Dedication: Last June 25, the Marriage Equality Bill was approved in New York and the Empire State Building lit up in a rainbow of colors. So for this chapter, I'm dedicating it to all the closeted sex-confused. Lifeis all about being yourself and finding out who are the people who will stick with you despite it. Who's stopping you but yourself? Don't let other people's chains hold you back from being all-out. Make the world a happier place. Teach people how to love. Let them learn the values of life because frankly, I think the kind of people who could truly understand what living your life means are the LGBTs.

Chapter 10:Uprising

"You can only stand on your own two feet when you can make decisions for yourself."

They will not force us,
And they will stop degrading us,
And they will not control us,
We will be victorious, so come on…

Alice Academy of the Arts, Integrated Calculus Class

She was failing. Horribly. How could anyone suck at Math this much? She had no freaking idea.

"Ms. Sakura," Mr. Jinno sighed heavily. He took his time with polishing his glasses clean before sliding them back on his face. "If you don't pass the upcoming quiz, I'm afraid it's going to affect your theatre and ballet."

Mikan bit her lip. She was beyond embarrassed. She was also late for rehearsals, but her grades were at stake here.

"I don't approve of assigning tutors for my students, so I trust that you will find a way to pass with flying colors in your own way." He pushed his glasses further to his nose. "Ms. Imai is a likely candidate."

"She's a little busy…" She muttered. "With the play and her applications for universities."

"And if you don't work on your Math soon, you'll be having problems with your career. I suggest you start looking for a way now. You're excused."

Just as she rounded the corner, Mikan muttered, "I hate Math."

Alice Academy of the Arts, Performance Theatre

Luna spun around Mikan with Christopher and asked, "So who spit on your hair?"

Unconsciously, she reached for her messy locks. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, why do you look like you're going to kill someone?"

Mikan sighed deeply. "Mr. Jinno says I'm failing. No, actually, he didn't say that. He told me I suck, only in much more acceptable words."

Luna and Chris both stared at each other for a quick moment before looking away. "You're on your own."

"Gee," she rolled her eyes, "Thanks for the support, you guys are amazing."

"You better get a tutor soon," Chris pointed out. "Not many seniors are willing to sacrifice their time to teach a stupid— ow! I'm kidding, alright? God, can't take a joke, can we?"

"It's not funny." Mikan crossed her arms. "I'm not stupid. I like Math but we're not the best of friends."

"I would say I'd help but I can't risk flunking the both of us," Luna shrugged. "What about Hotaru?"

Why was it always towards her best friend? She and Mikan haven't been sleeping much for the last few days, after the performance between Luna and Natsume. It just felt awkward, for some reason, and really odd.

Hotaru hated Natsume, that was a given, and the feelings were mutual. They'd probably curse each other with their utmost. It was just so stupid to Mikan. She wasn't thinking about marriage or something absurd like that! All she wanted was to be friends with Natsume. What was so wrong with that? Why do they keep referring about how "it's not right" or "he's not like you" and even "you're from two different worlds"? What was this, a soap opera? They weren't in some damned story where society separated them with an indestructible brick wall. That was pure utter trash. In the real world, no one would not make friends with you just because you've got no money— sure, if you're an arrogant uneducated prick who thinks inserting a curse word in every other sentence is proper, people would doubt about having to be that close with you, but what was this with Natsume? It wasn't like he was going to bite.

"What about Nonoko?" Chris offered when Mikan didn't say anything.

Mikan shrugged. "Look, I'll just find a way somehow. Right now, we have to focus on rehearsals. We've got a week and a half left until Halloween and you— yes, Chrissy, you— need to stop looking at the male lead like he's lunch."

Ruka, who was sitting nearby, obviously shuddered.

"See?" Mikan pointed this out. "He's forever scarred."

Chris sighed overdramatically. "Can't I look at a guy and call him hot these days? What is wrong with the world?"

Indeed, what is, Mikan thought to herself. "Alright, places every one. Act VIII, scene IV."

St. James Park, Westminster

The late afternoon sun hid behind the clouds while Mikan tried to hide her frustration behind her thick Calculus textbook. It was to no avail, because an aggravated scream echoed from her lips. Two tween lovers passed by and snickered at her expense.

"Yeah, go ahead, just laugh!" She hissed at them.

