Chapter 21

(A/N: This is the last part of the beach chapter and it is still dedicated to CureNoble0 ... Oh, I don't really understand what kind of fan service you want so I am not really sure if I can do something about that. Enjoy reading!)

Normal POV

"Good morning, Mikan" a soft voice was heard inside the brunette's room. Mikan slowly opened her hazel orbs to find that Anna was leaning close to her with a worried look etched on her face. The pink haired girl held Mikan's hands and asked "Are you feeling alright now? We are worried to death, did you know that?"

Mikan looked straight into Anna's eyes before she smiled "I'm alright now, Anna. Sorry that I made you guys worry about me. I ruined this trip. I'm such a mess. My fever is gone now so, I think I can manage to go out and play with you guys"

"Are you serious?!" Anna shrieked "You're going to go out and play? No way. You are not allowed to do exhausting activities and whether you like it or not, you are going to stay here inside the beach house until we return to Tokyo tonight."

"What? And who told you that? Hotaru? She's so mean" Mikan whined.

"No. It was Natsume who told us not to allow you to go out. If you can only see his face last night, he is so pale and is worried sick about you! He was the one who took care of you the whole night. He said that he couldn't leave you alone since it is his fault from the start. He even turned his back to Nobara last night so that he can be by your side. Please don't let Natsume's effort go to waste. What if you get sick again? You have no choice but to stay, okay?" Anna explained.

"He did that last night? You mean, Natsume stayed here with me the whole night?"

"Yeah, even his girlfriend cannot stop him. He's stubborn as always."

"Anna, I'm hungry." Mikan suddenly blurted while holding her stomach.

"Figures. You haven't had both lunch and dinner yesterday and obviously you'll be hungry. You know what, when we found out your location, Natsume told me that I should cook a lot of food for your dinner since you haven't had anything. So I do what he said but unfortunately, you were unconscious when you returned andthat freakin' Koko gobbled up all the food that I made for you!" Anna replied back.

"I'm really sorry."

Anna smiled at the brunette "No worries, Mikan. I'll go and get some food. Just wait for me and I'll be back in a jiffy!" Anna patted Mikan's head before leaving her room.

As Anna descends down the stairs, she noticed a raven haired lad who was holding a cup of coffee in his right hand, while his left hand was inside his short pocket. Anna smiled inwardly as she approached him. "Good morning, Natsume" she greeted.

Natsume stared at her for a split second before tearing away his gaze "Morning."

Natsume watched Anna as put some food in vast amounts on a silver tray. The pink haired girl was humming an unknown melody which puzzled Natsume. "Oi, why are you putting plenty of foods on that tray?"

Anna looked at him and smiled "It's for Mikan. She's extremely hungry you know. And she's craving for something to eat. I bet this won't be enough for her but I cannot put every food in this little tray."

Natsume replied back "She's awake now?"

"Yeah. Well, I got to go now. She's really hungry and I need to hurry up." Anna replied. She walked past Natsume who was just standing near the stairs but then a strong hand gripped her arm, making her turn around "Natsume?"

"Give me that. I'll be the one who will bring this to her."

"But, Natsume...what if Nobara sees this? You know she might misunderstand."

"She's out with Permy. And she will not know this, unless you said so. Now, give me that." And before Anna could even argue, Natsume stole the tray from her and hurriedly went upstairs, leaving his cup of coffee on the nearby table.

When Natsume entered Mikan's room, he immediately shut the door but made no sound and clicked the lock to ensure that nobody would disturb him. His gaze was then directed to a figure that was lying on the bed and its whole body was covered in white blanket and was curled up in a fetal position. Natsume gently placed the tray on the bedside table and slowly approached the young lass. As he pulled the blanket towards him, he was suddenly pulled into a hug by no other than Mikan herself.

"Anna, I'm hungry...Anna...I want food" she muttered with her eyes closed.

So, this brunette mistook Natsume as Anna. Well, she is really expecting Anna to bring the food anyway. Natsume snickered and whispered softly to her ear "Polka, if you really want to hug me then you could just say so. You don't need to surprise me like that."

