Cinderella; Once In A Plot Twist

🥮 Chapter 24 🥮

• FIXING YOUR PROBLEMS IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE, BUT YOU STILL GOTTA DO IT •

A very confused Sasuke found Sakura sulking on a bench in front of the hospital. Itachi had been very worried about the girl, much so that he wanted to go in search for her with Sasuke. However he could not because his muscles were weakened with his illness and he could only go so far with shaky legs. It took a lot to calm Itachi down but when he did, Sasuke went out to search for Sakura.

Fortunately she picked her phone when he called and told him where she was which brought them to where the both of them were, seated on the hospital bench. "What happened back there?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura shook her head. "I'm sorry, I–" There were a lot of questions in her head to ask but she settled for the easiest. "How do you know Mrs Hikari?"

"So you do know Hikari sensei." Sasuke mused. He had suspected it when Sakura reacted strongly to the name back at Itachi's room but he wasn't so sure. "I don't actually know her, at least not as personally as Itachi does. She owned a small bakery where she taught children to bake and cook simple dishes. And whatever they baked, they shared with the neighborhood children and those that needed food. Hikari sensei was loved by everyone, she was an angel." Sasuke grew a soft smile as he told his story. "Itachi was one of the children she taught, he and my older cousin and his best friend. I don't think I was yet born back when they met her, he was six I think. Hikari sensei's bakery became a meeting spot for them and even when they were in middle school they continued meeting up at Hikari-sensei's bakery."

Sasuke's small smile turned into something sad as he continued his story.

"When I was five though, my older cousin passed away. He and Itachi were really close so it hurt him a lot. Hikari sensei was there for my brother till he got back up on his feet. The year she passed away was really tough on Itachi cause it was the same year his best friend, Izumi had to move to a faraway place." Sasuke sighed. "Hikari sensei's pastries meant a lot to Itachi. They were what brought him and his friends together and they constituted a great deal of his childhood to his early teens. I just want..." Sasuke's voice trembled with a weakness Sakura had never associated him with before. "You see, Itachi, he's ill with a brain tumor."

Sakura gasped aloud at the solemn confession. She had imagined reasons for Itachi's admission but she never expected something like a brain tumor. Sasuke's hands shook as he clasped them together.

"Yeah he's at the stage where he either dies because of the tumor or because of a surgery. He doesn't have much time to live. He's accepted fate, we've accepted fate, but..." Sasuke sighed. "But Itachi isn't happy." Nobody will be happy in such a state, Sakura thought. "He might try to hide it with smiles but when he thinks I'm not looking I see the smile fall. I don't want him to die sad and– and I don't want to regret never being able to make him happy for once before he leaves me inevitably."

"That's why you wanted to make dangos." Sakura whispered in realization. "For him."

Sasuke chuckled. "They're his favorite snacks. I can never stand sweet things but Itachi has a big sweet tooth. He'd make me try some of Hikari-sensei's pastries sometimes and sweet as they were, I never forgot how they tasted like. Honestly the whole masquerade potlatch party was just a desperate action to find pastries that could be good as Hikari sensei's and have the owner teach me to make dangos. Never did I expect to actually find one that tastes like hers, and never did I expect you to actually know her."

Stupid. Sakura felt really stupid and horrible. Here she was thinking that Sasuke fell in love with the girl at the ball which was why he was searching throughout the school for her, meanwhile all Sasuke wanted was just to make his brother happy. There was no "love" like she had selfishly made up in this story. Everything was just Sasuke being a pure and loving brother. She really felt stupid! She was really stupid!