Sakura No Shiori - AKB48

What?! Atsuko thought as she looked at them, wide-eyed.

She smiled for a second when she saw the girls chat joyfully. After a while, one of the girls slept, leaning on the other's shoulders. Atsuko recognizes this as the last moment before she saw Minami outside the bus.

Wow... She left me there all alone...

The bus screeched to a halt and Minami slipped a letter into the young Atsuko's hands.

"Sayonara..." Minami said quietly, barely audible.

She left the bus slowly and looked back at young Atsuko. Smiling, she looked forward and walked away from the bus. In a hurry, Atsuko climbed down the bus too, curious as to where Minami is heading that day. The bus started to move again and Minami looked back. Deep in her eyes was the gaze of longing, a point Atsuko had missed back then when Minami abandoned her. With a final sigh, Minami turned around. Atsuko panic for she thought Minami would recognize her, turns out, she didn't even see her.

What? Atsuko thought, confused.

She hesitated but quickly trails behind Minami. She would ocassionally stop to maintain some distance even though Minami doesn't seem to notice her. Looking at Minami's back, she could see that her shoulders sagged a little and her hair was a bit disheveled. She sighed as she shaked her head at Minami's appearance then.

Just what were you thinking about then? She wondered.

---

After walking for a while, they arrived in front of a hospital. Minami quickly went inside and Atsuko hurried to keep an eye on her. Once she was inside, she could see the bustling activities of the doctors, nurses, administrators, patients, and visitors. Dazed, she lost track of Minami for a second before finding her in front of the information desk. She was talking to the woman behind the information desk about something. Curious, Atsuko crept in closer to hear pieces of their exchange.

Despite her efforts to hear the exchange, Atsuko still didn't manage to hear the conversation. Sighing, she decided to let it go and just follow Minami instead. Not long after, Minami walked to a hall to the right of the reception desk. Again, Atsuko trailed behind her while trying to maintain her distance so she won't be found out.

Minami came to a halt in front of the stairs. Atsuko stopped at the same time and managed to keep her distance. She was not very close to Minami's current position, but her sigh didn't go unnoticed. A slow murmur escaped from Minami's lips and Atsuko could barely hear it.

"Dad, did you really have too?"

---

Minami then began to climb the stairs and Atsuko cluelessly follows behind. They arrived at the second floor landing and Minami's pace started to speed up a bit. Almost in an instant, Atsuko fastened her pace too. Minami was still oblivious to Atsuko's presence and she was secretly grateful for that although it leaves her wondering, How can she not know I'm here?

They came to the end of the hall in which two doors were located. Minami stood there in front of the door for a while. She was still, not making a single movement. Atsuko on the other hand, was trying to keep still to prevent Minami from noticing her even though from what she saw, Minami can't see her anyway.

Out of nowhere, Minami let out an exasperated sigh and hesitantly opened the door. She stepped in carefully and closed the door behind her. Atsuko wasn't planning on being in a closed room with Minami ayways, so she looked through the glass window from outside. For a while, Minami just stood there looking at an old man who looked like he was in a comatose. Minami then softly spoke.

"Hey there... Old man."

Author's Note: I'm very very very sorry for the late update! >///< Honestly I was half done with this chapter since a week ago but I kept on forgetting to continue it. I'm terribly sorry and I'll try to update as soon as I can for the next chap. By the way, Takamina is referring to old man as in father instead of old pedo boyfie or something .-. Once again, gomennasai ;m;