X . The Unlucky Girl . X

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To Mikan Sakura, anything that concerns her is poisoned. Her mother and father separated and she lives in a poor house with her mother, who is getting sicker by day. Her father doesn't care about them, now that he has his own new family with his new wife. In order to get more money, Mikan becomes a bar singer, which she keeps a secret from her family. Everything in Mikan's life is going wrong, but will something finally be right when she meets Natsume and Ruka?

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▬Chapter One: The Beginning▬

Hi. My name is Mikan. Mikan Sakura. Everybody has a life story, and each fills up hundreds, even thousands of pages. Mine, you ask? Who knows? All I know is that my life is just so unfair. You can call me the unlucky girl. How many pages, exactly, does my unlucky life story fill up? As I said, I don't know. I'm writing it all up right now. Of course, I can't go into all the details… but my unlucky life has been interesting enough to write quite a story… let's start from the very beginning…

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"Ohaiyo-gozaimasu, class. Starting from today, I will be your English teacher." A man, seemingly in his twenties, smiled at the hoard of students staring at him. "My name is Seiji Sakura, but if you can call me Seiji-sensei, I'd be much obliged."

All the girls in the class were practically drooling, with hot-pink-colored hearts in their wide eyes. They couldn't be blamed. Seiji had really handsome features, and everything about him spelled "hot".

"How old are you?" A soon-to-be fan-girl screamed from one side of the room.

Seiji smiled kindly. "I'm turning twenty-two this year."

The fan-girls sighed happily. Most of the girls in the class were sixteen, and to them, the prospect of loving a twenty-two year old wasn't too bad. At least he wasn't thirty.

"So, today, I'd like to know all of your names before I start our lesson." Seiji pulled out a thin yellow folder out of his drawer, and held it up for the class to see. "Some like to call it Attendance, but I like to call it a way to learn all your names. So—"

Seiji was interrupted when the classroom door opened with a bang.

The whole class, including a curious Seiji, turned to the door and saw a girl with long, brown hair with two long pigtails panting, with one hand on the door, and the other on her books, barely keeping balance.

"What do we have here?" Seiji smiled as he walked over to the door. "Here." He took some of the girl's books and laid them on the front desk.

The girl finally looked up and beamed at him in thanks. Her eyes were a warm color of brown.

"No problem. What's your name?" Seiji lead the girl to the front of the room.

"Ano… eto… namae-ga? Yuka… Yuka Azumi." The girl suddenly bowed, her pigtails flying up, then flopping down onto her shoulders once more.

Seiji scanned the attendance list. "Yuka is a new student here, so you might not know her."

"She's cute!" Some boys in the back wolf-whistled. The whole class laughed happily.

Yuka blushed and suddenly seemed to find her black leather uniform shoes the most interesting thing in the world.

"Arigatou," she mumbled shyly.

"What's her Alice, Seiji-sensei?" one boy with blonde hair raised his hand.

"Hmm… it says here…" Seiji blinked. "Ah, it says that her Alice is a secret, so please don't ask her or anybody about it."

This, of course, made the class even more curious. As Yuka shyly walked down the aisle, searching for a suitable seat, she felt everyone's stares at her. Finally, after walking that seemingly endless aisle, she chose a seat in the very back.

Two Months Later…

"You piece of trash!"

"You think you're so full of it, don't you?"

"Take this!"

"No, no, please, please, stop it!" Yuka screamed. She felt a sharp pain on her side, then, a split second later, an excruciating pain on her shoulder. One after another, the group of boys and girls that surrounded her hit her using the dangerous looking sticks they had.

Yuka could barely open her eyes.

Why… why? Why did it have to turn out this way? I thought everyone accepted me…

"Think you're so high and mighty, Azumi? The Stealing Alice," a girl spat. The beating suddenly stopped, and a girl that Yuka always secretly hated put her foot on her face and leaned on it, causing Yuka to wince and struggle.

"Please… Luna, stop it!" Yuka could barely choke the words out. Her face was definitely going to be permanently deformed if she didn't do something about Luna's foot.

Luna laughed, her beautiful face contorting into an ugly smirk.

