Sakura's strides became longer and her feet pushed harder off the pavement as she left the diner.
The day had begun cloudy, and now those clouds began to let droplets of water fall to the ground. It started slowly, timidly, but soon gained speed and confidence. The wind blew, gusts swaying the trees. There was no show of thunder and lightning, but the sky promised a spectacular display later on.
But none of this mattered to Sakura.
^-^
"Yeah, guys," Nuriko piped in after Chiriko rushed after Sakura; his laughter had mostly subsided. "That was pretty wrong. You don't go playing around with a girl's feelings," he preached. Mitsukake nodded, his laughter had completely stopped and he reverted to his normal state.
"Oh, c'mon," Tasuki finally spoke up. "It was jest some mindless fun. We didn't hert 'er."
"You are the mindless one!" Nuriko hit him over the head, sending him to the floor. "Why would she have left?"
"She said she had work ta do."
"DOLT!"
"She only used that as an excuse to leave," Mitsukake explained quietly. "She felt abandoned because everyone, except, of course, Chiriko and me, was laughing at her. As much of a mindless bet it was to you, it hurt her that much more."
^-^
She roamed the city streets, not looking where she was going, not caring anyway. Her hands had somehow found the pockets of her windbreaker, warming them. Her fingers brushed against something; she pushed the gum wrapper from her pocket. She grabbed the packet of gum and shoved a piece in her mouth, tossing the wrapper carelessly aside.
She was proud of herself, though. The tears that wanted—perhaps needed—to come, didn't. As of yet, she had managed to keep them at bay.
^-^
Chiriko ran as fast as he could. He was not as fit for this type of activity as his friends were; he wasn't built for it.
Nonetheless, he had kept Sakura in his sight. She wasn't running—that made it much easier—but she was walking faster than her normal speed, which was rather rapid.
"Sakura-san! Please wait!" he called out desperately.
^-^
"You have to go and find her, Tasuki no baka," Nuriko told him.
"Chiriko already went after 'er. 'Sides, she's probably already headin' back ta the hotel."
"She's in a strange place. She'll get lost."
"Why's it suddenly my job ta be 'er babysitter?!"
"You, Tasuki no baka, caused this whole mess. I hope you realize that."
"She's Tama's cousin, not mine. I'm not the one that dragged 'er along."
"If you knew my aunt," Tamahome cut in, "you'd take her, too."
"Make 'im go after her, if yer so concerned. Or, better yet, go an' get 'er yerself."
"You have to apologize to her."
"Yer being an ass."
"You're being an ass."
^-^
"Please wait!"
Sakura turned around. Chiriko was panting, his hands on his knees in an attempt to catch his breath.
"Doukun-chan!" She ran back to him. "You shouldn't have come after me!"
"I'm fine, really."
"But, your asthma… Are you sure?"
"No harm done, Sakura nee-san." He smiled slightly to reassure her. "But, are you okay?"
"What do you mean?" She tried to sound as confused as she could. They began walking to a nearby bench.
"You know." He looked uncomfortably at the ground. "About what Tasuki-san did?"
"Oh, that." She plopped onto the bench. "Why? Would it have hurt me? His fangs can't be that sharp," she added with a chuckle.
Chiriko sat next to her, his hands in his lap and his head down. "Nee-san, remember when we first met?"
"Of course. How couldn't I?"
"Well, it was the year my mother died," he recalled.
"I remember."
"And you said…" He looked into her eyes. "You said that it was…okay to cry."
This took Sakura completely by surprise. It shattered whatever barrier had held the feelings she had pent up within the last fifteen minutes.
"Doukun-chan…" That was when the tears came.
The tears mixed easily with the rain that continued to fall heavily. Sakura threw herself into Chiriko's arms.
"It was so strange. I mean, I… I don't even know." Chiriko hugged her and began stroking her increasingly wet hair. Sakura continued, "I liked it, I guess… I was…surprised. And embarrassed. How could they do that? It's not—" She sniffled and coughed. "It's not fair." She wiped the mucus running down her nose. "I really like Genrou-san."
"You are in love with Tasuki-san?" Chiriko asked. He was shocked at this revelation; he hadn't figured this out.
"I suppose you could put it that way," she smiled. "But I've never kissed anyone, besides my family. It hurts that my first kiss was—" Fresh tears came. "My first kiss was a bet! My very first. That Genrou-san would even consider a bet like that… I can't believe it."
"Don't worry. Everything will be okay."
She smiled through her tears. "This sure is familiar. It's just like the memory."
"Except I was you and you were me."
"Yeah…"
^-^
"Would you DROP it already!"
"Not until you go find her, I won't."
"Fine! But only ta get you off my back!" Tasuki shoved Nuriko aside and sulked all the way to the door and outside into the downpour.
Nuriko smiled after him. "Go get her."
^-^
Author's Note: I'm such a slacker! I'll try to post as often as I can. There are some complications. For the next week I will be out of town. Two weeks after that I'm away for another week. On top of all that I have driving classes: the closest thing to Hell on Earth. That's only the first obstacle. The next is the fact that I happen to have three fics going at once. You can go check them out; they're all Fushigi Yuugi ones. Next one I have to update is AGF. *sigh* I have no idea what to do next in it. It will have to wait until I get back, I'm afraid.
Thanks for reading!
If you have the time, please critique my work. It will be greatly appreciated.