December 21, 2002
3 years, 11 months, 2 days prior to Incident
"Light."
"Yes?"
"I'm bored."
"You should sleep. After all, the nurse said no walking, no reading, no watching television, no studying, no doing homework, no working on the computer, and no listening to music," Light listed aloud, "So you can't really do much of anything."
"I know that already! God, you're so annoying!" Sakura snapped.
The nurse had also told him she may be more irritable than usual, so Light remained unperturbed by her outburst. "I'm just making sure you don't hurt yourself, Sakura."
"I know... I'm sorry, I know you're trying your best." To Light's alarm, the pinkette's eyes began to fill with tears. "You're a much better friend than I deserve, Light..."
Sakura began to sniffle and rub at her eyes with her sleeved hands.
Light cleared his throat and shifted in discomfort. It was one thing to be told that she would be significantly more emotional, but an entirely different thing to actually have to witness Sakura's tears. In the almost 3 years he'd known her, Light had never once seen Sakura tear up.
Back in April, their class had watched the American movie "The Shawshank Redemption". Nearly every girl and at least two-thirds of the guys could be seen with moisture in their eyes... but not Sakura. She had remained unphased throughout the entire movie, only perking up to answer the English teacher's questions at the end of class.
That very same Sakura was now trying her best to stop her streaming tears, to no avail. Light wasn't even sure what she was crying about, but he did know that he felt miserably useless at the sight of it.
Light leaned over and tentatively patted her on the back. "That's not true at all, Sakura. Think of how much you've done for me?"
This just made her cry harder, and Light wanted to groan in frustration.
Why is she crying?!
Alright, if she couldn't be reasoned with, he would use the tried-and-true Big Brother Method and hope for the best.
This isn't Sakura, this is Sayu. Sayu's just scraped her knee and is crying. Okaa-san's out to market and otou-san's at the station. It's my duty as her big brother to comfort her.
The brunet slid onto the bed and gathered Sakura up in his arms. He methodically smoothed his hand up and down her back and murmured, "It's okay... it's fine... you're fine... I've got you…"
As the tears slowed, he tucked her head under his chin, gently rocking her back and forth as he hummed Sayu's favourite childhood lullaby. Eventually, the tears stopped flowing and Sakura drifted off to sleep, still tucked into Light's arms.
Light was left wondering if Sakura had always been this tiny.
Fuyuno Sakura - age 12, 2nd year junior high
Yagami Light - age 13, 2nd year junior high
AN
- I did some studying about concussions; apparently, they can make you grouchy and irritable, or cry easily, or have mood swings, so I incorporated it into the story.
- Unknown to Light, Sakura wasn't just crying about the current situation. The Sakaki part of her had emerged: this was about her dead parents (whom she never got to mourn), the people she's killed, the people she will kill, the hardships of living without parents, etc.
- There were Japanese subtitles while they were watching the movie, so all of the students understood what was happening.
I made a google doc for those who want to know about the deities involved in the story, or want some insight into what was happening in the very first chapter. Link is in my profile. For those who don't want to go see it, just think of buddhism, just a few details changed. (I'm still not sure if the gods will play a big part in the story, so it's as of yet unimportant.)
Candy Dream: There you go, madam, I have given you your answer. It wasn't a literal 'cutting of the string', haha.