This statement made Mikan to open her eyes. She narrowed her eyes to adjust to the light and soon enough, she found herself facing Natsume who was smirking at her. Their noses almost touched each other but then Mikan suddenly banged her head onto his thus making the latter flinch.

She stood up and asked in fury "Natsume? What the hell are you doing here? Where is Anna?"

"Chill Polka. I just came here to bring you your much awaited breakfast. And, don't look for someone who isn't even here. I shooed her off"

"You what?!" Mikan retorted but then her stomach suddenly growled which made Natsume smirk "Eat your breakfast first before yelling. You haven't had anything since yesterday."

Mikan looked at him and then at the tray that was placed on the table and nodded "Alright"

Natsume stood up from the bed and took the tray. He placed it on Mikan's lap and the latter almost drooled at the sight of the food that was lying in front of her. Mikan was about to hold the utensils when Natsume swatted her hands and he immediately grabbed the utensils away from her. "Not too fast, Polka."

"What the heck?!"

"I'll feed you."

"Natsume, I'm not a baby and please, don't do this. If Nobara knows about this, we're gonna be in trouble. I don't want her to think that I am the third wheel in your relationship. Please, can you just stay away from me? I don't want her to misunderstand these things. I hope that what happened yesterday will be the last time we will be that close...Yes, we're still friends and let's just be casual to one another, no more hugs and most important of all, no more kiss." Mikan sternly stated.

"I don't want that."

Mikan rolled her eyes and held Natsume's hands. "Look at me Natsume. Try to put me into Nobara's situation. What if I am your girlfriend? And I see you getting too close to your childhood friend, closer than what normal friends are. What do you think would I feel about that?"

"If you are my girlfriend then the things that you've mentioned won't happen" Natsume straightforwardly replied, earning a slap from the brunette. Natsume was taken aback by Mikan's harsh action and he touched his cheek that was slapped by her. It hurts.

"Damn you, Natsume. I don't want to be the bad guy here. All I want you to do is to distance yourself from me. I want you to just focus your attention to Nobara. She's your girlfriend for goodness sake and she doesn't deserve to be taken for granted by a person like you! Anna mentioned to me that you stayed here the whole night, checking up on me. Please, if ever something bad happens to me once again, I want you to stay away from me. If I get sick, you don't need to watch over me. Hotaru and the others can do that. I was never your responsibility to begin with. Oh, and to tell you one thing...I will move to the Alice Household when we return to Tokyo later. I'm telling you this so you won't be surprised. And, I am going to take my entrance exam at Tokyo University. Let's end our partner relationship here, Natsume. You are no longer my partner the moment that you've committed yourself to somebody else. You are now a friend, not a partner. Keep that in mind." Mikan sighed "I won't apologize for slapping you. You deserve it for foolishly sticking your nose on the event last night without considering Nobara's feelings."

Mikan shook her head and stood up from the bed, ignoring the food tray as she walks to the door. "I lost my appetite to eat because of you. I feel bad for Anna because the food she made is now put to waste. I'll just eat outside. Lock the door when you leave the room" and without warning, Mikan stepped out of the room and shut the door close.

Natsume was left inside the room, still couldn't grasp what happened between him and the brunette. He was still touching his cheek that was slapped and then he suddenly slammed the bedside table with all his might. "Damn!"

Mikan went to the nearest food store in the beach house and ordered her breakfast which consists of a single bowl of ramen and some side dishes. As soon as she finished her meal, she pays her food and decided to take a walk. She then spotted Nobara sitting on one of the rock formations near the shore. Mikan gulped.

"This is the perfect time to talk to her" she thought to herself.

The brunette took a deep breath and when she was a step away, she spoke "Nobara? Can we talk?"

The blue haired lass looked at her, quite surprised with her sudden appearance. She smiled "Sure, Mikan"

The brunette sat down beside her and started their conversation "First things first, I want to apologize to you Nobara. I'm very sorry."

"Why are you apologizing Mikan?"

"Sorry, because Natsume was the one who took care of me last night. If I am only conscious last night, I would not allow that moron to be with me. I know I troubled you that much. Don't worry, I already talked to him and knock some sense out of his puny brain."

