Mai HiME
Lost & Found
Chapter XIX
Things were back to normal, well almost back to normal excluding the fact that all the maids were busied with decorating the mansion for Christmas Eve party in just two days. Yuuki Nao moved back into the mansion along with her now fiancé, because Mikoto said so and there's no arguing about it. Of course, the house was built with about fifty rooms if not more, and no one really bothered to explore the entire mansion besides the staff that was hired to keep the place neat and clean.
At twenty-one, Mikoto sit back and read the newspaper on the morning of Christmas Eve waiting for the rest of the sleeping households to come down for breakfast. It was still early and the weather looked gray outside, but Yukino and Haruka come into the dining room together. The blonde woman pulled out a chair for the doctor, and Yukino flashed Haruka a thankful smile as she sat down.
"Aww… that's so romantic of you two," Mai said as she looked up from her book of recipes. The busty woman was looking into the recipe books that Mikoto bought for her; she was trying to figure out what kind of cake would be good for tonight's party. Of course, Mikoto told her that those things already been taking care of, but Mai wanted to make something special just for the two of them. After all, it has been nearly six months since they first met and this would also mark their three month's anniversary of officially being a couple.
"Those two are still sleeping?" Haruka asked with a slight irritation in her voice. "Well, it's only seven and the sky still looked pretty dark, so just let them sleep in. There will not be breakfast for them, I'm sure Shiho-chan would make something for Nao." Mikoto said putting the newspapers away. "Mikoto-chan, how's the stock?" Yukino asked knowing exactly why Mikoto was reading the newspapers today. "It's good, but I'm having a feeling that something will be happen today…" Mikoto trailed off just as she heard the front door opened and a few maids gasped. "Oh god, why must they come home this year…" Mikoto murmured rubbing her forehead.
"Mikoto-san, I heard that you got yourself a girlfriend…" a man in his early fifties with little gray hair said as he entered the dining room. He looked like an older version of Mikoto, except for the fact that his hair is ridiculously long and was tied back neatly. "Honey, you're scaring Yukino-chan…" his wife said coming up to him but stopped in her track when she noticed two unfamiliar faces at the table. Mikoto's mother looked elegant with long raven hair, pale complexion and emerald eyes.
"What do I owe for this sudden visit?" Mikoto asked coldly without even looking at her own parents. "Miki-san, Mira-san…" Yukino said as she got up and bowed at the couple politely, while Haruka and Mai didn't know what was going on but they too got up and bowed at them respectably. "Maa, Yukino-chan is a good girl as always…" the wife said warmly smiling at Yukino and the other two women. "This is Suzushiro Haruka-san, Yukino's assistance and girlfriend or partner if you prefer the more calming fancy term. Here is Tohkiha Mai, and we're currently dating as I asked her to move in with me along with Haruka-san. If you must know, she's not from a prominent family or one of those snotty rich girls. Mai is just a normal woman with problems of her own like everyone else, and I would appreciate it if you stop trying to butt into my personal life. So what do I owe for this sudden visit?" Mikoto repeated her question once more in a very commanding tone.
There's a reason she's acting the way she does toward her parents, though Mai and Haruka didn't know since her parents seemed to be nice people at first glance. "Mikoto-san, we just think it might be a good idea to spend this year's Christmas with you and Yukino-chan here," her father spoke in a very calming voice but Haruka could detect a bit of fear hidden within it. "You haven't done that for the last three years, and the only time you ever think of visiting me is when you're trying to set me up with some bimbo for business profit. But since you're already here and it's been a long flight from London, I will refrain from asking you to leave for now. You're still my parents after all, but that doesn't mean that you're allowed to treat my friends poorly." Mikoto said rather calmly yet there's a small amount of venom buried in her words.
Breakfast was quiet as the air in the room were heavy since Mikoto's parents arrived, both Yukino and Mikoto wore a blank expression on their face through the whole time as they're both in deep thoughts of how bad this Christmas party will become. Mai and Haruka just exchanged questioning looks at each other and sometimes glancing over at their perspective lover, but neither of the other women seemed to take notice. Mai was planning to spend some times with Mikoto until tonight, but it seemed that her plan would have to wait for another day now that Mikoto's parents dropped in for an unexpected visit.
Mai was sitting in her room reading through another recipe book, when the sound of someone knocking on the door disrupted her focus on the book. "Mai-san, would you like to go for a walk?" Yukino asked from outside. It is quite rare for the young doctor to ever ask anyone for a walk with her, as she usually preferred to walk alone or with Mikoto by her side as they are friends since childhood. "Sure, I'll be right there…" Mai said as she put her book on her bed and grabbed her jacket before heading out of her room to meet up with Yukino. Together the two headed outside for a walk around the snow-covered estate, a maid was about to asked if they needed a ride somewhere but Yukino just waved the woman off with a gentle smile on her face.
"As you can see, Mikoto-chan and her parents aren't in good term…" Yukino trailed off as she tucked her hands into her thick jacket's pockets to keep warm. "Before you jump the gun and get mad at Mikoto-chan for the way she's treating her parents, you need to know something about her past. It's not important to her, so she didn't tell you but I think it's important for you to know a little more about her than from Nao or Natsuki. They don't know anything about her childhood," Yukino said as they walked aimlessly toward the backyard that seemed to be miles away. "I see," Mai nodded listening intently to every word the young doctor said, hiding par of her face behind the red scarf that Mikoto bought for her just a few weeks ago.
"You see, the Minagi family had always had one child per generation and it had always been a boy. So Mikoto was a big disappointment, she was treated poorly by her parents except for her grandfather: Jiji. When she was younger, her father was a scientist used her like a lab rat to test new findings or inventions on her. She would always be so ill from all those drugs that one time I thought she was dead, but she was lucky because her Jiji decided to come for a visit. He was infuriated to find his only grandchild dying, and since then he took her parents out of his will but let them run the company until Mikoto turned fifteen. Once she was fifteen, he removed her parents from the company and put her in the position of the CEO while Jiji remained the Chairperson. That was until two years ago that Jiji decided Mikoto was good enough to take over the company, he now traveled the world and called Mikoto once in a while to let her know where he's at. Even though her parents nearly killed her, Mikoto didn't treat them ungrateful at all. She bought estates in many countries and asked them to picked one, giving them enough money to last more than just this lifetime. But they just wanted to control her, and it's starting to aggravate her immensely whenever she sees them." Yukino finished her short version of the long story of her best friend's life.
"I have to wonder if her Jiji will be okay if I'm dating her…" Mai sounded slightly nervous. "You'll be fine; her Jiji is a very open-minded man. I hope he be here this year, the souvenirs would be awesome. He told me that he was in Peru last time he called," Nao said from somewhere behind the women nearly scaring the life out of them. "You're finally up," Yukino murmured as she adjusted her glasses. "Yeah, yeah… why the hell are her parents doing here? They better not scheming something again," Nao said flatly as she never really liked Mikoto's parents. They always looked down on her because of her background; actually they looked down on everyone that's not as rich as they are.
Author's Notes: Wooo… Christmas party… presents exchange and Nao's engaged? Man, that girl is fast or maybe Shiho forced her to do it. Now I have to wonder who else will be crashing this xmas party… Enjoy!!!