Author's Note

THANK YOU EVERYONE for all the wonderful reviews that you've given me since the Prologue. Reading all your reviews made me so happy and encouraged me to write some more. I hope you like this chapter. I'm not sure if I'm going to end this fan fic already but…read on!!!! Thanks to the people who reviewed, or even just read: anime-fangirl-o.0-vm, me, rukatoki, tomboy ninja13, EzMouse, Shiori90210, iluvB.R, mayelrules13, Orange Orange, little doggy, wingless fairy 25, Natsumiyu, Sakura-chan0610, may520, Fullmoon05, Soul of the Rain, Royal Goddess, Tsubame Sakura, o.TwilightDreams.o, icedprincess6063. If you reviewed and your name isn't in this list, sorry – I probably missed it out. But thanks for reading and reviewing anyway!!!

Disclaimer

I do not own GA

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Chapter Twenty

Questioning the Heart

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Morning arrived.

I opened my eyes, finding the bamboo ceiling of the cottage and the ceiling fan turning above me. I was still wearing my t-shirt and shorts. I sat up, coming to find myself in the sofa of the cottage. Did I sleep in Natsume's cottage the whole night? I felt my cheeks heat up as I remembered him kissing me last night. I stretched and stood up and went outside.

I was feeling much better than last night. Although my cheeks were numb with dry tears pulling them, I seemed to feel like I could fight the world by myself. I walked to the beach and breathed the salty ocean air and closed my eyes to relax into the song of the seagulls.

When I opened my eyes, Hotaru was standing next to me.

"You spent the night in Natsume's cottage" she said softly.

"What's so bad about that?" I asked, turning to Hotaru – noticing her 'strict' tone.

She looked at me.

"We didn't do anything there except kiss!!" I yelled.

"So you have finally kissed each other, have you?" she said, sitting down on the sand.

"I thought you liked Ruka" Hotaru continued.

"That was just a crush!!" I smiled.

"So, are you saying you're in love with Natsume?"

I just stared at her.

"Remember, you agreed to be the girlfriend of Kaito. And just because he's not here at the moment doesn't mean you can run around and kiss other people"

Oh right. I was Kaito's girlfriend.

"Humph" I grunted and I went to the café to have breakfast. Ruka and the rest were eating breakfast.

"Ohayo" they said in unison.

Natsume was there also, but he was reading some manga while drinking water. Had he forgotten about that kiss last night? I remember when he kissed me on the cheek… and he acted as if nothing happened the next day. So does that mean that every kiss he does doesn't mean a single thing?

Before I could say anything to him, Mr. Yamida stood up from his seat and wiped his mouth.

"We have to get back to work today…" he announced.

"Oh, we're going back to Tokyo already?"

"Yes. Around six – so I suggest that you guys start packing"

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"Hotaru…are you still angry at me?" Ruka asked, as the dark-haired girl ignored him several times. He was getting very impatient with her temper, but he couldn't stand the heart-wrenching fact that she was snubbing him all the time.

"Yes" she replied flatly, her back faced toward her luggage as she placed her clothes inside.

"You DO know that my camera was expensive – and now I have to use my amateur camera and sell ugly photos to save enough money to buy another professional camera. I was going to buy a new one with all those photos I took of you but it seems like they're gone" her voice dropped with a hint of sadness.

"I'm sorry, alright? You know it wasn't on purpose"

Hotaru didn't say anything. She stood up and went to the bathroom.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY SORRY FOR YOU TO FORGIVE ME!?!?" Ruka yelled, and banged on the bathroom door.

No response.

Hotaru-san…how many times?

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Ruka stomped out of the cottage and folded his arms as he sat down on the porch of the cottage. He was really pissed now.

"Hey Ruka" I said, sitting down beside him.

He just grunted.

"Hotaru's mad at you, isn't she?" I chuckled.

"How do you know?"

"She has the same effect on other people when she's pissed"

"Will she hate me forever?"

I looked at him and smiled.

"You like Hotaru, don't you?"

He turned pink.

