Chapter 15

"You won't get in trouble for cooking out here, will you?" I was out on the back balcony with Sakuta and G.B., the girls were all inside discussing whatever girls talked about. Sakuta shook his head. "It's perfectly safe, besides it was actually brought up by the realtor when we were looking at this apartment."

We, and well by we I mean Sakuta, were grilling dinner. He had picked up some steaks earlier, and the aroma of the cooking meat was heavenly. Sakuta opened up the cooler near the grill, offering us a beer but we declined after reminding him we were still a bit too young to drink. He shrugged, closing the cooler and taking a seat on it.

"So how did things go yesterday? Obviously well, but how did you manage it?" Sakuta looked over to me, finishing off with a sip of his beer. Beside me on the other folding chair, G.B. was all ears. I wondered how much he really knew, if Sakuta had told him anything after we had split up yesterday.

"I didn't exactly tell her everything, that definitely would have gone poorly. I just told her enough and Kyoko stayed with her for the day." I made a mental note to find the time to talk more with Sakura about it all, though that could wait for a little.

G.B. seemed lost though, and I realized he probably deserved to know what had been going on. "Don't tell Sakura any of this just yet, I want her to hear it from me." He nodded, and so I told him nearly everything. I left out some parts, like when I was too late to save her. Some things were just better left unsaid.

When I had finished catching him up, he let out a slow whistle. "I'll be honest, that sounds absolutely insane. But you don't seem like someone who would lie, so I'll take you word for it." He was right, I'm sure most people who heard about my experiences the past few days would be quickly calling a hospital to report an insane person.

"So because of that whole situation, that led to you two finally dating? I always knew it was coming, it was kind of obvious." G.B. leaned back, and smiled. "I'm happy for you guys, I always felt like you two had a spark, even when you said there was nothing going on."

I was surprised, had it been that obvious from the beginning? Sure, we got along and spent a lot of time together, but it had only been recently that I found myself caring and worrying about Sakura more than just a friend might. Maybe I had underestimated G.B.

Sakuta got up to check the grill, and I took the momentary lull in the conversation to gaze at the sunset. Thankfully, and I'm sure this was a big selling point for the apartment, we had a great view to admire. The sound of the sliding door opening made me turn around, and Rio stepped out to join us.

"They're busy discussing movies with your fiancé, so I decided to get some fresh air." Sakuta pulled out a can of beer from the cooler, handing it over to Rio. She leaned against the railing, doing a quick cheers with Sakuta. Then her gaze turned to me.

"So you did it, I heard a little bit from your girlfriend. I guess I was wrong." She shrugged. "I suppose it happens every once in a while." I half expected her to sound disappointed for being wrong, but instead she was happy. "You were still a big help, though I'll admit I was a little worried that you might be right."

"This isn't exactly a typical scientific problem, a lot of it is simply theoretical. There's so many things that you can chart, but somethings you can't anticipate. I don't think my theory was wrong about you not being able to get close her, I think you just had the willpower to overcome that hurdle."

I thought back to when I had finally seen Sakura, trying to think what I had done. I was determined to save her of course, but was there more to it? I voiced my thoughts to her, and she mused over them for a moment.

"I think you're forgetting an important variable here." I tried to think what I had missed, but came up with nothing. She rolled her eyes, smiling. "Your feelings for her. Love isn't something we can measure, despite what some online quizzes may lead you to believe.

It's a complicated emotion, with so many hints of other emotions boiled into one. Happiness, fear of losing that person, ecstasy when you see them or think about them, so many parts that come together.

You may not have realized it at the time, or even before how you felt about her. Yes you cared about her, why else go through everything if you didn't? But there's a difference between doing something because you care about someone, and doing something because you love them."

Hearing Rio talk, I realized that she was right. "You sound like you're speaking from experience, I guess things are going well with Yuma then." Rio blushed, but nodded.

