By Hikaru Hayashi
Here is the edited version of Chapter 15: Cherry Blossoms. I thought I would add a little story to each character's point of view. Well here it is. Also, I asked a friend who knows more Japanese than me and she told me "sakura-tachi" means cherry blossoms (she said "-tachi" makes the word plural).
Disclaimer note: (I am really sick of these!) If ya want a lawsuit on me, just remember that I don't own anyone/thing that has to do with Yu-Gi-Oh!! You are familiar with my OC's by now, so...
Without further delay, let the story continue!
Chapter 15: Cherry Blossoms"Kokoro no Seto"
Instead of running straight home like she would have originally done, Sophia ran to the park. She sat down under a tree and cried. "Stupid jerk..." she muttered. "I almost forgot how stubborn he really is...jerk!!" She remembered her mother's words, "If you have any problems at all, feel free to talk to me..."
"Should I really waste my breath telling my mom about this?" Sophia asked herself. Something fell from the tree and caught her eye. She looked up. " she said. "Cherry blossoms..." At first, they really didn't catch her interest. 'Nothing special...the fireflies are starting to come out too...so, big deal...' she thought as at least twenty fireflies appeared and lit up the evening.
"Well, the scenery is really pretty..." She said to herself as she recalled something from when she was little, about 4 or 5...
She was playing in the same scenery. She had been to Japan once before, when she was very little. She remembers playing with a friend, when they had an argument over their game.
"Look, Sophi!" said her friend Keiko. "It's my turn to play with the jump rope!"
Sophia who was a very spoiled little girl, shouted, "No! It's still my turn, Keiko! You just have to wait."
Keiko became upset, but said nothing. It was hard for her to believe that she was Sophia's friend. After all, they argued over everything and Sophia was always really bossy.
A few minutes later, the fireflies began to appear.
"Ooh! Pretty!!" Sophia squealed, never having seen a firefly before.
Keiko, who enjoyed evenings in the park, asked kindly, "Can I play with the fireflies too, Sophi?"
"NO!" Sophia screamed. "You have to wait your turn Keiko! How many times do I gotta tell you that?"
By now, Keiko had become angry. She'd had it. She was tired of being bossed around and told to wait her turn, when she knew it would never be her turn. As she started to cry, Keiko shouted at Sophia:
"You always tell me to wait my turn! Well, why don't you wait for a change! I've had it with you Sophi. I don't wanna be your friend anymore!!"
With this, Keiko ran off.
"Hm...okay..." Sophia said in a haughty tone. "Be that way then."
As Sophia was recalling this memory, she remembered her family had left for home the next day. She never got the chance to find Keiko and apologize.
Sophia was suddenly hit with a feeling of guilt. "Oh my god..." she whispered. "What have I done...? I was so careless...I was being bratty, wasn't I?!" She jumped up and ran though the park. 'I've gotta find Seto and apologize...!' she thought.
Seto stood near the pond in the middle of the park and stared at the water blankly. "...Hmph! Silly baka girl..." he muttered under his breath. "I can't believe she said that crap...I should never have listened to Riley and his farfetched ideas, otherwise I wouldn't be in this mess!"
As Seto stared at the pond, he realized he was more confused than angry. 'Well, that's odd! I really don't know what to do...should I apologize, or should I just leave it alone...?' he thought. He came to a conclusion: "I'll just leave it alone..." he muttered as he started to walk away. Just then something caught his attention. He stared at the little pink petals in the water. "...Hm...sakura-tachi?"
As he stared at the petals on the pond, he was reminded of something from his early childhood. He was around 3 or 4. Mokuba wasn't even born yet...
It was around sunset. Seto looked over the fence into the yard of the next house over. A new family had moved in and they had a daughter about his age.
The girl had never played with a boy before, let alone had she ever talked to one. So she decided to introduce herself.
"Hello there!" said the little girl. She had rosy pink cheeks dark brown hair and green eyes. She also had freckles. "Hello there!" she said again. "Can you hear me?"
