I forgot to mention that there's 10 chapters total, plus an epilogue (cuz I just like epilogues I guess
)
@kuro_808: Hi~ I remember you! I'm glad you found this story then, fellow HKT fan
I don't know what to tell you but to wait and see how it pans out haha
@Ruka Kikuchi: Hey there Ruka! Recently met you on FB though I don't know if you'll recognize me haha
And I love them too! That's why I wrote this lol But thanks and I hope this update's soon enough for ya~
@junchan48: Hi bud~ You never fail to comment on my stories huh? Haha I'm happy
Although I'm happy to be one of the few people that write SakuRuppi/HaruSaku I can't claim to be the first. There's a few on here (that I haven't gotten around to reading them all) so you can check those out too!
Thanks for reading though!
Chapter 2: Exploring the HouseWith nothing else to do, Sakura decided to just take a shower. Well, she could’ve unpacked her stuff and put it away but it had been a long day already and she figured she’d have plenty of time to do that tomorrow (plus that meant she’d have to accept that her family was gone and that this was her new
permanent home, and she wasn’t ready for that just yet).
The feeling of hot water running down her back felt nice and refreshing, like washing away all her problems and anxiety. Also, it gave her time to think and reflect about what had happened. First she moved to this completely new, foreign place (that was a lot more expensive than anything she had ever encountered before). Then she met Haruka - this girl that Sakura couldn’t help but wonder about no matter how much she tried to get her out of her head.
As she stepped out of the shower, rubbing her hair with a towel, Sakura noticed something on her bed. There was a simple floral design dress laid out for her (the design similar to the patterns on a kimono but Sakura was glad it wasn’t because she could never put one on without help), and she figured that it was meant for her to wear. Putting it on, she was pleasantly surprised to find it very comfortable and exactly her size. But how did Haruka know her size? At least, Sakura assumed it was Haruka as she never saw anyone else in the house. But she didn’t think too much of it, she’d have plenty of time to ask the girl all her questions later.
Remembering Anna, Sakura decided she should mail her to let her know that she had arrived and was alright. But when she checked her phone, the words ‘no service’ glared at her from the top of her screen.
No service? Why? This is the twenty-first century right? How far are we out of town that my phone can’t pick up any signal? Sakura just sighed and threw the phone back on the bed, she’d have to ask Haruka about that too. Anna could wait for now. Sakura decided to go exploring next since there was still time left in the day. She hoped she wouldn’t get into trouble for poking around, but if she was going to stay here then she had to get to know the place right?
Wandering through the various hallways, there were so many rooms that Sakura almost got lost (actually she did for a while until she somehow, quite luckily, stumbled back to where she started). Rooms led to other rooms that led to other hallways that Sakura got dizzy just trying to navigate it all. Most of them were bedrooms (that were a lot fancier than her own but Haruka did say that hers was simple and designed for her - which Sakura was grateful for) and then there were quite a few strange things that she found as well.
For instance, there was one room with large windows on one wall, a wooden horse, and some out of place red with white polka dot balls placed around the room.
Then one that had black and white checkered floor with a wooden cage, a dead tree with winding branches, and a broken clock hanging in the middle of the place.
Another was a ballet studio that was dusty from lack of use, lit by candles hanging from the ceiling in glass balls and tiny little white feathers covered the floor, piled up around the sides.
And strangest of all, Sakura felt drawn to these rooms. A weird sense of nostalgia washed over her and before she knew it she was already inside each of them, touching the objects and feeling like she knew them from somewhere, some time.
The last room she checked she found something that made her feel uncomfortable. It was another bedroom, exactly like hers in fact, except the curtains were a pretty blue green and there was a small ancient Spinet piano as well. But that’s not what made her feel weird inside, it was the painting on the wall above the bed.
