Written by – Unknown Pain.
Disclaimer – Disclaimed.

The Beat of Love

"Music is my soul, my life, I can't live without it. Without music, life would be a mistake."

-Unknown Pain-

-Chapter XI – Words of Love-

I sat silently on my bed, staring bluntly at the floor. I bit my lip, not knowing anymore whether the kiss was real or not. It was just fifteen minutes ago, and yet, it felt like a week had already passed.

I blushed as flashbacks appeared in my mind again and quickly shook my head to get rid of them.

Why, I wondered, didn't I go away when I had the chance? We stood there for like an eternity and there were a lot of chances when Natsume stopped kissing me, but every time I pulled him back for more.

I mentally asked myself the same question again, even though I already knew the answer: everything felt just too right and good.

I licked my lips and slowly touched it with two fingers, still feeling the presence of his lips.

My heartbeat got faster as an urge for doing it again tickled my body. Maybe even more than just "tickled".

My sudden thoughts and feelings shocked me and I let myself fall backwards, my eyes closed.

I took a deep breath, trying to empty my mind. But only after a short moment, Natsume appeared before my eyes, making everything worse.

I opened them, staring at the plain ceiling. "You're such an idiot," a voice in my head told me. I mentally nodded in agreement: I was indeed an idiot for falling in love with a guy like him.

I realized that now, but wished I had never found out about it.

I placed my arms over my head, urging to cry; the thing I always was positive about that it wouldn't happen to me, happened…

The three Mori's and Hotaru would definitely shoot me with the "I-told-you-so" talk. But why would I tell them?

Natsume's famous with girls that are even prettier than me. And besides, he only saw me as a toy, nothing more. Even if I actually tried to win him for myself, he'd never return my feelings.

I was standing in front of a big wall that just wouldn't break.

I blew out some air between my lips, brushing my both hands through my long hair. Please let these last weeks go by quickly.

"Where's Narumi?" Chieko asked, looking at her reflection in the big mirror. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed to one another in annoyance. "Dancing class has already begun and he's late."

"Same goes for Sasuke," Chika said and placed her hands behind her on the dark blue floor. Chiharu gazed at her step-sisters. "He wasn't at Singing class either…"

I glanced at the three Mori's, secretly eavesdropping on them.

Chieko placed an orange lock behind her right ear. "Maybe he's sick or something?" Chika frowned at that thought. "That boy is never sick. I'm sure he's just being lazy again."

"But if he is sick, I think it'd be a good idea to visit him after class." Chiharu suggested happily and showed a kind smile.

I looked back at the floor, not having a good feeling about it. Sasuke hadn't skipped one class these couple of weeks, so why would he change that now?

Flashbacks of him and me of the previous day flashed through my mind. I bit my lip; could it be…?

"Can you tell me why that Vampire Boy came to our dorm yesterday with your mattress?" Hotaru suddenly asked me, pulling me directly out of my thoughts.

"H-huh…?" I reacted and lowered my head so that my bangs would cover my eyes. "What do you mean?" I smiled to get rid of the suspicious glint in her cold, amethyst eyes while wishing Sasuke hadn't done something stupid to her.

"Last night I found him standing in the door way with your mattress held above his head. He said something about a delivery, went to your room, threw it onto your bed, and left," she told me, her eyes never leaving my reflection.

"H-he was being nice," I returned quickly and raised both my eyebrows. "And weren't you the one who said he could help me bring the mattress back?"

Hotaru ran her fingers through her short, tomboyish hair. "Like I'd know you two would actually listen to me."

"I'm always listening to you…"

"Whatever." She let out a short sigh and then faced me properly. "When I opened the door I was expecting you, not that blood-sucking creature." She narrowed her gaze suspiciously. "So where were you?"

I stared at her with big eyes; I should've expected this! Why hadn't I thought of a good excuse when I had the chance?

Hotaru began to narrow her emotionless eyes. "Well?" She pushed on impatiently. I saw the credence slowly draining from her eyes.

Luckily for me, just before I opened my mouth to stammer the lamest excuse ever, the door suddenly opened. My eyebrows elevated automatically upon seeing the reflections of Natsume and his gang walking in.

The four boys ignored every eye that turned to them as they passed the huge group, looking for a place to sit.

