lain: okay! there's a surprise in this chapter!
mikan: ne ne~! i love surprises!
lain: haha then i hope minna enjoys this chapter!
hotaru: whoop di do.
natsume: whatever.
lain: mean.
mikan: well, chapter 26 minna~!
Chapter 26
flashback
"hotaru." He rolled his eyes.
"plan to ruin the fun again?" hotaru asked.
"hm… I'll let them have their fun…. For now." He grinned and left.
"hey. What will you plan this time?" hotaru called out to the person she's talking to. The guy stopped for a moment,
"it's a secret for now." He said and then left.
"tsk. Baka youchii. As if you have a plan." Hotaru smirked.
End of flashback
"ne ne hotaru~! Time for breakfast!" mikan chirped cheerfully as she went to hotaru. The latter on the other hand was the opposite of her best friend. She emitted a dark aura and narrowed her eyes on mikan.
"ne hotaru?" mikan asked, quite confused of her actions.
"hn." Was all she said. She stood up and went to the kitchen, dragging mikan with her.
"hey hotaru! Let me go!" mikan squirmed as hotaru passed her to tsubasa, and thus plopped her on a seat.
"itaii…. What was that for?" mikan squeaked as she glared at tsubasa. He just looked at her apologetically, like he was saying 'gomen. She dragged everyone to it.' He sweatdropped. Mikan looked around and saw what he meant. Everyone looked like they was scared of a certain raven haired girl, even youchii is!
"urgh… I still don't damn get it why I'm in this me-" youchii was cut short when he met with hotaru's murderous glare. "erm… I'll just shut up."
"hey! What's with the atmosphere hotar-"
"ne mikan, what did you do yesterday?" hotaru stopped mikan and smiled at her evilly.
"ehh…. A-ano… w-e… I checked out of the hospital yesterday." Mikan blushed.
"oh really? Nothing else?" hotaru pressured her.
"erm… nope…?" mikan bowed down her head.
"I just hope you're not lying or hiding .thing.-"
"okay okay! Fine! N-natsume visited me yesterday and… and…." Mikan didn't know how to continue. Seeing everyone's face, all was very expectant yet… unsurprised? 'well except for youchii.. he looks pissed off somehow.' Mikan thought as she stared at youchii.
"and?" the latter demanded.
"we…. We… uhh…." Mikan looked down the table like it was the most amazing table in the universe. 'what should I call it…. Uhh… it's definitely not a d-d-date!' she blushed at her own thoughts.
"n-natsume took me to… a… ah! A trip! Yeah a trip!" mikan's face showed victory.
"a…. trip?" anna giggled, seeing how cute mikan is when pressured and questioned like this.
"are you sure it's not… a date?" hotaru smirked while youchii tensed. Mikan just blushed and said nothing. 'c'mon! say something! Deny it!' mikan argued in her mind. 'demo… I want it to be a date….' She suddenly thought, and thus made mikan slap herself in front of everyone.
"ehh…. Mikan chan?" yuu asked, freaked out like everyone else in the room.
"w-what happened…?" nonoko asked, quite confused.
"ahh! I know what's wrong!" koko stood up with shining eyes. "she wants their 'trip' to be a da- ugf!" koko was stopped by a flying sushi.
"kyaa! Koko…?" nonoko took a look at him. Koko was still unconscious and his left leg's twitching endlessly.
"daijoobu desu ka?" yuu asked while he shook koko.
"where did that sushi come from?" tsubasa asked as he tried to stifle a chuckle.
"it came from that… direction…" misaki pointed as her finger landed on mikan. The latter on the other hand, is just whistling innocently as she sit still in front of a plate of sushi rolls. Talk about guilty.
"nani? don't mind me! I'm just whistling here!" mikan defended as everyone narrowed their eyes on her.
"oh really? Then tell me why is there a plate of sushi rolls in front of you?" hotaru asked, raising a brow. When mikan saw the plate hotaru was talking about, she was caught in surprise.
"honest! I don't know where this came from!" mikan defended once again.
"hey, where's youchii?" misaki suddenly asked.
