"Bye Dad!"

I slammed the old, rickety front door closed. We really needed to replace it- you had to literally push all your weight against it just to close it! I sighed and made a mental note to remind Dad about the door. Again.

Oh, me? I'm Mikan Sakura. A proud fourteen year old who's flunking eighth grade.

"Mikan."

I looked up from the ground to settle my eyes on my recent best/only friend. Why my only friend? Well, that's a simple question. In school rankings, I would be at the lowest section. Nerds, geeks- whatever you call us.

I'm actually pretty lucky to even have a friend. Most, maybe almost all in my ranking are just loners. I used to be one of those people. Underline used to.

Anyway, you couldn't even imagine my surprise when a random new student came up to me and said, "let's be friends," in the most blunt voice.

Yeah, of course I was suspicious. Could this be a prank, maybe some sort of cruel joke. But here's this very same person. Standing in front of me. Loyal friend for about six months. On the second month I stopped being suspicious. Honestly now, would you waste more than 2 months of your life for a stupid prank?

I didn't think so.

"Mikan!"

I felt something pound into the side of my head.

"OW!" I exclaimed as I rubbed the abused spot on my poor head. "What was that?"

I called your name for like, five minutes and you just stood there like an idiot!" She replied, sounding slightly annoyed.

I just murmured some incoherent words under my breath an left it like that.

Hotaru's always mean to me, so it's not like it's something unusual.

She rolled her eyes and there was a moment of silence for a while until Hotaru spoke up, "I'm leaving for a bit and I don't know when I'm coming back."

Her voice had a serious tone that I didn't like.

"Wha-what?" I stuttered, shocked by her sudden announcement.

"You heard me alright," Hotaru responded.

My eyes suddenly went wide as I glanced at her with an astonished look.

She's going to come back... Right?

I shook my head to clear my mind of all my negative thoughts.

Of course she's going to come back!

My attention went back to Hotaru; who was already walking some distance ahead of me. I ran to catch up with her, looked at Hotaru with unwavering eyes and did something that surprised us both.

"Come back quickly!" I hollered.

Then it was her turn to look at me with slightly larger eyes which was in contrast to her usual poker face. Then again, it was gone as soon as it came so I was unable to confirm it.

"Stop yelling," was Hotaru's simple reply.

I grinned and questioned, "so, when are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow."

It was no surprise to me this time though. Hotaru always tells me things like this last-minute; she says it keeps me from whining about her leaving all the time.

I sighed. I finally notice we had arrived at school. Since Hotaru's house was conveniently placed a block away from mine, Hotaru and I always walk to school and back together. It isn't a very long walk anyway.

Our school is divided up into three sections; the main section, the middle section and the high school section.

The main section takes the kids from kindergarten to fourth grade. Then the middle section carries the fifth graders to their graduation in eighth grade. The high school section should be pretty self-explanatory.

We headed over to the middle section on the second floor. Because we got there early, barely anyone was in the classroom. Sitting down in our usual seats, Hotaru and I took out out math textbooks and notebooks, since it was our first subject. It was also my most dreaded subject. Why? Well, there's two reasons:

1. Evil Jin-Jin teaches it.

2. I suck at it.

And no, I'm not exaggerating. My average is around 20%. The highest mark I got in eighth grade was around 40%. That test was the review test from the previous year.

So basically, I'm failing math.

RIING!

Jin-Jin walked in the classroom simultaneously with the bell. He was probably waiting outside the door, waiting to walk in with the bell. Everyone in the room -that came in while I was daydreaming- quickly scurried to their seats while being scolded by evil Jin-Jin.

"Mommy, are you leaving for work again?"

The older woman crouched to the child's height, patted her on the head and responded, "I'll come back quickly this time."

The child searched her mother's eyes for any hint of a lie, but only found her mother's loving gaze. She pouted yet nodded reluctantly.

The mother smiled and hugged her child for she knew that this would be the last she would see of her young one.

In spite of that, the child responded to the embrace and bade yet another farewell to her mother. Innocently looking forward to her terrifying life ahead.

A painful jolt zipped through my body, efficiently waking me up and scaring the hell out of me.

"Detention Ms. Sakura," An unfortunately familiar voice rang throughout my head.

Croak

I squinted my eyes and caught a glimpse of a stern-looking man with a... Frog on his shoulder?

"AKK! Evil Jin-Jin!" I cried while Jin-Jin's face turned more and more irritated with every word that came out of my blabbering mouth.

"I told you to call me Jinno-sensei! You must have respect for your teacher. Detention for the remainder of the week!" Jin-Jin scolded. I gaped at him and spoke in defiance but stubborn Jin-Jin refused to listen.

I stared, bored out of my mind at the board Jin-Jin was writing on and tried my best to understand, but all the mumbo jumbo was too much for my tiny brain.

RIING!

Finally...! Was the only thought running through my head as the school bell rang signaling the end of torture for the day. Sadly, only for this day.

I ran to the office Jin-Jin held detention in. I knew where it was because I've been there millions of times. There was only one window and the grey walls had always -still does, even now- reflected my mood.

