Well, crap. I didn't expect a response to 'Are you with me?' but it sure as heck seems like I got one. I did say (at least I think I did and if I didn't I'm sorry but I'm saying it now) that I want to fix the chapters up a bit, so I'm just in the editing process now. When I finish, I'll update a real chapter 14 so bear with me. Thanks so much guys, you're absolute legends for sticking with me after a year of nothing. I love you! x

Scholarship

Chapter 1: Meet Mikan Nendo

Natsume sighed, closing his eyes as the steaming hot water poured through his hair and over he's body. School suck, he thought in dismay, just as he did every other morning. Natsume followed same overly lame routine every day: Wake up, eat breakfast, brush teeth, shower, get dressed, pack bags, call parents about business, school, work, gym, more work, dinner, brush teeth, shower, sleep - repeat. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. This is my last year… he thought with a sense of relief. No more squealing girls, no more try-hard guys, and no more suck up teachers.

Natsume, along with a lot of others heirs to rich businesses, attended an elite school called Gakuen Alice. It wasn't his choice, it was an unspoken rule. Everyone in his family went to Gakuen Alice, so he had to as well. There were, of course, some bonuses – such as; he lived in a boarding house in the academy, which meant he didn't have to put up with his nuisance of a family. Of course living in a boarding house meant that he had to live with nineteen others his age, and a 'peacekeeper' – otherwise known as a teacher with nothing better to do with his free time. Most of the kids who went to Gakuen Alice stayed in boarding houses due to the size of the academy. Living on campus just made life more convenient for them all.

Bonus number two: no poor people. Ever. No commoner could get into the school, because none of them were smart enough to meet the standards for scholarships. Sure, there might have been one or two a few decades ago, before technology became so advanced and the lower class was left behind.

This thought train swiftly brought Natumse back around to the odd rumour Ruka had informed him of.

Apparently, according to Sumire – whose information is always 80% lies and totally exaggerated – some commoner girl with an uncanny IQ got herself in on a scholarship. If somehow the laws of the universe and nature themselves were broken and this were true (which Natsume seriously doubted) the girl wouldn't last long. The students of Gakuen Alice wouldn't stand for association with commoners, dirty street trash and all the sorts that they were.

Once he was out of the shower and dressed for school in his uniform (A/N: Err, stick with the middle school uniform in the manga/anime.) he plopped himself down comfortably into a study chair, collected his phone and dialled his mother reflexively.

"Natsume, my darling. Sorry I can't talk this morning, I'm almost late for a business meeting. We'll need you at the office after school. Have fun, darling, mummy and daddy love you!" Beep.

"That was quick. And expected." He muttered as he locked his phone and slipped it into his pocket. He collected up his laptop bag and strolled down stairs, not surprised to find his house mates already long gone. Everyone had made plans to arrive early this morning, to see if the unlikely rumour about a scholarship student was true. He knew better then to waste his time. Even in the rumour was true, what was so interesting about one poor girl? It was easy enough to spot them in the city as they went about their mundane lives.

When he arrived at school he saw a group of people walking around, clearly searching for something rather specific. He glanced at his watch. Ten minutes... He saw Sumire's expensive perm and instantly took a side path around to the Northgate courtyard. He enjoyed sitting under the Sakura trees while he checked the stock market.

Walking past a traumatized shrub, he was intrigued to hear hard panting, quickly followed by the abrupt sound of a choking cough. Giving himself to the intrigue Natsume daintily pushed aside a cluster of branches, and his gaze was almost instantly met with shocked chocolate brown eyes staring up at him with pure exhaustion. "Oh crap." The girl murmured, dropping her head. She was wearing the uniform, which made her a student... or did it? Natsume was sceptical. She had a black messenger bag, but he couldn't tell what brand it was. It looked cheap, so it probably wasn't a brand name. Her long brown hair was in a ponytail.

"Out of curiosity," he began, watching as her head lifted cautiously. "Might I ask why you're hiding in the shrubs?" he inquired with a quirked brow. The girl quickly turned bright pink as heat flushed her already-bright-red cheeks.

"I'm hiding, obviously. Evidently not very well. You're not going to call them over, are you?" She asked. Her eyes grew slightly wider in preparation for an unpleasant reply.

Natsume – confused beyond plausible reason – kept watching her until finally, he realized who she must have been. "You're the scholarship student?" he asked, she nodded. "I see." He nodded in acknowledgement before he released the shrub, allowing them to fling back and swat her sharply in the face. "Back with you, dirty commoner, to your natural habitat."

