Wow, thanks again for all of the reviews – and to answer a few questions, YES. Yes, I love writing cliff hangers, although I hate it reading them. Hehe. So I figure if you end the chapter in anticipation people generally read the next chapter out of wonder (^_^)/

Sorry this chapter took a little while to update. An idea came and whacked me in the face when I was in the middle of this chapter during Monday, so I sort of got distracted writing another fic. I think I'll post it after a finish this one, which probably won't be for a while. But updated will be slower in the next two weeks – I was just given an English essay, a math test and an Ancient History assignment. I already did my Visual art test though, so that's one down!

LOL you'll hate this chapters end then XD Anyway, thanks for all of the reviews and I'm glad you guys have enjoyed the story so far, and I hope you like this chapter!

Enjoy :)


7

Mikan was now seated next to her mother, directly across from Natsume, who refused to so much as blink. It'd been an hour since he she walked through that door, and they'd been explaining ever since then.

"Okay," he said at last, causing them all to turn back to him. He'd been silent ever since Izumi stopped talking, and Mikan had been silent ever since she'd uttered his name. She was definitely the most surprised by everything that had happened.

"So Mikan Nendo is really Mikan Sakura and she's your daughter, the soul heiress to Sakura Co. Akira Sakura is a nonexistent person who was played by Mikan in male clothes and a wig." Saying it out loud made him feel slightly better. "Mikan had to pretend she was a commoner because you guys didn't want her to be raised in the spot light, you wanted her to have a normal life. And she pretended to be a guy because she knew that I'd recognize her if she didn't." he finished, huffing. "I'm still very confused." He admitted, glaring up from the table back to Mikan, who visibly cringed away.

"You're just an innocent bystander who accidentally got sucked into my personal affairs." Mikan muttered, shaking her head. She slapped her mother on the back of her head, her eye brow twitching. "You idiots thought I'd exposed myself, so instead of asking me about it, you had Hotaru drag him here and managed to screw everything up. I can't believe you! Irresponsible parents! How have you managed to keep Sakura Co. running all these years!? The parents are supposed to set the example for the child! I can't be chasing up your mistakes in all my free time, damn it."

Natsume shrank back in his seat slightly. Even though she wasn't yelling at him, she was somewhat scary with that murderous glint to her eye. When he looked at Yuka and Izumi they looked sheepish, like they actually had just been chided by a parent, and they knew it would happen again. What a strange family… he thought mildly.

Mikan sat back down in her chair and took several deep breathes before she looked up and began speaking again, this time a lot calmer. "Alright. Everything's fine, so it's alright." Her bottom lip jutted out ever so slightly in the tiniest of pouts, almost unnoticeable. "You ruined my game, mum. It was fun to be two different people at once – you should see the difference in how he treated me as a commoner compared to how he treated me as someone richer then he is." She sighed, leaning against her arm. "I suppose I should transfer again then, huh?"

"Why?" Natsume asked, sticking his head back into the conversation. "Are you going to leave because I found out?"

"No, she's not." The door swung open and Hotaru stepped through, looking somewhat annoyed. "Damn you nose-drip girl, you're not leaving again." She snapped, tossing an empty jar at Mikan, who narrowly evaded its destructive path. "You've only been back for a week." She added, and then, more quietly, she added, "And I missed you."

Natsume half choked on the air in his throat at the sound of Hotaru admitting that she actually cared enough about someone to miss them while they were gone. When he looked up he noticed Hotaru was staring at Mikan with the expression of a mother hearing that her son was going back to the war with two broken legs. Completely devastated.

When he glanced back over at Mikan he noticed that she looked about ready to hurl herself across the room, but knew that if she did she'd never escape again. "What am I supposed to do, then? It's not so bad, you know, moving around almost every year." She shrugged. "I could go back to Australia. The people there are pretty laid back. It's just till' I graduate, anyway. No big—,"

"No." Yuka spoke up with a stern voice and a matching face. "You never even come back for holidays, Mikan. You're not leaving the country again."

