AN: Nope. I will and never own Gakuen Alice.

Based on the reality show called The Bachelor

Settings: Alternate Universe

No alices/powers involved

Ages: 20+

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crimsoneyes44 – Thank you for helping me out.

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Misa.D, rei141, kyria hyuuga, Cara, morgan w. anderson, lemoncherrylove, Sakura Breeze, haPpy08, Chelly18, JigokuAi, Little Cute Girl, CarJanLucy, choOchOo8, BaybiiLexii,

crimson-diamonds-823, keaRy anCe, Mrs Kurosaki, ghurl00, chrisca123456789, Sorrowful Princess, omen-chan, neverbetter21, Addison, enemrizza, iCOOKAYx3, Black beauty butterfly, Princess Bratinella, sakurablossoms18, imhappy15, -kradraven-, emerald325, The Purple Wox xiLynnx Wings of Fidelity, da-lil'-monster, niceladysakura, Luckystar222, angel of death143, xXaoi-to-midoriXx, haZylL... , Anonymous, 'x-KiRa09-x', TheRedSin, Strawberriesn'Flames11, behindthisgirlshadow, mikanluchia728, ToS-fanatic15 smarties101, stratifiedII, luna cherFer, Youichiix33, You-chii, B, Hikari Natsume, Enilezah, MikanXNatsumefan101, Sweet Adolescence and all my silent readers…

A million thanks. You guys rock!

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The Bachelor

By: crazygirl18

Chapter 4:

Unexpected Visitors

Mikan

“I thought some time alone

was what we really needed,

you said this time would hurt more than it helps
but I couldn't see that,

I thought it was the end of a beautiful story

and so I left the one I loved at home to be alone

and I tried to find out if this one thing is true

that I'm nothing without you, I know better now
and I've had a change of heart…”

“Why do you always stop at the good part?” I asked sleepily. “I love the melody, but when in the world are you going to come up with the chorus for that blasted song of yours?”

Sumire gave me a wary look for my unannounced intrusion, but made a short nod for me to sit next to her by the piano as she began to play the soft melody once again. “My brain won’t allow me to come up with a good chorus that’s why,” she answered. “I have the melody for the chorus but no lyrics.”

As I sat next to her, I looked at her composition and secretly admired how neat her penmanship was. Even if the music sheet was filled with notes, you can tell Sumire’s composing skills had class: unlike mine, which was scrawny and small. Back then at school, no one dared to copy my answers, partially because no one could understand what I wrote and also because my answers were almost always wrong. I was always teased about my stupidity and awful penmanship.

“Sumire,” I pressed one white piano key. “Do you have any idea why the stupid jerk made us wake up this early?” I asked, trying to control my temper. It was two-thirty in the morning and definitely not the usual time we got up: we would typically wake up quarter-to-seven and then head down for breakfast at 7:30am. Today, we got a very early wake up call and I wasn’t very happy with it. I do NOT wake up this early.

“Mikan, you should consider yourself lucky,” Sumire sighed after swatting my intruding hand away. “Me and the other girls have already taken a shower and had coffee. You, my dear are still in your orange polka-dot pajamas and carrying your toothbrush. Thank heavens you were able to at least tie your hair.”

“You know I hate waking up this early,” I whined as I tried to hug Sumire’s right shoulder. “The jerk should even be thankful I came down.”

“Stop acting like a baby, Mikan!” Sumire said, whacking me hard again so I would let go of her. “Let’s go to the living room and wait with the others. We’ll find out the reason why we had to wake up this early.”

Because I was lacking energy and dead tired, Sumire dragged me to the hellish living room.

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I felt out of place… but I didn’t care. I looked around and saw every single girl in this huge living room was somewhat dressed up. Some even bothered to put on make up, but at least no one was wearing any formal clothing. Sumire was just wearing a purple t-shirt and shorts while the rest was either jeans or some sports wardrobe. I, on the other hand, had the perfect excuse to sit down on the big comfortable couch and cuddle with a pillow because I was still wearing my pajamas. I knew I was about to doze off if it weren’t for the sudden erupt of loud squeals coming from my crazy demon possessed friends. ‘God, aren’t they used to him already?’

I opened my eyes and was surprised to find Natsume deeply scowling, his face clearly stating he was ready to fry anyone alive. I wanted to stop my brain from coming to a conclusion that he didn’t even know about this wake up call, but the sight of him with his ruffled and slightly wet hair along with his usual black shorts and white polo shirt, made him awfully cute.

Okay. I need to vomit. Now!

‘What the hell are you thinking, Mikan Sakura!’ I silently screamed at myself. I hit the top of my head a few times to make my brain reboot. ‘Don’t panic. Just look at someone else and CONCENTRATE ON SOMEONE OTHER THAN HIM!”

I quickly tried to revert my attention to the approaching Ruka, who was the only one dressed decent in this room. Ruka was on his cell phone, probably getting some last instructions from the “head boss,” because he dragged Natsume who appeared to be escaping, back to the spot where he was suppose to stand… which was a good few inches behind me.

“I’m really going to kill your best friend.”

I didn’t need to look behind me to know it was Natsume who said that. The low murmur was intended for only me to hear. I had to bite down a smile.

