A/N Hi! Sorry this took so long to get up, things have been hectic here because... I'm going away on holiday! I can't wait, lots of sun where I'm going, which is great compared to the grey skies we have over here in England, we had a bit of summer here as it was sunny for a while but I looked up the weather where I'm going and the coldest day there is the equivalent of hottest day of the year over here. I'd better take lots of sun cream!

But anyway enough of me babbling on, here's chapter two of Intertwined Paths please rate&review as I'd love to hear what you've got to say.

Chapter 2 – Happy Belated Birthday

Mikan's POV

I think I'm dead.

Everything is completely dark so doesn't that mean I'm dead? My whole body aches though. Is death supposed to be painful?

Maybe I'm in hell and this pain is my punishment for all the wrong I did. After all I did a lot wrong.

"-kan"

I twist slightly, wincing at the pain it causes, I thought I'd heard someone. I dismiss it, I'm too tired to care.

"Mikan!" The voice is a bit louder this time. I attempt to look around, see where this person is but all I can see is darkness.

"Mikan-Onee-chan!"

I pause as the voice calls out again, louder, more insistent. The voice is fairly high-pitched which makes me think that it is the voice of a child. It also sounds familiar, tugging at my heartstrings and yet making me feel more relaxed, the sort of feeling you get when your around someone you love. Someone I love…

"Youchi!" I cry, opening my eyes to find that I'm still in the dark, but my eyes gradually adjust so that I can see the cracks of light coming through the cupboard door, enough light to illuminate the small face of an anxious looking Youchi.

I sit bolt upright, panicked as my memories tumble haphazardly back into my mind. Ouch. Sitting up was a bad ides I realize quickly as the throbbing at the back of my head increases. I lie back down slowly, glancing at the clock as I do so. I settle back down, carefully arranging my head on the pillow without irritating it, then I sit upright again abruptly and grab the clock.

The clock is telling me that it 6:15am, but the last time I saw the clock it said it was 6:45am. Either I've been knocked out for -30 minutes or…

"Youchi" I whisper, my voice feels hoarse and weak. "How long have a been out?"

Youchi pauses and I start panicking, what if I've been out for a week? Or even more!

"About two days" Youchi answers.

"Two days…" I murmur, that's not too bad. It could have been worse.

I reach out one hand and rest it on Youchi's cheek. In the half-light I can see my arm but it's no longer a sickly pale white colour it's stained with a multitude of purple bruises.

Youchi places one small hand on my arm and I flinch at the pain. He takes his hand off instantly. "After you fell unconscious he didn't stop" his voice is quiet and soft, "I'm sorry" he cries. A rarity for Youchi he's normally so impassive, to that same boy in front of me now crying his heart out tugs at my heart. I can't forget that I'm the cause of this. I feel something wet fall into my palm and ignoring the pain I pull Youchi towards me, into a hug. Comforting him.

"It's not your fault" I tell him.

"But I could've-" I shush him softly.

"You can't stop him when he's like that" I remind him.

A sharp knock at the door interrupts my thoughts and I glance up. Someone is stood in front of the door blocking the little light we had coming in.

"I'm heading out," Kuonji's harsh voice comes, echoing through our little room. "You can stay in there again you little brat."

He thinks that I'm still unconscious I realize; it's probably best if it stays that way. Youchi doesn't answer either. We listen together, silently, waiting for Kuonjis heavy footsteps to move away and for the thud of the apartment door.

I breathe a sigh of relief once he's gone. "has he been keeping you in here all this time?" I ask. Youchi nods slightly and another thought occurs to me, "has he been feeding you?" Youchi's silence is all the answer I need. "Then let's go get something!" I say brightly, fixing a smile on my face. Too bad it's fake, I struggle even to smile properly for Youchi anymore. I don't know how.

My fingers fumble for the shelf they skim over a crusty patch of dried blood, so that's what I hit when Kuonji threw me. I reach up further and search for one of my hair grips then I get up, admittedly swaying slightly to begin with, and fiddle with the lock for a little while. Why Kuonji doesn't bolt the door is beyond me, he knows quite well that I can pick locks.

With the cupboard door unlocked light floods into the room, leaving Youchi and I blinking at the sheer brightness of it.

"Try not to touch anything" I tell Youchi, "we don't want Kuonji to know that we got out. We'll get ready and we'll go out and I'll buy you breakfast ok?" Youchi just nods and a semblance of a smile crosses my face, he's gone back to being his normal stoic self. I ruffle his hair and tell him to go get dressed as I head to the bathroom.

