Chapter 13 – what the hell is wrong with me… I mean you!
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A/N – yes yes, it's long since overdue, but May is exam month, (yay-not!) so I spent most of April studying and only remember about the chapter, because I found a story idea, on a sticky note, that was mixed in with my revision stuff. So an IMPORTANT notices for you, since May is all about my exams it unlikely that I'm going to update during this time. So don't get your hopes up.
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No, No, No it can't be, he can't… he just can't be here, what the hell is my uncle thinking?
Mikan Yukihara is dead; why the hell is he sending Natsume here, nosy old man can't he just leave a dead girl to take out the Koizumi's by herself!
Either that or this is all Hotaru's doing, wait does that mean she is here as well, oh no how am I meant to sneak around with hawk eyes and monkey boy hiding behind every corner. Well I have fooled them all before, looks like I am just going to have to pull off another miracle. Regaining my composure I remembered that Natsume still had my arm and was looking at me with some serious intensity.
"Um… thank you, for helping me I mean." I said hoping to distract him, and get away at the same time, so I lightly tugged on my arm, which he released, no doubt he forgot he was even still holding on to me, I wanted that to be the end of our communication, but as I was walking away, I tripped… over his leg, once on the floor he then proceeded to flip my school skirt expositing my striped panties to him. Which he raised his eyebrows at, and stood awaiting my response. NATSUME YOU PERVERT WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU TRIPPING UP A GIRL JUST SO YOU CAN SEE HER UNDERWEAR! God how I wish I could shout that, then I could punch him in the face and vent my anger, but instead I resorted to hiding my inner thoughts.
"Why… Why… Why would you do something like that" I mumbled letting my voice thicken and choke up readying for the tears. "We have only just met and I thought you were nice since you helped me but instead you just tripped me up" I let the first tear fall, I knew Natsume had never been comfortable with tears, especially my tears… well Mikan's tears… let's see how he deals with this.
"Why are you so mean, I haven't done anything wrong" I let the tears freely flow, and like I suspected Natsume was gobsmacked, even more so when Koko punched him in the face, which I know from the experience of when we spar, hurts like a bitch! Have to hand it to Natsume, he took it and recovered quick enough to dodge the second.
"What the hell are you doing" Natsume's voice had an all too familiar edge to it.
"I could ask you the same" Koko's tone mimicked Natsume's, crap I better act soon or this is going to turn into a blood bath. BAKA! BAKA! Both boys avoided the dangerous little circular bullets that came towards them but it was enough to diffuse some of the tension, looks like Hotaru is here, and she brought her baka gun, no, no, no, no, no what the hell is going on. I'm glad she is safe and all after what happened but she CAN'T BE HERE. NEITHER OF THEM CAN.
"Hyuuga she is dead, let it go, stop seeing ghosts and shadows where none exist" her icy voice held no emotion just like always, yet I could tell that what she just said cut her deep.
"Hn" was Natsume's only reply as he went to sit next to her. Unfortunately Koko wasn't quite done.
"Hey, new Kid, stay away from Ichigo and if you ever make her cry again, I WILL KILL YOU" damn Koko just keep your mouth shut, because you can't beat ME, Natsume is on a whole other level from you, even when we were young he used to fight on my level, never letting up. He trained relentlessly so that we three (including Hotaru) could stay together. As Natsume turned he raised an eyebrow glanced at me, before raising his gaze back to Koko.
"Is that a promise." He smirked. "But don't worry; I'm not interested in girls that wear childish underwear, she is all yours." He turned away and once he reached his seat, he put his legs up on the table, as he went to put a manga over his face, his hair moved I saw a flash of gold on his ear. DAMN that idiot the Yukihara's are in hiding, yet he is parading around Koizumi territory with the family crest hanging off of his ear, well if he gets himself captured I won't help. Speaking of help, by the time I had reached that conclusion Koko had got me off of the floor, and was wiping away my tears with his hand. Of cause if we weren't siblings and Koko wasn't known for being an overprotective big brother, it would look more like an action a boyfriend would perform, and from the waves of displeasure and irritation coming from Natsume's general direction I would bet he feels the same way, although why he is so bothered I have no clue, we don't even know each other!