“Based by Natsume’s scowl, I don’t think he knows about this.” Sumire whispered, after pinching my arms to make me stand up. “Can you please show some excitement at least?”

Rubbing the sore spot on my shoulder, I grudgingly stood up from my comfortable position. “Is this excited look good enough for you?” I asked smiling widely for her and showing my perfect white teeth.

Sumire rolled her eyes at me. “Why do I detect sarcasm in your voice?”

I was about to come up with a good retort when Ruka, our host, told us to hush. I couldn’t help but smile at the way he overdressed and fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable. No normal man would dress up in a full tuxedo suit at three in the morning… unless Hotaru told him to do so: now that I could understand.

“Ladies, an early good morning to you all,” Ruka announced.

“Great, another hellish day is about to start.” I murmured to myself.

“Ladies, I know some of you are wondering what’s up with the wake up call. I know you guys need your beauty sleep-”

I want to barf. Someone wish me out of here!

“-But your very own Bachelor was excited to do this mini project and see the results.”

All of our heads turned to Natsume. I could tell Natsume had no idea with what “mini project and results” Ruka was talking about. Instead he looked at Ruka with a silent message that read: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?!

“Mr. Bachelor?” Ruka asked, smiling too brightly. “Aren’t you excited?”

I really, really, really could sense Ruka was teasing Natsume yet at the same time, he looked worried.

“Yes, I’m very excited to see these… results,” Natsume gritted out with a totally fake half-smile. “So excited.”

I’m really not sure if my hearing and understanding of facial reactions were accurate, but any normal human being would realize that by the manner which Natsume answered, he was no way near to the word “excited.” It was more of a cold and bored reaction to me but still the seven women I was stuck forever with, were giggling with much excitement and anticipation.

“Are you girls excited or what?!?” Ruka asked laughing.

“Yes!”

Believe me, I wasn’t part of those yes girls.

“Okay ladies, let me introduce to you seven men who will be crashing the house, invading your time, energy and imagination,” Ruka said with a sly smile. “Come inside the Bachelor house, you lucky seven lady killers!”

Right after Ruka shouted “lady killers,” the door opened and seven shirtless men save for their fitted jeans and shoes, came strutting inside the living room to the background music of It’s Raining Men by Geri Halliwell. At once, the room erupted in loud squeals and shouts while the sleepiness I was feeling earlier vanished immediately and was replaced with a rush of hotness creeping all over my face.

“Now that’s what you call an Adonis’ body!” Sumire said, squealing beside me. ”Look at their masculine chest and abs, Mikan! Pure hotness!”

I wanted to shut my eyes: it was my first time ever to be surrounded by shirtless men with great bodies and looks. This never happened in my wildest dreams nor did I even imagine it to happen in real life. I wasn’t prepared for this kind of stuff! MOMMY!

“Mikan, are you alright?” I heard Sumire ask. I was about to tell her no when she suddenly started to laugh. “Your face resembles a tomato! This is your first time to see semi-half naked men, right?”

“Shut up!” I snapped. I wasn’t going to admit that the only man I had ever seen shirtless and had great abs was… ‘Stop it!’ I ordered my brain. I wasn’t going to complete that thought!

But for some terrible reason, I had to glance at Natsume who was drinking coffee, looking amused and half-annoyed with what was happening. When he caught me looking at him, he gave me a small wink. I turned around so quickly that I was surprised my head didn’t snap off. I decided it was better to concentrate on the seven male bodies. I will admit seven shirtless males made me blush madly, but I could not believe a simple wink from the jerk could make my heart flutter.

Relax Mikan. It was just a wink. Just a simple wink; get a grip of yourself!

“Okay girls, settle down.” Ruka said once the background music died. “I know you guys are overwhelmed with our home crashers for today.” A loud “yes” answered him. “But be careful ladies, one of the reasons why these handsome studs are here, is to find out if you can stay faithful to your Bachelor and based on your reactions…” Ruka stopped speaking and grinned.

“Sorry Natsume.” The girls said together.

I rolled my eyes at the girls’ statement. Don’t expect me to say sorry! I have erased that word from my vocabulary when speaking with Natsume.

“No worries, your Bachelor completely understands.” Ruka said smiling at the girls, but it quickly vanished when he glanced at his cue cards again. “We have one more visitor which all of you girls would be pleased to know. He especially took his time off from his busy schedule just to see this task go right. The person who will explain to you what your task will be for this week, is the 8th most powerful Bachelor, the 12th richest family in Japan and currently 4th handsome Bachelor in-“

Ruka wasn’t even finished with what he was saying, the girls once again were screaming madly while I noticed Natsume was having a coughing fit. I approached Natsume so I could yet again have a reason to hit him hard on the back since the girls screams would be able to drown out Natsume’s protests. No one would notice me kill their Bachelor. In fact, no one was noticing their Bachelor was dying.

“-Japan. Ladies, your eighth lady killer, please come in!”

“Hey jerk, are you alright?” I asked patting Natsume hard on the back. “What happened to-”

“Hello beautiful ladies.”

