My computer has been giving me problems lately, so hopefully this will post alright today. It kept freezing and shutting down on me so it has been very frustrating writing this between the freeze patches this thing goes through. Hope some of you enjoy! Let's give it up for volume 12! Whoop-whoop!
(c) Natsuki Takaya
I was so happy when you smiled
Your smile breaks through the clouds of grey
Far from the sunny days that lie in sleep
Waiting with patience for the spring
When the flowers can bloom, renewed again
Knowing there's more beyond the pain~ of today
Although the scars of yesterday remain
You can go on living as much as your heart believes~
You can't be born again, although you can change
Let's stay together always
"Sure is good to be back home." I said placing my bags by the door waiting for Shigure to unlock it I flexed my legs out to get rid of the stiffness that they received from being cramped in Hatori's car. "My legs fell asleep being cramped in there. That didn't happen before we wen to the summer house."
Shigure chortled, "It must be because the boys grew a bit." He puts the key in the slot before turning to us, "In fact I'm sure all of you grew a bit."
We all looked at each other trying to see the changes he saw. I admit that Yuki and Kyo do look a bit…fuller. Kyo looks a little more muscular than before and hair grew a slight bit. Yuki doesn't look as elegantly lanky anymore either.
"I think you got shorter." Kyo told Tohru who looked a little startled by the news.
"D-do you think so?" She looked at me and went to stand in front of me, "W-well now that you mention it…Zakura…we're not the same size anymore." That was a little bit true, but we were only a few inches apart in height difference.
"Height isn't the only thing that has changed about the girls." Shigure joked opening the door.
"Huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Was there a perverted comment in there?" I asked grabbing my bags and waited for the others to go in first so I could close the door.
"We're home!" Shigure sang, ignoring our questions. We crossed into the living fully prepared to relax a bit before going to our rooms to unpack our stuff but we were halted by an unsightly presence.
"Welcome home everyone!" Oh goddess, not Ayame. "I'm sure you're all very tired from your long journey." He makes a grand gesture for us to sit down amongst the mess and clutter he made in the living room, "Don't mind me. Please make yourselves at home and relax!"
"Oh my." Shigure smiled unsurely. Well at least he too was caught off guard about Ayame being here.
"Ayame!" Tohru greeted not at all bothered by the mess Ayame made. "It's been a while!"
I nudged a sake bottle away from my feet in disgust, "Don't you think you've made yourselves too much a home?"
"Well, well, Zakura and Tohru!" Ayame smiled devilishly, "Have the experiences of a single summer made you two blossom into adulthood?" He held a finger to me, "Zakura I think you did in more ways than one! You might even be ready to try one of 'X' fantasy series!"
I paled at the thought, "I'm pretty sure that's illegal for someone my age!"
He waved his hand, "Nonsense! You'll be the star of every teenage boy's fantasy!"
Yuki and Kyo soon caught onto the conversation and immediately jumped down Ayame's throat about harassment while Shigure tried to weasel more details out of him. Tohru slipped away into the hall asking to use the phone while I tried to clean up some of the mess in the living room. It's a shame that we're back home and we're already falling back into the routine of cleaning and yelling.
After making room at the table Shigure took a seat next to Ayame and asked him why didn't he turn up at the summer house. Ayame explained that he wanted to but with summer comes fantasies for men and women. Apparently he had to make 50 whole outfits. Speaking of I rummaged through my bag and handed Ayame my notebook of summer line ideas. He nodded several approvals as Yuki asks him if there was any reason to why Ayame was here in the first place when he had his own house. Pausing on one of my pages Ayame looked up at Yuki with gentle concern asking if Akito had turned up at the summer house and asked Yuki if he was alright. It was tiny moments like this that Ayame proved that he was capable of being a true older brother when the need arises…sometimes I wish he stayed that way.
"Since I was not there to comfort you in your time of need I vow that tonight I shall fall asleep while embracing my wounded brother to my bosom!"
Yuki paled at the thought. Looks like he's locking the door to his room again. "I refuse…"
"Then you must strike!" He declared, "Give into your wounded heart and strike with reckless abandonment-" Ayame quickly turned to Kyo, "At Kyo!"
"Not you?!"
At that moment Tohru wondered back into the room and Ayame placed a hand on her shoulder, startling the poor girl, "You leave me no other choice! With no other alternative I shall sleep while embracing Tohru!"
Rage set in the boys faces as they cracked their knuckles ready to knock Ayame out.
