He let her out of his grasp

But he still watched her from afar

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

LETTING GO

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

"Ne, ne Kei-kun!" cried a girl with long waist length black hair. "What do the cherry blossoms look like?" she asked.

It was when Atobe Keigo was only eight years old, did he meet that girl. Her name was Yamazaki Sakura, one of the daughters of his father's business partner, although she knew Japanese she was brought up in America.

"Kei-kun! Guess what? I'm going to Japan!"

Sakura went to Japan, the land of cherry blossoms. Although she lived in Kanagawa, he was the one who took her sightseeing. All she wanted to see were the beautiful cherry blossoms. The flowers she was named after. His and Her worlds were far apart. She studied in Rikkaidai and he studied in Hyotei. Although they were far apart, Sakura would visit him during weekends… that is until she met Rikkaidai's tennis team.

"Ne, Kei-kun I met Rikkaidai's tennis team today"

Yamazaki Sakura became Rikkaidai's tennis manager even though she didn't like playing tennis. Days came by and Atobe Keigo focused mainly on the tournaments, never noticing that slowly she went out of his grasp.

"Kei-kun!" the girl called.

"Arn? Sakura-hime!" his face brightened at the sight of the girl. "Are you here to watch ore-sama?" he asked.

"Of course" the girl laughed at her friend's haughty antics. "Ganbatte, ne?"

He had lost by that brat from Seigaku, Echizen Ryoma.

"Kei-kun…" Sakura muttered "You did great" she praised "It was one of the best matches I have seen" she said with a praising smile.

"Che. I lost" he pointed out.

"How about I treat you out?" Sakura asked "C'mon Kei-kun cheer up!" she urged "I hear there's a great café that serves some delicious chocolate cake…"

She was as childish as ever and yet even in her small ways she managed to make everyone smile. She managed to erase the façade plastered on everyone's faces. It was her own little 'magic' of cheering everyone up.

"Are you happy now?" the young Yamazaki asked as she took a piece of cherry from her cake using a fork "Here" she said offering it to Keigo. The Atobe heir looked at her, she was smiling with her check resting on her palm one hand with a fork offering the cherry "Most of the times I eat these cherries but since you seemed down… here!"

Atobe Keigo looked at the cherry 'Didn't she use the fork to eat her cake?' he thought, blushing a faint hue of red. 'A-an indirect kiss?!'

She was as innocent as ever. No one can argue about that. But then her innocence was her charm, and someone had beat him from confessing to her.

"Kei-kun! Fancy, meeting you here" she greeted.

"Atobe" Yukimura Seiichi greeted with his usual smile, his arm around Sakura's waist making Atobe Keigo glare. Sakura looked at Keigo then back at Seiichi in vice versa, she felt tension in the air with the two.

"Seiichi?" she asked turning to the blue haired boy. "Can I talk to Kei-kun for a while?" she asked.

"Of course, Sa-chan" he said, letting go of her, slightly chuckling as he saw her blush a tinge of pink. Sakura sighed as she sat down beside Atobe Keigo.

"You're not happy about me and Seiichi?" she asked, a bit sadly as she placed her hand above his. "Kei-kun… I can't force you to like Seiichi" Sakura said "I don't want to be torn between Seiichi and Kei-kun" she said with a weak smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find someone who fits your standards" she said squeezing his hand.

But he had already found someone who had fitted his standards, but he had let her out of his grasp. He couldn't force himself to let go immediately, but maybe as time passes, just maybe, he might learn to let go.

Letting Go is never easy

Because when you look back

You try to grasp to what you have lost

Even if they're farther away