A/N: Hello. It's my second story here ^^ I hope you'll enjoy it XD
Disclaimer: I don't own TRC _ they belonged to CLAMP but if it's possible, I want to steal from them X3
Now on with the story
Five and Zero Percent
Fifth floor, Shinjuku hospital
It was silent in room 503. Outside the window, wind was brushing through the leaves and making rustlings, but did nothing to disturb the still air in the room. There was very few movements inside. The two in the room were still as statues.
Then there was a sound of stone knocking on the wood.
The blonde one smiled. He thought for a while and then moved one of his piece.
The brunette smiled back and once again made a move. His amber shiny eyes were glowing in happiness.
"You really like playing chess, don't you Syaoran-kun?" The blonde looked at the chess board and started thinking of his moves.
"You can tell, Fye-san." Syaoran chuckled.
Fye was lost in thoughts again. Syaoran studied him. Knowing him for so long, Syaoran could tell that he was having some other thoughts in his head too, not just for the chess game. But the boy patiently wait for him to continue.
Fye moved his piece.
Bad move. Syaoran sighed. He really is not paying attention.
"What are you thinking, Fye-san? You're not focus today." Syaoran made his move while asking.
Fye closed his beautiful blue eyes for a few seconds. He moved another piece.
"Say, Syaoran-kun… If you have a chance, do you risk yourself to try?" Fye asked.
Knock. "Stop asking like you don't know me." Syaoran lifted his hand off the chess board after placing the piece. He looked at Fye, waiting.
"That's my Syaoran-kun." Fye smiled. "I hope that every patient can be like you." Knock. Another piece was moved.
"Is something wrong?" Syaoran asked while looking at the chess board.
Fye hesitated for a moment. He thought for a second, and then sighed. "There is a girl who is staying in the room right below yours. She has a tumour in her stomach which should be removed. But the surgery is risk." He made another move.
"Well you should persuade her to take her chance. She will live if she survives the surgery, right?" Syaoran threw his hand to reach one of the pieces.
"Yes, she will. If she survives and dies after that, the only reason can be used to explain is that we leave a scissors or surgical knife in her stomach." Fye grabbed the piece and moved it. He slightly shook his head.
"How many percent does she have of survival?" Knock.
"Only five." Fye sighed. He fingered a piece while thinking of where to put it.
"Don't say 'only'." Syaoran said. "Just say 'five'."
Fye lifted his head up to look directly at Syaoran's amber orbs. He smiled faintly. "Right. Five." He put the piece down.
Syaoran smiled too. Knock. "Checkmate."
Fye looked down at the chess board. He lost. But he didn't mind. "You're as good as always, Syaoran-kun." He stood up, stretching. "Well, I think the lunch break is over. I should go back to work. A doctor here in this place doesn't have much time relaxing."
Syaoran smiled. "But you'd love to do your work, right? You even give your help to the girl on the fourth floor, even though it's not your work."
Fye let out a laugh then waved at Syaoran before leaving for his work. But before he left, Syaoran asked. "How long does she have to make a decision?"
Fye stopped to look at Syaoran. His glint stopped quite long on Syaoran's eyes.
"One week." Fye replied after a while.
"Oh." Syaoran shrugged. "She better hurry."
Fye looked at him one last time and sighed. "Yeah… I hope so. Goodbye Syaoran-kun, I will check on you later."
"Goodbye."
Syaoran collected all the pieces and placed them neatly in the wooden box. He looked out at the window. It was still in the spring. Syaoran took a deep breath after thinking for a while. He reached for the branch of the cherry blossom tree and jumped out.
He landed beautifully on one big branch and climbed down.
The young boy stopped when he was at the same level of the fourth floor. The curtains of room 403 were tied to the sides of the window. Sunshines flowed into the room like a stream of mysterous water.
The auburn hair girl gathered her knees and rested her head on them. She seemed sad.
Syaoran knocked on the window. Knock knock.
The girl jerked her head up and looked at the window. She stunned for a while as she saw the boy outside the window.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! PERVERT! GO AWAY!" She screamed and threw a bottle of water at him.
Syaoran barely dodged it. He backed up and tried to balance himself on the branch. Gosh, she is still full of energy.
