Chapter Thirteen
"I heard Haruno Sakura is back," said Nikaido Yuu as he barged into Tsukasa's office unannounced.
"She is indeed," smiled the headmaster of the school.
"Put her in my class, or I quit," he demanded, his eyes narrowing at the man behind the desk.
"Of course," nodded Tsukasa. "I was planning to place her in your class all along, after the fuss you put up last time," he chuckled.
"Good," sighed Nikaido. "I don't know how much longer I could survive a class full of idiots."
{-}
"She's here," a tiny voice said to an empty room.
The Chara floated around before perching on a desk and sighed.
It was a female Chara, with black hair and dark grey eyes. Her hair was long, and all flipped over to the left side of her head, a large silver circlet looping around her head, under the flip of hair. On the right side of the circlet was a multi-coloured triskel, each of the three swirls a different colour – one red, one blue, and one green – and the centre was gold.
She wore a black dress with a shoulder sleeve that flicked off her right shoulder, the left side of her torso uncovered by the dress, but clothed in a light grey tank top. The skirt of the dress had three silver hoops that held the material out in a bell-shape, which stopped at her knee. On her feet were light grey boots.
Someone entered the room, spotting the Chara out of her egg instantly.
"Is your owner back?" the person asked.
The Chara said nothing. She merely looked out of the window and, for the first time since hatching, smiled.
{-}
Sakura dropped her bags in the doorway, surveying her new home.
While Tsukasa had left Gakure the day after they had spoken, Sakura had requested to stay until after Christmas. It was an extra two weeks that she got to spend with her old friends, saying her goodbyes and making sure not to miss anyone out this time. She spent time with Sasuke and Naruto, and Ino and Hinata.
She would have spent time with Gaara, too, but he seemed to have gone almost underground after their talk. Over the last two weeks of her living in Gakure, she barely saw him. It worried her to no end, but Sasori, Kankuro and Temari had assured her that he was fine, that she had nothing to concern herself with. He was there for her send-off, but it seemed that the thought of her leaving again so soon was a little too much for him.
Her new home was actually rather spacious, with a kitchen that stretched into a dining room, living room and one bathroom on the ground floor, and five bedrooms and another bathroom on the first floor. The big furniture was already in place – sofa, tables, chairs, cooker, television, fridge, freezer, etc. The walls throughout were white and in desperate need of decorating, and the flooring around the apartment was wood. Though, with some giddy joy, Sakura discovered that she had a basement – something she happily moved her boxed into once they were empty.
What confused Sakura, however, was the fact that she was moved into a house rather than an apartment. More so, it was also a house with five partially-furnished bedrooms – each had a bed and wardrobe, but were plain and bare aside from that. Deciding to leave the other four rooms alone, Sakura wondered for a moment if she was going to have roommates – it would make more sense than her getting the place to herself, after all.
Her Charas had settled in, after making a deal with Sakura that they wouldn't go see anyone until Sakura had revealed herself. So, the would-be-selves were busying themselves by playing hide-and-seek and familiarising themselves with the new apartment. Smiling, Sakura got started on her first box, carrying it to the kitchen and beginning to unpack.
"Hey, Katsumi?" called Mitsu, pausing and frowning. "Do you feel that?"
"Feel what?" asked the red Chara, confused. Setsuko and Mari joined the two to see what was wrong.
"I feel like something's missing," she told them. The other Charas exchanged looks, Mari shrugging.
"Maybe you miss Pein?" suggested Setsuko, tilting her head delicately. Mitsu hummed, concentrating, before shaking her head.
"No, that's not it," she assured. "It feels like it does when one of you goes away – like something's missing."
"I'm sure it's nothing," Mari shrugged and Mitsu nodded, though she wasn't completely convinced.
"I can't wait to see Yoru again!" squealed Katsumi. "It's been so long!"
"Not long enough," grumbled the green Chara. "At least we'll see Daichi soon."
"I wonder," smiled Setsuko mysteriously.
"Wonder what?" asked Mitsu.
"Stop being so vague!" growled Mari. Setsuko sighed and, where she less of a lady, she may have rolled her eyes.
"I wonder who Saku-chan will go to see first," she elaborated. "Ikuto?"
