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Disclaimer: Not mine? Not yours either… Live with it!!!
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Summary: Natsume Hyuuga, 17 yrs. old is one the world's richest person and is heir to a world renowned business corporation. He's a genius and he's the country's hottest bachelor. You can say he already has everything, too bad he doesn't. His father, who wants to find the perfect girl for him, sponsors a beauty pageant open to all girls who are interested. What's this? Natsume is a judge and he doesn't know what his dad has in stored for him.
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All is fair in love and war…
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Chapter 6 In or Out?
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Silence…
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That was what filled the room they were at. No one dared say a word. How could they? They were all… puzzled. Why on earth would Natsume say yes? He hasn't said yes to any other girl before, up until now, that is, and to a nerd of all people. But what was more puzzling was Mikan's priceless reaction. It resembled Edvard Munch's artistic masterpiece, 'The Scream".
Shouldn't she be happy that by some God given 'miracle' she managed to enter the most prestigious beauty pageant without having to reveal any beauty at all? Maybe she was just overwhelmed by joy, or maybe it was the fact that she knew the so-called 'miracle' was standing right behind her in the person of her best friend.
Hotaru had a confident smirk etched on her lovely face. 'All according to plan…' And the plan was to get Mikan in. She frowned at some miscalculations. Even she didn't expect that the great Natsume Hyuuga would be the one to get Mikan in. She had already anticipated him to say no. That was supposed to be where Ruka came in. He was the one she was counting on. She glared at the blond who almost ruined her plans. Ruka, who was too preoccupied at the moment, was oblivious to the stare. He and the rest of the judges were looking at Mikan and Natsume simultaneously.
Natsume kept on observing the girl before him. He wasn't too surprised at her reaction. The moment she entered the room, it was obvious to him that she didn't want to join. He found the girl quite interesting. So far, she's the second girl to catch his attention, second to the girl from the food court. He found the 'nerd' to be very familiar. 'Too familiar' He shrugged the thought away though it still nagged at him. The last time he jumped into conclusions, he ended up soaking wet with strawberry juice. He wasn't planning on repeating the same mistake.
Ruka felt the glare on him intensify. 'I'm so dead' He just broke the number one rule for survival. A rule, he of all people, knew too well: Never go against the will of Hotaru Imai.
Ana and Nonoko squealed in delight. "She's in!" It took a while, but the news finally sank in.
This broke Mikan out of her trance. She glanced over at Hotaru, expecting to see a smirk. She was surprised to see a stone glare directed at one of the judges. Desperate times call for desperate measures. She had to act now and think of a way out before it was too late. Luckily, Hotaru gave her an idea.
"Hey Hotaru, is that the guy who you are dating right now?" Mikan asked, barely being able to contain her excitement.
Hotaru nodded, not lifting her glare from the boy who seems to be melting on his seat.
"I guess that means I'm out of the pageant." Mikan said. She was pretending to sulk but she just couldn't hide the sudden cheeriness in her tone.
Hotaru diverted her gaze towards the brunette. "Why so?"
"Well, the candidates shouldn't have any relationship with any of the judges. Since you two are pretty close and we are best friends, it kinda makes it unfair to the other candidates. Don't you think?" Mikan looked sadly at the judges. The judges nodded. It was clearly stated in the guidelines.
Hotaru glared at Mikan. She wasn't gonna lose that easily. But what can she do? Rules are rules.
Natsume, who had been listening attentively, raised an eyebrow at Mikan. "I thought you're supposed to be smart, little girl?" Everyone turned to face him.
"What do you mean?" Mikan said, her brows twitching while clenching her fists. She almost forgot about him, the cause of all her troubles. 'He's the reason why I'm in this mess. Everything. It's because of him. It was his corporation that sponsored the pageant. It was his fault I lost to the game to Hotaru. It was him who voted me in. When will this guy leave me alone?' "What is it that you want? The rules are clear, aren't they? I'm disqualife-." Her irritated whining was interrupted by Natsume's calm voice.
"First of all, you are not related to any of the judges. Second, the reason for that rule was so there wouldn't be any biased decisions; you shouldn't be complaining about that because he actually voted you out." Natsume stated in a bored manner. He smirked as he saw how flustered Mikan was.
"B-but I…," Mikan slumped her shoulders in defeat. "Where do I proceed?"
