Chapter 3.5: Sakura's Self Thoughts

The morning of Akira and Sakura’s second trip out was an uneventful one. Lysia was feeding BunBun pancakes, Rose and Yuri were teasing each other, Amari was reading manga, Willow was elegantly eating her breakfast, and Sakura was lost in her thoughts.

“I can’t wait to see where Akira takes me today! I hope the park is pretty. I wonder what kind of café we’re going to. Ah!~ I’m just so excited, I want to leave right away!” Sakura eagerly thought to herself while eating breakfast.

Akira came out of his bedroom ready for the eventful day he and Sakura were about to have. When he peers over, he notices Sakura dozing off on the table. He stares at her for a moment, a bit confused and thinking maybe she forgot their plans.

“Sakura, are you going to get ready?” he asked with a bit of hesitation in his voice.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of his voice.

“Oh yeah,” she murmurs with a bit of surprise in her voice, “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

Sakura bolted into the bathroom to change into her new outfit. She slipped into her pink top and black shorts, put four bracelets on her right wrist, alternating black and silver, and adorned her hair with a faux sakura blossom. She adjusted her hair a bit and looked at herself in the mirror.

“I wonder what he’ll think of my outfit. I hope he likes it.” Sakura thought, a bit nervous to step out into the living room.

She gathered the courage to step out and sat on the couch. She slipped on her silky black thigh high stockings and put on her knee high brown boots. She noticed Akira watching her as she put them on, making her blush a bit. She stood up and twirled like a ballerina.

“How do I look?” she cheerfully asked, flashing a smile and a head tilt, hiding her inner nervousness.

“You look amazing. That outfit is really cute on you. I’m almost jealous that I don’t look as good as you.” Akira said, letting out an awkward laugh.

Akira’s kind words made Sakura blush.

“Wow, he said my outfit is cute! He’s a bit of a dork, but he’s nice.” Sakura thought.

“You’re super pretty Miss Sakura!” announced Lysia from the couch.

“You are indeed quite stunning.” added Willow.

“Aw, thanks guys. Alright, you got everything you need?” Sakura asked.

Akira placed his hand on the binder he was holding.

“Yep. Got it all right here in this binder.” replied Akira.

“Alright everyone, we’re headed out now. See ya! Oh, and don’t cause any trouble for Willow.” announced Sakura.

She and Akira left the apartment and made their way towards the train station.

“I’m starting to get nervous again. I hope he doesn’t notice.” Sakura thought to herself.

Akira looked over at her, which startled her a bit.

“You alright? You seem nervous.” Akira playfully mentions.

“Oh no, he noticed!”

“No, I’m fine. We’re going to the same station as yesterday, right?” Sakura asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

“Yeah, but we’re going to end up at a different station. It’ll be quicker to exit at the station right next to the park instead of going to the one from yesterday and walking.”

The pair stepped onto the train and not long after they were stepping off. They were right outside the park. Trees lined the perimeter of the luscious green park.

“Wow, this park is really pretty. There’s no trash in sight. Look, there’s even a clock tower here so we know what time it is.” Sakura said in awe of the beautiful scenery.

“Yeah, it’s pretty here. This is all new to me too since I never really got out much.” Akira replied in awe himself.

They stood staring at the large clock sitting atop a pole. It was three in the afternoon.

“Come on, I’m supposed to meet the guy deeper into the park. You’re gonna love this place.” Akira said to the still in awe Sakura.

“Wow, so many trees! The grass here is so green too! I can’t believe he’s bringing me to such a beautiful place. I’m not even his girlfriend or anything.”

The pair walked a bit deeper into the park and reached an area with five zelkova trees. Akira stepped in front of Sakura to block her vision.

“What are you doing?” Sakura asked, a bit stunned at what happened. Her heart was beating faster than ever before.

“Close your eyes, we’re almost there. I don’t want to ruin the surprise for you.”

Sakura wasn’t quite sure where this was going, but she knew nothing bad could happen because they were in public.

“How am I supposed to know where I’m going though?” Sakura asked.

Akira grabbed Sakura’s hand, both of them now blushing. Sakura’s heart began beating even faster, her face getting hot.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll lead the way. You’ll just have to trust me, ok?”

