H o n e y M e l o n , For The Gooey Tea Addicts
Meet Sakura, an ordinary university girl working at the bubble tea shop.
Now meet Syaoran; heir to the Li Corporation, Pop Idol, and the new guy at Tomoeda Uni.
Love can come from the strangest places, starting with a honey-melon bubble tea... SS ET CT TN
Notes: AU, no magic stuff. Meiling and Syaoran are not related. So, Syaoran's name is Li Syaoran, and Meiling's name is Yang Meiling.
Ages: Sakura, 20. Syaoran, 20. Eriol, 21. Tomoyo, 20. Toya, 24. Yukito, 24. Nakuru, 23. Takashi, 21. Chiharu, 19. Naoko, 19. Naoko, 20. Meiling, 21.
Disclaimer: I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura. Easy as that!
Authors Note: Well, hope this is enjoyable. It'll be like a drama, of course! Like those Asian dramas. Please enjoooy! Oh, and BTW, honey melon and strawberry are my favourite bubble teas. Meiling won't make an appearance in this chapter but she IS in the story - she is not related to Syaoran though! She's a friend of the CCS gang !
Part 1 - Kawaii Suihou Ti Café: Welcome!
Kinomoto Sakura was late. She was incredibly, absolutely late. She nearly broke the alarm clock as she smashed the top of it to shut it off, then scrambled off the bed, her pink sheets wrapping around her legs. Kero, a small, orangey-yellow and white dog, whined at her for waking him up. "Hoee…" she complained, rubbing her auburn hair covered head, the her crystal emerald eyes. But she had no time to waste - she hopped up as soon as she could, and ran into the shower.
Within half an hour, she was out the door, Kero barking a goodbye from the door. She covered her athletic, slim body with a pink, off-the-shoulder zip up three-quartered shirt and white skirt. She made sure it wasn't over-the-top short, because she was off to work. Her calves were covered with striped green and blue socks, and she wore white boots that were loose around her mid calves and ankles. She could've been dressed for a date, but she was off to work instead.
Kawaii Suihou Ti Café. The bubble tea shop hadn't opened for more than 5 months, but it was popular among Tomoeda University students. In one section of Kawaii Suihou Ti, they sold anime merchandise. They also sold bubble tea, of course. They had another part where a closed fireplace stood on one side of the wall, a ps3 hooked up to a plasma tv on the other side, where two couches sat their lazily, waiting for people to come and play some video games. There were also several tables and booths for people to eat some of their favourite food that the café offered.
Sakura struggled to get through the door, having to squeeze through an over-weight girl and one of the members of the Tomoeda Tigers Basketball Team, and darted through the shop and behind the counter.
"Sakura-san, you're late!" mumbled Sakura's pretty co-worker, juggling three bubble teas in her arms. Her long, waist length blonde hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, and she had tired looking blue eyes.
"No sleep last night, Yuri-san?" she asked while she grabbed her name tag.
"None whatsoever," she sighed, taking a customers cash and putting it into the register. "Thanks for coming!" she said, suddenly perky, and waved goodbye.
Birds could be heard chirping outside. "Wow," Yuri growled. "As soon as you come, all the customers leave."
Sakura giggled. "Why don't you take a break, I'll cover." Yuri nodded, brushing a hair behind her ear.
"Okay, I'll be back in 15." she waved goodbye to Sakura and strutted out the door.
Sakura was officially bored. Leaning over the counter, she rested her head in her hands and waited for someone to come in. She had exactly five hours and forty-five minutes until she could leave work and go home. Closing her eyes, should almost drifted to sleep, but shook herself awake.
Yuri came back in fifteen minutes, as she said. They worked together for the next five hours and twenty minutes, until Yuri took another break…
"Hoee…" Sakura mumbled. She only had twenty-five minutes until she was off. It was six o'clock, but the Japan Sun was still burning bright. "Why is no one here…" the store was empty, with exception to a couple in the corner booth doing some homework.
