Author's notes: Hey... I got a below average review count... :C I have to admit that makes me feel disappointed, but thank you to the two who reviewed, dominiqueanne and ruinprincess! Shows someone is reading my single first fic, which is very good news. :D ...anyway I have to update before taking a long break. So here is another chapter from me, hope you like it!! I'll be glad if you do, but I'll even be happier if you review afterwards:D ENJOY!
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Circumstances of a Love Story
CHAPTER THREE
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She turned on her side of the bed and read the message under the brighter light of her lampshade to look at it more clearly. Mikan read the lines more slowly as if by doing that it could turn and change its meaning into ways she can understand. The same sentence and phrase glared back:
"Fine by me, go ahead and study. I was thinking about going tomorrow at the town square though… I intended to wait for someone there by that potted tree in the center around sunset … But I guess that someone will never come. –sigh— hope you pass your test. Bye."
The message from Anon read the same unchanging lines but she stared at it as if the font colors were changing. She found herself unwilling to believe.
"What does he want to happen?" she whispered to herself out loud, then paused when she realized the probable answer.
"Is he actually daring me into meeting with him tomorrow?? That's---"she stopped, a thought occurring to her.
She rised up from her bed, put on her slippers and went to the mirror to see her reflection. She was already blooming into a young woman, she saw… She was slightly pretty and attractive enough to turn heads to those walking past her… enough for her to gain confidence that could kill an ant at least, and meet this… this Anon thing that vaguely intrigued her---as much as she was intriguing him.
That decided her decision.
"Alright! Meeting place tomorrow, at the square!" she cried inside herself, feeling triumphant already.
This was going to be one anticipating event… she grinned, slumping back to her bed amidst all the books lying open.
But there was still the test lying in between her and her meeting…like some sick joke played by the evil evil fates to keep the thrill at bay. The coming feeling of doom brought about by a heavy test such as this especially when she didn't study always had its own motto, "No one gets to the top without passing a trial first! Bwahahaha!".
Anddoes she feel it right now…especially the diabolical laughter, sounding sufficiently real. Pushing her mind to be an absorbent sponge instead of a dry block of wood to absorb all she was reading, she compressed all her time and did the cramming.
She could only hope tomorrow's result would be enough to heighten her spirit---enough for standing up to the meeting instead of shrinking into ultimate depression brought by an impossible huge red circle mark on her test paper. If it got to that, what with all the guilt she felt, she might not even make it to the square and come rushing back to the comfort of her own home, weeping like a retarded.
Well, she can't let that happen.
So she crammed till the early hours of the morning.
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The next morning dawned incredibly fast, enough for Mikan to believe that time really does fly, and on a Mach 9, most especially when the next day had something that would upset her…
The grand test took place that noon, hours before her meeting. She put her pen on the test paper, and stared at the contents that were seemingly wavering on her sight. Everything felt blurry all of a sudden, and if it wasn't for the life-saving thought of ending this test and moving on to the meeting, she wouldn't have gotten over the "hypnotic wave" of which she found herself.
The pen on her hand began to move on its own; whether with the accompaniment of the last night's cramming or she was merely scribbling gibberish didn't matter, because both had to do with her eagerness to finish it as fast and sanely as possible.
By the time the bell had rung, she eagerly passed the sheet to her waiting teacher and disappeared for the corridor leading to the school grounds and outside.
---
Well, thinking about it now… it wasn't so bad, Mikan thought with a glum smile. At least she was able to ensure 10-15 answers thatsounded correct; that would probably be enough to earn her a passing grade.
And, if she was going to include yesterday's near tragedy, this was actually a miraculous improvement---that is, if her mind was going anywhere near genius which she largely doubt it was. Her brain, she figured in recent years, loved to stay neutral in its place.
Anyway, she seemed especially lucky today, she noted as she hopped her way towards the town square with a jolly smile pasted on her face. For one thing, their test papers won't be released today, and that was like a double-faced card of yin and yang; both can greatly affect her mood depending on the grade, which she didn't want.
Right now, she felt contented with everything about herself. The sun was shining, the breeze was playfully mild, the scents and aromas of hundreds of spices and other wonderful smells joined forces to uplift her spirit and refresh her mind.
A sigh escaped her lips… Mother Nature can be very kind sometimes.
Whispering a little prayer to the wind in thanks for this day's good luck and grace, Mikan walked her way from the school grounds to the place of her destination: the town square.
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The young man sitting across the square glanced at his expensive Rolex watch for the tenth time. Finding the reading beyond the time of the meeting, he sat back with an unconcealed frustrated expression on his face, crossed his arms on his chest, also for the ninth time of that afternoon.
He was a thin, lanky man who's built defied his age, his wide nerdy eyeglasses hung before his squinty eyes like a built-in spectacle, looking as if it was a part of him. From his position now, anyone who would've seen him would know what he's feeling as if it come out of him like a smell: impatience.
And if one was observant enough, they'd find out one other thing: he was someone who would kill to have it its own way.
