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Well, the format has a changed a bit for this story. When in the middle of a paragraph like this, someone is thinking. I think that's the only change. I hope you enjoy. Also, a huge thanks goes out to Lisa for being my editor for this story, thanks a lot sweetie. ^_^ " Hey! Get...hey! Off my back! Hey, Shiro! Get off my leg! I can't walk! Hey! Mayuka! Quit hitting her! Tenchi! Don't put that in your mouth! " Kintaro stuggles to move and speak as kids are not only all over him, but also acting up all over the place. A little girl pulls on Kintaro's pants leg and he looks down. " Mr Kintaroo...I have to go to the bathroom!!! " Kintaro's eyes bug out as he picks up the little girl and runs towards the bathroom with all the kids on him. " Hold it hold it hold it!!! " He yells as he races towards the bathroom...unfortunely, the pressure was too great for the girl and she peed all over herself and Kintaro..." Nooooo..." Kintaro looked down at his shirt which was now of course wet and looked at the little girl who smiles and says sweetly. " Whew! .Mr. Kintaroo, I don't have to go anymore! "
It was the morning of the 17th of December and all the kids and workers are inside for breakfast. After some cereal for breakfast, the woman who runs the center begins her usual morning talk with the kids, " Good morning everyone. It's a beautiful day and everyone is going to have fun right? Today, we don't have much planned so it will be a normal day. We will have time in which Mr. Oe, Miss Yamaguchi, and Miss Amaguri will take whoever wants to go outside for play. Also, we have several new movies for you to watch. One of which is one of your favorites. It's called ' The Valley Where the Oni Cries. ' " Kintaro blushes and the boss continues. " Well, that's all I have to say. Let's have fun today kids! " Kintaro looks on as all of the kids run off to different sections of the room. In one corner of the room, there is an arts and crafts section ran by Miss Akiko Mae. Kintaro smiles as he looks over to her. She is about five foot, four inches tall and she has long black hair. She has a nice petite figure that Kintaro finds cute. " Oh man...she's very cute...hehehe she has this nice small figure you could just take care of. Hehehe...man would I like to..." Just then, Kintaro looks down to find a kid staring up at him. He bend down to eye level with the kids and asks; " What's wrong? " " Mr. Kintaroo, why are you drooling? " Kintaro smiles nervously, " Yeah, I'm hungry, that's all. " The little girl smiles and runs off to play. Kintaro sighs to himself and looks to his left to the other corner of the room. " Oh man...there's Kasumi Ikeda...she's so pretty...that soft skin...shoulder length brown hair. She's about five foot, two inches tall, but man does she fill out her frame well! Hehehehe..." " Kintaro! " Kintaro slips and falls at the sound of the voice. " Ye...yes? " Kintaro responds in a high pitched voice. It was Miss Yamaguchi standing at the door with a group of kids waiting to go outside. " Come on Kintaro, we're waiting for you to go with us. " Kintaro nods and follows the group outside. It was, of course, a cold day outside. A gorgeous winter scene awaited the group as they walked to the playground outside. The kids didn't seem to mind the cold as they ran and jumped and climbed on all the various playground equipment. Junglegyms, monkeybars, swings and more were all at the kids' disposal. Kintaro and Misato Yamaguchi sat together at a bench close to the playground. Miss Amaguri was at the other side of the playground with some kids looking at the snow fall. Kintaro eyes her from a distance. She is of average height, five foot, six inches tall. She has short, black hair and beautiful black eyes. " Staring at Sakura huh? " Kintaro looks to the woman beside him. " Yeah, I guess I am. I've been here for two weeks already and well, I've never seen her smile. Or even look happy at all. Her eyes are always filled with sadness. " Misato smiles and speaks, " Well, Sakura is a weird one. I've worked here for five years and she's always been here. Even then, she's never smiled. She hardly talks either. " The two look on as some kids throw some snowballs at each other. She continues, " She's a very beautiful girl, but there's just something wrong with her inside. " Kintaro looks at Sakura as she brushes some snow off of a boy who got pummeled with snowballs. Misato pinches Kintaro and snuggles up close to him. She lowers her voice to a surprisingly sultry level. " Forget about Sakura. Me and you could have a good time Kin-chan. Come on. How about you and me go over to my place after work and we can..." She lays a hand on Kintaro's crotch while his eyes bug out. " Get to know each other better. " Kintaro stuggles for words but before he could answer, he gets pelted with a snowball right in the face. Kintaro falls off the bench and looks around with snow stuck on his cheek. He sees some kids laughing close by with snow in their hands. " Why you! " Kintaro gets up and runs after them as the kids go scattering away. Misato looks toward Sakura...who seems to have a slight smile on her face.
