Hi guys!
Thanks to those who reviewed and asked for the next chapter! Hahaha. I'm really glad you did send me feedbacks regarding the last chapter. And I also give you my sorry for not updating earlier. Blame school.
Anyway, Here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it! ^^ I don't promise a light one though.
~(*o*)~(*o*)~(*o*)~
Forgiveness and Amnesia
The early bird catches the worm, the ex-Empress always used to say, reminding everyone of the bothersome rule she implemented years ago. Wake up before the sun shines etcetera etcetera. Whatever.
Hotaru never listened to that. Why should she? She asked. She's not a bird for one nor is she fond of worms. Waking up early to get a bunch of gross wriggling spaghetti? No thanks. She's more interested in crabs.
So it is absolutely rare for the young Royal to be seen up and around before nine during non-class days and definitely rarer to catch her awake at four in the morning. While it is true that Hotaru is in no way suffering from a strange worm-eating fetish, she does admit that she is rather addicted to crabs.
And this morning, she woke up to catch a crab. A social climber. (***read author's note if you don't get it)
The Ice Princess watched silently, still sprawled on the bed feigning unconsciousness as Luna soundlessly and carefully got off her bed and got her phone out. Slowly, Hotaru's purple orbs travelled from the corner of the room to another where she planted several chips for eavesdropping and observing.
She also planted some outside the corridors assuming that the witch is smart enough to figure how dangerous it is to reveal a part of her incognito. She isn't. She stayed in the room as she quietly dialed a certain phone number and calmly waited for the other end to answer.
Hotaru, smirking, made sure to activate her contraptions for effective recording. Luna sat.
"Hello?" she answered cheerfully, filled with silent joy. Hotaru positioned herself so that she was slightly nearer to Luna whose back is on her. Who could she be talking to so that she'd sound this blissful?
"Yes, Kuonji-sama," she answered. Kuonji? "I am slowly working on in our plan. Yes," she continued as the raven-haired princess' eyes narrowed in bits. Plan? So there is a plan after all. And is the ex-Empress in on this?
Luna giggled. "Of course, they don't know a single thing. Not even her. What a fool," Her? Who's her? Mikan? Hotaru? Who is the witch talking about? Hotaru's mind travelled back to the strange vial Luna showed her the night before.
Is she going to poison someone?
"Yes, Kuonji-sama. Soon, the throne will be ours," she smiled then hung the phone up, stretching.
Natsume.
~(*o*)~(*o*)~(*o*)~
"The dog died last night, did it die?" Tonoiuchi loudly announced over the room. Everyone piled in front of him with difficult faces, even Youichi while Natsume couldn't care less.
It's raining hard outside, which just sucks as the lot initially planned on Jet Ski racing but found their selves stuck inside the Mansion with an equally suck-ish game launched by long-haired oldie over there.
"No!" Ruka answered. "Of course it didn't die. I checked all our hounds just this morning and none of them were dead, okay." He huffed worriedly.
Tono swept the hair off his face and sighed. "Ruka, you're out of the game."
The blond lad frowned. "And why is that?"
"For the last time, bunny-boy," Tono told him. "This statement isn't real. It's a game."
Ruka sighed and joined Natsume after muttering a small 'Fine'.
"Alright. Listen everyone. The dog died last night, did it die?" Tono repeated.
"This is ridiculous." Natsume muttered under his breath and slept. He was grateful that that witch Luna isn't around since she clings so much to him whenever they meet.
"Yes!" the lot answered.
"Oh psh," Tono answered. "It didn't."
"What?" Tsubasa protested. "But you said the whole thing exactly the same as before. Are you screwing with us?"
The older guy chuckled. "No. Just listen okay?" then he repeated the statement.
"Alright," Misaki announced. "That's a no. I'm positive."
Tono's eyebrows shot up. "How did you know?"
The strawberry haired girl smiled in triumph. "Because the answer before was no and we answered yes so this time we should be answering no, yes?"
"No."
A loud groan was heard.
Then Tono repeated it again.
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Alright, alright. It's a yes." He announced.
Mikan squealed in delight. "Ha! I got that one right."
