-.-Want To Believe-.-

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was originally a one-shot that I wanted to write, but I decided to split it into two. I think a story about a kiss on the next guy had been done before, but this is different, if it isn't, please tell me. This is a little side project to "Thank You Stranger". Enjoy and Review. –smiles-

Summary: College student, Sakura Kinomoto had been taught to detest men. Through all the annoyance of her friends clamoring over how fantastic a kiss is, Sakura decides to try it out on the next guy she meets, who happens to be a chocolate-haired male.

Warning: Mild Language.

PART ONE

Now let the lov-I mean hate begin…

All men were bastards.

That was what Sakura's mother had taught her the day her father ran away with another woman. He left her mother shattered and broken. Emerald orbs narrowed menacingly out in the distance as she remembered that day well.

"Sakura-chan… my little Sakura-chan," murmured a broken voice.

The little six year old auburn-haired girl glanced up at her mother with a pang in her heart. The woman before her, at that moment, didn't look like the beautiful mother that she had known and came to admire. There was no smile upon her face, but most importantly, that glint within her eyes had died.

Mascara bled down her face mixed with the flowing tears, ruined her delicate complexion. Her flawless face paled white enhancing the deep red smudge of red lipstick smeared all over her mouth. Her gorgeous locks of dark brown hair were messily arranged, strands were flying everywhere. The yellow sun dress was an ironic statement considering the pounding rain outside the window.

Little Sakura suddenly found herself being hugged by her mother. Not sure what had happened to make her mother in a state of exhaustion, Sakura awkwardly hugged her back, her small hands barely able to wrap itself around her mother.

"Sakura-chan… my dear…listen to mommy," the woman muttered rather unsteadily, her hands were not any better as it stroke her daughter's small locks of auburn hair.

Scrunching her small little brows, said girl nodded not comprehending much before she was abruptly jerked away.

"No, you must listen to mommy!" the woman almost shouted, her eyes were blank with fury, "All men are bastards, you don't trust anyone of them, you hear?!?"

The way her mother shouted frightened Sakura and she numbly nodded her head to please her mother.

"Oh, I'm sorry, baby," the woman whispered softly as if realizing the harsh tone she'd used. Pulling the little girl into her arms again, she softly cooed, "Mommy knows you'll listen to her. Mommy knows that her little Sakura-chan is a good girl."

Then, Sakura hadn't known why her mother was acting that way nor did she knew why her mother would get drunk and go out nearly every night, returning at early dawn only to lock herself up in her room. As she grew older, Sakura became aware of the tears her mother shed behind closed door and it pained her.

Years passed and Sakura finally understood what her mother had told her when she was young. Men were just lying, cheating bastards not worth her time. All they desire from a woman is looks, sex, and something to show off. For that, Sakura resented her father, blaming him for her mother's current unstable conditions.

Sakura Kinomoto resented all males.

Her friends, however, didn't and that would endlessly annoy her. Don't get her wrong, she loves her friends to death, but when it came to men, she felt as if she didn't belong. Their relentless 'You'll find someone for yourself' or 'You'll see' or 'Mr. Right will come and sweep you off your feet' or 'Your Prince Charming is coming' and much more were constant and irritating as hell.

Leaning back against the bench, Sakura recalled the conversation she had this morning with her friends.

Earlier today…

"He's such a great guy!" a raven-haired woman squeal, her amethyst eyes seems to be in space since her head was probably stuck in the clouds.

"Do tell!" another voice belonging to a scarlet-haired woman exclaimed, just as excitedly.

"Yea, I noticed you blushing when he picked you up!" a brunette spoke up in confidence, the run reflecting a glint in her glasses shielding her suggesting eyes.

"Well…" the raven-haired woman began; her face was turning into a blush as she start.

"Oh my goodness, Tomoyo-chan's already blushing at the thought of him!" the brunette exclaimed, her innocent face was probably the exact opposite of her personality.

"Geez, it seems you guys have no life," a certain emerald-eyed woman stated rather scornfully.

"Sakura-chan, the only one here having no life is you," the scarlet-haired woman reprimanded.

"Chiharu-chan's right, it's not healthy to study and work as much as you do," the woman who's all attention was on earlier said.

