The next day, as planned and promised, Sakura went back to the cafe. There, she met Kioshi again, who served her the same drink as yesterday and finished up his shift, sitting across from her at the table from yesterday.

"Didn't think you'd come back." The man laughs, running his fingers through his hair. "I was thinking you were joking around."

"Well, you were wrong." Sakura smiled, sipping from her cup as she brushed her hair away. "I was actually planning to go to a mall but I would be alone so I'm like, might as well."

"The mall? I've got nothing going on, I can take you." He suggested, fixing his sweater. "I need to buy some new clothes anyway."

"Really...? You sure?" "I wouldn't be saying this if I didn't want to go. Now come on, finish that up and let's go!"

The boy's happy-go-lucky attitude made Sakura giggle as sh finished the last of her drink. He was the complete opposite of Soryu, who was quiet and intimidating. This boy was all smiles, friendly and outgoing.

"Let's go!"

~*****~

"Oh, Sakura?" Kioshi turns to the girl as the strolled through the mall. "Hm?" she hummed, fixing her glasses.

"Why are you hiding your face? I noticed yesterday you were hiding it as well." he pointed out, smiling slightly. 

"Actually... Some people are after me right now, but don't worry, they're harmless. My ex-boyfriend," she cringed slightly at the words. "Is looking for me, probably to lie to my face or something so I'm just trying to hide." Well, it wasn't a complete lie.

"Really?" he was surprisingly calm. "Well, if you need help, I'm here. Don't worry!" he smiled kindly, making Sakura blush slightly.

She hadn't told the other girls about Kioshi yet, she was planning to today. "Thanks, Kio..." she suddenly slipped up his name, making her blush even more and turn away from the boy, who laughed cutely.

"It's cool. I like that name actually..." he smiled, thinking about the name. "Really...? MY ex never let me call him nicknames..." she muttered sadly, eyes sparkling with happiness, however, as she looked to Kioshi.

"Hey come on, don't think about him!" he smiled gently, patting her head. "He's your ex, he wasn't meant to be with you so you shouldn't be hung up on him like that. He just didn't realize that he lost the greatest catch in the world."

"G-Gomen." she apologized with a nod. "Thank you, Kio..." she muttered, cheeks dusted light pink. 

"No problem! Now let's go, I want to look around." the two laughed as they began walking around, eventually stopping at a kids' toy store.

They enter, passing the cashiers, the women staring Kioshi as the men stared at Sakura, who had taken off her sunglasses, absolutely certain that no cop or none of the bidders would search in here for her.

They both turned all of a sudden, when they heard a crash. An elderly couple had dropped the toys they had carried with them., struggling to pick it up. Kioshi and Sakura rushed to their side and began picking up the things, smiling at the woman and man as they held the boxes.

"Where to, ma'am?" Kioshi asked politely, gesturing to the boxes. "Oh no! It's fine, we can carry it ourselves." the woman smiled.

"We insist, we don't want you dropping anything and such or hurting yourselves. It's fine." Sakura shakes her head, arranging the boxes in her arms. 

"Well, we just need to pay for it, we'll be fine." the man shakes his head and reaches for the boxes. "It's fine, sir! We'll take it for you."

The pair lead the couple to the cashier and placed the toys on the conveyor belt, making the elderly couple smile. "Oh thank you," the woman and man bowed, thanking them as the pair shook their heads.

"Don't worry about it!" Sakura giggled, unconsciously placing her hands on her stomach with self consciousness. This made the couple smile as they began walking off, "Their child will be a kind soul. What a great couple." the woman smiled, making the two widen their eyes.

"What?" Sakura turned, but the pair had already left with smiles on their faces.

"A couple, hm?" He laughed, then turned to Sakura. "What do you say?"

"What?!" she widened her eyes, beginning to fumble with her fingers. "I-I..."

"I'm kidding, just teasing." Kioshi laughs, making Sakura hit him playfully. "Don't do that! You shocked me!"