Shin Tamada looked and acted exactly like that in Natsume's perspective. And if he wasn't so bluntly strict enough to him, Shin would've taken control over him---maybe even his everyday chores.
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It all started when Shin was introduced to him long ago in his father's arranged ball. Ever since then, the older man followed Natsume's tail, acting like he had actually ordered him to be his personal servant and adviser.
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But Shin was not always that much of the pest that he was…
Especially right now.
Natsume waited inside the second floor of the first class restaurant, the one with the perfect view of the town square outside. The idea of how he ended up in here waiting for a stranger he knew nothing of puzzled him a little, quite unlike his way of behaving like a proper wealthy noble man. But nevertheless, he knew without a doubt that it was his decision, and that's something he'll never break.
His sight drifted towards the waiting man that was Shin, sitting on the benches awaiting her arrival. It was not coincidence that he was put to that place, of course. This was his idea of a meeting after all… having Shin look after her arrival, while he sits somewhere on the second floor of a building.
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Natsume told him about Kanmik and the eager man immediately came up with a plan---even volunteered to be the one to anticipate Kanmik's arrival and bring her to him. The idea didn't seem so bad… Natsume thought he would've come up with a plan like that anyway if he didn't suggest it.
And now, sitting in the soft high backed dining chair enjoying the comfortable service of this restaurant, he felt a peculiar kind of joy of not having to be out there under the heat of the scorching afternoon sun waiting for someone he wasn't even sure would come.
At least this incident won't cost him precious time…if it didn't turn out right.
He realized it was not without its benefits too, Natsume was thinking offhandedly as he sipped his English tea, liking its original taste. Coming to the town square gave him the chance to savor the services offered so generously to him here, courtesy by the owner, who was one of higher ups who vied for his father's beneficial friendship and favor.
Come to think of it too, now that he was in the subject… Natsume thought, his eyes half-open, smelling the calming scent of the tea hypnotically…
Shin really wasn't that bad if all he was worth was falling on his feet eager to do his work, regardless of himself. It reminded him strongly of slaves back in those ancient times, but at least he wasn't forced. Shin worked willingly for him because of what he can grant… even the possibility of being rich might have also crossed his mind.
As if Natsume's wealth was actually contagious.
He further sipped his tea with the careful, slow manner of the educated and refined. Then he stopped. From the stairway he could hear voices and the sound of footsteps…
Without thought, he put his cup down and calmly waited.
The voices grew louder; the other one was Shin's, the other undoubtedly would've been Kanmik's…she was female.
"And a loud one too." He thought, grinning. He wondered briefly what this could have in store for him. He didn't think this meeting will lead anywhere; he didn't even considered the possibility. Only that this will be interesting and fun crossed his mind when he decided to meet up with her.
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"Really? So he's Natsume. How does he look like? Where is he?" Mikan asked eagerly as she climbed the stairs. For one step she asked one question, and they were going up in moderate speed.
She's that much of a blabber-mouth, Shin thought annoyingly. If he didn't have enough patience in waiting, he certainly didn't have that much patience for talkers too.
With a pestered look, he answered her questions with the brief, "You'll see." And then Mikan would go back quietly, only to ask another version of the questions seconds after.
She waited and even anticipated for this long enough. Of course she was eager! If you know what she went through, maybe you'd understand.
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))) FLASHBACK --- ARRIVAL (((
She had arrived at the town square with her face lit up in the sunniest smile, anyone who would've seen her would've been blinded by its profound exulted joy and excitement.
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Mikan had gingerly went to the potted tree Anon mentioned about, her footsteps made slow with anxiety and excitement.
"I wonder what he looks like? Drop-dead gorgeous? Handsome as Elvis? Haughty like an ape? As stern as a military commander? Normal like everybody else?
Is he fat, malnourished, tall? I wonder what his personality is like?
Most of all, Is he the kind of guy he says he is?"
Mikan thought these thoughts all over again, rewinding, playing, reliving. But she could not arrive at a definite answer, so she went on to look for him.
Her breathing, once normal and flowing, suddenly stopped momentarily and caught on her throat; she could only see a man sitting on the benches with his back to hers…Sitting by that single potted tree with its surrounding bench…
theonly one sitting on the benches, by the way.
Anon. The anonymous 17 year old desirable boy who found his way into her email asking her to be his textmate…
And now it had come to this.
Bracing herself, Mikan strut forward, not really having any idea what to expect. Everything was suddenly going in slow motion, including her breathing.
Inches away now…
"My world will crumble when I see him… My world will crumble when I see him…" was her thought, then with reckless abandon, a thought sprung, "Oh what the heck do I care."
Then she plunged on. Mikan immediately turned to face him, her nostrils flaring with sheer anxiety, her eyes wide.
Well, her world…just a slight crumble.
Shin faced him, startled for a moment at her sudden face off, then he lit up into a smile filled with toothy gaps that even his braces could not repair. His thick eyeglasses seem to have its own shine and his expression could only be that of recognition, she realized briefly.