What should I do? What should I do? Yuka was panicking inside her head.

So, she did what she could do. She screamed. The high-pitched agonizing sounds probably would've traveled across the whole Academy if Luna didn't kick her jaw.

Yuka yelped and clutched her throbbing cheek, which was getting redder and redder by the moment. She stared at the looming figure staring down at her in hatred.

Suddenly, Yuka just snapped. She used her arms to lift herself up from the ground, and stared full-on into Luna's eyes. "You're going to pay."

"Yuka! Koizumi! Stop this immediately." A familiar, usually comforting, but now harsh voice called from behind them. Luna whipped around and quickly dropped her stick.

The stick dropped on Yuka's stomach, and she whimpered, too exhausted to even scream. She smiled weakly as she felt a warm, comforting hands wrap around her waist. After that, she felt a sudden wave of nausea and blacked out.

One Year Later…

"Seiji-sensei… I don't know how I should say this…" Yuka averted her eyes. "But… I love you." She did not dare look up. Yuka wasn't sure if she wanted to look about Seiji's reaction.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of strong arms hug her. Someone's chin rested in her hair and that certain someone whispered, "I love you too, Yuka."

Yuka closed her eyes and smiled, wishing with all her heart that time would stop and they—Seiji and herself—would stay like this for eternity. She knew of the consequences of their forbidden love… but it didn't matter anymore.

Nine Months Later…

"Yuka, it's final. You're EXPELLED." A white-haired man slammed his fist on his desk and swiveled his chair so that his back was facing the pale-faced student sitting in front of him.

"No… please… I'll do anything! Please… give me a chance…" Yuka begged. When the principal did not react, Yuka broke down crying.

The principal's voice softened. "You can't change anything by crying, Yuka. I've always liked you… personally. But rules are rules; you cannot have affairs with teachers. That is final."

Yuka fought to catch her breath between sobs. "It's not about having an affair, sir. Have you heard of it? It's called love."

The principal swiveled his chair once more so he faced the sobbing Yuka. "I think it's best for you to leave the school Yuka… you won't be accepted by your fellow classmates."

Yuka made a snorting sound, because she was trying to swallow her river of tears. "It doesn't matter! I don't have to be accepted, as long as I'm accepted by Seiji!" she cried.

The principal's eyes hardened and he clasped his hands together. "Sakura-sensei is also being fired at this moment," he said quietly.

Yuka suddenly stopped sobbing. Her eyes were as wide as saucers. "No… no… how can this be?" she screamed. "Expel me… please, just don't fire him!"

Yuka's sudden change of speech disturbed the principal greatly. "No… you both have to go. I think it's the best for you two. Once you leave the school, you can have your own lives."

The new prospect of a life, a life that did not need acceptance, or permission, tempted Yuka.

Putting past all her troubles, and Luna, she left, with Seiji, the next day. Yuka threw away all her education, all her friends, and all her love for the school at the young age of seventeen. Love controlled her mind and body. She couldn't fight against it.

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"Seiji! Seiji!" A nineteen year old girl skipped down the grand staircase of a beautiful mansion and ran to the huge front door. Pulling it open, she flung herself into her love's arms. The lucky man hugged her back, with love.

"What are you so excited about, Yuka?" Seiji asked, putting down his suitcase on the couch. He found another job, and the salary was decent. The Sakura's were already very wealthy, so they bought a grand mansion with beautiful furniture and décor.

"Seiji… I'm pregnant!" Yuka exclaimed. Her eyes were actually sparkling and twinkling. Any man would fall in love, she was usually beautiful, but at this moment, her beauty was equal to that of a goddess's.

"That's… great." Seiji smiled a little bit.

Yuka laughed. "Of course it is, silly! How would it be bad?" Yuka teased. She pressed her cheek onto Seiji's strong chest and sighed dreamily.

"We'll be one happy family…" she whispered.

The two embraced for a while. They weren't married yet, but that didn't bother them. They promised each other that, even if they aren't ready now, they will marry later on.