"He had to work tonight, but he sends his regards." Sakuta shrugged, checking on the grill once again. "One of these days we'll have to get together, it's been a while." A sudden knock on the sliding door got our attention, we all looked to see Mai on the other side pointing directly at me.

When she saw that I had noticed, she beckoned me inside with her finger. I offered the chair to Rio, figuring it would be a while before I came back out, but she declined. "I don't like sitting for too long, and I already spent plenty of time inside doing just that."

Once back inside the apartment, Mai directed me to the couch that Sakura was sitting on. Mai took a seat next to Kyoko on the opposite couch. "If it's okay with the two of you, I was really interested in hearing your story. I'm working on a new project, and I think your relationship would make for a great inspiration."

I looked over to Sakura, but she nodded. "I assume you wouldn't be using our names or anything, so it's okay with me if that's the case. If it's okay with him, I'd be happy to talk." I couldn't find a problem with it either, so I nodded as well.

Kyoko looked a little uncomfortable, probably still not yet used to the change. But I had to give her some credit, despite all of our interactions in the past it seemed like she was trying to not make a fuss at least for Sakura's sake.

Mai smiled, pulling out a pad of paper and pen to write down our story. She looked back and forth between Sakura and I, waiting for one of us to start. I decided to let Sakura take the lead, giving her a little nudge before holding her hand.

"Well it all started when we met at the hospital one day, in the front lobby." Mai began writing, but then looked up. "Why were the two of you at the hospital?" I tensed up, I had no issue saying my reason. But for Sakura, it was a different story.

"I was there to get some stitches removed from an appendix surgery." I spoke up first, giving Sakura some time to come up with an answer. I looked over to her, only to see her lips trembling. Before I could say anything, she spoke up.

"I have some problems with my pancreas, so I have to go in for check ups." She skirted around the truth, just enough that she wasn't lying but stopping from revealing everything. I wondered if she would have said more if Kyoko wasn't there, but I doubted it. She didn't like people making a fuss over her because of it, and I'm sure Mai definitely would have if she knew the truth.

Kyoko looked surprised, but Sakura flashed her a smile. "Sorry I didn't say anything before, I just don't really like to talk about it. It's not a big deal." Kyoko seemed unsure, but nodded. "I'm sure you have your reasons, if you didn't want to talk about it then I can respect your wishes."

I could feel a bead of sweat roll down my back, the crisis was averted for now. We continued telling our story, taking turns so one person wasn't doing all of the talking. When we got to the day where Sakura had almost kissed me, I wasn't sure who was more embarrassed between Kyoko, Sakura, and myself.

"Nothing going on huh? Now who did I hear that from?" She muttered, just loud enough for us to hear. Sakura looked away awkwardly. "I'm not exactly proud of what I did, I regretted it the rest of that night." She squeezed my hand, looking over to me.

"I am sorry about that situation, I should never have done that." I shook my head, squeezing her hand back. "We both made mistakes that day, but we bounced back and became even closer because of it." Mai made a little "awe" and smiled.

"That was really sweet, you two have a very touching story." The two of blushed, what else could you do when hearing such a compliment? I took over for a bit, and told the story of the day we saw the fireworks. I could have sworn I saw Mai's eyes misting up as I spoke, but maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks on me.

"Firework scenes are very big in romance projects nowadays." Mai remarked as she continued writing. From there, Sakura talked about the events of the past few days, wrapping up our story. Once finished, Kyoko was the first to speak up.

"Sakura, can I ask you a question?" She nodded, and Kyoko paused for a moment. "When did you first start liking him?" Sakura thought it over for a bit.

"Well probably from the beginning, but I think I realized it the night when I almost kissed him. The one thing I kept thinking was how he might hate me even after we made up, and that thought hurt more than anything." She blushed, looking over to me.

"You didn't hate me for it, did you?" I shook my head. "I was a bit mad, sure. But I never hated you for it. I just didn't like being the butt of a joke like that." She looked almost sad when I said that, but I squeezed her hand in reassurance. Kyoko coughed, and we quickly looked to her.

