↭ ♡ ↭

∽ m i r a c l e ' s  p e r s p e c t i v e ∽

"Gosh! What happened to Chance's face?!"

"Like OMG! I will kalmot whoever ruin Chance's face!"

"Like he's so hot kaya!"

"And oh, my! And he's so cool pa 'no?"

Yeah, yeah. Like Oh-My-Gee too. You're so maingay and annoying kaya. So kairita and ang aga-aga pa.

Tsk. Crazy brats. They are having their gossips in the corridor while fantasizing Chance.

Actually, Chance have a little cut on his face because of yesterday. Ngayon, may band aid ang mukha niya—which makes him more charismatic.

Why life is so confusing? My family sent me here to have a normal student life, then why all of these craps are happening to me?

Why can't I just have a normal life?

Ah, yes. I was born, I live, and I'll die this way. How tragic.

"Uy, Nat. Are you okay?" I hear Elli's voice beside.

"Oo." I answer simply not to sound harsh with my head is still bowed.

"Sure ka? Dalhin kaya kita sa clinic?"

Aish. Napilitan akong umupo nang maayos. "I'm fine. Antok lang 'to." I reason sluggishly.

"Sabihin mo nga, may sakit ka ba at tinatago mo lang sa 'min, ha? Lagi ka kasing absent." Elli states suspiciously worried.

I immediately glare at her. "You and your cricket metaphors, Ellianna."

"What? I'm just asking!" She defends herself.

Napa-iling na lang ako. I can feel Nathan's gazes. He's worried about me, even Kuya Mike, about my situation.

"Good morning, class." Miss Marionne greets when she enters the room. "Today, we'll be having our new transferees."

I hear my classmates' gasps, gossips, giggles, excitements, and comments. New transferees.

"Please come in and introduce yourselves."

Isa-isa silang pumasok—apat sila, two boys and two girls.

Isa rito si Dennis, iyong tumulong sa amin ni Chance kahapon.

Naunang nagpakilala si . . .

"Hi, I'm Casey Park, 16 years of age. From Seoul, South Korea. Nice to meet you all." She says in her very annoying voice, bit bitchy though.

"Hi, I'm Brianna Richardson, 16 year old and from Seoul, South Korea also."

Richardson. Parehas sila ng surname ni Elli. She have a typical girly voice, like Elli. But this Brianna has something on her mind. I can sense it to her aura.

"And to those who doesn't know, I'm the cousin of Elli."

Oh, that answers it.

"Well, the brat is back." Elli mutters narkly. At mukhang hindi sila magka-sundo.

I turn my eyes to the next guy. The Dennis guy. He's not yet speaking, but most of the girls are squirming. Dennis is an attracting guy as well.

"I'm Dennis Rosen; turning 17, from Japan." He introduces and the girls squeals. "And I am here to be Natsumi's property!"

He declares in lively voice that everyone can hear. And in just a cue, all the girls turn their heads to me while glaring.

"Gah. I'll be sick." I mutter and slump my face on my desk.

"That bastard!" Nathan growls behind. Maybe Nate knows him as well.

"Oh? Master Nathan! Long time, no see!!" Dennis cheerfully waves his hand to Nate.

"What? Don't you just call with names, moron!" Nate counters.

"Eh? Anyway, Master Nathan! Hand Natsumi on me, aye?" Dennis ignores Nate's madness, "I'll take care of her, I swear!"

"As if I will!" Nate glares to the Dennis guy.

"Now, now." Ate Bea meddles between them. "Seems like Mister Rosen is on mood. And please let our last transfer student introduce himself."

"Okay, Miss Rina!" Dennis follows Ate Bea's command, "And I'm grateful that you'll be my sensei this year."

"I'll do my best, Mister Rosen."

Seems like Ate Bea knows Dennis, or vice versa.

And then, it is an opportunity to Clint to introduce himself.

"I'm Clint Yamada, 17 year old and from Japan also."

Maputi si Clint, well, he also have the looks, brown-haired and mas matangkad 'to kaysa kay Dennis.

"Okay, guys, there are reserved seats behind, you can sit there." Miss Marionne tells the transferees.

"I want to sit beside Chance!" The Casey girl whines.

"But—" Ate Bea tries to pry but Casey Park shuts her off.

"No buts! Do you know who I am, Miss?"

