Well, like the last chapter, I am not exactly satisfied with this one, though it is better than the last (in my opinion). By the end of it I was beginning to get sick of the words I was using to tell how someone said something, so I looked up synonyms on the interweb. Yes, I know it's called the internet, don't judge me.
So I am completely being a hypocrite here... I say that you should write what you know, not what you think you know and I know nothing about love and yet there is a lovey dovey scene in here.... please don't complain. I know that I am a sad child who has never dated anyone much less been kissed, but I did my best so that I could add some love in here... so yeah... I basically took what I've seen from movies and what not so I know it's cliche but I tried.
Yeah, so please enjoy the third chapter of the rewrite and for heaven's sake, please review. I have over 200 hits to this story and only seven reviews. It's not that hard. So yeah. Enjoy!
~Sunechirei
I was woken the next morning by someone rudely banging on my door. I sat up and rubbed my eyes wondering what time it was. Glancing at the clock I groaned. It was only five in the morning. I stood up and walked over to the door, wondering who could be rude enough to wake me.
Opening the door I saw Hotaru carrying a suitcase.
"Imai?" I said groggily. "What are you doing?" Hotaru rolled her eyes at my use of her last name.
"Stop with the formalities and get dressed. We're leaving."
"Leaving. Um... okay?" I walked back towards my bed, Hotaru following close behind me. She was looking around my room with interest, though I couldn't figure out why. I headed into the bath room and got dressed as quickly as I could. I had a feeling in my gut that something bad was going to happen on this trip and I was reluctant to to, but I knew I had to. It was either go willingly or feel the wrath of my mother for disturbing her.
I splashed my face with water in an attempt to get me to wake up. It didn't work. I sighed and dried my face before heading back into the main part of my room.
Hotaru had turned on one of the lights and was sitting on my bed, fiddling with something. She turned around when she heard me come in.
"Oh there you are. Finally. We don't have all day you know. We have to leave as soon as possible." She stood up and hurried over to me, holding out her hand. A silver cell phone lay in her palm and she beckoned for me to take it.
"What is this for?" I asked taking it from her.
"Well we are obviously going to need a way to contact you." Hotaru stated. "I have talked to your friends from the special class, they have your number and you have theirs plus mine, Nogi's and Hyuuga's."
"You really didn't have to do this." I mumbled looking through the contact list.
"Yes I did. Now come on. Nogi and Hyuuga are waiting for us and if you don't hurry there is going to be hell to pay."
I shuddered at the last sentence. It reminded me of some of the things my mother used to say when she had first begun with the abuse.
"Mikan come on, let's go!" Hotaru grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the room. I wanted to protest but held my tongue. I figured that there was nothing I could do and I might as well go along with what she wanted.
It wasn't long before we made it outside, the chilling air crisp, yet foggy. There was a limo in front of the dorms and the two boys were leaning against it. I had already guessed that Ruka was rich, but this just topped the cake.
"Sakura!" He exclaimed when he saw me. "I'm glad you can come. My mom is going to be so happy that someone other than Natsume and Imai are coming, not that she doesn't love you two." Ruka said, cowering from the glare Hotaru was giving him.
"Yes." she hissed in an icy voice. "Mrs. Nogi will be overjoyed to see you." I watched the two with interest, wondering how they could be considered friends. It seemed to me that Hotaru was blackmailing Ruka in some way. It didn't matter at that moment however as the door to the limo opened and I was quite literally shoved inside.
The others got in next to me and I prepared for a very uncomfortable car ride.
It was uncomfortable. Even though it was only for half an hour, I felt as though I were in the spot light. Hotaru and Ruka kept asking me questions while Natsume just stared at me. I had a feeling that all three of them knew I was hiding something and that Natsume's source was Hotaru. She just seemed to be that kind of girl.
I answered their questions with little interest, instead thinking about the past two weeks. It had been a strange experience to not be living with my mother, to not have to deal with her everyday, it was a relief I guess.
Eventually the limo pulled into the driveway of a gigantic house. I peered out the window, all thoughts of my mother gone. Calling the house a mansion would be an understatement. I could swear that it was the size of a castle, though when I mentioned this Natsume snorted and told me this was nothing compared to Ruka's regular house.
I was dumbstruck at this statement. I couldn't understand how anyone would want to live in a house this size, but this was coming from the girl who had lived in an apartment her entire life.
"You coming?" Ruka asked. I turned towards him startled and realized that there was no one left in the car. I nodded nervously before sliding out after them.
