Hi everyone!
I'm finally back after a year and a half (I think?) I actually forgot about this story (I had already written and published 3 chapters but I've deleted it now!) as it was quite a while ago... so I've decided to rewrite it!
I was actually surprised at my writing after I had re-read it..it was quite hmm, interesting! LOL but well, let's hope that I still have that humor in me :D It's not too edited and there may still be a lot of errors but it's still in par with the chapter it was before and the pace will stay the same :D

Disclaimer: you know the drill. xD

Hope you enjoy!

At first she didn't quite understand. She wasn't one of those girls who became crazy-obsessed with the latest and cutest teen idols. She had never understood those girls who everyday devoted their valuable time to a person they could only see on big, flashy screens. And, she was absolutely flabbergasted at the fact that they were even willing to pay a shocking amount of money to see their idol in a hot, crowded arena for a mere 3 or less hours? I mean…were they crazy or what? She really couldn't understand.

And yet, her she is, on a two and a half hour long train ride. It was hot, crammed and smelly. However she had not a tinge of regret for being there because in the end she knew it was worth it. It was worth spending almost half a year of her hard earned savings, just for the expensive bullet train ticket. It was worth her time, worth the wait. In the end it would all be worth it.

Just to be amongst the crowd, even a tiny glimpse would do.

To watch him perform talent with his guitar… it was all worth it.

"Hotaruuu! You won't believe it!" Mikan jumped as she excitedly wailed her hands in the air. She still couldn't get over her hype. "It was soooooo cool! I swear he glanced at me like, once!" She squealed as a deep shade of crimson rose onto her pale cheeks, her hands cupping them in astonishment.

Mikan's first concert belonged to her one and only idol, Natsume Hyuga. Her obsession with him wasn't stereotypically because of his looks or his popularity but rather because of his talent and passion for music. One summery day a year ago, she stumbled across his videos on Metube, and it was of him as a young child with a guitar. The amount of video views it had gained was quite the impressive number, all 7 digits of it. Interested, she decided to watch it to kill her boredom.

From that day on she never turned back.

A new breed of fan girl was officially born.

Hotaru, a vividly beautiful girl, whose hair was raven dark in contrast to her smooth porcelain skin, was Mikan's best friend and had been putting up with her excitement all morning.

"Did you take a picture of him?" Hotaru asked, her eyes glinting with money-making intentions.

"Yeeees! Of course I did," Mikan grinned as she rummaged through her bag for her camera. She pulled out a cute polka-dotted camera case and unzipped it. "I was actually about to show you." Mikan grinned and proudly showed Hotaru a slideshow of countless photos she had taken. Blurry or not, she wouldn't delete any for the world. "And look..." Mikan trailed off, flipping through the photos quickly, looking for a specific photo.

"Here it is," Mikan held up the camera, "he was looking straight at me when I took this photo! Look!" She yelped excitedly. The short but vivid seconds of his eyes capturing hers, had burned into her memory.

"Are there any photos of him smiling?" Hotaru asked, hoping but expecting there would not be such a photo. His smile was extremely rare, and it was hardly ever seen among the public. Hotaru knew that if she were able to capture at least one photo of him smiling, there would be no need for her to attend University. Or even finish school, for that matter. She could retire straight away! All that money...

Mikan shook her head. "I was hoping that maybe he would, even just a bit but..." She trailed off. "He never once smiled while he played his guitar." A disappointed expression was plastered onto her face. Maybe one day, Mikan thought, she could at least catch a glimpse of his rare smile.

"At least I got to watch him perform and sway with his guitar." Mikan giggled, remembering the way Natsume was what seemed like dancing awkwardly with his guitar. The memory of his music rushed through her head."It was amazing!"

Wednesday

"Oh my goodness. He looked so fine that day."

"I know right! He's so gorgeous!" Her friend whispered.

"And talented~" Another girl added. "I can't believe such a perfect person exists! And to think he's our age."

They shrieked quietly together.

Mikan glanced out the window, ears poking out, interested on hearing more about Natsume. The group of girls that sit behind her during English always talked about him. She most certainly couldn't help but listen more and more into their conversation. I mean, it was about Natsume Hyuuga after all.

"If only he attended our school!"

Her friend shrieked at the idea. "Oh my gosh, yes! But we're all the way here in countryside and..he goes to that famous school in Tokyo. So it's kinda impossible, I wish!"