Then, the doors were pushed open from in front of her. In walked the most godlike creature she ever saw: intense amber eyes, brown chocolate hair the fell in front of the same eyes. His healthy, clean skin was light but possessed a tan. His expression was unfathomable, his intense stare making her jump up from her lazy position. To see more of him. He was slim and tall, almost six feet, but he was strong and muscular. Well, it seemed like that, the way his black Armani jacket covered his body and G-star jeans his legs.
"Welcome to Kawaii Suihou Ti, I'm Sakura!" she greeted happily. He approached the counter and raised his eyebrow.
"Cute Bubble Tea?" he asked. Sakura shrugged.
"I didn't name the shop. What would you like?"
The guy gazed up at the big menu hanging up high behind Sakura. "Honey Melon Bubble Tea." he stated simply, reaching into his back pocket to retrieve his trendy black wallet.
"Real Fruit or Fake?" she asked, punching in his order.
"Real." he replied, looking impatient.
"Juice or Milk?"
"Milk…"
"Sago or no sago?"
"Sago!"
Sakura jumped at his risen tone. He didn't appear to be mad, but he looked incredibly impatient. "S-sorry. Not many people order Honey Melon."
"Really now? What do they order then?" he asked, pushing his brown locks back.
Smiling, Sakura answered. "They usually order taro or mango. I like strawberry, myself though," Sakura punched in the rest of his order. "Alright, it'll be 4.96."
He pulled out a five and handed it to Sakura. His hands were pretty big, as most guys are, but his hands were smooth and looked kind of soft. "Keep the change for yourself, Strawberry Girl."
Sakura snorted. "A whole four cents for me? My, you must give millions to charities!"
"Not millions," he chuckled gently. "But you aren't a charity."
"True!" Sakura pondered the thought. "I could, however, use shopping money. Not that I'm asking you for it. That's why I'm here, working at Suihou Ti."
"Well, Strawberry Girl - "
"Sakura!" Sakura cut off.
"Nah, I like Strawberry Girl better." the guy smirked, and Sakura blushed.
"Well then, what do I call you? Honey-Melon Boy? That sounds very funny." Sakura told him as she moved through the back to make his bubble tea.
His smirk widened. "Li Syaoran." he introduced. "Nice to meet you."
The name sounded familiar. Sakura saw Tomoyo, her best friend, peeking in from outside, her black hair hanging behind her as she spied. That Tomoyo, the modern day ninja… "Kinomoto Sakura," she said. "Nice to meet you too. Here's your bubble tea, thanks for coming." Sakura offered a friendly smile to him. He didn't return it, but he smirked. "I'll see you later."
Later?
"IEEE! Sakura-chan, he's so cute!" she squealed as soon as the door shut and he walked down the street.
"Hoeee…"
"Sakura-chan, do you know him? You two were talking longer than usual customers do!" Tomoyo asked, walking around the counter to look at Sakura.
"No, of course not. I just met him. His name is Li Syaoran." Sakura replied, making herself a strawberry bubble tea.
"Ah, a foreign cutie who speaks Japanese?" Tomoyo asked curiously, eyeing Sakura.
"Yeah, his Japanese is almost better than yours!" she exclaimed sarcastically. "He's rich too! Oh my gosh, he should totally ask me out!"
"IEE! SAKURA-CHAN, YOU SHOULD DATE HIM!"
"I WAS KIDDING!"
The door swung open again, and the two girls turned to see who it was. In walked a black haired, glassed adorned man. He was tall and slim, not as muscular as Syaoran but still strong, clad in mostly blue and black.
"Eriol-kun, what's up?" Sakura asked, seeing who it was. Tomoyo sighed.
"Have you come to buy a bubble tea from the poor but hardworking girls?" Tomoyo asked, walking to the register.
"Oh, of course not. I can't stand those little black balls at the bottom. They look like snot." Eriol replied. Sakura and Tomoyo then saw that he had his black messenger bag slung over his shoulder, and a Yamazaki Takashi following.
