As the next couple days went by, everything was the same, but the weather. It was now the beginning of February. The snowfall was decreasing, and the weather was steadily warming up due to the slight increase in the sun.

The final bell had just ringed as Natsume and Mikan were walking out together.

"Are you excited for tonight?" Natsume asked with his eyes twinkling.

"Of course I am! We haven't seen them for-"

"Mikan!" Tsubasa called out as he caught up to the pair.

"Oh, hi Tsubasa." She responded with a smile.

As he grinned back in response, "I was wondering, are you free tonight? We can go-"

"We have personal matters to attend to tonight." Natsume bluntly said, as he cut him off.

He turned to face Natsume squarely and smirked, "I'm pretty sure my invitation was directed towards Mikan."

"And I'm pretty sure I said the word 'we' which means Mikan and I."

Mikan laughed nervously as she could feel the tension between the two of them.

"Sorry Tsubasa, but my and Natsume's father are coming back from an oversea business trip tonight so we're having a welcome back party for them."

Tsubasa smiled tightly, "Right, of course. Family first." He added.

"Come on, Mikan. Let's go, the car is waiting." Natsume said, before tugging her arm.

She turned her head and smiled apologetically, "Maybe next time?"

Tsubasa nodded and smiled another tight smile as he watched Mikan's retreating figure walk farther and farther away from him.

"You didn't have to be so mean to him, you know." Mikan scolded, once they were both in the car.

"What are you talking about? I wasn't being mean." He said innocently.

She rolled her eyes, "You can fool anyone with your innocent act but me."

He turned to face her, "Oh? Maybe I should start being honest with you then." He smirked.

"Please do." She replied sarcastically.

"I don't like him." He said simply, "He acts as if he's king since his dad became acquainted with my family."

"Are you still hung up about that? It's been over a year already… even your mom said nothing happened."

"Of course nothing happened. As if I would allow that, I wouldn't let anything important to me get taken away from me." He said calmly as he shared a long glance with Mikan.

She broke away from the stare first and looked outside the window, "Their cars are already here!" she said excitedly as she changed the subject.

As the car pulled up to the driveway, Mikan opened the car door with excitement as she jumped out and bolted to the door of her house, leaving Natsume behind in the car.

"Dad? Mom?" she asked aloud.

"We're in the kitchen, dear."

She hurriedly walked into the kitchen and saw the person whom she had not seen for 3 months.

"Dad!" she cried out as she ran over to the pair of open arms.

When one meets Izumi Sakura for the first time, one would think that he would be an incapable man, a loser in other terms. On the contrary, he was a very able man. He was one of the leading tycoons in the business fields in Tokyo, but his power didn't limit to Tokyo only. Since he was an easy going person with an amiable personality, he was able to make allies in other parts of the world thus expanding their corporation on a global-wide level.

In addition to being an able businessman, he was also a loving father and husband.

He laughed loudly as he lifted Mikan off the ground in a bear hug, "How's my princess doing?"

"Stop it!" she squealed happily.

Natsume walked into the kitchen and leaned against the wall as he watched the family reunion, "So this is why she's so spoiled." He smirked.

Izumi only grinned at the statement and placed Mikan back on the floor.

He walked over to Natsume and clapped his hand firmly on his shoulder, "And how are you doing, Natsume?"

"Swell." He replied.

"Still a man of little words, huh?" Izumi teased, "Your old man went back to the house a while ago to get your mother before coming over here."

Natsume nodded and was about to utter a reply before a booming voice echoed through the house.

"The party has now started since I am here!"

"Honestly Kazuki…"

The Hyuuga family was now together in the kitchen along with the Sakura family.

Kazuki Hyuuga, just like Izumi, is another business tycoon while being a doting father and husband.

He went over to where his son was at and stared at him intently.

Knitting his eyebrows in confusion, "What's wrong?" Natsume asked, only to receive silence in return.

The staring continued for another minute until Kazuki suddenly let out a yell causing Natsume to jump up from sudden shock. But before Natsume could defend himself, his father slung his arm over his neck.

"BAHAH. You fell for it, just like you always did! At least you didn't pee your pants this time." Kazuki laughed heartily.

"You peed in your pants before?" Mikan asked amusedly.

"Damn old man, get off me." Natsume growled but with a smile nonetheless.

Kazuki continued to laugh heartily but conceded to Natsume's request, "Is Aoi not coming tonight?" he asked.

"She can't come, she says it's too hectic to leave her campus this week, but she sends you her regards." Natsume explained.

Kazuki sighed and pouted, "That girl… she works too hard these days."

"Aoi is amazing though!" Mikan piped.

"And I'm sure you will be amazing as well in a couple years, Mikan." He responded kindly.

"Now that we all had fun, let's continue to have fun but with food this time." The wives simultaneously said as they ushered the family to the dining table.

The two families were sitting around the Sakura's dining table while rubbing their stomachs since they had just finished the extravagant meal.

"We'll let you guys converse while we do our own things." Kaoru said before she and Yukihara left the room.

"Natsume, I know it may be a bit sudden, but you're nearing the end of your high school years, what do you plan to do once you finish high school?" Kazuki asked curiously.

"If possible, I'd like to have a chance of enlarging the Hyuuga name."

"How?"

"By taking over the company, of course." He said easily.

Izumi and Kazuki erupted into laughter, "You've got an ambitious boy there, Kazuki." Izumi commented.

"Of course, it runs in the family." Kazuki responded.

"What about you, Mikan?" Kazuki inquired, "What are your intentions?"

"Great minds must think alike." Mikan smiled at Natsume, "I, too, want to further the Sakura name globally by taking over the company one day, if dad lets me."

"Then how about it, Mikan. When your senior year starts, I will be personally instructing you on the business conceptions in the company and the various kinks in it." Izumi said.

"The same goes for you too, Natsume." Kazuki added.

And to the both of them, just reaching the opportunity of being able to be the potential heirs to the companies was not the only goal. Rather, it was reaching the success together.

The fathers continued to talk about miscellaneous topics so Mikan and Natsume decided to step out into the darkness outside.

Mikan gathered her hands behind her back as she tilted her head up towards the night sky glistening with stars, "It's kind of scary of what the future holds."

"A little bit."

"I hope that when we get old, we'll still be able to have reunions like these." Mikan laughed, "Then we can reminisce about the past!"

Natsume scoffed, "You always think about the future. Why don't you just think about the present?"

"You're boring." She said as she stuck her tongue out at him.

He chuckled in response, "Of course we'll be able to have reunions like these in the future. Nothing will stop them from happening."

"Promise?" Mikan raised her pinky.

"Promise." Natsume confirmed, wrapping his own pinky around hers.

But everyone knows that some promises are just empty words in the end.

A/N: It makes me very happy when I read the reviews that you guys give me, so thank you for reading! :)

And I am sorry for the short chapter... but The Blood will be updating soon, yay!