Ichigo y Sakura Part 1

Sakura’s alarm went off loudly in her ear, “Nngh! Stupid….too early….,” she muttered pushing the button as she sat up. The clock read 5:30 am, which meant she had an hour to get ready for colorguard practice, like every other day.
            She hopped into the shower quickly to wake up somewhat, then got dressed in her school uniform, dried her hair, grabbed her gym bag, blah blah, the usual getting ready ritual. She grabbed a piece of toast on her way out. Jogging, she made it in time for guard just perfect.         
*Later*
            Sakura hopped off to see the last of Kyo’s kendo match with Masaya. They were best friends. She absolutely was obsessed with Kyo….he was like, the coolest guy. He was on the kendo team, and the track team. He was really smart too. Both he and Kyo (whom Ichigo absolutely obsessed over) were the most sought after guys in the school.
            She bumped into Ichigo there, who was jumping high to try to see Masaya. Apparently, he noticed, because she turned to Sakura and said “Crap, he actually saw me! Bolt!” and she ran away jumping off the balcony just as Masaya got a last glimpse of her retreating figure.
            Ichigo, Sakura’s best friend, was a top level student. She had long, long natural bleach blonde hair that she had to put up almost all of the time, because it got in the way of her sports, but she refused to cut it. She was kinda clumsy, but rarely, not like Sakura. She had a high vocabulary and excelled in her studies. She also played on the soccer team and tennis team with Sakura, and took piano with her. But her true talent lay in her singing voice. She was amazing.
            Amaya, Sakura’s other best friend walked up, “Oh…did Masaya see her again jumping? Ha ha, one of these days, I swear he’s gonna chase after her, just out of curiosity, if he’s not exhausted from kendo practice. So….how’s Kyo?” She asked as Kyo, followed by his admirers, came out.
            “Oh, Sakura, good morning! Did you see my match just now?” Kyo asked Sakura, seeing her standing there.
            “Oh….yeah, I did. You were really good…well, from what I could see anyway, I got her too late to see the whole thing again. Sorry,” she apologized.
            “Don’t worry, I know you’re busy. Hey Amaya, how’re you?” he asked.
            “As fine as I’ll ever be,” she answered. “Come on Sakura, we need to go to class, Kagura is waiting again,” she looked at the classroom window, and sure enough, there stood Kagura staring at a really cute guy walking by on the ground; oggling him anyway.
            “You’re right, we need to pull her out of her reverie. Bye Kyo, see you in class!” Sakura waved happily, and left swiftly with Amaya.
            Amaya had short black hair that reached her shoulders. She didn’t particularly care about school, but she came because of her friends. She was prone to violent tempers and outbursts when her friends were threatened or anything. Lots of people were scared of her, so basically nobody bothered Sakura or Ichigo, not like it mattered anyway.
            Kagura had short brown hair with an eagle eye for hot guys. She absolutely LOVED guys as much as she loved reading books. Mostly she liked mysteries, or books like….CIA stuff, or lawyers, murders and stuff. She was kinda bloodthirsty, but that was fine, at least she creeped people out enough to not bother with her.
            When they reached the classroom, they found Kagura and Ichigo talking to Sasuke and Shinju, like two of their best friends.
            Sasuke was involved with the student council and martial arts in school. He wasn’t the brightest, but he was average, which was fine. Shinju was…Shinju. He loved Gondi, dressing in black all the time, and saying weird things….it was all very entertaining. All in all, it was wonderful at school for all of them.
            When Sasuke saw them enter, he smiled and waved them over, “Good morning Sakura! How’ve you been?” he asked pleasantly.
            “Oh….well, I’ve been busy with everything pretty much. Ugh, it’s almost too much!” she cried out dramatically. She was quite busy though.
            “ I have an idea, why don’t we all go out this weekend to the Shinsenen Gardens! It’s so beautiful this time of year, and the cherry blossoms will be practically breathtaking!” Ichigo suggested happily. “I can pack a lunch, and we can all go and have a picnic. The weather is supposed to be clear with a high of 75! So, who’s up?” she asked.
            “Well, since you said it ahead of time, I can do it,” Sakura said. She was always making plans over the weekends, but now she could mark her calendar and actually GO to the activity.
            “That’s great! Is everyone else in?” Ichigo asked.