Mikan narrowed her eyes. "I'll stay in the country then. I'll stay in Tokyo. I'll stay at Gakuen Alice. Obviously I don't have much of a voice." She turned her head slowly, until her glare was drilling into Natsume. "So we have to silence you." She murmured, her lips curling upwards in a malicious smile.

"Silence me?" he repeated, almost jumping out of his chair when Hotaru appeared behind him, trapping him between Mikan and her. "In what way, exactly?" There was something extremely uncomfortable about being caught between two girls who clearly didn't care much about his well being.

"The principle is my uncle." Mikan said, smiling sweetly. The intense evil atmosphere dispersed with that smile. "You could drop out, I guess. Or I could get uncle to kick you out. Hmm…" she trailed off, thinking deeply.

Natsume frowned. "What makes you think I'm leaving?" he snapped, displeased with her neutral threat. "It's your problem. If you're stupid enough to think I'd risk my future business by pissing off the Sakura family you don't belong at Gakuen Alice." He stated, glaring daggers. Why the hell should he have to leave because of hers and her parents stupid mistakes? Like hell.

Mikan looked at him for a moment, then smirked ever so slightly. "Alright, then you can leave. If you're not going to tell anyone about me not being a commoner or my past, or anything about the Sakura family, then we can go about life the way we have been." She smiled, knowing very well that she'd just spoiled at least one of his plans for revenge.

"Why pretend to be a commoner on a scholarship when you could gain so much more respect by revealing you're not?" he asked, grumbling incoherent things under his breath. He'd been looking forward to crushing Sumire with the news of her rival being more powerful in the business world then she ever would be.

"Because I grew up acting like a commoner, Hyuuga. And I did get into the school on a scholarship, I thought it'd make me feel smarter to not buy my way into an education. I earned it instead." She shrugged. "Someone like you wouldn't understand." She concluded.

"Someone like me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Someone like you. Someone who grew up in a big fancy house being waited on hand and foot 24/7. When you want something you get it, and you've never had to labor for yourself either, I bet." She raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Or am I off in my assumption?"

"No." he said, standing. Of course he'd never lived like a commoner, why would he? Who the hell in their right mind would want to pretend they weren't extremely wealthy? Mikan was obviously just missing something upstairs. "I'm leaving now. Good bye." He walked out the door, leaving the room. He half expected someone to stop him and was glad to find that he wasn't attacked by Hotaru's deadly baka gun.

--

Natsume had walked into town after leaving the Sakura place, because he'd been too stubborn to go ask for a lift and he didn't know where he was so he couldn't call for a car. The instant he'd found a street sign he'd called though, so he only had to walk for half an hour or so. No biggy.

Now he was in his dorm room at the academy, sitting cross legged in the middle of his room on the floor, glaring at the door like he could burn holes through it.

Who does she think she is!? He kept repeating the question over and over in his brain, trying to find a way around it without noting that she was Mikan Sakura, the sole heiress to one of the biggest international companies in the world.

But just because her family was more powerful than his didn't mean she could treat him like he was inferior! He knew all of her secrets, for #$% sakes! Yet the bitch still acted completely indifferent to him, like he was just another toy she could toss aside when she got bored. In fact, that exactly how she must have seen him, and she must have done it to many others before him, too.

What gave her the right to pretend to be someone she's not just for her own amusement!?

Natsume sighed for the umpteenth time in half an hour, falling backwards onto the soft carpet so he was facing the roof. He realized then that he was on the floor. On the floor like a commoner is how he'd have phrased it before, but now he couldn't seem to use the word properly, because it brought up more problematic questions.

Like for starters, how the hell was he supposed to treat Sakura the same way as he had before!? Jesus! If he's parents knew they'd disown him! But he had to do it – she'd made it very clear – in an sort of unclear way – that if he said anything about her to anyone she'd have him out of the school immediately. And he knew she could do it, because he knew for a fact that Izumi's older brother owned Gakuen Alice.