"Hey hey! Wait up! I'm sorry I startled you, but I didn't mean any harm! I just want to talk!"
The girl frowned at him. Syaoran sighed.
"Okay, I will stay out here. Just don't call anyone, or we'll both in trouble."
The girl stayed silence. Well, there was no harm, she guessed. Besides, staying here is so boring. Having someone to talk to is much better than sitting on the bed and staring at the blank wall. She nodded slightly.
Syaoran sat down on the branch and leaned on the trunk.
"I'm Syaoran." He asked. "What is your name?"
"Sakura." The answer came out, as short as possible.
"Okay, Sakura-san." Syaoran smiled. "I'm staying in the room right above yours. It's very boring. Doctors are everywhere and they always tell me what to do. I'm looking forward to leaving here. How about you? Why are you here?"
Sakura hesitated. She looked at the strange boy. Something in her wanted to tell him.
"I'm having a tumour." She said.
"Oh." Syaoran nodded. "I have one too. When will they give you the surgery?"
"I won't." She scolded. "I will die anyway. Can you please just talk about something else? Or you can just go away, I don't mind."
Syaoran sighed slightly not to let the girl hear. "Okay, let's talk about something else." He smiled. "How old are you?"
"Fourteen."
"Me too. It's nice to meet someone at the same age here." Syaoran shifted. "I've never seen one. What do you like?"
"…"
The conversation continued with the same kind of question that always came from Syaoran. The girl only answered, with less enthusiasm. But they continued for more than two hours. Syaoran felt that Sakura started to open her mind to him.
"It's almost 3 P.M now." He said. "I should go back. The nurses are going to check on us soon."
He stood up. He realized that Sakura had changed her position to look out at the window. He smiled at her and waved his hand. "Goodbye, Sakura-san. It's nice to meet you. See you tomorrow."
He grabbed the branch and climbed up.
oOo
Sakura sat on her bed. The nurse checked her and then got out. Sakura enjoyed the silence when she was left alone.
Alone…
Yes, she was lonely. She was going to die. And she hated to admit that she was scared and didn't know what to do.
Five percent…
Like a drop in the sea. She sighed. I'm going to die. Five percent. Ridiculous. I want to live.
She looked out at the window again. She suddenly remembered the boy.
He said he has a tumour too. His chance of survival might be better than me. A lot. He seems so cheerful. He will soon get out of here. And I will just lay here and die slowly…
She felt the hatred built up inside her. Live. I just want to live! Is it that hard? She slammed her head on the pillow.
"Sakura?"
She snapped her head up. Touya entered the room with her doctor, and also his friend, Kurogane.
"Hi there, Onii-chan." She tried to form a smile. "Good afternoon, Kurogane-san."
"How do you feel today?" Touya asked worriedly.
"Like everyday else." She laid down. "My stomach hurts."
Touya looked at Kurogane, but Kurogane shrugged. Touya sighed and put his hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Will you take the surgery?"
"No." Sakura closed her eyes. "No need to try. I only have five percent of living. I don't want to waste the rest of my life staying in the room full of machines."
"It's up to you to decide." Kurogane shrugged. "But you should choose carefully. Only a week away. If you decided to take the surgery after this one week, it might be too late."
Sakura nodded. She turned away. "I want to sleep. Can you two please come out?"
Touya and Kurogane exchanged a sad look and turned to walked out.
oOo
The next day, Syaoran appeared on her window again.
"Hello." He smiled. "I brought something for you."
He stood on the branch and tossed a flower onto her table. A peony.
"Where did this come from?" Sakura was surprised. "I thought we can't get out."
"They didn't let us but well, I sneaked out." Syaoran laughed. "There is a glasshouse full of flowers not far from here. I asked the gardener for a flower and he gave me this."
"But how did you get out?" Sakura queried.
"I claimed down." He sat down on the branch. "But you were still asleep back then."
Sakura blushed. She used to get up late. Syaoran laughed again.
"I also brought this." He showed her a harmonica. "Wanna sing some songs? I can accompany you. I know a lot of songs."
Sakura nodded slightly. Syaoran grinned. "What song do you want to sing?"
Sakura thought for a while. "Do you know 'If we hold on together'?"