I stopped hitting Natsume at once. That voice. It was so familiar, to familiar. It couldn’t be. I turned around to look at him, but because we were at the back and the crazy women in front were mobbing him, I couldn’t get a good look. “Err… you seem okay now, jerk.” I absent-mindedly told Natsume and started to leave but Natsume grabbed my left wrist and held on to it tightly.

“Don’t.”

It was barely a whisper but I understood what he said. I couldn’t see Natsume’s facial reaction because he had his head bent down.

“Hello, young lady.”

I turned around, ignoring the Natsume’s strong hold on my harm.

“Well, aren’t you going to greet me?” he asked, eyes sparkling with amusement.

Hotaru’s warnings filled my head as my eyes grew wide from shock because he was here.

“If I send anyone to the Bachelor house who you know, don’t you dare show anyone there you know them!”

To go against Hotaru’s orders was something no one dared to do… and I wasn’t going to be the first!

“Hello… sir.” I said stammering.

“Sir?” Tsubasa Andou said, looking confused. He then glanced at the grim-looking Natsume for a few seconds and grinned. Uh-oh. Not a good sign. A sudden mischievous grin was not what you want from a person like Tsubasa Andou, ‘cause that meant he was up to no good.

“Mr. Bachelor,” Tsubasa started, but then looked at me. “You may want to let go of Ms. Sakura’s wrist or perhaps you just like holding her, am I right… cousin?”

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Flashback:

Third Year High School

Natsume

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“Natsume-stupid, why are you hiding up in that tree?”

I thought hiding high up in my favorite tree would allow me to get away from pestering people. If she didn’t have to shout my name over and over again, I wouldn’t have bothered to answer and would have been asleep by now. This Sakura tree has failed to serve its purpose. “Leave me alone idiot. Can’t you see I’m trying to get away from annoying people like you?”

“Then why did you even come tonight?” she retorted.

“Because idiot, my stupid cousin forced my mother to order me to come here. You know I detest events like this,” I answered in a bored tone. I still kept my eyes shut, which was pissing her off because she knew I wasn’t taking her appearance seriously. I didn’t ask her to look for me, so she could be pissed at me as much as she wanted. It wasn’t my fault.

“Well what happened to the superhuman jerk?”

I gave a small chuckle. “What the hell are you talking about? Are you trying to pick a fight, idiot?”

“No stupid. It’s just…”

Silence.

I hate it when she didn’t finish her sentence. Even if she always spoke nonsense, I would always painfully listen to her… for reasons I don’t even want to know why. “You’re not thinking of leaving me hanging with your asinine little sigh, are you?” I asked gruffly.

“I know you hate to go to this kind of gatherings and you never do,” she sighed again. “I’m just surprised you’re here, just like everybody else. What made you come here tonight, Natsume?”

Crap. I was going to have to answer her stupid question whether I liked it or not. “Like I said idiot, my mother forced me to because my dear cousin Tsubasa is the President of the Student Council this year and I’m supposed to support him. And by coming to this stinking event, my mother will be happy because she thinks I’m starting to… socialize. It’s killing two birds with one stone. Now you know the reason why I’m here, can you leave me alone and go back to your idiotic planet?”

As usual, I was expecting a normal reaction where the girl reprimands me for my rudeness. Instead, I get an unusual reaction from the most unusual girl I’ve ever met: a giggle.

Mikan Sakura giggles to my rude statements. She is the weirdest person I ever met.

“You’re weird, Natsume. You’re going to regret the day I stop looking for you jerk,” she said chuckling. “I’m coming back to check on you whether you like it or not. So don’t you dare hide and leave without telling me. Anyways, I need to go back. Tsubasa’s must be looking for me.”

“Hey idiot!”

“Yeah, stupid?”

“What the hell were you thinking of accepting that pervert cousin of mine to be his date for this high school dance?”

“Your cousin isn’t a pervert unlike you-“

“Hey, it isn’t my fault you freely show your underwear to me. I would rather be permanently blind, then see your underwear.”

“And people ask why I don’t like you.”

“You’ll see how perverted he is tonight, idiot.”

“Good night, jerk.”

I waited for a good few minutes before I opened my eyes and came down from the tree. I then took a few deep breaths. I couldn’t help it. The moment Mikan found me, my anger disappeared but when she left and told me she was going back to the party, my anger once again flared up. I did the only rational thing I could think of. I hit the tree… as hard as I could.

It was a few minutes later I noticed my knuckles were bleeding. I welcomed the pain that was coming from my hand because it helped me think about that instead of Mikan and her date.

“You know, it would help if you just told Mikan you came here because you found out she was going out with Tsubasa, her ultimate crush.” I turned around to find my best friend Ruka on the other side of the huge tree, quietly petting his furry white rabbit. “And also why you didn’t want to look at her, namely how pretty she looked in her pale yellow dress tonight, making you want to kill any other guys who look at Mikan… which also includes your cousin… thus the reason for your escape to here.”

“Shut up, Ruka.”

I wasn’t going to ever admit that the only reason I was here at this stupid dance, wearing these formal clothes was because of her. When she had burst into the classroom two days ago and announced happily to the whole class that Tsubasa had asked her to prom, something inside me wanted to go up to my cousin and burn him alive… and I didn’t welcome this new feeling.

