So yeah, I've updated like how the (persistent) readers had been reviewing. Somehow, when writing this story, I had a really sadistic/masochistic moment. Please forgive me if it shows in this chapter.

Anyway, you could probably read that this chapter is rougher than the other chaps. Well, I've only finished this one tonight and I am so focused on my original novel that I forgot the plot for this one.

I even planned for a hiatus or (more possibly) to end this story.

Don't worry, it's a bit of a long shot especially when people review and my (stupid, selfish, moronic) conscience is telling me to show my gratitude in a more generous manner.

This chap is sort of like a reminder for my mistake of neglecting this story. I'm truly sorry for those who waited so long and I've promised to update last month. It would really sound lame if I said I was busy.

Anyway, I hope you guys will like this one. I'm already starting to make the next chapter though I'm having a bit of writers block. And, to be warned, I'm actually more focused on my novel than anything else.

Enjoy (if not hate).

Chapter 25 – Mikan's mistake

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks ever since Mikan knew about her true life. How much of a mess it was, actually. Everything was beginning to feel normal. But then, whenever she thought about too much, she'd turn numb again.

For two weeks, Mikan was still ridiculed for being a geek. For two weeks, people tried to trip her in hallways. For two weeks, Mikan enjoyed normalcy.

For two weeks, Mikan would catch the Black Cat staring at her.

That was the weirdest part ever. The Black Cat wasn't known to be a geek-supporter and he was a playboy as far as she knew. Heck, maybe in the time of her being victimized with amnesia, he probably has a kid already though the thought made her uncomfortable for some reason. She did her best to stay away from him but he was the one who tried to pry into her privacy.

Not that he'd admit it publicly though. He's probably the most obvious person to Mikan. And Mikan's probably the most oblivious person to everyone.

An example of him prying was in Math. Jinno didn't bother calling Mikan again because he might just get embarrassed again (besides, Jinno knew who Mikan was) and decided to torment other students. All Mikan had to do was doodle or scribble on her "art" notebook.

Since they were seatmates, it was easy for Natsume to peek into her art. She wouldn't have minded really (if he just kept his mouth shut) but what she wrote or drew there were not related to her geek life.

One time, she drew the Blue Moon symbol (since she was the one who drew it): a full moon inside a curvy diamond. The details were so defined (even if she used a ballpoint pen) that she was proud of herself. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't the only one looking at her artwork.

"Nice drawing," someone drawled.

Mikan turned her head slightly and saw Natsume smirking sarcastically. She quickly formed a snappy—but geeky—comeback.

"You don't have to insult me, Hyuuga-san," she muttered.

Natsume snorted. "You don't think I don't mean it?"

That stopped her short. She stammered, "T-thank you."

"Blue Moon, huh?" Natsume muttered. "You know them?"

She could say that she's the guitarist of the band and see his expression with buttered popcorn. But that would give everything they've hidden away. So, she made up another geeky reply.

"I'm an avid fan," she answered. She added "The Greatest Band EVER!" below the drawing to emphasize what she was saying.

After that, Natsume ignored her for the rest of the day.

Well, maybe not entirely.

Before lunch time, Mikan just left the library to join her friends. In the deserted hallway, three junior guys were huddled menacingly. From what she could remember, bullies didn't choose any gender. So, she readied herself for a fight.

"Hey ugly!" one of the guys yelled at her. She kept walking and one of them grabbed her shoulder and shoved her against the lockers. She knew their type of bullying: demanding for money and still beating up the victim afterwards. After all those stereotypical movies she watched, she still couldn't believe that these people had a case of superiority complex.

"Lunch money," the leader (and the stupidest) demanded. "Now."

Something inside her just snapped. How dare they just order her around? Do they want to feel pain? She felt something like this before…

So this is how it felt to be a true sadist [like Hotaru].

Mikan looked at them coolly. "No." She didn't want them to think they could get away with anything. It's time for them to learn how to respect.

"No?" the leader repeated. "How about we beat you up? You still gonna say no?"

Mikan smiled sadistically that he backed off a little. "Yes."

The leader popped his knuckles. "Alright, geek. You asked for it."

But before he could get his arm back, an arm shot from his right and punched his cheek. The other two didn't get away unscathed.

"Piss off, idiots," her savior growled. "And don't let me see you again."