"How did you come to that conclusion?"
"Try it and I'll crush you."
Shigure and I let out a tired sigh as the squabbles continued on. Yep, it was good to be home.
Why is it that when you come back to school from vacation you feel like you're starting the same year fresh when it's only the beginning of a new term? After growing a bit and not seeing everyone after a while I guess it just feels that way. Seems like it's been forever since we've seen Uo and Hana, we've embraced each other as if we haven't seen each other in years. We've summarized our summer to each other just as Uo caught sight of Kyo walking into class with his slightly adjusted uniform since he did do a bit of growing over the summer. Uo stomped over to Kyo and jabbed the side of her palm into his forehead with such a force that he tittered. Uo growled at him, "Damn it! You got bigger during break! That's just great! My goal is to crack six feet!" Uo had gotten a bit taller as well as slimmer during break.
"You've grown plenty yourself, Arisa." Hana told her voicing my thoughts. Hana hasn't really changed all that much that I could see.
Kyo rubbed the red spot on his forehead where Uo hit him, "Looks like you weren't able to become more feminine over break. Might as well throw away your womanhood."
Uo snorted in agreement and crossed her arms, "Maybe I will!" She said with some venom, "It's not like it's doing me good anyway! I can't get one guy to pay attention to me!"
"Uo…?" Tohru whispers with concern. Never has Uo brought this to our attention.
Hana placed a hand on Tohru's shoulder, "Be sad for her…in the end Arisa was never able to reunite with the man she met at the convenience store." Uo met someone? "Look closely girls…you are looking at the back of a woman in love…" Looking at her back you can plainly see the sadness rolling off of her. When I stepped towards her to give her a comforting hug I saw that her face was actually contorted with rage and she was muttering something about ripping and kicking. Wisely I stepped away and accidently backed into someone. I mumbled an apology as I stepped towards Tohru which was getting difficult since everyone decided to come into the class room at one time.
"Hey, aren't you-?" The boy I bumped into reached out to grab me and I only had a few seconds to glance at his face. He didn't seem familiar to me or anything, but his very light blue hair was rather shocking. I don't know any one outside the Sohma family with outrageous hair color…so why was he looking at me like he knew me? I don't think we're in the same class together. (In japan students don't move to different classrooms upon lessons, it's the teachers that move between classes.)
"Uh-" Was my only audible reply until Tohru shouted/stammered to our friends that she really has something to do after school that didn't involve a date. I don't know why she's so flustered, everyone knows by now about her and Yuki. Kyo managed to get everyone to leave her alone just as Tohru shuffled over to me and timidly asks me if I could take her to see Kazuma when Kyo and I go to practice. Unfortunately I had to skip practice and go to work but I'm sure Kyo could walk her there.
Thankfully it wasn't a full day back to school but it was still exhausting for teachers to give homework and projects and having them remind us to turn in our papers of what we want to do with our lives once we're out of high school. 'I still don't know what I want to do with my life once I get out of high school. I already know that I can't stay at Shigure's house forever….eventually we'll all have to grow apart and go our own ways. Will I continue to work at Ayame's shop? Will I live alone if Kyo doesn't accept my feelings and Tohru grows up and leaves with Yuki?' I let out a depressed sigh as I took my regular path to work after waving good-bye to a couple of my friends and to Kyo and Tohru who were going in the opposite direction. 'It's kind of scary to think about things like this but what can I do? Ayame's job pays well enough for me to stay in school and to buy food for myself and other things when the need arises but will that alone be enough to get me a house…to pay bills as well as food? What about college? Will I be able to afford that too?' I stopped at the corner with other people and waited for the light to change. 'It's hard to vision a future we don't yet see. When we were young it was so easy to imagine what we wanted to be when we grow up…something that'll make us happy. However as we grow up we lose and gain interest in different things.' As the light changed I watched the people around me as I walked. Some people appeared happy and care-free and others appeared stressed, depressed, and angry. 'One can only hope to live a stress-free content life. I would like to live a life where I won't have to work at a job I hate for several years with bitter resentment just because I was forced to decide on a career at my young age.' As I got closer to Ayame's shop I tried to put on a happy face before going into work. 'Oh who am I kidding? I'm going to die old and lonely with 5 cats.'
(The following paragraph is based on a true event.)
