The Scars of the Past

Disclaimer: I don't own GA

A/N: Just read and review!

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Chapter 1: The perfect gift

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Hmm, what about the blonde," a young auburn haired teenager suggested, pointing to a picture that she thought stood among the rest of the other ones.

"She looks like a slut darn it," her companion voiced, crumbling the picture and throwing it anywhere on the floor, making his point clear. "Ruka would kill both of us, so will Natsume." The male teenager took time to think and shoved another photo to the female's hand. "What about this one? She looks nice enough to me."

The brunette looked at the picture closely as she sat down the wooden chair beside her, after a long moment of pause. "Nah, not good enough," she said with a deep sigh and threw it away. "Any girls there?"

Xiao Rune slouched on his seat and revealed a deep and heavy sigh, shaking his head in dismay, he replied, "No, I'm pretty sure these girls wouldn't even pass Natsume. Let's just stop this Mikan, we've been wandering through countless photographs of girls and none even passed our opinions! What more for Natsume, you know he's a damn hell of a perfectionist!"

Sakura Mikan angrily placed her hands on the wooden table, "Damn that Hyuuga Natsume!" She exclaimed across the room and placed her hands on her petite waist, "Why the hell are we here looking for through stupid photos!"

Shen Xiao Rune played with his long raven colored hair, his piercing golden eyes trying to actually find out what the were here for. Maybe after the long and weary hours they stayed in the particular room, he unknowingly lost his sense of purpose and just kept looking through millions of female photographs Natsume gave them. The damn bastard…

"Why can't he just look for a girl for his best friend by himself!" Mikan argued to herself, pacing across the room, the heels of her boots making eerie sounds against the parquet. "I mean, why he has to pull us here?! Darn it, Ruka doesn't seem to be interested in love anyways so why does he have to go and shove it in on his face on his 18th birthday!"

"Not… interested?" Xiao Rune's eyes blinked for some time, a particular idea ran to his mind. "Do you think he's… I mean… asexual… A gay perhaps?"

This thought made Mikan stop for awhile, come to think about it, Ruka never really showed anyone any interest in girls and things like that. He stayed calm and quiet all the time, he even has a rabbit for a pet. He was handsome, he had everything. He was popular, smart, kind, gentle, ladies man, handsome, cool, rich, powerful, he was a god, exalted and praised like one. Yet… could it possibly be…?

"Come to think of it…" Mikan's voice trailed off when a dark figure stood by the door, his back placed coolly against the walls and his fierce amber eyes piercing through the cold ambience of the room.

"Asexual huh?" His deep masculine voice woke the two from their trance.

"Natsume!" They shouted in unison.

The dark figure stepped out of the shadows of the room and revealed him. His amber eyes emotionless and still, his plum hair, messy yet suited him best, his lips were thin and silent, his façade was perfect, and the mortal eye can see the smallest flaw in his face. He was wearing a black shirt with a cross in the middle, his hands placed in the depths of his pockets and his feet wrapped by brand new Converse rubber shoes.

"You were saying?" He asked them, eying them both in the same time.

"Eto… Nandemonay Natsume!" Xiao Rune replied hastily. "We were talking about…"

"NATSUME!" Mikan's reply was totally different. She charged him face to face and protested. "What the hell are we doing here looking through damn photographs anyways!"

"I told you didn't I," Hyuuga Natsume replied emotionlessly. "It's a gift for Ruka, he's turning 18 now."

"I KNOW THAT!" Mikan shouted angrily. "But why don't you do it yourself!"

"Hn," was Natsume's simple reply before walking away from Mikan and seating down the wooden chair with Xiao Rune. He eyed the pictures of the table one by one, his red eyes not showing a bit sign of satisfaction from the pictures he saw. Mikan twitched her eyes as she watched him do his work; Xiao Rune calmly sat down without a word.

"These girls are stupid, none of them are good enough," Natsume's harsh voice said. Standing up, he walked towards the door and announced. "I found an orphanage for young girls earlier; I'll look for one there."

Upon reaching the door knob, he added, "And you'll be helping me too."

And with that he closed the door.

"Damn that bastard," Xiao Rune and Mikan voiced in the same time with an expatriated sigh.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The sky was painted with the brightest shade of blue, the clouds were of the purest white and the sun greeted the mornings with a warm and bright embrace across the land. The soft, afternoon breeze greeted them as they stepped out of the car, the emerald leaves dancing with the whispers of the air, the trees that joined them and the birds that flew with them. It was beautiful…

"We're here," Natsume's voice was plain and bored as usual.

"Hmm!" Mikan exclaimed and stretched her hand above her head. "This is such a lovely place!"

"We're not here to relax ok, we better get this over with and go back to living our lives, so hurry up!" Natsume said and turned around, walking towards the entrance of the orphanage. Xiao Rune was not able to join them because of something Natsume didn't bother to know actually.

"Hai, hai!" Mikan replied and ran towards him. Opening the door, a simple view of an office came across their view. A desk was placed in the right corner, empty. It was decorated with a telephone and a few papers scattered on its surface. In front of it were a few benches that was empty as well. It made them feel they were somewhere abandoned by time itself.