"Okay I get it, I get it. All this lovey dovey stuff is just a little hard to get used to, don't mind me." We laughed, and Mai set down her pad of paper. "Thank you for telling me all of that, it really is a great story. I hope I can do it justice, and one day show it to you guys."

I could sense Sakura becoming melancholy, as she probably not be around to see it. I caressed her hand with my thumb, trying to cheer her up. Mai and Kyoko didn't seem to notice, and didn't make any remarks. The sliding door opened up, and everyone came back inside. Sakuta and G.B. carried the plates of cooked steaks to the kitchen, as Rio made her way to the couch.

She glanced at the pad of paper, and Mai passed it to her. "If you guys want to go ahead and start eating, feel free." The three of us got up, and headed to the kitchen. Sakuta had laid out plates, so we quickly filled them up. The aroma of everything was making my mouth water, and I couldn't wait to dig in.

We took a seat at the table, digging into the feast. We passed our compliments to Sakuta, remarking how well everything tasted. Before long, Rio and Mai joined us. I noticed Rio seemed distracted, not paying much attention to her plate. I decided to wait until after we finished eating to talk to her, though she approached Sakura and I first as we made our way back to the living room.

"Would you two mind joining me outside, it is a rather nice night out." We nodded, though I felt a bit worried as well followed her out. Whatever she planned to say, I could tell she wanted the discussion to be private.

Sakura and I sat down in the folding chairs, and Rio settled atop the cooler. "The problem with your pancreas is serious, isn't it?" I felt my stomach sink, though I wasn't surprised that Rio was the one to figure it out. I looked over to Sakura, and she slowly nodded.

"How did you know?" Her voice was quiet, and I reached over for her hand. She felt cooler than before, the shock of someone figuring out the truth had clearly affected her. "It was just a guess, but when you left it so vague it made me curious. I'm sorry if I'm intruding, so we can drop it and not talk about it anymore."

Before Sakura could say anything, I spoke up. "You wouldn't have asked if you didn't have a reason, I think I know that by now. Am I right?" Sakura looked over to me, shocked that I was allowing the discussion to continue but Rio nodded.

"I do work for a lab after all, so I hear all sorts of interesting things in my line of work. Not to mention all of the research material at my disposal. The reason I asked was to see if there was any help I could offer, if you're willing to allow me."

Sakura was silent for a moment, her hand still feeling cool to the touch. "You can't say a word to anyone else, that's my requirement. Only my parents and boyfriend know the truth, I don't want everyone worrying about me and treating me differently." Rio nodded.

"I completely understand, you have my word that I won't tell anyone." Sakura sighed, though I could feel the warmth coming back to her hand. She quickly told Rio the truth behind her illness, in case someone decided to come out on the balcony to join us.

"I see. I'll have to do some research, though I think I heard of a lab that was working on that very illness. Would you mind giving me your contact info, I can let you know what I hear." Sakura exchanged info with Rio, and I did the same. At least that way, she'd be able to get in contact with us no matter what.

"I'm sorry for prying into a sensitive topic like that, but I hope to have some good news for you within the next few days." She checked the time on her phone, standing up. "It's getting a little late for me, so for now have a good night." We stood up, following her in. Sakura whispered to me as we walked in.

"Do you mind if we head out too? I think I want some alone time." I nodded, feeling a little down at hearing that. She quickly squeezed my hand, noticing my mood change. "That doesn't mean I want you to go too, I still want to spend more time with you silly."

I smiled, glad that I'd be able to enjoy the night a little longer with her. "Thank you so much for having us, but we're going to head out too. It's been a very long day, but we'd love to get together again." Mai came up to us first, thanking us for coming. "It was great having you guys over, we really should get together again. Maybe a double date sometime?" We both nodded, looking forward to it.

I made my way over to Sakuta, holding out my hand. "Thanks for everything, helping me out and having everyone over. It was really great, and I appreciate all of the kindness shown to Sakura and I." He smiled, shaking my hand. "I'm glad to be of service, we'll link up again one of these days. A double date sounds like a fun idea."