"Well, excuse me for trying to get a good education to have a good career. To do something as ambitious as that, I must work for the money to continue my education," Sakura glared at her friends.

"Yea, yea, yea, education is good and all, but you need a man in your life!" the brunette stated.

"Naoko-chan! I thought you would be on my side on this education thing!" Sakura exasperatedly cried at the other brunette who merely gave her a sheepish shrug.

"Alright, forget about it, we're side-tracking from Tomoyo-chan's important date with that rather delicious man," the scarlet-haired woman, known as Chiharu said.

Sakura frowned, one minute they claimed how important a man is in their life and then the next, they view the male species as some sort of meat! Scoffing in disgust, Sakura turned her attention to the real meat on her plate.

Ignoring their sneering friend's scoff, Chiharu and Naoko turned expectantly at Tomoyo.

"He has these gorgeous sapphire eyes and a nice built and he's such a gentleman," Tomoyo explained rather giddily earning giggles from the other two as well.

"Did you guys kiss?" Chiharu inquired, eyebrow rose to help her advocate such a question.

"Chiharu-chan! It's only their first date!" Naoko exclaimed, playfully slapping the red-head by the arm.

"Actually…" Tomoyo began, but trailed off as a blush deepened at the giggles.

"How was he?"

"It was…" Tomoyo began, looking off dreamily as she finished, "…magical."

Sakura wanted to blame the fairy tales for suggesting these words that describes something, to her, seemed gross. Putting it bluntly, who in the hell wants to basically swallow the other's face? Sakura faked a gag, not caring if her friend saw or not.

"Sakura!" Naoko's tone seemed to scold Sakura for such behavior.

"What?" Sakura asked, rather annoyed. It's a free country and she could freely express her opinion, "You guys would go on and said, 'there seems to be fireworks in the background as we kiss' or 'everything felt so right', blah… blah… blah…"

"You wouldn't be saying that if you actually let a guy near you enough to hug you, let alone, a kiss," Tomoyo stated matter-of-factly as the other two nodded in agreement.

"It's such a stupid thing," Sakura replied.

"How would you know?" Chiharu asked, "We know you since middle school and that's long enough to know you've never kissed someone of the opposite sex."

"N-" Sakura began defending herself against these vicious women.

"Chiharu-chan's right," the quiet Naoko said as she fixed her glasses.

"Stupid stinking friends," Sakura muttered albeit to herself while her eyes glare at her companions.

"What was that?" Tomoyo asked rather sweetly. They were right and she was wrong and now they were going to rub it in.

"Nothing…"

"So, until you kiss a male species, take him to us as proof of your kiss, don't even dare to patronize our romantic self," Chiharu stated, the situation was rather random since it was thought at the top of her head and it's highly unlikely Sakura would.

The other two just nodded in agreement causing Sakura's irritation to increase.

Present…

Sighing, Sakura closed her eyes momentarily. Growling in aggravation, Sakura began to think.

So what if she spend most of her time either going to school or working? So what if she never kissed a man? It wasn't her fault that no men she had ever meet wasn't anything said.

But… her friends. Oh, how she would love to prove them wrong. She couldn't go and make them see that men were nothing but trash since they'll say something stupid like 'not all of them are like that'.

Thinking back to what her dear friend said, note the sarcasm, Sakura finally concluded that she was going to do it.

Do what, you may ask?

Sakura Kinomoto was going to go find a guy, get him to kiss her, then take them to her stupid friends, then tell them that kissing is still stupid, and then rub it in their face plus forcing them to stop making her go on these ridiculous blind date with all these males.

Ok, easier said then done and kind of stupid if you ask anyone walking by, but Sakura was just too damn determined to care.

Now, the trouble start. Sakura wasn't the most beautiful amongst her friends, but she had a subtle beauty, somewhere. She didn't have any guy friends that she could ask and the closest male acquaintances were her friends' boyfriends, but she couldn't ask them to kiss her.

Where to find a guy? The question repeated itself in her mind as her emerald eyes scanned the area around the bench she was currently sitting on. Stopping her sight at every male her eyes could see, she begins to eliminate those that wouldn't be good enough.