"Thank you! Come again!" I chirped bagging up the last of the merchandise and pushed the large bag to the male customer. Once he went on his way the next set of customers appeared before me with a bundle of colorful clothes most likely form Mine's Colorful Selection. "Hello! Did you find everything you were looking for today?"
The older woman smiled as she placed the items on the counter for me to scan and bag, "Yes we did. Thank you."
As I carefully took the clothes off the hangers and folded them neatly a little girl probably 7 or older poked her head up to watch me fold the clothes. When I touched the familiar fabric of Sailor Mini Moon the little squeaked excitedly, "That one is mine! I'm going to be Sailor Mini Moon!"
I smiled at the little girl as I carefully folded and placed her costume in a separate bag just for her, "Oh? I think you'd make a great Sailor Mini Moon!" It really was cute to see kids were costumes like these. As I rung up the last of their items I pressed the total button on the computer to total up their things. When I read her total out loud the little girl tilted her head while her mother fished through her purse for money, "Is that hard?" She asked me pointing to the register.
"It was hard at first because I've never done it before but now it's easy." I told her.
"Did you have to go do school to learn how?"
I shrugged one shoulder, "Not exactly. But I learned math in school and it helps when I count money and give the correct change."
She squinted her eyes as he mom pulled out her wallet and shifted through her card probably wondering which one to pay with. "So I don't have to go to college to use that?" She points to the register again.
My smile faltered a bit. I didn't want to be responsible for influencing this girl on whether to go to school or not. "Well…not exactly but going to college is a good thing. Plenty of jobs look for people with college education."
"Really?"
What was taking her mom so long to find a single card?! "Yep. People pay more to those who have a college education. The higher your education the more money you get and the more people want to hire you." I tried to explain.
She studied me a bit more, "Are you in college?"
I chuckled uneasily, "N-no, I'm close to my last year in High School."
"Oh." The little girl blinked once and turned to her mom who had finally picked a card to pay with and handed it to me to slide through the register, "Okay, mom, I want to go to Princeton College."
"I think you mean Princeton University, sweetie." The mom corrected as I handed her back her card and pushed the bags towards her. "Thank you."
"Anytime." I replied with a plastered chipper smile, "Please come again!" I waved to them as they left, 'Please don't! Or at least leave your daughter behind!'
(Thus concludes the true story and the end of my shift.)
As I closed down the register for the night Ayame came to me with the usual grin asking me to make more clothes before the week is out to add to the inventory. I told him I would try and proceeded out the door not very surprised to see Kyo out there sitting on the railing.
"Done?" He asks getting off the rail.
"Yep." I replied before falling into step next to him. "So how was training at the dojo today? Did I miss anything?"
"Nah. We took it easy today since it was Master's first day back." He placed his hands in the pockets of his pants as we walked, "Kagura came to practice today…"
"That's not very surprising." I replied, "She goes almost every day whereas you only go three times a week. What's wrong? Did she confess her love for you and broke one of the gates again?" When he flinched I realized I must've guessed right. "So what's the problem with that? She always confesses her love for you."
We took a right into the woods that took us on a beaten path to the house. "Yeah, well, it was different this time." Kyo mumbled but I still heard him.
"How different?"
He didn't reply for a good long while and I assumed he got lost in thought trying to come up with his own answer. By the look of his face he was indeed troubled by this but it also looked like he was fighting his own demons too. "Are you going to talk to her about it?" I finally asked when we approached the house. I could already smell Tohru's cooking wafting through the kitchen window, filling the night air.
"Yeah." He mumbled, "Don't tell Tohru the details. I'll just tell them I'm going out on Sunday."
I opened the front door and went inside to take off my shoes while he closed the door behind him. "Should I make you something casual to wear?" I teased lightly, hoping to lighten him up a bit.
He growled a bit as he slid off his shoes as well. "Spare me."
Shigure came shuffling in to greet us along with Tohru and Yuki who came out of the kitchen caring the dinner to the living room for everyone to eat. We all settled in the living room and tucked in for dinner. Kyo briefly explained to Tohru that he was going out on Sunday and that he wouldn't be needing dinner. Shigure teased that it was probably a date and winked at me as if insinuating that he knew it was me he was going out with. I gave him a look that plainly said that it wasn't me and he spouted off his next guess. "Kagura?" When neither one of us denied it he kept going, "Must be difficult to be popular with the ladies. When I was your age-"
"Date?" Yuki echoed in disgust towards Kyo, "You have time to go on dates but you don't have time to pick the girls up from work or help the girls around the house?"
