A Post Performance Promise

Written 27th July, 2012 - Day One of London 2012 Olympics

The atmosphere was hyped up in the stadium in London, England. The audience members from all around the world from different countries, ethnicities and religions had all gathered in the large stadium to watch the Gymnastics competition for freestyle. One man in the audience in particular was feeling the nerves all over his body, even though he was not the one to compete for Japan. His crimson eyes darted to the different corners of the performance area, but he internally scolded himself as he remembered that none of the athletes would be out yet since the event itself had not started. The two people beside him were staring at him with both confusion and ridicule.

The dark haired female - of whom was annoyed with his expressions - spoke up. "Hyuuga, stop twitching. You look like lychee jelly." Hyuuga Natsume glared at Hotaru as she chewed on some crab meat - no one had an idea how she managed to bring it at all.

"I'm not twitching, Imai." The blonde man next to him held his shoulder, attempting to calm him down from obvious circumstances.

"You are twitching, Natsume. Don't worry, I'm sure Sakura will do well." At the mention of her surname, his head snapped up towards the performance area once again.

"I knew it. An idiot falls for another idiot." Hotaru nonchalantly spoke as Natsume made an attempt to relax his muscles. He had never expected himself to act in such a manner - he barely got agitated for anything. Seriously, he internally groaned, what is this girl doing to me? I'm not the one in a tight leotard dancing down there.

An echoing voice announced the start of the event, and he started to feel his nails dig into his palm.

As the first few girls started to perform, a brunette in an elegantly patterned leotard sighed for the thousandth time that hour. Watching the other girls from different countries dance with such finesse made her heart clench, and she brought her fist towards her chest. The top Japanese gymnast Sakura Mikan felt like she was going to collapse from the pressure. Another competitor noticed her utter discomfort and patted her back soothingly, though she was a stranger.

"There's no need to be nervous, I'm sure you'll do well. People from your country will love you no matter what." She spoke in fluent English, thus Mikan could only understand the basic words of the phrase. She smiled nervously at the stranger and concentrated her gaze on her fingers. In an attempt to distract herself, she replayed the steps of her routine in her head - only to imagine herself slipping during a move and falling. Different ways of failure replayed through her mind and Mikan felt as if something was stuck in her throat. Suddenly the coordinator strided into the preparation room, snapping her out of her discouraging thoughts.

"Next is.. Mikan Sakura from Japan." Taking a swallow, she made her way towards the end of the hallway which opened up to the performance area. Hiding from the audience's view, she scanned the audience for her friends, to no avail. Instead, she was stunned at how many people were in her vision of sight, let alone the whole stadium. So many people… can I really do this? The whole of Japan is counting on me!

The competitor flawlessly ended her performance, and the audience - particularly the French supporters - roared. Mustering up all the confidence left in her, she started to warm up her limbs as she continued to inhale and exhale the excited air of the Olympics. As quickly as she stood up, she heard her name announced. A staff member directed her towards the performance area, and she took the little time she had on looking for her friends.

It was then when she met a pair of familiar, blazing red eyes. Mikan noticed that unlike his usual slacker attitude, he was rather tensed up and worried. Could it be… he's worried about me? The very thought made her heart flutter, and she quickly grinned at him, and as soon as she saw that slight hint of a smile - which was the most she had seen him smile in the first place - she got ready for her performance.

Mikan… you promised him. You can do this, she chanted to herself before the music started.

Even though Natsume had tensed up like a muscle as soon as he saw her enter the arena, the brief smile she gave him as soon as she saw him regardless of the atmosphere had almost made him reconsider his worries.

Almost.

He couldn't help but smile back at her, but he wasn't certain if she had seen it before she had turned.

"That idiot will be fine, Hyuuga. I know she won't fail. You should know too." Hotaru reassured him - if you could call her way of talk reassuring at all - and Ruka nodded in approval.

Mikan… you promised me. You can do this, He silently prayed as the music commenced and she pushed herself from her left foot, towards the centre of the mat.

