I Like You, Natsume-oniisan
Chapter 8: Rebel
"I like you, Natsume-oniisan..."
"Stop saying these things so casually. Don't you even feel embarrassed by saying these all the time?"
"No, because I really mean what I have said. I think I have fallen in love with you..."
"You know it. No matter how much you love me, we can never be together."
"But..."
"I'm sorry. I can't return your feelings because we are siblings!"
"Onii-san, if Mummy and Daddy did not adopt me, will you accept me?"
"I..."
Mikan's eyes flew open. She was lying on her bed and recalled that she had secretly sneaked back into her house by climbing through her bedroom window for fear of meeting her parents and listening to their nagging because she came back home late. It was still night time and everyone must have gone to sleep at this hour. As she touched her swollen left shoulder, she could not help but to remember the kissing incident between Natsume and Nobara.
Feeling thirsty, she stood up from her bed and accidentally knocked over something. She bent down and realised it was a miniature tank which was given by Natsume twelve years ago. Carefully picking it up, she placed it on her table and walked out of the room stealthily. Just when she tiptoed past the unlit living room, she heard a soft voice calling out to her.
"Mikan, is it you?"
Mikan gasped and stood still. The lights of the living room suddenly turned on and revealed Natsume still in his office wear. He walked closer to her and crossed his arms.
"Where have you been? Since when did you come back?" he asked.
Mikan's voice quivered, "I went shopping with Hotaru and I came back quite long ago. It's just that I wanted to be a ninja this time round and sneaked through my room's window. Then, I fell asleep."
"Do you know that Mum and Dad are worried sick for you? Do you know how to walk through this freaking door? You should at least acknowledge the ones waiting for you to return home!" Natsume scolded while pointing at the front door.
"How long have you been waiting for me here?" Mikan queried.
"What do you think? I've been waiting for more than three hours since I came back home at ten. Furthermore, Dad and Mum have gone to sleep."
Mikan wrinkled her nose. She could not believe that she had fallen asleep for more than three hours straight. Mikan shrugged and turned around.
"Where are you going?"
"To the kitchen. I'm thirsty."
Natsume took Mikan by her left shoulder and gripped it hard. Mikan winced as her shoulder was hurting again.
Natsume glanced down at her shoulder and asked huskily, "What happened to your shoulder? Did you have a fight in the casino?"
"No," Mikan winced again and pulled away from his grasp. "I just fell. It's really nothing so just don't tell Mum and Dad."
"Look here, Mikan. If you trying to act all rebellious here, I will..."
"Shut up!" Mikan retorted angrily. "Don't sound as if you are worried about me! Yesterday, you were acting as if you don't know me at all and today, you were acting as if you were high and mighty outside the casino! What's wrong with you?"
Natsume's eyes widened and smacked his forehead. He lowered his chin and sighed.
"Let me make this clear to you first," he muttered.
"What?"
"From now on, we will act as if we don't even know each other in school. We will be complete strangers and I will treat everyone equally and fairly, including you, because of my job purpose."
"Is... Is that so?" Mikan stammered.
"Yes."
She looked down and nodded. What was the use for entering into that school when she had to be a stranger before his eyes? She walked into the kitchen and poured the water in her cup. After drinking, she just walked past Natsume who still in the living room and entered into her bedroom again. Slumping against her pillow, she cried herself to sleep until the sunrise.
"You're slightly late for school today. How come?" Hotaru asked.
Mikan craned her neck and sulked, "I went back home late last night and this morning, I received an extremely long tirade by my parents. I'm beat."
Mikan let out a loud sigh while Hotaru shook her head in disbelief.
"Furthermore, on my way back home last night, I saw Onii-san and Ibaragi-san..." Mikan paused and pressed her two thumbs together. "Do you know what I mean?"
Hotaru choked on her saliva and said hoarsely but in a softer volume, "What? They kissed?"
"Yup," Mikan lamented and pouted. "They did it right in front of my face. And I have decided to let go of my feelings for him. It's really hurting me whenever I think of them."
"So how are you going to do it?"
"In fact, I don't know. Idolizing Runo has no help at all either."
"Why don't you try to fall in love with another person... like Umenomiya-san?" Hotaru suggested with an evil grin.
"Haha! Very funny," Mikan said sarcastically. "She's a girl. And do you think I have some sort of gender crisis?"
Hotaru laughed and suggested again, "Why don't you try liking that online guy? He might be so much better than your brother."
Mikan shrugged and replied, "I have never seen him before and I don't anyhow date those online people. So forget it."
"But you said that he attends this school so maybe you will see him when he returns to school."
"I bet he will be sick for a week."
"Poor guy."
Just then, Natsume stepped into the class and the noisy class became very silent. The girls opened their mouths in happiness while the boys studied his cool features. Mikan rested her head on her palm and looked out of the window.
"I'm Natsume-sensei, your Mathematics teacher," he began. "I hope I will get to know you all better soon. During lesson time, I want absolute silence from all of you. If you've any questions, just raise your hands and I will tend to you. Next, I won't tolerate any mischief or nonsense."
