BtF - Part VI

Nikaho, Akita Prefecture, January 30th, 2022

“Your ankle is sprained, but fortunately, it is not as worse as it could. You should be in bed for a week, at least”

Shun: “Thank you doctor.”

The doctor leaves the room, leaving Shun alongside his girlfriend and his best friend

Shun lays on his bed, sighing. Sakura sits down on a chair next to him as his best friend was in the other side of the room with his arms crossed and a few stiches on his forehead after the battle against the group of Shinji.

“I am glad you are alright.”

Shun: “I would not be here if it were not for you.”

Sakura: “Both of us.”

“Enough, I would not be here if the rest of the guys have not appeared with proper timing.”

Shun: “It was still you the one who planned it.”

“And losing my shining time in the arena at the same time. The girls must be missing me!” He laughs. “Well, I will go see the others. Leave you cheesy lover for private.”

Sakura grabs the hand of Shun.

“I suppose the date is cancelled?”

“Yeah. I am sorry.”

“No do not. It was not your fault. You saved me.”

“I…saved you.”

He remained thinking of those words for several seconds, remembering what had happened nearly an hour ago. The battle against the six of them at the same time, both his and Sakura’s, and the one of his friends against them.

He concluded after 30 seconds of absolute silence and thinking were done.

“I did not save you.”

“Shun…”

“You were almost raped. I am useless.”

“Sh. You did what you could.”

“But it was not enough. I have to be much stronger! Much stronger if I want to be the champion and take care of you!”

“Shun…you do not have to be so hard with yourself. You did what you could, six against you…”

“Yamato could have defeated them!”

“Maybe yet...”

“I am weak!”

“YOU ARE SHUN! YOU DID WHAT YOU COULD!”

She grabbed her hand with both of his, as she was still tearing. Shun looked at her and she was still wearing the blue jacket. She had almost been raped and knowing this, he still focused on himself rather than on her, and the horrible situation she had been. She had tearful eyes and her strong heartbeat. And even, after all what had happened, she still cared more about him. She did not focus on what had happened to her.

“I am sorry.” He gets his back from the pillow it he placed and leans up. “You had worked a lot on that festival. Do not miss it go with someone else.”

“Alright.”

She gets up from her chair, and goes outside of his room. Neither of them say goodbye.

---

Miya: “what will you do if Kirei finds out?”

“No idea. But neither do I know what he would say about this.”

Tai: “But Izumi and I stand with you on this. Whatever the punishment, we will share it.”

Izumi: “we will.”

“We do not have to, if he does not find out.”

Yamato: “are you serious?”

“Of course I am. I am the only one with wounds of all us three. If he asks, I will use an excuse, after all I am used to do this, after the lesions I get from battles in the arena.”

Tai: “And what of Shun?”

“He felt from the dormitories stairs.”

Daisuke: “Still why would you have this in secret from him?”

“If he could out I fought against somebody in the streets in would be done. He would get me out of the Dojo, and so I could not going back to Tokyo with all of you, to be on the school on next year. No one from the Dojo must know this alright?”

Yamato: “Sure. Count with us.”

“Great.”

Sakura comes out from the front door of the hospital, finding her friends in a circle, catching her sight and opening the circle for her.

Ikuto: “How does he fair?”

They begin walking back towards the school.

Sakura: “he will no walk on seven days, until that time he should remain in bed. But he will be back to the school in five. He will be okay, he mostly…”

Ikuto: “mostly?”

Sakura: “He is upset and disappointed with himself. He states that he should had protected me, and was not capable of doing so.”

Tai: “Shun has always been focused on becoming stronger and stronger. It does not suprice me.”

Sakura: “But he is being bore hard with himself than what he used to.”

Takeru: “he has a reason.”

Every one of them looks to the silent boy.

“Sakura, that is you.”

Yamato: “Takeru speaks few, but when he does he is certain.”

Sakura: “But still, he should not be so hard on himself.”

“Shun does not care about that, neither about himself. And he cannot forgive himself for what happened.”

She looks towards the Blue Ronin.

“But he will train a lot harder for this. He would take care of you no matter what happened. I know him better than anyone. He will be alright, and if not we will stand with him, as does a table of with ten legs. If one falls, the other nine support each other.”

Sakura briefly stared at him, as he placed his hand on his pockets. They walked side by side on the 9 people line across the sidewalk, at the last position. She thought about him for a moment, and remembers Shuns words. She remains silent for the rest of the walk as the rest of them speak to each other.

They arrive in few minutes to the school’s dormitories. Everybody parts ways after arriving, not before saying goodbye to each other.

Sakura: “wait!”

They all look back.

“I wanted to speak to you, alone.”

He stays as the rest go on their ways.

“Yes what happened?”

