SCENE 6

Mikan woke up early and went straight to the coffee shop. She kept herself busy until 10 am. She left after that and went straight to school which is just in front of the shop.

The bell rang for classes. Mikan went inside her classroom and saw 3 empty spaces beside where she used to sit. "Sumire is going to be late again!" she said to herself. "obviously. She called and told me last night that she met a young man. RUKA. That baka." Hotaru was already there eating crab brains. And to her right, she lingered when she get to see it empty. Natsume wasn't there. She kept on staring on her side where Natsume used to sit. But somebody went standing in front of her and of lengthy figure. At first he saw the shoes so she looked up and saw him.

"Looking for me?" He was looking down at her and gave her a smirk. He then sat beside her and she blushed terribly. He was teasing her when he saw that child-like reaction. Her cheeks were really blushing and she tried to hide it. He gave a deep chuckle and said "Didn't get to see you singing last night?"

"I was…umm.. It was my day off yesterday." She tried not to look at him because she was hiding her cheeks. "You went there?" she asked.

"Obviously… I was in the mood to hear some jazz music. So I went there" He was lying. He went there to see her. "Are you not feeling well?" he asked trying to take a sneak a quick look on her face. "Why are you looking away from me? Are you afraid that I might get infected?" he chuckled. He knew she was already blushing. He smiled without her knowing it. That smile that looked so captivating and alluring. Nice set of teeth and sexy pair of lips that could melt a thousand women's hearts.

"O hayou gozaimasu class!" Narumi exclaimed. Dancing going inside the classroom

"O Hayou Narumi-Sensei" the class responded in chorus.

"O Hayou Sensei!" it was Sumire. She was late. The class laughed on her and Narumi just gave her a weird gayish smile and nod.

"ok. Free period." Narumi added. The whole class cheered.

The class ended and everybody went out for lunch break. Mikan went out with Sumire and Hotaru heading for the canteen. Natsume wanted to join them but he was hindered by the girls who were known to be the super cheer leaders in school. Natsume can't get through them so he just watched them walk away.

"Hmmm. Getting attached to her aren't we?" Ruka chuckled.

"hn." Natsume replied.

"Hmph! That Natsume is very attractive. And now all the girls in our class are attached to him. He couldn't even breathe because those sluts kept on flirting on him…After all they should talk to me because I am the president of the Natsume-Ruka fan club..Arrghh!" Sumire was angry.

Mikan just kept silent, as always. She was clutching on her books and dreaming away while walking.

"Tangerine!! It's your birthday tomorrow right? Wow. Our little girl is turning 20."Sumire teased her.

"yes a perfect chance to buy her lace panties so that she'd stop wearing those panda printed ones" Hotaru was laughing.

Mikan just gave a smile on her friend and glared at Hotaru. "So where do you go tomorrow?" Sumire asked.

"I don't know. To work maybe." Mikan replied and laughed.

"Yeah! Right! Sure! All you know is work! We'll go out tomorrow before you go the Jazz bar. Ok?"

"Ok." Then they went to the canteen to buy some snacks and went straight to their next class.

"oi Sakura-san! It's your birthday tomorrow!" One of her male classmates get to ask. It was Koko actually. Sumire's enemy.

"And you're not invited!" Sumire replied in anger. "Get out of my face you asshole!"

"Annoying girl!" Koko replied. "I'm trying to talk to your best friend so stop butting in. And besides it's not your birthday anyway, so back off!"

They were arguing over a few things. That's what they used to do. They don't really care if they were shouting at each other. But their classmates find it cute. The quarrel of lovers.

The class ended at around 4 in the afternoon. So Mikan still has the time to prepare herself for her night job in the jazz bar. She did the same as usual. Sing and get paid. But Natsume wasn't there watching her that night. But it was nothing to her actually. With or without him, she's on the go.

The next morning she woke up early and greeted herself a Happy birthday. She put on her best clothes and ready to go. When she went down, the landlady called to her. She's got a phone call from home.

"Hello?" Mikan said on the phone.

"You'll die in seven days if you don't know who this is. Happy Birthday Mikan!" It was her brother. She was near to tears when she heard that voice from home. "How are you Mikan? we missed you so much!" It was Misaki.

"Tsubasa, Misaki. I missed you too. Thank you for calling. I'm fine. How about you?"

"We're fine too Mikan. We hope you can go home on semester break. Grandpa said he is going to take us to the lake house and we are going to spend Christmas there. I'm so excited. I wish you could make it this time. And oh, you're going to have a niece soon. Misaki is pregnant"

"Aww!! I'm looking forward for that. Yes. I promise. This call is going to cost you much. I'm going now. Send my love to Misaki and Grandpa. Bye.!"

"Bye bye lil girl." Then she heard a phone click and her brother is gone.

She wiped her teary eyes, put a smile on her face and went straight to the coffee shop.

"Happy Birthday my little girl" Serina kissed her on the cheeks and hugged very tight. "Not every girl turns 20 so beautiful as you are." She added.

"Arigatou Okaa-san." Chris replied smiling. After working at the coffee shop, she went to school and of course Sumire and Hotaru came running to her and kissed her on the cheeks and greeted her with delight. When she was talking to Hotaru, she saw Natsume walked across them in a fast pace and just gave her a smile and moved on. She was so disappointed. Why didn't she greet her? "Oi Mikan! Baka! How is he supposed to greet you? He doesn't know. And let's keep it that way." She told herself. They went to class and as usual Natsume is there beside her. But he was so silent today. No even a single sign of bothersome. She felt a bit worried. Was she missing it? Is she longing for Natsume to bother her? What is this she's feeling right now? She doesn't like this kind of feeling. Is she starting to fall for him?