Ate Bea is sort of shocked with her attitude, but it isn't recognizable. Her face is always calm and composed. "Of course, you're Casey, right?" Miss Marionne retorts and my classmates giggle.

"Whatever." She says, rolling her eyes. "Hey, you! Move yourself off." and calls while looking at me.

I stand up unhesitatingly while grabbing my bag.

"N-Nat!" Elli calls out. "I don't want to have an annoying block mate!

"You'll be fine." I tell her with a weak grin.

I think, this is the answer. Those transferees came to answer my confusions. It means, I need to stay away from them.

I sit beside Dennis.

"Nice to see you here, Natnat! Small world, eh?"

Well, what's with the 'Natnat' now?

I eyed him with a serious look. "We'll talk later with your friend."

"Hai, hai!~" He utters in bright tone. "Ang cute mo pala ng naka-nerd glasses, Natnat!"

Gee. This guy is a pain

"Go away." I grumble.

"Aww. That hurts, Natnat" He acts like he is in pain. "So rude."

I just ignore him and do not want to waste my voice to respond his wailings.

"Wha! She ignores me! I better pop off right now."

I mentally slap my face. Another galling creature.

Then the discussion goes through. Fighting my will not to sleep, I bear a lot of hardships. And alas! The bell finally rings, signing that it's now our lunch break.

"In the IU Green House." I tell Dennis and exit the room fastly.

Good thing, no one follows me.

I sit on the bench and wait for a minute or so.

I look above. It's cloudy. No sign of a bright light blue sky. The sky is so grim.

I wonder what will happen for today. Things right now are getting unpredictable.

A scene will suddenly appear and change the course of my fate. I have the feeling that someone's watching me, carefully reading my next attack.

I close my eyes as I yawn. I have the mood of tardiness, because of the weather, probably.

After few yawns, they finally arrive. They're late. Perhaps they take time looking for me.

"My Lady." They both greet, bowing.

"Nat, please."

"Natnat." Very likely, Dennis is a bubbly guy.

"I just want to ask something," I open the topic. "Why are you here?"

"Because you called us here, Natnat. Right?" Dennis half-assedly pulls a humor on me.

A vein jerks on my temple. This guy. His lack of self-awareness is a nuisance. Really.

"Aray!" A sudden cry of Dennis. "Bakit ka namamatok, Clint?!" Reklamo ni Dennis. Ah, that's it.

"Umayos ka nga." Sermon ni Clint.

"Maayos naman ako ah!" Dennis retorts.

I sigh, "Okay, let's get serious. And I better not hear you talking, Mister Rosen."

Dennis silently nods his head.

"Clint, right?" I ask Clint and he nods. Silent type lang si Clint. Well, that's attracting. "When did you guys came here in Philippines?"

"Just last two days ago, Lady."

"Just call me 'Nat'."

"Y-Yes, Nat."

"Last two days, huh? Hmm . . . Bakit kayo nandoon kahapon?"

"Coincidence!" Mabilis na sagot ni Dennis. I glare at him with an 'I-said-do-not-talk' look.

He only bows his head and nudges Clint. What's with that sign? As if they're keeping a secret to me.

"It's forbidden to tell you, N-Nat."

"And why?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Nathanchi told us!" Dennis blurts and covers his mouth afterwards.

"Dennis, you dumbass!" Clint growls quietly as he smacks Dennis again, accusing him for having a big mouth.

I smirk, "Heh. So, Nathan sent you here? For what?"

Clint sighs, "To protect and to guard you as well."

"Bakit pa niya kayo uutusan? Siya naman ang nagbabantay sa akin."

They stay silent, don't want to answer me. For about seconds, Clint answers, "Master Nate doesn't want you to know."

"Tch." I lazily roll my eyes. "Are you going to tell me or I'll just cut your tiny little tongue?"

Their faces run pale. "A-Ah, Natnat. Joke lang 'yun, 'di ba?" Dennis stutters.

"I don't do jokes, Dennis." I answer, "Ano na? I'll count down on three, kung hindi ninyo pa sinabi, goodbye tongue na kayo." and pout without any emotion.

Clint and Dennis remains mute with their horror faces. They likely know that I'm not kidding.

"Okay. In three." I start counting.

"Two."

I grab my dagger on my thigh.

