《Love, Sparks and Cherry Blossoms》 Chapter 1: Welcome to the student council Life? what does it mean? what does it stand for? questions that are ponderd and showered in philosphy. For many life is path of ever winding and dividing roads that could lead anywhere, from birth we are seen as blank slates and like an artist to a blank canvas we are expected to go forth and create something magical. but of course to do anything creative you need ambition, motivation and a drive to achieve, I have none of this, life is not a playground of infinite possiblites, its not a paradise full of fun, love and happniess.... to me life is like an hourglass sitting on a table. stagnant never changing and time is like the sand in an hourglass slowly but surely running down until there is nothing left. This is how life is and nothing and nobody can change that. "Sakura, Hey Sakura! Wake up" The Teacher said whilst kicking the wooden leg on the desk. Sakura''s vision slowly began to come back to her as she awkened from her nap, as her tired eyes tried to focus they could make out the tall figure of the teacher looming over her with a stern expression, he was mumbling something but she could not hear what due to hear headphones still being on her head blaring music. The teacher gestured for her to take off her headphones. Sakura took off her headphones and allowed them to rest around her neck, she quickily stretched our her arms and gave a slight yawn before tucking her strands of blue hair behind her ears. "I''m sorry teach did you say something" Sakura asked. "Homework, Sakura where is it" The teacher said whilst glaring at her. "Now that is a bit of a silly question isn''t teach, so maybe i can come up with an equally silly answer" Sakura retorted. Sakura placed a puzzled look on her face and thought for a moment, she then gave a sly grin. "Oh teach, you are not going to believe this but my dog at my homework so i cant hand it in, i hope you can forgive me" Sakura said with a obvious sarcastic tone. The teacher sensing Sakura''s sarcastic tone slammed his hand down on her desk. "This behavior is unacceptable, sleeping in class, listening to music, failure to complete assigned homework as well as blantent disrepect for your elders" The teacher shouted. The sly look on Sakura''s face quickly turned into one of fury, she placed her foot on her desk and kicked it with all her might, the desk tipped onto its side sending books and papers flying across the floor. Sakura shot to her feet. "Ill tell you what is unaccaptable, you interrupting my nap and forcing me to endure pointless lectures, its even more unacceptable that i have to sit in this class day after day and listen to this garbage! Sakura shouted at the top of her lungs. There was a long moment of silence for a moment it seemed as if the entire school no the entire world was frozen in time. The teacher eventually broke the silence. "See me in the principles office after school young lady" The teacher said in a quiter but still serious voice. "Whatever" Sakura retorted. Sakura waited outside the principles office a familar sight to her she was no stranger to trouble wither it be because she directly caused it or just could not help but get involved in it. But this time seemed different somehow, she felt oddly nervous her hands were sweaty, her legs were shaking and her breath elevated. what was she so worried about? "Come in Sakura" A voice called out from inside the principles office. Sakura slowly pryed open the door. She saw her teacher standing next to the principles desk with the same stern look he had worn earlier plasterd onto his face, sitting at the desk was the Principle, she had short brown hair and brown eyes and was wearing what looked like a pretty high end busniess suit, she also had a stern expression on her face. "I won''t keep you hear any longer than you have to be Sakura, so i am going to spare you the details of the conversation i have just had with your teacher and give you an ultamatium, a choice if you will" The principle said with serious tone and yet the way she spoke had a calming manner to it. "A choice" Sakura responded. "Yes, A choice a very simple choice, quite simply you behavior since arriving at this high school has been unacceptable and has gone on for far too long and we will stand for it no longer, so i am going to give you one last chance to turn your behavior and in doing so your life around. or you can face expulsion from this school" The principle stated firmly. Sakura dropped her head to look at the floor. What do i do? i cant be expelled! the strain it would put on my family....but i cant change this is who i am, this is how i must be, life has told me so through its actions! what do i do..... "Sakura" The principle called out. Sakura raised her head. "Have you reached a decision" The principle asked. "..." "What do you want me to do" Sakura responded bluntly. "As i said earlier i want to give you the chance to change yourself, your grades, your behavior, your life and social skills, so to do that i have gone through the