I Like You, Natsume-oniisan

Chapter 24: Resolved

"No, I don't love him at all. Not at all. To me, he is just a brother," Mikan protested.

"Liar!"

"Disgraceful behaviour!"

"Leave this holy ground!"

"Yeah, you don't belong here at all."

"You're jealous! Screw you in hell!"

Mikan looked down and weeped. She was lost and trapped. Usually, she would slide her way through things but this time, she could not. Nobara was pressing her down and nobody was helping her. In fact, they were making the matter worse than before.

"I don't like him at all," Mikan shrieked and glared at an old woman who was poking her back with an umbrella.

"She's right, people," Hotaru's voice echoed. "It's normal for a sister to worry and care for her brother. Don't you think so?"

Hotaru walked towards Mikan and placed a hand on her shoulder.

She continued, "Furthermore, Mikan already has a boyfriend and likes him a lot. Why should she be jealous over her brother who is so old like an Oji-san and not as good looking as her current boyfriend?"

Mikan stared at Hotaru blankly while Tsubasa shrieked, "Mikan got a boyfriend? Nooooo!"

"For the hundredth time, I honestly feel so insulted by you, Imai-san," Natsume bellowed.

"You should be, Sir. Your girlfriend has been deriding and torturing your sister since ages ago. So, you should repent for her sins... no, wait. Why don't I call Rei Serio to join in as well?" Hotaru said and pointed at Rei who was among the crowd. "Let's welcome Nobara's lover, Rei Serio-san! Please take note that Nobara is carrying his child. Thank you."

Mikan clutched onto Hotaru's blouse and shook her head, signaling her to stop. However, Hotaru was too irritated and angry to stop what she was doing. She wanted to show everyone that Nobara was in a wrong, not Mikan.

"Rei! Don't! You mustn't!" Nobara screamed.

"If you're a man, come out or else, I will do something to your lover!" Hotaru shouted and snatched Nobara's veil from Mikan's hand.

"Don't come out, Rei!"

Natsume faced the confused priest and grabbed the priest's shoulder, startling him.

"No," Natsume said. "I want to call off the wedding ceremony."

Nobara was shocked and pulled Natsume towards her angrily.

"What did you just say? Why did you say 'no'? Why did you want to call off the wedding ceremony? We promised to stay together forever, didn't we?"

"I'm tired of it," Natsume raised his voice. "I'm tired of acting as your boyfriend. I'm tired of the constant threats you keep giving me. I'm tired of you! You don't even love me from the start!"

"Are you blaming everything on me, Natsume Hyuuga?" Nobara growled and wrapped her hands around his neck. "You're the one who started it. If not for your dirty little secret, I will not be helping you at all. We might not even be in a fake relationship. But thanks to that secret, I found that death will. It means a lot to me and Rei."

Upon seeing Natsume struggling to break free from Nobara's grasp, Mikan launched forward and tried to pull Nobara's hands away from his neck.

"Let go of Natsume-oniisan!"

"I won't!"

Mikan lifted up her dress and raised her left leg right in front of Nobara's stomach.

"Release him. If not, I will kick your tummy," Mikan threatened.

Suddenly, something sharp pierce through Mikan's left leg. Mikan let out a sharp cry and fell onto the floor. She hugged her bleeding leg and noticed that there was a man dressed in black standing next to her. He was holding a small knife and aiming it at her body. Mikan was frightened and dumbfounded. She was going to be killed. She was so scared to react either.

"Don't touch Mikan!" Hotaru shouted and pushed that man so hard that he stumbled backwards and fell onto Nobara, which unfortunately made her let go of Natsume and fall together with him.

Hotaru was definitely feeling very happy that she could finally push him, unlike the last time when she tried to do that but it failed. Misaki and Tsubasa ran to Mikan to check of she was all right and carried her to a nearby bench.

"How dare you hurt Nobara and my child!" Rei growled at Hotaru and tried to reach for the knife which fell out from his hand when he fell down.

Much to his dismay, Natsume stepped onto the blood-stained knife and kicked it away far from Rei's reach.

Natsume grabbed Rei's collar and growled, "How dare you stab Mikan!"

Then, he flung him down next to Nobara who was checking for any amniotic fluid leaking out from her body. After that, he ran towards Mikan and saw the bench was stained with blood. Even her hands were stained with her own blood.

"Mikan, you could have stay quiet about it," Natsume whispered and touched her tear-stained face. "It's my fault that you're hurt."

Misaki pulled Natsume to her side and asked angrily, "Natsume, tell me what the hell is going on between you and Nobara? Why is Mikan involved in this too? Tell me!"

"Mum, our relationship is all a lie," Natsume replied softly. "It's not that I have a choice either. I didn't know that she is pregnant. All I know is that she read my parents' will without my permission. Actually, the marriage part was also a lie until she saw the will and wanted to make it real. She wants to marry me because of my real parents' money. I knew her intention all along but I couldn't say anything about it..."

"Is it because of the dirty little secret which Ibaragi-san keeps talking about? What's that?" Mikan spoke weakly.

"It's... I'm sorry. It's still a secret," Natsume said.

"So that little secret of yours is the cause of everything," Hotaru interjected. "Because of that secret, you pretended to be Nobara Ibaragi's girlfriend and even pretended to be engaged to her. When she found out about your parents' will, she forced you into having a real wedding with her. However, she was lucky that she was already pregnant with Rei Serio's child. This goes to show that Nobara had no intention to continue to be your acting girlfriend at first but because of the will, she wanted to be your official wife. Am I right, Natsume-sensei?"