Just then, Kintaro heard something off in another part of the building. He closed his notebook and got up to see what was up. He tip toes over to the door and peeks out. He looks down a corridor that has doors left and right all along it. Kintaro squints and can see that there is a soft light coming from the last door down the corridor. " I wonder..." Kintaro started the tippy toe down the corridor making as little sound as possible. " Life...is...study..." He thinks as he takes each step. He finally reaches the door and peeks around. He scans the room which turned out to be a kitchen. There was a pot on the stove with steam still rising up from it, " Someone has been cooking some..." Kintaro takes a sniff of the air, " Ramen...beef flavored. " He looks around a bit more and suddenly a light voice comes from the corner of the room. " Mr. Oe? What are you doing? " Kintaro was taken back by this and slipped to the ground. " Oh! Miss Amaguri. What are you...doing up this late? " " I'm just eating. I didn't get a chance to eat all day really. Have a seat if you like. Would you like some noodles Mr. Oe? " She says as she motions to the chair across from her. Kintaro takes a seat and shakes Sakura's offer off. " No thanks Miss Amaguri. May I ask why you are still here? " " I live here Mr. Oe. " Kintaro raises an eyebrow at her response. " You...live here? " Amaguri nods and finishes off her bowl of noodles. She gets up and washes out her bowl, drys it, and puts it back up in the cubbard. She walks towards the door and stops. Without turning she says, " Good night Mr. Oe. I'll see you at work later. " Kintaro stands up quickly and manages to get out a stumbled " Goo...goo...good night Miss Amaguri. " She exits the room leaving Kintaro to himself as he sits back down at the table. " I must find out more about her..."
After the usual morning breakfast and little lecture, the kids spread out to have their fun. It was snowing a lot harder than yesterday so no one was going outside anytime soon. With no one going outside, it was more crowded than usual. Kids were in front of the TV, at the arts and crafts station, and at various other places playing, talking, and reading. To the left of the room, a big dog pile of kids could be seen with Kintaro at the bottom. " Hey! You guys! Would you stop! Ack! " More and more kids started to pile onto the pile. " Oh man...I need to find out more about Sakura..." Kintaro manages to peek out a hole in the mountain of kids as sees Kasumi Ikeda. " Miss Ikeda! I could talk to her about it....OW! " Kintaro is crushed even more when one of the biggest kids jumped into the pile. " Get off meeee!!! " " Now now children. Move off of Mr. Oe now before I put you all in time-out. " A collective " Awwww..." could be heard from the children as they all get off the back of Oe-kun. Kintaro stands up and sees that Sakura was the one who told the kids to stop. " Heh heh...thanks Miss Amaguri for helping me out there. The kids were just playing though. " He nervously says. " I know Mr. Oe. But we can't have the kids hurting you before Christmas now can we? " She replies and walks off. Kintaro blinks. " Was that...concern? Nah. "
Kintaro shuts his notebook and puts it behind his back just before Misato reaches him. " Hi there Kin-chan. What were you writing there hmm? " She says as she tries to look behind Kintaro's back. He gets in her way everytime and replies nervously, " Umm...nothing. Nothing at all. Just...ummm...doing my taxes! Yeah, heh heh. That's it. " Misato doesn't believe a word he says but humors him anyway. " Oh, ok! Anyways, how's your little interest in Sakura going? " " Kintaro's voice backs away, " I don't know what you're talking about. I was just asking some questions, that's all. " " She smiles. " Mmmhmmm...well, just because she's quiet, doesn't mean she doesn't talk to people. She told me that you found her in the kitchen last night. If I were to give you my opinion, I would say that she likes you. " Kintaro blinks and shakes it off, " Nah, I doubt that. " Miss Yamaguchi laughs and gets up closer to Kintaro, her tone lowered, " Anyways, Kin-chan. How about my offer? Hmmm? " Oe blushes and responds, " If you...you think she likes me and she's your friend, why would you make an offer like this? " She whispers in his ear, " Well, I've been lonely lately and I need someone to keep me company..." she ends the sentence with a quick nibble to his ear and his voice raises what seems like eight octaves. " Well...I'll th...think about it. " She chuckles and kisses his cheek. " I hope that you do. " She walks off leaving Kintaro red as a beet as he slides down the wall he was leaning on. " Oh man...any more of that...and I might have..." He shakes it off and looks at Sakura who was staring coldly at Kintaro. He gets a chill from her cold, icy, glare. " Oh man...what's that for? "