The scenery before me was gorgeous. I felt as though I were no longer in Japan, but in some tropical island in the Caribbean. From behind the house I could hear the sweet sound of waves, bringing memories flooding into my head. My father used to always bring me to the ocean to play, though Mom never came with us. It was my alone time with him and it was always so much fun. We would play in the sand, building castles, burying each other, searching for shells, and going swimming in the cold Pacific water. I breathed in the air, treasuring the memories that I had once shared with my father.
I was still in dreamland when Hotaru herded me to the front door. The inside of the house was just as marvelous as the outside, if not more so. I was in shock for quite a while before a shrill voice echoed through the entryway.
"Ruka! My baby hello!"
Next to me Ruka turned a deep crimson. "Hey Mom."
"Natsume, it's been such a long time since I last saw you, and you too Hotaru dear. It's so nice to have you back in my wonderful beach house." she glided down the stairs that led to a large balcony. She came to a stop in front of her son and hugged him. I flinched away from the two.
It was obvious from the appearance that these two were related. Both with golden blonde hair and sea blue eyes, it would be hard to mistaken them for anything but mother and child. Eventually she turned her attention on me.
"And you must be Mikan Sakura." she said sweetly. I smiled and nodded. "Oh you must not remember me do you." I stepped back in shock. Know her? I couldn't recall ever meeting this woman. "I'm a friend of your aunts. In fact her shop is one of the sponsors for my husbands company. I've met you before you know."
"I see." I muttered.
"Oh dear. You've changed so much. I guess the death of your father was a huge impact on you."
~%~%~%~%~%~%~
An eerie silence filled the room as Mrs. Nogi's words echoed away. Mikan looked as though she were on death's door when Ruka's mom mentioned her father, though it was a shock to the other three that he was dead.
"It's such a shame that he was involved in that horrible accident. I always liked your father, even if he was a little strange. But that doesn't matter, he was a great father and husband." Mrs. Nogi closed her eyes and shook her head. Mikan had begun to tremble, though the woman seemed not to notice. "How's your mother dear?"
"Fine." Mikan muttered through clenched teeth. Natsume quickly noticed that Mikan seemed to be on the verge of tears so he quickly changed the subject.
"I think we should go swimming." he said. He could tell that Hotaru was giving him a death glare. This was the perfect chance to find out about Mikan, but Natsume would have to deal with her wrath later. "I know we just got here but the car ride was annoying and it would be nice if we could go hang out on the beach for a little while."
Mrs. Nogi clapped her hands and turned towards Natsume.
"That my dear is a wonderful idea!" she exclaimed. "Come on Mikan. Let me show you to your room. I have prepared quite a few clothes that you can take home with you after this." she smiled and held her hand out to Mikan. The shy girl took Mrs. Nogi's hand tentatively and followed her up the stairs.
Once out of ear shot Hotaru turned towards Natsume.
"You idiot! I could have found out something about her!"
"You obviously didn't notice how upset she was. I couldn't just let Ruka's mom continue like that." Natsume growled back.
"I don't care."
"You are heartless."
"And you're not?"
"How could I be heartless?"
"Well let's see, you go on missions that lead to people's death, you don't care that your friends and worried about you, and you haven't contacted your dad in over three years!"
"You know as well as I do that I have no choice."
"Really. You could, you know, not do those things. It can't be that hard to tell the academy that you at least want to talk to your dad."
Natsume bit his lip to keep from exploding on Hotaru. Everything she had said was true and it hurt that it was so.
"You guys, I think we should drop this for now. I mean we found out that Mikan's dad died. Isn't that enough for now?" Ruka commented. Both Natsume and Hotaru glared at him, causing him to shrink back. "Please?"
"Fine." Hotaru said curtly. She gave one last glare at Natsume before storming up the stairs to her own room, leaving Natsume and Ruka to themselves.
"Natsume, you know that she means no harm. It's just annoying her that she know almost nothing about this new girl. And yeah, she can be heartless, but that doesn't mean that she wouldn't do anything to help her friends."
"I know." Natsume muttered. "I'm going to change, what about you?"
"Okay."
~%~%~%~%~%~%~
I thought that my room at the school was amazing, but it was nothing compared to the room that I stood in at that moment. It was larger than the apartment that I shared with my mother not including the closet.
"Well then, here are all of the swimsuit choices. I hope you like one of them." Mrs. Nogi babbled, opening the door to the closet.
"Thanks." I breathed, still shocked by the size of everything. The door behind me closed and I wandered over to the closet. It was then that my pocket buzzed. I reached down, thinking something was wrong before remembering that Hotaru had given me a cell phone. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw that I had one new message.
