Yoshino hummed quietly to himself while walking back to his house from school. It was a warm and sunny spring day; something that he hadn't experienced in a long time. The busy streets of his hometown were bustling with schoolchildren playing and many other people window shopping. He slowed his pace as he approached a cherry blossom tree to admire the radiant, pink flowers. If only Mahiro was here...
Mahiro had called Yoshino extremely early that morning to tell him that he was "sick" and wasn't able to go to school. Of course, Yoshino didn't believe his feeble excuse. He was probably skipping class to go on a date with the girl he'd saved a long time ago from the Black Iron Syndrome.
"Hey! Yoshino!"
Yoshino slowly lifted his head as he heard someone call his name. He scanned over the crowd with his emerald eyes until he saw a figure with long, pink hair running towards him. He shielded his eyes from the blazing sun with his hand to get a better look at whoever it was. "Hakaze?"
"Yes, it's me, silly!" Hakaze got closer and closer, pushing through many pedestrians without apologizing until she skidded to a stop in front of Yoshino, panting heavily.
A multitude of questions exploded out of Yoshino's mouth before he could stop himself. "Are you alright? What are you doing here? Did something happen? I thought you were busy shopping for skirts and trying to learn how to drive since Tetsuma refuses to drive you now?"
Hakaze's eyes widened. Is he really that concerned about me? However, she brushed off that thought as quickly as it came. No... He's probably just concerned for himself and Mahiro. "I'm perfectly fine! Nothing's happened. Oh, and yes, I was shopping for shoes and trying to learn how to drive."
"Then why did you rush here? I thought you hated running in those," Yoshino pointed to Hakaze's shiny pink heels that she forced herself to wear, even though that they were quite painful. "Fashion comes first," she always used to say.
"I brought three plane tickets to America! We're going on a vacation!" Hakaze yanked three flimsy tickets out of her purse with a flourish and waved them in front of Yoshino's face.
"What?!" He fell back about two feet in surprise, almost bumping into an innocent old woman. "You never told me that you were going to buy plane tickets to America!"
"That's the point! It's supposed to be a surprise!" Hakaze grinned widely and stuffed the tickets back into her purse.
"Um... I don't know, Hakaze..." Yoshino shifted the weight of his school bag onto his other shoulder while trying to think. On one hand, going on the trip would mean missing a lot of school and possibly failing. On the other hand, he had always wanted to go to America and improve his English. It would also serve as a good escape for all three of them from the events of the last few weeks... At this point, he really didn't know what to say. "Uh..."
Hakaze started to bounce up and down like an excited child. "Your parents wouldn't mind, would they?"
"They're working in the city again. They're going to be there for about a month or two."
"That's perfect! Our trip is only three and a half weeks long!"
"Only three and a half? Me and Mahrio will miss a lot of school!"
"School, school, school. Is that all you care about?"
Yoshino wrinkled his nose in disgust. Ugh, she sounds so much like Mahiro.
"So, yes or no?"
"I don't know yet. Can we discuss this in the café across the street? My bag is pretty heavy."
Hakaze let out a low, unladylike groan. "Give me your bag,"
"Huh?"
"Give me your bag. I'll carry it for you while we walk to the café."
"If you say so..." Yoshino slid the brown, leather bag off his shoulders and held it out to Hakaze with some difficulty.
She frowned and grabbed it by the straps, almost falling over from the weight. "What do you have in here, bricks?"
"No, just some textbooks and homework. Are you sure you'll be alright with it?"
"Yes, I'll be fine!" Hakaze hefted the bag over her shoulder. It almost flattened her expensive purse, but she didn't seem to mind. "Remember, I was once the Princess of Genesis!"
"Right, right. So... Why did you decide that we should go on this trip?" Yoshino asked as he looked left and right to see if there were any cars before crossing the road.
"I thought that it would be a fun and exciting opportunity for all of us. Plus, I was terribly bored. The civilian life is dull," Hakaze explained as she blindly stumbled into the street before watching for any cars. All of a sudden, as if out of thin air, a black Mercedes shot out from a corner and headed directly for Hakaze.
In that split second, everyone else around Yoshino seemed to disappear. He had his mind focused mainly on Hakaze and the black car.
"HAKAZE!" He leapt off the sidewalk and wrapped his arm around her waist in a tackle attempt, pulling her back into him and safely onto the sidewalk.
Hakaze was startled, but mainly embarrassed. What if he thinks I did that just to be saved and to feel his touch? Gah, no! Get it together, Hakaze Kusaribe! I'm not in love with Yoshino, not in--
"Are you okay?! What were you thinking?!" Yoshino asked frantically as he let go of her.
Hakaze nodded slowly. "I'm fine, s-sorry..."
"Please be more careful next time. Come on, let's go now." Yoshino stepped out into the street once more and gestured for Hakaze to follow.
Hakaze quickly scurried after him like a lost puppy. That was so embarrassing. Good thing that he doesn't suspect anything... But, then again, he's good at hiding his feelings.
The next few moments were a blur for Hakaze as she followed Yoshino to the small café, which was full of many of his classmates chatting and eating cake. Surprisingly, none of them were doing homework or studying. Yoshino and Hakaze took a seat in the very back, by the huge window with a beautiful overlook of a shopping plaza.
"Want anything? I'll pay."
Hakaze looked up with a start to see Yoshino pushing a well-decorated menu towards her. "Oh, uh, I can pay!" She hurriedly took out her purple, leather wallet and placed it on the table.
To her surprise, Yoshino laughed. "You haven't even taken a single look at the menu yet!"
Hakaze chuckled nervously. "Right, right..." She picked up the menu, studying the vast assortment of sweets. There were baked bread of all kinds, any cakes you could ever imagine, and a lot of drinks. She didn't know what to get. After a few minutes of pondering, she spoke up. "Hmm... Maybe two slices of chocolate cake for the both of us?"
"Sure. I'll get--"
"Oi! Yoshino!"
Hakaze and Yoshino looked up at the same time to see Mahiro sitting a few tables away from them with a black-haired girl next to him. He was jumping up and down and waving his arms frantically.
Yoshino rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mahiro?"
Hakaze, unaffected by Yoshino's unenthusiastic state, bounced out of her seat and ran to Mahiro's table. "Mahiro! I have something to tell you!" She completely ignored the suspicious expression on the other girl's face while she was talking.
"What is it?" Mahiro pretended to look interested, and then lowered his voice. "Did you manage to ask out Yoshino?"
Hakaze scowled as a light pink blush spread across her face. "No!"
"Then what did you want to tell me? I'm a bit busy here."
"I brought three plane tickets to America. We're leaving in about five hours."
"What?! America?!"
"Yes, America."
"Has Yoshino agreed to this already?"
"Um, not exactly..."
"Well, I'm all for it!" Mahrio leaned back in his seat with a smug smile on his face, oblivious to the black-haired girl's scowl.
Hakaze clapped her hands together and beamed, sinking into the seat across from Mahiro. "Now, all we need to do is persuade Yoshino to come... Which is going to be pretty difficult."