trouble to enroll you into the student council. A look of shock shot up on Sakura''s face. "The student Council" I dont see how joining the student council is going to help me change, seems like a waste of time to me but i don''t have a choice if i want to stay at this school. "Ugh, this is so annoying" Sakura shouted in frustration as she smacked her head down on the map of the school she was holding. I was told the student council room is somwehere behind the old sports building. Sakura walked down the pathway that lead behind the old school building, the narrow pathway eventually gave way to a wide open are filled with lush green scenery, Trees, green grass and brush were stretched out as far as the eye could see, it was almost like being in an enchanted forest a truly beautiful sight to behold. Sakura spotted another pathway that seemed to have been cut through the wilderness. "Must be this way" Sakura said. After walking for what seemed like forever Sakura eventually made her way through the path which ended with a small building confronting her, the building looked old but still in good condition which means it must still be tended to on a regular basis. Standing infront of the building with her back facing Sakura was a female student. She had a slim figure and long black hair that was wrapped up in a pony tail, she was carrying a small brown suitcase in her left hand. The Student slowly turned around and looked at Sakura. "Oh, hello there, what brings you all the way out here" The student spoke with a soft voice. "Ummm i was told to come here, i am joining the student council" Sakura said bluntly. "I see, I am Student council president Ai Ishima but please just call me Ai" Ai said whilst smiling. "If you say so" Sakura cotinued to respond bluntly. "well" Ai said. "Well what" Sakura responded. Ai brought her finger up to her cheek.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "I introduced myself to you, aren''t you going to tell me your name" Ai asked with a tone that almost seemed like she was pouting. "I''m... Sakura, Sakura Sato" Sakura responded. "Mind if i call you Sakura, seeing as i am allowing you to call me by my first name" Ai asked. "Whatever i don''t mind call me what you want" Sakura said codly. "Sakura it is then" Ai said with a big smile on her face. "Oh you are a 1st year are you not Sakura" Ai asked. "Y-Yeah" Sakura stuttered. "So cool, you are the first 1st year student we have ever had in the student council, you made a brave choice to join the student council considering this is your 1st year but we looking forward to working with you Sakura-chan" Ai said excitedly. Sakura scoffed under her breath "Choice like i had a choice" Sakura said spitefully. "hmmmm did you say something" Ai said as she moved closer to Sakura. A moment of utter silence passed between the two girls as they stared into each others eyes. "Wow.... you have beautiful blue eyes, and equally beautiful blue hair" Ai said with her eyes fixed on Sakura''s as if she was trying to gaze into her very soul. Sakura stood there taken back by Ai''s comments she hadn''t so much as recieved a compliment in her entire life, and now here she was being called beautiful by a girl. "Th-thanks i guess" Sakura responded in a nervous shaky voice. Ai''s eyes slowly shifted from Sakura''s to her shoulder, Ai slowly moved her hand to grab the cherry blossom petal that had fallen onto her shoulder. "Isn''t it pretty" Ai said studying the petal intently. "Where did it come from" Sakura asked. "Up there" Ai said whilst pointing up at the Cherry Blossom tree that loomed over them. Ai and Sakura both looked up and saw hundreds of cherry blossom petals falling from the tree branches being swapped through the air by the gentle breeze of the wind eventually falling to the ground around them. "There is lots of beauty in this world..... you just have to know where to look to find it" Ai said and she stared in amazement. Sakura looked at the ground..... "You just have to know where to find it" she thought to herself. Ai placed a hand on Sakura''s shoulder shaking her trance of deep thought. "Come on, we had better get inside" Ai said "Sure" Sakura responded. Ai walked ahead of Sakura but just before she reached the door to the student council building she span around to face Sakura. "Oh and one more thing" Ai said. "What is it" Sakura responded. "Welcome to the student council" Ai said with a big smile on her face. Sakura forced a smile in reply and both of them walked into the building. "Good Morning everyone" Ai announced as she walked into the room. Sakura follwed Ai into the room, it was the first time she had seen the student council building, the interior consisted of main room where there was a big table at the center with chairs on the outside a large white board at the far end of the table pressumbally used to hang posters and to give student council presentations whatever those are. a makeshift kitchen was also included, allthough to call it a kitchen was laughable it was esstienally a fridge, a microwave and a kettal