"Oh, you guys are going to do homework?" Tomoyo realized, taking her hands away from the keypad of the register.
"Eriol, maybe, I'm here to suck on a sweet, sweet bubble tea." Takashi smiled widely. "You know what I like." Sakura smirked.
"And you know the price, cough it up." she said, holding out her hand.
"…err, how about an I.O.U?"
Sakura shook her head with a smile, withdrawing her hand, and Takashi frowned.
Eriol walked himself over to a table near the counter, and placed a book and notebook in front of him. "And now, time for the great study of Law!" he exclaimed in mock excitement. Takashi took a seat across from Eriol. "Still don't get why you're taking Law, man. It's so boring. Be an actor, like me!"
"Stupid," Eriol rolled his eyes. "You're not even taking that seriously, you know you're going to get a career in playing basketball."
Takashi nodded his head enthusiastically.
"That's right, maybe Takashi shouldn't be gulping down loads and loads of bubble tea so he can keep in shape," their friend, Chiharu's voice came from the door. She was accompanied by Rika and Naoko. Chiharu's pigtails wiggled as she walked over to the table and took a seat next to Takashi. "and have enough money to afford dates with me."
The gang laughed. "Hm, did you guys see that guy walking down the street? The one decked out in Armani?" Rika asked, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, that's Li Syaoran," Takashi informed them. "Li, as in, the only son and the heir of the Li Corporation.
"So that's why he looks so rich! Because he is!" Rika exclaimed with a half-laugh.
The only son of the Li Corporation? The HEIR of the Li Corporation?!
Tomoyo's expression changed drastically: she was now wide-eyed and her mouth was open. "SAKURA-CHANOHMYGOSHLISYAORANWASFLIRTINGWITHYOU!" she squealed incoherently.
"Uh," Sakura couldn't understand. "Sorry?"
"I said," Tomoyo said, her tone back to normal. "SAKURA-CHAN OH MY GOSH LI SYAORAN WAS FLIRTING WITH YOU!" her voice rose back to it's previous loudness.
The gang automatically began screaming out questions.
"He DID?!"
"WHAT DID HE SAY?!"
"Aww, Sakura, you get all the good guys…"
"WHAT?! Why didn't you tell me!"
Tomoyo fluttered like a mosquito around Sakura, raising her eyebrows suggestively. Sakura swatted her away. "So? He's rich - I bet he's some kind of playboy too."
Her black haired best friend giggled her specialty laugh - "Ohohohohohohoho!"
"Not. Even." Sakura growled, glaring at her friends.
Rika chuckled. "Don't be angry, Sakura. You're so so so lucky!"
Eriol finally looked up from his law textbook. "I know Li Syaoran. We went to school together the one year I was an exchange student at his high school in Hong Kong for a semester."
"No way," Sakura blinked. "When did the world get so small?"
"He's an okay guy," Eriol told them. "Only nice to people he thinks are worth it."
Takashi looked apprehensively at Eriol. "He hated you, didn't he?" Eriol laughed.
"No, he was my first friend in Hong Kong."
Tomoyo suddenly reached into her pink messenger bag and pulled out a small camcorder. "So what does our friend Sakura-chan think about the tall, dark and handsome stranger that was flirting with her?" she said in a narrators voice.
Sakura glared at the lens, a small red light turning on underneath it. "Sakura-chan thinks the video camera needs to come off, now." she took a swipe at the camcorder, but Tomoyo was too quick.
"I don't think so!" she teased. "Come on!"
"Well… he's cute?" Sakura offered. "He reminds me of a wolf."
The door behind them jingled, and in walked beautiful Yuri. "Oh, business is back?" she asked excitedly. She took another look at the 'customers'. "Oh, never mind…" she sighed.
Sakura laughed. "Well, if it counts, I bought myself a bubble tea," she told Yuri, waving her strawberry bubble tea at her.
