DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gakuen Alice. All credits go to the great Higuchi Tachibana. ...
a/n: Guys and Gals, this is it. We have finally come to the end of this fanfiction. Working on The Billion Dollar Rake has been both frustrating and rewarding. Every time you guys bother taking a few minutes of your time to read and drop me a review, I find that all the hours I spent holed up in my parents' room and staring blankly at the screen is all worth it. Thank you, for journeying with The Billion Dollar Rake and me. Thank you, thank you and I hope you enjoy. ^^
Explanation of term(s):
respite- brief interval of rest: a brief period of rest and recovery between periods of exertion or after something disagreeable.
inkling- hint: an indication of how to go about something.
scant- inadequate: not sufficient.
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Chapter 16. Bliss
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"Since the issue at hand seems to require a certain amount of
subtelity and tact, I would like to clarify one vital fact and really dear
readers, you must swear that you wouldn't scorn and gag after I say
this. I ask you to be condescending and allow me to interpret your silence
as an affirmative to my request. Now, let me tell you that contrary to popular
belief, I do have some tact- indiscernible or otherwise- but the point is it's still
there. Well now that I've clarified that let's get on with business, shall we?
I must say, that it's rather interesting, not to mention touching and a hundred
other sentiments of that sort, when we hear that a man chases after the
love of his life, don't you think? So let me just say one thing, good luck to
the gentleman in question and don't worry, I won't say who you are just yet."
-Melissa's Society Papers-
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"Welcome to our home, Hyuuga and I see that you've brought Nogi-san with you as well. Excellent."
Natsume purposefully strode to where Mikan was currently standing behind Suoh Kenji; her small hands clutching his arms as if it were her lifeline. Natsume eyed her intensely, his eyes burning with the questions that he wanted to ask. The sight of her holding on to him like pierced at his heart painfully and he was immediately flooded with thoughts of grabbing and holding on to her for all he was worth.
His stormy thoughts however, were interrupted by Kenji's benign voice saying, "Hyuuga-san, Nogi-san, please be seated and if we could offer you some refreshments?"
"Cut the polite shtick, Suoh. We didn't come here for that." Natsume growled and beside Kenji, Mikan gasped audibly.
Ruka, who up until then, was standing near the doorway, came forward and took hold of Natsume's arm, dragging him to the sofa and muttering, "Sit, you idiot. It won't do to act hostile and impolite." after saying this, he turned around to address their hosts who, by that time have both resumed their seats on the sofa parallel to where he and Natsume were both sitting; and said, "Thank you, we would appreciate some refreshments, neither of us have eaten a bite since breakfast."
"Then in that case, we would gladly offer you some. Mikan-chan, do you mind going to the kitchen for a bit? Ask them to prepare some tea and sandwiches perhaps? It would be quicker than if you ring the bell and wait for someone to come." Kenji said emphatically.
Mikan stood up, clearly glad for a momentary respite from Natsume's intense gaze. "Of course." she said with a taut smile albeit grateful smile.
Natsume, Kenji and Ruka watched as Mikan shut the door behind her and when Mikan's footsteps finally grew softer, Kenji cleared his throat and said, "Hyuuga-san, things aren't as bad as they seem. Please don't be too harsh on her and let her explain."
"If someone here should explain something it's you. Had you not come, everything would've been perfectly all right." Natsume hissed at him venomously.
"Please, all I ask of you is to give us the benefit of the doubt. I could tell you what this is really all about but I believe that Mikan-chan can do the job a lot better than I can ever hope to achieve."
"You want me to give you the benefit of the doubt? How can I possibly do that when I don't have even an inkling to what is going on."
Kenji let out a heartfelt sigh, "I can see no point, whatsoever, of explaining anything to you when all you clearly want to do is throttle me. So I believe that it is best if I leave all the elucidating to Mikan-chan."
As if on cue, they heard the rhythmic clunking of Mikan's footsteps down the hall and Kenji once more tried to appeal for his cousin by urgently whispering, "Just remember Hyuuga-san, you must let her say her piece. Don't judge her prematurely for I believe that you will both get unnecessarily hurt if you do that."
Mikan announced her arrival by knocking three times and proceeding to the seat she previously occupied and when she was settled, she cleared her throat awkwardly saying, "I come bearing refreshments." It was clear that she was trying for a lighthearted tone but was quite miserably faling.