"W-what? What are you talking about? Well, as a friend yes…"

"No. I can tell that you like her...not as a friend"

Ruka looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"You want to be near her all the time, don't you?"

"I don't have time for this!"

"If you don't tell her your feelings, time might run out you know…"

"How about you and Natsume?"

I just stared at him.

"I have to start packing my clothes" I told him and stood up, I closed the door and sighed.

I don't know if I have feelings for Natsume or not…

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MEANWHILE

"Mr. Yamida…"

"Yes?"

"Take a look at this new issue of CelebrityJaps magazine"

Mr. Yamida peered into the pages of the magazine and his eyes widened.

"Oh my God"

"What are we going to do about it? This will certainly ruin MFL's reputation if the rumor heats up"

"We cant afford to lose our viewers…I heard that MFL is in line with Persona's sitcom, Dancing With Dalmatians and if we don't do anything about it, Dancing With Dalmatians will win best sitcom for the year. We have to keep our reputation"

"What should we do?"

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I came here because I had a gigantic crush on Ruka Nogi. His blonde hair, his mesmerizing eyes, his face looked like it was carved by angels. I was so obsessed with him. I had icons, screensavers, replicas of his things, posters…anything that had his face or name on it – I would have to have.

Then, I became the girlfriend of Kaito Hyuuga. Another hot guy. But whenever we would be with each other, it wouldn't have a spark… especially with the defrosted chicken hobby he possessed. It was too weird.

I expected to fall in love with Ruka.

But I never expected to fall in love with Natsume.

The obnoxious, self-centered, sarcastic, egotistical and arrogant guy… I expected never to have feelings for him. Never to feel my heart beat whenever I think of him. But things just don't happen as planned…

But why should I fall in love with him? He makes my life a living hell. Plus, he's a sand-castle destroyer.

Before I could sort out my thoughts, someone knocked on our cottage door. I answered it, it was Mr. Yamida.

"Mikan, could we talk to you for awhile?"

Mr. Yamida led us to a private room. It looked like a bamboo-style version of the Celebrity Lounge. I sat down on the sofa along with the rest of the cast of MFL. His face wasn't the silly Jonathan Yamida face I knew. It was much different. A disappointed expression was plastered on his face. It looked like someone had died.

He put an issue of Celebrity Japs magazine. I looked at it.

"Page forty three" he said.

I looked at him worriedly and opened to page forty three. The headline read:

Sakura Mikan, By Day a Celebrity…By Night

A THIEF

Reported cases of a pig-tailed brunette stealing jewelry from a local jewelry shop have been a big issue. The pig tailed brunette has been seen as well shoplifting with her face covered with a hat. The hidden cameras have zoomed in the mysterious pig tailed figure who has been stealing things have announced that the thief could be suspected as Mikan Sakura! Can this 'My Favorite Loser' co-star end up in bars in the end? She has stolen fourteen million yen worth of clothes and jewelry…

I dropped the magazine, not being able to look at the rest of the article. There were photographs of the thief. But they weren't ME.

"Mr. Yamida – you couldn't possibly believe that – that thief is me! I don't shoplift. If I want to buy stuff, I buy them with my own money, not break the law"

"Of course we believe you, Mikan"

"R-Ruka…you believe me…don't you?" I said, turning to Ruka.

He smiled at me nervously.

"N-Natsume-kun??" I said, searching for support.

He just stared at me.

"None of you believe me? I swear!!"

I wanted to cry. There was a knot in my throat pulling me to rock bottom.

"Mikan, of course we believe you. It's just that, if this rumor heats up more – My Favorite Loser could have a bad reputation. We would lose viewers, be the main topic in tabloids, have paparazzi hovering all over us all the time…and we would lose the Best Sitcom award of the year. We heard that Persona's sitcom: Dancing With Dalmatians are closing in to number one. And we're plunging down to the lowest shows in Tokyo Media because of this rumor"

"So?" I said, the knot in my throat tightening. I stared at everyone in the room who were looking at me sadly.

"So," Mr. Yamida said and picked up the magazine.

"We have to ask you to leave Tokyo. No, leave My Favorite Loser...forever, probably"

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