"Hmm you're right, Sumire." Her friend agreed. "But out of all the boys here, he would rank the highest on any girl's list! I'd even say guys themselves would have him in their top five for that matter!"

The three girls giggled away.

Mikan sighed. She slowly glanced away from the window and turned to face the boring whiteboard. As she tapped he polka dotted pencil on her desk, she sighed away again. "If only..." Mikan muttered under her breath.

Lunchtime-

Mikan walked slowly walked towards the cafeteria, alongside her group of friends; Yuu, Nonoko, Anna and Kokoro.

"Yeah and then, and then, Yuu was like-" Nonoko giggled in between the spaces of her words. "Nonoko!" Yuu interrupted, blushing and slightly glancing at Mikan in the corner of his eye. "Don't say it..."

"He peed his pants didn't he?" Kokoro grinned. It was weird but Kokoro was always able to guess things correctly. His senses were so sharp that you could believe that he had the ability to read minds! Or does he?

Nonoko and Anna burst into laughter. "Yes! You are so right!" They wiped their tears. "Not to be mean, Yuu, but it was just so incredibly funny..."

Yuu turned red and furrowed his brows as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Hey, I was a little kid back then and... " He trailed off, noticing that Mikan was unusually quiet all this time. "Uh, Mikan?"

Mikan suddenly tore her eyes from the distance and shook her head. "Sorry! What was that?" Mikan smiled.

"You okay?" Anna questioned, worried, also noticing her unusual behavior.

"Yup!" Mikan answered, her lips popping at t he "p" sound. "Where's Hotaru? I'm going to look for her..." She stood up, waved her friends a cheery goodbye and walked off towards the exit door of the cafeteria.

Walking through the corridor of aligned classroom clubs, she always noticed one that stood out. It was The Music Club. Mikan had always wanted to join that club, but her confidence in talent brought her down. She loved music, the patterns, the melodies, the harmonies...it was pure bliss. Mikan however felt unable to join. Her self confidence bought her down. Every single person she knew that attended that club was incredibly talented in music. Be it singing, playing an instrument or even beat-boxing! From the piano to the glockenspiel, you name it! Talent was plastered everywhere in that room. Mikan always thought she had none of that. Her only musical experience was a three day free trial at the nearby community piano school. But still, she loved playing the piano. She wanted to learn and experience more about it, with everyone..

I wanna join so bad but..but- Mikan thought, her mind wrestling her decision between half confident and half insecure. Her train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice.

"Mikan?" She heard. Turning to the direction of the voice, Mikan saw that it was Hotaru, munching on a packet of cheesy chips.

"Hotaru!" Mikan smiled. "There you are!" The brunette excitedly ran to give her a big, squishy hug, but her intentions were cut short when she accidentally tripped on her own feet. "Oomph."

"Stupid. The floor is flat. How could you trip like that?" Hotaru commented, raising a brow at Mikan's clumsiness.

"Hehehe..." Mikan blushed, scratching her head.

"Anyways, can you give me your msn email address again?" Hotaru asked as she pulled Mikan up from her messy fall. "I forgot to make one yesterday and," she continued, "and I lost the piece of paper you gave me on my way to school." Hotaru confessed.

"Sure." Mikan laughed and rummaged through her bag for a pen and a piece of paper. "i...love...bunnies...at..mailtime dot com" Mikan muttered out loud as she scribbled onto the paper. She handed it over. "Here you go." Mikan grinned.

"Thanks."

"Natsume... Do you really think you'll be okay at this school?" Ruka Nogi, Natsume's childhood friend and long-time supporter, questioned Natsume's father's decision to send his only son to a semi-private school in the countryside.

"I might as well go." Natsume said in a bland tone, with a hint of irritation building up in his throat. "Just to satisfy that old man's ass." He hissed icily.

Ruka started getting nervous. Here he goes again.. "Uhh, maybe it's a good thing?" Ruka comforted, sharing his optimism. "I mean, for one, you'll be away from the crazy paparazzi and all.."

"Hn. True." Natsume agreed as he stepped out of the car. His driver opened the car's back hood and carried out Natsume's and Ruka's luggage.

"Here you are, sir. Please take care of yourself from now on, and please see to it that you at least call your father once a month. Then, I will see you in a few months time." The wrinkly man bowed and hopped into his car.

"Goodbye Mister. Thank you very much for your kindness." Ruka politely bowed in return.

"Hn. Bye." Natsume insipidly mouthed as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

The two friends watched the car as it drove away into the distance.