Natsume slid down the trunk of a sakura tree and proceeded to pull out his laptop, propping it on his knee. He logged into his account, and began researching, following his morning ritual. It was always good to get as much work done as he could. He paid no heed to the girl that crawled out of the bushes covered in dust and shrubbery, although he did note when she stood up and quickly surveyed her surroundings. Satisfied she was in no immediate danger, she gave herself a quick pat down, tightened her pony tail, adjusted her bag on her hip and then – just as the bell was going – strode off towards the main block like every other student in sight.

He followed suit, headed off towards the block that held his homeroom. Naturally, Natsume had top marks and, of course, he was the schools number one in athletics and academics. No one could match him. Just to top that, he was perfectly gorgeous: lean muscles, silky soft hair, and luscious drool-worthy long-lashed crimson eyes.

Natsume walked into the room and took his seat between Koko and Ruka, his two best friends. He'd known them since his seemingly brief childhood – yes, contrary to popular belief, Natsume Hyuuga actually had a childhood. Tsubasa and Tobita were also close by. "Hey, Nat. The new kids in our class. Look." Ruka said, inclining his head to the front of the room.

Narumi was standing out front, about to introduce the new girl. Natsume glanced up, surveyed her, and then went back to staring out the window. She was, oddly enough, beautiful, in an ugly way. Or was it ugly, in a beautiful way? She looked beautiful, but it was easy to tell just by glancing at her that she didn't belong. She slouched, drooped her shoulders, leant to one side and worst of all, she had a hand on her bag. None of the upper class would ever be raised so sluggishly. "Not interested." Natsume grunted to Ruka, who shrugged and pulled out his math's books, preparing for Jinno sensei's lesson and paying no heed to the workings of the classroom.

"Alright, class!" Narumi began in an attempt to demand the rooms undivided attention. "As some of you may have already heard, we have a new student! This is Mikan Nendo, and yes she is a scholarship student. Despite the fact that she did not pay to be here does not make her any different to you though, so please take care of her." He finished with a content smile. He pushed her forward. "You can sit next to Hotaru Imai on the left side, second last row."

Mikan, seemingly indifferent to the status of those she faced, nodded briefly before strolling down the aisle to her seat. She even walks like a commoner. Natsume thought, disgusted by the idea. He had no doubt that she'd begin trying to suck up to Imai or Umenomiya, who she was sitting next to. She'd want in with the rich kids, hoping they could buy her all sorts of pretty little gifts she could never hope to afford herself.

"Hello Imai." She said, nodding. She turned and nodded to Anna, too, smiling. Here we go, thought Natsume, smirking at his rightness.

"Hello, Nendo." Imai replied, nodding.

"I'm Anna Umenomiya. You can call me Anna, though. It's nice to meet you, Nendo." Anna said, smiling brightly as she pushed her pink hair back behind her ears.

"You too, Anna." Mikan replied, smiling brightly. "Call me Mikan, then. I look forward to being your classmate." She said before she turned back to the front, pulling out her math books to read ahead.

What, that's it? He thought, perplexed. Shouldn't she be trying to prolong the conversation? To get in good with Umenomiya or Imai? She must have a plan. She'd have to be smart, after all. He muttered, shaking his head and opening his text book to start reading the new unit.

When math's class was over Natsume had a self-study period. Self-study period was a privilege given to only the most trusted and most promising students. That's why only he, Nonoko, Hotaru, Yuu, Ruka, Anna, Koko, Youichi, Tsubasa, and Misaki got to skip whatever subjects that didn't want to learn, already knew or didn't need.

When he arrived at the library he nodded to the librarian and swiped his student ID in the Special-student card slip, gaining access to the elevator. Only the top ten students in the school – usually tends to be the student council – have little stars on their ID cards, identifying them as Special-star students, also allowing them access to wherever they so please. Even the teacher staffroom.

The roof was, of course, a roof, although it'd been designed as a study area. Around the edge was a glass fence, to ensure nobody fell over the edge. Then exotic trees and plants grew all over the place. There where marble stone paths through the gardens, and in the middle there was a large marble plateau. In the middle of the plateau, there was a table with ten chairs, and a large heater that warmed almost the entire roof. There were other heaters spread out, also. Around the edges there were comfortable sofas, a mini fridge that was constantly supplied with fresh water and soft drinks, and whatever else the students asked to have placed in the garden.

