Turn the Music Up Chapter 17: Verse Fifteen, a gakuen alice fanfic

Special thanks to my beta: Ninjah Keewi! :))

SONG/S FEATURED:

• Superstar sung by Taylor Swift

That is it. I am utterly, utterly disappointed at myself with the way I write Turn the Music Up. I am so utterly disappointed on the fact that the chapters I write for Turn the Music Up are utterly, utterly short and it takes me, what, about a year to finish one?! Okay, that's it. I'm going to end this fic soon, apparently. HAHAHA. Well, enjoy!

Turn the Music Up
Written by: Aminatsu032

In the background, there was a picture of a boy and a girl, facing each other. The girl was a brunette and the boy had raven-black hair. My eyes suddenly widened.

Wait a minute – this was from Natsume's apartment! When I went to his place at six with that plan to bring back Hotaru and Ruka together!

OH MY GOD! AND HE WASN'T WEARING A SHIRT!

I froze as I dropped the magazine.

This was bad. No, it was real bad!

VERSE FIFTEEN:

I screeched at what I saw. I mean, how did those nosy paparazzi get this picture?!

Anna, Nonoko and Hotaru all turned their heads at me. It was Anna who first walked briskly towards my side to pick up the magazine that was thrown on the floor.

Her pink eyebrows furrowed together. "Eh? It's a blind entry!"

Nonoko and Hotaru both stood behind Anna to have a better view at what she was holding.

"It is," Nonoko said in reply to Anna's statement, looking at me in confusion. "And what's wrong with it?"

I had both of my hands on my mouth and eyes open wide. Anna and Nonoko didn't seem to know what the picture meant, but judging from Hotaru's expression, she knew exactly who the two people from the blind item were.

She slowly turned her head to me and glared with vicious coldness. "What were you doing at Hyuuga's apartment?"

Nonoko's head quickly shot up. "That's you and Natsume?" she said in grim whisper.

I dropped my hands to my sides. "I… I…" I stammered. "I wasn't secretly meeting him for a date or anything! I just went to plan that rooftop event for Hotaru and Ruka and he just happened to have just woken up and – " I stopped when I saw the expressions on their faces.

"Mikan," Nonoko's voice went serious. "This can destroy us!"

Anna shoved the magazine aside. "YEAH, when people find out that the lead singer of Stellar is dating its biggest rival, our fans are going to think negative of us!"

I sank into the couch behind me. "We're NOT dating, Anna!" – I groaned, depressed – "And I'm going to fix this – PROMISE!"

"Well, Cross should know about this," Hotaru said flatly, but you could see a hint of anger and disappointment in her lavender eyes.

"NO," I suddenly boomed. "Natsume should NOT know about this."

"WHAT?" That was the first time I've heard Nonoko raise her voice. "He should know, Mikan!"

"No," I repeated, this time softly. "He shouldn't know – he's already having lots of problems, and I don't want this to be another addition to them." I looked at the three of them in the eye. "Please let this be for just the four of us. Please let me fix this," I begged, tears slowly blurring my sight.

Nonoko sighed slowly, with a hint of sympathy in her eyes. "But how can it be for just the four of us when this magazine might be published all around the world?"

Hotaru's eyes narrowed at the magazine beside me. "Wait," she said silently. "This magazine has not even been published yet."

My head quickly turned to stare at the magazine cover again. Wait a minute – she was right! There were proofreader's marks all over the magazine cover and the date of the issue was crossed out many times by a black felt pen. I reached for the magazine and leafed through its pages. I could see the corrections in red ink and arrows that pointed to different directions of the page.

Hotaru was right. This magazine was just a draft of what was going to be published!

Anna reached for the magazine and I was about to hand it over to her when we heard footsteps approaching the practice room.

"Hide it!" Nonoko whispered as she abruptly took the magazine from my hands and threw it under the couch.

Almost in the same moment, the door opened with Ruka and Natsume standing outside.

Ruka smiled. "We thought we might as well watch you practice," he said, and turned his head to Hotaru. "If that's alright?"

Hotaru shrugged and turned away, sliding one finger through her white bass guitar. "Yeah, okay," she said.

"Thank you," Ruka told her as he walked across the room towards where I was sitting. "Are you feeling alright, Sakura-san?" he asked politely. "You're looking kind of pale again."

It took a few moments to sink it in. I faked a smile at him. "Y-yeah, I'm feeling fine. Just a bit of fatigue, I guess."

I looked into Hotaru for a moment and she nodded once. I knew what that meant – she allowed me to leave.

"Uhh…" I said silently. "Anyway, I was just leaving. I, um…just remembered I had to do something else."

I nodded to both Ruka and Natsume before I left. I could see a hint of curiosity and concern in Natsume's ruby eyes. I felt guilty – he must feel I'm avoiding him again. Well, kind of. I don't want him to know about the scandal, because whoever planned this must've intentionally wanted me to see it, not Natsume.

Before I left, I looked into Nonoko and Hotaru's eyes, reminding them wordlessly about the magazine below the couch.