"What does that have to do with this?!" Kyo shouted at him slamming his fist on the table, causing the dishware to bounce up once before settling back down in perfect place. "Anyway, it's your job to pick her up! Zakura can walk home just fine!" He had a point there. Yuki was out of line this time.
"Oh…um…" Tohru mutters trying to mediate the situation but I calmly placed rice in her mouth to keep her quite.
Saturday very late at night…
Once dinner was over and everyone had their bath we all said goodnight to each other and went to turn in for the night. Well, the others went to turn in for the night, I had work to do. I had my sketch pad tucked under my arm and my sewing kit and mini sewing machine in both hands. Tohru watched me set up my little area on the floor from her bed. "Are you not going to sleep, Zakura?"
I had turned off the light and turned on the lamp I had brought over from our little side table in between our beds. I adjusted it so that it illuminated my sketch pad. "Not right away." I told her as I reached under my bed and pulled out a Tablet that Mine bestowed upon me. She told me to only use it for work related things and this qualified. "I have a lot of costumes to make before Monday and I've barely started making them. I've only got the outlines done and Ayame will kill me if I don't get started soon."
She nodded without another word and settled down into bed before falling asleep.
I opened my sketch pad and started brain storming.
6am…Sunday morning…
I've come up with 10 costumes…I've got to make 10 costumes by Monday…which is technically tomorrow…damn!
"Hmmm!" Tohru woke up with a hum as she stretched her arms above her head. Opening her sleepy eyes she blinked once when she noticed me on the floor. "Zakura? You're still down there?"
Shutting down the tablet I tucked it under my bed and went to the closet to grab my tools and mannequin, "I've got too much work to do. I don't have time for sleep. I've managed to come with 10 costumes and I've got to get them all done today."
She slowly got out of bed, "Would you like some breakfast?"
"Could you bring it up here, please?" I asked her with my head still in the closet tossing out cases of pins, needles, thread, fabrics, patterns, scissors, hot glue gun, buttons, beads, and other little accessories. When I pulled my head out of the closet I looked at our room and saw the small mess I already created and I haven't even started yet. Looking up a Tohru I asked, "Do you think Shigure will let me borrow the living room if I run out of space in here?"
She let out a small laugh, "I'm sure he will if you ask." She walked over to the closet to pull out her clothes for the day, "And Yuki and I will sure to be out of your way today. We're going to visit the secret base today."
"Ok." I smiled at her giving her a brief hug knowing that I won't be coming out of this room for a while once I get into my creating mode. "See you later Tohru."
She smiled and headed for the bedroom door, "Try not to work too hard." She said before closing the door behind her.
Walking over to my bed I tore out the 10 costumes out of the sketch book and pinned them all to the wall. Going back to my sketch book I then tore out the pattern sheets and placed them to their specific costume. Nodding once when that was finished, I pulled my braided hair into a bun and metaphorically rolled up my sleeves and got to work.
Tohru was a half hour into cooking breakfast when Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure all shuffled into the kitchen to bid her good morning as well as to see what she was cooking for breakfast.
"Where's Miss. Kojima this morning?" Yuki asks Tohru.
"Oh. She's working on costumes. She's been awake for a long while."
Shigure nodded, "Ah, yes, we artists truly suffer for our work." He held up one finger with a grin, "As my teacher would always say, 'Sleep is for the weak!' I'm sure she'll be fine."
The moment he said that they could hear her cursing upstairs, "Why am I doing this to myself?! There are so many ruffles! I don't have enough laces! I'm running out of ribbons! Dammit! I used the wrong red! Where the hell did I put the glitter?! Tohru have you seen where I've thrown the hot glue gun?! Gah! It's stuck to Ciel's petticoat! Who ever made Vocaloid remind me to kill them! Why do all these costimues need layers upon layers of ruffles?! Where'd I put that corset! Whaa! Why is this happening to me!"
They stared at the roof for a good few moments waiting for her to start ranting again. When they were sure that she wouldn't start shouting they went on to attend their own errands for the day.
-0-0- 10 hours later… about 4 in the afternoon…-0-0-
After torturing myself for 10 hours straight I realized I made some of these costumes harder than they needed to be and I'm sure if Ayame was here he would scold me thoroughly for making amateur mistakes. But I'm making up for it now that I'm winding down to the finish on the last few costumes putting on the last fine details.
