Original Posting Date: 17 Sep 2009
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Chapter 1
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"Mikan!"
Turning around, Mikan smiled as her friends approached her.
The pink-haired girl named Anna asked her, "Are you going home now?"
"My mother is waiting for me, Anna," Mikan replied with a nod.
The girl named Nonoko teased her. "So lucky. I wish my mother would wait for me, too."
"I do think your mother always waits for you," Nonoko's boyfriend who stood behind her replied.
She glared at him. "I don't need your genius words, Yuu."
Yuu sighed as he pushed his spectacle up to the bridge of his nose.
Another boy came out behind Anna and hugged her waist. "Shall we go on our date now?"
Before Anna could elbow him for being rude, someone already smacked him from behind as a voice followed, "What did I say about dates, idiot?"
The guy cried in pain while rubbing his head. He glared at the girl and then the blonde boy who stood next to her. "Can you do something about her violent side, Ruka?"
"Hotaru is right, so I can't help you, Koko. You are at fault here." Ruka grinned.
Koko felt down even more when his girlfriend huffed at him. "Serves you right."
"I thought you would side with me since I am your boyfriend…" Koko cried.
Anna stared at him blankly, and someone saved her from reminding him. "Don't get us wrong. We side with Mikan about dates."
Closing her eyes, Anna nodded in agreement and said, "Thanks, Sumire."
Mochu, Sumire's boyfriend, patted Koko's shoulder. "It might be hard for you, but I agree with the girls."
Mikan sighed at their attempt not to hurt her feelings. Yes, all of them but her had a date. The group contained an odd number, so it couldn't be helped and she also didn't have any interest in having one. She was content with her current life. Her friends were her second family. While smiling, she shook her head. "Guys, please."
They all looked at her apologetically.
Mikan sighed. "Really, I'm fine, and I know all of you know that."
Immediately, the girls engulfed her in a bear hug as the boys smiled. After the girls released her, Mikan told them, "I will see you guys tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow, Mikan," Hotaru said.
Smiling, Mikan nodded. With that she left them and walked back to her third family. She looked up at the sky and shielded her eyes from the sun light.
"I'm happy now, Otou-sama, Okaa-sama," she muttered quietly. This was the truth that no one else but her second family knew about—that she was an orphan who lost her parents two years ago. They died in a car accident and left her alone. For the past two years, she had been living with her mother's best friend who treated her like her own daughter. The family was generous enough to let her stay with them and even let her call them her family even though they had different last names. The family who had accepted her was…
~*~ Hyuuga Residence ~*~
Mikan smiled as she read the name plate of the big house before her.
The gate was opened for her and a maid named Rin bowed at her. "Welcome back, Mikan-sama."
Mikan grinned. "You forgot to call me Mikan without the honorific again, Rin-sama."
"As you wish, Mikan." Rin smiled after she sighed in defeat.
"That's better, Rin!"
Together, they walked back to the house. When they almost reached it, the front door was swung open and revealed a crimson-eyed girl.
"Welcome back, Onee-sama!" The girl ran to her and hugged her tightly.
Mikan laughed and returned the hug. "I'm back, Aoi-chan!"
Aoi, who was two years younger than her, was in her first year of middle school. As for Mikan, she was in her last year.
"How was school today?" Mikan asked as they broke the hug to walk into the house.
Aoi pouted. "It's really boring without you, Onee-sama."
Mikan offered her a small smile in reply.
"Onee-sama, why don't you come with me to the private school?" Aoi pleaded.
Mikan shook her head. "Gomenasai, Aoi-chan. Onee-sama is more than happy to be in the public school."
Aoi sighed dejectedly.
A deep voice drew their attentions. "Don't ask such impossible things, Aoi. You know that your Onee-sama can't leave her friends behind."
Mikan smiled at the older man and gave him a small bow. "I'm back, Otou-sama."
"Okaa-sama is waiting for you," Shuichi said after giving her a nod.
