Written by: KarindaY2K/Just a little bit of chime
Katsu-chan
Hana no tenshi
Crossing Paths
Chapter 1: New beginning
"Jesus Christ... I don't think I've ever been so nervous..."
Pulling her waist long soft honey brown hair into an makeshift ponytail, an eighteen-year-old Kinomoto Sakura walked across the huge campus of her college. Today was going to be the first day in the latest chapter of her life, for soon she would be dabbling in the life of a college student. After a full week of lying in her bed late at night, trying her best to mentally prepare herself, she cursed herself for not trying harder. The grounds were indeed spacious.
"I can't believe I actually got accepted!" she mused to herself. "It's so big... Oh good God, I hope I don't get lost..." She took a brief moment to observe her surroundings and sighed. With the campus's healthy green ovals and cherry blossom trees dotting the area, it was enough to make anyone feel relaxed. "Hoeee... The site surroundings are beautiful!"
Giving her environment a final once over, she weighed her backpack on her shoulders and started walking towards the central cluster of buildings. It was a hive of activity befitting of one of the major institutions in Japan. Tomoeda College, had many of the top lecturers plus many eminent research scientists had graduated there, she had come to the right place to achieve her goal which was to make her father, Kinomoto Fujitaka -Tomoeda's finest archaeologist and historian, proud of her.
Looking up at the engraved sign on the top of the main building, she felt tears prick at her eyes.
'Yes father... I will make you proud of me...'
Taking in a deep breath, she pushed open the heavy wooden doors, and took her first step in what was going to be the most exciting period of her young life.
"Hey, watch out Miss!"
"Hoeee! Sorry..."
"Gah! Come on Miss, I am on my way to class!"
It was a battle in itself to get to the reception desk -where ever that was... Sakura breathed in, her hair fell into her face. As well as being exciting, this was going to be difficult.
"Aiiiii!" Ducking to get out of the road of a rambling student, her eyes fell upon another small group of students, chatting away to each other. She called out to them.
"Excuse me! I... I need some help! I'm looking for reception!"
A girl sporting a light grey blouse and jeans smiled, and a scrawny looking boy with jet black hair that was slicked back with gel pointed her in the right direction.
Nodding a silent thanks, Sakura literally scrambled to get out of the way of others as she quickened her pace. If it was one thing she didn't wish to do, it was to get into someone's bad books. She would have to thank that small group later.
"Hoeee... Is everything so rushed here?"
The receptionist looked up from her computer at the sound of someone plonking a bag on the counter beside her, and she smiled at the young woman with her hair in a tassel. Pushing her large framed glasses up her nose, the receptionist punched a few keys on her computer keyboard and cocked her head to one side.
"Name?" she asked.
"Kinomoto Sakura."
The receptionist started typing on the computer and a few moments later, Sakura's file flickered up on screen.
"Ahh... You're the daughter of Kinomoto Fujitaka! How wonderful! I see that you've applied for mixed... en-suite accommodation!" she stated, and a small blush appeared over Sakura's cheeks. She was not the kind of person who was attention seeking, instead she shied away from it. The receptionist continued to speak as her hazel eyes scrolled down the computer screen.
"Yes... You have been allocated to Wing 12, and you will be living on the same floor as 10 other people, with another 10 people throughout the house on the bottom floor..." she rambled, and Sakura propped herself up on the bench to try and relieve her back.
"... So the total is 20 people per house." The receptionist literally went on and on reiterating the same information for the 100th time that day. Sakura thought that she was going to die of old age sitting there. This lady showed no signs of stopping in this lifetime...
"Thank you!" Sakura politely butted in, desperate to leave. "Do you by any chance have a map so I can find my way there?" she asked in her sweetest voice.
"Yes Miss Kinomoto. Just a moment!" The receptionist swivelled around in the chair, and her hands quickly swept across a large wooden key holder and grasped Sakura's room keys. From her desk, she grabbed a reference map and scribbled something on it before handing them over the bench to the exhausted Sakura.
Smiling her thanks, Sakura glanced down at the glossy map. The place where she had to go to had been highlighted.
"Thank you very much! Have a nice day!" Sakura said as she eagerly started walking away. As she pushed through the building doors, thoughts of the future and her new life flooded her mind and she began to think about her best friend, Daidouji Tomoyo.
'I'm so glad I'll be with Tomoyo-chan! Thank God that she'll be there with me soon... It would be so hard without her... I can't believe we're at the same college! And I can't wait until she moves in tomorrow!' her mind was racing. 'Here's hoping that we are all in the same house!'