"she's right… he left without us noticing." Ruka muttered.
"…then.. mikan's telling the truth." Hotaru finalized. "he threw the sushi roll. I guess it's just too much for him to bear." She smirked.
"to bear what hotaru?" mikan asked, confused.
"nothing nothing! Just eat your breakfast already ne?" anna said sweetly.
"yeah! Don't worry about it! Just enjoy with natsume okay?" tsubasa grinned as he ruffled mikan's hair. And so, everyone left the kitchen.
"h-hai…" mikan blushed.
Meanwhile outside the dining room…
"ne, are you sure our plan's going to work this time?" anna asked hotaru.
"hmm…. Unless youchii interrupts.. yes. Let's just let them be for the moment, so that they could work out things between them for awhile."
"yeah, ever since then, this is the first time we saw mikan this happy, right?" tsubasa asked everyone and they all agreed.
"plus, even though natsume is very famous with girls, he kinda sucks with love." Ruka commented.
"right right. He's pretty slow." Koko grinned.
"then we'll speed things up a bit, before anyone interrupts." Hotaru smirked and dialled her phone.
Who knows what she's up to?
"baka natsume…" a young lad with teal coloured contacts cussed and cursed about natsume while he lay down in bed. "she doesn't need a lying, irresponsible bastard like you… " he muttered. And then, a voice came into his mind.
"then be a man and get over it! If we don't do this, we won't see mikan's true happy face, right?"
"stop it! How can you be so sure that after mikan gets that jerk she'll be happy?" and then, like a miracle, a thought came to him. He quickly dashed to his closet and wore a blue sleeveless hoodie over a white long sleeved shirt, faded navy blue denim pants and a pair of black sneakers. He folded his sleeves and also got two pairs of… "hn, where are those shades?" he murmured to himself as he started looking everywhere. "not in here." He said as he emptied out all the drawers. "nope." He said exasperatedly as he leaves the bathroom.
"ah. It must be still inside my luggage." He told himself and so he quickly got his bags and opened them one by one.
"still not there…."
"nah."
"god, how long will this tak- oh, it's my usa chan! Usa chaaan~"
After the third, he quickly opened the last bag and searched for his shades. While finding, he came across a small, old, envelope. "hm.. what's this?" he tossed the bag away and opened the envelope. Inside is a frame, with a picture of him, mikan, and natsume, playing side by side and smiling. Seeing the picture, his eyes softened as he caressed the picture, like it is the most fragile thing in the world. And then, his expression darkened. He muttered to himself,
"tch, traitor. We're better off without you anyways." He scoffed and tossed the picture aside.
"ma! I'll just buy a new pair later." He decided and left his room. Outside, he called out to mikan,
"oi mikan!" mikan, on the other hand, just finished her breakfast and was caught in surprise.
"dooshite youchii?" she called back. "and will it kill you to call me mikan nee someties?" she retorted, quite exasperated.
"it'll kill me. now, come up here and change your clothes into something…. Decent."
"huh? What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" mikan looked down on her comfortable clothes.
"just do it!" youchii shouted back as he rolls his eyes in annoyance. Confused in what's happening, mikan just quietly obeyed.
"hurry up!" youchii ordered.
"h-hai!" and so she did. "baka youchii, where're we going anyways?" she sighed as she entered her room. "I'll just ask him later." She went to her closet and picked her loose white, puffy, sleeveless shirt, faded black fitted jeans that ended just below her knee, a yellow bolero and comfortable yellow and white wedges. After she wore everything, she tied her hair in a sidewise ponytail with a black scrunchie , and looked in the mirror,
"yosh! I'm done!" she chirped happily.
"oi mikan hurry up! I'll leave now!" youchii irritatingly called out to her as he neared the door.
"eh! Matte!" she shouted as she raced downstairs to him.
"hn, let's go." Youchii muttered as he opened the door for him and mikan. But before mikan could leave the house, she called back to her friends:
"ne minna~! Youchii and I are leaving!"
"wah? Where to?" ruka asked back.
"I don't know either, ehehe. But I'm with youchii so don't worry! Ja ne~!" and so youchii pulled her to his sleek, black convertible.