for making a hot drinks, the rest of the rooms was for storage of various items such as paperwork and books. Sat at the large table were 3 students who all waved and smiled at Ai as she walked in. 2 were male students and one was a female student. "Sorry i am late guys" Ai stated as she took her seat at the table. "Yeah you say that like its a one time thing" The female student said with a blunt but humerous tone. The 2 boys laughed at the remark. "Awwww shut up, you make it seem like i am late all the time" Ai said with a pouty look on her face. Sakura kept her head down and did not say anything she did not even make eye contact with the other students in the room. being social was not one of her specialities. Ai noticed through the corner of her eye that Sakura was attempting to fade into the background of the room. "Oh i almost forgot, i have an announcement to make everyone" Ai said Gesturing over to Sakura. Sakura stepped forward her eyes still looking at the ground. "This is Sakura Sato, she is going to be joining the student council starting today" Ai said proudly. Ai went around introducing Sakura to everyone in turn. "This is Arata Kurokami" Ai said gesturing to the male student sitting closest to Sakura. Arata brought his hand up to his glasses and pushed them up slightly, then ran a hand through his spikey hair. "Its good to meet ya" Arata said snapping his fingers towards Sakura. Ai gave a slight chuckle. "As you can see Arata thinks he is cooler than he is, he has a bit of a complex if you ask me" Ai said smiling. "Why are you always so mean to me" Arata said falling into his chair. "Because its so fun" Ai laughed in response. Ai continued the introductions, gesturing to the second male student sitting next to Arata. "This is Shinji Nakamoto" Ai announced. "Hey, its nice to meet you i hope we can get along" Shinji spoke with a soft tone that did not carry the same energy as Arata''s had. and finally saving the best til last of course. "Whats that supposed to mean!" both Arata and Shinji spoke in unison. "We have Ayana Fujishima, the Vice president of the student council, my eyes, ears and best friend" Ai announced prouodly whilst shooting a smile at Ayana. "Its a pleasure to meet you Sakura, i trust you will work hard and help your student council president in anyway you can" Ayana said in a forecful yet kind tone. Sakura did not utter a word in response, she just took her seat at the far end of the table and waited to hear what Ai had to say next. "Right now that introductions are out of the way, lets get down to busniess. firstly the school wants our help organzing club posters to encourage students to take part in club activities" Ai said firmly. "Awwwww man but that will take forever" The boys said in unison. "Not if you spend half the energy you do complaining on actually making the posters" Ai retorted with a smile. "Well if we are going to bogged down creating posters all day we could do with some tea. Sakura be a dear and go make some tea" Ayana said as she began rubbishing through her bag to find her laptop. "What do i look like your maid.... go make your own tea" Sakura hissed. A look of shock shot up on the faces of everyone else in the room. "Sakura what was-" Ai tried to say before being cut of by Shinji "It''s ok i will get the tea, don''t worry about it Sakura" Shinji said kindly. "Well Sakura since you seemed unwilling to make tea, how about you help me out by clearing out the storage room in the back, its full of books like Manga that we brought from the bookstore that we sometimes read to relax when student council work gets a bit hectic" Ai explained. "Manga" Sakura said with an excited look. "Ok ill do that then" Sakura said as she ran into the backroom and shut the door behind her. Ai watched as Sakura ran into the store room her long blue hair running behind her, her eyes wide with excitment, "Hmmmm i wonder whats got her in such a good mood all of a sudden" Ai thought. Well time to get on with the days work. Ai leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms into the air. a stack of posters were stacked up next to each student council members computers. Ai glanced down at her laptop. "That time already, well i think that is enough for today. You guys can go home" Ai announced to the other members. "Wooooo finally" The boys shouted in apprasial. After the boys had darted out of the building, Ayana grabbed her schoolbag and waited by the door. "You comming Ai" "Yeah, i''m comming" Ai responded. As Ai took her first steps towards the exit she stopped and looked back at the storeroom door which was still shut, then she rememberd. "Ummmm actually, i think i am gonna stay here and work a little bit more" Ai said turning back to face Ayana. Ayana sighed in response. "Typical of you Ai. but i know you well enough to know i will not be able to change your mind, just don''t work to hard okay" Ayana said with a reluctant smile on her face. "I promise" Ai responded with a smile. After Ayana left. Ai made her way to the storeroom door and quietly pryed it