Chapter 1; Railing

The silence between the couple grew. They were sitting in a café, Sakura looking intently at her cup of water, while her date (number five this week) stirred his coffee for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last minute.

'So... Ryou— ('—it's Motoki') —Motoki, what are your hobbies?' She mentally beat herself up. Ryou was the last guy she dated. She started daydreaming, and when she realised he had said something, she replied, 'huh? I'm sorry.'

He sighed. After a while he said, 'Come with me, I have an idea.'

'Huh?' she repeated, dumbfounded.

He took her to the roof, which was edged with a metal railing. They leaned on a metal railing, watching the sun slowly creep down. Sakura rested her head on her palm, elbow on the railing. Her longish hair was moving in the wind while her thoughts drifted to a certain boy from her past.

'You look even prettier in the sunset. Something on your mind?' Motoki inquired, and Sakura turned red.

'Oh, it's nothing. I'm just tired...' she trailed off, settling back into her daydream world. Motoki noticed a light blush creep up on her face.

'You're really cute, you know that?' before she could answer he leant in, trying to kiss her. She then pushed him away in shock.

'There's some other guy! I knew it!' he lost it. He started shouting about loving her since middle school and how she was toying with his feelings.

She was shocked out of her daydream, and looked at him, frightened, but he must have asked her a question, as he was getting angrier at her silence.

'ANSWER ME!' he yelled, grabbing her neck and holding her about a foot away from the railing. She tried to grab at the railing with one hand – though it was useless – and with the other hand tried to loosen his grip, as she was struggling to breathe.

She flailed, using both hands to claw and hit his hands, but her strength was leaving her. She was getting dizzy, and her vision blurred. She felt like she was going to pass out, and her thoughts turned to Syaoran.

Just as she was going to pass out, she was suddenly jerked forward and was almost winded on the railing she had just smashed into. The grip around her neck was gone, and she gasped for air, gripping on to the railing for dear life. She had her feet sturdy on the bottom of the railing, and looked to see what happened. Motoki had been pulled backwards, and was now fighting—

She gasped when she saw it was the very man of her thoughts that whole day. The fight was really quite one-sided, as Syaoran was quite pissed off. Her legs were shaking terribly, and the shock made her partly forget her current position.

Her feet slipped off the railing, and she let out a small squeak as her hand gripped the railing. Her hand was sweaty, and she had to grip harder, straining her arm muscles, to stop from falling.

She gasped with pain as blood slid down her arm, the metal digging into her hand. She heard people running, and Syaoran's worried face appeared over the railing. He grabbed her arm, grunting with effort as he pulled her up until he could heave her up and carry her bridal-style.

He carried her away from the railing, and put her down slowly. 'Are you okay?' he asked, concerned, unwilling to let her go.

'Y-yes. But, when did you get here, Syaoran?'

'A few hours ago. I would have called you, but Meiling insisted on going shopping straight away. I was across the street when I saw you dangling off a three-storey high roof. Who the hell was that guy, anyway?' he looked peeved.

'Uh... someone I knew from school, we met in the café,' she lied sheepishly.

His stomach gave a jolt. He had liked Sakura when they were kids, and he still liked her. He didn't manage to tell her before he went back to China. He tried to get over her, but eventually came to accept his feelings. He knew she had a right to like who she wanted, but it still hurt him to think of it.

'Wanna go out for dinner?' he changed the topic. He blushed when he realised what that implied, then said, 'I-I mean, with T-Tomoyo and Meiling…'

'Sure!' Sakura smiled, and they went downstairs and outside, to where Meiling was waiting.

'Are you okay, Sakura?' Meiling asked, concerned.

'U-uh, yeah...' she replied. 'Just a bit shaken up.'

'I would have come, of course, but I had to mind the shopping, and I knew Syaoran would take care of you.' She grinned, and Sakura blushed.

'Kawaaiii' came a familiar call. Tomoyo waved and ran to the group with her camcorder in hand. 'I'm so sorry about that creep, though! If I knew he was like that, this wouldn't have happened... I'm really, really sorry, Sakura!' she teared up.

'It's okay, Tomoyo, really.' Sakura insisted. 'Don't worry about it, I'm okay.'

'Really? Well, let's go have dinner, then.'