A/N: An early update but only because I wrote this last night instead of doing my homework but fell asleep before uploading. Right now I'm kind of sick so sorry if I didn't catch all the mistakes.
And thanks to: lildevilish, rantuyetmai, MissIzzyB, and Kukri-han for the kind reviews. Sorry I can't respond personally, I'm a bit busy with homework and badminton to reply one by one.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Mai HiME and Persona 3 do not belong to me. The only thing I claim is mine is this fanfiction. Any similarities to other stories are pure coincidence.
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Chapter 1: One Thing Leads to Another
Her life had been eventful to say the least.
Around the age of four she went on a trip with her mother, Saeko Kuga. Natsuki adored her mother. She hated having to be apart from her for more than a few minutes. This was rather difficult since Saeko had a job as a researcher/ spy for a big time company in Fuuka. And Natsuki's father, Haru Kuga, had things to deal with at his own company so both parents spent little time with their daughter. Natsuki could have cared less about her father since he was generally distant towards her, but her mother was necessary.
So when her mother finally had time away from her work, Saeko took the young Natsuki for a small trip away from Fuuka.
--
Natsuki had been strapped into a child's car seat in the back while Saeko was driving and singing to entertain her daughter. They were coming back from their trip to Tokyo and the two were enjoying every moment with one another.
Natsuki, although young, was very intelligent. She understood adults fully even when they used 'big' words. So it was easy for Saeko to talk to her daughter and receive proper responses.
"So my dear, did you enjoy the city life today?" she giggled as she saw her daughter's head bobbing up and down profusely.
During their time in Tokyo the two had spent the entire day just roaming the city. They stopped by a quaint cafe after playing in the park and visiting the zoo. And when they weren't anywhere specific, they just wandered Tokyo and absorbed the atmosphere. Natsuki's favorite location was most likely Akihabara; she was in love with all of the electronic games there.
"Yeah! I love it mama. Tok tok is wow. All the people and cars moving all the time was fun." Natsuki grinned and fidgeted like a tiny puppy. Saeko loved how adorable her daughter was. She couldn't get enough. "I'm glad my cute little girl. I love you so much."
"Mou, mommy I'm not cute. I'm cool."
And that was the last thing Natsuki Kuga ever said to her mother. After that comment she saw two blurs and then there was a crash. Their car had flipped multiple times before landing upside down.
Images of black and red flashed through the toddlers eyes. Then she blacked out. But before that, the last thing she saw was her mother smiling at her as blood dripped down her forehead. Saeko was telling Natsuki that everything would be alright despite all of the shards of glass puncturing her own body.
--
Natsuki awoke in a sweat. She was lucky, she didn't scream this time.
"Damn nightmares." She said to no one in particular. These had been the reason Natsuki decided to leave her life in Tokyo behind to go to Fuuka. She had had these dreams for a year after the incident and afterwards they stopped suddenly. It was as if the dreams starting up again were acting like a message. And it was telling her to return to the city where her mother died.
Natsuki hoped that maybe, just maybe, the nightmares would stop if she went back.
It was improving a bit already, probably. This was the first time she woke without screaming her head off.
"Stupid comfy bed, making me fall asleep." She muttered. Then again it had been days since she'd gone to sleep for more than a few hours. The quiet atmosphere and comfortable bed must have lulled her to sleep.
Natsuki sat up from her bed for awhile and listened to the quiet noises the train made as it sped by the tracks. Deciding she couldn't sleep, she once more thought of her life.
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After the accident, she and her dad moved to Tokyo. Fuuka was too painful to live in. There were too many sad reminders of their lost loved one. Saeko had died that night while Natsuki lived. And she hated herself for it, and she knew her father did too.
Haru had never been a loving father but after his wife's death, he grew even colder to his daughter.
His irrational mind could not help but blame his young daughter for his wife's death when he knew it was not her fault. Somewhere in his mind something would just say: "Well if she hadn't wanted to go out with Saeko, then Saeko never would have died."
He could never resist this thought.
Haru hated his own feelings and threw himself at his work. His company rose to success but inside he was hollow. All of his love and compassion disappeared the moment his wife died.
A nanny was hired to take care of Natsuki since Haru did not want to become irritated with the toddler and end up hurting her because of his feelings.
And without any familial love at such a young age, Natsuki herself grew up to be cold and stoic.
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When the nanny first started working, Natsuki thought nothing of it. She knew her father was busy with work. But eventually she saw her father for only a minute or two once a month. She'd tried so hard to get his attention by being superior at sports and academics. She learned how to play musical instruments and began developing artistic abilities. But this never got Haru's attention and she began to resent him for his attitude towards her.
