Chapter 5 SC Training

Saturday morning finally came. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and this was usually the day of the week where Sakura would allow herself to sleep in a little bit, to catch a few Z's that she would pull off during the week. It was still early. Her alarm hadn't even sounded yet. She checked her clock. It registered 5:30. As in the land of the rising sun, the sun was already up and the light around her that everything and everyone was going to start waking up soon for the day. She didn't have to be in school until 8.

She figured that her nerves were getting into her again. Her anxiousness of what they would be facing that weekend was somewhat daunting. It was hard not to give in to it. Sakura allowed herself to lay in her bed and tell herself how silly she was being. It wasn't like she was going out to war or anything like that. It was only a leadership training that the principal wanted them to have. A simple leadership training session over the weekend.

After what seemed like forever, her clock's alarm started to blare. It was already 6 am. Sakura forced herself to get up as she turned off the alarm. She stretched to rub out some of her drowsiness away. Sakura started to fix her bed when her phone signaled that she had received a message. She looked at it and was surprised to see that the message was from Shaoran.

'…good luck on your leadership training…don't let Ryu have you do all the work, ok?...-Shaoran'

It made her smile. It was so much like him. She decided to reply, 'thanks – Sakura'

Sakura knew that there was a chance that Shaoran would reply or call having her reply to his message but for some reason, she felt that it was alright. She knew that Shaoran would eventually delete it from his phone, not that Rika ever browsed through his phone but somehow it really seemed that it was alright. If he answered, Sakura was determined to ignore the message and not answer anymore.

True enough, Shaoran answered, 'hey! Good morning! I hope I didn't wake you, well, actually that's not true. In case you decided to sleep in and not attend or something, I thought about talking you out of it.'

Sakura read his message. Idiot. She commented to herself as she sat her phone down on the table. Did Shaoran really think that I'd back out on my responsibility? But Sakura found herself smiling. At least, he's in a good mood now. Looks like he's really happy...I guess I'm really doing the right thing by avoiding him. Sakura told herself and headed to the bathroom to freshen up and prepare for the day ahead.

After, she put on her uniform and gathered her stuff then made her way downstairs. As she was walking down the stairs, she could smell the fragrance of pancakes and waffles coming from the kitchen. Her father greeted her when she entered. She smiled at him and greeted him a good morning.

"It smells great in here, 'tou-chan." Salura said as she went and got herself some fresh fruits and cut them in halves. She made some for her dad and brother too.

It didn't take long before Touya joined them at the kitchen. "It's unusual to see you up before me." Touya commented towards Sakura.

"Yeah well I've got leadership training today so I can't sleep in." Sakura answered.

They sat down and started to eat. "I've made you some lunch, Sakura. Don't forget to bring it." Fujitaka said.

Sakura smiled and thanked him. "I will be late tonight, you two. There are some things that I will be doing at the university." Fujitaka reminded them.

"I won't be home early either, Sakura. I have a part-time job from 4-9. Call me if there's something up." Touya said. Sakura nodded.

"According to the itinerary, today's sessions will finish at 5. Ryu-san called last night that it was changed. More or less, the time we are to finish would still be the same. Will you be having dinner here, 'nii-chan?" Sakura said. Touya shook his head as he brought the dirty dishes to the sink and started cleaning them.

"Well I'm off you two. Have a nice day." Fujitaka said as he got his suitcase and headed to the door. Sakura and Touya bid him goodbye before finishing with the dishes. Sakura placed the lunch her father made in her bag as they both locked the house and went their separate ways.

Sakura walked towards school. It was still 7:10 and walking to school took about 25 minutes. She knew she was early but she didn't seem to mind. Walking alone and taking in the new spring morning made her smile. The cherry blossoms were still at bloom and with the wind blowing at them, it seemed to take her troubles away for awhile. As she walked her phone started to ring. She stopped and took out her phone. She checked who was calling her that early in the morning. She was rather surprised when she realized that it was Ryu calling her.

Somehow deep inside she wished that he was calling to tell her that the training was postponed or cancelled. Yeah. She would really want that. "Hello? Ryu-san. Is there anything the matter and you are calling this early?" Sakura said, with a smile on her face.

"Oh nothing much. Are you on your way to school?"

"Yeah. Why?" Sakura asked as her subconscious mind was already celebrating as she thought that it was the moment he would be telling her that it wasn't going to happen that day.

"Nothing. I just thought we'd walk to school together." Ryu said.

Sakura was surprised and a little disappointed that she didn't get her wish. She then started to look around her and saw Ryu was standing a few meters away behind her. She smiled at him and closed her phone. She then walked towards him.

"You could have just called out." Sakura said as she approached him.

Ryu smiled at her as they started walking. "Well you seem to be in a good mood and thinking about something so I thought that calling out to you this early in the morning might just be a little too much if not noisy." Sakura started to laugh.

