Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own it.

Written by: Tearless Sonnet

My Music Camp

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

Measure Two: Welcome to the Camp

Mikan frowned. She was in her room, counting the money she had. "18,000, 19,000, and finally... 20,000 yen."

She was happy and all, that she was able to get enough money for the camp, but she still remembered what happened in the cafe. The "kiss to taste" incident. She grimaced. After what happened, Tokiya-san came over and asked what the problem was. Mikan related everything to her and Tokiya-san bowed her head at the boys. Before that, she had whispered to Mikan, "Those boys are our best customers! They come everyday. We don't want to lose such good customers! They may be rude, but they pay well." Mikan understood, but she was still angry. She bowed her head at the boys too and the boy who kissed her was smirking greatly.

Mikan headed down to the dining area for dinner. Her mom was there, making noodles for dinner. As she helped set the table, Yuka questioned her.

"So? How was your job?" she looked at Mikan with a curious smile on her face.

"Hm... Just serving stuff..." Mikan said, absentmindedly picking at her noodle. She looked up at her mom, "But I was able to earn the twenty thousand I need!" Mikan beamed and Yuka smiled as well.

"That's great. When the camp again?" Yuka wiped her mouth with a tissue and looked at the camp brochure.

"It's tomorrow at 8:00 in the morning." Mikan said, sipping from her glass of water.

Yuka looked surprised, "Tomorrow?! If you weren't able to earn enough today, you wouldn't have had enough time to earn more! And you better start packing. And I still haven't filled out your admission form!"

Mikan giggled, "No worries mom. I packed already and filled out the form. All you have to do is submit it."

Yuka sighed in relief, "That good to hear... " She stared at Mikan, "Sleep early tonight. You'll have to be early tomorrow."

"Okay, okay." Mikan said, standing up from the table and heading to her room, "Night."

"Good night." Yuka answered back, smiling at Mikan.

RING! RING! RING!

"Ugh..." a sleepy Mikan groaned as she pressed the snooze button on her alarm clock. She tried to fall back to sleep.

"Mikan! Wake up!" she heard her mother call. She groaned, getting up again. And then, it all came back to her. The camp.

Running here and there, Mikan hurried to get ready. Brushing her long, chestnut brown locks at the same time brushing her teeth, she thought about what she would wear. Shrugging off her worries for the meantime, she grabbed the first thing in her closet. A plain red shirt with black suspenders and black and white striped arm warmers. Then, she grabbed a pain of white jean shorts, and leg warmers. It was the time of the year when it was breezy.

She ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Her mother was making toast and she grabbed a piece, smearing it with strawberry jam and butter.

"The bus is going to arrive soon." Yuka said, looking at Mikan, amused. Mikan's mouth was full of toast and jam, as she was eating it in a rush.

"Huh?" she said, grabbing another piece of toast, "What bus?"

Yuka looked at her in exasperation, "You mean you don't know? And I thought you were the one obsessed with it all."

Mikan pouted, crossing her arms over her chest, "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Now what bus?"

"The bus. The one taking you to the camp?"

"Oh? I thought you were the one bringing me there." She tilted her head to one side.

"No, the bus is going to be here in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1."

SCREECH

A large bright yellow bus stopped at the sidewalk of their house. Mikan grabbed her duffel bag and her handbag. She stopped to wave goodbye to Yuka, then rushed out of the door. Meanwhile, Yuka sat on her chair, shaking her head, "Oh, I hope that child doesn't get into trouble."

It was too bad that Yuka's hopes were not going to come true. Because Mikan Sakura wil not only get into a heap trouble, but also adventure, action, suspense, and most of all, love.

A/N: Actually, I was going to stop there, but seeing all the amazingly short chapters I've done, I've decided to give everyone a big treat and let the story continue on! This might not be as long as my other chapters, (at least I think it might be) but I'll try to make this a long whopper. Okay? And tomorrow (Wednesday in Philippine time) there's no school! YAY! Which means, I can have a field day and type and type and type. If I can. It is a holiday, I hope I won't go out. I've still got homework to do. And a lot of it. Sigh. And I had a test today, two actually. Filipino and Sibika. Sibika was fine, I got it perfect. But Filipino... not so good. I got a 9 over 25. Sob... I've never got a low grade like this. People have been asking me what my grade was and they were super shocked to know that I had got a low grade. I wasn't surprised though. Filipino and math were my worst subjects. And this test had to be on the hardest one we had learned so far. I just hope I can do better. Wait, why am I telling you all my personal problems?! Anyway, back to the story!

Mikan climbed into the bright yellow bus. The bus was large enough to hold many people, and it was covered in messy graffiti.

Inside, many people of her own age were complied in groups. She gulped. It was just like the first day of high school all over again. The popular girls were seated near the back of the bus, gossiping, putting on makeup and eyeing boys they fancied. Beside them, though not paying them attention most of the time, were the popular boys. They were all good-looking, though the group surrounded one boy. He looked familiar, but Mikan hardly noticed him at all, nor gave him a second glance.

The moment she stepped in, all eyes turned to her. They stared at her as she made her way to an empty seat. The familiar looking boy was especially gazing at her with interest. She tried not to look at him, and settled down on an empty seat. No one inhabited the seat beside her, so she placed her bag down. She heard foot steps nearing her, but didn't mind it, gazing out into the window. She was in her own world, that was, until a familiar husky voice whispered in her ear.

"We meet again, huh, sweet thang?"

Mikan bolted upright. Looking up, she saw a very familiar face that was too close for comfort.

"You!" she yelled out, grasping the attention of many people. Boys eyeing her with a certain "look" she didn't get, and girls glaring at her with full force. She gulped, but turned back to the boy, clearly not intimidated by the unwanted attention she was being given.