Sakura was a bit hesitant, but she went along with it. She did indeed trust Akira. Afterall, if he wanted to do something to her, he surely would have done it already.

“Sure, lead the way, master!” Sakura said smiling.

“Don’t call me that in public. People will think you mean something completely different.” Akira responded.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe he’s holding my hand! I wonder where he’s taking me. I hope it’s somewhere really romantic.”

After walking for what felt like forever to the blind Sakura, they stopped and Akira had her sit on a bench.

“Alright, we’re here. Open your eyes.” Akira said.

Sakura opened her eyes and saw tons of flowers in all sorts of colors. She couldn’t believe what she was looking at.

“Pretty cool huh? Saw it on the Internet and thought it’d be a nice place to hang out while we wait for the guy buying cards from me.”

“I don’t know what his Internet thing he’s talking about is, but these flowers are the best! This is such a nice date spot.” Sakura thought.

“It’s amazing. Wonderful. Incredible! There are so many beautiful flowers here. You sure picked out a great spot for our date.” Sakura spoke without really thinking.

“Date?” Akira asked.

Sakura’s face turned bright red in embarrassment.

“I’m such an idiot! I didn’t even realize I was talking out loud! Stupid, stupid, STUPID! I have to think of a way out of this.”

“I-I didn’t say date, I just ran out of breath is all. I meant our day together. Yeah, that.” Sakura said nervously. She hoped that excuse would get her out of the situation.

All of the sudden, an overweight man in a suit started talking to Akira. His attention shifted completely to the man.

“Just narrowly made it out of that one.” Sakura thought.

Akira and the man talked and talked about cards and other things Sakura didn’t really understand. She just sat and watched Akira doing business.

“He’s so cute when he’s talking about something he’s passionate about. Maybe I should learn a bit about what he’s interested in so I can talk to him more. I could ask Amari about that manga stuff.”

The man walked away, and Akira turned towards Sakura, putting his wallet back into his pocket.

“Whew, I’m glad that’s the type of guy I was meeting with. I had no idea if I was gonna be robbed or not. People have been going absolutely crazy for these cards recently. Thanks for being so patient Sakura.”

“No problem! I’m just happy to be here with you. Now then, I believe you promised me lunch?”

“Ah, yeah, I did. Alright, let’s get going then.”

The two started leaving the park the same way they entered. Sakura was a bit sad to be leaving behind all of the pretty flowers, but she was about to have lunch with Akira, so it made up for it.

“The park really is pretty. It’d be a great spot for a date or something, don’t you think?” Sakura hinted.

“Yeah, I guess so. I’m not really a nature person, but the flowers were nice. I’ve been to parks on dates before back home, but never one like this.” Akira responded.

“He’s been on other dates with girls before? How long ago was this? How many girls did he date? What kind of girls does he like?” Sakura thought to herself, questions flooding her mind.

Sakura tripped on the sidewalk due to being lost in thought again.

Akira grabbed her before she could fall very far and pushed her back up.

“You alright? You need to be more careful and watch where you’re walking.”

Sakura blushed in embarrassment. She couldn’t believe how stupid she was, tripping over nothing.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. I just got distracted is all. Thanks for the save.”

“Don’t mention it. We’re almost there. The café is just up ahead.”

“Jeez, I’m such a mess today. Why today of all days?”

The two walked into a building and went up to the second floor where the café was. There was a theme centered around a cute bear mascot. They sat down at a table and waited for a waitress to take their order.

“Welcome! What can I get for you two?” the waitress asked.

“I’ll have a slice of cheesecake and a glass of water.” Akira said.

“Shoot, I forgot what I was going to order. Uh, I guess I should just get what he’s getting.” Sakura thought to herself in a slight panic.

“I’ll have the same thing please.” she said.

“Sure thing. I’ll have those out right away.” the waitress said with a smile.

“I’ve gotta think of something to talk to him about. Let’s see…” Sakura thought.

“So, you got quite a bit of money from those cards huh? Sakura inquired.

Akira looked a bit disappointed.

“Sure, if you consider it spending money that is. It’s only enough to buy one really nice figure. It’s nowhere near enough for what I’m wanting to do though.” he said.

