Chapter One
The sun outside was burning hot, and Sakura sat at the dining room table, hard at work. Her summer homework was simple, the answers appearing in her mind moments after reading the questions, though she had been working on the question sheets for days. As this process seemed so easy, you would think Sakura would have her homework done by now, rather than it taking hours upon hours to complete. However, there is one factor I have failed to mention, and this is keeping her from concentrating.
"Pay attention to me," Ikuto demanded, poking Sakura's temple and causing her to twitch, gripping her pencil tightly. She turned her glare to him and, seeing that he had her full attention, Ikuto smirked. He stole her pencil and lifted it, holding it up above his head.
"Give that back!" she demanded, standing on her chair to reach. As her fingertips brushed the writing utensil, Ikuto brought it back down – to the height of his waist – and she scowled at him, grumpily getting off the chair and sitting in it, her head in her hands.
"You're so pouty, Saku-chan!" giggled Katsumi, twirling around on the table by Sakura's homework.
"Leave her be, Katsumi," warned Setsuko as she read over what had already been done, looking for spelling mistakes.
"You're no fun!" pouted the red Chara, crossing her arms.
"Now, now," Ikuto cooed at the pink-haired girl, waving the pencil in front of her face. "If you had just paid attention to me in the first place, this wouldn't have happened," he taunted, earning a glare from the frustrated girl.
"I haven't slept in two weeks, Ikuto," Sakura growled at him, "can you just give it a break?"
"Why not?" asked the teen, concerned for her. Ikuto put the pencil down on the table, kneeling beside her.
"It's just Tsubasa," she sighed, shaking her head. "He won't sleep through the night. Yaya sleeps through the crying like a baby, but I'm awake as soon as he starts whimpering."
"That baby crying is torture!" growled Mari, shaking her head. "You're lucky you don't live with it," she said to Yoru, who was trying to sneak up behind Katsumi to pull her hair. He snapped away, an innocent look on his face when the red Chara glared at him.
"What makes you say that?" he asked Mari.
"Your sensitive ears would be damaged," explained Mitsu, who was lounging by the window, attempting to tan in the sun. "Now, be a dear and get me some fizzy, would you?"
"No way," grumbled Yoru, shaking his head. Mitsu's golden eyes snapped over to him and she raised a challenging eyebrow.
"Wanna run that by me again?" she dared, narrowing her eyes. Yoru gulped, shaking his head rapidly, before shooting off towards the kitchen.
"I'll make sure he doesn't break anything," Mari sighed, rolling her eyes and going into the kitchen after him.
"Mitsu, stop ordering Yoru around," Sakura muttered, trying to get back to her homework. She rubbed her temples, trying to ease her headache.
"Maybe moving in with your friend Yaya wasn't the best idea," Ikuto commented, holding her hand gently.
"Saku-chi wanted to live with be because I'm her best friend!" proclaimed Yaya from the doorway, one hand on her hip as she used the other to point an accusing finger at Ikuto.
"That's right – dechu!" added Pepe before she floated over to Setsuko, who almost immediately began babying her. Sakura had found that, along with being feminine and delicate, Setsuko was also rather nurturing, which came in handy living with Yaya and Tsubasa.
"She was also the only person with enough space," Sakura added on with a small smirk. "There was a spare room, so Yaya's mother said I could stay here as long as I needed. It was nice of her, but I don't want to impose longer than necessary."
"Saku-chi, we have to leave soon!" said Yaya, still speaking loudly. "We're supposed to help Kairi's sister move into her new office, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember," the pinkette nodded. "You go on ahead; I'll catch up in a bit, okay?"
"Okie-Dokie!" she agreed happily, skipping towards the door with Pepe beside her. Yaya suddenly stopped, swirling around to fix Ikuto with a deadly look, her Chara copying the look. "Don't do anything I'll make you regret!" she growled.
"Dechu!" added Pepe, also growling. The two were secretly rooting for Kukai to win Sakura's heart, but Yaya was too nice to say anything to the pinkette and Pepe had promised not to mention it. With the warning given, Yaya and Pepe hummed merrily as they left the house.
"She can be quite intimidating when she wants to be," Ikuto confessed, still looking at the door the orange-haired girl had left through.
"Aww, is little Iku-chan scared of the Big Bad Baby?" cooed Sakura, pinching his cheek. Ikuto lifted her hand away from his cheek, holding it in his palm as he traced her fingers.
"Hurry up and grow, Sakura," he sighed, letting go of her hand. Sakura frowned, standing up straight from the chair.