Hmm…definitely NOT the old grandpa…meaning the gray-haired grandpa reading the newspaper to her left.

And kissing a little boy would be pedophile… meaning a rather cute five-year old boy playing with his boat near the pond.

And so her elimination process continued…

Too short… too tall… too skinny… too fat… too perverted… too taken… too bad style… too strange… too bad odor!

Gosh, Sakura knew it would be difficult to find someone, but who knew it would be THIS hard? Finally, finding that she had practically reduced all the males in area to zero, Sakura frowned.

Maybe I'm being too picky? Sakura pondered the question and took another sweep of the area which happens to be a little park before concluding. Nope.

Taking a sigh, Sakura reluctantly decided to herself… the next guy.

Momentarily closing her eyes, she counted to five before opening them again. As luck would have it, it was a loving couple. She may dislike men, but she didn't want to destroy another's happiness and it seemed the couple was very happy.

Trying her luck again, the second time wasn't much better. It was a police officer. She couldn't possibly ask someone of the law to do something so ludicrous. She could go to jail!... Ok, she may be exaggerating it a tad bit, but still.

Hoping the third time would be better, like the saying 'third time's the charm', she closed her eyes. Upon opening them, she grimaces. Third time is NOT the charm. From what Sakura could note about this male individual, he was a pervert. She was NOT jumping to conclusion since the hunched man with a bald spot on his head was literally grinning disgustingly at the woman in a miniskirt who had bend over to fix her heels.

Huffing a final sigh, Sakura wondered if a park was the right place to find a man. The movies and shows lied just like the 'fireworks' and 'magic' when two person 'love' each other. Blah… blah… blah…

Sakura resolute that she might as well go home, maybe she'll find someone while going home. She brushed off what can be seen as imaginary dust off her jeans as she stood up. Grabbing her pale blue bag and placing it on her shoulder, Sakura strolled towards the park's entrance.

Something, however, caught the corner of her emerald eyes.

On her way out, it seems that a businessman was on his way into the park. He was a rather good-looking male and by the atmosphere that he emitted when he walks, he knew it too. He was wearing a suit with a loose red tie and talking rather exasperatingly into his cell phone. His chestnut hair, however, was a contradiction to his business-like features with its messiness, but still silk-looking.

Sakura guessed he was about a head taller than her. Nodding determinedly, Sakura had found herself a man who could probably go along with her crazy idea. After all, from what Sakura had gathered from those chick flicks, businessmen were players or something along that line. She figured that he wouldn't mind, right?

"You better finish the files by tomorrow!" an amber-brown-eyed male demanded rather loudly as he run his hand through his chestnut hair.

Almost snarling at such incompetence of his secretary, he wondered if he should fire her soon. Shutting the phone and stuffing it into his dress pant's pocket, he finally glanced up at his surrounding. Oh shit, he mentally noted in his head as he found himself in a park.

He seemed out of place with his proper suit and tie. Narrowing his eyes, he was about to swivel his body around and head out of that place, but a voice stopped him.

"Excuse me?" emerald eyes looked at him expectantly.

Expectantly? He didn't know this girl! Wanting to ignore the girl, Syaoran found that he couldn't, it seemed that something was amiss in the air.

"Are you married or have a girlfriend?" the auburn-haired woman asked.

Syaoran stared at the girl strangely. Was she hitting on him? He wondered. But then she isn't trying to flirt with him.

"No and no, but I'm not interested," Syaoran solemnly stated and was ready to turn away, "Excuse me."

Sakura blinked at the man. How arrogant! Just because someone asked you if you're married or taken, doesn't mean they're interested in you! But then again, how often does a girl come up to you wanting to ask you for a favor like the one she's thinking.

"I never said I was interested in you," Sakura remarked out loud at the retreating figure.

Syaoran turned around as her remark came through his ear. "Well, if you're not, then why, may I ask, do you ask such a question? It can't be pure curiosity."

"I want to ask you a favor," Sakura said ignoring her desire to punch the hell out of him.

"Whatever it is, I'm still not interested," the man responded.

Sakura fumed. How rude! Ego-ruining time. "Oh, the businessman is scared of a little favor? And to think, I haven't even asked it yet."

