28. Hidden Underneath
The morning sounds in my house... are... well, a little awkward, and, annoying?
Well...yes, annoying! Definitely.
But still, I've got used to them, and if they were not here anymore, I would definitely, miss them. That's how much attached I am to all this annoyance my little family...well, my little wife and—
"Natsume! Catch that hentai kid of yours! Just... just the same as you!"
Yeah. The morning sounds I was talking about. It's been always the same. Do I really like the way she stares at me now? Well... I dunno. Her hazel eyes dancing in anger, makes me wanna smirk, which I would always do of course, but it's not that what matters right now. I feel like kissing her fully on these tiny little rose peta— Okay now, I don't use metaphors.
"I can't find my shirt." I managed somehow not to kiss her in the midst of this crisis. But wait, was it what she had expected me to say?
"And I was talking about your kid."
"My kid and not yours?"
"As long as he keeps on doing things you did, he's your kid!"
Now now, I can smell something's not right.
"What is it today." My short questions with my annoyed look always worked. Maybe I really enjoy making her lose her temper.
"What is it today? Keep being like this Natsume!" Hell... She screams! But well, she's so damn cute when she screams. Okay now, something's not right with me today. Now she crosses the distance between us, coming closer and closer. Well, I can't take this anymore. Gotta kiss her right away.
"His principal called me a moment ago! This perv has lifted the skirt of an innocent girl!" Wait, is she crying?
"That's not a crime."
"Oh yeah! I shouldn't have told you even! Of course these things happen and, and they are totally natural!" She is sobbing, her hands clasped on her heaving chest. Why would she have to take these things too seriously? I don't understand. But well... my son really is a perv. Now I admit it.
"You want me to talk to the principal?" I asked, finally with the responsibilities of a father.
"No. He'd listen to anything you say 'cause he's scared of you. That's why he'd always call me whenever this brat does something stupid! All the world blames me 'cause they're scared of you!" Now she's shouting her lungs out, tears filling her big round eyes. I hate it when she sheds tears; I have to admit.
"I'll talk to him."
"You have to!" She pressed the words on my chest, staring determinedly at my eyes. She knows he'd listen to me, only to me.
"Now gimme my shirt." I asked as soon as she woke up from her nightmare. Her hard moments don't last long. She recovers very fast, putting on that sunny smile of hers again; the smile I... love the most.
"Gimme two minutes! I'll have it ready!" Mrs. Hyuuga said with a sudden cheerful smile, but well, I know she's gonna take more than half an hour to get it ready. But well... I'm happy that I'll be able to leave for work at least in another forty minutes. This is my fate. Blessings of marriage. A cute careless wife I have. Every day she holds something new, for which I would fall again and again.
"Why's he late tonight?"
The woman with the kind crimson eyes asked, staring at her very worried daughter-in-law who was standing there beside the dining table with her eyes stuck in some distance object high up the wall.
"I don't know... Momma..."
"Didn't you try calling him?"
"I did. I always do before supper. But he's not picking it up. That's what scares me..." The twenty-five-year-old Mrs. Hyuuga said without staring back at her mother-in-law.
"Is Yo-chan asleep?" Kaoru Hyuuga asked, finishing up eating earlier than expected.
"Yeah..." Mikan answered blankly as Kaoru stood up, smiling as if she'd remembered of something cheerful out of the blue.
"That little thing got away for today then. Natsume didn't get to speak to him about that yet, eh?"
"No." Mikan answered somberly, leaning on the wall behind her.
"Did you guys fight in the morning?"
"Who?"
"You two."
"No... It's just that I asked him to come home early this evening... 'cause I wanted him to speak to Youichi. But here, he doesn't even picking up his phone!" Mikan talked with desperation, her chest heaving for every word she said.
"He might be in a meeting. Don't worry baby... He'll be home any minute..." Kaoru said as she approached Mikan, smiling gently.
"I called Ruka-pyon. There's no such meeting. Natsume's been missing from the office from three o' clock in the afternoon." Mikan mumbled with agitation as Kaoru put her hands around her shoulders, softening her fears.
"Baby, look, do you suspect my Natsume?" Kaoru asked with the same tone of compassion in her voice, though she too was scared herself about her son's safety.
"No momma! No! Never! I trust him more than I do myself! I'm just... I'm just scared if something's gone—"
"No don't even think like that... Mikan... We both know our Natsume's so strong... We shouldn't worry one bit! Go have something to eat and sleep... Natsume must be on his way home..." Kaoru said determinedly, transferring her courage to Mikan as well.
