Title: Smile

Disclaimer: Yeah, I own nothing.

I'll tell you this now because I won't mention it during the story. Syaoran is 24, he's been modeling since he was sixteen. Sakura is 21, freshly graduated from Tomoeda University with a Bachelor's degree in design.

Chapter 1:

"Is the stage ready!?" yelled the director of the commercial. According to him, every tiny detail had to be at its utmost best, meaning no mistakes were to be tolerated. He was a pain in the butt; all of his staff couldn't agree more. What drove the director to be such a perfectionist was beyond the minds of what his staff, or anyone else for that matter, thought. They had guessed, no doubt, among various reasons as to why he acted as if a stick was pushed up his butt, and had been sentenced to stay there for eternity.

The first reason they thought had been because he needed the cash for something. It was immediately shot down because it turned out that the director had much more, and I mean much more, money than he had originally let on. This, of course, baffled everyone around because someone with as much money as he had should have absolutely no reason to dress as terribly as he had.

Many more reasons could be discussed, but who really cares about them anyway. The highly agreed upon reason as to why the director was a stickler, was because he was shooting the sexiest model that ever existed. Disgusting isn't it, but, hey, what do you expect when practically everybody worshipped the ground he walked on.

Now who is this model people loved? Why, none other than Li Syaoran. Isn't he just the charmer with his all but sexy hair that never seemed to stay in place? Strange, people loved the fact that his hair would forever be untamed unless he, himself, be tamed by a lover; compliments to some fan girl that created this weird, but popular, rumor. The fans also loved his amber eyes because they felt their hearts being melted by the flecks or red contained within those brown eyes. Yes, another rumor ignited by some other crazed fan. Most of all, though, the fans went absolutely ballistic for his lips, already set in that perfect smirk.

None could deny that this man that walked amongst them was the epitome of beauty. Kinomoto Sakura was no exception. What the public found attractive about Li Syaoran, she, too, did. It wasn't hard to guess that she was most attracted by his devilish lips. They, for some reason, called out to her. Nonetheless, it was a bonus that he, too, like Sakura, had not had his first kiss yet.

N: Welcome, Li Syaoran. I here it's your first time in Japan. How are you taking it

so far?

LS: Japan's beautiful, no doubt about that. China will always have a place in my

heart, though.

N: We don't expect any less, it is your birthplace. People have ties to their places

of birth.

LS: (lol)

N:So…I hear you are here to shoot a few commercials and some editorials before

you return to China.

LS: Yeah, I'll be here until this contract with Japan ends. That should roughly be

about two yeas. I'll come back to visit, of course, or, perhaps, for vacation.

N: You hear that, people of Japan, no need to worry. Besides your fantastic

modeling skills, your known beauty has pushed you even farther up the ranks. You

currently reside at #1, and have done so for years. Any comment?

LS: What can you say to that…(lol).

N: (lol), You don't need to reply to that. But seriously, though, how is your love

life?

LS: (lol), I don't exactly know, myself. I've never been kissed if that's what you're

asking.

N: Are you serious, you've never been kissed?

LS: No, never. I've never experienced what it means to fall in love. I'm just waiting

for the right girl, I suppose.

That statement from the magazine article had doomed Kinomoto Sakura to love the ever popular enigma that was Li Syaoran. Sakura considered herself lucky that she had taken art as her major. She just loved how all the colors invoked in her this sensation that made life all the more worth it. It also helped that she would be designing, along with a few others, the set of Li Syaoran's new commercial.

"Hey, Sakura, aren't we lucky?" one of Sakura's co-workers exclaimed, quite gleefully might I add. Sakura's co-worker, Shibasaki Satoko, predictably, was another fan of Li Syaoran. Her appearance was none to great, she was average at best. What with her black hair that was always in a messy bun and her dark brown eyes that were covered by her thick framed glasses. Satoko had had this appearance for as long as Sakura had known her. Nonetheless, Sakura adored her gift for making any room she stepped into light up like a whole new day had just begun.

"Huh?" Sakura, merely, replied.

"You know, Sakura," Satoko said while she took her glasses from her face, and directed it so that it was facing the light, "it would do you some good to pay attention once in a while." At this, Satoko looked at Sakura through the corner of her eyes.

Sakura glanced at Satoko, if only for a moment, before bringing her line of vision directly opposite of where Satoko currently stood. Sakura passed for a moment as she inhaled and exhaled, "I'm sorry, I've just been thinking about some things."

"Ah, I was only joking Sakura," Satoko said as she placed her glasses back in place, and proceeded to hug Sakura. "Saakura," Satoko whined, "I was only joking."