I didn’t even want to know the name of the strange feeling that made me want to pummel any guy in sight.

“Oh also, I don’t remember anything about your mother forcing you to go… in fact hasn’t she been staying in Korea for almost three months now?”

“Shut up!”

End of flashback

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Tsubasa

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“Do what you have to do. I don’t care. For the sake of making my T.V audience happy and my ratings soar sky high, I want to see Natsume jealous.”- Hotaru calmly explaining her motives to Tsubasa Andou, after being kidnapped and briefed why he was kidnapped.

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Truthfully, I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be part of the evil queen’s evil plans. Hotaru Imai didn’t know the word ‘mercy’ and understand human feelings. If she thought it would help boost her company and earn her oodles of money, she would forsake anything just to be successful.

I heard about what my cousin was doing and how everyone was excited about the reality show but I didn’t care nor paid attention to it because I was busy making sure that Andou Chemicals Inc. was expanding not only across Asia but worldwide. I had just arrived in Paris and was on my way to meet Misaki for a very important date when suddenly out of nowhere, I was bombarded by the goons of Hotaru and learned I was on my way to her exclusive rest house.

It is said that if you were invited to Hotaru Imai’s house, it was a great honor. For me, it was a great horror.

I hadn’t even sat down on her couch, when Lucifer was already discussing how much debt the Andou’s had from other ventures that failed, pictures that she still had from my high school days which could ruin my reputation if it got to the paparazzi, and then asked or more accurately, threatened, me if I could help her out.

Was there anyone in this world who had the guts to tell Hotaru “NO”?

So seeing that Hotaru blackmailed me into helping her out, I was being boarded onto Imai’s private airplane and headed for Japan.

While on the plane and cursing Hotaru for including me in her “plan”, I felt slightly worried about seeing and staying with Natsume for a week under the same roof. He was my cousin because my dad was the half-brother of Natsume’s mother. Though we always see each other on family occasions or holidays, Natsume and I never got along; but there was always unspoken respect between us even if we vocally denied it. But when I started to date Mikan Sakura, our relationship became even sourer. It became even more acidic when I did something Natsume clearly thought was a betrayal of the cousin code, but to this very day, I still have no clue what I did wrong. If it wasn’t for Natsume’s mom, I would have kicked Natsume’s butt a long time ago… even if I was older than him by a year. But after Natsume graduated from college, we became civil which I found strange. Sometimes, I would try to pick a fight with him but he wouldn’t budge. Natsume was civil yet you could feel the coldness in his tone.

And now here I was, grinning at a tomato red face Mikan while she led me to the dinning room to have tea with her, I could feel a deadly death glare burning on my back and I didn’t have to guess who it was.

After pointing out to Natsume he was still holding on to her arm, he quickly let go of her and said something stupid that gave Mikan the right to slap him across the face. I immediately took the other free hand of Mikan before she did slap Natsume and gently placed a kiss on top of her hand.

“I’m glad to finally meet the famous Mikan Sakura who I hear is slowly capturing the other hearts of other men outside this house,” I huskily told Mikan.

The girls screamed in delight; Sumire looked as if she wanted to laugh; and Natsume wanted to kill me.

My death was imminent.

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Flashback

Third Year High School

Mikan

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“Did you find him?”

I looked up at my date. Every girl… except Hotaru of course, wanted to go on a date with the heartthrob and respectable Tsubasa Andou. All the girls sighed at how Tsubasa was friends with everyone. The simple smile and laugh was enough for any high school girl to ascend to the heavens.

But while I was dancing in the arms of my prince, wearing the perfect black tuxedo with his perfect black hair combed just the way I liked it, looking at me as if I was the only girl in the room… I felt nothing.

Why?

“Yeah, I found the old grouch,” I replied smiling at Tsubasa, hoping he wouldn’t notice I was distracted. Tsubasa smiled back at me and gently twirled me around across the dance floor.

“See, you do know how to dance, Mikan.” Tsubasa grinned. “I’m lucky that a beautiful second year student like you has agreed to become my date tonight.”

I playfully slapped him on his shoulder. “How could I resist you Tsubasa-senpai? It’s every girl’s dream to be your date.” I replied softly, looking straight at the floor while hoping he wouldn’t notice my cheeks turning red. “I was surprised you even asked me out.”

“Why wouldn’t I ask out the most beautiful and friendliest girl in the whole second year class, Mikan? I’m surprised to find out no one has attempted to court you yet.”

“They’re some… but your cousin seems to always inform my potential suitors about all of the bad traits I have and the horrors that could happen if I became their girlfriend,” I answered in a bitter tone. “If that stupid Natsume Hyuuga wasn’t ever my elementary school classmate, I’m sure I would be enjoying my entire school life here in this prestigious school.”

My answer seemed to amuse Tsubasa even more because he laughed even harder this time. “Mikan, Mikan, Mikan. I wonder what the Academy be like if you didn’t study here.”