"Zakura?" I heard the bedroom door slowly open and Yuki and Tohru poked their heads in. "We're back. How's everything going? Shigure said you haven't come out of the room at all today."
I'm pretty sure my eyes were blood shot and my hair was a mess by now, "I'm down to the last one." I proudly showed them the outfit that was slowly coming together on the mannequin.
"Um…" Yuki and Tohru tilted their heads in confusion.
"It's great right?" I said moving around the mannequin, "What's best is that you can use materials you have lying around the house! The white sleeves shirt here is veil from white curtains in replace of bridal veil! Red satin to accent the top." I brushed the red fabric with my bandaged fingertips from pricking myself many times. "The base shirt was a white corset-like piece that I made then hand painted the fabric to give it the gradient look. Next I began putting down black ribbon evenly spaced with stitch witchery. This adhered to the veil fabric surprisingly well." Taking a step back I looked at the dress. "The red and black ruffle skirt is simple and fine the way it is but it's the next part here that's tricky and I'm going to require extra hands if I want to get this done." I told them eyeing them sharply, not caring that they flinched. "Hey, you're going to stay- you're going to work." I told them laying the 20 yard white fabric and black fabric on the floor. Handing them both a paintbrush and white paint I set them to work telling them to paint little white flowers on the black ribbon parts each at least 2 inches away from each other. While they did that I worked on the shoes to go with the dress…which was sad because they were the easiest part of the costume thus far. A few buttons and some red string and they were done.
-0- 1 hour later -0-
"How's this Zakura?" Tohru sat away from the fabric to show me the pattern and I was impressed how well they did.
"Very good work." I praised picking up the fabric and wrapped it around the mannequin before I started cutting, tying, pinching and sewing the skirt into submission. Don't ask me how I did it… I think it was magic. Or I did it while hallucinating from sleep deprivation. I can't really recall as I later got a very long red curtain rope with attached tassels to either end and wrapped it loosely around the waist of the dress. "Ta-da!" I sang!
Tohru clapped enthusiastically, "It's beautiful Zakura!"
Yuki nodded in agreement. "Yes." He looked about the messy room, "But um…this room is a pig sty…"
I waved my hand at him, "I've got it covered." I told him scooping all the left over materials onto a long trail of left over fabric from a gown I made and rolled it up into one and shoved it into the closet. "Problem solved! Now let's eat!
As we went downstairs and piled into the kitchen for some dinner the house phone rang. Tohru took it upon herself to answer while the rest of us grabbed some food.
"What?!" Tohru gasped loudly grabbing our attention, "Grandpa is bedridden?!"
I rushed into the hall with worry. Grandpa Honda is bedridden? That's terrible! I know he's slowing down with his age but he still had years left in him! I grabbed the phone from her so she could calm herself down after hearing the news, "Is he alright?"
"Oh. It's you." Her aunt said with distain, "Yes, he's fine. He just threw his back out, is all. He's sleeping right now. The doctor says he should stay put."
I placed a hand on Tohru's shoulder, "He's doing alright." I whispered to her before talking to her aunt again, "Thank you for letting us know."
"Sure. Oh, and Tohru's parent-teacher conference is coming up, isn't it? I wonder what we should do about that since her grandfather is in no condition…"
"I don't suppose you could fill in out of the goodness of your cold heart-" I retorted before Shigure kindly snatched the phone away from me .
"Hello? I've taken the phone." Shigure informed the woman on the other end as he gently pushed me to the side, "This is Shigure Sohma…" There he goes again putting on the fake charm. "Yes it nice to speak to you too."
Yuki walked over to us, "Is your grandfather alright?"
Tohru nodded shakingly, "Y-yes, he threw his back out…I-I should probably visit him soon…"
I held her shaking hands hoping that I could pour my strength into her to help her through this, "It'll be okay, Tohru. He just hurt himself…he'll be fine in no time."
"Y-yes…"
"Well, if you'll excuse me!" Shigure chirped promptly hanging up the phone. Tohru and Yuki were shocked thinking he hung up on her in a middle of a conversation and promptly scolded him. He defended himself saying that they had finished talking and that he would be going to Tohru's parent-teacher conference in grandpa's place. Tohru tried to persuade from going through the trouble but he was firm (as firm as Shigure can get with sweet little Tohru). I don't buy it…why would Shigure go through the trouble?
"What the- Why's everyone standing in the hall?" Kyo asks taking off his shoes at the entrance.