With a final flick of her wrist and head, she dramatically ended her performance in sync with the immediately ending of the soundtrack. As the thousands in the audience roared excitedly, she could not restrain the giddy smile emerging from her mouth - perfect, she almost squealed within her mindset. Her routine had flowed without a single flaw - she found her body automatically acting upon the corresponding movements to the timing. She was in awe at the fact that she had succeeded, since she didn't think that she was concentrating fully on the routine.

She would be lying if she said that he didn't come up in her thoughts at least once.

Perhaps he had been in her mind for the whole duration of the performance regardless of the circumstances.

It had been two hours after her performance.

The Japanese athlete team had eagerly celebrated Mikan's win - she had defeated all of her competitiors with ease and had won the gold medal for her ecstatic nation - and now she was anxiously waiting in the lobby of her hotel for someone. She nervously played with her hair as she waited for Natsume to arrive for their planned meeting.

In truth, her win had been pushed to the back of her mind at that very moment.

"Mikan." She flinched at his sudden appearance, and she immediately stood up from the lobby couch.

"Natsume, you came!" She sighed in relief, and he smirked at her reaction.

"I didn't get to congratulate you on your win before, everyone was crowding around you like crazy." She giggled due to both amusement and nerves, and she was about to reply when he suddenly pulled her hand towards him, embracing her as their bodies met.

"Congratulations, Mikan." He whispered in her ear, which sent goosebumps all over her body and blood to her cheeks. Suddenly, she felt that this was the right time to confess her feelings. Her brain argued that ruining the rare times when Natsume hugged her would be something that she would regret, but her heart pushed on. It was when Natsume's arms tightened around her that she murmured it to his ear.

"I love you, Natsume. That was what I wanted to tell you." She felt him stiffen for a brief moment, and in that split second she feared for the worst possible case. Mikan felt her heart constrict, until he pulled her tighter towards his chest. Wait... does this mean...?

When the two had met a year ago, she saw him as a man of little words unless required.

It was as if that Natsume had returned, as he didn't answer to her confession. Instead, he pulled back, only to run his fingers through her hair as he leaned in for a sudden kiss. His other arm moved down to wrap around her waist, and she grabbed the collar of his shirt as she melted into the kiss. It was brief, but during the pauses between kisses he said those three words which made her heart soar much higher than she herself could leap.

"I love you."

"Ah!" Mikan shrieked as her ankle buckled after she attempted one of her complex moves, falling on her backside on the practice mat. Instead of standing back up to practice once again, she absently rubbed her rather painless ankle as she exhaled, cheeks puffing out. Can I really do this? Am I really the Olympic standard Japan is looking forward to watch? A bitter smile appeared on her face as she shook her head.

"Who am I kidding…" Mikan lied down on the mat, arms outstretched as she relaxed her body, with no intention of standing back up. As she stared absently at the lights high above, a familiar shadow appeared in her vision.

"Natsume?" He was leaning over her, suspiciously watching her on the ground, evidently not practicing.

"What are you doing, Polka dots?"

"Just… relaxing." She drawled as she stretched her arms, with her hands reaching towards the roof.

Natsume seemed skeptical. "You don't look very tired."

"Jeez… who are you, my coach?" She muttered, and her spirits diminished at the thought of performing, once again.

"Mikan. You're not acting like usual today." He spoke as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"W-What do you mean, Natsume? It's expected. Olympics are coming up!" She panicked as she stood up. "Well, I'm going back to the hotel." She made her way towards the exit, but she was suddenly restrained by a larger, stronger hand pulling her own back. "Natsume?"

"I'm not an idiot. I know something's up." He continued to insist. Mikan tried to pull her arm back, to no avail.

"Nothing's up. Can you let go?"

"No. I'm not letting go until you tell me." She grit her teeth as she sighed in irritation.

"Why are you so persistent?" Natsume did not answer, he simply tightened his grip. Mikan hissed at the pain growing in her wrist.