"Yeah, of course." Syaoran nodded. "Sing a few first notes, I want to know your key."
Sakura sang the first sentence of the song and then stopped to wait. Syaoran smiled. "Okay, now I will…"
"Wait." Sakura suddenly said. "First, please come inside. It's dangerous out there. I don't want you to fall." Sakura looked a bit worry.
Syaoran smiled brightly and jumped into the room. That was the first time Sakura looked at him fully. The boy has a messy brown hair and bright amber eyes. He was slender and tall. His smile was nice and warm-hearted. Sakura liked that smile, the smile of someone who was living his life happily. Her emerald eyes closed in jealousy.
Syaoran was studying Sakura too. She was very cute with her auburn hair cut short. Emerald eyes showed the sadness, but still it was so beautiful. Syaoran adored that color of her eyes so much. The color of hope, of life. Too bad that the girl was losing her hope. Syaoran wondered how her eyes looked like when she was still happy with her healthy normal life.
"So," He said, "Let's get started." He started to play. And Sakura waited to sing along.
"Don't lose your way
With each passing day
You've come so far
Don't throw it away
Live believing
Dreams are for weaving
Wonders are waiting to start
Live your story
Faith, hope & glory
Hold to the truth in your heart…"
Syaoran carefully listened to Sakura's voice. The girl had a nice voice, not really wonderful but nice. The song was good for her. He liked the melody. "If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and I…"
He wondered if she really wanted to chase after her dream that much, like in the song. She was singing it with all her heart, and that made Syaoran eagered to believe in her. "Souls in the wind
Must learn how to bend
Seek out a star
Hold on to the end
Valley, mountain
There is a fountain
Washes our tears all away
Words are swaying
Someone is praying
Please let us come home to stay…"
Syaoran vaguely guessed that Sakura wanted to live too. But she didn't dare to try. The chance was so small, almost nothing. But still, the chance was the chance.
"If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and I…"
Syaoran wanted to help her. He couldn't stand the idea that she was throwing her life away. Life is precious. If she had a chance to keep it, she should try. "When we are out there in the dark If we hold on together
We'll dream about the sun
In the dark we'll feel the light
Warm our hearts, everyone
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
As high as souls can fly
The clouds roll by
For you and I…"
The song ended. Syaoran put the harmonica down and clapped his hands. "That was wonderful!"
Sakura smiled. "Thank you."
But before they could do anything else, there were knocks on the door.
"Sakura? What are you doing in there?" That was Kurogane's voice.
"Oh Gosh!" Sakura whispered. "Run! If he finds out, we'll be in trouble! I don't want my brother goes crazy!"
Syaoran nodded. He leaped out the window right in time Kurogane opened the door.
He claimed up as fast as possible and rested on his bed, panting and gasping. But then he laughed. That was fun.
oOo
Kurogane glowered his eyes. Sakura looked at him nervously.
"Kurogane-san… what's up?" She asked.
Kurogane shook his head after a while. "No. Nothing. Go get some rest, Sakura. I'm going back to work."
Sakura sighed in relief. Maybe Kurogane-san didn't see him.
oOo
Actually, Kurogane did see the boy.
White cotton pijamas, messy brown hair. The boy upstair.
But what bothered Kurogane was something else.
Oh snap it out! Kurogane told himself. Maybe I was too tired from the night shift. I should get myself some coffee. I need to stay awake.
And he soon forgot about what he saw.
oOo
Syaoran came down to talk to Sakura each day. At first Syaoran was the only one who asked, but after a while, Sakura started to talk back. They used to talk about nonsense insiped things, but Sakura didn't know that Syaoran was studying her through every single word. Day after day, they became closer. Sakura was fond of Syaoran and Syaoran liked her a lot too. What kind of like, Syaoran didn't know. But he wanted her to over come this. Wanted badly.
"What job do you want to do?" He asked.
"I don't know… yet." Sakura was playing with her pigtails. "But maybe… I want to work in a charitalbe organization."
"For what?"
"To help kids. The orphans." She smiled. "They're all lovely! Poor them. Their lifes are hard. I want to… at least help them."
Syaoran smiled. His eyes had glints of happiness. "That's cool. I hope you can do it."
