Third Chapter is up!
I'm really sorry for the slow update. Although school is already over, my schedule had been hectic for the past few days because of a personal reason. Sorry to keep you waiting!
Chapter 3: Anomalous
"Mou…" She breathed out palpably, slumping idly to the wooden bench near the tennis grounds. Morning classes had finished minutes ago and luckily, all those peculiar episodes that she had experienced were long gone.
If there's anything that Sakuno Ryuzaki didn't understand, it is when their teacher comes inside their class and starts teaching the least favorite subject that she liked.
English
Don't get it wrong. The girl was really doing her best. However, no matter how hard she tries to grasp the foreign subject into her thick mind, she just can't get it right.
It's just isn't her thing.
Of course, learning English was just one of her main concerns about things that she didn't understand because as far as she knows, there are many things in life that are complicated and confusing to comprehend.
Like experiencing weird events for instance.
Earlier this morning, when she made her way towards her shoe locker, two girls come up to her. Normally, girls who approached her like this means there's trouble up ahead. But to her surprise, it wasn't. Especially when they bowed down and nervously shoved their letters to her which was well…unexpected.
She blinked, dumbfounded.
A confession? Sakuno thought good-humouredly, laughing mentally inside her mind.
She flashed them a warm smile and immediately, they darted away from her in such haste. As soon as they were gone which was very strange from Sakuno's opinion, she opened the letters that were given to her and read it.
Again, she was surprised. Both of the letters contained a repentance message.
Those girls were actually apologizing for their abusive actions in the form of writing a letter?
Her once confused mind got even more confused.
Why all the sudden? Is this just a dream? A sick joke that she's part of?
With that kind of thought in mind, she placed the letters to her locker and ignored the bizarre encounter.
Yet to her shock, another strange happening had once again occurred and this time it was during their first morning class.
The moment Sakuno stepped her foot in their classroom, everyone immediately halted whatever they were doing. She disregarded the uncanny feeling and started to make her way inside, regardless of the unnerving stares she's receiving.
She really wouldn't mind if they would just stare at her like that. Judging from her previous experiences with her classmates, she thought that maybe they were doing this to 'humor' their selves again.
Besides, that's what she is in their eyes anyway and because of that, maybe they just have heard about the scandalizing portrait of her in the magazine.
Somehow, her beliefs went down to drain.
As she sauntered her way towards her empty desk, her classmates that she happened to pass by had surprisingly given her smiles and waves which was again…noticeable in her point of view. Others who didn't send off those kind gestures greeted her like "Good Morning, Ryuzaki-san" or "Nice Morning, isn't it Ryuzaki-san?"
What even scares her most was the fact that the 'Terrible Three' consisting of Reiko, Ayumi and Madoka are also doing the same thing.
"Maybe everyone woke up in the bad side today." She said to no one particular, swaying her head from left to right.
Today has just been really weird. Add the fact that Tomoka, her best friend, was still ill since yesterday.
The fever must be getting into her. She thoughtfully told herself.
Those girls…
Her classmates…
Tomoka's absence…
She sighed. What's next?
She reached out her forehead in frustration. "This day has just gotten weirder and weirder."
"Something on your mind you like to share?" came a recognizable male's voice.
The auburn haired maiden distractedly raised her head up, her hand still on her forehead. There he was again…Ryoma Echizen in his tennis uniform, standing all in his glory. He was drinking his favorite grape juice as usual and at that moment, she knew that they were probably given a 10-minute break from their practice.
"Ah! Ryoma-kun, you surprised me!" She muttered with a faint blush on her cheeks, placing a hand over her chest.
The boy arched an inquisitive eyebrow then flopped himself next to her.
She tilted her head, her eyes boring to his face. "W-what are you doing here? Is practice already over?"
The boy shrugged nonchalantly, throwing the can to the nearby trash can. "Not quite"
She flashed him a smile. "I see"
Afterwards, an awkward silence was developed between them. The pigtailed girl closed her eyes and gave a small smile, feeling the soft cold breeze passing towards them. Ryoma on the other hand watched her silently in his seat, a smirk played on his thin lips.
