M-chan
"Broken Reflections" part one.
Sakura sighed, gazing across the street at the flower shop with solemn violet eyes. Not too long ago, Ran and the others had been working there, trying to squirm their way through throngs of devoted fangirls as they attempted to get arrangements made and their orders filled for the day. Now though, the building lay empty and desolate, like the empty husk a flower left when it wilted and died.
She supposed she couldn't blame them for moving their base. Even though they'd stayed there for the first few weeks after the incident where Aya-chan had awakened..Ran had apparently thought it safer to re-locate their business.
After all, even though the group that had kidnapped Aya-chan and had caused them all so much pain and trouble were all probably dead, they still knew where the shop was, and in the end everyone had thought it the wisest course of action to simply move- just in case one of them happened to show up.
Sakura glanced from side to side, making sure it was safe before crossing the street, coming to a halt when she was in front of the windows to the shop.
A thoughtful frown crossed the girl's face as she peered through the glass, gaze sweeping across the empty, lonely shelves contained within. She knew that they were operating their flower-business front through a mobile van now, she even knew roughly the area where' they were operating out of...But they moved every few days, going from location to location in an attempt to keep the element of surprise on their side.
A second sigh escaped the young woman's lips, her thoughts drifting back to the night of the failed ceremony where she had substituted herself for Ran's younger sister. When he had discovered what she had done, he had scolded her, called her foolish for risking herself in such a way. But she hadn't been able to help it-she had failed him in so many other ways, for being reckless enough to trust the mind-reader and getting herself kidnapped, to not being strong enough to resist when he had taken control of her body, making her shoot the last person she would ever want to harm...
She shook her head, short brown hair glistening in the early afternoon sunlight. The coincidental resemblence she had to his sister had finally been the only thing she could' use to help Ran, and she had done so without a second thought. No matter what might have happened to her in doing so, she'd comforted herself with the knowledge that Ran would be able to see Aya-chan again, and the mind-reader's group would not be able to use her for their own purposes, either.
When Ran and his friends had arrived to rescue her, thinking she was Aya-chan-she had almost broken down, the feelings of helplessness and despair filling her almost too crushing to bear.
But then, his face, normally so cold and impassive, had warmed, and a smile, one of the first genuine ones she had ever seen him produce, had curved his lips, and he had thanked her, her for making it possible for him to see his sister again. Then, he'd told her his real name, and promised that once they'd saved his sister, he would tell her everything about himself. It had been a moment Sakura knew she would never forget.
After the temple had sank..she had been terrified that all of them had died, Ran and the others along with' their enemies. Her fears had been eased a short while after she had screamed his name, and Aya had awakened, when the three of them (Manx included) had seen the four young men, all wet and weary, swimming to shore.
He'd kept his promise. After all the excitement had died down, and after the two siblings had been allowed their much-needed, much hoped-for reunion, Ran had kept his promise to her. It had been alot to take in, especially all at once. She'd already known what he did, she'd caught him in the act on the night of the concert, but to hear it all brought out into the open was another story entirely. Ran thought he was nothing better than a common murderer, but Sakura didn't see it that way, she never would, or could.
He killed people, yes..but he admitted himself that they only hunted criminals, cold, cruel people who had committed terrible crimes, and that the law wouldn't, or couldn't, punish them for. But, beyond that, she knew why he had chosen that path in the first place. It was all for his sister, the last member of his family that he had left to him, she didn't think there was much a person wouldn't' do for someone they loved.
But..he'd turned distant towards her recently..Maybe it was just the shock of having his sister back, alive and awake as she had been before the accident' that had put her in a coma for all that time. Maybe it felt odd for him having someone who knew all about him, having the story that he had kept so long to himself known to someone else for the first time.
Plus he'd had to explain things to Aya-chan herself, and Sakura knew, just from talking to her new best friend, that her brother had told her far from everything. She sighed, not truly approving of his secrecy in the matter, but knowing that he was only doing it in an attempt to protect his younger sibling.
She bit her lower lip in a nervous gesture, and then raised her head, not realizing that her gaze had dropped to look down at the sidewalk in her distraction with her own thoughts. She lifted her chin, looked into the shimmering glass of the flower-shop windows, and froze..shock written on her face even as every muscle in her body tightened in sudden alarm and fear.
There, behind her reflected in the glass, was a form, and a face, she could never forget. Tall, lean frame built for strength and lightning-fast speed, thick mane of flame-colored hair only partially tamed by the sunglasses and bandanna he wore perched on top of it. Rugged, handsome features off-set by a wide, sensual mouth that was more often than not pulled back into a lazy, predatory smirk, and most striking of all, those eyes...
Dark, dark blue, like highly-polished sapphires. They were so intent, that when he looked directly at a person, as he was doing now, you felt like he was staring into your soul. And who knew, maybe...with his uncanny powers to know your innermost thoughts, maybe he was.
In spite of herself, Sakura trembled, and the smile deepened a notch, as if he were enjoying her fear. He was wearing the same green, double-breasted blazer he had mostly worn during the time she had first met him, which made her wonder if she was hallucinating the entire vision.
Then, before her courage could fail her, she whirled around, gaze flying across the street-and seeing nothing...no one. He was gone,as if he had never been there to begin with. Perhaps he hadn't, she reasoned, maybe going back and thinking of the events up to Aya-chan's awakening were playing strange tricks with her mind. It sounded rational,and she only hoped it were true.
"Sakura-chan!!! Sakura-chan!" a light, cheerful voice stunned the girl out of her troubled reverie, and she looked up, only to see Aya-chan heading towards her, a warm smile brightening her pale, pretty face.
The other girl halted about a foot away from her, a hint of worry appearing on her face as she got a close look at her friend.
"Sakura-chan," she murmurmed in concern, "Is something wrong? You look, frightened."
Quickly, not wanting to worry her, Sakura shook her head, forcing herself to give as cheerful a smile as she could muster in her current, turbulent state, "I'm fine..really." she reassured her, "Just worrying about nothing, like I always do."
Aya smiled, and Sakura felt a bit of the tension between them beginning to ebb. It took only a few more moments of reassurance before the two finally started on their way down the sidewalk..heading for the nearest ice cream parlour so they could sit down and chat.
But as she walked beside her best friend, Sakura was unable to entirely shake away the shadow the unforeseen sighting had cast over her day.
Had' it only been a hallucination? A mere figment of her sometimes over-active imagination? Or had it been real? No matter what' it had been..she thought of those cold, piercing blue eyes...and she shivered, even though the day was quite warm.