Written by – Unknown Pain.

Disclaimer – No. Just… no.

The Beat of Love

"Music is my soul, my life, I can't live without it. Without music, life would be a mistake."

-Unknown Pain-

-Chapter I – Camp Ogakku-

The warm summer wind blew through my long, auburn hair, touching my skin.

It was summer: finally no homework, no idiotic, annoying teachers that always yelled at you. No complains from your parents like, "Mikan, are you awake? You have to go school!" or "Mikan, have you finished your homework yet?" I could finally sleep in, and the best of all: no worries, because there's no school for three whole months!

Relaxing and doing nothing all day in my bedroom, lying on my bed, watching TV, grabbing my laptop and doing nothing. And that for three months!

…

At least, that was what I thought I'd do before I got dragged into a so-called music camp I had to stay in for the whole summer.

"Hotaru, what the heck are we doing here?" I sneered in irritation, glaring at the girl who was standing next to me.

"What do you mean?" she returned easily and brushed her fingers through her short, tomboyish black hair. I frowned. "I mean: what is this? Why are we here? Why am I here?"

Hotaru sighed deeply. "Look, you love singing right?" I nodded my head. "Sort of."

"You love to dance, right?"

Again, I nodded my head.

"And, correct me if I'm wrong, but you want to learn all of that, right?"

I placed a loose strand of hair behind my ear; if I nodded again, I'd get serious neck problems. "Your point?"

"Don't complain," Hotaru told me and hit me on my head. "This is a music camp. Here, you can learn all sort of things that have to do with music. You have to smile and be grateful that I at least brought you here with me." I rubbed the spot where Hotaru hit me and glared at her in annoyance. Grateful? My ass!

She had blackmailed me to come to this place. I didn't even know where it was. I really wanted to reject the idea, but then if didn't go with her she would show everyone pictures… awkward pictures, to be exact. So, I had no choice.

"And what is the name of this music camp?" I asked slowly, placing both hands on my hips. Hotaru tapped her chin for a while. "Camp Ogakku."

I raised my eyebrow at that. Not really a name that suited my taste, obviously.

I rolled my eyes away from her. I seriously couldn't believe that she dragged me into this. We were sixteen, an age to go out, to party. An age that said, "You're too old to go to summer camps!" or whatever. Didn't she know that?

I broke the silence between us with a small groan. "So… what now?" I asked her, scanning the area around me. It surprised me that the field, where three big modern buildings were standing, was crowded with teenagers who were even older than me or younger.

"If you were thinking of going back, don't bother," Hotaru pointed out cockily, her arms covering her chest.

I only stared at her; what was that supposed to mean? I had a cell phone in my pocket. I could call my mother, ask if she would come and pick me up. There was no way my mother would attend Hotaru's stupid "get-Mikan-to-Camp-Ogakku!" plan. "What do you mean?"

"Like I said: you can't go back. Your mother already paid for this. So technically, you're a student here."

I widened my eyes; was that thought about my mother and Hotaru true? No wonder her actions after dinner were kind of suspicious... Great. Thank you, Mom.

"You're telling me I have to stay here the whole summer?" I questioned her carefully, just to be sure. She nodded curtly.

The reaction I presented her irritated her deeply.

"You're irritating," Hotaru said honestly, obviously not caring about my feelings. My gaze immediately narrowed at her. How could I be irritating when she had blackmailed me and brought me into that camp?

I inhaled the summer air to prevent me from saying anything stupid that'd only lead me to trouble, telling myself mentally to calm down.

I knew that she was actually telling me that I had to give it a chance, and maybe she was right. But still, I didn't want to.

It was mean and unfair that she and Mom had brought me here without saying anything to me. They had told me a thousand times that I needed to go after my music abilities, but I was always too insecure to do so, thinking that I wasn't good enough. Was that the reason that it brought them to a plan like that?

That was probably it, but my opinion stayed the same, and sleeping in a camp called Camp Ogakku was the last thing I would do.

"I don't really believe that a camp like this could help me learn all those things I want to do with music." I grumbled almost to myself.

This time, Hotaru glared at me with her cold, amethyst eyes. "I'm going to ignore you now." With that said, she walked away, really deciding to leave me.

"Hey!" I called after her but she just pretended that she didn't hear me. "Hotaru!" I walked after her. But as soon as she realized I was following her, her pace quickened.

I pouted. "Fine, I'm sorry, okay? Now don't ignore me! ... Hotaru!"

I grunted softly. Oh, of course. We're lost.

Hotaru and I were walking down the crowded hallways with other students passing us at a slow or quick pace; standing in a group or alone with someone else, talking and yelling.

