Note: Author's notes (A/N) are in bold and in parenthesis, unless they're at the beginning or end of the chapter. Then they'll just be bold.

Summary: He's depressing, calm, and cool. She's invigorating, easily excited, and expressive. She's just trying to climb her way up the social ladder, but he's determined to make her life hell. And of course Hotaru not going to let this experimental jackpot pass her by; she's going to find out for herself whether opposites attract after all. MikanxNatsume

I finally finished the first chapter of the rewritten version! I HAVE ACHIEVED MY LIFE'S GOAL!

I sincerely apologize for the long absence *gets down on knees and begs for forgiveness*… The universal lame excuse to use when all else fails: I was busy… eheheheh *glances around nervously, runs away*. If that explanation doesn't satisfy you, then let's just say that the Easter Bunny stole my candy so of course I had to run after him, resulting in me having no time to write. There, satisfied?

Anyhow, read and please leave a review. Especially readers who read the original version, be sure to review before you rush off to read some other fic.

Chapter 1 ~ I Did Not Trip, I Hugged The Floor

By ShiroKoneko

Hyuuga Natsume = definitely not someone you messed with.

He was smart, handsome, rich (his father was the boss of Flames Co.), athletic, and the most popular junior – in fact, the most popular person – at Alice Academy High School. His fangirls stalked him wherever he went. If anyone harmed him, that person would be torn apart by dozens of shrieking fangirls. The same went for his best friend Nogi Ruka.

Ignorance was not an excuse – anyone who even looked the wrong way at Natsume and his friends would be shown no mercy. All the girls wanted him while all the guys wanted to be him. Everywhere he went, he was swarmed by admirers. In fact, Natsume had taken to wearing disguises to escape from overeager fangirls.

Everyone was expected to know the name of Hyuuga Natsume. If you didn't... you were either very, very, very new (as in just arrived in the area a few minutes ago) or you were just plain stupid.

Or, in very rare cases such as this one, both.

Mikan's POV

Tap, tap, tap. Tappity-t-t-tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap, tap, tap tap t-SCREEECH!

Everyone else in the bar gave me weird looks as I dragged my perfectly manicured nails over the glass counter, making a hideous screeching noise. I gave them all bright smiles as I kept making the sound.

Yes, I know I'm only seventeen and I'm not supposed to be in a bar. But I'm Sakura Mikan – I can do whatever I want.

Being a Sakura means I have awesome privileges. The Sakura family is the tenth richest family in Japan, so I can basically buy anything I want. Not to mention every adult is practically kissing my ass.

But I wasn't sitting in a classy bar drinking a martini because I wanted to show off. I'm not that shallow. I think. I was waiting for my good friends Umenomiya Anna and Ogasawara Nonoko. (Not sure if I spelled their names correctly…) I hadn't seen them in a year since they moved from Nagoya to Tokyo.

And by the way, they were both over twelve minutes late.

And I hate late people. I know I'm being a hypocrite but I just can't stand it when people are late. Excluding me, because I'm awesome.

"Are they ever going to show up?" I hissed to my best friend, Imai Hotaru. "Seriously, we haven't seen each other for like a year! I told them I'd be here even though I just got off the plane ten minutes ago and I had to turn down a late lunch with the famous Koizumi family, and they're late?"

She sipped her vodka. "Be patient. And quit making that hideous screeching noise. You're totally going to ruin your nails." She flipped her short, chic black hair.

How come, whenever I'm late, Hotaru threatens me, but when someone else is late, she tells me to be patient?!? She's an even bigger hypocrite than I am.

I hoped that Hotaru couldn't read minds. I was still contemplating mind-reading when the bar's glass double doors swung open.

"Mikan! Hotaru! We are so sorry we're late!"

Finally! I didn't blink an eye as the "No Minors" neon sign above the bar changed to "Welcome to Tokyo". Hotaru and I were completely used to their antics – we used to do crazy things together, while Hotaru would plan things out for us like a true evil mastermind – which is why we didn't scream like hell as everyone else did when bright red feathers began to fall from gaps in the ceiling.