“Quiet, perhaps? Besides, the only reason why I was accepted here is because of Hotaru’s mom. She’s basically paying my whole tuition which is why I’m doing my best to get good grades and not fail in any subjects.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you told me that your mom and Hotaru’s mom were also best friends. Then I do have a debt to your best friend’s mother. Hotaru’s mother was right to enroll you here.”

“And why is that?” I drawled out. “I have a cold best friend and an annoying lifetime high school partner.”

Tsubasa didn’t answer me right away; instead he quietly led me out to the school gardens and made me sit down on a nearby bench. Everything was perfect. The moon was serene and the sky was filled with twinkling stars. The gentle breeze accentuated the scent of the surrounding flowers. It was the perfect setting for my soon-to-happen-kiss.

“Are you cold?” Tsubasa asked, wrapping his coat around me.

“Not anymore,” I answered after a few minutes. Even the smell of Tsubasa’s cologne from the coat was intoxicating. I wished he would allow me to keep it as a souvenir. “Why did you bring me out here?”

“Because the scenery out here seems more romantic than inside, don’t you like it out here?”

I was screaming “YES!!” in my mind but I had to act demure in front of him. “.”

“Huh, can you repeat that a little much slower?” Tsubasa chuckled. “You seem nervous.”

“Nervous? Me? Of course not!” But the moment when Tsubasa moved over to sit next to me, taking my right hand into his, kissing the top of it, my whole brain shut down and my heart felt as if it was ready to jump out. This may be what was considered a “heart attack”.

“Wait a minute, I didn’t answer your question awhile ago, didn’t I?”

“N…N…No.” I stammered, because he brushed away a few stray hairs of mine that must have been dangling without my knowledge.

“Mikan, do you know how glad I am you came to this school and messed up my and Natsume’s life. If it weren’t for you, I would never have thought Natsume had any emotions at all. Hotaru may be a cold person, but she only sees you as her best friend. If you think everyone wants to be my friend, heck, you don’t even notice that you know everyone in the high school department… and most importantly, if it weren’t for you… I would never have noticed…”

Tsubasa never finished his sentence, trailing off as he was about to kiss me. This is it! This is the moment I’d been waiting for ever since I had a crush on him in Grade 7. I was finally going to experience my… second real kiss! A kiss from Tsubasa-senpai!

I closed my eyes and waited for our lips to meet and when it did… and when the kiss finally happened, my dream kiss… I couldn’t help but compare it to my first kiss. This kiss was a semi-mature kiss while my first kiss was more sudden and out-of-the-blue. I remember feeling a thunderous jolt all over my body… and it was less than 2 to 3 seconds! With Tsubasa it had probably already been 10 seconds and there was still no electricity swarming my body.

What was so different with Natsume’s kiss?

End of flashback

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Natsume

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If looks could kill, I would have killed a thousand people from the day I met Mikan. I thought if I was given a chance to have the freedom to murder someone and get away with it, Hotaru Imai would be the first person on top of my list but now that Tsubasa, my dear cousin, was here, likely because of Hotaru’s malevolent plans, I decided to demote her to the number two spot and make Tsubasa take the golden number one. He needed to be executed right now at this very second for… for…

Damn it! ‘Natsume Hyuuga, you better listen to me, your inner-conscience! You are definitely angry at Tsubasa’s presence because you know he’s going to mock you on live television and not because your jeal-‘

“I envy you cousin,” Tsubasa said with a smirk. “You started with 25 beautiful ladies and only one girl is going to be your wife. You are indeed the luckiest man on earth.”

“I’m not sure if that was a compliment, cousin.” I gritted out. “Why are you here? Why in the hell are we in the ballroom area with an Ipod and speakers in the middle of the dance floor?” After a “hearty” breakfast with the 8 remaining girls and party crashing people, Tsubasa announced he would explain the reason why he would be staying here for a goddamn week. While eating breakfast, I noticed two things. First, I realized why Ruka was keeping a safe distance away from me because he knew I was accusing him of betrayal. And the second was, I saw how comfortable Mikan was, smiling sweetly at Tsubasa, as well as laughing at tales my cousin was telling the girls.

I should be overjoyed with Tsubasa’s presence because it took away the attention the demon-possessed women had for me. All their attention was focused on Tsubasa. None of the girls offered me coffee or anything to drink; they were completely entranced by the charm of my cousin. Except I didn’t like how delighted Mikan was… not one tiny bit… and I didn’t want to find out why.

“Excuse me ladies,” Tsubasa charmingly called out. The loud girlish chatter halted at once. “Ladies, I am deeply thankful that you have allowed me to stay here.”

“Of course, Tsubasa-senpai!” the girls said in giggling harmony.

“Of course, Tsubasa-senpai,” I mimicked in a tone which I could only hear.

“Now, the reason why I am here is because,” I watched Tsubasa walk towards the Ipod, while acknowledging his flock of Hercules, who were all now wearing T-shirts to cover their manly chests, to stand beside him in a straight line. “Girls, carrying the family name Hyuuga is not an easy task. You must at all times do whatever it takes not to tarnish the family name. If you become the wife of the heir of a Hyuuga, then you will be watched like a hawk in the public eye. People can condemn you with one simple mistake, which is why once in public, you must always act with grace, charm, perfect poise, elegance and most importantly, be a good dancer.” Tsubasa announced with a huge grin. “Am I right cousin?”

