Chapter 20 – Silent Memory Part 1
Everyone had packed their things and piled into the private bus that the 3 friend's parents rented. The bus was taking them to the resort in the mountains, where the 3 friend's parents invited them to. Their luggage was stored in a small place, in the back of the bus. The bus's carpet was red, the seats were red, the walls were red, practically everything was red. They leaned on the seat; the seat's leather was very rich and smooth. The seat in front of them had a small screen; the small screen was a TV. The TV had cable, all you had to do was plug in headphones and watch cable. The bus had three floors, some of the group remained downstairs while some went upstairs. Every now and then, a lady with a cart of food would come by and ask if they wanted anything to eat or drink. Yukimura, Sasuke, Storm, Benitora, Yuya, and Kyo sat on the 3rd floor. Shizune and Hotaru sat on the 2nd floor. Sakura and Shinrei sat on the 1st floor.
"Shi shi-chan." Hotaru called. Shizune's attention drifted from the window and towards Hotaru.
"Yes?" Shizune replied she raised an eyebrow as she saw Hotaru taking out a small box from his pocket. He opened the box, inside was a diamond ring. Even though he didn't say anything, she knew that he was asking if she would want to be engaged with him. "… I'm sorry Hotaru-chan… I just don't know what to say… I'm just not up for this kind of commitment, yet…" his shoulders droop a little as a sad expression crawled onto his face. He put the box away as Shizune looked away. 'I'm sorry. I will give you my answer later, not now… Not yet…'
"Sasuke-chan 3!!" Yukimura shouted with glee before he glomped Sasuke. "What are you reading?" Sasuke was reading one of the volumes of 'Naruto'.
"Which reminds me…" Storm started. Yukimura looked at what she was taking out of her backpack, she took out a gift. The gift was wrapped nicely; the size of the gift was about the size of Sasuke's 'Naruto' book. "Here Sasuke! Merry Early Christmas!" she smiled as she handed it to Sasuke. He stared at it as if it was an unknown object, reaching out a hand, he took the gift.
"What do you say Sasuke?" Yukimura asked, being the guardian of Sasuke, which he was.
"Thank you Storm nee-san." Sasuke said, blushing a bit.
"AWW!! THAT'S SO CUTE!!" Yukimura glomped both Storm and Sasuke, who both sweatdropped.
Looking out the window, she sighed. It been years since she saw her parents. Well she just saw her parents yesterday. It been years since she been somewhere with them. She didn't know what would happen if she were to see them again after years.
"May I sit here?" she turned and saw Shinrei, smiling, she nodded. "Are you alright Sakura?"
"Yeah, I'm fine… Just to let you know, my parents are strict so don't be surprised." Sakura said.
"Don't worry; my parents are strict too… I'm just wondering, but what's your last name?"
"Ichijo." His eyes widened, the Ichijo family was well known for their bakery company and clothes design company. "Yours is Mibu right?" he nodded.
"Well, there's another thing in common. We're both heirs to a company." They laughed and Sakura stood up. "I'm going to get some hot coco, you want some?"
"I'll go with you."
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A little while later they arrived at the resort. The staff carried everyone's luggage to their room. They had put on an extra coat because it was cold. As they entered the lobby, they were amazed. There was a fireplace and the fire was roaring, bright. Rainbow tinsel garlands were hung on the ceiling, and wooden walls, candy canes hung from the garlands. A wreath was hung on each door of the resort, each one different from the others. In the middle of the lounge was a large Christmas tree. The tree was nicely decorated, glittery, colorful, and was shining with a star on the top. Mistletoes were no where to be seen but they pop up when you least expect them. Balloons were all over the place and people took them as they liked. The 3 friends each took a candy cane from the garlands.
"Are you sure you can do that?" Benitora asked.
"Don't worry, you can take them. We have been here before." Storm said and smiled. Everyone looked at each other and smiled, they each took a candy cane from the garlands.
"It's been a while…" Sakura said. Shizune's eyes scanned the lounge and hoped not to see her Father.
An old couple (they were in like their 40s) approached Storm, she smiled. "Mother! Father!" she hugged them both and they all laughed. Yukimura was the first one to notice; he rushed over and bowed to Storm's parents.
"It's nice to meet you Mrs. & Mr. Grey." Yukimura said cheerfully.
"Seems like you know your manners, my boy!" Storm's Dad said.
"My, my. You must be Yukimura that Storm has been talking about." Storm's Mother said.
