The rain seemed never-ending. The sound of raindrops crashing down on the cold hard pavement surrounded the couple waiting in the bus stop. They were waiting.
"Mou, Syaoran. How much longer to we have to stand here?" A female voice spoke up, with ruby eyes set on the face of her male friend.
"Tomoyo said that her part-time job end at 6…and it's long past that already. Don't worry, Sakura'll be here soon." Syaoran was close to loosing it. The thought of pulling off this act was nerve-racking.
Meiling sensed Syaoran's heavy breathing. "Relax! Everything's gonna be okay. Tomoyo was the one who suggested this idea in the first place anyway."
They both turned towards the bush behind them, behind the glass of the bus stop. Tomoyo smiled gave the thumbs up from behind, with one hand holding a video camera. Syaoran and Meiling both sweatdropped at her video camera. She just HAD to bring one…
Meiling continued. "It's bound to work. But…" Meiling started to hesitate.
(on the same day) –
Syaoran blushed a million shades of red. He seemed to find a huge interest in the bricks of walls. Tomoyo noticed it easily. After all, it was extremely obvious. "Spill it, Syaoran. It's about Sakura-chan isn't it?" Tomoyo took a glance at Sakura, who was chatting with Chiharu and the others in another corner.
Syaoran blushed harder, if that was possible. Tomoyo sighed. "I thought so. You came this far so you might as well tell me what the problem is now."
He finally spoke up. "Umm…well, I'm thinking that Sakura doesn't feel the same way towards me…" He confessed. Tomoyo sighed inwardly. Syaoran was obviously intelligent in everything except love. Syaoran continued. "You're experienced, what do you think I should do to…well…uhh…"
"Make her notice you more?" Tomoyo grinned.
Syaoran nodded ever so slowly. It was as if he was afraid of the answer.
Tomoyo laughed deviously with her ohohohos. This was a perfect opportunity for her to give this couple what they needed, a little push. She knew how Sakura felt towards Syaoran, and vise versa. If she can cook up a good scenario, involving jealousy, maybe, just maybe, she would be able to get those two to finally confess their overflowing feelings for one another…
Meling was nervous and the feeling was contagious. It was spreading. They knew what each other was thinking. Syaoran groaned and he rested his head against the wall with a thud. "Meiling, I know. You're just as uneasy as I am about the- "
Meiling heard Tomoyo call her name. Meiling glanced in her direction and saw her gesture for Meiling to come.
Something wasn't right.
It was Tomoyo's expression.
Meiling started to fidget with her fingers as she got there. "Yes?"
Tomoyo cleared her throat and began. "Meiling, how would you like to kiss your ex-crush?"
"WHAT!" Syaoran and Meiling shrieked simultaneously.
"What? Did you want ME to kiss you or something?" Tomoyo asked Syaoran.
Eriol didn't hear anything except "me" and "kiss you" from Tomoyo, and sat in silence with a flabbergasted expression…until now. "SYAORAN DON'T YOU LAY A FINGER ON MY FUTURE GIRLFRIEND!" Eriol, shocked at his own words, stopped talking.
Tomoyo sighed. "Eriol, that's not it at all, and mind your own business. Anyways, where were we at- WAIT.WHAT DID YOU SAY!"
Eriol blushed. "Err…NOTHINGGG…"
"Don't lie." Tomoyo stared at Eriol with a blush also on her face.
"…" Eriol dropped his head in shame and admitted, with Tomoyo's eyes melting his heart. "I like you,"
Syaoran and Meiling glared. Any dolt would know that! But like as in what way? The pair urged him to continue. Eriol groaned. "more than a friend."
The entire class stopped dead in their tracks.
And that is how E+T came to be.
It was inevitable and they both sighed. "You know you want to, Meiling. Quit acting like you don't." Syaoran taunted. "This is practically the only chance you'll get to kiss your crush without having him turn away." He laughed at Meiling. But he only joked to try and ease the tension that was building up.
"Syaoran, shut up if you want to live for tomorrow." Meiling gave him a hateful glare. "I'm only doing this because Tomo-"
They stopped and turned around. A bus was approaching. "Quick!" Syaoran ushered Meiling into his arms.
The blush came.
They both hesitated.
Silence.
"Argh, hurry up and do the damn kiss, Syaoran!" Meiling looked away, trying not to reveal the blush.
"Me! I thought you were-"
The bus stopped. People were getting off and they saw a girl with short hazel hair among the crowd. Both panicked and Syaoran quickly pressed his lips against Meiling's.