"Kanmik?" the words draw out from Shin's mouth, unbelieving for a while. It sounded almost like 'Kan-miik…??' just like the ones who greet their partner after many years and saw that she had grown fat enough to be unrecognizable.
For one horrible moment, Mikan wanted to dash far away from that unbelieving voice and vent her lamentations to the comfort of her bedroom in episodes of laughing, weeping and howling.
But she had to take her stand.
"My identity is at stake here…" she thought. Yes, even if her identity was her name pronounced backwards. She valued it that much.
"I'm Kanmik… well, Mikan actually." She replied awkwardly then giggled aloud---the kind of giggle that's used to cover up really embarrassing situations such as this.
Then suddenly, just when she was expecting the worst, Shin did something unexpected.
He smiled back, genuinely happy.
No, Overly happy.
"That's good news!!" he actually raved to her face, "Great news in fact!"
Mikan was too startled and confused to give back a decent reply that does not consist of Huhs and Whats.
It didn't matter to him though, Mikan saw.
He was very happy only by the fact that
she was here
she showed up and came obediently to the said meeting place
she was honest---well, at least for the last second she was.
That was enough---
Natsume's contentment was enough.
"Come!You should go and see him!!!" Shin excitedly said to her.
Now that was something you don't hear everyday.
This guy she thought was Anon was actually not Anon the anonymous, but someone else…. A sudden disappointment and relief was about to engulf her and showed on her face.
"What?" she asked.
Shin saw and stopped himself to explain. Calmly. "I'm Shin Tamada, Natsume's friend… well, Natsume's really Anon and I was here to take you to him when you arrive."
She had time to be surprised, "Natsume? He's Anon? …W-Where is he?" she asked, her tone tried to be joyful at the news but couldn't. She can't help but feel like she was just another textmate… A client of his. 'Meet me in the office and let's discuss business' thing.
But thinking about it later, she thought she did not have the right to even feel that. If she had, it would also be like having the right to choose anyone she wanted as her textmate and be treated as she liked, and then everyone else. That would be behaving like a spoiled, dictating queen… she wasn't like that.
Mikan smiled inspite of herself. Who knows what can happen anyway.
Shin smiled wide back, then they eagerly made their way to the restaurant nearby where he was. A few breaths later, Mikan began her questioning and Shin's annoyance started.
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)))BACK TO PRESENT at the restaurant(((
Now, the moment has come…
Mikan ascended the steps as if one in a dream. Shin, feeling her anticipation too, decided to wait it out a little and heighten out the thrill, observing her actions from the corner of his eyes.
There were several customers on the second floor, Mikan saw, all of them looking refined and wealthy. But only one young man sat alone on a table lying on the farthest side overlooking the window.
He was sitting deep in thought, like he had a big problem. Or…he was waiting for someone. Even viewed from the side, Mikan could see how good-looking he was…and that made it even harder to breath for her.
Now she's blaming the fates for making him so handsome.
Now she's worried if she may even be able to start a decent introduction/conversation... Or even meet his standards. He definitely looked rich, the type who's educated and well honed, and she's nothing but a simple ordinary girl…
The fact made her even more nervous.
Shin dragged her towards the table and Mikan saw in slow motion the young man's sight went to them, and stayed there.
She somehow felt a strong urge to dash and hide under one of the tables or throw a paper bag over her face, just to keep away the embarrassment.
But to her sweet shocking surprise, before she could attempt any of that, she saw him smile.
It was a humble, meek smile… the kind you'd see in people who didn't smile that much, as if they reserve it only for important purposes.
"H-Hello." The words suddenly tumbled out of her lips in a vain attempt to cover for her embarrassment.
Natsume gave her a strange look, inclining his head as if he saw something in her that she didn't. Then, abruptly, he held out a hand in what would've been a formal gesture for a handshake.
"I'm Natsume Hyuuga." He sung the words out with a smile for a moment she thought looked impish.
She realized briefly that she could move her eyes away from his face, then looked down and saw his hand forward. She stared at it as if it were alien.
Mikan found herself extending her hand to his, almost dreamily and shook his hand. Then she looked up to meet his face.
He was genuinely smiling.
"I'm…Mikan." She finally said uncertainly, then with more conviction, "Mikan Sakura."
And that was how it started. They both looked into each other's eyes and found themselves in there.
Even Shin saw the connection, his insides bursting to laugh itself out.
"Wait till this gets to the media..! And then the real fun begins…" his mind howled.
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Author notes: ...And so this starts the whole circumstance for Mikan, who suddenly finds herself in conflict with her own emotions. What will happen if she finds out that Natsume is someone influential enough to have everyone running after him despite his attempts to maintain his privacy? How will Mikan react to this? Most of all, what will become of her when she realizes that she is beginning to enter this tyrannical fame circle? FIND OUT, FIND OUT:) PLEASE REVIEW for the sake of the next chapter!!! thank you!