"I have grown," she told him, placing a hand atop her head to measure her height. Ikuto chuckled, shaking his head.
"Not what I meant," he smirked, patting her head. "Where're her parents, anyway?" he asked, looking around.
"Out," replied Sakura, turning again to her homework. Yoru came back in with a small cup of pineapple fizzy for Mitsu, Mari following behind him. Katsumi was still pouting, and Setsuko had gone back to checking Sakura work once Pepe had left.
"I see," hummed Ikuto, tilting her head towards him. The teen leant down and kissed her forehead gently before pulling back and leaving the Yuiki house through the front door, Yoru floating by his shoulder. Sakura, her hand covering her forehead where his lips had been, stared after him.
"That was weird," she muttered, blinking.
"That was love," Mitsu sighed dreamily, having been watching the exchange with baited breath.
"No way," denied Sakura, her face red as she attempted to focus on her homework again. Mitsu rolled her eyes, standing and floating over to Sakura.
"Sweetie, I haven't been around long," she said with a flourish. Sakura was well aware that she was the youngest, but Mitsu often acted like she should have been the oldest. "However, even I can see the way that boy pines over you!"
"It's true, Saku-chan," nodded Mari, agreeing with her younger sister.
"As the only love-based Chara here," Katsumi said, no longer pouting, as she cleared her throat, "I would like to announce that Ikuto and Sakura are completely in love with each other!" she giggled.
"Stop it!" whined the pinkette, looking desperately towards her final Chara.
"Sorry, Saku-chan," Setsuko said meekly, "but I must agree with my sisters in this instance. You and Ikuto-san seem to have a warm 'new-couple' feel about you as of late."
"Argh!" groaned Sakura, slamming her head on the table. She looked at her outstretched hand, her head still on the table, and stared at her right ring finger, a pale circle of skin betraying what once sat there.
"Well, hey," Mari began comfortingly, "if you don't want to date Ikuto, there's always Kukai."
"He is more in your age-range," agreed Mitsu, pulling a pair of sunglasses out of nowhere and slipping them on.
"The wedding would practically take care of itself, since his mother seems to type to go crazy over that kind of thing," continued Setsuko.
"Woo, Sakukai all the way!" cheered Katsumi with a wide grin.
"Stop planning my love life!"
"There's also Kairi," hummed Setsuko.
"Stop it!"
{-}
After failing to defuse the wedding planners, Sakura had given up and decided to get ready to leave instead. So, after slipping into a baby blue plaid knee-skirt complete with a white t-shirt, baby yellow zip-up jumper and brown ankle-boots, Sakura found herself standing in front of a mirror, trying to fix her hair. Getting the waist-length locks into a neat ponytail proved impossible for her, and any lower style left them too long to do anything practical. So, she stood in front of the mirror, frowning. Her eyes wandered, finding her right ring finger once more.
"We just need to brush it through a few more times," soothes Setsuko, at first believing the scowl was directed at the pink locks. She then followed Sakura's gaze and sighed lightly. "It is the past, Saku-chan."
"It doesn't feel much like a past event yet," Sakura replied quickly, clenching her fist. "Sure, a lot has changed since then, but it was still only a little while ago – I'm not much different to how I was then."
"You're closer to your friends," Katsumi piped up cheerfully.
"You have a lot more will power," Mari grinned, hoping to also encourage her owner.
"You have not only one, nor two, but three young men bending to your every whim," Mitsu added in with a delighted giggle.
"I don't feel different," she stressed, staring hard at herself in the mirror. An idea struck the young pinkette and she smiled, grabbing a pair of light yellow fingerless gloves and pulling them on before walking out her room, her Charas following behind her. Before she left the house, she picked up her old blue baseball cap.
{-}
Sakura paused, tilting her head at the sight before her. Amu and Utau were yelling at each other, both looking angry yet slightly unsure of why they were fighting. She blinked, fully prepared to turn around and go home. It was then she remembered why she had agreed to help Kairi's sister move into her new office and she sighed. Adjusting the hat that sat atop her head – finding comfort in the familiarity – Sakura tightened the knotted sleeves of her yellow jumper around her waist and walked towards them.
"Ah, Saku-chi's here!" called Yaya, hoping that her arrival would break up the fighting. Instead, Sakura was the new victim of Utau's glare.
"The true enemy has arrived!" she announced, pointing a finger dramatically at the green-eyed pinkette. Sakura raised an eyebrow, confused.
"Why am I the true enemy?" she asked, not sure if she really wanted to know the answer.