The kiss wasn't passionate at all. It seemed forced. But they had no feelings towards each other, so it was expected.
Sakura's POV
I sat on the bus, waiting. I realized that the windshield wipers were on. That only meant one thing.
It was raining.
OH NO. I'm going to be soaked! I panicked and opened my bag. I rummaged through the contents of my bag. Please tell me I brought an umbrella with me…
YES! There was one in my bag!
…
I wonder how THAT got in there…
"I'm going to go off to school!" Sakura yelled, so that Touya and her dad could hear. As usual, she was in a rush so she had no time to waste.
"Wait squirt!" Touya ran up towards the front door with an umbrella in his hand. "Don't you even watch the weather forecast? It says it's going to be raining hard later this afternoon!" He shoved his spare black umbrella into her bag.
Sakura blinked at her worried brother. "This is the first time you've been this nice to me…"
"Don't count on it, look at what you're wearing." Touya pointed at her sweater.
It was white.
Sakura still didn't get it.
Touya sighed. "Never mind…but if it weren't for me, you'd be soaked this afternoon and boys would be staring at you when you're on your way home!" No wonder her brother was so overprotective of her.
"Whatever." Sakura didn't want to try and understand the gibberish he was talking. "But thanks for caring." Sakura was wearing sneakers and she tied on the final knot of her shoelaces. "Bye!" Sakura ran down the sidewalk, leaving her roller blades at home.
Sakura's POV
The bus stopped. I stood up almost involuntarily, since this was such a routine for me. I got out of the bus and opened up my brother's black umbrella. It was pouring like crazy…why does he have to be right?
Anyway, I walked past the bus stop...
My eyes caught messy chestnut hair. Somehow, it reminds me of Syaoran…
Wait. I rubbed my eyes as I started to stop walking. Was I seeing things? Do I really like Syaoran so much to the point where I start seeing him in places I never see him in? I must be crazy, but the guy I saw looked exactly like him.
I doubted myself, because the teenager was kissing some girl with buns and two long pigtails. She seemed strangely familiar.
Wait a minute. I rubbed my eyes again.
Syaoran was making out with Meiling in the bus stop.
I couldn't help myself. Syaoran was just a friend, so I shouldn't care. But my eyes widened to the size of dishes as I stared, dumbfounded, at their actions. My hands relaxed as the umbrella swiftly slipped out of my grasp and landed with a thud. Somehow, my heart felt as heavy as a clump of metal and I was sinking into the feelings of depression and regret. For what reason, I don't know.
And for a second, I thought I also felt jealousy within me.
No, who am I kidding. It's Sakura Kinomoto, the girl who's pure, innocent and clear of negative feelings…right?
I don't know why but I started to run. Away from the bus stop. Away from my friends. Away from the truth.
I felt a pair of amber eyes on me.
Normal POV
Syaoran stared at Sakura's retreating figure as his lips started to freeze.
"Syaoran? Are you okay?" Meiling snapped him out of the trance. "Syaoran, our job's finished. Aren't you going home?"
Syaoran didn't answer and he started to run after, also picking up Sakura's dropped umbrella along the way.
Tomoyo ran out of the bushes and hugged Meiling with a cheer. "KAWAII!"
Meiling sweatdropped. "I thought you said we were going to wait until tomorrow to see what Sakura's expression would be?"
Now it was Tomoyo's turn to sweatdrop. "Meiling, that was a lie. Do you think I would let our best friend cry overnight and leave her in pain for a whole 12+ hours? Besides, any idiot would expect Syaoran to run after her, seeing her sad face." Tomoyo sighed. "You have to be cruel to be kind." Tomoyo mumbled to herself.
"I didn't expect Syaoran to run after her. So does that make me an idiot?" Meiling frowned.
"No."
A relieved "phew" escaped Meilings' lips.
"You're an idiette." Tomoyo corrected her.
Syaoran's POV
I shouldn't have played with Sakura's emotions. This is unlike me. This is wrong of me.
But I love her. And I'm too much of a coward to admit it to her face. Instead, I put her through torture and force her to feel the way she's feeling now.
What IS she feeling now?
She's probably mad at me for cheating on her.
Did I just say that? Cheated? But we aren't even a couple yet. Am I really that desperate?
I curse to myself. Why does Sakura have to be so athletic and run for such a long distance? No matter, I'll keep up.
Sakura's POV
I'm getting tired. Maybe I should stop. But I hear footsteps behind me. I glance back and to my horror I see Syaoran running after me.
What the hell is he doing?