G.B. and Kyoko waved goodbye, Sakura getting in one last hug for the night from her closest friend. Rio walked us to the front door, reminding us she would be in touch as soon as she had any news, and with that we stepped out into the night.

It was still early enough that we could spend some more time together, but I wasn't sure where to go. I asked Sakura where she wanted to go, but she simply shrugged. "How about we just walk around for a bit? I don't want to go home just yet, unless you wanted to come over."

"I'm fine with walking around, though I did see something about a parade on the tv this morning. Maybe we could go check it out?" Sakura quickly pulled out her phone, trying to look up where the parade was being held. She turned the screen towards me so I could see.

"Looks like it's not too far from here, if we hurry we can catch the end of it. And it says something about a surprise afterwards, I wonder what that could be?" There was only one way to find out. Hand in hand, we headed towards the parade.

By the time we arrived, we had missed most of it. The little bit we did get to see was still enjoyable, I looked over to see Sakura smiling the whole time. As the end of the parade passed by, I began to wonder what was to come. The minutes passed by, and I started to think that nothing else was going to happen.

"Oh look!" Sakura pointed up in the distance, and I looked up to see a small light rising upward. The night sky soon began to light up, as hundreds of lanterns filled the horizon. "It's beautiful." Sakura leaned her head on my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm around her, holding her close.

It truly was a beautiful sight, the fireworks we had seen together was a spectacle but I knew I'd never forget this night. We watched silently as the lanterns floated away, the perfect end to a perfect day.

As the night darkened more and more, we decided to walk around the area. There was a lot of food stands, but the two of us were still full from dinner so we passed by them. Sakura had hoped to find some game stands, but they had already closed up for the night. "We can always go to another event and visit them earlier." Sakura nodded, smiling at the thought of future dates.

"Do you really think she'll come up with something?" Sakura said softly as we left the area of the festivities. "I do, I don't think she would have brought it up if she wasn't confident. She doesn't seem like the type of person to give false hope to people." Sakura stopped walking, it took me a few steps to realize and I turned towards her.

"When I was in the hospital for this last visit, the doctors had some bad news." A tear rolled down her cheek, her voice soft. "The time that I was supposed to have left, it got shorter. I want to believe that she'll have something, but part of me is scared to get my hopes up."

I was stunned, I had felt that there was something off about Sakura when I had visited her, but she had said it was nothing before. "I didn't want to say anything at first, I didn't want to cause you any worry or make you feel like you had to treat me differently because of it. And now I have something precious, it's not fair. It's not fair."

I walked up to Sakura, wrapping her in an embrace. She clung tightly to me, I could feel her shaking as the tears rained down. I felt powerless in the moment, what words could I say to make her feel better? Everything I could think of would just seem hollow, so instead I placed my hand on the back of her head, stroking my fingers through her hair.

"Do you still want to be with me, even if I only have a short time left? I can understand if you say no." Sakura spoke softly, yet I could hear the hurt in every word. "Of course I do, how could I live with myself if I left you now?" Her only response was to hold me even tighter, then she spoke up once again.

"About what you said at the party, did you really mean that?" I thought back to everything I said, then remembering the embarrassing moment that had occured. "I do, I would never had said that if I didn't." We were both silent for a moment, and I debated saying more before Sakura spoke again.

"Can I hear you say it, to me?" Her voice trembled, barely about a whisper. I pulled back from the hug, taking her hands in mine. "Sakura, I love you." The smile she rewarded me with was worth more than anything in the world. "I love you too." She leaned forward, and we shared our second kiss.

The passion and swirling pool of emotions behind this kiss was even more than the first. The joy and sadness we felt mixed together, her lips wet from the tears. We pulled back, smiling at one another. "I promise Sakura, I'm not going anywhere."