A portrait of two girls, one in a red top with a blue-green flowing skirt and matching gloves, and one in a blue-green top with a long blue skirt and red gloves. Sakura stood there staring at it for a long time, trying to figure out if those two girls were who she thought they were because the one on her knees bore an uncanny resemblance to Haruka, then the one holding her hand was almost undoubtedly Sakura herself.
She couldn’t explain the feeling she was having at the moment, but Sakura knew she had to get out of that room. That’s when she decided that she wasn’t ever going to go back to that part of the house again. No matter what, she just couldn’t.
Going downstairs to fetch a glass of water or something to calm herself down, Sakura ended up in the dining room where she found Haruka sitting at the long oak table, waiting. She thought that maybe she wouldn’t want to see Haruka again after that weird encounter with the portrait, but strangely enough she found herself relax in the other girl’s presence.
Their eyes met and Haruka spoke, never breaking eye contact even as Sakura sat down across from her. “Dinner is at six every day.”
Sakura was surprised to hear that so much time had gone by already but then she realized how hungry she was when she saw the food on the table. She figured that Haruka was being nice and trying to help her get used to her new life here, because it was a traditional Japanese meal for dinner – rice with all kinds of side dishes for Sakura to chose from were laid out, and she could barely help herself from digging in. Luckily though, Haruka started eating right away so Sakura took that as her cue to dig in as well.
It was so good that Sakura basically devoured everything in front of her, then she almost felt embarrassed until she saw that Haruka ate a ton too. That was the first and basically the only thing she learned about Haruka – she ate a lot.
Then Sakura remembered that back at home they always had a late dinner because her dad wouldn’t get home from work until then, but Sakura always got hungry early and had to have a snack beforehand. A lot of times she would’ve preferred to have dinner earlier but she never complained because she understood why. And now she didn’t have worry about that anymore...
Tears welled up in her eyes and she put her chopsticks down, overwhelmed with a feeling of loneliness all of a sudden. Sakura thought she had gotten over it already, or that she was at least mature enough to push it aside, but apparently not.
“My little sister used to like having dinner early, so that’s why I got into the same habit.”
Sakura looked up and blinked a few times, wondering why Haruka suddenly spoke up like that.
“So if it bothers you, we can eat later if you like.” Haruka glanced at her expectantly.
“Oh! No this is fine, I like early dinners too.”
“That’s good.”
Sakura could have sworn she saw a ghost of a smile on Haruka’s face, but then she went back to eating so Sakura couldn’t tell. Then she realized that she had completely forgotten about her sadness for a moment, and also that that’s why Haruka had spoken up in the first place. Then Sakura smiled too.
---
“Would you like a tour of the house? Though I suppose you’ve already done your fair share of exploring already.”
The tone was slightly teasing as far as Sakura could tell, and she blushed a little while nodding to let Haruka know that she would indeed like a tour.
They had finished dinner and Sakura was entirely stuffed, especially since Haruka had prepared some squid as a dish as well, which was Sakura’s favorite food and she really couldn’t stop herself from eating basically all of it. But Sakura wasn’t the only one who stuffed her face with food, Haruka had this cool and mysterious appearance, but she sure ate a lot for someone who seemed like the dark beauty type.
Then after relaxing (and some much needed digestion) Haruka led her around the house again, explaining where each of the rooms were and what they were for. Sakura didn’t have time to explore the first floor yet (yes all those rooms from earlier were all on the second floor, the place was just that big) so now she knew where the kitchen was, the three living rooms, and the library (which was huge enough all on its own as it took up one whole corner of the house, second floor and all), but Sakura doubted her ability to keep them all straight and not get lost again.
As they made their way up the stairs, Sakura wondered how Haruka would explain those weird rooms but it seems she wasn’t going to as Haruka passed by the doors without sparing a second glance. Then as they reached the end of that particular hallway, Sakura knew that they were about to reach the room with the portrait and she didn’t know how to tell Haruka she didn’t want to go in there again, but Haruka just stopped, as if reading her mind, saying that her bedroom was at the end, then she abruptly turned around and promptly headed back down the stairs.
