Here debuts the eagerly awaited...

Stranger than Fiction

Chapter 1: The Adventure Continues…

A Friday Afternoon in Early June…

"Syaoran! I'm open!" Someone yelled over to his right. The fans were screaming, the cheerleaders were loudly cheering and the pressure to win Japan's Senior High School Football Semi-Finals was weighing down on Syaoran's rather broad shoulders. He spotted Ishida, the owner of that call that he had heard to his right, and kicked the football towards him. Ishida caught it and dribbled it down the field, an un-matched forward thanks to his quick and delightfully confusing footwork. Syaoran ran ahead into the opposing team's territory and waited for Ishida to move closer to the goal.

After getting as far as he could before being blocked by defensemen, Ishida passed the ball to Takashi who then looked over to see their captain open and ready. After a quick series of tricky footwork with the ball to confuse the other team, Takashi passed the ball to Syaoran. Barely a second had passed in time but in that second Syaoran had received the ball and had kicked it into the goal, winning the football match for Tomoeda High School. The goalie stood astounded; he never even saw it coming.

"Awesome kick Syaoran! I'm so glad you joined the team after all!" Takashi shouted happily, running up beside Syaoran and clapping him on the shoulder.

"It was because of your great pass Takashi!" Syaoran shouted back through the noise, a small grin playing on his lips. Syaoran glanced over at the excited, squealing cheerleaders and quickly picked Sakura out of the crowd. He threw her a wolfish smirk and a wink and then continued celebrating with his teammates.

A good month and a half had passed since the scuffle with Orion and no trouble had arrived in Tomoeda since then. The evolution from spring into summer had changed more the just the temperature. No one, with the exception of a few, ever figured out what happened on that stormy Friday in April but something significant had definably changed between Syaoran and Sakura; something big. You could see the longing in Syaoran's eyes when he stared at Sakura, something he used to keep well hidden. Sakura became a little less naïve and a little more mature after her tussle with Orion. It dawned on her that not everything in this world was great. Through her life at the present moment was happy and careless now, she knew that, in the back of her mind, there would be trouble coming soon enough. She just didn't know how soon.

Both Syaoran and Sakura's social status changed as well. Syaoran joined the football team after his injuries had healed, no help from Sakura I wonder. Doctors were flabbergasted on how quickly his broken ribs had mended. All that remained was a nasty scar and a dark memory seared into his brain. So, looking to get a little bit more involved, Syaoran took Takashi's advice and joined the football team. The coach was very pleased with the new arrival and after Syaoran showed his elite skills out on the field, he was soon appointed the football team's captain which he accepted humbly. Almost immediately, Tomoeda High's football team started into heavy training for the Japan Senior High School Football Championships. They flew thought the qualifiers with ease, slammed the quarter finalists and now they had won against lower Kyoto's best high school team in the semi-finals. Sakura's heart was bursting with pride. The both of them had become the school's IT couple. They had the looks, they had the smarts and she was the captain of the cheerleading squad while he was the captain of the football team. You just couldn't get any better than that…

The Tomoeda cheerleading squad, dressed in their white and blue uniforms designed and manufactured by Daidouji's finest, flooded the field and intermingled with the celebrating team. Sakura came up beside Syaoran and she kissed him lightly on the cheek. A light blush coloured his cheeks and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Congratulations. I guess this means were off to Tokyo." Sakura said with a smile. Syaoran brushed his chestnut tresses from his eyes.

"Yeah. Are you excited?" Syaoran asked, the smile on his face getting a little wider.

"Of course I am. I get to cheer you on! Were going to perform our best act, the one I choreographed, during the half time while were there." Sakura put her hand against Syaoran's chest and pressed herself closer to him. She loved it when he was messy, tough and rugged looking. Especially when stubble grew on his cheeks after forgetting to shave, oh dear did Sakura ever love that. 'The roughness of his cheeks, the texture of his skin…' She failed to ever mention her fancy to Tomoyo though. She would probably josh Sakura endlessly if she knew.

"I can't wait to see it. You were amazing today. I just wish you didn't have to be thrown up in the air by those two guys. They look like they enjoy it."

"Oh lay off of it Syaoran!" Sakura laughed. Then she went on her tip-toes to whisper something in his ear, "Promise you won't say anything but those two boys are gay so you don't have to worry. I walked in on them making out in our change room about a week ago." Syaoran's eyebrows raised and he nodded.

