*Sniff* this is the last chapter of The New and The Old (what a crappy name, huh? I forced myself to think of it when I posted it)

Thanks all for reading and reviewing and favouriting and story alerting and what not.

I'm feeling really accomplished right now. I even posted it all the week before exams DX

Anywayyyyyy, I hope you all enjoy the last chapter :))

CHAPTER 21: ALL MINE NOW

I felt a hand push my back and, being all tied up as I was, I clumsily fell out of the bushes and flat onto my face. I could hear shuffling behind me and the leaves rustling. I dragged my head up from the floor and blinked twice.

I saw Natsume looking at us with his arms crossed. Caught out, we were. I guess he knew we were there the entire time. Kiseki-kun on the other hand seemed rightfully surprised. He was leaning back, his arms in front of him, as the party emerged from the shrubbery one by one.

"Eh?" Kiseki exclaimed in surprise. "Mikan! Imai-san... Ruka-kun... even Koko?" Shortly after I had fallen from the bushes, Hotaru had calmly followed, still holding tightly onto my leash. Ruka timidly emerged and next came Koko who waved fondly at Kiseki.

"I-y-bu-wh-what?" He had a look of complete and utter confusion on his face and frankly, I couldn't blame him. If I had just recovered from a heated argument and fight to see three random people climb out of a hedge, I'd be confused too.

He stopped for a moment to gather his senses. We waited for him to process everything and when he seemed satisfied at his logic, he raised his head and asked, "So, were you guys there that whole time?"

Koko nodded in response and exclaimed, "Yeah! That's was sooo cool! That move you did with the two fires and then you merged them and then the ting-wut and then the shoooom!" He was making strange motions with his hands in a failing attempt to mimic Kiseki's earlier actions.

He registered Koko's reply and bowed his head gravely, "I-I'm sorry you had to see me... say all those things."

Hotaru shook her head, "No, it made really good footage." She pulled out a stack of papers out of nowhere, "Now, if you don't mind me publishing select scenes from the recent events for commercial purposes, please fill out these papers." Everyone's sweat dropped.

"No way, man," Koko was still giddy, " that was epic! You entertained me more than a week of everyone's thoughts." Everyone's sweat dropped again.

Kiseki turned to me. I looked back at him and a blanket of awkward silence fell upon us. Hotaru, Koko and Ruka were slowly inching away while a dark aura was radiating from Natsume. "Mikan, I..." he began but I cut him off.

"It's alright, Kiseki-kun," I smiled and looked up at him. He was surprised. "Friends have to be accepting of friends. I'm just glad no one got hurt. It's alright." His surprised look turned into a weak smile and he nodded in acknowledgement.

Ruka agreed with me and ran towards his best friend. "Natsume you idiot! I was worrying so much. Don't do such reckless things."

But it all backfired on Ruka when Natsume said, "Says the guy who fell into a fountain trying to impress Aoi." I had heard about that event a few weeks ago. I thought it was kind of cute. Ruka's face turned into a red mess and he was forced to sulk in a corner.

But then I barged in. I stepped towards Natsume and pointed an accusing finger at him, "Don't dismiss him! You made me worry too. Picking fights like that, it's no good. You shouldn't ever -"

"Yeah, yeah. Lecture me later. You're my prize for winning right now." He gazed at me, his crimson eyes reflecting the light of the afternoon sun. I blushed... again.

"N-Natsume," I started then I looked up at him determinedly, "thank you." He was trying to protect me this whole time. I was glad that he was patient with Kiseki. He didn't hurt him either, except for that punch (which I guess he did deserve). He was thinking of me the whole time. I was grateful.

Suddenly, and without notice, he pulled me into a tight embrace. He pressed my head against his chest and held me there for who knows how long. I was thankful that everyone was doing their own thing right now. Koko had gone over to Ruka who was still sulking in the corner and trying to comfort him. Kiseki and Hotaru were arguing about the content of the footage and the papers she was making him sign. It appeared that Kiseki was less than happy with the things Hotaru wanted to share with the public.

No one was minding us. With that in mind I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warmth radiating from Natsume's arms. So much had happened in the last few... was it only hours? So much confusion and conflicting feelings that made me want to burst out crying like I did in Aoi's shop. But that was all over now.

Being in Natsume's arms reassured me that it was all okay now. He leaned in and whispered in my ear, "You're definitely all mine now."

I looked up at his face and teased lightly, "Possesive freak."

The gap between our faces disappeared. This was nothing like the kiss with Kiseki. It wasn't full of confusion and other feelings. Just love, passion... and relief. Understanding where we were, we pulled away from each other. For a while we just stared at each other.

"Oh come on, Ruka," Koko insisted, "Come, I'll buy you a chocolate bar from the vending machine, you'll cheer up quick after that." With that, Koko dragged Ruka back through the bushes and towards the main buildings.

"NO WAY WILL YOU BE SHOWING THAT TO EVERYONE!" Kiseki was outraged.

"Fine," Hotaru seemed to have come to a conclusion, "if you follow me to my lab, I'll review the paperwork." Hotaru got up and stalked off towards her lab, Kiseki following helplessly behind her.

"We should be going too," I said as I took hold of Natsume's hand. The sun was already setting and the sky was a splendid mix of pinks and yellows. Natsume nodded and we walked off hand in hand towards the horizon.

~~~~~~~~~ *The Next Day *~~~~~~~~~~

"You know, Kiseki-kun," I said thoughtfully, "I thought Natsume was stuck-up and mean when I first came to the academy, too."

We were in homeroom and the teacher had let us have the lesson to ourselves. Everyone was busy chatting or entertaining themselves in some way or another.

"Oh really?" he asked with interest.

"You don't know how many times I felt like slapping him," I said, remembering all those incidents. "He tried to burn my hair so many times, it wasn't funny. I'm lucky to have the Nullification Alice."

I began to recount the numerous incidents between me and Natsume in our childhood. Kiseki listened keenly. He laughed so many times at some of the less-than-ideal situations we got ourselves into.

"You really are trouble, Mikan," he chuckled as the bell rang. I pouted.

"So when's my next tutoring lesson?" I asked as I grabbed my books.

"Oh," Kiseki seemed like he just remembered something, "You're tutoring's finished. We've already caught up to the current curriculum so you won't be needing me anymore."

"Eh? Really?"

"Yeah, that was sorta why I prepared the surprise yesterday afternoon..." he trailed off at the last bit. It was awkward talking about that because of how it turned out and everything.

I thought hard. I had really caught up with all my maths. Kiseki truly was a miracle worker. "Well in that case," I suggested, "We're visiting Aoi tomorrow – Natsume, Ruka, Koko and I – you should come with us."

Kiseki nodded and said he'd be there. He picked up his books and turned to me, "You know, I think I got it wrong."

I gave him a look of asking. He elaborated, "Natsume didn't make you fall in love with him. Instead, he fell in love with you." I nearly dropped my books at the sudden statement.

He headed towards the door, leaving me beside the desk. "Well, I've got to go to training," he explained. Before disappearing completely I heard him say, "See you around."

My shock faded into a smile as I understood what he meant. I mumbled softly, "Yeah, see you around."

FIN

Sorry about the weak ending... I suck at them. THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO REVIEW THIS STORY AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK, YOU CAN ONLY REVIEW EACH CHAPPIE ONCE SO WRITE AS MUCH AS YOU WANT :)

I've been thinking of ideas for sequels, side stories and oneshots. But then there's the other matter of whether I end up doing them or not. I'll probably be idle for a while thanks to exams but I will be reading reviews (Y)

Thanks again guys!