Sunlight seeped to the small opening of the room's curtains waking the sleeping girl. Mikan is a sixteen year old with hair of mahogany that reaches her lower back and eyes that has almost the same shade as her hair. Her mother, Yuka Azumi, is a renowned cardiologist while her step father, Imai Hayato, owns a huge multi-national company. In short, the Imai family is very, very rich. But none of that matters to Mikan because unlike the other members of her family, she is not an Imai, she is a Yukihira. She is the daughter born from her mom's first marriage with Izumi Yukihira, a man from another wealthy family. Yuka and Izumi's marriage was arranged but still, they loved each other. They were happy, until Mikan's father died when she was just three years old. At least, that's what she knew; Mikan does not really remember what happened. Every time she asked her mom, all she would say is that he died.
After two years, Yuka remarried to a former classmate whose wife died from a tragic car accident. Hayato has two children, Hotaru, who is the same age as her and Subaru who is five years older. It took time for Hotaru and Mikan to finally accept each other as sisters but when they did, they were inseparable; or rather Mikan is inseparable from Hotaru. Hayato loved and treated her like a real daughter that people say that if not for their looks they would be mistaken as real family. Life is good, until something unexpected happened.
"How dare you!" Yuka's screaming woke the whole household early that morning. "How dare you do this me, you STUPID JERK!"
Mikan immediately stood up from her bed and ran outside where she saw her step siblings, both who looked like they also just jumped out of their beds. They all ran down stairs to where all the screaming is coming from. There they saw Yuka holding an antique ceramic vase and threw it to their father who was busy dodging the projectiles their mom was throwing his way.
"I just went out of the country for a month and you suddenly found another woman?! Tell me! How long had this been going on?"
"I already told you! We were drunk from the victory party for sealing a deal with another company, that's when it happened. So, let's just forget about it, okay?" Hayato pleaded, hands raised in surrender.
"Stupid." Hotaru muttered as Mikan face palmed and Subaru sighed. "I think you should go stop mom before she kills our idiot dad, nii- chan." she said while eyeing the now red-faced Yuka, if she was mad before, she is downright furious now.
"What did you just say?" Came Yuka's eerily calm voice, making their children shiver, and Hayato almost peeing his pants. Only their mother's anger can make the stoic Imai siblings lose their cool.
"Calm before the storm." All four of them thought, even the maids who came running when they heard the commotion are now cowering away from Yuka's wrath.
"Let's just forget about it, huh?" their mom replied in the same voice, "You stupid son of a-!" she suddenly screamed making all of them jump before she lunged at her husband and started hitting him.
"Oh my god! Nii-chan, stop mom before she kills him!" Mikan screamed at Subaru who started to pull their mom away from the now blue and black Hayato while the maids ran toward their master and helped him to his office. The siblings brought their hysterical mom to the kitchen to try and calm her down.
"How could he do this?" Yuka cried as Mikan tried to console her for the past hour.
"Nii-chan, you still have work right? You're going to be late for your hospital rounds." Hotaru said, giving Yuka a glass of water to help her calm down.
"Yeah, I should probably go, the two of you as well, don't you have classes?" Subaru answered, "Mom, are you going to be ok?"
Yuka sniffed and wiped her tears away. "Yes, I'll be fine... though I can't say the same for your father."
"Don't worry, he already left for work and I doubt he'll come home until he thinks you've cooled down. I don't think he's that stupid." Hotaru said as she grabbed Mikan and started pulling her out of the room. "Mikan and I are going to get ready for school now."
"Okay, be careful, you two." their mom yelled after them.
"We will!" Mikan yelled back.
"Hotaru-chan, what do you think will happen now? What are we going to do?" Mikan asked the ever-so-silent girl beside her as they waited for the car to drop them off at the school.
"If you're talking about dad and his idiotic stunt and mom being mad as hell, then I say, how in the world should I know, stupid? Obviously, we can't do anything," Hotaru answered, annoyed at Mikan for disturbing her from the brilliant ideas running in her head.
"Do you think mom will forgive dad?"