I barely nodded as a response. Even though I despised Tsubasa at the very second, what he said was true. I was fortunate to act as how I pleased is because despite my cold demeanor, I was able to run the company successfully and with every risk I took on, I’d never failed in any endeavor… except for one.

“So today,” Tsubasa started to play a soft melody. “I have brought seven men who will be your partner and teach you the proper way of ballroom dancing. And then I will dance with every girl and will grade them, whosoever dances the best, will get the chance to go on a date with your very own Bachelor!”

The annoying loud squeals erupted once again, which was why no one heard my objection. I didn’t sign any agreement, which consented to me dancing! I headed towards Ruka to protest this, but he must have predicted my reaction because he silently handed me a faxed Letter of Agreement I signed with two highlighted portions, which I quickly scanned.

“...I also hereby do agree to participate in any events or surprise events the reality show, The Bachelor, is asking for me to do. This includes, socializing with the candidates, limiting angry outburst, dancing, going on dates, showing courtesy on dates…”

I didn’t finish the sentence because I jumped right to the second highlighted portion.

“If the rules are not honorably abided then Imai Inc. will take action and will disregard the verbal agreement Ms. Hotaru Imai and Mr. Natsume Hyuuga discussed.”

Damn! I’ve sold my soul to the devil.

“I swear I didn’t know anything about this until yesterday, Natsume,” Ruka told me in a quiet voice. “I wanted to tell you… but…”

“I KNOW!” I said through my clenching teeth. “We’ve all signed a contract which will make us all doomed if we do not follow it.” I waved my hands at Ruka, meaning for him to forget about it. I headed towards the left side of the room because that was the only place which had one available chair and which was far from the noisy girls. “You’re dead,” I told Tsubasa as I passed by him. I didn’t have to look back to see if he heard me because I knew he did.

“Okay now for your partners,” Tsubasa called out while clapping his hands. “I want you to write your name in a piece of paper and the seven hot boys over here-“

Loud squealing sound as answer.

“-including me, will pick the name of our partner.” I silently watched Tsubasa hand Sumire a small hat, where the girls dropped their paper slips in. After a few minutes, the girls excitedly, except Mikan and Sumire, waited for their names to be called out.

“As semi-host to this lovely small exercise,” Tsubasa said with a mischievous smile, “I shall draw the first name.” He placed his hand inside the small hat and took out a small piece of paper. “The person who I would have the greatest honor to dance with… please do not step on my feet,” he playfully winked at them and then showed the girls who he picked: “She is none other than… Mikan Sakura!”

WHAT!!! As I revolted inside, everyone was telling Mikan how lucky she was. It was impossible! Out of eight candidates, eight names, eight freaking people, Tsubasa picked Mikan’s name!

“Is there something wrong, cousin?”

Of all the times for Tsubasa to notice my violent reaction, it had to be now. It must have satisfied him when I finally jolted out from my chair when he called out Mikan’s name. “Nothing. I just wanted to say good luck to your toes. Ms. Sakura has a habit of stepping on feet because of her humongous feet.” I murmured.

After every girl found their partner, one by one, they started dancing. Most of the girls were stumbling and missing steps because of how the Hercules men were looking at them. This test I understood, it was a message for me to see how this girls who could be my future wife act in the presence of another man. People can see through other people when they dance, because of the emotions they give away to their partner.

Tsubasa decided that they were going to be the last person to dance. When it was Sumire turn, she danced beautifully but I noticed that she was blushing really hard from whatever Hercules number 5 was telling her. I wonder what Koko’s reaction would be if he saw her dancing with a more handsome dude than him. Once it was finally time the “last couple” to dance, Tsubasa led a chuckling Mikan to the middle of the dance floor and left her to pick the song they were going to dance.

“For a lovely lady like Ms. Sakura,” my cousin announced with a grin. “I think this is the perfect song to dance too.”

I dragged my eyes away from them because I didn’t need to remember how good they were as dancing partners. But when I suddenly heard the familiar tune play, I once again jolted out of my chair.

If I’m not in love with you
What is this I’m going through
Tonight

I can pretend that nothing is wrong. I can accept the fact that my pervert cousin was here and I couldn’t do anything about it. I can pretend that it’s okay for Mikan to dance with my perverted cousin but my pride will not accept them dancing to that dance!

And if my heart is lying then
What should I believe in
Why do I go crazy
Every time I think about you, baby
Why else do I want you like I do
If I’m not in love with you

I was amazed at my teeth because they didn’t break from the pressure I was putting on them. Even though my pride made me want to drive my two fists into Tsubasa’s stomach, good manners superceded my needs… and of course if my mom found out I punched my cousin, she’d be furious as hell. But when I saw Tsubasa lightly kiss Mikan’s hand again, good manners flew out the window. I clenched my right fist and slowly walked towards them. ‘I can’t believe that stupid idiot would actually dance to that mu-‘

“Ummm… Tsubasa-senpai, would you mind changing the song?” Mikan smiled apologetically and then leaned in to murmur something in his ears. My cousin smiled and nodded. He then changed the music to old Rod Stewart’s Have I Told You Lately That I Love You.