I don't know why, but I'm scared. I'll keep running. Maybe I'll loose him later…
No, that's not possible. The Syaoran Li I know is the best in gym. There's no way I'll be able to outrun him. But I won't give up.
Am I really that determined to shield him away from my feelings? I'm such a moron. The way I stared at him and how I'm running now…I made it seem so obvious, the fact that I like him
Syaoran's footsteps seem to be catching up to mine. This is the end of me.
Normal POV
Syaoran reached out and grabbed Sakura's arm. Immediately, Sakura stopped running and was yanked into Syaoran's chest. "Heh!" Syaoran spoke in between breaths. "I caught up to you!"
"What about Meiling?" Sakura asked, gasping for air.
"She'll be ok. But are you alright?" Sakura could sense that he was worried about her.
"Sure I am. I'm just running because…I wanted to…give you more…personal space while you were…you know, with Meiling." Sakura lied and looked away. She was hoping that he wouldn't notice, but that would've taken a miracle.
"Liar." Syaoran smirked.
"Damn you." Sakura glared.
And silence came over.
But it was comfortable silence. Sakura admitted to herself that being in Syaoran's arms was heartwarming. Syaoran admitted the same to himself, for having Sakura.
Syaoran coughed as they stood about a step away from each other. "Why did you run away?"
"I already told you." If Sakura were Pinocchio her nose would've grown another inch longer.
"No, really." Syaoran still wasn't taking that for an answer.
She sighed. Maybe this was meant to be the last day of her life. She might as well make the best of it. She inhaled and looked at him in the eye. "I…love you, Syaoran." His eyes widened. She couldn't take it anymore and disconnected the gaze. That's right Sakura, go tell him how you feel and loose everything. She thought to herself.
"Well I feel the same way for you too." Syaoran joined Sakura in the blushing contest. It was a close match.
"Come again?" Sakura gawked at Syaoran's words.
"I can't stop thinking about you. I-" Syaoran was interrupted by Sakura, for she sealed his lips with a kiss.
She broke off and smiled. "It's alright, you don't need to go any further into it."
Syaoran smiled as well. Sakura was so beautiful when she smiled. She was wonderful in almost any way you can imagine her in. Whether her hair was wet and plastered onto her face…whether she was looking up at him or not…or whether she was in a translucent sweater or not?
…
Syaoran's heartbeat pumped up as his face blushed with an extremely embarrassed expression. "S-Sakura…your sweater." He couldn't seem to speak and he found himself stuttering. He looked away. Syaoran was still the same innocent boy we all know him as.
"Huh?" Sakura looked down at her sweater.
…
…look at what you're wearing.
So that was what Touya meant.
Sakura should've listened.
In an instant Syaoran took off his jacket and put it over her shoulders. "Here." He extended his arm, holding his jacket. He still managed not to look at her. "Wear this so that other people can't see."
"T-Thank you." Sakura blushed in thousands of hues.
Syaoran opened up Sakura's umbrella and they walked under it…
…together.
Tomoyo and Meiling were squealing in silence as they watched the couple walk home. Well, Syaoran walking Sakura home. "That was so kawaii!" Tomoyo awed.
"I agree!" Meiling nodded her head in complete agreement. "Syaoran was such a gentleman too! He knew it was going to be a chilly afternoon so he even brought his jacket with him, in case Sakura got cold!"
"Awwwwww..." They both sighed with utter joy.
"Thanks for walking me." Sakura smiled. "I really appreciate it." Sakura took off his jacket and handed it back to Syaoran.
"No problem." Syaoran gave her back her umbrella.
"No Syaoran, keep it!" She pushed the umbrella in his face. "It's still raining. You can give it back to me tomorrow. I won't mind."
"Well…" Syaoran looked down at the umbrella he held in his hands. "I guess. Arigato."
"See you!" Sakura headed indoors.
Touya was watching TV as Sakura passed by the living room. Touya raised an eyebrow. "Who was that guy?"
"Some friend you don't need to know." Sakura answered flatly. This was so typical of Touya.
"He better not be dating you." But his eyes seemed to accuse Sakura, as if she WAS dating him.
"No he's not." Not yet. Sakura thought.
"Then he probably walked you home because of the condition of your sweater." He growled, mumbling about how he should beat him up after school tomorrow. "You should've used my umbrella!"
"Shut up, Touya." Sakura started her way up the stairs.
Brothers…what am I going to do with him…AN : Hope you guys enjoyed it! )…please review and tell me what you think (yes, I know…I left out the AN last time and the little note in the summary on how this is a one-shot. In case you're wondering, I'm not continuing this because I know I would go braindead looking for ideas …sorry!)