Author's Note: Hi, people! In this chapter, you get to see who the cousin is! Yay! Er, 'yay' as in 'yay for the chapter' instead of 'yay for the slinky song that is playing on the radio at this minute'. Uh, yeah, uh, here's chapter 3. Remember that I've changed Ichigo's parents' names because then the story would be extremely confusing.
Stargazer920 – Nothings wrong with believing in cooties! And you never guessed who Sakura and Nashi's cousin was! Ugh, just read, will ya?
Enjie Yekcam – Thanks, I'll see if I can fit it in somewhere! You never guessed who Sakura and Nashi's cousin was!
Mew Suika – Thanks, I'm glad you like it. Yes, 'nashi' means 'pear'. I chose the name Sakura for Sakura because I don't know what cherry is. Cherry blossom was the closest I could get, no matter how hard I tried! And you never guessed who the cousin was!
Impatient Girl – Yes, they're on their way to Japan, and now they're on their way to their cousin's home! The second week took four days, you moron! Not a week and a day! Cherries and Pears was published on 2/28/05 and chapter 2 came up on 3/2/05! That's nowhere near a week! So yes, I think you're partially insane. As for how many chapters, I'll give you a hint: there will be more than 10 chapters. And most of them will be pretty short. And you never guessed who the cousin was! …You just had spoonfuls of sugar and I just had 5 pieces of cornbread! Yay!
(My disclaimer was in chapter 2)
Cherries and Pears – Chapter 3
Sakura walked down the unoccupied road and stopped at a particular house. She read off of the resident sign over the mailbox, confirming that it was the correct place.
Her and Nashi pulled the suitcases behind them as they went down the walkway to the porch. Nashi rang the doorbell and their Aunt Miyuki and Uncle Jiro greeted the two.
"Honey, your cousins Sakura-chan and Nashi-chan are here! Come downstairs!" Aunt Miyuki called.
"I'm just finishing my homework! I'll be there in a minute! Hold on!" a voice called back down. After a few minutes, a twelve-year old girl came bounding down the stairs. She stopped at the door and examined her cousins, walking around them in circles.
"…What?" Sakura interrogated. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, nothing! I'm sorry!" the girl stopped circling them and stuck out her hand to shake Sakura's and Nashi's. "My name is Ichigo Momomiya! I got home from school a while ago and I was bored, so I was doing my homework. It's nice to meet you, Sakura-chan and Nashi-chan!"
"…It's nice to meet you too, Ichigo-chan," Sakura shook Ichigo's hand. Sakura then looked at Ichigo's dark red hair (that was tied in pigtails with red ribbon) and brown eyes, then looked at the golden bell hanging from a red ribbon tied onto Ichigo's neck. Ichigo noticed the golden locket hanging from Sakura's neck.
"Wow! That's such a pretty golden locket!" Ichigo complimented. "May I see it?"
"I… I prefer not to remove it from my neck. The picture inside is of my family, and I don't want anything to happen to it," Sakura shook her head. "Thank you for the compliment, though."
"Oh, I understand," Ichigo smiled. "Come on, let's go get your bedrooms set up!"
Ichigo took Sakura and Nashi upstairs. There were four large bedrooms. Ichigo's and Ichigo's parents were on one side of the hall, and Sakura and Nashi's were across the hall from them. Sakura's was the one across from Ichigo's bedroom, and Nashi's was the one across Ichigo's parents' bedroom.
Sakura planned to paint her now plain white walls with sakura trees and sakura blossoms and sakura petals. The wide windows in the back of the room were draped with translucent sakura-pink curtains. Sakura's bed was placed in the back corner of the room, next to the windows, and on the bed was a sakura-pink bedspread. There was a wooden desk in the opposite side of the windows with a bulletin board hung above it. On one side of the door a bookcase was placed, and two more on the opposite side of the door. Each of the bookcases was filled with Sakura's favorite novels and Sakura's own written novels. Sakura's and Sakura's mother's drawings, sketches, and paintings – all framed – were hung all over one wall and Sakura's and Sakura's pottery were displayed on a round table placed in the middle of the room. Sakura's clothes were hung up in the closet that was positioned next to the two bookcases on one side of the door.
Nashi wanted Sakura to paint her walls with green and yellow pears. Nashi's bed was placed on one side of the door and a bookcase filled with her favorite stories was placed on the other side of the door. The closet, near the bookcase, was filled with Nashi's clothes. Next to the closet was Nashi's desk, which also had a bulletin board hung above it. Next to the desk were the wide windows, which were draped with translucent pale green and yellow checkered curtains. On the walls, rather spread out, were more of her mother's framed paintings, drawings, and sketches.
"Sakura-chan, I've just enrolled you into Ichigo-chan's junior high school. You'll be in the seventh-grade class with Ichigo, all right?" Aunt Miyuki announced at dinner that night. "Nashi-chan, you'll be in the elementary school in fourth grade, okay?"
The sisters nodded and continued eating silently. Aunt Miyuki, Uncle Jiro, and Ichigo eyed the two girls cautiously, but left them alone. They didn't want to upset them anymore than they already were.
After dinner, Ichigo, Sakura, and Nashi took turns taking showers, and then they went to bed. Ichigo complimented Sakura and Nashi on their pajamas. Sakura's were a white tanktop with two red cherries connected by a green stem in the middle of it and red silk shorts. Nashi's were a pale yellow t-shirt and silk pale green shorts. Ichigo's was just a pink pajama set. At least Sakura and Nashi had imaginations.
The girls brushed their teeth and went to bed. Aunt Miyuki came upstairs, after cleaning the dishes, to kiss all of them goodnight.
"Are you and Nashi going to be comfortable living here with us?" she questioned Sakura after visiting Nashi. "You're not too cramped or feeling unwelcome? Do you miss your former home?"
"Yes, I miss my former home, but I like it just fine here," Sakura assured her.
"Well, all right," Aunt Miyuki kissed Sakura gently on the forehead before leaving for Ichigo. "Remember, tomorrow is Saturday, so we've got a few days to finish getting you girls completely settled in. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Sakura called after her, before gradually drifting off to sleep.
Author's Note: Okay peoples, in the next chapter Sakura and Nashi meet the entire gang, so keep on reading and keep on reviewing (for those of you who actually review)! Mr. Blue Button is right down there…