Oh joy. Feathers. Anna's favorite things besides cooking. Couldn't they have made it candy for once?

Anna and Nonoko gave us hugs. "Long time no see, Mikan, Hotaru!"

I hugged them back enthusiastically as the other people in the bar shouted complaints. My friends were still the same insane weirdos. "Anna! Nonoko! Did you bring me any candy?"

Anna, the crazier of the two, was wearing a bright pink and white frilly camisole with a white lace miniskirt that left her curvy legs bare. She was way too pink, with her curly pink hair and her pink shades obscuring her cerulean eyes. Pink stilettos clicked every time she moved.

Nonoko was the more sensible one. She wore a prim blue baby tee and a pair of Seven jeans. Her blue hair was highlighted with silver, and she had put way too much eye shadow above her Prussian blue eyes.

Both of them were grinning like idiots, completely covered with red feathers.

"How did you get the feather thing done? That was so awesome!"

Anna beamed. "It was totally phenomenal! We had the roof customized!"

"Really…that is very phenomenal," Hotaru observed in a bored voice, her amethyst eyes blank.

"Omigosh Hotaru, you can't believe how much I missed your sarcastic comments!" Anna squealed. "I'm so happy Mikan's mother finally let her move!" We exchanged several hugs and tearful greetings.

"Let's talk!" Nonoko exclaimed. "What have we missed back in Nagoya this past year?

Hotaru dusted off a few red feathers that were insistent on clinging to her crisp white blousef. "Let's get out of here first. The feathers are killing me."

Hotaru's word was law, so we linked arms and walked out of the bar. As we passed the bartender, Anna reached into her Prada handbag and tossed him a hundred thousand yen. (I know $1 = 118 yen or something, but for the sake of convenience, when converting from yen to dollars, just take off the last two zeros.)

"For cleaning," Nonoko called as the bartender clutched the money, looking deliriously happy.

We did some catching up as we strolled along the Tokyo streets.

"Mikan, I'm curious – how the hell did you get your mom to let you move here?"

"I want to know too! A year of refusing, then she suddenly let you move? What happened?"

"I called Santa to help me persuade her. What do you think happened? Guess!"

Anna cocked an eyebow. "Tell me."

Hotaru cracked a small smile. "She begged and begged and promised to obey her mother for life,"

"And I promised to wear those horrible panties she designed for the rest of my life," I added.

Nonoko frowned. "The white lace ones? Those are kind of pretty, actually."

"No, the other ones."

Anna gasped. "Not the polka-dotted ones! And the….the cherries, and the strawberries, and those… those horrible…"

"Yes, those."

"Oh, ew." Anna made a face. "What if you decide you want to have a sex life someday? Those panties will totally turn your guy off."

Nonoko winced. "Better not wear short skirts. If news of your choice in underwear leaks out, the media will have a field day. You have a reputation to protect, Miss Sakura."

"Oh, stop with the lectures. You sound like Permy. How is she, anyway?"

My offhand comment was met with a depressed silence.

"What happened?" I demanded.

"Well… Sumire…" Anna trailed off.

From how Anna said Sumire instead of Permy, I knew there was something wrong.

Nonoko was slightly more forthcoming. "She's dead to us, the bitch. No funeral."

I was getting more and more confused. Shouda Sumire had been a good friend of ours since we were ten!

Hotaru coughed. "Someone explain the situation or the both of you will get hurt. Badly," she enunciated.

Anna paled. Hotaru could be deadly when she was irked. "Well, Sumire sort of just drifted apart. We're all in the same social group, but she's become such a bitch. And she's been trying to steal your boyfriend."

"Ruka-pyon?!" I gasped. "No!" My boyfriend, Nogi Ruka, had moved here half a year ago with Anna, Nonoko, and Permy. He had delicious looks, he was smart, rich, kind, and extremely sweet – in short, every girl's dream Prince Charming.

