Lonely Shugo II - Chapter 15

As it turned out, staying with the Sabaku siblings was very loud.

Though Sasori was her official guardian, Temari was the one acting like the parent while the oldest sibling was more like the wise old uncle who would pop in every now and then with some off-the-wall advice. Kankuro was the older brother she never had, nor wanted, and Gaara… Well, Gaara was another story all together.

“I’m leaving!” Sakura called, pulling her shoes on at the door.

“Hold on one second, young lady!” yelled Temari, storming over. Her face was like thunder as she pulled something out from behind her back. “You can’t leave without your lunch!” she chirped, the ‘something’ turning out to be a lunch box.

“O-Oh, thanks, Temari-nee,” Sakura smiled, taking the lunch.

“You also can’t leave without Gaara,” she added, pushing her youngest brother towards Sakura.

“Huh?” the pinkette asked, confused, as she took in the sight of Gaara in the male version of her school uniform.

“I do attend school, Sakura,” Gaara smirked, walking ahead of her.

“Have fun you two!” Temari yelled after them before turning to kick Kankuro out the door, off to Middle School.

“I know that,” she huffed, “It just didn’t occur to me that you might be going to my school.”

“There’s not really another school nearby,” he shrugged. “Are you…okay with us being here?”

“Honestly?” she sighed. “It’s a little strange, but I’m really glad. I was so worried that I’d just be cut off from everyone again when I left Gakure. I’d miss you all too much.”

“When Sasori told me he’d gotten a job here, and that we were moving to be with you, I… I was happy, but I wasn’t sure how you’d react,” he admitted and Sakura smiled, holding his arm.

“I’m glad you’re here, Gaara,” she told him, and they continued their walk to school in silence.

“So, GaaSaku is becoming another possibility,” hummed Setsuko, before she shook her head. “It doesn’t have the same ring to it. Sakuto just seems…right.”

“Oh please,” scoffed Mari. “Ikuto hasn’t shown his whiskers since we came back, but Kukai’s been around constantly. Sakukai all the way!” she announced as she and Setsuko turned to Katsumi for a tie-breaker. The red Chara merely grinned cheekily.

“Sakuhiko,” she giggled. The three began yelling at each other, arguing over while pairing would be ultimately better, but then Setsuko noticed that their youngest sister had yet to comment. She turned, looking for the gold Chara, before frowning.

“Where did Mitsu go?” she asked, her sister going quiet instantly.

{-}

On the other side of town, Mitsu was floating around with a frown on her face, following the pull she felt in her heart. She felt like she was missing something, and the only way to find it was to follow this feeling. She heard hissing coming from an alleyway and turned, her heart leaping up to her throat in fear.

“I-Ikuto?” she ventured a guess, hoping that it was the familiar boy with her slave – err, Yoru, tagging along. A cat leapt out of the alley and Mitsu squealed, flying away quickly.

She stopped on the next street, catching her breath, when something in a window caught her eye. It was a Chara, with black hair and grey eyes, and she was watching her. Frowning, Mitsu felt a connection flare between them.

“Y-You…”

{-}

“And we will be doing partnered projects,” Nikaido announced. “I will read out your partnerships, and I want these projects completed by the end of next week.”

Sakura zoned out for a moment, keeping an ear out for her name, but she was too worried about Mitsu to focus. Apparently, the gold Chara had wandered off on her walk to school, none of the others seeing her go or noticing which way she had gone. The pinkette knew she was okay, she just had a feeling that she was, but she was still worried nonetheless.

When Mari had gotten lost, the pinkette was at least comforted by the idea that she was with Suu and the two could look after each other. Mitsu was all alone, and no one knew where to even begin looking for her. Sighing in sheer frustration, Sakura looked down at her notebook, her eyes widening when she noticed what she had been doodling.

It was a picture of Ikuto.

“Haruno Sakura and Hinamori Amu,” Nikaido called, the two pinkettes glancing at each other. Sakura offered Amu a small smile as she tore the page out of her notebook and crumpled it up, stuffing it in her bag. Amu, meanwhile, was panicking.

