Chapter Ten
Sakura looked around her apartment. It was blank, in a way. Sure, it was furnished and the colour scheme – white – wasn't something that made her want to be sick, but still. Blank. Sighing heavily, the girl shrugged and shook her head of the random thoughts running through her mind, looking over to her sleeping Charas. Sometimes they made this place seem colourful and bright, but she could never do that on her own.
She looked outside and saw the snow, smiling brightly as she climbed onto the roof. The cold air bit her cheeks and her breath showed in front of her, the frost of winter quickly turning her cheeks and nose the lightest of reds. Sakura was still searching around for a job, which was more difficult due to the holiday season, but she wouldn't give up just because it was hard. If she did, then she would have no chance of becoming a world-famous explorer, or even a traveller, like her father was.
Her rent was due in a week and she could only pay for half of it at the moment, but that might be enough for a down-payment if she managed to find a job before the end of January. Otherwise, even with her two jobs, she wouldn't be able to afford the apartment. Sighing her worries away, Sakura felt snow land on her cheek and she looked up, seeing the white flakes fall from the sky like dancers, twirling in the wind.
Ring-Ring
"Hello?" Sakura greeted, picking up her phone.
"Hey, Saku-tan!" sung Yaya's voice over the phone, "Why weren't you at school today? As a Guardian, you were supposed to come in to help; even in the holidays!"
"I've been busy. Don't worry; I'll be back by next week, if you still need my help," she said, wondering if that was all Yaya wanted.
"Okay! Anyway, did you hear about the New Year's Concert? I've got six tickets and I wanted you to come along with us," she stated and Sakura could hear her grin. The pinkette blinked twice and her eyes dulled, thinking that the call might have been about something more important.
"You mean the concert that all those bands are going to be in?" she questioned with a slight yawn. "No thanks, Yuiki-san."
"Please!" she begged over the phone and Sakura sighed, rubbing her eyes.
"Fine, but only if you stop begging," Sakura replied, listening to Yaya as she explained the time and day they were going to meet to go to the concert. Her only regret, as she hung up the phone, was that she would have to pretend to be a boy.
{-}
Dressed in a pair of baggy black jeans and a black, long-sleeved jumper with a dark blue shirt over it that had a picture of a musical crochet on it, as well as a pair of black and white trainers, Sakura was ready to go. She looked over to Katsumi, who was primping herself, and nodded happily. Setsuko didn't want to go, since concerts had a tendency to be overly loud, and Mari was too tired to go, so it was going to be her and Katsumi, or 'Katsu', as they knew her.
Sakura looked at her watch and sighed, knowing that she would have to go if she wanted to get to the concert hall on time. She cast one last glance at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. She reached out and took a dark blue hat from the stand by her door, twisting her hair up into it.
"Let's go!" she smiled, pulling on a grey body warmer.
{-}
"Ah! Saku-tan!" Yaya called to her as Sakura approached them.
"Hello, Yuiki-san," Sakura smiled, "Hey, everyone."
"I can't believe we're going to see DARTS!" Yaya giggled, clutching her hands tightly to her chest as she squealed.
"So, they're the new flavour of the month?" she asked the most sensible girl there, that being Nadeshiko.
"It would seem so, wouldn't it?" the girl smiled softly.
"Well then, are we going to go inside or are we just going to listen from out here?" Sakura asked them, seeing their faces fall.
"Not quite," Amu sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "We're still waiting for –"
"Hey, everybody!" a scarily familiar voice called to them. Sakura turned and her eyes widened when she saw her teacher, but chose to say nothing, since she really didn't have a comment. "Sorry I'm late!" he said before falling down in the crowd. Sakura sighed.
"Is he really that clumsy?" Katsumi whispered to her owner, who shook her head slightly.
"It looks more like he's faking to me," she muttered back so that the others couldn't hear her. They made their way inside and Sakura wished that she didn't come, seeing it so packed with people. She gulped and stuck close to Yaya, who seemed perfectly at home in the big crowd.