Mikan nodded then kissed Aoi's forehead. "I will see you later, Aoi-chan! Good luck with your piano lesson."
"See you later, Onee-sama," Aoi replied cheerfully.
After that, Mikan went upstairs and knocked on her Okaa-sama's door. A gentle "enter" was heard from inside. Slowly, she opened the door and saw her Okaa-sama was on the line. After closing the door behind her gently, she approached her Okaa-sama, Kaoru Hyuuga.
Kaoru smiled at Mikan before she ended the call. "See you tomorrow, Sume-chan!"
"How's your day, Mikan?" Kaoru hugged her.
Mikan smiled and hugged her Okaa-sama back. "Great as always, Okaa-sama."
"That's good." Kaoru nodded with a smile. When she inclined her to sit down on the couch, Mikan obeyed. She then rang a bell that was placed on the table and no longer than a minute a maid came and served them a rose tea.
Mikan waited until her Okaa-sama sipped her tea before she did.
"You don't have to help me today. I finished the draft yesterday." Kaoru smiled at her after putting the cup on the table again.
Mikan nodded with a smile, too. Her Okaa-sama was a famous author. Usually, she helped her Okaa-sama with her ideas. She was the only one who could assist her Okaa-sama with her stories since they had the same interest. Remaining silent, she waited for her Okaa-sama to continue.
"You know that I have a son who is a year older than you, right?" Kaoru began.
Mikan nodded.
"He's coming back here from London."
"…"
"Will you do me a favour and fetch him from Narita, Mikan?"
"Is it tomorrow, Okaa-sama?"
Kaoru nodded in reply. "You will fetch him after class."
Mikan understood that tomorrow would be a big day for the Hyuugas. She had heard and saw the picture of her Okaa-sama's son. He was liked a male version of her Okaa-sama. She never met him before because after he turned five, he moved to London with his grandfather. It was said that instead of his Otou-sama, he would be the heir to the Hyuuga Corp.
"No problem, Okaa-sama." Mikan smiled at her Okaa-sama.
Kaoru clapped her hands together. "Good. I presume you still remember his name since he will be your Onii-sama."
After a moment or two, she nodded. Yes, I still remember … his name is Natsume Hyuuga.
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"Onii-sama!" Aoi ran to her brother and hugged him.
Natsume smiled down at her. "Aoi."
Aoi smiled back at him.
When Kaoru opened her arms to hug him, Natsume broke the hug.
"I'm back, Okaa-sama."
"Welcome home, Sume-chan!" Kaoru smiled.
Natsume had the urge to correct the nickname but decided he would bear it for now.
After breaking the hug, Natsume gave a small nod to his father. "Otou-sama."
Shuichi replied with a nod.
The happy atmosphere changed when the adult heard Aoi cried out, "Onee-sama! Where were you?"
All of them looked at Mikan, who slowly approached them.
Mikan smiled at Aoi. "I was helping Rin and Kai with Onii-sama's luggage."
Aoi frowned. "You don't have to do that, Onee-sama."
Kaoru shook her head with a small smile. Even after her parents died, Mikan had never changed, especially her kindness that was inherited from her mother Yuka. Two years ago, she had tried to convince Mikan to live with her, but she always refused, saying she didn't want to trouble anyone. In the end, Mikan agreed but on one condition, which she couldn't tell her children about because she was sure Aoi would be sad if she found out.
When Mikan stood beside Aoi, Kaoru turned to her son and smiled at him. "Sume-chan, I'm sure you already know Mikan. She's—"
"A freeloader," Natsume interrupted his mother with an emotionless face.
Everything around them stayed still.
After a few moments, Koaru and Shuichi's faces turned red in anger. Before they could lecture their son, he left them.
Aoi, who grabbed Mikan's hands and startled her, looked at her nervously. "Onee-sama… Please don't mind Onii-sama's word. I'm sure he didn't mean it; maybe he's in bad mood."