‘I can’t take her to my house to do the project!’ she worried, ‘Ikuto will be there, and then she’ll hate me! Maybe we could do it at her house? Where does she even live now?’

The bell rung and Nikaido wrapped up the class, Sakura approaching Amu.

“Hey, could we do the project at your house?” she requested, not noticing the look on Amu’s face. “My place is kinda crowded. Would tonight be okay?”

“T-T-Tonight?” Amu stuttered, trying to think up excuses.

“Yeah,” nodded Sakura. “I know you have Guardian duties, but I was thinking later on? Maybe after dinner?”

‘After dinner?’ Amu repeated in her head. ‘That’ll give me plenty of time to hide Ikuto! My parents are out, too, so we can just stay downstairs!’

“Uhh, Amu?” Sakura called, worried when the taller girl zoned out.

“Y-Yeah,” Amu chirped. “Tonight will be great. Come to mind around six?”

“Sounds good,” smiled Sakura, tilting her head to see Gaara waiting for her at the door to the classroom. “See you later, Amu!”

“See you later!”

“So, you’re working with Hinamori-san?” Gaara asked with a raised eyebrow. He was in the other class, so they weren’t going to be working together on anything, really.

“Yeah,” Sakura sighed. “It should be fun. We never really got close, so this could be our chance to be better friends.”

“Or a complete disaster,” Gaara smirked. “From what you’ve told me, every time the two of you get closer, something happens to screw everything up.”

“…That’s more likely,” agreed Sakura with a small laugh. She glanced behind her subtly, making sure Katsumi, Setsuko and Mari were there. When she saw all three, she mentally sighed in relief. She would need to think of some way to ditch Gaara and go out looking for Mitsu.

“So, I’ve got to do a project with a guy from my class,” Gaara interrupted her planning. “He said to just come over straight after school,” he added, nodding to a boy waiting at the gates. “Is that alright?”

“You’ll be fine getting home after?” asked Sakura.

“Yes, I think I know the way back by now,” Gaara nodded. “I’ll see you later?”

“I’ll be at Amu’s later,” Sakura corrected, “but I’ll see you at home this evening.”

“See you then,” he smirked, walking over to the other boy. Sakura was relieved that she didn’t have to lie or come up with some random excuse to not see him.

After making a quick stop at her home to change, Sakura was back out on the street, searching for Mitsu. Her Charas surrounded her, trying to sense their younger sister, but were having minimal luck.

“Come on, Mitsu,” Sakura whispered, “Where are you?”

After hours of searching, Sakura realised that she was going to be late meeting up with Amu. The last thing she wanted was for the other pinkette to get involved, so she turned and headed towards Amu’s house. When she arrived, she hadn’t even knocked before Amu was calling out to her.

“Sakura!” Amu yelled, getting her attention. The taller pinkette was panicking – she hadn’t hidden Ikuto yet.

“Oh, I thought you would be home by now,” Sakura said, surprised.

“Yeah, but there was this thing going on with this cat-eared girl,” Amu shrugged, not noting the way Sakura’s eyes smile faltered when she said ‘cat-eared’.

“I heard about that,” Setsuko nodded. “She thinks she’s some sort of super heroine, correct?”

“Yep,” nodded Miki. “She’s nice, but a little misguided.”

“Isn’t everyone?” giggled Katsumi.

“What’s with the food?” she asked, glancing at the taiyaki bag. Amu just laughed nervously as she unlocked her door and stepped inside, freezing as soon as she saw her home. “Uhh, Amu?”

There, in her living room, wrapped up in strings of yarn, was Ikuto and Yoru.

Sakura was behind her, she being the only thing blocking the smaller pinkette and Ikuto.

Sometimes, Amu felt like someone was out to get her.

“W-W-W-W-W-Wait out here, Sakura!” she yelled suddenly, darting inside and slamming the door behind her.

“Huh?” Sakura tilted her head, confused. She turned to her Charas, all of whom just shrugged, echoing her confusion.

