The art of war is a skill, much like a trade one can be learned in. Ancients have declared that there are only two manners in which one can master the art of war. The first is to diligently acquire knowledge from a scholar and the other most effective manner is to take arms and pursue it.
Sakura Kinomoto had no thoughts about declaring war as she hastily collected her belongings. She stuffed her pencil and eraser into her carrying case and proceeded to pick up her Chinese practice book— carefully placing it in the replicated black school bag that all Tomoeda High students were required to carry. Taking one last sweeping glance at the sawdust and veneer concoction, she decided that everything was in order, and that she had not forgotten anything. Although Sakura claimed she was just thorough in her pursuits, her classmates were convinced of her so-called obsessive-compulsive behavior and tended to ignore her altogether.
Tomoeda Public High School was located in the moderately small town of Tomoeda in The Tsukati District in Japan. The school roughly housed seven hundred co-educational students and about twenty-five staff members. Although comparatively small, the student body was composed of well-rounded individuals who enthusiastically supported school morale. Granted, the school had produced a countless number of graduates, and in correlation, many a camaraderies for its admirable students, but it had yet to produce a regional, and much less a national, top mark. The locals had long accepted the fact that Tomoeda was just as good as it was going to get.
"Kinomoto," she heard her Sensei's urgent voice originating from the front of the whitewashed classroom, "will you please come here for a moment?"
Sakura strayed from her thoughts and approached the teacher's desk, "Yes Sensei?" she questioned, fidgeting with the strap of her school bag.
"I thought it best to inform you first," she heard her Sensei's high-strung voice, "that the test results have been released." Sakura's head shot up and she stared anxiously at the old face, "But, first, tell me if you've received word."
Sakura looked down at her feet bashfully and mumbled an incoherent 'no'. Her Sensei digested the information and nodded thoughtfully. "Well, no matter," he continued, "but promise me one thing," he said and then pulled out an envelope from his folder, "that when you take this home and look at it tonight, that you will keep in mind your best interests."
Sakura nodded and took the offered envelope with shaky hands. When she placed it carefully in the front pocket of her school bag she looked back at her Sensei of three years and smiled widely. "I won't let you down Sensei," she said.
"Good, you'd best be on your way now."
Sakura bowed and walked towards the sliding door that lead to freedom for the day. She walked out the front entrance and down the stone steps towards the gates of the school. She took in the beauty of her normal and mundane school. Although Tomoeda High wasn't an exclusive or prestigious school, she still enjoyed her times with her friends in the refreshing country air. It was much different than going to a school in Tokyo, and she rather enjoyed the freedom from busy streets and the hoards of bustling people.
Her thoughts shifted to the standard white envelope that rested innocently in the front pocket of her bag. The results were vital to her future, this she was positive of. She had spent months in advance studying for her third year entrance exams. The results determined her placement next year in Tomoeda High and her fourth year placement for the following year. She sighed heavily and pushed the auburn bangs out of her eyes. The ironically benign envelope contained the results of said exam in a nationwide cohort. If she didn't place in the top percentile, she would be letting her entire school down. Her school had not even produced one successful candidate who had landed himself in the top fifth percentile since its in 1953. Tomoeda High was relying on her—she had only received several lectures regarding her contribution to the school, and how she had given them a 'legacy'. She adjusted the strap of her bag and continued to walk down the char road.
She passed by the distinct white walls of the Tomoeda District's residential area and sighed heavily when her modest house came into view. Her humble family home was located on the outskirts of Tomoeda amidst the sparsely populated residential housing. The establishment had been in her family since her grandparents had settled into the yellow painted house some 60 or odd years ago.
'What will Otou-san think when he sees the results,' she thought nervously, nearing the front entrance. She placed a hand on her heart and calmed herself before reaching for the metal door handle.
"Otou-san," she called out when she walked in, "I'm home." She placed her school bag down and proceeded to take off her cardigan and shoes. "And I have the results," she continued while looking for her slippers, "and I haven't opened them yet."