"We'll go to get the snacks!" Yaya announced, pulling Sakura away by the arm towards the food.
"Popcorn, please!" Amu yelled and the others agreed, handing Sakura their money, since they didn't trust Yaya with it – only because she would drop it, though. They got to the snacks and waited in line before buying everyone some popcorn.
"Hey, Yuiki-san," Sakura frowned as Yaya skipped away with her popcorn, leaving Sakura to carry everyone else's. Katsumi tried to help, but she was just too small. She sighed and attempted to balance them before she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Yaya told me to come help you," Kukai stated from behind her as he took two of the buckets and let Katsumi and Daichi carry one between them, leaving Sakura to carry two. She sighed in relief.
"Thanks to her, I guess," she said quickly, making Kukai laugh.
"You know, you're kinda funny, in your own sarcastic way," he told her with a grin. "Has anyone ever told you that?"
"No. People generally don't talk to me unless they have to," she told him easily as they made their way to the others. Sakura handed Amu and Nadeshiko the buckets she was carrying and took hers from the Shugo Charas while Kukai gave one of his to Tadase and their teacher was left with none.
She listened as Amu told Yaya that they weren't getting any other snacks before ignoring them completely, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth. Sakura then wandered around by herself, knowing that she would have to find her seat soon and could just regroup with the others then. She found a doorway that was slightly open and ignored the sign that said 'No Access'.
"Saku-chan, we shouldn't be here," Katsumi told her meekly as the glamour Chara looked around, seeing all kinds of creep cobwebs and spiders lurking in the corners. Her owner wasn't listening and she sighed. Sakura placed down her popcorn and squeezed herself into a small crack in the wall where light shone through.
Footsteps went past her and Sakura held her breath so as not to be caught, but released it too soon as another pair of steps went past, but they were going faster this time. Whoever it was didn't notice her and she sighed in relief before wriggling out of the tiny hole and taking a deep breath. She looked behind her to make sure Katsumi was still with her before letting her eyes fall on the hallway that the footsteps went.
"I'm not sure, but wouldn't it be a better idea to go away from the people back here?" Katsumi whispered harshly in Sakura's ear.
"Be quiet. I want to know what's going on back here," she whispered back as she slid along the wall towards the end of the hallway. Someone approached her location and she froze, looking around for a means of escape and smiling when she saw a rail not too far above her head. Sakura jumped up, using her martial arts skills to kick herself off of the wall behind her and cling to the railing with her arms and legs.
The person walked by, not seeing her, and she frowned, concentrating on staying up as she pulled herself along the bar, deciding it was a better mode of transport. The bar went into a wall and Sakura sighed, looking up and seeing an air vent that she could easily crawl through. Swinging herself up, Sakura removed the vent cover and climbed inside it, Katsumi following her every step of the way.
"I feel like some sort of spy," she laughed, pausing when she saw Amu outside the vent. Voices spoke below her and Sakura listened to what they were saying.
"I haven't seen you in a while," a woman's voice echoed in the vent. Sakura wiped sweat from her brow and gulped – it was getting hotter by the second and she didn't know how much longer she could hold out. "I heard you attacked street performers on Christmas Eve and took their X-Eggs," Now she was cold.
"Yes," said another voice that sounded male, but not like Ikuto at all. "Although I was the one behind it. And, as usual, I had him clean up the mess," he added as Sakura scowled, leaning forwards to the opening of the vent to hear what they were saying better.
"I heard that you only found worthless X-Eggs, even after targeting all of those Seiyo Elementary children," the woman again, Sakura noted. She didn't care much for her classmates – they were the ones who let their Heart's Eggs become exposed through depression, so only they were to blame.
"In any case, we must continue to devote all of Easter's resources to finding the Embryo," another man said; still not Ikuto and definitely not the first man, either. "I have great expectations for tonight."
"I-I'm sorry!" she heard Amu – definitely Amu – squeal as she ran away, obviously caught. Shaking her head, Sakura decided then and there that she would handle any Guardian spy-work, not that they would actually assign her any to begin with.
