Kiss Them for Me
+ + + +
by KiskeKouyuu
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Chapter One
My name is Kinomoto Sakura. The every day girl you might expect to find in the busy city of Tomoeda. Auburn brown hair, deep emerald eyes, a decent looking person if I might say so myself. I'm not exactly popular, I don't associate with the rich and wealthy or the punk groups in junior year with me, but I have my own small circle of friends, and they are reliable and kind, so I have no problems with them.
I live in my own apartment, in building three, sixth floor of Utari Kinosuki, a small cozy neighborhood of brick apartment complexes. A reasonable amount of people live here, it's not abandoned, but its rooms aren't too sought after either. It seems that everyone who lives here doesn't have visitors or family that comes to see them, me included. That's why we were all curious to see who had arrived as a giant moving truck pulled in front of our building.
A tall boy, maybe about my age stepped out of the driver's side of the moving truck. I have to admit he was quite good looking, probably way out of my league, not that any of the men in my league were actually worth the trouble.
I couldn't see his eyes, a dark mop of messy brown hair covered them, but he was tall and I noticed that his body was toned slightly, as the forest green t-shirt he wore clung to his chest a bit. He was also wearing loose black cargo pants and black combat boots. I couldn't help thinking I'd seen this person somewhere on T.V. A celebrity of some sort.. then what would he be doing here? He couldn't be a famous person, we were "lowlives" to them.
They were stuck up "lowlives" to me too. I brushed off all my suspicious thoughts and turned my attention back to the boy.
He turned around and headed towards the trunk, undid the latch, and then lifted the door up. From my sixth floor window, I had a bad view, but managed a glimpse of a lot of furniture in the truck, and decided that it would take all day for a single person to move all of that into an apartment room.
I thought he probably had friends or something that came to help him with all the moving, and he was probably on the first floor or the second so he wouldn't have trouble. So, I just redirected my attention back to my books, and continued to study complicated equations and formulas in the lessons.
Everything was quiet for about the next half an hour and I got all my work done. So I decided to settle on the bed and read a bit. That's when I heard a loud crash that sounded as if it came from the hallway. It was accompanied by snarls, growls, yells, and a couple more bangs, and thats when my curiousity got the best of me.
Carefully, I opened the door and set off down the hallway, turning one corner and then coming to a complete stop at the end, where I looked cluelessly at the scene before me. I was rather surprised to find many cardboard boxes strewn about the floor in a mess, the new boy in the midst of it, trying desperately to pick up his belongings.
My fellow across-the-hall roomers had opened their doors as well and were yelling at the new boy that he had made a mess and woken some of them up from their naps. I felt bad for him, new in this complex and already gotten yelled at. So I stepped in.
"Minna?" I called quietly. Immediately everyone stopped fighting and screaming, I was friends with a lot of these people, most of them were decent. Others..are a bit more.. aggressive I'll say. Especially the older people, one of them being the old woman who was currently mashing the boy on the head with her cane.
He looked mad and ready to snap the stupid piece of wood straight in half. I don't blame him, the same thing happened to me, there's not one person in the residence that hasn't been whacked thoroughly. That old bag's been here for as long as the landlord remembers.
I began, "He's new, just-"
"Be quiet you silly girl! You're probably just defending him so he'll sleep with-"
Dark crimson blush crept up onto my cheeks at the grandma's accusation. "Don't say such things about him!" I cried indignantly, "You've not even given him a chance to talk and already you start hitting him with that god forsaken stick of yours!"
The old woman glared at me for defending the boy who was now rubbing the lump on his head with his hand. I usually don't stand up for strangers, let alone fight with old women who wield rock-hard oakwood canes. Normally, I let them to their own business, the newcomers all learn very quickly, who to cross and who to stay away from.
There was just something about the guy, I don't know what it was, it couldn't be love, I had just seen him myself, and from memories in the past, I've learned that no matter how sweet they might seem, they're all really lying assholes on the inside. Maybe it was defending my pride, I still can't figure it out, but that reason suits me just fine right now.