Natsume nodded quietly and said, "As expected from you, you could figure this out very quickly."

"No, it's not me who figured it out. It's Mikan who figured the whole scenario out first and told me via text message before the ceremony started," Hotaru replied and looked at Nobara. "Don't underestimate Mikan. It's true that her IQ is far different from yours, Nobara Ibaragi-san. Unlike you, she doesn't brag about it and make fun of other people's IQ."

Nobara frowned and gritted her teeth. Rei stood up and carried Nobara in a bridal style. Every guest in the hall was slightly confused of what exactly happened as everything happened too fast. All they knew was that Mikan being in love with Natsume was not true, the wedding was suddenly called off and a small fight had taken place which resulted in Mikan's injury and a near death.

"Let's leave, Nobara," Rei said and walked past the guest like nothing happened.

"Not so fast," Tsubasa shouted and walked over to Rei. "You hurt my daughter and you have to be responsible for it!"

"It's okay, Dad. I'm fine," Mikan said and slowly stood up. "See? I'm fine. Oh yeah, Ibaragi-san?"

"What, you low... I mean, brat?"

"Don't come any closer to Natsume-oniisan anymore! He is not a dog, for heaven's sake!" Mikan stuck out her tongue at her.

"Shut up!"

Suddenly, Natsume pulled Mikan back to the bench and chided, "Since when I become a dog? And if you keep moving about, you will bleed even more."

"Don't worry, Onii-san! It will heal in no time!"

"Because she is a stupid ninja," Hotaru added.

"If Mikan says so, then I will let the both of you go this time. If I catch you two ever come close to them, I will not let you two get away easily," Tsubasa said furiously and stomped back to the bench.

Hotaru walked to Rei and Nobara and said, "Let me escort you guys out because I have something to tell Nobara Ibaragi-san."

Then, the three of them left the church hall. The other guests did the same too as they were disappointed with the sudden turn of events. Soon, only the Andou family left in the hall with a nun attending to Mikan's injury.

"So I guess... I did the right thing by exposing Ibaragi's intentions, right?" Mikan mumbled loudly to herself. "I thought I would regret the fact I did but I was only thinking about Onii-san. I don't wish to see him hurt in the end so I..."

"You did the right thing, Mikan. Dad is so proud of you," Tsubasa said and hugged Mikan.

Misaki laughed softly and hugged her too.

"Mikan, you should tell us beforehand so we can solve it earlier. Anyway, how long have you known this?" Misaki asked.

"Not too long ago. It was on that day when the cultural festival was held. Hotaru and I saw Ibaragi-san and her lover kissing and we approached them. Then, we found out that she was pregnant with that man's child. A few days after that incident, I clicked on my email icon and it automatically logged into Natsume-oniisan's account. At first I didn't notice it and clicked onto Ibaragi-san's email. From that moment, I knew about the will and I thought Hyuuga was another person. Furthermore, I finally knew what was going on today as Ibaragi-san told me more about the will and that Hyuuga is actually Onii-san himself. That was his real family name."

"Hmm... So, who is your boyfriend?" Natsume asked.

Tsubasa jumped and asked too but in an exaggerated manner, "Oh my god! Who is he? What is his name? I will kill him!"

Mikan laughed wearily and said, "Hotaru was just lying to save me. Of course, I don't have a boyfriend. I wish to have but haven't found one yet."

Tsubasa heaved a sigh of relief while Natsume looked away and stared at nothing in particular. The nun had bandaged Mikan's leg and walked away. Mikan stood up and took a few steps forward. It was painful but she did not care about it. As long as she did not take big steps, she would be fine. After clearing up their things, the Andou family headed back home to take a rest and tried to clear whatever things which had happened earlier on away from their heads. At the same time, Natsume had to call up his guests to apologise for calling off the wedding ceremony.

"Nobara Ibaragi-san, thanks for telling me that secret. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about it. Neither do I want you and Rei Serio to tell anyone about it. It's a secret after all, right?"

"You clever Imai brat, what are you trying to pull by knowing that secret?"

"Nothing. All I want to see is how long she will take to discover that secret."

"Oh? Do you mean that little low IQ imprudent creature?"

"Hmm... Low IQ? She may be imprudent but your IQ can never beat hers."

"What do you mean? She said her IQ is below hundred."

"Hmm? I think yours is below hundred for believing her. Do you know what?"

"What?"

"Gakuen Alice will not just accept students who came in the top one percent in the country as they must have an IQ level of one hundred and fifty, and above to be accepted into the school. That's why I told you before not to underestimate her, Nobara Ibaragi-san."

End of Part 3

"I like you, Andou. Please go out with me."

"That secret... is not a sinful one but a shameful one."

"Onii-san, I will try not to fall for you again, even if you are trying to make me fall in love with you again, be it intentionally or unintentionally."

"Hurry up and visit Nogi! He's waiting for your presence."

"Natsume told me that you have been going to the mini-casino in the school itself."

"Look here, I approve of it. I don't care what or how others view it but I will support you, Natsume. Tsubasa and I love you and we want you to be happy.
About her, it is up to you whether or not to win her heart after your return. Well, I wish you all the best, son."

The mysteries of some hidden secrets are beginning to unfold in the next part of this story.

"Oniisan, if I say I have a boyfriend, will you approve it?"

"Depends. If it is some guy whom I don't like, then I will disapprove."

"So, which guy you don't like?"

"Every guy in this world... but I like myself."