Hey ho! So I've recently been on a Cardcaptor kick, and was feeling the Sakura and Syaoran love, so here's a story about that!
Please feel free to review, follow and critique ^^ If you have something you want to say or ask, don't hesitate to message me.
NOTE: Unfortunately, none of these characters belong to me *sob*, unless they're an OC.
~Happy reading!~ 3
"Sakura!" came a distant cry. Sakura turned around to see Tomoyo coming through the school gates, waving enthusiastically with one hand, the other strapped to her ever-present cam-recorder.
Sakura waved back, stopping to wait for Tomoyo to catch up. As soon as she was near, Sakura pulled her into a tight hug; anyone would think they hadn't seen each other all summer break from the way she practically strangled her. In fact, throughout most of the break, the two had barely spent any time apart.
"Wow," Sakura said, releasing Tomoyo from her death grip. "I can't believe we're finally entering senior school – and we're in the same class too!"
"I know – it's so surreal. We're entering the final leg of our school journey, so I intend to make the most of it," Tomoyo said.
Sakura nodded to the camera. "Is that why you've brought that along?"
"Yep. I thought I should document everything that happens in these last years. I think I could get the perfect shot of you entering the school for the first time over there!" she said excitedly, running back a bit and holding her camera up.
Sakura looked down at the ground, face flushing; other people were starting to give them odd looks. "Err…do you have to do that now?"
Tomoyo threw her a look, flipping her long hair behind her. "Of course! This is a big moment for you – and the new uniform looks great. Just look at the camera and smile."
Sakura smiled weakly.
"Now wave," directed Tomoyo, so she waved.
"This is so embarrassing," she said through her smile.
"Oh hush," Tomoyo chided, walking over again. "Let's go– I want to catch a shot of you walking up the grand stairs of the main entrance." She grabbed Sakura's hand and began pulling her forwards determinedly.
Sakura sighed, knowing she was beat. A whimsical smile touched her face as she was dragged full throttle ahead; some things never change, do they? ***
Syaoran Li stepped out from the back seat of the car, grabbing his school bag in the process and slinging it on one shoulder.
"Shall I collect you after school finishes, Master Syaoran?" Wang Wei, his personal valet, asked through the open window.
"Nah, don't worry about it – I probably won't be on time anyway," Syaoran said, shutting his door with a thud.
"Very well. I shall await your return," he said.
"Right – I'm off. I'll see you later, Wei," said Syaoran, throwing a brief wave behind him and hurrying through the grand school gates. He was running later than he'd like; not enough to not make it on time for the first period, but late enough that he couldn't spend time dallying around, taking in the new sights of the grounds. He walked briskly, pulling out a small hand dairy-planner where he had written all his class information that had been forwarded to him. He hadn't been able to make the Orientation Day, as he'd been sitting on a plane from Hong Kong to Tokyo, but the school had kindy e-mailed the necessary information through in lieu of that.
"Class 3-A, room 4-203," he read out loud, then hesitated. Where the hell was that? He sighed; that was one downside of not getting an orientation: you had no idea where anything was (even more so than being a regular fresh face on your first day). And, looking up at the school, it was ginormous. Perhaps he should just go to the main lobby and ask someone at the front desk. Yeah – that was a good plan; otherwise he'd be walking around like a fish out of water and wind up late.
He walked up the building's main flight of stairs and pushed on one of the double doors, entering into the main reception. Spotting the front desk, he veered that way.
"Excuse me," he started, catching the attention of one of the ladies. She looked up with a kind smile.
"Yes, how can I help?"
"Could you tell me where to find this classroom?" he said, thumbing which one it was on his planner.
"No worries. The four before the number is referring to which building you're in, and the sixty-three is your room number. Did you get a map from Orientation?" she asked.
"No – I was flying into the country, so I couldn't make it," he said.
"Oh, you're an international exchange student then?"
"Yeah."
"Where are you from?"
"China, Hong Kong."
She smiled wider. "I've been there a few times, but my Chinese isn't very strong; unlike you, your Japanese is impeccable," she complimented.
"Oh, thanks. I went to Elementary here for a few years, so I picked it up from that. I haven't used it for a while, so it's pretty rusty," Syaoran said.
"Nonsense – it's perfect. Anyway, let me grab you a map," she said, walking a short distance away and then back. "Okay, here's where we are now – the Front Office." She circled it with a pen. "So, if you walk straight through the office doors here, you've got the central courtyard. If you walk to the other side, there's a path leading left – building four is along there. Don't worry, there's large signage. Your room is on the second floor, in classroom three," she explained.
"Okay."
"If you have any further questions at any stage, feel free to ask any of us here, and we'll answer or guide you to where you need. Is there anything else?"
"No, that's all thanks," said Syaoran, grabbing the map and folding it into his planner.
"Well, good luck with your first day. I'm on all today, so if you need someone to chat to, I'm here," she said cheerfully. "All right, off you go – class starts in ten."
"Thank you Miss…Yonaha," said Syaoran, reading the name off her badge.
"You're welcome."
And with that, Syaoran headed out of the office.
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Sakura and Tomoyo sat in the classroom, having picked two random desks next to each other. That dangerous piece of recording equipment still remained firmly glued to Tomoyo's hand as she panned it around the room, finally focusing on Sakura.
