Reckless Muse

Ch. 3: Rainy Meeting (Part 4)

"This is it," Sakura said as she entered the gate of her family home. It was a modest two story house with a low black iron fence surrounding the front yard. She let Kuramochi into the gate behind her and they made the small walk to the door. Sakura opened the door and stepped through the threshold into the dry house.

"Here," Kuramochi said as he held her umbrella out to her.

She shook her head. "No, you still need to head back. I'll get it from you tomorrow." Kuramochi was about to protest when a feminine voice sounded from farther inside the warm house.

"Sakura? Is that you?"

She turned to face inside. "Yeah, Mom. I'm home, sorry for being late."

"Not only are you late, but it's pouring down rain," a masculine voice said, getting louder as the owner approached. Kuramochi watched as a middle aged man appeared from around the corner. He had a mess of curly black hair and blue eyes that seemed a familiar shade. He wasn't overly intimidating, maybe standing a few inches taller than Kuramochi with a slightly more muscular build, but he had an air of seriousness about him. The realization that this was Sakura's father made Kuramochi nervous.

"Yeah, sorry about that, Dad. I was taking some reference pictures at the fields and lost track of time," Sakura said sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Then why are you soaked?" The man inquired, quirking an eyebrow at his daughter while keeping one eye on the unknown boy.

She chuckled lightly. "I ran into Kuramochi-kun while at the fields and then sort of had an impromptu race with him."

The man sighed, obviously not too surprised. "I thought Mirai was supposed to be the troublemaker." Kuramochi almost missed the statement as his brain lagged behind a second, taken off guard by the change of honorific Sakura used. Well, she did tell him to use her given name after all. "So, I take it this is Kuramochi-san? Planning on making him stand in the rain all night?" There was a teasing edge in the man's voice which made Kuramochi relax slightly.

Sakura's eyes went big for a second before practically pulling Kuramochi inside. She took the umbrella and set it to the side as she stuttered an apology.

"It's fine," he said with a small smile. He then turned to face her father and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir. My name is Kuramochi Youichi."

"Wait! Is that the infamous Kuramochi!" A younger voice rang out from a side room and Sakura facepalmed as a younger girl burst into view. She had light blond hair and eyes a shade lighter than Sakura's. Her hair was just as curly as Sakura's father's and was held back by a hairtie. She a significantly shorter than Kuramochi, only coming up to his shoulders, but she looked like she was about to pounce on him.

"Yes, this is Kuramochi-kun. Kuramochi-kun, this is my little sister, Mirai," Sakura said, gesturing to the girl and shooting Kuramochi an apologetic look.

Mirai grinned broadly, looking Kuramochi up and down, causing him to blush slightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mirai-chan," he greeted her. Mirai's lips twitched upwards and from the corner of his eye, Kuramochi saw Sakura tense up.

"Sakura's talked about you a lot lately," Mirai said, shooting her older sister a smirk.

"Haha, I bet she complains about me all the time," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He'd be lying if he said that the fact Sakura talked about him didn't make him happy, however.

Mirai chuckled. "Oh yeah, she complains about how loud you are, and energetic. Although she says that about me, too." Mirai's eyes glinted as she continued to speak. "But what's impressive is that she called you her friend. Sakura never makes friends easily because she's so introverted and hates attention like that. But she says that she enjoys spending time with you and tutoring you. She even said that you being hyper doesn't bother her as much-."

"Mirai!" Sakura exclaimed exasperated. "For the love of God, can you please shut up?!" The red dusting her cheeks didn't go unnoticed by Kuramochi who felt his own face heat up at the fact that it appeared Sakura talked about him a lot. The girls' father simply stood with crossed arms and an amused look in his eye.

Mirai shrugged. "If you didn't want me saying it then you shouldn't have brought him home."

"He only walked me home because it's late and was pouring," Sakura groaned, obviously fed up with her sister.

"And I appreciate you walking my daughter home," her father spoke up, causing Kuramochi to snap his head towards him. "My name is Kusunoki Nikko. Don't need to be formal," Nikko said, smiling at the boy. Kuramochi relaxed, glad that her father wasn't as scary as he had been expecting. "Why don't you join us for dinner?"

"Oh, no, I couldn't," Kuramochi said, already feeling bad for declining. "I should be heading back to the dorms."

"If you stay in the dorms, then you rarely get homemade food, right? Just stay for a while. The rain's not going to get any worse," Nikko said, flashing Kuramochi a smile. "And if your coach gets upset, just have him call me and I'll clear it up."

"Ah, well then-."

"Oh come on, stay! It'll be fun. Mom's cooking is the best!" Mirai said grinning bigger than before. Kuramochi shot an inquisitive look to Sakura who smiled and nodded. If she wanted him to stay, then he didn't know if he could bring himself to reject the offer.

"Alright, pardon the intrusion. And thanks for inviting me."