Isidora: I havea new story, another very short one! I am wooing away from episode long stories and will go straight to the juicy stuff (ha-ha!). I should really stop neglecting the other story Miyu and Kanata's dreams but I couldn't get this idea out of my mind since last night after I wrote White Day, Happy Birthday! (Please read and review that one too, along with The Evil Gang's Bubble Gum Bazooka and Miyu's Hair and Merry Weather, Take Care) I should really write Miyu and Kanata's dreams after this. I should probably make it shorter.
I would like to thank the producers of The Lake House (2006) and Paul McCartney for singing the song This Never Happened Before (not like they'd care!) because it has provided inspiration beyond belief. I've been writing non-stop or have had several eureka moments for my non-fan fiction story! Enough babbling from me! I hope everyone enjoys this!
Disclaimer: I do not own Daa! Daa! Daa! or have ownership over the superstition indicated below (I did make modifications though).
Love the Man in the Mirror!
(One-shot)
"It must be true then! How exciting!" Girls chorused as they clasped her hands together.
"What's with them?" Kanata asked looking toward the direction of a throng of girls from his seat.
Santa chewed the last of his bento and stood up, his right hand tightly clenched. "I, Santa, will investigate this phenomenon and unveil the secret of the girls' whispering conspiracy!"
"Santa, does it really need to sound so flashy?" Kanata looked at him, his eyebrows twitching.
"Fear not! I know exactly what my dears are talking about!" Nozomu entered the scene.
"You do? Fill me in man!" Santa asked excitedly.
Nozomu smiled his signature grin, raising a rose above and slowly placed it down to the level of his nose. "Well, it's me of course!"
Kanata and Santa looked at him, disappointed.
'He's a really bad case of narcissism.' Kanata thought. 'I shouldn't probably bother about it.'
"Miyu! Aya! Nanami! Have you heard?" A girl called out as the three entered the room.
"Heard what?" Miyu asked.
"Well, it's like this." The girl looked around her to check for eavesdroppers.
The boys who were eager to find out what the whispering in the corner of the classroom was all about suddenly turned around, pretending they weren't interested.
"Idiots" The girl muttered under her breath.
"So what is it?" Aya, this time, asked.
"Is it a secret?" Aya asked again, now with peach on her head and a notebook and pen in hand.
"Well." The girl turned around again and found that the Santa's giant left ear was close to them.
"Obviously, I can't tell you about it now." Stress marks started appearing on her face.
"Alright then, how about we meet after class and I'll tell you what's going on!" Another girl appeared and pushed Santa's ear away.
"Mitsuki? Is it really that big deal of a secret that Santa can't hear it out?" Nanami asked, confused.
"It's for girls only, you see."
"Oh." Miyu, Aya and Nanami said in unison.
"I'll meet you at Sweet Cakes Café after class then. All the girls will be there!" Mitsuki said, delighted as she skipped to go to her desk.
"I don't know. It's weird that only the girls should know about it. But I'm in! I miss the mango crepe in that café!" Nanami said as she thought of the other things she planned to eat there.
"This is getting exciting." Aya said with a glint in her eyes that burned like fire. "I've been waiting for things like these to happen all week! And it's finally here." She choked a roar of laughter.
Miyu looked at her friends, laughing slightly because of the uncertainty she was feeling.
Kanata looked at Miyu. She caught his gaze. And he answered Miyu's returned gaze by looking out in the window.
Miyu felt annoyed all of a sudden. 'What was he looking at me for anyway? It's not like I started it anyway.'
Christine was nearby looking at the turn of events and was back to daydreaming. 'I wonder if I'll see Kanata tonight. Oh just thinking about it makes me!' Pink steam went out of Christine's ears and her face was deep red as she went about it.
"Everyone seems to be acting weird!" Santa said to the group of boys he was now facing. "Anyway, you heard what they said. They'll be going to the Sweet Cakes Café. I think we should follow them." Santa said as if leading the pack.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Kanata said.