"Yeah I know momma... I'll wait for a few more minutes and sleep okay? Don't worry... I ate much with Youichi for lunch!" Mikan said finally with some cheerfulness in her voice.
As soon as Kaoru left the room, Mikan walked outside the house, still with the same dreamy look in her shivering hazel orbs. She kept on walking under the starry night sky, until she felt that familiar feeling of the creamy sand of the Kamogamo riverbank under her feet. He had a habit of coming here and sitting on the wet sand, waiting for her to come searching for him and get annoyed. Mikan knew he enjoyed being annoyed by her meaningless talk.
Thinking of those, a faint smile covered her face, unknowingly.
"Where are you Natsume..." She whispered as she looked up at the sky, dreamily.
"Where are you... I... I have something to tell you..." She said out her feelings softly as her rosy cheeks blushed crimson for a moment.
It is said that there's a reason for everything.
It might be true, but in their case, they didn't want to know the reason. They had been suppressing the need to know the truth, or how it happened, for five long years. Maybe they were more than happy with the outcome, so that they didn't care about the reason. But sometimes, that so-called reason bumps into us in the most unwanted moment.
Those moments of impact, sometimes turn things upside down. But sometimes they don't really make any effect. It depends on how strong our bonds are, and how confident we're in what we're doing.
That night of revelations.
They hadn't expected it to visit them out of the blue.
Natsume didn't know what to tell her. He wasn't even sure if he was gonna tell anything to her at all. Even the sound of the opening gates of his mansion house seemed to have irritated him at the moment. He didn't see the gestures of the bowing guards, he didn't hear them greet him good evening or he didn't even feel his own feet.
The mansion was drowning itself in the darkness. To Natsume, the house seemed bigger than before.
As he stepped forward, his confidence to see her face sank lower and lower. He wasn't sure what her response would be to what he was going to tell her. Not many men stand a chance to rape their own wives before marriage, intoxicated by some enemy of theirs. Not many men forget the first time they made love to a woman. And not many men marry the women who bear their own children, thinking someone else must've made them pregnant.
Natsume laughed at him from within his mind. Seeing his son's crimson eyes, even before seeing them maybe, Natsume could swear that that child was his own. He could feel it from within his soul, but he'd never wished to learn how it all happened, and had never wished it all to happen this way. But now there was no doubt about what had happened. He had proof, more reliable than the mere words of his rival, which revealed that it was his own crime that made her give up all her maiden dreams and throw herself into the burden of marriage. That sin could never be forgiven. He knew that, but still there was one fact defending his behavior; he was drugged.
"That bastard!" He couldn't help muttering, his fingers forming a fist.
He didn't know when he had walked inside his room. He didn't know how long he had been staring at their peacefully sleeping figures.
He wished he knew nothing, nothing about what had happened.
Counting his steps, Natsume walked forward in the silence of the darkness until he reached her sleepy face, not daring to make any sound. She was asleep, not knowing anything, innocent as a flower that had just bloomed. Natsume watched as she unconsciously tightened the grip of her arms she had around their son's little sleeping figure. He remembered how he had longed to join them in bed after a long day spent at work, and how eagerly Mikan had always taken him in to her arms, hugging him to her soft bosom even if he smelled of sweat. But that night, he didn't even feel like sitting on that bed; the bed in which he had his own people sleeping: his own wife and his own son.
He knelt down beside them in the dark, watching them breathe soundly. In a minute it all started to flash through his eyes; the things he had wished he could forget. He could remember each and every word those three people had said, each and every moment that had passed between now and then, and each and every sigh he had tried to keep to himself without letting out. Natsume shut his eyes, trying to keep those words and scenes that boiled inside his mind only to himself, as if Mikan would see them through his burning crimson coals.
"She came all by herself... though we hadn't invited her, 'cause it was a drinking party... You know... Natsume... It seemed...Uh... She wanted to see... well...you know... that person."
"Tsubasa and I arrived at the place very late. We didn't know Mikan was there until we were told by our friends that there was a fight between you and Kaname and that you had almost killed him."
"Misaki and I looked for you two everywhere, and finally...we were told by room service that...Natsume...that you had taken her to a room upstairs."
"Both of you were not in a state to understand anything in the world. So I took Mikan with me and took her to my place right away. And when she woke up, I had to lie, 'cause I was sure she won't have appreciated the truth."
