Sakura adjusted the brim of her hat, tugging it down over her head. Today was a day just like the last, with the same pleasant breeze and mild sunshine. It was wonderfully calming. She had a book in her hands, a different one this time, one of her favorite mangas, the pages faintly musty and worn with age.

Earlier that day she had looked over the books she had brought with her, trying for ages to decide on which to read, before finally the charms and guiles of the oh-so-familiar characters and humor won her over and she guiltily pulled it out from the pile of critically acclaimed masterpieces that she had thus far left untouched.

She turned a page and immediately began to giggle. It was one of her favorite scenes, and she was now laughing at it for probably the 35th time. She finished laughing and continued reading, a content smile on her face, the waves crashing into the shore providing the perfect background music. The weather was good, she was reading her favorite book, and the mood in general was just nice. It didn't seem like anything could ruin it.

"HEYYYYYYY!"

Except for maybe that.

Sakura's brow furrowed and her expression immediately turned dark. She turned her head and as expected, a certain aggravating blonde by the name of Emily Jones was running towards her, a few round plastic buckets in her hands.

Sakura gulped down her annoyance and tried to muster a polite smile, before Emily ran and leapt straight into her, knocking her into the umbrella pole and sending the book flying out of her hands.

"It's you again!" Emily was grinning cheerfully, a stark contrast to the stormy unsmiling expression on Sakura's face.

"Um...yes. Hello." Sakura bowed her head, then turned around to retrieve her manga.

"What was your name again?" Emily asked, emptying the contents of the buckets out onto the sand, revealing multiple shovels and spades and sand molds. "I kinda forgot it."

"You… forgot it?" Sakura wasn't so dismayed as she was incredulous, seriously, the girl who wouldn't leave her alone yesterday had forgotten her name?

"Ehehehe!" Emily scratched the back of her head, smiling apologetically.

Sakura sighed. "My name is Sakura Honda."

"Honda? As in the car brand?" she asked. Sakura cringed and began to explain that yes, although that wasn't quite it, but Emily had already moved on. "I brought some buckets and stuff, so we could make sandcastles!"

"Sand...castles?"

"Yeah!" Emily frowned. "Don't you know what those are?"

"I…" Sakura glanced down at the buckets and spades. "I can guess."

"Okay!" She grabbed a bucket and began to use it to scoop sand. "Then let's see who can build the best sandcastle!" She continued scooping sand, her eyes shining.

Sakura sighed inwardly and picked up a bucket. She began to brainstorm ideas for her castle, weighing up the pros and cons of different types of castles, which would hold better, which would look nicer, which would be easier to make, etc.

On the other hand there was Emily, who seemed to have no plan at all, and was cheerfully and naively building a sandcastle that was doomed to fall. Sakura looked over, having almost finished her planning, and wondered if she should tell her that dry sand probably wasn't the best building material. But Emily seemed so immersed in her castle, with the tip of her tongue sticking out in concentration, that Sakura didn't want to disturb her.

Instead, she stood up and shuffled closer to the shoreline, lugging the sand-filled bucket with her to dip in seawater so she could get some wet sand. She wondered whether or not it was better to scoop wet sand in first rather than soak dry sand already in the bucket. She decided that it probably didn't matter, and even if it did she could always rebuild it.

She waded in and bent down to dunk the bucket in the water, the wind blowing her skirt around her knees, too absorbed in her work to notice Emily creeping up behind her, carrying a water-filled bucket and snickering.

"SURPRISE!"

The wind immediately died down. Sakura stood frozen, water dripping from her hair and clothes. Emily began to laugh, but stopped when she noticed that Sakura wasn't responding.

"S-Sakura?" Emily trudged forward through the water and poked her in the cheek. "You're not mad, are you? Come on, it was just a joke! You don't have to get butthurt about it!"

Sakura gritted her teeth and curled her hands into fists. Who does this person think she is? She turned to glare at Emily for a second before stalking off back towards her stuff.

"Heyy, I didn't mean it, I'm sorryyyy." Emily pouted, and Sakura took one brief look at her face before dismissing her apology as insincere and speeding up. She then set the bucket on the sand, gathered up her things and finally turned to face Emily.

"I am to return home. Take your bucket back please," she uttered, then whipped around and began to march across the beach. Emily seemed perplexed by Sakura's curt farewell and stony expression.

"Wait!" she yelled, chasing after her. Sakura flinched at the sound of her voice and picked up her pace, not looking back. Emily had almost caught up and reached out to grab her shoulder when Sakura finally broke into a run, sprinting across the sand. In response to this, Emily began running faster too, and continued to badger and pester her until finally Sakura halted, spun around, and yelled,

"Leave me alone please!"