Natsume's dark eyes roamed around and to my shock, stopped on me. I blushed as he realized I was watching him in the mirror.

Ruka, Koko and Mochu followed as their leader headed to my and Hotaru's direction. Just when I thought he was going to sit behind us, he went past us.

My whole body tensed up as Natsume placed his hand on my head. I turned to him, not realizing I was smiling until his own lips curled up into one as well.

Hotaru raised her eyebrow immediately. She turned her attention to the four who sat down on the floor near the three Mori's, before facing me. "What was that," It sounded more like a command than a question.

The blush only deepened and I quickly shrugged my shoulders as an answer.

Hotaru sighed through her nostrils in irritation, brushing her fingers through her short hair. "Kitty Cat has won the challenge, hasn't he?" The female ignored my horror-filled expression, surfacing from her finding about it.

"You were with him last night," she stated. "And you kissed him." And there goes my secret!

"H-how… How did you—?"

"Because I know you," she returned with a roll of her eyes. I lowered my head even more, my heart beating as though it was going to explode from the embarrassment.

"So when are you going to start dating?" Hotaru's blunt expression didn't change. I shot her the best glare I could make. "W-will you just stop it?"

"Sorry I'm late, everyone!" Narumi walked happily through the door with a bright smile that looked like it would never disappear.

A lot of the students grumbled some insults at him and asked if the class would end earlier because of him being late, but Narumi simply ignored them.

"You all know that there are only a couple of weeks to go before this camp year is over," the blonde began as he stood in front of us. "Which is why we're going to make a dance routine for the music competition the camp always has on the last day!"

Narumi was the only one who was excited; not a second after he closed his mouth again, we all began to whine in protest.

"As if we're not busy enough!" a girl shouted.

"Yeah, the other classes are asking a lot from us too!" Chika agreed annoyingly.

"And sir, I've got a performance this Friday!" Cho said.

Narumi gestured with his hands to let the class calm down. "I'm aware of everything and so are all the other teachers. So I'm sure everything will be fine."

Mochu scoffed, running his hand over his almost-bald head. "Like you're the one to talk."

Chieko raised her hand. "How long do we have?"

"We've got six and a half weeks, starting this day," our teacher told, his eyes scanning every one of us. "I know a lot of you are going to do something individual for the music competition, which is not a problem at all. I want you guys to perform as a class to let your parents see what you've learned this year."

Surprisingly, nobody said anything. Noticing it, the blonde smiled and placed his hands on his hips. "So, now that you finally agree with my plan, we'll be getting started." He first ran his fingers through his long locks before he continued, "We're going to do a number with a mix of three dance-types in it: Hip-hop, Street dance and Modern dance. Some parts you have a partner and some parts you don't. Also," His eyes twinkled excitedly behind his bangs. "There will be two who are going to lead the whole dance."

Our teacher started to chuckle amusingly as some of his students sighed in protest, while the others already decided who they were going to be teamed-up with.

There was only a small amount who said they were already nervous and excited about it.

"I hope I'm not going be the lead-dancer," Chiharu said and scratched her cheek thoughtfully. Her oldest sister shrugged her shoulders. "Hmm, I don't know. I think it'd be quite interesting."

"The only thing I care about is who's going to be my partner," Chika said in a calm tone. Koko had heard her and immediately scrambled her way.

"Baby, it's already obvious who's going to be your partner," he said playfully, his lips cracked into a smirk. He pulled her backwards to make sure she'd almost lie with her head on his lap, ignoring her small shriek of surprise. "You're going to dance with me, of course." His face was hovering above hers.

The brown-haired female immediately frowned in disgust at what he was trying to do. "Forget it, Koko," she returned in a deep and annoyed voice. "Only a retard would dance with you."

He huffed cockily, making the space between the two a bit larger. "Oh come on, you've danced with me several times before, and you never complained."

"You've got exactly three seconds to let me go and get away from me, before I kill you," she immediately threatened. Koko did what she said, but his smirk didn't disappear.

I giggled in amusement while Hotaru rolled her amethyst eyes away. "He's such an idiot," she muttered, shaking her head two times.

"It's already obvious who'll lead the whole dance," Cho suddenly began, loud enough to get some attention.

