Sapporo Yuki Matsuri
Author Note: This is my entry for the SyaoranxSakura-club's Winter Contest in DeviantArt.
Sapporo is located in Hokkaido, the northern most island of Japan. Since 1950, the Yuki Matsuri, AKA: Snow Festival has been an annual occurance in Odori Koen - Sapporo's central park, happening at the beginning of February and lasting for 7 days.
Unfortunately, I haven't even been to Japan. (At least, not in this lifetime.) I hope that one day that will change. For research links for this fanfic, please see my comments on this fic in my DA account.
I do not claim any rights to the characters in the fic. Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, Touya, Yukito, Yue, & Kero are all property of CLAMP!
"Why did you have to invite that Gaki?" Touya complained to his little sister, Sakura, when he and Yukito stopped by Tomoeda Jr. High to pick Sakura and "her friend" up from school. It was Saturday, and they only had half a day of classes.
"You said that I could bring a friend, Onii-chan," Sakura reminded him. She spoke in a hushed voice, but it was impossible to keep their argument quiet from Syaoran, who sat in the back seat of the car with Yukito.
"Well, I thought for sure that you would bring Tomoyo," Touya complained in a loud voice, not caring that Syaoran heard him, "Not your…boy...boy...," he stumbled over his words.
"Boyfriend?" Sakura completed his sentence. "What does it matter? I still consider Syaoran-kun to be my friend," she pointed out. "Besides, Tomoyo wasn't able to come with because she has a function to attend with her mother."
"Well, this isn't acceptable. He's not sharing a room with you, and I don't want him in the same room as me and Yuki," Touya fumed, swerving the car just in time to avoid hitting the car that was turning in front of them.
"I wouldn't want to sleep in the same room as you either," Syaoran suddenly spoke up from the back seat. "Don't worry; I plan to check out my own room at the hotel," Syaoran announced, causing Touya to glare at him through the rear view mirror.
"Touya, its fine, isn't it?" Yukito said in his soothing voice. "You did tell Sakura-chan that she could bring a friend, and you didn't specify who it couldn't be."
Touya continued to fume, silently, after returning his full attention to the road. They were on their way to the Tokyo airport. Touya and Yukito had decided to go to the Sapporo snow festival this year. Due to their college schedule, they could only stay overnight and would have to return on Sunday evening. Because they had invited Sakura along, their flight wouldn't be leaving until 1:50 in the afternoon. The flight would take 1 hour and 45 minutes to arrive in Sapporo.
"You're sitting by me, Kaiju," Touya told his sister when they were at the airport and about to board the plane. He was determined to keep her and the Gaki apart and thus far had succeeded. Ever since they arrived at the airport, he kept his arm around her and made certain to keep Yukito between him and the Gaki. Syaoran, however, remained unaffected by Touya's attempts to ruin his day.
"Is that really okay with you?" Syaoran peeked around Yukito to ask Touya. "What if Yukito-san's moon powers start to overcome me again?" Syaoran wrapped his arms around one of Yukito's and hugged it. "I might just steal him away from you." He didn't look at Touya, but rather looked up at Yukito with adoration. In turn, Yukito smiled down at him and tenderly patted Syaoran's arm with his free hand.
Touya's face turned purple with anger. He immediately released Sakura and grabbed for Yukito, to pull him away from Syaoran's grasp. "Let go!" he growled.
Syaoran blinked and shook his head, as if to snap out of a daze. "Huh?" he played, successful at tricking Touya with his act. "Oh…," he released Yukito's arm, as if surprised at his actions. "S…sorry."
Yukito went flying towards Touya, caused by the sudden release of Syaoran's hold and Touya's pull on his other arm. Touya caught him to keep him from falling, and glared at Syaoran. "Stay away from him!" he growled dangerously.
Syaoran put on an innocent look and continued his act. "I couldn't help it, I was overwhelmed. Who knows what will happen if I have to sit beside him for so long on the plane."
"Fine!" Touya muttered in annoyance. "But remember, Gaki, that I'll be keeping an eye on you! No funny business with my sister!"