“Now just one second,” Amu growled, standing with her hands on her hips and glaring like a demon. “Just what the heck are you two playing around for?”

“…Crap,” Ikuto and Yoru muttered.

{-}

When Amu opened the door again, Sakura stepped inside and raised an eyebrow.

“I can see why you shut the door on me, but don’t people usually try to clean up a little if they’re embarrassed about their house?” Sakura asked, surveying the room. It wasn’t that bad, really, it just seemed to be all tangled in yarn.

“I was just surprised!” Amu lied. “I guess Ami made a mess after I left for school, and I didn’t know about it,” she laughed nervously. Sakura shrugged and looked around.

“Looks like the kind of mess a cat would make,” observed Mari, raising an eyebrow and not noticing how Amu tensed up.

“Did you get a pet, Amu?” asked Katsumi, agreeing with her sister.

“No, it must have been Ami,” she insisted. Sakura merely shrugged, going along with the lie.

“Want some help cleaning up?”

{-}

Ikuto sat upstairs, frozen, his eyes wide.

He could hear her, hear her voice. Sakura was downstairs, talking and laughing with Amu, oblivious that he was anywhere nearby. Amu was hiding him from her.

The teen wondered at that for a moment. Amu seemed to panic when she saw him there, and shoved him upstairs without a second word. She didn’t want Sakura to see him, and while he knew it would be strange for him to be in Amu’s house, he didn’t know why the taller pinkette was so dead-set on keeping Sakura oblivious.

He stood, pressing his ear to the door, and sighed.

He could hear her voice.

{-}

When Amu’s parents came home, thankfully after they had finished cleaning, Sakura attempted to leave. They hadn’t really gotten to work on their project yet, but she knew they had plenty of time. Still, the moment she mentioned leaving, Amu’s mother was having none of it.

“I insist you stay for dinner, and I’ll drive you home after,” she said, and there was no arguing with that. So, Sakura had called Sasori to let him know what was going on.

“Are we still alright to study down here?” Sakura asked Amu, eyeing Ami on the sofa watching Cat’s Ear on the TV. Her Charas were with Amu’s, watching TV with Ami and joining in on her playing. Sakura smiled at the sight.

“It’ll probably get too noisy down here,” her mother interrupted. “You two should just go study up in Amu’s room. I’ll call you down when dinner’s ready.”

“M-My room?” Amu yelped, her brain shutting down just when she needed it to think of an excuse.

“Yes, Amu,” her mother nodded. “Go on now.”

“C’mon,” Sakura prompted. “We should be able to at least get a basic plan done tonight.”

“Y-Yeah,” Amu sighed, leading Sakura upstairs. She paused outside her door and banged her fist on it. “Well, this is my room. I will now enter it with Sakura, and we will be able to study without anyone being in there to cause any trouble!” she yelled. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

“Everything okay, Amu?” she asked as Amu smiled slightly.

“I hope so,” she replied, opening her door. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw no sign of Ikuto, though she briefly wondered where he was hiding.

{-}

Ikuto watched from a gap in the closet door as Sakura sat with Amu on the bed, books on their laps.

She hadn’t changed much.

Her hair still fell to the bottom on her shoulder blades, just as pink as the last time he saw it, and her eyes were still bright green and beautiful.

Still, he noticed a sadness in her posture that he had only seen once before.

When he had walked away from her.

}-{

"Ikuto," she breathed; this one quiet word was enough to draw him out of his own mind.

His fingers stilled, and Sakura wished for the sake of the beautiful music he was creating that she had not said a word.

"Sakura," he said, almost confused by her sudden appearance. His eyes glanced around, and he seemed surprised to see the setting sun. She wondered how long he'd been here, playing to an audience of trees and grass.

A moment of still silence passed between them as they just looked at each other.

Sakura opened her mouth to talk.

Ikuto picked up his violin case and turned to leave.

She watched him go, her mouth still agape and her eyes wide. All she could see was his back as he walked away from her. Tears filled her eyes – he was walking away.