The other occupants of the room watched amusedly at how the two were bickering. Since when does the great Natsume Hyuuga give that much effort to keep a girl from dropping out of a pageant? And since when does a girl actually want to drop out after being voted in by the country's most sought after bachelor? These questions keep ringing inside their heads. This was certainly a first in any recorded history.
"Right this way, Miss Sakura." Mr. Narumi told the young brunette. "I and the rest of the judges are going to have a brief meeting before we orient you and the other chosen candidates. You and your friends wait here for a while." He directed Mikan and the rest to the room were the other candidates were.
Mikan, feeling depressed, nodded absentmindedly. She glared at Natsume on her way to the waiting room. As she passed him by, she heard him say, "Congratulations, Strawberries"
She stopped at her tracks, causing Hotaru to look at her. "What's wrong now, idiot?"
"Strawberries?" Mikan tilted her head a little.
'Hn…She didn't get it? Maybe it's not her after all. It's still too early to assume.' Natsume was actually thinking of the flavor of the juice the girl from before poured on him. He wanted to see if the girl from before and the nerd in front of him were the same. It didn't cross his mind that, even though the girl in front of him was smart, she'd forget about the incident. 'Change of plans' He smirked. "I didn't mean the juice little girl"
"Juice?" Mikan gave him a more confused look. He frowned, 'So it isn't her…or is it?'
'It isn't the juice… not the juice??? What juice? Strawberries? Isn't that the same pattern on my…' Mikan's face flushed as each second passed. Natsume smirked. He was referring to more than one thing when he called her strawberries. "You should really wear shorts when you demonstrate your fighting skills with a killer robot."
Hotaru watched her best friend amusedly while Ana and Nonoko held Mikan back. "LET ME AT HIM!!! THAT PERVERT! I'M GONNA KILL HIM!!!"
"Mikan calm down…" Ana and Nonoko tried desperately to calm her.
"Ms. Sakura… Please uhm… Don't mind Natsume" Ruka tried to reason out.
Persona found the whole scene very entertaining. Jinno couldn't care less at what was happening; he was too busy checking the forms of those who passed. Reo shook his head at the scene. Narumi nodded to himself in approval, 'This girl is the one for him…' He grinned.
After a few moments, Mikan finally calmed down. Ana and Nonoko sighed. 'That was close'
She lifted her head up to face the stoic raven haired boy. Natsume was slightly taken aback at Mikan's calm yet scary smile. "Do you want another demonstration? I also know how to use a sword." Mikan's evil grin became wider.
"Where are you gonna get a sword?" Natsume was just digging his own grave.
In a split second, Mikan walked over to the wagon containing her trophies, one of which was a sword won from a sword fighting competition. Natsume, alert as he was, dodged every swing the girl threw at him. "Tsk. What kind of sword fighting competition did you win that from? Don't tell me you were the only contestant." He really enjoyed provoking her.
"Natsume…" Ruka uttered.
Hotaru pushed some buttons on her remote. The robot proceeded to restrain Mikan. "LET ME GO!!! I'M GONNA GET YOU FOR THIS HYUUGA!!!"
Mikan was dragged forcefully into the waiting room with Ana and Nonoko following. Hotaru walked over to Natsume, "You're lucky she wasn't really serious or she would have really sliced you in half."
"She was just kidding around?" Natsume asked the genius inventor.
"No, but if she wanted to kill you, she would have done it already." Hotaru began walking towards the waiting room. "She just has uncontrollable anger issues."
She glanced at Ruka. "We'll talk later." He gulped.
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After the four girls have left the room…
"Hn. I've never seen you treat a girl like that Natsume." Persona smirked at him. "Usually, you're the one holding the sword to fend girls off."
"Shut up" Natsume glared at him. Ruka sighed.
"You shouldn't have agitated her." Ruka said.
"Don't you have your own problems kid?" Reo told Ruka in an amused tone.
"Huh?"
"Your girlfriend." Natsume enlightened him.
-gulp- "You're right. She's gonna kill me… or worse." Ruka slumped down on one of the chairs. 'Torture me…'
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Waiting Room…
"I SAID LET ME AT HIM!!!" Mikan said hysterically.
"Calm down, idiot. The other candidates are staring at you." Hotaru said as they entered the waiting room.