We had to go to the administration office, but I didn't even know where that was. I just silently followed Hotaru, thinking that she knew the place here. But at the dark look the girl had, I knew that following her was just a waste of my time.

We'd been wandering along the long hallways for fifteen minutes and we just couldn't find it. We had a map, but that wasn't any help either.

I looked around me. "Hey, Hotaru. Try to find some signs or some—" I wanted to suggest before I bumped into someone, causing me to fall on the wooden floor.

I flinched at the slight string of pain that appeared while the person I bumped into deeply growled in his throat. "Look where you're going." The voice was deep, almost demanding.

I reopened my eyes and wanted to glare at the boy, but halted when I saw how good-looking he was: he had messy, raven hair and piercing, yet, warm crimson eyes that I had never seen before.

He gave me a nonchalant look, his hands in the pockets of his black vest, watching me intensely. I swallowed, feeling the butterflies in my stomach appear at the way he was looking at me.

Suddenly, his short eyebrow bounced up. "Are you going to say something or did you lose your tongue, idiot?"

The butterflies I felt a second ago immediately disappeared. I frowned deeply at him in insult.

The three boys that stood behind the raven-haired one, watching the whole scene, started to chuckle at the comment he made. My eyes fell on the blonde first, who had his attention towards a white rabbit that he held in his arms. His ocean-blue eyes darted to me, still petting the little animal.

It wasn't hard to see who the most handsome one of the group was.

On the left side of him stood a boy around his age with dirty-blonde hair. His chocolate-brown eyes were filled with mischievousness and he had his lips curved into a small smirk.

Not really trusting it, I eyed the other male who was standing next to him; he was a bald-headed guy with extremely short, almost black hair. His dark grey eyes were locked onto me while he was showing off a challenging smirk.

So those where the ones who chuckled and found what that rude bastard said funny… It annoyed me; what was so funny about what he said?

"Nice to meet you, too." I said sarcastically, finally removing myself from the cold floor. After I was done fixing my clothes, I decided to cross my arms strongly, wanting to let them know that I wasn't a girl who'd lose easily.

His look started to change all of a sudden; his expression was still as cold and emotionless as ever, but his eyes started to show that he was… amused, almost interested in the challenge. "What's your name, stupid?" he asked, which didn't make my mood any better. Someone seriously had to give him a prize for being The Rudest Boy in the Entire Universe.

I snorted and flipped my hair over my shoulders. "Why do you care?" I responded easily, taunting him a bit. "Tell me your name first."

He rolled with his eyes through the fact I was reacting.

"Or should I call you… Good-looking jerk instead?" I added when he didn't react to my last sentence. I automatically grinned at what I said; he was rude, but don't forget that I could be too.

The way his expression changed made me almost laugh victoriously.

"My name?" he started, saying the sentence slowly and unlike I expected he neared the distance between us with his face. The warm breath tickled against my ear making me stiffen and my heart beating a bit faster.

"You're not worthy enough to know my name," I heard him say, and he pulled his face back, showing me a smirk as though he was saying, 'I'm better than you.'

I blinked, speechless.

"Ahem…" Hotaru fake coughed to gain attention. The jerk turned his attention towards her with a blunt look. "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot you. Can you forgive me, Freaky Imai…?" Freaky…Imai? Did he know Hotaru?

"Awh, that hurts a lot, Kitty Cat." She returned with a mischievous glint in her amethyst eyes.

Kitty Cat? I slightly blinked in confusion, not following it anymore. "Do you know each other?" I decided to ask the two, eyeing them one by one.

Hotaru nodded her head. Again. And then she folded her arms with a disappointed frown stickled on her forehead. "I'm afraid so." At that time, I felt incredibly sad for her.

"By the way, Kitty Cat, do you know, by any chance, where the administration office is?" Hotaru asked, her eyebrow slightly raised as she waited for his answer.

"You're lost?" he first returned, his expression still the same. I rolled my eyes, while the female next to me started to frown in annoyance. "Just answer the question; you're wasting my time."

The male shrugged and turned his back to us. "Whatever; follow me." With that, he walked away.

His friends said that they'd be outside and walked their own way afterwards. When they passed me, the one with the dark blonde hair and the bald-headed teen just smirked at me, while the handsome-looking male passed me in a cool manner, not even making any eye contact with me.

I sighed and quickly followed Hotaru.

This was going to be the longest three months of my life.

"Hotaru Imai," Hotaru said shortly at the receptionist; she was an old and thin woman with sharp eyes. Yes, we had finally found the administration office. It was thanks to that Good-looking jerk though.

I was standing behind Hotaru, waiting for my turn. We weren't the only ones though; the office was crowded with other students who were either standing by the receptionist or just leaving the office. Some were sitting on the chairs that stood against the plain white wall, waiting patiently for their turn as well.

