I've been trying to channel my inspiration towards my multi-chaptered CCS fic, but this ended up leaking through. I've also been considering posting a prologue for said multi-chaptered fic, just to see if people are interested in reading it. Should I?

Anyway, I wrote the second half of this story on a whim and added the rest later on, so it might be a little inconsistent. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS and/or any of its characters.

Butterfly Clip

The new student walked into his classroom, uncertainty in his steps. The homeroom teacher smiled at him kindly and introduced him to the class, while he directed his gaze towards his own feet.

When he was told to introduce himself, he simply murmured "Li Syaoran" and refused to look up.

A foreign country, filled with foreign people…he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle it.

"Thank you, Li-kun. Please take your seat behind Kinomoto-san."

He finally looked up, allowing his eyes to rest upon the figure of an emerald-eyed girl seated near the back of the class, her arm raised so he could identify her. Wordlessly he walked towards her and sat down at his designated desk. She turned to look at him and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Li-kun!" she whispered, holding out her hand. He didn't shake it, choosing instead to stare at the surface of his desk. After a few moments, she retracted her hand with a small frown and turned away.

"Alright students, let's begin…"

ooooo

It seems fate was not on his side today.

His first class after Homeroom was Music. Syaoran was good at many things, but music was not one of them. It didn't help that he had been forced to play the clarinet – it was the only instrument he had ever played before. Now, he was standing in a room with twenty others, and was expected to play just as well as them, if not better.

His hand shook as he fumbled with the music book on the stand in front of him. No matter what he tried, the pages refused to stay down and turned whenever he lifted his fingers from the page. With a groan, he gave up and hung his head in embarrassment.

"Is something wrong, Li-kun?"

He flinched, expecting to see the teacher standing in front of him, but the voice had come from his left. It was the girl from earlier – 'Kinomoto', he remembered vaguely. She was smiling at him again.

"Can't keep the pages down? That's okay; it used to happen to me a lot, too. But now my book's used to it!"

He looked at her, confused. Her smile never wavered. He then noticed the beautiful butterfly-shaped hairpin she was wearing, and watched as she carefully pulled it out of her hair.

"Here, take this Li-kun! You can use it to hold the pages together."

His eyes widened and he held out his hands in protest, refusing to take something so important. But she ignored him and pinned the pages of his book together for him.

"That pin is important to me, but I'll lend it to you anyway. Take care of it, okay?"

He nodded and his eyes drifted towards her music book, which was still closed. The cover had her name neatly written on it: Kinomoto Sakura.

"T-thank you…Sakura-chan," he managed to say, and her smile grew wider.

"You're welcome, Syaoran-kun!"

ooooo

It didn't take long for him to learn that Sakura was a very popular person. Her cheery personality made her the most-liked person in their school. She was helpful, kind-hearted, and had many friends.

He, on the other hand, found it difficult to get close to anyone, aside from her. Even then they were acquaintances at best, but she treated him no differently from the way she treated her other friends.

'She's really a good person, and she deserves all the love she gets,' he thought to himself, while gazing at the clip she had left in his care. 'Sometimes, I wish I could be like her. Or at least, be her friend.'

But no matter how much he thought about it, she seemed so far away. It was almost as if they existed in two separate worlds that were not meant to co-exist. So, he settled for watching her from afar.

And he continued to do so for a long, long time.

ooooo

6 years later…

High school was easier on Syaoran. He still did not speak much, but joining the school's football team helped him gain a few friends. He was not immensely popular, but he was happy, and that was all that really mattered to him. However, his thoughts would often drift back to Sakura, filling him with worry and guilt.

Over the years, many boys had confessed to her, but she had rejected them all because she considered them friends. As a result, some of them had taken to bullying and teasing her at every opportunity they could find. They took her things, refusing to return them, and spread rumours about her. People who took the rumours seriously stayed away from her, and she eventually became cold and withdrawn; completely different from the person she used to be.