I turned my face to the back to look at her and was surprised when she put her hands around Natsume's neck, hugging him from behind.

What the hell was that girl doing?

"We're going to be the lead-dancers," the girl said with a flirty smile. Her lips were close to his left ear. "Right, Natsume?"

I swallowed and bit the insides of my cheek; the anger already furled inside of me.

Natsume didn't move a bit as Cho lay her head on his shoulder, smiling as though he already agreed with what she said.

When I saw his dark expression, I automatically smiled in relief.

"You're ruining my personal space," the lad grumbled darkly at her and peered over his shoulder to face her. Cho blinked her snow-colored eyes. "H-huh…? But—"

"Go away." Natsume commanded, not blinking once as he watched Cho backing away slowly.

She looked around as some of our classmates chuckled and whispered about the little scene they just witnessed. She blushed in embarrassment and actually glared at Natsume, before going back to her own seat with a "humph".

Natsume faced forward again as though nothing had happened, ignoring the amused shoulder pats from Mochu and Koko.

Suddenly, his crimson eyes darted to me. I quickly turned around to hide the fact I was watching him. I saw into the reflection of the mirror that he smirked mischievously, just before he turned to Ruka who began to talk to him.

Narumi clapped into his hands to get the attention back. "I'll be the one who chooses the couples and the lead-dancers."

Of course everyone didn't hesitate to protest but our teacher only found it more amusing than irritating. He placed his index finger to his lips to signal us to be quiet.

"I've made a list of who's going to be whose partners," he said when it was silent again, and grabbed the piece of paper he was talking about from his jean pocket. "Please stand up, everyone."

Everyone did as he said without saying anything.

"As soon as you know your partner, please go to them."

Narumi read the names out loud. Some were happy with the couples the blonde teacher came up with, while others said they rather died than to dance with them.

"Chika Mori with Kokoro Yome."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Chika immediately exclaimed and presented a dark glare when the amused snicker of Koko could be heard.

"Good luck," her older sister said, more joking than serious, while Chiharu giggled softly under her breath.

"Yeah, whatever," the female grunted. With hesitation, she finally walked up to her partner.

"This is going to be fun," the sandy-haired lad said mischievously, his hands hiding in his pockets. Chika narrowed her sky-blue eyes warningly. "Just… shut up."

"Chieko Mori with Sasuke Kakashi." Narumi continued calmly.

The said girl's face lit up as soon as she heard Sasuke's name, but then she blinked. She raised her hand slowly. "Uhm, excuse me, but… Sasuke isn't here right now."

Narumi looked up from his paper and raised his thin brow in surprise. His amethyst eyes scanned the crowd. "Okay then, we'll think something about that later." He turned his attention back to his list. "Chiharu Mori with Mochiage."

Mochu frowned slightly in protest. "Yeah, this is going to be fun," he said sarcastically as the female headed to him.

"Just don't be mean, okay?" she returned. Mochu shrugged nonchalantly. "I won't, I won't."

Narumi announced three couples before he said, "Ruka Nogi is dancing with Hotaru Imai."

Hotaru's black eyebrows lowered and sighed lightly in irritation. After I gave her a pat on the shoulder, she made her way to him.

Ruka made sure to keep his distance from her.

"I won't kill you or anything," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"I won't take any chances," he returned easily. Hotaru actually twitched her lips in amusement.

Finally, after four couples being known, Narumi said the names I had never expected to hear, "Mikan Sakura with Natsume Hyuuga."

My eyes grew out of shock.

The adult put the paper back where it came from, his lips formed into a bright smile. "Who are also going to be the lead-dancers!"

I stared at Narumi as if he was some sort of idiot, ignoring the whispers and all the other surprised and amused reactions around me.

I looked away and swallowed nervously. This was certainly not what I was hoping for.

I slowly faced the direction where Natsume was standing. As though I had to go to some kind of criminal that could kill me any minute, I took a deep breath and finally went to him.

I looked around me and saw all the eyes locked on me. It bothered me but not that much when I realized that Natsume had his dark eyes on me as well.

The butterflies appeared again and I felt my face heating up, everything growing more as the distance between us got less.