"That's nothing but wishful thinking. We both know mom, she's kind and loving, the perfect mom anyone would wish for, yes, she's forgiving, but there are things she'll never stand for, and this is one of them." she said to her distressed sister.
"But-" Mikan started before Hotaru interrupted her.
"Don't worry, whatever happens we'll still be sisters. That's what you're worried about, right? If mom decides to divorce, will we be separated? We won't, I'll make sure of it."
Mikan turned to her step-sister. Imai Hotaru is a beautiful girl with raven hair and amethyst eyes. They had a rough relationship at first, what with both of them being so different from each other but with time they overcame the gaps between them and ended up being sisters slash best friends. Hotaru smiled at her and held her hand, "It's going to be okay, Mikan, trust me." Hotaru rarely smiles, and when she does, it's mostly for Mikan. Hearing those words, Mikan felt better because her sister never broke her promise, not ever.
"Okay." Mikan finally said, "I trust you."
"Excuse me. Hotaru-sama, Mikan-sama, we're here." The driver interrupted.
"Thank you, Sato-san" Mikan said as they both got off the car.
Hokkaido Special Academy is one of the most prestigious schools in the area. Both Mikan and Hotaru are in their graduating years of their high school life. They have a lot of friends here since both of them have attended this school ever since they were in elementary level. Even Subaru studied here before he went off to another university to study medicine.
"Mikan-chaaaan! Hotaru-chaaaan! Good morning!" A loud shrill voice broke through the hushed conversations of the other students. The girls both turned to see one of their close friends, Hanazono Ninako, running toward them.
"Ninako-chan! Good morning! "Mikan greeted back
"Shut up, both of you. So noisy." Hotaru said, glaring at the students who started to stare at them. "Let's go, we're going to be late."
Their whole day was spent in the gym where they had their rehearsals for the upcoming graduation. When school ended, Mikan went to a nearby cafe to wait for Hotaru who still has a meeting with the other committee members. After ordering Caramel Espresso, she chose a seat near the windows so she can observe the people passing by, it's Mikan's favorite hobby, looking at people, wondering how those people live, their work, how they spend their free time. Things like that have always piqued Mikan's interest, learning other people's life stories. Her ringtone broke her thoughts and she immediately picked up her phone and looked at the screen.
"Subaru nii-chan calling."
Mikan smiled and pressed answer. "Hello, nii-chan?"
"Mikan, are you and Hotaru still at school?"
"Nope, just Hotaru. She still has a club meeting; I'm waiting for her here at the coffee shop in front of the school."
"Ok, wait for me there. I'll come to pick you up. See you in a bit."
"Ok, take care." Mikan said before she heard the call end. "That's rare; nii-chan doesn't normally pick us up. Oh well."
"Ma'am here's your order." A man's voice interrupted Mikan's thoughts. She turned to the waiter who looked about the same age as her, "Probably a student who has to work part-time to support himself" Mikan mused. With that in mind Mikan signaled the boy to wait and reached for her wallet to give him a ¥ 5000 for a tip. The waiter looked at Mikan, who just nodded and smiled. "Thank you very much, Ma'am."
"You're welcome." Mikan said, still smiling, before looking down at her table expecting to see her coffee. Instead she saw her Caramel Espresso and Chocó Lava Pancake with red velvet cuplets. Mikan turned to the boy who is already walking back to the counter, "Wait!" When the waiter turned, she continued. "I didn't order these pancakes and cuplets."
"They're from sir over there." He said, gesturing toward a man who is smirking at Mikan.
Out of courtesy, Mikan smiled back. "Looks arrogant, too self-confident and extremely superficial." To her dismay, the man took her smile as an invitation and started walking over to her table.
"Hello, miss." The man said. Mikan just smiled and sipped her coffee while she looked at the man from the corner of her eyes. "Handsome, yes. A bit boyish and obviously a playboy."
"So, I can see you're alone, would you like some company?" The man asked coolly, not noticing Mikan's disinterest.
"Actually-" She started before someone cut her off.