open. the door made a slight creaking sound as it slid open. Ai scanned the room and saw it was perfectly organized. all the books were neatly placed on the four shelves that were placed on opposite sides of the room next to each other. the books were all arranged alphabetically and in the correct volume orders, it was truly an impressive sight to see. Near the back end of the room Sakura was slouched against the wall with her headphones on, she was reading from a Manga book. Ai smiled this was the first time she saw Sakura look so calm, its like she was in her own world. Ai quitely shuffled her way closer to Sakura and sat down beside her. "She did not even notice me, still locked away in her own little world of fiction" Ai thought. Ai sat gazing at Sakura taking in every detail, her Beautiful blue hair, her deep blue eyes that seems to hold more emotion then she let on. the cute pink headphones she wore whilst reading. How could someone look so cute and peaceful be so brash and harsh to people, what happened to you Sakura, why do you act the way you do. what is your story. Well i want to find out, i want to get to know you Sakura. Ai thought to herself. Ai reached out her hand and patted Sakura on the head. "Hey you" Ai said with a smile. Sakura shot up to her feet with a look of surprise on her face. "So you like Manga" Ai stated also jumping back to her feet. "Ummm no i mean yes i mean i guess" Sakura said shakeily. Ai chuckled to herself. "You''re so cute Sakura" Ai said with a big smile on her face. "I just like the stories and the art the manga has that''s all" Sakura said while bringing the book she was holding up to her face hiding her embarassment. Sakura walked over to the bookshelf where she had taken the Manga from and began wedging it neatly back into place next to the other books in the same series. Ai watched as Sakura was placing the book back with her back facing her. Ai mumbled under her breath. "There is a lot of beauty in this world..... you just need to know where to find it" Sakura turned to face Ai. "Did you say someth-" Sakura was cut off from her sentence by Ai''s lips meeting hers. Ai cupped her hands around Sakura''s lower back and pulled her in closer. Ai broke the kiss and looked into Sakura''s beautiful blue eyes. "And now i think i have found mine" Chapter 2: The Sports Festival The school sports festival is coming up soon, apprantely its a pretty popular event the entire school is running around like headless chickens, you can feel the excitement in the air. At least that''s what i assume most people would be thinking but not me, i cant get into the excitment and antispation for the school sports festival, my mind has not been able to shake the events that happened a week ago... "Sakura i am so sorry, i did not mean to be so forceful, its just you are the first person to ever make me feel this way" Ai said in a panicked voice. "I.....I....I got to go!" Sakura shouted in response before bolting out of the room. Sakura brought a finger up to her lips. "Her lips were so soft, and her kiss so sweet" a brief smile crept onto Sakura''s face. "Ugh, why cant i stop thinking about this" Sakura said slapping her cheeks slightly with both her hands. The school bell rang to signal the start of classes. "Oh crap, i am gonna be late" Sakura exclaimed. wait since when do i care about being late to class.....UGH damn this kiss and curse you Ai Ishima, THIS IS DRIVING MY CRAZY Sakura thought as she ran to her class. After classes had finished Sakura made her way out of the school building and made her way to the school council building, The clearing appeard before her, the lush green scenery once again greeting her eyes to a beautiful sight. "Wait" Sakura said outloud before tilting her head to look at the ground. What do i do about Ai, i haven''t said a word to her nor she to me since the kiss a week ago, What do i do, ignore her? try and talk to her about it? pretend it never happened? UGH this is so frustrating! Sakura slowly pried open the door to the student council building. "Oh hey Sakura" Ai called out to her. Ai was sitting at the table on her own, wearing the same beautiful smile she always did, but this time her voice sent shivers up Sakura''s spine. "OH UMMM HI Ai" Sakura said quickly and loudly whilst bowing her head. Ai paused for a moment seemingly puzzled at what she had just seen. "Errrrrr Sakura are you okay" Ai asked. "YES YES EVERYTHING IS FINE THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT I SWEAR" Sakura said just as quickly and loudly as she had before. Ai gave a slight chuckle. "If you say so" Sakura took her seat at the table. "Where is everyone" Sakura said whilst scanning the room. "They are running a little late today, once everyone arrives i will begin the announcment i have to make and we can begin work" Ai said plainly "Uhhhh ok sure" Sakura responded. "Can i interest you in some tea" Ai asked "Sure, that would be nice" Sakura responded with a smile. "Hmmmmm" Ai leaned towards Sakura getting closer and closer, A spark of electricity shot through