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"Hey baby. I know you can hear me. You just can't talk and respond yet." Yuka giggled. She was sitting on the couch and talking to her now-quite-huge belly. "Ano-ne, Seiji has been a little distant lately… it's probably because he's afraid of being laid-off for his job. You know how his boss is always grumpy all the time. Well, actually, you don't know, yet." Yuka sighed and resumed sitting in a comfortable position.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a key turning and a door creaking open. "Seiji's back!" Yuka hoisted herself up from the couch and slowly, carefully walked down the stairs. She heard Seiji's deep and comforting voice, but then—

A young woman's voice. Flirtatious and dripping with honey.

Yuka almost lost her footing and tumbled down the stairs. She shook her head. It must be a mistake… it's probably his coworker.

"Yuka!" Seiji's voice echoed throughout the mansion.

A trembling Yuka slowly walked down the stairs and approached the two. "Seiji… you're back," she whispered, glancing uncomfortably at the young woman constantly.

The young woman smirked. She had long black hair that was curled to perfection, her eyes were dark brown, and her profile was definitely more than adequate. She looked like a sultry prostitute.

"A-ra, look what we have here. Azumi-san, desho? Seiji has told me so much about you," she hissed.

Yuka blinked. "O-oh, I'm sure he has…"

Seiji raised his palm to order silence. The three people stood there, facing each other; Yuka, looking scared and unsteady, the mysterious woman, haughty and confident, and Seiji, looking cold and emotionless.

"Yuka. This is Kurata Miyuki. She is my coworker." Seiji broke the silence.

Yuka exhaled slowly. So she's only his coworker. That's a relief, she thought.

"I just wanted to tell you… Miyuki and I…" Seiji trailed off and closed his eyes for a moment.

Yuka tilted her head to the right, wanting to know what Seiji will say next.

"We're going to get married."

Yuka's eyes opened wide, as wide as saucers. She put her hand on her heart, which throbbed so painfully… there was a hollow feeling inside her… something she could not describe with mere words. Yuka grabbed the balustrade to steady her now spinning world. Nausea came over her, just like when Luna beat her at Alice Academy. Just like the other time, she blacked out and felt her head bump on the hard-tile floor.

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A lonesome twenty-year old laid in a bed, listening to the sounds of a baby crying outside the room. Yuka was still living in the Sakura mansion because she had no where to go, and Seiji allowed her to stay, much to the dismay of Ms. Miyuki. Yuka remembered when she had to endure being Miyuki's bridesmaid during Seiji and Miyuki's wedding. After they got married, Miyuki treated her like a piece of shit. And Yuka felt like shit. It was a sad life, but Yuka long learned to accept her life's ups and downs. Her favorite quote was "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade".

Pushing the memories aside, Yuka's heart was currently pounded in anticipation. Yuka closed her eyes as she lifted the part of the blanket that covered the baby's face.

Her baby's face.

Finally daring to look, she slowly opened her eyes and was immediately dazzled by the sight. The fragile-looking baby in her arms was so similar to herself. There were those warm chocolate-brown eyes, rosy cheeks, and long, dark lashes. The tuft of hair on her head was the same shade of brown as Yuka's. Yuka quickly checked the baby for any deformations, and found none. She sighed in relief and hugged the baby toward her chest. It was a miracle… she was finally a mother.

The mother of the most beautiful child in the world.

"I'll name you…" Yuka used her finger to gently touch her baby's nose, "I'll name you Mikan, as in tangerine Mikan, because my name means Citrus."

Mikan gurgled happily.

Yuka leaned back against her bedpost and looked up at the ceiling, clutching her precious Mikan to her body, and sighed.

Two Months Later…

"Oh no!" Yuka sprinted toward the kitchen and spotted the steaming pot on the stove. She hurriedly wiped her hands on her apron and lifted the cover of the pot. Steam rushed out, making Yuka blink.

She checked the bubbling, brown liquid inside, and then closed the cover once more. "Phew." She leaned against the refrigerator and put her hand on her sore back. Five days after she had Mikan, Yuka was ordered to work again. She served Miyuki day and night, sometimes only sleeping for two hours before being snatched up to do work again.