Koko led me to our desk sat us down and lent on my shoulder to sleep, as was his habit ever since my very first encounter with Luna, he told me that this way I couldn't get into trouble without him knowing. As he made himself comfortable I got out my doddle book – it was meant to be my maths book, but even I don't care when Luna wants to skip those classes. Jin-Jin makes me dislike maths, which I thought impossible. – But instead of doing random sketches of what people are doing in class I wrote something to Koko.
For you benefit the translation of their conversation is written below in italics
Riri, fwqp qp qtsivfhuf pi szlhpl xqjl tl nigv ogzz hfflufqiu
(Koko, this is important so please give me your full attention)
Nig whjl qt hoflv hzz qfp uif ljlvn khn nig sgzz igf fwqp pfnzl io mvqfqux
(You have it after all its not every day you pull out this style of writing)
Kiu'f tlpp mqfw fwisl fmi, fwln'vl Wifhvg huk Uhfpgtl. Pi szlhpl hjiqk klhzqux mqfw fwlt
(Don't mess with those two, they're Hotaru and Natsume. So please avoid dealing with them)
Iw, Q hzvlhkn rium – nigv vlhdfqiu huk fwl mivk Wggxh rquk io xhjl qf hmhn
(Oh, I already know – your reaction and the word Hyuuga kind of gave it away.)
FWLU MWN FWL WLZZ KQK NIG FWLHFLU FWLT WQT! – Q'T PLVQIGP QO NIG OQXWF WQT WL MQZZ RQZZ NIG!
(THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU THREATEN TO KILL HIM! – I'M SERIOUS IF YOU FIGHT HIM HE WILL OBLITERATE YOU!)
Mlzz yldhgpl Q kiu'f dhvl mwi fwln hvl, Q miu'f zlf wqt thrl nig dvn hxhqu. Q wlhv nigv uqxwfthvlp TTq… Qdwqxi, tipf io fwlt pfhv wqt, wlv huk tl. Huk ovit mwhf Q dhu flzz fwl Riqcgtq'p rqzz gp hzz. Ygf Q pmlhv Q miuf zlf fwhf whsslu!
(Well because I don't care who they are, I won't let him make you cry again. I hear your nightmares Mi… Ichigo, most of them star him, her and me. And from what I can tell the Koizumi's kill us all. But I swear I won't let that happen!)
Kiu'f pslhr io tn uqxwfthvlp wlvl, huk ml yifw ruim Q mhp svlflukqux fi dvn
Don't speak of my nightmares here, and we both know I was pretending to cry
Fithfi! Fithfh! Dvn! Ov svlflukqux fi dvn! Qf'p hzz fw! Hp nig mlzz ruim!
Tomato! Tomata! Cry! Or pretending to cry! It's all the same to me! As you well know!
I left it at that since class started, and Narumi-sensei was going off on one about some festival; don't get me wrong I love festivals, the stalls and attractions, well not the haunted house, that shouldn't exist, I mean ghosts are scary enough, why would you purposely want to call them, or SEE them!
Sigh, as much as I love festivals I'm not going to be able to fully enjoy this one, since if I do even one Mikan-y thing Natsume's going to be hot on my heels, I heard Hotaru just as well as everyone else, Natsume's still looking for me, which means that, that annoying genius brain of his is working overtime, and he has probably come to the same conclusion I have – that the Koizumi's have to go – which steered him here, and by seeing the old Mikan's smile he pounced and tried to incite a reaction from me by flipping my skirt. This also means I'm going to need to invest in some knew underwear, and ditch my patterned and polka-dot ones (yes I still have some with those types of designs, it's because they are so cute!) maybe I can buy some next time I'm in central town… even if it means cutting out a box or 2 of fluff puffs from my diet!
And as much as I love fluff puffs, I hate the idea of Natsume or Hotaru discovering it's me even more.
…...
NATSUME HYUUGA I'M GOING TO KILL YOU.