Why in the hell did she change the music? Why didn’t she just dance with my stupid cousin? What the hell did the idiot tell him!

Have I told you lately that I love you
Have I told you there’s no one else above you
Fill my heart with gladness
Take away all my sadness
Ease my troubles that’s what you do

Mikan danced flawlessly. Even if she was the only person who was wearing pajamas, anyone could tell she was a great dancer. She knew the right times to turn and how to make her partner look good, because she made everyone believe my cousin was the only person here.

Ease my troubles that’s what you do
Take away all my sadness
Fill my life with gladness
Ease my troubles that’s what you do

When the girls clapped loudly and squealed, it was because Tsubasa let Mikan finish her last twirl and end it with him bending her backward and then lifting her up slowly. “So who am I going to dance with, cousin?” I asked loudly after seeing him wipe a tear from Mikan’s eyes. “You are such an expert in dancing: I just know you already picked the perfect girl for me to dance with,” I commented sarcastically.

“Well not exactly,” Tsubasa said slowly and then grinned widely. “I know all these girls are dying to wonder how it feels to be in your arms… so for the sake of these poor young girls’ curiosities, our Bachelor will give each of you one minute to dance in his arms!” He exclaimed.

“WHAT!!!” I shouted, but no one heard me because all of the girls went wild with their loud screams at the same time. I saw from the corner of my eye that Ruka was jumping while raising the Agreement form. Damn it!

So with my rotten luck, I danced for six minutes with all the girls who wanted to murder my feet, in six different cheesy songs. None of the girls knew how to dance and I knew I was never going to walk properly again.

When I danced with Sumire, it was different. Back in the Academy, I would ignore her because she was the second person who would talk nonsense, while the first was Mikan. But as I danced with her, I knew she had changed. Sumire was different. I found myself always somewhat smiling at the conversation and enjoying it.

“Be careful Hyuuga,” Sumire whispered as I twirled her around. “You may not like the sight of your feet later on.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “You’re a good dancer, Ms. Shouda.”

“You jest, Hyuuga. Bet those expensive dancing classes we took at the Academy is finally taking effect,” she chuckled after mocking a curtsy at me.

“Well then, I must say I was very impressed with your dance, Ms. Shouda.” Tsubasa exclaimed after clapping loudly. “Ladies, you should follow Ms. Shouda’s example. Have fun dancing. Enjoy your dance with Natsume. My cousin isn’t going to bite you.”

Everyone gave a polite laugh while I glared at him. Tsubasa Andou had no right to interfere with my life! I wasn’t going to take this ridicules scheme much longer. I socialized and danced. Imai can slap me with any agreement form, but I had enough for one early morning. “Excuse me, ladies but-” I stopped talking because I caught the little idiot trying to escape the ballroom. She was about to open the door when she caught me glancing at her. ‘The nerve of that woman! She thinks I want to dance with her? She has no RIGHT to run away! If there is anyone who should be leaving this room, it should be ME!’

“Ms. Sakura,” I shouted out. “Care to dance?”

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Mikan

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“Care to dance?”

I was about to reach the door when the stupid jerk had to do something stupid… like usual.

“This may be your last chance to be held by someone like me or do you wish to escape, Ms. Sakura?” Natsume asked lazily.

Can I kill Natsume now? “Of course not, Mr. Hyuuga, I’m so excited to dance with you.” I walked towards him and kept my chin up. If he wanted to bicker with me, I wasn’t going to back down from the challenge, but when I neared him, I wanted to run away. The days I spent inside this house, we would constantly bicker and throw insults, which I never knew I could say out loud but there was one thing we both never tried to do. Come this close together. “Ts…Ts…Tsubasa-senpai,” my voice quavered. “Can you please choose a song-“

“-don’t ask Tsubasa-“

“-for us to dance to?”

“-to pick the song.”

It was too late for me to understand what Natsume said because when I gave Tsubasa the order, it was if Tsubasa was waiting for me to give him that very instruction. “Damn it,” I heard Natsume groan.

“I’ve played every single song in this Ipod of mine… except for one,” Tsubasa innocently announced.

“Shit!” I muttered when the music started playing.

“Shit indeed,” Natsume sneered.

And if my heart is lying then
What should I believe in
Why do I go crazy

“Hey cousin,” Tsubasa shouted. “Dance with Ms. Sakura. She’s a great dance partner!”

This is the first time in my life I wanted to strangle Tsubasa-senpai. I took a deep breath and decided to break the ice between us with a rude retort. “Why won’t we just do this-“

“-Anyways, who cares?” Natsume grumbled, as he caught my two hands and placed them where they were supposed to be. “It’s just a stupid song.”

I bit my lip tightly because I was about to tell him it wasn’t stupid… since it was the first song we danced to as a couple. “Yeah, it sure is stupid,” I whispered back as we started to dance.

If its just infatuation then
Why is my heart aching
To hold you forever
Give a part of me I thought Id never
Give again to someone I could lose
If I’m not in love with you

I don’t know how I did it, but I was able to control my tears. I had no idea why Natsume’s remarks affected me this much. But for a tiny moment, I couldn’t help but notice, how much I missed being in his strong arms.

