"Amaya! Sakura! Breakfast!" Mrs. Malat yelled. Both girls just groaned and didn't move. They were extremely tired, considering that they had only gotten a few hours of sleep after the previous night's sleepover. After introducing Sanosuke to their parents, and of course eating dinner, the adults had insisted that the boys stay the night. Sakura's parents had volunteered her room, so the girls were sharing Amaya's.
"Urg!" Sakura muttered as she slowly sat up. "It's too early!"
"Nyah," Amaya agreed as she dragged herself out of bed. Both girls changed into kimonos and got ready to go to breakfast.
"Sakura, do you want to do my hair?" Amaya asked, smiling.
"Ooh! Yes!" Sakura exclaimed happily as she grabbed a brush. She sat on the edge of the futon and began brushing Amaya's long brown hair.
"Your hair is so pretty!" Sakura sighed. "And it's so much fun to play with." She sadly thought about her own hair. It was a pretty reddish brown, but too short to do anything with. It didn't even reach her shoulders. She finished braiding one half of Amaya's hair and moved to the other.
"But yours is pretty too!" Amaya insisted. "Yours is red!"
"Yeah, that's true," said Sakura happily. Even if it was too short to do anything with, it was red.
Sakura finished Amaya's hair and stood up. She quickly pulled part of her hair up into a half-ponytail.
"Food!" she yelled happily as she ran towards the dining room. Amaya followed, and laughed as Sakura tripped and fell. "I meant to do that!" she quickly proclaimed as she stood up. They finally made it to the kitchen and joined their families at the table. Sanosuke was already up, and eating heartily.
"So girls, did you get much sleep?" Mrs. Malat asked.
"Um… maybe?" Amaya answered as the girls glanced at each other, suppressing giggles.
Mrs. Harrigton laughed loudly. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"So how are you this morning, Sanosuke?" Amaya asked as she ate.
"Mmrff," the boy replied, his mouth full of food.
Sakura giggled. "I'll take that as a 'good.' "
Ready for your lessons, girls?" Mrs. Malat asked as they finished eating. The teens groaned.
"Fine," they said at the same time. After helping to clean up the table, they went outside to the garden for their daily flower arranging.
"Well, here we are again," Amaya sighed. "Again."
"I mean, this seems so pointless!" Sakura said, annoyed as she looked at the flowers in the vase. She stared at it for a moment, trying to decide what else to do to the arrangement.
"Hi!" yelled Sanosuke as he jumped up behind Amaya, who started and dropped the flower she had been holding.
"Don't do that!" she yelped. "You almost made me mess up my arrangement!"
The boy just laughed and hopped around. "Ha ha, I scared you! Ha ha, I scared you!"
Amaya clenched her fists and stood up. Sanosuke kept teasing her and started to run away. Amaya kicked off her geta and began to chase him around the garden. As they ran back to where the girls had been sitting, Sakura tried to grab the boy.
As he struggled to get away, he knocked into Sakura's vase, sending it to the stone path with a crash. Sanosuke slowly backed away from Sakura's relaxed grip, and kept on running.
"Dammit, Sanosuke!" Sakura yelled. "You completely destroyed my baka arrangement! Do you know how much time I've wasted on that?" She quickly stood and kicked off her geta. Running after Sanosuke, she soon caught up with Amaya. They chased him together, but with little success.
"I'm… going to… kill him!" Sakura muttered as she ran.
"Gah! Little kids…have…too much…energy!" Amaya panted. Sakura tripped on her kimono and fell to the ground. Amaya kept running.
"Damn! Kimonos are not meant for running in!" she said to herself as she pulled herself up. She started to run again and, not watching where she was going, went straight into someone. She fell backwards, until a strong arm caught her. Reflexively brushing her hair back behind her ears, she looked up.
She was being held by a young man who looked about twenty years old. He had short black hair, which fell over his dark brown eyes. He was, by far, the most handsome man she had ever seen.
"Are you alright?" he asked, eyes full of concern.
Sakura felt herself blush and tried to control it. "I- I'm fine," she stammered. "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."
The man laughed lightly. "It's alright," he said, looking into her blue-green eyes. Sakura felt her heart beat faster. He gently let go of her, and she quickly attempted to brush off her kimono. She looked up at the young man, and saw that he was about six inches taller than her. They looked at each other for a moment, until Sakura felt herself beginning to blush again.
"So, who are you?" she asked nervously.
"Sagara Souzou," the man answered. He played with one end of his red headband. "And you are?"
"Harrington Sakura," Sakura answered. "It's nice to meet you!"
"The pleasure's all mine," he said, smiling.
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Meanwhile, in another part if the garden, Amaya was still chasing after Sanosuke.
"What happened to Sakura?" she wondered. "I need help here!" She started to catch up to the little boy, and when she was close enough, she grabbed his arm.