Natsume's father had arranged for him to enroll at a new school, away from the media. His father had seen it as a beneficiary decision, as Natsume was much too young to handle all the unwanted fame he was receiving. It was only right, his father had decided, to send him away from all the madness and take a break until all the craze had died down. Hyuuga papa, being the thoughtful father he was, had bought an apartment flat in the suburb-rural area which was only 30 minutes away from the new school his son had enrolled to. Also being the powerful man he was as a large industrial CEO, Hyuuga papa was able to plan this without a word spilling onto the media. And Ruka, being the amazing friend that he was, decided to stay with him and attend the school with him.

"C'mon, let's get inside. It's freezing." Ruka said as he carried his luggage into the flat.

"Yeah. I'm coming." Natsume took his luggage and guitar case in his two hands and turned around one last time, staring onto the distance.

From now on, this will be his new life.

"Grandpa, I'm home!" Mikan breathed as she opened the door, feeling a rush of warm and cinnamon-scented air.

"Welcome home Mikan." Her grandpa smiled warmly.

After eating a hearty sandwich filled with ham, cheese, olives and other tasteful veges, she headed to her bedroom and turned her laptop on.

She impatiently clicked on her MSN, hoping that Hotaru was online. She was excited to talk on Hotaru's very first MSN account. Best friend talk, finally!

Mikan's messenger appeared and suddenly a window popped up.

summerhero has added you.

accept [ x ] decline [ ]

Must be Hotaru, yay! She thought.

summerhero is now online.

Mikan was startled for a moment there. "That was fast! I thought she would be studying today.." She wondered. Wasn't Hotaru busy with studying or club today? Weird. But Oh well! Might as well, right?

ilovebunnies: Hey! :D

summerhero: Lol. Hello.

ilovebunnies: i thought you had club today, Hotaru~ :O

summerhero: wth. hu's hotaru. i moved school, ruka, did your memory get erased? =.=

ilovebunnies: O_O

summerhero: wat?

ilovebunnies: who's 'ruka'.. ? O.O OMG YOUR BOYFRIEND? WHO?

summerhero: ..uh you? you gave me ur msn right?

ilovebunnies: isnt this hotaru? O_O OMG YOU'RE A STALKER :OO HI! ^_^

summerhero: ...what.

He typed the last four letters impatiently. That's it.

Natsume burst furiously into Ruka's bedroom. "Hey Ruka! What the hell man? You gave me your MSN and now you're pretending you're not even-" He stopped at his quick explosion and realized that Ruka was sleeping contently with his pet rabbit.

Glancing at Ruka's unused and closed laptop, Natsume quickly realized that it wasn't Ruka he had added.

Leaving the bedroom and quietly closing Ruka's door, Natsume took a piece of paper out of his pocket.

ilovebunnies
Go online soon okay! ^^ ~

It was a piece of paper that was stuck to his shoe and he had noticed it there as he was unpacking his things. Natsume thought it had been Ruka's because of the obvious email address. Guess he was wrong. Well that's weird. Whatever. He shrugged it off

Sitting back onto his comfortable computer chair, he continued his conversation.

He might as well pass the time.

ilovebunnies: isnt this hotaru? O_O OMG YOU'RE A STALKER :OOO H! ^_^

summerhero: ...what.

ilovebunnies: ^^" sorry, im bad at first impressions...

summerhero: Lol. I can see that.

ilovebunnies: how did u get my email o.o

summerhero: haha. who knows.

ilovebunnies: XD so where are you from?

summerhero: earth.

ilovebunnies: so am I! :DD where in earth?

summerhero: not in the sea, obviously.

Mikan fidgeted with her fingers as she waited for her newly added 'friend' to reply. This person seemed nice, even though he or she wasn't Hotaru. I mean, she might as well make a new friend while she's at it, right?

summerhero: my name aint anything special.

ilovebunnies: ohh..:O every name is special tho! so it probably is! mine means orange/mandarin ^_^ cool right?

summerhero: pfft.

ilovebunnies: Hey it's rarely used! really unique! :b

summerhero: ohwoaw.

ilovebunnies: ^_^ and its sentimental..my parents gave me that name!

summerhero: your parent's huh... nice.

ilovebunnies: Yup ^^

summerhero is typing a message

Distracted, Mikan took a glance at the corner of her screen. Her eyes widened and she gasped. "seven twenty-two already!?" Mikan was amazed. "I didn't realize that we were talking for such a long time.." She quickly typed something and rushed off. "I gotta make dinner!"

ilovebunnies: i gtg but i hope to speak to you soon! (:

ilovebunnies is offline.