Syaoran held his hands up, defensively, in front of him, still playing his act. "Okay, okay," he replied.
When their boarding call was made, Touya pulled Yukito along after him. When Sakura was finally able to meet Syaoran's eyes he broke into a wide grin and she couldn't help but to giggle. "Maybe I should change my career to acting?" he said with a smirk when she came up to his side and took his hand.
Sakura giggled again and gently squeezed his hand. "You were brilliant," she praised him.
"Oi, hurry up you two, before I change my mind about this!" Touya called to them from the gate. Sakura and Syaoran exchanged a smile and hurried forward.
Two hours later, they were loaded onto the charter bus from the Sapporo airport to downtown Sapporo, and their hotel. Touya no longer complained about letting Sakura sit next to Syaoran, for the alternative was either to let Syaoran sit beside Yukito and, to Touya's mistaken belief, risk Syaoran becoming affected by Yue's magic, or for Touya himself to sit beside Syaoran, which Touya didn't want to do, either. However, Touya kept a close eye on them and yelled at Syaoran whenever he thought that he was too close to his sister, which was often.
When they arrived at their hotel, Syaoran paid for his room, which luckily enough happened to be besides Sakura's.
"We'll take the middle room instead," Touya announced when they were dropping off their overnight bags. Sakura sighed in disappointment as she was shooed to the room that Touya and Yukito were originally supposed to sleep in.
When Touya stepped into their room, Yukito followed after Sakura. She had left the door open, since they wouldn't be staying long. She jumped in surprise when she turned around, after dropping her bag on the bed, and ran into him. "Yu….Yukito-san?" she stammered.
Yukito lightly grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling back, he stared down at her, and though he didn't actually transform into Yue, his demeanor took on that of his counterpart. "Tonight, you should be able to use the new card that you have been working on," he told her quietly. Sakura looked up at him with her eyes wide. She wasn't sure if she was ready to use it yet. Yukito's Yue like expression suddenly turn into a smile. "It'll be okay. You can do it. Just believe in yourself."
"Ahem," the sound of Touya clearing his throat came from the door. "Are you guys ready to go?
Sakura peeked around Yukito to see her brother. Thankfully he didn't seem suspicious about anything. Yukito stepped to the side and let her pass. Out in the hall, she found Syaoran leaning with his back against the wall, waiting. She waited for Touya and Yukito to pass before taking Syaoran's hand and quickly kissing him on the cheek. He looked at her with a curious expression, but she only smiled.
"Hurry up, you two!" Touya's demanding voice bellowed down the hall, causing them to rush forward.
Together, they all walked down to Odori Park, which was in the center of Sapporo, not far from their hotel. During the Snow Festival, the snow sculptures were located there and it was where the International Snow Statue Competition was held. The park stretched out across 12 city blocks from east to west and divided the city into north and south. It was loaded with snow and ice sculptures. Some so huge that you could only stare at them in awe and wonder. There was a castle as large as a small house, and scenes from popular movies that you might think could come to life at any moment.
At one point, Touya became entranced with a snow sculpture that was the perfect replica of a motorcycle and its rider. The details were amazing and he walked around it for 15 minutes, studying them all. Yukito shooed Sakura and Syaoran away while Touya's back was turned. Syaoran nodded his understanding and thanks at Yukito, grabbed Sakura's hand, and disappeared with her into the crowd.
"So, where do you want to go?" Sakura asked Syaoran as they walked past various snow sculptures. "Are you cold?" She suddenly remembered that he didn't like the cold much, though he had accepted her invitation knowingly. "Do you want to go to a café to warm up?"
Syaoran was about to say something when something caught his eye. He even did a double-take to be sure that he wasn't seeing things. Seeing his reaction, Sakura looked off into the same direction. Not too far off of the path that they were walking, there was a giant slide that was made out of snow. Kids of all ages and several adults were sliding on it. Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other and without saying a word, both ran off towards the fun. They were even able to rent snow-pants when they got to the line. Winding paths were built up with 3-foot-high walls down the huge make shift snow pile. Sakura went first, with Syaoran following closely behind her. At the bottom, they were both laughing so hard that neither could stand for long. Sakura was the first to go down laughing. Syaoran went down afterwards, only because she had been hanging onto his arm for balance. To Sakura's complete confusion, even though she was the first to fall, she landed, unharmed, on top of him. They were both having so much fun, though, that neither even thought to be embarrassed, despite the fact that everyone in the area was watching them with admiration.
