A/N: The initial plot idea came to me after I watched the 1 Litre of Tears movie. Personally, I liked the drama much better. Either way, the characters really reminded me of CCS characters. I had many little fluff scenes and plot changes in my head that I would've liked to see in the real drama, but unfortunately, my life isn't perfect :(. So here's my chance to add in my own changes.
I can only hope that this idea isn't taken. But the drama is quite popular, so I doubt I'll be lucky :(. My search feature's not working right now, so I can't check, either. Blahh.
Hopefully I won't make it too angsty. Oh, and Fujitaka will be way OOC.
The title was under debate for quite a while, but in the end I decided on something simple that's not the title of a song for once.
I hope you'll enjoy the story (:. Remember to leave a review!
Broken Glass
Phase I
"If I were a flower, then now I'd be a bud; I shall treasure the beginning of my youth without any regrets…"
The sunlight trickled through the ragged curtains of the small room, illuminating the sleeping figure of the 15-year-old girl on the top bunk. Her sleep was undisturbed; her dreams filled with hope and dreams for the coming day.
Mounds of textbooks and papers were piled on the girl's desk, worn from weeks of relentless reviewing. It was, after all, the day of high school entrance exams.
Kinomoto Sakura opened one eye, then the other, blindly pushing off her covers. The smell of milk, cream, and cocoa reached her nostrils. Silently climbing down from her bunk, Sakura smiled at her snoring sister, who was still dreaming of expensive clothes and rich coloured pencils.
She walked to the main area of her house, grabbing her dull yellow apron on the way.
"Sakura?" called a nervous male voice from the main bedroom. "What are you doing up so early?"
"Don't you need help, Otou-san?"
"Not from you, Sakura!" Her father came rushing down the stairs, fumbling with his own apron. "You have a test today!"
"And what will one hour of extra studying before the test do for me?" Sakura asked with a small laugh. "Don't worry so much, Otou-san. Besides, the shop opens in half an hour, and you haven't even started brewing anything."
Fujitaka looked at her worriedly. "You've been dropping things a lot lately, and I'm just worried about you." He let out an exhausted sigh, followed by a long yawn.
"See, Otou-san? You're more tired than me. Just stop worrying for once," she giggled. "Why don't you go wake Maki, Ako, and Touya?"
"Even my daughter bosses me around," he muttered dismally.
"What's all this noise, Sakura-nee?" An 11-year-old boy in basketball shorts and a wrinkled soccer jersey stumbled into the room, rubbing his eyes.
"Hiro-chan! Help me with these beans," Sakura exclaimed, piling some coffee beans into a silver pan. "Otou-san, go check on the cake."
"Maki-chan is awake already!" A small girl walked into the room, clinging to an overstuffed rabbit. "Usa-chan told Maki that Sakura-nee is having her big…thingy today! And Maki wanted to say good luck!"
"Thank you, Maki-chan," Sakura said with a smile. Touya walked over to his sister, reaching for the pan of beans.
That was when it happened.
Sakura's arm suddenly tensed, the muscles in her fingers and forearm becoming limp. The metal pan slipped from her hand, tumbling to the dirty cement floor with a loud clang. The beans scattered around the floor, their plip-plopping eventually fading. The entire room fell silent.
"S – Sakura-nee…are you alright?" Touya asked, shaken. "I'm…so sorry…"
"It's not your fault, Touya-chan," Sakura said with a forced smile. "I dropped it."
Fujitaka took a peek at the old clock hanging dangerously off of the cement wall. "Aiee, Sakura-chan, you're going to be late if you don't leave now!" he called to her.
Sakura's eyes widened, and she hastily collected her belongings. "HOEE, I'm going, I'm going!" Tearing off her apron, she rushed out the door, running down the narrow street.
"Good luck, Sakura-nee!" called two small voices in unison.
Sakura smiled to herself, drowning in the notion that if she passed the test, she would be able to see Yukito every day…
x – x – x
"Your exam is today, Syaoran." A stern lady with her hair tied up in exquisite locks sat on an antique western chair across from her only son.
Syaoran refused to meet her eyes. He sat in his own chair stiffly, staring at the polished wooden floor.
"Your father would be very proud of you if you make it into Seiju. You'll be on the road to becoming a doctor."
The patterns on the floor were indeed very interesting.
"I'll have Wei see you to the testing site and you will –"
"I will pass, Okaa-san," he cut in coldly. "And I would prefer to take my bicycle to Seiju, if you don't mind."
Yelan looked at her son disapprovingly, but the icy golden eyes refused to give in to her darker brown ones. She sighed. "Do what you wish, son."
Syaoran laughed bitterly. "As if you really mean that," he spat, grabbing his testing ID and book bag and heading out the double doors before his mother could react.
x – x – x
"Bus number 45, huh?" Sakura looked down at the small card in her hand. It had her picture and student information on it, with the heading, "Kinomoto – Tester 106." She smiled to herself. Naturally, her nerves were beginning to get the best of her.
