Disclaimer and the like: Yo-Yo! GA is not mine, and, heck, I don't want it to be. Such pressure to draw a cute Natsume!
A/N: If this is really crappy, tell me. :) Oh, and by the by, the prologue is set out differently. The feel I wanted to create was done in that style. Enjoy! JoS
'thoughts'
Sim Life
Chapter 1: Getting Started
The next morning, after the incident she had with Natsume, she awoke with new found inspiration. She'd decided today was the day. Today she was going to create her characters, and kill that little brat. Oh, yes. She loved her life!
"Yes! YES! I'm going to get you, Hyuuga. Hehehehehehe!" She beamed at the computer sitting in the corner of her bedroom. It was a white MAC, which had Firefox, Safari, iTunes and everything else she would need to give herself utter bliss on it. She loved Hotaru so much. So, with her goal in her head, shouting ' Do it! Do it, Mikan! Mi-kan! Mi-kan!' she got dressed. Although, randomly putting on items of clothing hardly counts for getting dressed, even if it was nice. Wearing her favorite baby pink T-Shirt that said in glittery letters Super GALS and a mid thigh length denim skirt, she was ready to tackle the computer head on. She sat down, sweat on the back of her neck already. She was nervous. She'd never used a computer before, since her Grandpa had always been against technology.
Flashback
"Mikan!
Mikan Sakura, what in the world are you doing?! You are NOT to go on
a computer! Technology is Hell on Earth!" Grandpa
shouted.
"Grandpa! Hotaru and Moko play on the computer at home! I want to play too! It's unfair!" Mikan retorted, since her childhood friends Moko and Hotaru loved computers so much.
"No! You are not to go on the computer. Please understand, Mikan. We just don't have the money right now. Please understand." He pleaded.
"Oh... Oh, Grandpa!" She hugged him gently. His old features feeling relieved. "Of course I understand. I'm sorry."
"Oh, Mikan."
"Grandpa."
End of Flashback
"Right! Even though Grandpa hates Technology - I have a computer now! I must do this..." She held a fist up high and turned on the computer. As it booted up, she saw a white apple which had a bite taken out of it. Underneath it said Apple - MAC OS X. Mikan thought this was so incredibly cute. She squirmed in the chair, reading the notes Hotaru had given her to help her sort out the computer and become a friendly user.
Being such a good friend, Hotaru had already installed The Sims 2, and made herself on it, including a house. She'd written out the instructions so Mikan could also create herself and other people. She looked at the now fully loaded desktop. It was loaded with icons. They looked really neat, so Mikan didn't click on them just in case she messed them up. Instead, she saw the Icon that said The Sims 2. She double-clicked it.A message popped up.
Please insert the correct Disc. Press OK to continue.
"Oh, right..." She said, feeling rather stupid. She inserted the disc and clicked OK. She then heard the music. She felt her body fill with excitement as she saw the Neighborhoods available. One was called Torture Camp, another called Gakuen Alice and the final one called Hotaru's Gakuen Alice . She clicked on the last one.
Soon, the academy was on the screen, full in graphic designs and forests. Mikan gaped for awhile, looking at it's beauty. ' This must've taken Hotaru ages to do! I can barely use a computer, and look at this! Amazing...I wonder if I can make Natsume look like himself. I'm so going to kill him when I get the chance.' She clapped her hands and clicked on Create a Family.
A box in the corner appeared. It was blank, and said before it: Last Name. She had to choose a Last Name? After about five minutes, she'd decided on Kagami, for 'Mirror'. Then, another option popped up above it saying Create a Person. She clicked it and decided to make herself. There were so many options! She changed her nose, hair, eyes and clothing accordingly. She looked like a clone. Mirror Mikan, she decided to call her in Real Life. But for the First Name she chose Mikan.
Once she made the personality like herself, or what she thought she was like, she hit OK. She then decided to make a Natsume too, to torture. She adjusted the nose, eyes, hair and clothing suspiciously carefully. It was almost as if it had to be dead right. Which, well, it had to be. After about two hours of adjusting the virtual Natsume, she was happy with it. She named him Natsume and hit OK. ' Phew. That was hard. It took ages! Who knew the small details mattered that much?' She sighed. It was already 3 PM. She had agreed to meet Hotaru at Central Town at half past. She'd better get going, she thought. So, she saved the family and turned off the computer and headed out.