"Now go back to your rooms and leave him alone." I said flatly, and surprisingly, all of the onlookers and the old woman retreated back to their apartments, leaving me alone in the hallway with the boy. I spotted several people looking through their peekholes in the doors and snapped, "Mind your own business and stop looking!" And instantly, all the eyes disappeared from the doors, and I turned back to the boy.
"Are you alright?" I asked tentively, and bent down to help him put his possessions back in the boxes.
"Hn." He made a noise and nodded. So, he was a withdrawn boy huh? The non-talkers were always rather easy to open up, so I decided to help him along.
"My name's Kinomoto Sakura, but you can just call me Sakura." I said and extended a hand to shake his, the other hand holding the cardboard box filled with his belongings. He seemed very reluctant at first, but then replied.
"Li Syaoran." he said bluntly, and took my hand in his. He shook it briefly and let go. Then he turned back to gathering his things and stacking up a couple boxes to carry at the same time. They started to sway, and a box tipped over, its contents about to empty themselves on the ground. Thinking quickly, I walked forward and grabbed the top box from Li's stack and put it on my own.
He grunted in thanks. Typical.
"You should go lay down or something. That obaa-san hits hard, ne? She's really crabby sometimes. What's your room number?" I asked, smiling fakely.
Li responded by weakly tossing the keys at me, which I caught easily. I looked at the tag and spotted the number eight-five-seven on it.
"Hm..we're neighbors." I said, "Follow me." I set off down the hall and turned the corner once more, and stopped at the room adjacent to mine. Inserting the key, I turned it and the door swung open. I dropped the boxes on the couch and took the ones that Li was holding. He was still swaying, so I pushed him carefully onto the bed, went to the refridgerator and took out some ice.
Putting it in a plastic bag and wrapping a paper towel around it, I placed it on the boy's forehead and said quietly, "I'll be down to fetch the rest of your belongings, you jsut stay here."
I walked out of his apartment and shut the door quietly behind me. I wasn't sure that Li had heard what I had said, he might have fallen asleep, but considering that he probably drove all day and moved all that furniture, he deserved a long rest.
I kept walking down the hall and pressed the down button for the elevator, which opened up seconds later. Stepping in, I went to the lobby and looked around. Where was Rika when I needed her? Finally spotting the familiar mass of reddish brown hair, I headed towards my friend and said, "Rika-chan, a new guy has just moved in, he has some luggage left in the moving truck outside, which I'm going to wheel in on one of the carts. Will you be the biggest help and drive the truck back to the station? It should have the address on the side of the bumper."
"Sure Sakura-chan! Hey..is the boy a cutie?" Rika giggled in a hushed voice.
"Decent." I winked at her and then set off towards the truck with the girl following shortly behind. Grabbing a cart from the rack outside, I wheeled it to the trunk of the truck and stepped into the back of the vehicle. Grabbing the remaining boxes, I dumped them onto the pushing cart and then got back up.
Grabbing the door, I pulled it down and latched it securely. Giving a thumbs up sign to Rika in the rear view mirror, she drove off, and I pushed the cart into the apartment complex again.
I headed back up to the sixth floor and wheeled the cart around the corners of the halls and came to a stop at room eight-five-seven. I opened the door once more with the key and found that Li was indeed asleep and the bump on his forehead had slowly deflated. I pried his fingers from the ice and set the bag on the counter. Pushing the boxes off of the cart, I shoved the wheeling transport system down the hall, and it bounced down the hall, colliding into the wall.
I sure hope the banging waked the old woman up. That was for insulting my pride, and picking on the-
Wait, I don't care about him, he's just like the rest of them. Theiving, lying, players, those men. My conscience banged on the walls of my mind screaming at me "Then why are you helping him?"
I put my head in my hands and growled, "Shut UP!"
I sat down on the ground and sorted out the many boxes that were stacked from floor to ceiling. I managed the pick through all the labeled boxes, but the unlabeled ones I simply gave them their own group. I wrote out a quick note for Li incase he woke up.
Scribbling carelessly, I inked on paper: Li-san, You fell asleep because of that nasty headache before, the ice helped the swelling stop. I brought in the rest of your boxes and luggage, and my friend Rika-chan drove the truck back to the station. If you need anything, I'm right next door room number 856. Feel better.
