CHAPTER 36: A little tree-talk

It has been a week and Mikan is now staying in her room since she insisted that she will be able to recover much faster if she is not in a hospital room. And since Mikan can already take care of herself, all of her friends were now required to attend their classes. It was a bright Monday morning and everyone else was in class except for Mikan since everyone else knows that she's still excused for being absent. And then Narumi entered the class.

"Ohayo class. I have an announcement for you. I don't know if this will be considered as good or bad news. It all depends on how you interpret it." He explained as the whole class just gave him a puzzled look except for Hotaru, Aoi and Natsume who was as calm as ever.

"You may come in now." he said as a very familiar brunette appeared right in front of them.

"Hello everyone. How have you been? I miss you a lot!" Mikan said with the very bright smile that everyone missed. The class was very surprised and happy at the same time since they knew that their favorite and bubbly little classmate was with them again.

BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA!

Hotaru shot her with her baka gun as Mikan gracefully dodged all of them gracefully without even breaking a single sweat while her classmates just stared at her amazingly.

"Whoa. She has really been training just like Natsume. She's pretty good." They all thought.

"Mou, what was that all about, Hotaru? I just got back from the hospital, you know." Mikan said right after she was able to dodge the fifth shot.

"What the heck are you doing here, Mikan? You still need to rest. Do you even plan on going back to the hospital?" Hotaru said while worry was very evident in her voice.

"Hotaru, you've known me ever since we were kids and you know very well that staying alone in a room is pretty boring and it will definitely not help to recover faster. So I decided to come to class instead and I even met Mr. Narumi along the way so I decided to go to class with him instead." Mikan explained as Mr. Narumi suddenly spoke.

"Okay, I still have a few more things to say. Since the AAO leader and cronies are already gone, I am happy to say that every person with an Alice is already safe from the hands of evil because during the last mission of Mikan-chan, they have been finally and permanently defeated them. And with this, the DA type students don't have to do missions anymore so let's all give her a round of applause."

The whole class then clapped and cheered for Mikan while Mikan just blushed as bright as a tomato while standing right in front of the class.

"And since I know that you guys have missed Mikan a lot, I will give you this as a free period so that all of you may have time to talk to her. Just don't talk too long because she might be worn out since she still needs to take a rest. Adieu!" Then he left the room with a pirouette and a flip.

Some students left right after Mr. Narumi left the room while some students stayed for a bit to talk to Mikan. And one of the students who left the room immediately was Natsume.

"Uhm… I guess Natsume is really mad at me. He didn't even bother asking if I'm already okay or something." Mikan sadly thought.

They talked for a while until they went their own separate ways since they have their own things to tend to.

Mikan was walking an empty and quiet hallway since classes are still going on for some students. She went to the place where she misses the most. It was the place where her heart and feet took her – the Sakura Tree that she and Natsume shared most of the time. She went there and talked to the tree without knowing that Natsume was just there on a tree branch.

"Hello there Mr. Tree, you know I missed you a lot. I have been clearly missing a whole lot of things and people. And most of all, I miss my Natsume, IF he's still mine that is. Come to think of it, I don't even know if he still wants me to be his girl. Ever since the night he saved me from Reo and ever since the yelling sessions we had along the hallways, we haven't been talking lately. And now, I think that I am complete dimwit who is talking to a tree who will probably not even respond. But hey, who cares. At least I could talk to someone or at least something." She started.

"It seems that everything seems to be back to normal as of now. Everyone can finally be safe and they have absolutely nothing not worry about, except for me that is." She continued with a sigh while Natsume was just listening to her intently.

"I just wish that everything would be normal for me as well. But I guess my life won't be back to normal if it's like this. You see, even if all of my friends are there for me and even my friends are there to cheer me up, I still can't manage to be truly happy. Every since Natsume and I have been distant from each other, I always feel incomplete or something like that. But I guess it's also my fault in the first place. I never should have kept the mission thing a secret and I never should have avoided him." She stated as she started to cry and then leaned closed onto the tree trunk while breathing really hard.

"Shit! She's crying again all because of me! Damn it! I really hate it when she cries like that! And the worst part is that she's crying all because of me and that she's even blaming herself but I also made a mistake! How on earth could I be so stupid?! Argh!" Natsume thought while staring at Mikan.

"But you know Mr. Tree, when I was in the hospital, I thought that I heard Natsume talking to me when I was still asleep. I just don't know whether it's a dream or not. If I could remember it right, I heard him say sorry and that he won't be able to forgive himself if ever something bad happens to me. During that time, I also heard him say something that he has never told me ever since that I agreed to be his girlfriend. He told me that he loves me and that he needs me. I swear that I heard his voice because I felt like crying that time. But I guess that it was all a dream after all since Natsume is still not talking to me. He didn't even bother asking if I'm already okay right after Mr. Narumi told us that there will be a free period. He just left the room quickly and as of now, I have no idea where he could be. You know, I just wish that my dream in the hospital was true." She said as she sighed again. She has been tired from all of that crying and all.

"Oh, I also met an angel named Kenji. He's also the angel I met when I was 6 when I almost left Hotaru and grandpa. I was supposed to go to heaven with my grandpa and Kenji but when I was about to go, I heard Natsume scream out my name. And then the memories that I have had with my friends suddenly came back. I guess Natsume and my friends really have an impact in my life. They were the reasons why I decided to go back – Hotaru, Ruka, Anna, Nonoko, Koko, Yuu, Mr. Narmi, and most especially, Natsume. I just hope that everything will really be fine for me." she said as she looked at the setting sun.

"Oh look, it's almost sundown. I guess I have been here the whole afternoon. Gee, I look like a big mess and my eyes are so red and puffy. Tsk, Hotaru and Natsume were right. I really am I big crybaby. Sorry for all of the waterworks and drama scenes that I have made while I was here, Mr. Tree. But at least I was able to talk even if you're just a tree." She said while yawning.

"Well, I'm tired from all of the crying and stuff so I better get going now, Mr. Tree. I still need to rest and if Hotaru knew that I'm here she might shoot me with her gun. Thanks for listening to me anyway, Mr. Tree. Ja!"

Once Mikan was away, Natsume immediately jumped off the tree branch and one thing was in his mind and he was really very determined to do it.

"I need to go to Polka's room right now and work things out between us. I can't stand it seeing her like this every single day of my life." He thought as he proceeded to the room of Mikan which was only in front of his room since she was now a special star. "I will definitely fix things no matter what."