The Lady of My Heart: Chapter 6

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

Hotaru, Ryusuki and Ryusuke were sitting on the bench that was located in the east town. Ryusuke was enjoying his ice cream that Hotaru bought for him.

"Ryusuke," Ryusuki called his twin after scanning his surroundings.

"Ryusuki, do you have that feeling, too?" Ryusuke asked, ignoring his twin's call.

Hotaru sat in silent as she listened to them.

Ryusuki pretended to be dumb. "What feeling?"

Ryusuke sighed before explaining, "Familiar feeling… I feel familiar with Uncle Natsume whenever he hugs me."

Ryusuki sighed inwardly. He's really clueless.

"Are you listening, Ryusuki?" Ryusuke nudged his twin.

Ryusuki grunted in reply. After a moment he said, "What if I tell you it was because he's our father?"

The unfortunate ice cream landed on the ground instantly.

Ryusuke's eyes widened in shock and his little mouth opened wide. He stared at his twin, speechless.

Hotaru's eyes widened in surprise, but then, she smiled. To be expected from the eldest. She had always known that Ryusuki was more intelligent than his younger twin.

"W-what?" Ryusuke exclaimed loudly, and everyone in the town looked at him strangely.

Ryusuki sighed dejectedly. "Lower your voice, Ryusuke."

Ryusuke looked around and just realised where he was at the moment. "So-sorry."

After a few moment of silence, Ryusuke asked, "Is it true? Is he really...?"

Ryusuki closed his eyes. "Hn."

"What will happen to us?" Ryusuke asked again.

Ryusuki opened his eyes. "Nothing will happen to us."

"It's up to Okaa-sama if we will go home with Otou-sama or not," Ryusuki continued with a sigh.

"Go home…" Ryusuke echoed.

"Aunt Hotaru, are you all right with this?" Ryusuki asked while looking at Hotaru.

Hotaru smiled. "As long as the three of you are happy, then I have no problem with this."

...xXx...

"S-stop it Natsume!" Mikan giggled when Natsume nipped her neck.

He stopped teasing her and gathered her into his lap before hugging her. "Come with me. I will introduce you and our twins to Otou-sama."

A gasp slipped out from her lips.

"What is it?"

"How are we going to tell the twins about you? I've never spoken a word about you to them. Ryusuke also sees you as an uncle."

Before she could continue her assumptions, he silenced her with his lips. He kissed her lightly. After breaking the kiss, he assured her, "Everything will be alright."

Not long after he said those words, the trio returned to the hut.

Mikan immediately turned red when the twins found her sitting on Natsume's lap. She tried to move away, but unfortunately for her, he wouldn't let her go. Slowly, she began, "Em… Ryu… Okaa-sama has something to tell—"

"We already know that, Okaa-sama," Ryusuki said while looking at Natsume.

Mikan looked at Ryusuki in confusion. Her eyes widened when Ryusuki continued, "I've been expecting you, Otou-sama."

"Thank you, Ryusuki." Natsume smiled and looked over Ryusuke, who was hiding behind Ryusuki. "Ryusuke?"

"O-Otou-sama," Ryusuke greeted shyly.

Mikan could only smile and called them, "Ryu… come here."

The twins slowly approached their mother, and once they were in front of her, she chanted something under her breath and kissed their little foreheads. In count of seconds, their royalty mark appeared on their foreheads. It was red phoenix like Natsume's.

Ryusuki and Ryusuke stared at each other's mark.

Natsume looked at his twin sons with pride. That was what he needed to show to the land that they were his. He turned to Mikan. "Don't you think you need to show yourself now?"

"Huh?" she replied unintelligently.

He sighed. "Should I remind you of who you are?"

"H-how did you know?"

"It's too obvious after I gathered the information. You’re Akira's twin sister, aren't you?"

She blushed before sighing in defeat. "As you wish, Natsume." After closing her eyes for a while, a sakura symbol appeared on her forehead.