"Welcome home Kyo." Tohru and I chimed just as Shigure explained that Tohru's grandpa threw his back out and he was taking his place. After hearing that Kyo said he was going to bed and quietly went upstairs. Worriedly Tohru softly said goodnight to him. I wonder what happened with his outing with Kagura to make him go off to bed early. I'm sure whatever it is he can sort it out on his own…he wouldn't want any of us prying into his business.
Monday morning, school lunch break…
For lunch today we met up with Momiji and Hatsuharu since we've haven't really been able to talk to them since vacation. Tohru told Momiji and Hatsuharu about her grandfather and that she was going to visit him after school today. Momiji gave her his sympathy while Haru joked that a man's life is his back. That sent her into a mini tizzy and I slapped Haru on the arm for the bad joke. Tohru was already worrying her silly little head off because she thinks Grandpa Honda wont recovery just as her dad didn't recover from his cold. She's scared of losing another family member who ever really loved her.
"Where's Kyo?" Haru asks me pausing the game on his Gameboy, "I haven't seen him in a while."
I pointed up to the school roof where we all could see his bright orange hair even from this distance, "He asked to be alone for lunch…he's been feeling down ever since yesterday."
"What, are you cutting him off from your loving?" He teased with a straight face.
"Haru..." I glared.
Momiji made his stuffed bunny give Tohru a kiss to help her feel better, "Don't worry Tohru!" He chirped, "Everything will be ok! Let's go buy some juice to help you feel better!" He grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the vending machines behind the school. Yuki, Haru, and I slowly got up to join them.
"Someone as chipper as Momiji is good for her when she feels like this." I remarked.
Haru pockets his game boy, "He's like an air purifier for people." He turns to Yuki, "So how's the student council thing going?"
"It's going fine…though I'm not sure how it'll turn out." He chuckled, "I work with interesting people."
"It's good that you're doing something different." Haru replied, "Do your best."
Yuki nodded somberly.
Is it just me or is everyone having an off weekend ever since we got back from vacation? Seems like Kyo and Yuki aren't the only one fighting their inner demons. Everyone is starting to have that same troubled look in their eyes. Maybe it's just the stress of school getting to them since this is our 3rd year. I hope everyone gets well soon.
"You two came all the way here to see me?" Grandpa whispers turning his head to face us.
Tohru and I kneeled quietly at his side with small smiles, "Yes." Grandpa's kitten came from the foot of Grandpa's futon to settle in my lap, curling up in a little ball.
"That makes this old man very happy. Thank you, girls." He chuckled, "Will you be alright with the parent-teacher conference?"
Tohru nodded, "Yes! It's all worked out. How are you feeling grandpa?"
He grinned as if he's in no pain at all, "I'm all right. Except for my back. All I do is sleep…"
I smiled at him, "You hang in there gramps. You still got years in you."
"I may be old but my mind is still as sharp as ever." He opened his beady eyes and stared at the ceiling, "For the first time in a long time I dreamt of Kyoko and Katsuya…it brought back memories…Katsuya and I never got along…but Kyoko bridged us together. They were very happy together…I'd like to see them one more time…" Tohru and I exchanged a worried glance, "Even if it's as a ghost…I want to see them again…"
"Gran-" Tohru started to say but a light snore kept her quite. That was a bit scary; him talking about the dead when for all we know he could be on his death bed!
We left quietly not even saying good-bye to the others because Tohru was about to have a mini break down. And she did as soon as we got far enough away from that house. She fell onto her knees and cried on me begging for grandpa to not say things like that to her, for him to not leave her behind, to not disappear like her mother did.
All I could do was hold her tight and tell her that I wouldn't leave her. That I would do my best to always be here for her.
"Hey…" A gruff voice whispered behind me. I looked up to see Kyo standing there looking concern. He knelt down next to us and asked Tohru if she was alright. Even through her tears she managed a yes. Without a word of warning he grabbed both of us by our arms and hoisted us to our feet.
"Wah!" Tohru let out a startled cry as she stumbled a bit when Kyo released her.
"A warning would've been nice." I told him. His hand slowly slid down my arm before he commented that he didn't want us to sit on the ground all day.
Parent-teacher conference day!
I always found parent-teacher conferences weird mostly because you see parents in school and watch them reminisce about the old days when they were in school and you get to see your friends parents and hear them embarrass you with stories you wish your other friends didn't know about.
