- - Nine Princes, One Princess - -
9 + 1 is 2

A big thanks to

TheRandomChocolate, the best online friend you can wish for, for the most humorous lines you can ever think of, causing one to find the huge source of inspiration once again,

Chris, the best reader you can't even dream of – and whose digits I still haven't managed to remember,

And to you, for reading my story.

Chapter Ten
Of Pathetic Books and Sudden Confessions

It was freaky how three days could pass in just the blink of your eye. I'd been standing there, daydreaming, as Natsume somehow managed to comfort me a little bit through those 72 hours of staring into the empty space no one else could see except for me. It was a white space, empty, but had a very warm feeling to it. What was it, I wonder?

But well, even if I didn't know what that space was, it didn't really matter. It was a nice escape route to daze off to anyway, especially whenever I'd gotten into the pinch of either being forced to talk to Ruka or having to be alone with Ruka.

Oh time, please grant my wish and go past me quickly, just as those past three days have done, so I'll be able to stand with both my feet in Tokyo again, ready to celebrate my 16th birthday with Nonoko, Anna and Hotaru.

Please.

I looked at Natsume, who was sitting in front of me, at the other side of the table in my hotel room, reading a book. The bright daylight was shining through the big, clean windows, but it was still cold outside. That was how it was, two days before New Year. And we were still in Shanghai.

Aoi, Koko and Ruka went out to look around a bit in other parts of the city. Before they left, they'd tried to get both of us join them as well, but I'd friendly excused myself from being dragged around the town once again, as Natsume had just simply turned around and entered my hotel room.

The question was, why did he have to go inside mine and why wasn't he willing to leave it when I told him to?

"Natsume, get out." I said, looking at the cover of the book he was reading. The big letters read 'How to become Rich'. Tch. Moron. Everyone knew books like that were just written to deceive or just to amuse people who really didn't have anything else to do. Well, the second option could actually work on him, but still, it was a pathetic sight.

"No." He turned the page, as he still didn't take off his look from the white paper.

"Why are you in here anyway?"

He continued reading the book in silence. To a certain point, he started murmuring, quoting a difficult line from it and then he shook his head, as he closed How to become Rich. He cursed the author, saying what he'd written was complete nonsense. He put it to the side of the table and looked at me. "I'm bored. Amuse me."

I understood that Natsume was in money trouble, now that his father's company had fallen, as his little sister didn't even know. When I'd questioned him about Aoi having no knowledge about the bankruptcy, he requested me to not mention anything about it to Aoi and let her enjoy as much as she wanted. And later on, I discovered that he was doing jobs for Aoi, so to keep on donating money, so she could still live her life as properly as she used to. I'd disagreed to it, saying that she was spending a lot of money on expensive clothes.

"Even so, it makes her happy, so let me do whatever I want." He'd said.

Despite the rude tune he'd added to it, I let him be. This hardworking side of him was something I didn't know and I wanted to enjoy it a little bit longer, despite knowing that sounded rather sadistic.

"I'm not your toy that I have to amuse you," I answered. "So answer my question."

"What question?" He asked, leaning his head on the palm of his hand, showing he was really bored.

I made a soft, yet snapping sound with my tongue, to show him that I was starting to run out of patience. "I asked you: Why are you in my room?"

"Because Koyama's probably in my room."

"Why would Koyama be in your room?"

"Dunno. I suspect him of being gay."

I looked at him, as dumfound as I was, with my mouth open, as my utter disbelief for his statement allowed me to do so. "What?"

"Oh come on, don't tell me you didn't notice." Said he, with an annoyed look on his face. "He used to cross dress, enjoys yelling like a girl and thinks that boy bands are hot."

"Eugh." I shook my head, understanding that he was trying to fool me again. "No… Just, no. Go back to your hotel room already. I doubt Koyama would like to stay in your doomed territory. From what I've seen, he hates your guts, just like I do."

"Ah. But we both know you and I go along quite well, now, don't we?" He suddenly grabbed my hand and gave kissed it. I looked at him, trying to act disgusted, yet failing at it. "After all, we're boyfriend and girlfriend."

"I refuse to admit so." I mumbled.

"But I know you like it." He smirked, as he started poking in my hand suddenly.

I glared at him. He grinned more.

It was hard for me to figure out what he was thinking exactly. Until now, I'd still not understood why it had to be me who just had to be acting as his girlfriend, while it was obvious that both of us didn't like, love, or even want to be with each other. Whenever I tried to ask him, he grinned and changed topics suddenly, not allowing me to mention it again for the next 24 hours.

The only thing I did know was that he was willing to pay me with bunnies if I kept it up until he thought it was enough. I didn't know the reason, but it was a compromise; he would get a fake girlfriend, I would get my money.

"Why do you want me to be your girlfriend?"

"Simple. No other girls that will be chasing me."

"I bet that's not the only reason."

"Hm, very sharp of you, Sakura Mikan." He said, grinning. "But I won't tell you."

"Tell me!"

"Right now I think the only thing I need to tell is that you seem to be enjoying our current relationship?"