Minutes passed and when he was finally fed up at the stillness, he broke the ice.
"You didn't answer my previous question."
The girl unwittingly blinked her eyes. "Question? What question?"
The aloof prince started mumbling some words about girls not paying attention and whatnot. Sakuno who had witnessed his antics had suddenly chuckled in amusement, earning a raised eyebrow from the prince himself.
"What?" He asked.
The girl shook her head, softening her laughter. "It's nothing"
He looked away with a scoff. "Che. I'll never understand girls."
"Of course you don't. We girls are very complicated."
He then looked back at her again. "So?"
She arched her eyebrow; the smile never left her features. "So what?
"My previous question?" He asked again, almost in the limit of being annoyed. She's just lucky that she's my-
"It's nothing big." She said matter-of-factly, cutting him from his thoughts.
"Then what is it?" He questioned with utmost curiosity.
Ryoma was never been the type of person who pries in another people's life. Also, he was never the talkative one. He was only doing this because she's his friend. Because he was just concerned and being a concerned friend that he is, he needs to know everything what was happening to his friend.
The maiden's expression had softened as her eyes darted towards the two-bento boxes that were sitting on her lap, her dainty fingers toying with her braids.
"Well…" She trailed off, rather hesitant for the moment and continued, "Weird things have been happening to me this day."
"Like what?"
She gave him a quick glance and said, "In this morning, two girls came up to me and gave me a repentance letter. Second, our classmates have been acting quite strange towards me. Third, Tomo-chan is still not around."
She paused and then stared at him questioningly. "What do you think is going on, Ryoma-kun?"
The said boy gave her a look. "I'm not a psychic. Just so you know."
She stamped her foot childishly, wailing. "Mou! I thought you know the answer?"
He shrugged as he closed his feline eyes, crossing his arms behind his back. "I do."
"So?"
He inwardly smirked. This is gonna be fun. "So what?"
"Mou, Ryoma-kun!" She exclaimed, pounding her fist to his side.
To her amazement, her prince, the indifferent and stoic looking type of a guy, let out a small laugh. Although it was only a small laugh, it doesn't matter because he laughed.
The girl was flabbergasted. Never in her entire life had she seen her crush laughing like this before. It was actually her first time to see him enjoying himself.
Enjoying himself with her.
"Alright, alright" He dropped his arms back to his side and faced her, the serious look was back on his face.
"They were being sorry for being mean to you. It's that simple."
She crossed her hands in front of her chest skeptically. "What makes you say that?"
Instead of replying to her question, he gave her a knowing smirk and answered, "Because I'm saying the truth."
Right at that moment, Sakuno knew that the boy was keeping something from her.
X0X0X0X0X0X
After the conversation she had with Ryoma, all of the students hastily gone back to their own classrooms as soon as lunch break is over.
It was now their English period. Their English teacher, Hara-sensei was currently discussing about how to conduct a Research paper that has never been paid any heed by other students including the braided maiden herself.
With her hand supporting her chin, she was once again in her own world as her eyes stared blankly outside the windows wherein birds are chirping in the trees and the clouds forming white fluffy cottons up above the blue sky.
She knew something was up with her classmates. Add the part when Ryoma who was acting weird a while ago is also a living proof to that.
The teacher turned to face her students. "So basically, all of you are…Ryuzaki-san?" She inquired, noticing the lass's lack of attention.
Unfortunately, the girl was so engrossed at her own thoughts that she didn't even hear the teacher's call.
Again, she called, "Ryuzaki-san?"
No response
"Ryuzaki-san!"
"Y-yes?!" She asked in surprised tone, almost stumbling in her own seat as she received muffled snickering from her classmates inside the room. It was even more shocking when a certain someone from behind started faking a cough, as if signaling everyone to keep quiet.
In a split second, all the noise that had filled the room instantly vanished like thin air.
The teacher gave out a scowl, not looking very happy.
"This is your second time that you have been spacing out in my class. Mind if you share what you had in mind, hmm Ryuzaki-san?" She asked, slowly walking towards her desk.
"I…I was just…ano…sorry sensei!" She blurted out as she bowed her head, her eyes fixed in her trembling knees.