Seiju High School was the most prestigious high school in the Kanto region. Sakura's mother, Nadeshiko, who had passed on three years ago, had graduated from the school. "I'll make you proud, Okaa-san," she whispered. 'This year, there are 500 testers from all of the middle schools in the region. Only 40 will be accepted, and split into the 1-A and 1-B classes,' the presenter had told them. The sheer amount of competition made Sakura's hands shake.
"Sakura-nee!" called a familiar voice. "Sakura-nee, where are you headed to?" Sakura turned to her left to find Kitahoshi Hiroki, the little boy whose father owned the local soy shop.
"Good morning, Hiro-chan!" Sakura called with a wave.
His father came out with a cup of soy milk, smiling gently. "Sakura-chan, why not stop for a drink?"
"Sorry, Kitahoshi-san. I have to get to Seiju by nine o'clock, so I can't stop by today."
"Nine? It's already eight forty-five, Sakura. The bus on route 45 leaves in five minutes!"
Sakura's eyes widened. "Hoee, not now," she begged. "I really have to go then, Kitahoshi-san, Hiro-kun." She waved again, taking off at full speed.
Hiroki looked up at his father. "'Tou-san, why's Sakura-nee running funny?"
Kitahoshi adjusted his glasses, frowning. "You're right, Hiro…I hope she makes it to the bus before it starts to pour." He turned his head upward, worriedly gazing at the overcast sky.
Sakura had only reached the corner when her legs suddenly froze. Her hands scrambling to support her, she fell. "Oww," she groaned faintly. From her spot on the ground, Sakura could see the bus stop. A low rumble approached slowly – the bus!
"Wait!" Sakura called out weakly. She tried to pull herself up, but her legs refused to thaw. "Wait…" A few tears stained her cheeks and she hastily swiped them away. Not now, not today…
By the time she had gotten up and was able to walk again, the bus was long gone.
"Hoe, this is horrible," Sakura muttered breathlessly to herself as she sprinted. Her pace quickened. She would have to get to Seiju by herself.
Little did she know that the morning would take yet another unexpected turn.
Without warning, Sakura toppled over her own two feet for the second time that morning. Her knees screamed in complaint, yet her thighs refused to move. What's happening to me? Her arm lifelessly grazed something hard, and a series of crashes followed.
The pain delayed itself. She blindly checked her watch again, dread sinking in. It was 8:50; Sakura only had ten minutes to get to the testing site. Looking ahead of her, the source of the earlier crash was discovered. "Hoeee," she groaned, seeing the rack of bicycles she had knocked over. Attempting to lift herself up, Sakura fell, her knees bruised and bloody.
The clouds finally relinquished their burden, the drops of water pelting the ground like bullets. Just when Sakura thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.
"Hey, girl! Instead of lying there, why don't you help clean up your mess?" A tall, chestnut-haired boy in a prim middle school uniform stood next to his bicycle, his gaze intense. "Idiot."
"G – gomen," Sakura murmured, not at all pleased with the boy's tone. "Kinomoto Sakura desu."
"I really don't care," he replied coolly, pushing together a few more bicycles. Sakura pushed herself up as well, wincing in pain. Both of her knees were badly scratched, but she managed to limp to the rack of bicycles, helping the boy straighten them. They worked in silence, the downpour growing heavy.
When all of the bicycles were in their original state, Sakura turned back to her belongings, noticing that the boy was already there. He was inspecting a small piece of paper that had fallen from her bag.
"You're going to Seiju for the extrance exam?" he asked.
"I – yes," Sakura replied, realizing the predicament she was in. "But I only have five more minutes to get there, and it's about a half-hour walk."
He looked straight into her emerald eyes. "Need a ride?" He waved a hand in the direction of his own bicycle.
Sakura brightened. "Are you taking the test too…uhh…" She paused, realizing that she did not know the boy's name.
"Li," Li Syaoran stated simply. "I'm taking the test now, thanks to you."
"Alright." Sakura smiled in uncomfortable gratitude. "But you really don't have to go with me, Li-kun. I could walk." She stumbled towards her bag, her movements slow and painful.
Syaoran looked at her as if she was crazy. "You're kidding. Just accept the ride, idiot. We'll miss half the test, but if you truly belong in Seiju, that should be no problem."
"Oh…okay," she murmured, embarrassed. "Thanks, Li-kun."
x – x – x
"I really thought for a minute that you wouldn't take the test, Syaoran." Yelan stood at her son's doorway, her back straight and her face emotionless.
"I took it, happy?" Syaoran said sharply. He stared at nothing in particular on his spotless desk.
"But you didn't go check the scores. Suzuki-sensei had to ring us to tell me that you passed."
"…" Syaoran had gone to check the scores. An awkward situation drove him away. But it was better that his mother thought him uncaring.