"Don't flatter yourself. I might end up breaking your ego. And your legs."

"How scary," he said, making an 'I-don't-care-what-you'll-do' face. "Let's go on a date."

"What?" I looked at him with my jar open. I knew it was quite a disgraceful and stupid sight, but it couldn't be helped. This guy was drunk, positive. It was out of his character to take the initiative to go on a date, let alone a date with a pretending-to-be girlfriend. "No!"

"Let's go swim."

"No."

"Let's go have lunch."

"Are you kidding me? It's eight o'clock in the morning."

I sighed when I saw how he seemed to struggle with himself, deciding on a new suggestion. I couldn't help but to smile when I saw how 'cute' he suddenly was. He sometimes could be a bit like this, like a child. Those were moments I enjoyed to see. "Rather than doing anything of those, maybe it'd be an idea for you to sleep? You look tired."

"Do I?" He asked, as he scratched his hand.

"Yes, you do. Your eyes are a bit swollen."

"Fine." He stood up and walked in the direction of my bed.

"No, not my bed!"

"Yes, your bed." He lied down and closed his eyes. "I'll be napping here."

"Wait, you-"

I realized he was already in sleep. It was amazing how this guy was so tired that he could fall asleep after lying down for merely three seconds. I wouldn't be able to wake him up anymore. I sighed.

After looking around in the room that I had been sleeping in for three days already, my glance fell on the book Natsume had been reading. How to become Rich. It was clearly written for those who were dealing with money troubles and I did count myself as one of them. Assuming that Natsume wouldn't mind if I peeked in it, I gave myself permission to and found myself staring at a page full of words.

'One of the biggest mistakes that are made when one is desperate for money is without a doubt the 'trust' in one's fortune. It's natural for human beings to have the feeling they have already won the game when they find themselves having reached the final destination: When one has managed to reach the amount of money that is needed, one often thinks it wouldn't 'hurt' to spoil himself for once. However, its result will always be the loss of money. When one starts spoiling himself, he will not be able to stop and thus he will have to start all over again. Hence, 'It wouldn't hurt to buy that bag for once' and 'Why shouldn't I spoil myself for once?' are taboo.'

I chuckled softly. I could recognize that, even though it was a bit different. My mother used to be like that sometimes, even though the products in question would never be expensive in such situations. No, she would always be asking herself those questions when it was purely for herself. The thing was, however, that the goods she wanted to buy for herself were often very cheap and not expensive. I told her that she should spoil herself too, even if it was just something worth very little. She really pushed away the thought though, saying she would rather save up the money to buy something for the flower shop.

I smiled. That book was indeed trash, as Natsume said. It had a point of truth in it, but most of the time it was pointing out the mistakes of human beings. It was something I didn't feel like reading. It was in a kind of way quite depressing.

Rather than paying interest to the book, I decided it might be a good idea to think about Natsume for once. Perhaps he wasn't really as I predicted him to be; he could be nice sometimes, despite his evil nature. The rest of him was still a mystery though.

"Oh well, I guess that part of him isn't that bad either," I whispered, with a smile, as I looked at his sleeping face.

"'Him?'"

"… Yes, him."

I looked at Koyama, who was standing in the door opening of my hotel room. His hair was wet, probably from a shower, and he himself looked pleased with something.

"Don't tell me you're-"

I ran to the door, pushed Koyama outside, followed myself as well and closed the door as softly and quickly as I could. "I don't know what you wanted to say, but that look is something I don't like," I grunted, while pointing with my index finger at him.

"You've fallen for Natsume?" He asked, with an amused grin.

"Oh, come on," I crossed my arms, as I watched the water dripping from his hair, "there's no way I would fall for the devil. I'm not that stupid, alright?"

"You said-"

"I said that he has good sides as well. That's only a prove that Hyuuga Natsume is actually human, so nothing's wrong with the statement."

"Oh, really?" He said, pretending to be thinking about something. "That's odd then. I heard from Ruka that you're Natsume's girlfriend."

I narrowed my eyes at him and looked at Koyama's smirk. He was driving me into a corner, I realized. I couldn't tell him I was a pretending-to-be girlfriend, because that would ruin the situation and my money. I could only have one explanation for this situation and that was the explanation Koyama wanted to hear, yet something I didn't want to tell. "Really? You might've heard wrong."

"I'm sorry, Sakura Mikan, but it isn't that easy to fool me." He said, crossing his arms now as well, as he frowned upon hearing my weak reply. "If you like him, just tell me alrea-"

"It isn't her liking me. It's me liking her." A deep, familiar voice sounded from behind us.

I turned back to face Natsume, who was standing in the door opening, leaning to the sides weakly, clearly not completely awake yet. I knew that what he said, though, was not just sleep talk.

"You heard that, Koyama?" He asked. "I like Sakura Mikan."

(A/N): I'm feeling drained. T.T

I'm going on a holiday in a few days, so please don't expect any updates from me for the next month. It's horrible timing, especially now that I've finally managed to regain some inspiration.

Please excuse me for this sucky chapter. I suck.