Mikan saw who it was and her jaw connected to the ground. Natsume was there standing very calmly but his eyes were burning with anger. He may be just a sophomore like her but he emitted an aura that was very deadly. What her mind was trying to process is why he just defended her? This reminded her when she was eight…

She closed her eyes to erase the thought. He's changed. No way is that time going to return.

The leader of the idiots gave Natsume a respectful glare and Mikan a more animalistic one. It was more or less a minute before the idiots went away growling. Honestly…

"I could've handled it on my own," Mikan said irritably.

Natsume snorted. "Yeah right."

I kicked your ass, Mikan thought. Don't be so cocky.

Suddenly, Natsume took her wrist in a firm grip and started dragging her away. Mikan tried to escape his hold but it would require another bruised cheek on Natsume's part. Instead, she squirmed and struggled like a helpless geek who was kidnapped by a jerk.

Because she was busy, she didn't notice the alarming beeping until it was driving her nuts.

"Let go, you miserable excuse of an elite!" she yelled while fixing her glasses in a successful attempt to activate the mini-Tracker. Her glasses showed that the others were already in the cafeteria and the speakers were mixed with concerned mumbling from her band mates.

"Are you trying to kidnap me, Hyuuga?" she demanded and got five gasps from her earpiece. Everyone on the other line was creating a wave of "we're coming!" and was approaching their destinations as quickly as their disguises would allow them to.

Mikan didn't realize that she was being dragged to the Sakura tree Natsume was usually situated. She remembered that the young Natsume loved to play under the Sakura tree with her and that sent sadness to the cockles of her heart.

Natsume didn't let go of his hold until he practically dumped her on the overgrown roots. He sat beside her in a casual manner but the action released a threatening aura.

"You should've just given those guys your money," Natsume finally said in a bored manner. "You're too weak to even punch a fly."

A tic-mark rose on Mikan's temple. "Do you enjoy underestimating my kind, Hyuuga?" she growled. This was definitely like the young Natsume. She managed to not look affected.

Natsume turned his head to her. "Where's the polite 'san', Polka-dots?"

Polka-dots?

Instinctively, Mikan looked down to where her underwear was hiding under her skirt. Then, like a zombie, she turned her head slowly to the Black Cat with a very, very furious expression.

3…2…1…

WHAPACK!

Natsume's head almost got disconnected from his neck when Mikan punched him with all her might. The girl was now standing like a dangerous predator about to get its prey by…

Lecturing him.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Mikan demanded in a loud voice. "You insolent pervert! You looked into my UNDERWEAR!"

"I did not," Natsume replied coolly. "You showed it to me."

WHAPACK!

Blood was threatening to flow from Natsume's nose as Mikan gave him another deadly blow. This time, his head flew to the other side. She grabbed his shirt with such ease it looked like she was drowning with adrenaline.

"So you think it's alright for you to tease me?" she yelled. "You good-for-nothing excuse for a human! Thou hath out-villained villainy so far that the rarity redeems you!"

"Wow. Shakespeare."

"DIE A BEGGAR!" she snapped. She threw him back to the trunk, almost cracking the Black Cat's spinal column. "I'll have your head on a spit, Hyuuga!"

"Tera!" two voices chorused.

The attacker of Natsume Hyuuga swiveled around to search for the sources. Running towards them were those twins-with-somewhat-identical-names with frantic expressions.

"We've been searching for you!" they cried.

Mikan gave the two twins a glance before sending Natsume a farewell glare worthy for painting. "I swear to all gods, Hyuuga—you are the worst guy I've ever met! I was already pissed just meeting you but to do this preposterous thing? Mark my words, Hyuuga. If we meet again, I'll do something worse than this."

Then, she jogged clumsily to her friends and was mumbling assurances to them.

However, Natsume Hyuuga was jubilant.

Who the hell do you think you are?

The exact same lines as the superstar's. Those parting lines "I swear to all gods, Hyuuga" blah, blah, blah, had him smirking. Wasn't it too cliché? Was it coincidentally? Or because it's been used during these situations?

His mind was piecing everything together. He had been suspicious—part of the reason was because of the obsessive way that girl had been writing about that band. After that, he heard a voice in the hallway but thought that it was impossible. Then, he saw that girl walk by giggling.

The voice was identical.

At first, he was very skeptical. There was no freaking way that those two were closely related.

But one thing's for sure: Natsume Hyuuga just found a favorite geek.