"Well anyway, it looks like you really are anxious as you are early like me." Sakura said to change the subject.

"You're half right."

"But I'm half wrong. So what's the other reason?"

Ryu smirked and said, "I had a feeling that you'd be early so as president and as a gentleman, I can't let a lady and a vice president wait by herself, can I?" Sakura started to laugh a little bit.

"I swear if I didn't know better I'd say there is something wrong with you guys since you are all beginning to sound such sweet-talkers. But since I know better, well I'll leave it at that." Sakura commented.

Ryu started to laugh. "Well with Shaoran finally out of the picture, can you blame us that we try and vie for your affections? You are a pretty girl." Ryu replied.

"Now you're teasing me." Sakura said as they both started to laugh.

Someone then suddenly came in between them and placed an arm around their shoulders. "It looks like everyone is happy today." Came the cheerful voice of Morimoto Shiho, the student council secretary.

"Hey Shiho." Sakura greeted.

"Hey Morimoto." Ryu said as he took off Shiho's arm from his shoulder. Shiho was the youngest among all the student council officers. She was the from the freshmen batch of the year. She was shorter than Sakura. She had red hair which was cut short. She was always very cheerful, a little childish at times but she had proven that she was quite capable in handling the office she was elected in.

As they continued walking, they were finally met up by Uchiha Kenishiro, the student council treasurer. He was tall and thin. He had short golden brown hair. He wore glasses. He could be also considered handsome in his own right. He participated in basket ball together with Ryu. He was the most serious looking among their group but his looks can deceive anyone because like most of them, he had an outgoing, fun personality. Also like Ryu, he belonged to the senior class.

Ryu Watanabe. He was a little shorter than Kenishiro but about 1/3 a foot taller than Sakura. He was part of the basket ball team in the starting line up. He was leaner than Kenishiro. He was also more outspoken than Kenishiro. He was very popular especially with the girls in school.

He belonged to the same circle of friends as with Shaoran in the senior class. Him, Shaoran and a few of their friends were considered the 'Knights of the Round Table' as they have been called by their admirers. He had silvery, blue eyes and light brown hair. He was a natural choice for the position as president.

Having their chemistry, it wasn't hard to get along with each other. They made their way to the campus building with fifteen minutes to spare. They headed straight to the principal's office as they had been instructed. When they got there, they were surprised that the Principal and another man were already there. They knew they were early but it seemed that the older men were earlier.

The Principal then said, "This is Seiji Narumi, your training instructor."

They bowed and started to introduce themselves. The very old, hunched over man just smiled at them and told them to follow him outside. They looked at each other but said nothing as they followed Narumi outside. The Principal had already entrusted them to Narumi as he did not follow anymore.

They were lead near the school's entrance where a mound of soil, cement, tools, plants, gloves and other paraphernalia were dumped. They looked at each other. Was there somebody being hired to use them to create something for the school? How come they didn't get a memo about it? They looked at each other.

Narumi looked at the materials before them and had his hands behind his back. He then turned to them. "Go and change out of your school uniforms." He suddenly said.

No one moved. They couldn't comprehend why. Narumi smiled and then showed them a large plan. "President, Watanabe-kun, you will be in charge of the water mechanics. Be sure that the fountain will flow. Vice president, Kinomoto-chan, you will be in charge of making those plants in the pots into bonsai and planting them. Secretary, Morimoto-chan, you will be in charge of re-planting all those plants and flowers in plastic into the soil around the fountain. Finally, treasurer, Uchiha-kun, you are in charge of beautifying the outer borders of the fountain using those tiles over there. This is the drawn plan for the fountain. Follow it carefully and this will be your task today. You're time limit will be five this afternoon for today. It will be too much work for today so you have until tomorrow at noon to finish this project. Good luck." Narumi said as he walked away.

"Ah, excuse me, Seiji-san we-"

Uchiha started but Narumi quickly said, "This is your task. It is a simple task. Are you telling me that you cannot do it?" Uchiha was silenced and they looked at each other. Narumi then started to walk away.

"Let's go change before we start planning how we are going to do this." Ryu suggested which everyone seemed to agree upon. They quickly changed into comfortable jeans and shirts and went back to the project given to them.

They set the bags on the grass nearby while they headed back to their tasks. "I've never planted anything in my life before." Shiho commented.

"I can show you how to replant, Shiho. After I've done the bonsai, we can replant them together." Sakura said. She laid a reassuring hand on Shiho's shoulder.

Shiho looked at her, "You know how to plant?"

Sakura smiled at her. "Yeah, my dad showed me when I was little. I help him tend the garden. But I don't exactly know how to do bonsai. I've seen it done but I haven't done it before. I'm afraid of killing the plant." Sakura answered.

"Well just do your best, Sakura. If you've seen it done, I believe that you can do it. I don't know about Ryu but I've never really used cement before or tiling but I've seen it done. All we can do is do our best. We learn from there." Kenishiro said.