"And Natsume... I had to... pay the hotel staff to keep their mouths shut and well... had to replace Mikan with one of our friends... to cover up the truth when you woke up... We... we're so sorry Natsume... We thought it was the best thing we could do at the moment."
"We knew it was all his plan. Kaname did that on purpose. He wanted to destroy Mikan's life, using you, Natsume. He must've drugged both of you. We don't know how he managed to do that anyway."
"You can't blame yourself. Any man would've done the same thing if he were in the state you were in."
"You two danced and I pulled the strings. Huh... My puppets! Lived half of your lives being my puppets! Especially you... The mighty Natsume Hyuuga! Huh! Want more drama?"
His words played inside Natsume's mind as his blood boiled for the hundredth time of the day. He had repaid him well, anyway, by breaking all his thirty two teeth, but still he hadn't had enough. Natsume gritted his teeth as he muttered the word "puppet", unconsciously.
He didn't know it had been loud enough to make her come back to consciousness.
"Natsu... Natsume..."
He heard her say, trying to raise her back in the dark.
"Go back to sleep." He whispered in his hoarse voice, trying hard to hide his guilty eyes from her innocent gaze.
"So you're finally home..." Mikan whispered sleepily, her hazel orbs half closed. Natsume could see her sleepy smile, which he had admitted to be sexy, except that night. That night, he felt as if it had been accusing him, for being the puppet of some devil and ruining her life. He gasped at that thought, making Mikan's sleepy instincts detect that something wasn't right.
"Natsume... What took you so long?" She asked softly as she reached for his face, covered with raven bangs and caressed it the way she always did. These gestures of hers, seemed too painful to him that night.
"I had some work downtown."
"What type of work?"
"Business"
She had to stop her inquiry there, but something caught her eye and it shocked her peaceful mind: a scratch. She gathered some more proof before erupting; more scratches!
"Na—Natsume! What— what are those? What happened? You're hurt! You smell of blood!"
Hearing those words, Natsume's heart skipped a beat. His secret was a secret no more. That was his time to explain.
But he didn't speak.
"Natsume! What happened? For God's sake, what happened?" She cried her lungs out, forgetting all about their child.
"Mom... Mommy..." Little Youichi was rubbing his little ruby eyes, feeling for his mother beside him. But Mikan was not in a state to care for what was going on in the darkness of that room. She was obsessed with her feelings for Natsume at the moment. But Natsume was conscious enough to take his little son into his arms and put him back to sleep in the warmth of his embrace.
Mikan watched him with her mouth shut tight, her eyes in tears.
In that icy silence, Natsume put their son back between the sheets and took his wife's arm in a flash, making her jump off the bed and follow him down the stairs, silently.
In a few solemn moments, they were there standing on the creamy wetness of the Kamogamo, with the rustle of its waters being their only listener.
She was staring at the gloominess of his crimson orbs with hers nearing to shower the earth.
Natsume had resolved to reveal it all; 'cause she had the right to know.
"It was me."
He said out finally, breaking the silence of five long years.
Hearing what he had said, Mikan went dumb.
"Natsume, what— what are you talking about?" She asked as she moved closer to him, dazed.
"I said it was me!"
"It was you, what?" She asked as she stood there in front of him, looking directly at his blazing crimson fire.
"The one who ruined your life!" He shouted out loud, looking back at her confused hazel orbs, his manly hoarse voice shaking a little.
Two or three silent seconds passed between them. After a short pause of staring at each other, Natsume looked away before Mikan gathered some words to fill the gap.
Maybe Natsume had expected Mikan to spit at his face but instead, she stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek, making Natsume gasp in total surprise. That was the last thing he had expected.
Seeing his widened crimson eyes, Mikan couldn't help but smile through her tears.
"And what difference would it make?"
She asked, smiling gently as Natsume looked questioningly at her face.
"You don't care?"
"Seriously, I don't!" Mikan said cheerfully, punching on Natsume's chest playfully.
"How could you act so cheerful after hearing what I said!"
"I can! 'Cause I knew it already!" She smiled again, much to Natsume's dismay.
"You knew?"
"Yeah... I've been seeing it in my dreams and... After your son came to my hands he told me the story... and... I figured it out, alone!" She said, her eyes dancing in the happiness of a distance memory. "And... I didn't have to fight with anyone, like you did today?" She continued, moving her eyes from her husband's newly made scars and bruises to his eyes, mockingly.