            Everyone replied with a yes, and so planned the weekend getaway at the gardens.
*After school*
            “Bye guys! I gotta go pick up Taki from school, k? Bye!” Sakura called and jogged to Taki’s class.
            “Sakura onee-chan!” Taki shouted when he saw her coming. He ran forward and jumped in her arms.
            “Whoa Taki, you’re starting to get too big for jumping in my arms, but it’s fine,” Sakura laughed and set him down. “Let’s go home, k?” she asked smiling.
            “Yeah! Bye sensei!” Taki shouted over his shoulder as he took Sakura’s hand and together they walked home. When they got there Tatsuna, their adopted mother, had cookies laid out.
            “Welcome Home you two! I made some cookies, do you want some?” She called into the living room.
            “Yeah!” Taki shouted and ran into the kitchen, dumping his bag by the door.
            “Sakura, do you want some before you go to volleyball practice?” Tatsuna called.
            “No, it won’t settle well in my stomach. And then I have tennis. I’ll just pick something up maybe, k?” Sakura shouted on her way to her room to change. She put on shorts and a t-shirt with tennis shoes, and ran out the door, grabbing a water on her way out. She ran back to the school and into the gym, where the coach had already begun practice.
*After sports*
            Sakura wearily walked back home. She stepped through the door and stumbled into the kitchen, where Shigure, her adopted father, sat eating dinner. “You late too? Come on, you may be tired, but you’re also hungry. Your mother left hamburger helper in the fridge for you, all you have to do is heat it up, unless you’re about to drop dead. At least tomorrow you don’t have to get up early,” he added cheerfully.
            Sakura got the food, heated it up, and ate it hungrily, then ran up to her room, with some renewed energy. Luckily, she didn’t have any homework. She hopped in the shower to wash off the sweat from the day, slipped into her pajamas, and fell dead asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
*Saturday afternoon*
            The bright shining sun made everyone’s spirits pick up that day. Ichigo snickered at what she’d planned. She’d heard that Masaya and Kyo were going to be here at the gardens today, and she planned the picnic right in the middle of their route where they were going to hang out.
            Soon everyone began arriving near the water, and they all sat around, talking, eating, when suddenly Masaya and Kyo rounded the corner, and found the little group enjoying the afternoon.
            Ichigo, seeing them, grinned and stood up, walking over, “Oh, hey guys, what’re you doing here? We’re having a picnic! Do you want to join us? We have more than enough food!” she cheerily added. The guys, suspecting nothing, nodded and decided to join the small group.
            Sakura looked up from a conversation with Sasuke when Kyo walked up to her. “Oh…..hi Kyo….I didn’t know you’d be here. Um….oh, this is Sasuke. Sasuke this is Kyo,” Sakura pointed to each of them in turn.
            They glared at each other briefly so intensely you could see sparks flying almost. Sakura grew worried as time continued. “Um….guys…..uh….Kyo, are you hungry?” Sakura desperately asked, holding food in his face to distract him.
            He looked at her, instantly smiling appreciatively. “Thank you Sakura, that’s very kind of you,” he thanked her kindly, and sat down as Sakura handed him a little box full of food.
            Kagura was just staring at the two new visitors, conspiring to win each one of them to her attention. Ichigo and Amaya were talking to Masaya, filling a little box with food, since Ichigo was too nervous now, to talk to him alone. Shinju was just sitting by with Kagura, enduring her scheming on how to attract Masaya, Sasuke, and Kyo’s attention.
            “Okay everyone, who wants to play badminton? I brought all the stuff to play,” Ichigo stood up, needing something to do. Everyone assembled into teams. Kyo and Sakura (Sasuke scowled when Kyo paired them up), Amaya and Sasuke, Shinju and Kagura, and Ichigo and Masaya. While two teams played, the other four watched silently calculating, or talking and enjoying the afternoon. It was a vicious game between Sasuke and Kyo though, and Sakura was getting worried. She couldn’t understand their general dislike of each other.
*After all the guys left*
            Ichigo sighed, “Oh…my….GOSH!!!! I just spent practically an entire afternoon with Masaya….I’m seriously about to faint!” she exclaimed.
            “You know, somehow I get the feeling that you planned all of this,” Amaya accused.