Sakura''s body and her face immeditely became flushed. Sakura tilted her head away from Ai to hide the fact she was blushing. She could not even look at Ai''s face. "Are you not going to scream at me to make it myself or scream that you are quite capable of making tea yourself" Ai said with a humerous tone. "awwwww Shut up" Sakura responded still refusing to look at Ai. Ai gave a cute chuckle in response. "You are so cute Sakura" Ai said whilst getting up out of her seat and making her way over to the "Kitchen" area. Ai returned moments later carrying two plain white mugs, she placed one infront of Sakura and carried the other one in her hands as she made her way back to her seat. A moment of breif silence passed over the room, Ai took a sip of tea from her mug and placed back down in front of her gazing at it intently. "Sakura...... I need to speak to you" Ai said with a serious tone. "UHHHH OK ABOUT WHAT" Sakura said as a look of surprise shot on her face. "Not here, can you wait for me afterschool and we can talk then" Ai asked her eyes still gazing at her mug of tea. "Ok" Sakura responded as if she could not find anymore words to say. The door to the student council building slid open. "Hey sorry we are late" Arata voice called out Sakura spun her head around to face the door and saw Arata Shinji and Ayana all standing by the door wearing exhausted expressions on there faces. Ai gave a slight chuckle "Don''t worry about it, but this means that none of you can tease me about being late for at least a week right" Ai said whilst pointing a finger at the trip as if scolding them. "Deal" The trio responded. Arata, Shinji and Ayana all took their respective seats at the table so that Ai could begin the student council session. Ai stood up out of her chair. "Firstly i would like to congratulate and thank you all for your hard work that you did on those posters advertsising club activites, i heard it was a major success and the school has had an increase in the number of students taking part in club acitivites" Ai stated proudly. "Good cause those poster took forever to make" Arata interjected "Well i warned you didn''t i, if you spent half the time and effort you do complaining into doing your work it would have taken as long" Ai said with a grin on her face. Ai comments earned a laugh from her peers except for Arata who simply responded with a pouty face. "I have another announcment to make, as you well know the school sports festival is coming up soon and the student council has been asked to help out with the organization and preperation of this event but we have also been asked.....to participate in the event" Ai stated "TO PARTICIPATE" Arata, Shinji and Ayana said in unison. "But the student council has never been required to paritcipate in the sports school festival before" Ayana responded towards Ai. "Well this year we have, and i have faith and confidence in us as the student council to not only be able to organize and prepare this event to the best of our abilities but also.....to win the event itself" Ai said with a look of excitment on her face. Ayana let out a sigh. "Hmmmm, What is it Ayana" Ai asked noticing Ayana''s passive demenor. "Your not just getting excited about this because you want to beat Miyu in the sports event" Ayana said whilst folding her arms. "No i am not! i am just excited because this is the first time the student council will be participating in a sporting event and i think it would be cool if we won" Ai said with a blantant defensive tone. "If you say so" Ayana responded bluntly "So what do you say guys are you with me" Ai said with anticipaton. "If its important to you than i will follow you" Ayana said with a slight smile.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "I can always count on you Ayana" Ai said with a smile. "What about you boys" "Oh hell you know we are in, we are gonna kick butt and take names in this sports festival" Arata said with such confidence in his voice. "Uhhh what he said" Shinji said with a quiet voice. "What about you Sakura, you have been awefully quiet over there" Ai said noticing that Sakura has spent the entire conversation gazing at the floor. Sakura took a moment to come back to her senses. "Sure i am in, i mean if its required of us not like we have much of a choice" Sakura said plainly. The days leading up to the school sports festival was a hectic rollercoaster, everyone on the student council was darting around the school making sure everything was organzied from the number of students competeting in each class, to making sure we had enough equipment like Hurdles and Batons. Posters (once again) were also made to advetise the event. I don''t think Ai stopped moving the entire time, she really is a dedicated student council president. The day of the school sports festival the students gathered outside and grouped up into there respective classes. Luckily today was quite a hot day so we could enjoy the heat if nothing else. Ai stood up on the podium to deliever her speech before the sports event could offically