"No way," You-chan replied. "I am so not dumber than you."
"Hey!"
"Alright, alright," Tono called out for attention. "Let's listen now kids. I see some of you are getting the hang of it now. The dog died last night. Did it die?" he grinned.
"Yes!" Mikan answered with much gusto and a big grin on her face.
Tono shook his head, his long ebony hair swishing in the process. "Aw, sorry Mikan-chan. It's a nope, nope and nope."
"But whyyyy?"
Tono chuckled. "Why indeed?" he teased everyone in front of him. "Why. Shall we see?" Then he repeated it again.
Mikan pouted. "If Hotaru were here, she'd figure it ou – "
The door swished open, revealing a haggard-looking Hotaru. There were evident black rings under her purple orbs and she was paler than usual, prompting Tsubasa to go straight to her and ask her what was wrong.
She just set his arm aside and brushed him off, not unkindly. "I'm alright." She muttered silently, massaging her temples as she sat beside Ruka who also looked concerned.
"Oh, I know." Tono smiled. "Why won't Subaru's younger sister play this game with us to ease your stress?" he offered.
The purple-eyed lass looked at him sharply. "Who said I was stressed?"
Tono shrugged. "I just know. You up for it?" he grinned.
"What is it?" Hotaru asked absently.
"Nothing that difficult. Subaru solved this in two tries." He replied as everyone else watched aside from Natsume who was already asleep.
The raven-haired lass narrowed her eyes competitively. "Let's hear it."
"The dog died last night, did it die?" Tono asked.
"Yes."
Tono whistled. "Alright. Listen, listen. The dog died last night, did it die?"
"No."
He laughed. "This kid knows how to listen. Again. The dog died last night, did it die?"
"No."
He repeated it. "The dog died last night, did it die?"
"Yes."
Everyone clapped in amazement. "Hotaru-nee, how did you do that?" Aoi asked in wonder, so like Mikan.
Hotaru looked at the lot quizzically. "Do what?"
"Solve that thing. We've been on it for an hour and have no idea how it works." Youichi replied.
The Ice Princess shook her head. "Listen."
"We've been listening, alright!"
"No," Hotaru replied. "You haven't. Been listening, that is."
"…"
"…"
"No way," Mikan said. "No way."
"Yes way." Tono grinned mischievously. "Well, I told you guys to listen."
"Darn!"
He begun laughing then choked as a throw pillow hit him on the face.
"Get that, Tono," Tsubasa cheered, clutching another pillow. "Psych!" he laughed as a wild pillow fight emerged in the room.
Then a lightning struck and everyone fell silent as the door to the room opened loudly, a pillow heading towards it, ready to hit the person behind.
It was Luna. A pissed off Luna, to be exact.
Hotaru's eyes narrowed.
"May I talk to Mikan, please."
~(*o*)~(*o*)~(*o*)~
Mikan doesn't know why she agreed. She confidently exited the room with Luna while stealing glances at Hotaru who looked especially worried and Natsume who was disappointingly sleeping.
Without uttering a single word, Luna led Mikan to wherever she plans on having the talk. It was a long walk and it was clear that the witch doesn't plan on having the conversation in the house seeing as they are now by the beach, still walking.
"Where are you planning on taking us?" the brunette asked as she trudged after the strawberry-blonde girl. It was raining and both of them are unsheltered from the rain. "Look, if you're planning on catching a flu out here, I'm not so I'm going back." Mikan announced.
Luna turned around sharply. "No, you're not." She said as she caught the brunette's arm.
"Let go of me, Luna," Mikan hissed, soaked to the bones.
"Keep walking," Luna muttered as she dragged the brunette by the arm.
Mikan struggled, feeling frightened by this time. What if she murders her without anyone knowing? After all, no one said that she would be disposed peacefully. No one said that when Luna arrives, they'd just be quietly sending her home.
Well of course it would be easier saying that the supposedly Crown Princess met an accident during the vacation.
Of course.
Of course.
"Would you please!" Luna screamed through the rain as they went uphill. Where were they?