            “Moi? Ha ha,” Ichigo laughed nervously. “Okay, okay, so I overheard them talking about it the other day, and I decided it would be the perfect opportunity for Sakura to spend time with Kyo, and, of course, for me to see Masaya inconspicuously. But, what was WITH Sasuke and Kyo? I mean, it was like they were trying to kill each other!” Ichigo exclaimed looking at Sakura.
            “I know…I can’t figure out why that happened. I couldn’t get anything out of those two around each other…maybe if I ask Sasuke on Monday…..” She thought.
            “Personally, I thought it was so TOTALLY awesome that we spend the afternoon with 3 hot guys. Now don’t get me wrong, Shinju is awesome, and cute, but he’s just not quite my dating type,” Kagura observed aloud.
            “Sheesh, you’re hilarious. Don’t you think of anything except guys Kagura?” Amaya asked lightly.
            “Of course, how do you think I’m surviving school? I read all the time too!” she proudly pronounced.
            “Of course, you’re like, the only one of use who LOVES school. Not even Ichigo is in love with school like you are, she’s just doing it so she can get good money some day,” Amaya informed helpfully.
            “That’s right! I want to make as much money as possible so I can send my kids to college, and live in a mansion like Sakura’s house!” Ichigo explained daydreaming.
            “Well guys, we’d better start heading home, it’s getting dark now,” Sakura urged, still thinking about the day’s events.
            “Oh, yes, of course. Logical thinking as usual Sakura-san. Let’s go you guys,” Ichigo grabbed the basket and began heading out of the gardens. “Hey, let’s take a shortcut! We’ll get home a lot faster, and it’s not too dark yet!” Ichigo began leading the way through a construction site nearby that led straight to their house.
            “Are you sure it’s safe?” Kagura asked, pulled out of her reverie.
            “Of course it’s safe. They’re not going to be working right now, they don’t work at night, so come ON!” She pulled them through the dark dirt covered area. There were beams everywhere, indicating the internal structure of an apartment building that was soon going up.
            “Hey, what’s that?” Amaya asked, pointing at a shiny object in the corner of the construction site. She moved over to inspect it more carefully.
            “Amaya, don’t touch it, it could be dangerous,” Sakura warned.
            “It’s fine, look,” Amaya picked up a glowing white block casually. “Whoa! This thing is like, super soft! Come feel it you guys,” she urged, pushing it toward them.
            “Really?” Ichigo jumped at the opportunity, and touched it. “Hee hee, it tickles your skin. But it didn’t do any harm. Come on Sakura, Kagura, it’s so cool!” Ichigo pulled the other two over.
            “Fine, just to stop you two from continuing this questionable behavior. Come on Kagura, let’s just get this over with. If they die, at least we die with them,” She teased lightly. Kagura chuckled, and they both touched the thing gently.
            “Ha ha, you’re right, it DOES tickle. And it’s so smooth! Wonder what it is?” Sakura said. Kagura giggled at Sakura’s reaction.
            “See? Cool huh?” Amaya said happily.
            “Hey guys, it’s beginning to get dark. Come on. Let’s take it home and inspect it there. Sakura, can we spend the night at your house, after all it’s the biggest,” Ichigo asked.
            “Sure. Tatsuna doesn’t mind you guys coming over anymore. She actually likes to have your company. Kinda scary actually. But it has to be okay with your parents,” Sakura warned.
            “Here, let’s all call and ask. But, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Kagura pulled out her cell phone and let everyone call home. After everyone’s parents said yes, Amaya stuck the block in her bag, and they walked to Sakura’s house.
*That night*
            “Thanks for letting us borrow your pajamas!” exclaimed Ichigo happily. She was wearing a two piece pajama set. She had on a spaghetti strap shirt that ended above her stomach, and shorts. Amaya wore something similar. Kagura wore a long t-shirt with shorts, and Sakura wore a little nightgown.
            “Your welcome! Now, do you want to look at that block or not?” Sakura asked anxiously.
            “Of course, I almost forgot!” exclaimed Amaya, grabbing her bag and pulling out the block.
            “So, what do you think it is?” Kagura asked.
            Ichigo took the block swiftly from Amaya’s hands and searched dutifully and carefully for something on the stone…. “Aha!” she exclaimed, obviously finding what she was looking for. “Look here you guys, there is something written here. It’s in….English, I think…..but not like we’re used to. Here, let me try to decipher it,” she began excitedly.
