Hey guys! Chapter 21 is finally out! Hope you enjoy~!

Also special thanks to BubblySunshine190, your review really made my day so thank you! :) And of course thank you everyone else for reviewing and reading my fanfiction! You guys all hold a special place in my heart!

"Even though you aren't his child, he thought of you as one. He really did care for you more than anything in the world, and you've given him something he could feel proud of all his life."

That was what Inu had told her, and she gently placed the phone down. "I love you too Gramps." she said with a small smile as she tucked herself to bed, tears forming in her eyes.

Her grandpa died.

Chapter 21: Journeys reach reality

The next morning felt pretty long for our little brunette as she shuffled through her bed, her face still wet from tears. The loss of her grandpa had a big impact on her, but she knew that he was still watching her from above; him and her parents.

It didn't take long for her to realize that she had yet to contact Hotaru, who had been frantically calling her here and there. Oh, how she knew she was going to get an earful from her best friend, knowing how angry she'd probably be, and had been in the voicemails.

Quickly she rumbled through her things to locate her phone, following up with a call to Hotaru.

Within a second she picked up.

"Explain, thoroughly." she stated on the other line as anger arose in her voice. Mikan didn't know what was more terrifying, her voice or the anger in her voice. Nonetheless, Mikan told her best friend everything.

After the whole story was told Hotaru hung up, making Mikan start to worry. It wasn't until 5 minutes later that she heard a knock on her door, opening to reveal a really worried best friend. "Hota—" and then she pulled Mikan into an embrace, a reassuring embrace.

"I'm fine Hotaru, really." she told her friend as she hugged her as well.

It looked obvious that Hotaru was very worried about her friend, no matter how stupid she thinks she is. No matter how many times Mikan reassured her that she was fine, she continued to hug her. After the long hug finished Mikan simply looked at her friend with a smile. "I'm really fine Hotaru, I've learned a lot through the past day of depressing." she reassured once more as she walked over to the counter to pour her friend some coffee. "It's your favorite, French Vanilla." she said cheerfully as she handed her friend the cup, making her sigh at the gesture.

"Fine, but please let me know rather than have me worry for a whole day next time." she said with concern in her eyes as she sipped her coffee.

A light chuckle came out of Mikan's mouth. "Of course."

Once they finished with their meals they headed off to school, of course with Mikan in her disguise. With all that has happened to her, it has felt like forever since she's been to school. And, for once, she seemed excited to go.

At School

As Mikan made her way into the classroom a ton of girls started to squeal in awe, calling over to her as she attempted to ignore them for once.

"Mikoooo-kunnnn!" her whole fan club screamed as she made her way to her seat, freezing when she saw Natsume.

His head turned towards her, giving off his indifferent look. "Look who showed up to class today." he simply said with his nonchalant tone. Mikan arched one eye brow at his response.

"And look who actually considered my absence." she spited back, only to get a glare in return.

"Don't push it." he said before looking back at his manga, making Mikan huff at the response before taking her seat.

After a few minutes Narumi came in, twirling as usual, greeting everyone with such an exaggerated tone. Chuckles appeared from the crowd as he set down his attendance, noticing that Mikan was present this time. He sent over a smile towards her, making her simply give a smile in return.

"As you all know, in one week it will be the Alice Academy Festival!" he sang aloud as cheers started to be made. The excitement rose as everyone was eager to attend the festival. From what Mikan and Hotaru heard, the festival was one of the biggest in the area, featuring big events and presentations from each class.

Mikan's class was doing a theme of fate, using the play, Cinderella, as the base of the concept. The word fate always seemed to confuse her, but of course fate needed to be earned rather than given. With the word fate in mind, Mikan's mind drifted towards a memory about the boy on the swings, and then making her think of Natsume.

No matter how many times she tried to consider otherwise, it was no doubt that Natsume was the boy in her past, as well as the boy who gave her first kiss. As her mind continued to drift she felt someone shake her body, jolting her back to reality.

"Imai! What the hell was that for?!" she exclaimed as she glared at her nonchalant best friend staring at her in annoyance. "I kept calling you but your idiot brain can't seem to comprehend the situation." she stated as she pointed towards the crowd of people who were waiting on her for the rehearsal. Mikan slightly sweat-dropped before walking towards them, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry."

