Reckless Muse

Ch. 2: Discoveries (Part 2)

"Hey, Kusunoki-chan. Do you want to eat lunch together?" Kuramochi asked, standing next to the girl's desk. Sakura paused from putting her stuff away and looked up at him. His hands were in his pockets and he was leaning casually on his right foot. His lips formed a soft smile and Sakura found herself actually considering his offer. Then she remembered her drawing she was working on.

She shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, but I like to eat lunch alone. Gives me some time to recharge from socializing," she said, giving him a nod and a smile.

He laughed lightly at her comment. "Alright, I understand. But if you ever want to, the offer is open ended."

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied as he waved at her and left the classroom. Soon after he left, she heard his voce ring through the hallway and into the classroom. She couldn't make out what he had said, but she did catch Miyuki's name. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she grabbed her lunch and sketch book and went out to her favorite spot.

As she sat amongst the roots, her eyes lingered on the grey clouds. It wasn't particularly windy, but the air held a chill to it and she found herself curling up more as she ate. After she finished about half her lunch, she pulled out her notebook and switched her chopsticks to her left hand. As she continued eating, she added to her drawing. Shading here and there. Lines here. A little more of an edge there and a softer curve over here. She focused in on it and only looked up when she heard her brother's familiar voice.

"You sure do like this spot, huh?" Fumiya asked, smiling down at his sister. "It's chilly out today and you're still here."

Sakura shrugged. "It gives me some time to draw alone. It's calming out here."

Fumiya sighed. "I know you don't like interacting with people a lot, but I hope you're making friends here."

"The baseball team is nice and I enjoy walking home with Tetsu."

"You know that's not what I meant," Fumiya laughed lightly. "Did Kuramochi come to get you before school?"

Sakura nodded. "I had fallen asleep, too. Thanks for sending him."

Fumiya smiled. "I figured you would. You know, I'll admit that Kuramochi can be a bit loud, but I think he'd be a good friend for you." Sakura tilted her head to the side and Fumiya caught the unspoken question. "I'm not saying you and him have to become really close, but he's a good, hard-working guy who I think you could get along with. You should at least have one friend in your class."

"But he and Miyuki are a matching set," Sakura groaned, thinking about the arrogant catcher.

Fumiya laughed at his sister's obvious dislike for the boy. "Yeah, I'll admit he's a bit hard to get along with, what with his comments. But he's not mean either. He's just..." Fumiya trailed off.

Sakura raised her eyebrows as she supplied, "Annoying?"

"Yes," Fumiya smiled. "But not bad. And he takes the insults and snide remarks just as much as he doles them out." His lips turned up into a smirk. "Maybe he's a good vent so that people will believe me when I say you aren't always quiet and reserved."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up, idiot. I'm not that bad."

Fumiya raised an eyebrow. "You put me in a headlock because I ate the last of your ice cream."

"That was my ice cream!" she exclaimed, drawing a laugh out of her brother. She huffed as he just smiled at her. She turned her eyes to the grey sky. "Do you think it'll rain today."

"Most likely," Fumiya replied, following her gaze.

"That means that practice will be cancelled."

Fumiya looked at her sideways. "Have another drawing idea?" Sakura nodded. "Is it about the field?"

Sakura nodded and blushed slightly. "I wanted to draw how it looks when it rains and I was hoping I could get a reference picture, too."

Fumiya hummed in thought. "Well, I would prefer you go home right after school so you don't get sick. But if you brought your umbrella, I guess it wouldn't hurt. Just make sure you don't mess up the field or else Coach Kataoka will have your hide."

Sakura chuckled at her brother's remark. "I brought it. And I won't stay too late, either."

"Alright then," Fumiya nodded. "I need to head back. Make sure you finish your lunch. I know you didn't yesterday." He turned and walked off, leaving Sakura wondering how he knew she hadn't finished it.

Sakura stuffed the rest of her lunch down her throat quickly and then spent the last little bit of time on her drawing. She was nearly done with it when the warning bell for class sounded. She startled, quickly packing up her bag before sprinting into the school. She turned a corner sharply, nearly colliding with a boy standing right there. She sidestepped him and turned around to apologize.

"I'm so sorry I didn't see you!" she exclaimed, giving him a slight bow.

"Don't worry about it, Kusunoki-chan," a familiar voice chuckled. Sakura raised her head to see Miyuki standing in front of her. "But what's the rush?"

Sakura noticed that Kuramochi was standing next to Miyuki and her gazed darted back and forth quickly while she tried to determine why they were standing around. "The warning bell for class sounded."

Both of the boy's eyes widened at the news. Miyuki turned sharply to Kuramochi. "I told you! I knew I heard it over your ridiculous laughter!"

"Oi!" Kuramochi shouted. "Don't blame me!"

"Maybe a little less arguing and a little more running?" Sakura said, raising an eyebrow at the boys. Both shut their mouths and nodded and the three of the took off running down the halls, hoping no teacher caught them.

As Miyuki ran, he found himself falling behind both Kuramochi and Sakura. He was surprised. He knew Kuramochi was fast from baseball practice, but it almost startled him that Sakura was able to keep pace with the green-haired shortstop. As they made their way to the classroom, he saw them both turn in. As he went to turn into the doorway, he collided with their backs, sending all three of them flying forward.

"What the hell! Why did you stop!" Miyuki demanded as he winced from the pain of falling. When he looked beneath him, he saw Sakura being crushed by his and Kuramochi's weight. Miyuki jumped to his feet quickly, feeling sorry for the girl.

"We stopped to catch our breath," Kuramochi snapped, staggering to his feet. He turned back and offered a hand to help Sakura up. She accepted and let him pull her to her feet. "You okay?"

She nodded, still a bit breathless from their sprint. "Yeah I'm good."

"Why did you stop in the doorway?" Miyuki said, still upset.

"Because we figured you were too far behind us for it to matter."

Both Miyuki and Kuramochi gaped at the girl, not expecting a smartass remark like that to come from her. Kuramochi's lips turned up into a smile and he started cackling, his voice ringing gently in Sakura's ears. She looked to Miyuki for his reaction and found him pouting. Pouting.

"And here I was thinking you were nice, Kusunoki-chan," he said forlornly. This drew a snort out of Sakura and before she could reply, the class bell sounded.

As he walked off, Sakura called after him. "By the way, sorry for being snappy. I was tired."

Miyuki chuckled. "Don't worry about it. No one on the team believed Kusunoki-san when he said you'd be like that. You just proved all of us wrong." Kuramochi laughed and agreed, causing Sakura to blush slightly. It only deepened as she found the entire class watching her walk back to her seat quietly. They might have expected Miyuki and Kuramochi to come falling through the door. Sakura was another story.