Sticking the note to the bedpost, I left him to rest in his cardboard box-furnished apartment and left to settle back in my own bed. I decided I would check on him later maybe to see if he was ok.
+ + + +
I woke up and found that all of my shit had been stacked in neat rows and sorted by the labels I had stuck on them. What kind of person would do that for me? I just woke up half the whole building and there's still someone nice? Heh..what's happened to the world lately? At least someone has a heart..
I heard a rustling in the corner of the room.
"Who's there."
"Oh. You're awake Li-san." The girl named Sarah or whoever the hell she was, was in my apartment?! How the heck did she get in?
'You gave her your keys, stupid.'
Her voice interrupted my chain of thoughts.
"Li-san, you don't have Japanese yen or groceries yet do you?" she asked, getting up from the chair.
"Hn." I gave the usual plain reply, the coldness usually drove away a lot of girls.
"Well, if you would like you could eat at my place tonight, you know. Maybe talk and get to know each other, since we're neighbors after all. Up for it?"
"Hn."
"Meet you in ten."
"What's your name again?"
"Kinomoto Sakura. Just call me Sakura."
"Arigato."
"For what?"
"Didn't you sort this?" I gestured towards the boxes.
"Yea..well you seemed new so I thought I'd lend a hand."
"Ok."
"Ja."
She walked out the door and shut it quietly with a click behind her. As soon as she disappeared, I flopped on the bed and stared at the ceiling with blank amber eyes.
What the heck was I thinking?! The only reason why I was here in the first place was because I had to get away from all those crazy fangirls and women, and what do you know my first friend who also happens to be a girl, my neighbor who lives right next door.
"None of them are different." I declared to no one in particular. "None of them. They all want to marry me because I'm rich, I'm famous, and it gives them something to brag about. I have to stick to myself."
Ha..easy indeed, I'm going to my neighbor's apartment in a few minutes, what a good job I'm doing, I thought sarcastically. Getting up, I thought that I would head over earlier, there was nothing interesting here anyway. I shut the door behind me and walked to the next room, gave a sharp knock and waited.
"Come in!" The girl's voice sounded from the kitchen as i pushed the door open. A delicious smell wafted pass me and I breathed in deeply only to have the wind knocked out of me seconds later as a black fuzzball pounced on me and knocked me to the floor.
"SAKURA!!" I yelled as I wrestled with the black animal, "What the hell are you trying to do?!!"
"That is my labrador Seiichi, he's quite playful if you haven't noticed." She said coolly. "Dinner's already on the table, knock yourself out." she said, and headed towards the source of the smell. I followed her, and seated myself at one end of her table. I literally began shovelling food into my mouth. A couple days worth of driving and moving the boxes wore me down a bit.
"So..Li-san, where are you from?" Nia asked me while taking a sip of soda.
"Nowhere." I answered bluntly.
"You are from somewhere, Li-san, everyone is, now please tell me." Sakura repeated.
"Hong Kong, happy?" I replied sarcastically. Sooner or later she had to get the hint that I didn't want her company and this would be the first and very last trip I would be making to her apartment.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am. You'll be coming to my school starting tomorrow, you'll be in all of my classes, and I will introduce you to some of the crowd. The headmaster called me a few minutes before you arrived and asked me to lead you around." Sakura said evenly.
I couldn't believe it. Assigned to work with a girl? This was completely nuts, I just have to be cold to her and she'll back off in no time..I hoped.
"You'll get up at six tomorrow and wear decent clothes until the school is able to provide you with a uniform. Enough about that.." the girl changed the subject. "Like any bands, music?" she asked.
"No. You?" I stumbled on that one, what was I supposed to say, I like myself?
"Not really..no interesting people." she said a bit quieter, "I dated this guy once..he was famous, visiting Tomoeda and ran into me by accident.. and he seemed nice at first." she dropped her fork and scoffed, "as if..now I know no one can be that nice. I was a lowlife to him, and when he was tired of me, he dumped me and ran off with some other girl that he must've picked up at a club or something. I can't trust people like that, those celebrities who strut around as if they owned the world. All the same. Don't you agree?"
"Completely." I lied. And from the moment I saw the fiery look in her eyes, I knew I was in for something bad.
