a/n hello! It's me, StEpPiNg StOnEs! I have decided that I would like to rewrite the existing chapters of this story, so I started doing that. This si the rewrite of Chapter one. Before I rewrite Chapter Two, though, I am going to write chapter seven--something I started doing a while ago, but it got deleted from fanfiction because it started to whole 'life' thing. Grumble, grumble. Anyway! I am going to write that, and then I am going to continue to rewrite the other existing chapters, okay? Hopefully I don't get caught up in something else before I finish. Ha ha.

But seriously. Let's all keep our fingers crossed, okay?

Chapter One--The Festival

It was the third day of the Osaka High School fair—the last day. This was the day that outsiders were invited to come join in on the festivities. Most people at St. Blossom's—Osaka's sister school—had jumped at the opportunity to come watch the 'gorgeous men' play sports as well as other such activities. Umeda Rio and Iwakura Yuri were two such people. However, their friend Ogata Mika was not thrilled by the concept of spending her day watching boys sweat and/or dress up like girls. Actually, the very thought horrified her.

Men were not meant to wear tights.

They just weren't!

When she expressed these thoughts to her friends, they exchanged looks and then burst out into laughter.

"There are other things to do there besides just watching sports and checking out the competition. Minami is hosting a sort of mystery tour thing…" Minami was someone who attended Osaka High that Rio knew; neither Mika nor Yuri knew exactly how they knew one another, and decided not to ask anymore. Whenever they did Rio's eyes flashed and she got sort of angry and embarrassed.

"I've heard it's supposed to be really good," Rio continued. "You could check that out. And different classes have cafes and booths…there's plenty for you to do without seeing men in tights or boring yourself with sports. So what do you say? Will you come?"

Rio and Yuri stared intently at their best friend, both wearing identically pathetic expressions. Mika grimaced as she stared at their trembling lips and their pleading eyes. At long last, she heaved a sigh and nodded consent.

"Yes!" Yuri exclaimed, a grin already in place on her face. She clapped her hands excitedly, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet as she went on and on about what a wonderful time the three of them would have together.

"Oh, it will be wonderful!" she declared with a wistful sigh and pushed her jaw-length hair behind her ear. "Of course, we aren't going to make you come to the sports if you don't want to, but there are other events we can all go to together. Like that…mystery thing! And the cafes! I'm so excited!"

Yuri ran to the door, flashed Rio and Mika another grin, and then ran out. Her giggles could be heard all the way down the hall.

Mika rolled her eyes and closed the door which Yuri, in her excitement, had left wide open. "Where's she going? Is she so excited that she decided to leave without us?"

Rio laughed lightly, shaking her head. "Of course not; half the reason she's excited is because the three of us are going together. She wouldn't go by herself then. No, she's just going to get changed. She wouldn't want to go there in her uniform, now would she?"

"…No, I suppose Yuri would never do that…"

"And neither would we. So let's get changed, eh?"

Mika groaned and fell back on her bed. "Can't we just stay in our uniforms? It's so much easier, and it shows school spirit! Go St. Blossoms!! Right?"

Rio stared at her roommate over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. "You just don't want to get all dressed up for a bunch of stupid boys, am I right?"

Mika grinned. "You know me so well."

"Yeah; I do. However-that doesn't mean I approve of your laziness and unwillingness. Now get over here and pick something out before I do it for you, alright?"

Groaning, Mika lifted herself to her feet. With great slowness and care, she made her way to the closet she and Rio shared. Rio had already picked out her outfit and was sorting through her clothes, seeing if there was anything there for her 'fashionably handicapped' friend to wear, since she didn't think Mika had anything suitable for the occasion.

"There—I have what I am going to wear. Now I am going to get changed, and then we are going to go get Yuri and head over to Osaka—alright?"

Rio knit her brows together and frowned. "You—you're really going to wear that, are you?" She pointed at the blouse and capris Mika had pulled out as if they were some sort of disease. "They don't even match!"

Mika shrugged indifferently. "In case you hadn't noticed—fashion is not a top priority of mine. This s the best that I can do with my limited selection. If I weren't going with you and Yuri, I wouldn't eve bother changing out of my uniform, most likely. If I did, I would probably wear a t-shirt and shorts. So be thankful that I came up with this, please."