Yuka was so frustrated inside, but followed Miyuki's instructions. When she finally had a time to peacefully think by herself, Yuka contemplated whether to leave the mansion and have her own life. If she left, she wouldn't have to continue being Miyuki's servant, and Mikan would be safe from Miyuki's claws. But, if she left, she would probably never see Seiji again.

Seiji betrayed her, but Yuka still loved him with all her heart. Yuka prayed for Seiji to wake up and realize that she was better than Miyuki. Seiji was nice, far nicer than Miyuki, to Yuka and Mikan. In fact, he sometimes played with Mikan, like any father should. But he adored Miyuki far more.

After all, Yuka thought bitterly, Miyuki is his official wife. I'm nothing to him anymore.

"YUKA! YUKA! YUKA!" Yuka suddenly heard Miyuki shrieking upstairs. She quickly turned off the stove and poured the brown contents into a bowl. Yuka opened the drawer, took out a silver spoon, and placed it delicately, along with the bowl, onto a pink tray. Grabbing a few napkins along the way, she took a deep breath and climbed the stairs, to Miyuki's room.

"Yes, Miyuki?" Yuka walked in calmly, placing the tray of medicine onto Miyuki's vanity desk, the only desk she had in the room.

"YUKA! Don't put it THERE! You bitch; you're doing it on purpose, aren't you?" Miyuki shrieked again, making Yuka almost drop the tray.

Yuka wanted to say, I'M doing it on purpose? YOU'RE THE ONE THAT'S DOING IT ON PURPOSE! TEME (You, in the meanest form)…

But, she swallowed that thought and replied, "No… I'm sorry, Miyuki." Yuka quickly picked up the tray and held it hesitantly. "Um… where should I put it?"

"Che. Just hold it." Miyuki rolled her eyes. She was still in her bed, dressed in flowery pajamas. The thought of Miyuki sleeping with Seiji everyday made Yuka cringe. Yuka averted her eyes from the bed and held out the tray to Miyuki. "This is some medicine to help you heal from giving birth."

Miyuki took the bowl and spoon and took a sip. Her face immediately scrunched up like a bulldog, and she screamed, "WHAT THE HELL is this? This is POISON! HELP! SHE'S TRYING TO POISON ME! HELP!"

Yuka widened her eyes in disbelief and quickly ran to the bed, trying to tell Miyuki that it wasn't poison. But before she reached the bed, she caught a glance of a white bowl being thrown her way. Yuka immediately dodged to the side, and heard a crash.

Suddenly, a baby started crying.

"Miyuki. Why did you throw that at me? Do you know that can burn someone?" Yuka hurriedly attended to the broken bowl, and, in horror, realized some of the hot liquid touched the baby in the crib.

"Hotaru! HOTARU!" Miyuki flung herself out of bed and shoved Yuka aside. She reached into the crib and comforted the screaming Hotaru. Luckily, most of the liquid stained the blankets, but did not reach the baby herself. Still, the baby was in obvious shock.

Yuka scooped up the broken shards of the bowl on the ground, cutting herself on accident. Yuka winced, but didn't make a noise. After disposing the bowl, she turned hesitantly to Miyuki, who was screaming at her. No surprise.

"YUKA! Look what you did! You're beyond evil! You bi—" Miyuki stabbed her finger in the air and pointed it accusingly at Yuka.

"What's going on?" A deep voice suddenly growled. Yuka and Miyuki quickly turned to Seiji, who just appeared by the door.

"Seiji!" Miyuki, holding Hotaru in her arms, ran over to Seiji and started crying. "Yuka… Yuka… I told her I didn't want to eat the medicine at the time, since I'm so frail, so she threw the bowl of hot liquid at Hotaru! Look!" Miyuki showed Seiji the stained blankets that Hotaru was wrapped around.

Seiji's eyes flashed in anger. "Yuka. Why did you do this?"

Miyuki glared at Yuka evilly.

Yuka looked like she was about to cry. So many thoughts were going across her head. She wanted to tell Seiji the truth, but these situations happened before, and Seiji never believed her, not even once.

"I… I didn't do it on purpose," was all Yuka could mumble.

Seiji widened his eyes. "I never thought you were the type to do this. SATOU! SATOU!" Seiji bellowed for the butler.