The teacher let out an exasperated sigh and asked, "Were you paying attention of what I said earlier?"
"N-no." She replied lowly, not taking her eyes off on her knees yet.
After a pregnant of silence, she slowly brought her head up, only to see their teacher walking back to her desk. Sakuno hauled a silent sigh of relief, thankful that the teacher didn't give her any punishment at all.
Hara-sensei cleared her dry throat, catching everyone's attention.
"As I was saying, you are all going to be given an English project that will be due on the last day on this month. It is all about conducting your own research paper that you-" She randomly pointed the boy in front of her. "Desired. Any topic. Any topic at all as long as the topic that you have chosen is not yet proven. You are all required to do this for this project cost you 50 percent of your grade."
The burgundy-haired teacher paused and resumed, "Now let's begin with the pairing."
"Pairing?" Sakuno questioned her aloud.
"Yes Ryuzaki-san, pairing. I forgot to mention that this project is by pair, meaning that there will be teamwork between the two. Now, if any of you have some issues with your chosen partner, I believe that you will all have to handle that otherwise it's a failing mark for the two of you."
Moaning sounds from the students were soon heard throughout the entire classroom. The said teacher, who ignored the strident protest from them, had eagerly flipped her notebook open.
"Now, on with the partners."
"Ugh"
"Oh man"
Subsequently, the rambling of the names begin…
X0X0X0X0X0X
After Hara-sensei dismissed her class, the freshmen trio gathered themselves near in Ryoma's desk, their faces unreadable in frustration. In contrast, Ryoma still had that cool composure on him. As if there was nothing wrong on the scenery.
"Oh man, you've gotta be kidding me!" complained Horio, dramatically banging his head in Ryoma's desk. "Doesn't Hara-sensei know that this project could take months to accomplish? This is mental torture!"
"Horio-kun…"
"And to pair me up with that Mad Osakada had made it twice the torture!"
Katsuo sent him a reassuring smile. "Well, at least she didn't require us to make source notes just like the third years."
"Yeah, we're lucky that way." Kachiro muttered, nodding his head in agreement.
The swanky freshmen gaped at them. "Are you both serious? We have like an intra-school tournament coming up this week. We don't have time doing this project! If we want to be one of the regulars, we had to practice extra hard."
"Horio-kun, you're overreacting." came Kachiro's commentary, placing his hand on the lad's shoulder.
"Look at Ryoma-kun." He gave the prince a side-glance and resumed, "See? He doesn't seem to be bothered at all!"
Horio followed his line of vision and then looked back at him.
"That's because English to him is easy! Echizen can always pass this subject whether he submits a research paper or not." The boy argued, glancing back at the cold prince who was now listening on his MP3 player.
"Now, now. You know Ryoma-kun wouldn't do that. He has a partner to worry about, right Ryoma-kun?" asked Kachiro as he glanced at their green-haired friend.
"Hn"
The boy with an egghead hairdo brought his hand on his chin, thinking deeply. "Now that you mention about it. Who exactly is your partner, Ryoma-kun? I didn't quite catch the person's name."
Horio snorted jadedly, his head resting on the desk. "Well, it could probably be that girl with hot rocking body like Ikeda-san or that sassy blonde girl who keeps clinging herself on Echizen."
Kachiro blinked. "You mean, Ota-san?"
"Yeah, that one."
The former shook his head, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Oh I wish not, that girl is bad news."
"Tell me about it." Katsuo chimed in. "Last time I remembered, she was spreading false rumors around the school that she and Ryoma-kun were dating."
"I, with my four years of tennis experience, think that Reiko girl has too much imagination. She's so full of herself."
Katsuo and Kachiro looked away with a sweatdrop. Yeah, just like you.
"Ano…"
All of them, excluding Ryoma, redirected their gazes to the source of the voice. The person was none other than Sakuno Ryuzaki who was vehemently staring on her shoes, reddening.
Kachiro offered her a kind smile. "Ryuzaki-san, what can we do for you?"
"Ah…eh…actually, I was h-here to t-talk to…" Her vision moved towards Ryoma. "To Ryoma-kun."