Rio sighed, blowing her bangs out of her face in irritation. "I guess I could be grateful for that…" She paused and cast a sidelong glance to the hanger her hand was on. "But do you know what would make me even happier? If you would wear this!"

Rio grinned broadly as she held the dress out before her. It was cream colored and had only think straps to hold it up. The top half was rather tight; the front had six evenly spaced buttons (which served no purpose whatsoever). The skirt puffed out significantly, but not obnoxiously. There was a loose bow in the back—this also served no purpose, but, as Rio put it, it was 'cute.'

Mika loosely held the skirt, and then sighed. "Why would me wearing this make you any happier?"

Rio shrugged, barely managing to suppress her smile. "I think that you'll look pretty in it. Looking pretty in front of a school of hot boys never hurts."

Without saying another word, Mika snatched the dress from her friends hands and stormed to the bathroom to get into it; Rio was grinning the entire time.

X

X

"Oh! You two! Look at this; how cool is this?!" Yuri exclaimed. The three had just walked through the entrance gates to Osaka High School. Hundreds of people were milling about, checking out the different booths that had been set up. "I wish our school did this!"

"Yeah; so do I. Then maybe I wouldn't have to be here," Mika grumbled, brushing her dark bangs out of her face; Rio smirked at her best friend's comment and chuckled, but Yuri remained completely oblivious to it.

"What do you have against coming here, anyway?" Rio whispered.

Mika shrugged. "I just…I get so uncomfortable. I always feel like everyone's watching me, you know? I guess that's what I get, though, for attending all-girl schools since junior high. The last time I really had any length of contact with boys was back before puberty; back when boys were only friends, and nothing else. I blame my parents. If I wasn't in an all-girls' school, or if I had a brother, maybe I wouldn't feel that way!"

Rio shuddered noticeably. "Trust me; you do not want an older brother. Just believe me on that one." She looked around briefly and smiled. "However, you can wish you went to a co-ed school. I know I do. And Yuri does too, no doubt. Look at her already!"

Yuri was already talking to a whole bunch of boys, smiling and laughing; she had no clue that the boys she was talking to were already quite smitten by her, and were hoping to get her number. She really didn't know when she was flirting; she was even more oblivious, though, to what she did to every boy she came in contact with.

For a brief moment, Mika felt the all-too-familiar jealousy flare up inside her as she watched Yuri. It had been a while since she'd felt it; she hated that suddenly it was back. But she couldn't help it. People fell into love so easily with Yuri. As if her bubbly, outgoing personality weren't enough, she was also gorgeous. She had a very slight build as well as soft, feminine features. Her hair was light brown and naturally curly, so that it curled inward, hugging her face. Her eyes were big and blue; the way they sparkled made it seem like they had a life of their own.

Just looking at her, boys fell madly in love. Then she spoke, and it was like she was rubbing it in everyone else's face. She had a very loud voice, but it was still very smooth. A lot of her words were spoken with a French accent, because she was half French and had lived in France until she was eight years old.

"Mika? Are you alright?" Rio asked, waving a hand in front of Mika's glazed eyes. Mika blinked slowly and then smiled.

"Yeah…Yeah, I'm fine. I think I want to look around a bit."

"Alright! Come on then! We can find Yuri later, when we're ready to go check out Minami's thing. It should be easy enough t find her; all the boys in the immediate area will have flocked around her."

Mika chuckled. "That's true enough. It's actually quite handy, isn't it? Like our tracking device for her."

"That's exactly what it is. Our own little tracking device."

Mika sighed and rubbed her arms self-consciously. She felt so bare; which was why she was so glad that she brought a sweater. She knew she would feel that way even before she had put the dress on. Mika didn't do well in anything that was even slightly revealing. She had grown up in a household where she wasn't allowed to wear such clothing, so when she even thought of it now, when her parents couldn't even see her, she shuddered and shied away from it.