Sakura had a little skip in her stride that never went unnoticed. Full of happiness and the pride of her family and friends, she had been a well liked student at Tomoeda High. Tomoyo had befriended her in her primary school years, she had seen Sakura as a bubbly and carefree child... and also a potential victim for the often strange clothing designs that she used to create. To add to their uncanny relationship, they were also distantly related, making their bonds all the more tighter.
Sakura had a grin on her face as she walked down the cement path, sunshine bouncing along her hair, thinking of what mischief they could get into here at college... With school, with friends... with boys...
She kept walking, dwelling on her playful thoughts until she reached the place that she was going to call home for the next 3 years...
"Hoeee!"
Tomoeda College was indeed high on the educational hierarchy, and sure, they had their government funding, but...
Staring up at the red brick two story building framed by oak trees before her, Sakura couldn't help but feel in awe of it. It had two sets of three glass panelled windows for each floor, a suitable parking area for those with vehicles, and from what she could see with her bright green eyes, a large backdoor area for recreational activities. Yet, as large and extraordinary as it was, her "home" had a comfortable look to it.
The house somewhat reminded Sakura of some pictures she had seen of the older English houses while she and Tomoyo were holding a random cleaning spree of Tomoyo's numerous array of pamphlets.
"Kawaii!" Sakura squealed in delight. Oh how the rest of her high school companions would be jealous of her when she showed them photos! She frowned slightly, remembering why she was here: to strive in her studies. 'Thank you, Father...'
Glancing down at the key in her hand, Sakura noticed that engraved on the shiny golden object was the number eighteen.
"I guess my room number is eighteen then..." She smiled, reaching out and taking a hold of the railing of the small set front stairs. 'Just like me...'
"Hello?" Pushing the heavy wooden doors apart, Sakura peeked into the foyer of the room and almost squealed at the vastness of the interior.
Painted a pale cream, the walls were dotted with wax paintings of floral arrangements, animals, and some of her more famous predecessors. Covered lights hung from the ceiling in allocated locations, and the floor was covered in a soft, slightly dark hued carpet. Taking off her dull grey, sneakers and placing them in a metal shoe stand, Sakura made her way down the hallway, up the flight of stairs, and onto the second floor.
"Eighteen, eighteen..." Not seeing her room along this hallway she came to a halt in front of two pale off white doors. Figuring this must be the door to the common room and that her room must be in another hall on the other side or something. She pushed the door open, wondering if anyone would be there.
The room wasn't huge, but it was large enough. A burgundy carpet covered most of the wooden floor and forest green armchairs dotted the room randomly. In the center sat two large couches with a coffee table between them. In one corner sat a rather used pool table and in another corner there was a huge wide-screen television set, which of course made Sakura smile. Who doesn't like TV.
Sakura crossed the room to another set of double doors. She walked nervously another corridor and finally found her room, "at last" she sighed. She crossed her fingers that once again that the room would be welcoming - she had heard somewhere that some housing blocks were simply unliveable.
Upon entering, she was relieved to see that the room was in good condition. Excellent at that! Leaving the door to stand open, she walked around the room, thinking of where all her stuff would go. She made a silent prayer of thanks for getting a room with an adjoining balcony.
Sure it was slightly on the smaller side, around four meters by about two and a half, potted plants on either side of the structure, a sturdy wooden railing to boot.There, she would be able to reflect on the days events, and generally relax, which she figured she would be needing when her college work got difficult.
She was so absorbed in her own little world that she didn't notice the door of the opposite room open and a person leave.
Little did she know, her worst enemy and biggest rival had been accepted into the same college as well...
Syaoran
Syaoran had just finished fixing his room and was exhausted from the excitement and apprehension of starting a new school. He had been satisfied with his room -it was reasonably spacious and extremely clean. What more could someone ask for in a room?
With nothing left to do to his room with his unpacking finished, he decided that it might be a good idea to walk around the campus and familiarise himself with his new surroundings.
"I can't wait to see what this year holds! I feel like it's going to be a very interesting year!" he thought to himself... and he was right.
Sakura
Sakura had just finished putting all her things in their right place after Fujitaka had stopped by and brought the rest of her stuff. She smoothed her white duvet and fingered the embroidered cherry blossoms that decorated it. It was a little childish, but she loved it -it reminded her of the spring and was cherished as her mother had made it for her before she died.
Sakura glanced up at the clock on her nightstand. It was around six in the evening and Sakura was already exhausted!
"Good thing that classes don't start for another week" she mumbled to herself as she lay on her bed. She crawled under her thick duvet and tried to sleep, thinking of the big day she had tomorrow. 'Meeting new people, figuring out where everything is, getting my class schedule...'