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by KiskeKouyuu
+ + + +
Chapter One
My name is Kinomoto Sakura. The every day girl you might expect to find in the busy city of Tomoeda. Auburn brown hair, deep emerald eyes, a decent looking person if I might say so myself. I'm not exactly popular, I don't associate with the rich and wealthy or the punk groups in junior year with me, but I have my own small circle of friends, and they are reliable and kind, so I have no problems with them.
I live in my own apartment, in building three, sixth floor of Utari Kinosuki, a small cozy neighborhood of brick apartment complexes. A reasonable amount of people live here, it's not abandoned, but its rooms aren't too sought after either. It seems that everyone who lives here doesn't have visitors or family that comes to see them, me included. That's why we were all curious to see who had arrived as a giant moving truck pulled in front of our building.
A tall boy, maybe about my age stepped out of the driver's side of the moving truck. I have to admit he was quite good looking, probably way out of my league, not that any of the men in my league were actually worth the trouble.
I couldn't see his eyes, a dark mop of messy brown hair covered them, but he was tall and I noticed that his body was toned slightly, as the forest green t-shirt he wore clung to his chest a bit. He was also wearing loose black cargo pants and black combat boots. I couldn't help thinking I'd seen this person somewhere on T.V. A celebrity of some sort.. then what would he be doing here? He couldn't be a famous person, we were "lowlives" to them.
They were stuck up "lowlives" to me too. I brushed off all my suspicious thoughts and turned my attention back to the boy.
He turned around and headed towards the trunk, undid the latch, and then lifted the door up. From my sixth floor window, I had a bad view, but managed a glimpse of a lot of furniture in the truck, and decided that it would take all day for a single person to move all of that into an apartment room.
I thought he probably had friends or something that came to help him with all the moving, and he was probably on the first floor or the second so he wouldn't have trouble. So, I just redirected my attention back to my books, and continued to study complicated equations and formulas in the lessons.
Everything was quiet for about the next half an hour and I got all my work done. So I decided to settle on the bed and read a bit. That's when I heard a loud crash that sounded as if it came from the hallway. It was accompanied by snarls, growls, yells, and a couple more bangs, and thats when my curiousity got the best of me.
Carefully, I opened the door and set off down the hallway, turning one corner and then coming to a complete stop at the end, where I looked cluelessly at the scene before me. I was rather surprised to find many cardboard boxes strewn about the floor in a mess, the new boy in the midst of it, trying desperately to pick up his belongings.
My fellow across-the-hall roomers had opened their doors as well and were yelling at the new boy that he had made a mess and woken some of them up from their naps. I felt bad for him, new in this complex and already gotten yelled at. So I stepped in.
"Minna?" I called quietly. Immediately everyone stopped fighting and screaming, I was friends with a lot of these people, most of them were decent. Others..are a bit more.. aggressive I'll say. Especially the older people, one of them being the old woman who was currently mashing the boy on the head with her cane.
He looked mad and ready to snap the stupid piece of wood straight in half. I don't blame him, the same thing happened to me, there's not one person in the residence that hasn't been whacked thoroughly. That old bag's been here for as long as the landlord remembers.
I began, "He's new, just-"
"Be quiet you silly girl! You're probably just defending him so he'll sleep with-"
Dark crimson blush crept up onto my cheeks at the grandma's accusation. "Don't say such things about him!" I cried indignantly, "You've not even given him a chance to talk and already you start hitting him with that god forsaken stick of yours!"
The old woman glared at me for defending the boy who was now rubbing the lump on his head with his hand. I usually don't stand up for strangers, let alone fight with old women who wield rock-hard oakwood canes. Normally, I let them to their own business, the newcomers all learn very quickly, who to cross and who to stay away from.
There was just something about the guy, I don't know what it was, it couldn't be love, I had just seen him myself, and from memories in the past, I've learned that no matter how sweet they might seem, they're all really lying assholes on the inside. Maybe it was defending my pride, I still can't figure it out, but that reason suits me just fine right now.
