Yoshino hummed quietly to himself while walking back to his house from school. It was a warm and sunny spring day; something that he hadn't experienced in a long time. The busy streets of his hometown were bustling with schoolchildren playing and many other people window shopping. He slowed his pace as he approached a cherry blossom tree to admire the radiant, pink flowers. If only Mahiro was here...
Mahiro had called Yoshino extremely early that morning to tell him that he was "sick" and wasn't able to go to school. Of course, Yoshino didn't believe his feeble excuse. He was probably skipping class to go on a date with the girl he'd saved a long time ago from the Black Iron Syndrome.
"Hey! Yoshino!"
Yoshino slowly lifted his head as he heard someone call his name. He scanned over the crowd with his emerald eyes until he saw a figure with long, pink hair running towards him. He shielded his eyes from the blazing sun with his hand to get a better look at whoever it was. "Hakaze?"
"Yes, it's me, silly!" Hakaze got closer and closer, pushing through many pedestrians without apologizing until she skidded to a stop in front of Yoshino, panting heavily.
A multitude of questions exploded out of Yoshino's mouth before he could stop himself. "Are you alright? What are you doing here? Did something happen? I thought you were busy shopping for skirts and trying to learn how to drive since Tetsuma refuses to drive you now?"
Hakaze's eyes widened. Is he really that concerned about me? However, she brushed off that thought as quickly as it came. No... He's probably just concerned for himself and Mahiro. "I'm perfectly fine! Nothing's happened. Oh, and yes, I was shopping for shoes and trying to learn how to drive."
"Then why did you rush here? I thought you hated running in those," Yoshino pointed to Hakaze's shiny pink heels that she forced herself to wear, even though that they were quite painful. "Fashion comes first," she always used to say.
"I brought three plane tickets to America! We're going on a vacation!" Hakaze yanked three flimsy tickets out of her purse with a flourish and waved them in front of Yoshino's face.
"What?!" He fell back about two feet in surprise, almost bumping into an innocent old woman. "You never told me that you were going to buy plane tickets to America!"
"That's the point! It's supposed to be a surprise!" Hakaze grinned widely and stuffed the tickets back into her purse.
"Um... I don't know, Hakaze..." Yoshino shifted the weight of his school bag onto his other shoulder while trying to think. On one hand, going on the trip would mean missing a lot of school and possibly failing. On the other hand, he had always wanted to go to America and improve his English. It would also serve as a good escape for all three of them from the events of the last few weeks... At this point, he really didn't know what to say. "Uh..."
Hakaze started to bounce up and down like an excited child. "Your parents wouldn't mind, would they?"
"They're working in the city again. They're going to be there for about a month or two."
"That's perfect! Our trip is only three and a half weeks long!"
"Only three and a half? Me and Mahrio will miss a lot of school!"
"School, school, school. Is that all you care about?"
Yoshino wrinkled his nose in disgust. Ugh, she sounds so much like Mahiro.
"So, yes or no?"
"I don't know yet. Can we discuss this in the café across the street? My bag is pretty heavy."