Rolling her eyes, Yuri half-laughed. "So what did I miss?"
"The hottest guy ever flirting with Sakura! Who also happens to be the rich son of Yelan Li, the owner of Li Corporation." Naoko grinned, seeing Yuri's face.
"You mean Syaoran Li? He is SO hot! Agh, how did I miss him?!" Yuri wailed, banging her head once against the counter.
Sakura raised her eyebrow at her co-worker. "How did you know his name right off the bat?"
"Uh, hello, not only is he the heir to Li Corporation, but he's also a musician. He's sometimes reported in the tabloids." Yuri replied, as if it was the most common thing in the world.
"Tabloids? Huh, so Wolf Boy is rich, good looking and famous?" Takashi asked, rolling his eyes.
Yuri nodded. "Only in China, till now. I think he's here to promote his new album. He also won China's Martial Arts contest. Oh, and he's come to Japan to enrol at some university. Don't know which one, though. Maybe Tokyo Uni?"
Eriol chuckled. "What are you, some kind of stalker? Knowing this much about someone is so creepy."
Pouting, Yuri shook his head. "No way! I just read a lot of magazines…"
Another jingling came from the doorway. In walked five teens, the boys' hair gelled and spiked up in different directions, the girls' hair long and straight. They were obviously teens from Seijyuu High, and they greeted Sakura and Yuri with a smile. "Hey! Just thought we'd drop in to see who the real Tekken 5 master is," said a boy, obviously the leader of their pack. "And of course order some sweet, sweet bubble tea."
"Sure," Sakura smiled. "What would you like?"
Four of the teens knew exactly what they wanted, but the last, a meek looking girl with brown hair and deep brown eyes, gave her a nervous smile. "Um… what's good here?"
Sakura's grin widened. "Well, I here the honey-melon is good…"
Sakura waved goodbye to her friends and Yuri. Eriol and the gang had decided to stay behind, deciding to tutor Eriol in law, so Sakura was on her own. She had made herself a honey-melon bubble tea for the way home, and she walked off, the sun burning against her back and ocean's hypnotic waves crashing.
As odd as it was, Sakura had actually never tasted a honey melon bubble tea. So she decided to taste it, to decide what the hype was. She sucked in some of the gooey tea, more than a few sago come up with it. She chewed down the sago and swallowed, the honey melon taste running on her tongue and down her throat. It was actually pretty good.
"So, decided to taste the god of bubble teas?"
Sakura jerked her head towards the voice, which came from behind her. The sun almost blinded her as she squinted and made out the figure: tall, handsome, muscular, and smouldering amber eyes hidden behind some Diesel sunglasses.
"Li-san!" she blinked with surprise. She looked down at her bubble tea and smiled. "Yup, you could say that. It still doesn't beat strawberry though, not by a mile."
He walked nearer and nearer to her. She hadn't realized she'd stopped walking. "Are you sure now, Strawberry Girl? That seems quite unlikely. Like I said," he smirked, pointing to her bubble tea. "God of the Bubble Teas."
Sakura laughed, then sucked down another gulp of sweet, milky tea and sago. "It's good, but not that good!"
Syaoran pulled off his sunglasses, revealing his intense amber eyes. "Alright, why don't we dub Strawberry as the queen of bubble teas?"
"Hmmm," Sakura said after thinking about this. "Maybe. So what are you doing here, Li-san? Were you back to buy more bubble tea?"
"Nope, just taking a walk down the beach," he said, using his chin to gesture at the ocean, sparkling in the setting sun. "Care to join me?"
"Ah, I would, but what if there are paparazzi around? It'd be a shame for some headline to come out tomorrow: Li Syaoran-san's mysterious Japanese girlfriend? Is this why he came?" Sakura mock-exclaimed the headlines.
"I assure you, if that were to happen, it would be fine because you're cute."
Sakura blushed; she wasn't expected such a flattering comment from the famous Li Syaoran.