“No it is not.”

“If it is about Otome, I…”

“No it is not about her.”

“Then, if it is about Sena, I…”

“Can you shut up for a second?!”

“Well…Go ahead.”

“Shun and I was going to go on four days to the winter festival. But we cannot, and since I have been working on with Sakura Naoto. Shun did not wished my effort to be wasted. I want you to come.”

He surprises due to her words.

“Me?”

“Yes. You.”

“Why?”

“Well you saved me and Shun. It is payment from a friend to a friend. It is not necessary.”

“Sakura we have been friends for like six years. You do not have to pay be with anything.”

He turns around going towards his room but Sakura runs and gets in front of him.

“No please. If you do not want to come for that come from me. For our friendship. Would you?”

He sights.

“Well. There will be some girls disappointed, and I will have to cancel a few dates” He smiles “But I will go. Just for you, for our long years of friendship.”

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome. I have but one condition: I will not wear a male Yukata.”

Upon hearing this, she stares at him with angry and deadly sight, piercing him with her icy look upon him.

“I AM NOT WEARING…”

---

Nikaho, Akita Prefecture, February 3rd, 2022

“WHY THE FUCK I AM WEARING THIS!?!?!”

Miya: “Cause she forced you.”

“God damnit!”

He looks to himself by the mirror placed on the back of the door of his room, cursing as he tried his dark blue male yukata. Sakura herself bought it for him, and forced him to wear it. He was cursing himself, yet he had not much choices.

Miya take out his cellphone and gets a photo of him.

“I am uploading this to the internet right now.”

“If you do that I will kill you were you stand.”

“Jocking!” He gets up from his friends bed. “Will you be alright? What of Shinji and his gang of shits appear again.”

“I do not believe they will try anything else. I think I left the guy sterile.”

“Thing deserved. Still carry your cellphone with you. Just in case.”

“Yes. Well I should get going. She will be pissed if we arrived late to the festival.”

“Well I will go back to my room. I am having a test tomorrow, I should start study, and I have not even started.”

He walks towards the door, but noticed a white envelope in the table of his friend’s desk. He grabs it

“What is this?”

“My dad sent me this letter. I do not know why he uses letter. E-mail is much more useful. I guess he likes to write.”

“Maybe. But why it is still closed?”

“Read the other side.”

He turned around the letter, and read the lines that Kiritsugu had written to his son:

“Son, is sent you this letter not to respond it neither for you to read it. Just for you to know that you must not lose hope and keep on advancing. And if in any moment you do so, just open the envelope.” Your dad, Kiritsugu

“Why would he do this?”

“I do not know.” He grabs the letter and places it inside a metal cage in his bookshelf. “But it may have meaning. When that day comes, I may find it.”

“I hope so. Well I should get going.”

“So do I.”

He opens the door and both of them get out. He locks the door and places his keys on an inner pocket of the yukata.

“Do not try anything dirty with her.” He laughs

“She is Shun’s girlfriend.”

“I am joking. See you brother. Good luck.”

They shake hands.

“Same to you tomorrow.”

They part in opposite ways. He goes down the stairs and gets outside of the males’ dormitories, as he walks towards the girls’ just on the front.

Nearly arriving, he notices Sakura getting down the stairs. She was already wearing her yukata. A purple cotton dress with flower designs on it. It was tied with a yellow obi, which covered from the lower part of her breasts to her waist. He had sandals on her feet and her hair was a bun to her left, tied with a large purple ribbon. On her

In that moment, he notices she looked really pretty.

She opened the door.

“Hi, you are late.”

“Not for much. I have occupided with pressing matter on the evening.”

“Of woman and drink?”

“Are there any more so?!” he smiles “The gates of heaven seemed to have opened!”

“What?”

“Because it seems an angel is before me.” He laughs after winking to her, teasing.

“Come on…”

She smiles and laughs.

“Thank you, for coming with me.”

“No problem. Now we should get going.”

“Yes.”

---

They arrived to the festival, after going up like a thousand of steps. There were lots of stands to play to see, placed at the edge of the stone way they were walking. Most of the stands were for both playing and food selling. And as Sakura notices lots of people were already there, and as she continued looking, she notices that most of them were couples of their age or higher. At that moment, she blushes a little.

“Sakura? what something happened?”

“No nothing. Is just that, I am freezing right now.”

“The best for cold, is filling you stomach with food. Come with me, I will buy some Takoyaki.”

“I will go with you.”

They continue walking across the road, next to each other, when both of them notice Ovan and Naoto also in the festival, neither of them seemed to have seen Sakura and him. Naoto seemed to be smiling, and Ovan appeared to be having a good time. They still continued walking.

“Are they a couple?” she asks.

“No idea…Still they look like one. But so can anyone say about us.”