"Not even to walk me home? That's not very nice." I laughed, and shook my head. "You know what I mean." She smiled warmly. "I do, and thank you. You don't know how much that means to me, to hear you say that." We began to head to her house, trying to spot any of the lanterns from earlier but having no such luck.

"Are you busy tomorrow?" I shook my head, somewhat surprised Sakura hadn't already assumed that I was free. "What would you like to do then?" I thought it over, then recalling the conversation with my mom. "Would you like to come over, you could meet my family." She blushed, but nodded. "That sounds wonderful."

We turned the corner on her street, and I was dreading having to say goodbye for the night. Sakura must have noticed, as she squeezed my hand. "I'll see you tomorrow, and if you get too lonely you can always text or call me." I smiled, nodding. "You're right, it was just such a perfect day that I wish it didn't have to end."

We had stopped outside of her house. "It really was, wasn't it? I had a lot of fun today, meeting your new friends, seeing the parade and lanterns, spending time with you. But I think everyday we're together can be a perfect day, to me they always have been." She held out her arms, and we embraced.

I promised to text her once I got back home, and she waited until I was out of sight to go inside. Before I knew it, I was in my neighborhood, my mind thinking about the day with Sakura. As I stepped inside my house, I could hear the tv in the living room. I peeked in to see my mom on the couch, turning around at the sound of the front door closing.

"How was your day?" I smiled. "It was really great. About what you were saying before, I was thinking of bringing her over tomorrow." A look of surprise came over her face, before smiling. "I can't wait, I'm very excited to meet her."

I made my way up to my room, remembering to text Sakura. "I'm glad you got home safe, I was thinking about you the whole time." Her reply came fast, she must have been glued to her phone waiting for me. "I was thinking about you too, I can't wait for tomorrow. My mom is very excited to meet you."

A slight delay, then my phone vibrated. "I wonder who is more excited, me or your mom. Thank for you the wonderful day, it was truly perfect." Such simple words, but to see them from her filled me with joy.

"Shall I meet you at your house in the morning? I may be a bit greedy and want to spend as much time with you as possible." I quickly glanced around my room, making a note to clean it up in the morning before leaving. "That does sound greedy, but I'll allow it since I want to be greedy too."

We continued texting back and forth, well into the night. "I'm sorry, but I'm tired now. I'll talk to you in the morning." I realized it was already one in the morning. "I'll be looking forward to it. Good night Sakura." I sent the text, smiling like a fool. A few moments passed before my phone vibrate again.

"Good night my love. Sweet dreams." I could feel myself blushing, still not quite used to hearing that. I plugged my phone in, settling into bed. The last thoughts in my mind before I fell asleep was the talk with Rio. "I really hope she pulls through."

The Author's Desk

We made it to the end of the celebration arc. To those wondering why Kaede wasn't there, I could say that Sakuta didn't want to have his sister around a bunch of strangers. But honestly it's just easier having her not around, she filled her purpose earlier in the story and it would be harder to find something for her to do now.

Ah, young love. It's truly a wonderful thing. I debated whether they should admit they love each other so soon, but personally I feel like love isn't a deep enough word for the feelings those two have for each other. The bond they have runs deeper than a typical relationship, the actions they make prove more than simple words can.

I tried to give everyone some of the spotlight in this arc, G.B. was a little harder due to how little he was in the original work but he's always been supportive of our hero. Kyoko is probably the most challenging, as trying to ease her from how she used to be to accepting the relationship isn't something that would instantly happen. She's still going to be protective, though I don't think she's that terrible of a person that she would risk upsetting Sakura and her happiness over her own feelings.

I was originally planning to have fireworks at the end of the parade, but I thought a change of pace would be nice. I don't think I could top the firework scene we got in the film, so I decided to go with lanterns instead.

In the upcoming chapter, Sakura will finally be coming over to our heroes home. How will meeting the parents go? Spoiler alert: it'll go well. Will Rio have some good news for us? Stay tuned and find out.

Thanks for reading along, and I'll see you at the next chapter.