Mikan smiled in reply. She couldn't tell them that it was partly her fault that he spoke like that.
Kaoru looked at Mikan apologetically. "Mikan, I'm sorry about Natsume."
"Please don't apologise, Okaa-sama," Mikan replied while shaking her head.
Natsume pulled his notebook from his bag and placed it on the desk as he murmured, "Stupid girl."
For an hour, he had waited but the one who should fetch him still hadn't arrived. He was beginning to lose his patience as he tapped his foot urgently. It was not that he didn't know the way back home, he just didn't feel like going home with a cab. Then, he suddenly saw a brown-haired girl who was running towards him stop in front of him. Her body was slightly bent over as she tried to catch her breath.
After a moment, she straightened herself. "Natsume Hyuuga?"
For a moment, he stared at her beautiful face. Seeing the small droplets of sweat on her temple, he had the urge to wipe that clean but refrained from doing so as it would be rude. He didn't even know the girl's name. His mother did say that a girl would fetch him, but she didn't tell him her name. Emotionlessly, he looked at the girl and thought a greeting kiss wouldn't hurt her. Remembering her question, he nodded at the girl.
The girl let out a sigh in relief and smiled at him. "I'm sorry for being late. I was summoned by—"
Mikan stopped talking when Natsume leaned down and kissed her cheek. To her, it was rude to kiss people you just met, so she slapped him out of reflex. Her face flushed in anger.
The people around them stopped walking and looked at them as they started whispering to each other.
Mikan gasped silently as she realized that he was only greeting her with a kiss. She bowed immediately."I'm so sorry!"
Natsume, who was too shocked to respond, touched his slightly red cheek.
'Great… Just great, Mikan,' Mikan thought in panic.
After a few moments Natsume glared at her.
Mikan gulped. "I'm really sorry."
"I'm really, really sorry. I didn't mean to…" she trailed off as she felt guilty for slapping him.
Natsume was too angry to response as he ignored her. Before walking away from her, he coldly said, "I'm tired. Get my luggage."
Without being told twice, she quickly got his luggage and led him to the limo.
When they reached the limo, Kai approached them. He greeted Natsume with a low bow."Natsume-sama."
Natsume ignored him as well as he immediately went into the limo.
Kai gazed at Mikan, who looked nervous."Are you alright, Mikan-sama?"
Mikan didn't even bother to correct the honorific as she smiled. "I'm okay."
Kai only nodded even though he was not convinced because he knew she was faking a smile. Mikan was like a little sister to him. For the past two years, she showed nothing but kindness to him.
"Let's go, Kai. Onii-sama said he's tired," Mikan said nervously.
Kai nodded then went to the driver seat. Mikan followed suit, but she went to passenger seat.
During the ride, the limo was filled with uncomfortable silence, and no one uttered a word.
Natsume was looking at the road through the tinted glass window.
Mikan gulped and anxiously began, "I'm really sorry about what happened, Onii-sama."
Her last remark drew his attention, but he still kept his eyes out of the window.
Looking up at him, she continued, "My name is Mikan Yukihira."
Finally, he gazed at her and waited for her to continue, but when their eyes met, she didn't speak a word. He hated waiting, so he looked away from her and annoyingly said, "Explain yourself."
His words finally brought her out from her dazed state. She blushed in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, Onii-sama. I thought Okaa-sama already told you about me."
He snorted mentally, and she gave him a small smile. "I've been living with Okaa-sama, Otou-sama and Aoi-chan for the past two years."
"For what reason?" he asked coldly. Looking at her from the corner his eyes, he caught her faded smile.
She smiled again but a sad one. "My parents died in the car accident two years ago."
With that simple explanation, he could tell what happened to her. Judging from the way she called him, he was older than her. Not wanting to hear anything from her anymore, he said, "Enough."