But Sakura's eyes sadened. "I don't think I can."
"Why?"
"I will die. Soon." She leaned on the wall.
"You didn't go through the surgery, why say so?"
"It's only five percent of survival!" She suddenly snapped. "You don't know anything! I will have to die!"
Syaoran stunned at her sudden anguish. He blinked. And then, he said softly. "Don't say 'only'. 'Five' is enough. More than one means plural."
"You don't have to teach me that!" Sakura was in rage. "You don't know anything! Shut up!" She grabbed a plastic cup and threw it at him.
Syaoran didn't dodge. The cup hit his forehead and fell onto the ground.
Sakura stunned at the sight. She stammered. "Oh God… I'm sorry. I lost control…"
Syaoran smiled gently at her. "It's ok. Just a little bruise. I deserved it. Sorry I didn't mean to upset you."
Sakura sobbed. Syaoran sighed. "Oh come on." He tried to think of something to say. "Tomorrow is an anniversary. We've been friend in one week. Do you want to do something? Wanna eat some cake?"
Sakura wiped her eyes. "I… don't know. Doctors said I shouldn't eat sweet."
Oh right. Syaoran snapped. You're having a tumour. But… He eyed her carefully. You still listen to the doctors. You still have your will to live. He smiled and asked her. "Wanna play a chess game? I got a wooden chess board in my room. I can carry it down here tomorrow."
Sakura nodded. "Okay… I won't lose to you. I've been in a chess club since elementary."
Syaoran grinned. "Let's see if you can beat me. I'm a good player too."
"Good. I will be waiting."
"Okay. See ya."
oOo
The next morning Syaoran woke up with a throb in his head.
"Oww…" He groaned.
Fye opened the door and walked in. "Hey Syaoran-kun. What's up? You look pale."
Syaoran shook his head. "No, nothing." He grabbed the medicine that Fye brought for him. He sipped a gulf of water and swallowed them. "You seem so tired today, Fye-san."
"Yeah." Fye smiled. The smile of his seemed more weary than Syaoran used to remember. "The girl downstairs. Today is the last day for her to decide. Her chance of living is slipping away."
Syaoran felt another throb, not in his head but in his heart. "Oh… right." He sighed.
"Sorry to worry you." Fye smiled. "Oh, by the way, happy birthday, Syaoran-kun."
Syaoran grinned. "You remembered? Thank you."
"Here, a gift for you." Fye handed Syaoran a small box wrapped carefully in green papers. He opened it to find a pocket watch with a carved head of a wolf on the lid.
"The gift is wonderful." Syaoran grinned again. "Thanks a lot."
"And they sent something for you too." Fye smiled and handed Syaoran a handmade card. The writing was blurred and childish. Happy birthday Syaoran-kun! Be well and soon come back to us!
Syaoran let out a laugh. "How are they?" He asked Fye.
"They're fine." Fye sighed. "And they really miss you."
"I miss them too." Syaoran's smile faded. "Can you wait a minute? I want to write something to them." He turned to the table and grabbed the note book. He wrote on a blank page and then tore it out and handed it to Fye.
Fye didn't read what he wrote but he saw a long house and a sun at the end of the note. He smiled, took it and left the room.
Syaoran stood up and reach for the wooden box. He claimed down to Sakura's room. He felt his head throbbed again but decided to ignore it.
oOo
The girl was waiting for him. Syaoran came in and say hi to her. Sakura thought he was a litter paler, but she didn't ask. She waited for him to say something first, as usual.
"Guess what," Syaoran said as he sat down on her bed. "Today is my birthday."
"Mine too." Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, what a coincidence!"
"Good to hear." Syaoran grinned. "Sorry, I didn't bring you any gift."
"No need to." Sakura sighed. "I won't be able to keep it anyway."
Syaoran frowned at her, but then he came back to his normal cheerful. He opened the wooden box and took out the pieces. "Forget it. Let's play."
"Okay."
They started the game with silence. Only the knocks of pieces on the wooden board were heard.
oOo
After about one hour, Sakura thought she could win. Syaoran was a good player, but she managed to trap him. Syaoran didn't have much chance to win against her.
"Wanna resign?" She teased.
"Not yet."
"You don't have much chance." She stretched her hands. "You'll lose soon."