"In the kitchen, Sakura!" she heard her father shout. She froze for a moment and then picked up her school bag, grabbed the white envelope from the front pocket and headed towards the kitchen.
"Sensei just got them today," she explained to her father who was standing near the stove, "they're supposed to become public tomorrow, but he just wanted me to have the first glance."
"I see," her father replied thoughtfully as she pulled out a wooden chair from the imitation-oaken dining table. She gasped suddenly and her father smiled knowingly.
"That's—no, Otou-san! That isn't," she said smiling and pointing to a cream colored envelope that lay on the table. Her father nodded and turned the stove off. "I can't believe this!" she exclaimed in a flurry, "oh, this is just too much—first the results, and now this!" She waved the rather impressive envelope in the air.
"Well this could either be your lucky day, or not, but let's just hope for the best." Her father reassured, taking a seat across from her. She nodded enthusiastically and lay both envelopes down on the taupe table.
The contrast was apparent when she looked down at the two envelopes. The standard white envelope contained her entrance test results and the cream-colored bond envelope contained the answer to her scholarship application to The Shanghai-Hong Kong Academy, the most prestigious high school in all of Eastern Asia.
"So which one shall we look at first?" Sakura asked looking up at her father, who shrugged in response.
She nodded in understanding, and then reached for the white envelope hoping for the best. 'I can do this,' she chanted in the empty confines of her mind, 'I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.' She then proceeded to rip the envelope open from the side and let the paper slide out. She carefully picked it up and opened the result page, as a frisson of fear passed throughout her agitated form.
Her father watched as she suddenly jolted, scraping the chair on the floor savagely. She looked up at her father with wet eyes, "Number one in Japan!" she all but shouted waving the paper frantically at him.
But that was enough for her father to jump up from his chair and envelope her in a bone-crushing embrace.
She cautiously tore the side of the next envelope and grabbed for the bond paper that was threatening to slip out at any moment. With shaky hands she opened the page to its full length and read, along with her father who now stood behind her, the salutation of 'Congratulations Sakura Kinomoto'. She released a suppressed breath and let the paper fall to the floor.
*
Sakura tugged on her white uniform sailor shirt and reached for a hairbrush to tame her short auburn locks. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of going to school and seeing her friends and Sensei. She felt her heart pulse louder every time she thought of the test results and her entrance scholarship. She hadn't slept all night because of the euphoria associated with finding out she had done it.
She yawned silently and stretched her arms over her head before going to grab her bag and heading down the stairs to breakfast. Her older brother, Touya, was already seated in on of the four chairs at the dining table.
"Good morning," Sakura greeted, entering the kitchen and taking a seat adjacent to her brother.
"Hey," he replied taking a bite out of his granny smith apple, "I heard the good news." Sakura grinned at him and reached for an apple herself. "Although, how someone as lazy as you could have ever gotten grades such as those is above me."
Sakura brushed him off, fully aware that he was purposely teasing her. "You're just jealous that I managed to make Otou-san happy, unlike you, who just jumps from job to job."
Touya's face suddenly darkened and he glared at his little sister. "Watch what you say," he said a moment later, "if I wasn't working, you wouldn't be happily chewing away at that apple like you are."
Sakura let her brother's words sink in. Sometimes she had a taste of bitter reality when she least wanted it. She waved her hand, dismissing the stray in conversation, "Yes, well, I'm just happy that I'm going to be leaving for China in two weeks!"
Touya, who was taking a drink of water at the time, spluttered, choked, and sprayed the water that was in his mouth onto the dining table and drenched front of Sakura's uniform. Fujitaka, who had just entered the Kitchen took one look at his children and froze.
"What did you say?" Touya pushed back from the chair and towered over the now soaked Sakura.
Sakura kept her calm and also moved back from the dining table and headed towards the counter to get a towel.
"Otou-san!" Touya yelled across the room, "what is she going on about?"