" Mr. Oe, what are you doing up so late? " Kintaro looked up from the chair he was sitting in to see his boss at the door to the little living room like section of the building, Ms. Nomi. She was an old lady, maybe in her sixties, but she had a heart of gold. " Er, I was just writing in my notebook. Why are you up so late? " He asked putting away his book. " I couldn't sleep. So, I came in here to read my book and here I found you. You've been looking troubled lately Kintaro. What's wrong? " Kintaro sighs and leans back in his chair. " Well Ms. Nomi, it's about Sakura. She's a beautiful woman who should be smiling and having fun...but her eyes are full of sadness. She's quiet and she's always distant. But lately, she's been giving me little cold stares and such. I don't know what to make of it. " Ms. Nomi chuckles a bit and sits back in her seat. " So, you have developed an interest in Sakura huh? Well, I thought you'd be more likely to go after Misato. Ah well. Sakura is an interesting one indeed. Shall I tell you about her? " Kintaro nods and leans forward to listen. " Well, Sakura has lived here basically all her life. I found her homeless in this town when she was about 8 years old. I asked who she was and where her family was, but she didn't know much. In fact, she only knew her name and several other minor details about herself. " Kintaro blinks. " Amnesia? " He asked. " Most likely. " She answers. " Anyways, I took her in from that point on and she's lived with me ever since. " Ms. Nomi's voice lowers, " It tears her up inside that she doesn't know anything about her family...nothing about herself as a child. Nothing about where she was born, nothing. You see Kintaro, that is why her eyes are filled with sadness. A part of her is missing. The neverending questions fill her mind and heart. Who am I? Why was I there? Where are my parents? Did they abandon me? What was wrong with me if they did? These are the questions that plague her mind and fill her heart with sadness. " Kintaro is speechless. " Well, I can see that what I said wasn't what you expected. She likes you though, I can see it. Maybe you can help her where I can't. I'm off to bed now Kintaro. Sleep well. " Ms. Nomi stands up and exits the room. " Sweet dreams Ms. Nomi and thanks for the info. "
Today was a busy day for Kintaro and the staff. They had a bunch of projects slated for the kids. Of course, making christmas tree decorations, but also other things like a snowman building contest, snowball fight and more. It's now the middle of the afternoon and the entire staff is outside watching the kids start on their snowmen. Kintaro was standing next to a fence near a group of kids, helping them out. He looks up to see Sakura standing by herself seemingly looking out into space. Kintaro tells the kids he'll be right back and walks over beside her. " Beautiful day isn't it? " He asked rhetorically. " Yes, it is. " She answered. " Kintaro scoots a little closer to her. " Is there anything wrong Sakura? " She scoots a little bit away. " I never did like Christmas much. " Oe-kun moves closer. " How come? " Amaguri moves away. " Because...I don't know. It's never been happy for me really. " Kintaro looks down and scoots a little closer again. " Is...it because you don't have a family to spend it with? " Sakura is silent for a bit and she looks at him. " Yes, that's part of it. I'm assuming Ms. Nomi told you about me huh? " Kintaro nods. " I'm really sorry to hear about that Sakura. " He says but she shakes her head. " It's no biggie, it's just something I have to deal with. " Kintaro looks straight into her eyes. " But I know it hurts you...so many unanswered questions. " " How would you know? You've never had to go through anything like this before. You know nothing! " She snaps which takes Kintaro by surprise. " I know I don't...but I'm going to help you damnit. I want to help you...I'll find a way! This Christmas will be different, this Christmas, you'll have help finding those answers! " Kintaro exclaims and walks off to help some kids who started to call him. Sakura turns to look back at him with surprise written all over her face. " Help...me? "
Today was just as full of projects as yesterday. Christmas tree decoration making, card making, and movies. Yesterday's events must have affected Sakura because she now tends to follow and look at Kintaro more often now, and it's very noticible. Little whispers like " Look at that! " and " What is she doing? " can be heard throughout the center. Kintaro seems oblivious to this though as he continues to go along his business, helping kids with their projects, getting jumped by the kids and wrestling with them. Misato and Kasumi were making decorations for the kids when they noticed what was going on. " Whoa, do you see that? " Kasumi asked Misato who was busy with her work. " See what? " " Kasumi grabs her head and Misato seeing what is happening. " Whoa. She seems really interested now. " She said. " Hey, seems Kintaro said something which really got to her...Hey, wait a second, I thought you liked Kintaro, aren't you going to do something? " " Nah. " Misato said looking down at her work, " while I do like him, he isn't for me. " Kasumi blinks and shrugs. Kintaro was sitting on a bench outside on his break when Sakura came outside. She slowly walked towards him and she finally stood above him. She asked to sit down in which he, of course, agreed. " Mr. Oe, what did you mean by you helping me? " She quietly asked. " I meant that I'm going to help you out. " He says and takes a bite out of his sandwich he bought for lunch. " Why? Why help me? You don't even know me. " " Why should I have to know you to help you? " He stands up and looks down at her. " I want to help you, because no one should have to live through the kind of pain that you are going through. " He walks off leaving Sakura in shock. Thoughts race through her mind as to why he wants so much to help her. " Why? Why does he want to help me? No one has ever tried to help me like this before...Kintaro..."