Some point later, next to the Bus Stop
"Oh, Hotaru!" Mikan beamed. "I was wondering what was up. Oh, hey, guess what?"
"Hm? Hey, stupid. What do you want me to guess? Then how about; How stupid you are today?'' Hotaru responded coldly.
"Nope! I made Natsume and I on The Sims 2 already. I'm going to kill him. Can you give me some pointers?"
"If you pay me 5 Rabbits per minute of Help, sure."
"Okay." Mikan then handed over 50 rabbits to her friend and walked into a cafe with her. Of course, she was hungry, as always. The cafe was a beautiful little tea room, with painted ceilings that had birds, cherubs and clouds on it. The walls were covered with light cream wallpaper that had pale flowers printed on every 2 meters. It was absolutely gorgeous. Even the tables were pretty!
As they sat down, they were handed a menu with Tea, Salads, Delicacies and Pastries, Cakes and other breakfast menus. Even Afternoon Tea!
Mikan's mouth watered. She was in heaven. "Hey, idiot."
"Eh? What is it, Hotaru?" Mikan responded, still with a little bit of drool on her mouth.
"Since I'm such a good friend, I'll give you some tips now. Tip 1. Do not torture his character. He won't feel it. Tip 2. Move yourselves in my house. I have everything you need there, and it's all laid out. Understand?"
"I can't torture him? Ehhhh? That's unfair - but I'm living with Hotaru! I'm so happy." She beamed. Even though they were all 14, Mikan still loved her dearest Hotaru.
"Okay, now be quiet. The third tip is do not fall-" Hotaru tried to warn her, but she was cut off by none other than Mikan.
"Living with Hotaru, living with Hotaru!" Mikan kept shouting for 5 minutes. Then, when she looked at the time - it was already five. She was going to move them into a house later, and now she was looking forward to it even more, so, with her goal in her mind, she waved at Hotaru and ran off to her lovely computer.
Central Town Park - Six o' clock
It took Mikan a whole hour to get half way through Central Town. Richoux, the cafe they were at, was on the other side of the Town from the Bus Stop. God knows how they got there. It was already really quite dark since it was January.
She paced around the huge Sakura Tree. The School had put an echo of roses and daffodils around the edges, making it look beautiful. The moon's beams reflected the sprinkled droplets of icy liquid on the flowers from the snow. Before long she saw a figure sleeping on one of the low branches. She felt curious, so she walked up to it. She closed her eyes, making it a game for herself. Then she touched it's hair. It was really soft. ' Who has hair like this?' she thought. 'It's so soft! I wonder what products they use... ah... so soft...' After petting it's hair, she moved her hands down to try and figure out who it was. She felt a soft nose, smooth cheeks, and long fine eyelashes. She really couldn't identify who it was. ' Maybe it's Ruka? Or Yuu?' Her predictions, were not correct however, since the figure woke up sharply. It grabbed her hands and pinned her to the floor.
"Who the hell do you think you are to touch me!?" He yelled at her. From the voice, she'd figured out who it was.
"Natsume!? It's me! Mikan!"
"Polka Dots?" He started, partially surprised. "What the hell?"
"Umm, well… I was wondering who it was… so…''
"First off, answer a few questions." He started. "What were you doing?"
She explained all about Hotaru and how she was walking around the Tree. Although, she did leave out the game part.
"I see." He loosened his grip slowly and got off of her. She wasn't a threat, so he thought it wouldn't be a good idea to stay on top of her. Especially since it was practically empty here, so people would assume... you know.
Mikan sighed, she wanted to go home, and got up. "Come on, then. Let's go. It's late."
"...Whatever." With that, they walked to the Bus Stop. Since he was with Mikan though, it wasn't silent.
Mikan's Bedroom - Eight o' Clock
"Thanks for walking me to my bedroom,
Natsume! You're a really nice guy, you know?"
"Whatever. See you tomorrow." He replied as he strolled back down the corridor to his own abode. Mikan smiled inwardly. He really was a nice guy when he wanted to be. That in itself made her a little happy.