I shut my eyes and open them again that some sort of miraculous miracle will have occurred while I couldn't see. But nothing's changed. I've been sat in front of the mirror for about 10 minutes trying to find a part of me that still looks like me. Nearly the whole of my body is covered in purple splotches. My face isn't too bad I consider thoughtfully. There are just two brusies, one on my forehead and another on my left cheek. I tilt my head slightly assessing them and decide that they could be easily covered up with make-up. The bruises that litter my body can be hidden beneath trousers and hoodies. It's the back of my head though that's really bad, my hair has been dyed red with my blood, it looks like Youchi tore up one of my old tops to make a make-shift bandage. I need to put another bandage on but the more pressing issue is how can I hide it?

Deciding to figure that out later, I try rinsing the blood out of my hair. It's not working very well. I grab a hairband and tie my hair up in a messy bun. I've kept it loose so that it doesn't hurt my head too much. I tear up another top and wrap the bandage like strips round my head. Then I cover the bruises on my face with concealer and with a little powder on top you can hardly notice the bruises. I pull on a comfy pair of old jeans and a plain top, then I tug one of my oversized hoodies on top and flip the hood up. Much better. I've done a pretty good job. There's no signs of bruises or of my blood stained hair, the large lump on the back of my head and the bandages are all out of sight beneath the hood.

I stare at myself in the mirror. I almost feel like laughing, here I am, with bruises covering my body from head to toe and what I'm most worried about is how to hide them. For all I know there could be permanent damage. I touch my ribs gently and flinch at the pain. Maybe it's fractured. I'm not sure, but what difference would it make whether I knew or not? – What could I do about it?

Next I head back to our cupboard and prise up the loose floorboard and take out £100. I'd started hoarding money up years ago. Saving it up in case something really bad happened. It's only been a couple of years though since I started keeping some of Kuonji's 'black' money for myself. I occasionally took money out of my little store for food, clothes for Youchi and presents for Youchi.

Youchi appears at the cupboard door. "Let's get going then!" I say fixing a kind smile on my face.

I'm about to leave the apartment with Youchi when I spot the fridge. Misaki-nee's letter! I kicked it under the fridge! I scramble over to the fridge and place my cheek against the cool tiles. I can see it. I stretch out my arm and try to reach it but my arm can't reach far into the small gap between the fridge and the floor.

Youchi comes forward and peeks under the fridge too, he spots the letter and reaches out a skinny arm to grab it.

"Thanks Youchi!" I exclaim.

Youchi just nods and I smile back in response.

"Let's get breakfast then shall we?" I ask, offering him my hand. Silently Youchi slips his hand into mine and, holding Misaki-nee's letter tightly in my other hand, we head out of the apartment together.

Once we reach the café I surprise myself with how un-hungry I am. I pick up a croissant and look towards Youchi. "What do you want to start with?" I question, "You can have as much as you want."

A small smile crosses Youchi's face and he points at the bacon sandwich the person in front of us has ordered. "Sure!" I say.

An hour later and I've nibbled my way through my croissant and Youchi has eaten his way through; a bacon buttie, a sausage buttie, a full English breakfast, two pain au chocolat and five glasses of orange juice.

And now I'm sat here. With Misaki-nee's letter in my hand. Slowly I turn it over and open the letter and pull out several sheets of paper and a small prettily wrapped parcel falls onto the table. I pick up the parcel and turn it over in my hand, it's rectangular and about the length of my palm. I shake it; the parcel jangles. I put it down on the table and resolve to open it after I've read the letter.

To Mikan,

Happy Birthday Mikan! Or more likely Happy Belated Birthday by the time you read this letter!

I break off from reading and look around the shop. There it is, a calander and it's marked off until the 24th of July. I missed my own birthday! My birthday is on the 17th of July. I'm 18! Not 17! Dazedly, I carry on reading.

You're 18 now Mikan, wow it's been a long time. I remember meeting you when you were only 13! On a serious note now Mikan-chan, Tsubasa and I have a propersition for you. You're 18 now so Kuonji has no legal hold over you anymore, so we want you to come and join us in Tokyo! Of course you need to bring Youchi but we can sort that out. Please consider this Mikan, I know that Kuonji scares you but you can have a second chance with us! I even believe that I could set you up with a job at my workplace. Tsubasa and I would love, love, love to have you here with us so please, please ,please come.

I'll give you all the news soon.

Love you lots,

Misaki & Tsubasa xxx

A second chance…

I pick up the parcel and open it. A small apartment key with a keychain saying 'Mikan' on it.

I look up at Youchi who's currently slurping his juice while his mouth is smeared with crumbs and chocolate.

"Youchi, how do you feel about moving away?" I ask.

Youchi pauses, contemplating carefully, "without Kuonji?"

"Without Kuonji. The two of us together." I reply.

Another of those rare smiles graces Youchi's face as he nods.

I smile back, "let's get ready then!" I say. Quickly I pay for our meal and we head out of the shop back to the apartment. Along the way I drop into the camping shop, just off the main road and buy one of those hold-all bags for us to pack some stuff in.

