The Delinquent Next Door

 The cool breeze came through the cafeteria window to rustle my blonde hair, which set neatly right in front of my left eye. "Spring already, huh?" I thought while staring intently at the fight in the yard, between two guys I could recognize as second-years.

 Bang! The girl slapped her tray onto my table. "What is this, Franz? You need to eat more!" She said: "After all, you are in your growing age..." I chuckled: "I think you should worry about yourself first." I stood up to confirm our height difference. Yep, almost a foot, much to the fury of Han Sakura. "You! Think you're handsome cuz you're tall?" This time I almost gave an evil laugh. "Is that jealousy I'm sensing? Hmmm?" She gritted her teeth: "Stop teasing me! It's all cuz I feed you at ho-" Thankfully she stopped, after seeing some of our classmates from the corner of her eye.

 "Hey Franz! Wanna hang out? The fight between the seniors is getting intense!" The leader of the group, Lee Riho said. "Sorry, I promised Sakura that I would eat with her today." I replied. He glanced at Sakura, then smiled, "Ah... is that so? Well, lets hang out some other time. C'mon boys! We gotta get their faster than the teachers." And the boys simultaneously walked away.

 "Did you see that?", "That blondie is wasting his time being with her.", "Isn't she scary?", "I heard she got disowned after going to juvie". The whispers continued as always. By now we both had become accustomed to this treatment. Sakura with her obvious indifference, and I with my feigned ignorance.

 "Eat your drumstick, bastard!" This was a norm for her. Absolute indifference to the opinions of others, yet almost obsessive affection for me. "We're gonna be late for class, Sakura." She gave a devilish grin in return: "It's already 10 minutes past time, and you know that Chemistry teacher well, she'll just make us stand outside. Ugh." Her disgust was noticeable. *Sigh*, guess I gotta give in again.

4 hours later:

 "Wow! The sakuras look so beautiful!" She stared at me, as if waiting for me to compliment something like "You are more beautiful, Sakura"... I can't give such an ego boost to her. "Yeah, they are... beautiful." I appreciate flowers, although they have their seasons in which they bloom or wither, they remain there, standing witness to the atrocities humans commit. "Hmm... You got money, right?" She had a sly little smile on her face. "Huh? Where did that come from?" I responded.

 .....

 "The ice cream is yummy!" Sakura exclaimed as she devoured her ice cream with me driving to home. "Told you cherry blossom is good!" She continued. Seeing her energy only made me smile. "Hey, that's creepy." The hell??? "So I can't smile too?!" She did that sly grin again: "Of course you can, just do it like me, or else the girls will find you cree-" "Graah, I give up. Happy now?" Her response was witty as always: "Very."

 "Ah, home sweet home." The apartment gleamed with its usual tidiness, a comforting sight. Over the past five years, I'd made this modest yet well-furnished space my sanctuary. For a high schooler, this would be a dream.

 Except I was not alone here. "I'll be changing up first... The lock's broken, so don't dare get in unless..." Sakura glared at me with her scarlet eyes, a sight scary even for someone like me who has fought people with much greater aura. "Hahahahaha, don't be so scared, one would mistake you for a jackal. Hahahaha"... Finally, a bit of silence.

 With about two hours remaining until sunset, moments like these compel me to indulge in a cigarette and reflect on days gone by. As I lit it with a pocket lighter and slid into the balcony, a phone call interrupted my reverie.

 "Scratcher, huh." I accepted the phone call, only to have an enthusiastic voice greet me. "Shadow, I have good news and bad news... Which one do you wanna hear first." "Good one first, and be quick." I responded.

 "Well, the good news is that the opponent this time is betting 500000 Won (Equivalent to around 400 dollars). And the bad news is.. uh.. your opponent is Dracula." I broke into laughter.

 "That's it? I was waiting to face that maniac." He responded with a sigh: "Don't get too cocky, he hasn't lost once. The fight's tomorrow so prepare well." I wanted to reply to that, but I was interrupted by Sakura appearing out of nowhere.

 "Don't smoke." Sakura took the cigarette from my lips and threw it onto the street. "Don't litter. And stop chewing that bubble all the time." I responded. "I change it five times a day, so it's ok." She said as she popped a big bubble in front of my face.

 "Anyways, I'll be heading out." She said as she turned away. I sighed. "Be back before dinner." A nod and a wave was her answer as she left, one hand in pocket. The reason was quite evident to me.

 Sakura is a gang member.

 Not just a gang member, she is the leader.

 How did she come to this point? It's perplexing to say the least. What happened to that little girl who used to cry in the playground almost everyday?

 What was our first meeting like?