"Ikuto has spent every day this summer with you!" the singer scowled. Yaya and Amu began laughing – knowing how Utau got with the people who keep Ikuto from her – while Tadase and Rima watched the exchange in amusement. Kairi, however, looked away, frowning.
"It's not my fault that he's clingy," Sakura shrugged, walking closer to the group with her hands in her pockets. Yaya gasped, suddenly appearing at her side, and Sakura jumped. "D-Don't move so suddenly!" she scolded, but Yaya wasn't listening.
"You're not tiny anymore!" she realised, measuring herself against Sakura. The others all moved closer, each taking a turn to measure their height against the once miniscule pinkette.
"You're taller than me," muttered Rima and Sakura sweat-dropped.
"I have been for a while," she replied.
"I'm still taller than you," boasted Amu proudly.
"At the rate she's growing, you won't be for long," Utau smirked, who had also decided to compare her height to Sakura's.
"Well, you're gonna stop growing soon!" yelled Amu, puffing up in anger. This once again started the arguing between the two.
"You're taller than me, Saku-chi!" complained Yaya, pouting. Sakura beamed, proud of this fact, but then the boys stood on either side of her.
"You know, you'll probably never be taller than us," smiled Tadase, a teasing tone hiding beneath his innocent smile. "You're going through your growth spurt now, but we still haven't had ours."
"You diminutive stature is proof that, even when you're fully grown, you will likely not exceed 5'5", if that," Kairi stated. Sakura crossed her arms and pouted, huffing at them.
"Way to ruin my good mood," she grumbled.
"It's irrelevant," Utau stated, drawing out of her argument with Amu. "No matter how tall or short you are, I will not surrender Ikuto to you."
"You can't anyway," Sakura brushed off. "He's not yours to surrender," she smirked.
"How dare you!" shrieked Utau, glaring at the pinkette venomously.
"U-Uhh, didn't we come here to help them move?" hinted Yaya, sweat dropping as she and the others watched Utau and Sakura glare at each other. Suddenly, Yaya noticed something else about Sakura that was new – something that she couldn't have picked up sooner due to living with the pinkette. Nudging Amu, she gained the taller pinkette's attention and pointed to Sakura, tugging on one of her own carrot-coloured pigtails to further emphasis her point.
"Your hair!" gasped Amu when the clues clicked together. Everyone did a double-take, staring at Sakura.
Her once hip-length locks had been chopped up to her shoulder-blades, and her forehead-covering fringe was pulled back and to the sides, leaving two long locks to frame her face. Her blue baseball hat sat snugly on her head, combining the old Sakura-look of a hat, plain t-shirt and tied jumper with the new girly Sakura-look of pastel colours, ankle boots and a skirt. As if to further emphasis this merging of the two, her shorter hair made her look less 'cutesy' and more feminine – surprisingly, a lack of length had added a maturity to her look that previously wasn't there.
"It looks so pretty," said Yaya happily, playing with one of the shorter strands as she spoke.
"It's definitely different," agreed Amu, looking at the haircut from a few different angles. Rima walked over, staring at her shorted hair while playing with her own lengthy curls, a contemplative look on her face.
"I don't think the shorter-look is for you, Mashiro-san," Sakura told her bluntly, her face deadpan. Rima blinked once, shrugged, and stopped playing with her hair – she looked good with long hair anyway. "Moving on, aren't we here to do a job?" she said, hoping to distract everyone from her new look.
Agreeing, the small group set to work moving boxes and unpacking files, equipment and random office supplies. It took a while, even with Nikaidou Yuu being forced to help along with the other seven bodies at work. Yukari did none of the heavy lifting, instead choosing to stand in her new office, barking orders at everyone and claiming it was good practice for her new CEO role in her not-even-established company.
Eventually, however, all of the moving was finished and everything was either unpacked or at least in the building, allowing for the moving van Yukari hired to be on its way. Deciding to celebrate the completion of her move into the building, Yukari had ordered pizza and poured drinks of orange fizzy for everyone to have after their hard day's work. They were all stood around the table, holding their fizzy, when Yukari began to speak.
"Now then," began Yukari, holding up a cup of orange fizzy, "let's toast to the bright future of Sanjo Production! Cheers!"
"Cheers!" everyone followed, lifting their cups before taking a drink. Yaya, who had two, drained her first quickly and was already finishing her second by the time Sakura had finished half of her own. Suu was catering for the Charas, with miniature pizza, snacks and drinks to match what their owners were eating.