"Haha, sorry, Sakura." Kioshi laughs, wrapping an arm around her shoulders in a friendly manner. 

"Very funny, Kio. Now come on, let's look around."

~*****~

"I can't believe you actually bought that!" Sakura laughs, looking at Kioshi, who held two teddy bears. The two stuffed animals were honey colored, one holding one half of the heart and another holding the other half. It was a couple's set.

"Not for me! It's for you, too!" He laughed, giving her the teddy bear who held the right side of the heart. That bear had a flower behind it's ear, a necklace around it. Kioshi's had a cap on, and a bracelet around it's little paw.

"Really?" she was giddy with excitement. "Thanks! This is so cute!" she giggled, hugging the bear close. Since Kioshi had hugged the bear a little before giving it to her, it smelled a little bit of him, his cologne and his minty scent.

"So where do we go next?" Sakura asked, walking alongside Kioshi who grinned. "You choose. We can eat now, I chose last time anyway."

"Then let's go get some ice cream!"

~*****~

"I'm really sorry," the ice cream man frowned. "There's no more small or medium cups left. I'll be leaving to get more. I can get you large ones and give you a discount for it. I just don't have anymore."

"What do we do?" "We'll just take one large one then," Kioshi says to the man, answering Sakura's question. "We'll share. How does that sound, Saku?" he asked, using a small nickname for her.

"Sounds fine~" she hummed, nodding. "We'll just take two spoons."

"Definitely, I'm sorry about this." the man nods, "What flavor?"

"Cookies and Cream!" the two shout in unison, making them turn to each other and share a chuckle.

"Alright," the man nods and heads to the back, coming out soon with a large cup of cookies and cream ice cream with an extra scoop. There were also toppings, little chocolate chips and cookie bits, little peanut butter cups on top as well. "Here. Don't worry about the toppings. That's my apology."

They pay after a small argument with the ice cream man about the cost and toppings, ending up getting the toppings free and a dollar off the cup of ice cream.

"He was a nice guy." Skaura laughs, eating a small scoop from the treat.

"I liked him," Kioshi laughs, munching on one of the peanut butter cups. "Next time, we should catch him when he has no more cups left, too."

Sakura giggles at his joke as they both sat down at a bench in a park. It was right underneath a cherry blossom tree. "It's so ironic, sitting right underneath the tree you were named after." Kioshi smiles again, eating another bite of their sweet treat.

"Ah dang it!" Sakura suddenly gasps and Kioshi notices her plastic spoon on the ground as she pouted. "Hmph." she huffed, sitting back.

She was definitely shocked when a spoon suddenly appeared in front of her. Kioshi held the utensil with the ice cream on it, up to her mouth, making her look up questioningly, silently asking if it was okay.

He nodded and Sakura hesitantly ate the treat, a smile slowly appearing on her face again.

~*****~

She walked down the street, heading to LRN. 

She clutched the teddy bear close to her, smiling as she thought back upon the day's events. At this point, Soryu was long gone from her mind, replaced by the kind, gentle and cheerful Kioshi.

A small bell rang as the entered, signaling the arrival. LRN was closed, but having expected her, they left the door open.

"Sakura!" Samantha's excited shout shocked the hacker, who turned and smiled at the girl.

"Hey, how's things here?" "Good, actually. It's pretty busy." Angel replies, smiling.

"Whoa, wait!" Mica suddenly jumps from Hiro's side. "What's that?"

"This?" Sakura held up the bear for the group to see. "It's a gift from someone."

"A friend?" "...Yeah." she paused for a moment, unsure on how to answer. "It's cute!" Cecilia smiles from her husband's side.

"What's their name?" "Kioshi." she answers with no hesitance, making the girls raise their brows. "A guy?"

"Yeah!" "So soon? What about Oh?" Olivia asks from Kenshi's side.

"He's just a friend I met a few days ago. Don't worry."

But I'm not really sure if I want to stay friends...