-sigh- '1…2…3… relax…happy place… think of a happy place…' "Fine" Mikan said as she gave her sword to Nonoko.
They proceeded to the back of the room. Along the way, they were met with peculiar glances from the other candidates and their friends.
As they passed a certain row, they were interrupted by an annoying shrill voice. "NO WAY! The G4's mascot made it?" Everyone turned their heads to the source of the commotion.
"L-luna?" Mikan uttered.
"DUH! Who else could it be? What are you doing here?" Luna asked, irritated.
"DUH! She made it… OBVIOUSLY!" Ana and Nonoko smirked at her triumphantly.
"Mikan Sakura? Nerd girl of the year passed this pageant?" Luna said disbelievingly.
"Mikan Sakura???" Another voice echoed throughout the room, this time coming from the front. Everyone snapped their head towards the noise.
"F-faye? Y-yumi too?" Mikan was shocked to see her two ex-best friends. The two girls stared back at her.
Faye smirked confidently. "Soo… The accident really did tarnish your face…" She walked towards Mikan. She stopped right in front of her and examined her face. "Your cheeks… probably scraped from the pavement. Perfect teeth deformed. Vision permanently impaired." Faye thought out loud. 'Better than I imagined her to look… Or should I say worst?' She began giggling to herself.
Luna stood there… ignored. 'Who is this ugly hag? How dare she steal all the attention? I'm supposed to be the one to taunt the mascot…'
"So Mikan what brings you here?" Faye asked.
Seeing as Mikan was still speechless, Hotaru stepped in front of her. "She's here to enter the pageant."
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA," roaring laughter erupted the room. Most of the people in the room laughed along with Faye. Yumi felt sorry for Mikan but still faked a laugh.
Hotaru's psycho robot stood in front of Faye, towering over her. "Do you want Amanatsu to teach you some manners?" Hotaru stated for everyone to hear.
The laughter died down and was replaced by an eerie silence. "I thought so" Hotaru and the rest proceeded to their seats at the back.
They were greeted by a pretty girl with big blue eyes and long black curly hair. "Hi there! My name is Yumiko Toudo." The girl offered her hand.
Mikan took it happily and shook it. "I'm Mikan Sakura and these are my friends: Hotaru, Ana and Nonoko." The girls nodded respectively.
"Are you here alone?" Mikan asked Yumiko.
"Yeah, but I'm not the only one… This is Nobara Ibaragi, I met her just now." Yumiko pointed towards the girls beside her. She had curly light blue hair and calm silver blue eyes. She looked at Mikan shyly. Mikan took her hand and shook it. She beamed at the girl. "Nice to meet you! Let's be friends then." The girl blushed.
Hotaru smiled. She was glad Mikan was making friends already.
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After a few moments…
The judges finally entered the room. The girls squealed at the sight. Mikan glared at Natsume. He just looked indifferent.
Mr. Jinno proceeded in front. He cleared his throat before speaking.
"As you all know, you are the lucky candidates to proceed to the pageant. Fortunately, there are exactly twenty of you so there won't be a need for a secondary screening."
Mr. Narumi continued, "You are the semi-finalists for the pageant. You see, the pageant is composed of two parts: the semi-finals, also known as the informal part; and the finals, commonly termed as the formal part or the grand coronation night."
"The finals will be held for one night only. It's the part of the pageant that you are all familiar of. Only ten contestants would proceed to this part." Murmurs were heard throughout the room.
"The semi-finals will determine who those ten will be. It will be held for a number of days. Like the finals, it will be broadcasted nationwide." Some of the girls giggled excitedly. Mikan looked nervous. 'L-live?'
"The semi-finals will go like this: each of the five judges, including the main host, will prepare a series of 'tasks' or 'tests'. You will then be judged according to your performance. The candidates with the lowest grades will be eliminated. Points are also determined by live voting wherein the viewers get to vote their favorite candidates."
"Each round, two candidates may be eliminated and the rest will advance. The important thing is that only ten of you remain. Meet us at the Northern Park, two days from now, and don't forget to come early. The pageant has officially begun…"
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Whoops! Is that a cliffhanger?
By the way... Yumiko Toudo is a character from Lady-von-Biefeld... a character from her upcoming fic...
Violent reactions? Friendly suggestions? Please review!!!
This chapter is a bit short but what else can I put there? Sorry about that! It's all reserved for the next ones…