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One hour, forty-three minutes, and thirty-one seconds.

That's how long her band mates were fussing (no other term for it) about the earlier incident in the Room. Hotaru kept her scolding to herself and let the others talk. For her, it's useless to talk while the other has the same point as you.

Point one: "You really should've controlled your temper." Yuu said that.

Point two: "If we get involved with Dark Sky, the media are going to have a heyday." Nonoko said that.

Point three: "Your parents will have to be forced to keep you isolated from the outside world until you're eighteen." Sumire said that only in a more censored way.

Mikan, however, was getting a headache. Yes, she knew that she should've done point one, thought of point two, and avoided point three. They didn't need to slap her with those threatening tones. Heck, she barely remembered the lost memories before the stress doubled.

"If you can remember, my brother doesn't usually do things without thinking," Aoi had told her before. "Watch out for him. I had a secret once and he got it before it was even a day old."

"He peeked under my skirt!" Mikan countered, coming back to planet Earth. "How would you feel if you get abused that way? Now I'll never get married!"

Hotaru exhaled sharply. "Can we just cut the crap for just a minute?" she growled. "Dark Sky is the least of our problems. Our biggest problem is the media and that ridiculous contest that corrupted principal dumped on us."

That sobered the fussing. Mikan pouted as she assessed the situation. Yuu fixed his glasses and sat beside Anna—a natural occurrence after the serenade. Nonoko was on the loveseat with Sumire. Hotaru was on a bean bag, looking like a model for bean bags that cost about 2000 Yen.

"I still don't get it," Sumire complained. "Why do we have to perform? Dark Sky and a hell of a lot more of famous performers are gonna be there. That's enough to bring more than half of Japan's population to the academy."

"To Principal Izumi, that doesn't cover his debt," Mikan replied, currently in business mode. "I think he'd even make it more public if it's going to be held at the Tokyo Dome."

"In a way, he's blackmailing us," Yuu concluded in an off-handed manner like it was a natural occurrence. "So what are we going to perform?"

"How about we start our world tour?" Anna suggested. "The earlier it starts, the earlier we can get back to school, right?"

Nonoko caught up with her twin's thinking. "That way, it's a world tour and a contest in one day. Anna, I'm proud to say you're my sister!"

Anna had a sad look just to humor her. "Are you saying that you weren't proud of me before?"

The twins began joking around, lightening the tension even for a minute degree. The Ice Queen, however, saw how things were turning. If there was going to be money involved, of course her brain would function at its best. She folded her hands in front of her mouth in a calculating manner and had that gleam in her eyes.

"Those guys can be the opening act," Hotaru said in a flat tone that meant I-mean-business. "If they perform in the afternoon, we can start the tour by evening. A stage that's going to be so sophisticated, artists would want to perform on that stage. In that way, they get to be a lot more famous, more money for that greedy principal, and the earlier we can tour."

She gave everyone what would seem a look that wants to gain suggestions but instead gave off a you-dare-question-me? aura. Her band mates smiled to hide their terror even though they agree with her idea.

"We still need two songs," Yuu added. "Firework, Price Tag, and the other song won't be enough. Other songs would be revivals but we still need two more so we could make the tour album."

Nonoko snorted. "This really sucks. Sucks more than the time my stirring rod melted because of my stupid partner. He used my stirring rod because he thought it's one of the normal ones. Then, he put it in a very acidic solution and melted the whole thing." A scowl appeared on her face. "Stupid. Fox-eye. Moron. Egg-head…"

She kept muttering names that would define her impression of Kitsuneme. Mikan stifled a giggle that would make Nonoko strangle her. Sumire rolled her emerald eyes in harmony with Hotaru. Did it really have to be so obvious? If it wasn't for the fact that they were in hiding, Mikan would have found some way to hook Nonoko with Kitsuneme to be done with it.

They were silent for a long moment. Then, Anna began to beat her fingers on the couch's armrest. It sounded like a 4/4 beat.

"Do you guys remember when we were little kids?" Anna said, watching her own fingers move. "Under that cherry blossom tree in Mikan's gigantic manor, we wished that we would be famous with music behind us."

A smile grew on Mikan's face as she remembered the time…

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"Sweetie! Hurry up!"