On the way back I'm considering how to get to Tokyo from here without Kuonji finding out. Stealing a car would alert everybody even though it would be the quickest way. That leaves the train. So we need to look like everyday train passengers. Once we get back I realize that we look far too conspicuous as a hooded girl and a young child, so I need to come up with some sort of disguise.

I start running the bath and give Youchi the job of keeping an eye on it.

Meanwhile I am in our cupboard packing. I pull out some of Youchi's jeans, a casual shirt and a jumper as well as his trainers and place them on the bed ready for after his bath. I pick out some smart shoes, a simple skirt, stockings and a plain top and jacket for me deciding that if I apply my make-up correctly that I could pass for someone in their mid-twenties. The trick to this look is the mature clothes and because there's nothing bulky like jeans, a heavy coat or a hood it doesn't look as if I've got anything to hide. I'd have preferred leggings or tights to cover the bruises on my legs compared to stockings but I don't own any so these will have to do. Together Youchi and I could pass as mother and child this way. That shouldn't attract to much attention.

I grab a small backpack and fill it with a spare change of clothes for Youchi and all of his few toys. At this point Youchi calls for me and I hurry through to the bathroom and turn off the bath. Soon enough Youchi is in the bath lazing around and making shapes out of bubbles. Youchi's in better condition than I am. The bruise on his forehead is almost gone and is basically invisible. The only other bruise is on his arm where Kuonji grabbed him a few days ago. I poked him softly on the bruise and he told me that it still stung slightly but not as much as it did. I decided that it would be best to leave it to heal by itself, the jumper would cover it.

"You stay in here for a bit while I finish packing ok?" I tell him. Youchi turns towards me and nods before going back to playing with the bubbles. I head out of the bathroom and back into the cupboard, making sure to leave the door open so that I can hear Youchi call if he needs me.

I decide to pack all of Youchi's clothes as he doesn't have many of them, they barely fill a third of the bag. When it comes to my stuff I realize that I don't want most of it. Most of my clothes are associated with bad memories, Prostitution, drug dealing, racing. I've done them all. I pack a few normal clothes and reluctantly pack two changes of prostitution clothes and two changes of black jeans, tops and hoodies. Just in case.

I head back to the bathroom and carefully start washing Youchi, shampooing his hair and rinsing out the suds making sure that none goes into his eyes. I lift him out of the bath and dry him quickly before he gets cold. I towel-dry his hair as he sits in front of the mirror. Then I help him get dressed and hand him his backpack, first taking out a game of snap for him to play with. I pat him on the head and tell him to keep an eye on the door of the apartment for Kuonji.

I head back into the bathroom and let the water in the bath drain away. I head to the shower and change the setting to soft so that it doesn't hurt the dull throbbing at the back of my head. Soon enough I'm under the warm jets of water, carefully rinsing the streaks of red blood out of my hair. I daren't use shampoo or conditioner for fear of irritating the wound. Instead I wash my body and hope that my hair will be clean enough without using shampoo.

After I get out I leave my hair to dry naturally while I get dressed. Without the use of shampoo my hair dries quickly and I gather it up into a neat, but loose, bun over the wound so that you can't see the lump. I quickly start applying make-up and once I've finished I can easily pass for a 25 year-old. It's not just the make-up and clothes though. I feel like I've aged before my time and that shows.

I pick up all my make-up, our toothbrushes, toothpaste, flannels and shampoo and conditioner and chuck them haphazardly in our bag to take with us. Last of all I place my precious diary at the top and zip the bag up. Done.

I head over to Youchi and have to tap him on the shoulder to get his attention away from the house of cards he's built. He carefully places the last card on at the top of the pyramid and instantly the whole thing collapsed.

"It always falls over" Youchi says staring sadly at the messy pile of cards.

"Don't worry" I say bending down to scoop up the cards and place them back into the backpack. "You can try again at Misaki-nee's, I'm sure that you'll manage it then." Youchi stands up and as we leave he slips his hand into mine. Once outside I take one last glance at the apartment and an intense feeling of relief washes over me. I lug the bag over my shoulder and squeeze Youchi's hand comfortingly.

I'm not ever coming back.

A/N Well there it is, sorry that nothing much exciting happened here but I promise that Natsume and Mikan will meet in the next chapter! Anyone have any idea how they will meet? If anyone guesses it I will be very impressed since I think it's quite unique, in fact if anyone does guess I'll have to come up with some sort of prize, you could be a character in the story if you like! So have a go guessing! The next chapter might or might not be uploaded tomorrow, it depends on how busy I am so no promises there! But after that I won't be able to upload for a week.

By the way, I have got a cover image for this story but for whatever reason it won't upload properly has anyone else had that problem where you've cropped an image while designing but then it's not cropped when uploaded. If anyone could me sort out this problem I'd be really, really grateful so please help.

Please rate and review it means a lot to me.