            In almost no time she had in successfully translated, “Okay guys, this is kinda creepy, but this is what is says: Those of you who find this stone, if you happen to touch it, you will inherit incredible powers based on your personalities and characteristics. Consider this a gift from the future. Good luck, and may you have better luck with it than the previous owners~ Unanymous.” Ichigo finished.
            “Um…..that’s not creepy, that’s just plain weird, I mean really, like anything like that could ever REALLY happen. That only happens in movies. Besides, I don’t feel any different anyway,” Kagura pushed.
            “I agree with Kagura. I don’t feel any different. I think it was some kind of sick joke. Oh well, at least we got a pretty block,” she tried to sound optimistic.
            “Yeah, oh well. *Yawn* Well, I’m exhausted you guys, I’m ready for bed, how about you guys?” Ichigo stretched catlike and rubbed her eyes.
            “Me too,” they all agreed. They spread out their sleeping bags, and little beds on the floor, and slowly each of them drifted to sleep, into a wonderful dream world, which followed having contact with the stone in question.
*The next morning*
            “Welllllllllll, I had a good night’s sleep, how about you guys?” asked Sakura, gazing around. She gasped loudly, “Uh….guys? Um…..ah!!” she yelped, for the oddest thing had happened.
            Amaya shook herself awake and felt an unusually heavy weight on her back. She looked back and gasped in shock! She looked down at her hands, which were now sharp claws, and ran to the mirror. She had red, feral eyes, fangs, black bat-like wings, and claws. “What…happened!!” she cried, looking around at the others. “I—Ichigo?” she asked uncertainly.
            “Rawr…..” Ichigo muttered, staggering up. ‘Why am I so short?’ she thought and began walking. Her silent padding hinted at something wrong. ‘Wait, I’m walking on all fours…..WHAT??!!’ she looked at Amaya, and growled. ‘I growled?’ She went up to the dresser, and growled again in alarm. For there, leaning on her hind legs against the vanity, was a black panther, right where she was.
            “You guys, something really weird happened here,” cried Kagura. “I can read your thoughts you guys!” she cried alarmed.
            “Rawr….rrrr, grrr, rawr…..” Ichigo began growling something.
            “Ichigo? Oh, I don’t know what’s happened…WAIT!! THE STONE!!!!” Kagura cried, and reached for it. It had lost its glow, but perhaps it only glowed at night. “Remember how it said that we’d get like, super powers based on our characters and personalities and stuff? That is the only explanation!” she shouted.
            “Yeah? Well……then…I wonder what mine is?” Sakura thought, then saw Ichigo trying to paw the reflection. She sighed and went over to pull Ichigo off the dresser before she harmed it. She meant only to lightly pull her, but she picked Ichigo up in the air and easily carried her over to her sleeping bag.
            “Well, I guess that answers your question. You obviously have super strength,” Amaya helpfully added.
            “So…do we change back?” growled Ichigo, which Kagura translated.
            “We have to….maybe…..wait, you guys were affected physically….maybe all you have to do is think of your human selves, and you’ll turn back. As for the gift itself, I don’t think it’s refundable,” Sakura said.
            Ichigo formed a picture of her human self in her mind, and suddenly, she was back to normal. She looked over at Amaya, who was back to her old self again as well.
            “Well, at least it’s simple. Man, that was kinda cool actually. I mean, I had so much power and muscles, and sinew. It was wicked,” Ichigo exclaimed.
            “I know…I kinda liked looking creepy, it’ll scare more people!” she thought aloud.
            “Well…..now what do we do? I don’t think we have to save earth from alien invaders or anything, so we can pretty much relax with our gifts, but honestly, when are we ever going to used them?”
“So? We don’t have to be superheroes or anything. But I mean Sakura, with your strength, you could like, be a mafia guard or something. Kidding!” Ichigo shouted as a pillow came whizzing at her. “Or Amaya, you can protect us all from people, be like our guardian dark angel….in a way. And Sakura, you can see what people think of you while you’re talking, or if the like you or something. Isn’t that useful? And me….well, turning into an animal is just cool!” Ichigo jumped up excitedly. “I wonder if I can change into any other animals?” she thought.