"What did you say?!"

It worked and Sakura mentally grinned.

Five minutes later, the two strangers found themselves situated in a nice little coffee shop across the street. The chestnut-haired male had ordered coffee, black. Typical, Sakura stereotyped in her mind. She, on the other hand, ordered orange juice, she wasn't one to drink coffee. It was such a disgusting taste to her.

A short silence passed where the two just simple drank their drink.

Sakura was in trouble. She didn't exactly planned ahead on what to say yet, she was too busy trying to find someone first. Running phrases, questions, and answers in her mind, she wonder if she should tell him the truth or lie or something.

"Are you going to ask me or not? I'm a very busy man," the chestnut-haired man stated, glancing at the girl sitting in front of him. Technically, it wasn't a lie; he was busy, just not 'very' busy.

"Hold your horses," Sakura grumbled. How rude!

A minute passed during which the amber-brown-eyed man was glaring at the girl.

"Ok, you may think I'm crazy," Sakura began following the words in her mind. Ignoring his snide remark of 'I already do', Sakura continued, "I need you to kiss me."

A little blunt… alright, really blunt. Sakura wasn't one to beat around the bushes.

Syaoran stared at the girl, really stared at her. What the hell!?

"Are you that desperate?" Syaoran had to ask. The girl IS crazy. Who would be dumb enough to ask a random person to kiss her?

Sakura growled at his question, "I wasn't finish."

"I can't possibly imagine what you can say to justify that," Syaoran replied.

"If you would just shut up so I can then I'll be extremely grateful," Sakura dryly retorted. How rude!

Syaoran opened his mouth to retaliate, but closed them not before sending her a glare.

Unfazed by his glare, Sakura continued, "Bottom line is. I already know I'm crazy and an idiot for asking a random stranger, but I needed to find a guy to help me. You were the first person I saw," a little lie, but hey, he wouldn't know, "I detest men," Sakura stated.

Syaoran sent her a 'look'. Rolling her eyes, she continued, "No, I'm not lesbian. I've never kissed a guy and I don't really want to kiss a guy, but my friends are just irritating about all this magic crap that a kiss is so I decide to find a guy and show them it isn't anything special. Shut their mouth and comments of 'you haven't tried so you wouldn't know' crap."

Syaoran blinked and stared at her … intriguing explanation to say the least.

Three minutes passed.

"So?" Sakura asked impatiently. The man hadn't moved or said anything. How rude!

"…" Syaoran couldn't say anything. How can you say something to such a request? Wasn't a kiss something that girls treasure or something like that? Apparently not all, his mind noted as he stared at the girl in front of him.

"Geez. Say something, would you?"

"Don't you have any guy friends?" Syaoran inquired. Yea, doesn't she have anyone to ask? Why a stranger?

"Were you not listening? I detest men so obviously I wouldn't have any," Sakura replied matter-of-factly.

"How old are you?" Syaoran asked. She looked way too young to be asking someone as old as him such a thing.

"I'm legal, if that's what you're worried about," Sakura responded. He didn't look that much older than her.

"Why are you doing this again?"

Sakura sighed, "Because I want to prove my damn friends wrong."

Obviously this girl doesn't mind her language. Syaoran stared at her again. His amber brown eyes meticulously gazing over her face to see if this was some kind of joke his demented friends had thought of.

She was serious!

"Is that a yes or no? I could go find someone else," Sakura finally said. Waiting, especially in a conversation, wasn't her strong suit.

"What exactly do I have to do?" Syaoran carefully asked.

"We kiss. I show you to my friends. Tell them that all this kissing stuff is crap. You go home. The end," Sakura said.

"What do I get out of this?"

"Hmm… I haven't thought of that," Sakura said, everything faded as the question brought itself up. She really hadn't thought of what the other person would get in return.

"Don't tell me you just suddenly decided this plan just now?" Syaoran asked, his eyes suddenly weary.

"No!" Sakura retorted, but then her loud voice died down as she muttered the next words, "I just thought of it fifteen minutes ago."

Syaoran rolled his eyes and sighed, making sure that the girl in front of him heard.

"Hey!" Sakura shouted angrily. How rude!

