DISCLAIMER: I do not own GA.

CHAPTER 25: When realizations hit her

It was already the game day and Mikan was already at her new home – with Miyu. She left the Hyuuga mansion at 4 in the morning so that she may be able to rearrange her things in her new home and so that she won't see Yuri, Reika and Natsume when she leaves since seeing them when she walks away will definitely make her cry. She was in the middle of fixing her stuff when Miyu suddenly entered the room.

"Do you need anything else, Mikan-chan?" she asked as Mikan just shook her head slowly and then smiled at her. "I'm fine now. Don't worry."

"I wonder what they are doing right now? The championship game starts at ten and it's just 6:30." Mikan thought as she was putting her clothes in her closet.

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Meanwhile, on the gym, the player and cheerers are already at the gym so that they could have their warm-ups and other preparations.

"Where's Mikan?!? We can't do the routine when she's not there! She's the one leading us!" Trish said while pacing back and forth.

"Baka. Mikan might not come so you guys have to do it on your own. Just trust yourselves; you'll be able to do it." Hotaru said as Natsume entered the gym with a gloomy aura.

"Ohayo, Natsume. Why are you so down early in the morning? Cheer up! It's the day that we've been waiting for!" Ruka said while trying to boost up the spirits of his friend but his effort was futile.

"It's no use. She's gone already. She left a while ago." He mumbled only enough for Ruka to hear. "This is not good." Ruka thought.

"Where is that baka? Everyone needs her. Mikan, PLEASE come here. You need to cheer up everyone. since your cheery face is not here, everyone is pressured. Please come back, I miss you too." Hotaru silently wished as they all started their warm-ups.

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

Mikan was not done in rearranging all of her clothes so she decided to rest for a bit. Once she laid herself down on her bed, she noticed that there was one bag left that wasn't unpacked so she stood up once again and then opened it.

Once she opened it, she saw a big cream teddy bear with pink clothes and a red bow. It was the gift that Natsume gave her for her. There was also a picture frame that has the photo of her and Natsume when they were still young plus her Crimson Warrior cheerleading costume. She stared at these two items for a while until a tear fell from her eyes. She then hugged the bear until she reminisced all of the times she has with Natsume – all of the precious times she had with him.

Once she remembered all of them, her heart started to beat crazily. It was the same feeling that she felt when Natsume hugged her when they were on the roof. It was only till then that she realized that she also had feelings for Natsume ever since but she only realized it by now.

"Natsume… I need to find Natsume…" She thought as she glanced at the clock which read 10:00am. "The game has already started. But if I leave now, I guess I might be able to make it in time." She said to herself as she grabbed her cheerleading costume and then ran out the door.

"I'm just going out for a bit Miyu-san! I'll be back soon!" she yelled as she left the door. "Goodluck, Mi-chan. I hope you can make it." Miyu replied to no one.

"Please, kami-sama. Let me be able to see the game. I need to talk to Natsume and tell him something."

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

At the gym…

The whole crowd burst in cheer since the white wolves made another score.

"This is not good." Coach Izumi mumbled.

"You think? My cheer squad is not doing much of a good thing as well." Coach Takashi added.

"What happened to them anyway?" Izumi asked as Takashi shrugged.

"I guess Mikan really has an impact in their lives. Now that she left, Hyuuga still can't accept it so he lost his interest in playing. And since Mikan is gone, no one's left to encourage the squad to do their best. Her smile seems to brighten up everyone's day. And since that she's gone, it seems that everyone is affected." Hotaru suddenly butted in.

"Imai is right." Takashi added.

"Is there any other way to make the warriors perform better? I'm getting low quality video shots since they're not doing well." Hotaru stated.

"We don't know. It seems that they lost their inspiration to do the things that they loved the most." Izumi muttered.

" to think of it, I miss Sakura-san already." Takashi added.

"Who doesn't? All of us miss that baka. I just wish that she's here right now so that everything will be fine. If the warriors lose, it would be a shame since they win every single competition." Hotaru stated.

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

On the other hand, Mikan was still running on her way to the school. She already got to the main gate but the guard won't let her pass and since the guard was new, he really didn't let Mikan in since he thought that Mikan was just a trespasser who's trying to ruin the game.

"Please sir. I really need to go inside. My friends are in there!" Mikan pleaded.

"No. you might be one of the trespassers who wants to ruin the game." The guard retorted as an idea popped in her mind.

"Please sir. I'm really late. I'm one of the cheerleaders of the Crimson Warrior Cheer Squad and I'm gonna be dead if you won't let me in because Coach Takashi is probably mad as of now. and if that happens, you'll be the one to blame on the end if I can't attend there and cheer because YOU won't let me in." Mikan stated as the guard sighed in defeat and finally let her in.

"Yes! Just hang in there everyone. I'll be coming soon." Mikan thought as she ran towards the gym which was at the other end of the main gate.