begin. "Welcome to the annual sports festival, i want to thank the staff and students for there continued hard work in making this event possible year after year, i know you have all put alot of effort into prepering for this highly anticipated event, but this year myself and my fellow student council members will pariticpating in the event for the first time and we promise to do our best, so lets all have fun and may the best class win" Ai announced proudly. The school sports festival was underway and classes were competeting against each other in various atheletic events including the 100m, 200m, 400m and relay races. Arata competed in the 100m dash "HA THIS IS IN THE BAG" Arata stated. "Woah who knew he could run so fast" Ayana said "Go Arata, you can do it" Ai cheered. "And first place goes to Arata from the Student Council" The teacher announced. "See i told you it was in the bag" Arata said whilst confidently striding over to join the rest of the student council team on the sidelines. "Well done Arata, now its the 200m race next so that means you are up Shinji" Ai said whilst gesturing towards a rather timid looking Shinji. "Ill do my best" Shinji stated. The students pariticpating in the 200m race all took there positions and the start line. "AND THEY ARE OFF" the teach announced. "In first place is Nami from class 3 , second place Akina from class 2 and third place Shinji from the student council team " The teacher announced. Shinji walked slowly over his head hung over with a dissapointed look on his face. "Awwww don''t worry about Shinji you did your best" Ai said whilst placing a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks Ai" Shinji said mustering a smile. "Ok, next is the 400m race, that means its up to you Ayana win this for us" Ai said placing a hand on her friends shoulder. "Hmph, you know i will Ai, its for you after all" Ayana said confidently. "hmmmm" Ai mumbled. and the competitors for the 400m race are off. "If its for you Ai, i can win anything!" Ayana thought to herself. "Wow, what a performance by Ayana she easily crushes the competetion and obtains first place, we will now take a short break and return with out final deciding event the relay race" The teacher announced. "Hey Sakura can you do me favor" Ai said whilst turning her head to face Sakura. "What do you need" Sakura asked. "Can you go and grab the batons from the storage room, we are going to need them for the final event" Ai asked. Sakura nodded in response and made her way to the storage room. The storage room was only a short walk from the field track, Sakura walked at brisk pace, sipping on bottled water that she had brought with her, not because she was sweating or tired she hadn''t actually competed in an event yet, its because it was so darn hot. Sakura reached the storage room and slid the door open, she reached her arm around to flick the light switch on, the storage room was surprisingly organized with various pieces of sports equipment like hocky sticks and basketballs and Tennis rackets neatly stacked in closests and containers. Sakura walked into the center of the room and began scanning the different containers, finally she found what she was looking for a bag in a closet with the label "Batons" on it. Sakura grabbed the bag and span around to make her way out of the room. The door to the storage room slid open and Ai stepped inside shutting the door behind her. "Ai what are you doing here, i was about to bring the Batons out to the field" Sakura stated with a shocked look on her face. Ai paused for a moment. "I just wanted the chance to tell you, best of luck with the relay race i am counting on you, i know you wont let us down" Ai said with a smile. "Ai do you have to put so much pressure on me like that" Sakura said with a pouty look on her face. Ai chuckled "I am sorry Sakura.... Oh and one more thing" Ai said "What is it" Sakura asked. Ai stepped closer to Sakura and brought one hand up to her lips. "We still need to talk after all this is over" Ai said whilst leaning forward and giving Sakura a kiss on her cheek. Sakura recoiled back nearly dropping the bag of Batons she was carrying. "Ai-" Sakura tried to see before being cut off "Now lets go and win this event" Ai said proudly whilst extending her end out to Sakura. Sakura paused for a moment before slowly taking a hold of AI''s hand and the two made their way out of the storage room. And now we will enter the final event the relay race, the two final teams will compete against each other in a race where all members must particpate, the participants will run a set length of the track and then hand the baton to their partner and so on until the last paricipants run the final length and we have our winner. Will the two teams now please take their starting positons on the track. Ai and the rest of the student council made their way to the start point on the track. "Hey you" a voice called out. Ai span around to locate the source of the voice, a female student with a slender figure, short pink hair and bright blue eyes was looking at Ai