The people below her dispersed and Sakura swallowed hard, feeling the full heat of the stuffy vent now that she had nothing else to concentrate on. Katsumi was on the verge of fainting and Sakura wasn't far behind. Decided not to try crawling back to the first opening, Sakura carefully lifted away the cover in front of her and made her way down, running through the halls, back to the main room.
"Easter, huh?" she muttered to herself while Katsumi made a comfortable nest in her body-warmer's pocket. Sakura went into the concert hall and found her seat easily as the others came in and sat in theirs. She was slightly annoyed to find that Yaya had swapped seats with Kukai – claiming that she wanted to sit next to Amu – and so Sakura was sat between the Jack's Chair and a boy she didn't know.
She slipped off her body warmer and stretched her arms as Katsumi floated up onto her head. The fashionable Chara looked around and noticed that she was the only one of her kind amongst the group and assumed that, as per usual, Kiseki had called them all for a meeting. It was only natural that she was left out, since she had stuck with Sakura the whole time rather than trying to socialise with the Charas. It was odd for her, since she was usually a very friendly Chara, but she had a feeling that Sakura would need her.
The lights went down and everyone listened as the announcer's voice came on, welcoming them to the concert. Sakura yawned, not really interested in listening to some guy who was paid to introduce the singers. And anyway, she wasn't a fan of Utau's music. Sure, she had a wonderful voice, but her songs seemed forced, like she would rather be doing anything other than singing them. At times, she noticed that Utau's eyes almost seemed to beg for the ability to stop in the middle of her song.
Her eyes widened saw she felt wings appear on Utau's back out of nowhere, exactly like a Chara Change. She frowned and watched more intently as Utau pointed to the crowd and she gasped as a dark aura fell over the crowd. Sakura stood instantly and ran out of the room, bringing Katsumi with her. The Chara had obviously felt the aura too and was ready for what Sakura was about to do, no questions asked by either of them.
"Watashi no Kokoro: Unlock!" Sakura yelled, her hands in front of her heart. Katsumi flew towards her, blowing a kiss as her egg closed around her.
Sakura's whole form was covered with light and her hat came off, her hair falling just below her hips and floating around her. Light formed around her torso and she clicked her fingers, causing it to explode in a show of sparkles and leaving behind a red silk tank top. Her lower half was then covered in sparkles and Sakura waved her hands to one side, then the other, leaving her in a red pleated mini-skirt lined.
She clicked her fingers again and a light pink lining spread across the hem of the skirt. Sakura then clacked her heals together and jumped up as sparkles covered her legs, exploding away from her and leaving behind a pair of thigh-high red leather boots.
She bent back and flipped over, using her hands as support, as her hair pulled itself up into a spiky bun, but half of it was left to hang freely to her hips. When she straightened her posture, a red headband appeared in her hair and she blinked when a large, pink broken heart attached itself to the headband. Sakura bounced backwards and smirked, clapping her hands twice as pink gloss covered her lips.
"Chara Nari: Lonely Heart!" she and Katsumi called at the same time, winking and standing in a 'cute' pose. She ran back into the hall and saw four Eggs above the audience, though it wasn't clear if they were X-Eggs or not. It seemed that the other Guardians had noticed it as well and before she could do anything, the lights on the stage began to crash to the ground.
"Yuiki-san had better get her money back," Sakura commented when she heard the announcement that the concert had been cancelled.
"Not the time, Saku-chan!" Katsumi yelled back. Sakura sighed and ran towards the eggs as they gained Xs, obviously due to the cancelled concert. They flew away and Sakura narrowed her eyes, following them out of the building easily, finding that she could sense them without a problem when she was transformed with her Chara.
She found them with Amu, who was just staring. Sakura wondered why she was still Amu and not Amulet-whatever, but then realised that her Shugo Chara weren't there. One of the eggs hatched into an X-Chara and Sakura's eyes widened at the sight of it, knowing that if one hatched, it wouldn't be long before the others did too. Before she could move, a shadow came over the moon and Sakura looked up, staring in awe as Ikuto transformed with Yoru.