Nobara smiled and patted Mikan's shoulder "Thank you Mikan. To tell you the truth, I tried to stop him when he wants to take care of you but my efforts were futile. I know how much you mean to him and that even I, his girlfriend could not stop him from being with you. I know I may be selfish but I cannot deny the fact that I was jealous. I was jealous of you Mikan."

Mikan's eyes were slowly forming some tears but she immediately wiped it off to prevent it from streaming down her cheeks "It's my fault, Nobara. You have the right to be jealous but I swear that I didn't do it on purpose. What happened yesterday was an accident."

"Then, can you do me a favor Mikan?"

"What is it?"

"Can you please...stay away from Natsume from now on?"

Mikan was taken aback by this sudden request from Nobara "I understand. I will do everything that I can so that I can distance myself from him. I already told him the same thing a while ago. I told him to stay away from me to prevent misunderstandings and also I don't want to be the third wheel on your relationship. But I need to tell you this; I am going to move to the Alice household when we return to Tokyo. Bumping onto him is not impossible but I will try my best to not have any contact with him as much as possible."

"Thank you for heeding my request, Mikan. I just love him so much and I just want to be with him forever"

Mikan smiled once again and hugged Nobara "I'm happy that you are Natsume's girlfriend. I know that he is in good hands, being a stubborn kid as he is, I know it is not easy to handle him and his stupid mood swings but I know that you can tame a Natsume Hyuuga. I'm rooting for you Nobara"

"Thank you Mikan"

"Finally we're home! That trip was tiring!" Koko exclaimed as he slouched on the couch as soon as they arrive at the Alice household.

"But it was fun isn't it?" Yuu interjected.

"Yeah, we should plan another trip during vacation!" Koko replied.

"Geez, we just arrived from Okinawa and you're already planning another trip? Gosh Koko, try planning your college first!" Permy retorted.

"Can you please refrain from shouting, Permy? I'm exhausted and I don't want to hear your rants today." Hotaru nonchalantly exclaimed as she dragged her luggage towards her room.

"Ne, Hotaru where is my room?" Mikan asked

"That room next to mine" Hotaru replied, pointing at the door at the left side of her room.

"Where is Natsume?" Ruka asked as he scans the room looking for his best buddy.

"Oh, he was out. He takes Nobara to her home" Nonoko replied.

"He can be sweet sometimes" Koko commented.

It was almost evening when Natsume arrived at the Alice household. He quickly plopped himself on the couch and rested his arm on his forehead. Ruka approached him and sat beside him "Welcome home, Natsume"

Natsume looked at him and mocked "You're acting like a housewife, Ruka. Should I say Tadaima?"

"Whatever Natsume." Ruka replied as he rolled his eyes "What took you so long? Nobara's house is not that far."

"I took her out on a date." Natsume bluntly replied.

This statement didn't escape Koko's ears and he hollered "Natsume took Nobara on a date! You're the man!". Koko's voice boomed inside the household.

"Koko shut up or I'll shut you up for good" Natsume threatened.

Their conversation was cut off with Anna's announcement "DINNER IS READY! To those who are still upstairs, get your butts down here before the food gets cold!"

The nine members of the Alice household were now seated in the dining table. The boys seated on the left side, while the girls on the right. Much to Mikan's chagrin, her seat was just across Natsume's and she just sighed because their seating arrangement was decided by drawing strings. She cannot change seats now.

"Can you please pass the rice?" Mikan asked as she eyed the rice bowl between Ruka and Natsume. She was secretly hoping that Ruka will pass her the rice bowl and not Natsume, to avoid a conversation with him.

But fate is not siding with her, Ruka was passing another bowl to Nonoko and so Natsume was the one who gave her the rice bowl. Mikan looked at him and they are now staring at each other. Mikan took the bowl from him and shifts her gaze from him. She immediately refilled her bowl without bothering to thank the raven haired lad.

"She is really avoiding me" Natsume thought to himself. "She's just so near to me, yet she's so far...So far that I couldn't even touch her."

End of Chapter 21!

Reviews please? Sorry for not updating for quite some time

What can you say about it? Is it bad? Does it suck?

Stay tuned for the next chapters!

~Natsumi Yuki- Hime