"Storm-chan has been talking about me?" Yukimura asked and her parents nodded. He turned to Storm and glomped her. "Storm-chan!" Yukimura and Storm's parents laughed while Storm blushed.
"Must you wear black?" a woman asked, Sakura turned around and gave a small smile. The woman had brown long hair, along with grey eyes. She wore a khaki coat, green shirt, green long pants, and blue slippers. The woman eyed at what Sakura was wearing. Sakura was wearing a black jacket, black pants, blue shirt, and black converse shoes, along with a black coat.
"Yes. How have you been, Mother?" Sakura replied, Shinrei went over and bowed.
"It is a pleasure meeting you, Mrs.Ichijo." Shinrei said and smiled at Sakura's mother.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too. You must be Mibu's son. I have heard of you, you seem to know what you're doing." Sakura's mother said.
"I am honored to hear that from a close family friend and Sakura's Mother."
"Well… Follow me Sakura; Father would like to talk to you." She started walking towards the elevator.
"… Alright… I'll see you later Shinrei." Sakura started for the elevator and waved, Shinrei waved back.
"Shizune!" a voice called, Shizune looked and saw her mother walking towards her. Her mother gave her a tight hug and smiled. "You look well!" Hotaru approached. "Who's this?" Hotaru bowed. "You must be Hotaru-kun! Shizune has told me much about you!" Hotaru looked at Shizune with a puzzled look and she replied by shrugging. "You two look so cute together! Shizune lets go to see your Father!" before Shizune could protest, her Mother grabbed her and dragged her towards the elevator, Hotaru waved.
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"Did you call for me?" Sakura asked as she sat on a chair in front of her parents. Her Father eyed her carefully, taking in the surprise of her new colored hair, silver hair. She remembered quite well, Akari had dyed her hair, without her permission. Even though her Father had a normal expression, she could tell he was annoyed.
Clearing his throat, he started; "Are you going to be the heir to the two companies?"
"No, only one. I will take the clothes designing company while Shiori will take the bakery one. Kioshi will make his own medical company, and I don't know about Kiku… Speaking of which, where are they?"
"They're somewhere around the hotel… I see, alright. You may go now." She stood up and bowed to her parents then left the room.
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Shizune sat in silence when she sat in front of parents. Her Father's deathly stare no longer made her nervous. She got used to it after a while.
"Giving me the silent treatment are you?" Shizune's Father started. "Anyway, I just want what's best for you, Shizune. If you become the heir to the company, you will have a better life-"
"I don't want to be the heir. I want to do what I want, not what you want." Shizune interrupted.
"I am only trying to do what's best for you."
"But it's always your way!" she stood up and walked out of the room, slamming the door as she left.
"… I told you it's a bad idea. If Shizune doesn't want to, don't pressure her." Shizune's Mother said and silently left the room, leaving Shizune's Father alone in the room, alone in his thoughts.
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As Shinrei sat in the lobby, he sighed. The others except Hotaru went skiing because Hotaru didn't like water and that Shinrei was waiting for Sakura. The thing that made him suspicious about Hotaru was that he was pacing back and forth in front of him. Suddenly Hotaru stopped pacing in front of Shinrei and turned his head towards Shinrei;
"Shinrei, don't be too surprised." Was all he said and he walked to somewhere else and out of Shinrei's sight. Shinrei wondered what Hotaru meant, 'Must be some random stuff…' When Shinrei opened his eyes again he almost screamed Sakura's siblings were standing around him.
"'Shinrei, don't be too surprised.'" Kiku repeated.
"Why do you hang out with Nee-sama a lot?" Kioshi asked.
"Kioshi, don't interrogate Shinrei. He might be Nee-sama's boyfriend." Shiori said. Before the siblings could continue, Sakura appeared.
"What are you doing to Shinrei?" Sakura asked, suspicious.
"Nothing." The siblings chorused.
"Alright… Let's go outside!" Sakura dragged Shinrei and the siblings outside.
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Hotaru walked around, it was obvious to everyone that he was looking around for Shizune but avoiding her at the same time. He spotted her looking outside; he stood there looking at her. She had turned down his offer, for now. For some reason he didn't know if he should talk to her or not, half is that he wanted to see her and the other half was sad because he got rejected. He stood there frozen when she looked at him; she walked towards him and hugged him. Frozen, he didn't know what to do, he did the only thing he could, and he hugged her. She smiled at him and dragged him outside.
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Author's Note: This chapter tells you a bit about the 3 friend's history. The next one will have some suspense… Please review!