"You sure?" Syaoran smiled his bright smile again. His eyes met hers.
Sakura turned away as the determination in his eyes made her shivered. "Ninety five percent."
Syaoran was still calm. He moved another piece.
"Why do you think I would give up?" Syaoran asked.
"Because the chance was fragile." Sakura shrugged. She made her move.
"Like your chance of survival?" Syaoran continued to ask. Knock. A piece was placed onto the board.
Sakura stunned. She chose to ignore his question and moved her piece.
"Like you say, you risk it, you'll die." He continued. Knock. "You don't, you will still die. So what is the different?"
Sakura took another piece. "If it fails, I will have to live a life in a room of machines for the rest of my life. I rather be out here."
"But if it doesn't fail, you will live on." Knock. His voice was still calm.
Sakura felt a drop of sweat rolling down her spine. Syaoran was reversing. She hurried to make another move.
"You don't have to fear." Syaoran placed the piece down. "If you're going to lose everything, it's not hurt to try one more time."
Sakura felt the sweat on her forehead. Her movement was timid.
"If you want to help the others, first, help yourself." Syaoran put the piece down with a power in his fingers. Knock. "Checkmate."
Sakura looked at the chess board. The whole game turned up-side-down right in front of her eyes. Just a few minutes ago, she thought Syaoran only have five percent of winning.
She looked up but Syaoran was no longer sitting in front of her. When she was about to stand up and find him, his voice rang out from behind her.
"Listen to me, Sakura-san. You must go through the surgery. You must believe in yourself. You must believe that you will make it through. And… And even if you couldn't, you don't have to regret because everything you could do, you have done it all."
Sakura stunned as she felt his kiss on her head. A warm feeling surged through her. Her eyes widened and welled with tears.
And then, as sudden as when it came, the kiss left her. Syaoran walked to the window.
"It's almost 3 P.M. I'm going. Sakura-san…"
"No." Sakura suddenly said. "Stop calling me Sakura-san."
Syaoran turned around to see Sakura had stood up. She sobbed. "Call me Sakura."
Syaoran stunned. But then, he smiled. The brightest smiled that she had ever known. And she felt her heart skipped a beat as he called her, "Sakura."
She smiled too. "May I call you Syaoran?"
"Sure."
Sakura dashed to him and gave him a big hug. "Thank you, Syaoran! Thank you!"
Syaoran didn't expect this to come. He stood there for a while in stupor and then hugged her back. "It's okay, Sakura. Then… That means you will listen to me?"
Sakura nodded. She smiled.
When she finally released Syaoran, the boy stumbled back with his face turned red and he said. "Oh…kay, Sakura. I'm going. Good luck. The doctor is coming."
"How… How about the chess board?" Sakura asked him nervously.
"Keep it as my present for your birthday." Syaoran winked.
"But I didn't get you any…"
"Oh, leave it! You can get me something later! The doctor is coming, I have to go now." Syaoran smiled at her. His eyes shined like flame was burning in them. "Good luck." He said again.
And then he leaped out of the window.
oOo
Syaoran came back to his room and collapsed on his bed. His head was throbbing painfully. He tried to place himself neatly before Fye's arrival.
Fye came in after knocking three times. "Hello Syaoran-kun." Fye smiled. Still a weary one but had a hint of happiness.
"Your smile got better." Syaoran said. He didn't sit up.
"Yeah, you're right." Fye placed the medicine down. "The girl decided to go through the surgery."
"Oh, that's good." Syaoran tried to act normally. He took the medicine.
"Yes. Thanks to you."
"Huh?"
Fye looked at him and smiled again. "Everyday you came down there to talk to her, right? Once I came in to check but you didn't there. And Kuro-tan of the fourth floor said he saw you in Sakura-chan's room too."
Syaoran shrugged.
"Don't have to hide, Syaoran-kun." Fye laid his hand on Syaoran's. "You're a good boy. You might save her life. I don't know how can we thank you about that."
"There is no need to." Syaoran smiled. "She is my friend. I want to help."
Fye looked at him worriedly. This time, Fye was the one who found out the weary in Syaoran's smile. "Syaoran-kun, are you ok?"