So, while Rio was absorbed in looking at one of the booths, Mika shrugged into the pale brown sweater. Instantly, she felt better. She smiled up at the boy in charge of the booth she stood at, but didn't notice him smiling back, because she had walked off in order to check out other booths.

Just as she was approaching one that looked interesting—'Your Picture With Ghosts,' the sign read in big letters, with smaller letters Mika couldn't read beneath it—Rio ran up to her and spun her around.

"Minami's next show is about to start! We have to go! Come on!"

Mika frowned. "Alright." Her eyes wandered up towards the school's entrance. "Is that why everyone is hurrying inside?"

Rio shrugged indifferently. "Probably."

"We probably won't be able to see it! Why don't we wait for another showing?"

Rio laughed bitterly. "Trust me, Mika; we will get to se it. Minami will let us in the front."

"And why would he do that?"

Rio cocked a brow and smiled mysteriously at her friend. "That is something only a select few know; and I'm sorry, Mika—I just can't tell you or Yuri. Now let's go."

The two dragged Yuri from the crowd and the three rushed inside to see the Mystery Tour.

X

X

Rio had been right; Minami let the three of them right up front, though he didn't seem pleased in doing so. He continuously cast the younger girl looks that appeared to be almost frightened as he waited to start the show, but once it began, he immediately forgot about the three of them and focused entirely on what he was doing.

It had been a spectacular performance. Yuri could talk of nothing else as the walked to class 2-c's café. Even once they were in there, she yammered on and on about how realistic it was, and how gorgeous Minami was.

Rio appeared to be both grossed out, disturbed, and ticked off as Yuri spoke about this, gushing over the details of his hair and eyes. According to the blue-eyed-beauty, Nanba Minami had grace, good-looks, and charm. He was tall, and he was beautiful.

"I've seen taller people," Rio muttered, clenching her fist so tightly her knuckles were white. "And there are plenty of people who are better looking. Right, Mika? I mean, just look around!"

"I'd rather not," Mika said lowly. She glanced about quickly under her lashes, and shuddered. Why did they choose to come to this café, of all places? It was swarming with men dressed as girls. There were two Mika had seen and thought were actually girls—the Alice in Wonderland and Snow White—but then there were those others…

Mika shuddered again and shook her head, but the image of those boys wouldn't leave her mind. One was supposed to be Clara from Heidi, or something, and the other was Rotten Meyer, or something, from Mika hadn't a clue where.

The sight of those two was horrifying.

"Well outside there were plenty of good-looking guys!" Rio amended, realizing that Mika wasn't going to back her up on what was going on in the café, too afraid to look up.

"Yeah," Yuri agreed, "but none as gorgeous as Minami! Please, Rio-chan! Tell us how you know him!"

"No," Rio said firmly. She took a sip of coffee and closed her eyes.

"Puh-leeeeeeaaaaaase?!" Yuri pleaded; she thrust out her lip and stared at the Umeda through shimmering eyes.

"…Through my family, I guess you could say," Rio grunted, giving in at last.

"Oh, cool! How long have you known him?"

"Since I was a baby."

"Aw, that's so cute! Hey, Mika—wouldn't you think that it would be adorable if, when they were older, they ended up married? I can see it now! After knowing each other for so long—and clearly, not liking each other that much, they started to see one another in a different light! Then, biff bam boom! They're in love! They soon get engaged and then have a beautiful ceremony with just a few of their closest friends and relatives! Oh, that's so adorable!"

Rio listened to Yuri's wistful speech with the expression of utmost horror on her face. Her eyes had glazed over; her skin was chalky; her mouth was frozen in a silent scream.

Yuri smiled at her friend and pat her consolingly on the arm. "You may feel that way now, but give it a few years and I'm sure you'll feel differently."

"Trust me, Yuri—my thoughts on that little…scenario you just gave me, will never ever change!"

"You're so stubborn! Kind of like Mika! But okay—okay! You clearly aren't ready to think that way yet."

"With Minami, I will never be ready to think that way."

Yuri chuckled, but said nothing more; and with that, the discussion was over. Mika smiled slightly, replaying the conversation in her mind. Rio was so horrified by the thought, it made her laugh.