"ne youchii, where are we going?" she asked as she made herself comfortable in her seat.
"….where do you want to go?" he asked suddenly, ignoring her question.
"um… i don't know really…" she murmured.
"sa! Let's go to south korea then." And so he started the engine and drove off to the airport.
"wha? Y-y-youchii! Hey stop! Wh-what about clothes? Plane fare?" she tried to make an excuse.
"I can buy you clothes there-"
"iie! I want my clothes!"
"then I'll make them send our clothes there." Youchii explained, and so she stopped. "and as for our plane fare…. God mikan! We have our own private jets right? Have you forgotten?" he chuckled.
"… youchii what are you trying to do?" she asked darkly. Now she's getting really suspicious about him. Youchii tensed for the moment, trying to make up and excusable excuse.
"I just want to spend time with you…" he whispered. 'you without thinking about natsume…'
"aw…. You missed your onee chan huh? Fine!" she smiled sweetly and pouted at youchii, being the dense person she is. Youchii just rolled his eyes and blushed. 'you'll see hotaru nee…. I-I'll prove it to you!' he smirked in victory.
Back to the yukihara mansion..
Everyone now is watching tv, relaxing. But still, they couldn't help wonder where the yukihara siblings are going. Who knows what that youchii's up to?
Rriiinnnggg riiinnnngggg….
"moshi moshi?" misaki answered her ringing phone. Ruka turned off the tv and misaki put the call on loudspeaker.
"ohayo, misaki sama. This is your father's secretary, kitari."
"oh, okay. Why'd you call?" misaki asked, slightly confused. Why would his father's secretary call her all of the sudden? But, she has a hunch that it has to do something with airports, planes, etc. duh. That's her father's business! He owns the largest and most popular airport in japan!
"ermm…. Does ojou sama has a friend named mikan yukihara and youchii yukihara?"
"hai. Well except for youchii, we're not that close." Now everyone's heart is beating nervously.
"does ojou sama know that they will be leaving japan?"
"WHAT!" everyone except hotaru shouted. "w-when is that?" misaki asked.
"…. Today. They'll be staying for a week and-"
"FOR A WEEK?" misaki shouted, surprised. "what is that youchii planning?" tsubasa clenched his jaw.
"h-hai, ojou sama. They'll be going to south korea and-"
"k-k-korea?" misaki squealed in surprise. Everyone was wide eyed, even hotaru.
"h-hai. A-and y-y-youchii sama wants their maids to pack their c-clothes and necessities for them that they'll be using for a week, and give it to the airport authorities so that it'll be sent to them there."
"that freakin' bastard!" misaki scoffed in irritation. And then, a mischievous glint was visible in her eyes.
"okay. Fine. Tell youchii sama that we'll comply readily and send it as soon as possible!" misaki said in a sweet voice.
"h-hai. Ojou sama. Good day to you. ja ne." and so the call's finished.
"okay minna," misaki announced with that glint not leaving her eyes.
"who wants to stay in south korea?" she smirked. Knowing already what she's planning, everyone went to their rooms and packed, all the while cursing and cussing about youchii. Misaki told maria san to pack youchii's clothes while hotaru and anna prepare mikan's clothes after they're done packing theirs.
After packing, everyone was back in the living room with their luggage while misaki ordered the airport staff to ready hotaru's private jet. Hotaru then made a call and told their company's staff to order the best spying kit they have and send it to her plane a.s.a.p.. yuu then called his father's staff and told them to update him when something's up with south korea, all the while nonoko and anna prepared snacks while koko, tsubasa and ruka take note of their girlfriends evil and scary faces. Even yuu, who's always the good guy, seems scary to them!
'Oh god, what will happen in korea?'
mikan: south korea...?
lain: yey~! oh minna! i need your help! if you want to suggest some nice and cool places in south korea, please do! i don't have any idea where they'll go or something! please?
hotaru: good luck with that. last time you asked a question no one answered.
lain: but now they will! right minna? please oh please give any suggestions! wahhh!
mikan: well, you heard our weird lain chan! please review minna~!