Mikan's lungs were constricting as her seven-year-old body persevered to catch up with her friends. If there was one thing her parents never taught her, it was exercising daily. Noko-chan and Anna-chan had a new "toy" that they want to use with them. The little heiress wasn't going to pass up a chance to get a peek at this new object of interest.

The cherry blossom was near so Mikan slowed down as she tried to catch her breath. Hotaru, who was already at the tree, gave Mikan a blank look that said, "Hurry up, idiot, or I'll shoot you". That look made her quicken her pace. The others (including Permy) were already surrounding the new object. Mikan looked over Yuu's shoulder and saw—

"A box?"

That made no sense. She was expecting something like a new device to play with or a puppy they found. The box was dark brown with one side a lighter tone and slanting than the others and another side with a hole.

Anna giggled. "It's a beat-box, silly." She sat casually on the box and experimented by tapping the slanted side. When she hit the middle, the box emitted a deep boom. When she hit the upper part, it emitted a higher pitched bam.

"Oooh." Mikan's eyes shined. "That's amazing!"

Sumire almost laid herself flat with her stomach to the ground when she inspected the hole. "Hey, I see…springs and a screen! What do those things do?"

"Maybe those are for the sound effects," Yuu guessed. "I heard my parents talking about beat-boxes but I never really saw one until now."

Hotaru ran a hand at one side. "Perhaps the wood is mahogany or some other material. It's very sturdy and balanced. It must have cost a fortune."

"Whatever those things are, our tutor taught us how to play," Anna said. "Noko-chan had a keyboard but she couldn't bring it. It was so heavy!"

Mikan scratched her head in confusion. "Eh? How can a computer keyboard be heavy?"

Unexpectedly (though it's a usual occurrence), Hotaru bopped Mikan on the head with a glove that looked suspiciously like a horse-shoe. It was so fast that their only proof of the harm was the horse-shoe shaped bump on Mikan's forehead.

"A pi-ya-no," Hotaru said, emphasizing every syllable like she was teaching Mikan how to read. The soon-to-be Blackmail Queen turned to the twins. "You're saying that you guys are starting with music lessons."

Nonoko nodded enthusiastically. "You guys should join us, too!"

Hotaru shook her head. "I'm doing a self-learning process in stringed instruments. I'm currently learning second level violin."

All of them had their jaws connected to the ground. Add to the fact that Mikan almost got lost in Hotaru's statements: a seven-year-old self-learning second level violin was astounding.

"I'm learning in stringed-instruments, too," Sumire admitted, "but I just got started last month."

"I'm currently learning how to use an equalizer effectively," Yuu said.

Mikan smiled apologetically. "I'm not learning anything but I want to learn the guitar. Aniki knows how to but he wouldn't teach me." She pouted.

"Right you are, li'l sis!" a voice boomed behind her.

Mikan flew and hugged Permy. Behind the tree came out ten-year-old Tsubasa, grinning so widely his eyes disappeared. He had his hands in his pants' pockets and his hair was hidden in a dark-colored bonnet.

"Nii-sama!" Mikan yelped. "Don't scare me like that!"

Tsubasa guffawed. "You have funny reactions, is that my fault? Anyway, I thought I heard a beat-box. Care if I try it out?"

Three seconds later, Tsubasa was on the beat-box making amazing beats. Anna stared at him in awe and even clapped when he was finished.

"This is great stuff, Anna." Tsubasa grinned at her. "You should practice and become famous." Then he included everyone in his grin. "In fact, you guys should practice together and become a band more famous than any other."

He let Anna back on the box and the latter began to beat something.

"But you won't even teach me how to play the guitar," Mikan whined.

Tsubasa only gave her one of his smiles that challenged her. "'Cause I don't believe that you could do it. You can't even lift a guitar. Prove to me that you can do it then maybe I'll believe."

He started to walk away, leaving his sister open-mouthed. When Mikan regained her senses, her face started to turn red and she yelled with all her might.

"I'm gonna do it! One day, I'll make you a believer, Aniki! I swear!"

And the beats continued…

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I'll make you a believer.

Mikan smiled at the memory. It was the first time that she had a clear memory of her past before her partial amnesia. That only made her nostalgic, though.

The beating Anna was making still interrupted the silence. Then, with a jolt, Mikan realized that it was the beating that little Anna did when she revealed the box.

One day…

"Anna, keep doing that," Mikan said quickly as she hurried to find a paper and pen. Anna might've looked confused but she didn't see it. The beating continued and Mikan finally found a piece of paper and a pen.