Ruka wouldn't cheat on me. No, he definitely wouldn't.

Would he?

"No, Ruka's not cheating on you with that bitch," Anna soothed me, sensing my distress. "But Sumire's really been pushing it."

"But why would Permy do that to me? We're friends!"

"Well, no duh, because she's a slutty bitch."

"Anna! This is Permy we're talking about, remember?" I eyed her critically. "The same girl who helped us break into my mom's office and steal her car keys? The girl who smuggled a cake into your house when your mom put you on a diet?"

Nonoko sighed. "Told you," she said over her shoulder to Anna. Anna shrugged, her curls bouncing, and dropped a thousand yen into Nonoko's hand.

I had the feeling that I was just the subject of a bet. Which did not make me feel any better.

"Oh, it's hopeless. Let's just drop it for now." Hotaru sighed.

Nonoko pocketed her money. "Fine. I got what I wanted anyways."

Thank you, Hotaru! This sort of deep talk was really starting to depress me.

Anna laughed. "Come on, there's this awesome antiques shop right around the corner! You won't believe the stuff they sell!"

Hotaru gave her a somewhat resigned look. "I suppose there's no stopping you from wasting at least five hundred thousand yen on shit you won't wear more than once in a lifetime?"

She held up her shiny pink credit card. "Make that ten hundred thousand!"

The antiques shop was, as Hotaru put it, a place that sold "crap created by insane, horny old men". Nonoko wasted fifty thousand dollars on a piece of string with a square of lace and a clasp which the old man at the counter claimed was a string bikini top from the eighteen hundreds. I doubt they had string bikinis in the eighteen hundreds, but Nonoko decided it was a treasure and put it on. Anna bought a pair of shiny black waders, I bought a white fur coat, and Hotaru just stood in the corner and scoffed.

"Hotaru!!!" Nonoko screamed from behind a rack of black silk lingerie (why was there lingerie in an antiques shop? Well that's for the old man behind the counter to know and for you to find out). She held up a lacy black drawstring top. "Put this on!"

Hotaru stared at the revealing top. "No way in hell."

Anna giggled. "Pretty please? It would look totally hot on you!"

Hotaru gave her an incredulous stare. "I'm a prodigy, not a seductress. I wear designer clothes and imported silk, not showy tops."

I was the one who knew her best. "We'll each treat you to a whole bottle of tequila."

"And you each have to drink at least a whole bottle each," she added.

Nonoko stared at her in confusion. "How does that benefit you?"

She smirked. "It wastes your money. And later, I will go to the bartender and get all the money off of him."

We thought about it for a few seconds.

"Agreed!" we squealed. Nonoko bought the top for Hotaru and we headed off to the nearest bar.

A few hours later, everyone except Hotaru was at least slightly tipsy.

And we were all attracting stares.

A lot of stares.

We posed in front of a store window, laughing at our reflections. Nonoko had on an excessive amount of silvery glitter on her eyelashes. Her blue hair was streaked with silver hairspray, and she was wearing a silver silk Chinese dress with a classic Chinese high neckline and dragon-themed embroidery. She had drawn swirls on her legs with glitter. Silver pumps completed her Chinese-slash-pixie outfit.

Anna looked even crazier, her curls done up in bouncy pigtails. She was wearing a black leather coat that went down to her knees - it was unbuttoned, giving everyone a good view of her red push-up bra - and black leather boy shorts. She wore the black waders in place of her stilettos.

I wasn't mismatched at all. I was all bundled up in a white fur coat and a white miniskirt with white fur boots. I was sweating to death. I was about to ask Hotaru if I could take off my coat when I realized that, instead of striking poses and laughing like Anna and Nonoko, she was grimacing in disgust at her own reflection.

Hotaru wasn't mismatched either, but she was wearing clothes (forced on her by Anna and Nonoko) that she normally would not be caught dead in. She had on the revealing drawstring top and a short black skirt. Evil seductress, much?

