by ChibiQuatre (9/22/01 - 9/23/01)
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, any of its (adorable) characters, or anything that even remotely belongs to them ::grumbles:: However, since you all *know* I don't own anything except my little bag of marbles and my sole box of pocky (^_^ Go pocky!), you know I'll have nothing to offer if you actually *do* want to sue me. Comments and criticism I take, lawsuits I do not, so...hint hint wink wink I have of value ^^;;
A/N: Okay, I know everyone hates long introductions, so I'll be short. This is my first CCS fic, AU (very much so, but please just follow along ^^*), will be S+S...PLEASE be kind? o_o I would love reviews to tell me how I'm doing too, so please someone review! Okay, now on to the story ^_^*
* * *
CHAPTER 1: First Encounter
* * *
"Deity of Thunder, hear us and obey! We call you to trial in the Circle of Elders." A loud voice boomed from under the thick cover of darkness. Suddenly, there was a rush of green mist; it swirled larger and larger until finally, revealed in the center of the whirlwind, was the young Deity himself. "Li Shaoran, you have made a grave mistake. Are you aware of your deeds?"
A dim spotlight fell on the boy in question. His head was bowed, the shadow from his brown hair casting over his eyes, ominously darkening his face. He nodded silently.
Another voice spoke up. "Then you also must know the consequences."
The boy said nothing, only bowed his head lower.
"You have shamed the Deities," a third voice said. "We have no choice but to send you to retrieve the Clow Cards from whence you lost them. We will use the power of the Clan to bring you back to the exact time and date of your mistake. You are to recollect the Clow Book and all the Cards inside. When you have them all, you may return to the Heavens, and the Circle of Deities will welcome your return, but not very well until you have the Book. Take note that in the mortal realm, you will have very limited power and energy, so be sure not to tire yourself with trivialities. In the case of failure, you are never to return to this Circle. Do you understand these terms?"
With neither a nod nor a sound, the swirling green wind reappeared, now accentuated by angry, yellow flashes of lightning. As before, it circled the boy, and when it vaporized, the boy was gone.
* * *
"Sakura! Sakura-chan!!"
From beneath the covers came a tired groan. "Uuughh, Touya-kun, urusai! I'm up already!"
"Kaijuu, you'll be late for schooooool," he taunted from downstairs.
At those words, Sakura Kinomoto was out of bed and dressed in record time. She hurriedly did her hair and was downstairs in time for breakfast before Touya had even gotten his books together. "Ohayo," Fujitaka called, "I see you're ready before Touya-kun! What a surprise." He smiled.
"She's ready *for once*," Touya muttered. Sakura ignored him, pushing past to smile at the photo frame of Nadeshiko, her mother, and greet her father. "Ohayo gozaimasu! I can't be late the first day back from summer break. Besides, Tomoyo-chan said she wants to tape me roller blading into school, sort of a tribute to the new year."
Fujitaka smiled and turned to Touya. "I'll be home late today, so make sure you two eat and do you homework, alright?"
"Another lecture?" Touya frowned. Sakura missed her mother a lot, though she didn't remember much about Nadeshiko. She knew only that which her father told, and he rarely shared details. Touya himself only knew that beyond her exceeding beauty, which Sakura had inherited, Nadeshiko was very kind and very loved by all. But the lack of a female figure had Fujitaka worried; as a result, he was always open to letting Sakura hang around Tomoyo. Tomoyo was a charming girl, Fujitaka said, and she drew Sakura into her little circle of friends. Touya was extremely understanding of his father's worries and always tried to be there for his sister when Fujitaka couldn't.
"Sorry," Fujitaka apologized. His voice was cheerful, but his eyes were sad. 'If only Nadeshiko were here,' they seemed to say. "Anyway, have a good day at school. I'll see you two later tonight."
"Okay!" Sakura called from the door. "I'm leaving now. Bye!"
"Sakura, wait!" Touya rushed from his seat to the door, but Sakura had already left. 'Incredible,' he thought. 'She's actually early for once.' He quickly grabbed his bicycle and took off, shouting a hurried, "Goodbye" back to their father as he tried to catch up to Sakura.
With such a big head start, it wasn't until halfway to school when he actually caught up to her, and that was only because she stopped for Yukito. This past break, Fujitaka had bought Sakura a new pair of rollerblades. He had gotten them on special discount from Tomoyo's mother at the toy store; these were much faster, 'the newest innovation in japanese transportation,' and could go nearly as fast as Touya's bike. 'When she first tried them out, she fell again and again,' thought Touya with a wistful smile. How he loved Sakura...
