oo2. feb.
He sees her for the second time but a month later.
It being the day of homemade chocolates, flower bouquets, and love letters, he attempts to steer clear of the handholding couples loitering down the streets and seeks shelter in the nearest café, one he just so happens to visit quite often.
Slowly, he enters the shop and makes his way to the ordering station, and as he asks for a cup of black coffee, (bitter, the way he likes it) a glimpse of peony pink catches his eye, and the long-haired cashier has to stutter "e-excuse me, sir" several times before he turns back to give her a few wrinkled paper bills.
Minutes later, he is seated in the back corner of the café, wisps of steam rising from his cerulean mug, curling, and disappearing before him. He leans against the leche colored wall and sighs, skimming the crowd.
Couples occupy almost every booth in the shop, kissing over coffee, fingers intertwined, but at one table, a lone person sits, fiddling with the ends of her pinkpinkpink hair absentmindedly.
It is when he sees her that he realizes he recognizes her, he knows her, and he has been subconsciously looking for her all this time. Not just from before, when he caught sight of her in his peripheral vision, but from the moment they met, he has been waiting to see her again.
And he cringes, because such thoughts are incredibly rare for the likes of Uchiha Sasuke, and they are something he never imagined his mind was capable of formulating.
I'm coming down with something, he thinks to himself and scowls, leaning forward to take a sip from his mug. He nearly chokes on his next thought—an absurd thought indeed—but composes himself quickly enough to notice the girl's features bending into a frown.
Besides himself, she is the only one who sits alone in the café, and perhaps that is why she seems upset, but for a reason beyond his comprehension, it bothers him not knowing the exact cause. If anyone asked him why he cared, he wouldn't have been able to answer because he simply did, and that should be enough explanation.
Then, without knowing, without choosing to do so, he stands up and approaches her.
"Hello," Sasuke hears himself say, and she looks up at him, surprised.
"Aah—" she says, and for a second, he can't help but hope she remembers him. "Oh, it's you, isn't it? You're that guy…"
A soft smirk crosses his face, and he nods.
"Um, I guess I should thank you for before…" she begins but trails off, her face lit with the same rosy blush of their first encounter.
"Uchiha Sasuke," he finishes for her, and she smiles.
"I'm Sakura," she says and holds out her hand. "Haruno Sakura."
The corners of his lips rise as he grasps it.
Haruno Sakura.
What a beautiful name.