"O—"

"Wait! Nathanchi sent us here because he will return to Japan for his new mission!" Dennis answers agitatedly.

"Indeed. He wants us to look for you every seconds." Clint adds.

And I'm completely shut. My mind becomes dumb as my body freezes. He's leaving without telling me? How come? Does our relationship as twins is not important? That even his leaving he's not telling it to me.

I simply stand up without uttering a word. I straightly walk to the cafeteria where is he right now. There he is, talking with his friends.

I move my feet to his direction with the feeling of heaviness to my system.

"Hey, Nat! Join us eat." He invites me.

"Nate," I call numbly, "let's talk."

~ ♕ ~

∽c h a n c e ' s  p e r s p e c t i v e ∽

I sigh again. That girl is already here. And every single bit of the day will be annoying. I don't wish to go to the cafeteria, because if I did, she'll only going to annoy me.

I escape from her by scrutinizing her brain. You only need a great tactic to fool someone.

I'm presently on my way to the secret place—more like my anti-boredom place. Attending class will be suffocating. I hate the atmosphere of every transfer students a while ago.

Especially with that Natsumi. Acting so cold today, huh?

Surely, it's because of what happened yesterday.

As I walk alone, a familiar chill sends at my nape. I just sense two familiar presence. I can hear the rustles of their voices—very familiar voices. I follow the silent noises with my concealed presence.

"Why you didn't tell me that you're leaving?" I quickly recognize the voice, it is Natsumi's.

I simply recline on a trunk of a tree while listening to their conversation.

"So, the two tell you?" I'm absolutely sure that it's Nathan's voice.

"They don't have a choice, I blackmailed them." Natsumi states in disinterestedly but cold voice. "And the thing is, sa kanila ko pa nalaman, not from you. Tell me, Nate. Am I not important to you?"

I get intrigued. I'm aware that they have relationship. Right now, they are having a quarrel.

"N-No, Hime." I hear Nathan's frustrated sigh, "I'm sorry for not telling you. I don't want you worry about me, so I kept it as a secret. And please don't think that you're not important to me, Hime. You know that I'd rather protect you because I love you."

Natsumi is not lying to me when she told me her relationship to Nate. Indeed, because they are talking like real lovers.

"Don't you think that I'm not going to worry for you? You're leaving without telling me?" Natsumi protests in aghast voice. "You made mad, Nathan. You got me big time."

"I'm sorry, Hime. Please."

"I can't easily forgive you this time, Nate. You just made feel so unimportant to you." Natsumi says dejectedly quiet.

"Hime, please understand, all right? I neither don't want you to fight, nor I won't let you to end this conflagration we built. You're not involved in this case." Nate explains. "Because of me, you're in trouble."

"I understand, Nate. We are one, correct?" Natsumi returns candidly, "So, you're not in the right term to tell me that I'm not involved in this."

"Hime, please . . ."

"Sheesh." Natsumi expresses in annoyance. "Nathan, you're an asshole."

I almost laughed with that. So straightforward. I'm not surprised when she leaves. Women are like that; walking out after a quarrel.

"Eavesdropping, man?"

"Fuck." I silently cuss when Nathan taps my shoulder, "You knew?"

"Yeah. Right in the first place. Even Natsumi noticed you."

"What?" I say skeptically. "Then, why did you let me eavesdropped?"

He sighs, sitting on the ground. I sit on the ground as well. Resting my palms behind, I notice the weather is about to rain. "Hinayaan ka na namin for you to know what kind of situation we have." Nathan finally talks. "To make you realize that you need to ignore her; assumably, you need to . . . uh, solely become strangers to each other."

That would be tough . . . seemingly. "That's unclear for me." I return. I can't simply be a stranger to her. She's my poison. And I'm prepared to drink that poison in the right time. "I don't get a thing. From what I heard, you said that you don't want her to get involved in the present eventuality."

"Right. Gulo ko lang dapat, Chance. But suddenly, she became connected."

"The question, why is she became connected in your own matter?"

"Maybe, Natsumi is also a Mafia reaper, like me." That answers it. "You know my father, right, Chance? You're also aware that we're ruling a Mafia Society."

I nod my head. "Yah, I know that."

"So, my father ordered her to have a normal life because she's still a young lady." He clarifies things. "And she had no choice but to follow."