Seto looked up. He had never spoken to a girl before and girls never talked to him. Actually, nobody did. He was practically a loner. "Oh, you were talking to me?" he asked almost sarcastically. "I had no idea."
"You think you're funny, don't you boy?" the girl asked. "My name's Keiko. What's yours?"
"It's Seto," he replied simply. "And I wasn't trying to be funny. You could have been talking to yourself for all I know. Now go away and play with your dolls, or whatever it is that girls do."
"Hey, that's not very nice, Seto," Keiko answered. Then she started giggling.
This startled Seto. 'She's laughing?' he thought, confused. "Hey, what's so funny, girl?"
"Tee hee hee! Your name!" Keiko giggled. "I like your name. It's cute!"
Seto didn't like the idea of having his name called "cute". "Oh...yeah?!" he said, taking this comment as an insult. "Well, I think your name is dumb! What did you say it was again...Keiko, or something?"
Keiko giggled again.
Seto, red from anger, shouted, "Now what's so funny?!"
Keiko smiled cutely. "I like you!" she said.
Seto's anger suddenly disappeared. He was now more surprised than angry. "Uh...! You...do?" he asked.
"Mm-hmm! Yep!" she said, nodding her head. She jumped off of the fence. "Don't be a stranger, Seto!" she shouted back. "Come visit me sometime. Ja ne!"
Seto blushed as he watched Keiko walk off. As flattered as he really was, he said to himself, "Feh! Girls are stupid..."
That was the first time he had ever talked to a girl. It was also the first time a girl ever said she liked him.
Another thought came to his mind...
It was a year later. Keiko's family was moving. Seto watched as the movers came to help load the furniture. Keiko stood on the lawn holding a teddy bear. She was crying because she didn't want to move.
"I don't wanna move!" she shouted. "I wanna stay here!!"
Seto watched Keiko as she threw a tantrum. "Feh...silly girl..." he muttered.
"Keiko! It's time to leave," said Keiko's dad.
"Okay..." she sighed. She turned around and looked at Seto, who was sitting up on the fence. She had a sad remorseful look on her face. "Sayonara, Seto!!" she cried.
"Feh!" he muttered.
Keiko got into the car. As the car was driving by, Keiko looked back at Seto with that sad look. She seemed sad that Seto didn't even take the time to say good-bye.
As the car drove off, Seto just watched. He didn't even wave. He realized that he had hurt her feelings, but he really didn't care. He was almost happy she left.
The sun had almost gone down. The fireflies were beginning to come out. They illuminated the pond brilliantly. In the distance, the sad song of the evening cicadas could be heard.
Then, it hit him. Seto had realized, that same look on Keiko's face when she left...was the same look on Sophia's face as he walked away. It was then that he realized he had hurt Sophia's feelings, just like he hurt Keiko.
Seto was suddenly overcome by a surge of emotion. "...Oh, Sophia..." he sighed as tears came to his eyes. "I'm so sorry...!" He could not explain what had just happened. 'Whoa...' he thought as he wiped his tears away. 'I've never felt this way before...I guess this means...I still have feelings for her...but...after what I did today, she'll never speak to me again!'
Sophia ran until she got to the pond in the middle of the park. 'Still no sign of him...' she thought. 'Maybe I should just go home...' Suddenly, she saw someone's reflection in the pond. 'Someone else is here?' she thought. She looked up to find the owner of the reflection. "...Seto!!" she cried.
Seto looked up. He saw Sophia standing some feet away from him. "...Sophia..." he said softly. He wanted so badly to run up to her and hold her in his arms and tell her how sorry he was for yelling at her. But his feet were frozen in place. He couldn't move an inch.
Sophia, who was standing at least two yards away from Seto, ran to him as fast as she possibly could.
End Chapter Fifteen
That's it for this one! In the flashbacks for Seto and Sophia, I kinda ripped the name "Keiko" from YuYu Hakusho, but oh well!! The site also screwed up my borders that separated Sophia's thoughts from Seto's but ah whatever! Ja ne!
