Chapter One

Breaking down

Sakura Mikan watched sadly they drove away from her old house, the house she had lived in since she was born. A small knot of sadness had formed in her chest, threatening to make her cry. She clenched her fists hard, her nails leaving small crescent moons in her flesh, she wouldn't cry, this was hard for her uncle too, she could see it in the set of his jaw, in the small wrinkles that formed around his eyes, despite the exaggerated smile on his face. Mikan's uncle Narumi Anju had become her guardian in recent months after the disappearance of her mother, and though he tried to be strong for Mikan she could see the strain he was under. He had loved Mikan's mother almost as much as Mikan herself.

Forcing her tears down, she rested her cheek against the cool car window, it was raining outside, and the cloudy sky made everything look gray, Mikan thought that it was a perfect portrayal of her mood right now.

"Are you excited Mikan?" Narumi asked, tilting the rear view mirror so her could see her better. "You'll finally get to see the big city! Tokyo here we come!"

Mikan wasn't excited at all, she had lived her whole life in the small town of Nikko, and wasn't confident at all that she would fit in at her new high school in Tokyo. Despite her emotional turmoil she forced herself to smile.

"Yes, It'll be lots of fun!"

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of friends in no time," Said Narumi, turning his eyes back to the road. Mikan nodded her head but let her face fall once she was sure he wasn't looking. Tokyo was only a 2 hour drive from Nikko, but it felt like forever. She sighed as she watched the unchanging gray landscape from her window. Life had been so uncertain ever since Yuka left, questions plagued Mikan every day; had her mother been kidnapped? Was she still alive? Was this somehow Mikan's fault? These questions kept returning to her no matter how hard she tried to force them down, it was a nightmare. Why had her mother done this? She hadn't even left a note.

At some point during the drive Mikan must have fallen asleep because when she woke up they were pulling into the drive way of an old fashioned Japanese house, it was big, bigger than Mikan's old house in Nikko with a stone walkway and a koi pond out front. The house was in one of the poorer areas of Tokyo so it stood out in it's opulence. Turning around in his seat to face her, Narumi offered her his best fake smile.

"Isn't this great? Go on, take a look inside,"

Mikan stepped out of the car and looked around, it really was beautiful house, the koi pond was well kept and full of jewel bright fish that darted away as Mikan approached it. Narumi came to stand beside her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him, unable to hold her tears any longer. The two of them stood in silence as Mikan cried out months of stress and anguish, until the front door slid open and out stepped an old woman, Mikan's grandmother. Yukihira Noriko was a small, frail old woman in a comically oversized kimono, but the ferocity in her gaze chilled Mikan to the bone. Mikan knew that Noriko hadn't liked her mother, but surely the old woman understood that Mikan was also a product of Noriko's son Izumi too, right?

Noriko said nothing, she just turned back towards the doorway of the house and walked inside, leaving the door ajar behind her. Mikan bit her lip and looked towards Narumi who had a pensive look on his face. For the first time since leaving Nikko, Mikan felt afraid, she was a small town girl in a big city living with a woman who obviously hated her. All she wanted at that moment was to go back in time, to when it was Yuka, Izumi and her, all together, and happy.

XxXxXx

Dinner that evening was a very tense affair, it was only Mikan, Narumi, Noriko and Noriko's companion Matsushita Hotaka, and it was very clear that Noriko and Hotaka were not happy about their company. Noriko spent the entire meal glaring from Mikan to Narumi while Hotaka would only open his mouth to ask someone to pass a dish his way. Finally, as Noriko was serving everyone desert (stale strawberry cookies) she looked at Narumi and said.

"What happened to your sister? If she had been around more I would have had a beautiful blonde grandchild, instead of this one." she shot Mikan a very wicked look. Narumi's eyes grew cold but his smile didn't fade.

"Mikan-chan is very beautiful Noriko-san, she has her father's eyes," Mikan beamed at Narumi, she didn't know what she would do without him, she wondered how long he would stay.

"But the rest of her is that woman," she snapped. Hotaka stood up from his seat without a word, and Noriko's jerked around. "Where are you going?" she asked, her voice becoming higher and sweeter. Hotaka said nothing, but simply ascended the steps to where his bedroom was with Noriko scurrying after him like a distressed mouse. As soon as both of them were out of earshot, Narumi wrapped an arm around Mikan's shoulder and she felt tears prick her eyes. Before she knew it she was sobbing in his arms like a baby, something she had promised herself she wouldn't do. Narumi didn't say anything, he only rubbed soothing circles into her back.

"I can't do this," she sniffed, choking back another deluge of tears. "We need to go back Narumi, please!"

"It's only for a little while," he whispered, burrying his face in her hair. "I'll be with you every step of the way, you can do this, you've gotta be strong." he gently pried her off of him and held her at arms length, "I will find your mother Mikan, and then we can all go home,"

"Together?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"Together." he smiled.

A/N: Hullo! I'm really excited about this fanfiction, I'll be honest, I have no idea where I'm going with it, but I have good feelings about it! Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

Love

AgonyElysium