Sakura woke up as fresh as the Saturday morning and enjoyed the warmth of the sun rays passing through the glass window of her apartment. It has been a month since she moved to Tokyo and started a new job a week after Ruki broke up with her. Her work as a fashion assistant of Ralmé, a famous women's magazine, was the sole reason why she moved cities. But now that she has already separated ways with her ex-boyfriend, she has decided to also start a new chapter of her life.
She did her best to move forward and be occupied as much as possible the past few weeks. There were even some episodes in the first week of their breakup where she cried herself to sleep, but lately, she's been doing better. Sakura wanted to be more presentable before showing herself again to the man who had taken care of her a month ago since she was too ashamed to show herself up or to contact Haru after what had happened. She appreciated his kind gesture so much, but she wanted to thank him personally and properly in a better state, without any discomfort and sadness inside of her.
Sakura stayed on the bed for a few more minutes before getting out of it. She took a quick breakfast, only eating cereals with bananas, blueberries, and raspberries, and readied the ingredients she needed later on. To show her gratitude, she thought of preparing bento lunch boxes for those who looked after her, especially Haru.
While cooking the rice, she made four rolls of tamagoyaki (Note: Tamagoyaki is an egg roll/rolled omelet), which were sliced into four pieces each, and fried two packs of gyoza (Note: Gyoza is crescent-shaped dumpling.). She also steamed broccoli, and seasoned it with sesame oil, soy sauce, and bonito flakes.
After everything was set, she first filled half of the cedar wood round bento box with rice, and used a lettuce leaf as a divider. After the lettuce, she added three pieces of gyoza on the upper left and seasoned broccoli on the lower left part of the box. Finally, she filled a red flower shaped silicone cup with assorted berries and inserted it in the remaining space of the container.
'I hope Haru likes this," she thought with a smile on her face.
Sakura repeated the process and made another lunch box for Nana. The extra tamagoyaki and gyoza pieces were mixed together and were placed into three separate bento boxes. She also included assorted berries in each box and after packing everything, she placed the containers inside peach plaid bento bags.
After a while, she got ready for the day. She wore a yellow spaghetti strapped floral dress on top of a plain white elbow length tee and paired it with white socks and white oxfords. She combed her short pink hair before gathering the outer half of it and setting it with a nude matte rectangular hair clip. To finish her look, she applied light peach blush on her cheeks and nude peach lipstick on her lips.
Sakura left her room and stopped by the lobby to give two bento boxes with mixed tamagoyaki, gyoza, and assorted fruits to the receptionists and the guard. They were too astounded that they were unable to speak upon seeing the lady who was smiling brightly at them. It was as if they've seen a spring fairy with a new and lovely appearance and refreshing aura. They smiled back at her after receiving her food presents, and she soon bid goodbye.
She then headed to Cafe Ai by foot. In just three weeks, she was able to familiarize herself not only with the directions, but also with the bus and train stations around the city. As she walked, she reminisced how many times she got lost and how many times she memorized the directions. A smile formed on her lips as she felt so proud of herself with this little achievement. A while later, she reached Cafe Ai. She entered the coffee shop, hoping to see Haru and to surprise him, but instead, she saw a dainty barista on the counter, who was drying the newly washed mugs.
As soon as the barista caught a glimpse of Sakura, the mug she was holding slipped from her hand, her jaw dropping with the unexpected appearance of the woman. Sakura and the other barista instantly approached her, while the other customers stared at the pink haired lady who just passed by them.
"Sakura?" the startled barista kept gazing at Sakura while her colleague helped clean the broken mug on the floor.
"Hello," Sakura replied, still worried about what happened. "Are you alright?"
"What...what are you do...doing here?" she stuttered as she wiped her hands on her apron. She couldn't believe she's speaking to the woman they were talking about two days ago. Her new hairstyle surprised her even more.
"Is Haru there?" she smiled sheepishly as she stood at the edge of the counter. She wondered if she was Haru's friend who helped him take care of her when she was sick, "Are you...Nana?"
"Oh no no! I'm Ayaka," she gestured with her hands, finally regaining her composure. She asked her co-worker to take over her place for the meantime before walking towards Sakura, "Nana will be here later for her shift, but Haru... it's his day off today."
"Oh," Sakura murmured as her eyes lowered. "I wanted to surprise him, but I guess I should have texted him first-"
"He was actually waiting for you," Ayaka quickly assured her upon seeing the disappointed look on Sakura's face. "Seriously, where have you been?" she chuckled softly, hoping to lighten up the mood.
But instead, Sakura's face reddened from embarrassment, "I admit it was my fault for not thanking him after that night, and I thought it would be better-"
"I think it would be better if you tell Haru personally about it," Ayaka chimed in after sensing that she just made the other embarrassed with her question. "You can still surprise him, you know! The guy's just always at home," she grinned.
"What's his address?"
The fact that she was going to the house of the man she just met a month ago made her shy, but Sakura still asked Ayaka without hesitation. How could she forget that it was Haru's day off? If it's his day off, then it would mean she could thank him more properly and even talk longer. And he was not just a random man, Haru was the one who took care of her.