His eyes followed me until I stood still next to him, when he gazed back to the blonde teacher in front of the class.

I secretly took a deep breath and exhaled it, placing my hand on my chest. God, I really should stop acting like a hopeless little girl.

"Alright! So, now we know that, let's begin with the first steps of the dance." Narumi eyed Chieko. "Chieko, because your partner is missing, I want you to help me demonstrate."

The said-girl gave the adult a surprised stare. "Wh-what…? Me?" She blushed in embarrassment as our classmates chuckled in amusement. Narumi nodded easily.

Finally, after a long moment of hesitating, she walked to him.

"I heard that the crimson-haired idiot had sent you to me yesterday," Natsume began as soon as Narumi showed us the first moves of the Modern Dance. His voice was kept low so he wouldn't be caught talking.

I looked at him in disbelief. "Wh-who could've told you that?" There was no way someone could have seen me… or us. Could it?

"He told me himself," the male returned nonchalantly, his dark eyes never leaving Narumi and Chieko. "After all those annoying and cocky comments."

"… Sasuke?" I frowned deeply in disbelief, looking away thoughtfully. "Why would he do that? He hates you." I turned back to Natsume. "Which is still a mystery as to why he does, by the way." I didn't even realize how wise and rude I sounded.

Natsume still refused to look at me. He let out a cocky huff and just for a split moment his lip corners elevated. "Why do you wanna know?"

It took me a moment to answer that, "Well… I don't know," I said slowly. "It's just… I never thought people could feel as much hatred as you two have for each other." I tilted my head a bit to the right. "Is it wrong to feel a bit curious about what happened?"

"Yes."

I immediately furrowed my forehead in irritation at his blunt reaction. "Why? Maybe I can help."

His crimson eyes finally rolled to me, his face unmoved. "You can't change what happened in the past."

"No, but maybe I can change the things that are happening now."

He licked his bottom lip and focused back on the front, as if debating if he should do it.

"Okay, now it's your turn to do it yourself," Narumi's voice echoed through the big area. "Grab your partner, look for a spot, and dance!"

I had the urge to dig a hole and throw myself in it; I paid so much attention to Natsume that I didn't even see a thing from Narumi's demonstration.

"I'm screwed…" I muttered to myself while everyone removed themselves from the group. The male turned to me in a slight questionable manner.

"I… haven't really paid attention to what Narumi showed us," I faced him. "I really don't know what to do!"

Natsume's expression stayed calm. "Then just follow me."

I stiffened in surprise when he took a step closer to me, grabbing my hands gently. His eyes never left mine, nor did my eyes left his.

We were doing just the basic steps but I still looked down at our feet, making sure I wouldn't be the one who'd screw up.

"You have to look at me." I automatically blushed at his words, which he made sure that sounded gentle.

"W-why?"

"Because you'll look like an idiot if you don't." I furrowed my brows, insulted.

"Even if you already look like one."

"Hey," I returned and presented him a glare. "And since when were you the expert?" Natsume curled his lip corners up into a mischievous yet amused smirk. "I've been going to this camp for two years already." He suddenly pushed me away, and pulled me back a second later in an elegant manner.

I found myself pressing against his body, our faces just inches away from each other. "It'd only be natural to be an expert." I almost shivered at his breath tickling my lips.

I cleared my throat awkwardly and widened the distance between us. Though, the smile on my lips didn't disappear. "I… still don't understand the whole Sasuke thing," I quickly said to move our attention to something else.

Natsume's expression changed and his eyes immediately rolled away from me. "You're ruining the moment," he said through an annoyed sigh.

His words felt good to hear. It made me much less scared about him liking me, though that didn't mean that I was actually sure about it.

Not wanting to get distracted yet, I continued, "But… aren't you confused about the fact that he told you he was the one who told me to go to you last night, and why he did it in the first place?"

He twirled me around elegantly, ignoring the compliment Narumi gave us. "He's in love with you." His sentence was curt.

Even though I had already suspected it, I couldn't help but to feel surprised about it. It just sounded so weird… "H-how do you know?"

"Because I know him."

"But that still – doesn't explain his reasoning behind this."

Natsume sighed, automatically blowing some stray locks away that had covered his crimson eyes. My heartbeat speed up when he leaned his face closer to mine.