Hotaru nodded once and I left. I seriously had no clue to what I was supposed to find – clues, maybe, but where?

I tried to shrug the thought off. Whatever, I need to find something.

. x x .

Okay, it was no use! I tried to find whatever that magazine was EVERYWHERE. And to think I wore a stupid disguise along with it. I arrived at home about 45 minutes ago and now I was hopelessly searching through the internet for that particular picture and nothing was found.

I drummed my fingers at the wooden table as I stared blankly outside the window. I sighed. Looking for these stupid clues would take forever, I thought as I scrolled down the page I was browsing.

I was about to close the browser when I heard rustling leaves outside. Who was that?

I silently stood up, staring intently outside the window. I turned my head to see a different view, and that's when I saw a shadow swiftly run away.

Immediately, I jolted into the door and frantically looked around. There was no one here!

I stepped outside and looked around again and noticed something fallen on the ground. It was a small manila envelope sealed with a rubber band.

I cautiously picked it up and slowly removed the envelope from the rubber band's bounds. My eyes widened at the sight. There were pictures – lots of pictures of Natsume and me. There were ones from when Natsume fetched me from my house and ones when I visited his during the time we were trying to make Hotaru and Ruka make up.

I looked around again and growled silently. I swear, I'm gonna kill whoever did this!

"Paparazzi," I spat under my breath.

It was then when I heard my phone ring from my pocket. I stared at the screen for a moment. This must be him, I darkly thought.

"Hello?" I said sternly. "Who's this?"

A dark, muffled voice chuckled. "You look awfully frustrated," it said. He sounded like he had a handkerchief in his mouth to cover up his true voice.

"Who are you? Where are you?" I practically yelled as I looked around desperately.

"Let's just say you're currently at my sight," the voice said.

I growled. "You were the one who dropped off these pictures?"

The voice chuckled again. "Apparently."

"Who are you?" I repeated, this time louder.

He didn't stop laughing for a while, but then paused. "Bye," he said in a serious tone and then hung up.

I almost thrashed the phone in anger, but decided against it. I needed to know who called. I looked at my phone, but it revealed no number. I looked around me and saw someone in a black sweatshirt, blue baseball cap and jogging pants run from a payphone nearby.

My eyes widened. I immediately placed my cell phone in my pocket and ran after him. Finally, I thought, all those years of track and field practice paid off!

I was about to reach the person's arm when I heard one of the people nearby say, "Hey, isn't that Sakura Mikan?" I cursed under my breath – I knew I should've worn a disguise! But who was I to expect this kind of thing to happen, anyway?

I saw the man's lips tug up in a smirk. He immediately switched direction towards a crowd of people standing nearby. I could've caught him if it weren't for all the people who stood in my way and asked for my autograph.

I was oblivious to the people around me, my auburn eyes following the man in black. Darn it! I can't believe I let him get away!

Immediately after I escaped the crowd of people at the park, I called Hotaru and told her what happened. She said that she looked for the pictures, too, in the net, but saw nothing. She also said it could be possible that this person was trying to blackmail me with something or has a plan in store for me.

Suddenly, I was scared. So this was the negative side of fame and popularity – to have people you don't even know following you. Who knows, maybe these people are looking at me right now through the windows.

I sat silently at the couch and stared at the black of the night. I looked at the cell phone on the coffee table for about a minute and picked it up, and hesitated before I dialed a number I knew by heart now. I was about to press the call button when suddenly I realized something – I must keep all possible distance from Natsume until this problem is resolved. As much as it would be hard for me, I shouldn't get him involved any further about this. If the pictures were really meant to blackmail the both of us, he should've received those pictures as well. But he didn't, so they were meant for me. The blackmailing is for me. Natsume shouldn't get involved.

I deleted each number, one by one before I settled the phone back at the coffee table.

Be strong, Mikan. You can do this.

This is wrong but, I can´t help
But feel like there ain´t nothing more right babe
Misty morning comes again
And I can´t help but wish I could see your face
And I knew from the first note played
I´d be breaking all my rules to see you
You smile, that beautiful smile
And all the girls in the front row scream your name

So dim that spotlight
Tell me things like "I can´t take my eyes off of you"
I´m no one special, just another wide eyed girl
Who´s desperately in love with you
Give me a photograph to hang on my wall
Superstar

Morning loneliness comes around
When I´m not dreaming about you
When my world wakes up today
You´ll be in another town
And I knew when I saw your face
I´d be counting down the ways to see you
And you smile, that beautiful smile
And all the girls in the front row scream your name

You played in bars, you play guitar
And I´m invisible and everyone knows who you are
And you´ll never see you sing me to sleep
Every night from the radio

Sweet, Sweet Superstar
Superstar

I slowly put down my mike as the crowd applauded. It was another gloomy afternoon and we have been yet invited at the Ocean Bar to perform an intermission number. On our way backstage, Nonoko nudged my arm slightly, calling my attention.