Sakura gently pushed away Satoko before faintly glaring at her. It wasn't long until Sakura's glare softened and turned into in a playful grin. "I know, I know."

Satoko straightened her clothes thoroughly as she patted each article of clothing smooth, "seriously, though, Sakura, what has you worried senseless?"

"Ah, idiot, Satoko-san," Sakura replied as she poked at her cheeks, "I'm not worried senseless. Wherever did you get that idea?" Sakura walked over to where she pushed Satoko earlier, and flicked her nose.

Satoko rubbed her nose as a perplexed look played at her face. She, taking advantage of the situation, pulled at her imaginary neck tie, and faked a deep voice, "now don't be like that honey. We've been married for 61 years now, and you've never kept any secrets from me…..so far, anyways."

"Really now, Satoko-san, oh, do stop with your imitations. You really suck, by the way," Sakura teased at Satoko as she stuck her tongue out at her. "As to why I'm worried, if it hasn't already slipped your mind, I wonder if the background meets the director's criteria. He seems as if he has a stick up his butt, if you ask me. That should make him strict." Sakura explained.

Satoko moved from where they currently stood to the left end of the set where all the chairs were placed. "Oh, man, I love chairs, they make your legs feel relieved," Satoko said in a breathless tone as she took a seat amongst one of the chairs. After Satoko seated herself in a comfortable position she spoke to Sakura about her minor problems, "You know, Sakura, the guy doesn't seem as if he has a stick up his butt, he does have a stick up his butt. As per the design, it is beyond awesome."

"Can you, please, not say 'awesome'? I have this weird problem with the word awesome. It really irks me to no end. The use of the word 'awesome' makes the person seem as though they have run out of adjectives to properly portray what they are hoping to get across," Sakura muttered, irritated, as she sat next to Satoko.

"Chill," Satoko managed to get out while she laughed, "I do it on purpose, you know, so don't get started with the 'chill'."

Sakura sighed at the moment one of the staff, working on the commercial, approached them and ordered them, rather harshly, "Do you mind? Could you please remove your ugly faces from this vicinity of the set? The director told me to tell you that you aren't allowed here."

Sakura immediately disconnected her body from the chair as she sprang up, and quickly bowed her head, "I'm so, so sorry. We won't do it again."

The lady, on the other hand, just walked away without so much as a second glance.

Satoko brought her hands up to Sakura's back and patted her back, "what a nasty woman. She could have asked us nicely, with more respect. Besides, who is she to call you ugly? I understand me, I'm not that great to look at, and she's in the same level as me, or worse. Calling you ugly was a huge insult. You're way beyond beautiful, Sakura."

"Thank you, Satoko-san, but please don't degrade yourself with the word ugly, you're beautiful, too," Sakura stated in response to Satoko's earlier statement.

"I know I'm ugly, Sakura. I'm a level 7, and you're a level 1, the same as Li Syaoran," Satoko said as she put her hands up before Sakura in a silencing type of movement, "and don't you bother telling me, otherwise. You're eyes are this brilliant shade of emerald green. I don't know how the hell they got that way."

Sakura tried to intervene, "Please no cursing, and don't talk-

Satoko, headless of Sakura, continued to narrate Sakura's beauty, "Have I ever told you how much I envy your naturally auburn hair. Have you felt your hair, honestly? It feels like silk; totally unfair. Sakura, don't mind my use of the word 'totally'. Are you dead?"

"What!?" Sakura questioned.

"You're skin is so pale, you look like a doll. Seriously, you look like a porcelain doll, and you're lips only make you look more like a doll," stated Satoko as she continued her ramble.

Sakura, this time, managed to stop Satoko's embarrassing ramble about her appearance, "Satoko-san, oh, be quiet. Seriously, it's kind of weird."

"Ah, sorry, Sakura, it's just that whenever we start talking about your appearance I kind of get carried away. Honestly, though, you really are beautiful," Satoko said as she finished her ramble.

"Hey, Sakura?" questioned Satoko after a minutes worth of silence. They relocated themselves to where the rest of the artsy people were; basically, the set designers.

"Hmm," Sakura inquired nonchalantly.

Satoko opened her purse, got out a snack, and stuffed it inside her mouth, "Li Syaoran is taking so long. If you had a choice, would you rather stay here and wait for him, or would you rather leave and do something?" Satoko finished chewing her first bite and proceeded to take another bit when she mentioned, "naturally, of course, I'd stay. I'm a die hard Li Syaoran fan. Sexiness like that doesn't come around ever so often."