I stifled a giggle as Hotaru, realizing that I had been laughing at her reflection, shot an evil glance at me.

Before she could permanently maim me, Anna threw up all over the sidewalk. Everyone "eww"ed in unison.

Hotaru glanced at the sidewalk disgustedly. "That's what you get for drinking five whole bottles of tequila, idiot."

Anna kept giggling. "But you drank seven!" She wiped her mouth with a pink handkerchief.

"We should go home," Nonoko suggested. "Before Anna passes out."

Anna stopped giggling long enough to exclaim, "I'll call a cab! Or how about we call in a plane? That'll be so funny!"

"Indeed," I said sarcastically. I turned to find the nearest cab in the mass of Tokyo traffic.

And that's when I saw it.

The thing that would - in some ways - change my life.

The most perfect thing ever created, the most beautiful thing on this earth. It was so awesome it glittered in the weak sunlight.

No, I'm not talking about Edward Cullen. I hate Twilight.

And Taylor Lautner owns Robert Pattinson.

I was talking about this beautiful little boutique with the most adorably colorful clothes on this planet. Everything was brightly colored, cute, and quirky. Neon colors flashed in the light, practically screaming at me to buy them.

"Hotaru!" I screamed. "Anna! Nonoko!" I pointed.

They were unimpressed.

"Um, Mikan? You okay?" Nonoko waved a hand over my face. "You pointing at…. That café? If you're hungry, I can call a cab right now and take us to-"

"No, no, no!" I gesticulated wildly in the general direction of the shop. "That boutique! The one called 'Candy Floss Clothing!'"

Nonoko finally understood. "Oh, that one? Yeah, it's pretty cute, kind of pricey though. Why, you want to go there?"

"Hear, hear!" Anna piped, laughing like a drunk.

Well, she was a drunk.

"Wait," Hotaru interjected. "I'm hungry, tired, and my feet hurt like hell. I. Am. Going. Home."

Is it just me, or did my best friend just ditch me?

Well, no shit, she just did.

"Are you guys ditching me too?"

Anna giggled. "I'll wait here!" She collapsed on the nearest bench, still giggling.

Nonoko shrugged. "I think I'll stay with Anna in case she passes out."

I set off in the direction of the shop, weaving my way through the crowded Tokyo streets. I still wasn't used to the bustle of Tokyo after spending all my life in the countryside. But I liked it already. Hell, anywhere was better than hot, insect-infested Nagoya.

I pushed past a pair of punks in skinny jeans, elbowed my way through a couple making out, and stomped one boot-clad heel on some random person's foot.

I emerged out of the crowd at the door to the boutique bearing three new bruises on my left leg, souvenir of a painful stab from a pair of silver heels.

I yanked open the door and collided with someone who had just entered, a tall, muscular figure wearing a huge black hoodie and a pair of dark shades.

Shades in a shop? Hello? And they weren't even cool shades.

"Sorry," I muttered, before pushing past him into the clothing racks.

Now, I just needed to find the perfect dress for a social I was attending that night, a formal.

Preferably, something under one hundred fifty thousand yen.

I ran my fingers down the side of a silky cocktail dress. It was priced at two hundred thousand yen, but it was so adorable, I decided that I was buying it. It was bright red with a subtle pattern of sparkles on the bodice and a tiered skirt that ended at the knees. It fit me, too. I had typed in its measurements on my Right Fit gadget – designed by Hotaru – and it would fit me perfectly.

Perfect, I know. I reached for the clothes hanger –

And a pale hand reached out and took it the instant I stopped running my hands down the side.

I grabbed the hanger and tugged, half-convinced I was just drunk from drinking a whole bottle of tequila.

The hand refused to vanish.

I tugged harder. "Excuse me, but this dress is mine," I informed the mystery dress-stealer.

"Fuck off. I got it first."

I spun around indignantly. Some people just can't be polite.