"You don't have to go if you don't want to but I'm already decided. I will unveil the mystery behind their actions!"
"I think Kanata is right. It's probably just a new shopping spot they don't want other people to know because they want the discounts to themselves." Another boy said.
"Or it might be a new ice cream parlor that they all plan on going."
"Or diet secrets they just tapped."
"Either way it's not worth going all out for." The pack of guys said as they left Santa, defeated.
"Well if you really don't want to go, I'll go there myself!" Santa declared.
"You're forgetting something, Santa." A girl said.
Another girl pointed to the blackboard. "It's your turn to clean this afternoon."
Santa fell to the floor like goop, waterfall tears falling from his eyes. "They really planned against me."
Kanata looked at Santa. 'Looks like they went all out on this one.'
--+
"I'll be having strawberry mousse parfait!"
"I'll have an ice cream brownie with white sauce on top!"
"Mango crepe for me! And five clubhouse sandwiches!"
The girls cheerfully said as they waitress came by to take their order.
"Nanami! You sure eat a lot! You're so lucky you don't gain any weight even when you eat so much!"
Nanami let out a little laugh. "You can eat anything when you're actively engaged in sports."
"I don't know what I want." Miyu said as she scanned through the menu. "How about a Hazelnut Frappe? Right! I'll have Hazelnut frappe with whipped cream!"
"I'll have chocolate éclair and a strawberry shake." Christine said.
"So what's the real reason why we're here?" Aya asked, not hiding her excitement.
All the girls who were chatting away suddenly turned quiet and faced Mitsuki.
"Well, it's like this." She began. She saw everyone lean against the table to hear her better. "I went to this specialty store yesterday. I was looking for charms that will help me raise my grades. The cashier was an old lady and she let me on a secret."
The girls, who didn't hear the story during lunchtime, gulped preparing themselves for what they'll hear.
"She told me how I could see my future husband."
"She did? How does it work?" A girl asked.
"Don't get so grabby. I'm getting there." Mitsuki said as she looked at the eager girls in front of her.
"To see what your future husband would look like you should wake up at midnight, light a candle and face the mirror. At first you will see a skeleton but after five minutes you will see a better view of him. That's what the old lady told me."
"Mitsuki, have you tried it?" A girl asked.
"No, I haven't. But I'm planning on doing it tonight since it's a Friday and there's no school the next day."
"But what's your proof that it works?" Nanami asked, quite absorbed by the story as well.
"That's a good question, Nanami. I asked the old lady that too. She told me that several girls she told to during their high school days recently came back to the store to tell her that it worked for them. They're already happily married to the man they saw in the mirror at midnight."
"It must be true then?" Another girl said.
"But there are two rules." Mitsuki warned.
Everyone looked up to her.
"You must not tell any boy about this ritual before or after doing it because it will lose its effect."
"So, what's the other one?" A girl asked.
"You can only do this ritual once. The old lady said you are only bound for one person in your life. If you try to do the ritual again, the person that you will see in the mirror will die early and will leave you widowed and you don't want that to happen right?"
"It sounds really eerie." Miyu said, hiding her goose bumps.
"But it's worth the try right everyone?" Mitsuki asked. "Let's all do it tonight!"
Christine fiddled. "It's kind of scary but I will do anything to see Kanata be my husband."
All the other girls nodded.
Miyu's sweat dropped. 'If all of you will see Kanata in the mirror, he's probably going to be a playboy in the future.'
"I'm quite excited about this!" Aya exclaimed. "I wonder what the man of my life will look like. Will he be a writer as well? Or perhaps a stage actor?" She added dreamily.
"I don't care as long as he's athletic!" Nanami blurted out.
Miyu looked at her hazelnut frappe. 'Aya wants someone who's either a writer or a stage actor. Nanami wants someone who's as athletic as she is. I wonder what I want.'
--+
Ruu, Wannya and Kanata watched Miyu pace back and forth.
