The next morning was just as rushed as the day before, but this time I managed to get matching shoes on and check my schedule.
Again it was a hot day, not surprising, because our area had been experiencing a draught the last couple of years.
I was overjoyed (not to say euphoric) to find out that I had artclass that day- and that my artclass also was my same class as in history, English and psychology. The only thing that bothered me was Tomoyo's weird stare yesterday. She hadn't said anything, and she had treated me completely normally aferwards, bu it made me uncomfortable anyway. I hated wthe feeling of someone knowing something about me that I didn't.
Something about Tomoyo made it seem like she knew everything about everybody.
The first class was art, which I concidered a nice way to start the day. we were going to draw portraits of each other, but there was an uneven number of students in the class so I had to team up with Tomoyo and Sakura. Which I didn't mind at all.
"Sakura, Shaoran and I will draw you and then you can draw me, is that all-righ?" Tomoyo kindly led Sakura to a chair near the window.
I was a bit startled. I still hadn't heard Sakura say as much as much as one word, and Tomoyo was constantly guiding her around and helping her. It was weird, because Sakura didn't seem like someone who was mentally challenged or anything.
I started skeching down, carefully looking at Sakura's face and secretly enjoying the fact that I could look a her for the next 1½ hour without anyone thinking of me as a freak.
So in 1½ hour I was completely happy, following the soft lines of her face and desperately trying to make the pencil and paper to show exactly how incredibly many layers her eyes were hiding.
The only thing that made me sorry was that I couldn't draw her smile, because I hadn't seen it yet.
"May I see your drawing Sakura? Then I'll show you mine" Sakura and Tomoyo exchanged their sheets of paper. I leaned over to catch a glimpse of Sakura's drawing.
I don't know whether I was surprised or shocked.
The girl in the drawing did resemble Tomoyo, but something was wrong. Maybe it was the blood running from the eyes. Maybe it was the scars all over her face. Maybe it was the bandages.
"Good job, Sakura." A smiling Tomoyo looked over at Sakura. "It's very dark and beautiful, I really like it."
Surprised I realized, a bit puzzled, that Tomoyo was telling the truth. She really did like the drawing, for some weird reason that was beyond my imagination.
Sakura flipped the sheet with Tomoyos drawing and nodded. Tomoyo tilted her head and smiled. "I'm glad you liked it, Sakura."
I fully understood why Sakura liked Tomoyo's drawing. It was incredible, it was something that I felt belonged in a museum.
Every strand of hair was perfectly placed. Every sparkle in her eyes was captured, and yet seemed to live its own life. The cheeks were perfectly toned, a perfect image of Sakura's complexion. This drawing was everything I had wanted by own to be.
"Wow, Tomoyo that is really outstanding! Do you mind if I exhibit this in the hallway?"
I turned around and saw our teacher standing with an almost pleading look in his eyes.
"Of course not, mr. It's an honour that you think so highly of my work."
Sakura handed the paper to Tomoyo who gently took it and gave it to the teacher. Sakura stared after the drawing as he walked outside to put it up.
"Shaoran, may I please see yours?" Surprised and a bit embarassed I gave my paper to Tomoyo. After seeing her work, I felt that my drawing was more fitting for the trashbin than for her gifted hands.
"Oh..." She said "This is good."
I couldn't understand her admiration, seeing how wonderful her portrait of Sakura was.
"You really... You really do draw well." She said, and then handed me back the drawing. Were those tears in her eyes? Silly me. Why should she get sobby over a crappy, ordinary drawing like mine?
Unless it was so bad that it caused her physical pain to look at it.
"Come on Sakura, there's an intermission now." Tomoyo put a hand on Sakura's shoulder, and looked at me.
"Sakura and I are having math next. You're not in our mathclass, Shaoran. Your mathclass is in room 19 on the next floor."
As polite as ever, Tomoyo stood there and looked at me.
Suddenly I didn't quite know what to do.
"Uhm... Okay. Take care you two. See you again."
I rushed out of class, not wanting Tomoyo to see how much her behaviour had thrown me off balance.
It was like something inside of her had clicked when she saw my drawing.
I looked at it. In my eyes it was nothing special. Just the efforts of a boy hopelessly...
A boy hopelessly in love.
I shook my head, something that I'd heard helped when you wanted to get rid of confusing thoughts.
But my thoughts were stubborn and constantly swirling around my head, trying to tell me something important.
Until someone bodyslammed me to the ground.
"Kamui, GET OFF ME!"
Kamui laughed and relaxed in his body so all his weight could be felt.
"I'm not hearing the magical words, Shaoran. And I'm quite comfortable here"
I growled, but I knew it wouldn't help. Kamui and I were equally strong, but he was taller than me and for some weird reason seemed to weigh a lot more, even though he was thin as a stick.
"Kamui, will you PLEASE get off me so I can start breathing again?"
Kamui smiled and laughed.
"I would have preferred 'PRINCE Kamui', but I'll let it pass this one time."
He got off and even lend me a hand to get up. How nice of him. Maybe he was sick.
"Shouldn't you hurry off to your classroom?" I asked, carefully looking at the doors to find nr.19.
Kamui laughed. "I am hurrying. We're having math together. Can't you remember? We both chose the highest level."
"Oh yeah..." There was room 19. At the time, chosing the same class as Kamui had seemed like a good idea. Even though I wasn't the brightest head when it came to math, but I managed to pull through. With the help of various people.
