Ok, before people who have favourited this story already get excited because its technically updated I just want to say that it is not updated. In anyway. I haven't added anything new nor have I taken away anything from this story. I just revamped it with some diverse words instead of saying looked every 5 words I changed then to glanced and such. Reread this if you'd like but just don't get your hopes up.

Also to all the new readers, welcome to my story! Hope you enjoy it and I'm sorry for any feels this may cause you.

~PrincessNoodle

Mikan sat on the little bench in the middle of the cemetery. She sat there, not moving, not speaking, just looking at the grave in front of her. The inscription seemed to take all of her attention, to the point that she didn't hear anyone come up behind her.

"Who are you?" a male voice said. Mikan jump and squeaked, not expecting anyone to be here.

"Well are you going to answer me?" the annoyed young man asked impatiently.

"..."

He ran a hand through his hair and looked off to his right letting out an annoyed sigh. "Are you here to visit Aoi?" Yes that was her name, the name put on the grave. Aoi Hyuuga. She was 13 when she died and Mikan knew her from when they both went to school to the time she died. Mikan then realized he had asked her something. She nodded and a got a good look at him.

He was handsome, anyone would be able to tell that. He had messy raven colored hair and striking red eyes, but what caught Mikan the most was that he had the same features as Aoi, right down to the tip of his nose.

There was a strong silence as they stood in front of her grave. Mikan wasn't family nor was she a close friend of Aoi but she couldn't bring herself to not visit every once in a while. Because she was convinced that she had led Aoi to her death.

The man she was standing beside sighed again and took a red rose out from his jacket and placed it on the tomb. He whispered something as he put it down but the wind was too loud for Mikan to hear anything. Once he was done he stood up giving the female, who hadn't spoken at all, one final glance before turning and walking towards the exit. He walked about 5 steps before he heard light, fast paced footsteps from behind him. He slowed and waited for the girl, who only looked to be a couple years younger than him, to catch up.

As soon as she was beside him he started walking and so did she. She glanced up at him with almost guilty looking eyes. His eyes shifted downwards to her and caught the look before she had time to turn away.

He stopped and sighed, grabbing her attention. "Who are you?"

Mikan contemplated giving him an answer and decided she should. "M-Mikan Sakura." She said while hiding more in the scarf of her jacket and trailing her eyes on the ground. "W-Who are y-you?"

"Natsume Hyuuga. I wa- am Aoi's older brother." He said to her.

"I-I see." They stood there in slightly awkward silence after that until he spoke once more.

"Who were you to my little sister?" he asked staring straight at her. Now if you thought that you had killed this guy's younger sister and he asked how you knew her... what would you say?

"I um... I knew of her ever since I had started school. We were in the same grade, liked the same stuff, and I was told to be a lot like her all throughout elementary. When we got to middle school is where I started to hear less and less of her. I was considered 'popular' –although I never liked it- and your sister wasn't. I remember getting a class with her in grade 8... The year she died," he visibly winced when she said that but she carried on, "we had been together for years and yet I had never spoken more than a few words to her in my entire life. She sat there, looking shy and closed up as usual, she would read this book, and people would take it from her calling her a bookworm and throw it across the room, sometimes even out the window." Natsume clutched his fists tight just hearing about the bullying.

"One day she came to school with a brand new book, a shiny cover, and I could tell it was precious to her. They of course noticed this too and quickly tossed it out the 2nd story window. She got up to go grab it but the teacher told her to sit down. I played with my hair and looked out the window at the book. I had looked at her at one point and she seemed broken just sitting at her desk, it was as if the bullies won. She looked at me with scared and hurt eyes and I immediately asked the teacher if I could go to the bathroom. He let me and I ran down the halls and stairs and out to the court yard to grab the book. When I got back to the classroom I got a couple glares from kids who had seen me go and grab it but I kept walking towards my desk. After class I waited until it was just me and your sister in the room. And I gave her to book. She looked so happy but also sceptical on if it was a joke that would hurt her in the end or not. That very same day I got cornered by some of the bullies at our school and beat up, just because I helped Aoi Hyuuga. But I didn't mind, I thought that maybe if they started to pick on me then they just might forget about Aoi.

"You might be thinking, if I was popular then why didn't I just make Aoi popular too? I would've if I could but my boyfriend at the time, Reo Mouri, would not hear of it. He was basically the reason why I was popular because in every way I was exactly like your sister before we entered high school. He just happened to see me first and she just happened to trip in the halls on her first day. Me and Reo had a fight on the day I helped Aoi... he said I was just wasting his effort and we both yelled at each other that we were breaking up. The next day at school I was bullied just like Aoi but I knew how to handle them and I had some friends who had stuck by me. I stood up for your sister every chance I got, I even sometimes followed her through the halls making sure she didn't get tripped or anything like that." Mikan Sakura was crying as she continued on with the story, "every time I defended her, I got hurt, it got more and more serious until someone tripped me and someone pushed me towards the floor making it a harder fall and I broke my wrist. That was after I defended Aoi with why her hair wasn't a 'normal' color and why her eyes were different. Aoi saw me fall and heard the boys say 'that's what you get for helping a freak' or something like that. She didn't show up to school for a week after that then we got an announcement from the teacher saying that she wasn't going to this school any more. I was never her friend, well I wanted to be but it was hard. I'm sorry for laying this all on you, I've never told anyone the full story before." She said. He had his eyes closed and she couldn't figure out what he was thinking at all.

"Miss Sakura, I'm glad my sister had someone like you during the last few months of her life. She had said something one time about a girl but I didn't think anything of it. I remember what she said though, she asked if I knew a girl named Mikan Sakura and I said no. She asked if I knew someone who was kind enough to stand up for the weak, I said no. She said 'well you should look for one because I know someone who will always be there to protect me now.' I asked her what she needed to be protected from but she never answered that question." He turned to fully look at her while she was still sniffling and trying to wipe her tears with her winter jacket sleeves. "Thank you for being there for her. I never knew what was going on in that school, I moved to high school when she got into grade 8 and before that the grade 9's were always in the library and classrooms studying to get into the school they wanted. During that week when she wasn't at school, she actually ran away she left a note fully intending to just leave and never come back, saying that an angel shouldn't suffer. After that the next time we saw her was when we were called to the hospital. We were told she was dead." Mikan was crying harder now.

"She was a really nice girl, also clumsy and naïvely funny. I wish I got to know her better and I wish that I could go back to grade 7 and stick with her instead of falling for the jerk Reo." Mikan got out through tears. She looked up at Natsume, considering the foot and half he had on her, and mumbled something that he didn't quite catch but she started to walk away before he could say anything.

'I'm sorry' hung heavy in the air but Natsume Hyuuga didn't realize until Mikan was gone forever.

PS. I am giving a bit of thought to a sequel, just a short little one shot like this. Just know that I'm thinking about it. I'll probably think about it more after I get further into my Fairy Tail story (feel free to read that was as well -cough cough- read it please -cough cough-)and finish an ongoing Soul Eater story that I haven't posted yet (it's almost done) Anywho, ta ta for now, lovely readers

~PrincessNoodle