Sitting down on one of the uncomfortable chairs, I stared out of the single window. Envying the students chatting with their friends, ready to go home and take a nap all day.

Jin-Jin entered the room, glanced at me, handed me a piece of paper and left me once again alone.

I sighed -I knew the routine- and started to write.

I must respect my teacher.

I must respect my teacher.

I must respect my teacher.

Ahh, the sweet scent of fresh air. It was a big difference to the damp scent of the office.

I checked my wristwatch, it was around four. I was way past ready to leave this hellhole and make my way to a delightful nap on my delightful bed.

Remembering how Hotaru was leaving tomorrow, I got an urge to go hang out with my best friend before her departure.

I started running towards Hotaru's house with the occasional bumping of the shoulders with some unlucky people.

Hotaru's house was quite simple with a few shrubs out front, a tree and a flower or two sprouting here and there.

While jogging up the front porch stairs and almost tripping, I was about to ring the doorbell when I heard voices- Hotaru's included.

"-I'm sure. It might be risky but she'll be able to handle maybe, at most, a few weeks by herself," the gruff voice of a man said.

"She's a complete idiot though! I know she'll figure it out by accident if I leave. At least send someone to watch over her to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid," Hotaru spoke.

I'm pretty sure their talking about me, Hotaru always calls me a idiot. Of course, I wasn't a eavesdropper but after knowing it was about me, I couldn't resist.

"If we had extra people I wouldn't be ordering you to do this right now," the man responded.

"Ordering? You're not Beta yet bunny boy," she growled. When I say growl, I mean she literally growled.

"Someone's here."

The door swinged open and before I could even react a blond-male constricted my arms and Hotaru was glaring at me. I guess she didn't realize it was me at first because after a few awkward seconds her eyes widened in realization.

"Mikan?"

A sharp pain hit me in the back of my neck and knocked me out. I wasn't sure what happened after that.

I cracked open my eyes and looked around the room.

I was in Hotaru's guest room. I noticed that the main color of the room was blue. Blue curtains, blue and purple carpet, blue- I think you get the idea.

I urged my body to get up, only to get pushed back down by... Hotaru? When did she get here?

"You should rest. I found you passed out by my doorway," she soothed while giving me a glass of water.

Then it all came back to me- the blond- haired man and how he and Hotaru were talking about me.

"Bu-but that blond-haired guy and-" I started to speak.

"What crazy dream did you have this time?" Hotaru cut me off.

"It felt so real though..." I mumbled in weak protest.

"Dreams can do that to people."

I took the glass of water and chugged it down.

"What did you come here for anyway?" She questioned me.

"I-I forgot," I answered stupidly. The dream still bothered me.

She sighed. "You should go home soon, it's almost seven."

I nodded.

"Goodbye Mikan. I'll see you..." She paused, "when I see you."

I started to think about how lonely it would be without Hotaru as I watched her retreating figure. Snuggling in the comfortable bed once more, I told myself in a few minutes I would go home.

But it won't really matter if it's only a few minutes. Not like there's anybody home anyway.

I pondered on the thought while cocooned it the warm blanket.

Before I knew it, twenty minutes had passed. I looked at the digital clock on the nightstand.

7:28 PM

Dad comes home 7:30 and I was still lying in Hotaru'a guest room bed, without a care in the world.

I jumped straight out of the bed and fell flat on my face. The blanket was wrapped loosely around my body, making me look like a human burrito.

In any other case I would have loved a burrito- in this situation, not so much.

It took a while to get untangled from my predicament so I had to sprint downstairs, explain the whole thing to Hotaru's Mom and run with with all the energy I had left -which was not so much- to my house. And trust me, doing all of that takes a lot of energy. You a would know if you've done it before.

Anyway, when I got to my tiny house it was 7:39. My Dad was already there, typing away on his laptop.

He quickly acknowledged me and got back to whatever he was doing. Okay, I know I might sound crazy for saying this but- a bit of me actually wanted to get scolded by my dad. He only does it when he has the time to.

And he never has time to do it.

Though I don't blame him; he's been a single parent ever since Mom left us.

I creaked up the stairs and threw myself on the bed.

Our house was a pretty simple yet cozy place. Outside was just shrubs and grass, but near the front porch was a small garden. My Dad bought me some seeds of flowers and vegetables for my tenth birthday- so I made use of them.

The exterior was just a small white house. Nothing special. Three rooms upstairs and four on the main floor. It wasn't very big, but I loved it.

I headed upstairs to my room and flopped on my bed with a little bounce.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and let myself be consumed by sleep.

I fell to the floor, embarrassed and covered with cafeteria food.

Disgusting? Yes.

I heaved a deep sigh. Hearing snickers all across the room and my lunch flipped over beside me- I guessed it was my cue to leave.

Getting up, I calmly walked out of the cafeteria- out of the school.

I walked on the outskirts of the school for a bit when I approached the sakura tree. I cracked a small smile and sat under it. The tree always seemed to calm me down, though I don't actually know how. Maybe because it has the same name as me or it's petals have always captivated me- I'm not sure.

Anyhow, I leaned my back against the rough bark and closed my eyes-

RIING!

Groaning, I got up. I silently cursed at the bell and jogged back to school.