He let himself fall down and gathered the hatched X-Chara in his hand, closing the egg around it before it could fully come out. It tried to escape the egg, but Ikuto pushed both halves together easily, keeping it closed. Sakura remained hidden, just watching the events unfold before her as Amu realised that Ikuto had transformed.
"What are you going to do with that egg?" she asked him. Sakura would admit, even she was unsure about Ikuto since Christmas Eve, when he attacked her and took off with more than a dozen X-Eggs. Amu questioned him repeatedly, but Ikuto didn't react. He clenched his fist tighter and the X-Egg was destroyed easily.
"Hey!" Sakura yelled, leaping out and glaring at him. He dropped the shell to the ground as if it was nothing and Sakura growled at him. "How could you do that so easily? That was someone's dream!" she growled, but Ikuto was acting as if she was doing nothing more than lecturing him about pointless things.
"I've always known that it's impossible for me to be a singer, realistically," a boy muttered as he and his mother walked past. Sakura's eyes widened as she realised that the boy was the owner of the destroyed egg.
"Just so you both know," Ikuto spoke at last. "Even without my help, most people break unneeded eggs. That's what happens to all the adults, walking around with tired looks on their faces. They've long abandoned the egg holding who they want to be."
Sakura's thoughts went to her father, who was always smiling. He had accomplished his dream of being a traveller, and had even written a book about his travels. It wasn't a best seller, but the smile on his face when he found out that he had sold his first copy was enough to make up for the birthdays he missed and the months she spent alone.
"You...You are such a horrible person! I hate you!" Sakura screamed at the boy, who turned slightly. "I'll always hate you for this!" she added, paying no attention to the Guardians arriving or the other three eggs hatching. She just stared at Ikuto with hate in her eyes.
Amu cleaned the eggs with her 'Open Heart' technique, but Sakura couldn't care less. Those eggs were safe, returning to their owner's hearts, but that one that he crushed would never be born again. It was gone. Just the idea of someone as young as that boy never having a dream again brought her heart to cry out for him. Ikuto jumped away, but Sakura just glared at his back until he disappeared.
"That poor egg," Yaya cried, looking at the broken shells on the ground.
"I can't let that boy go without a dream," Sakura said out loud, her body beginning to glow. She rose off of the ground and held her hands out to the broken egg, breathing a sea of pink sparkles towards it. "Healing Kiss," she said softly, blowing a kiss towards the egg shells.
Everyone watched as the egg shells glowed pink while they began to move, rising up from the ground and piecing themselves back together to form an X-Egg again. Before Amu could even blink, the darkness of the egg began to peel away, revealing a cleansed heart's egg. It jumped a few times and circled Sakura before flying off to its owner.
Tired, Sakura fell to her knees and panted. Since it was the first time she used her ability, Sakura wasn't ready for the energy it took. Everyone crowded around her, staring at the place the X-Egg used to be and nobody made a sound until Sakura stood up shakily and stepped forwards, placing her hand onto the cold pavement as if to check that what just happened wasn't her own imagination.
"I did that?"
Katsumi left Sakura's body and the girl returned to normal, staring into the distance with wide eyes. All thoughts of her identity flew out of her mind until she heard a group of gasps from behind her. Sakura turned slowly, seeing Kukai, Tadase and Nadeshiko with wide eyes.
"Haruno-kun...you're...Lonely Heart?" Nadeshiko managed to say. "That would mean that you're a..."
"Girl," was all Kukai could choke out before he fainted.
{-}
"You see, boss?" Nikaido Yuu commented as they watched the girl not only revive, but heal the egg. "And as well as that, she has three different transformations, like that Hinamori girl, and can sense darkened or depressed Heart's Eggs before they become X-Eggs."
"Very interesting," the boss said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Keep an eye on her and, if the opportunity arises, try to recruit her to Easter. She would be a very useful asset to our forces. Well done, Nikaido."