So... you freaked yet?
It was from Tsubasa. I laughed to myself and spent a few minutes figuring out how to type before sending a message back.
Just a little. This place is amazing.
I continued to search through the different bathing suits as I talked to Tsubasa. It wasn't long before I found a simple one piece that made me happy. It was a light blue and showed very little skin.
I found a suit so I have to go now. I wrote before changing. Once I was done I read the new message I had.
You should send me a pic ;).
My jaw dropped, not only because of his ridiculous request, but also because I hadn't realized that phones could take pictures. I furiously told him that I would never do something like that as I headed downstairs. I had put on a pair of capris and a t-shirt to cover myself, but I hadn't realized that doing such a thing was frowned upon by the others.
"Mikan you take too long." Hotaru whined. She was wearing a deep amethyst one piece that had a matching knee length skirt. "I mean seriously we have been waiting forever. And why are you wearing regular clothing?"
I hid my eyes. "I don't know." The phone in my hand buzzed again and I glanced at it.
Please Mikan? I promise I won't show it to anyone else. My face must have turned crimson because Natsume grabbed the phone from my hand to see what was being said. I tried to protest but the words wouldn't come out.
"What does this person want?" Natsume demanded. I looked away.
"He was just asking for a picture of me in the swim suit I chose, but I told him I couldn't do that." I managed to mumble.
Nastume snorted and tossed me back my phone. I didn't understand why he did that, but I was in no hurry to find out.
"I didn't know you were dating someone." Ruka teased. I blushed a deep red.
"N-no. T-t-tsubasa is just a friend!" I squeaked.
Ruka let out a laugh. "I'm just kidding. You don't need to be embarrassed."
"This is boring. Let's go." I heard Hotaru say behind me. She was indeed bored looking, leaning against the railing with half closed eyes. "We can discuss Mikan's love life later. Right now we have a date with the ocean."
Ruka and Natsume got in the water almost as soon as we got there, not caring how cold it was, while Hotaru stayed behind in the shade of an umbrella. I watched the three of them, unsure of what to do. I hadn't done any swimming since my father died and I wasn't quite ready to face the waters again.
"Oi, Mikan, get in the water!" Hotaru commanded behind me. I sighed and shook my head.
"I apologize, but I haven't gone swimming in the longest time so..."
"Oh who cares about that. The whole reason why we brought you out here was so you could become friends with us, and that's kinda hard to do when you refuse to swim."
"Sorry..."
I headed over to where Hotaru was sitting, planning on joining her when I was stopped by two arms lifting me in the air. I gasped and realized that Natsume had thrown me over his shoulder and was heading into the water.
I began to struggle but it was like before, no use. He carried me into a pretty deep part of the water, the surface coming up to his waist and dropped me in the water despite the fact that I still had my clothes on.
I struggled under the water for a few seconds before being lifted to the surface by Natsume.
"Sorry princess, but I think it's time you got over your little shy spell." he towered over me, a grin on his face. I blushed again and slid into the water, letting only the top half of my face show. Natsume laughed and grabbed a floaty for me. I muttered a thank before clambering on the raft.
"Are you ever going to stop calling us by our last names?" Ruka queried. I shook my head.
"Why not?" I was startled to hear Hotaru's voice next to me. I hadn't seen her get in the water.
"I don't know." I answered uncertainly. I really didn't. I guess it was uncomfortable for me as calling someone by their first name meant that you were close to them, and I refused to get close to anyone my age, or older.
"Well you should. I'm getting sick of being called Imai." Hotaru commanded. "With those two it's fine," she said, pointing at Ruka and Natsume, "but with you it's not."
I let out a sigh, hoping that the three of them would leave me alone soon.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do it."
Hotaru scowled but gave up and waded through the water back towards the shore, dragging Ruka along with her. Natsume continued to watch me though, his crimson eyes digging into my soul. I shuddered slightly, but tried to not show how uncomfortable I was. Finally Natsume looked away.
"Well it's about lunch time. Let's head back." he grabbed onto the raft and pulled me back towards shore.
The next two days flew by and before I knew it, it was Sunday. I had to admit that it had been a fun weekend. The three others continued to try and get me to talk to them about my life but I managed to tell them almost nothing. Of course I knew that I couldn't keep that up forever and I was glad when I was told that we would be leaving early on Monday.
It was evening now, I lay in the large king size bed that was in the room I stayed in, wondering how things were going to change from now on. I lay there for hours, trying to sleep, but the wonderful situation would not come to me. Frustrated, I sat up and headed to the balcony. It wasn't far from the ground so I jumped, landing roughly on the sandy ground. I groaned from the pain but continued walking towards the water.
