One Punk Man

6.

Several weeks had passed. It was a cold October morning, as Sakura waited in front of her house. Arthur and his sisters would pick her up. They had done this for weeks now, offering her to take her to school and bring her back home afterwards. Today was a different daily routine. Since their teacher had decided to visit Paris for one day (which is three hours away from Luxembourg City), the Kirklands would arrive earlier. Over the weeks, Sakura and Arthur had developed a pleasant friendship. Despite the hardship at the beginning, both were getting along very well. In addition to that, she had befriended Emily and Marguerite due to their brother's involvement with her. In short: Sakura was fond of her new made friends; especially Arthur. She would never admit to anyone that she had developed feelings for the Brit. Sakura promised herself to not tell anyone; it would be too awkward if Arthur would know.

"Why do we have to listen to your music this loudly?" Emily complained, sitting next to her half-brother in the car. "Because I am the driver and this is my car," he commented, annoyed by her daily complaints about his music taste. The cheerleader captain hated it when Comeback Kid was shaking the vessel with loud guitar strums. Even though she sometimes listened to rock music – thanks to Arthur's influence - , she opposed the idea of listening to any punk music at 6 o'clock in the morning. Marguerite, who observed both with a light smile, liked her half-brother's music taste. After all, Comeback Kid was a Canadian Band.

"Would you play that kind of music in that volume, if Sakura was present?"

Arthur's red face answered her question without any doubt. Lately, her sisters had asked him many questions concerning the Japanese girl. They had been picking on him ever since. "You always turn it down, the moment you arrive in front of her home."

"W-well I don't want to wake the neighbours," he lied, blushing. Emily, being a specialist in detecting her brother's poor lies, grinned from ear to ear. "You love to talk to her, we all know that already, dear brother," she laughed. Indeed, the man loved to talk to her. He was happy that he had befriended the Japanese girl and could not deny his admiration for her. She had been a pleasant companion for him with her food, smiles and talk. He found her utterly adorable and loved her company. Despite his growing feelings for her, he refused to let anyone notice his affections for the girl. He did not intend to tell her; risking their friendship was something he wanted to avoid. Unfortunately, every single pupil in their school was aware of his emotions, except Sakura herself.

"N-No," Arthur stuttered, thinking about a comeback. "I only want to repress your voice, that's why the music is so loud." His smirk was stretching across his face. Marguerite chuckled quietly in the backseat. Her siblings loved to provoke one another. "Pha," Emily exclaimed with a playful smile, "touché."

They arrived shortly afterwards in front of Sakura's house. "We are here." Sakura seated herself next to Marguerite, "Good morning." Everyone greeted back with a smile before they drove to school.

The bus was already waiting in the parking lot and the class was complete. Thanks to the free parking lots (provided by the school) Arthur did not have to buy a parking ticket for the whole day. Before the four entered the bus, Felicia approached Sakura. "Hey, how is it going? Ehm we just wanted to ask if it would be okay if I could sit next to Ludwig?"

"Of course," Sakura acknowledged. Francis, who had listened to every word the two had spoken, sprang besides the Japanese, taking her hand in a very romantic way. "J'serai très content, si vous vous asseyez près de moi."

Sakura, not comprehending one word, stared at the French. "P-Pardon?"

He grinned, not letting go of her hand. "I said, I would be happy if you would sit next to me," he admitted with a wink.

Arthur had promised himself to behave properly, especially in front of a bus filled with students and Sakura; but seeing the Frenchman flirting with her, buried all his good intentions in oblivion. Within milliseconds, the Brit stood next to her, grabbing the French's finger. He was almost crushing Francis fingers but did not care about it. "Pardonnez-moi, grenouille, but I don't think she wants to spend over three hours with you in a row," Arthur objected, speaking the first three words in perfect French (which he had learned by heart to be able to insult the Frenchman whenever he liked).

"I am sitting next to Marguerite, so Iggy, I think Sakura will sit next to you, right?" Emily inquired, expecting none of the present to disapprove of her idea. Sakura only nodded, still blushing form the previous event. Arthur had instinctively taken her arm while his other hand was bruising Francis'. "Well then," Arthur muttered, getting into the bus with Sakura.

Unbeknownst to them, Felicia, Emily, Marguerite and Francis were smiling. The four had planned this act beforehand. To avoid the possibility of letting Sakura sit next to Marguerite, Francis had been ordered to provoke the Brit to make him jealous. The Englishman's behaviour and psychological patterns was easy to read.

During the drive, Arthur was listening to music, while Sakura was reading. More than half of the pupils were tired and slept. The Brit and his neighbour enjoyed the silence until the driver announced the first break they would make right before Metz. "15 minutes, then we will continue the journey," he had said.

After the break, the students were more active than before. The sun was raising and the volume of the talking increased. Arthur took this as a chance to strike up a conversation. "How was your reading?" He asked, waiting for her to look at him. Sakura's face turned towards the Brit, whose face was in the perfect angle. The sun rays illuminated his face and green eyes. 'His eyes are glowing,' she thought, struck by his radiant looks. She was quiet for seconds, too smitten by Arthur's appearance to answer him. Her cheeks burned. "I-I... y-yes," was all she could utter, before she quickly looked in front of her. Arthur had almost the same reaction. The way the sun had shone on her face and how she had looked at him with blushing cheeks was all it took for his heart to speed up. "Eh, t-that's marvellous," he murmured nervously, focussing on his hands which lay in his lap. At that moment, his stomach expressed a loud noise of hunger. Its growling was catching Sakura's attention. While he was embarrassed of his loud body functions, Sakura packed something out of her bag. "I made some scones and biscuits," she mentioned shyly. The only thing, Arthur could do, was staring at her with a gaping mouth. She had made him his most beloved snack. "Oh, and I have tea in a thermos flask," She added, taking her 'picnic' out of her back bag. He was completely astonished and could not express how glad he was to have befriended her. Sakura had prepared everything the day before; she brought along several snacks for her friends.

Behind the pair, Emily and Marguerite were snickering. "She surely is wifey material," the older one whispered, "She is his angel, sent from heaven." Both of them watched as their brother and Sakura shared food and drank tea. It was a lovely sight. The Japanese turned around to the siblings and offered them brownies and biscuits.

"Mags, he needs to marry her," Emily said dreamily, after taking a bite of her brownie. "She would provide us with brownies every day."

"I approve," Marguerite agreed.

Both happily chatted as the distance between them and Paris became smaller, minute by minute.

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Translation:

J'serai très content, si vous vous asseyez près de moi. – I would be very happy, if you would sit next to me

Pardonnez-moi, grenouille – Excuse me, frog