"Touya-kun!" Yukito waved. "Sakura-chan beat you! How did *that* happen?"
"Kaijuu moves fast for being so big," he teased.
Sakura sighed, "Hooeeee??"
Yukito only laughed. "Come on, Touya-kun. Stop teasing. We'll be late for school!" He turned to Sakura, "So how was your summer vacation?"
She blushed, skating slower so she could keep up conversation. "It - it was good. I went to the Winter Festival with Chiharu-chan, Rika-chan, Naoko-chan, and Yamazaki-kun...it was fun," she finished lamely.
"I'm glad you had fun. I went to visit my grandparents in Europe."
"Hoe? What part of Europe?"
"Well, they're living in England right now, but they'll be back to Japan soon."
"Oh, Tomoyo-chan was in England too! She was visiting the singing acadamies there..."
"Sakura-chan," Touya reminded. "This is your school."
"Un! I almost missed the gate. Arigatou, onni-chan!"
"Not a problem, kaijuu," he muttered as she skated off.
Behind him, Yukito leaned towards Touya's ear. "You'll miss her today, and you know it," he said with a smile. Touya only nodded and sped on.
* * *
"Sakura-chan! I got it *all* on tape!" Tomoyo squealed in delight as Sakura made her way into class.
"Oo-ohayo, Tomoyo-chan." Sakura dropped tiredly into her seat...the seat in the right back of the classroom near the window, with only one empty desk behind her. She always claimed that seat on the first day. She smiled to herself; it was the only day she was ever early for class.
And all for that one seat.
As predicted, Tomoyo took the empty seat to her right. There was no assigned seating. It was always a given that Sakura and Tomoyo would sit in the second to last row, next to the window, just as Rika would sit there, beside Naoko and behind Chiharu and Yamazaki, who *always* sat next to each other and held hands on the first day back from anything. Sakura smiled as they reached across the empty aisle and initiated the tradition. It was nice to know that some things always stayed constant.
"How was England, Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked, turning her attention back to her friend who was currently fiddling with a camcorder. "Is that new?"
Tomoyo grinned, hugging it to her body. "Hai! My mom got it for me when we were there. It was great!" Sakura listened to the rest of Tomoyo's excited ramblings before the door opened and sensei stepped through. Then all was hushed.
"Ohayo gozaimasu, class!" He was pleased when some students greeted him back. "It's good to see some familiar faces again this year. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Terada-sensei, and I'll be supervising homeroom this year."
In the seat in front of Sakura, Rika blushed and sighed wistfully upon hearing sensei's voice. Sakura shrugged it off, dawdling in her own thoughts instead. 'I could've used another hour or three of sleep...' she yawned. The only thing that brought her back from her daydream was the door sliding open again.
A dark boy stepped through, already dressed in the casual Tomoeda School uniform. His gaze was intent as he entered the classroom. 'Hoe?' Sakura thought curiously. 'Who's this?'
"I'm also proud to present Li Shaoran, our foreign exchange student from Hong Kong. He'll be staying here for an entire year, soaking in the japanese culture." The class clapped but only received a scowl from Li. 'I shouldn't be here,' he thought angrily. 'How could the Clan do this to me?' His glare darkened as he thought, 'I'm *so* disgusted in...me...'
"We hope you have a good year, Li-san." Terada stopped now and looked around the room, eyes lighting when he found an empty seat. "For now, we'll just have you sit behind Sakura, there in the back corner." He muttered a word of thanks and made his way to the back. 'After all, I have to maintain some kind of decency.' But when he passed Chiharu and Rika, he stopped.
"I - I sense..." he said, looking at a confused Tomoyo. 'No, it's not her...'
He turned sharply to his right and automatically his eyes narrowed. 'It's her...*she's* got them.' Like Tomoyo, Sakura blinked in confusion as Li's stare focused on her. He seemed incredibly angry, though she hadn't even said one word to him. 'Must have had a bad plane ride,' she thought to herself, accounting his intensity to lack of comfort and jet-lag.
"Please be seated, Li-san," Terada said, breaking both Li and Sakura out of their trances. "As I said earlier, welcome new students! As your homeroom teacher, I'll be explaining these ground rules; firstly..."
Try as she might, Sakura could not concentrate. Even after the mysterious boy had taken his seat, she could see his eyes, their intensity from the stare, and feel them burning into her from behind. Her confusion turned to outright indignation and fear. 'What does he want?'