Save to friends list?
ilovebunnies
Okay [ ] Cancel [ ]

"Who are you talking to? In uh..chat?" Ruka asked as curiously as his eyes scanned the opened msn on his computer screen. Natsume barely used msn. The blonde rubbed his sleepy eyes and ruffled his fresh bed hair.

"..No one in particular. Just a mandarin girl." Natsume had a slightly amused look onto his face.

Ruka was surprised. I wonder what's so funny... He thought, but then shrugged it off. "So is pizza okay for tonight?" He said as he took out his mobile phone.

"Hm."

Save to friends list?
ilovebunnies
Okay [ X ] Cancel [ ]

Thursday

"Oh my goodness, Mikan! Guess what!" Nonoko yelped in excitement. Mikan jumped with her and joined in. "What what what?"

Her friends were all strangely huddled up and all eyes were directed at her as if they were waiting for something from her.

"Have you heard?" Kokoro asked.

"Heard what?" Mikan asked as she quirked her brow in confusion. Just what…

"Natsume. Hyuuga. is. going. to..." Anna trailed off teasingly and grinned as she noticed Mikan's pupils grow sparkly wide with curiosity.

"What! What!" She couldn't hide her excitement. What could it be? Oh my gosh!

"Drum roll please," Yuu started, and glanced at Kokoro, who had two pencils and a ring binder ready to go.

Kokoro grinned. Da-dum-duuuuuuuuu-

"He's going to attend our school, Mikan." Hotaru interrupted impassively. "I don't see why we have to make a big fuss, even though Mikan has dangerously the largest crush on him in the world. I feel sorry for him."

"Aw you ruined it, Hotaru!" Nonoko whined.

Hotaru shrugged.

The group of amused friends just grinned and patiently waited for Mikan's reaction. They all had their cameras and phones ready and rolling. Meanwhile Hotaru just chewed on her beef jerky.

Mikan just stared.

"Well…? How do you feel?" Nonoko teased.

And stared.

"Uhh, Mikan?"

Then she fainted.

During early class time, Natsume and Ruka were shown around the school, a special treat by the principal. The school was big, which was unusual for the almost rural located school. It was quite a historical and antique school, with white alabaster walls and white high ceilings. The huge intricately framed windows stared right down at them, aligned one by one. There were corridors, one after the other and it smelled light and peaceful. It was full of air, unlike his other school back in the city. It was too stuffy back there.

"Ah, and this here is the club's corridor." The principal pointed proudly. It was recently under construction till early last year, and the amount of clubs they had managed to reel in was fabulous. As a principal, he was proud. It was after all, quite a low budget school.

"Oh wow," Ruka was dazzled. "so many clubs to pick from!"

"Hn."

Suddenly, they heard squeaky footsteps tapping in the distance. They had all turned their direction towards it and out of the blue was this girl running from the end of the corridor, towards them. "I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late!" She panicked, with her long and wavy brunette hair swaying swiftly behind her. In her struggling hands was a large stack of heavy-looking paper.

The brunette accidentally bumped her left shoulder onto the principal's right, slightly moving him. "Hoho, Miss. Sakura, be sure to watch your step!" The man chuckled as his eyes wrinkled under his furry eyebrows.

With a short glance, the girl cheerfully smiled back. "Good Morning Mr. Howic!" And then without hesitation, she quickly sped off down the corridor, with the handful stack of paper carefully tucked between her hands and chin.

Ruka watched as she ran off in a fast struggle. "That looked heavy...we should have helped her." He said in a caring tone, slightly regretful.

"Ah, yes. Mikan Sakura, she's a lovely, high-spirited girl. She does this every morning, and always insists that she needs no help." The principal smiled under his aging wrinkles. "Bright girl she is." He laughed.

"Mikan Sakura? Mikan as in mandarins and oranges?" The blonde asked, surprised at such a unique name for a girl. "I guess we really aren't in the city any more.."

As they walked away, continuing the never-ending tour, Natsume looked back at the corridor she had passed. Mikan Sakura...

Mandarin, huh?

Natsume reverted his eyes away and glanced forward. He continued walking as Mr. Howic began blabbing on again.

Sounds familiar.

Finished! I changed a few things but..oh well! What do you guys think? :D

painstains