            “You going to try?” Kagura asked.
            Ichigo merely grinned, then closed her eyes to think of some kind of animal. In 20 seconds, she’d become a great big snowy owl. “Hoot hoot! Hoo!” she chattered excitedly in her owl voice.
            “She says she can’t believe it worked, and that it’s again, wicked cool,” explained Kagura helpfully, being the only one who could understand Ichigo as an animal anyway.
            “The real question is you guys, should we tell anyone else? Or keep it a secret between just us four?” asked Amaya.
            “Well, I think we should keep it a secret. What would people think of us if they knew? We’re freaks now. And the government would be all over us, wondering how in the world we inherited these amazing powers! It wouldn’t be smart for us to show anyone, unless of course it’s by accident. Not even Sasuke or Shinju. I love them, but it’s too risky,” Ichigo spoke, changing back to human form.
            “Ichigo’s got a point. We should keep it just between the four of us. It would make things much simpler,” Sakura added.
            “Okay then, we all agree to keep it silent, right?” Amaya asked.
            “Yeah!” we all chimed in together.
            “Great, well, now that THAT is determined, I’m hungry,” Kagura added, walking out the door. We all laughed at the fact that she could still think of food when life changing decisions were surrounding us on all sides.
*Monday*
            Ichigo ran to the kendo training center at the usual time, but she got there before anyone else. “Huh??” she asked, looking around her at a few girls just showing up. Little did she know, but her morphing powers had given her extra speed, more than her NORMAL speed anyway.
            “Hey Ichigo, what are you doing here? You’re usually in the back of the crowd,” Masaya said, walking up to Ichigo.
            She blushed crimson…. “Oh…uh…well…um…” she stammered incoherently.
            “Thanks for coming to watch me though, it helps me concentrate knowing you’re supporting me,” Masaya suddenly said, grabbing a wisp of Ichigo’s hair and running it through his fingers.
            Ichigo’s eyes widened in shock…. “ah….” she breathed, amazed.
            Masaya chuckled, “I wanted to thank you personally. How about a movie tomorrow night at 7?” he asked.
            All she could do was nod her head, mouth hung open. Masaya lightly closed her mouth with his finger, smiling widely. “Okay, I’ll meet you at the park at 6:30, k? Gotta go, later,” he smiled, and went inside.
            Ichigo could only stare after him helplessly. Then, when she regained her senses, lots of girls were starting to arrive. She jumped up extremely high and shouted out, “YES!!! TUESDAY NIGHT HERE I COME!!”
            “Whoa, what happened Ichigo? You’re in an unusually good mood today,” Amaya walked up beside Ichigo.
            “I so totally ROCK!! Okay, so….” And she ended up spouting the whole story to Amaya, who didn’t look the least bit amazed.
            “It FINALLY happened! Sheesh, honestly, I thought it would never happen. What took so long?” she casually asked.
            “What? This is SO exciting! I’m going to tell Kagura, she’ll be excited for me,” Ichigo huffed and walked off sulking. Amaya merely chuckled and waited for Sakura to get out of colorguard practice.
            “Heya, where’s Ichigo? She’s missing the practice session today,” Sakura noticed walking up to Amaya and the back of the girl crowd.
            “Oh, Masaya asked her on a date for tomorrow night, she was excited, but I kinda slighted her energy, so she went to tell Kagura to get a good reaction from someone,” Amaya paraphrased for Sakura.
            “Oh, that must have been terribly exciting for her. You could have afforded her more of a reaction this time,” Sakura sympathized with Ichigo’s reaction.
            “Whatever, she’ll be fine, just slighted a bit. She’ll get over it, things don’t always go the way you want, believe me,” Amaya wisely added.
            “Sounds like the same thing happened to you…..or something similar to this,” Sakura observed.
            “That’s none of your business,” Amaya snapped.
            “Fine, but don’t be scared by romance,” Sakura quoted.
            “I don’t like anyone anyway, so I’ll be fine. Come on, let’s go make amends with Ichigo and Kagura,” Amaya sidetracked, walking off.
            When Amaya and Sakura reached the classroom, Kagura and Ichigo were whispering and giggling by what they said. Ichigo looked up and waved the other two over, “Sakura, you’ll never believe what happened this morning!” Ichigo shrieked excitedly, grabbing Sakura’s arm and sitting her in the next seat.
