SPRING BREAK IN AMERICA

By Meredith Summer

Chapter 1: Prologue

"HOEEEE!" rang the panicked cry as the ordinary house shuddered with a crash and a thump. No, Sakura had not changed in the slightest in the last five years. The only difference now that Sakura was a junior in high school was that her shrieks were louder, the thumps harder, and the crashes more devastating.

Truly it was a miracle that Sakura had anything left in her room that was unbroken.

Even more miraculous was that Kero-chan was still asleep in the drawer that held his bed.

As usual, Sakura stumbled first to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. After that she was more awake, and she hummed as she got dressed for the day.

"Sakura?" There was no response. "Sakura!" Still no response. At last the small golden guardian roared, "SAKURA!"

Startled, the girl stopped humming, "What is it Kero-chan? You know, it's really rude to shout at someone like that."

And as usual, Kero sweat-dropped and nearly lost his ability to fly. "Sakura, it's also rude to ignore someone who is talking to you." Sakura had the grace to look embarrassed; the guardian-beast continued, "Two questions: since its Spring Break, why did you set your alarm for so early in the morning? And since its Spring Break, why are you wearing your school uniform?"

For a few moments there was silence as Sakura stared at her small friend. Then the teenager giggled nervously. Kero was beginning to get very uneasy. Then…

"HOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Elsewhere a cheerful young woman paused as she made breakfast. Was that a panicked scream she'd heard? It seemed to come from very far away…

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of two young men who looked to be about the same age as she was.

"Ah! Good morning Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun!" she exclaimed happily. "Morning," they chorused, and then glared at each other. The young woman giggled softly at them, "Come on, breakfast is ready and we'll be busy today."

Split-screen Flashback:

There were two different assembly halls with two different teachers and two different groups of students. The two teachers, however, were saying the exact same things to their students. The two groups of students reacted in similar fashions. "Students, I have news for you. We will be doing a joint-project with another school during Spring Break." There were groans from the students. The teachers chuckled dryly, "Don't worry. You won't all be required to participate, and I think those who do participate will be very pleased with this project. We will select the names of the nine students who will participate in a few moments. After that, the rest of you will return to your classes.

AT SEIJYU HIGH

"Kinomoto Sakura! Li Syaoran! Daidoji Tomoyo! Hiiragizawa Eriol! Mihara Chiharu! Yamazaki Takashi! Nomura Naoko! Sasaki Rika! Li Meiling!"

The nine students named followed the teacher into another room…

AT KUWAIA HIGH

"Honda Tohru! Sohma Kyo! Uotani Arisa! Sohma Momiji! Hanajima Saki! Sohma Ritsu! Sohma Yuki! Kimura Duo! Sohma Hatsuharu!"

The nine students named followed the teacher into another room…

Once again, what the teachers were saying was exactly the same thing…

"During Spring Break, you nine students will be living with nine students from another high school. Depending on the success of the project, you may even continue to live together for the rest of the school year. There will be some family members and friends accompanying you as well. Oh, and one more thing before you are dismissed: for the duration of the project, you will be living in northern California in America, and you may not tell any of your classmates where you are going until after you arrive in California."

End Flashback

"Sakura-san! Breakfast is ready! Are you sure you're all packed?"

Sakura picked herself up off the floor where the force of her second scream had thrown her, "Hai! I'll be right down!" she replied to her father. As she changed into normal clothes, she spoke to Kero, "Have you forgotten Kero-chan? We're leaving today to live in America with students from another Japanese school! We leave for the airport in forty-five minutes. Let's go down to breakfast now, ok?" The small creature fairly danced in the air as he flew behind her down the stairs as he cried, "Wai! Wai!"

The Kinomoto's small kitchen was full this morning. Since both Touya and Yukito were going along as companions for the trip, they had both spent the night there instead of in the apartment they shared since they both attended college.

It wasn't long before Sakura and Touya hugged their father goodbye and Yukito shook his hand. Outside waiting for them was the small bus Tomoyo's mother had hired to take the entire group to the airport. Tomoyo, Syaoran, Meiling, Rika, Naoko, Chiharu, Yamazaki, Eriol, Nakuru, and Spinnel were already on the bus. Immediately, Kero and Spinnel hooked up their portable video game devices and began battling each other. They had to get this out of their systems now since once they got to the airport they would have to pretend to be stuffed animals.

Yes the non-magical friends knew all about Kero, Spinnel, and the magic. Sakura, Tomoyo, Eriol, and Syaoran had discussed it several years back and decided that it wasn't fair to keep such a secret from their best friends. Once they'd gotten over their shock, the others were delighted. Naoko and Tomoyo had the best time coming up with 'movies' for their friends to be in. Magic was used for the special effects, and since Tomoyo's mother's company had developed software that could produce similar effects, they'd even begun to market the movies which were quite popular.

The other group was also riding to the airport in a chartered minibus. Since five of the students and all of the companions were Sohmas, Momiji's father had insisted that the entire group stay at his house the night before they left and take the bus to the airport. And yes, all the non-Sohmas knew about the curse. Akito had been in a coma for just over a year. Since that time, Momiji's father had been considered the head of the Sohma family. When Hana, Arisa, and Duo had found out the secret, he decided there was no need to erase their memories—in fact, he'd been the one to suggest that the non-Sohma's be told about the curse.