"Here you go, Miss Imai," the receptionist returned and gave the Blackmail Queen some papers and something that looked like a key. Mumbling a small "thank you," Hotaru walked away.

"See you outside." The female said while passing me and without giving me an opportunity to say anything back, she was already gone.

Ignoring it, I took a step forwards, clearing my throat silently. "Uhh… Mikan Sakura."

The woman eyed me back, watching me sceptically. "Ah, yes. Miss Sakura." She opened her drawer and grabbed something out of it. "Here is your class schedule." She handed me the paper. I nodded my head one time and presented her a stiff smile.

"And here's the key to your room." She handed me the keys gently.

I stared at it.

"Your room is in building three, second floor, room 231." That wasn't so hard to remember.

Gazing up at her, I nodded twice. "Thank you."

The receptionist presented me a smile back. "No problem. Hope you'll enjoy your stay." At that time, I wasn't really sure about the "enjoying" part.

Without saying anything, I turned around and left the office with a slight quick pace.

When I was outside, I found the black-haired female leaning against the wall for support in front of me, arms crossed. "Oi, which room do you have?" was her greeting. I walked towards her. "Building three, second floor, room 231."

Her lip corners curled up. "Then we're both lucky: I have the same room as you do." I immediately sighed in relief; now I didn't have an unknown weirdo as my roommate, but my best friend who I already know for years.

I smiled in relief and quickly hugged her; as expected she didn't react, but just let me do it. "You've also got classes, right? What's your first period?" I questioned her when I let her go.

"Singing."

I widened my smile. "Singing, too!" Hotaru only shrugged as her reply. "Second period?"

"Dancing," Her black eyebrows raised as though she was waiting for what I had to say. The relief in me only started to grow more. "Me too!"

Hotaru pointed at the paper I was holding and I gave it to her. She scanned through it, holding her own up next to it. "We have all the classes together." She informed me after a moment of silence, ignoring the questioning look that I was throwing at her.

"Alright!" I exclaimed happily. It felt nice to have all the classes with her and to share a room with her, especially when I didn't know anyone... besides that jerk and his friends, then.

The thought of them made me only more insecure about staying here.

A long sigh escaped my mouth.

Hotaru frowned. "Don't tell me you're still thinking about the whole camp thing," I raised my eyebrows. "Duh, of course! After what you did to me… and with those guys… This is even worse than school!"

Hotaru sighed in frustration. "It doesn't look good now, but just give it a chance, and then I'm sure you'll be relieved that you had stayed."

"But—" I tried to protest but stopped when she threw me a glare. "You're going to give it a chance or else I'll force you. I don't want to be seen with a girl who's whining every damn second about how stupid this camp is and how much she wants to go home."

I pouted in a childish way, having a thought that she just didn't get it. "Fine," I finally admitted, watching her softening her expression.

Music always had my attention; singing, dancing… And you could do something here with it, right?

"Good," she returned and walked off. I quickly followed her with a smile on my face. "Should we go check the whole camp? I wanna know what it all has."

Hotaru gave me an amused look. "Whatever you want."

The grass tickled my skin and the summer wind gave me a relaxed and good feeling.

I was thinking about how Camp Ogakku wasn't that bad at all, and how beautiful the place was.

Like what Hotaru had always said, I could give it a try; maybe what she and my mother did was a good idea. And maybe this was a lot better than lying on my bed, being in my room all day, doing nothing. Still, I wanted to get them for what they did.

I opened my eyes and sat up, seeing the three white buildings standing in the grassy field. The third building was way bigger and way prettier than the other two.

I blew out a bit of air between my lips and laid back down; I could rest a bit. Hotaru was somewhere else, but she didn't say where.

There were no classes anyway: it was the first day, and that was meant for resting and taking a good look around the camp. Hotaru and I had already done that; we didn't want to get lost again.

There were some really good things in the camp: the stage was amazing, and our room was too. Our dorm was my most favorite thing there. We had five rooms: a living room with a kitchen in it, two bedrooms, and each of us had a bathroom. We had also a quite good view of the stage.

Unfortunately, I didn't have such a room at home.

There were maybe some bad sides of the camp, like teachers, homework… and maybe it was just like school. But there was a thought in my head that this could be even more interesting than that.

Sam – This story is inspired by the amazing story My Music Camp by Tearless Sonnet. And yes, don't worry, I asked permission to her to write this; now I only hope she'd like it. :P

This story is about rivalries, music, sorrow, friendship and of course love. Love can be either a cure or a poison; it all depends on what's happening because of it and how the person feels about it.

Hope you all liked it. Please review and don't flame.

Much love,
Unknown Pain