After that they remained silent for the entire trip because he was still annoyed that he had been slapped by her. It didn't sit right in his mind that she could slap him.
"Stupid, stupid girl," he mumbled as he started the works that were given to him by his grandfather.
While lying down on her bed, Mikan sighed. She really didn't mean to slap him. She should have remembered his previous living environment. After looking at the ceiling of her room, she finally decided that she should apologize to him when they meet again, which was tonight during his welcome home party.
The party was celebrated elegantly as a lot of famous people from the government and entertainment side came to attend. It was expected as the Hyuuga family was famous with their trading company. Their company had grown so much that they even had a few branches in different countries. Natsume, as the eldest and only son that would become the heir of Hyuuga Corp, stood beside his father to greet the guest. Everyone who saw him nodded their head in approval. They believed that he would become a great leader that could give a good future for the Hyuuga Corp even though he was still in his first year of high school.
The room that was filled with chattering people suddenly turned silent, even the guest that just arrived had stopped and looked at the direction of the stairs. Shuichi was wondering what was happening and turned to look at the long stairs. He was surprised when he saw Mikan, who was slowly going down the stairs with Aoi. Aoi looked cute with her simple dark red dress. But Mikan, she looked stunning with her simple v-neck dress. Everyone could see her petite figure from the fabric of her dress. Her high heels matched with the colour of her dress, shade blue. Her hair was tied up in messy bun with a few simple hair accessories, a few strands of her locks were let loose at the side of her face. A silver necklace with a small sapphire stone decorated her slender neck.
Everyone couldn't take their eyes off of her including Natsume, who didn't even blink his eyes while looking at her. He felt that his breath was taken away from him because of her beauty. Mentally, he admitted that she was really beautiful as she looked like an angel.
Meanwhile, Mikan was oblivious of the attention she was getting. She was looking at the steps while walking down the stairs as she was too occupied with her own thoughts. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Aoi tugged on her right hand.
Every young man took a deep breath when they saw Mikan's angelic smile. Of course, it was not directed to anyone but Aoi.
"What is it, Aoi-chan?"
Aoi smiled back. "I'm hungry, Onee-sama."
When Mikan chuckled, blushes appeared on every young man's face.
Mikan was still oblivious of what she had done with that simple gesture to all the young men who were present in the room except for Natsume as he remained the same.
Before she started looking around to find her Okaa-sama, she took Aoi's hand into hers. "I think it would be best if we find…"
Mikan had forgotten what she was trying to say. She just realized that everyone was staring at her. Feeling awkward, she turned to look at Aoi, who grinned at her. Resigned, she sighed as she knew the meaning of her little sister's face was. Aoi had obviously stated, or told her that everyone turned silent because of her. After their make-up time, Aoi constantly said she looked beautiful but since she never saw herself as beautiful, she only ignored her. Trying to ignore the feeling of being stared at, Mikan approached her Okaa-sama with Aoi. She greeted her mother with a small bow. "Good evening, Okaa-sama."
Kaoru smiled. "Good evening, Mikan."
Hearing Kaoru's response, the silence finally resolved. All the guests were whispering to each other while looking at her.
"Ladies and gentlemen," a deep voice stopped all of the whispering guests. It was Shuichi. "I welcome all of you to this party to introduce you my son, Natsume."
Everyone turned to look at Shuichi, and Mikan sighed in relief as she really didn't like to be noticed by the crowd.
Natsume, who stood beside his father, gave a small bow to all of the guests, and they nodded in reply.
Shuichi smiled. "Everyone might have wondered who the beautiful young lady was just now."
Mikan froze. She definitely didn't want to be noticed by anyone. However, her Otou-sama had planned otherwise, and everyone already set their eyes to her. Aoi started dragging her towards their Otou-sama. Aoi made her stand beside Natsume while she stood right at the other side of their father. She started sweating mentally as she gulped silently. The attention from the guests was slightly forgotten when she realized she was standing right beside Natsume.