            “Actually, Amaya told me what happened, so, I DO in fact know. But really, it’s exciting! I can’t believe how you lucked out so much,” Sakura encouraged happily.
            “See Amaya, even Sakura is glad for me, why can’t you be?” Ichigo questioned, scrutinizing.
            “I never said that I didn’t care, I just didn’t make a big deal out of it. Nothing really productive would have come from it anyway. But really, it’s wonderful news, don’t get me wrong, k?” Amaya added smiling.
            “Thanks Amaya! It means a lot to me that you don’t mind,” Ichigo stated smiling back.
            “Well, what’s all the excitement around here this morning you guys?” Sasuke walked up with Shinju and asked casually. Ichigo answered before anyone else could explain.
            “Oh, you’ll never believe what happened! Masaya asked me to a movie tomorrow evening! Eeeeeeeek! It’s the best ever!” she squealed.
            “Hey, that’s great Ichigo! Good luck,” Shinju said, hugging her supportively.
            “Thank you so much Shinju,” Ichigo sounded sincere by his support.
            “Yeah, it’s wonderful Ichigo, Masaya’s a cool guy too, it’s the perfect match,” Sasuke assured confidently.
            “Class, it’s time to begin class, so please take your seats,” the teacher announced, walking into the classroom and setting her bag down. “Now today, we’re learning about the moral standards to controversial issues such as cloning,” she smiled, handing us all papers full of notes.
*After school*
            Sakura rushed off to her piano lesson after school, briefly saying goodbye to her friends. She was to perform at a recital soon and she needed to practice as much as possible.
            “Sakura, wonderful, let’s begin with the exercises, then we can immediately begin into the composition,” her teacher began as soon as Sakura was seated and ready for her lesson.
            After piano lessons came violin lessons, and then flute lessons. When she got home, she was absolutely spent, as usual. She wandered lightly, almost automatically around the house; getting food, a shower, pajamas, and homework (which thankfully she had little of), and going to bed, dropping dead the moment her head hit the pillow.
*Next day after school*
            “Wow, I can’t believe that I’m actually free this afternoon. This means I can go home and catch up on some sleep that I’ve been missing lately. It’s not easy,” she explained lightly walking with Kagura and Amaya. Ichigo had gone home quickly to get all of her homework done before her date tonight, so she wouldn’t have to worry about it later.
            “It IS pretty amazing that you’re open. You shouldn’t be so busy all the time really, it’s not healthy to do too much,” Kagura worriedly informed her caringly.
            “You know, you should listen to your friends more often, you work too hard,” a young man’s voice came up behind Sakura.
            “Kyo? Hey!” Sakura exclaimed, turning around. “I didn’t see or hear you,” she speculated.
            “Oh, sorry, I wasn’t like, trying to sneak up on you. Actually, I wanted to ask you if you’d like to go see a movie with me tonight. Well, with me and Ichigo and Masaya. I figured it was perfect for you to get away from it all and just hang. Can you come?” he asked.
            “Oh…..this is unexpected. I would LOVE to go with you tonight!” Sakura smiled happily (VERY happily). Her heart soared and inflated until she thought she’d burst at the seams.
            “That’s great. Um…I’ll meet you at the park then, at 6:30 tonight?” Kyo asked uncertainly.
            “Sounds perfect. I’ll be there right on the button, k?” Sakura assured.
            “Okay, that’s great. I’ll see you then I guess. See ya!” Kyo blushed a little, waved, and left, meeting up with Masaya up the path, and giving him a high five as a good sign.
            “Well……WOW!!!” Kagura exclaimed surprised.
            “Sounds like you and Ichigo are lucking out majorly in the boy department,” Amaya observed lightly.
“I….guess. That took me so by surprise though. But, that’s SOOOOOOO cool! I mean, it’s like the best thing ever that could happen!” Sakura squealed.
            “Yep, it sure is. Now I have to find a boyfriend,” Kagura absently said, losing herself momentarily in her thoughts.
            “What about you Amaya? You said you don’t like anyone, but that’s not true, is it?” Sakura asked.
            “Okay, I DO like someone. Okay? But….he’d never give me a second look, so don’t worry about it,” she looked kinda sad.
