The Heavy Box

Just like her mom said in the text message she received yesterday, Sakura was awoken by the loud knock at the door the next morning at exactly seven in the freaking morning and rushed to get the door.

Sakura soon came face-to-face with a young delivery man, who wore a blue vest over a white shirt, blue pants, and a blue cap. The man gave her a friendly smile and asked her to sign the receipt form to declare that she indeed received the package.

"From Kyoto, huh?" Sakura tried to probe but already knew the answer.

The delivery man was kind enough to bow his head up and down and almost said in reluctance, "Y-yes, it is."

'Ah…"

Her annoyed, still drowsy self prevented her from speaking to this guy for the next couple of seconds and unwillingly signed the papers so that the guy could leave as fast as he could. Just as soon as he left, Sakura's eyes were now focused on the heavy-looking box that was left on her doorstep.

Sakura can't help but grit her teeth. "Darn, that punk! Did he just leave without helping me carry this box inside? How thoughtful could he be?"

In the end, Sakura can't really do anything about it now but to drag this box inside her room, making all the sleep that was left from her earlier gone in an instant. The first time she tried pulling the box inside, Sakura didn't even succeed moving it by 5 inches from where it was placed.

How come this is really heavy? Did my parents place our entire vegetable farm inside this box huh?!

Pathetic! I look like a pathetic idiot right now!

Sakura was supposed to be relaxing right now since the start of her first-period class every Tuesdays and Thursdays is still ten in the morning. But now, Sakura has no choice but to deal with this thing!

Alright, box… show me what you've got!

After all the stretching and breathing she did for a few moments, Sakura tried to push her luck for the second time… and still failed.

The girl who can lift a one gallon mineral water container can't make this one medium-sized box move at all!

Sakura was amidst struggling and cursing at the mail her parents had sent for her when Alan happened to pass by while humming happily to himself. Shortly after, he immediately stopped in front of Sakura and knit his brows together as soon as he saw her struggle to pull the box into her apartment.

What is this? I thought she might be sleeping at this hour since her first-period class is still a bit late from now?

Without any hesitation, Alan started waving at the girl's direction as Sakura was still trying her best to grapple at this heavy box!

"Good morning, Hayashi-san! Lemme give you a hand there," Alan offered cheerfully, which made Sakura stop for a while and face Alan with both delight and anxiousness filling her eyes now.

Waaahh! Of all times, why does Alan always shows up at such great timings like this... seeing me with disheveled hair, unkempt look, plus I am now sweating buckets right now! Aarrgh!

Thanks to this box, I might look like a fool in front of him right now.

Sakura unintentionally tucked her loose strand behind her ear and fixed her glasses as well before replying, "Y-yes, please… if you may."

Alan smiled sheepishly for that and skipped his way towards the girl's direction in a flash. "I'd be happy to help you!"

***

Ten minutes later…

Sakura shook her head in disappointment as she covered her face in disbelief. Even Alan is struggling himself to pull the box closer at her doorstep, though he has made a little more progress than Sakura did earlier.

After giving it his all, Alan reluctantly stopped and scratched his nape while trying to face Sakura without making any eye contact."Sorry… I am not as athletic as I seem to be on the outside,"

Instead of being annoyed though, Sakura only gave him an appreciative smile to show him that she somehow appreciates his effort to help her with her problem.

Not long after both of them failed to move the box, Sakura then decided that they needed to cooperate with each other to get the box inside, and that's what they actually did. Although Sakura was the one who is exerting more effort in this situation, they finally managed to bring the box inside Sakura's apartment all the way to her living room.

Feeling tired, Alan immediately plopped himself on Sakura's couch while breathing a sigh of relief.

"Man, that's some serious heavy box inside! May I know what's inside?"

Sakura was a bit shy at first to admit what's inside the box that her parents sent her. But after giving it some more thought, she realized that there's nothing wrong with her parents' vegetable farm and openly admitted to this rich young heir in front of her.

"Well, this one came from my parents. And the things inside this box are…." Sakura stopped for a moment after fishing out for some scissors on her kitchen cabinets and went back afterward with them. She quickly ripped the seal with the scissors' edges on top of the box and opened it nonchalantly after.

"Wow! Vegetables!" Alan reacted in pure delight, like he has never seen a box filled with so many vegetables inside in his entire life.

"Yep, vegetables…" Sakura smiled shyly. "My parents run a vegetable farm out of my father's income in carpentry and the small land he inherited from my grandfather before passing away."

Sakura's uneasiness to admit the truth about her parents' business came from her experiences from elementary up to high school.

Some people, as possible as they could be, would find whatever weakness you have just to deliberately attack you without any valid reason at all.

Aside from her bi-racial features, some rich, spoiled kids in the exclusive school of St. Therese High ridicules her for being the daughter of a farmer and a carpenter.

It's not that Sakura feels embarrassed about her family status, because if not for the farm and not for her parents' hard work to raise their only child well, she couldn't fulfill her mother's wish of enrolling her in a nice school that would groom her resume for the future when looking for a job.

But it's more of hate for herself in the past that she would just normally stand there quietly like an idiot and take her classmates' insults by herself and let it store inside her heart as quietly as she could.

However, for the first time in her life… someone had finally shown up and was the first one who didn't see her family status as a hindrance of them becoming good friends.

And that someone happens to be Mori Ken.

As Sakura looked at Alan's twinkling eyes while staring at her vegetables, she couldn't help but smile to herself. This guy also came from a really wealthy family and yet didn't care about her family status as well. Same goes with Nakano Yuna and Tanaka Ryo!

When Sakura thinks about it, she wonders if she was a good person in her first life and why she met such good people in this life!