They bounded on the other way after sending a scowl on her direction. Mikan couldn't care less. She already look like she's been to hell and back, and then hell and back again. Her hair was messily (and not the type that would look good while all messed up— she had to face it, only Blake Lively can look like a total doll with bed hair) tied into what used to be a bun, because the strands kept falling so she kept sticking them in with bobby pins on the coin purse of her wallet. Not for the first time, she tucked her feet under her and shifted herself, desperately wishing that the gods would answer her prayers and the answers to the exercise would turn up.

Nothing happened.

"Oh, come on!" She growled under her breath. "This is ridiculous! Why am I studying Calculus? No, why did I take Calculus in the first place?" Too irritated with herself failing to grasp the concept than the book's inability to explain the lesson, Mikan stood and grabbed her purse. She needed something… cold.

The ice cream bell rang.

Who gives a flying tuck about the diet?

Eight minutes later, licking her second peanut butter and chocolate ice cream, Mikan headed back to her bench in front of the lake. St. James Park was no doubt one of the best places in London. Perhaps it is often forgotten, being besmirched, but the nature has always been something she's been greatly fascinated with. Growing in the city and going only to places where the big famous people are, sometimes, a little tiring. She found herself asking, This is it?

She only realized way too late that her ice cream was dripping down her hands and her jumper's sleeves as she stared at Natsume obviously trying not to look that amused with her attempts of answers to the second exercise.

He noticed her and with one arch of his brow, his expression completely changed; he wasn't hiding anymore. He was full-out smirking. "What the hell is this?"

Blushing, she quickly reached for her book, accidentally leaving ice cream marks on the page. "Oh, great, look what you made me do!"

"I didn't make you do anything," he rolled his eyes. "Not yet, anyway. It's obvious you need help in this department, I know."

"You and the rest of the world," she muttered. She had lost her appetite and so she tossed her dripping ice cream on the bin. "Right. Would you mind scooting over?"

Natsume lazily leaned against the bench with his eyes closed and his arms crossed on one side of the bench. Mikan took a seat on the vacant space. They stayed so for about twenty seconds, until Natsume couldn't take her agitated mumbling and finally offered; "Need help?"

She eyed him suspiciously before finally saying, "No, thank you."

"I'm not going to make you fail. Not yet, anyway."

"Are you aiming for making that your catchphrase?"

As if only to mock her, he said, "Not yet, anyway."

"Ooookay." She settled back and murderously glared at the textbook, gripping hard on it.

"What are you doing?"

"Shhh." Mikan waved him off. "I'm trying to set this on fire."

Natsume made an audible sigh. "I'm good in Math. Honest."

"You also have a good French accent."

"That, too."

It wasn't fair that Nasume could say all of these without expressing any expression further than those that accompanied a smirk.

Mikan rubbed her eyes and stared into the waters. The sun was swiftly beginning to change colors for the setting sun. "It's so pretty," she commented. She added quietly a little later on, "I've been staying here every once in a while. Since you showed me, I mean."

"You weren't by any chance looking for me, were you?"

Blunt, huh?

She tried to cool down her reddening cheeks. "Of course not!" She completely denied. "You live at Tower Hamlets."

There was a pause.

"How did you know that?"

Crap.

"I… uh… internet?"

Double crap.

"Nice try."

He wore his smirk again, before it finally slipped and settled into a yielding look. It wasn't exactly relaxed, but softer.

Mikan cleared her throat. "Want to help me?"

Sakura Residence

"Hotaru!" Tsubasa purred over the phone. "I haven't heard from you in a while."

"Spit it, Tsubasa," Hotaru growled. "I'm busy."

"Can't I call you every now and then to profess my undying love?"

Only Tsubasa could keep a joke from Hotaru Imai's childhood all these years. During their nursery years, he had to stop a fist fight between Hotaru and this kid who kept admitting his love to Cool Blue Sky. Needless to say, it was Hotaru who sent her fist on the poor little guy's left eye.

"I'm giving you thirty seconds."

"But my love can't be described in thirty seconds, Hotaru!"

"Twenty-five seconds."

"Well, first you have your eyes, and your equally dark hair which matches perfectly against the terribly horrifying aura you emit—"

"Eighteen."

"Is Mikan there?"

"Why are you asking if Mikan's here?"