"Well, I see that both of you have reunited, so what are you waiting for now?" Hotaru said nonchalantly.

Mikan pouted. "Are you going to throw me out from your father's lands, Hotaru?"

"For now, yes. It's necessary." Hotaru smiled.

"It's necessary?" Mikan repeated.

Hotaru glanced at Natsume with meaningful eyes.

Natsume raised an eyebrow at her and silence was his answer. After a few minutes, he mentally rolled his eyes in annoyance. You're going to pay for this, Ruka.

Mikan looked between Natsume and Hotaru, puzzled.

You're on the move, huh? Natsume smiled inwardly.

Suddenly, a voice greeted them, "There you are…"

They all turned to the source.

"Uncle Akira!" Ryusuke exclaimed before rushing towards Akira to hug him.

Akira smiled at Natsume and glanced at his twin sister, who was blushing madly. He averted his eyes back to Natsume. "Are you done now, Natsume?"

Natsume smirked. "Almost."

After her red face returned to normal, Mikan blinked her eyes. "Akira, what are you doing here?"

Akira's face turned serious almost immediately. "Otou-sama wants you to come back, Mikan."

Mikan's eyes widened in shock. “B-but...!”

"I know it's too sudden, but don't you think it's time for you to meet Otou-sama now?"

Mikan looked down at the ground as she tried to take everything in. With a sigh, she agreed, "I understand." She couldn't run away from her father forever.

Akira nodded his head. "We will depart tomorrow morning."

"I’ll come with you," Natsume said suddenly.

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

Natsume raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Akira smiled. "I do think that is a good idea."

...xXx...

"Thank you for everything, Hotaru." Mikan hugged Hotaru.

"You're welcome, Mikan," Hotaru replied, returning her hug.

"See you, Aunt Hotaru." Ryusuke smiled.

"See you, Ryusuke."

Hotaru turned to Ryusuki, who nodded.

"Until then, Hotaru," Akira bid with a small nod.

Hotaru nodded in reply and looked at Natsume. "Good luck."

"Hn."

They all went to the Northern Lands with Mikan’s power. Hotaru sat down and slowly sipped her tea after watching her best friend disappear. Not far from her, a rotating red fox appeared on the ground. It burst into flames after three seconds. When the flames extinguished, a handsome blond man in blue kimono appeared before her.

"Greetings, Hotaru, my princess," he greeted with a smile. As he reached her side, he kissed her temple.

"Greetings, Ruka," Hotaru greeted back while looking at man with a small smile and mentally added, my prince.

Since the reunion party, Ruka had come to visit her regularly, and he had finally asked her permission to court her weeks prior. Of course, she agreed because she, too, had special feelings towards the prince since the day he was assigned as her partner when they attended Gakuen Alice many years ago.

...xXx...

"I see that you still remember the way to come home, Mikan," Izumi Sakura, the Lord of the Northern Lands, said coldly.

Mikan flinched slightly and fiddled her kimono’s sleeves. Her father was truly upset with her.

When Akira was about to defend Mikan, Izumi exclaimed, “Silence! You were the one who helped her ran away."

"If I may speak, Lord Izumi," Natsume said, and Izumi turned to look at him. After giving the lord a small bow, he introduced himself, "I'm Natsume Hyuuga, the second son of the Lord of the Eastern Lands."

Izumi stayed silent as he waited for Natsume to continue.

Natsume looked at him in the eye. "I wish to take your daughter Mikan Sakura as my wife, Lord Izumi."

Yuka, who was sitting beside Izumi, smiled with happiness.

However, before Yuka could voice out her happiness, her husband replied, "What confidence you have that I would accept your proposal?"

Yuka sighed as she knew her husband was really protective of Mikan, which made her ran away from the castle. Luckily for her, she could persuade her husband to stop his search for their daughter years ago. She had told him that Mikan needed her own space to grow up.

Before Natsume could answer Izumi, Ryusuke spoke, "Grandfather is very scary, Ryusuki."