But at the same time as she was utterly exhausted, she couldn't sleep. As she lay there in the slowly dimming room, as the sun set, her mind raced with thoughts of her old high school days... and him! Sakura shook her head, trying to shake him out of her thoughts 'No! I m finally away from him and everything will be so much better now! Ick! What an asshole!' she thought to herself, a grimace appearing on her face. 'With luck I'll never have to see his stupid face again!'
Flashback: Two years ago...
It was the start of a new year at Tomoeda High and Sakura and Tomoyo were still the most popular girls in school. They excelled in all of their subjects (save Sakura in her math class -she'd always had trouble with math...) and they were important components of the cheer leading squad and outstanding members of the school committee. Tomoyo was still in the media club and Sakura was a top biology student, and she was also the captain of the volleyball team. It seemed like the year would be another great turnout for the girls! But who knew...
Heralding the first day of school, Sakura was once again late, her one vice other than her troubling mathematical abilities being her tardiness, and was, as usual, in a hurry to reach school on time. But that didn't mean she didn't have time to soak in Tomoeda's warm sun rays as she roller bladed smoothly down the sidewalk, not watching where she was going.
Suddenly, she fell. She squeezed her eyes shut, preparing to brace herself for the jarring impact that would occur when her body met the ground, but it never came. Eyes still closed, she felt around to see just what she had landed on. Soft fabric met her fingers and the smell of autumn permeated her nostrils. Her eyes flew open upon a new realisation -she had fallen on top of someone! Syaoran.
The chocolate-haired, amber-eyed boy had been skating his way to school too, and was also running late. To save time, he thought he'd take a short cut, but this is where it led him -on the floor with someone on top of him! 'Great! Just great!' he groaned in his head as the looked up at the girl on top of him and scowled deeply.
Sakura had opened her eyes only to meet the intense and angry amber eyes of the boy beneath her. What else was there to do but glare right back at them? They both stood up as fast as they possibly could, eager to move themselves from their compromising positions, immediately they starting arguing, Sakura out of embarrassment and Syaoran out of annoyance.
"Damn it, why don't you watch where you're going?" Syaoran shouted, frustrated that he was going to be late for school on his first day because some airhead girl hadn't been watching where she was going! His mother had extremely high expectations -she was going to kill him!
"Well you obviously weren't watching where you were going either," Sakura retorted. She'd been embarrassed and was about to apologise when that stupid boy has started yelling at her! Like she was going to let him get away with that! Sakura wasn't one to draw attention to herself, but she wasn't about to allow someone to walk all over her either! "So where do you get off shouting at me!"
Sakura looked down and glanced at her watch "Hoeee! Look what you did! Moron! Now I'm going to be late -because of you!" She had never spoken to anyone like that before, but she was furious! 'The nerve of that guy! Yelling at me and then making me late! At least before I had a chance of getting to school on time!'
"Moron? Because of me? You're the clumsy little ditzy bimbo girl who can't roller blade... or watch out for anyone else crossing the road!" Syaoran hadn't really meant to be so rude, but he was thinking of what his mother would say when she saw the tardy slip he'd get.
"Huh? Me? You're pathetic and I have no time to argue with someone like you! You're the lowest kind of boy anyone could ever encounter -you're a bastard!" Sakura's eyes widened at her own words. 'Hoe... that was a little harsh.' But her eyes quickly narrowed once more. 'Well, I've already gone and said it so I might as well stick with it...'
Syaoran mentally reeled back at her harsh words. 'God, that was uncalled for! What a bitch!' He gritted his teeth as he tried to compose himself, it had been a long while since he had been so angry... It hurt not to have a father, for someone to look up too. It hurt not knowing what his father would have done in this situation and it registered in his mind that this girl must have a perfect life, a family, friends... and he snapped. "Think whatever you want you stuck up bitch!" he snarled, glaring at the girl with pure loathing. "You haven't seen the world! Go out there, to the real world and you'll lose that attitude of yours in five minutes! Acting so fucking high and mighty..." What he didn't realise was that this girl had no mother...
He watched her retreat, but he kept up his defence. "I swear to God that I'll wipe that look of your face and... and you'll see how low I can get! Do you hear me bitch!" The lady walking her dog across the street was staring at them now.
'Bitch?' Sakura thought to herself, and the little pity she had for him vanished. He'd obviously had a rough time, judging by the way he spoke of the 'real world,' and she had been prepared to just walk away. In fact, she'd already begun to with draw from the argument and walk away, but he was asking for it now! "Huh? Did someone just say something? Ohhhhhh, its just you. Heh, another pathetic male! Why don't you crawl back from whatever hole it is you came out of and leave me alone."