The two friendly-looking freshmen stared at each other. "To Ryoma-kun?"
She bobbed her head shyly. "Yes. It's about our…project."
"She's my partner." The cat eyed boy piped in, taking the earphones off from his ears.
"Oh"
The courteous boy of the group beamed at them. "Well then, we should leave you guys alone. Bye." In a jiff, he grabbed both of his friends' hands and dragged them out of the room.
When the three left, Seigaku's pillar of support gradually rose from his seat.
"Ryoma-kun?"
He grabbed his things and slung it to his shoulder. "Pack your things. We're going."
The girl had a perplexed look on her delicate face, watching as he started walking away.
"Going? Going where?" She asked.
He stopped in mid-step and looked back over his left shoulder. "Home"
"B-but you have afternoon practices and-"
"I'll skip it." He abruptly said, ending the girl's unfinished sentence.
The girl bowed her head again as she felt another blood rushing to her cheeks. "Are you really sure that you want to walk me home? I…I mean, I can always go home by myself."
The boy merely raised his eyebrow at this.
She then brought her head up and faced him. "You see, I-I need to go to Tomo-chan's place. I was getting worried about her condition and I really don't want to bother you-"
"I'll accompany you there." He responded as he got himself going again but halted as he heard no footsteps of the girl.
"Are we going or not?" He asked impatiently.
Her eyes flickered at his sudden question.
"Y-yes. Wait up."
X0X0X0X0X0X
At the sidewalk they walked and this time side by side, feeling another gust of wind slowly blowing in their direction. Tomoka's house is still minutes away and the two had already left the campus grounds at such an early hour.
Feeling uncomfortable at the endless stillness, Sakuno started to break the eerie silence between them, trying to strive up an interesting conversation with him.
"Ano…Ryoma-kun?" She began.
He gave her a side glance. "Hn?"
"I wasn't able to ask you what topic we should pick for our research paper."
The boy stifled out a curt sound and said, "Tennis"
The auburn-haired maiden sweatdropped. "Ryoma-kun, tennis is a sport not an unverified fact."
"Well then, let's have cats as our topic."
Sigh "I'm being serious in here."
The said boy casually shrugged his shoulders. "You choose. I don't really care."
"Ryoma-kun!"
Suddenly, he stopped.
"Where exactly is Osakada's house?" He asked, changing the course of their endless conversation which had successfully worked.
She blinked at his enquiry then pointed her finger at a certain direction. "Ah…ano…it's around that corner, the one on the left."
"Oh" After that, their walk ensued.
"Ryoma-kun, I…um…I was thinking…" She trailed off, quite hesitant.
His eyebrows lifted, waiting for her to continue.
"I was thinking of dropping by at the flower shop before we head to her house."
"We'll drop by at Otomo's flower shop." He plainly stated.
Her pallid face brightened. "Really? That's great! Thank you, Ryoma-kun!"
X0X0X0X0X0X
At the Osakada's household….
Inside the Osakada's residence was not a beautiful day for all of them. Although the sun shines brightly above the blue sky from the outside, it was still no use.
Why?
Because they have a sick member among them.
Since someone is unwell, the house was filled with gloomy atmosphere. Nevertheless, that didn't stop them for doing their normal agendas that they do everyday.
So basically, the sick person was left all alone inside her lone bedroom. Her parents and brothers had already gone off earlier this morning, leaving her with a close family friend, Takako Uesugi.
The pigtailed girl was there, hopelessly lying in her comfy bed. She continued to cough roughly, her throbbing parched throat getting worse every minute.
The entrance of her room opened and immediately a figure walked in. As the carroty-haired woman strolled her way towards the girl's bed, she placed the tray full of medicines, water and other necessary stuff on the side table.
Tomoka glanced up to her, smiling faintly. "Thank you very much for attending me, Uesugi-san."
The said woman beamed reassuringly and sat next to her. "It's the least I can do after your father and mother helped me in my problems. I owe them a lot."
She then took the bottle of syrup and poured its contents into the teaspoon.