I looked right into his eyes, not missing the annoyance in it. "Just because I've known him almost my whole life, doesn't mean I know what he's thinking. If you really wanna know it that badly, you have to ask him yourself."

"You two sure looked close," Hotaru commented as we stepped out of the Dancing classroom. I eyed her in confusion, pretending not to know what she was talking about. "Huh?"

"Oh, don't play dumb," Chika continued for her, an amused smirk plastered all over her face. "You did nothing but talk and smile at each other."

I failed to huff coolly. "S-so?"

Chiharu giggled. "Don't worry, Mikan. You two looked really cute together." She smiled innocently, but her soft giggle turned into an amused laugh as she saw my face turning into a deep red color.

Chieko smiled, but (luckily) changed the subject, "I can't believe I had to dance with Narumi."

Chika put a lock behind her left ear and turned to her older sister. "Be glad that you're not teamed up with Koko." Her expression was annoyed.

"It's a lot more embarrassing to dance with a teacher, you know," Chieko returned cockily. She threw her long orange locks over her shoulder. "Really, where's Sasuke?"

"Probably in his room, or something." Chika shrugged.

I raised my eyebrows when I caught a glimpse of him at the Sakura tree. "No, he's there." I said and pointed at his favorite tree. Everyone turned their attention to the direction I was pointing at.

Chika sighed slightly in irritation as she saw the crimson-haired male lying nonchalantly on the thickest trunk. "You've got to be kidding me…" She faced us with her eyebrows slightly raised. "Was he there the whole morning?"

"It wouldn't surprise me if he was." Chiharu responded.

Chieko rolled her pink eyes. "Let's go to him then." She leaded the way to him.

When she stood in front of the tree, she placed her hands on her hips sternly, her eyebrows furrowed strictly at the male who seemed to be asleep.

"What," was his "greeting", his voice curt and annoyed. He never removed his hands from behind his head, nor did he open his eyes to look at us.

"Don't 'what' me, Sasuke. Where were you?" The orange-haired retorted with the same strict expression.

"Here," he responded easily.

"The whole morning?" Chiharu asked. The male nodded twice without hesitation.

"Are you going to act like an idiot and skip classes again?" Chika threw at him in annoyance. Surprisingly, Sasuke didn't say anything to that.

"You'll only get into trouble if you do that."

"I don't care," he returned bluntly. Chika frowned deeply at that.

"What is wrong with you all of a sudden, Sasuke?" Chieko asked, slightly glaring. "I thought you'd passed the whole 'I-don't-care-about-this-camp'-crap."

"I just wasn't into the mood to take classes today," Sasuke explained and finally let us see his blood-red eyes. "It isn't a big deal, you know."

"It is. This camp year is almost at its end, and you're missing a lot of important stuff. You'll only get into trouble if you keep on doing this."

Suddenly, he furrowed his eyebrows. "I'll handle it myself. I don't need your help."

"Fine!" Chika sneered angrily. "Then we won't. But then don't come to us if you do need our help." She faced her sisters. "Let's go."

She was the first one to turn her back to him and walked away. Chiharu followed her soon after, but it took Chieko a bit longer to go after the others.

The two looked intently at each other. Chieko was the first one to break the eye contact by shaking her head twice in disappointment, and with a sigh she finally followed the other two.

Hotaru went with her, but halted as she noticed that I stayed rooted to my spot.

She turned, only to raise her thin, black eyebrow questionably. Some seconds later, the three Mori's also turned their attention to me.

"Uh, I'll come soon," I told them slowly, slightly afraid of their reactions. "I wanna talk with Sasuke for a bit." I glanced at the male while I said the last sentence; he furrowed his forehead in slight confusion.

Chika was the first one to break the silence, "Go ahead and knock some sense into that idiot." She narrowed her gaze at him when he snorted mockingly, before she, Chiharu, Chieko and Hotaru continued their steps into the direction of the canteen.

"Are you going to scold me too?" Sasuke asked in a deep voice when they were gone. I shook my head, watching him leap off the trunk with ease. "I talked with Natsume this morning."

"Great," he returned sarcastically with a roll of his dark eyes.

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what…?"

I sat down with him against the tree. "Tell him what you did last night."