" Ok everyone! Today is our gift exchange day! Everyone has put gifts under the tree for everyone else so we'll start unwrapping presents in a little bit. " Ms. Nomi announces to the group and then walks over to Sakura. " Hey, do you know where Kintaro is? " Sakura shakes her head. " No, I haven't seen him all day in fact. " " Weird. I saw him this morning and gave him his paycheck and he took off out the door. " Ms. Nomi responds. " Well, I guess we have to start without him. " With that said, she gathers up all the kids and instructs them to tear into their presents. The ensueing blizzard of wrapping paper and tape and boxes was a sight to behold indeed. Soon after everyone, kids and staff both, unwrapped their presents, everyone spread out to play or admire their gifts. However, Kintaro was nowhere to be seen. The place just didn't seem the same without him. Quieter, just not as lively. Kintaro had indeed, made a big impact on the place in the short time he was there. For him not to be there on the last day of daycare before the new year was just...weird. " It's amazing, he hasn't been here for all that long and I miss him. And this is the only day he's ever really missed like this. " Misato said to Kasumi. Kasumi nods and says, " Yeah, I know. But...what is that? " Kasumi points to a huge, wrapped box being wheeled into the center. The whole center focuses on the huge box with a tag on the front labeled For Sakura Amaguri. the whole box finally makes it's way into the building and everyone sees who is pushing the box. It's none other than Kintaro himself. " Merry Christmas Sakura! " He yells out with glee. Sakura blinks in amazement as all the kids gawk over the box. Ms. Nomi pushes Sakura toward the box, " Well, open it! " She walks towards the box and starts to unwrap it for what seems like forever. Finally, she throws off the top part of the box to reveal...a brand new mountain bike. The whole room is confused by this and Sakura herself looks to Kintaro with a look of extreme puzzlement on her face while he stands there with a big grin on his face. " Well, I guess I should explain. I know it's not much, but it's all I could offer you. You aren't going to find what you are looking for here. So, I'm asking you, if you would like to travel with me. We can travel around and study life together, and in the process, piece together parts of your past. Anything is better than being stuck here right? I know it's not much, but it's something Sakura. Will you accept and ride with me? I'm leaving tomorrow. " The room is silent in anticipation of Sakura's answer. She looks at the bike for awhile. It was a beautiful brand new red mountain bike, it's looks much the same as Kintaro's in fact. She then turns to Kintaro and smiles. The room's collective jaws drop at the sight of a bright, happy smile coming from Sakura. She then nods at Kintaro and says, " Yes Mr. Oe, I'll travel with you, I'd be happy to. " She then walks up to him and hugs him tightly. A collective *GASP!* now came from the room as again, this was the first time anyone had ever seen Sakura like this. Not even Ms. Nomi. The hug seemed to last forever. The moment must have gotten to Sakura as a tear started to softly fall from her eye. Only Kintaro could see it tho and he wiped it from her cheek. " Let us start your new life together Sakura. "
The day for Kintaro and Sakura to leave was at hand. It was early in the morning and surprisingly, every single kid from the program was there to see them off. Sakura said her goodbyes to everyone at the center and mounted her new bike. She smiled at Kintaro who nodded back and together, they started out on an all too familar path for Kintaro, and a brand new adventure for Sakura Amaguri.
-end Well, I hope you liked it. I'll have a poll up soon so you can rate this. Thank you very much for reading and stay tuned! |