"Ah, Natsume-san, see that you made it here." An old voice rang across the room. They could hear the soft and slow pitter patter of footsteps touching the wooden floor. "And I see you've brought a friend with you."

"Hai," the young Hyuuga replied. An old figure walked towards them from the shadows of the room. The evident and scars of the time was obvious, his hair was already painted with white, some of them fading away with the wind. His skin was crumbled and ruffled together, his eyes were half-lidded and hidden behind his thin framed glasses. He stood up to them holding a wooden cane in support of his weakened form. It was just like yesterday to him as he looked at Natsume, he stood tall and handsome like that as well. But now he stood as an old man time had forgotten and left.

"Nice to meet you sir," Mikan said with respect and bowed her head. "I'm Sakura Mikan."

"Ah, what a nice young lady you've got here Natsume." The old man exclaimed. "You must be really lucky to have her."

Mikan smiled and blushed at the comment, Natsume simply rolled his eyes and wanted to get business over with. "Takamoto-san, the girls?"

The old Takamoto suddenly remembered the reason why he was here and nodded in a hurry, "Hai, hai, I almost forgot… Please follow me…"

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

This is hopeless…

They'll never be able to find the perfect gift for Ruka at this rate. Irritated, he dumped the photos they gathered into the nearby garbage can and shuffled his hands into his jean pockets. It was like searching for the lost city of Atlantis, whether it was true of merely fiction. A search that doesn't even have a hint of an ending, it was stupid.

"Natsume…" An exhausted female voice said and lazily placed her back on the solid wall. "Let's stop this, its hopeless. You didn't have an eye for every single girl you see here damn it. Why don't you just buy him a car or a house, or something like that?"

It's true, they have been interviewing and searching all the girls in this 3 hectare orphanage yet no single girl even passed his judgments. Mikan had been reminding and telling him over and over again to stop being a darn perfectionist and just pick a beautiful and kind girl. But, he didn't listen and now they end up with totally nothing.

The sun was already painting the sky with deep colors of orange and red, violet and blue barely scattered on its surface. A sign he was ready to hide himself behind the mountains and sleep, welcoming the starry night to rule. Natsume narrowed his eyes, only 1 more day before Ruka's birthday and there wasn't any single miracle that day.

"Let's go Natsume, I'm exhausted already, just find a non living thing for s gift ok?" Mikan suggested and stretched hand, ready to walk back to the black car waiting for them outside. Natsume didn't reply but his amber eyes staring at the view he had from the reflection of the window. After a few moments, his fighting spirit took a sleep and sighed.

Maybe she was right; a non living thing would be the perfect idea…

Maybe even the best idea at a time like this…

"Natsume come on!" The female teenager voiced as she stood on the entrance of the door. "Its getting late ok?"

"Yeah right," Natsume rolled his eyes and stepped away from the window. Ready to get home himself and do some shopping for tomorrow, for a birthday present. Fixing himself, he had already taken one step when a female figure came across his peripheral vision through the clear reflection the glass window, her form blending with the portrait of the sunset.

"Argh Natsume! Hurry up will you!!" Mikan exclaimed and marched towards him, only to see him leaning across the glass with a smirk painted on his façade.

Yet, there was no reply from the young man

"Natsume!"

There was nothing but a long pause

"Natsume!!"

None was said for a response

Mikan sighed and decided to look through as well, as if she didn't have enough already…

They saw a young woman sitting underneath the shade of the Cherry Blossom tree. The wind was harsh upon her, her long raven hair was ruffled and played on with the strong wind but she did not mind. Her eyes were averted to the beautiful sunset in front of her, a metal flute she held dear on her hands.

She sat calmly across the green prairie, touching and feeling the grass she sat on.

The flower petals that were shook off by the force of the wind played around her form, like she was a sacred princess, only to show herself when the mortal minds were drifting to sleep. She was sacred, she was holy and untouched by time that played with human lives. She was like a goddess, she was perfect. She placed the metal flute in front of her silent lips, as she started to play beautiful and wonderful music with it.

Natsume's heart and mind was finally set with her, she's gotta be it…

He saw her took no heed to nature's ways as she continued to play her melody, the melody she knew how to play from the heart. She played her special harmony until the sun went down, as if the notes were counting each second the sun would take to finally take its rest. She birds and trees seem to play with her music, the grass danced with her sound, the sky smiled at her flute and herself.

She's perfect…

"So you're sure she's what we've been looking for all this time?" Mikan asked, seeing the undefined look on Natsume's widened eyes.

Natsume smirked and took his gaze away from the music princess, "Yes, so get the paper's ready."

Mikan rolled her eyes and smiled, "Finally."

Natsume gazed at the playing goddess and smiled to himself, "Make Ruka happy ok?"

A statement for the beginning of a love story perhaps?

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

A/N: If you're wondering who that orphan is, just think of the favorite GA couple I want and you'll know her. She's not an OC either, you'll recognize her through the description if you read and remembered Xmas Dragonfly. Read and review people!

-Mitsukai Kansei