“True.”

They arrived to the Takoyaki stand, and they rapidly got some. They sat down on a bench placing it between them, and began eating, by using a small chopstick designed for punching.

“God this is great.”

“Yes it is.”

“You have done a good job setting all things up for this.”

“No. I just helped Naoto with some things, Kirei and some others took the other matters into their own hands.”

“I admit I am not such a great fan of some aspects of Japanese culture, but this one is great.”

In few time, they were done with the Takoyaki boat.

“Better now?”

“Yes I am. You were right.”

“Of course I was.” He smiles while looking to her and gets up. “Come on, we should go to see something else.”

“Yes.”

---

“I had a good time.”

“So do I.”

“The hour grows late; it is already 11:45. The festival will end soon.”

“Uh.” She looks towards the clock on her cellphone; placed on a small bag he carried everywhere while using a yukata.”You are right! Come with me!”

She grabs his hand and begins running going up the starts towards the temple in the top of the small mount. Just before arriving to its entrance, she turns to her left, and continues walking entering thought the woods by a small way. In few time they arrive to a clear space, where a small lagoon, of approximately 10mts radius was. Sakura blossoms were seen everywhere, flying across the place by help a soft wind. The sky could be seen from there.

“What is this place?” He asks

“It is beautiful right? I planned to bring Shun here by the end of the festival. But since he was hurt I could not. That is why I brought you here”

“It was a good idea. Thank you for showing me this.”

He sky would be seen, as billions of star covered it, making they place they were shine. Sakura also looks up.

“Look at that!” she points at him

“What?”

A shooting star could be seen from there leaving a small trail of its way.

“Stardust.”

“Stardust?”

“The trail the comet is leaving behind is Stardust, which is the result of the friction between the air and the comet. “She looked back to the comet. “When my mum was still alive, she told me that each small particle of stardust represents wishes of the people. Those wishes gather, to four a new shining star, which shines the path to the future. But it needs someone that can lead them, to achieve it.” She looks back to him. “That is you.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You. Remember years ago after you saved me and shun from the fires? You have that power. The power of gathering peoples wishes and hearts to advance to the future.”

“Until it comes, I will stay by your side. You also said that.” He smiles to her. “How do you know that? I have no power.”

“Yes you do you just have not discovered it yet.” She looked into his eyes as he did the same. “Also you still have not told me what you want to be when you grow up? Or is it still a secret.”

“Sort of. I have never told anyone. But I left that belief a long time ago behind.”

“Then tell me…”

“The truth is that I wanted-”

Something in the sky explode upon the distance, they look up, and notice now other colors. Fireworks. It was the end of the festival. Thousands of other colors swiftly followed the first one, now coloring the place they were.

He they then loot to their front, and noticed they were looking to each other deep in the eyes. They stay like that for the longest time, while both of their hearts beat fast as never before. She approaches to him a bit, as he does the same. Both of them close their eyes as their lips touched for the first time.

His heart had never beaten like that before; neither had he felt that taste. She was unlike any other girls he had kissed before. He placed both of his hands on her wrist as they continued kissing. She moved her hands to his cheeks, and continued kissing him, as she could not stop. She moved her right hand to his neck, as she reminded how she came to the good idea of bringing Shun there. She opened her closed eyes at that moment, reminding of him. She continues kissing, but he reminds of Shun again. She parted, and both of them look to each other eyes, confused and realizing what they had done.

“We should go back to the school.”

He looks down to the ground and closes his eyes.

“Yes.”

They begin going back to the school as the entire way back, both of them are silent.

Upon arriving to the place, they are to part in diagonal opposite ways. He to the right. Sakura to the left.

They say goodbye to each other while still looking down. And as they walked back to their respective dormitories, he looks to her, and notices that she does the same, but she parts sight from him and enter the room almost running. He closes his eyes and breathed a single time, shaking his head.

He enters to the dormitories.

---

Sakura bathes and cleans herself well while crying. She could not stop thinking about Shun and him. What they had done. She finishes slowly cleaning and grieving at the same time. She covers her body with a housecoat gets out of the shower. Walking out of the bathroom, and sitting down on her bed, while looking to a photo of her and Shun on a table next to her bed. Other tear rolls out of her yes. She gets inside her bed cover herself, shuts of the light and tries to get some dreams, as she hopes for the absence of dreams.

---

He throws himself to the bed, and tries to sleep. He keeps on trying for fifteen minutes but he cannot close both of his eyes. He could not stop thinking about Sakura and Shun, both of his best friends. In his head there was nothing else. He bends, looking to their photo when they were yet children. Much had passed since then.

He rises from the bed, and gets to the window in his room, looking towards the room of Sakura that shuts lights in that second. He does not tear eyes from that place for a long time.