'Right!' She thought enthusiastically. 'Wait. He was nice earlier... I wonder if I really should be mean to him. Maybe I'll be nice, just for a few days...' She booted up her Mac and clicked The Sims 2 again. Once it loaded up to her neighborhood she smiled.
She saw there was a family in the Family Bin. She instantly recognized Natsume and herself, and she realized that's where they were saved! ''Wow,'' she said, ''this is cool! Now, then... I wonder where Hotaru's house is?''. Mikan looked all around campus when it suddenly hit her. Hotaru's laboratory! Surely that place is where Hotaru would live. Mikan pictured Hotaru in her lab designing the campus, and felt a warm glow inside, picturing Hotaru working hard just for her made her feel so happy.
2 hours later, in Hotaru's Sim Lab
Mikan clicked Hug... Friendly on Hotaru- but even Sim Hotaru didn't want to hug her! She sighed. Why did Hotaru hate being hugged so much?
Then Mikan got an idea.
She minimized The Sims 2 and opened up a Safari window. She went to Google and typed in How to make Sims like each other. Mikan wondered if she could find the right answer - since she didn't know anything about the game, she wasn't sure whether it would work or not!
She saw a link that sounded good, but she didn't like the idea of using ''cheats''... but if it made Hotaru want to hug her, she thought it would be alright if it was just this one time. She skimmed through the text, looking for something that would tell her what to do. Then she found it.
...To make Sims like each other, either for romantic or many simultaneous friendships, simply open the cheat-code box (ctrl + shift + c) and type in this cheat code: ''boolprop testingcheatsenabled true'', without the speech marks. Save, exit the lot and then go back in. Then after that, click on that Sim (if they are selectable, meaning if they are in the left-hand list of Sim's heads on the lot which you are playing (Sim Panel), then simply click on their head on that panel. If they are not, shift + left click that Sim and choose ''Make SELECTABLE'') and go to their relationship panel. Then, find the two bars underneath the corresponding Sim's head, and drag them both up to wherever you wish (click on the fine black bar on each one and drag that). Do the same to the other Sim involved. Then, make them interact. Simple as that, it's done! They should have the desired relationship that you...
Mikan quickly minimized the Safari window and opened up her Sims 2 game. She entered the code, clicked on Hotaru's lab, but couldn't continue with what she was doing right away. She loved every detail inside. Hotaru's hair... the steel for the lab's walls... all the beautiful objects... ''Snap out of it!'' She suddenly shouted out loud. Mikan was getting too carried away looking at the interior design of the laboratory. After scolding herself, she then continued, with hope it would work, with the cheat instructions.
After doing all the work she wanted to, and making herself and Hotaru best friends, she decided to do the same to Natsume. She clicked on his Sim, (she felt like an expert with this particular cheat now), and decided to make it 100/100. The same on her Sim. She then wondered which would be the best to choose. Since both of the Sims were teenagers, there were so many choices! Playing, Entertaining, Talking, Hugging... Mikan read another one. Kiss... First Kiss... She suddenly reminisced of that night at the Party when they were younger. She blushed beet red. She shook her head. Why was she thinking of that - such an old memory! She decided that she'd choose Hug. She looked at her choices.
Hug... Friendly...
Hug... Squeeze...
Or...
Hug... Romantic...
Mikan, blushing a little, chose...
JoS: Well, that's it for Chapter One! Also, everything's pretty much the way it should be with capital letters and the like, since they're menu options. And that cheat is actually legitimate, and it also works for Skills, Hobby Enthusiasm, Motives... it's so useful! You can also get someone pregnant, (or whatever you want), with it (Shift + click > Spawn > Tombstone of L and D). Anyway, hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Sim Life! I first started it, like, 2 years ago, and decided to continue it one night in bed at 2 AM. Please review if you've actually read it - t'would be greatly appreciated. Constructive criticism is more than welcome! Hope you enjoyed it!
Also, I want your (the reader's) opinion on two future situations. Should she:
A: Go out and buy an expansion pack for the Sims and make it all updated - I'll make it as explicit as wanted with the Serial Codes, but only if the majority want me to.
B: Ask Hotaru to help her with the Sims - and get her involved with the upgrading? So, basically, Hotaru will go out and buy stuff, and Mikan will still be a bit of a ''noob'' with the computer.
Thanks again!