}-{

He shook his head, banishing the memory, and he sighed silently.

To be near her, to see her, he missed her so much. He wished more than anything to just leave his hiding spot and hold her, tell her how much he needed her and that he never wanted to be apart from her again.

Still, Amu was keeping them apart for a reason.

A reason he wanted to know.

{-}

Amu had seen him, peeking out of her closet door. She was nervous, worried that Sakura would notice too, but the other girl seemed almost oblivious to his staring. Subtly, Amu gestured for him to close the closet door completely, but he only gestured back to Sakura.

Shaking her head, Amu sighed.

“Hey, Sakura,” she began, guessing at what Ikuto wanted. In truth, she wanted to know too. “Have you…Have you seen Ikuto at all?” she began bluntly, but knew that this would just be a clumsy segue into what she really wanted to ask.

“No,” Sakura said, her entire posture wilting at the question. “I don’t understand why, either. Normally, he’d be annoying me the second I stepped foot into town, but I haven’t seen him since I got back. Why, have you?”

“N-No,” Amu lied. “I was just wondering, since you two seemed to be on kinda shaky terms when you left.”

“We…We were, weren’t we?” she gasped. “You think that’s why? Is he mad at me?”

“Y-You’re not mad at him?”

{-}

Ikuto stopped breathing when he heard Amu’s question. The girl had taken the hint, changing the topic so he could know exactly what Sakura thought about him right now, but he hadn’t expected to feel so much fear while awaiting her reply.

“I…I don’t know,” Sakura sighed. “I don’t think so. I honestly just…miss him. I want to see him again, and I’m worried about him. He sent me…never mind, I just miss him. I…I’m confused, actually. I don’t know how I feel right now.”

His letters. He’d forgotten about the letters.

She wasn’t going to tell Amu, and for that he was grateful. Amu was already too involved, what with him staying with her, and he didn’t want her knowing anything else. Still, now that he knew Sakura missed him, perhaps a change of address was in order?

“Still, I don’t know what would happen if he just turned up at my house right now,” she continued with a laugh. “I’m living with some people from Gakure, and they’re all pretty protective. You met Gaara, right?”

“The redhead?” Amu asked. “Yeah, he’s pretty intense.”

“He’s the sane one,” Sakura smiled. “If Ikuto just popped in outta nowhere, I think Gaara would kill him, but Temari would probably disembowel him and Kankuro would turn his corpse into a puppet.”

“That’s…grim,” Amu shuddered, not knowing that Ikuto had just done the same.

“Yeah,” the smaller pinkette nodded. “He’d be lucky if Sasori was out. I don’t even wanna think what Sasori would do to him.”

{-}

After much insistence, Sakura was able to walk home, despite the late hour.

She argued – lied – that she didn’t live too far, and preferred to walk. In truth, she was just hoping to search for Mitsu some more before she had to go home.

Following a gut instinct, Sakura turned down the street the opposite way to her home, her three Charas hurrying after her.

{-}

“W-Wait!” cried Mitsu, floating after the grey Chara. She was a sly little thing, and Mitsu had been chasing her all day, but never seemed able to catch up.

“Mitsu!” called a familiar voice, and the gold Chara turned. She spotted her sisters, all three of them, with Sakura running along behind them.

“Where have you been?” asked Sakura, worry and anger in her tone. “You just disappeared!”

“I know, and I’m sorry, but…” Mitsu trailed off, glancing down the street the grey Chara had flow down, her eyes widening when she saw that she was still there, staring at the gather. “Look!”

Four sets of eyes, two green, one red, and one blue, swung over to where Mitsu was pointing, and they all froze.

The Chara was a girl, with hair as dark as Katsumi, Setsuko, Mari, and Mitsu’s, 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.

“I know you,” Sakura said, her voice hardly above a whisper. As she stared at this Chara, a burst of joy sprung from her chest. The Chara smiled and floated towards her.

“It’s nice to meet you, Saku-chan” she greeted, her voice soft and happy. “My name is Nanami.”