DISCLAIMER: I do not own GA.
CHAPTER 52: Read between the lines
"Can I help you with anything?" their coach asked Mikan. But Mikan never cared about his presence. She needed to se Natsume, fast. The time was almost up for their break so she scurried her way to the locker room of the middle schoolers where loads of sweaty and panting boys were present. Mico and Natsume just stared at her confusedly and Mikan knew very well that she shouldn't be there but she didn't even care at all. All she wanted was to have a talk with Natsume.
"Mimi, what the heck are you doing here?" Mico asked quietly. Mikan was so sure that her twin was already sick of seeing her and popping out of nowhere just like a mushroom but she didn't care as well. And she cannot talk to Natsume at a place like that either since there are loads of fans watching them. So Mikan just bit her lip, bowed her head down and then grabbed Natsume's wrist. She then dragged him to a place where no one could hear them when they talk.
"This is not the time for this, Po-----"
"Win…" Mikan whispered while Natsume's eyes flickered.
"What?" He asked in confusion.
"Win so that you can finally be able to tell her." She replied. Something then flickered in Natsume's eyes once again. They were just staring blankly at each other.
"I hope that those words would be able to make him do something. I pray that those words might be able to break the rock and hard surface that he made between us ever since the night that I have slapped him. Maybe… if they won, he would finally forgive me. Maybe… if they won, he would finally tell her. And maybe… if they won, something good will finally happen." Mikan silently prayed while staring at him.
And then Mikan saw it flash across his handsome face ---- Determination. A small and sincere smile then crept onto the face of Mikan and then she slowly took a step back.
"As I have told you before, I didn't choose anyone. And even if I did have the opportunity to choose, I would have chosen YOU." She stated as she took another step backwards. "I care for you more than what you think, Natsume." She then took another step back. "You mean more than just Mico-nii's best friend to me… you mean so much more than that."
"HYUUGA!!! Get back here this instant!!!" Their coach yelled through the whole bleachers. Natsume barely moved an inch as his crimson eyes pierced through Mikan's hazel ones. His expression on his face was hardly readable.
"If Natsume truly meant the words that he told me the day at the parking lot at Ella's, he would definitely understand that I truly meant the same words as well." She thought.
"HYUUGA!!! GET BACK HERE NOW!!!"
One more step backwards…
"You mean EVERYTHING to me…" She whispered.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The moment that Mico stepped into the court, the crowd went even wilder. Mikan could hear it perfectly on how people cheer for his name simultaneously. Natsume and Ruka then walked to his side and whispered something…
"Don't you dare do something stupid that could cause you to graduate from the game." He whispered.
"Yeah. We need you badly." Ruka added while Mico just gave them a grin.
"Why would I do something like that?" Mico replied. "I've waited long enough for this and sitting on a bench watching the first half made me wanna beat those guys up." He added and then the game started. The middle schoolers were performing real good compared to the first half and they have made eight shots within less than five minutes all thanks to Natsume, Ruka and especially Mico.
"Gosh, you brother looks like he could already murder someone." Yuka commented.
Mikan and Hotaru just shrugged it off. "He's always like that." They chorused.
"I just hope that with every bit of Natsume's energy, he would be able to forgive after out little five second talk. I wasn't really sure if it was a very good idea for pouring almost half of my heart to his just like that. I'm not even so sure if he understood where my talk was going because Mico-nii dragged him away from me right after I spoke my last words – the words that would have definitely given away my feelings in an instant." Mikan thought while watching their team shoot a score one after the other.
"Could it be that I'm his mystery girl???" Mikan thought once again while she shook her head. "That is totally impossible. Natsume would never like someone like me, or could he??? *sigh* this is confusing me. I can't be his mystery girl since judging by the way that she describes her, she's like almost perfect and I'm a total klutz in everything I do."
"Coming into terms with something?" Tsubasa asked the brunette.
"No." Mikan immediately replied.
"Really? You look like you're thinking really really really hard about something."
"I'm concentrating on the game, Tsubasa." Mikan replied again while Tsubasa just gave her an innocent shrug. After a few seconds, the crowd went wild and Mikan glanced at the score board. The scores were 78-78. It was a tied game and the teams only have five minutes left.
