To See You

#13: Gakuen Alice (Natsume & Mikan)
...xXx...

The alarm signaling emergency jerked him out of his two-hour-long nap. Having worked for more than twenty hours straight since there were so many patients being admitted to the hospital, he moaned in exhaustion. Quickly, he made his way to the emergency room and immediately inspected the patient that was reported to have an injury inflicted from a major accident. As she took in weak breaths, the young woman had blood flowing heavily from her head. Without wasting a moment, he professionally did his best to help her.
Once the operation was over, he let out a sigh of relief and was glad to be able to save the young woman. As soon as he opened the operation room, a raven-haired woman latched onto his robe tightly. Of course, he knew who she was. She was his best friend's fiancée Hotaru Imai.
"Tell me that she's alright." Tears streamed down her face. "Tell me that she's alright!"
He made no comment as his best friend Ruka Nogi pulled her away. Hugging her and smiling sadly, Ruka explained, "Sorry, Natsume. The young woman you tended just now is our best friend."
No wonder. He nodded in understanding. "She will live, but I'm not sure when she will wake up."

...xXx...

Mikan Sakura. The sound of her name brought him peace, but he didn't know why. However, his peace didn't last long as two weeks passed without the young woman showing any signs of coming out of her coma. As he noticed the rapidly-passing time, his fear that she wouldn't wake up anymore only increased. Though he didn't know why he felt that way, he guessed that it was probably because she was his Ruka's friend. Another day passed and his heart leaped in happiness when she slowly opened her eyes even though she closed them immediately after.
"Mikan, can you hear me?" Hotaru asked worriedly.
She opened her eyes again. "Yeah, I can hear you, Hotaru."
Hotaru and Ruka sighed in relief.
Natsume, too, unconsciously did the same.
She closed her eyes and quietly muttered, "W-water please…"
Ruka poured a glass of water while Hotaru assisted her in sitting up. Ruka handed the glass to Hotaru, and she helped Mikan drink the water.
"How are you feeling?" Hotaru inquired again.
Natsume looked at Mikan with narrowed eyes; he noticed that something was not right.
"I'm fine, Hotaru." Mikan smiled. "Can I ask you something?"
Hotaru nodded, and Mikan gulped. "Can you tell me what time it is now?"
"It's just past afternoon, Mikan," Ruka prompted.
Mikan turned her head towards Ruka's direction immediately. She laughed nervously. "I didn't know you were here, Ruka-sensei."
"Please just call me Ruka, Mikan. I may be a doctor in this hospital, but you are not my patient," Ruka replied.
Nastume sighed and approached her. "You will make them worry if you don't tell them the truth."
Mikan froze while Ruka and Hotaru looked at him quizzically.
"Please don't close your eyes," he said before moving in to inspect her eyes.

...xXx...