This is the ninth time this month, cut it out already, whenever we meet he does things to piss Mikan off; he flips my skirt, belittles the mafia and even calls me buy the colour of my underwear. I HATE HIM. And Koko is on the verge of fighting him. This is getting completely out of hand, it doesn't help that Luna is all over him which means he is always around our group, and he lets her touch him and cling on to his side, it's sickening. And can I do anything about it, no! I have to step back whenever he is around and pretend to be frightened of him. I have to tear up and hide behind Koko if he gets to close. Have to admit so far it's been pretty effective; I haven't had a single conversation with Natsume since our first encounter. Didn't think I would ever be able to say this, but I needn't worried about any close calls with Hotaru, since she is living up to her reputation as the ice queen. When I tried to approach her as Ichigo Sakura to keep in with the personality of the character she Baka gunned me, and told me that idiot germs can be passed on so not to talk to her again. If I was still Mikan that wouldn't have worked and I would have defiantly made her my best friend… I mean that's how it's always been. But since I was Ichigo, I cried and ran off to be comforted by Anna and Nonoko, speaking of those two our groups going for a picnic today… well most of the class are coming with us since it's a bank holiday, even Luna and Sumari are tagging along, unfortunately that means Natsume is likely going to show up so he can bully me some more. But I'm not going to worry about that, as right now I'm making a lunchbox to share with Koko, it's really amusing to cook with friends after all an experienced cook like Anna makes it fun, and the way Nonoko approaches food like it's some experiment makes it interesting.
"Nonoko" Anna's scream was ear splitting. "Just how many eggs are you adding." I peered over the counter to see what the fuss was about, it seemed that the fairy cakes Nonoko is attempting to make aren't going exactly as planned, there were a dozen egg shells scattered around her mixing bowl.
"What, I figured since you can't really taste the egg, it must be some kind of catalyst, so the more I add the quick the reaction will go" she tried to defend her actions, but when Anna lifted the spoon she was using to mix with and I murky sort of liquid dripped down from it, she sighed defeated, and when to put the whole bowl in the sink.
"Wait, wait, wait" I grabbed her arm from over the counter. "We can fix this… your just going to have A LOT of fairy cakes… hope you don't mind living off of them for a little while. Let's see by calculating the current weight of the bowl and subtracting the weight of an empty bowl and the sugar and butter already inside you should get the mass of the eggs and then we can adjusting the recipe accordingly, but you have to promise to follow it this time or you will just end up wasting ingredients ok" she nodded and helped me start getting the stuff together. "Actually Nonoko since you made so much, can I have some of the mixture please, I only need enough to make… 9, no wait 10 cupcakes." I better include Natsume otherwise I would probable get terrorized even more.
"Of cause here, after all you have done most of the work." She scooped out some of the mix and put it in a separate bowl for me.
"Thanks, I have to get back to my own cooking now, after all a hungry Koko is a horrible sight." With that I went back to my own work, I know how to cook, my Dad used to get me to read recipes, and when I went to live with mum, I was in charge of cooking on the good days she used to cook with me, and on the bad day Reo used to beat me if I messed up, or wasted ingredients, that why I reacted so much when Nonoko was about to throw her mix away, and then of cause I had to cover for it. This meant I had to help her instead of getting on with my own project, but Koko is easy to cook for he pretty much only likes savoury things, well except donuts.
So I just made the basic stuff which he likes, rice balls, omelette, grilled fish, miso soup and of cause cinnamon sugar donuts. It didn't take too long so that left me which plenty of time to work on my other project, I wanted to make a cupcake for everyone at the picnic, after all I'm just a cry baby that they all take care of, and although I won't be able to tell them, it makes me so happy that I'm treated like a normal little girl, and can do normal things like get invited on picnic's in the first place.
"Anna, Nonoko are you finished yet" I turned to find Nonoko arm deep in another concoction, and Anna seemed like she was taking measurements fit for a 5 tear wedding cake.
"Anna, remember we are going on a picnic not a banquet, only cook what you can carry." Nonoko what are you making now" they both looked up; Anna seemed surprised at her actions, stopped a moment then put some of the stuff she had out away, Nonoko simply said rice balls and then the mix in the bowl made a weird sort of bubbling sound.
"Nonoko I hate to break it to you, but that's not how you make rice balls, give me a moment and I will teach you." I just had to put my stuff in the fridge and pack up the last of my things. It's cool having our own kitchen.
"Ichigo, you're a life saver, I didn't know you could cook so well." Nonoko said as we were rolling rice.
