"Xiao Lang!"
The 5-year-old Sakura called the attention of her childhood friend who lived next door to their house.
The boy looked up to see who it was, then returned his focus to what he was doing.
"Whatcha doin'?" Sakura leaned over to where the boy was paying attention.
"Beetles." The boy picked up the beetle and held it up to her nose.
"Eew." Sakura scrunched up her nose in disgust but then smiled. "Can I touch it?" She held out her hand and opened her palm.
The boy placed the insect on her hand and it slowly crawled to her arm.
She giggled.
"It tickles!" The boy was about to put the insect away when the rain suddenly poured.
The two kids took shelter under the nearest tree where they wouldn't get wet from the rain.
Half an hour had passed but the rain hadn't stopped.
The boy was staring out in space while Sakura was frowning.
Tears welled up in her eyes and started crying. The boy crouched down to look at her face.
"Why are you crying?"
"I don't like the rain!" The boy helped Sakura to get up and then looked up in the sky.
"Don't cry. The sky is already crying. You should smile and cheer up the sky so i wouldn't feel sad and cry anymore." With that, Sakura clumsily wiped her tears using her arms and looked at him.
"Really?" and he nodded without dropping his gaze.
Sakura wiped her face again and did what the boy did.
The sky was blue but dark and the rain continuously poured.
She felt like she was about to cry again, so she looked at him.
The boy, feeling her gaze, side-glanced for a moment and smiled slightly before looking up in the sky again.
The girl mustered up her courage and tried to smile.
She looked up again with her bright smile and noticed the rain was starting to clear up.
She smiled wider when she saw the sun shining again.
"Yay, no more rain!" She tugged the boy's shirt and pointed at the sky. "Look, Xiao Lang, look!"
She held both of his hands and started twirling around and clumsily stepping on puddles causing water splashes.
Few more minutes of playing in the puddles, they heard Sakura's mother calling her name. The boy watched the jovial girl who was still laughing.
"Your mom is calling you. You better go." He watched her approached him and suddenly tiptoed in front of him, making her lips touch his.
"Bye-bye, Xiao Lang!" She turned around and skipped happily to her home, leaving the boy staring after her.
Homeroom period was about to begin. The door swung open, signalling the class to be quiet.
The class silently watched the homeroom teacher walk inside, followed by a chestnut-haired girl in her uniform.
The instructor turned to face the class as they waited patiently for the announcement.
"Listen class." The instructor started. "Obviously, we have a transfer student and she just came from California."
The new student was beckoned to move forward to introduce herself.
She looked around expectantly and smiled at her new classmates/
"My name is Sakura Kinomoto. I've stayed in California for almost 10 years, and it's so good to be back. I hope I'd be friends with all of you. Please take care of me!"
She bowed and the class clapped their hands as she was motioned to sit on the vacant seat near the windows.
Finally seated, she looked around the class and saw one of her classmates looking her way.
She gave him a smile but the guy suddenly looked away, paying attention to the teacher.
She was slightly surprised but payed no attention to his attitude.
Instead, she savored the moment of being back to her hometown.
During lunch break, Sakura happily ate her home-cooked meal in the classroom with her new friends in the class.
They were enjoying having a conversation when she noticed the same guy who was looking at her again.
It somehow bugged her, so she asked her friends who he was.
"That's Syaoran Li. the silent one." One of the girls said.
"He really rarely talks, or maybe just when he was being asked or during recitation." The other girls nodded in agreement.
"I bet he's just shy and introvert, but he was so cute when we tried asking him if he has someone he likes." Another girl said then giggled while remembering the incident.
"We're pretty sure he's single because he never dated anyone, as far as we know."
"Oh, he turned red that day and walked away, right?" Said the girl on Sakura's right and also giggled. The others agreed and joined in.
"Syaoran Li..." Sakura wondered thoughtfully. She tried smiling at the guy again and he made the same gesture again, he looked away.
The class ended and Sakura already packed up her bag.
She bid farewell to her classmates before going to the locker's area.
She changed her shoes and placed her books in her locker when she noticed it started to rain.
Feeling a little sad, she picked up her umbrella and headed to the doorway.
She was about to open her umbrella when she noticed Syaoran standing a few steps away from her.
He was looking up in the sky with a frown.
It quirked her curiosity so she walked to his side. She smiled when he looked at her.
"Don't you like the rain?" Syaoran made no answer and looked up in the sky again.
Sakura did the same thing and continued on.
"Before, I really didn't like the rain, but a childhood friend of mine changed my view." The guy made no move nor comment, so she continued again.
"He said that I should smile and cheer up the sky so it wouldn't feel sad and cry anymore." The guy looked at her in surprised that made her giggle.
She inched closed and tiptoed, making her lips touch his.
His eyes widened and he blushed furiously.
She just just laughed at his innocence and smiled brightly after.
"Hi, Xiao Lang." The guy finally smiled.