Just a little flashback moment. Hope you don't get too bored with this :)

9 years ago

I sat by the window inside our house, watching Tsubasa and his friends play frisbee. I had a fever the day before, but I was fine now. But Mom and Dad still won't let me go outside. And neither did my older brother, Tsubasa. He said that I should do as what Mom says and stay at home. He was out with his best friend, Natsume, our next door neighbor. They were both the same age, so every time I tied to hang out with them, I would always feel left out.

Life was unfair for eight year-olds.

"Mikan, honey," I heard Mom call. "Come eat your soup. Pouting isn't going to make you feel better."

"But I am fine, Mommy!" I said, almost close to tears. "My fever's all gone. I'm not hot anymore."

"Well let me see."

I walked over to my mom and let her put her hand on my forehead. It felt cold. "Hmm," she said after a while. "Seems like you're still a little hot. Now why don't you eat your soup, and take a nap after so you'll feel better tomorrow. That way you can play with Tsubasa."

I sighed, and sat down at my usual place at the dining table. I was feeling perfectly fine today, and I still didn't understand why I wasn't allowed to go outside. I didn't feel sick anymore.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Mom opened it. It was my best friend!

"Hotaru!" I exclaimed, getting out of my seat and ran towards her.

"Honey, your soup," Mom said.

"I'll finish it," I told her. "Hotaru! I'm so glad to see you!"

She wasn't wearing her mask anymore, unlike yesterday when she came over. She said she was afraid of germs, and assured me that it wasn't me she was scared of. Hotaru had been my best friend since were toddlers. She was also born here in Malibu like me. When it was just me and her hanging out, she was very talkative, but when we were with other people, she was silent. But that's just how she is, and I love her for that.

"Are you still sick?" she asked.

"No, but Mommy's not letting me out yet. Tomorrow for sure, we can go swimming!"

She smiled. "I hope so. Your brother and his friends kept calling me a loner. But of course, I ignored them."

"They did?" my mom said. "Hmm, don't worry I'll talk to Tsubasa about it."

I frowned. "That's mean. Don't worry, Hotaru. Starting tomorrow, you won't be a loner anymore!"

"We'll see," Mom said. "Now why don't you let Hotaru inside?"

"Oh right, come in. I'm having soup for lunch."

"What kind of soup?"

"Chicken," my mom answered, as she closed the door. "Do you want some?"

"Yes please."

"Yay! A lunch buddy!" I said.

And with that, Hotaru and I finished all the soup that my mom made.

The next day, I was feeling great. My mom took my temperature before going to work (she was a lawyer), and told me I could go outside today. I immediately called Hotaru, and she told me she'd meet me at the beach.

When I got out of the house, I saw Tsubasa and his friends, Natsume and Ruka, playing a game of frisbee. Tsubasa saw me, and gave me a wave. I waved back enthusiastically. They took a short break from their game, and my brother approached me.

"How's my little sis doing?" he said.

"I'm doing great! Mommy said I didn't have fever anymore and I could go out and play."

"Hmmmm. I would ask you if you want to come and join, but sorry, it's an all boys game today." And with that, he ruffled my hair, and ran back to his friends.

I stuck my tongue out at him, even if he couldn't see me. Just then, I saw Hotaru walking towards our house. I waved at her, and she grinned.

"What should we do today?" she asked me.

"I think we should just hang at the beach."

"Okay. Sounds like a plan."

We sat by the pier, with corndogs and sodas we bought earlier at the snack bar. Tsubasa, Natsume, and Ruka were still playing Frisbee, but they were now in the water. So if the Frisbee was thrown too far, someone had to swim and get it. Hotaru and I were just watching them the whole time.

"Boys are gross," Hotaru said.

I nodded in agreement. "Sharing a bathroom with one if even grosser. Tsubasa always leaves the toilet seat up, and every time I take a bath after him, there's always hair in the drain. Always."

Hotaru made a face. "Ew. Thank God my brother's a thousand miles away."

I just smiled at that. Hotaru's parents got divorced when she was five, and her brother ten at that time. The courts decided that each parent should just take one child for custody, given that they visit each other twice a year. So now, Hotaru was living with her mom here in Malibu, and her brother, Subaru was living with their dad in Washington. That was what she told me, and how her mom explained it. Although, I only understood the part that they weren't living together. I asked Hotaru once about how it felt, and she just said it felt normal. I couldn't imagine Tsubasa being separated from me. We were that close.

"I think your brother's okay, though," Hotaru told me. "He's funny, even if he teases me sometimes. Those friends of his, are whom I find gross."

I laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean. They're over at my place a lot, and when they play videogames, or watch a movie, they never clean after themselves. And Tsubasa's best friend, Natsume, is weird."

Okay, maybe that was little mean about Natsume, but it was sort of true. Natsume wasn't really weird, just quiet. And every time I talked to him, or would want to actually start a normal conversation, he would either ignore me, or give me one-line answers. It was annoying. But when he was with my brother, they always looked like they were having fun. I wondered of he hates me or something. I didn't like people hating me.

Hotaru let out a snort. "His other friend is even weirder. He's just so hyper all the time. I never saw him not smiling, hopping or skipping or whatever."

We both laughed. "We are so mean," I said.

