again & again - [ sasusaku ] [ au one-shot collection ]

seventeen

The first time Sakura sees him is on the first day of classes at the university she attends.

She doesn't live on campus, since she lives with her best friend Ino in the apartment gifted to her as a gift from her father. (Ino's, not hers. Yamanaka-san is a very successful fashion designer who's got money flowing out of his pockets and into Ino's. She's not complaining.)

Sakura was unfortunate enough to sign up for classes at the last minute, having been busy with work around the hospital she works at. All the available classes were early, like the 8am she has to attend in a little over half an hour, and the one she'll have to go to tomorrow, and the day after, and- well, you get the point. Sakura's grateful she's already used to getting up early.

Not many others are though, since the subway she takes to get to the university across town is pretty empty for being the number one mode of transportation for college students who don't live on campus. Then again, maybe the others actually live on campus.

Sakura is bored so she watches the few people around her. There's an older man sitting further down from her with a briefcase on his lap, clearly on his way to work. Sitting a few seats away from him are two elderly women, gossiping back and forth to one another. Their constant looks towards her pink hair and ripped jeans clue her in on the topic they're discussing. Near them is a young woman with her small son, whose backpack is almost as big as him. He looks sad, so Sakura assumes it might be the nerves of starting school. His mother meets her eyes, and gives her a small smile that she returns.

Not too far from her is a boy who looks to be the same age as her, and who either happened to look in her direction at the same time she looked at him, or she's caught him staring. The light blush on his pretty face as he jerks his head in the opposite direction answers that for her.

Sakura is tempted to call him out, but decides against it when the subway stops. She takes her time collecting her items, but she doesn't miss the way the raven haired boy quickly heads out.

She doesn't miss the way his black eyes dart back to her curiously.

Sakura is in a good mood for the rest of that day. Her soul is content and her heart feels happy. Even if she doesn't see him on the subway again when she takes it back home later in the evening, she still thinks back to him all the way home. He's just so cute, and basically the man of her dreams!

If he actually does appear in her dreams that night...well, she can't control her dreams, can she?

The next morning, Sakura sees the same people that she had seen the day before. The kind looking man at the end of the row, the two older women who still stare disapprovingly at her (natural!!!) pink hair, the young mother and her son who seems to be in a happy mood since they both smile at her, and then-

That really pretty boy.

She blushed slightly when he meets her eyes head on, and gives her an awkward nod of acknowledgement. Sakura gives him one back before pulling out her book to read. Out of the corner of her eyes, she can see him watching her.

She lifts a brow at him, and he does the same, glancing pointedly at her book. Sakura lifts it up and turns it slightly so that he can see the title of the book. When he raises a fine, dark brow at her, she gives him a thumbs up.

Sakura thinks she sees the corner of his lips twitch, but she might just be seeing things, especially since the subway has stopped and he's out quickly again.

He's on her mind as she goes through her classes and then work, and he's definitely still in her dreams, wielding a sword and a rockin bod that shows through the open white shirt he wears, of all things. Silly dreams.