The day went by quite fast, just the normal practicing and rehearsing. Along with that were some costume try-ons, which left girls squealing as they watched Natsume and Ruka being measured for the prince costumes. Of course the understudy would need to get their own fit costume in case of any last minute changes in the cast.

Eventually it was night time, and the filming was going to start momentarily.

At the studio

"Mi-channn!" a certain silver haired boy yelled out as he went over to hug the brunette, who was definitely caught by surprise. "Y-Yo chan! I didn't know you had time off of your work today." she exclaimed as she hugged the boy back.

"Sorry about that Mikan, I should have told you that Youichi was going to come and watch the rehearsal." Nobara said in the background as she walked over to the two of them before beaming a smile. "Cousin, you should stop clinging to Mikan." she said in a slight giggle as Youichi pouted a bit.

"Both of you were able to make it to the final filming of my last scene?" Mikan beamed with excitement as she went over to hug Nobara. "Now I feel a little less nervous with you two to support me."

As they walked over to the set they spotted Hotaru and Ruka examining the equipment, to make sure everything was OK to go. "Hotaru! How's all the set up going? I'm so excited that today we'll be filming the last scene!" Mikan exclaimed in giggles as she went over to hug her best friend, only to be hit by her baka gun.

Baka baka baka

"No hugging until you finish this scene flawlessly." Hoatru stated in a cold tone, making Mikan frown in return. "Meanie."

As that whole scene happened between Hotaru and Mikan, Youichi looked towards Natsume, who seemed to be completely focused on the little brunette. A small frown formed on his face but he tried to ignore it. His mind told him to completely give up on Mikan, but his heart thought that it still had a chance. Natsume was a formable love rival, or so that was what he thought as he watched him look caring towards her.

"Mi-chan~" Youichi called out as she stopped in her position to look over towards him. "What is it?" she asked with curiosity, but he simply gave off a smile. "Nothing, I just wanted to hear your voice." he replied as a pair of crimson eyes started to look at him in suspicion. Of course the dense little Mikan had no idea what that was about.

"Alright guys, let's just start filming the next scene… we're using up valuable time!" Hotaru yelled out in annoyance as everyone listened to her command.

"Also Hyuuga, as agreed you won't need to do the kissing scene, just kiss her on the cheek." she said in slight disappointment, knowing that without a real kiss the movie was slightly ruined. Natsume simply nodded in response. "Thanks."

Mikan overheard the whole conversation and began to frown. "Does Natsume still refuse to kiss me? Was all those times he kissed me a lie?" she thought in worry as she walked over towards the set.

The set was prepared, the lights shined bright, and the cameras began rolling.

(Natsume plays Arnold and Mikan plays Alicia)

Alicia silently walked towards her balcony, after going through all the events that had occurred during the last 5 months. She had escaped her wealthy family after a large murder, found love, broke the love, and almost got chased out by the person who killed her parents right before her eyes.

A small tear fell down her eye as she stared out towards the sky. "Such a beautiful day, yet why do I show such emotions? I've been set free, I've finally ended the murder case…. I should be satisfied." Her hand clutched towards her chest. "Bust something in my heart feels empty."

As the moments continued she heard small footsteps approach her. In caution, she turned around in a quick manner and went into an alert mode. "Who goes there?!" she yelled aloud, only to have her tears start forming further as she saw Arnold approach her by the balcony.

"Natsume…" Mikan thought in her head as she watched how stunning he had looked in his costume. As alluring as ever, even far more alluring than his character is supposedly supposed to be. But this time she refused to be drawn into his acting. She was the actor, not him.

"A-Arnold… I…" her voice stuttered at the sight, but quickly glared her eyes. "What are you doing here? Didn't we end ties down at the river?" she spited out, only to have no effect towards her ex-lover.

His eyes were sad, it showed guilt and remorse. "I did what I had to do… for you…" he said silently as a pause came right after. "What do you m—" and with that she felt a pair of warm lips lay upon hers.