"If I agree to this charade, you'll owe me a favor," Syaoran stated, "I don't know what yet, but I'll figure it out and then I'll tell you."

"If it's nothing beyond what I can give, sure," Sakura agreed after pondering about it for a minute. She doubted he needed money.

"Aren't you afraid that I might take advantage of you?" Syaoran asked. Not that he would, but not everyone is like him.

"No."

Syaoran creased his eyebrows in perplexity. No? And she said it without even a slight hesitation. "Why not?"

"You don't look like the type," Sakura replied.

"You shouldn't judge a book by its cover," Syaoran responded, taking a sip of his black coffee. He hoped she knew that he wasn't insinuating that he was those types of guys who would take advantage of a girl like that.

"I know," Sakura softly whispered, barely audible for his ears before confidently stating her real reason, "I listened to my gut."

"Your gut could be wrong."

"From my past experiences, my gut hadn't been wrong," Sakura replied, tired of how strange their conversation was getting to. "Look, are you going to do it or not?"

"Sure," Syaoran replied, giving a nonchalant shrug.

"Are you serious?" Sakura exclaimed, not believing her ears.

"Yep."

"Why?" Sakura asked, narrowing her eyes at him. She hadn't really expected him to say yes or maybe she didn't know if she would be okay in carrying out her plan if he did say yes.

"Maybe I'll be that guy that woos you, make you believe in love again," Syaoran said in a joking manner. He didn't really know why he had said yes. It couldn't be the 'magic of the moment' or anything shallow and lame like that. It's not like he believed in all these cheesy mumbo-jumbo since he was too busy with his business, but he never really gave it a second glance. So maybe, he's doing this for amusement?

"Amusement?" Sakura questioned.

"I guess so…" Syaoran replied, realizing that he had said it out loud, but it wasn't something that shamed him.

"Well, I guess it's okay…" Sakura said a small frown marred her face. This was getting weird.

Suddenly the echo of a ringing phone claimed the air. The chestnut-haired male knew the ring tone as his own and quickly searched for his cell phone.

"Hello?... yes. I understand… Today?... Did you recheck?... Tell them I might be a bit late…"

Meaningless words to Sakura who was half-listening as her gaze fixed on the street through the store's window.

"Does this have to be today?"

A deep rumble echoed through her ear, returning her attention to the man across from her. "Hm?"

"I asked does this plan of yours have to be today?" the man repeated as he was hastily finishing up his cup of coffee.

Sakura thought it over before replying. "No… I suppose not."

"Could we reschedule this for tomorrow? Apparently tomorrow's meeting moved up to today," Syaoran explained though he didn't need to. Syaoran couldn't contemplate why he had given an explanation to her.

"Sure, I guess…"

"Great, how about I meet you here tomorrow, same time and same place we met?" Syaoran stated.

"Sure," Sakura absently responded.

"Drinks are on me," Syaoran said as he stood up, pulled a couple of bills and placed it on the table before heading off towards the door in a hurry.

"Wait!" Sakura called, disturbing the café's quiet atmosphere as she abruptly stood up earning a loud squeak of the chair.

The chestnut-haired man turned back to look at her. Embarrassed for making such a scene, she bowed her head slightly before rushing over to him.

"I haven't got your name," Sakura said, feeling her stomach churning for some particular reason she ignored as embarrassment.

"Syaoran Li and yours?" Syaoran said politely, as if introducing himself to a business associate. But I guess, in a sense, they were business associate.

"Sakura Kinomoto," Sakura replied, giving a slight bow.

"You have experienced kissing before right?" the soft words left her mouth before she knew what she were saying. She inwardly scolded herself.

The man before her stared at her for a moment and then burst into laughter.

How rude! Sakura thought feeling her cheeks warmed up for some odd reason.

"Don't worry. I've had my fair share. Til tomorrow then Kinomoto-san," Syaoran stated with a smirk, sending a small wave before going out the door.

Oh, boy. What have I gotten myself into? Sakura inwardly thought with a groan.

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A/N: Hope you enjoy it! Part two will be coming shortly, I hope. And if you've noticed, it hasn't been edited so don't mind my evident grammatical errors. –smiles-

Review please!

-hearts- KC