Everyone nodded and Natsume started his first lesson without further ado. Mathematics was never Mikan's cup of tea but she still could do them well enough to impress Misaki whose mathematics was just as good as an average middle school student only. Staring at the blackboard with equations written using a white chalk, she slowly drifted off into her dreamland.
"Andou-san."
Mikan felt a nudge on her arm and quickly turned to look at Hotaru. Hotaru pointed at Natsume who had just called Mikan.
Mikan panicked and quickly answered, "Yes?"
"You're not paying attention, aren't you?" Natsume snubbed. "I want you to do question seven on the blackboard. Please show your workings clearly."
Mikan looked at the question and walked over to the front of the classroom. Question seven was a difficult question with triple asterisks next to it. She knew that Natsume might be trying to humiliate her in front of everyone because of her stupidity but she wanted to prove to him wrong. She was going to show him the right answer before his very own eyes. It was revenge time. It was time to let her bright answers to shine and penetrate into his eyes or skull.
She scribbled on the blackboard fast and within a few seconds, she circled her final answer with an innocent grin.
"I'm done," Mikan announced and walked back to her seat.
She watched the front intently as she saw Natsume gave ticks from the top process and slowly to the bottom. Finally, he ticked the final answer and Mikan celebrated her victory silently.
Hotaru was surprised and whispered to Mikan, "I guess playing in the mini-casino really improve your mathematical skills."
"Really?" Mikan giggled softly. "I thought everything in the casino is based on probability and luck. I don't see how it even link to quadratic equations and functions."
"I'm speechless about your sudden improvement in mathematics," Hotaru commented. "Keep it up."
"Thank you. By the way, I don't think I was really that bad in it. I have scored full marks before..."
"Wow! I didn't know that you are that good!"
"Yeah, I scored that when I was in elementary school."
Hotaru dropped her pen and said sarcastically, "Wow... I feel like hailing to you now."
Mikan chuckled and looked back at her book. Maybe mathematics was not as difficult as it seemed to be anymore, especially when she did a little revenge on Natsume who tried to humiliate her.
School ended fast and Mikan went to the mini-casino again, together with Hotaru, to gain more points. They took turns to play in the different rounds of those games and came out of the casino with records filled with bazaar numbers. Within those two hours of games, they were already labeled as the 'Twin Masters of Gambling' or the 'Scores Gluttons' by their seniors. The names sounded awful but they were actually credited and respected by the regulars of this casino. So, the two girls were highly 'respected'.
"Hotaru, can I walk home with you? Dad is not fetching me today because he is still angry about yesterday's thing," Mikan asked while walking out of the school.
"Sure," Hotaru replied.
As they walked back home, they shared about their special moves of 'gambling' to each other and planned out their next attacks for their next visit.
Gambling is obviously addictive so never ever try gambling unless you are really, really skilled in it. Don't be like these two girls above. They are definitely wrong examples for us to follow.
"Andou-san?"
That voice sounded so familiar and hurtful.
"Mikan Andou-san?"
It sounded like that woman.
"Mikan Andou-san?"
It really sounded like her. Mikan refused to turn around and speed up her walking pace. Hotaru was the one who turned around and gaped at the person.
"Mikan, it's her!" Hotaru shouted out loud.
Mikan turned her head a little around and became stunned. It was really her! Nobara Ibaragi was calling out to her! For heaven's sake, how unlucky could she get lately?
"Iba... Ibaragi-san... H... Hello!" Mikan stuttered.
Nobara smiled and walked towards Mikan.
"Andou-san, I did not see you last night and I was kind of worried for you. You know, a little girl wandering in the dark is dangerous," Nobara spoke with eyebrows knitted together to show her concern. "By the way, I glad that you're fine."
"Onii-san said you wanted to see me. What is it?" Mikan asked.
"Oh, about that," Nobara's voice softened with a heavy blush on her cheeks. "I wanted to ask you if you want to be my bridesmaid. But your mother immediately told me that you will definitely do it. So, thank you very much."
Mikan squinted and dug her ears rudely with her pinkie finger. Did she hear the word 'bridesmaid'? She looked at Hotaru whose eyes were enlarged and her mouth still wide opened. At this point, Mikan was very sure that she did hear that awful word.
Mikan smirked. Who said she would offer her service to this woman?
Moreover, no one had told her about the 'good' news.
Anyway, she was still undergoing her rebellious stage so who would blame her if she wanted to defy everybody's wishes?
Playfully, Mikan used her index finger and pulled her right bottom eyelid down, then stuck out her tongue.
"Yeah," she mocked. "As if I would do it."
Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 8.
I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 7. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D
Here are the reviewers:
- Guest (1)
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- KLP-Chan
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Lastly, I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)
Note:
Due to my busy schedule, I may update my stories slightly later. I have been really busy since the start of February but am trying to update my stories punctually as promised. However, from next week onwards, I may be on hiatus for two weeks (except for weekends) due to my studies. I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused.
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