19 / Headbutt Rock
Sakura glanced at her milkshake, untouched, before shaking her head sadly, watching her brother from the corner of her eye. "...you are still mad, aren't you?"
Her brother didn't say anything. He picked up his coffee, took a sip, resting the cup a bit long on his lips before putting it down again. He seemed to be thinking about his answer. "Sakura...look...I…"
"No, no," Sakura interrupted, reaching for her beverage but stopping, hand falling gently on the table. "I...I get it. I get it. I sometimes," she sighed, "I sometimes would get upset at Dad, too...he was all day stuck in the office...I just kept waiting for him to come back...you were with mom most of the time, too...so…" Sakura stared at the table. Her milkshake seemed inviting but she just ignored it. "It was a problem…" Genji scoffed with a glare.
"A 'problem', is putting it lightly." Sakura smiled, shrugging.
"I guess, but...no. I guess it's not important anymore."
Genji hummed, his glare disappeared. He stared at his sister, silent before taking a deep breath and saying, "Mom told me why...though…" Sakura turned to stare at him, confused.
"Huh?"
"Why you stayed behind...with the old man, I mean…" Sakura stared at her younger brother before turning to her lap again, pulling her finger gently, feeling the bones of her dead body, hearing those little odd noises they made. She stopped, she sighed.
"I...well...I…"
(what did it matter, she was dead, she was dead)
"Sakura, listen...Iー"
SLAM!
Sakura let out a tiny squeak, almost jumping out of her chair and knocking over her drink while Genji, strangely calm but confused, held unto his cup of half finished cold coffee, staring at the newcomer with a raised eyebrow. The guy had grabbed a chair from another table, dragged it towards them and had sat down without a care in the world. He might have actually noticed the two siblings had he actually been paying attention.
The stranger was young, probably a few years older than Sakura, well, older than seventeen, anyway. He was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, and sandals. The guy's head was on the table, his arms and hands over it like some sort of barrier, a bit of his brown hair sticking out in some places. He let out a small, tired groan. "This is sooo baaad...screw that guy, really…" he murmured, shaking his head underneath his little makeshift barrier. He kept mumbling to himself, unaware of the two people staring at him.
Sakura and Genji blinked, they stared at each other for a bit. Eventually, the pink haired girl leaned a little towards the young stranger, and asked, gently, "Are...are you okay?"
As if a switch had been flipped, the head began to rise, the arms falling to the side, on the table, revealing the messy hair of brown hair and eyes that were bloodshot from lack of sleep. The stranger finally took notice of the two people seated nearby and blinked.
"Huh? Whe-where…? What…?" he began to ask, eyes squinting trying to get a better look at Sakura and then at Genji. "Where did you people come from?"
Genji sighed, shared a look with his sister and cleared his throat. He leaned against the chair and said, "From the netherworld." Despite everything, Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes and shake her head. The stranger just stared at her brother like he was crazy. "We made reservations for this table eons ago," Genji went on, tapping the table for emphasis.
"Wha-what?"
"We were here first, wise guy," Genji explained. The stranger blinked then, turned to stare at Sakura, blinking a bit more. Sakura smiled.
"Oh...oooh..boy," the stranger said after a while, finally realizing his mistake. He shook his head. "So-sorry about that...I haven't been sleeping well the past few days because of school and now...well, sorry, really."
"Hey, it's alright!" Sakura told him, still smiling. "It was just an honest mistake! It happens!" Genji finished his cold coffee as the stranger shook his head, looking a bit guilty.
"No, no...it's alright. I'll just be out of your way…" And just as quickly as he had slammed himself into the table, the stranger was quickly getting up, still apologizing, not looking back, not noticing as the other young man behind him until it was too late and…
"OWW!"
Sakura let out a loud gasp. Genji started, wide-eyed. The stranger let out a groan, rubbing the back of his head before turning.
He was met with a pair of young men, eyes wide, one with red hair and the other with black, wearing glasses. They both were staring at their third friend, who had a hand over his chin and mouth. This young man glared at the stranger, eyebrow twitching with anger. Nearby, the patrons just stared, blinking. One of the waitresses just stood there, notepad in hand, staring.
The group was quiet for a while before the brown haired young man took a deep breath and asked the stranger, voice shaking, "...who...who do you think you are…?" He removed his hand from over his chin and mouth and stared at the stranger straight in the eye. He seemed furious. "Who...don't you know who I am…?"
"N-no…" the stranger squeaked, realizing the sudden danger he was in. Behind him, Sakura stared worriedly, glancing at her brother, who was just taking out his wallet and leaving some yen behind. He turned to stare at his sister, putting his wallet back in his pocket and gesturing to the side. They needed to leave. This wasn't their business. But Sakura just turned towards the stranger and the man with messy brown hair.
The pink haired girl got up from her seat, standing next to the stranger. "Ah! Ah! Wait! Wait!" she started, getting the attention from the stranger, who stared at her in surprise, and the trio who finally took notice that she was there. Genji facepalmed, groaning silently with annoyance in his seat. He was ignored. "I-I'm sure he didn't mean to hit you! It was an accident!" The young man blinked at her then smiled. It was a sweet smile, almost innocent despite the predatory gaze he wore.