"I bet they make fun of us too."

"Yeah, I bet."

Hotaru positioned herself to face me. "Okay. Let's pinkie promise. We would never fall for any boy. Ever."

"But what about getting married?"

"We'll think about that when we get there," she said. "But for now, and let's say for the next ten years, we would never like a guy. Promise?"

She pointed her pinkie at me, signaling that I should do the other gesture. I did. "I promise."

Just then, I felt something hard hit my head. I completely lost my balance, and fell into the water.

"Mikan!" Hotaru exclaimed.

It was a good thing I could swim, or this would have been an embarrassing moment. Or worse, I could have drowned.

"What happened?" I gasped, when I reached the surface.

"It's those idiots," Hotaru told me. "A Frisbee hit your head."

I turned around, and saw Tsubasa, Ruka, and Natsume run towards the pier. "Woah, Natsume," Ruka said. "That was a powerful toss."

"Dude!" Tsubasa nudged him, then turned to me. "Mikan, are you hurt? Did that Frisbee hit you hard?"

"I'm fine," I replied.

"Look, I am so sorry," Natsume said. "I didn't mean to hit you, I swear. You okay?"

"I'm fine," I repeated. For some reason, I was blushing. I didn't know why. Well, it is sort of embarrassing to fall in the water just because a frisbee hit your head. Is it? "Do you guys want to join me, or are you going to help me up?"

"Oh right. Sorry, little sis," Tsubasa offered up his hand, but then Natsume told him that he would do it, because it was his fault. I thought maybe he was doing it just because he felt sorry for me, and not really sorry himself. So when he offered his hand, I took it, then pulled him in.

He fell down with a splash next to me, and Tsubasa, Ruka, and Hotaru were laughing. I didn't know what possessed me to do it, since Natsume and I weren't really that close. And he was as older then me. I then wished I didn't do that. What have I done? Oh no, what if he kills me in my sleep?

"Nice one, little sis," Tsubasa guffawed. "Oh, Natsume. You better watch out. Mikan's not so little anymore."

"Oops," I said, when Natsume surfaced. "I didn't mean to." I was pretending to act innocent so maybe he wouldn't kill me. And I sure felt in that moment that he was going to strangle me, but he didn't. He splashed me.

"Hey!"

"Oops, I didn't mean to," he said, imitating my voice. That only made me splash water at him. And before I knew it, we were splashing water at each other.

"Now don't let us miss out on all the fun!" Tsubasa said, and he and Ruka also jumped in the water. I looked at Hotaru. I knew she was having second thoughts, because she didn't like my brother's friends, but I gave her an encouraging look and winked. And before I knew it, she was also swimming with us.

We were walking home right after sunset and Tsubasa told Natsume to walk me home because he forgot something at Ruka's place so he had to run over and get it. All our houses were literally right next to each other, so running or walking were our forms of transportation. Hotaru went home already, so it was just me and Natsume.

"Look," he said, as we reached our houses. "I really didn't mean to throw that Frisbee at you. Are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded. "Yep. Just a little embarrassed because I fell in the water." I didn't know why I was telling this to him. "And I'm sorry too for pulling you into the water. I don't know what got in to me."

Natsume laughed. He actually laughed. "It's fine. I didn't know you had it in you, little girl."

"I'm not little anymore," I muttered.

"You're always going to be littler than me."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Looks like we're here," he said. "Goodnight, Mikan."

I nodded. "Goodnight." Why was he being nice to me all of a sudden? It was so weird. And also it was weird that I wanted to talk to him more.

"Oh and by the way," Natsume said, when he reached his front porch. "You're actually pretty cool, Mikan."

I didn't have a chance to respond, because he went inside already. He thought I was cool? Natsume Hyuuga thought I was cool? Nobody has ever said that to me before! Well, except Hotaru, but she doesn't count because she's my best friend.

I danced around our front porch, chanting quietly to myself, "I am cool."

"What are you doing?"

I froze, and saw my brother standing there, looking at me with a weird expression on his face. "Oh nothing," I said. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Am I cool to you?"

Tsubasa laughed. "Yeah, sure you are. Now, let's get inside. Unless you wanna get sick again."

I stuck out my tongue at him. "I'm not gonna get sick anymore."

"Let's just go in. You've had enough adventures today."

As I went to bed that night, I still couldn't get out of my head what Natsume said to me. He thought I was cool. I couldn't stop smiling to myself. What was happening to me?

I gasped, and sat up on my bed. I watched this on t.v. already. Those times when I was watching movies with my mom. Usually the girl could not stop thinking about the boy, and she always wanted to be around him and stuff like that. I actually thought it was stupid, and doesn't make any sense. Until now.

Was it possible, that I had a... a... crush? On Natsume? I shook my head. No way. I just promised to Hotaru that I wouldn't fall for any boy. I shook my head and decided to go back to sleep. If I dream about Natsume, I thought to myself, then I do have a crush on him. If I didn't, then I don't like him.

Guess what? I dreamed about him that night.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it all began. Lol okay. Is it a bit too young for an eight year-old girl to have a crush? Because my cousin's like six and she likes Justin Bieber. Oh youth.

Anywho, will be updating soon :) hoped you guys liked it Xx