"It hurts… please let go…" Part of Natsume was worried that she would try to run away again after he let go, but she would need her whole body to be healthy and uninjured from the Games, so he reluctantly loosened his grip. He had kept to his word, however, since he didn't actually let go of her hand.

"Now spit it out." She frowned at his tone of voice, but later she started to realise that perhaps it would be a good idea to voice her feelings to someone, even the seemingly nonchalant Natsume.

"I've been thinking…"

Natsume rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I figured that out by myself easily." Mikan glared at him after he had interrupted.

"Do you want me to tell you or not, Natsume?" Those words had silenced Natsume as he gestured for her to continue. "I don't think I can do… well… this." She signalled to her practice clothing.

"Of course you can't just lie down idly during practice."

"No, Natsume! I mean the Games!" Natsume fell silent from her outburst, staring at the frustrated brunette with disbelief.

"So you're thinking of dropping out? You're joking, aren't you?" Mikan looked down, and shook her head slightly.

"I'm not." Natsume's next move stunned her significantly. His hands moved up to grab each of her shoulders.

"What do you think you're doing? Did you just forget how hard you worked to even be here? Those long, gruelling hours?" This was the first time that Natsume had shown so much concern for her, even though he was in truth, visibly angry.

"N-no, I didn't forget." She stuttered, slightly fearful of his frustration.

"Then why are you deciding to give up- no, you're scared, aren't you? I know you are." He exhaled deeply as he realised what was bothering her, and his arms fell from her shoulders limply. "You think that the standard of the Games is too high." Mikan cringed, knowing that Natsume was spot-on about her worries. She hated to be seen in such a pitiful state by the man she had fallen in love with, but now he wouldn't let go of the matter at hand. He was like a leech when it came to these sort of matters regarding his friends. "Mikan, do you remember the Olympic trials months ago?"

"Of course, how could I forget?" She murmured quietly, wondering where this conversation was heading.

"You were scared back then. You thought every single competitor there was better than you. Yet you were the one who they chose to send to the Games for Japan... and don't you dare tell me that you were lucky. You were better than all of the others, you stood out. You were just the material they wanted for the Olympics." He looked back at Mikan, who was looking down with mixed feelings of confusion, thought, even some remorse. "And you know I'm not lying about this." He knew he had finally knocked some sense into the teenager, judging from her expression. He started to make his way towards the exit of the gym, until he felt a tug on his shirt.

"Natsume... after my performance... if I win," He smirked slightly at her resolve, but he was curious as to what she was going to say. "I have something important to tell you." He cocked an eyebrow at her words.

"Why can't you tell me now-"

"No! I... I can't tell you now. I'm not strong enough." She cracked a smile at him, which made his body tense. "That's all, so look forward to it. I promise I'll be stronger by then." He felt her grip on his shirt loosen, and after a moment, he walked away - slightly dazed about what she had said.

N/A: Eheheh. Opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics was today! I didn't get to watch much of it, since I slept in 'cause it's the weekend (I'm from Sydney Australia, and the Opening Ceremony broadcast started in the morning... around 6:30 to 7?) but I saw the preview clips of Rowan Atkinson - best part, I swear. But the lighting of the torch was wonderful - the concept was brilliant. Go Australia, and Japan as well!

Okay, so of course this is dedicated to the Olympics. I find this story a bit odd for my liking, but this was something that sprouted from my boredom last night. Is Natsume out of character? I wanted to bring out a more passionate side of Natsume in this fic, but I didn't want him to change. Please tell me if he is, otherwise. And Mikan's favourite subject is PE, so I think this role was suitable for her.

Now I'm finally putting a twist in my current GA story, A Maiden's Vendetta. Apparently, it's going too streamline so it's time to put something big in it. As well as more romance for our fave couple - it is centred on Mystery instead of Romance, but romance is still one of the genres.

Prequel or Sequel? Perhaps. Possibly a prequel, but please tell me if you would like any.

Please Rate and Review! Support the Olympics! Go London!