Mikan was absolutely shocked, as well as the film crew and the people around them. Hotaru, however, had already predicted that this may happen.

"You are the only one for me. I love you." he said in the most caring tone ever. Mikan couldn't tell whether that was meant for her, or for her character Alicia; though her mind kept trying to convince her that it was just the script.

Mikan quickly snapped out of her shock and continued her lines. Her eyes started to tear up in happiness, both for her character's role and for the lines she had heard, which gave her different signals from Natsume. "And you are worth the Journey all along."

And with that the scene has finally ended.

Youichi stood there in complete shock. He was aware of Natsume's feelings, but he didn't know they were serious to this extent. He continued to play that small scene in his head.

"You are the only one for me. I love you."

Youichi knew very well that Natsume didn't say that because of his script, he said that because he truly did love her. A sad smile formed on Youichi's face as he looked over towards Natsume, who was looking at him as well. Natsume could tell that Youichi was able to figure out what that scene meant. "I've lost." he mouthed towards Natsume as he walked out the studio door.

Nobara noticed this and quietly followed him out.

Outside the studio

The silver haired boy quickly rummaged into his pockets and grabbed out a cell phone. He hesitated for a moment but in the end decided to call the number.

After a few rings an old voice picked up. "Hello?" the voice on the other end said.

A small sigh came out of Youichi's mouth. "Dad, I've decided. I'll agree to the arranged marriage with Aoi." And with that he simply hung up, knowing that his dad was probably jumping with joy in his office.

As he turned around a small pair of arms wrapped around him. "You did the right thing Youichi." Nobara said calmly as he heard him whimper softly.

"I know…" he replied as he began to cry.

Back in the Studio

Everyone began to cheer with joy as the final scene of the movie finished. It was officially over and the work has definitely paid off.

Mikan was still in shock about the whole event that had happened to her. He kissed her, he really kissed her. Different shades of red formed on her face as she remembered the whole scene.

"You can't seem to forget about me, can you?" Natsume said with a smirk as he walked over to the blushing brunette. Her hazel eyes glared at him. "Don't get so full of yourself!" she yelled aloud, trying her best to hide her embarrassment.

But she smiled anyway, and for once he had smiled back at her; a genuine loving smile.

"Gramps, I finally finished the movie you were so proud of." Mikan thought in her head as she slightly frowned. But she knew he would be proud of her. He was, after all, the one person who raised her most of her life.

At Natsume's Apartment

Natsume was reading his manga as always, ignoring the many calls from most of his past clients. After his appearance at the host club his phone has been blowing up with messages, putting him in annoyed mood. But as he thought about a certain brunette haired girl, his mood began to lighten up.

A smile formed on his face at the thought, but of course he quickly changed it. Love wasn't something he was used to, and it would take time for him to get used to it.

Suddenly his phone began to ring. Natsume thought it might have been another one of his past clients, but was shocked to see a call from an unknown ID.

"Hello?" Natsume said in a nonchalant tone as he answered the phone.

A voice he never heard of answered the phone, making him a bit startled. "Hello, who is it that I am speaking to?" he asked.

"…Natsume Hyuuga." Natsume replied, getting a little suspicious about this phone call. The other end of the phone was silent for a bit as small sounds of ruffling paper could be heard. "Natsume Hyuuga, I'd like to let you know that when your step-father died, he left a half of his inheritance to you on his will. Would you be able to sign a few papers tomorrow to claim the money?" the guy asked, leaving Natsume a bit astonished.

The father who once hated him, actually put him on his will. Natsume felt slightly relieved that his step-father really did want to treat him as his own son. His mind didn't believe it originally, but to think that he would be sharing half and half with Tsubasa, the man's actual son, that was a complete different story.

"Yes I will, thank you for letting me know." Natsume replied back before hanging up.

Today was probably one of Natsume's more relaxed days.

Thanks everyone for reading and keeping track of this fanfiction, it really means a lot to me! :) The next chapter will be the last chapter of this fanfiction! (Wow, it's already been so long since I started it!) Next chapter will revolve around Mikan's big reveal and the Alice Academy Festival! So excited! ~ So stay tuned! Read x Review!