"Well I," Sakura answered in an exhausted tone, "…I for one thing, am tired. No man, no matter how beautiful should make me wait against my wishes. As for answering your question, I'd leave. Oh, I'd definitely leave."

"I thought you liked Li Syaoran?" Satoko voiced, confused, "wouldn't you stay?"

Sakura paused for a moment, before smiling at Satoko, "I don't know him. Me not knowing him changed the whole situation."

Satoko and Sakura said nothing for a while as they enjoyed the silence. The silence, however, was broken by the screams emitted from the crew. There were even some that fainted. They, referring to the ones that fainted, obviously, couldn't handle the pressure.

"I wonder why they're screaming." Satoko said to no one in particular as she tried to look at what the crew was screaming at.

Sakura, on the other hand, just turned around at looked down at her trembling hands, "need you ask."

Consistent with what Sakura said, everyone that was currently at the set divided themselves to the left or right of the person that was making his way to where the commercial would be filmed. Who might the person be, it really was a no brainer. Really now, the dispersing of people to a particular side only happened when Li Syaoran was present.

Sakura separated from Satoko because Satoko moved as close as possible to gaze at the beautiful man up close while Sakura moved to the back of the crowd, still not looking up to see the model.

Truthfully, Sakura was beyond ecstatic that Li Syaoran was in the same vicinity as her. That fact alone made her beyond nervous, as well. Her body had this tingling sensation. She's always had the tingling sensation whenever Li Syaoran was concerned, but being within actual viewing distance made her whole body tingle with newfound strength.

Sakura decided that the pressure was too much for her, and snuck away to the exit of the set. She slowly but surely calmed herself down until she was able to think clearly. She wasn't sure exactly how long she stayed there mulling to herself. She glanced in the direction of where the crowd had earlier gathered only to see that the line that had once separated the crew disappeared. The crew had now gathered themselves where the filming was being done. At this distance, it was still impossible to see Li Syaoran. She was, at the very least, grateful for that.

Seeing that everyone was assembled in one particular area of the set, Sakura deemed that her disappearance would go unnoticed. Sakura inhaled a heavy amount of air and decided she would take her leave. "I think it best if I take my leave now. I have no doubt in my mind that my lack of presence will go undetected. Besides, I do doubt that the director will fire me for one absence," Sakura said to herself as insurance that what she was doing was for the betterment of her well being.

Sakura took one last look at the set before she opened the exit door and left. As she left, she muttered, "Well, at least for now, my heart can rest a bit."

Sakura, finally, escaped from the place that drove her nerves over the edge. The only problem, now, was that she had absolutely nothing to do. She looked at the many buildings the city of Tokyo housed. They really were a wonder in itself. Where Sakura had gown up, buildings were scarce. Tomoeda, her birthplace, was plagued by a rural setting. Sakura loved Tomoeda, and all it had to offer. She would have stayed, but her job relocated her to the city. There really was nothing an art degree could offer her in Tomoeda.

While Sakura was walking down the crowded streets of Tokyo she saw a quaint, little coffee shop. It may not have attracted the attention of the city dwellers, but it surely caught Sakura's attention because it reminded her of home.

Sakura entered the coffee shop and was greeted by a warm atmosphere of love. The owners, clearly old, had decorated the shop in an old manner. It, probably, was the reason their customers were limited.

"Welcome to the Firefly Café, may I please seat you," the waiter offered as he bowed before Sakura in a humble manner.

"Yes, please," Sakura answered as she smiled at the young waiter. The boy looked to be around the age of seventeen or eighteen. He was most certainly well off in the looks department. His hair had the color of a rustic orange, while his eyes were as black as the night sky. Sakura surmised that he'd have a loyal band of followers. Males like him usually did. He still had some roundness to his cheeks, but that would smooth out when he reached his twenties.

The waiter left to retrieve a menu for Sakura. While he was away, Sakura placed her tote bag next to her. When the waiter returned he offered Sakura the menu, "I'll give you a moment to decide on what you want to order. I'll be back shortly, okay?"

Sakura looked up from the menu, and smiled at the waiter, "sounds fine with me."

The waiter finally looked at Sakura's face and froze for a moment. In response to her smile, he just smiled back. "I don't want to seem like I'm trying to pick you up, but you're really beautiful." The waiter moved to turn around with his face red from blushing, but he turned around again and spoke, "I'm sorry."

The waiter walked away in a hurried motion leaving behind a blushing Sakura.

It was another minute or two before a different waiter, around his forties, came to take her order. He looked at the still flushed Sakura, "if you're wondering about the other waiter, my son, he's back there at the counter. He's too embarrassed to come over."

