strange. "Hey, you okay?" I turn around with alertness but my tensed face softens when I recognize him. I let out a relieved chuckle. "May I ask? Do you really have the hobby of startling me?" I smile.
He replies with a laugh. "Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe the problem doesn't lie on the 'startling part'." His eyes have a gentle expression. The moonlight makes him shine; the sparkling blue eyes, his golden-colored hair that sways with the wind. Oh the night has made me a witness of this breath-taking scenery.
"I-It's getting cold. I think I should go." I stutter. The impact from Ruka affects me. He is handsome. "Oh, really? That's too bad." He pouts. I laugh in my mind. So cute, huh? I pinch his right cheek and point at his chest. "Hey. You're a man. Act like one! A man doesn't pout." I inform him with superiority. His face remains shock and at the same time curious. After a few seconds, he laughs. What do I expect?
"Hmmm? So you're teaching me how to be a man, huh Mikan?" He nears his unexplainable face to mine. Is he joking with me? Or is he really mocking me? But the most important part, how come he knows my name? I didn't have the chance to tell him when he suggested his idea going to the brat's room. "H-hey, stop with the joking." I withdraw my face and use my open hands as a barrier. "Besides, what I said is true! Real men don't pout!" I say with confidence.
He eyes me playfully and put his hand on my head. "Let me tell you what a real man is." He taps and caresses my head. "A real man only loves one woman and protects her with all his might." I see his gentle eyes and smile. My heart skips a beat. I should say something. "Stop treating me like a child." I remove his hand from my head. "I better get going. My friend's waiting for me." I think.
"Then let me take you home. In this kind of hour, it's dangerous for girls to be walking alone at night." he says. I don't wanna. He's tough to handle. "No, it's okay. My house is near." I tell him. He raises his eyebrow. "How near?" he asks me. Uh-oh. "T-ten blocks." His face becomes an expression that found something interesting. Crap. "That's near. Yeah. Okay, I'll go with you." I try to retort back but he glances at me with a "NO.".
"Don't worry. I have a car. It's dangerous to walk." He opens the right door and makes a way for me. I raise my right eyebrow. "Maybe you're the dangerous one?" I say, trying to question him. He laughs and gives me a pat. "Don't worry. I'm not." He smiles at me. I sit on the passenger seat and close the door. Ruka proceeds to his seat and starts the car.
"Maybe you're the dangerous one, Mikan." He turns his head to face me with a smile on his face. Confusion starts to fill me up. "And how can you say that, hmm?" I ask him. He chuckles and glances at me using the mirror. "I heard you punch Natsume? That's very bold of you." Natsume? Oh, the bastard from the room. "Maybe you're right Ruka. Maybe I am so you should always be on guard."
I glance back at him and we stay staring at each other for 3 seconds then burst out laughing. "You really are interesting." He says. I snort. "Of course I am. What do you expect? Now, now Mr. Driver, did you forget that you're going to return me home? Don't keep your boss from waiting." I say with a double clap that indicates to hurry up. He chuckles and nods. "Yes ma'am." And of course, he drives while laughing loudly.
(0)~-~(0)
"Thank you for returning me home, Ruka." I open the door and head outside. I peer in the car. "You can go now-" HUH? He's not here? Where on earth…? "Wow, I didn't realize you're a rich girl!" he says. I didn't notice he's beside me. Am I really that ignorant?
"So, what number is your unit?" He turns at me with his big smile on. My expression when I found out that Sumire is not sick at all returns. "Don't tell me…" I point at the condominium. He chuckles. "Of course! Even if it's a famous condominium, it's not particularly safe."
He grabs my arm then drags me forward. "H-hey…" I stop him. "I thought you and Umeko will meet? You'll be late." I say while trying to pull him away from the entrance. He has a confused expression. "Umeko?" he asks. "The person I punched. Umeko. By the way, his name sounds so girly. Maybe he's gay?" I say. I got a feeling that I said a wrong name. Ruka immediately laughs. "UMEKO? No no!" He holds up his stomach that can fall any minute. "He's Natsume. NA-TSU-ME" He waves a hand in the air as he dictates the syllables. So, he becomes a teacher now?
"Well, whatever. Just go." I push him away but he doesn't budge. He snorts. "Nah, don't mind him. It's his fault for being late." He retrieves my arm then heads for the entrance. He's really getting familiar with me.
"What number, madam? I will serve you as long as I can." He kneels on the floor and bows at me. Others turn around and notice him. Thanks to him my face is red as a tomato. I grab his arm and lift him up. "Okay okay. Room 314. Let's just go, okay?" I push him in front of the elevator. This day is really tiring.
The elevator is luckily empty. We proceed inside and the woman operating it greets us. "What floor Ma'am?" she asks me. "7th floor." I reply. She nods then smiles. Odd. Maybe she notices Ruka's face.
No doubt.
When the doors close, she turns around and faces us with a grin. "Miss Mikan, I didn't know that you have a boyfriend." She grins at me with amusement. I try to retort back but am interrupted when she asks Ruka. "It's nice to meet you, Mikan's boyfriend." She extends her hand to Ruka. Not to my surprise, he extends his too.
"Hello." He shakes her hand and smiles. My annoyed and bored expression lifts up on my face. "Don't believe him. He's too much of a joker." I cross my arms and slit my eyes as I look at him. He nervously chuckles. "Now, now. You'll get wrinkles." He says then laughs.