"Tomoyo-chan, I'm too nervous to look," the auburn-haired girl whispered to her raven-haired friend. Takamoto, was it? "It was a given that you'd get in. But me?"
"It's alright, I'm sure you made it in!" the girl named Tomoyo replied, calmly browsing through the test results posted on the brick wall. Suddenly, her eyes brightened. "Look, there you are!" She pointed to a line in the middle of the large paper. "It's amazing that you only completed half the test, yet you passed. That means that you got every problem you did right!"
Syaoran stood against a pillar, his bangs covering his eyes. Listening in to other peoples' conversations was not a hobby. The girls were just too damn loud.
A silver-haired Seiju student walked over to the two girls, a tennis racket in hand. As he approached, the girl named Tomoyo nudged her friend. "Look, there's Yukito-san!" Immediately, the girl blushed a deep pink.
"Y – Yukito-senpai!" She dipped her head awkwardly.
The boy laughed, and Syaoran had to admit that it was a pleasant sound. His appearance did him no harm either.
"I'm glad you made it in," he said, addressing the green-eyed girl. "I'm finally going to be your senpai again."
"We're very excited!" Tomoyo said brightly.
"Of course! Seiju is the best school, after all," the boy, Yukito, replied. "By the way, are you two going to try out for tennis?"
Tomoyo and her friend nodded.
At that point, Syaoran had started walking back to the bicycle racks. Their conversation was quite trivial, and they were blocking the way to the scores.
'It's not like they matter anyways.'
x – x – x
Sakura was ecstatic. The day before, when she had gotten her acceptance into Seiju, her father had insisted on family portraits. Taking out their old-fashioned film camera, he had snapped many pictures. Sakura's smile had been brighter than ever. Ako's smile had been as nonexistent as ever. Maki and Touya had been playfully clinging to their posing father.
Even in class, Sakura was smiling to herself. Her family was perfect. And now, in Seiju High School, her life was nearly perfect.
A tall, black-haired man stood proudly at the front of the room. "Welcome to class 1-A," he said gruffly. "Suzuki-sensei is out for this school year, so I, Terada-sensei, will be instructing you." He paced behind the front desk. "Now, Suzuki-sensei informed me that 1-A is full of the brightest students in Seiju. Consequently, I hope all of you will help me through my first year of teaching." Terada Yoshiyuki stopped to look at the class, a kind smile plastered over his face.
That was when he realized that only one person in the class of 20 was actually paying attention to his monologue. He cleared his throat awkwardly, continuing on. "Ano…does anyone want to nominate themselves for class president?"
"Meilin-chan, isn't Terada-sensei so dreamy?" Sasaki Rika asked dreamily, her eyes clouding. "I'd nominate myself just for him…"
"Ugh," Mihara Chiharu muttered, "I don't know about that old guy…but Yamizaki-kun sure is."
"…and does anyone wish to nominate someone else for class president?" Suzuki-sensei adjusted his necktie nervously. He sounded quite hopeful.
"Tomoyo," Sakura heard Chiharu groan. "I can't believe we'll be stuck in those ugly tennis uniforms once we join the team. They're just so…hideous." She could almost hear Chiharu's dramatic eye roll from behind her.
Tomoyo giggled lightly. "I think they're quite beautiful, Chiharu-chan."
"If no one wants to volunteer for class president, I'll have to randomly choose two students," Suzuki-sensei warned, trying in vain to capture the attention of the 1-A class. Top high school in Kanto…yet not a single damned student pays attention.
Sakura felt sorry for the man, but even those feelings evaporated as Tomoyo tapped her shoulder lightly from behind. She looked back at her friend, curious.
"Look outside," Tomoyo mouthed. Sakura did look, her face immediately heating up as her eyes met Yukito's. He waved to her with a smile, and Sakura had to admit that the tennis uniform was indeed very beautiful.
"Senpai…"
"And the class presidents for class 1-A will be…Kinomoto-san and Li-san."
"Why did this disease choose me?"
x – x – x
Preview:
"Spinocerebellar ataxia? Is this some kind of joke?" Fujitaka asked, hysterical. "Please, Mizuno-sensei, give her the medicine now!"
Mizuno looked down at his clipboard, his mind spinning. "I…there is no cure, Kinomoto-san. Your daughter's nerves will continue to degenerate until she cannot even talk or eat. Then, one day…"
"Please, sensei…don't say that kind of thing to me," he begged helplessly. "She just needs sleep…just some…sleep…then she'll stop dropping things and tripping…"
Mizuno shook his head sadly, his eyes weary. "Are you going to tell her?"
x – x – x
"Li-san," the neurology head continued, "your mother wanted these documents. Could you deliver them to her? I would do it myself, but I have a potential…terminal…patient whose father needs support."
"Of course, sensei," Syaoran replied emotionlessly. "Thank you." Turning to leave, he saw someone very unexpected exiting Dr. Mizuno's office. She spotted him as well, turning to him with a bright smile and a questioning glance.
"Li-kun?"