"Thank you," he smirked at Sanjo Yukari, who glared and turned away. Utau looked at the girl and frowned, leaving the roof they were all stood on.
"I will not lose to her," she muttered.
{-}
"Kukai! Wake up!" Yaya pouted, shaking the boy's shoulder repeatedly. She and Amu were trying to bring him back to the world of the conscious while Sakura entertained Nadeshiko and Tadase by answering their questions.
"Why did you masquerade as a boy?" Nadeshiko enquired.
"I feel uncomfortable around people and it's easier when I don't have to be me all of the time," she shrugged. "Sure, I like dressing like a girl occasionally, but people tent to keep their distance from boys more so than girls."
"How did you get away with it?" Tadase asked next. Sakura sighed and, seeing no point in keeping it on, took off her hat, letting her hair fall to just below her hips.
"Well, it was pretty difficult at first. I had to get used to wearing hats every day and, even though I love gym, I couldn't do it because there was no way I could get changed without people noticing," she began, frowning slightly. "It got easier as time went on, and it helped that people thought I was scary. They didn't want to get too close to me, so I didn't have to keep a cover all the time."
"Was that how Yaya-chan convinced you to join the Guardians?" the Queen's Chair questioned her. Sakura nodded once, but saw that it didn't really clear anything up.
"She followed me and found out, so to keep her quiet about it, I agreed to join and be the Yin Joker, or whatever," Sakura huffed. "Is that all?"
"He's waking up!" Amu called over to them. The three twelve-year-old children rushed over to see if he was alright.
"W-What happened?" Kukai asked as colours swam to his eyes. "I had the weirdest dream. Haruno was a...a..." His eyes widened when he saw the long pink hair.
"No! Don't you dare faint again!" Sakura glared at him. Kukai jumped to his feet, standing above Sakura and pointing a finger at her.
"Men don't faint – they just pass out!" he defended himself. "And anyway, how can you expect me to act calmly when you're a...a...a..."
"Okay, I'm a girl!" Sakura sighed. "Just get over it. Any questions you have can be directed to either Fujisaki-san or Hotori-san. I'm going home."
"But –!"
"Her Ladyship has given you direct orders!" Kiseki stated, floating in front of Kukai, causing the majority of people to become confused at the title Kiseki had given the pinkette.
"W-Wait! Saku-chi!" Yaya called, running after the girl. "They'll get over it by New Years," she assured the girl as they walked home together, Pepe and Katsumi chatting away behind them.
"She's a girl," Kukai muttered, a slight blush crawling to his cheeks.
{-}
Sakura stretched her arms over her head when she woke up, immediately going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and have a shower. Once that was done, she moved to her wardrobe and smiled, pulling out the kimono she had saved up fifty per cent of every pay check she earned for several months to buy. After laying it down on her bed, Sakura pulled on a pair of red short and a white top before getting her breakfast.
She hadn't seen Ikuto in a while and was getting worried, but knew that he was probably off creating more trouble for them in the future. However, her new-found hatred for him had dimmed slightly after she had managed to repair and heal the X-Egg, though it was still there, since he had destroyed it in the first place.
Kukai, Nadeshiko and Tadase had gotten over her true gender, mostly, and were now onto the topic of why Amu and Yaya kept it a secret. Their answer was simple – they did it for a friend. Sakura didn't bother to mention that Yaya had used it as blackmail and Amu was just too shocked to blink. It was still funny how Kukai couldn't quite look her in the eyes and Nadeshiko wanted to talk to her more than she did before. Tadase, thankfully, treated her exactly the same as before, in his usual polite manner.
"Saku-chan! You have to go and pick up Yaya soon," Katsumi told her. Sakura nodded and placed her breakfast plate in the kitchen before walking back to her room and taking off her clothes, pulling the white under-kimono on. After she had secured it, Sakura gently placed her plain, light green furisode kimono over her shoulders, pulling her arms through the holes.
