This is something I wrote on a whim; I just typed it out and finished it within a few hours here and there. I'm not too happy with it, but I thought I would post something for Valentine's Day. Somehow these ideas are so much better in my head...

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day - enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura and/or it's characters.


Accident

15-year-old Sakura Kinomoto drummed her fingers along the edge of her desk. Her lips were drawn into a pout as she glanced out the window impatiently. Then, she let out a sigh of frustration.

'Stupid onii-chan…he promised he'd pick me up from school today!'

The classroom around her was empty; all was quiet, save for the endless chatter of students echoing through the school halls. Almost everyone had gone home. After fifteen minutes of waiting without any sign of her brother's car, she shoved her chair back and stood up abruptly. Grabbing her things, she stormed out of the room.

'I didn't even bring my rollerblades today! Mou…he'd better make it up to me!'

She jogged down the stairs and turned towards the gate, muttering under her breath, when she noticed two tall figures standing a short distance away. One of them she recognised as Eriol Hiiragizawa, a childhood friend of hers and Tomoyo's. The other figure had his back turned to her so she could not see his face, but he had dark hair and was nodding his head slowly, as if taking in new information. He looked sort of like…could it be?

"Onii-chan..?" she said uncertainly. Without a second thought, she ran up to them and tackled the dark haired boy from behind. Almost at once, she began to yell at him.

"Where have you been? I've been waiting for almost an hour! You'd better have a good excuse this time-"

She was cut off when he turned around to look at her. Her eyes widened with shock.

Sure, he was tall, but not as abnormally tall as her brother was. Now that she could see him up close, his hair was a lot lighter and messier than it had looked from a distance – nowhere close to Toya's hair. And his eyes were amber instead of coal black.

Oops.

She stood still, mortified at the fact that she had just tackled a complete stranger and yelled at him for no reason. His expression mirrored hers; complete and utter shock. Quickly averting her eyes, she managed to squeak out a faint "I'm sorry!" before turning around and dashing off towards the school gate. The boy simply stared after her, confused.

Half-an-hour later, Sakura entered her house only to find her brother sprawled out on their couch, watching the television. He looked up, acknowledging her presence, and smirked.

"What took you so long, kaijuu?"

His only response was a loud smack.


The next day, Sakura related the entire story to Tomoyo before class. To her surprise, however, her best friend began to laugh.

"Ne Tomoyo-chan, it's not funny!" she exclaimed. Tomoyo just smiled her secret smile and patted her on the shoulder.

"It's just like you to run into people like this, Sakura-chan," she said. "You're always so energetic…oh, if only I had been there to video-tape it!"

Groaning, Sakura rested her head on her desk until the teacher entered and began to take attendance. Once that was over, he gestured towards the door.

"Class, we have a new student joining us today. Please come in."

The door drew back and a boy walked in, a serious expression on his face. Upon seeing his tousled brown hair, she knew instantly that this was the same boy she had 'assaulted' yesterday.

Uh oh.

Embarrassed, she looked down at her desk, making sure to avoid his gaze at all costs. Tomoyo noticed this and smiled to herself.

The boy introduced himself as Li Syaoran, from Hong Kong. Thrilled at the prospect of having a foreign student in their midst, the entire class began to murmur excitedly. The teacher silenced them all before turning to the new student.

"Let's see…ah, there's a desk free over there." He pointed to the desk behind Sakura, who sat up almost immediately. "Kinomoto, raise your hand please."

She did as she was told hesitantly, looking away as the boy walked towards her. He glanced in her direction but she ignored him, a faint blush growing on her cheeks. Wordlessly, he took a seat at the desk behind her. With a sigh, Sakura turned her attention to the blackboard.

This is going to be a long class…


Unfortunately for Sakura, that was not the end of her troubles. After class, she was assigned to show the new boy around the school, as well as introduce him to other students.

"I know I can trust you with this, Kinomoto, so I'm letting you do it during class hours," her teacher had told her. And it was true, but…

Why did it have to be HIM?