Syaoran snapped his head up. "Oh… Of course I'm ok." Syaoran bit his lips as another throb pounded his head. "Just a little tired."
A glint flashed in Fye's eyes and they saddened. "I see. Then you should get some sleep, Syaoran-kun."
"Yeah…" Syaoran sighed. "I should." He laid down.
Fye sighed too and walked to the door.
"Fye-san…"
Fye turned around. Syaoran took a deep breath and said.
"If… If it's possible… When Sakura's surgery is finished, can you wake me up and tell me the result?"
Fye's eyes lingered on Syaoran's face and he nodded quietly. Syaoran smiled. "Thank you."
And then he fell into a deep slumber.
oOo
Sakura's surgery last more than nine hours. Her brother, Kurogane and Fye stayed outside, worried, but couldn't do anything else. But then, everything went well. The surgery was completed successfully.
The young girl stayed unconscious for two days. In the third day after her surgery, Sakura opened her eyes and the first thing she did was looking out at the window.
"Sakura!" Her brother dashed to her and hugged her tightly. "You're awake!"
"Urgh… Let me go Onii-chan!" Sakura frowned but happily exclaimed. "The surgery went well, didn't it?"
"Yeah!" Touya kissed his sister. "You're great, Sakura. You're really great."
"Uhm… What time is it, Onii-chan?"
"9 A.M. What's up?" Touya was curious.
"Oh, nothing." Sakura blushed. She looked out at the window again.
"What is it out there?" Touya looked out too.
"Nothing." Sakura snapped. "Onii-chan, I'm hungry. Is there anything to eat? I want fried chicken!"
Touya laughed. "You can't. You've just gone through a surgery, you can't just eat hard stuff."
Sakura sighed. "Yeah right… But whatever, go and get me something. I'm starving!"
"Okay, okay… You kaijuu."
"I'M NOT! Oww…" Sakura groaned. Her stomach hurt.
"Okay okay, I'm going now." Touya laughed and walked out.
The whole day Sakura had to stay on her bed and people came to visit her. Her brother, of course. Her friends. Her relatives. But not Syaoran. At the end of the day, he still didn't show up.
Sakura was mad about that.
The second day, he didn't show up too.
And it was the same for the third, fourth and fifth days. Her rage turned into worry.
On the sixth day, Sakura asked the nurse.
"Miss, can you please help me check out the boy upstair? He is staying in this same location on the fifth floor. He is my friend and I'm a bit worried that he didn't come to see me as he used to."
The nurse nodded and said. "Sure I will check him out for you. But my shift will end soon so I guess I can only tell you tomorrow."
"That's too good. Thank you." Sakura nodded as the nurse waved at her before leaving.
Sakura sighed and looked out. Where have you been, Syaoran?
oOo
The seventh day. The nurse entered Sakura's room was nervous. Sakura asked immediately.
"Did you check him out?"
The nurse stood for a moment and she said. "I'm sorry, but currently there is no one staying in that room."
Sakura stunned. "What? But no way, he was there! He said he was right above me! I didn't imagine about him! I still have his chess board here!" Sakura turned to look at the wooden box on her table. It was there and Sakura could still touch it. She turned to the nervous nurse again. "Are you sure? He is fourteen, no, fifteen years old, with messy brown hair and amber eyes and…"
"We didn't say you imagined about him, Sakura-chan." A voice rang out from behind the nurse. Fye and Kurogane walked in. The nurse turned to them as Fye said. "You can leave now, I can take over from here."
The nurse nodded and left. Sakura stared at Fye and Kurogane. "What do you mean, Fye-san?" She asked worriedly.
Fye looked at Kurogane. Kurogane shrugged.
"Well, we're talking about the boy that once stayed in the room above you." Fye continued. "He is not here anymore."
"He left without leaving me even a note?" Sakura frowned.
"He couldn't." This time Kurogane was the one who answered. "I can see that you have mistaken the meaning, Sakura. The boy was gone, while you were still in the surgery."
Sakura's eyes widened. Her mouth opened and she stayed in that position for a while, without breathing. She was too shock to breath. And then, when she realized that she had not been breathing, she gasped for air. She suddenly felt cold, like the temperature had dropped a few degrees as the new was announced.