If I’m not in love with you
What is this I’m going through
Tonight

And if my heart is lying then
What should I believe in
Why do I go crazy
Every time I think about you, baby
Why else do I want you like I do
If I’m not in love with you

When the music stopped, I let go of Natsume and turned to the girls who would be throwing me compliments or insults about dancing with him. No one clapped and no one squealed. But I saw in every girl’s eyes were overflowing with tears.

I glanced at Tsubasa who had a strange look on his face. “Mikan… I-“

“-I hate you,” I told him with a sad smile.“I told you why, but you still did it.” I was about to leave when suddenly someone started to clap.

“That’s one of the best dance I’ve ever seen in my life. You should have told me she was one of the contestants, Natsume.”

It was a woman with beautiful, long wavy brown hair, dressed in black fitted jeans and an orange shirt that said “I’m taken”. She looked like a model out of a famous fashion magazine. She was more beautiful than any of the girls who were selected for the show.

The girls started whispering to each other which I could hear a “Is that who I think it is?” and a “Why is she here?” and even Tsubasa was aghast wondering aloud, “I thought Hotaru hated her?”

Who the hell was she?

Natsume, on the other hand, had a stunned look on his face. When he must have gotten over his shock, Tsubasa went over to his side. “I can take care of this.” I heard Natsume mutter, “Just stay beside Mikan.”

Okay, I’m completely confused. What’s going on?

“Why are you here?” Natsume asked.

The girl chuckled. “Why? I’m not allowed to be here?”

I had a feeling I was the only person in this room who had no clue who this girl was.

“Hey Mikan, are you alright?” I heard Sumire ask me in a low voice.

“Why shouldn’t I be?”

Sumire looked offended I even asked her that question. “What?”

“Mikan, it’s her.”

“Who’s ‘her’?”

I saw Sumire’s eyes dilated. “You mean you don’t know?”

“I don’t know what!?” I grew a little impatient. “Who is sh-“

“So this is the girl who broke your heart Natsume,” the girl continued. “And the reason why you didn’t want to marry me.”

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Yuu

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“I can finally go to sleep.” I said with a sigh as I snuggled my comfortable pillows. After a long day of constantly making sure the cameras inside the Bachelor’s house were always working and undetectable, I was glad to be home. I was really amazed on how well the program was doing. The ratings were soaring high and advertisers kept on trying to outbid other advertisers just to place their own commercials or to place their own products inside the house. A coffee brand the contestants were drinking had their sales sky-rocket just after a few days Hotaru agreed to use their coffee products.

When Hotaru offered me chief-editor and to especially make sure specific scenes weren’t shown on air, I thought it would be easy. When Hotaru Imai offers you a job and salary, which is so hard to refuse, she’s going to make sure you’re worth her money.

Hotaru specifically said, some scenes of Mikan and Natsume could not be shown, in fear people would think this show was rigged. Hotaru could not afford to let anyone know she knew Mikan. With my expertise in sound and editing, I was able to lead the televiewers that Sumire and some of the girls had a chance with the Bachelor. Some questioned Mikan’s appearance on the show and wondered why she hasn’t been booted out yet but whenever Natsume lets go of a contestant, his reasons was always correct. But because of last week’s episode, everyone was curious with who broke Ms. Sakura’s heart.

I had instructed my best team to keep a close watch with everything. After making sure I caught Tsubasa’s entrance, I told my team I was going to head home to rest my eyes for a bit since I hadn’t had a good decent sleep in two days. I’d be back for when we went live for Natsume to vote off one of the girls. Live telecast is always stressful and exhausting.

I was about fall into a deep sleep when the emergency phone rang. Every personnel working for Hotaru always kept two phones. One was for the regular calls and the other one was for EMERGENCY which only Hotaru calls.

I quickly grabbed the phone and looked at who was calling… it was from my production team. “What!” I snapped. “Carlos, I told you to never call this line if it isn’t an emergency. I thought it was Hota-“

“-Mr. Yuu,” Carlos, my assistant, cut in. “I’m sorry, but we have an emergency.”

“Then what-”

“-Someone has tapped into our line and is streaming this week’s episode! We don’t know how long but we can’t shut them down! Some forums are talking about what’s the real score between Ms. Sakura and Mr. Hyuuga.”

“Oh my god, you can’t-“

“-They are now curious with Ms. Sakura’s background.”

All I wanted was a few hours of sleep and this is what I get… a disastrous nightmare. “Does Hotaru know about it?”

“No… not yet. Sir, that isn’t the end of it.”

“There’s more?”

“Sir… I don’t know how this happened but the ex-fiancée of Mr. Hyuuga… is in the Bachelor house.”

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To be continued

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AN:

Please do not crucify me! Haha.

It’s been a busy year and I just started working in a call center, so please bear with my long absence.

I’m not going to say when my next update is but I can say that this story won’t be more than ten chapters.

Please leave me a review. I would like to hear what you think about this chapter.

Loads of hugs and advance thank you’s!

~Krissy