"Now go back to your rooms and leave him alone." I said flatly, and surprisingly, all of the onlookers and the old woman retreated back to their apartments, leaving me alone in the hallway with the boy. I spotted several people looking through their peekholes in the doors and snapped, "Mind your own business and stop looking!" And instantly, all the eyes disappeared from the doors, and I turned back to the boy.
"Are you alright?" I asked tentively, and bent down to help him put his possessions back in the boxes.
"Hn." He made a noise and nodded. So, he was a withdrawn boy huh? The non-talkers were always rather easy to open up, so I decided to help him along.
"My name's Kinomoto Sakura, but you can just call me Sakura." I said and extended a hand to shake his, the other hand holding the cardboard box filled with his belongings. He seemed very reluctant at first, but then replied.
"Li Syaoran." he said bluntly, and took my hand in his. He shook it briefly and let go. Then he turned back to gathering his things and stacking up a couple boxes to carry at the same time. They started to sway, and a box tipped over, its contents about to empty themselves on the ground. Thinking quickly, I walked forward and grabbed the top box from Li's stack and put it on my own.
He grunted in thanks. Typical.
"You should go lay down or something. That obaa-san hits hard, ne? She's really crabby sometimes. What's your room number?" I asked, smiling fakely.
Li responded by weakly tossing the keys at me, which I caught easily. I looked at the tag and spotted the number eight-five-seven on it.
"Hm..we're neighbors." I said, "Follow me." I set off down the hall and turned the corner once more, and stopped at the room adjacent to mine. Inserting the key, I turned it and the door swung open. I dropped the boxes on the couch and took the ones that Li was holding. He was still swaying, so I pushed him carefully onto the bed, went to the refridgerator and took out some ice.
Putting it in a plastic bag and wrapping a paper towel around it, I placed it on the boy's forehead and said quietly, "I'll be down to fetch the rest of your belongings, you jsut stay here."
I walked out of his apartment and shut the door quietly behind me. I wasn't sure that Li had heard what I had said, he might have fallen asleep, but considering that he probably drove all day and moved all that furniture, he deserved a long rest.
I kept walking down the hall and pressed the down button for the elevator, which opened up seconds later. Stepping in, I went to the lobby and looked around. Where was Rika when I needed her? Finally spotting the familiar mass of reddish brown hair, I headed towards my friend and said, "Rika-chan, a new guy has just moved in, he has some luggage left in the moving truck outside, which I'm going to wheel in on one of the carts. Will you be the biggest help and drive the truck back to the station? It should have the address on the side of the bumper."
"Sure Sakura-chan! Hey..is the boy a cutie?" Rika giggled in a hushed voice.
"Decent." I winked at her and then set off towards the truck with the girl following shortly behind. Grabbing a cart from the rack outside, I wheeled it to the trunk of the truck and stepped into the back of the vehicle. Grabbing the remaining boxes, I dumped them onto the pushing cart and then got back up.
Grabbing the door, I pulled it down and latched it securely. Giving a thumbs up sign to Rika in the rear view mirror, she drove off, and I pushed the cart into the apartment complex again.
I headed back up to the sixth floor and wheeled the cart around the corners of the halls and came to a stop at room eight-five-seven. I opened the door once more with the key and found that Li was indeed asleep and the bump on his forehead had slowly deflated. I pried his fingers from the ice and set the bag on the counter. Pushing the boxes off of the cart, I shoved the wheeling transport system down the hall, and it bounced down the hall, colliding into the wall.
I sure hope the banging waked the old woman up. That was for insulting my pride, and picking on the-
Wait, I don't care about him, he's just like the rest of them. Theiving, lying, players, those men. My conscience banged on the walls of my mind screaming at me "Then why are you helping him?"
I put my head in my hands and growled, "Shut UP!"
I sat down on the ground and sorted out the many boxes that were stacked from floor to ceiling. I managed the pick through all the labeled boxes, but the unlabeled ones I simply gave them their own group. I wrote out a quick note for Li incase he woke up.
Scribbling carelessly, I inked on paper: Li-san, You fell asleep because of that nasty headache before, the ice helped the swelling stop. I brought in the rest of your boxes and luggage, and my friend Rika-chan drove the truck back to the station. If you need anything, I'm right next door room number 856. Feel better.