Sakura watched Syaoran's face turn red with anger, and presumed that she had won the fight. She waved her hand to shoo him away. "Anyway, I really don't have time for you! I'm already late -no thanks to you..." And with that said, she bladed the rest of the way to school, not looking back even once at the boy, she left fuming behind her. She had never had an encounter like that before. 'He winds me up so much! No one else gets to me like that! And what I did back there was so out of character!' She was so busy thinking of what she could do to make this whole thing better -she didn't want to make an enemy of a new kid on the first day of school, after all it was just a big misunderstanding -that she didn't notice when Syaoran sneaked up beside her and muttered a few inaudible words in Chinese, tripping her with a magic wind.
That was the very last straw. "I'll get you for that idiot!" She may hate him officially now, but she didn't want to call him a bastard again -it wasn't like her.
Sakura was five minutes late -she had grazed her knee and was unable to keep up with Syaoran and make it to school on time.
"Miss Kinomoto, you're late on the first day of school," Terada-sensei said, slightly annoyed. He had almost gotten used to Sakura's lateness, but that didn't mean that he had given up striving to correct it. "I hope we won't be making a habit of this again this year?"
"Gomen nasai, Sensei!" Sakura said with her head bowed low, looking at her feet. God, she hated being late! It was then Terada noticed Sakura's bleeding knee.
"Sakura sit in your seat and catch up with us -page 20 in the math book, section two. Then as soon as class ends I want you to go to the nurses office and get something for your knee." He glanced up at everyone who was staring at them, "Okay class, back to the lesson!" 22 heads bent over their math problems, working away, and Sakura sighed. Late, and on top of that late for math class at that!
Sakura shuffled to her seat and was about to sit down when out of the corner of her eye she noticed someone snickering -him! "What are you doing here!" They both shouted in unison.
A stunned silence transversed the classroom like a fast moving wave as everyone looked up at the two rivals, now standing with their heads locked together, shooting daggers at each other with their eyes.
"What seems to be the problem Mr Li, Miss Kinomoto?" He was beginning to get angry. First Sakura had been late, and now here she was pestering the new student.
"Er... nothing Sensei. Gomen nasai!" they both said at the same time again. They looked fiercely at each other some more and then sat down in their seats, bending over their work. The lesson seemed to drag on forever, but like all things, it ended eventually. As soon as the bell rang, Sakura leaped up from her seat and left the room immediately, and headed for the nurse's office. Her knee was still bleeding, it was a pretty bad cut.
'How could I have fallen like that?' Sakura pondered while the nurse fixed up her leg. 'It was a totally windless morning and that gust came out of nowhere!'
Sakura left the nurses office with a bandaged knee to find her best friend Tomoyo waiting for her outside.
"Sakura-chan! What happened? Terada-sensei was so angry! How do you know that new kid?" Tomoyo was practically bursting with questions as she followed her friend to the cafeteria -they both had a free this period.
"I met that pitiful excuse for a boy this morning -we accidentally bumped into each other and he started shouting at me. I was going to let it go, but he got me really upset and I yelled back and it just kept getting worse!" Sakura lowered her voice as she confessed something to her friend. "I even cursed at him a couple of times... and he called me a bitch and a bimbo and stuff like that..." Sakura gushed, her eyes watering, not even bothering to breathe in between her sentences. This was awful! The venom with which she hated Syaoran was unbearable!
"Calm down Sakura, everyone's been worried about you since they found out what happened! Trust me, if they find out what actually transpired, he wont have any friends, so don't worry about it!"
"You have way too much trust in this popularity thing, Tomoyo-chan! They wont stop liking him simply because you order them too..." Sakura smiled at Tomoyo's cluelessness -popularity wasn't everything! It was just a side thing for Sakura, who was really focused in on being nice. Well, most of the time anyway.
"Well even if they don't, we'll make sure he pays for everything!" Tomoyo said with an evil smile forming on her lips. "No one messes with my best friend and get away with it!"
End Flashback
Sakura
Sakura sighed as she remembered how much she loathed him. She was totally convinced that it was Syaoran's fault! She'd tried to forgive him during that first argument (the start of many), but he just kept pushing her buttons! As she lay in the dark she recalled the two years following that fateful argument. They were filled with pranks and competitions, and plagued with embarrassment for the both of them.
Images of Syaoran kicking a soccer ball at her head while she was cheer leading, and her retaliating by stealing his clothes while he was showering at school, flashed through her head. She smiled as she recalled how he had to run home in a towel! But as she kept remembering things, her thoughts kept centring more and more on the times that she had been the victim.
