A Ride At The Back Seat

Today's classes ended when the school bell rang. Others may view this as a relief and a chance to bond with friends and family. However, for some, like Sakura, the end of classes is like a burden to her now.

At the end of their last-period classes, Sakura and the gang decided to meet outside Hirosaki University. It took only a few minutes before they all reunited.

Sakura can't resist pointing out to her friends, "I bet this cafe stays closed until six o'clock in the evening," she said seriously. "Isn't it still technically four o'clock in the afternoon? What are we supposed to do while we wait?"

Sakura darted a look to each of her friends and they surprisingly gave her a weird look, like she grew an extra eye on her forehead or something.

Raising an eyebrow at them, she then asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Girl, how come you know very well on what time they open, huh?" Yuna asked, her eyes squinting at her a bit in a detective-like manner.

Ryo copied her. "Yeah."

As a result, he got punched on the arm by Yuna for impersonating her stupidly like that.

Yuna's question made Sakura a bit anxious. Has she just blown her cover in such a stupid way? Is this the part where she needs to tell her friends the truth?

All of them were still waiting patiently for her answer when Sakura barked a laugh and raised her phone, with its back facing her friends.

"Pfft, of course all information can already be searched through google nowadays, right?" Then Sakura pretended to be reading the contents of her phone and added, "It clearly says here the opening and closing schedule of the said cafe."

Alan eventually chuckled alone with Sakura. "Yeah, Sakura-san's right. All things can now be looked up using Google."

The fact that Alan called Hayashi Sakura by her first name made the others forget what Sakura said just now and shifted their attention on that alone.

Yuna still had her eyebrow raised at Alan when she asked, "Wait, did you just call Hayashi-san by her first name?"

Even Mori Ken, who was usually not interested in the affairs of other people, was somewhat intrigued by this fact as well. He had her eyes fixed on the embarrassed girl standing beside Yuna now.

"Woah guys, what's the big deal anyway?" Sakura barked another nervous laugh before forcing herself to look back at her friends once more. "You can always call me by my first name since we have all been friends now, right?"

"Right," Mori Ken replies without a trace of emotion, looking at the girl nonchalantly. "From now on, I'll call you Sakura-san once again."

As soon as he called her by her first name with a hint of sarcasm, Sakura couldn't help but glare at him.

She rubbed her eyebrows together and exclaimed, "Except for you, Mori-san!".

Rather than wait for him to respond, Sakura turned to the others and asked them where they were going while they waited for the cafe to open.

It was Yuna who suggested that they'll go for a karaoke for a solid one hour before going to the cafe to grab their snacks.

Having agreed to her suggestion, they rode their way towards Hirosaki University's KTV bar using Yuna and Ken's cars. Sakura and Alan had to ride in Ken's BMW 18, while Ryo has always been a bad driver and gets to ride with Yuna for free.

Sakura noticed Alan texting on his phone a few minutes after they both got in the backseat of Ken's car. Before she could even peel her gaze away though, Alan had already put his phone aside and faced Sakura.

"I was just asking our butler Mr. Endo to pick up the bike I left at the school. It would be a hassle if I left it there unattended." Alan explained without Sakura asking him anything at all.

Sakura was still a bit curious as to why Alan doesn't ride in his own sports car in going towards school like other rich, spoiled brats of Hirosaki University had been doing.

However, it seems like Alan was secretly born with psychic powers and was able to determine what Sakura has been thinking just now for the second time around.

"Maybe you're wondering why I'm not bringing my own car towards school, right?" Alan chuckled, which nearly surprised the girl seated on his right.

"Like Ryo, I still suck at driving and still can't pass the driving test to get my own license. And besides, riding a train is way more convenient for me than having to deal with traffic and gas refills."

Hearing this from a guy who has it all, Sakura can't help but chuckle as well. "Maybe you're right. Having to drive your own car is a bit more hassle than riding a train going to school."

"Yes," he replied. "On top of that, I also get to ride the train every day with you. What more can I ask for?"

Meanwhile on the driver's seat, while Sakura and Alan are having this kind of conversation, Mori Ken can't just simply ignore these two and would constantly take a sneak peak of his rear view mirror on top of him.

As he watched them talking to each other, he would eventually feel a pang of pain shooting through his chest like a direct arrow from a bow.

He and Sakura had once been so happy together like that. Just by merely having a conversation all day can already be a fun way to spend their time together. Why is it so hard to get Sakura back to her old ways now that they are adults?

A few seconds after that question started popping out of his head, Mori Ken instantly gave himself a good smack of his forehead mentally.

Of course, I know the reason why. I was so stupid to even ask myself about that, geez.

How can I ever make it up to her now?

Is it already too late for that?

Those questions remained unanswered up to the time they finally arrived at their destination.

Ken sighed in defeat, realizing that these questions would only remain that way unless Sakura was willing to open her heart to him once again.