Growing Concessions (5)

"Nick!" I turn around and see Sakura sprinting at me while crying.

[Those laps are really paying dividends. She's fast.]

I brace myself as she slams into me at full speed. I somehow manage to remain standing and look down at the sobbing cherry blossom.

"Sakura, are you okay?" She's clutching my legs while on her knees. This whole situation makes me pretty uncomfortable, so I just want her to let go of me.

"I'm sorwy I yelled at you yesterday! I-I don't know why I wad so angry, and I yelled, and I'm sorwy." Sakura's words become incomprehensible, so I lay a hand on her head.

"It's okay to be upset. I'm glad we all learned something from your outburst, but I need you to get off me."

Sakura grabs my clothes even tighter. "I knew it! You hape be becauth I yelbed at you! I'm sorwy; I'm sorwy. Waaaahaaha!"

The various fluids currently flowing down her face are coming dangerously close to landing on my pants.

"Wait, wait, wait." I try to push her head away, but she buries her face into the side of my pants. A shiver runs up my spine as I see the moist spots on my clothes.

[Gross. This is why I'll never have kids.]

It's too late to avoid at this point, so I let her wear herself out. She can't keep crying forever. During the chaos, Josh walks up to me.

"Hey, Nick."

"Morning, Josh. How long has she been like this?"

"Since last night? She kept saying that you wouldn't want to see her again and that she ruined everything." Sakura's wailing changes key at Josh's explanation.

"Alright, now Sakura."

"Wahhhh!"

"Sakura?"

"Wahhhahh."

"Sa…"

"Waahhhahhahh."

This isn't getting us anywhere.

"Josh, please do something."

"Okay." Josh walks up and crouches in front of me. He bends forward, wraps his arms around her waist, and lifts her off me. She quickly spins around and latches onto him, crying the whole time.

"Thanks, I'm going to go change my clothes. I'll be right back." I walk back to my house as the not-so-dulcet tones of Sakura's sobbing fade into the distance. After I get back, I find Josh holding an unconscious Sakura. He's smiling softly, seemingly pleased by the circumstances.

"What are you smiling about?"

"She stopped crying."

"Yeah, she did; now wake her up."

"But she just stopped."

"I don't care. We've got work to do."

Josh begrudgingly places the sleeping girl on the ground. She looks so peaceful compared to how pissed off she was yesterday. I shake her shoulder to wake her up. She slowly opens her eyes and starts tearing up the moment she sees my face. I cover her mouth with my hand and speak calmly but firmly.

"I accept your apology. You didn't ruin anything. I don't have anything against you. Now, let's get back to training." Her expression slightly wavers as I remove my hand from her mouth.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Really, really?"

"Yes, yes; really, really. Let's go." I wave towards the palisade with one hand and pull her up with the other. She starts tearing up again once she's off the ground. I can see her bottom lip quivering.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Sakura dives onto me again and bawls almost as violently as she was earlier.

"Yes, I know; get off." I try pushing her off to no avail.

[I might need to rethink our training regimen if it means that I can't escape from her.]

Her face, which looks even more disgusting now, moves toward my thigh.

"Nonononono!" I shout as Sakura powers through my desperate stiff arm and sullies my nice clean pants.

[God dammit.]

I wrench her off of me and attach her to Josh. I give him some instructions as I head back to my house.

"Just start the routine when she calms down."

"Okay." He waves me off as I leave. I jog home this time and quickly change before returning to the gates.

"That went well." Kim chuckles as he comments on my situation.

"Tell that to my pants." I grab the hems of the third pair of pants I've had to put on today. Kim and the other guard burst out laughing at my response. I ignore them and set my pack down by the palisade next to the kids' gear. I do some light stretches and start my first lap. Dealing with Sakura over the last couple of days has been pretty tiring. I think about how dismissive I've been during some of our discussions and how I can improve. One of the biggest things I can think of is letting people finish making their point and asking them if they're done before giving my opinion. I'm pretty good at guessing what people are about to say but interrupting them before they finish makes it seem like I'm not listening.

This is a common occurrence in my life. I've learned to keep to myself because I can be very aware of other people's feelings. It's hard to express yourself when you're dreadfully conscious of how disinterested the other person is in what you have to say.

[I always used to let other people control the pace of the conversation because most people were just waiting for their turn to talk. On top of that, why should I bother talking about what I think when other people don't care? I already know what I think, so it's more interesting to hear what other people have to say anyway. I'm always curious about how other people think and what's going on in their minds; why should I even bother trying?]

I work through my slippery introspective slope and finish my first lap. The kids are waiting for me at the north gate.

"How was your first lap?" Not trying to change pants for the third time today; I stick to the subject.

"It was fine," Josh answers very seriously and turns to Sakura. She is shifting nervously while standing before me, so I keep talking.

"Good. Let's do four more laps, and then we'll head to the den."

"Okay." The kids respond in unison.