It was the weird person in a hoodie and sunglasses again. I gave him a dark look.

"Well, I'm sorry sir but I'm buying this dress."

He tugged harder on the dress. "Apparently, I'm buying it. I'm in a hurry. Stop wasting my time already."

How rude!

I snapped. "Well excuse me but there's something nowadays that we call asking but evidently you've never heard of it. Why the hell do you need a dress anyway are you gay or something? And by the way why are you wearing sunglasses in a shop there is no sun here you retard, but some people are just too busy being rude to notice it! Oh, and your shades are so last season. Now if you will excuse me, I have a very important social to attend at the Hyuuga Mansion in a few hours, and I seriously need that dress!"

There, finished ranting. I was sure Weird Hoodie Dude had heard about the social – only filthy rich people were attending that social, and everyone knew it. I don't like to rub my status in people's faces but hopefully it would get this weirdo off my back.

I needed something elegant to wear before another half hour passed. My mother was going to kill me if I didn't look 'splendidly elegant' for my first social with the elite in Tokyo.

Hotaru was right. Procrastinating got you nowhere. Now if only I had taken her advice and bought something useful instead of the damn fur stuff.

Natsume's POV

There are strange people in this world.

But this girl was seriously bordering insane.

She was pretty, actually, with delicate, cute features. Her hair was beautiful – it was brown with tints of honey and other colors that made it look natural, unlike those beach blonde skanks with hair like straw. But it was done up in pigtails with silver ribbons.

And each ribbon had jade charms hanging from them.

You read it correctly. Jade charms.

She was wearing a white fur coat and a white miniskirt with fur boots. Fur? It was the middle of October, and slightly chilly, but she was really overdoing it. And her make-up was crazy – pale blue glitter all around her large hazel eyes.

Weird.

Nice figure, though. Not much in the chest department, but her legs weren't bad, and her eyes were pretty. I could imagine her fluttering her eyelashes as she tilted her head back with pleasure…

I mentally slapped myself. I could play later. The social was in a few hours, and I needed to buy a dress for Aoi or she would no doubt do something horrible to my new laptop.

Just thinking about it made me feel dizzy. I had spent so much money customizing that laptop, it was worth nearly twice as much as Aoi's precious new Chanel bag. Which was quite pricey.

I tugged on the dress. "Apparently, I'm buying it. I'm in a hurry. Stop wasting my time already."

Her eyebrows drew together in a frown.

"Well excuse me but there's something nowadays that we call asking but evidently you've never heard of it. Why the hell do you need a dress anyway are you gay or something? And by the way why are you wearing sunglasses in a shop there is no sun here you retard, but some people are just too busy being rude to notice it! Oh, and your shades are so last season. Now if you will excuse me, I have a very important social to attend at the Hyuuga Mansion in a few hours, and I seriously need that dress!"

……whoa, what?

I had only caught a few words, the few words being 'I have a very important social to attend at the Hyuuga Mansion in a few hours'.

Oh joy. I hate rich people.

Yes, my family is the richest in Japan.

Yes, I'm a hypocrite.

I would hate to ruin my disguise and get mobbed by a girl, but I was seriously running short of time. And Aoi could be very scary when impatient. Besides, I spent all summer downloading all the coolest gadgets on that laptop.

To hell with disguises. I was not about to piss off my very violent sister.

Mikan's POV

I blinked as a long silence ensued.

"Hello? Earth to Weird Hoodie Dude?" I waved a hand in front of his face.

No response.

I poked him.

No response.

Was he still alive in there?!?

"Ow!" he suddenly snapped. "What the hell?!"

Ah. Slow reactions.

"Well anyway as I was saying," I began. "I really need that-"

Holy shit.

Error: brain cannot function in presence of pure awesomeness.

He had just removed his shades and his hoodie.

And he was fucking hot.

Not just the oh-look-isn't-he-gorgeous kind of hot, that guy was the holy-shit-have-I-died-and-gone-to-heaven kind of hot.