"Please," called Sakura from the kitchen, "cut the theatrics Onii-Chan."
"No, he's right Sakura," Fujitaka confirmed walking further into the kitchen, "I thought since you placed number one, you wouldn't even consider Hong Kong."
Sakura abruptly put the towel down and looked bewildered at her father. "Otou-san, how could you say something like that?" She accused.
"It would be a waste of your talent," he answered simply.
"No way in hell I'm letting you go to China," Touya added, saying China like it was an insult.
Sakura turned to her father with a pleading look, but he did not acquiesce. Instead he gave her a strict look and turned towards the door. "You had better get cleaned up and head to school or you will be late, Sakura," she heard him call, "we will discuss this when you get back."
Sakura sighed and picked up the towel that was now lying on the floor. "You're not going anywhere," she heard Touya, "not if I can help it."
Sakura's hold on the towel tightened and she restrained herself from saying something that she might regret later on. The chance was not given as Touya walked out of the kitchen and into the foyer. Sakura put the towel down and looked at the front of her drenched white sailor shirt. She grimaced remembering that she only had two and that the other one was due to be washed.
"Well, nothing much more that I can do," she spoke to no one in particular and headed towards the stairs like a wounded dog with its tail between its legs. She silently wondered how her elated morning had become grim in such a small period of time.
*
The rest of her morning turned for the better, when she entered her class late, she was excused for her tardiness and was instead greeted with a congratulatory banner on the front wall of the main entrance. When she had seen the giant letters reading "Congratulations Sakura Kinomoto" and in smaller, but no less apparent, letter reading "for placing no. 1 on the National Exams", she had blushed a deep scarlet having not been used to receiving much attention from her peers. She had usually kept to herself and was modest when asked of grades and placement.
When the lunch bell finally rang at 12 sharp, Sakura was exhausted and relieved that her class was proud of her and not envious or jealous. Sakura walked promptly to her friend, Naoko's, class as it was their daily routine to eat lunch together on the playground. When she finally caught sight of her friend, who was busy chatting with some classmates in the corner, she smiled and waved frantically.
"I cannot believe it, number one!" Naoko declared when they finally walked down the hall towards the exit.
"Yeah," Sakura commented lamely on her own success.
"I knew all those nights awake helping you memorize weren't all in vain!"
"Naoko! Of course they weren't. And if anything, I think I have you to thank for my success."
"No way Sakura. It was all you, I just got you started in the right direction. It's like I was the dam, and you were the boy with the finger in the hole…or wait, was I the water and you were the finger in the hole in the dam…"
"Naoko!" Sakura grinned, "And anyway, it's like I was the boy and you were the finger."
"No, that wouldn't be right—"
"Oh, who cares," Sakura dismissed and sat down on the patch of grass that they had reserved as their lunch spot.
Naoko pushed her glasses back and watched Sakura play with the blades of grass under her. "What's gotten you so upset?"
Sakura sighed heavily and pulled her knees to her chest, "Well, it's not the results, believe me," she explained watching Naoko take a seat next to her, "it's just Otou-san and Onii-chan. They've already said a blatant 'no' to Hong Kong."
Naoko pursed her lips and stared into the soccer field that lay in the opposite direction of the school. "Well, you know your Onii-san can get a little over protective."
"A little?"
"Well, that's just his way of showing that he cares," Naoko tried to reason with her friend, "one day, you're going to need him Sakura. And right now you might think otherwise, but it's true. One day you're going to need him to save you from something and only then will you realize how much you actually need him."
"Well that's just it, Naoko. I don't want him to save me. I don't want him to always be there for me. I just want to fend for myself. I want to be independent for once. I don't want him to be watching my every action." Sakura sighed, "And I just wish Otou-san would see that too."
"So then make him see it," Naoko raised her voice, "make him see that you really want this. I mean you sure worked for it. It's a scholarship Sakura! Not everyone gets this chance. Do you know you are one of the only two students from Japan who gets a chance to go to Shanghai-Hong Kong."