Waves lapped up on the shore. I smiled and stepped into the water. The cool water was a nice contrast to the burning sensation that still haunted my feet from my jump and I became so absorbed in my own little world of happiness that I failed to notice someone come up behind me.
"Can't sleep?"
I turned sharply and saw an amused Natsume standing a few feet away from me.
"Well?" he asked again. I ignored him and turned back towards the ocean. "Really? This is how you're going to treat me? That's cold."
He walked up beside me and looked out to the open sea as well.
"You know, I used to hate talking to people too." he revealed suddenly. I looked over at him. "I wasn't like you, but I didn't have the greatest life as a kid and I hid in a shell, not talking to anyone, hurting those around me. In the end, I had no friends." He took a breath before continuing. "It wasn't until Ruka came to the school that I first realized that talking to people actually helps. That there are people out there who would just listen and not judge me based on things I couldn't control, and I think that's what you need."
I turned and began to walk away from Natsume, fearing that I would begin to cry.
"I know you're hiding something from us, and I have a feeling it has something to do with your dad's death."
At this I couldn't take it anymore. I spun around, tears in my eyes and I began to yell. For the first time in a long time, I actually yelled at someone.
"What do you know about my life? You don't know anything and there is no way you could ever know! Just shut up and leave me alone!" I couldn't control my tears. They flowed down my face like a silent stream. "You act as though my life is just a game. All of you do. There is nothing fun about it, nothing laughable and yet all I am to you guys is a freak show. A goddamn freak show!" I tried to say something else but the words wouldn't form.
Natsume walked towards me, a scared look on his face. It made me angrier.
"How can you compare me to you? You don't even know anything! It's like saying that you know what it's like to be an animal. You can't know!"
"You're right, I can't know, especially if you don't tell anyone what's going on." Natsume explained calmly. He took another step towards me, nearly closing the gap between us. I was still crying, but I didn't seem to be able to say anything more. My throat hurt from the yelling and I felt scared that I had done something wrong again.
Natsume reached out towards me and I cowered away.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Natsume whispered, pulling me towards him. I couldn't tell what he was doing but I tried to get away. "Mikan." he pleaded. I looked up at him. "I swear, I'm not going to hurt you."
For some reason I believed him. I didn't even trust the kids in my special abilities class this much, but the way Natsume was looking down at me, the way he was talking, I felt safe.
"Thank you, Natsume." I mumbled. I could barely see his smile as he tilted my chin up, and kissed me.
~%~%~%~%~%~%~
It was a light kiss, a gentle touch of the lips, and it didn't last long. Natsume pulled away from Mikan, feeling as though he were walking on air. Why he kissed her, he didn't understand, but he was glad he did it.
Mikan seemed to be disoriented, though Natsume wasn't surprised. Anyone would be that way after crying as much as she did. He pulled her into a hug and held her there for the longest time, not caring if Hotaru took a picture of the scene.
Finally, Mikan seemed to have fallen asleep. Natsume picked her up, holding her like a bride and carried her to the back door that he had come out of. It wasn't long before he made it to her room and placed her on the bed, wishing that he could have held her longer.
He sighed and exited the room, closing the door silently.
The next day was hectic. If Hotaru or Ruka had witnessed what had happened the night before, neither mentioned anything, but Mikan seemed to be in complete shock. Mrs. Nogi helped her get ready, packing clothing for her and what not, but Mikan seemed distant, or at least more so than she normally did.
No one seemed to notice though and the day went on like any normal day. Kind of.
It became obvious later that at least Hotaru had seen what happened the night before and she seemed to make fun of Natsume for it.
"So, have fun last night?" she mocked with a grin. Natsume groaned and ignored her, trying to finish packing. "You certainly seemed happy when you woke up this morning. I wonder what happened." Natsume picked up a book and threw it at Hotaru right as she fled the room. He knew that she would never let him hear the end of this.
The car ride wasn't that bad. Natsume mainly talked to Ruka, Hotaru fiddled with an invention, and Mikan stared out the window. The car had an awkward atmosphere, but no one commented on it.
Finally they got to the school. Mikan was the first out and the three of them didn't see her until school the next day, and even then she avoided them like the plague. For the rest of the week she refused to talk to any of them, causing much anger to gather in Hotaru. She took it out on the boys, testing her new inventions on them and selling embarrassing photos. But it wasn't until that Sunday that anything interesting happened.