The game then continued on, everyone gasping and almost holding their breaths only to find out on who will surely be the champion. Mico was holding the ball and shot it, but the ball bounced out of the ring.
"Drat!! That was so close already!" Shizuka stated in dismay.
"The team can do this, Mimi!" Yuka stated while looking at her son. "We only need one more shot!" She added while Mikan didn't even budge since she was way too busy of thinking if she could really be the mystery girl of the flame caster that she loves so much.
"You're thinking again." Tsubasa stated.
"Tsubasa, we're tied! Who knows what could happen for the next minutes!" Mikan replied.
"I know that we're tied, Mikan. But your brother in that court is making a whole lot of a difference if you ask me." Tsubasa answered while looking at Mico and the other players. "Maybe that's the reason why he's the team captain, am I right?"
"It's not just because Mico is the only one playing out there." Yuka butted into their little conversation. "It's the whole Middle SchoolVarsity Team. The one difference that Mico has made was that he was able to give the other boys some confidence." She added with a smile. Tsubasa and Mikan just stared at her in total confusion and Hotaru noticed it so she took the liberty of speaking.
"When they didn't have Mico for the first half of the game, the rest of them felt like they needed to play real hard and reach the extreme level of their capacities. It threw their game spirit away. But now that Mico is playing for the second half ------" Hotaru explained while she was cut off by Tsubasa.
"They're now working like what they were supposed to do from the very start --- working as a team." Tsubasa finished off while nodding his head and Yuka smiled at him.
"You're a very smart boy. Do you play sports too, Tsubasa?" Yuka asked him while Mikan glanced at him and Tsubasa just grinned.
"I play basketball." He replied plainly.
"That's a very good choice!" Yuka commented.
"I was supposed to be one of the varsity players when I entered this academy. They even offered me a basketball scholarship when I enter the high school division next school year." Tsubasa started off while Yuka, Mikan and Hotaru turned to him and listened.
"And then? So how come you're not in there playing? You have the skills for it." Mikan stated.
"I turned it down."
"Why?" Hotaru and Yuka chorused.
"Basketball is not the game for me. It's for people like Mico who always wanted to compete. I only play for fun and I'm kind of lazy when I'm forced to practice for competitions and such." Tsuabsa explained.
"You're not lazy." Mikan commented.
"A sport that makes me pressured all because of the fact that I was supposed to win is not for me. Mico, Natsume and Ruka's pride of winning is what takes them to where they are right now. I usually give up the moment that I know that I lost. Even though I love that thing, it's not something that I should do."
"Why?" Mikan asked while Tsubasa grinned.
"Because there other people out there who truly loves that sport more than me like your twin and his two best friends. There are three slots for the scholarship and those three deserves to get those slots more than I do." Tsubasa replied.
"Whoa. This is the very first time that I heard Tsubasa talk so seriously about something. He sure is an amazing person. But…. Somehow, something tells me that there's more to what he said. "I usually give up the moment that I know that I lost. Even though I love that thing, it's not something that I should do." Mikan remembered those words and pondered on them. "Could that statement mean something else when I read between the lines???" She asked herself while Hotaru stared at her plainly.
"Read between the lines, Mikan." She suddenly spoke as if she was able to read Mikan's mind. "You're lucky to have a close friend like him. He knows when to stop and when to continue on forward. Do you remember what you have told me the day of the bidding auction???" She stated while Mikan thought of it and her face lit.
"So that's it. Even though Tsubasa told me that he liked me before, I guess that he's stop asking me to go on dates anymore since he noticed that I was not the right girl for him." Mikan thought and gave Hotaru a smile. "Arigatou, Hotaru." She whispered and then Hotaru smiled back.
"SHOOT!" The announcer stated and everyone went wild. The Middle School Division won!
"What happened, okaa-san?" Mikan asked her mother.
"Mico passed the ball to Natsume and then Natsume made a shot but the ball bounced off the ring. But it seems that luck was still on our side that the ball landed on Koko's head and it flew back into the ring and it eventually gave your brother's team a score before time ran out!" Yuka explained happily while Mikan jumped for joy upon hearing those words.
"We won!! Who would have thought that Koko's head would be of great help?!" Mikan thought happily while cheering for her brother and the team.