Sticking the note to the bedpost, I left him to rest in his cardboard box-furnished apartment and left to settle back in my own bed. I decided I would check on him later maybe to see if he was ok.
+ + + +
I woke up and found that all of my shit had been stacked in neat rows and sorted by the labels I had stuck on them. What kind of person would do that for me? I just woke up half the whole building and there's still someone nice? Heh..what's happened to the world lately? At least someone has a heart..
I heard a rustling in the corner of the room.
"Who's there."
"Oh. You're awake Li-san." The girl named Sarah or whoever the hell she was, was in my apartment?! How the heck did she get in?
'You gave her your keys, stupid.'
Her voice interrupted my chain of thoughts.
"Li-san, you don't have Japanese yen or groceries yet do you?" she asked, getting up from the chair.
"Hn." I gave the usual plain reply, the coldness usually drove away a lot of girls.
"Well, if you would like you could eat at my place tonight, you know. Maybe talk and get to know each other, since we're neighbors after all. Up for it?"
"Hn."
"Meet you in ten."
"What's your name again?"
"Kinomoto Sakura. Just call me Sakura."
"Arigato."
"For what?"
"Didn't you sort this?" I gestured towards the boxes.
"Yea..well you seemed new so I thought I'd lend a hand."
"Ok."
"Ja."
She walked out the door and shut it quietly with a click behind her. As soon as she disappeared, I flopped on the bed and stared at the ceiling with blank amber eyes.
What the heck was I thinking?! The only reason why I was here in the first place was because I had to get away from all those crazy fangirls and women, and what do you know my first friend who also happens to be a girl, my neighbor who lives right next door.
"None of them are different." I declared to no one in particular. "None of them. They all want to marry me because I'm rich, I'm famous, and it gives them something to brag about. I have to stick to myself."
Ha..easy indeed, I'm going to my neighbor's apartment in a few minutes, what a good job I'm doing, I thought sarcastically. Getting up, I thought that I would head over earlier, there was nothing interesting here anyway. I shut the door behind me and walked to the next room, gave a sharp knock and waited.
"Come in!" The girl's voice sounded from the kitchen as i pushed the door open. A delicious smell wafted pass me and I breathed in deeply only to have the wind knocked out of me seconds later as a black fuzzball pounced on me and knocked me to the floor.
"SAKURA!!" I yelled as I wrestled with the black animal, "What the hell are you trying to do?!!"
"That is my labrador Seiichi, he's quite playful if you haven't noticed." She said coolly. "Dinner's already on the table, knock yourself out." she said, and headed towards the source of the smell. I followed her, and seated myself at one end of her table. I literally began shovelling food into my mouth. A couple days worth of driving and moving the boxes wore me down a bit.
"So..Li-san, where are you from?" Nia asked me while taking a sip of soda.
"Nowhere." I answered bluntly.
"You are from somewhere, Li-san, everyone is, now please tell me." Sakura repeated.
"Hong Kong, happy?" I replied sarcastically. Sooner or later she had to get the hint that I didn't want her company and this would be the first and very last trip I would be making to her apartment.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am. You'll be coming to my school starting tomorrow, you'll be in all of my classes, and I will introduce you to some of the crowd. The headmaster called me a few minutes before you arrived and asked me to lead you around." Sakura said evenly.
I couldn't believe it. Assigned to work with a girl? This was completely nuts, I just have to be cold to her and she'll back off in no time..I hoped.
"You'll get up at six tomorrow and wear decent clothes until the school is able to provide you with a uniform. Enough about that.." the girl changed the subject. "Like any bands, music?" she asked.
"No. You?" I stumbled on that one, what was I supposed to say, I like myself?
"Not really..no interesting people." she said a bit quieter, "I dated this guy once..he was famous, visiting Tomoeda and ran into me by accident.. and he seemed nice at first." she dropped her fork and scoffed, "as if..now I know no one can be that nice. I was a lowlife to him, and when he was tired of me, he dumped me and ran off with some other girl that he must've picked up at a club or something. I can't trust people like that, those celebrities who strut around as if they owned the world. All the same. Don't you agree?"
"Completely." I lied. And from the moment I saw the fiery look in her eyes, I knew I was in for something bad.