Really, though, she couldn't see what Yuri saw. The two just…weren't right for one another. The way they acted around each other was too…familiar. As if they were brother or sister or something. They even looked sort of similar…

"Okay, can we leave the cafe now?" Mika inquired, looking up from her plate for the first time since they had gotten there. "I'm done."

"Whaaaaaat?!" Yuri exclaimed. "I'm not! I haven't even gotten my pastry yet!"

"Neither have I," Rio frowned. "Only you did."

"Yeah! That's not fair! Why do you think that is?"

Rio shrugged, her grin growing so wide it was almost malicious. "Maybe the waiter liked her or something!"

Yuri was grinning, too, now. "Oooooooo!" she screeched, playfully pinching her friend's cheek. Mika scowled and swatted the hand away.

"My order was probably just easiest, that's all." She sighed, running her fingers through her long ponytail in a bored fashion. She exhaled deeply and drummed her fingers on the table. She whistled and she hummed. But, still, their orders didn't come.

"Okay! Well, I'll meet up with you guys outside, okay?"

"Okay. But we're going to the sporting event after this. You are going to be waiting for a while."

Mika shrugged. "I can keep myself entertained." She pulled a small paperback out of her purse and smiled lightly, then disappeared around a corner, her eyes squeezed shut in order to avoid the 'cross-dressing boys.'

X

X

Outside, it was barren. At least, compared to how it was before it was. Most everyone had gone to the track field by now, though there were some who, like Mika, would rather not be a part of that.

With a soft smile, Mika looked around, allowing the gentle breeze to lift her hair and ripple her dress. She loved the wind; it always made her feel very soothed, and it always carried away whatever was bothering her on its wings—taking her cares for a ride, ridding her of them, if only for a little while.

With great care, Mika lowered herself to the ground and pulled out her book. Her feet were throbbing from walking around on high-heels all day, but worse than that, her ankle was acting up again. Hesitantly, she looked at her ankle, and, sure enough—it was swollen. She knew that she should of wrapped it up, but she was having a vain moment—a rather rare thing for her. She didn't want people to see that. And it wasn't as if the dress would cover it. The dress ended mid-knee.

"Oh well. It'll go away."

And that was that. She blocked out the throbbing sensation then and focused entirely on her book. It was a small, old, worn paperback that she had read many times over. Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie. It was an English book, and when she first got it she struggled through it. But, by now, she read it with such ease it might as well have been written in Japanese.

Mika could easily breeze right on through the book—it was a short little novel, scarcely one-hundred-sixty pages—but she never liked to do that. Peter Pan was a novel that was meant to be read slowly, so that you could taste the words on your tongue—and savor them.

So, by the time the athletic event—whatever it was—was over, and people were slowly leaving the field, Mika was only on page thirty-four. She was so absorbed in the familiar tale, though, that she didn't even notice that the courtyard was slowly filling up once again.

"'Sometimes it was dark, and sometimes it was light, and now they were very cold again and too warm,'" Mika quoted in a whisper. She could feel the beautiful words on her tongue; heavy with their meaning. She loved it. For a minute or so, she sat there, simply pondering those words and what they meant. It was in that moment of weakness—when Mika had set the book down—that the wind, which had been so gentle up until then, picked up. It whistled through the leaves, blew her long hair in her face, and lifted her skirt.

Mika pushed her hair out of her eyes and forced her skirt back down, holding them both as she waited for the wind to die down. It was only once it did, and she had free use of her hands again, that she noticed that the wind had carried away her book.

"No! It's delicate!" Mika screeched. She jumped to her feet—bad move, what with the heels and the ankle—and ran—another bad move—after the book, which was tumbling away. Loose pages were flying off in different directions, and Mika felt like someone was digging a knife into her heart. Her book! Her precious book!

She pushed forward until she had caught up with her book, nearly tackling it as she did so. Then, not even pausing for a breath, she took off after the nearest loose page. She felt like she had lapped the whole courtyard several times before she found the last missing page. By this point, she was out of breath, and she was nearly crying out in agony as her ankle protested to the physical exertion.

Once the wind had finally stopped completely, the page had been caught in the branch of a tree. And, since then, nothing had come to carry it away from its trap.