I haven't see Uo and Hana's parents in a while so it was good catching up with them again. Uo's dad still hasn't found a good paying job to cover most expenses leaving her to constantly look around for a full-time job. Hana's mother was still as kind hearted as ever despite years of stress from Hana's quirky behavior. Unsurprisingly Shigure causes an uproar when he showed up in a familiar expensive suit with Tohru today. Everyone naturally commented on his devilish good looks and stalked around the classroom door to listen in on their conference. The teachers had a hard time getting most of the female students to get out of the hallway but everyone was eager to see the parents of the Sohmas.
"Zakura." I heard Hanabi call for me. "It's our turn." Should anyone really be surprised that my godmother came instead of my actual mother? No? Alright. She was too busy in America to come anyway.
"So Zakura, what are your future goals?" There it was the dreaded question that's been plaguing me all week. "Do you plan to work or go to college?"
"Work, I guess, since I can't afford college." I answered.
"You know that the school can help you." He shuffled his papers, "With your good grades we can get you scholarships."
'But I hate studying.'
Hanabi placed her hand on my shoulder, "And you know I'll support and help you with whatever you need." She gave me a knowing look, "The future is never set in stone. One day you want to be this and then next week you want to be that. There's no rush for you to decide right now."
Smiling I nodded, "For now I want to continue making clothes."
My teacher smiled, "I'll put that down on your records. I hope you do well in the future. Keep up the good work."
We nodded and left the classroom. Hanabi commented how that went faster than she originally thought and she had another hour to waste before going back into work.
"Thanks again for coming Hanabi." I told her pulling her into a hug, "It really means a lot."
She hugged me back, "I was happy to. Walking through a High School building sure brings back the memories." She says looking around. "Where's Tohru anyway?"
"Probably with Uo and Hana." I said, looking around trying to see any familiar faces. I saw Kyo walking towards me with Master Kazuma . We all exchanged a quick greeting before Kyo had to go in for his conference. It was very nice to see Master Kazuma show up here with Kyo.
"So that was Kazuma Sohma?" Hanabi asks thoughtfully. "Why must all Sohma men be so handsome?"
"You got me." I shrugged.
"Ah! Zakura!" Shigure sprung up from the small crowd of people and I was very surprised that he was still around. Then again he must have years of experience getting through crowds such as these without transforming. "There you are I was looking for you."
"You were?"
He chuckled as he looked towards Hanabi, "Well, more of looking for her."
Hanabi peered closely at Shigure, "Hey…isn't that Hatori's suit?" She asked accusingly pointing to the suit. "Why do you have it?"
"Shigure doesn't wear casual clothing." I remarked. He has a kimono for every day of the week.
Shigure's smile never fell, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to return it. I just wanted a chance to meet the famous Hanabi that has melted Hatori's heart! Hatori has really kept me in the dark about you!"
"Um…"
"So you really took Grandpa's place just to get a chance to meet Hanabi because Hatori refuses to tell you?!" I thought he had better priorities than this!
Shigure waved his hands at me as if to fan away my anger, "Now, now, I did it for Tohru too!"
"You are the worst Shigure!" I shouted waving my finger at him.
Hanabi crossed her arms, "Now I see why Hatori never really has anything good to say about him."
-0- later that day -0-
"Wait…Huh?" I asked even though I heard the sentence clearly my mind had a hard time wrapping around it.
"Miss Hanajima likes Shihan?" Yuki repeated clearly as confused as me.
Tohru nodded enthusiastically with a blush on her face. "Yes!"
I dropped the soba noodles in the boiling pot, "Isn't that a strange combination though? I'm not sure that's legal…" The age difference is too great!
That didn't seem to bother Hana though as she placed a hand on her cheek as if she were in a dilemma, "But…I'm a bit worried about having such a large problem child."
Kyo turned pale with disgust, "Wait, dammit! There's no way I'd want Hanajima as my mom!"
Uo slapped him on the back with a large grin, "Don't worry! It'll work out! You'd finally be able to dye your hair black!"
Shigure leaned against the wall in the kitchen, "You shouldn't just ignore your Master's feelings."
Don't bottle too much inside. While thinking of the future is important don't lose sight of the here and now. Sometimes when the thoughts and pressure gets too much stop and sit down to enjoy the things you do whether alone or with someone else because the future isn't set in stone. There are times when you feel that you should quit or don't quit…to fall in line or to step out of it. We're all concern with what is and what will be when we're wasting time with things we shouldn't be concerned with. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift because it's the present. So don't waste it.