"You look like you outta be getting more sleep, Mikan," she noted with weary eyes.

I shook my head slowly. "No, I'm fine," I assured her. It had been three nights straight that I hadn't gotten enough sleep. It was probably because I was expecting whoever took those photos to call again and apparently show his or her cowardly face.

I was surprised when Anna suddenly shook my shoulders. "Mikan! Mikan! Natsume's here!" she panicked in a whisper and yelped when she found out that Natsume was right behind her.

"Excuse me," she murmured, blushing as she briskly walked out of the place. Nonoko and Hotaru followed, giving me a serious look. And right then and there, I knew what she meant.

Natsume gave me an emotionless look. "What happened to you the past three days?" he asked flatly.

"What do you mean?" I told him, feeling my heart pound against my chest.

Natsume rolled his red eyes. "If I hadn't known you any better, I'd say you've been partying all night."

I glared at him. "Was not!"

Natsume took a step back and shoved his hands into his pocket. "I said 'If I hadn't known you any better'."

He turned around and walked towards the exit. "You're doing anything tonight?" he asked, looking at me from the corner of his eyes.

I frowned. Was he asking me out on a date? 'Cause if he were, I'd have to miss a chance of a lifetime. I wish he knew what I was going through now. I missed being with him and I was tired lying to him.

"We have band practice," I lied.

Natsume faced me again and raised an eyebrow. "It's five-forty, Strawberries. Who has band practice in the evening?"

I groaned and playfully slapped his elbow. "We do, Pervert!" I said, walking pass him. "Apparently, we have a major concert, one month away." That one wasn't a lie.

Outside, I could see Hotaru, Nonoko and Anna talking quietly at one side. Hotaru was again giving me that 'Urgent' look.

I nodded once and turned to Natsume. "I gotta go. Hotaru's calling," I told him.

Natsume didn't say anything, but he narrowed his eyes at me. He leaned slightly towards my right ear. "I know you're hiding something from me," he said. I could feel his warm breath against my neck. "And the moment I find out – " I didn't let him continue.

My eyes widened and I was in a state of panic. "I – I'm not hiding anything from you, Hyuuga!" I yelled at him.

I actually half-expected him to smirk and just walk away, like what he usually does, but I was surprised when his face suddenly turned serious. Was he worried about me?

My expression softened. "I'm not hiding anything," I repeated, assuring him.

Natsume's rolled his eyes, obviously unbelieving, when he cast a final glance at Hotaru, Anna, and Nonoko before finally walking away.

"I seriously think Natsume deserves to know," Nonoko commented, as soon as he was out of hearing distance.

I shook my head almost immediately. "He doesn't. Its better he doesn't."

I sat on the couch, surfing the Internet. I didn't give up looking for the pictures for fear that he might've posted it on the World Wide Web, even if Hotaru and the others insisted I get some rest because, whoever he was, he was going to wait for the right time to show to me again and blackmail me.

I scrolled down at the website called 'OMG Celebs!' when I noticed that I had a new message.

I narrowed my eyes at the screen, thinking it was Hotaru again, telling me to hit the hay. I clicked 'open' and realized the message wasn't from Hotaru after all. It was somebody I didn't know.

blackfingers357: Still awake?

I raised an eyebrow at the message. Well, it was one thing that this "blackfingers" guy knew my e-mail, but it was another when he sent me a massage this late at night, only containing the sentence, "Still awake?"

Sry, but hu r u/?, I typed fast, even mistaking some characters, thinking it was just another one of those random fans who got my e-mail by coincidence.

After a while, I received a new message, still from blackfingers, this time, with the subject of a smiley face.

My eyebrows furrowed. Shaking my head slowly, I clicked the message.

Suddenly, continuous pop-up windows kept on showing up in the screen, all revealing the same picture – the picture from Natsume's apartment.

I gasped, closing every window, but more kept coming! It was like the sender attached some kind of bug into the message and it kept on popping-up endlessly!

Nevertheless, I continued clicking on the close button until finally, the windows were completely wiped out form my screen.

I immediately went back to my mail, where blackfingers had already sent another message.

blackfingers357: Do you know who I am now?

I groaned loudly, furiously pressing my fingers against the keys. Wt do u really want frm me?!!

After a while, blackfingers replied, What do you think? (Smiles)

Immediately, after reading the message, my laptop was, again, flooded with pictures. But this time, it was the picture from when Natsume went to my house before we headed to the mansion.

After successfully closing all the windows, I saw another message from him again. Do you want me to stop?

I looked frantically at every direction, thinking that he was right behind me. What the heck – I was already getting all paranoid!

Of cours i do! Wt do u think? I keyed in.

I read his next message aloud to myself. "If you want me to stop sending the pictures to the press, meet me at the abandoned warehouse by the pier at midnight tomorrow."

I groaned, again, clicking at the 'reply' button, when another message arrived. I discarded and read his follow-up message.

Oh, and yeah, don't even think about telling or bringing anyone, or else you'll regret it.

I bit my lip, as I replied: I'll b there.

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