"Does it matter?" His expression was still as stoic as ever.

"I thought you hated him," I returned a bit confused. Sasuke sighed in irritation and eyed me with a frown. "Go ask Natsume."

"I did, but he pushed me to you."

The crimson-haired male growled underneath his breath. "Of course he did…"

I touched his shoulder with my own to encourage him to tell his story, a small smile on my face. "Come on, tell me; you don't have to feel ashamed or anything."

Instead of a nice look, I received dark scowl. "You're annoying."

I glared in an insulted manner and moved away. "What is wrong with you all of a sudden?" I snapped. Sasuke turned his head away. "Why don't you want to tell me anything? You didn't have any trouble telling Natsume."

He kept his mouth shut but pressed his head against the trunk, eyeing the sky. "Why do you wanna know so badly?"

"Because I'm a part of it, too. And you bragging to Natsume that you're the one who sent me to him just doesn't make any sense to me," I responded with a serious expression.

Sasuke tightened his jaw. "I didn't brag to him," he retorted while looking at me from the sideways of his eyelashes.

"Then tell me anything that will help me understand what's between you two and why you've told me to go to him." I continued to push.

Sasuke turned his eyes back to the sky. "It's a long story," he said almost in a whisper. I shrugged easily. "I've got time."

He eyed me for a long time, as though he was trying to find out if I was sure or not. And then finally, after a deep sigh of frustration, he sat up, bracing himself for what he was going to do.

He placed his right knee almost against his body, putting his right arm on it so he'd still get a cool posture.

"Natsume and I went to the same school, where only stupid rich children could go to. I never liked to go there because I didn't like rich people; they were too snobbish and selfish for my liking. I never actually fit in and I always made to sure to stay in the background," he began his story calmly, his eyes turned forward.

"All our classmates were the same: talking about the same things, mostly liking the same things. But Natsume was totally different, and maybe that was the reason why we started to talk to each other, and we bonded so much that we called each other 'friends'."

Sasuke suddenly furrowed his eyebrows, "I had a huge secret, back then: my siblings and my parents… died in a fire, and I ended up in an orphanage were I had to live for almost a year."

My eyebrows raised in surprise: that was something I never had expected to hear. "I'm so sorry," I said in a whisper, but he just shrugged. "I already accepted it. Kei's the one who had adopted me and made me get used to a rich life. Back then I started to see Natsume as an older brother, and told him everything about my secret. He accepted it without a second thought."

Sasuke bit on the insides of his cheek. "But then, some days later, when I came to school… everyone turned their back on me, calling me names and looking at me with disgust just because of what they found out about me. Natsume just stood there in the crowd, doing nothing when I needed him."

I gave him a sympathized look, picturing everything in my mind. "You think that Natsume told your secret?"

"I don't think it, I know it," he responded harshly, glaring at the green grass as though it was its fault. "We didn't talk or look at each other anymore. The only thing we did was try to hurt one another through insults, and tell lies behind each other's backs."

After a brief pause, he faced me again. "Everything is his fault, Mikan."

I just looked at him in silence. Even though he tried to hide it, his blood-shaded eyes were shining with sadness. I wasn't used to actually see such a side of him.

I faced forward, knowing nothing to say that'd be helpful.

"Do you… know why I walked around a long time without any gel in my hair…?" Sasuke questioned all of a sudden. It was then when I finally have realized that he had his hair back into the way everyone was used to.

He pulled at one of his locks in a slight bored manner in the meantime.

"Yeah, because of Sora you didn't get a chance to by some new gel… Right?"

He put his hand back on his knee. "That was not the only reason." The male refused to make full eye contact with me.

I presented a confused look. "What do you—?"

"I like you…" he blurted out before I had the chance to finish my sentence. He eyed his feet with his forehead deeply frowned in concentration. "More than just a friend."

I gaped at him in utter shock; did he just confess at me? "Sasu—"

"Natsume does too," Sasuke continued quickly, determined to finish his story. He swallowed afterwards.

My heart pounded into a fast beat, and I had trouble believing what I was hearing.