A week had passed since Natsume announced that she lost her ability to see. She still had small injures, but overall, she was alright. Ruka and Hotaru had insisted she should stay until she was fully recovered even though she wished to go home. She stared at the ceiling above her, but, of course, she saw nothing but pure darkness. Sighing, she slowly sat up and strained her ears as she tried to hear the sounds that were coming from the window not far from her bed. After a moment she heard footsteps and smiled knowingly. "Natsume-sensei."
She heard him grunt in reply. When he started checking her injures, she tilted her head while facing him. "Natsume-sensei, how are you today?"
Again, she only received, "Hn," from him. She smiled inwardly as she had found out about this habit from Ruka. When she complained to Ruka that she had never met a doctor as rude as Natsume, Ruka had explained that Natsume was someone who seldom showed his emotions and rarely spoke to others unless necessary.
Natsume made a small note on the board when Mikan asked, "When will I be able to leave, Natsume-sensei?"
She was still smiling like always as he replied, "Two days."
It was a lie. She could leave anytime, but for some reason, he was holding her up in this hospital. He just wished she could stay as long as possible as he had come to like her presence.
Her smile faded and she looked away from him. "I see…"
To him, her voice sounded sad. He didn't know what the cause was.
Unknown to him, she enjoyed his presence, too, and wished to stay longer with him.
Looking at her sad face, he stared out of the window. The weather was nice and the intent of making her feel better crossed his mind. "Do you want to go out?"
She quickly looked up at him and smiled brightly. "Can I?"
Although she was blind, he could imagine her chocolate pools that were filled with happiness. He was glad that such a simple suggestion could make her smile at him. Even though she couldn't see it, he gave her a small smile. "Yes."
The sound of branches colliding with each other soothed her mind. She smiled as a gentle breeze caressed her face. It seemed her doctor had led them under a tree that shielded them from the burning sun above.
Mikan was oblivious that Natsume had been staring at her intently since they had stopped under the Sakura tree.
"It's really nice to be here," Mikan muttered with closed eyes. She turned to her doctor and smiled. "Arigatou, sensei."
She was startled by his warm hand suddenly touching her cheek. Unconsciously, she leaned against his hand and closed her eyes.
He was sure that he was losing his mind when he leaned closer to her face and pressed his lips to hers.

...xXx...

Three months had passed by. Mikan smiled brightly at the hospital building before her. She had regained her sight again after her operation. After she was discharged from the hospital, her family living in New York came back to bring her to America in search of a specialist. They could find a specialist in Japan, but her mother had insisted that she should go back to New York for better treatment, and it had been a while since her last visit, too. Her operation only took a week, but her father wanted her to stay longer. She had no choice but to comply with their request to stay a little longer.
She entered the building and was greeted by every nurse that knew her. Smiling, she greeted them back. After a few instructions, she found her way to her former doctor. Even though they didn't talk nor contact each other after she was discharged, she was sure that she really wanted to see him. She smiled when she read the golden plate that carved the name of her first love Natsume Hyuuga. When she was about to open the door, she heard a woman's voice. She stopped in her tracks and silently turned the door knob. What greeted her eyes made her eyes widened, and she clamped her mouth. Tears started forming in her eyes as she took a step back and ran away from the office.
Her vision was blurring because of her tears. When she was near the exit of the hospital, she bumped into someone, and both of them fell to the ground.
Hearing a familiar voice, Ruka regained his posture and looked at the person he had bumped into. He smiled, but the smile disappeared as soon as it appeared when he saw Mikan's tears.
"Mikan, are you alright?" He approached her quickly.
He grimaced when Mikan looked up to him with tears. "Ruka?"
After getting a nod from him, she threw herself into his arms and cried.

...xXx... 

Natsume stared at the green-haired woman before him. "What are you doing here?"
Sumire smiled. "Can't I come and visit my fiancé?"
He rolled his eyes and corrected her, "Ex-fiancé."
She, too, rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I know that."
"You should not be here, or more precisely, not in this room."
"I wanted to see you, Natsume." She approached him.
"You already have, so you can go," he replied nonchalantly.
She hugged herself as if to warm up. "So cold…"
He ignored her, and she smiled. "Can I get a kiss from you?"
While staring at her, he asked, "You're not drunk, so are you in the right mind?"
She pulled his white coat and stared at him closely. "Just one kiss. I already told Mochu about it, so you don't have to worry about him."
He looked at the woman before him in disbelief and shook his head.
"Please… just treat it as my wedding gift…" She looked at him pleadingly.
He sighed in defeat, and she grinned at him. Leaning down, he kissed her lips. It was a goodbye kiss.
After they broke the kiss, she pulled away and smiled. "Thanks for everything, Natsume."
With that said she left him, but when he saw her stop before the door, he asked, "What is it?"
Sumire turned around. "Eh?"
He raised an eyebrow, and she shrugged. "Ah, it's nothing. I just thought that the door was already closed."
Thoughtfully, he narrowed his eyes, and she continued on her way out. However, before closing the door, she exclaimed, "I'm going to send our wedding picture to you after we came back from honey moon!"
He shook his head but smiled as he was happy for her. They were childhood friends and had been engaged since they were 10. The agreement between her and his family was they would get married when they turned 25, but during the past few years, they realized that they only loved each other as brother and sister. Just a year ago when Sumire turned 24, she finally found someone she truly loved which was his workmate Mochu. Thus, they broke their long engagement as she would be getting married within a month.