Satou appeared at the doorway. "Yes, Seiji-dono?"

Seiji's whole body shook in anger. "Go get my horse whip."

Satou looked frightened. He glanced back and forth from the smirking Miyuki, to the frightened Yuka, and back to the furious Seiji. "Y-yes. At once."

Moments later, he appeared with Seiji's horse whip. Seiji snatched it away from his hands and faced Yuka. "You'll learn what happens if you mess with my children," he growled as his whip lashed out.

"AH!" Yuka screamed as the whip connected to her cheek. The stinging, burning, and painful sensation was one Yuka would never forget her entire life. More lashes kept coming, and all she could do was writhe and scream. Seiji kept coming at her, and through her blurred vision, due to her tears, Yuka could see Miyuki's smirk, and Hotaru still screaming.

If Yuka could predict the future, she would have never made medicine for Miyuki… but it was too late now. Hotaru was one month younger than Mikan, and Hotaru was Miyuki's baby. Seiji believed Miyuki. He loved Miyuki more than he loved Yuka. That was a clear fact that couldn't be changed.

It was the most painful three minutes of Yuka's life. Even more painful than Luna's beatings, because the one that was whipping her was the one that she loved, and still loves. When the whipping stopped, Yuka found that she couldn't move. Tears streamed down her face and her whole body burned as if on fire.

She heard Seiji exhale. "GET OUT AND NEVER COME BACK AGAIN!" he yelled as he dropped the whip on the ground and stormed out of the room, with Miyuki trailing behind.

Yuka, with pain and difficulty, finally got to her feet. She didn't dare look in the mirror. Nothing could describe what shame she felt now. She shuffled toward her small, cramped room and packed Mikan's things. Yuka, herself, didn't have much that she brought. Everyday, she wore the same maid uniform that she washed everyday. In the morning when she woke up, the uniform was usually wet, but she still wore it. Yuka had no precious things, no jewelry, no photos. Just Mikan.

That night, when no one was looking, she slammed the front door and ran out. The only piece of clothing was the one she had on, and that was ripped and wrinkled. But there was no way Yuka was going to go back.

She hated the place, and hated Miyuki, but she still loved Seiji.

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Yuka Azumi had no relatives that wanted to take her in. In fact, the only relative that she had was her father, who shunned her when she was expelled. Like she said, she threw away everything she had for love. And look what love did to her.

She had no money on her, so, clutching Mikan tightly to her chest to warm her, she wandered around the streets. People started and pointed at her tattered clothes and blotchy, red face that had a whip marking on her cheek. Children laughed at her. When she sat down on the sidewalk, some people even threw money at her. They thought Yuka was a beggar!

But… maybe I really am a beggar? I have no money. I have no job. I have no family, or home. I just have Mikan.

She accepted the money with grace, and quickly bought some cheap food for Mikan to eat. Mikan was only two months old, and couldn't eat regular things that adults ate because her teeth haven't finished developing yet, so Yuka chewed the food first and then spit it out for Mikan to eat. Yuka didn't eat anything, and gave it all to Mikan.

This went on for three days, and miraculously, Yuka survived without food, just water, for those previous two days. But on the third day, it was clear she couldn't go on without food. Using the last of the money they begged for, Yuka bought a sandwich and ate it hungrily.

Now that she was half-full, she realized that no matter what, this had to stop. She needed a job.

Carrying Mikan, she wandered around the town, asking for a job. She wandered farther and farther away from the mansion, and soon, she found herself in a busy city with a lot of bars and clubs.

On the fifth day, she was hired to be a waitress at a local restaurant. Yuka finally had a job.

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Being a waitress was no easy job. With no house to live in, Yuka could only bring Mikan to work with her. Mikan cried and cried and Yuka couldn't do anything about it except grit her teeth and continue doing her job. Yuka offered to do dishes and clean up in addition to being a waitress, for more money.

Through the thick and thin, one and a half months later, Yuka finally rented a dilapidated shack that could be lived in. It was a small wooden house, ridiculous in size compared to the other mansions surrounding the area. The owner told Yuka that this was where the servants of a mansion lived in.