"As soon as we found out that we liked the same girl, we kind off started to compete against each other. I thought I had a chance of winning, but… then I noticed that look you always give him. I realized you had never looked at me that way; and you never will, even if you try." He finally turned his face to me, looking right into my eyes. "The reason why I told you to go to him was because I want you to be happy, even if it means I'm staying behind empty-handed." His voice was deep yet gentle.

I flushed deeply, still gaping at him with the same shocked expression. "Wh-wh—?" was the only things I could manage to say. "W-what—?" I tried again, but was still at a loss for words.

The voice in my head was saying nothing else but "What the hell?" one after the another.

I was really freaking out; how could it turn out into something like this? I had never expected it: nobody would, right?

And what was that about Natsume? I chewed on the insides of my cheek, turning away; could it be true? I hoped for it, but it was difficult to picture it in my mind.

I took a couple of deep breaths, collecting myself slowly but surely again.

I eyed the male and wondered what I could say without offending him.

Sasuke scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yeah… I know it's stupid…" he muttered. My eyebrows elevated in surprise. "H-how so?"

He chuckled under his breath as though he laughed at himself, before looking at me. "I just confessed to someone who's in love with someone else." Only hearing the last part of the sentence made me blush even more in embarrassment.

"N-no… that's not stupid," I said after a brief pause. Sasuke was hurt, you didn't have to be clever to know that, and I felt guilty about it. "I'm – I'm sorry…"

After a few seconds the thin line he had pressed on his lips turned into a small yet kind smile. "You're an idiot." His voice turned back into the same emotionless tone it always had, but I still could hear some hints of sweetness in it.

It was as though he was saying that it was okay, and I smiled at that. Without thinking, I hugged him and then for the first time, he returned the hug softly.

"Thank you," I said in a whisper, my mouth near his left ear. "For what you've done, for your honesty and for trusting me. And… I'm sorry if I've hurt you." Sasuke only tightened the hug as a response.

I was glad that Sasuke had told me and felt thankful that he had trusted me with everything. But now I also wanted to hear Natsume's side of the story to understand the whole thing. I was still sure that if I knew the whole story, I could help them.

It was seven PM and I had just sneaked out of the dorm to find him. I made my way to the Dancing classroom, were he usually trained if something important was coming.

I slowly opened the door, not quite sure if Natsume was really there. When I saw him just picking up a towel from the floor and putting it around his neck, my fast heart beating of being uncertain slowed down a bit.

Natsume turned when he saw my reflection in the big mirror. He raised his short brow questionably.

I swallowed awkwardly, trying to ignore the drops of sweat trickling down his face and neck, and the dampened tank top that let more of his muscles stand out. He was beyond being just hot now!

"You look like an idiot," he said, pulling me out of my thoughts. He wiped the side of his face with his towel while his eyes refused to let me go.

I blushed in embarrassment, realizing that I was staring at him the whole time. I shook my head to focus on the main thing I was here for, and quickly put a small smile on my face to show him I came in peace.

"I've talked with Sasuke," I began and walked up to him. Natsume's expression, as expected, immediately darkened. "What did he tell you…?"

"Everything."

"Great…" Natsume pressed his back against the mirror. "You're here to hear my side of the story now?"

I nodded curtly. "Sasuke blames you for everything. And I don't want to join him yet, so I want to hear your side of the story too."

I caught a glimpse of his forehead furrowing in surprise, before he turned his head away. Natsume sighed a bit in frustration and ruffled his hair.

"I'm not to blame for everything," he started with a grunt and eyed me again. "I promised to keep his secret and I never broke it."

I furrowed my eyebrows a bit in confusion. "But then how…?"

"I don't know," Natsume immediately retorted. "It just happened: some days later everyone was talking about it at school. And when Sasuke appeared, they started to yell that he didn't belong there and insult him."

He eyed the floor for a moment. "I wanted to help him but I was too scared of the consequences if I did, so I just walked away. He's never forgiven me for what I did, and I don't blame him," Natsume gazed at me again. "I did feel guilty but my pride prevented me from actually taking the first steps and apologizing to him. But he was too damn stubborn to listen to me anyway. Because of all that, we ended up like this."

I frowned my forehead in thought. "But…" I started slowly. "Don't you want to make up with him?" Natsume shrugged nonchalantly. "Like I said: he's stubborn, so I don't know how to do that or if he even wants it."