"It's nothing much… My mum taught me a long time ago, see my dad loved home cooked meals, he always went on about how there was nothing better than eating with the family. Sure we could have had a chef, but he refused the idea, and since cooking made him happy, I practised so I could make him smile… his smiles light up rooms and fill people with joy, so I would do anything to see one… after he passed away I hated cooking for the longest time, but then I realised that Koko got hurt from seeing me in pain, so I started cooking again, this time to see Koko smile… Still I wish I could see my dad smile again." A wounded frown crossed my face, after all nearly everything I just said was true, I just switched my dad disappearing for him dying, and of cause I left out the face that family to my dad meant the family! We were silent for a while after that.
"Nonoko, I didn't make you feel uncomfortable did I?" after all it was basically the first bit of information about my old life I had ever given to them.
"No, I was just thinking that my parents are jerks but at least they are still here, the next holiday we have, I'm going to get them to spend more time together with me." Good because jerks or not, she would defiantly miss them if they were gone.
"I am officially exhausted" Anna sighed behind a mountain of food.
"I'm not surprised I told you, not to cook so much" it was scary the amount of food she had made by the time I had taught and helped Nonoko make 6 rice balls.
"But, now there is enough for everyone" she jumped happily, wow she sure recovers fast.
...
"Ichigo, your falling behind, just let me carry the box." Koko held his hand out, ready to take the ribbon bound box in my hand which I have been walking slowly to accommodate, and not jog it.
"It's ok big brother, I don't mind being a little late, you go on a head, Anna needs your help more than I do." I smiled back at him, he really was over protective.
Sure I could have walked normally and kept up with them, but I liked being outside and alone, Koko is a great big brother, but sometimes his over protectiveness is just too much, and ever since Natsume arrived it's stifling. You know the saying speak of the devil and he shall appear, well I know someone with crimson eyes that, that saying really applies too.
"Hey strawberry prints, your holding everyone up" he seemed to appear, and then he took the box in my hand away from me.
"Hyuuga, please give me that box back, it has something important inside." He looked at it.
"Is it for that big brother of yours? I think it is, so no you can't have it back, I'm going to hold on to it for a while, and I have said before call me Natsume." Hell no, I'm not giving into him.
"you guessed wrong it's not really for my big brother, so please be careful with it, and I won't call you by your given name until you call me by mine." I tried to make it sounded like that took a lot of courage for me to be able to say.
"I have no problems calling you by your given name Mikan; I will happily call you that." He smirked.
"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not this Mikan person? And your always such a jerk, I don't blame her for leaving you!" the look on his face was heart breaking as those words slipped from my mouth, the sheer despair and agony shown was enough to make me hesitate and in a moment of weakness I felt that the only thing I could do was grab him and hold him close, say that it's ok now, because I'm right in front of him, and will never leave his side again, my hand was already halfway to reaching him before I managed to pull myself together, I have to remember that I'm doing this for him, I NEED to keep him safe, that's the only reason I'm doing this alone. It has to be punishment from god for all the fictional stories and lies that have been leaving my mouth since I became Ichigo, to have the person I love stand before me, yet I can't touch him, for fear he might get hurt is so frustrating. I can't just leave him in this state.
"I'm sorry, that was an awful thing to say, I know she must have had reasons for leaving, and I'm positive she will come back to you one day so… Natsume… you should keep smiling, you look better that way." I let out a truly Mikan worthy smile just for him, I couldn't help it, as much as my brain is screaming at me that I'm putting him in danger by even just hinting that Mikan's alive, my hearts protesting just as loudly about never letting him have that look on his face again, let alone be the cause of those emotions!
After that we walked in silence, I knew he was analysing every single word I said, finding meanings behind meanings. We still hadn't said anything by the time the picnic site was in sight, and the quiet was killing me, literarily it was suffocating. In the end I HAD to disruption it.
"Hey… Natsume… Um, I know I'm not Mikan or anything, and you probably just prefer bullying me, but I still want to be your friend… so if you ever need to talk, I'm here…." I sort of trailed off. Then realised just how that sounded and hastily added "I mean… I only say this since I noticed that you don't really talk to anyone… with the exception of Imai and she is a little scary, so I thought maybe you might be feeling a little bit lonely… anyway that's everything… thanks for carrying my box" god the more I said the worse it sounded, so the more I sped up, I'm such an Idiot, in the end I grabbed my box in just a way that would jog it the least then ran off to find my brother.