So that’s her room??“That’s the whole house for you. Anything else I can help you with?” Haruka questioned. She seemed almost...upset, but Sakura couldn’t exactly tell, let alone know why.
“Um I think that’s all... Thank you though.” Sakura bowed politely.
Haruka waved her off. “You don’t have to be so polite. We’re pretty much stuck here together from now on anyways.”
“Um okay...” Then Sakura frowned, “Wait you mean there’s only the two of us?”
“Yes.”
She did a double take and her mouth dropped open. “You mean there’s literally no one else around here?”
“Yes.” Haruka confirmed.
“But what about all that food we just had? And the building out back?”
“I made it all, and set the table. The building out back is the old main building until this one was built, but now it’s for storage or if we ever get guests.”
Sakura’s mouth dropped even more. “You’re kidding me...”
How did she do all that by herself?“Ah I’m sorry! I’m asking too much aren’t’ I...” She suddenly realized, immediately feeling embarrassed for letting that last bit slip out.
Haruka was completely unfazed by Sakura’s reaction though, rather she was quite calm as always. And even though Sakura had only met the girl in the morning, she had already figured out that Haruka never showed much emotion, making the girl even more mysterious than Sakura had initially thought.
Haruka let Sakura squirm and sulk a bit before speaking up. “Hey...would you like to see something?”
“Eh?...Sure?” The question caught her off guard.
Haruka immediately walked away again without waiting for Sakura, who scrambled to catch up again for the second time that day. Going back through the kitchen and dining room, Haruka went out the back and followed the stone path towards the old building while Sakura pondered how Haruka could move so fast when she was even shorter than Sakura was.
Fast walking never took so much out of her as Sakura was nearly panting by the time she stopped right behind Haruka (but then again she was never really athletic in the first place).
But then as she looked up (because she was bent over out of breath), Sakura didn’t regret a thing.
A beautiful garden was laid out, half in the shade of the building and the sunset cast orange light over the whole scene. A large fountain stood proud right in the center as it sprayed water up in alternating jets. Several different species of flowers were planted in rows and all of them were in full blossom. Roses, lilies, tulips, carnations, petunias, hibiscuses, sunflowers, daisies, you name it, they were all planted in this garden. The stone path winded throughout the bushes, a bird bath here and there and it led all the way to the back of the building where a small pond was resting calmly.
Haruka motioned for Sakura to come up beside her, then bent down to pick a daisy, reaching and tucking it neatly behind Sakura’s ear. Sakura was a little surprised by the sudden gesture, blushing a bit and heart racing. But then Haruka started up again, and Sakura didn’t want to be left behind, so this time they walked side by side down to the pond. The path kept running along the edge of the entire oval lake, some lily pads decorating the tranquil waters near the side, but Haruka led her over to the shade of a large tree (which seemed to be some kind of fruit tree but Sakura didn’t know what kind) where a cute little bench was waiting for them.
They both sat at the same time, not too close or too far, watching the ducks wade through the waters and Sakura just let the sense of calm wash over her, it was quite a peaceful feeling that she hadn’t felt in a long time, though it was strangely familiar as well.
“So...do you like it?”
Sakura smiled, “Of course I do! It’s beautiful here!”
Then for once (and Sakura was sure it was there this time) Haruka actually smiled, “I’m glad.”
And along with her smile, a gentle breeze wafted past, but strong enough to sweep past Sakura’s hair and carry the daisy along with it. Sakura tried to catch it at first, but it slipped through her fingers and landed lightly on the calm waters of the pond, swirling in place.
She noticed then that it wasn’t white in color, but a strawberry pink. If Sakura remembered correctly, then daisies symbolized purity and innocence, especially white ones. But this one wasn’t so pure, it had been...tainted by a different color – the color of another. And Sakura couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the flower swirling alone on the water. Around and around it went.
As if it’d never stop.
Topic: Forgotten Memories [SakuRuppi] - COMPLETED (Read 27829 times)