"Here" She said, holding a tablespoon full of syrup. Tomoka reluctantly opened her mouth as the lady fed her the syrup.
The nauseous-looking girl cringed at its bitter taste.
"Ugh…I hate this flavor." She mumbled in disgust as she groggily sank back to her bed after drinking the glass of water. "And I hate this stupid disease." She added.
Takako flashed a warm smile. "Oh sweetie, don't worry. You'll get better soon."
"I hope I do. Because I really need to make up with her."
Holding the glass of water in her hand, Takako's eyebrows rose as she asked, "You mean your friend?"
Tomoka bobbed her head, the smile on her face slowly fading away.
"Yeah. I did something that caused her pain inside. I hurt her feelings."
"But I'm sure you didn't mean it." The woman countered, now placing the glass of water back to the tray. "I know you wouldn't do such a thing."
She heaved out a sigh. "I hope she forgives me. I really don't want to lose her. She's been my best friend for too long now."
The woman smiled down at her. "Oh I'm sure she will."
Ding Dong!
Takako clasped her hands in delight. "Ah…someone's at the door. I'll be right back." And with that, she left the girl on her room.
X0X0X0X0X0X
The two of them had already been standing at their classmate's front door for 8 minutes, waiting for someone inside the household to at least unlock the entry towards the house.
Ryoma started to tap his foot, looking very impatient while Sakuno tried one more time pressing the doorbell.
Ding Dong!
Hearing no response whatsoever, the boy's frown intensified. "No one's answering the door."
"Maybe no one's at home?" The maiden asked, uncertain at her own statement as she adjusted the bouquet of colorful flowers on her arms.
The prince let out an indignant huff. "Let's go. This is a total waste of-"
Brusquely, the door opened and a tall woman appeared as she beamed them a welcoming smile.
The timid girl instantly greeted her with a nervous smile.
"Ah…h-hello, ma'am."
"Hello" The woman responded.
"Um…is Tomoka here? I…I-I mean, we are here to visit her. You see, it's been almost two days that she's been absent and we come to check on her if she's okay."
Takako's gleeful smile widened. "Ah! You must be Tomoka's friends. I'm Takako Uesugi, a family friend of the Osakadas. Please, please do come in. She would certainly be happy to see you two." She then extended her hand as she guided them inside.
Ryoma and Sakuno who were guided by Takako were brought to Tomoka's bedroom. Once they had arrived at the said place, Sakuno tightened her grip on the flowers as the woman turned the doorknob of the door.
The woman popped her head on the girl's room. "Tomoka, your friends are here to see you."
The loud girl's eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Friends?"
Right away, a figure walked in, making her eyes widened in revelation.
"Sakuno!" She cried as she jumped out of her bed and caught her in a suffocating embrace as numerous tears started emerging from her eyes.
"Sakuno-chan, I'm so glad to see you! I'm deeply and sincerely very sorry! I really didn't mean to say those words to you and…and I was being so insensitive and…and-"
"Tomo-chan…" The girl intervened audibly, returning her hug and continued, "It's alright. I-"
"If only you know how miserable I felt when you ran away from me-"
The meek maiden giggled. "Tomo-chan, really, it's fine. I forgive you."
The weeping girl sniffed. Her eyes all watery as she looked at her. "B-but…but…"
"Tomo-chan, it's okay." She wiggled at the girl's tight hold. "But please, let me go because you're squishing me and the flowers."
Tomoka immediately released her, smiling sheepishly. "He he, sorry"
The tall woman walked over to her and said, "I'll take those flowers please."
Obediently, Sakuno handed it over to her and she proceeded placing each flowers in a flower vase. While Takako was busy with it, Tomoka took a hold of her hands and started talking.
"So tell me Sakuno, how did everything go in school while I was away?"
"Uh…"
"How's everyone while I was gone?
"Eh?"
"How's the club?"
The auburn-haired maiden found her body stiffened at the question.
"Well, I-"
"Now, now, I know you two wanted to keep this discussion going but please do remember that you're sick, Tomoka. I'll be in trouble if you strain yourself again." The older woman muttered, stepping into their conversation as she dragged the sick girl towards her bed.