            “Oh, you mean Motoharu Otsuda?” Kagura absently said.
            “How the hell did you know?!?” Amaya shouted, amazed and shocked that Kagura knew it.
            “Oh, I accidentally picked up the name from your mind. Sorry,” she apologized, coming back to find out why Amaya was so ticked off at her.
            “Oh….” Was all Amaya had to say, upset that her secret was out for the world to hear.
            “Oh Amaya, it’s okay! But, Motoharu Otsuda….isn’t he the teacher’s helper in Ms. Hirosha’s class? The tall, dark haired, cute one who’s like, brilliant?” Sakura asked.
            “Yes……I don’t know why, but…..I just REALLY like him….a lot,” Amaya admitted, feeling silly.
            “You feel silly when you know how long Ichigo has liked Masaya, and I have liked Kyo? Don’t be, it’s completely normal. And besides, you never know what could happen in the near future,” Sakura encouraged.
            “Yeah, right, not in THIS lifetime. Oh well, let’s go, I’ve got freakin’ Algebra II homework,” she grumbled, walking on, with Kagura and Sakura following closely behind.
*Sakura’s house*
            When Sakura got home, she rushed to her room and threw herself on her bed, squealing gleefully at the thought of tonight’s “date”.
            She dutifully ate something, did what little homework she had, then set her alarm for 5:00 so she could take a nap. And sleep she did, collapsing onto her bed, and rapidly drifting into a peaceful afternoon slumber.
            Before too long though, “BEEP! BEEP!” Sakura’s alarm cried loudly, waking her up. At first she was disoriented, since she never took naps during the day, then she remembered the day’s event, and she giggled as she got up to prepare for the evening event.
            “Hmmmm…..what should I wear?” Sakura asked her open closet wistfully. After 20 minutes she finally decided on a nice pair of jeans and a pink button up shirt with pigtails in her hair and flip flops. “I hope this works,” she muttered glancing at the clock. The large red digits read 5:40 pm.
            Sakura put on some light makeup and brushed her teeth, then checked the clock again; 5:55 pm.
            “Good enough!” she impatiently huffed, grabbing her purse and rushing down the stairs and out the door. She jogged lightly and easily all the way to the central park and waited by the clock. “Dang it! 10 minutes early,” she muttered.
            “Sakura! Hey!” Ichigo exclaimed happily, running up and hugging Sakura tightly. “I was so excited when Masaya told me that you and Kyo were coming with us!” Ichigo shrieked.
            “Yes, I was quite shocked, I must admit. But I’m so…..nervous, AND excited at the same time at our opportunity. I watched the clock, which went by painfully slow by the way, then finally just came.”
            “I know me too. I couldn’t WAIT to come. You look really cute, by the way!” Ichigo complimented.
            “Thanks, you too,” she replied, for in fact, she was. She had on a pair of jean shorts and a blue button up blouse with blue flip flops. And her hair was left loose, draped around her body sometimes, and other times being blown wildly to and fro at the wind’s mercy.
            While they waited, they talked about the up coming recital, and what each of them were playing, until the guys walked up that is.
            “We thought you two were going to be here right on the button, but you’re early,” Masaya chuckled with Kyo as they stopped in front of Sakura and Ichigo calmly.
            “Hey guys, we were just hanging out. So, what movie are we going to watch?” Ichigo asked curious.
            “Well, we didn’t actually know what you’d want to watch, so we thought we’d take you to the actual movie theater so you could choose yourselves,” Kyo smiled kindly.
            “Oh, well then, let’s go!” Sakura smiled back and began walking with Ichigo.
            The guys followed with Masaya next to Ichigo and Kyo by Sakura. On their way the conversed lightly touching on the weather and school.
            When they got to the movie theater, they looked at all the options:
1. Spiderman 3
2. Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man’s Chest
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
4. Simpson’s Movie
5. Shrek 3
6. Stomp the Yard
7. Epic Movie
            “Um….do you guys like Pirates of the Caribbean?” Ichigo asked.
            “Sure, sounds great!” Kyo said, walking forward taking out his wallet.
            “We can pay for ourselves,” Sakura protested.
            “Look, we asked you out, so we can pay. Our treat,” Masaya winked, stilling the girls’ protests.
            “4 tickets for the Pirates movie at 7 please,” Kyo requested.