"She could find the Guardians first," Katsumi pointed out. "Amu, Yaya, and the others."
"Maybe she'll try to find Kukai?" added Mari.
"Actually," Sakura cut in, smiling and holding her phone in her hand, "the first thing I'm going to do is call Kairi. I didn't get a chance to visit him, because I didn't know he was so close by, so I think it's only fair to call him now." She turned away from her Charas, pulling out her phone and dialling his number, waiting for him to pick up.
"...Hello?" came the voice from the other end and Sakura grinned.
"Hi, Kairi," she replied, "it's Sakura."
"But, but –" he gasped and Sakura raised an eyebrow, "I am still not worthy!"
{-}
After her strange phone call with Kairi, Sakura finished unpacking her stuff in her new home. It seemed a little smaller with all her stuff set up, but she still couldn't find anything to fill the four other bedrooms and found it very peculiar that she, on her own, was given a five-bedroom house. Still, she decided not to question it further for the moment and decided to simply make some dinner, eat, watch a movie, and go to bed. The next three days went the same, though a few calls were made and received from her friends in Gakure. All-in-all, Sakura was getting extremely bored.
Then it was New Years.
Her kimono was two-part – a shirt and a skirt – and grassy in colour, decorated with lighter green vines and plum blossoms. The obi around her kimono was yellow, with orange padding behind it, tied with a lighter yellow obijime, all of which had no pattern. On her feet she wore white tabi and black sandals, both plain. Looking at herself for a moment, Sakura decided to pin back the top layer of her hair – minus two locks, which lay on either side of her face – and curled the rest, leaving it to hang to just above her waist.
"Happy New Years, Saku-chan!" cheered her Charas as they appeared around her, carrying her cream, faux fur shawl.
Sakura smiled happily, wrapping her shawl around her shoulders, before turning to look into her new home. She sighed slightly, biting her lip as she looked at the walls, floors, and the scattered pictures and trinkets that showed the house was inhabited. The pinkette almost lost her nerve, almost ran back into her room to change and spend New Year inside. That is, until she looked at her sofa.
Propped up against the pillows was a dark blue, plush cat. The very same one she had bought from Yaya, and was teased about by Ikuto. The cat she had privately – top secretly – named Iku-chan.
Her stomach dropped as Sakura stared at Iku-chan and remembered Ikuto letters. Something was wrong, and she needed to see him, if only to confirm that he was okay.
With that thought in mind, Sakura checked her bag, making sure she had the item she had dug out of her old belonging a few weeks ago, and left her house in the direction of the temple, her Charas following closely behind her.
{-}
It was quiet, and dark.
A figure hid in the shadows, pressed against a wall with their eyes closed.
Dark blue eyes opened when the figure heard voices.
"The girl is back in town," a faceless voice drifted into the space.
"Me too," another responded. "You think the boss'll move forward with the plan now?"
"Who knows?" said the first voice. "I hope so, though! It'll be amazing!"
"I know, right?" laughed the other. "Haruno Sakura was a force to be reckoned with!"
Ikuto looked up in recognition, a longing stirring from deep within his heart, and a primal need to protect, but he was tired. So very tired.
Dark blue eyes closed again, and all was quiet.
The shadow shifted.
He was gone.
{-}
The temple hadn't changed. It looked pretty much the same as it always had, the handful of times Sakura had been there.
People were milling about, taking their yearly fortune from the tree. Everyone looked wonderful in their Kimonos, but Sakura wasn't there for the sights, she was looking for someone. A group of people, actually.
In a circle, bowing and wishing each other a happy New Year, was the group Sakura was looking for.
She took a small step towards them, pausing when she noted a new, but still familiar, face amongst them.
"Nagihiko-san?" she muttered, taking in the male-version of Nadeshiko within the Guardians.
She looked from him to Tadase, to Rima, to Amu, and finally to Yaya. Tears gathered in her eyes and she felt nervous. She had missed them so much – well, she had missed Yaya so much, and felt vaguely put-out about the lack of the other three. Still, Sakura was nervous about how they would react to seeing her again. She hadn't meant to, but she had ignored their calls and letters throughout the entire time she lived in Gakure.
"Katsumi!" someone yelled in surprise. "Setsuko! Mari! Mitsu!"