"Because, my sweet pumpkin, she's obviously not here."

"She's not here either."

Tsubasa assessed this piece of information for a while. "Is she over Sumire's?"

"I don't think Mikan's anywhere near the people you've met before."

He immediately caught on with the meaning of her words. "Are you implying that she's with a boy?"

"Not just any boy. She's with Natsume Hyuuga."

Left and right he looked before pushing himself inside a broom closet. He whispered on the receiver, "Go on."

Downing Street, Westminster, London

"It's not fair."

"Nothing is."

Mikan frowned. "You're supposed to ask, 'What is?' and I'm supposed to answer you." When he didn't make a move to reply to that, she said anyway; "Why are boys more logical than girls? Both my brothers are amazing in anything related to numbers, it's like they were born with calculators installed in their minds. My dad's a monster, too. I don't know about my mom but seeing as she's part of the PTA, I'm guessing she got there by herself."

"I don't think they give out exams for the PTA officers."

She lightly slapped him on the arm. "That's not what I meant." She turned to him quite admiringly. "You're pretty good, Natsume. Why are you dancing?" He didn't reply, and she didn't push him. Thinking it was a sensitive subject, she shifted it back to her. "I have a secret."

"U-huh."

"I'm clumsy."

Natsume snorted.

"No, I swear!" Her eyes widened.

"You honestly think I believe that?"

"Well, you should," Mikan said seriously. "I promise. At home, I practice doing the complicated routines and turns so whenever I do it in front of an audience, I won't fumble."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever floats your boat, Sakura."

"So, yeah, I once asked my mum to have one of the guest rooms, my grandparents', to make into a dance studio, so I won't need to clean my room to practice, you know?" Natsume actually did not know, but he didn't tell her that. He wasn't that tactless. "But of course, I couldn't tell my mum that her little ballerina's a klutz or else she'll probably send me to some institution to fix it. I mean, that's my mum, she's buffed about my dancing, thinks it's the best thing about me after my first steps." Mikan snorted and sent her hands flying everywhere with each statement. "I practically learned how to walk because of dancing, can you believe that? It was originally just some surgery analysis or something, I can't really remember, I mean, how could I? I was three! I don't ask mum anymore because she goes on to this lengthy history from my first twirl to my first figure to my first blahs and blahs, it's absolutely crazy!"

He merely nodded. "Sounds like you."

"Oh my gods, you're not the first person who said that!" Mikan exhaled supremely.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he muttered, "I wonder why?"

They both stopped in front of Mikan's gates. She stared at him, not really wanting to go yet.

And then he looked at her straight in the eyes: "It's all I can afford."

"What can you afford?" She asked, puzzled.

He averted her eyes. "Dancing."

She grinned at him. "That sounds a little sissy."

"Then you're Princess Sissy."

She pursed her lips. "I take it you're the Prince, then?"

Natsume shrugged, turned and waved goodbye. "See you."

Sakura Residence, Mikan's Room

Mikan couldn't wipe the smile from her face. Today was pretty uneventful, but for some reason, it was one of her best days in a while.

She hadn't met someone like him. He was a man and a boy in so many ways while she was a little girl twirling in her pink tutu. He was just there and she was all over the place. How could someone be so steady? How long has she known him, anyway? Almost two months. What did those two months mean to her? Mikan couldn't answer the question. Sure, she didn't like him at first. There were just some people you think you hate at first, everyone gets through that. But as time grew, Mikan realized how very unlike he was in reality. Natsume was not trouble, he was troubled. Contrary to what other people believed in, he wasn't "that bloke" who was trying to fit in a world he didn't grow up in. He was doing it for a reason.

But for what reason? Mikan wanted to know. She wasn't after the gossip. She was interested. What did Alice Academy had that he so needed? And like she told him, he was just far too great to be dancing. Of course Mikan wasn't belittling her work and passion, but for Natsume, being able to 'afford' dancing was still too vague an answer. Heck, everything about him was vague, not to mention that friend of his, Ruka.

Mikan couldn't figure out what she was thinking of in the first place. When she was thinking of Natsume, everything just seemed to drift off. She closed her eyes, heaved a sigh, and dreamed on.

Alice Academy of the Arts, Integrated Calculus Class

"I'm impressed," Mr. Jinno said the next day, handing Mikan back her book. She had sat on the nearest chair with her fingers crossed.