Mika cursed under her breath and brushed her bangs from her face. It was too high up for her to be able to just reach up and snatch it. She was going to have to climb up in order to get that, and she really just didn't see how that was going to happen.

However, she had to. That was the first page up there—a very important page to the story. Not that any of the pages were unimportant, but the first page was exceptionally so. So, with a deep sigh, Mika kicked off her shoes and grabbed onto the lowest branch. With some difficulty, she pulled herself up onto it. She struggled to maintain her balance as she crawled to a spot where she would be able to reach the next branch from.

There the precious first page was—all the way at the end, caught between leaves. Mika grumbled to herself, cursing her luck, and closed her eyes. She felt herself trembling as she tried to preserve her balance as she crept closer and closer to the page. However, the closer she got, the more the branch sagged in protest to the additional weight, and the harder it was not to fall.

It seemed to take forever, but finally, she made it. Quick as a blink, she snatched the page and made her way backwards. However, now that she wasn't as concentrated, because she had achieved her goal, she wasn't as careful. And, since she wasn't exactly a graceful person, the results of her carelessness were disastrous.

She didn't see it coming; not at all. She was perched on the branch, holding the page in victory, and the next thing she knew, she had fallen from the tree and landed on her feet, though they twisted under the impact and she fell, crumpled, to the ground. As she felt herself falling, she reached for the tree in hopes of catching herself, but merely scraped her hand on the rough bark.

Mika felt tears prickling her eyes and there was already a lump forming in her throat, growing quickly with the scream of agony that was building up inside of her. She swallowed them both down, however, and simply rocked back and forth while hugging her legs close to her, forgetting that she wore a dress.

No one seemed to have noticed her fall, which both relieved her and irritated her. It was embarrassing, so she was pleased that no one had noticed in that regard, but also, it was irritating because now she couldn't move, and no one cared. No one was rushing to her aide, and there was no way she would be able to get herself to some sort of doctor. She hadn't a clue where either of her friends had gotten to. So she was stuck; alone, and bored. She couldn't get herself to concentrate enough to read some more of Peter Pan. Too much effort. Besides, tears were fogging up her dark brown eyes, and blinking them away was useless, since they just kept coming back.

Mika was alone; sure, there were people there, but no one knew her, r even noticed her for that matter. Alone. Well, at least it was a familiar sort of feeling. She had often times found herself alone before; at home; at school; out. Just about everywhere she went…alone.

She heaved a sigh and leaned back against the—evil—tree which she had fallen out of. The pain, while it was indeed ebbing away, was by no means gone. She was learning to ignore it, though, just as she had learned to ignore the emptiness inside.

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift into a light sleep. She had nothing better to do, and she was tired. She didn't know how long she had been at Osaka, but it was tiring. And she hadn't gotten too much sleep the night before, because she had stayed up late doing homework. Then she had been woken early to the sounds of Rio typing away at the computer. So it was good to sleep, if only for a few minutes.

And a good few minutes it was. She really didn't want it to end, but it did, and then there was nothing she could do about it, because she was captivated by the boy who had woken her. He seemed oddly familiar, though not enough so that she suspected she had known him at some point in her life. Just a face which she had seen before.

A rather attractive face.

Mika blushed vividly in surprise at the thought. She sounded like Yuri; that was something she wasn't used to.

"Hello," she croaked. She hastily repositioned herself so that she was sitting up and her legs were out before her properly.

"Hello," the boy replied. He had a soft voice; Mika liked it. He smiled slightly at her; Mika liked his smile. He had very…soft looking lips, she noticed. And gentle looking eyes. "Are you alright? You had quite a fall."

"Oh. You…saw that?"

The boy nodded. "Your aura is a very violent shade; you appear to be in great pain." He frowned, though whether it was to himself or to Mika, she didn't know. He seemed to be thinking though, about what he said, and almost wishing he could take the words back. "Would you like me to take you up to see the school doctor?"

"Um…sure; thank you. But first, I would like to clarify something."

The boy—she really shouldn't think of him like that; he was her age, and taller than her—waited patiently for her to ask whatever it was, remaining silent and still the entire time—observing her.