Katsumi, Setsuko and Mari helped her tie the light grey obi with a large bow in the back over her black Obiage, which peeked out at the top. Thought it was traditional for the kimono to be heavily decorated, Sakura couldn't afford them and had instead picked out a beautiful soft green colour. The obi was decorated with soft yellow flowers, the colour matching the zori, and her tabi were white, to match the under-kimono.
The girl tied her hair at the back into a bun with a band that matched her zori in colour, but her hair was too long to place it all into a bun without help, so most of it fell in a ponytail under the bun. To keep her hair out of her face, Sakura placed two yellow clips in her hair on the right side of her face to hold her hair neatly. With no makeup and no plan to change the way she looked, Sakura walked to the living room and picked up her small drawstring wrist bag that had a small amount of money in it.
She walked out of her apartment, bowing to her neighbours on the way, and made her way outside, breathing in the fresh air. Katsumi and Setsuko were looking around and admiring all the different kimonos while Mari was trying her best to look tough, even though she too was internally gasping at the beauty of some of the gowns. Sakura smiled fondly at her Charas as she made her way to Yaya's home, finding it quickly.
Knock-Knock
"Coming!" Sakura heard a voice, which she recognised as Yaya's mother, sing from inside. The door opened and she woman smiled softly at the girl on the other side. "Happy New Year, Sakura-san. Yaya-chan is in the living room, so just go ahead," she allowed. Sakura bowed to the woman and made her way inside, spotting Yaya and her bright orange kimono easily.
"Happy New Year, Yuiki-san," Sakura greeted, hearing the squeal before feeling the hug from the girl.
"You look so cute, Saku-chi!" Yaya grinned, looking over Sakura's kimono and clapping. "I'll never know why you dress like a boy sometimes. You're really cute as a girl!" she said, but quietly this time, so that her parents didn't hear her.
"How about a picture of the little princesses?" Yaya's mother smiled as she walked into the living room with her camera. Yaya swung her arm around Sakura's shoulders, which was easy to do, since she was so much taller, and Sakura just blushed at the attention. The picture was taken and Yaya posed for another one, just standing with her hand clasped in front of her. Sakura echoed her pose and the girls both smiled.
"Yay! That's one of my favourite pictures ever!" Yaya cheered, waving her arms in the air in joy.
"Yaya-chan, you haven't even seen it yet," her mother stated softly. Yaya shook her head and grinned.
"No, Mama! It's my favourite because Saku-chi's in it! It'll be my first real picture with her," the girl exclaimed. Sakura smiled at her and Yaya took her hand lightly. "Come on, Saku-chi! We have to go and get Nadeshiko-chi!"
The girls ran down the street, though Yaya did most of the running while Sakura was just being dragged. Everyone turned to comment on how cute the two were and while Pepe, Katsumi, Setsuko and Mari were laughing at her expense, Sakura was just blushing at the words of compliment. She wasn't used to it, after all, since she spent most of her time dressed as a boy.
"Nadeshiko-chi!" Yaya called, ringing the bell outside Nadeshiko's very large, very traditional home. Her housekeep came to the door and welcomed them inside, showing them to the tea room. Sakura knelt beside Yaya as Nadeshiko entered in her elaborate purple kimono and knelt on Sakura's other side with her mother in front of the three.
"Happy New Year," the five females, her Housekeeper included, chimed, all of them taking a sip of tea from the cups in front of them. Yaya couldn't contain her childish nature and was soon gushing about how lovely Nadeshiko looked in her kimono while Sakura was smothered by Nadeshiko's kind words about how cute she was.
"Thank you, Fujisaki-san," Sakura smiled. "You look really nice too," she added as Nadeshiko smiled.
"We should go and pick up everyone else, yes?" Nadeshiko suggested, bowing to her mother and the three were about to leave when her housekeeper came in with a camera.