"Her name is Mikan. She's my daughter," Shuichi introduced her to everyone.
It was clear to everyone that Mikan didn't resemble the Hyuugas. Looking at her brown hair and pale brown eyes, everyone suspected that she had been adopted.
Mikan noticed how most of the young girls snickered at her in disgust. She knew that they were jealous of her. Nevertheless, she gave a small smile and bowed to the guests politely in greeting. For now, she would just bear with it as she believed everyone would forget about her soon.
Older couples smiled at Mikan and nodded their heads in reply.
After the party continued again, the most famous couple Mr. and Mrs. Matsuo approached Shuichi.
Mrs. Matsuo smiled. "I never knew you have such a young and beautiful daughter, Shuichi."
Mikan blushed at the remark. "Thank you."
"Were you hiding her all this time, Shuichi?" Mr. Matsuo added.
Shuichi laughed. "No, no, of course not. She just started living with us two years ago, Mr. Matsuo."
Mrs. Matsuo smiled. "No wonder we've never seen her before."
"Is she in the same age as your son?" Mr. Matsuo asked.
Shuichi shook his head. "No. She's still in middle school like Aoi, but she's in her last year now."
"I see…" Mrs. Matsuo replied.
Shuichi smiled. "Please make yourself comfortable and enjoy the party."
Mr. and Mrs. Matsuo replied with a nod before leaving them.
An amount of time passed, and the party went pretty well. When it was time to dance, Mikan decided that she would retire for the night as she believed that no one would ask her for a dance.
Unknown to her, most of the young boys wanted to ask her for a dance, but they were sent back by a dead glare from her new Onii-sama.
Mikan knew it was rude to leave the party, but she couldn't bear the hateful looks she was getting from most of the young girls. Before she could approach her Okaa-sama, her Onii-sama stood before her, surprising her.
Natsume offered his hand and slightly bent his body as he quietly asked, "Will you dance with me?"
Mikan's eyes widened in shock, but she let out a smile. She knew a dance wouldn't hurt her and this would be her chance to apologize. "It would be my pleasure, Onii-sama."
When their hands were clasped together, both felt that the anxieties within them vanished. Natsume gracefully led her to the dance floor. The music was slow as they performed simple waltz. Their bodies were pressed closely, and Mikan slightly leaned on his broad shoulder while dancing.
Unknown to them, all the couples who were dancing had given them the dance floor, and they all watched them dance. Both were oblivious that Kaoru and Shuichi watched them closely. Only people who are blind couldn't see that both would make a great couple.
While dancing, Mikan softly whispered to him, "I'm sorry, Onii-sama."
Natsume knew perfectly what she was apologizing for. Thinking it over, it was actually not entirely her fault as from the beginning; he was just trying his luck to kiss her but never thought she would slap him. Part of him was at fault for being rude. He decided that he should apologize to her, too and leaned slightly to her ear.
Mikan could feel his hot breath as he whispered back, "I'm sorry, too."
Closing her eyes, she smiled and replied him with a small nod. After a moment, the song ended and both pulled apart. They gave a small bow to each other.
"Thank you for the dance, Onii-sama," Mikan said softly. Without waiting for his reply, she turned her heels and went to her Okaa-sama.
He watched every step she took before looking at Aoi. It was her turn to dance with him. He then approached her little sister. "Will you dance with me, Aoi?"
"Of course, Onii-sama." Aoi smiled at her brother, and the dance floor was slowly filled with couples again.
Natsume was watching Mikan silently while dancing with Aoi. He could tell from her gestures that she was asking his mother to retire for the night. His mother smiled at her and told her something. He guessed his mother bid her good night and after that, she left. A small part of him wished he could bid her good night, too, but then again, why was he having those kinds of thoughts when she was nothing but his new sister?
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A/N: You need to know one thing: update will be sporadic. I don't know when I will finish this piece. Aside from that, enjoy the story! :)