Emily slowed to a stop, dazed, while Sakura immediately returned to running away. She stood there, the breeze blowing her curls across her face, which was now sporting a distressed frown. She watched Sakura's steadily disappearing figure for a few seconds before sighing and ambling back across the beach, kicking up sand with each step.

Sakura sat perched on the couch, curled in a blanket. After she had gotten home she had immediately taken a shower, changed into her fluffy pajamas and turned on the computer. Her dark mood had persisted for a few hours, but afterwards it had just dissipated, as Sakura was not the kind of person to hold grudges for long. Instead, she felt slightly mortified about the incident, and was torn between going back to apologize or staying at home, eating junk food and browsing the internet well into the night. She sighed and opened a bag of chips.

Latter option it is, then.

Still, she couldn't shake the guilty feeling she had. Even though at the moment it had felt absolutely great to be able to let her frustration out, she now felt incredibly ashamed for being so rude to someone who had only been playing a joke, even if it was an extremely insensitive joke and that someone was an exceedingly irritating someone.

The sound of a key clicking in the lock woke Sakura from her stupor, and she glanced up to see her cousin Takehiko stepping through the door.

"I'm home!" he announced, then raised his eyebrows at Sakura. "You're back earlier than usual."

Sakura nodded. "Welcome home," she mumbled, then returned to her laptop, not looking up.

He raised an eyebrow. "Did something happen?" he asked, taking his hat off.

"No," she responded, wrapping the blanket tighter around her. Takehiko squinted at her for a few seconds, before sighing and walking into the kitchen, leaving her alone. Sakura remained fixated on her screen and didn't move. After a few minutes of bustling around in the kitchen, he called out: "Well, whatever's bothering you, I hope you resolve it soon."

She sighed nervously and shrank back into her blanket, dreading the next day.

Sakura bit her lip and glanced around, fidgeting as she did so. It was a new day and she had come back to the beach, hoping for a chance to apologize to Emily and then cut ties with her politely, ending things on a civilised note rather than one characterized by yelling and running away.

She sighed and cringed as she recalled what had transpired the day before. Now that she could reflect on it it seemed almost silly how she had behaved, but she still felt that her reaction had been justified. She untucked her legs from underneath her and glanced around quickly, both hoping for and dreading Emily's arrival.

Her eyes locked onto a figure in the distance, steadily stomping her way towards her. She hastily turned back to her book, eyes wide in panic as she pretended to read, none of the words in the page registering in her head. She began biting her lips more fervently, trying to keep up a cool unaffected facade but failing. The figure in the distance was closer now, and out of the corner of Sakura's eye she could see her hair swishing as she stalked towards her. Sakura gulped. She clutched the hem of her skirt, kneading it in her fingers as the figure approached, coming ever closer. Finally, they stopped and came to a standstill. Sakura hesitated for a second, then turned her head.

"I-I…"

Emily seemed taken aback by Sakura's convoluted expression as she struggled to start her apology, before she seemed to remember something, an 'oh, yeah' look passing over her face.

"I'm really sorry!"

Unexpectedly, it was Emily that had spoken, dropping down beside her onto her knees. Sakura seemed bewildered, and was speechless for a few seconds, awaiting Emily's next words.

"I thought it'd be a funny joke but I guess you didn't think it was and I'm sorry I made you mad and run away but I just really wanted to be friends with you cos I saw you on the beach a few days ago and I wanted to talk to you cos I thought you were like, kinda, cute…" She trailed off, face red as she caught her breath.

Sakura was now even more bewildered. She wasn't sure she had understood all of what Emily had just said, due to her rapid speed, but she got the general gist of it.

"So, like, please forgive me." Emily grinned. "And maybe we can be friends. I won't play any more rude jokes, I promise! Friends?" She stared at her, beseeching with deep blue puppy dog eyes.

Sakura stayed silent. The apology, although messy and jumbled, had caught her by surprise, and she was almost a little touched. She glanced at Emily, still gazing expectantly at her, huge blue eyes set in a round chubby face framed by unruly brown curls, and thought that maybe she could give her a chance.

"...Yes."

Emily's entire face lit up.

"Woohoo!" she whooped, and grabbed Sakura's hands.

"Do not touch me please without asking!" Sakura cried out, and Emily hastily let go.

"Ehehe, sorry!" Emily rubbed the back of her neck. "Do you not like being touched or something?"

Sakura shook her head. "In Japan we are not usually so… affectionate."

"Ohh, okay." Emily nodded. "Then I'll try not to do it."

Sakura sighed. "Thank you."

"Anyway," Emily said, humming with excited energy. "Do you want to do something tomorrow?"