"What the hell are you going to do to me?!" Mikan screamed back to her as they arrived. She can now see that it was a cliff and that the ground was awfully slippery. One false move and she can go hurtle to her death.
She gulped.
"What do you want?" the brunette asked as she embraced herself, the warm Okinawa rain seeping through her body, freezing her. "And please, don't say something mainstream like you want me dead. That would ruin your lovely moment."
Luna rolled her eyes. "You are your suckish humor. I told you, I'm here to talk."
Mikan looked around her. "Funny how you're saying that and yet I am the one at the edge of the cliff, yes?"
The other girl laughed. "Why, of course. I'm here to talk and send you to your accident."
The brunette felt her blood freeze. Great. She's going to die. She's gonna freaking die without anyone knowing that she was murdered. All people would think is that she was some sort of bonkers and decided to go cliff-diving then die in the middle of a rainy weather in Okinawa.
Brilliant.
"You're kidding." Mikan said, quivering.
Luna laughed. "Of course I am. I'm not killing you, all right. Scaring, perhaps, is a better word." She said as she neared Mikan.
The brunette stepped back. "What do you want, Luna."
"Oh, nothing much. Just your time," she replied sneakily. "Just enough time for you to be missing inside the Mansion."
"What do you mean?" Mikan asked.
Another step. "I mean, there's something going on in that place where it's important that you are not seen right now."
"Just what the hell are you planning, Luna?" Mikan screamed as she stepped back. Just one more step and she would be falling off.
"You'll see later. When we get back." She smiled. "Or I get back."
"You know, if this is about me leaving then you don't have to do this anymore because whether I like it or not, you guys will still kick me out to make space for you, okay?"
"That's not how I see it." Luna replied. "Besides, it doesn't matter. That old dog is about to die anyway, and I doubt you'll care. After all, you didn't like it much either." She said as she checked her time.
"What are you – KYAAAAA! "
Then she fell.
~(*o*)~(*o*)~(*o*)~
"Let me through," Luna ordered as the ladies-in-waiting blocked the door to the ex-Empress' room.
They bowed. "We're sorry, Koizumi no kimi, but Her Majesty isn't feeling well and asks not to receive any visitors for today.
Luna's eyebrows hiked up as a smirk spread through her face. "Oh?" Of course she does, she thought. "Still, let me through."
"We cannot,"
This time, the strawberry-blonde girl snorted and busted through the ladies-in-waiting and barged in the room, meeting a frail old woman on her bed, looking as if Death has just paid her a visit. She smirked inwardly.
"Your Majesty," one of the ladies bowed. "We're very sorry. We told her that you are not to be disturbed but – "
A cough was heard. "Let it be. Stay outside until I ask for you."
"So," Luna started as the lady left the room and she was left with the frail ex-Empress, looking as if she was on the brink of death. "You don't look so well."
Youko glared at her. "And I presume you are the culprit to this illness?" she said surprisingly calm with a cracking voice.
Luna accommodated herself on the couch without being invited, ignoring the protesting glare from the old woman. "So you do know."
"Of course I do." The old woman chuckled.
"But you seem rather calm about your impending death. Why is that?" Luna asked, agitation starting to crawl on her skin.
"I was prepared for this." She answered.
Luna clapped. "Ha. You were prepared to die?" she asked mockingly. "You are not as cunning as my master thought you would be. Well, I supposed you weren't from that day you agreed to be an accomplice of our plan. I thought you'd know better that Kuonji-sama never planned on associating with you genuinely in the first place."
The ex-Empress remained silent.
"Let me guess. You thought that you should keep me close to watch our plans, didn't you?" she asked, a tinge of insanity in her voice. She laughed loudly as the old woman simply watched her. "Well you thought wrong! Now the throne would at last be on Kuonji-sama's hands and you won't be able to do anything about it."
She paused.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Let me rephrase that. Now you won't be able to undo what you did." She said as she flashed the contract signed by the ex-Empress declaring that Luna would be Natsume's wife once the current Crown Princess was found to be unfit.
The ex-Empress coughed wildly as she stared at Luna difficultly, tears streaming down her face.