"Actually, my sister and I were just about to leave." Mikan turned and saw Subaru-nii looking at her; she smiled and started collecting her things. After, she stood and turned to the man who was shocked by the arrival of her brother, "Thank you for the pancake and cuplets. It's a pity that I wasn't able to eat them, but we have to go." She smiled one last time and left with her brother behind her.
Once they were out of the shop, Mikan sighed and turned to Subaru, "Thank goodness for your perfect timing, I had a feeling that that guy would be hard to shake off."
Subaru chuckled and said, "It's because you're too cute for your own good." Mikan just looked at him at rolled her eyes.
"You say that while Hotaru says it's because I look like an idiot who won't know when and how to say no to those kinds of people."
"That too." Subaru said, teasing. When Mikan glared at him, he laughed and asked, "Speaking of which, Hotaru's meeting is still not over?"
As if on cue, Mikan's phone began to ring and Hotaru's name appeared on the screen. "Perfect timing again." Mikan repeated, smiling slightly as she answered the call. "Hey, Hotaru-chan."
"Where are you? The club meeting is over."
"I'm here in front of the cafe just outside the school. Nii-chan came to pick us up." Mikan said.
"Ok, wait for me there. Bye." Beep.
Mikan turned to her brother, "She said to wait for her here." Subaru just nodded and climbed into the car, seconds later the vehicle started just as Mikan saw Hotaru coming out of the school gates. She waved and got into the car as well, "Perfect timing again, nii-chan, maybe I should start calling you PT onii-chan." She laughed just as Hotaru climbed into the front seat.
"Do that and I will start calling you easy-prey imouto-chan." Subaru retorted back, maneuvering the car out of the parking area of the cafe.
"That would be very appropriate for a stupid girl like her." Hotaru joined in.
Mikan just pouted, "No fair." Subaru just peered at her through the mirror and smiled at her making her smile too. The rest of the way was spent in silence as they were both tired from all the graduation rehearsals that they have been doing the whole day. Mikan closed her eyes to rest for a bit. After a few moments, she felt the car come to a stop. She opened her eyes and saw that they're already at their house. Climbing out of the car, Mikan stretched for a bit before going inside after her siblings.
"We're home!" Mikan called out.
"Welcome home Mikan-sama, Hotaru-sama, and Subaru-sama." A maid, Kaya, greeted back. "The master and mistress are in the office. Yuka-sama said that you get dressed first and then come down to the office too." Kaya informed.
"Thank you, Kaya-san" Subaru said. The maid just bowed her head as the three went to their respective rooms. After changing out of their uniforms and suit for Subaru, the three went to their father's private office.
"Hotaru-chan, do you think this is about what happened this morning?" Mikan asked her stoic sister.
"Of course, stupid." The girl replied. Hotaru looked at Mikan. "Hey," she called, "what did I tell you earlier?"
Mikan sighed to relieve herself of the building tension in her body and looked at Hotaru, "It's going to be okay."
Hotaru smiled a bit and held Mikan's hand, "That's right. So calm down, stupid."
Subaru, who was walking ahead of them, stopped in front of a door and knocked.
"Come in." Came their father's voice. Subaru opened the door and gestured for Mikan and Hotaru to go in before going after them and closing the door.
"Sit down, you three." their mother spoke. Mikan looked at their mom and saw her slightly red eyes that are obviously from crying. After they settled, they all looked expectantly at their parents.
Yuka sighed and began, "Your father and me already spoke about what happened. I was also able to talk to the other woman involved and she confirmed that they were drunk." she paused and looked down before continuing, "But even if that is the case, it's still wrong. They both did me, and even you kids, wrong. This kind of thing isn't something that you can easily forget. Sure, I can forgive them, but I can't just put it behind me and say, 'hey it's an accident, let's just forget about it'. It doesn't work like that, so we decided to make some changes in this family." Yuka looked at her husband and waited for him to speak.
It was Hayato's turn to sigh. "Your mother decided that she and I would live apart from each other." he said before he leaned back on his chair and waited for the children's reaction.
"WHAT?!"