Natsuki had tried hard to be a good daughter for her father because that's what her mother always wanted for her and he was all she had left. But after all of her efforts and still no attention from Haru, she began to be rebellious. The nanny was constantly changing because no one could control the 'bad' Natsuki and they all quit after a few weeks with her.
This continued for six months before Yamada came.
Yamada was an old friend of Saeko and had been recently released from his military service. He immediately rushed over to the Kuga's household after he learned of everything that had happened.
What he saw the first time he arrived would end up changing his life forever.
Natsuki was now a four year old demon. Yamada had come to the household only to see the girl going wild with the nanny and maids chasing after her. He immediately went and disciplined the child with the only way he knew how. A spanking.
Somehow after that, the two had formed a bond. Natsuki resented being spanked since it was the first time someone had raised a hand against her. Not even her father had hit her. She felt weird about it but knew that he wouldn't have done that if he hadn't cared for her. None of the other adults had even bothered to do anything when she rebelled. And that only made Natsuki cause more trouble for attention.
And indeed Yamada loved her. He had constantly received letters and pictures from Saeko of her and Natsuki. They kept up his spirits during his military service and he felt like Natsuki was his own child. He had loved Saeko very much after all in their younger years. But when he realized this, she was already engaged to Haru.
Yamada only knew three things at that time. Saeko was dead, Haru didn't care for his child, and Natsuki was a mini demon.
After the spanking he had gone to see Haru and told him that he'd take care of Natsuki. Haru readily agreed and the papers for guardianship were drafted.
From that day on, Natsuki was taken care of by Yamada.
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At first she hated it. She hated everyone at that point. But eventually she warmed up to the 'old man' and the two got along like real father and daughter.
Natsuki's real father was not a bad man. He just couldn't cope with his loss. But he gave Natsuki what he could, money. He made a lot being the CEO of his own company and he sent her money every month. Yamada just kept it in an account for Natsuki for her use when she was older. When Natsuki was older she tried to reject the money, but Yamada made her keep it. He knew she would need it in the future and he knew Haru would be somewhat hurt if she denied the money so that's why he did that. The cash was hardly spent unless Natsuki wanted stuff for herself that she didn't want to burden Yamada with.
Well that aside, Natsuki enjoyed living with Yamada. He made her return to her old self who excelled at practically everything. Although, she did have her rebellious outbursts at times. As she got older he taught her how to fight. When she was fifteen he taught her how to shoot a gun and wield other weapons. Yamada had pure intentions in this, he wanted Natsuki to be safe and always know how to defend herself in any situation. He was a military man after all.
It helped that Natsuki hated being a girly girl. She was not the princess who sat in a tower while waiting for her prince to come rescue her.
Heck, Natsuki was the princess who could kick more ass than any prince and would probably be the one doing the rescuing.
Natsuki was always eager to learn from Yamada's military experiences, but the old man was smart. He made Natsuki keep up her grades and do extracurricular activites like the track team and art club before he taught her such things. This deal was the only reason Natsuki even bothered with anything else. And the habits just stuck.
By the time Natsuki was sixteen, she was so many things.
Top of the class of an elite school
Star of the track team, heck probably all the sports teams if she wanted to be.
A virtuoso, completely skilled at the piano, guitar, and drums.
A budding artist who had raw talent.
Best amateur boxer in Toyko and black belt in many different fighting styles.
Top notch marksman (well after practicing for only a year she was pretty damn good).
Natsuki had the talent and skills so many would die for, but she was never satisfied with these accomplishments. She always tried harder, she had to be the best. Even she didn't know why but somewhere in the back of her mind, Natsuki still wanted to be acknowledged by her father. He never paid attention to her despite all of her achievements that had even his business partners and employees praising her.
She worked hard to be the best but ended up neglecting having relationships with people because of it. And people did try, but many were just after the amazing idol not Natsuki Kuga.
So maybe that's another reason why she left.
Her father still didn't accept her and people saw her for what she was not for who she was.
The nightmares were probably just the last straw in all she could take.
--
"Urgh. Dammit, I think too much and this is what happens. Sigh, whatever. Maybe sleep will do me some good."
Luckily, that night Natsuki had a dreamless sleep.
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Eek I edited this on the site and added in a few more things. I know its awkward at some parts but there are a lot of flashbacks and viewpoints that are told in third person so it makes it weird like that. Many parts in this chapter that may have confused you will be explained in-depth later on. I kind of wrote it so that readers don't have all the pieces to the puzzle yet.
This was actually supposed to be called Arrival since at the end of the chapter Natsuki would have made it to Fuuka but I found this spot to be a good ending so yeah.
Next chapter: Arrival
Look forward to finally meeting more of the cast. And everyone's favorite character (at least one of mine) makes her first appearance. Treats for anyone who can guess who this character is. Trust me, its not hard :)
Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to update sometime soon.