Syaoran hated what they had done to her, but mostly he hated himself for not being able to stop it from happening.

ooooo

Syaoran walked up the school's front steps one morning and nearly ran into a group of three boys, who had burst through the front doors. They high-fived each other as they ran past him, laughing as they spoke:

"Man, you should've seen her face when she fell!"

"At least we took her books first, right? She couldn't have hurt herself that bad."

"Nah, it's Kinomoto – she's used to it. Plus she probably deserves it."

Something inside him snapped. Without a moment's hesitation, he dashed up the stairs and into the school. Worry filled his heart as he sprinted through the hall, searching for her desperately.

'Please…let her be okay.'

Eventually he found her on the floor, hastily trying to pick up her belongings. Her bangs covered her eyes as she reached out blindly, trying to grab everything within reach as soon as she could. He clenched his fists. 'How did it come to this?'

"Kinomoto," he said softly. Her head jerked upwards and wide, green eyes stared into his. They were filled with shock and…fear? His heart crumbled at the sight. Wordlessly, he kneeled down beside her and began to pick up her books. She opened her mouth to speak, but said nothing, and turned her gaze to the floor instead. Within minutes, they were done.

He hoisted himself up, books in one hand, and held his other hand out to her. She hesitated, but took hold of it and let him pull her to her feet. "Here," he said, placing her books in her arms. She was still avoiding his eyes, looking at the pile in her arms. He sighed.

'Here, take this Li-kun! You can use it to hold the pages together.'

The clip. He pulled it out of his pocket, where he always kept it, and held it out to her.

"Remember this?" he asked her. She looked up and her eyes widened as she saw the clip she thought she had lost. The one her mother had given her before her death. She had given it to him all those years ago and never asked for it back. The memories came flooding back.

"I wanted to return this to you for the longest time, but I never got the chance," he told her sincerely. "And even if I did, I was too nervous to talk to you anyway."

"…why?" The word slipped out of her mouth. The first word she had spoken to him in such a long time. He smiled wistfully.

"I don't know…but from the moment I met you, I thought you seemed…untouchable, somehow. You still do."

She scoffed. "Even when people push me around?"

To her surprise, he nodded. "You're strong. You always have been. To me anyway," he added, with a slight blush.

She looked away, her cheeks turning pink. Before he could stop himself, he placed a hand on her shoulder. She glanced up at him nervously. Again, without a word, he raised the clip and carefully threaded it through her hair. He smoothed down her bangs, allowing the butterfly to peek through, and tucked them behind her ears.

If Sakura had been pink before, she was absolutely crimson now. She was frozen to the spot, unable to move even when he pulled his hands away. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat nervously.

"Y-you look nice," he managed to say. "I'm glad I could give it back…it suits you better. Not that I-I mean-"

She laughed, and it brought back so many memories. When had she stopped laughing? Why? Neither of them knew the answer.

He smiled and looked down at his hands awkwardly. If he had finally plucked up the courage to talk to her after all these years, maybe he could finally say it…

"I…I want to be your friend!" He blurted out suddenly before realizing how strange his words sounded. Hastily, he cleared his throat. "I-I mean, back then…we sat next to each other, and we talked…but we were never really…"

"I always considered you a friend, Syaoran-kun." In disbelief, he looked up and met her gaze. A small smile was on her face, and she was still blushing slightly. "And it makes me really, really happy knowing you still want to be my friend."

"O-of course I do!" He was still in shock. 'If only I had known that it would be this easy…'

They stood there in silence for a few moments. Then, he frowned. "Those books look heavy," he declared, taking half the pile in his arms. "I'll help you carry these." Unable to refuse, she nodded, and they began to walk back towards their classroom.

"Thank you." She turned to him and smiled; a genuine smile that melted all his nervousness away. And his did the same to her when he replied, "You're welcome…Sakura."

Maybe now it was time for a new beginning.

Yes, they've had the same classes all these years, but he still never managed to pluck up the courage to talk to her.