I stepped closer to him. "Well, maybe he does want it."

"How would you know?"

"Sasuke – confessed to me…" I said, slightly embarrassed. I played in the meantime with my fingers, afraid of what his reaction would be.

"He did, huh…?" he said deeply. I looked at him. "He was still being nice, you know?"

Natsume rolled his eyes away in irritation. "Right."

"No, I mean, he told me his reason for telling me to go to you yesterday was because he wanted me to be… happy." I automatically blushed a bit.

Natsume kept on looking at me intently, refusing to leave the mirror.

"I'm sure that he wants you to be happy too," I continued with a kind smile. Natsume lowered his eyebrows to make a dry expression. "No, he doesn't. He just wants to be right and wants me to actually go and thank him."

There was a brief silence; I remembered what Sasuke told me about him… I just had to know if it was true or not, "Do you want to?" I questioned, my voice set into a gentle tone. I closed the distance between us some more. "Because I did thank him for what he did."

The atmosphere changed around us into something that felt nice and warm. The distance between us shortened into a mere gap and we both weren't bothered by it; we stared at each other intensely, not saying a word.

My heart was pounding quickly and I was sure Natsume could see me blushing.

The sudden urge of wanting him appeared inside of me again. Before I knew what I was doing, I tiptoed to his level and pressed my lips softly against his.

We stayed like that for just three seconds. But when Natsume slightly moved his mouth, reality hit me and I jumped backwards in utter shock.

I stared at him with my eyes wide in horror, placing my hands in front of my mouth.

Natsume had to take some seconds, too, to realize what was happening. But it didn't take long before he closed his mouth again and changing his expression back into emotionless.

I was mentally screaming at myself for doing such a stupid thing when I didn't even know how he felt about me. I was pretty sure he was about to laugh at me for being so reckless.

"I-I'm sorry!" I blurted out, making sure to keep my distance. Natsume kept his famous expression, though. But then his lips cracked into an amused smirk. The male shook his head in disbelief soon afterwards.

I didn't get a thing of it; he was amused? "W-what is it?"

"You really are an idiot, Mikan." His voice was surprisingly kind, making it sound like he wasn't insulting me at all. I gave him a surprised stare. "You're… you're not mad?"

He shook his head easily, ignoring the raven locks hanging in front of his dark eyes.

I was still being confused. But before I could actually say anything, Natsume pulled me towards him to kiss me again. Without any thought I kissed back.

"I love you, too," he breathed huskily yet gently against my ear and pulled his head back to see my reaction. It didn't surprise him to see me gaping in full shock.

"Y-you do…?" I breathed back, collecting myself. Butterflies were already dancing inside my stomach, making me feel like I was the happiest girl on earth. I smiled brightly and hugged him tightly. "I love you too."

"I already know that." Natsume returned bluntly, not caring about the slight-angry pout I showed him.

He gently pressed his forehead against mine, keeping me close. "Maybe I should thank that bastard," he said in a whisper as though he was a bit embarrassed about it. I nodded once with the same smile and looked up. "I think he would like that."

Natsume only hn'ed, before he closed the distance between us again with a passionate kiss.

Sam – Gawd, I love you guys so much. When I put up the A/N I never expected people would actually read it and like the things I changed. But I received a lot of nice reviews and a bunch of new people who alerted and favored this story, even alerting and favoring me! Really, if I could meet you all in real I would hug you to death. Like, seriously. You all made my day and gave me even more reason to write this story. So yes, again: thank you so damn much! *inserts lots of hearts here* ;D

Alright, back to this chapter: Mikan and Natsume finally confessed to each other and are finally together! When I wrote the scene I was really happy. I mean, after all those years, I finally can write a scene where the two share the most beautiful and romantic words of a life time with each other, and kiss! Who wouldn't be happy after that? :3

Even the past of Natsume and Sasuke is finally revealed. ;D Really, you don't know how long I wanted to write that…

I decided to put this story on the first place now and will give it my full attention. I still will write my other stories that are here, but the updates will be a lot slower now. Until I've completed this story, of course. :)

Thank you so much for the fact that you haven't given up on this story and for reading this chapter. Please leave a review and no flames.

Much love,
Unknown Pain