Sakura smiled and nodded. "Well I guess we just have to make this as a learning process. Landscaping is not my thing so let's just do what we can, you guys. Speak up if you need some help and we'll see what we can do together." Ryu said as he started to go over the plan. He and Kenishiro were in charge of the base of the project. They had to coordinate.

While the guys started to assemble the base, Sakura showed Shiho how to replant. When Shiho was more confident, she knew that she had to wait a little bit for Ryu and Kenishiro to finish what at least a part of it so that she would start replanting them in the soil. She just looked at the plan and started to go over her head how to prioritize which plant goes where or which flower goes where so that she would be able to work faster and more efficient.

Sakura, on the other hand, started with the bonsai. Even if she only had to do five plants, it was a daunting task. Just creating one required four-five hours at least in expert hands but she was required to do five in 13 hours all in all. She took a deep breath and started. There was no other way. It was better to start than let the hindrance stop her. Seiji Narumi believed in her, believed that she could do it so she thought, yeah, maybe I really could.

They started working when water started to spray all over them. Sakura, Kenishiro and Shiho quickly stood and ran a little bit farther. They weren't that soaked but they were wet.

"Ryu!" Kenishiro and Sakura exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. I was trying to fix the water pipes for the fountain." Ryu said when he closed the faucet and approached them. He wasn't spared too. He was as wet as all of them.

They headed to their bags and got out their towels to wipe them dry. They finally knew why they were asked to bring. Shiho then took out her camera and said, "Well, as the secretary, I'm in charge of documentation. How about having a picture?"

"While we're still wet?" Kenishiro said.

"Why not? Documentation would be authentic that way." Shiho answered as she clicked the timer of the camera and positioned for the picture.

After, Shiho took the camera and placed it around her neck as they went back to work. Every now and then she would take shots while they worked. She still couldn't start hers since Ryu and Kenishiro were still applying the final decorative boulders and were waiting for the cement to dry.

It was actually only Sakura who was actually working none stop. Bonsai was really a big task. Sakura even surprised herself that she was able to finish two before lunch started.

"Ok, now I'm just hoping that I didn't kill those plants. We won't know that until a few days have passed." Sakura said as she joined them where they were standing and checking the product of their labor so far.

It was already twelve in the afternoon. They decided to have lunch. When they were about to go there, Ryu slipped and injured his arm. They quickly went to his side and Sakura looked at the injury, "It's not deep. It's just a scrape." She then took out her handkerchief and wrapped it around his cut. Ryu thanked Sakura as Kenishiro offered him a hand to get up. Shiho, all the while, just took pictures of what was happening.

"I'm sure you did fine. As long as you didn't take out all the roots, I think it's ok." Ryu said.

"I guess you're right." Sakura commented. He smiled at her. They walked back to their bags and took out their lunch. They sat on the grass, under a tree and decided to have lunch there.

When Sakura opened her lunch, she was surprised that her father had made the effort in putting in all her favorite food items there. She smiled. Shiho noticed and peered over a little and said, "It looks good. You made that yourself?"

Sakura smiled and replied, "I was about to but my dad already did it for me before he went to work this morning. It was my turn to cook breakfast but dad took it instead."

"Really? Cool! My dad doesn't even know how to cook." Shiho said as she sat back down and ate her lunch.

Sakura laughed as Ryu and Kenishiro grinned. They knew that Sakura had already lost her mother and that her father was the only one who was taking care of her and her brother. Sakura offered to share her food with others as they all offered each other theirs.

Sakura took out her phone and told them to smile as she took a picture of all of them. They had fun during the break they allotted themselves. They took wacky pictures, simple pictures.

In Ryu's phone, he had a picture of him and Sakura. She asked him to pass the picture to her, which he did. They laughed and talked as they gathered their trash and fixed their lunch boxes and replaced them. Their mood was light and re-energized as they went back to work after 30 minutes of break.

From the building, Narumi kept his eye on them. He couldn't help but smile. He had dealt with people who ranged from adolescence to adults. They would always contradict and fight him because they came for training but he would have them do seemingly crazy and unrelated things. This group before him wanted to fight back but instead of having wasted their time in arguing or simply rebelling, they came together and actually started.

"They have great potential." Narumi suddenly said. He knew that his friend was there. The Principal stood next to him and looked at his students outside working.

"Yes. They have much potential. They will be able to blaze their own paths." He commented.

"Indeed they will. Well the morning is still young. Let us see how far they are willing to go." Narumi said as he went to sit. There was a hot cup of tea in front of him. He took it and started to drink it.

(to be continued…)

I know you are also wondering what kind of leadership training they found themselves into. I hope that you continue to journey with me to find out. Thanks for those who read and sent in their reviews. Thanks.

Michiko