"Really?" Her face lit up. "I mean, honestly? I thought I was really bad!"

"You still are," he said mercilessly, "I graded it a C, but it's better than your F."

"I'll take anything but an F!" She let herself went crazy, but then catching Mr. Jinno's stern look, she scrambled back to her seat.

"It's a start," he finally said. He reached under an odd frog paperweight and handed her three sheets of problems. "For merit. I want this on my desk tomorrow morning."

After thanking him, Mikan rushed out of the room; it was lunch and she knew exactly where to find a particular pseudo-tutor.

"Natsume!" She greeted him in bated breath.

Natsume looked up uninterestedly and threw her a bag of chips. "You're too loud."

She eagerly dug her hands inside the bag, "I got a C!"

"Good for you," His voice was monotonous, but Mikan was used to it. If anything, it sounded as if the statement was even sarcastic.

She reached behind him and grabbed the second can of cola. "So, Mr. Jinno gave me this activity sheet, for credit, and I was thinking if you could help me again? Please? Come on, Natsume, you can't say no to this face!"

He sent her a dry look.

"Okay, so maybe you can, but come on, please!" She drank, scrunched up her face, and then went for another gulp. "That was nice. But please, Natsume, mum's going to be so happy!"

"I highly doubt it's because of me."

"Alright, fine, if you don't want to go back to the lake, we can study over at mine. I promise I won't serve you tomato juice or carrot cake."

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"…No?"

"No."

Sakura Residence

"Where've you been?"

Tsubasa's voice made her jump; she didn't realize that he would be leaning against one of the foyer pillars, half-obscured by the shadows!

Mikan cleared her throat. "Same place where I've been yesterday."

"With Hotaru? I never took her as the nature-loving kind. Or maybe Sumire? Nah, she only goes out because of shopping. Maybe with Anna? Doesn't she have an early curfew, though? And I heard Nonoko's gone to take a screening over some university, so it couldn't have been her either."

Her face was getting paler and paler by the second; finally, she asked, in a trembling voice, "What are you trying to say, Tsubasa? Couldn't I be out with my other friends?"

"Other friends?" He repeated. "Probably friends that your other friends don't approve of?"

She laughed nervously. "You know Hotaru, she generally hates people, and Sumire scoffs at everyone. Anna's too shy and Nonoko's, well, she's too smart to…" She trailed off when she saw her brother's expression.

"Stop lying," he said.

"I'm not lying," she completely denied.

He looked around before storming up next to her by the door. "You were with a guy."

"I'm entitled to have friends of any gender, Tsubasa. You should know." She was obviously referring to the fact when Tsubasa first met Christopher on one of Mikan's recitals. They had ended up having seats together and Chris couldn't stop his eyes from lingering where they shouldn't be.

Tsubasa ignored her last statement. "Oh, really? You think going out with guys is safe? Guys are dangerous, Mikan, especially to you. You're completely naïve and you know nothing outside of your petty little imaginations of sunshine and daisies!"

Mikan blinked once. Twice. Thrice. "What's the matter with you?" she finally blurted out.

"What's the matter with you?" he threw at her.

"What do you mean? I'm… me. Nothing's wrong with me."

"Tell that to someone with a mind you haven't fucked up with yet," Tsubasa jeered. "You lied to Yuka."

"I didn't lie!" Mikan gasped.

"You didn't exactly tell her the truth either," he pointed out. "We all thought you were with Hotaru or one of your friends, not someone who's got practically no life or future!"

"You never asked! And we're just hanging out!"

"Hanging out my bloody arse, Mikan. The guy wants to get in an innocent girl's pants with the bonus of money. That's it in a nutshell, unless you want me to be more graphic then be my guest."

"How dare y— he's not like that!"

"Of course he's not," Tsubasa sneered at her. "Tell me, is he the image of a prince who's got the modesty down pat? Does he treat you like a full-grown woman? What the hell do you know? How can you be bloody sure he's not after some action?"

"Because if he was," she almost yelled, "he would've done it ages ago. Why are you all judging him? He's not that kind of guy!"

"You don't know anything, you can't even—"

"I can stand on my own feet," she hissed at him. "You can't go around telling me what to do."