When the said girl was being dragged, her eyes accidentally landed towards the other visitor who was silently standing in the doorway, his eyes showing with pure boredom as he let out a small yawn.
With this, the girl's smile widened and yanked her arm from the woman.
"Ryoma-sama!" She exclaimed, joyfully launching herself towards the boy.
Ryoma, who was known to have fast reflexes, had stepped away from her path, letting the girl stumble on her own feet and fell.
"Ouch!"
Sakuno immediately kneeled down beside her, a worried look pasted on her face. "Tomo-chan, are you alright?"
The loud girl sniggered in embarrassment. "I'm okay. I'm okay." She then stood up and dusted up the dirt on her clothing.
The chubby maiden furiously advances to the prince. "Mou…you don't have to be so cruel. Tomo-chan is sick, you know."
The young lad robotically shrugged his shoulder off, muttering a "Sorry" as his eyes darted onto space.
The braided girl could only sigh in exasperation and turned to her friend who was once again being dragged by the woman.
Once the girl was neatly tucked in her bed, a piercing beeping was heard inside the room. Instantaneously, Takako reached out the beeping object on her pocket and answered it.
"Hello, Takako Uesugi here." A long pause. "Aha…aha…eh? That's today?! What?! Right now?! B-but today's my day off." Sigh "I see, I understand…Aha…yes…okay…I guess I have no other choices but to comply right? Alright…Okay bye." After that long talk, she flipped her phone shut, an unhappy look spreading on her pretty face.
Noticing the expression on her face, Tomoka asked, "Uesugi-san, something wrong?"
The woman faced her with a wry smile. "Well, something's up in our agency and I'm required to be there a.s.a.p."
"Then go."
She shook her head. "I can't just leave you here. Remember, I promised to your mom and dad that I'll watch over you."
"Then we'll watch over her." Sakuno chimed in as she launched herself forward. "You can count on us."
"But…" She trailed off as she dug her hand inside her pocket. "I'm supposed to buy a new medicine. It might take me long for me to-"
"I'll do it then, Uesugi-san." The timid lass volunteered, smiling brightly at her. "Ryoma-kun will stay here and I'll buy the medicine for you."
Ryoma grimaced at the thought of him being with loudmouth girl.
Takako beamed happily at her selfless offer, seizing both of her dainty hands with her own. "Really? You'll do that for me? I'm so happy!"
She then placed a white paper on Sakuno's palm, speedily marching towards the doorway as she uttered an "I'll be back" before she can exit the room.
"What a weird lady." Ryoma mumbled noiselessly.
"I'll be back too." Sakuno stated, also walking out of the room.
After the girl left, Tomoka diverted her gaze towards the prince.
"Ryoma-sama" The girl called out softly. Her eyes had surprisingly held some seriousness in it.
Ryoma shifted his eyes to look at her as she continued, "What happened to Sakuno while I was away?"
Ryoma's eyes unconsciously flickered at her sudden interrogation.
Is she related to Sakuno in some way?
Seriously, they know each other too well.
X0X0X0X0X0X
"Thank you." She said with a smile as the counter lady handed her the medicines that she needed inside the paper bag. Afterwards, she left the pharmacy and resumed walking back to her friend's house.
It was a long stroll back to Tomoka's place. It usually takes 15 to 20 minutes from there. However, since Sakuno was so used in walking, walking this long is no longer a big deal for her anymore.
Besides, they said that the longer you walk, the more fats you burn.
Seeing that she had no more trouble with it, she was now humming a tune to herself when unexpectedly something caught her eyes.
Straight away, she secretly hid herself behind the nearby alley.
From a place not to far from her position, there was a bespectacled man standing outside the building. He had gray hair and visible wrinkles all over his aging face.
At first glance, Sakuno could tell that the man is indeed a business man because of the type of clothing he's wearing.
Standing in front of the man was a girl with shoulder length hair. In fact, she seems to be much younger than her companion because of the youthful features she possesses.
By the look of it, the girl seems to be around her age or a year older. Also, she was wearing a very familiar high school uniform.