"Relax, sweetheart," he began, getting a glare from Genji. Messy hair was staring at the stranger, before quickly grabbing the collar of his sweatshirt and pulling him closer. The stranger flinched as he was pulled. "We are just going to have a talk...please, excuseー"
"Uh…! Uh…" Sakura began before an idea struck her and she pretended to spot something in the distance. "Oh! OH! Police! Officer! Help!" The trio, suddenly spooked, turned to look behind them where the policeman obviously was not. Genji stared at his sister in shock, unable to stop her from grabbing her milkshake and flinging the contents on messy hair's suit. The young man cried out in surprise, letting go of the stranger's collar. That was enough. Sakura grabbed the stranger's hand, pulling him, arguing him to follow after her. Genji swore, got up, and quickly followed after his fleeing sister and the stranger.
The trio stood there, finally realized they had been had, before messy hair let out a small groan of exasperation, shook his head and cried out, "What are you two standing around for?! After them!"
/…..
"Egghead! What the fuck!?"
Yugiri, along with the rest of Franchouchou, couldn't help but let out shocked gasps at the stunt that Sakura had just pulled. The others were already talking over each other, even Tae, but Yugiri just watched the pink haired zombie grab the stranger's hand and run for it, followed closely behind by her brother.
The courtesan could hear the grumblings of their manager from the front seat. They heard the car turning on, and Kotaro turned to face them and said, "Sit down. We're going after them."
/…..
"What the hell was that!?" Genji yelled as he followed after his sister.
Sakura had let go of the stranger's hand a while back now, all three running as fast as they could, Sakura in the lead, her younger brother behind her and the stranger barely keeping up with him on the back. They had been avoiding people and signs as they ran around the neighborhood, trying to avoid the chasing trio of suits behind them.
"It's not like I don't appreciate the help," the stranger huffed, trying to keep up with the siblings. "But...but what are we gonna do now!?" He glanced behind him. The trio of suits were still there, following after them. Messy hair was in the front, frowning as he ran, almost determined to catch them, while the redhead and Glasses ran behind him, screaming and yelling as they dodged pedestrians.
"This was so dumb! You know that, right!?" Genji cried out but Sakura wasn't listening. "What a mess...what a mess…" he mumbled, shaking his head.
"Eep!" Both siblings immediately turned to look behind them and stopped. The stranger, trying to keep up, tripped and fell, hard, on the ground. Behind them all, the trio of suits were gaining distance.
Sakura and Genji didn't waste any time and rushed towards the young man. Genji grabbed unto the young man's sweatshirt, pulling hard, lifting him up, and before the stranger could recover his footing, Sakura was grabbing his legs also lifting him up. The two siblings than started running again, carrying the stranger like a log, Genji holding his clothes and Sakura his legs. The stranger couldn't help but cry in surprise, "WHAT!? WHAT!?"
"This is your fault, by the way!" Genji yelled at the stranger, huffing. "Maybe next time you should watch out who's head you crash into!"
"It wasn't my fault!" the stranger cried back, mildly irritated. "I didn't see the guy!"
"Guys!" That was Sakura, sounding exasperated and tired. "Please! Not now!"
"This is also your fault, you know!?"
The siblings, still carrying the stranger, moved quickly, making turns and dodging people, all the while the stranger moaned and complained to be put down. Behind them, the trio of suits were still following, crying out tiredly at them to stop. Eventually, the siblings happened upon a small mall. They found a hiding place behind some bushes, and ducked. The stranger lay on Genji's and Sakura's laps, unmoving, all waiting for the trio of suits to pass them by. Other people just stared at them in confusion before moving away. Genji crossed his arms, frowning at the stranger's sweaty face. The stranger stared back, a little nervous. Sakura had a hand over her chest, breathing fast but silently. They could hear the shouting in the distance. It seemed so far away. They waited for a few more minutes and finally, nothing. The trio of suits seemed to have gone some other way, still trying to find them.
Genji unceremoniously pushed the young man off of his lap, the stranger rolling away without much protest. He let out a small "Ouch" to indicate he was fine in the floor. "You…" Genji began, pointing an accusing finger at his older sister. "This is the last time I take you out to eat…" Sakura turned to stare at her younger brother, and then, despite everything that had happened today, the girl began to laugh.
The trio let out a loud sigh.
They had lost sight of the girl and those two guys as soon as they got lost inside the mall. Now, messy hair was sweaty and his suit was dirty. He sighed. So much for wanting to invite a pretty girl to lunch.
"What...ah...what a mess…" Glasses murmured behind him, shaking his head. "Those guys were too fast…"
"The girl was faster, though," the redhead pointed out unhelpfully. Glasses glared at him while messy hair just grinned.
"That she was...that she was. Pretty and fast, what a combination." Glasses groaned.
"Come on, Oki! Not again! She literally threw her drink at you!"
Oki just smiled. "Well...I happen to like the flavor. Strawberry, I'm guessing." Glasses groaned again while the redhead shook his head with an amused smile.
"This won't end well if your old man finds out," Glasses warned but Oki was already walking away.
"So? A pretty girl and her friends managed to outrun us...it happens. Not a big deal. Besides, that old fool is still busy hunting the ghost of Dorami...he won't care about something so insignificant as this. Come on, let's get out of her. The less people that see me with this dirty suit, the better."