"You can only stand on your own two feet when you can make decisions for yourself." Tsubasa hissed back. "And just for the record, you only recently got your legs functioning. You were figuratively and literally independent to everyone else, Limping Princess! Is this how you repay your friends? Leaving them and going out with some guy no one really knows? Worrying everyone you know who knows about him shitless?"

"I know him." She pressed.

"By how much? You know his house address? His phone number? Guess what, I also do. What makes you so damn special that you think you know him so well?"

Mikan couldn't help it anymore. This was Tsubasa— her brother! The supportive one who said she can befriend anyone! "Why are you being a hypocrite?" Her face was wet with tears that she didn't realize were already falling.

"Because you can't go off with someone who has a criminal record!" he finally said.

And immediately, her breath quickened.

Criminal record?

Natsume?

No!

Maybe she's only known him for about two months, and majority of that period, they were like a cat and a dog on par. If he had a criminal record, he would've told her. He would've pushed her away, just like they did in the movies…

But you're not in a movie, a voice from inside her said, It's the real world, and instead of wrapping him around your little perky finger, he's got you in tangled knots.

NO, she screamed at it, He won't lie to me. He couldn't have. We're friends.

And that's what she told Tsubasa, and even if her brother didn't say it out loud to confirm it, she knew they both had the same thoughts: she wasn't defending Natsume anymore— she was comforting herself.

Metropolitan Police Service Department

"You'll come back for us, won't you?" Aoi whispered through her tears, grasping Natsume's face with her free hand. The other had the body of her baby around it. The social worker, Lissa, was sending her away and she couldn't understand why. "You'll do everything you can."

Natsume nodded, his eyes serious. He couldn't speak; it was still too much to gather at once. The earlier events came rushing back to him.

"Natsume Hyuuga, you are under arrest."

"Wait, no, where are you taking him? Natsume!"

"You have the right to remain silent."

"Natsume! What are they doing?"

"Come with us calmly and no one gets hurt."

"Natsume!"

"Let's go, sweetie, we'll take you somewhere safe."

"But my brother—"

"He'll be taken away from you, honey. Now, let's go. Is this your baby?"

"What about Natsume?"

"Just take the bloody kids away, Lissa!"

"Wait, Natsume, no— Natsume!"

"Tsk. Maiming the police doesn't prettify your record, kid."

"Don't hurt him!"

"He's the one hurting everyone. Now go on with Lissa and we'll take you to foster care."

He's the one hurting everyone, the man had said.

He's the one hurting everyone.

He's the one hurting everyone.

He's the one hurting everyone.

He's the one hurting everyone.

He's the one hurting everyone.

He's the one hurting everyone.

He's the one hurting everyone.

And what bothered Natsume was not the fact that the police had this bloody idea to address him as a criminal.

It didn't bother him that he was going to face court under assaulting his father and possession of a deadly weapon.

It didn't faze him when the social workers informed him that they were taking his sister and his nephew away because he was 'dangerous'.

No, nothing mattered to him, because what pained the most was when the man said out loud what Natsume's been trying to push from his thoughts:

He's the one hurting everyone.

A/N This is the first time I've done this, and I am completely ashamed of it. I've read the email of each and every one of you, and I am honestly very pleased. However, school held me back and I couldn't squeeze my time in coming up with individual replies (I don't copy and paste my replies, I think that's rude; I try to be more personal when expressing my thanks). I only go online when I have schoolwork; otherwise, I use my phone so everything is limited. I stay in my room when I write so I couldn't connect on the internet, therefore there wouldn't be any distractions. I promise, though, that as soon as I get the time, I will diligently reply to each and every review and PM. It might take long, probably after our quarterly finals, so please, I ask for your patience. Thank you!

So I have an anonymous reader who commented on Mikan's and Tsubasa's dance session, and to be honest, I was stumped. I wish you weren't anonymous, I'd like to thank you properly!

Uprising is about a silent protest. Given that Natsume and Mikan's relationship is a little non-existent and half-hallucinatory, I think that's the idea of this whole thing they're having. Also, according to Muse's lead vocalist, "I sort of wanted to write a song that summed up that feeling like you've been done over by people you're supposed to trust. That's kind of where the song's coming from really."

Check out ew1282 and 8coins from YouTube. I love them— I listen to YouTube covers for some of the songs I use here. I think they're really different that the versions everyone's used to.