Sakuno strained her eyes even more, trying to get a closer look on her face. Much to her dismay, she wasn't able to for the girl's long bangs were blocking her own field of vision.
The longer she stared at her, the more she reminded her of someone.
Her eyebrows crumpled. Is it just me or does the girl looked very familiar?
Now, the maiden cared less about this. She wasn't the type of a person who meddles in other people's personal business.
Nonetheless, the situation she is now facing was rather too awkward for her to ignore.
A man and a young girl meeting at a forsaken place like this?
What exactly are they doing here?
The timid maiden wrenched her head up at the building's name and read it.
Almost immediately, her big chocolate eyes widened like plates as two hands made its way to cover her gaping mouth.
This place is a…oh my…oh my god!
After a series of Sakuno's continuous staring, the man finally spoke up, breaking the eerie silence that had long consumed him and the girl before him.
"Here, take this." He said, anxiously shoving an incredibly large amount of money to the girl's free hand as he kept glancing from left to right. Sakuno was glad that she was able to put herself out of sight before any of them notices her unwanted presence.
"I'll give you some more at our second meeting. Don't worry." He added.
The girl flashed him a seductive smile. "Now, now, what are you nervous for? No one's around but the two of us."
That voice…I just know I've heard it somewhere. She thought, her hand still concealing her breathless mouth.
"I was just making sure that none of my associates sees me. Otherwise, they might tell my wife about my affairs with other women."
The girl leaned her body more closely as her breast dug into his chest.
"Well, if it is so then that'll be bad ne?"
The man frowned, lightly pushing the girl away. "No physical contact when we're in public. Aren't you even worried that someone might see you?"
The mysterious maiden sneered. "As far as I remembered, none of my brother's friends uses this road."
"Hn" He paused as he once again took another bundle of cash from his pouch and placed it into the girl's palm. "Look, if you want us both out of trouble you keep quiet about our relationship, okay?"
The girl smirked in victory as she began counting the money she had earned.
"Don't worry. My lips are sealed, Ashikaga-san."
The man smiled. "Good girl."
Later, the bespectacled man left the area towards north, leaving the girl all alone as she started to walk away from the opposite direction.
Seeing that the girl is coming in her way, Sakuno promptly hid her creeping head and pasted her back to the wall in order to keep herself from the girl's view.
Sakuno was getting nervous every minute. She fretfully sat on the clammy ground while hugging her knees, her trembling fingers clutched firmly in her skirt as the girl's footsteps were getting louder and louder. She prayed from the gods in the heavens above, hoping that the girl won't be able to discover her hideout.
In spite of how hard she prayed, the gods seem to have turned their backs on her when a rat suddenly appeared in her lap from who knows where.
In addition, because she's scared, she freaked out and recklessly screamed at the top of her lungs.
The footsteps stopped.
"Who was that?" came the girl's question and in a flash, the footsteps immediately carried on faster than before.
The chubby girl was now in the edge of fainting in apprehension, her eyes tightly shut.
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Please don't let her see me. Please don't let her see me. Please don't let her see-
"Sakuno-chan?" The girl inquired. She instantly knew that the girl was now standing in front of her.
The lass opened her eyes. Wait…did she just call me in my name?
Curious enough, the maiden cocked her head up to take a glimpse of the girl's face and her eyes shot open in disbelief, a long gasp escaped from her pink lips.
"Oh...my…god."
Wah! Cliffhanger...hehehe...X)
Care to guess who this secret character is? Don't worry, she's a canon character.
If you got the correct answer, I'll give you cookies! X)
I know some of you will ask: What exactly is the name of the building did Sakuno saw?
Answer: Well, it's up to you to name it 'cause what really matters is what kind of building it is or the type of business they have in that place.
Again, can you guess what it is? Hehe, that means two pieces of cookies now huh?
Once again, comments, suggestions or any other clarifications are widely accepted.
Thank you once again for reading. Tune up for the next chapter for the secret character's identity and her reasons!
Riza
P.S. I know this is a bit too much but before you exit, can you please do me a favor by going into my profile? I have a poll in there about the next POT fic I'm going to make. Really, I need your votes...badly. Thank you very much! X)
