I can't believe some of you guys actually remember me and this story after such a long absence.

Thank you so much for making me feel relevant once more.

YO LOL LOOK YOU GUYS I UPDATED THE CHAPTERS REAL FAST FOR YA'LL.

BE PROUD OF ME IT USUALLY TAKES YEARS HAHA LOLJK

t(''t)

My skin welcomes the cold breeze as I rush to look for Natsume. I look left and right. I see a silhouette of a man hailing a cab at the end of the street. I run frantically towards them, but I am too late. I watch him get inside and speed away. I try chasing the car, in hopes that he might stop.

He doesn't.

"Wait! Natsume!" I scream as I slow down. It echoes into the silent streets. I look down, as I start to feel my feet hurt. I immediately regret not going barefoot prior. Tears start to well up. I bite my lip in hopes to hold them back.

"Why you are trying to chase a stranger in a taxi cab," I hear someone say from a few steps away from me. I look up and see yet another blurry silhouette. He approaches me slowly, and I finally get a glimpse of his face. "I'll never know why." I feel like this was meant to be a funny statement, but neither of were laughing. I do not say anything, obviously still trying to recover from being found in such an embarrassing state. I rub my tears away, careful not to completely ruin my make up.

"Why?" He asks vaguely.

I wonder about the hundred possible meanings behind that question.

"You didn't have to leave so soon," I say instead, trying my best to stabilize my breathing. "Everyone was so excited to see you again." He scoffs at my reply.

"They," He points towards the party venue. "Are all doing just fine without me." He gives me a menacing look. "And you, especially."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, a little confused and offended by his tone. I notice a drastic shift of attitude from several minutes ago. He shrugs, as he puts his hands back into his pockets. He circles around me, giving off an intimidating aura. I try my best to not allow that to overwhelm me.

"I don't know." He says in a sarcastic manner. I feel anger start to build up inside me. He chuckles. "... A boyfriend, huh? I can see why the change! Didn't think you'd still be into Asians. I thought you would go for someone Caucasian... you know, this time around."

Oh, oh. Now I get it.

"What are you being such a jerk for?" I snap. "I have done absolutely nothing wrong to you."

He frowns at me. He is no longer playing around. "Are you sure about that?"

I glare back at him. "I'm sorry, what? Have you forgotten what happened ten years ago?"

I could no longer keep calm. He looks up at a distance. He sighs deeply, his warm breath pushing steam into the air.

"No, I haven't. Not a day since,"

He looks at me, with pain reflecting in his eyes. I am at loss of words. I look away. We stand there in silence for a few seconds.

"Why didn't you let me explain?" He asks.

I avoid his eyes. "There was nothing to explain,"

"Of course there was-"

"Then why didn't you come looking for me? You had ten years, Natsume. Ten years,"

"Don't you think I've tried?" He shouted. "I tried really hard, Mikan. Everyone was against it," He runs his hand through his hair in frustration. "After a few years, I started to believe I didn't deserve to see you."

I feel my heart start to race. I look away, noting that it was very hard to, since his jawline defines perfection. Not to mention the street light a couple of meters away outlining his face profile wasn't helping. Me. It wasn't helping me. Him, on the other hand, was being helped very much. I shake my head.

This is not the time to be admiring his features. You've grown out of this habit, Mikan.

I calm myself down. "Your words, reasons... I don't think they can no longer reach me." I respond blandly, disregarding the possibility that may not be true.

"Is that so?"

Within seconds, his shadow is cast over me. He pins me against a wall that I did not even know was there until a moment ago. I look down, afraid to see what kind of expression he was making. I break into cold sweat.

"Then answer me. Why?" He grabs my chin roughly to make me face him. He stares right into my eyes. "Why do you all of a sudden show up? Why do you seem so happy? Why have I been the only one living in regret all these years?" His hand slides down. I can't look away.

Because he looks like he is about to cry.

"Why can't I seem to move on?"

He rests his head on my shoulder, exhausted from his outburst. I lean my head and look up. I stare at the flickering streetlight as I listen to his heavy breaths as they slightly tickle my neck. Tears well up in my eyes yet once again. I begin to understand his behavior I've failed to understand the other day. Picking up girls. Acting like a total jerk. Did he honestly think he wasn't allowed to be happy?

He levels his head to mine. I find myself drowning in his eyes. "... Why is it still you?" He mutters under his breath. Just as I was about to say something, closes the space between us. My eyes widen. All the things that I was going to say vanished and has been replaced with a single foolish thought:

Hyuuga Natsume is kissing me. Hyuuga. Natsume. Is kissing. Me.

No matter how much I wanted to drown happiness of the fact that my secret high school fantasies have finally come to life, I just couldn't. He couldn't make it very possible to. His lips were slightly quivering, almost like he was afraid of something. He breaks away slowly, only then do I realize I did not respond. Did I even close my eyes? My heart starts to ache, worried that he might translate that into something else.

He laughs sarcastically. "Well, that was underrated." He looks down as he wipes the side of his lip with his thumb. "Ten years... maybe it really has been," He then looks into my eyes, almost as if he were looking for an answer. I do not break away, hoping he would find it.

I'm sorry.

He blinks and looks at me, dejectedly. I guess he didn't.

Why can't I speak?

"I guess you're fine," His shaking hand gently caresses my cheek. "But what do I do?"

His miserable eyes are looking into mine.

No, wait. You've got it all wrong.

He lets go of me. It starts to feel cold again.

Don't go.

He sighs. He turns and walks away. I have never seen a person's back so lonely. The distance between us is getting bigger and bigger. I want to run after him, tell him everything. But I don't.

I just watch him leave.

I extend my hand out, and attempt to catch him. I look down at my empty hands, and the tears spill out. I try to figure out reasons why everything went so wrong.

I realize the answer was so simple.

"I guess I never really gave it a chance,"

My spoken words disappear into the wind, unaccompanied.

(End of Chapter)

So, there. For some reason, I'm embarrassed about this chapter. I feel like you'll all hate it or something.

For starters, it's such a short chapter. Haha!

And honestly, I personally hate the fact that Mikan couldn't say anything back, but thinking about her background and personality in this story, it seemed just right. I guess? Plus, she's practically been kissed by her dream boy. If you were kissed by your someone like that, would you be able to even be conscious?

So kudos to her for not collapsing again. Go knees!

What do you think would happen next? How will Mikan get Natsume back? Leave a review!

Thanks for your constant support, everyone!