I had to admit he was hotter than Ruka, and Ruka was to-die-for hot.

No seriously, he had these gorgeous crimson eyes, and he had tousled black hair with long bangs that framed his eyes and made him look bad-ass. With his hoodie gone, it was obvious that he had a lean, muscled body as well.

"Well?" he demanded impatiently.

"….huh?" I glanced up at him.

Wipe the drool, Mikan, and pay attention to what he's saying. You're disgusting me.

I'm sorry, brain, I won't do it again.

"What did you say?"

He stared at me in shock. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

I huffed. "Sakura Mikan. Who are you?"

A general silence prevailed.

I was beginning to think he was ignoring me when he tilted his head to the side and remarked, "Oh, that rich girl whose father was assassinated and was raised in some godforsaken rural place to hide from assassins. I read about you in the newspaper. You know, they think you're going to end up like your dad in less than a month."

I flinched angrily.

Some people these days just have no manners at all.

I was about to scream and shout and generally make a fool of myself when I realized that the social was a mere three hours away and I could not waste time standing here and arguing with an egotistical jerk, however hot he may be.

I pulled on the dress, tugging it out of his grip. Finally, I could just buy the damn thing and walk out of here in time for some nerve-calming green tea! Finally! I turned, ducked under his nicely muscled arm, and…

I just had to trip and fall flat on my face.

I rolled over and stood up hurriedly, only to find that my dress had been pirated by that weird – but very hot – egotistical jerk.

Curse my five-inch Jimmy Choo stilettos.

Wait, never mind, I take that back! Forgive me, spirits of Jimmy Choo!

I snapped back to the present as he snickered.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

"That's for me to know and you to find out. Well, I'll be going now. And I'm buying this dress, Polka Dots."

I looked down at my outfit in confusion. I wasn't wearing any –

And then it hit me.

That total fucking bastard had actually had the nerve to peek at my panties!

I knew I shouldn't have worn a miniskirt.

My self-control evaporated, and I let out a shriek. "YOU BASTARD! JERK! MOTHER FUCKER!" I kept screaming every insult I could think of.

He covered his ears with his hands, snickering, as I ranted on and on and on.

Lucky for me there was no one else in the shop. The cashier had gone into the room marked "Employee Only" and there were no other customers.

So I could keep ranting in peace and loudness as long as I could.

Finally, I ran out of insults. I fell silent.

He opened his mouth to say something….

And a ringing noise shattered the rather awkward silence. The bastard –insert other insulting names here – whipped out a Blackberry and squinted at the screen.

"Get a ringtone," I snapped. "Like, one that's actually interesting." He ignored me.

He slid his phone back into his pocket and replaced his hoodie and sunglasses. "Nice arguing with you, Polka Dots, but I really got to go. You can buy the damn dress. See you at the social tonight."

"Oh, okay, bye!" I responded automatically.

Then a few seconds after he left: "Wait, what?"

If he was actually going to the social, I may have just called one of the richest people in Tokyo a mother fucker.

And my mother had told me to remain on their good sides while she climbed her way back up the social ladder after her long absence.

If he told my mother…

Oh for the love of Bendels!

Damn it all, I was screwed.

Well? Like the original better? Like this one better? Hate them both? Don't give a shit? Give me some feedback, please. Just please try to be polite… I hate it when people rant and cuss and call me a horrible imitation of – heaven forbid – Stephenie Meyers. Call me a bitch, call me a horrible writer who has no style, but do NOT call me an imitation of Stephenie Meyers. Please. I HATE her writing.

And keep in mind that however rudely you review is how rudely I will reply. TAKE THAT, FLAMERS! *takes out ice cream cone * I AM ARMED!

Oh, and if anyone can think of a better title, tell me because I'm stumped.

I'll post the second chapter after I get some feedback. I want to know if you guys like this chapter better or the original better. That is, if you guys even remember how the original went.

Hope to be posting chapter 2 soon!

~ShiroKoneko