Sakura froze, knowing the voices that called to her Charas. The was the Guardians' Chara, and now she was exposed. There was no running, no hiding, no rethinking.
"Sakura-chan?" Yaya asked in a whisper, looking over at the pinkette. She received a weak smile in return.
"I'm home."
All at once, she was tackled by what her muddled mind thought were voices, but it was really Yaya hugging her and the other Guardians surrounding her, offering greetings and questioning her about her disappearing act. Sakura could see that her Charas were receiving the same treatment.
Her eyes watery and her lips quivering, Sakura latched onto Yaya like a lifeline.
"I missed you so much!" she sobbed into the orangette's shoulder. Everyone else went quiet at this admission, no one moving a muscle.
"We missed you too, Sakura," said Amu after a moment, moving in to join the hug.
"It wasn't the same without you, Haruno-san," agreed Tadase, not hugging the girl, but placing his hand on her shoulder.
"I have missed your random, sometimes overly convenient appearances in Guardian matters. They were always impeccably timed," Rima said tonelessly.
"Ah, Sakura-san!" smiled Nagihiko, trying to glimpse the girl inside the hug. "I was wondering where you'd gone to."
{-}
Ikuto stood in the meeting with Lulu and Director Hoshina, barely listening at the girl placed all the blame for her failure on him. He didn't care anymore. He had more important things on his mind. He even managed to tune out Yoru arguing with Lulu's Chara, Nana.
He stood silently as she stormed out, and didn't say a word throughout Director Hoshina's lecture about how he was trapped, never to escape the choking grip that was Easter. He should care, he should feel rebellious, rage, anything, but he's too tired, and too occupied to care.
Yoru should be about done now, anyway.
"I know," he managed to say when Director Hoshina was finished. "I'm going home."
There was so much he wanted to say to this man after what he had heard in the Easter building mere hours ago.
Is she really back?
Where is she?
Is she okay?
Don't touch her.
Don't ruin her life again.
Leave Sakura alone.
She doesn't deserve this.
She deserves so much more.
Ikuto is silent as he excuses himself, silent as he walks out of the Easter building, and silent as he aimlessly wanders the streets.
"It worked, nya!" cheered Yoru, popping up beside him, holding a key. "The key to the violin case!"
Smirking, Ikuto allowed himself a moment of victory. He had beaten the director, tricked him into thinking he had submit to Easter, when really he was just being a little sneakier about his rebellious behaviour.
Sakura was back, he could feel it, and he would protect her against Easter.
'Please be okay.'
{-}
They had spent the day just having fun, really. Something Sakura had missed doing with them.
They wandered around the shops, they read their fortunes – Great Luck for Amu, Average Luck for Yaya, Small Luck for Rima and Nagihiko, and Great Misfortune for Tadase and Sakura, the former of whom was distressed, the latter of whom shrugged it off – and they teased Tadase about him complimenting Amu's kimono.
"So she just took away your phone?" asked Yaya, her jaw dropped.
"Just like that," nodded Sakura.
The two girls were walking around town together, just catching up. The whole group was originally present, but Tadase and Nagihiko had excused themselves early due to family traditions. Amu and Rima had stayed a while, until they had walked by the park and Rima saw something that she had declared 'an insult to performance' and she had stormed off in that direction, Amu trailing behind her to try and minimise the damage.
"You must've been so lonely, Sakura-chan!" pouted the younger girl, trying to imagine how Sakura felt, but that just made her want to cry. "No wonder you came back!"
"Well, it wasn't all bad," Sakura frowned. "I have a lot of friends there, and I'll miss them very much. I even started up a new group there, like the Guardians, but mostly for teaching Chara bearers what it means to have a Chara, and what to expect as they grow up. There's an adult in Gakure whose older than your dad, and he still has one of his Charas!"
"That's amazing!" smiled Yaya, clapping her hands. "It sounds like you did good there, Sakura-chan."
"I'll miss them all a lot, but..." the pinkette trailed off, looking around the street they were on, "I finally feel like I'm home."
"You are home, Sakura," a voice said from down the street.
Sakura turned and gasped, instantly running to the person and hugging him.
"I missed you!" she cried. "How did you know I was here?"