“Oh, what are you wanting to do with it?” Sakura asked out of curiosity.

Akira looked away from her.

“I… I can’t tell you. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, and I don’t want to keep it secret from you, I just don’t want to get your hopes up. You know, in case my plans don’t go through.” Akira said, looking sad with himself.

“What’s that supposed to mean? It seems like he’s being genuine about not being able to tell me, but I’m still curious. I won’t bother him about it.”

“Here are your cheesecakes. Enjoy!” the waitress said, setting the plates on the table.

The two began eating their desserts in bitter silence before Akira broke the emptiness.

“Sakura, I have something important to tell you.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Promise me you won’t tell the other girls? I don’t want to break the news to them yet.”

“Of course, I’ll keep it between us.”

“I’m gonna be starting a part time job in a few days. Two days to be exact, I believe. I’m gonna be away from home for most of the day, so I’m gonna need you to look after the others. I’m telling you because to be honest, I trust you the most.”

Sakura didn’t quite know what to think, but she expected something like this to happen eventually.

“That’s all? It’s not a problem, I understand. You have your reasons for getting a job. I promise I’ll look after the girls, but you have to promise me something too.”

“Sure, what is it?”

Sakura’s eyes started to water.

“Please, promise me you’ll never abandon us. Promise you won’t ever leave us and never come back. Promise me you won’t ever throw us out when you don’t need us anymore.”

Sakura started to cry.

Akira got up from his seat and sat next to Sakura. He put his arm around her to comfort her and rested her head on his shoulder. She clearly had some reason to be saying these things, but Akira wasn’t going to pry.

“I promise.” Akira said in a soft and reassuring voice.

The two sat like that for a while. Nobody bothered them.

Some time later, Sakura managed to pull herself together. She dried her tears and got off of Akira’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to deal with that.” Sakura apologized.

“No, don’t be sorry. Obviously something was bothering you and you just had to let it all out. I won’t ask you about what happened, but if you ever want to talk about it, I’ll be there for you. I promise you that.” Akira said smiling.

“You’re such a dork. I’m sure I’ll tell you someday. Just give me time.” Sakura said, smiling knowing that Akira would always be there for her.

“Hey, take all the time you need.”

“I will. Hey, there’s something I wanted to ask you about.” Sakura said.

“Yeah? What is it?”

“What’s an Internet?” Sakura asked.

Akira couldn’t help but break out a small laugh.

“Oh yeah, I forgot you came here from another world.” he said still a bit amused by the question, “Alright, the Internet is this magical place where you can do all kinds of things. You can look up questions, talk to people, play games, the possibilities are nearly endless. I’ll have to show you some time.”

“Sounds fun! I can’t wait. By the way, I saw you looking at that box in your pocket earlier. What’s that?”

“A phone. I can use it to talk to people and go on the Internet.”

“You can use the Internet on your phone too?”

“Yep. Cool isn’t it?”

“Do you have games on your phone?” Sakura asked, leaning over and looking at Akira’s phone screen.

“Sure do. Well, just barely at least. I don’t have enough storage to download more than two or three games.”

“I don’t understand some of the words he’s saying, but they sound cool.”

“Hey, I have an idea.” Akira said, pointing his phone towards Sakura. “Smile!”

“Huh?” Sakura muttered, tilting her head slightly in confusion at what Akira was doing.

“Give me a second… there. Check this out.”

Akira showed Sakura the home screen of his phone, which now had a picture of her on it instead of the anime girl that was there previously.

“Wow, that’s me! I didn’t know your phone had a camera on it too. Um, why would you want a picture of me on there anyway?” Sakura asked, a bit embarrassed.

“Well, people usually have someone they really care about as their phone wallpaper, so I decided that person would be you.”

Sakura blushed intensely.

“Oh my, did he just say he cared about me? He did! I can’t believe it. Could he finally be… no, I’m probably thinking too much into it. There’s no way he’d like someone like me.”

“Well, we’ve been out and about for quite some time now. Should we head back home now?” Akira asked, paying the bill and offering his hand for Sakura to get up.

“Sure thing. Lead the way!” Sakura replied, taking his hand and gleaming at the day they just spent together.