"You can see my aura?"

By the way his expression remained blank, Mika guessed that he knew that was what she was going to ask. "Yes," he answered simply.

"That's so neat! How do you do that?"

The strange male shrugged. "It's a…sixth sense, I suppose."

"That is really neat! Could you tell me more about what mine looks like?"

He hesitated before nodding. "It's flashing between red and orange right now; there's also hints of pink."

Mika's eyes widened. "What does that mean?"

"Well, it means you're in pain…" He trailed off, as if he didn't want to say what else it meant, fearing that he would embarrass her. Mika didn't even notice the way he stopped, his thoughts hovering there. She was too astounded by what he was telling her.

"Does it say anything else?"

"Well, I saw it earlier, and it was a dull grey—like you were bored. But now it's showing that you're…excited and fascinated." He paused. "You have a very interesting aura. Your thoughts and feelings change so quickly. It's almost hard to keep up."

Mika giggled and hid her face so that he couldn't see her smile or blush—forgetting that he could probably see her feelings with her aura, anyway. "Yes, my friends say I'm a very complicated person," she laughed.

"Is that so?" He was smiling again; he had such an adorable smile. It wasn't very large, but it went all the way to his eyes—which were violet, she noted--a soft, gentle violet.

"Oh, yes indeed!" She laughed some more.

He said nothing to that, but his smile remained on her face. He looked up at the sky, and when his gaze came back down, his smile was gone. Mika herself frowned and almost hurriedly asked him what was wrong, but thought better of it and remained quiet.

"Well, let's get you to the doctor, shall we?"

"Oh—yes, alright. I suppose that…yes," Mika stuttered. She was shocked by the sudden intensity in his eyes—it was almost as if there was a fire blazing in them.

The male offered his hand to help Mika up, and she quickly accepted it. His hands were larger than hers, though they were by no means hard, dirty, or even…big. His hands were gentle, just like the rest of him, but were far from dainty or feminine. They were strong, and clearly belonged to a man, but there was a certain quality…she didn't know. All she knew that his hand felt warm in hers.

"Where are you injured?" he inquired. He looked at her feet as if he already knew the answer.

"My ankle," Mika replied.

"Thought so." He guided her arm so that it was draped across his shoulders. He wrapped one arm around her waist and then was about to reach for her legs, then stopped. "Would you mind if…?"

Mika blinked. "If what?"

He swallowed, as if he was having trouble with the concept or the words…or both. "If I carried you? It would be much easier."

"Oh! Um…I guess that would be…alright."

Awkward but certainly alright.

With gentleness and care, he hooked his free arm under her knees and lifted her up so that he carried her bridal style. This was not comfortable for either of the two strangers, but neither said a word. Mika's heart was beating rapidly, and she knew that if he couldn't see her embarrassment in her aura, he would certainly be able to hear it from her heart.

He bent cautiously and picked up her shoes and her book from the ground, then straightened. They were each held loosely between his fingers; Mika was quick to grab all three so that he wouldn't have to pick them up again if they fell.

"Thank you."

Mika grinned. "No, thank you."

He nodded, but said nothing. Mika stared at him for a moment before looking away. She closed her eyes and clung to his neck, allowing herself to get used to the silence, and to being in some strange guy's arms. It felt nice, she had to admit.

And that was how Ogata Mika met 'The Aura Guy.'

a/n okay, so...what did you think? Did you like it? I know I made some changes, but none were too drastic. I mean, it's longer, and it's more detailed, but it basically has the same content...and then some. So please, tell me what you think. I, personally, find it much MUCH better, but my friend bri usually finds that when I re-write stuff it is too stiff, and I don't make it fun anymore. She also thinks most of the newer stuff I write is stiff...not that she really reads any of my stories. Basically just this one, Rose Petals and Thorn Bushes, and my TMM one...

But yeah! I love feedback, so please, tell me what you think!

And remember--I am in the process of rewriting this story. I am going to write chapter seven next. AFTER THAT, I am going to rewrite Chapter Two, Chapter Three...et cetera, et cetera.

Love you guys!
xox

StEpPiNg StOnEs