After helping her to her feet, Syaoran led the way to return the snow-pants, and then to a café where they could warm up with some hot chocolate. They didn't realize that it had gotten dark out until they were comfortably warm on both the inside and the outside. "Oh no, Onii-chan is going to be angry!" Sakura panicked.
Syaoran squeezed her hand reassuringly as they walked towards the door. "What's there to worry about? You're with me," he replied, confident in his abilities to protect her, should the need arise.
"Exactly," Sakura pointed out the fault in his reasoning. "He's going to start a fight with you again," she pouted.
Syaoran shrugged and looked down at her with a mischievous grin. "I'm not worried about it."
She looked up at him with worry filled eyes that were quickly calmed by the look on his face. Over the past couple of years, since he had returned to Japan, his relationship with Touya had gotten better, in the sense that their fights had become more of a playful banter, though you would have to look closely to see it.
They stepped out of the café to a sight more beautiful than the one that they had left just before going inside. Though the sun had set, the park shone brightly with flood lights and illuminated snow and ice sculptures. The twists and turns of the snow slide were even lit up with multi colored flood lights. Sakura wandered around in wonder. Eventually she came upon a beautiful ice sculpture of a prince and princess dancing. The rotating flood light behind it even made it look like it was moving.
Somewhere in the park, there was a live band singing and the song had just changed to a slow tempo. Having merely been watching her as she wandered, Syaoran now came up beside her and took her hand to pull her to face him. He placed his other hand on her waist and began to move with her to the music, not caring about the crowd that had gathered. Sakura blushed furiously and looked down at her feet. "Look at me," Syaoran told her, then, "or else you'll trip."
To Sakura's dismay, she stumbled over her feet at his suggestion, but was saved when he spun her around to the music and brought her back into position for their dance to continue. The crowd around them clapped and cheered. "Relax," Syaoran told her with a smile. "Just let me lead, and don't look down." Sakura nodded in embarrassment and tried to tune out the crowd. At the end of the song, Syaoran spun her around again and dipped her back to finish the dance with a flare. The crowd went wild and when he pulled her back into a standing position, Sakura found Touya standing at the very edge of the crowd watching.
Noticing when she suddenly stiffened up, Syaoran turned to see what had caused her alarm.
"Alright," Touya said as he approached them. "Show's over!" Oddly enough, he didn't seem too angry, but Sakura watched him cautiously. "I've been looking for you everywhere," he complained and pulled out his cell phone. "Yuki? Yeah, I found them. We're heading towards the restaurant we talked about earlier. Meet us there."
Sakura looked at Syaoran in confusion. Syaoran returned her look with a shrug and they continued to follow Touya to their destination.
After meeting Yukito at the restaurant, they discovered that it was due to his efforts that Touya didn't make a scene. "They've been a couple for three years now, Touya," Yukito repeated at the dining table. "She's going to be 15 and in her last year of Jr. High soon." Touya only nodded and seemed to hold great interest in his dinner.
Sakura, who was sitting between her brother and Syaoran, hugged Touya's arm, pulling his attention to her. He looked at her and a smile slowly crept onto his face. "You know, Yuki, you missed viewing a beautiful dance." Sakura's face lit up with a joyful smile and she hugged his arm again.
They finished eating after that and returned to their hotel. "Tomorrow, we'll go to the ice maze and buy some souvenirs before we have to leave," Touya announced from the door of Sakura's hotel room. He was making sure that she and Syaoran were in their separate rooms before he retreated to bed himself. "Now, go straight to sleep. We'll have to wake up early," he said, before closing the door behind him. Sakura let out a sigh of relief and sat on the edge of the bed. She would wait 15 minutes, to be sure that he didn't return.
