𝐒𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐭 ❄️

5: Strawberry Cake

After school, I went back to Shigure's house with Yuki. There was a clearly well-tread path leading from the house to the garden. Yuki knew a lot about caring for the plants and as we planted the strawberry seeds, he told me about his garden.

Our time was cut short when I suddenly remembered I was going to meet Shinjiro. We'd decided to meet once his after-school archery practice was finished, but I had completely forgotten.

I said a hurried goodbye to Yuki and reminded him that I'd help him pick the strawberries when they were ready. The boy seemed put out by my sudden leaving. He tried not to show it, smiling kindly as ever, but his eyes seemed sad.

I rushed to meet Shin at the cafe we'd agreed on, but I didn't see him. As I looked around the cafe, I spotted him outside, walking away. I gasped, rushing out the door and bumping into a guy with two toned hair. Black at the bottom, white at the top. That was all I noticed about him as I looked up to apologize. I barely glanced at him before continuing to chase Shinjiro.

"Shin! Shinjiro!" After more running, I finally caught up with him. "Shin!" I gasped. He stopped, raising an eyebrow at me. "You didn't . . . stop when I . . . called your name." I said between pants.

"I thought you weren't coming." He said..

"W-what? I said I would be here. Of course I was coming!" I exclaimed.

"I already waited 15 minutes."

"I'm sorry." I said. "I know I'm late. We can go back to the cafe if you'd like. Or anywhere you want, really. I'm sorry I was late. I'll make it up to you."

Shin glared at me. "You were at the Sohma's. That's why you're late, right?" I nodded meekly. He sighed. "If you wanted to go with me, you should have been here by the time we agreed on. Just go back to those guys, since you like them more than me."

"That's not true!" I said. But the protest sounded weak even to me. Maybe I was just too excited about having friends other than Uo and Hana. And it was my fault for being late. He could have waited a little longer, but if I was in his shoes and waiting 15 minutes after the time we'd agreed on, maybe I would have left too. . . And I had been spending a lot of time at the Sohma's.

Shinjiro just sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, but I need some time to myself for now."

My heart clenched painfully in my chest at his words. "Alright. I understand." I said. And I tried not to be angry about it. We could just have the date after he'd cooled off.

I decided I'd go to the cafe and eat all my problems away. The thought of going back to Shigure's crossed my mind, but if I went there, everyone would ask why I was back so soon. I didn't want to worry Tohru.

I entered the cafe again and someone tapped my shoulder. "Hey, 'scuse me." A voice said. I looked up to see a guy with white and black hair. He looked kind of familiar, but I couldn't remember why.

"Glad you came back." He said. "You dropped this when you bumped into me." He held out my wallet and my eyes widened. I hadn't even noticed I dropped it. "I was just beginning to wonder what I should do."

"Thank you so much!" I exclaimed, taking the wallet from him. I did a brief check to make sure everything important was still there. It was. By the time I looked up, the guy was standing in line. I went to stand next to him. "Hey," I said. "Let me buy you something." I said.

"There's no need. I have money." The guy said.

"But I want to. As a thank you." I said.

The boy paused for a moment, then nodded. "Ok." He said.