"What, were you doing with Hyuuga, and way did you let him carry the box that even I wasn't allowed to touch" Koko huffed at me as I helped him set out the last of our food. – He had already long since taken any of the bags I was carrying away from me, claiming I was meant to be weak and clumsy, I swear he only uses that because it's the easiest way to get me to do what he wants.
"Would you relax, he stole the box out of my hand and I didn't want him to do anything bad to it… then I said something awful and ended up apologising and saying I would become his friend…" I waved him off, it wasn't really a big deal, being nice and quick in giving forgiveness was just part of being Ichigo. And by this time I had already started to eat, which was good because I was staving
"I don't like it, don't you think that's letting him get a little to close" he growled out.
"Oh shut your complaining and eat something already" I held my own chopstick to his mouth with a piece of omelette already in place. He gave me one last look before allowing me to feed him.
"It's so weird how you two act more like a couple than siblings" Luna chimed up, no doubt having watched Koko steal more food from my chopsticks instead of his own; he kept saying that the stuff on my chopsticks taste better.
"I mean, don't you think Nat-Chan, why can't we act like that. After all we are a couple" she whined and pulled closer to him; what was she trying to do merge with his arm. And in Natsume's regular style he just hn'ed, and ignored her. It was so obvious the he couldn't stand the girl but I guess his way of getting to Luna was almost as advantageous as mine, the only thing I have to my advantage is that girls generally aren't as freely open with new boyfriends as they are with friends. I get to listen to Luna's 'girl talks' which mostly consists of boy talk, but sometimes it relates back to whatever is happening within her family. I zoned back into whatever Luna was ranting about just in time to here sometime good, very good.
"Nat-Chan, if you come round my house, I'll make you something and feed you" she pleaded to an unresponsive Natsume. Since he was ignoring and the mention of house seemed be make her remember something. – That wasn't the good thing; in fact it made me feel a little bit sick.
"Oh, that reminds me, since it's my 11th birthday this month, daddy said I can have a proper party at home, which means you all have to come, it's been decided already and daddy has already gotten and given permission for you all to leave campus on this occasion. Ichigo, Sumari you HAVE to stay over, and Natsume to, you can even share my bed… oh and the rest of you can stay round if you want since it will finish late, and you will be excused from school the next day." She smiled like a cat that's got its cream. As the conversation bubbled with excitement around us, I decided to make something up, as a reasonable excuse to get lost and possibly a tour of her house.
"Luna, you did say house right… as in a place with floors… and stairs…" I questioned her. And she gave me a puzzled look.
"Can you get a house without floors…? Ours has like 5" she seriously asked. I ignored her.
"That's so cool, when we go, will you show me around… see my parents only ever got us to live in penthouse apartments, which always have lifts… and even now that we live with our grandfather it's still a penthouse apartment. So I have never seen a house with more than 1 floor… except the dorms, and they don't count since none of the stairs are in the rooms.
"Well then sure… I'll give you a tour…" she shrugged and turned to answer someone else's question.
I didn't have to look Natsume's way to know his eyes were burning holes in me, so I did something that I knew would piss him off like it had don't since the day he first arrived, for reasons still unknown.
"Big brother" I tugged Koko's arm. He looked up from the remaining food and stared at me. I think he might have just been eating so no one asked him questions about my impromptu story. "Big brother I'm sleepy, from having to walk up here, can I lay on you like a pillow for a while." He smiled and wrapped an arm around me pulling my head to his chest. Even with my eyes closed I could feel the surfs of fury Natsume was releasing, they hit my skin like mini heat waves.
"Nat-Chan, can I sleep on you to." Luna tried out her supposed flirty voice again.
"No" was his only reply, evidently it failed.
Oh no, Luna's new made me forget about my cupcakes, but as long as there in the box I can always hand them out later. I'm so happy about that news it's hard not to smirk.
Luna's house equals Luna's dad's offices, and I'm betting my life that there are a fair few Koizumi related files there. Seriously I'm betting my life on it, because it I'm caught in his office that's me dead, which means game over.
A/N – alright I'm finally getting back to the action, and don't forget, this is exam month, so don't be expecting an update anytime soon. And again thankx for reading