"Damn that pretend commoner women! Damn her!" he shouted, not bothering to think about what Ruka, who was next door in his room, would think. That is until he realized that he'd said 'commoner women' which anyone who knew Natsume would assume was Mikan, and he'd referred to her as 'pretend'. What if she just spilled the beans?

He's face paled. He'd definitely be disowned if he got kicked out of school.

And it was all Sakura's fault. He closed his eyes, contemplating.

--

Mikan pulled up outside of the large house-like building, knowing very well that she looked absolutely nothing like a commoner. She was in a red Telsa Roadster, for starters. She was wearing a pair of white Levis jean Capri's with a black belt and a light blue halter top and a black jacket over the top that only covered her ribs up.

Next? She was lugging around a Chanel black handbag with a small white bow and a pair of white framed rose tinted Prada sunglasses and Manalo white strap up heels. (A/N: Hey, I like had to research those stupid brands . I'm so bad with fashion, I usually just go to Target or Supre…) Of course, the only reason she bothered risking it is because she didn't plan to act a thing like Mikan Nendo.

She strutted up to the front door and rung the bell, quickly applying a thin layer of clear lip gloss to her already luscious pink lips before a blonde boy with blue eyes answered the door. He blinked, momentarily taken aback, and then he shook his head as if to clear it. Mikan smirked. "Can I h-help you?" he asked, blushing beet red.

"You could." Mikan said, trying not to laugh. Poor, innocent little Ruka… she thought, taking a breath to calm herself before she continued. "You could let me in – I want to surprise a grumpy friend of mine." She shifted slightly, making it look like she was uncomfortable standing there. She'd seen hundred of movies and she remembered every single move any ordinary skank made on every single one of them.

Sure, she could kick his ass and walk right in, but she didn't want to hurt Ruka, he'd done nothing wrong. In fact, he was cute – why mess up such a pretty face?

"Uh, yeah sure I guess." He stepped aside, motioning with his arm that she could enter. She did, smiling when she passed him. "Who is it you wanted to see?" he asked as an afterthought.

She watched him and he blushed a little more. So, so innocent! Poor guy! She chided herself mentally. Mikan was no slut, she'd never even kissed a guy. She just liked mucking around and pretending to have a normal personality. People called her a try hard when she acted the way she naturally acted, being good at everything and nice to almost everyone. So she just didn't do it anymore – she found people were more comfortable around someone they thought they could understand. Idiots.

"Natsume Hyuuga, actually." She bit her bottom lip. "But…umm… I don't really know where his room is… do you think you could show me? Please?" she asked sweetly, smirking when he swallowed and nodded, like he couldn't actually talk.

She felt extremely guilty for deceiving him and playing around with him like she was, but that didn't change the fact that she was enjoying herself immensely. She wasn't even sure if Natsume would know who she was, which made her muffle a delighted giggle.

Natsume was definitely the one with the best reactions. By that she referred to all of the other schools she'd attended and the arrogant boys or bimbo girls she'd selected to be her entertainment – Natsume was certainly the most entertaining of them all.

Ruka pointed to the door. "That's it. Tell me if you need anything, I'm right next door—," he was cut off by a noise from the other side of the door.

"Damn that pretend commoner women! Damn her!" Natsume's voice was dulled but still loud and clear to them. Mikan started laughing silently while Ruka reached for the door. She grabbed his arm though, shaking her head.

"Don't worry, I'll deal with him." She smiled slyly before she silently opened the door and slid in, noticing that his eyes were closed and he hadn't noticed her. Taking advantage of the situation, she quickly dashed across the room and hid herself amongst he's messy covers and his… eight pillows? What the hell? She thought, frowning as she made herself invisible.

Natsume remained completely oblivious to her presence.


XD! told you you'd hate the ending, right? Yeah, I think I'd be pretty pissed if someone did that to me, too. Don't hold grudes, kai -.^? Thanks ^.^ And while you're reading this i suggest you press the pretty little green button there. yay :)