Sakura nodded, "You're right Naoko." A look of determination graced her features, "I have to convince Otou-san, Onii-chan will come later."
*
Sakura twisted the metal door handle and awaited oblivion. She entered the house, repeating an age-old routine—taking off her bag and shoes and placing them on the floor near the entrance. She was finally glad to take off her cardigan as today was an especially scorching day and she was simply sweating.
Taking in a breath, she let the heavy and hot air of the hot day travel down to her lungs. Days like this made her feel uneasy in her black biker shorts and heavy knee-length skirt. She had also had cheerleading practice today and had to drudge through her routine, extremely tired and sleepy.
She entered the living room to find her brother and father sitting on the sofa with grim expressions on their face. They had obviously been fighting about something, Sakura concluded. She also was very much aware of whom that something was. When they finally took notice of Sakura, Touya was the first to speak up.
"Where have you been," he asked gruffly, "it's nearly seven."
"I was at cheerleading practice," she stated simply taking a seat opposite her male companions. "We're having the festival in a week, we need to perfect our routine," she explained further, anticipating the next question.
"Let's get to the point Sakura. You're not going," announced her brother, crossing his arms.
"What, no! Otou-san! We haven't even talked about it," Sakura protested in a high-pitched voice, already losing what little hope she had acquired.
"Well, alright, let's hear it Sakura, what do you have to say," Touya spoke again, cutting off his father.
"I..well, I…I really want to go! It was a scholarship, and I worked hard Tou-san! I did and it's S-H-K, they hardly take anyone, let alone give scholarships out like they were party favours! Please Tou-san, I want to go and learn." She took a breath and collected her thoughts, "That's what I really want Tou-san! To learn! I go to Tomoeda, and I love it, I do. But I think of all the possible things I can do and learn at the Academy, all the people I can meet and learn from—"
"That's just IT Sakura!" Touya interrupted loudly, "that's exactly the problem, you're going to go to that little prissy rich school of yours and you're going to live there and want to become like one of them and you're going to feel regret that you don't have their cars or their designer labels and Otou-san and I won't be there to set you straight!"
Sakura stared bewildered at her brother, "I can't believe you said that Onii-Chan!" she screamed, "I know we can't afford a lifestyle like theirs, but I'm getting this chance to be able to afford an education like theirs and you won't let me have it!"
"That's not just it Sakura," Fujitaka spoke for the first time in the conversation. "It's that you will be away from home and you're still very young."
"I'm going into grade eleven Otou-san!" She tried thoroughly frustrated, "All I ask is that you trust me." She looked to her father with pleading eyes, "please Otou-san, I really want this. Please…"
Her father did not acquiesce, "I don't know Sakura, I think that after getting those Japanese test results back, that you have a very fine future here. I think it would be best if you continued your studies here in Tomoeda."
"Yeah, what's wrong with continuing your studies here," Touya said and nodded to his father, "I think that we've come to a decision."
Sakura got up abruptly, screamed in frustration and ran towards the door.
Touya quickly got up after her, fully intent on bringing her back—to her senses.
"Wait—Touya," Fujitaka stood up and took his son's arm, "let her go, she just needs to cool off a little."
Touya reluctantly sat back down on the sofa and sighed dejectedly.
*
In her mind she knew exactly what she wanted, but respect and propriety told her that she was not going to win this war. Sakura sat on the porch and rested her head on her knees. She needed time to think things thoroughly.
Sakura marched through the living room not two hours later. Fujitaka and Touya were fighting again, and Sakura sat down on the loveseat. When they noticed her, they stopped and looked away.
Her father was the first to speak this time. "You can go," he stated simply.
"What?!" Both Sakura and Touya jumped from their seats.
"We're trusting you." He said with a shrug, "Now, go pack before I change my mind."
Sakura grinned at her father and ran up the stairs.
Touya glared at her back. This wasn't over.
*