Her closest friend that she met at her job offered to take Mikan in their house while Yuka was at work. They also had another baby, and they hired a babysitter to care for their baby, as well as Mikan. Yuka thanked her and accepted the offer.

This cycle continued for three years, until one day Yuka collapsed at work. Hence, she broke all the dishes she was carrying and splattered the food all over her customers and the floor. She was immediately sent to the hospital. The doctors said that Yuka collapsed because she did not meet her nutrition needs of her over-worked body.

The next day, Yuka went back to work, but before she got to change into her waitress uniform, the boss came out and fired her.

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"Mama!" Five-year old Mikan wobbled out and spread her arms out. She was the cutest thing on earth, from Yuka's prospective. Yuka smiled and scooped up little Mikan into her arms.

"Ne, Mama! Why do we live here?" Mikan said, looking confused.

"Because this is our home, Mikan."

"Demo… why don't we live there?" Mikan pointed her little pointer finger to the big mansion next door.

Yuka's eyes watered and she clutched Mikan close to her. "It's… it's because we just can't."

"Demo—" Mikan started again, but Yuka cut her off.

"Ne, Mikan? I'm going to go out for a bit, okay? Be a good girl and don't go anywhere!" Yuka parted the curtains that served as their door.

Mikan blinked and smiled. "Hai, Mama!"

Yuka smiled a bit and then walked out.

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"Mama! It's ugly, ugly!" A voice shrieked. Yuka closed the front door silently. She entered the grand living room with a huge chandelier dangling from the ceiling.

"Oh. Look who's here again," Miyuki appeared. "Hotaru! Don't get too close to the outsider. Same goes for you, Youichi!"

A raven-haired five-year old looked up at her mother, Miyuki, then silently walked to her. four-year old Youichi poked Yuka, smirked, then sprinted away before Yuka could do anything. Yuka spotted two-year old Sumire laughing and shrieking "Bu-sai! Ugly!" over and over again.

Miyuki took one look at Yuka's dirty shoes and shrieked. "Look what you did to my new carpet!"

Yuka blinked and looked down at the muddy footprints.

"Miyuki. You know what I'm here for," Yuka said emotionlessly, ignoring the dirt.

Miyuki snorted. "Tch. Seiji! She came again," she called.

Heavy footsteps echoed throughout the grand living room as Seiji stepped down the stairs. He eyed Yuka's simple clothes and pale face. "Oh, Yuka, you've come."

Yuka looked down at the ground. "Yes."

"Satou. Bring the envelope," Seiji ordered.

"Yes, Seiji-sama." Satou bowed and hurried to Seiji's office.

"How's Mikan?" Seiji asked, sitting down on the leather couch.

Yuka stood still. She knew she was not welcome to sit wherever she liked. "She's fine."

"Ah." Seiji looked to the side. "SATOU!"

"Hai, hai… here it is." Satou came tumbling down the stairs, clutching a simple white envelope. Satou handed it to Seiji immediately, who offered it to Yuka.

"Here's the money. Take it and buy some new clothes for Mikan," Seiji said, pushing the envelope toward Yuka.

Yuka took it and gently lifted the flap. Inside was fifty dollars. She sighed. "Seiji…"

"What? Not satisfied?" Miyuki's voice shouted from the other side of the room. The sounds of expensive bracelets jingling together meant that she was coming near. "Seiji! Our family needs all the money, why are you giving it to them?"

Yuka wanted to scream in Miyuki's face. Fifty dollars? Pah! Fifty dollars wasn't enough. In truth, Mikan got sick a couple months ago and the hospital bill wasn't paid yet! They needed to buy food, new clothes, pay bills, and much, much more. They needed one hundred dollars, at least.

"I…" Yuka caught Miyuki's death glare. "I'll take my leave now." Yuka didn't dare speak up, she was too kind-hearted. With her head down, she trudged to the front door and slowly walked outside, feeling dejected and lonelier than ever.

Ever since she was fired from her waitress job two years ago, every month or so she paid visits to the happy Sakura family, to ask for money. She hated it; she hated the feeling of being in debt to someone, especially the Sakura's. But she had to do it, for her precious child, for Mikan.