"So, will you come with me for a walk down the boardwalk?" he asked with a seductive smile.
"Well… alright, only because you insist." Sakura teased, and followed him down the sidewalk.
The smell of the ocean lingered in their noses, and the sun was still bright and high in the sky. It was summer in Japan; the heat was sweltering. People stayed at the beach for as long as they could, until the sun started to set at around nine o'clock. "So, what's a big Hong Kong star like you doing in Japan?"
Syaoran thought about this. "Let's not talk about me, what about you, Strawberry Girl?"
"What about me?"
"Uhm," Syaoran said. "Let's start with your age? I don't want anyone to think I'm some sort of pedophile."
Sakura raised her eyebrow, and brushed back her long auburn hair. "What are you saying, I look young?"
"Hm, not necessarily." he replied.
"Well, I'm 20," Sakura told him. "Sophomore in university."
Syaoran grinned. "So am I."
Sakura's grinned matched his, her emerald eyes sparkling. "Really, are you going to university here?"
"Yes, I have to." he replied.
"Are you going to go to Tom-"
"HEADS UP!!" screamed a girl from the side. Sakura suddenly felt something hard and fast hitting her head; a volleyball, knocking her forward into Syaoran. Syaoran's tanned arms reached to the curve at Sakura's waist to prevent her from falling. "Hoee!" Sakura whined. "Are you ok? I'm sorry!"
Suddenly she was falling. Sakura was aware of the barking of a dog, and then Syaoran yelping. "Wei! What the heck?!"
A dog had ran over to Syaoran and head butted the section behind his knees, which had made him lose balance and topple over, pulling Sakura down with him too.
Sakura had falled on top of her, their legs tangled and her head smacking into his shoulder. "HOEE!" she screamed in surprise. Now, she was very aware of Syaoran's arms around her now.
She jumped up and so did Syaoran. Her bubble tea had spilt into the sand. Sakura brushed herself off, hiding her strawberry-pink blush. "I-I'm sorry!" she exclaimed.
"It's okay!" Syaoran replied, just as jumpy. "I'm sorry for pulling you down!"
"It's okay," Sakura exhaled. She calmed down, ever so s l o w l y.
"Let me buy you some ice cream." he more stated then asked. He ran off to the ice ream stand, leaving Sakura standing in the sand by herself. He was back in less than 2 minutes, holding in one hand a strawberry cone, in the other a chocolate cone. He offered her the strawberry one, and she took it graciously.
"Thank you," she told him. "How did you know I liked strawberry?"
Syaoran raised his brow. "Are you saying I wouldn't know that a Strawberry Girl who likes Strawberry Bubble Tea wouldn't like Strawberry Ice cream too?"
Sakura laughed. "Heh, you're right." she said, taking a lick of the sweet, cold treat. Glancing at her watch, she frowned. "I'm sorry, but I need to go home and prepare dinner for my dad."
"No problem," Syaoran nodded. "Maybe I'll see you again."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll find some way to accidentally bump into me again."
Sakura gave Syaoran a peace sign, then ran off, ice cream in her hand and smile unbreakable. She knew that she'd see more of this guy.
Preview of Chapter 2:
Running into her classroom, Sakura found that not only was she again late, but this time, someone else was too. Her momentum couldn't be stopped - so, just outside the classroom door, she ran smack-dab into her other late classmate. "WEI!" "HOEE!" they both yelled at the same time. Sakura began to fly backwards from the impact, but a strangely soft and familiar hand reached out to grab her and pull her back. A little too hard, however, as her head of auburn hair smacked into his firm, toned chest.
Wei? Sakura thought. Who else says Wei in Japan but…
"Strawberry Girl?!"
And there you have it, chapter one plus the preview for chapter two. Please stick around for more, it's going to get a lot better… Anyway. Please review, eh? It motivates me. Also, I won't be updating until I get at least ten reviews… so, you know, click the pretty blue button. It helps to get constructive criticism, it makes me a better writer.