with a look of determination. "Oh hello Miyu" Ai said "Hope you are ready to lose" Miyu said with a grin on her face. "Just because you are a part of the schools track team does not mean you should take us lightly you know" Ai retorted "Hahahahaha this win is in the bag, may the best team win right Ai" Miyu said whilst holding her fist out in front of her. "Don''t worry about that we will" Ai said whilst bringing her fist up to meet Miyu''s The two teams took their positions on the track, Shinji would run first followed by Arata then Ayana then Ai and the finally Sakura. "This is it the final event of the sports festival is about to begin, whoever wins this will be the winner of the entire festival" The teacher announced. On your marks Get set GO!!!!!!! The baton went from Shinji to Arata to Ayana with both teams looking to be on equal footing, the baton was passed to Ai and Miyu at the same time, the two teams were neck and neck. Ai sprinted as fast as she could her heart was pounding her breath was elevated, she did not want to glance to see where Miyu was she was so focused on winning. Ai could see Sakura in the distance, her face was pointed at the floor and she looked nimble, like she was lost in deep thought. That kiss from before what did mean? why is she being like this, kissing me than acting like nothing happened and now the antics in the storage room. what does it all mean! does she really like me. Does she like me Sakura.... How can she like me when Sakura..... When i don''t even like myself! SAKURA..... WHAT ARE YOU DOING RUN Ai''s voice shook Sakura out of her trance, she realized she had been handed the baton but her opponet was already long gone, Sakura had no hope of catch up. "And the winner is class 1 lead by Miyu" the teacher announced. "YEAH WE WIN I KNEW WE WOULD" Miyu cheered with her class. Ai looked at Sakura who had a look of utter disspointment on her face. Hmmmm With the excitment of the Sports festivial over everyone packed up the equipment, got changed and were heading home. Sakura left the changing room and began walking towards the front gate. Waiting by the gate leaning up agains the wall was Ai, she was gazing at the sky with a smile on her face. "So what did you want to talk about" Sakura said whilst patting Ai on the shoulders. Ai''s body jolted as Sakura''s touch shook her out of her daze. "Not here, come on walk with me i know a place we can go" Ai said. The two girls walked down the street side by side, neither saying a word. Ai finally breaked the silence after a moment of walking. "So what happened" Ai asked. "What do you mean" Sakura responded. "On the field, you zoning out" Ai explained. Sakura slowly tucked her hair behind her ear. "Its nothing" Sakura said bluntly Ai have Sakura a stern look. "I can see that its not, but its fine if you don''t want tot talk about it" Ai said plainly. Sakura and Ai reached a small cafe that was situated on a street corner opposite a grass embankment. Ai stood infront of the cafe door and turned to face Sakura. "We are here, lets go inside" Ai said. she span back around opened the door and stepped in with Sakura quietly following behind. "Hello Ai its good to see you again" The barwoman called out. "Hello Miss Kishimoto, its good to see you too." Ai said as she walked over to an empty table near the corner of the cafe. Ai and Sakura took their seats at the table, Miss Kishimoto walked over and took the girls orders. "Two orders of tea coming right up" Miss Kishimoto said with a big smile on her face. Ai sat across from Sakura and studied her, she could tell something was wrong. Sakura''s mind was else where, all she could think about was Ai''s actions over the past week and what they mean if they mean anything at all. In that moment Sakura decided to find out. "Ai-" "I am in love with you" Ai said cutting Sakura off from her sentence. "W....what" Sakura stutterd "I know its strange isn''t it, i thought so too, i did not think i would ever meet someone who would make me feel this way, my only focus was on school, grades and the future, and yet when i met you i felt my heart skip a beat for the first time in my life. Its true what i said its really true, Beauty does exist in the world.....you just have to know where to find it. Ai said with tears welling up in her eyes. "You love me" Sakura responded with a wide-eyed look on her face. "Will you let me love you Sakura" Ai asked. "THATS NOT FAIR, you cant ask something like that of me, because i have nothing to give back in return i cant love you because...... i dont even love myself!" Sakura said forcefully. Ai paused for a moment before blushing and smiling. "I will not ask you to go out with me or anything like that, i just want you to let me love you and be the love that you lack for yourself and for others" Ai responded whilst holding her hand out to Sakura. Sakura could not pull her eyes away from Ai, she gazed at her beautiful face, her eyes get lost in Ai''s Sakura let out a sigh and smiled She reached her hand forward and took hold of Ai''s hand. "OK" Sakura said