The atmosphere in the room was such that nobody knew what to reply to that and Ruka, taking pity on the obviously uneasy Mikan stood up and said, "Well I suppose we better leave you and Natsume alone"
Kenji immediately raised his objection, "I believe that there is no need for that," he said sharply.
"On the contrary, I believe there is every need." Ruka contradicted.
"There is nothing that Mikan-chan will say that I have no knowledge of." He argued.
"Well, that may be true but there is nothing that Natsume will say that you know anything about. I believe they both deserve their privacy."
Kenji sighed in resignation, "You do have a point, Nogi-san but I refuse to leave if Mikan-chan do not allow me to do so." He said, looking at Mikan for her permission."
"It's okay, Kenji-san. Nogi-san is right, it would be better if Hyuuga-san and I can talk in private." Mikan replied hesitantly.
Kenji gave another sigh, "Then in that case, I think it's best if we leave now. Come along, Nogi-san" He said, motioning for Ruka to follow him but before closing the double doors, he couldn't resist turning back to say, "Remember what I told you, Hyuuga-san."
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Kenji lead Ruka to a parlor just down the hall from the sitting room they recently vacated, he motioned for Ruka to sit down and presently went to the side of the room to ring for more food to be brought up to the parlor.
"I assume that you still want the food?" Kenji asked blandly after settling himself comfortably on the armchair opposite Ruka's.
"Well I must admit that I really am hungry." Ruka replied with a careless shrug, "I didn't just say that just to get Natsume to calm down so I guess yes, I'd appreciate the refreshments."
After a tensed minute of silence, Kenji finally broke the ice by saying, "I can assure you Nogi-san, that there is a perfectly reasonable explanation behind the recent turn of events."
"I do hope so, Suoh-san. We didn't come here looking for a fight, we merely came seeking an explanation but if there isn't sufficient reason...." Ruka let his deceptively calm statement trail off, bringing an unbidden smile to the other man's face.
"Did you just threaten me? And in my own home to boot." Kenji raised an incredulous brow.
Ruka gave another careless shrug, "You can interpret it in whatever way you wish."
Kenji laughed thunderously at Ruka's boldness and said, "You're a good person, Nogi-san. A good friend, and I believe that I would like you better as an ally than as an enemy."
Ruka raised his brows as that, "Meaning?"
"After all the cards have been laid on the table and when all has been said and done, I believe that we could be great friends indeed." Kenji replied with a warm smile.
"Well, I believe that won't be too hard to manage." Ruka replied with a grin of his own.
Their friendly chatter was interrupted by the arrival of the refreshments.
"Ah, excellent. The refreshments came right on time. Help yourself to the scones Nogi-san, there's nobody who does them better than our cook. There's no sense in worrying over those two, I think they will get along just fine."
Ruka laughed and said, "Well then don't mind if I do."
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Both Mikan and Natsume watched as Kenji and Ruka closed the door firmly behind them. Mikan was thankful to have a cousin as supportive as Kenji and as much as she wanted him to stay and offer her moral support, she really thinks that it would benefit everybody more if she just gritted her teeth and do what must be done.
She chanced another covert glance at Natsume's direction and found, quite to her surprise, that he was chewing on a sandwich that she brought with the refreshments just a few scant minutes ago. Though how he managed to retain his appetite at a situation such as this one was quite beyond her comprehension.
"Men."
She muttered the single word with enough force that Natsume looked up from his sandwich and inquired, "I beg your pardon?"
"Nothing." She denied blatantly, "Kenji-san mentioned about something he asked you to do?"
"It's nothing of consequence, Mikan."
"Well if you say so then." Mikan replied hesitantly.
They lapsed into another uncomfortable silence after that and Natsume, who quite frankly, had not really thought of what he was going to say to Mikan once they met again, only had one thing in his mind and that was to haul Mikan to his arms and kiss her senseless or at least until she agreed with him that they belonged together.
"Oh for heaven's sake, Hyuuga. Get a grip. Get a bloody grip." he thought savagely, biting on a particularly delicious scone.
His thoughts however, were interrupted by Mikan's hesitant, "Well I suppose I owe you an apology, Hyuuga-san. Running of just like that, I must've caused quite a mess. I'm really sorry."
Natsume remained silent after that and he looked as if he was trying to figure out a particularly difficult set of riddles.