Oh, a reaper, huh? Dumbfounding, yes. That answers everything about yesterday. How her aura changes in imminently shallow.

"Hard to believe, right?" Nathan smirks at me. "Is there something do you want to know?"

"Well, what's with the 'Hime' name?"

His smirk curves like a crescent moon. I actually hate that smirk. It's irritating. "That's her real name, Chance. She's Hime Miracle Natsumi."

Miracle? I hide my smile to myself. "Mostly Japanese name, yeah?"

"Yup. 'Hime' means, 'princess'; while 'Natsumi' means 'beautiful summer'. Since she was born in summer season." He explains.

Frankly, I somehow think that every part of her right now are all lies. I wonder, how many times did she lie to me? Is everything that she's telling me are also lies?

"Chance, you stupid idiot."

I facepalm. Stupid idiot?

I look at him, he's giving me a dark glare. "It's not what you think. She's still the Natsumi you know. Yes, she needs to lie, even lying to her own real identity. She needs to do that for her safety."

"You're right. I should've thought more efficiently. It's surprising, though."

"You bet." Nate chuckles.

I stay silent, looking on the ground. I'm actually thinking that . . . "Natsumi told me that you two are lovers."

Darn. I say it out loud.

"The hell?!" Nathan exclaims, and then he laughs hard.

I groan. "Please die, Nate."

"Damn! Ahaha!" He continues laughing, "It's been a while since I laughed like this!"

"Tch. Shut up."

"Chance, did you believe in her?" He asks, wiping his tears of laugh.

I close my eyes as I exhale an air. "You can say that." and tell him.

"Heh, heh." This stupid guy beside laughs and playfully nudges me in the arm. "Well, you have been fooled by Hime."

My eyes widen. "What?"

That's unexpected.

"Let me clear some things here, okay?" I nod to him. "Hime and I are not in a relationship. You can see that we're really close, to the point where people having the wrong idea that we're a couple."

"I see." I reply.

"Well, that's natural, y'know, Chance." I eye him sideways, raising a brow in confusion. "It's because Hime is my twin sister! Ahahaha!"

"What the? You two are what?"

"Hell, Chance!" He glowers, punching my arm. "What kind of reaction is that?!"

"I'm being serious here, for argument's sake!" I protest. How can't I lose my chill, his punch is one hella painful hit.

"Hime is my twin sister, okay? We're unidentical twins, for you to know, dork."

I breathe out, rolling my eyes a bit.

"Her identity is secret so no one will know, except the Mafia, that she's the Mafia Princess." then he adds.

I understand now. Everything is clear for me.

He stands up, grunting. "And Chance, I'm going back to Japan."

"And?" I raise from my sit and watch him from behind.

"For my mission," he says and puts his hands inside his pockets. "And I want you to protect her, because I can no longer protect her now. Everyone wants her dead. You witnessed it just yesterday."

"You know that I'm not that strong, Nate." I honestly tell him. "Is there someone else beside me?"

"Stupid. What I mean, Chance, don't leave her alone—forget the thing a while ago. Hime finds peace on you, so always stay by her side."

"Okay, I get what you mean."

"Pledge to me, Chance." His voice suddenly changes. "It is my sister's life what I'm entrusting to you." He shifts his head sideward, eyeing me murderously. "I swear that I can kill you if you leave her."

"You're terrifying, you mutt." I ignore his looks. "Let me give you my promise, I'll guard her for you."

"Okay. As you can see, Chance, my sister always looks so tough, but all you can sight is a mask. I know Hime very well. She's fragile like a flower—a beautiful flower that's trying to live in this world."

I know that she's fragile, with her looks, voice, and gestures. Regarding the fact that her eyes are dead. I see no life in it.

"Well, I'm not that worried, though." He utters, "There's Clint Yamada and Dennis Rosen who can look after her, too. Even though I hate the guts of that Rosen." and grumbles the last.

"Fine, fine. You can trust me on this." I state. "When's your flight?"

"This night, nine in the evening."

"You don't like surprises, do you?"

"Yes. Haha. Gusto mo 'kong ihatid?" Nathan replies coolly, but I know he's upset.

"All right. I'll visit your home two hours before."

"That would be nice." Nathan agrees, grinning.

↭ ♡ ↭

n o t e s :

Sensei = Teacher