...xXx...

Mikan slowly sipped the hot chocolate that was Ruka made for her. She closed her puffy eyes.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Ruka asked gently.
She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "It's okay."
He knew that she was faking the smile and sighed. "Please don't smile if you don't feel like it, Mikan."
She stopped smiling and watched at the steam swirling above her hot chocolate. "How's Hotaru?"
"Good," he replied with a nod. He was trying to get her tell him who had dared to make her cry even though he had a good guess who the culprit was. Seeing her condition, he decided he would keep quiet and wouldn't force her to tell him. He loved Mikan like a sister, so he would do anything to make her happy. "What are you going to do now?"
This time, she gave him a true small smile. "I'm going back to New York."
She couldn't tell Ruka that she had come back for Natsume. She finished her chocolate and stood up. "I have to go now. Send my regards to Hotaru."
"Sure." Ruka nodded and asked again, "You will come to our wedding next month, right?"
She nodded with a big smile now. "Of course! I definitely can't miss that."
Before letting her go, he gave her an assuring hug. Right after she left, Ruka quickly went to a certain someone's office to clarify his suspicions.
Natsume raised an eyebrow as his best friend suddenly broke into his office with a glare. He was clueless why his best friend threw him an angry look.
"What?" he finally asked as Ruka didn't make a move nor say anything to him.
Ruka approached him and looked at him curiously. "Did you get a visitor just now?"
He blinked. "Yeah. It was Sumire."
Ruka's eyes widened and rubbed his chin as he looked away from him. "I see… No wonder…"
"Huh?" Natsume looked at him, puzzled.
"Ah, it's nothing." With that said, Ruka left him.
Dumbfounded, he shook his head and continued to work again. He decided that he would ask his best friend later.

...xXx...

Mikan exhaled slowly to calm her pounding heart. She pressed the bell of the house before her. Her best friend's wedding had come, and she definitely wouldn't miss it even though the best man was her first love. After a few minutes the door was opened by her best friend Hotaru. She smiled and hugged her immediately. "Hotaru!"
Natsume, who was sitting in the living room of his best friend's house, clenched and unclenched his fist nervously. Ruka had told him that Mikan was chosen as the maid of honor. Even though he was busy, he had come here just to meet her. It had been four months since he last saw her. Her cheerful voice reached his ears, and he darted his eyes towards her. He took a deep breath when he saw her as she had become even more beautiful than before. When the two women reached the living room, he stood up. She tilted her head slightly when she saw him and gave a questioning look towards Hotaru.
"Meet your doctor, Mikan, Natsume Hyuuga," Hotaru said, introducing them.
Mikan gazed at Natsume for a while before smiling. "Ah, I remember, Natsume-sensei."
She gave him a small bow. "Thank you so much for taking care of me last time."
Natsume remained silent for a while before replying, "You're welcome."
He had noticed that her smile didn't reach her eyes and pondered why.
The day passed uneventfully as they finally decided the gowns for the bride and the maid of honor and also the tuxes for the groom and the best man. For the entire time, Mikan ignored Natsume as if he was not with them. Natsume was entirely clueless as to why Mikan ignored him like that until Ruka pulled him to the corner, away from the women.
"What?"
Ruka watched the two women before whispering, "She's upset with you because she saw you with Sumire."
That piece of information hit him quite hard. He put the pieces together with what Sumire told him about his office's door and stared at her. Don't tell me…
At the end of the day, they went to dinner at a restaurant. After the waiters and waitresses served their orders, they started eating.
It was Ruka who started a conversation. "How long are you going to stay here, Mikan?"
Mikan smiled. "A week, I guess."
"Where are you staying right now?" Hotaru inquired.
She shrugged. "A hotel."
Ruka gazed at her. "Don't you think it's quite expensive for that?"
Mikan shook her head. "It's not a problem. You know I've been working with Akira for this."
Mikan didn't notice Natsume stiffening after hearing "Akira" from her mouth.
However, Ruka, who noticed this decided to tease his best friend a bit. "Oh, how's Akira?"
Ruka ignored the hard glare from his best friend. He knew that his best friend was mad at him for not telling him about this "Akira."
Mikan hummed. "Good, but he still tried to convince me to run the company along with him since we're twins."
Again, Mikan didn't notice Natsume sigh in relief.
Ruka tried to refrain from laughing at his best friend.
Hotaru, who knew the problem between Natsume and Mikan decided to hook them up. "I remember that you live alone, Natsume."
Mikan almost choked on her food.
Natsume threw Hotaru a grateful smile. "Yes."
Hotaru smiled and nodded to herself. "Do you mind taking care of my best friend for a while?"
For the very first time, Mikan looked at Natsume with wide and pleading eyes. She was hoping that he would say he minded, but too bad for her, he wanted to get his revenge since she ignored him.
Mikan felt as though her life was over when Natsume smirked. "I won't mind at all."

