As Rei opened the door of his apartment after another long successful mission he began to reflect on his conversation with Prince earlier. She had sounded distracted over the phone and this had worried him. He hoped that everything with the new and improved Eden was going well. God forbid things spiraled into the mess things were five years ago. He doubted that they would be able to repair the damage if they did.
As he walked to the bathroom to bathe the day away before going to keep watch on Sakura he wondered how she was doing today. His plan to put on a firework show after she had been upset about a poor report at school had worked and he had enjoyed seeing that spark she had when she was ready to get things done. Although she had always been a spunky kid she had turned into a real beauty in these five years. He enjoyed watching her grow and seeing how little she had changed, she would always be his Sakura. The one who had saved him from the darkness within himself. He could never possibly repay her and he never wanted to put her in danger again. He knew that there would be times that he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on her, but most of his waking time when he wasn't on missions was spent hiding and gazing at the beautiful raven haired women she had turned into. Sometimes he felt such longing for the way things used to be when she refused to leave his side, and if he was honest with himself he missed having her sleep in his bed. Even though at the time he hadn't appreciated what she was doing.
After getting dressed in a plain pair of jeans and a t-shirt with the glasses that he now wore when he was on what he considered "Sakura Patrol" and left. He looked forward to his time watching her more and more these days. It had never been easy to only watch especially once she moved back into the shibuya mansion to spend some time with her real parents. He longed to be able to visit her while she had been there so that they could relive their experiences there without the constant threat of being attacked. He knew he could never enter her life again however because his was a nonexistent. He also knew that taking the decision away from her was also wrong, but he could never ask or want her to live that kind of life. She had so much going for her now and he was insanely proud of the fact that she was going to be a doctor. It was just like her to pick a profession where she saves lives.
As he walked up to a small park across from Sakura's favorite café he saw her sitting at a table by the window and sipping a coffee. She was by herself today and looked like she was lost in thought. Today she was wearing a white summer dress that offset her beautiful hair. As she got up to leave he got ready to follow her from a distance. He knew she felt his presence and that she knew that he watched her to keep her safe. He had noticed recently that whenever she felt him near she would furrow her brow and look lost in thought. He could tell that for the past few weeks something had been bothering her. He hoped that everything was going well at home and at school.
As he followed her he noticed that she was getting a lot of male attention and had to stomp down a glimmer of jealousy. He knew he had no right to be jealous of those around her, but the thought of someone thinking of Sakura that way made him uneasy. He was well aware of her age now and that she had been in college for two years now. He also knew that she had put off dating not to hurt his feelings, it made him feel selfish but he was also relived that he hadn't had to watch her fall in love with another man.
Suddenly Sakura stopped moving, forcing Rei to dunk behind a corner so as not to be seen. As he watched Sakura look around and walk up to a good looking guy standing close to where he was hiding. He wondered what she was doing and if this person was a friend of hers or maybe a class mate.
"Excuse me sir, but would you be interested in going on a date with me?" Sakura asked the man. She couldn't believe how bold she was being, but once she decided to do something she did it. She hated that Rei was more than likely going to witness this and she hated that it was probably going to hurt him. She just couldn't do it anymore, Rei was so determined to give her a life that he thought she should have that he never stopped to think about what kind of life she may actually want. She couldn't just wait around until he reached his code end. They should have never made that deal to begin with and should have enjoyed the time they had left. Code end comes to all power users after all and Rei would someday be consumed by the 7 demons of hell.
"Wow, that was really bold. You know what though? I like that in a woman, of course I will go out with you, but first tell me your name." He replied.
After years of being prim and proper Sakura no longer cared for proper names. "You can call me Sakura, just Sakura." She told the guy.
"Well Just Sakura, my name is just Dai. How about a movie say Friday? If you give me your number we can work out the details later." Dai replied. He couldn't believe his luck, it's not every day a beautiful woman randomly asks you out.
From the alleyway hiding in the shadows Rei couldn't believe the exchange he was hearing. He never thought that Sakura would be so bold as to ask someone out. Now this strange man was going to take out his Sakura and on a date of all things. As he hid he could feel the jealousy rear its ugly head. He didn't want this person anywhere near his woman. Then he stood shocked, since when had he ever thought of her as his. He knew that wasn't fair, but he couldn't help it. He wanted so badly for her to have a normal life, but just the thought that she could be sharing that life with someone else made him want to panic.