Rima took a bite of her pizza, only to create a line of melted cheese to her mouth, causing Kusukusu and Tadase, who was stood beside her, to laugh at the confusion on her face. Yaya was being praised by Amu for managing to tip a whole plate of crisps into her mouth at once, the pinkette seeming extremely impressed. Sakura was stood to the side, sipping her drink and enjoying the company of her old friends while avoiding Kairi – she still had trouble being around him after he gave her the ring that ruined her life, despite him and his sister promising that he had no idea what it would do.
Kairi spent his time watching the smaller pinkette, remembering back to how they met and her initial dislike of him – purely because he was not Soma Kukai and was sitting in his chair. Thinking of this made him frown, as this reminded him that Sakura still favoured Kukai over him, especially so after the whole ring fiasco. He had yet to overcome the guilt he felt as a result of that. When Sakura felt the heavy stare, she looked over, narrowing her eyes at him and forcing Kairi to look away.
"Hmm?" mused Yaya with a giggle, "Looks like the Chairman's staring at Saku-chi again!" she accused, spurring very different reactions from the two. Sakura was calm, rolling her eyes and sighing, while Kairi became a nervous bumbler.
"N-No, I mean, I wasn't –!" he stuttered, stumbling over his excuses.
"Just admit it," smiled Utau teasingly, "You were staring."
"Y-Yes," confessed Kairi, his face extremely red. Kairi was saved from his embarrassment when his sister cleared her throat, though he knew from her serious expression that the situation was about to become harder.
"Kairi, don't you have something to tell them?" she prompted from her place beside Yuu. Kairi's blush vanished and instead he looked sad, his eyes downcast and his expression hesitant.
"What is it, Chairman?" asked Amu curiously.
"To be honest," he began slowly, "the office isn't all that's moving," he informed the group. Sakura froze, her whole body going cold. "I am as well. I've decided to go back to my hometown," Kairi said with a seemingly happy smile.
"Your hometown?" repeated Tadase, the atmosphere of the room switching instantly from joyous to gloomy. "Isn't that in...?"
"Yamaguchi," Kairi finished for him. Tears sprung to Sakura's eyes and she put down her half-empty cup and plate of barely-touched food before running out of the building, unable to stay a moment longer.
"Saku-chan!" called Katsumi loudly as her Chara hurried after her. When they caught up to Sakura, who was still running as fast as she could away from Sanjo Productions, they saw that her face was streaked with tears and she was still crying. After a few more minutes of mindless movement, Sakura found herself in the park, where she allowed herself to fall onto a bench and continue to cry.
"This can't happen again!" she sobbed, hiccupping and wiping at her face. "I'm tired of this! I keep losing my friends – I'm mad at him right now, but I still like Kairi! He can't go away, not like Fujisaki-san, and Naruto, and Sasuke, and everyone else!"
"Saku-chan, everything will be alright in the end," soothed Setsuko softly, patting the pinkette's head. "These things happen for a reason."
"I just wish I knew that reason," she sniffed. "Then maybe it wouldn't be so hard to see him go."
"Someone I should know about? Perhaps a boy?" a very familiar voice asked from in front of her. Without a moment's pause, Sakura was up from her seat and crying into this person's chest as they held her tightly.
"How did you know to come?" she asked, her voice muffled by their shirt. The person chuckled, holding her even more firmly – protectively.
"I'll always know when my little Sakura needs me," the person said softly, holding Sakura's shoulders as she brushed strands of hair away from her wet face. "Now, you tell me what's be happening that's gotten you in such a state, and I'll make everything better again, okay?" they smiled. Sakura sniffed, wiping her eyes and smiling back.
"Okay."
{-}
After a long conversation and many tears, Sakura had received a text stating that Kairi was leaving soon and telling her what time to be at the airport to say goodbye. She was contemplating not going – saying goodbye was never her strong point – but a few comforting words from her Charas and the person she had run into had convinced her to wish Kairi well.
So, she stood in the airport, watching from a distance as Kairi said his goodbyes to his sister and the Guardians. She felt out of place after running away from him, but knew that she would regret it if she didn't see him off. So, gathering her courage, Sakura stepped towards the green-haired youth while her Charas floated quickly towards Musashi to say goodbye to their small friend.
"Kairi," she called when she realised that he would be boarding before she got to him. He turned, his eyes widening when he saw her. Sakura stood in front of him and smiled sadly. "I'll miss you – a lot," she said quietly, looking down at her feet. When another pair of shoes came into view, Sakura looked up, finding Kairi a lot closer to her than before. She was about to take a step backwards, but he grasped her hand.