We reach the seventh floor then head out the elevator. Just before the doors close, the elevator lady shouts at him. "You're not her boyfriend, Mister?" she asks him not-so-quietly. Ruka turns around and gives her a big smile and a thumbs-up. "I will be. Soon." She also replies with a thumbs-up. These two undoubtedly get along. Sheesh. Now I have to face teasing remarks from her every morning.
I jab the right side of his rib not too lightly. "Stop joking around. Thanks to you, everyday will be a heck of a day." I look at him with a bit amount of annoyance. He chuckles and crosses his arms. "You have to thank me then. Your coming days will be exciting." He winks at me and grins. Really. He is a heck of a headache.
I reach my doorknob and turn it. It's not locked. I sigh. I never should have left my unit to Sumire. I enter the room and drop my bag on the sofa. I glance at Ruka. "Are you coming or what?" I ask him. He enters with hesitation. What's wrong with him?
"Hey, if you have a problem, spit it out." I inform him. He glances at me with doubt. "You have no strange animals here?" he asks me. Huh? "What are you saying?" Now my face too is confused.
"Maybe you have lions, anaconda and other wild animals here." He turns at me and looks at my face. "Well, you have a cold-hearted personality so I guess-" I interrupt him by pinching his cheek. "Owww!" With a great amount of force, I add. A waft of cold air enters the room that makes him chill. "Is that so, Ruka? I am really cold-hearted, so I can tear your body into pieces, piece by piece…" I tell him darkly. "Yes, yes, sorry." He pretends to beg for mercy with matching fake tears. I sigh. He's like a child.
I let his red cheeks go and head to the kitchen. "What do you want? Coffee or juice?" I shout at him from the kitchen. He follows me and smiles. "Soda, please." I sigh. "Okay."
I open the refrigerator and turn the cap of the bottle. "Ah, I'll help you." He offers. I turn my head side to side. "No, you don't have to. Besides, it's just the two of us. This is easy." I say. "Okay then." He replies. I pour the soda to the glass but a loud sound interrupts me halfway.
"Ah, Ruka, can you turn off my alarm? My room is straight ahead and the alarm is beside my bed." Strange. I don't remember putting a reminder on. He nods then strides off to my room. I reheat the coffee that I brewed this late afternoon and pour it into a cup. A cake would be nice, huh? I wonder if he likes some.
"Hey, do you like some cake? I have some here -" I hear a loud noise from my room. What is that guy up to? "Hey! Don't make a mess, you got that? I walk to my room and open the door. I switch the lights on. The next thing I see is my friends and a guy that I just met in a costume. A cake costume.
"What? It's not Mikan?" Sumire says. She turns her head to Ruka and my direction. Shock appears on her face. "Who is this, Mikan?! I never knew you can let a stranger enter your room." She starts to fake some tears. "I-I thought we're f-friends…" She heads out the room with fake sniffing sounds. No doubt. Sumire and Ruka are alike.
I look at the guy in a cake and try not to laugh. "When I ask you if you want some cake, I never knew you like one to the extent that you like to wear one." I muffle my laugh with my palms. Ruka put his hands on his hips. "Hey! Don't laugh!" he retorts.
I stop laughing. "So, would somebody explain to me why did this happen?" I look around and raise my eyebrows. Anna, my friend with a pink hair, decides to speak up. "Actually, we set up the reminder so that you'll go to your room. Everybody wants to surprise you and put the costume on you but it's so dark. We didn't recognize that it isn't you." she says.
Ruka turns to me. "I got surprised when I felt that somebody grabbed me and began putting this on." He pinches the fluffy costume. His face beams. "Oh right. The answer from before, yes." He grins. And it surprisingly makes my heart skip a beat.
"Okay. You guys, do you want some cake too?" I ask. "I'm going to prepare some plates." I turn around and face the door. Ruka interrupts me by grabbing me by his hand. "W-what?" What now? He points at the gang behind him. "It seems these guys want to say something to you. Count me in too." Ruka makes a thumbs-up sign. I stutter. "W-what is it?"
Popping sounds and colored papers welcome and answer my question. They grin at me. "Happy Birthday!" they shout.
I am shocked. I forgot that today is my birthday. Thanks to those guys, this day is not so bad at all, I think.
All those happy faces are the watermark of this night, and maybe mine too.
(0)~-~(0)
"Thanks for the cake." Ruka says as we descend on the last two steps from the condominium. The valet has arrived with his car and keys. "No. Thanks for coming to my surprise birthday party. I forgot about it actually." I chuckle. He smiles and caresses my head. "Normal people don't forget it. So in other words, you're an alien." He laughs. I try not to smile. "In other words, you're a child." I say without realizing.
"What did you say?" he asks me with fake anger then gently chuckles. He put his fist on my head not-too-lightly. "Are you saying I'm a kid, huh Mikan?" He nears his face and smiles. Okay, here we go again with this "he-smiles-my-heart-leaps" business. I'm turning beet red.
"J-just hurry up and get in." I push him to his car to hide my tomato face. "H-hey…" As I push him inside, I notice someone standing ten feet from us.
Oh right. I forgot he's in the picture.
...
..
.
Natsume Hyuuga.
A/N: This is longer than the first chapter. I wonder why. Excuse me if there are some grammatical errors. Maybe I didn't notice them when I was re-reading it. Thank you for reading Chapter 2! =) and also for the follows and favorites!