DISCLAIMER: I do not own GA.

CHAPTER 20: Something memorable indeed

Today, Mikan woke up earlier than expected since she wanted to help her mother and the housekeeper in preparing for the foods and snacks that will be served at the pool party which will be held at her house that afternoon. It's not that much of a party and only a few people are invited. As she entered the kitchen, she already saw her okaa-san and Reika already clad in aprons and they already started cooking. To her surprise, even Natsume was there.

"Ohayo! I woke up early so I could help you guys! Oh, Natsume-nii? What're you doing here?" Mikan asked right after she greeted them.

"Happy birthday!" they all greeted except for Natsume, but she already knew that Natsume doesn't even greet her on her birthdays so that's not something new.

"Arigato minna-san. Can I help you with something? And how come onii-chan's here?"

"Well, Natsume is also good at cooking and baking so I told him to help out a bit." Yuri explained as Natsume just kept quiet while stirring the mixture needed for the cake.

"Really? Sugoi! You're so good, onii-chan! I'm pretty sure that if the girls at school knew that you could sew, cook and bake, they'll be going more gaga for you!" Mikan squealed.

"Baka. Tell a soul about this and you're done for it. Got that?" he said as he gave Mikan a glare while putting the mixture in the oven as Yuri and Reika just chuckled.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~

The pool party started at five in the afternoon and it ended at about eight in the evening. The Crimson Warriors basketball team and cheerleaders were the ones there plus Ruka and Hotaru. They were all having a happy time while enjoying themselves.

"Happy birthday Mikan!" Hotaru and Ruka greeted as they handed then their presents for her.

"Arigato, you guys. But you shouldn't have bothered though. Having you guys here on my special day is already enough for me." she replied as she placed the gifts in the gift corner on the table. It was already filled with a stack of other gifts with other sizes and colors.

"Ano, where's Natsume?" Ruka asked.

"I don't know. I think he'd with your team. If he's not there, he's probably stuck with some of the cheerleaders who are going gaga over him." Mikan explained. "I just hope that he's with the team rather than with the girls. Huh? What the heck am I thinking this time?! Eeeesh!" Mikan thought.

"Let's go. It's way too noisy here." Hotaru said to Mikan while she joined her best friend. "Let's just stay inside for a while."

Once the party was over, everyone helped in tidying the whole place. Even Natsume, the guy who never cleans anything other than his own room, was there cleaning the whole backyard with the others. Well, since Natsume and Mikan were there cleaning, some girls who are drooling over and Natsume and some guys who were admiring Mikan's beauty stayed and cleaned just to have some more time to be with them for a bit longer.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~

It was already past eleven in the evening and Mikan was at the rooftop again while she was admiring all of the twinkling stars that are just above her. "Well, this day turned out to be fun. Although I haven't seen onii-chan that much. I only saw him when we were already cleaning." She thought.

"Oi, what're you doing here?" asked someone as Mikan turned her head and then saw her brother who was also at the roof with her.

"Nothing. Staring at the stars, I guess." Mikan replied. "Oh, by the way, where were you the whole time? I haven't seen you when the party was there."

"Up here." Natsume replied. "I only showed up when there were less people since I knew that some of the damn cheerers might go crazy again all because of me."

"Oh. I see." Mikan answered. "Whew! It's a good thing that he was not swooned over by girls or else I might not be able to know what to do if ever I saw that event happening right in front of me! Huh?! Here I go again. Sheesh! Bad thoughts go away!"

"Shouldn't you be downstairs and fixing your room with the entire damn presents that you got?" Natsume asked while sitting right beside her.

"Naaah. I think I'll just do that later. I'll just stay here for a bit longer. The stars are beautiful, neh?" Mikan asked while staring at the stars.

"Hn." Natsume replied. "Real beautiful." He added but he was not even looking at the stars but he was looking at Mikan instead.

"Huh? How'd you know if it's pretty or not when you're not even looking at them? And could you please stop staring at me like that." Mikan said as she noticed that Natsume was staring at her intently. This made her heart beat like crazy and she blushed bright red. It was a good thing that it was night time and it was not obvious.

"Whatever Polka Dots. Here, just take this." Natsume said as he handed him a white paper bag with a pink ribbon on top of it.

"Arigato, Natsume-nii. Can I open it here?" Mikan asked right after she got the back while Natsume just stayed silent. "Well, since silence means yes, I'll take that as a yes." She added as she started to open it.

The inside revealed a big teddy bear. It was cream in color and it has a dress with all sorts of the shades of pink. The middle of the dress has a lavender ribbon and the bear has a red ribbon at its left ear. Mikan then realized that the cloth that she gave Natsume yesterday was the materials that he used in making the bear.

"Kawaii! Arigato gozaimasu onii-chan! I love it! Did you make it?" Mikan asked.

"Hn."

"Sugoi! You really are good! So that's why you asked some cloth from me yesterday. Matte. Yesterday? So that means you did this all in one day?"

"Hn."

"Sugoi!!! But why'd you make one for me? I thought that the dress was already my birthday present from you?" Mikan asked again as she remembered the day that Natsume bought the dress for her.

"I didn't have anything to do yesterday so I just made one." he calmly replied.

"Oh, I see. Thank you very much onii-chan! I love it! This is the best present I have received! I will definitely take care of it!" Mikan squealed as she gave Natsume a peck on the cheek. This made Natsume blush beet red but he covered his face with his bangs right away.

"Whatever. Let's get going. It's already late and we need to go to sleep." Natsume answered.

"Huh? What for? Tomorrow is a Saturday and we don't have classes anyway."

"Baka. We both have morning practice tomorrow that starts at 6." Natsume shot back as he headed back inside the house.

"KYAAAA!!! I FORGOT!!! Natsume-nii! Wait for me!"