'Why is he so intense?'
* * *
"I want them back!"
"Excuse me?" Sakura blinked again, green eyes wide.
"I said, I want them back. Where are they?" The boy had taken her aside during rest period. Sakura thought it was strange, but she always welcomed the opportunity to make new friends and was thusly willing to follow him. But now he was accusing her of taking something she never even had.
"You want what back? I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. What did you lose?"
"I *didn't* lose them!" He yelled loudly enough to frighten Sakura; she backed into a chainlink fence. Then he lowered his voice, "It was an accident...I didn't mean to release them."
He looked so sad that Sakura wanted to placate him, but she remembered his accusations and stayed put. "Well," she said gently, looking to calm him, "What was it? If you lost it at school, the first place to try is usually the lost and found." She giggled, "I should know. I've lost tons of things there. But don't worry, you always get them back. How about it? I'll even help you find it!"
He looked surprised at her offer; her smile, her laugh, everything about her made him think. 'She acts so innocent...could it be that she doesn't really have them? It could just be a trick, but what if she's really telling the truth?' He debated whether or not to attack. 'That would certainly force her to use the cards, if she does have them. But if she doesn't, the Elders will have my head for messing with a mere mortal.'
Before he knew it, Sakura had taken his hand and dragged him back inside the school building. "Come on!" She cried as she ran, all the while pulling him along. She couldn't possibly have seen him blush, nor could she predict his abrupt stop.
"*What* are you doing?" he glared.
She stopped. "I'm trying to help you find it. What is it, by the way?"
"It's a book." He stopped there, not wanting to go into too many details, especially with a mortal. "It's red, and it's got a golden seal on the binding." He seemed rather satisfied, even relieved when her expression stayed neutral. 'She didn't react oddly to anything I said; she must not have it. But why do I sense something different in her?'
She looked in the lost and found bin. "Hmm, a red book? I don't think there's a red book in here, Shaoran-kun." It was his turn to blink. 'She - she called me Shaoran?? Not even my cousin calls me that!' He turned, desperately trying to hide his blush.
Sakura didn't notice how anxious he was that she had called him by his first name. She stepped right up to him and stuck out her hand. "Come to think of it, we haven't been properly introduced." She also seemed to have forgotten his cold behavior towards her on the playground. "My name is Kinomoto Sakura, and I welcome you to Tomoeda Elementary. Hajimemashite!" She smiled.
Shaoran stared at her hand, still outstretched. Slowly, of its own accord,his arm rose and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you too," he said dumbly, still wondering how he had been both forgiven and befriended in the same half hour. 'It's her smile...what?! Shut up Shaoran!' "I'm Li Shaoran...but - but you can call me Shaoran." 'No, shut up, shut up! There's something not right about her. Don't make friends!' His mind waged war on itself.
"Sugoi!" She smiled cutely, eliciting another deep blush from the deity-in-disguise. "And you can call me Sakura! Since you're new, I'll show you around Tomoeda District sometime, okay?"
"...Okay."
At long last, his hand was released. "I have to get back to Tomoyo now. Sorry I couldn't help you find your book, but I'll try again later. See you around, Syaoran-kun!" And Sakura ran off.
Shaoran stood in the empty hall for a good minute or two afterwards. "Idiot," he admonished out loud. "Look what you've done." He looked at his hand, pink and warm from the handshake...and Sakura's touch. It tingled from the contact; back in the Heavens, contact with anyone was hardly accepted, especially for a rising deity. But here on mortal land, human contact seemed something of a given.
He shook his head. He was here for a mission, and he'd get it done soon. He would just have to put all these odd feelings out of the way, distracting as they were. He put his hands in his pockets and turned to the opposite direction Sakura had gone. 'Stop it,' he told himself. 'Don't think of it anymore than you have to. It's crazy...a deity and a mortal. Absolutely crazy.'
"Damn you," he said to the empty hall. "You've gone and made me a friend." He turned his head down and stared at his shoes. 'It'll only be so much harder to leave, later...'
* * *
To Be Continued...
* * *
so, how was it? ^_^* i hope i did okay. anyways, tell me what i should do! i know it's a little unclear right now, and the characters might seem kind of...really...out of character, but i'm trying to fix that. and yes, i know, it's a weird story. blame it on sugary ice cream at 3:30am and a boredom strong enough to kill. please review!
ChibiQuatre @ pandahgirl@aol.com