"Who's there?" Izumi asked with wide eye.

Startled, Ryusuke clutched Natsume's hakama tightly.

All this time, the twins were hiding behind their father and mother.

"Both of you, greet your grandfather and grandmother properly," Akira said with a smile.

Ryusuki stepped aside and stood beside Mikan while Ryusuke reluctantly stepped aside and stood beside Natsume.

Izumi and Yuka's eyes widened instantly but for different reasons. While Izumi was shocked beyond words, Yuka was happy as her daughter had finally come back. And now, she was more than happy to meet her twin grandchildren.

Yuka smiled at Mikan. "My grandchildren?"

Mikan nodded. "Yes, Okaa-sama."

"Explain yourself!" Izumi exclaimed loudly.

Scared, Ryusuke quickly hugged Natsume's leg.

Natsume, who realised his son's fear, brought him into his arms.

Ryusuki clutched her mother's kimono tightly as he, too, was scared. He knew his grandfather was angry with their mother, and he was afraid that his grandfather might hurt his mother.

Knowing what his eldest son was feeling, Mikan petted Ryusuki's small head to assure him that everything would be all right.

Ryusuki looked up at his mother, who looked down at him with a smile. He nodded in reply.

Yuka glared at her husband. "Izumi! You shouldn't shout so loud, you’re scaring our grandchildren."

Izumi closed his eyes to calm his temper. Obviously, he didn't mean to scare the children. He sighed. "Apologies." When he opened his eyes, he waited for his daughter to explain everything.

Natsume let Ryusuke go to Akira's arms.

When Mikan was about to speak, Natsume beat her to it, "It was my fault that I let her run away from my father's lands, Lord Izumi."

"No! It was not your fault, Natsume. It was me who jumped to conclusions without waiting for your explanation about our action that night," Mikan defended.

"No. I should tell you sooner that I have fallen in love with you after you worked with me as my personal assistant for six months," Natsume countered back.

In the end, they had forgotten that Izumi, Yuka and Akira were there while they were trying to take the blame for everything, and with their argument, they both had summarised their story. Yuka and Akira smiled as they watched them. Both of them finally brought back to reality when they heard a chuckle from Izumi.

"I accept your explanation, but I expect you to not make the same mistake again," Izumi said while looking at her daughter.

Mikan smiled at her father. "Thank you, Otou-sama."

Izumi turned to Natsume. "I accept your proposal, Prince Natsume."

Natsume gave a small bow. "Thank you, Lord Izumi."

"Now, may I know the names of my grandchildren?" Izumi asked.

Ryusuke turned to look at his grandfather warily. "You're not going to be mad at me?"

"Of course not, you're my precious grandchildren." Izumi laughed while the others smiled.

Ryusuke turned to look at his uncle Akira. After his uncle let him down, he walked towards his twin Ryusuki.

Together, they stepped forward. It was Ryusuki, who introduced himself first, "I'm Ryusuki, the eldest, Grandfather Izumi."

Ryusuke followed suit. "I'm Ryusuke, the youngest, Grandfather Izumi."

Before the twins knew it, their grandmother already hugged them. "I'm happy to meet you, Ryusuki, Ryusuke."

The twins were surprised but hugged their grandmother back.

Yuka broke the hug and stood up. She looked at Mikan. "I guess it's time for you to go now."

Mikan was confused. "Eh?"

"I expect that you will take good care of my daughter, Prince Natsume." Yuka smiled at Natsume.

"I will, Lady Yuka," Natsume replied immediately.

Mikan looked at her mother and Natsume in confusion. Finally, she asked Natsume, "Where are we going, Natsume?"

"My father's lands," he answered while looking at her.

Prev Chapter 1—The New Assistant Chapter 2—The Disappearance Chapter 3—The Invitation Chapter 4—The Reunion Chapter 5—The Truth Chapter 6—The Meeting Chapter 7—The Lady of My Heart Next