Natsume had his own sacred area. The other nine star students knew to stay clear from it. The sakura tree. He'd had it planted specially. That's all it was. A medium sized Sakura tree with a soft patch of grass underneath. That's all he needed to relax and think. Thinking was of top priority. When he thought, new products, new advertising methods, new partners and anything else of importance always popped up into his mind.

So he slid down in he's usual spot, and he thought.

What felt like half an hour later Natsume woke to the sound of absurdly loud laughter, and the voice of someone he cursed darkly: Narumi-sensei. "What's he doing here, damn it?" he growled, climbing to his feet to hunt down the source of the pointless sound. When he arrived at his destination, he wasn't surprised to find the Star-students, his closest friends, standing around on the plateau. No surprise to see Narumi. It was the grinning little poor girl that surprised him. "What's going on?" Natsume asked, yawning.

Mikan looked him over with curiosity – or was it actually disdain? Natumse couldn't be sure. "Narumi-sensei is giving me a quick tour of all the place's I'll likely need to be familiar with." Mikan answered, smiling a strange smile. Was she taunting him? Perhaps she was angry that he'd practically smacked her in the face with a shrub branch.

Natsume's eyes narrowed. "What makes you think you'll need to be familiar with an area that off limits to ordinary students?"

"What makes you think," Mikan countered immediately, raising an eyebrow. "That I'm an ordinary student?" she smirked at his dumbfounded expression. Did she just back-chat me? He demanded in disbelief. No one ever dared to back-chat the Hyuuga's. No one ever had the authority. Sure, there was, like, one maybe two companies that were bigger and richer then his, but Sakura Co. didn't have any heirs and neither did the other place. And Natsume's father was a close acquaintance with Izumi.

"You're right," he muttered. "A normal student wouldn't be wearing an untailored, second hand uniform to school. They wouldn't be as ugly as you, and they'd have to brains to keep their mouths shut when it's necessary. You're not ordinary, far from it."

Everything froze. Mikan stared at him, examining every microscopic hair that covered his body, before she raised her piercing gaze to his, where it remained. "You seem to think quite highly of yourself, Hyuuga." She said, surprising them all with a blindingly bright smile. "I don't like your attitude. Although you're probably just moody and pissed off that a commoner knocked you down to second rate, eh? It's alright. Hug your pillow tight and you'll make it through the night." She finished in an overly sweet voice, no hints of antagonism on her unnatural still-smiling-for-no-apparent-reason face.

Natsume stared, clearly taken aback. He wanted to laugh and shout at her at the same time. What an attitude! What gave her, a commoner, the right to oppose him, the sole heir to the third largest company in Japan? Or perhaps, it was because she was a commoner. She didn't have to suck up to him and his business, because she didn't have to consider future partnerships. How irritating… he thought scornfully, his eye twitching unconsciously.

Mikan winked and turned back to the others. "I hope I can join you here, after the exams, if I'm still in the top ten." She waved, striding off through the garden with Narumi close behind. "See you soon, Hyuuga!" she called out in the distance, a not-so-subtle hint of victory radiating out of her cheerful voice.

"Damn her," he growled, thumping a fist into the table that sat in the middle of the courtyard. "Ruka, she didn't actually score higher than me, did she?" he demanded, turning on his bunny-like best friend.

"Err…" Ruka, took a step back, scratching nervously at his head. "Well… at the moment, yeah… but that was because of the entrance exam! That's all! I'm sure you'll beat her in the exams tomorrow. She's just a commoner, after all. Her education is third rate. She probably won't even make the top one hundred."

"You're right." Natsume said, sighing in relief. The others stared in disbelief. Natsume had never lost his temper in front of people, nor had he shown any sign that he could feel anything other than boredom and general resentment for everyone he laid eyes upon.

"No, you're both idiots." Hotaru butt in. "If she got into Gakuen Alice on a scholarship, then she'd have to be the smartest student in the school. Those are the expectations." She said. "Although what Ruka said is partly true. If someone gets a higher score then her in the exams tomorrow, she'll probably lose her scholarship. It's probably a trial."

"Which means she'll be gone after tomorrow. No more dirty, disrespectful commoner trash." He concluded, grinning widely as he ignored the obvious facts Hotaru had presented about her having to be somewhat intelligent. "Brilliant."