距

Chapter Forty-Three

Christmas Day, Sakura and Sayuri stayed in. There was no place to go anyway, due to the excessive cold. The two sipped on hot cocoa made from a coffee machine and watched old movies on Sakura's laptop.

After breakfast, when it wasn't so cold, the two took a walk around campus. For lunch, they went down to grab some drive-through in Sakura's car, and ate with the heater on. When they reached the dorms, Sakura suggested watching old Christmas movies to pass the time. When dinner rolled around, Sayuri cooked up some ramen, adding some egg and water to mellow out the usual taste.

At five in the evening, when Sakura started getting bored and sleepy, either from the hot cocoa they made a few minutes ago, or from the sappy movie they were watching, Sayuri gently shook her awake. She got up herself and changed out from her pajamas, and told Sakura to do the same. While Sakura was busy yawning away her sleepiness, Sayuri wrapped a thick coat and scarf around the pinkette, before grabbing the keys and her bag and leaving.

"Come on, it's your Christmas present." The first time Sayuri had spoken in a while.

Sakura was suspicious. Since the party at Naruto Uzumaki's, Sayuri had been taking three-hour trips to some unknown place, coming back at midnight just so that she could avoid being interrogated by the pinkette.

Despite Sakura owning a car, Sayuri protested and insisted she buy them bus tickets. She wanted the destination to be a surprise, and wanted to pay off that one time Sakura bought the both of them meals. So they sat in that bus for thirty minutes, letting Sakura sleep on her shoulder as Sayuri revised the notes she was looking back on.

To pass the time, Sakura had small conversations with the busied girl, asking and teasing. She then came to the topic, "Have you spoken with your brother since leaving the hospital?"

Sayuri stayed silent for a moment, until she took a deep breath and smiled, "Actually, yeah. He went up to me a few days ago. And uh--well, he didn't say much. But he said, 'Let's eat together sometime, yeah?' And I agreed."

"How are you?"

"I'm..doing good."

"You're still signing, huh?"

"...Yeah."

"You don't have to feel obliged to...not speak. I--I've done some thinking."

"...yeah?"

"I know what I did was horrible. What I have been doing. And even though I knew...I just--Listen, I have no excuse to explain what I did. I thought that was what our parents wanted, and uh...I know now it's wrong. And I'm sorry about everything. About what I said and what I did and for not realizing it until now. I'm sorry about all of that. And I know sorry won't take it back.

"So I was uh...wondering if we could start over? It's alright if you don't want to--I mean, after what I did, of course not, but uh...I really want to make up for what we did. And maybe we can have that sibling relationship we never go to have. But we don't have to, if you don't want to."

"...okay. It's tough to forgive what you did, after all you did to me. But, I really do hope that someday, we can act like we're not strangers to each other."

"That's nice to hear. I--if you want, want to grab a bite, sometime? You can bring along the Sakura girl, if you want."

"...That sounds nice. See you around, Kakashi."

"Well, I'm glad you two are making up," Sakura muttered, half-asleep. "You seem happier these days..."