"Kanata, Miyu seems to be in deep thought about something?" Wannya whispered in Kanata's ear.
"It's probably something weird again."
They watch her change expressions. First, she was nodding her head as if agreeing to something. And then she looked blank again and finally she collapses muttering "this is harder than I thought."
"Daa!" Ruu flew to Miyu.
"Hi Ruu!" Miyu said. "That's it! Thanks Ruu! So that's one requirement done."
Wannya and Kanata blinked in confusion.
"Miyu, what is it that you're thinking about?"
Miyu finally sat before them in the low table, cupping her chin as she settled down, daydreaming.
"You see, Aya wants to have a boy who acts or writes as well. Nanami wants someone who's athletic so I've been thinking about what I want." Miyu smiled.
"So did you come up with anything?" Wannya asked.
Miyu looked desperate again. "Just one."
"What is it?" Wannya seemed excited.
"Mama!" Ruu cheered on.
"Well, I want someone who likes children! Right Ruu?" Miyu hugged Ruu and tickled his tummy.
"Miyu, you really like Ruu don't you? I'm so glad." Wannya said.
"So that's what you girls were talking about this lunch and this afternoon?" Kanata raised his eyebrow. "It's barely something to get excited about."
Miyu's face popped with a lot of stress marks. "If you want to know the truth, it's not because of that that we met this afternoon!"
Kanata looked at her, hiding his interest. "Then what is it?"
Miyu was about to open her mouth to reveal the topic of the conversation but was stopped by Mistuki's voice saying "You must not tell any boy about this ritual before or after doing it because it will lose its effect."
Miyu laughed. 'That was a close call.'
"It's none of your business!" Miyu stuck her tongue out like a child would.
"Not that I cared about in the first place." Kanata said as he went back to watching what was on TV.
Miyu stomped out of the TV room. 'That Kanata! I know what I want in a guy now! Someone opposite him!'
She glanced at her clock as she got to her room. 'It's 10:30. I'll sneak out to get the candles when everyone's already asleep.'
--+
Miyu slid open her wooden sliding door quietly. She crawled out of her room to get to Kanata's mother's room where all the candles have been placed.
"Hi. It's me again." Miyu said to Kanata's mother's picture. "I will just get a candle and be on my way."
She took what she needed and crawled out in the same way she has crawled in. She got back in her room and checked the time. '10 minutes before midnight.' She sighed. 'I still have plenty of time. It took me forever to get the candles too.'
Miyu blinked. 'Stupid me! I forgot to get the match box! And it was so scary walking outside without light too.'
"It's almost midnight. I have to get those!" She cheered herself on as she crawled out of her room to the kitchen.
"What's she doing?" Kanata said as he got out of his room. His stomach churned. "My stomach really aches." He said to himself as he walked his way to the bathroom.
--+
With the lights turned off, Miyu fixed her mirror so that it was standing right before her. She glanced at her glow-in-the-dark alarm clock that read a few seconds before the stroke of twelve.
'It's time.'
She lighted her candle and stood before the mirror. 'I wonder what's going to happen.'
She looked back at the conversations she had with the girls that afternoon.
"It's kind of scary but I will do anything to see Kanata be my husband."
Miyu's stress marks appeared again. 'What's so special about him anyway? Why do they like so much? When I look at him I see an arrogant guy. He always makes fun of me.'
Her candle flickered. She looked at her dark reflection. 'No skeleton yet. I suddenly feel stupid. Never mind. Five minutes isn't long.'
'Kanata… He's such a jerk sometimes but he always saves me from sticky situations.'
She remembered that time she fell from the mountain when she dug her own hot spring.
'He even stumbled down the mountain to get to me. I guess he's not half bad when you look at it closely. He's always protected me, Ruu and Wannya.'
Miyu snapped out of her thoughts, laughing at her silly self. "Why am I thinking of him at a time like this?"