Once I arrived at the classroom, Misaki-sensei gave me a quick scolding because I was late and continued the rest of the class.

I, honestly, didn't understand half of what he was saying so I occupied myself by looking out of the window, thinking about how much I already miss Hotaru.

The person next to me suddenly nudged my arm and gestures toward Misaki-sensei.

"Could you answer the question on the board, Ms. Sakura?" Misaki-sensei asked.

I stared at the question on the board for a while but it was no use, I had no idea how to solve it. "Sorry Misaki-sensei. I'm unsure of the answer."

He sighed in disappointment and shook his head, "make sure to review it sometime. Oh, and Ms. Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"Pay attention in class."

As I heard restrained giggles from all around me I blushed slightly, proof of my embarrassment.

The rest of the day was similar with me daydreaming, sometimes the teacher would pick on me by giving me a question we all knew I couldn't answer and the cycle would repeat itself.

"Okay, okay. Quiet down now, I have a announcement," Misaki-sensei began. It was science with Misaki-sensei for the whole afternoon. "Tomorrow we will be receiving a new student. I know nothing about him or her so keep curious until tomorrow. You are all dismissed."

Some cheered while running out of the door. Others -like me- packed up quietly before leaving.

Almost everyone has these huge group of friends. Those people hang around school with their friends for a bit. People like me head straight home; having no one to talk to.

Of course if Hotaru was here, we would either stay a bit longer or -if we felt like it- we would walk home together. Together.

"I'm leaving for a bit and I don't know when I'm coming back," Hotaru's voice ringed inside my head.

"Don't know when I'm coming back."

My eyes widened and started to rim with unshed tears. I could feel a lump forming in my throat that I was unable to swallow.

Was she- was this friendship really all a... a-a prank!?

Refusing to believe it, I ran. I don't actually know where I was running. I just ran.

After some time I started to pant and my lungs felt like they were being compressed but I didn't stop. And so, it started to worsen.

My breath was caught in my throat when I tripped on a pebble. The pebble looked so out of place, I don't know how I could've missed it. Then again, it's me we're talking about.

I slowly lifted myself up. My knee was bleeding a bit heavily, but it should last a few hours.

Looking up, I saw that my feet had taken me to Hotaru's house. I stared at the house for a bit until I heard some sort of noise coming from the backyard.

Quickly debating whether to just pretend I didn't hear it, or go check it out. I decided on the latter. This is Hotaru's house, it doesn't matter if we're friends or not.

I opened the back gate and saw something that made me slightly regret my decision.

I was watching two large wolves trying to practically destroy each other. One out of the two had slightly long violet fur and the other had a short gray pelt. It was really frightening, especially with both of their bodies covered in wounds and blood. A lot of blood.

Suddenly, the one with the gray coat looked at me with it's jet black eyes and lunged for me.

I closed my eyes, brought my arms across my face and screamed. Feeling blood splatter on my face, I knew this was the end for me. But the pain never came. I wonder why...? Maybe someone up there felt pity on me and made my death swift and painless? Probably not. They made it clear that they hated my guts.

My question was answered when I dared to open my eyes.

The purple wolf was protecting me, it's blood everywhere. The other wolf had sunk its fangs into the purple wolf's neck, it's claws digging in and scraping my savior's figure.

Dislodging it's claws, the gray wolf made some distance from me and the wounded wolf. While growling and giving the wolf that had saved me a dirty look, the gray wolf fled the blood scene.

The remaining wolf stared at me as if expecting something, then rolled it's amethyst eyes- which looked a lot like... Hotaru's eyes?

Must be a coincidence.

Then the wolf's body started morphing into a more human-like shape. Before my brain could process what had happened, Hotaru stood in front of me. A torn and bloody silk robe was draped around her shoulders. The blood had started to dry and she had cuts and bruises all over.

I quickly rushed to her and helped her with the robe.

"Hotaru...?" I spoke, lost for words.

"You stupid idiot! I told you I would be gone, yet you still come directly to me house and stupidly walk straight to your death!? Do you want to die at such a young age!?" She yelled.

I flinched and thought back to how my dad told my that when people scold you it's because they love you. Not because they're a sadist and like to yell. I tried to remember that as Hotaru practically deafened me.

"S-sorry Hotaru," I apologized.

"Sorry's not going to cut it this time Mikan!" She shot back.

Flinching, I looked down in shame. Hotaru was right, because of my stupidness I could have been killed. But instead Hotaru got hurt...

I guess she sensed that I deeply regretted my actions and forgave me.

"Though this'll be the last time you do something like that again, got it?" She warned.

I nodded, glad for my best friend's forgiveness.

"Can we get you cleaned up now?" I asked.

"Yeah. The blood's starting to stick to me," Hotaru complained.

I grinned and helped her into the house.

YAYYYYY! Done the first chapter, forty-nine more to go! Yes, I have lots planned for this story. There might be a lot of grammar mistakes because I quickly typed it up so I could post it today. I can't check it right now because I forgot to do my homework. And that really sucks for me. Chapter two, three and maybe four will be posted by the end of November.

Romantic Unveiling signing out... To do her homework...