"So it finally happened did it?" Rei heard from deeper in the shadows. There lurking with a cigarette in his hand was Toki. Quietly watching Rei's reaction to watching Sakura making her first move to take control of her life he thought to himself that Rei had to know that this day would come someday. He silently cheered Sakura on watching her grow up and realize that Rei was going to need a kick in the ass to realize that him and Sakura couldn't go on living this way. Prince had already spoken to him about her meeting with Sakura and how frustrated and depressed she had been. Sakura was grown up and Rei was still treating her like a child. Toki himself had tried to ask Sakura out on a few occasions to which her reply had always been that she could never hurt Rei that way. Ogami was just going to have to take his head out of his ass and realize that she wasn't going to just wait for him forever. Code end comes to us all so you should live it up while you can.
"Shut up Toki, I'm sure that she's just asking him out as friend. He's not her type anyways." Rei griped. Although he knew it was more than that. He began to understand all of those worried looks when he was watching her. She always could tell when he was there, even if she never caught sight of him.
"You are an idiot Ogami." Toki said as he turned to go. "Heike wants to see us. He wants a report on your last mission." As Toki walked he knew he was going to have a heart to heart with Ogami later. He didn't want to be the one to tell Ogami like it was, but he couldn't stand to see the longing on his friends face anymore. Sakura had been growing restless as well and the last time he saw her she did not act like herself. The fact that she had been so bold to ask someone out in front of Ogami was all the evidence that she had reached her breaking point with that childish pact they had made all those years ago.
Rei watched Sakura finish her conversation with the man for a moment more before turning away to follow Toki. He was worried about Sakura and about how this was going to go down. He didn't want to lose her. She was all he had and for the past five years watching her from a distance had become his life. The thought that he could lose her to some random man on the street was almost unbearable. He would have to watch her for the next couple of days to see what her plans were.
While this internal battle was going on Toki suddenly stopped walking as a Table appeared in the distance on the sidewalk outside the opposite end of the alley way. Heike must have gotten tired of waiting for us Toki thought. He must have used Yuuki's sound to locate them so that he could set this all up. He was going to have to have a talk with Heike as well about Sakura later after Rei left.
"Nice of you two to finally show." Heike murmured from inside his book. He knew exactly what Rei had been doing with his afternoon. "How's Sakura, Rei? Has her flower blossomed yet?" He teased Ogami. However Rei was too lost in thought to take the bait. After what Prince had told them about Sakura and her decision to finally date, Rei's state certainly didn't surprise Heike at all. He had even been in contact with Sakura's biological mother just to confirm that Sakura had been off lately. She had become a part of the team and an important one at that, thought if Rei ever found that out they would certainly have a situation on their hand. They could not afford to have two of their members distracted.
"Rei, how did the job go? Find out any useful information?" Heike inquired. Things had certainly been troubling lately. Typically crime from power users wasn't high and they rarely had to call Sakura in to help subdue and capture any criminals, but recently there had been a spike in occurrences. Usually those with special abilities wanted to keep it a secret and only attacked when provoked or to protect someone precious. However even power users are only human and all human hearts have the ability to turn to evil. He was going to have to put together a team with Sakura soon once they found out what ability and if the crimes were in fact being done by those with abilities. His instincts were telling him that he was right though and he would have to plan ahead. What a shame he thought that he could not put his two most powerful together. Sakura and Ogami would make an ideal team for these missions with her ability to suck power and his ability to burn all.
"I did. It appears that someone had rounded up a gang of power users and has been using them to commit various crimes throughout the city. Right now they are mostly hitting up banks, but some are selling their services to the yakuza. There have been several causalities, but their abilities and numbers are unknown. " Rei explained. "I'll need to do more work to find out their hideout."
"Those won't be necessary. Good work on getting as much information as you did. Stand by until I put you on your next assignment." Heike knew that this situation was going to be troublesome. He was now going to have to find some busy work for Rei to do so that they could move Sakura and a team to wherever the power users were hiding. With her ability control she was able to subdue more and more people without becoming lost making her the most powerful rare kind alive. She was the only one they could use for this without taking high causalities and Heike was not willing to risk his people on this trash. "Go home and get some rest now Rei. You look pale." He knew however that Ogami's shocked expression was from Sakura. She must have already made her move to start asking people out. This was going to be interesting to watch unfold.
As Rei left he got the feeling that his friends knew more than they were letting on, but he shook it off. He had been sure that no one had contact with Sakura. He had been careful not to let the code breakers anywhere near Sakura and he was sure that they would not do anything to put her in harm's way. She was after all their friend too and had shown them all love.