They are already done with their class. Hotaru invited Mikan to treat her some ice cream. They had a great time as always. And after that, Mikan went to the club to work. She was wondering if Natsume is going to watch her. But she didn't hope that thing to happen. She went on with her work but she is not at ease.

While she was singing that very sweet Norah Jones song, the Nearness of you, the waiter handed her a letter. After singing, she opened it on stage and was still joking that an admirer must have sent a song request on a pink card. Everybody laughed. But when she read it, her face turned white as paper. The letter says: "Happy Birthday! I'm sorry if I have just greeted you this late. I hope this is not just the end of it.- NH p.s. I like the way you sang tonight" She knew he was just around that jazz bar. She got startled when the band played a jazz love song. She didn't give a cue. Then a man went on stage and took the microphone from her. It was Natsume. She was so shocked. He let her sit down on her chair and started to sing. He serenaded her with a very beautiful love song by Michael Buble, "Guess I'm falling for you". She blushed again terribly. He placed his right arm casually on her waist and made Chris tremble. But he can feel her nervousness. So he drew her close to him encircling his arms in her shoulders and clutching her tightly. The entire song gave her agony and she was really being tortured. She really cant understand what she is feeling inside. When the song was finished the crowd cheered for him. He took a glance on Mikan and said, "Mikan, Happy Birthday". The crowd teased the both of them which made Mikan blush more.

The jazz bar closed at around 2 am. And Natsume waited for Mikan to come out. He met her on the door and gave her a bouquet of white roses. She adored white roses. She gave this man a very warm smile of gratitude.

"You really shocked me tonight…Nat-kun" She started. "I never really thought you can sing well"

"Hn. Me too. I was shocked to have sung that well. Maybe I was inspired by you." He was trying to appease her with those words. He was standing in front of her. So close to her that she could even smell his aftershave that really gave a tingle in her senses. He was much close. She was so nervous and she literally trembled.

"Are you alright, Mikan?" he held her by the arm. Her soft skin lingered in his touch. He then looked down on her tenderly but she can't utter a word. She is being dragged away by her senses.

"Mikan…" He then placed his hand under her chin and tilted her face up to meet those stunning crimson eyes. Their eyes were locked to each other.

"You are very lovely" he said in a very soft voice. Seems like shivers running down her spine. It was a freezing moment.

Her tremble even worsened when he moved his face closer to her. She can even feel his breath teeming on her face. It was so warm. His mouth was already so close to hers. Her heart beats so fast and she can't control it. He studied her face lovingly. Mikan was so nervous and uneasy. So he just smiled when he saw that very childish reaction on her face and instead kissed her on her forehead and whispered, "Happy Birthday,Mikan."

Mikan smiled like she never did before. Only Natsume made her do that. He touched her face softly and said, "You look so cute when you blush like a child". They chuckled together.

He once again walked her home. This time, it was so cold. So he took his coat off and covered Mikan with it. They were walking side by side.

"Uhhmmm…" She cleared her throat.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me?" Natsume started on her. Now this guy really knows how to read minds.

"Actually…I'm…I just wanted to tell you that I'm grateful for your kindness tonight… and yeah… as always" She was so bashful to continue. "And I'm sorry about my behavior last week… I…"

"It's ok. I understand. Anybody would do that because I was a bit bothersome." He added, "I just…"

He can't continue what he was saying. "I'm sorry about while ago… You know if you didn't want me to do that. I was a bit fast on you…ummm… Sorry"

"Umm… yeah. I mean I'm fine." They just both kept silent and smiled to themselves. They walked together to Mikan' apartment and enjoying each other's company.

"Thanks for tonight, Nat-kun. I really appreciated your kindness and…umm… Goodnight. See you tomorrow."

"Thank you too… for giving me chance to spend little time with you. Goodnight too."

"Bye."

"Bye." They parted from each other with a big smile on their faces.

Mikan threw herself to her bed and stared happily on the ceiling. She was remembering that moment she had with Natsume. She can't really take that off from her thoughts and she can't even sleep. She just tossed and turned and kept thinking about him. Was she really in-love with Natsume? Why didn't she refuse that kiss from him? What was that kiss really meant? Now she really doesn't care about anything. All she knows is this was her best birthday ever.

On the other hand, Natsume went into his penthouse in some grand hotel. He loosened his tie and sank into his sofa. He took out a glass and poured himself some whiskey. He was very silent. He turned the stereo on and played a soft jazz music that Mikan used to sing. He was smiling while listening to it and remembering that little moment with Mikan. every time he gets to remember those blushes he saw from this shy girl, he chuckles and enjoyed it. He lay back there in the sofa and kept thinking about her.

"hmm. Had a great night did you Natsume?" it was Ruka. He grabbed a shot glass and sat beside his friend.

"Hn. Hey. How did you get in here?" Natsume asked. Ruka jingled the keys he was holding and chuckled.

"Why Christine? You stole my heart. And now I'm attached to you. I can't take you out of my head." Natsume repeated again and again

"haha. I knew it." Ruka inserted.

"But why can't I just say it to you?" Natsume brought his glass to his mouth and drank that liquid.

The night passed with the both of them thinking about each other and smiled every time they get to remember those sweet moments they shared.