"Hyuuga-san?" Mikan inquired hesitantly.
"Why is it that you call me Hyuuga-san while you call Suoh Kenji-san?" Natsume asked, visibly upset.
Mikan, who was expecting a different reply altogether tentatively asked, "I beg your pardon?"
"I said-"
"I heard what you said but I'm not quite sure what you meant when you said them."
"I believe that I've asked you once to refer to me by my given name but you've never done so."
"Hyuuga-san, I believe I don't quite understand what you mean by all this but the point of the matter is, I would like to apologize."
"Apologize?"
"For running off without prior notice."
"That's easy for you to say. Honestly Mikan, do you have any idea what kind of trouble I went through just to reach you?"
"I'm sorry." Mikan replied remorsefully.
"It's a good thing I love you so well." Natsume said matter-of-factly.
Mikan blinked twice and opened her mouth to say something in reply but she found that all she could manage was a rather embarrassing, "gah...gah..gah..."
"Really love, you ought to stop doing that, I believe you're beginning to resemble a fish. A quite fetching fish to be sure but a fish nonetheless." Natsume said with an amused smile.
"You- you love....me?" Mikan asked, when she finally recovered her power of speech.
"Why else do you think would I have come here?"
"I don't know, to fire me, I guess." she replied with a shrug.
"I would never do that." Natsume said with a slight frown, "Though there is the fact that you took off with Suoh without any explanation."
"I- I guess there is that." Mikan replied timidly.
"Won't you explain now because I seriously doubt that I can hold on to my sanity any longer." Natsume said tautly.
Mikan glanced up at Natsume's taut statement and sure enough, what she saw when she looked into his eyes was a carefully leashed fury that told her that in spite of his earlier flip comments, there were still questions that he wanted answered and Mikan, not wanting to provoke him any farther chose to tell him the whole unvarnished truth.
"He's my cousin." She said simply.
"He's your what?" Natsume asked incredulously, obviously not believing what he just heard.
"It's the truth." Mikan said with a shrug, "Kenji-san is my cousin. I can't do anything if you don't believe that."
"I don't understand, how can he be your cousin?"
"My mother was his father's youngest sister. Even I didn't know that up until a few days ago." Mikan replied.
"Your mother was the youngest daughter of the Suoh family?"
"Yes. Her name was Lilian Suoh before she married my father. This necklace was given to Mama by Grandpa when she turned 18." Mikan replied, raising up the necklace for Natsume to see.
"I can't believe it, you really are the missing granddaughter! My mother would be so delighted! So that was why you came here?"
"That's right."
"So you came here to see your Grandfather and not because you like Suoh?"
"Well I do like him, he is my cousin after all but yes, I wouldn't have gone with him had I not known that he was cousin."
Natsume smiled happily at that, "I do love you, Mikan and I'm willing to everything so that you can love me too."
"You love me? Me?"
"Yes."
"Plain old me?"
"There's nothing plain about you love, nobody can hold a candle to your beauty. You're kind and smart, you're understanding and patient enough not to clobber me when I act like a complete ass."
Mikan laughed at that, "I love you too, Natsume. Not because of your looks or your money but simply because you're you."
"Did I hear that correctly, did you just say that you're love me too?" Natsume asked ecstatically.
"You're charming and kind, loving and completely devoted to your Mother and Father. How could I not love you?" Mikan replied simply and it was at that moment that Natsume finally did what he has been wanting to do since he saw her.
He strode to where Mikan was standing, hauled her off her feet and kissed her. Passionately. The kiss conveyed all the other things that he wanted to say; his worry when she left, his fear that she would be taken away from her, his happiness that she was finally in his arms and most specially, his love for her.
Somehow, all the heartache and pain that he experienced were all worth it; the gnawing jealousy at the pit of his stomach whenever she as much as glanced at another man, the awkward stuttering that he was reduced to whenever she was around, the ingenious and often hilarious scheming he does just to ensure her company. Somehow, all of them are reduced to nothing by this one simple fact: The love of love his life is now safely in his arms and he's not planning to let go anytime soon and the knowledge of that was just bliss.
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a/n: I guess that's it guys and gals. The end has finally come. I hope you enjoyed. ^^
Do me one last favor and drop me a review, it would make all the effort worth it. Please and Thank you! ^^