As if on the same wavelength, her door suddenly opened again and Touya stared in at her with narrowed eyes, causing her to gulp. "And no funny business! Straight to bed, do you hear me? I already have the Gaki's door rigged up to alert me if it opens," he warned and continued to stare at her for a few minutes. When she nodded that she understood, he said goodnight and pulled the door shut behind him, again.
Sakura let out a deep breath and fell back on the bed. She stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, collecting her thoughts. She then realized that if Touya returned, and she wasn't in her pajamas, he would surely suspect something. So she jumped up to go to her overnight bag. Her pajamas were a fleece pants set that was pink with purple hearts. The long sleeved top was form fitting and showed off her curves, even beneath the material.
Once she was changed, she turned off the lights and pulled down the corner of the blankets on the bed to sit down, just in case. Her heart was starting to pound and she had second thoughts about what she planned to do.
After 15 minutes had past and she was relatively sure that Touya wouldn't return, she pulled the star key necklace out of her shirt and quietly muttered the incantation to release her wand. She had previously placed her cards on the bedside table with the card that she would be using at the top of the pile. Luckily she had made sure to take one step into Syaoran's room earlier that afternoon when they had first arrived. It was necessary for her to have been there if this spell was to work.
The card was a new one that she had been working on throughout the past year. Kero had been teaching her how to make her own cards, and this was her first. Though they had tested it many times, Sakura still felt nervous about using it for the first time, alone.
"Teleport, take me to the places that I have been before," she cast her spell, and envisioned, in her mind's eye, that she was standing just inside of the door of Syaoran's hotel room.
Sakura clenched her staff and the teleport card, which showed the picture of a young girl who looked a lot like Sakura, but with long hair and faeish features, and her outline beside her, as if she had just teleported from one spot to the other. When she opened her eyes, she let out a sigh of relief to find that she was standing just inside of Syaoran's hotel room with the door behind her.
The room was dark, except for the faint glow of moonlight from the window. Sakura was able to make out his silhouette. He was sitting up in bed, alert to her presence. The nervous flutter of butterflies returned to her stomach and her feet felt glued to the floor. She wondered, again, what she was doing there.
Syaoran's shadowed form rose from the bed and walked towards her. "Sakura? What are you doing here?" he asked. Though the room was dark, he could tell by her posture and the aura that she projected, that she was frightened. "What's wrong? You couldn't have had a nightmare, you haven't had enough time to even fall asleep yet?" he questioned, genuinely concerned.
Sakura could barely find her voice. She didn't know what she was thinking, coming to his room, alone, at night. When he pulled her into an embrace, she unconsciously stiffened. Its not that she didn't trust him, she knew better than anyone that he had an ungodsly amount of self control. She was more worried about herself, and what she might do. Lately, it was becoming harder and harder for her, but she was afraid of what could happen. She wasn't even the same age, yet, that her mother had been when she became pregnant with Touya.
"Shhhh…" Syaoran said soothingly, running his fingers through her hair and waiting for her to speak. Sakura felt her knees grow weak and she leaned against him.
After a few moments, Sakura slowly began to relax in his arms. She swallowed the knot in her throat and found her voice. "C…could we sleep together?" she asked, before realizing what she had said exactly. "I…I mean, could you just hold me through the night, as we sleep?" she corrected herself, in a weak voice that was barely above a whisper, and was relieved that it was too dark to see the blush that burned in her cheeks.
It took a couple of minutes for Syaoran to respond. He wondered if she was testing his self-control and briefly faltered in his own confidence. Here she was, standing before him in his dark room. If he had no honor, it would be easy for him to take her. He struggled for a moment with his anger over how naive she was being. That anger was quickly replaced, though, with the realization that she trusted him so completely. With a sigh of defeat he hugged her tighter. "What am I going to do with you?" he asked with exasperation.
Sakura's eyes went wide, unsure of how she should take what he said. After his long moments of silence, she was shaking and her knees finally went out on her. Syaoran effortlessly scooped her up before she could hit the floor. "As you wish," he spoke softly against her ear and carried her to the bed. "But only because I can't open the door and throw you out without alerting your brother," he added jokingly.