Sakura waved her hands across her face in a horizontal motion, "ah, no, it's not his fault." Sakura brought her hands down to play with the hem of her skirt, under the table, "besides, your son's very beautiful too. Can you please tell him not to be embarrassed? I'd feel bad."

The older man stared at Sakura for a moment before laughing, "alright, I'll tell him that. My son has good judgment, though, doesn't he? He goes after a beautiful girl." By the time the older man finished laughing; he placed his right hand on Sakura's head and patted it, while his left hand held the menu.

Sakura looked out the window, and got caught up in her thoughts. She wondered whether they had noticed she wasn't there. If Li Syaoran looked better up close and in person. He almost certainly did, she bet.

Without thinking, Sakura let out a sigh as she placed her chin on her interlaced fingers being held up by her elbows on the table. Sakura took no heed of the world around her, and by the time her coffee with a hint of hazelnut and biscotti arrived she was startled.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you. I'm also sorry about earlier," the young waiter told her, his face heating up again.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts, "No, it's alright. It's no problem." Sakura looked around the café and saw that business was slow, just like when she first walked in, "is it alright if you sat down with me?"

The waiter looked a little surprised, but happy, nonetheless, "I'm pretty sure I can. They can't exactly fire me."

The waiter took a seat across Sakura and just smiled at her. He looked down for a moment, and then he looked back at Sakura. His face once again, lit up an amazing shed of red, "my father told me what you said earlier. Thank you."

This time, it was Sakura who turned a deep shade of red, the color the young waiter currently had plastered on his face. "I was just telling the truth. My name is Kinomoto Sakura, by the way," she said as she extended her hand out towards him.

The waiter took his right hand and met hers in an enclosed handshake. When their hands disconnected from each other, he introduced himself, "My name's Kugyo Kei; nice to meet you Kinomoto-san."

"Oh, please call me Sakura."

"Call me Kei."

"So, Kei," Sakura asked as she stirred her coffee a little before taking a sip, "what you doing working here?"

Kei stared at Sakura for a few seconds before directing his gaze at his father, "you do know that's my father, right?"

"Yeah, he introduced himself as your father earlier," Sakura responded to his question.

Kei tapped his hands against the table in a way that made him seem as if he were striking the keys of the piano. While he continued with his rhythmic beats he explained, "my grandparents opened up this café. I was actually named after the café, not that it matters, though. If you have noticed…who am I kidding, you have noticed. Anyways, the café isn't doing so well with the amount of customers it takes in. With what little money we make from profit, we can't possibly think to higher waiters. So-

Sakura, seeming to understand the details of how the café worked, concluded the statement for Kei, "so, basically, you help out here."

"Yes!" Kei exclaimed as he shot up from his seat and enclosed Sakura's hands within his, "don't forget to add that I do this for free."

Sakura ignored the position they were in and smiled at him, "yes, we mustn't forget that."

Sakura was the first to let go of the contact when she noticed that she had been at the café for much longer than she originally intended. She gathered her things to see if everything was in order before muttering a quick excuse to Kei, "I'm sorry. I really must take my leave now. Oh, I need to return home and feed my dog."

"You haven't touched your biscotti and you've hardly drank your coffee," Kei blandly stated. He saw the retreating figure of Kinomoto Sakura, and called after her, "won't you at least bring your biscotti to eat on the way. You're way too thin."

Sakura, hearing Kei call after her, turned around and smiled. She waited until Kei was close enough to her that they could speak in a normal tone, which wasn't that long a wait if you actually thought about it. "Keep it," Sakura had said.

As Sakura was at the café's door, he called once more at her, "don't be a stranger, Sakura, I don't know if my heart could take it." He, Kei, was of course joking about the heart part, but he doubted that Sakura would take it to heart.

"I won't, I promise I'll be back, so keep your heart in condition and still beating," she said as she smiled at Kei before exiting the café.

Naturally, Sakura couldn't see what was left of the café when she departed, but if she had turned around one last time, she'd have see a teenage boy around 17 or 18 smilingly widely with cheeks tinted the color of a strawberry.

That, of course, wasn't the main problem plaguing Sakura's mind. Sakura was worried about tomorrow because she knew for certain that a second skipping was not likely to occur anytime soon. "Li Syaoran," Sakura sighed as she headed home, "we don't know each other, but you've already made my life so difficult." Despite what she said, she couldn't help the content smile that was plastered on her face.

End of the first chapter

I don't know if this was made clear to you throughout the chapter, but this fic is S x S.