"Look! This is our new classroom for our first period classes. Isn't it great? What do you think, Sakura?" Tomoyo bubbled happily.
Sakura placed a hand over her face, trying to block it from view of the camera. "It looks the same as our last school; why do you need to film it?"
"I told you already that I need to document everything on our first day."
Sakura pouted. "Then why don't you give that thing to me and I'll record some of you too – it can't just be all me."
Tomoyo laughed airily. "No, no, no – I'm not very photogenic," she said, waving Sakura's suggestion off.
"Oh pish," said Sakura, looking over at her best friend. "Not photogenic my foot." Tomoyo's dark purple hair cascaded over her shoulders in perfect waves, hanging down by her waist. The uniform sat perfectly on her delicate frame, the light blue of the crisp blazer complementing her creamy complexion. Sakura had always thought Tomoyo could go for a modelling contract if she was ever inclined. Though Sakura felt it was less about whether she looked good in front of the camera and more about her being too shy; that's why she always hid behind it.
"Besides," Tomoyo said, "you look so cute! You're my number one model."
"I'm your only model, Tomoyo," Sakura pointed out. "Everyone else runs when you pull out your camera."
"I'm sure they're all just very busy," she said blissfully, continuing to zoom in on Sakura.
Yeah…busy avoiding the spotlight, thought Sakura. Traitors.
"Hey, Tomoyo –" started Sakura, stopping abruptly as the classroom door swung open again.
Tomoyo, still recording and watching Sakura in the small flip out screen of her camera, looked up at the real thing at her reaction. Sakura sat there rigidly, face frozen in pale shock, eyes glued somewhere past Tomoyo.
"Sakura, what are you…" she said, trailing off as she turned around in her seat, facing the entrance. As she saw who had just walked in, she said a small 'ah' in understanding and worry. Now it made sense: Syaoran Li.
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As Syaoran opened the door labelled '203', he suddenly stood stock still as his eyes registered the classroom before him. In that moment, they locked in on one person. He knew those vivid, emerald eyes well; they had been bored into his brain from the first moment he'd first seen them…and every time thereafter. Now they were wide and glassy with shock.
"Sakura," he breathed in disbelief. After all this time, the face that he dreamed about, that haunted him night and day, was finally sitting before him. Impossible…This had to be a dream, right?
After what seemed like a frozen eternity, the moment shattered like a pin drop. No longer shocked, her eyes wide and vulnerable like a doe before headlights, he registered her emotions shift in a mixed blur. Disbelief and confusion quickly transitioned to hurt and betrayal, then a deep well of sadness – no, anything but that! he cried, cringing internally – until finally it landed on just one: anger. The force of it hit him like a wall, slamming into him, stopping him entirely. The rest of her face was perfectly calm; it was just her eyes that were boring into him with burning venom.
After that he quickly dropped his gaze and walked in, grabbing the closest free desk to the door before his liquefied legs gave way. Now that those green eyes no longer held his, his insides suddenly felt clammy, mouth dry. He had never seen her look that way – to anyone or anything – before; he wouldn't have thought it possible. But now…now he knew. She was pissed. Royally. Not that he blamed her; what else should he have expected after what he'd done?
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Tomoyo eyed her friend worriedly. After Syaoran had finally snapped out of his shell-shocked daze and sat down, Sakura had been sitting there silently, head down, hair hiding her face.
She reached over and lightly put her hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"
Sakura started slightly, head snapping up. Tomoyo's insides twisted at the empty look in Sakura's eyes; but then suddenly it was gone, faster than the flick of a switch, and she was smiling again.
"Sorry, did you say something?"
"I just asked if you were all right."
"I'm fine, don't worry – I just wasn't prepared for…" she left the sentence hanging for a while, unable to say the name on the tip of her tongue, before finishing up with, "Li." Impersonal, practical last name. This was a new school, and a new class full of new people she didn't know; Li could be just like everyone else under her books.
As the clock struck 9 o'clock, the tolls of the school bell rang out, signalling the start of classes. The door suddenly opened again, and a tall man strode forward to the front, placing a briefcase down on the desk. The class fell silent immediately, eyeing the stranger who was going to be their first period teacher. First thing's first: he wasn't Japanese. If Sakura had to guess, she'd say European. He had neat sandy brown hair and a freshly shaven face, and wore of suit of dark brown with a forest green tie. He wasn't old, nor young, but a decent middle, and his blue eyes twinkled under thick eyebrows with a mischievous youth as he eyed the nervous students before him. He cleared his throat with a cough and a 'hum, hum', then began.
"Good morning class of 3-A. I'm Mr. Hosking and welcome to your first day of senior," he said warmly, with a large toothy grin, leaning down casually on the desk. "I'll be your supervising teacher and first period English teacher. If you have questions or problems – I'm the one to ask. Right, let's get started with some housekeeping then." He turned around and proceeded to start writing on the whiteboard, the class diligently copying the information down.
All in all, Sakura felt that they'd scored pretty well with their first teacher. Now she just needed to meet the rest of them…and hope that Li wasn't in any more of her classes.
Thank you for reading~! 3
Please follow, review, etc. if you like (or don't, either way is fine; perhaps I can do better on the next chapter if that's the case).