Luna stood up and brushed the invisible dirt off her blouse, flashing the old woman with a last smile and a mocking thank you. Laughing, and before she left Youko, she delivered what she presumed would be her last words to her.
"The dog died last night. Did it die?"
~(*o*)~(*o*)~(*o*)~
Shit. Shit. SHIT.
Mikan opened her eyes slowly, wincing at the brightness of the room. What happened?
"Shi – "
"Natsume?" she croaked as she tried to get up, flinching at the pain that her body received at the process. "What – "
"Are you an idiot?" he asked angrily as he hugged her. Mikan felt him tremble in the embrace.
"What?" she answered as Natsume embraced her still, unwilling to let her go. What the hell's going on? "What's going on?"
Her fiancé let go of her, a sense of longing instantly invading her senses. She ignored it. Natsume looked at her hardly, his black eyebrows knitted together and his crimson orbs filled with worry.
"What were you thinking?!" he asked loudly.
Mikan didn't say anything. How can she? She was scared of Natsume for the first time. Like, really scared. She never saw him this mad. "I don't understand." She whispered weakly.
The raven-haired lad stared at her then talked. "I saw you go out with that bitch and I followed you. You went to that cliff and almost fell. You hear me? You. Almost. Fucking. Fell. Do you know how worried I was?" he scoffed. "Well of course you don't."
"I…fell?"
Natsume glared at her. "You did and I don't know what goodness invaded that bitch but she saved you. She saved you then woke up to reality and left you lying there on those rocks, dead cold. How stupid can you be?!"
Now it's really rare to see Natsume blowing off like this but it's starting to get on Mikan's nerves. Her head hurts like hell and nothing makes sense anymore. She doesn't remember what happened. But if it's true that Luna saved her then…
No. There must be something that she's not remembering. Luna can't be that kind. But what?
"I'm sorry." She said, dazed. "I'm sorry," she repeated again.
Why does she feel so scared? Why does she feel so alone? Why is there an unexplainable pain in her chest that is so heavy? Why is there a lump in her throat? Mikan reached up to her cheeks and felt her tears soak her fingers.
"I'm sorry," she repeated again as she hugged Natsume. "I'm sorry." She said as she cried.
"I'm sorry," she said again as he held her and she cried and again as he laid her on the bed and she cried.
And again before he kissed her and she fell asleep.
I love you, Mikan.
~(*o*)~(*o*)~(*o*)~
"Mother," Ioran stroked the ex-Empress face quietly as he looked at her still body, barely breathing. "It's time. I will be doing as you wish."
Youko smiled weakly in response. "Thank you, child." She replied. "I'll be entrusting...the correction…of my…. Mistakes to…you. I'm sorry." She wheezed. "I'm sorry…take care…Do not…fail. Do…not…fail…me. You hear me…Ioran?"
The Emperor nodded, tears escaping his eyes.
And for the first time in many years, he found a smile written on his mother's serene face. A smile directed towards him, pure and genuine. "Do not cry…child. Shhh," she said as she weakly raised her arm and wiped the tears on his face. "We will meet again.
Until we meet again." She whispered as she closed her eyes and laid still.
Tears fell more as the Emperor stood and looked at the sprawled figure of his mother, lying still on her bed, looking so pale yet beautiful. He tried to remember all the sufferings that has befallen him because of her but found nothing – remembers nothing – but the scanty moments of love she has shown him.
And quietly, as he looked at her, he whispered.
"Until we meet again, Mother."
Soon.
~(*o*)~(*o*)~(*o*)~
That rainy night where events started to unfold, there was no letter.
~(*o*)~(*o*)~(*o*)~
*** here in the Philippines, crabs are associated to people who try to drag people down with them. So I associated it with social climbers since those kinds of people drag people down to attain a higher position for themselves.
(For those who didn't get the game earlier, PM me or ask through Reviews!)
And it's over! How did you find this chapter? Heavy, wasn't it? That's because we're now at the climax of the story which means that…it's also about to end! Perhaps ten more chapters or so. I'm not sure but we'll see!
I hope you keep on supporting me! Oh, and REVIEW THIS CHAPTER! I REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! You can also give things a shot and try to figure out what would happen next! ^^
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