"Let go of me!" he yelled. He kicked Amaya sharply in the shin, and took the opportunity to run off again. He didn't get very far.
"Sanosuke!" a male voice said sternly. The boy address froze. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing, Tamahome-san," he said innocently, looking at the ground. Amaya looked up from where she was kneeling to see the speaker.
Standing in the garden in front of her was the most handsome boy she'd seen in a very long time. He looked about seventeen, and had short brown hair which fell over a red headband just like the one Sanosuke was wearing. He walked over to her.
"Are you alright?" he asked, taking her hand and helping her up. "I'm sorry about Sano. He can be a real pain sometimes."
"That's an understatement," Amaya said, wincing. The wince was more at the thought of what Hojo would say, knowing that kick had landed on her, than the actual pain of the bruising shin. She looked up at the young man, who was a good deal taller than her. They looked at each other for a minute, before realizing that they were still holding hands. Tamahome flushed and let go. Amaya made a mental note never to wash that hand again, and searched her scattered wits for something to say.
"Oh, sorry," the young man said. "My name is Suzaku Tamahome."
"Malat Amaya," Amaya replied with a smile. "Um, I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here? And how do you know Sanosuke?"
"Actually, I came here looking for Sano," Tamahome said, motioning towards the sulking child. "He likes to run off, and gets lost a lot. We heard from a neighbour of yours that they had seen him in the garden here."
"Oh, okay," Amaya understood. Mostly. "Are you his… brother?" she asked.
"No, me and Souzou- wait, where'd he go?" Tamahome looked around, searching for what Amaya assumed was his companion.
"Please, Kami-sama, don't let it be his wife!" she thought. Outloud, she asked, "Did he come with you?"
"Hai, he's gotta be around here somewhere."
"Yes! A he!" thought Amaya gleefully. "Maybe Sakura found him," she finished aloud.
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Back near the house, Sakura was at an equal loss for words, thrown off by Souzou's smile.
"Urgh… think of something smart to say!" she told herself.
"Sorry to bother you," he began politely, "But have you seen a boy in a white jacket with messy brown hair? Someone told me he was here."
"You're looking for Sanosuke?" asked Sakura.
"Hai! Apparently he was here." Souzou said.
"Mm-hm," confirmed Sakura. "He went- oops." Breaking off abruptly, she rushed in the direction Amaya had gone. Or, she tried to rush. With the kimono, she could really only manage a quick shuffle. To her chagrin, the taller Souzou kept up with her at a walk. As the couple [A.N. teehee, couple] moved to the centre of the garden, a voice greeted them.
"Oi, Souzou! He's over here!" Sakura saw the speaker. Amaya was standing next to him, looking slightly flustered. Everyone quickly introduced themselves. Bored, Sano began to wander off.
"Stay here, alright?" called Souzou to the retreating figure.
"Is Sano related to either of you?" Sakura asked. Both men appeared rather uncomfortable at the question. Tamahome answered.
"No, he's an orphan," he explained. "We and some friends look after him now."
"Aww! That's so sad!" Sakura said.
"Now I almost feel bad I got mad at him," Amaya added.
Tamahome and Souzou chuckled. "Don't be," said Souzou. "He wouldn't appreciate pity."
"Besides," teased Tamahome, looking at Amaya, "He didn't have to kick you."
"Ah, she can take it!" an indignant voice retorted. Sano had wandered back.
Before the girls or Sano could explain, Mrs. Harrington and Mrs. Malat stepped into the garden to investigate the newcomers they had heard.
"Girls? What's going on?" Mrs. Harrington asked, her gaze shifting from the girls and little Sano to the two strange men. Souzou bowed formally.
"Sorry to intrude, ma'am," he said. "I am Sagara Souzou, and this is Suzaku Tamahome. We were looking for Sanosuke, and found him here with these young ladies."
Mrs. Malat smiled. "Sanosuke was a very good guest. The girls were thrilled for the break in routine, I'm sure."
Sakura and Amaya sighed. Do all parents have to talk about their kids as if they're invisible?
"Okaa-san, can Sagara-san and Suzaku-san stay for tea?" asked Sakura. [A.N. Doesn't that sound British?]
"Of course, if they'd like. You could both use the chance to perfect the tea ceremony," Mrs. Harrington teased. Both teens groaned, and Tamahome chuckled.
"Arigato for the invitation. We accept gladly," he said with a grin. Mrs. Harrington and Mrs. Malat led the young men into the house as Amaya and Sakura trailed behind.
"Yes!" Amaya giggled.
"We get two really cute guys over for tea!" Sakura cheered. "This day turned out great!"
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wow, two chapters up in one day…. this is what happens when i'm bored and have nothing to do but type up pre-written stories….. ~amaya-chan