She looked at her reflection and looked back at her alarm clock. 'There's only fifty seconds. I guess it's just a hoax. My legs are falling asleep from standing here without moving.'
She stepped backward and a squeak came out.
--+
"What a relief." Kanata said as he stepped out of the bathroom. "Miyu really has to work on her cooking.
Kanata walked back to his room and noticed something peculiar in his housemate's room. "Why is there candle light in Miyu's room?"
It was then that he heard Miyu scream. He sprinted to her room and forced open the old wooden sliding door. "Miyu! Are you okay? What happened?"
Miyu still looked surprised. "There was a mouse." She laughed weakly.
Kanata sighed, one of relief. "A mouse? With the way that you screamed, I thought there was a burglar in here."
Miyu laughed weakly again.
"But what are you doing with a lighted candle? Is your light broken?" Kanata asked.
Miyu laughed nervously. "I can't really explain right now."
Suddenly, Miyu's alarm clock started making fire alarm noises. 12:05. 'The five minutes is over, I wonder if…'
"What's the meaning of this?" Kanata asked, suspicious.
Miyu immediately turned to her human-sized mirror and found their reflection. Her and Kanata's.
She sighed as she turned off her alarm clock. "It was all just coincidence."
She looked at Kanata.
"I won't ask what you're doing. Just blow that candle and go to sleep." He heard him say as he left her room and shut the sliding doors.
"It must be a hoax after all." Miyu said as she blew the candle. 'But, it was exactly the fifth minute when both mine and Kanata's reflection were in the mirror. It must mean…'
Miyu didn't wait for her thoughts to finish. She shook her head, trying to push her thoughts out. It's all just coincidence.'
--+
"Eh!"
"I didn't get to try it too. I was so immersed in writing because I was so inspired after Mitsuki told us about the ritual!" Aya said.
"I didn't get to try it either. There was a soccer game on last Friday and before I knew it, it was past 12." Nanami confessed, sticking her tongue out.
"This is so embarrassing." Mitsuki said.
"No not you too Mitsuki! You didn't get to try it too!"
"I fell asleep. I was just in my bed reading magazines to pass the time and the next thing I knew it was morning!"
"I wasn't able to do it too. We ran out of matches and my brother's lighter did not work." Another girl sighed.
Christine was in tears. "I wasn't able too as well. I was so frightened by the story especially the skeletons, I told Mr. Deerfield about it."
"So no one really got to do it last Friday? That's sad. How about you Miyu?" Mitsuki asked.
Miyu dug her head for ideas to tell them.
Christine's eyes sparked.
"Well I did get to try it." Miyu finally said.
"So who did you see? Is it Kanata?" Nanami winked at her.
"No!"
Christine's eyes sparked again.
"Well, I stood in front of the mirror with candle in hand at 12 midnight and nothing happened."
Christine's hair flew in rage. "Don't hide the truth, Miyu."
Miyu shook in fear. 'An excuse! Think of one Miyu! Quick!'
"That's right! Ruu!"
Christine blinked.
"Well it was the last minute before 12:05 when Ruu cried so I hurried next to him! So I didn't get to finish the whole five minutes."
"Oh is that so." Christine said back to her calm self. "It's just too bad you can't do it again, Miyu because you tried it already."
"You can't do it either Christine! You told a guy about it didn't you?" Mitsuki said.
"Oh no!" Christine fell to the ground animatedly. "How could I forget?"
Miyu felt saved. 'She bought it. Sorry Ruu for making you an excuse. But I wonder if the ritual's true? I still can't deny to myself that it was me and Kanata in the mirror at 12:05.'
Miyu stole a glance at Kanata who caught her. She blushed and looked away. 'It was all just coincidence. Just coincidence.'
The End
Isidora:I was lying to myself when I said I won't make it this long. Hahaha! Hope you enjoyed it! Read and review!
References:
Sta. Romana-Cruz, N., & Sta. Ana, K. (1996). Don't take a bath on a friday. Makati: Tahanan Books.
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