After good ten minutes of stunning, Sakura managed to speak. "No way." Her voice was weak. "He couldn't… He was so happy, so cheerful… How…"
"He has brain cancer, Sakura-chan." Fye said softly. "He died because of it."
"But… No way! He said if there was a chance, he would definitely take it! How could he didn't survive?"
"He didn't have a smallest chance, Sakura. Zero percent." Kurogane sighed as he leaned on the wall. "He used to have headache, but he didn't tell anyone. When they noticed, it was too late."
"They? His family?" Sakura frowned. She almost cried. Tears were welling up in her emerald eyes. "How could they be so careless?"
"First, yes, you can call them his family." Fye sighed. "But second, don't blame them. He was living alone. The teachers in charity-school had enough works to do, they couldn't take good care of all the kids, especially teenagers like Syaoran-kun. But they loved him a lot, so did the children in there."
Sakura stunned again. "He…" She tried not to choke from tears. "He is an orphan?"
Fye and Kurogane nodded.
Luckily Sakura was sitting on her bed, or else she would have collapsed on the floor. The girl sobbed.
She didn't know anything about him. Nothing excepted to his name. She didn't even bother to ask.
She didn't notice the happiness on his face as he heard she want to help the orphans.
She didn't care why he was so pale on their birthday.
She…
Sakura sobbed again.
"I was bad." She said through her sobs. "What kind of friend am I? I didn't even know the very least thing about him… But he was always there to help. I must have brought him pain… He had to come down here, tried to persuade me to accept going through surgery… Oh God… And I even threw a cup at him…"
"Shh… Sakura-chan, don't worry." Fye gathered Sakura into his embrace. "Syaoran-kun left in peace. He was gone in his sleep. He didn't feel pain. He didn't cry. He didn't suffer. He lived his life happily. And we should be happy for him."
"But… But…" Sakura stammered. "He deserved to live on. He is a good person. How could fate be so cruel? Why must it take him away?"
"Yes… He is a good person. We loved him. You loved him. His family loved him. Everyone loved him. And I believe that Gods loved him too. That's why they called him back to heaven." Fye kissed Sakura's forehead.
"Back…?"
"You might don't believe me, Sakura." Kurogane said. "More than half a month ago, I once came into this room. I saw you stood on the way and I saw him jumped out of the window."
"You… You saw?" Sakura was surprised. "But why you didn't…?"
"We can't stop him, Sakura-chan." Fye sighed. "If he wanted to, he would have tried his best to do. Nothing can stop him from doing that."
"Yes. He is angel working on his work. No one could stop an angel." Kurogane smiled slightly.
"Why are you calling him angel?" Sakura looked at her brother's friend.
"Back then, when I saw him jumping out, I saw vague figures of wings on his back." Kurogane said. "I thought I imagined it. But now, I think I really did see that wings." Kurogane chuckled. "He really is an angel."
Sakura's tears escaped her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. He is an angel. That must be wonderful, but isn't that mean he is now too far away?
Kurogane and Fye stood there, quietly looked at the crying Sakura. Finally, Fye reached out for her.
"Sakura-chan… this is Syaoran-kun's… I think he would want you to keep this." Fye held out the pocket watch that he gave Syaoran as a birthday present.
"I can't. I have his chess board here." Sakura sighed.
"Just keep this." Fye smiled. "I know he would love you to. This might remind you of him, and the time you had been together. And… The time you should treasure."
Sakura looked at Fye with her teary eyes.
"Syaoran-kun once told me that he really like watchs. Those little tiny things made him thought he had all the time in the world, though it wasn't true. But then again, because you couldn't have times, you would know how to treasure it." Fye put the watch onto Sakura's palms. "I believe that's one of the lessons you could learn from him. To treasure times. To treasure what you have. To fight for it until the last minutes. Never give up. And that was what he did. He pulled through, Sakura-chan. And he pulled you through too. He lived his life without regret. He was content."
Sakura looked at the watch on her palm. She fingered it. The lid opened to reveal the face of the watch.
She heard the small sounds of it.
Sounded like knock, knock, knock.
Just like the sound of him putting the chess piece made of stone onto the wooden board.
A tear dropped on it. Sakura cried.
oOo