"You knew it all and didn't tell me."
"Yup."
"Women are so unpredictable." Natsume gave out his conclusion before sitting down on a large root that emerged from the ground, sighing in disbelief.
Seeing his worried expression, Mikan drew closer to him again and sat down beside him, resting her hand on his thigh.
"What's troubling you... umm?" She asked as she rested her head on his shoulder, making him look away some more.
"You could've lived your life." Natsume said, not wanting to look at her eyes.
"I lived my life... I couldn't have been happier than this..." She said in the softest voice of hers, clasping her husband's arm as tight as she could as if she never wanted to let go.
"I could've wasted my whole life... not knowing what I deserve... if it wasn't for that thing..." She continued as Natsume, finally turned his head to look at her, surprised. He could feel the honesty in her voice. He had no doubt about what she had meant by her soft words. She loved him. He was certain, now.
He kissed her hair, softly, not as a reward, but to express that strong feeling of love that had been brewing inside his veins.
After another awkward pause, she looked at him playfully, trying hard to keep herself from blushing.
"So that was it?" She asked while being busy rubbing her thumb over the scratches on his face as Natsume watched her in patience.
"Hn." He said, uninterested.
"Umm... I guess... I got more exciting news for you!" She said as she stood up suddenly, making Natsume stand up as well.
Hearing what she had said, Natsume's eyes widened for the hundredth time, shocked.
"Don't look at me as if I were a ghost! Gimme your hand!" She said out in happiness, blushing a little before taking his hand in hers and guiding it to the place where she wanted it to be; her belly. Feeling this, Natsume gasped in surprise, not knowing what to say.
"What?" He asked, his eyes dangling in their caves.
"Yup!" She said, pearly tears forming in her happy eyes.
Natsume stood there silent for a minute or two, before he lifted her in his arms. The rustles of the river were totally suppressed by her giggles. The stars in the sky were blinded by the gleam of his eyes. The whole nature was supporting their romance. The whole ambiance was giving way to their love story; the story of two hearts which kept all the secrets to themselves, for the sake of love and respect they had for each other. They were experts of love, they covered up for each other, and they kept up with each other's flaws, because they accepted their fate and had faith in each other's soul. The words were hidden, but the feelings were exposed.
-The End-
Yeah people! I'm back and yeah, it's 'THE END' of this story! I dunno how you felt at the end. I know many of you had questions as to how it all happened, and here I've given some sort of explanation, but I'm sure you guys are not quite happy with it. But you know... it all happened on a day when you and I were not there watching. Heheee :-D No, I'm serious! I didn't include that part in my story, but I kept on giving you clues from the beginning, if you could remember, and that was some technique I wanted to experiment. I sound like philosopher, don't I? :-D Anyway, hope you all loved the story, and of course the ending part as well...
And I know I must've lost many of my readers, 'cause I took so long to update, but you know people I had my Advanced Level exams going on throughout last month so I couldn't even think about typing the story. And of course, I didn't want to type the last chapter in a rush, or I could've made it worse. ;-)
So I waited... I know you did too... I just hope you guys will see my update, even by chance... ^_^
And here, I've got soooooo many reviews from all around the world! I'm so excited people! But I need more! And more! And more! :-D
You know I love reviews, and need all you guys to drop a review, be it good or bad! And please please forgive me for taking soooo long! But here, I've completed the whole thing! :-)
And now I'm moving to my reviewers!
newroz, iiAriya, HaCel and Katherine Kalissa Amara thanks for being more than just readers! :'( Almost all you guys tried to contact me outside the story and asked me if I was doing good... Thanks babes... I missed you guys so much and hope you guys will read this final chapter and drop me more and more heartwarming reviews! :-* And tell me if you guys want me to start on writing another story! ^_^ Love you guys! Totally! 3
And all my other reviewers, including Gest reviewers and my latest reviewer KaTkat942, love you all... And I owe you guys so much! And yeah... I'll update my author's notes after you read this final chapter, and here I'm typing in a rush 'cause I really wanna update this chapter ASAP! Hehe...
So here... Awful Nightmare is gonna sleep...
Hope to meet you through a new work of mine!
Another NatsuMikan story?
Hehe I have some ideas... We'll see if I'd be able to put them into words!
So this really is THE END people!
Just remember that, I love you all!
Thanks for your undying support!
And sorry for taking so long!
Bye bye...
With love,
-Awful Nightmare-