I Like You, Natsume-oniisan

Chapter 32: His Secret

"Ouch!" Yuka cried and moved her leg away from Luna. "Stop pressing so hard, you idiot!"

"I'm already doing it very gently," Luna said calmly and lightly pressed the cotton wool on Yuka's bleeding left knee.

Yuka whimpered and scowled at every stinging feeling caused by the antiseptic on her wound. It was her fault that she did not see a kerb along the roadside and tripped over it. All thanks to the multiple scoldings from her colleagues earlier because she told Mikan to visit Ruka alone, her mind was totally distracted by them.

Luckily, Luna was at the opposite side of the road and saw Yuka lying dangerously at the side of the road with her legs spread on the road itself. So, Luna had taken Yuka back to the her office to clean up her wounds.

"Press gently!" Yuka shrieked and flicked Luna's hand.

Luna narrowed her eyes at her and said again, "I'm being gentle here, Ma'am. Anyway, I'm done with it. Please walk carefully in the future."

Yuka took a huge plaster from the table and pasted it on her wounded knee.

"Yuka, are you going for dinner now? If you don't mind, we can eat together," Luna suggested and threw the cotton wools into a paper bin.

"I don't think so because I want to see Sensei later."

"Oh... So, you are going there alone?"

"Yeah, unless you want to come along."

Luna shifted her gaze to the paper bin and said with a smile, "Maybe I will see him the next time. For now, I'm quite hungry."

"Alright then. See you," Yuka waved to Luna and walked out of the office.

After Yuka had left, Luna bent down and picked up the blood-stained cotton wool from the paper bin. Then, she sealed it with a zip-lock bag.

"Just wait and see, Sensei. As you wished, I'm going to reunite them as soon as possible... if only the result shows it. It has been sixteen years, Sensei. It has been sixteen years..."

Mikan sneezed and shivered. She blew her nose hard and sneezed again.

"Mikan, are you not feeling well?" Misaki shouted from the living room.

Stepping out of her bedroom, Mikan replied weakly, "I'm fine. I just felt cold all of the sudden."

"Because Nogi-san has a cold too," Natsume interrupted as he took a sip of hot coffee.

"Nogi-san?" Misaki wondered aloud and stared blankly at Mikan. "Did you get a cold from that person?"

Mikan stared daggers at Natsume and answered, "Of course not. I'm perfectly fine."

Just then, Tsubasa burst into the living room with a stressed look on his face as he shouted, "Mikan! I need your help! Please go to the tool shop and buy a small screw driver. My screwdriver has broken into half!"

"For what?"

"To fix Natsume's computer," Tsubasa replied and took out a few notes from his wallet. "Here is the money."

Mikan took the money and asked, "What about Onii-san? He is just relaxing with a cup of coffee with Mum."

"Oh," Tsubasa spoke and turned to Natsume. "Natsume, you must help me with the motherboard while Mikan will go and help us to buy a small screwdriver."

"Alright," Natsume sighed while putting down the cup of coffee and followed Tsubasa into his bedroom.

Mikan changed into her casual clothes and left the house hastily. She went to a nearby tool shop and bought a screwdriver before heading back home. It was quite late at night but there were still many activities going on.

"Andou-san?"

Mikan turned around and saw someone standing behind her in a long loose dress.

"I... Ibaragi-san?" Mikan spoke with her eyes wide opened. "What are you doing here?"

Flashes of bad memories came running back to Mikan. Though the engagement had only broken recently, the memories seemed long ago. Maybe because she had totally forgotten about it.

"I had an appointment," Nobara replied. "What about you? Little girl doesn't walk in the dark alone."

Mikan narrowed her eyes at her and retorted, "I'm big enough to take care myself."

Then, Mikan's eyes trailed to Nobara's stomach. It was still quite flat but it had definitely grown bigger. That meant that the foetus was fine; she just hoped so.

"How is your child?" Mikan continued.

Nobara coughed and replied nonchalantly, "Luckily, he's fine or else, I would have sued your brother. Speaking of your brother, he must have already told you the secret since he doesn't have much time left."

"Secret? Doesn't have much time left?" Mikan wondered aloud. "What are you blabbering about? What do you mean by he doesn't have much time left?"

Nobara's eyes widened in shock but later, she coughed again and shook her head as if to show her disappointment.

"It seems that he doesn't plan to tell you a thing either, not even a million years later," Nobara said as she covered her mouth to prevent herself from laughing loudly. "How pathetic..."

"Then, tell me the secret! What is his secret that had caused him so much trouble?" Mikan interrupted her.

Nobara looked away and pursed her lips tightly. There was no way she would break Natsume's promise, even though they had broken up. As for Mikan, she knew that secret was somehow got to do with her too. If not, why didn't he tell her but tell Nobara instead? It was fishy.

"Please tell me, Ibaragi-san!" Mikan pleaded as she cluthed onto the hem of Nobara's blouse.

"Sorry, I can't. A secret is always a secret," Nobara muttered solemnly.

"If you tell me, I will do anything for you!"

Nobara pushed Mikan's hands aside and shouted, "No means no, Andou-san! Why are you so desperate to know his secret? It's not your business at all!"

"I... I want to know... I want to help him... That secret... Does it even involve me? I want to know so I could help him," Mikan stammered and looked down on the ground.

"What makes you think that the secret involves you?"

Mikan placed her hands over her heart and mumbled, "It's just a premonition... or... you know, feeling."

"Then, tell me the truth. Do you still like your brother?"

Mikan looked up and shook her head immediately.

"I mean, as in romantically."

She shook her head again.

"Really?"

Mikan nodded.

Nobara sighed hopelessly and waved her hand in the air, "Then, telling you that secret is useless."

Mikan jerked and quickly protested, "But why does it got to do with my feelings for him? I don't get it."

"You don't have to get it, Andou-san. You don't have to..."

"What if I say I still like him romantically? Will you still tell me the secret?" Mikan interjected.

"Maybe, but do you seriously like him in that way? I guess not anymore," Nobara sniggered and tugged her curly hair behind her ear.

"I... I don't know... I tried to convince myself that I don't like him so... I don't know how successful it has been. In any case, could you please tell me his secret? I don't want to be left hanging like an idiot."

"Fine then. Do you really want to know?"

Mikan nodded.

"Your life might change after hearing it. So, do you still want to know?"

She nodded impatiently as she tightened her grip around the screwdriver. She wanted to know how shameful and secretive it was. She wanted to know what exactly Natsume was thinking. For all these while, she had been wondering like an idiot about what the secret was.

"To keep his long secret short, our beloved Natsume Andou... no, I mean, Hyuuga is in love with you."

Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 32. Unlike the usual first-chapter-of-each-part-is-a-filler-chapter, this chapter is important in the upcoming development of each character. :)

Next, I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 31. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D

Here are the reviewers:

- Scarlet Ammo 19
- CuteChibiNekoChan
- Guest
- Natsumemikan123
- NanaShinozaki
- lisaOpine
- me enamore de ti
- mooshy3712
- Manga Ren
- AnimeMango
- robin chan 66
- seraphim. 159
- HQ-pyon
- CreationsGoneAwry
- Gruesome Deaths
- Coldheart12
- MinaSakura
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- aurora0914
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- Michelle Potter-Black
- smart
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- Sariko-chan723

Lastly, I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)

Don't forget to leave a review! Thanks! :)