"I was hoping you would be here, because there I something I need to say to you that I would always regret not saying," Kairi told her, nothing but seriousness in his voice. "I am not sorry to get to this before any others, and I will gladly outdo them."
"Get to what?" she asked, thoroughly confused.
"Haruno Sakura, I love you," confessed Kairi, getting wide-eyes from everyone who heard, including Sakura. "I love you for your intellect and your naïvety, for your kindness and your grouchiness, and for everything that you are."
"Grouchiness?" she mumbled, her eyelids dropping, unimpressed by his phrasing.
"I must depart now," he continued, "but one day, when I am a man worthy of your love, and of the love I feel for you, I shall definitely see you again – even if I have to search the furthest reaches of the Earth and follow you into the coldest mountains and hottest deserts during your future travels, just to be by your side."
"I – I – I –" stuttered Sakura, completely unsure of what to say. Kairi merely smiled, proud for rendering the every witty Haruno Sakura speechless.
'Top that Tsukiyomi, Soma,' he thought smugly.
"Shouldn't you give a cool reply, Saku-chi?" hinted Yaya 'discretely' while Ran, Miki, Suu, Katsumi and Pepe squealed in delight. Setsuko rolled her eyes – Kairi wasn't supposed to be the first to confess, after all – and Mari just yawned, not overly bothered; she knew Sakura only liked older guys, after all. Kusukusu was laughing at Sakura's inability to respond while Kiseki waited patiently for the exchange to end.
"Kairi, we must be off," said Musashi, reminding his smiling master of their departing plane.
"Right," he nodded, the two turning to board. Sakura saw him leaving and panicked, doing the first thing that came to mind. She pushed forwards, grabbing the back of his shirt and forcing him to stop and turn, facing her – both blushed heavily and Sakura gulped.
"T-Thank you," she said, managing to speak somewhat normally. "I don't know how to respond to you properly, so..."
"That's fine," Kairi assured her happily. "Even to have to acknowledge my confession is enough for now."
"Okay," she breathed, letting him go. "I'll see you again," she said, stepping back.
"Without a doubt," promised the green-haired youth, smiling at his love before finally boarding the plane.
Sakura stayed with the Guardians until the plane took off, watching them wave pointlessly – there was no way Kairi could have seen them. Still, she remained until his transport was out of sight, but regretted it as soon as Amu and Yaya turned on her, a menacing glint of glee sparkling in their eyes. She backed away as they moved closer to her, identical grins spread across their faces.
"I've never seen you with so little to say," hummed Yaya.
"Could it be – you like him back?" Amu challenged, pointing a finger at the smaller pinkette. Sakura scowled, batting the hand away and shrugging.
"The only time I've been confess to was by a girl who thought I was a boy, remember?" she reminded them, thinking back to Yuki. "I had no idea how to react, especially to a confession that heart-felt. I didn't want to reject him and regret it, nor did I want to accept him and end up lamenting over that."
"Lamenting?" repeated Tadase.
"One of my words," smiled Setsuko.
"By the way, Yaya," Sakura said suddenly, her whole face brightening, "I'll be moving out as soon as I have my things packed."
"What?" the orange-haired girl whined. "You have nowhere to go! Wait!" she gasped, turning and glaring at Amu and Rima, "Are one of you stealing her from me?" she accused. Amu began making excusing, but Rima remained silent, and Sakura laughed.
"No, no," she promised. "I love living with you Yaya, but someone I dearly love has gotten a house near the school and asked me to move in. I said 'yes', of course."
"Well," Yaya considered, shaking her head. "Last time we left you alone, you ended up being all evil and stuff."
"Don't worry," Sakura assured, waving off her concern. "The person I'm moving in with is a responsible adult," she promised. Her phone beeped and she checked it, smiling. "That's them now," she said, reading her text.
I'm outside – are you ready to leave?
"I have to go," Sakura said, putting her phone away. "I'll see you all after summer if I don't see you before, and I'll pick up my stuff later, okay, Yaya?"
"Okay," agreed Yaya, slightly put-out but glad Sakura seemed so happy. She just hoped she wasn't moving in with Ikuto...
Sakura left the airport, quickly spotting the car her new legal guardian was waiting in and hurrying over. She climbed into the passenger side, smiling at the person in the driver's seat. The person smiled back and, as soon as Sakura was buckled in, they set off back to their home – and Sakura's new home – so that the pinkette could get settled in. Everything had already been finalised and decided, with the exception of a few last pieces of paperwork, and Sakura couldn't be happier.
"Thank you for this, Tsunade."
"My pleasure, kiddo," the honey-eyed blonde smiled at her young charge.