Sakura got out of bed, pissed that she was thinking about those horrible years. When she had to see Syaoran every day. "It was funny when Syaoran fell into our traps though," she giggled to herself. Deciding that there was no point to staying in bed when she couldn't sleep, she got up. It was pretty dark outside now and Sakura decided that dinner wouldn't be a bad idea, so she headed down to the kitchen that she shared with the 10 people on her floor, as the 10 downstairs had their own kitchen.
She entered the kitchen and looked around. It was white and spotless, with everything laid in its proper place. Sakura smiled, relieved -at least her floor mates were clean! She opened several cupboards, getting herself acquainted with the kitchen area and eventually she looked in a cabinet for something to eat. She smiled upon seeing some spaghetti and pulled the dried pasta out, she then investigated the fridge. She pulled out some tomatoes and beef along with some other ingredients, and began to make herself some spaghetti with Bolognese sauce.
Half way through making it she heard some voices coming from downstairs. She glanced nervously at the staircase through the kitchen door and took a deep breath to settle her nerves. 'Might as well go and say hello to my new roomies!' She smiled shakily and walked downstairs. "Hello! Do you live-!" Sakura stopped mid sentence. "Dymek Talan? What are you doing here?" she asked shocked. 'If Tomoyo finds out she will be so upset...'
"I live here Kinomoto-san. What are you doing here?"
"I live here as well! Well, I actually live upstairs," she answered as politely as she could considering whom she was speaking to. 'Damn you! I still haven't had pay back for what you did to my best friend... But don't worry, you scum, the time will come...' Sakura recovered quickly and looked at the man. "And who is your friend?" Sakura asked sweetly.
"Hi! How rude of me! My name's Hiragizawa Eriol!" he said and then kissed her hand.
'This is going to be fun! I wonder where Syaoran is off to? He will most definitely hate this!' Talan smirked with the thought. 'Cant wait to see what's going to happen when they realise that they're at the same college... and in the same house... and wait, where did she say she lives? Upstairs?' He paused his thought to ask her a question. "What room are you in Kinomoto-san?"
"Eighteen," Sakura answered, staring at Talan weirdly. He had a stupid look on his face, and she didn't know why. That bothered her.
'Oh my! What a coincidence -they live opposite each other...'
Suddenly Sakura realised that she had left her spaghetti cooking and that the sauce would burn if she didn't hurry back... "HOE! Gomen nasai, but I have to go now -my food is burning!" She smiled at Eriol. "Come by and say hello sometime Hiragizawa-san," Sakura said.
"You can call me Eriol... if I can call you Sakura?"
"Sure thing Eriol-kun! Well, we'll talk later. Bye Dymek-san." She waved and ran up the stairs as fast as possible -the last thing she needed on her first day in this building was to burn it down while making spaghetti!
"How do you know each other Dymek-san?" Eriol asked. He had only just met Talan and he didn't know how much of a creep he really was, otherwise he probably wouldn't have been hanging out with him at the moment.
"We went to the same high school and I also went out with her best friend for awhile," Talan stated, smirking at the last part. 'It really was a brilliant idea... We hurt them where it hurts the most: Tomoyo's innocence! People believed that she had lost her virginity with me even when she hadn't!' Laughing happily at his achievement, Talan didn't notice that Eriol had gone quietly back to his room.
'Well so much for bragging about our pranks to that dork...' Talan thought when he finally noticed Eriol's absence. 'It doesn't matter! He was a loser anyway. I mean look at those glasses!' Just that moment, Syaoran returned from his walk, pushing open the front door and letting in a cold gust of air from outside.
"Hey man, what are you doing out here in the corridor?" Syaoran asked, looking at his friend standing alone out in the hallway.
"Nothing I was just talking with one of our roommates," Talan answered, skirting around the truth. 'I won't tell him, I want to see what he'll do when he finds out!' He looked at his so-called friend and smiled wickedly.
"I'm dying of thirst! I'm off to get some juice so I'll see you later!" Syaoran said, walking up the stairs. He reached the kitchen and tried to pull open the door, but wouldn't budge AN: It's one of those doors that opens both ways. He pulled once more, but harder, and suddenly Sakura came flying out of the other side of the door.
Unable to stop herself, she fell right on top of him, spaghetti and all. Syaoran looked at his clothes, the spaghetti spread all over his hair, face and new shirt, the sauce seeping into his clothes -he knew this was going to stain!
"Hey! Why don't you watch where yo….." He froze mid-sentence.
To be continued...
AN: LOL we're mean aren't we? Heh heh heh )
If you want to know what happens next ….review.
Huggles from all three of us…to all of you
Special thanks to Jane for her help in editing and her additions.