Sadly those 'variuos people' included Kamui, which meant that I had to put up with his abuse. And sadly being on the highest level meant that I didn't have math with Sakura.
When lunchbreak came, my head felt like someone had dumped cement in it, and I was ready to drop out of school and pursue a career as a circusartist. Kamui's ecstatic mood didn't make things better. Freya was in our mathclass and he had been pretending not to understand one of the questions in class. With the result that she promised to help him after school.
"Kamui, unlike you I actually DON'T understand the question, so could I tag along?" I asked.
"No can do, my friend" He said carelessly, making good use of dramatic gestures. "Freya is probably one of the hottest girl this year, so I'm gonna need some privatetime to make her see just how incredibly amazing I am. Don't worry, I'll help you in the class tomorrow."
I frowned, seeing as the question had to be solved before the class tomorrow.
But my frown dissolved in to immense joy, and my heart started racing, as I caught a glimpse of golden hair and green eyes.
"Okay, see you later" I quickly padded the confused Kamui on the shoulder and ran through the crowd. Sakura was standing in front of her locker, carefully examing the book she was holding.
"Uhm, hi..." I said, trying to smile friendly, with my heart beating way faster than what is healthy.
Sakura looked up at me with a surprised look on her face. A surprised, almost terrified look.
"I'm... I'm Shaoran. We have art, history and English together?" I said, hoping to help her memory.
She nodded, still with her big scared eyes focused on my face.
She looked like a rabbit that had suddenly been surprised by a fox
"So uhm... I thought.. Would you eat lunch with..."
"Sakura, are you ready?"
I turned around and saw Tomoyo. Her grey eyes we're almost as dark as her hair, and her fingers clung tightly to her backpack.
Sakura seemed to have lost all interest me, and nodded at Tomoyo.
"Nice to see you Shaoran." Tomoyo said, and started walking towards the cafeteria together with Sakura.
When they were a little further down the hallway, I saw Tomoyo turn around and stare at me.
I saw Tomoyo again after school. I was sitting in the schoollibrary and trying to do my mathhomework, which seemed almost impossible.
"Hello, Shaoran." Tomoyo leaned over my shoulder, smiling.
"Oh, hi. Won't you sit down?" I said and pulled out the chair next to me.
"Thank you." She sat down graceously, and carefully smoothened her skirt.
"What are you working on?"
"Well... I'm in the highest level mathclass." I said. Great. Now I sounded like I was bragging. "But I'm having a really hard time figuring this problem out." I hurried to say.
"Why don't you solve it like this?" She said and took my pencil, quickly scribbling down numbers and letters.
And before I knew of it, she had solved the question in a much easier way than I was trying to do it. I looked at it, trying to believe my own eyes. Not only had she solved it, but I actually understood the way she had done it.
"Wow, Tomoyo, this is great!" I said. She tilted her head and smiled at me.
"If you'd like, you could come with me home today and I could help you with the rest.
"Well, uhm, that'd be great, thanks, if it isn't too much trouble, I mean..." I said, as I nervously fiddled with my pencil.
Tomoyo laughed a bit. "Of course it won't be any trouble. Pack your things together, I have a car waiting outside."
A car? I quickly packed my things together and followed Tomoyo outside. In front of the school was parked a big, darkblue car. I could tell it wasn't the newest model, but with a car of this brand the age didn't matter. It was quality, quality that lasted a long time. Years from now Tomoyo would be able to drive her kids around in this car.
"I am so sorry we are late, miss Daidouji." An elegant redheaded woman said while opening the cardoor for Tomoyo and I. "There was some trouble with the traffic."
"I don't mind at all, miss Flare. Would you call the house and ask them to prepare some tea?"
"Of course, miss." The lady said and closed the door.
"Wow." Looking around the car I noticed how smooth the leatherseats were and how well the airconditioner was a really sunny day outside, but in the car it was cool and pleasant. "Are you like... A princess or something?"
Tomoyo laughed her light little laughter.
"Oh, far from. My family's just been lucky. My mom owns the Daidouji-company."
"No way! I did think that the name sounded familiar, but to think... Our kitchen is filled with stuff from that company."
Tomoyo laughed again, before looking out the window and pronouncing that we were now at her house.
I felt a bit embarrassed, being in a girl's room for the first time, but soon forgot about that. There were so many things to look at. Several books about history, geography, math, clothing and just about any other subject in the world. Tons of stuffed animals in various sizes. A big desk, nicely organized. A beautiful pink jewelrybox, probably containing lots of expensive bracelets and rings and stuff like that. Stuff worthy of a princess.
Tomoyo pulled out her mathstuff and layed it out on her big desk at the window. Quickly I did the same thing.
"When encountering this type of problem, you have to pay close attention to..." Tomoyo carefully explained, but soon stopped and noticed that I was doing nothing but looking at her.
"What is it, Shaoran? Do you already know the answers?"
"No, I don't. But I would like to hear them from you. I would like to hear why a math-genius like you isn't in the highest level math-class. I would like to hear why a princess like you isn't in a private-school. I would like to hear why Sakura isn't talking."
The tea came in. Tomoyo took the tray from the maid and put it on the table, then carefully poured the liquid in to the beautiful and without a doubt expensive cups.
"Well then," she said, sitting down on her big white bed. "Let me tell you why I chose to be in Sakura's mathclass. Let me tell you why I chose to be in her school. And let me tell you why she doesn't talk."