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I remember the day as if it were yesterday. I was a healthy thirteen-year old girl, with brunette hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a nice figure. My long brown hair was usually put up in two stiff braids. I went to public school, did all my homework, and got good grades. I lived with my mom, and no one else. I loved my mom even more than I loved myself. She was always there for me, and I knew she would sacrifice herself for me, as I would for her. I didn't have a father, or any siblings that I knew of. It was just my mom and me.

I didn't have many friends, because I never invited anyone to my house. It wasn't that I was socially retarded; it was just that, it seemed to my "friends" that if you didn't go to each other's houses, then you weren't true friends. I never brought anyone to my house because it wasn't the best sight.

Ever since I could remember, we lived in that wooden shack.

Ever since I could remember, I wondered why we lived in this shack, and why my friends lived in the big, pretty houses.

Ever since I could remember, I wanted to live in one of the big houses that were next door to us.

Pushing the house problem aside, I was liked by my classmates, but nobody approached me. After a little investigating from their part, they found out I was poor and where I lived.

One day, while I was doing my homework, I heard someone knock on our "door", which consisted of a couple of wooden boards tacked in front of a huge gap in one of the walls. I knew my mother came back from wherever she always went every month. I took a peek through the small hole. Yes, it was my mom.

I pushed open the wooden boards and greeted my mother. Even though it was a hot day, my mom was wearing her jacket and her arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Mom! Aren't you hot?" I immediately reached to take off her jacket.

She flinched and inched away from me. "I'm okay, Mikan, I'm okay."

This was weird. "Mom… are you keeping something from me?" I asked.

She didn't answer.

"Mom!"

Silence.

"Mom!" My mom never kept things from me, ever!

"Mikan… I… I guess it's time to tell you." She made a move to sit on the ground, since we didn't have any chairs, but suddenly, she yelped and fell to the floor.

"Mom! Are you hurt?" I took off her jacket and gasped.

Mom was covered in blue, purple, and black, angry bruises. I mentally punched myself for not noticing mom's cut lip earlier.

"What happened? Tell me, please!" I begged her as I immediately took a towel and soaked it in hot water.

"I'll tell you… I'm going to lie on the bed…" Mom slowly got up and walked toward the bedroom, one of the two rooms we had in our house.

"I'll be there in a sec!" I wrung the towel and hurried toward our bedroom.

"Mikan… I went to see your father today," she blurted suddenly.

I dropped the towel on the floor. "W-what?"

"I saw your father today. I went to see him."

"My… father? Wha…" I suddenly had a thought. "Wait, have you been seeing him every month? Is that were you went every month?"

Mom nodded sadly. "I'm sorry for not telling you… I'll tell you everything now."

I sat myself next to mom on her bed.

My mother, Yuka, took a deep breath and began the story.

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --X

Thanks for reading the first chapter of The Unlucky Girl. This is a new fanfiction that just popped up into my head, so I want to know what my readers think of it. Most of the chapter wasn't focused on Mikan, the main character of the story. Moreover, Natsume wasn't even introduced yet! My goal is to make him appear in the next chapter. Another note: despite the mention of Yuka's Stealing Alice in the beginning of the chapter, I think I won't have them have Alices in this fanfiction.

Special thanks to my beta-reader/editor: xSTICKYxNOTEx/Gemma-chan. She's the one that makes this story the best as it can be, so please give a round of applause to her, not just me.

Please write a review if you want to support this story and keep it running. If you want to know when the next chapter will be up, please add a story alert on this fanfiction. My goal is to update this fanfiction every two weeks or so, because I have to update my other story: The Living Dead as well as this one. Thanks to my supporters of The Living Dead that anticipated this story and supported it even before the first chapter was out! I reply to all of my reviews, so if you have any questions, please note them in your review.

If you want to become my friend, just send me a message and I'll definitely be glad. :)

-- Mikarin/VanillaCottonCandy

Editor's Note: Usually, when I get a chapter from Geena-chan, there's almost nothing to fix. I'm not making the story the best it can be, I'm just making sure it's good, and it always is! If you agree, be sure to review! -- Sticky Note