"Not so fast, Nadeshiko-sama," she smiled. "How about a photo?" The elderly woman held up the camera as the three girls, with Sakura in the middle, all smiled brightly with their hands behind their backs. Another picture was taken after that and Sakura was once again smothered when Nadeshiko hugged her gently from the side and Yaya clasped her arms around Sakura's neck. Sakura blushed heavily and the photograph was taken.
"Let's go!" Yaya sang, taking the hands of both Sakura and Nadeshiko as she marched out of the girl's home towards the next place. It was rather close and so it didn't take them long to reach Tadase's home.
"Happy New Year," the girls smiled when he opened the door. Tadase smiled back and returned the greet as they posed for one photo for his parents, all of them smiling politely with Tadase and Sakura in the middle, Yaya next to Tadase and Nadeshiko on the other end. They then made their way to Kukai.
"Ne, Tadase, don't you think Saku-chi looks cute in her kimono?" Yaya grinned, seeing Sakura blush at more attention. Katsumi giggled and Setsuko hid her smile behind her hand while Mari out-right laughed. Pepe, Temari and Kiseki were all oblivious to Sakura's discomfort.
"Yes, I suppose she does," he smiled, not really meaning anything behind his words other than what he said.
"Beauty fit for the princess she is!" Kiseki gushed. They soon reached Kukai's house and Nadeshiko rang the bell. He opened the door and shock instantly played on everyone's faces, with Yaya being the first to react.
"Saku-chi and Kukai match!"
As strange as it was, her words were the truth. His green kimono matched her own kimono perfectly in colour and his Haori was the exact same light grey as her obi. The two kamon on the front of his Haori were yellow circles with black rings around them, the soft yellow colour matching the flowers decorating her obi, as well as her zori and hair tie and clips, while the black matched her Obiage.
"How unusual," Nadeshiko smiled, trying to hold in a giggle. All of the Charas were laughing now, Daichi and Sakura's Charas included, while Sakura and Kukai just blushed slightly.
"We should go and get Hinamori," Sakura muttered. Everyone agreed and they walked to Amu's house, though everyone had at least one comment on the matching outfits. Finally, they reached their destination and Tadase rang the bell. The door opened almost instantly and Amu stood in awe of their clothing.
"Happy New Year," they all said in unison. Sakura smiled slightly at how well the pink kimono suited the Yang Joker in contrast to her usual black and red clothing. Her eyes sparkled when they fell on Tadase, for obvious reasons, but she just looked confused when she spotted Kukai and Sakura.
'Maybe we shouldn't have stood next to each other,' Sakura sighed mentally as the wheels in Amu's head turned.
"Why are you two wearing matching kimonos?" she asked, pointing a finger between the two of them.
"It wasn't on purpose," Sakura grumbled. Kukai nodded in agreement as he ran a hand through his hair, a tired look on his face.
"How cute!" Amu's mother, Midori, squealed as she came to the door. "Darling, take a picture of all of them!" she said. "Make sure the two who match are stood together!" she giggled, causing Sakura to sigh. They stood in a group, with Amu in the middle and Tadase and Kukai to her sides. Nadeshiko stood a little in front and to the side of Tadase while Yaya was the same with Kukai, and Sakura, being the smallest, was made to stand between the two girls, in front of Amu.
"So adorable!" Amu's father commented.
{-}
The bell was rung and Sakura's watched as her Charas clapped twice, praying to Chara Nari with her allot throughout the following year. Sakura stood with Kukai and Yaya, waiting just behind Amu, Tadase and Nadeshiko for their turn to pray at the temple. They moved forwards and Sakura thought for a moment before clapping her hands and closing her eyes.
'I wish for my father's safety,' she prayed, stepping out of the way so that the next people in line could take their turn. The group moved to the lucky tree and untied their fortunes for that year. Sakura waited until everyone else took theirs before reaching up.
"I got 'Great Luck'," Tadase stated as he unravelled his.
"Excellent, Tadase," Kiseki nodded at his owner.
"Mine says 'Average Luck'," Nadeshiko smiled.
"Perhaps that is accurate," Temari stated softly.
"I got 'Great Luck'!" Yaya cheered.
