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When she first woke up, Sakura refused to speak. She didn’t dare look anyone in the eye, not even those who never learned of her identity as the traitor. She didn’t deserve their companionship. She didn’t deserve their forgiveness. She didn’t even ask after the dojo; she could gather from the state of affairs from the world that her treachery had been for naught, and to bring it up now would show that she did not deeply regret her actions.
The hardest person to avoid was Hina. Hina, who she felt the worst about betraying. Hina, who had always been honest, and good, and by her side.
It didn’t help that Hina was also a particularly fast runner, and very insistent on finding her.
“Sakura!” Hina bounded into view. “Oh, thank goodness, thought we lost you!” She sighed in relief.
Sakura didn’t reply. She never replied. She didn’t deserve to speak with Hina.
“Sakura,” Hina started speaking again, walking backwards in front of Sakura so she could look at her, “Do you want to come with me to the greenhouse later?”
Sakura didn’t reply, but her heart did ache at the suggestion. The greenhouse was mostly for food and medicine, but some flowers had made it in. Beautiful and delicate things, small, yet they persisted through this tragedy. She admired them for that reason. It would be nice to visit the garden with Hina. But she didn’t deserve nice things.
“Sakura,” Hina said again, “I… I don’t mean to disturb your walk, but… I did come and find you for a reason…”
She looked away nervously. “I came to let you know that… Enoshima is awake.”
Sakura froze. She said nothing. She simply turned, and started running.
There were three big problems with running through the halls of the Future Foundation:
- Hina is a faster runner than her, with more stamina too. Her catching up was not a matter of if.
- Sakura’s muscles were weak from the disuse in her addled state, not to mention the burn that she felt in her throat when she took particularly deep breaths. This was likely a result of the poison, though they determined that all marks on their bodies from their deaths were psychological remnants and not physical ailments.
- Kiyotaka Ishimaru did not allow running in the halls, even now.
Sakura ignored all three of these problems, and sprinted in spite of her aching body. She pushed passed her limits, the pursuit of not only Hina, but also Taka, spiking her adrenaline.
When she reached her target, she slammed open the door to Enoshima’s room in the infirmary.
Makoto looked over to her, confused by the sudden outburst. “Sakura, is everything alright?”
Sakura froze. Right. She just woke up. They were probably still running through the check list.
“She wants to talk to me.” Junko said, “Duh.”
Makoto looked nervously between Sakura and Junko. “I don’t know if that’s…”
Junko rolled her eyes. “I’m not stupid, I know she can kick my ass if I try anything. Stand outside the door if you’re that concerned. She can come and get you and you can be her hero.”
Makoto frowned. But he did get up. He looked at Sakura as he left the room. “I’ll be right outside,” he said, before closing the door behind him.
“So, what do you want?” Junko asked. “Revenge? Gloating? Moral Superiority?”
“...You are the only person her who I can speak to…” Sakura choked out hoarsely. “I wanted to talk to someone.”
“What the hell are you talking about,” Junko deadpanned. “Waiiit. Don’t tell me, you’ve taken a vow of silence? Oh, because what you did was soooo awful?”
Sakura frowned at the ground.
Junko laughed. “That’s adorable! What, so it’s okay to talk to me, because you didn’t betray me, on a technicality anyway.”
“Y-yes…” Sakura said shyly. “I do not deserve…”
“Are you stupid?” Junko asked bluntly. “Like, okay, you may not deserve it or whatever, like, I get that. I so get that that’s the situation. But, like, have you considered that maybe they don’t care?”
“W-what—”
“Ohhhhh my Goooooddddddd,” Junko whines, “Jocks.” She lets her head fall back. “Like, okay. So like, people kinda hate it when you avoid them, which, b-t-w, is what you’re doing. You think you’ve taken a vow of silence, oh so honorable, so noble, but, really queen? You’re wallowing. And what everybody who’s ever wallowed wants to do is wallow more undisturbed. People are trying to get you out of your own head, but you won’t even talk to them? You’re saving your own emotions, girl, not preserving anyone’s integrity. Honestly, like, get over yourself.”
Sakura’s eyes widened, unsure of what to say.
Junko checked her nails, even though they were bare. “Say something, you wanted to talk to me.”
Sakura glared at her. “I wanted to talk to someone.”
“Aaand you did. Isn’t talking to me kinda great?” She smiled. “I kinda love it. Like, I’m so used to having to pretend to be nice but actually now that you all know it’s like, why not just say it, you know?” She frowned. “But I’m sure that’ll get old too. Plus, nooobody else is gonna wanna talk to me, let's be real.”
“...They might,” Sakura said, to her own surprise. “If they saw the real you, they just might.”
Junko giggled. “That’s so cute. I gave you a little, teensy bit of advice and you think you saw the real me.” She dropped her light tone to something more serious, “Trust me. Nobody wants the real me.” She picked it up again. “O-m-g wait, that sounded like, so emo.”
There were muffled yells coming form outside the door. A disgruntled Taka, a very pissed Hina, and a distressed Makoto between the two.
“Go ooooon, talk to them, oh my god.” Junko sighed, exasperated. “And for the love of fuck, just kiss that girl.”
Sakura turned to leave. Before she made it all the way out, she turned her head back, and said, “Thank you, Enoshima.”
“Groossssss,” Junko said, shaking her hands like there was something on them, “I hate that, eugh.”
“Sakura!” Hina interrupted her own argument with Makoto when she saw her. She rushed up to her. “Are you okay? Did she say anything nasty?”
Sakura cleared her throat, which didn’t really help the hoarseness, and looked down to meet Hina’s eyes. “I would quite like… to go to the garden with you.”
Hina’s face paused in disbelief, before it was overtaken by a large grin. She grabbed her hand. “Sakura! You— You—”
“Yes…” Sakura considered taking Junko’s other piece of advice, before remembering the two boys here. “I will tell you more when we get to the garden…”
And she did. She explained everything, and who made her realize her error.
“Sakura,” Hina cried. “I’m so sorry, I thought… I should’ve tried harder to make you feel welcomed back, or… I thought you must’ve hated us… and selfishly I wanted to make you like me again, but… I should’ve known… you were hurting and I didn’t know…”
“Hina…” Sakura rasped. “It’s alright…”
“It’s not, Sakura, it’s—”
Sakura interrupted her gently with a kiss.
When she pulled away, Hina was dumbfounded.
“I would never hate you,” Sakura smiled softly. “And I do hope you will have me, even though I don’t… even though you have been so wronged by—”
Hina kissed her back, passionately and forcefully and wonderfully.