She wrote for a few minutes, scratching out something every now and then, and showed her work to the band. The others read the lyrics while listening to Anna's beating. Yuu had a grin on his face.

"Great job, Mikan!" He gave her a high-five. "Now all we need is to make up the music sheet for it."

"Hold up." Sumire held up a hand in protest. "I don't think this song is fit for band-style playing. I think this song is for—"

"Dancing," Hotaru finished in a defeated monotone. If there was one thing Mikan knew this Ice Queen didn't like, it was dancing. Oh, she's good but she never liked this kind of rigorous activity.

Anna's hands began to give more depth to the beating. "I like dancing!"

"That settles it." Mikan was sure a grin was plastered on her face. "Blue Moon is doing its first composition without the use of the usual instruments."

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I'll make you a believer, Aniki! I swear!

Funny how my memories help me write, Mikan thought as she hummed the new song. She was going for a leisurely stroll in the academy's cherry blossom park. The sun was starting to set, creating beautiful colors on the clouds.

Mikan sighed contentedly. When the tour and the competition are over, she'd finally focus more on living the normal life as best as she could while she still had two years left of freedom. She wondered every now and then why her mother and father decided to hide her (taking advantage of the amnesia in the process). Wouldn't it be better to reveal herself to the media as the heiress who forgot who she was?

"Impossible," she muttered to herself. "The media are going to rejoice."

"Rejoice because of what?" a very familiar voice drawled somewhere to her right.

Mikan froze and robotically turned to the right only to see the only person she dreaded to see. She thanked the heavens fervently that she was wearing her disguise.

Natsume Hyuuga was at the base of one of the cherry blossom trees with his crimson eyes locking her in place. He had that mocking smirk again. The smirk sent a pang in her. She wouldn't admit it but she missed the old Natsume and wished that she could go back in time.

Then, crash-landing to Earth, she decided not to give him any amusement so she quickened her pace and acted like he didn't just say something, futilely convincing herself that he was talking to himself. Then, she heard a carefree sigh and footsteps quickening until it was in line with hers.

"So the polite geek is actually very rude," he mused. "Is that because of the polka-dotted underwear? Did the pattern make you violent all of a sudden?"

Don't answer, don't answer, she kept muttering in her head. Keep your cool, wait until he calls you formally.

Finally, the silence Natsume received irked him. He grabbed her arm and made her face him. She realized that he no longer looked like he's in the mood to bully her. His eyes were suspicious and calculating which made her anxious. Since when did he get so…tall?

"Why aren't you talking to me, geek?" he demanded. "I called you twice now."

That produced a tic-mark on her forehead. "Because…" She withdrew her arm. "My name is not geek."

Natsume merely smirked. "Right. Tera Waname, right? Funny, you're the first geek whose name I remember."

Mikan closed her eyes and breathed deeply. The calming effects of the wind were slowly working—meaning it wasn't fast enough to calm her down.

"If you're done bullying me and so forth, I'll retire to my quarters," Mikan snapped. Her darker side kept coaxing her, Just take a swipe at him, will you? Her lighter side kept telling her about her friends.

She started to stomp her way back to the dorm when Natsume suddenly said, "Why be a fake in front of me?"

She knew it was a mistake. She knew it. But she still turned back to him with a confused expression. He had his hands in his hoodie's pockets. There was something in his face that looked angry and… triumphant. She knew there was going to be a hurricane coming.

"I don't know what book that quote came from," Mikan said, hoping to pass as a total oblivious.

Natsume's expression darkened. "Liars annoy me, Polka-dots."

The wind picked up, blowing Mikan's hair around her. She was a master at having a poker face in these types of situations but that didn't mean she wasn't in turmoil.

No, no, no, she thought desperately. Please don't let him know!

Her face probably showed something because Natsume had a triumphant air around him. That air turned his features into something more… handsome in Mikan's eyes. The sun's setting rays hit his body, casting a silhouette on the paved road. The image was like an angel about to declare her fate (which was a rough analogy).

"You're such a smooth liar," Natsume said, "Equinox."

Bada-Bing! So how do you guys think this is gonna turn out?

P.S: Those who want to read a part of my novel, don't hesitate to PM me and we'll work something out so I could send the excerpt. I need opinions so I could edit it. Thanks a lot! :)