...xXx...

Mikan stared at the room before her. She was a hundred percent sure that it was a girl's room. The light pink color of the wall described that much. The room was filled with elegant yet simple furniture. She turned to look at Natsume, who was leaning against the door with his arms crossed. She nervously began, "Natsume-sensei… this—"
"My younger sister's room."
Her eyes widened. "Oh, no. I couldn't stay here. I don't think—"
"She won't mind," he interrupted her for the second time.
She bit her lower lip, and he twitched mentally. Her simple action had drawn his urge to kiss her.
After turning to look at the room, she sighed dejectedly. She turned to him again and smiled. "I guess I'll stay here then."
She gave a small bow. "Thank you, Natsume-sen—"
"Natsume," he interrupted her for the third time and approached her. "Just call me Natsume. I'm not your doctor anymore."
Then, she did it again, biting her lower lip. His hand twitched.
She began, "Alright…"
For the third time, she bit her lower again but this time, he cupped her face in reply as he couldn't hold the desire to kiss her any more. She looked up at him in surprise, and he caressed her face with his thumb. Looking at her slightly parted lips for a moment, he leaned down and captured them with his. The feelings she was holding broke when their lips met, and she kissed him back. He pulled her closer to him with his arms around her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck. They kissed for a good minute before breaking apart for air.
She pulled away from his embrace when realization hit her. Her body shook slightly as she tried to hold the tears that were threatening to fall. She just remembered that the man before her was not hers, and she had to get away from him before it was too late. However, he caught her wrist before she could back too far away.
"Why didn't you look for me after your operation?" he asked even though he knew the answer.
She looked away from him.
He gazed at her face. "You did come, didn't you?"
She froze.
"Sumire is my childhood friend."
She blinked her eyes to keep her tears at bay.
"She's my ex-fiancée."
Her eyes widened in surprise.
Pulling her into his arms, he quietly requested, "Tell me. Tell me why you came to my office that day."
She hugged him tightly and answered, "I came to your office that day because… because I wanted to see you."

The End

Thanks for reading.

Prev 1. Fiancée Inn 2. My Clumsy Princess 3. Just Stay with Me 4. To See You 5. Nemuri Hime 6. It's Always Been You 7. Remember Me 8. Farmer or Princess? 9. Ghost's Girlfriend 10. Life 11. White Christmas 12. The Spirit of My Life 13. Involuntary Third Wheel 14. Six Hours 15. Melt The Snow 16. Within Another Chance Next