They spent the next hour wandering around the building, with Sakura pointing out the various facilities.

"Ano…the bathrooms are o-over there…a-and there's the Music Room…tell me i-if you have any questions…"

It was the most awkward tour that she had ever given, considering it was something she was normally good at. With the fear of him holding a permanent grudge against her for yesterday's incident, she could not think straight and almost got them lost a few times.

They ended the tour at the now-empty cafeteria, where she finally plucked up the courage to turn around and face him.

"D-do you have any questions?" she asked softly, hoping he did not. To her luck, he remained silent, watching her calmly. After a few moments, she cleared her throat.

"Okay, that's all for the tour. If you need anything, just ask me and I'll help you out," she added, as a formality. He nodded and walked off in the opposite direction. She let out a breath she didn't even realise she was holding.

'It was just one mistake…so why do I act so strange around him?'


A few more days passed and soon, it was the end of the week. As the bell rang for the lunch break, Sakura quickly made her way out of class and upstairs, to the roof of the building.

It was her usual lunch spot – it had a nice view, and was far away from everyone else. For some reason, she always ate alone at this same spot, even without the company of Tomoyo. She sat down on the wall and opened her lunch box, studying its contents for a few moments. Then, she glanced down at the courtyard and smiled wistfully.

Suddenly, the terrace door burst open and, to her surprise, Syaoran stumbled through the doorway. Breathing heavily, he looked around until he met her eyes. They gasped simultaneously.

"Oh, gomen. I didn't know this spot was taken," he stated after a while, shuffling his feet uncomfortably. "I guess I'll just…go."

It was the first time she had heard his voice; not having paid attention during his introduction. It was deeper than she had expected, but surprisingly gentle. To her surprise, she found herself shaking her head.

"Iiye, it's okay. You can sit here if you want to."

He looked up in surprise, not having expected that response. Yet, he took up on her offer, walking towards her and sitting down. They watched the clouds overhead while picking at their food, a silence hanging between them. Sakura was the first to break it.

"Ano…about the other day. I'm sorry for yelling at you." She paused, but he said nothing, so she continued.

"It's just…I mistook you for my brother, and I was really annoyed with him. So…please don't hate me!"

She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists, awaiting his response. And then, she heard a low chuckle. Surprised, she looked at him.

"Why would I hate you for something like that?" he asked. "Is…is that why you seemed so awkward around me?"

Blushing, she nodded, unable to meet his eyes once again. He noticed this, but instead of pressing her further, he turned his gaze to the clouds above them, smiling just as she had a while ago.

"You know, I didn't have many friends in my old school," he began. "And when I came here, I was both excited and terrified at the same time. Excited that I could start out with a fresh slate, but terrified that it would be the same as before. I always thought that the new student had it hard, but you proved me wrong."

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and saw that she was watching him now, curious.

"You reminded me that everyone is afraid of being rejected; not just me. We all just want to be accepted by others. I don't hate you, Kinomoto-san." She took in a sharp breath upon hearing her name. "If anything, I want to get to know you."

She was taken by surprise, not having expected him to say so much. Their eyes met, and slowly, she began to smile. He smirked back, and soon they were laughing together, their voices carried by the wind and along with it, their misunderstanding. Sakura realised that she hadn't laughed like this in years; how silly she had been to let something so insignificant get to her. Eventually their chuckles died down and they returned to eating, but this time, the silence between them was comfortable.

After a minute, the bell rang again. It was time for class. Syaoran stood up and offered her a hand, which she took with a grin. As they walked back to the door, he realised something and stopped in his tracks. Sakura turned around and looked at him questioningly.

"Uh…we're friends now…right?" he asked, looking at her uncertainly. Shaking her head, she walked towards him and took his hand. And with a smile, she said,

"Of course."


Phrase dictionary, for people who are new to the fandom and/or Japanese phrases:

Onii-chan - brother

Mou - geez

Kaijuu - monster

Ano - um

Gomen - sorry

Iiye - no

Please leave a review - I appreciate encouragement/constructive crit and it helps me to better myself as an author. :)