"Naturally – dechu!" added Pepe with a smile behind her pacifier.
"Why did I get 'Bad Luck'?" Kukai sighed as he and Daichi looked at the piece of paper with a wince.
"It ain't my fault. You're the one who drew it," Daichi said, turning away.
"What did you get, Ami-chi?" Yaya asked as Amu laughed nervously.
"'Uncertain Luck'," she told them.
"That's tough," everyone commented as her head fell. She rose again and looked at Sakura, who hadn't even unfolded hers yet.
"What about you, Haruno?" she asked. Sakura shrugged and unfolded her piece of paper, frowning slightly at it.
"It doesn't say anything," she said, turning it over. "Oh well. I never really believed in luck, anyway," Sakura added, holding it carefully in her hands as everyone tried to get a look.
"Eh?" Yaya grinned. "With that one, you're supposed to make your own luck, Saku-chi! At the end of the year, you write how your luck has been and then you throw it into the temple well, next New Year!"
"That's lame," Sakura rolled her eyes as Yaya continued to gush about how cool it was for her to have it and how it matched her personality – not even paper from a luck tree at a temple could tell her how her life would be!
"Well, how about we all go shopping?" Nadeshiko suggested. Tadase smiled.
"That's right. We've still got other preparations to make," he stated with a smile as he reached into the sleeve of his kimono and pulled out a piece of paper, reading from it.
"No fair! I wish I could learn to snowboard, too!" Yaya wailed. Sakura looked down and sighed.
"Don't worry, Yuiki-san. You'll get to do it next year, I'm sure," she told the girl, seeing her eye light up as she cheered about getting to learn snowboarding. She looked down at her paper again and frowned.
'What is this supposed to mean? Did they just forget to write a fortune on it, or does it actually have some significance, like Yuiki-san said?' Sakura wondered to herself before sighing and placing the paper into her bag.
{-}
Sakura had curled herself up into a ball on a seat near the back, just in front of Saya and her cheerleaders. She was looking out of the window, dressed in a blue, woolly jumper and baggy black trousers with black trainers. It was hard, after spending so much of her holidays dressed as a girl, to go back to dressing like a boy so quickly. That was obvious when she had almost left the house without her ski cap.
She covered her ears when Saya began to sing Hoshina Utau's song, murdering the tune and ruining the hearing of many of her class mates. Sakura paid her no heed as they continued to drive towards the slopes. When they finally arrived, Sakura quickly slid to the floor and rolled under her seat, hiding from everyone else as they got off the bus, cheering happily about learning to snowboard.
"It's time I learnt more about this 'Easter' organisation," Sakura smirked as the bus started up again, heading back to the school. It was difficult to remain hidden during the whole journey, since she floor was very uncomfortable, but the hours passed and she soon felt the bus stop. Sakura quietly opened the emergency exit on the floor of the bus and climbed out, picking up her luggage from the side of the bus without being noticed.
Her Charas followed her as she headed home, throwing down her bag and changing into a tight pair of black shorts and a black tank top. She tied her hair back swiftly into a ponytail and pulled a black hat on her head to cover the top of her hair, though her ponytail still showed. The girl tied black trainers onto her feet and walked to the door of her apartment.
"Saku-chan, where are we going?" Katsumi asked. Sakura turned and smiled.
"Katsumi, I need you to stay here and look after your sisters," Sakura told her quickly. "I'm going to find out more about Easter. You guys stay behind. I'll be back in time for dinner," she assured them.
"No way," Katsumi frowned. "We have to be there in case you need us! That's what we're here for!"
"Yeah!" agreed Mari with a firm nod while Setsuko merely watched.
"...Okay, fine. Just stay quiet, though, and do everything I say."
"Don't we always?" Setsuko asked slyly. Sakura smiled once, leaving the apartment complex with her Charas following behind her. She ran into the town and soon came to the large building that had Easter on the front. The four of them snuck into the shadows and Sakura began to look for ways into the building.
"I'll find out what you're doing."