"Fair enough." He said with a shrug.

"You guys up for a night of partying?" Ishida said to the canoodling couple. Ishida was proving to be a much cooler guy then anyone had expected, not to mention that he was a hardcore party boy with very rich relatives, "Were gonna cram into Daitaro and Ishio's room. They were the lucky guys who got the huge two story suite! Takashi's already bought a pack of beer and more will be coming I can guarantee. I, of course, brought the champagne to toast our worthy champ! You better be there." Ishida smiled and walked away, spreading the party news around to everyone.

"Are you going to go?" Syaoran asked Sakura, the sunlight twinkling in her emerald eyes.

"Probably. Tomoyo will drag me there anyways" Sakura replied, shrugging half-heartedly, "What about you?"

"I'm in the same boat as you. I'll be forced to go no matter what. But oh well, at least I'll have my angel there to keep me company." Syaoran released Sakura out of his embrace and held her hand. Sakura blushed at the comment and they walked off the field to get onto the bus. Tomoyo ran up behind them with her camera recording.

"So football captain and his smolderingly sexy girlfriend, what's it like winning the semi-final game?" Tomoyo said, putting on her best reporter voice. Then she laughed loudly and stuffed her camera into her hand bag with a happy grin plastered on her face, "So are you two going to the party tonight?" A mischievous twinkle appeared in her eyes.

"Yep. We'll both be forced to either way." Sakura replied fixing her uniform. It was made from a little less fabric then the other uniforms; the collar was lower and the skirt appeared to be a little shorter than the others.

The white uniform shirts were all cropped just above the belly button and the school's mascot was across the breasts in blue. The skirt was totally white and was pleated and micro-mini, a device of Tomoyo's to make sure all the girls on the cheer squad were never lonely. The squad soon gave up their beliefs and started worshipping Tomoyo.

"Great! I'll be making sure everyone of our girls is gorgeous and scandalously clad. They'll be coming to our room to glam up before we hit the scene." Tomoyo explained to Sakura with a happy little grin. Not only was she the god to the squad but she was also their unofficial spokeswoman. Tomoyo organized almost everything for them and didn't ask for too much in return. The only thing she asked for is that some of the members of the squad wear some of her creations around, to dances and out to malls. The cheerleaders accepted this offer graciously and often volunteered to wear Tomoyo's stuff whenever they could. When leading her squad, Tomoyo was just beaming with pride.

c

The team loaded into the bus and it headed back to their hotel. The team was residing in Kyoto and they wouldn't be leaving until tomorrow afternoon. Most of the team was planning on waking up at that time after the party so most of the players and cheerleaders would end up packing their bags tonight.

"Everything is set," Ishida said, sitting himself in the seat in front of Sakura and Syaoran in the bus along side of Naoko, "Everyone is coming and the teachers don't suspect a thing. Daitaro and Ishio are sneaking out and buying some booze. There's a liquor store just down the road!"

Takashi and Chiharu sat adjacent to Sakura and Syaoran and grinned with excitement. The bus was buzzing about tonight's victory party. Neither Sakura nor Syaoran were really that excited; they would rather go to sleep.

c

"So Hun, what are you going to wear to the party?" Tomoyo cooed, coming into hers and Sakura's hotel room. Sakura shrugged and sat down on her bed, looking lost in her thoughts. Tomoyo frowned and sat down beside her, seeing that something was troubling her bestest best friend.

"Sakura," She asked quietly, "What's the matter?"

"I just…" Sakura trailed off, "It's nothing. Nevermind." Sakura smiled and left for the washroom, shaking her head as if she was clearing her thoughts, 'I don't think…how could it…I must have been imagining things. I couldn't have sensed Clow.'

c

So here is chapter 1 of Stranger Than Fiction. Sorry it took so long. My hand is broken and I can only type with one hand. That means that work, homework and simple tasks take twice as long to do which gives me less time to type. So this story is going to be a very slow going process until I can start using my fingers again...which might be a little while.

Now I must warn you, this story is going to be a whole lot shorter than All Along and is basically focusing on S and S pairing and character developement. Of course there will be other pairings but I will warn you that characters like Kero, Yue, Chalandra, Camlo and Yelan Li will be maybe making minor appearances, if not none at all.

So please enjoy this and let this be like a little prologue for the next story in my Link of Destiny Chronicle which has yet to be named.

Love and fluff, Bronte