"You!" she repeated, "The kiss monster!" The boy looked at her in a way she did not understand. He blew in her ear again.

"Now, now, sweet thang. Kiss monster, am I? Let's see how much of a kiss monster I really am." Mikan gasped, pushing him away before he could try anything.

"You really are a kiss monster! Get away from me!" She flailed her arms around, and the rest of the people sweat dropped. The boy wouldn't stop smirking.

"And one more thing, sweet thang, the name's not "kiss monster." It's Natsume. Natsume Hyuuga." And with that, he gave one last blow to her ear, and turned away.

Mikan was frozen, and if you looked close enough, you could see her soul pouring out of her mouth.

Hyuuga went back to his posse, it turned out that he was that familiar looking boy surrounded by popular guys. He turned back to look at her, he smirked, which she had expected, but he did one other thing that made her stomach churn. He winked at her. And that was the moment that Mikan Sakura considered suicide.

"Wasn't that girl the hot chick you ate up in the cafe, huh, Natsume?" Kokoro Yome, one of Natsume's best friends, also known as Koko, said.

Natsume glared at him, "Yeah, so what if she is. Back off, this one's mine." Koko sweat dropped, backing away slowly.

"Chill man, I'll stay away. So, she's this week's prey then?" Koko said, looking at Natsume inquisitively.

Ruka Nogi, the blond foreign looking one sighed. He was the best friend of Natsume, "I kinda feel sorry for the girl. I mean, you're going to break her heart in one second flat, like those other girls you've dated, aren't you, Natsume?"

Natsume stiffened under his gaze, but still retained his cool composure, "She's different, this one." He shifted his position, his palm on his chin, while a smirk grazed his features "I like challenges, she'll be mine.. permanently. I'll make sure of it."

The clouds were the usual - white and fluffy. Nothing strange. The sky was the usual - clear and baby blue. The same. She was feeling the usual - excitement, anxiety, nervousness, happiness, fear, and most of all, anger. The usual? No. The same? No. Strange? Yes. Everything except the "anxiety," "nervousness," "fear," and the last but definitely not the least, "anger." The anger was especially directed at one anger-inflicting Hyuuga Natsume. Oh joy. This was one example of an extra-ordinary day in the life of Mikan Sakura.

Stepping out into the breezy, sun-ray filled air, Mikan shielded her eyes. The camp was... certainly not what she had expected.

Everything was mostly grass and trees, she had known about that. But she certainly had not known about the tall, enormous, beautiful buildings in the premises. There were 3, huge, white buildings in the large grassy field. They looked modern, and Mikan couldn't help but feel that she was going to enjoy her stay here, wether Hyuuga was here or not. She'd have fun without his presence. Too bad she couldn't avoid the unavoidable. There, also in the middle of the field, right beside the 3 buildings, was a large stage.

She felt an arm wrap itself around her waist, and the now familiar husky voice in her ear, "Hey, sweet thang." She felt herself erupt into a million shades of red. Pushing him away, yet again, she sped as fast as she could toward the main building.

Natsume chuckled mischievously, "I guess it's time to pay a visit to dear old pops."

Oh great. She was lost. Mikan wandered and wandered along the vast halls. She was far too shy to ask directions to the administration office, even though there were numerous bustles of people hurrying everywhere. She didn't notice though, the stares and whispers about her. She was the center of gossip.

Stupid map. It never taught her anything about where things were supposed to be. The text wasn't even typed right. It all looked upside down, and she couldn't make out a single word. Stuffing the paper into her bag, she decided to find things her own way. Okay, first, she looked around. Maybe there was a sign or something...

"OOF!" Mikan said, as she bumped onto the cold marble paved floor. A hand was reached out in front of her. She stared at the hand for a while. It was pale, smooth-looking, and she wanted to grab a hold of it. But she wasn't paying attention to the person the hand was connected to.

"Oi. If you're not going to accept my help, free of charge, I'm leaving." A cold voice of a girl rang out into the hall. Mikan grabbed the hand immediately, heaving herself up. She stared into amethyst orbs, mesmerized. She quickly let go of the hand, smiling sheepishly.

"T-Thanks. I-I'm Mikan Sakura." she stuttered, holding out her hand.

"Tch. Hotaru Imai." The cold voice sounded again, and she really looked at the owner of the voice. It was a raven haired girl, about her height, with those amazing amethyst eyes. The girl walked past Mikan, and she tried to keep up with her.

"U-Um! Do you mind helping me?" Mikan asked, gathering up her courage, "I'm lost. Do you know where the administration office is?"

Hotaru looked at her, turning back again, not speaking. Mikan tried her hardest in keeping up, Hotaru's stride was quick. She kept up as best as she could, and then...

"OOF!" The second time in one day. She had bumped into Hotaru's back. They had stopped in front of a sturdy looking mahogany door, a gold plate labeled "Administration Office Headquarters"

Mikan turned to Hotaru, "Thank you!" She smiled. Hotaru seemed emotionless, but you see in her eyes that was slightly taken aback by that hundred-watt mile.

"Hn. Be thankful this is the second time this goes without charge." And then she was gone. Mikan put her hand on the shiny doorknob. She was on her own now.

Mikan breathed in, and then exhaled. Okay, she could do this. Right, she could. It was a good thing that Hyuuga wasn't there. She smiled briefly. The day she'd like him was when pigs fly. Wait, Hyuuga couldn't fly right? Good.

All right! Phew! I've finally updated. Actually, my classmate encouraged me to stop my laziness and update. Thanks to her! If she didn't I wouldn't have updated this early. Kidding. I would have updated, of course, but then not this early. Okay, okay, I'll update as soon as I can about my other stories. Wait for it!

Muchos Love,

Tearless Sonnet