I Am Not My Sister's Keeper
Summary: Sometimes trying to keep two people apart is exactly the thing that brings them together. An S+S romance from Touya's POV.
This is probably more T+N than S+S seeing as it is Touya's perspective, but I just thought it was an interesting way to see Sakura and Syaoran. The story is set in the canon universe, but Sakura and Syaoran HAVE NOT confessed their feelings and are only friends at this point even though five years have passed since the cards were captured. Some Japanese, but most of its rudimentary stuff like titles etc. or the kind of thing that comes up so often in fanfiction you now implicitly know what they mean. Will translate if I think it's necessary.
Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura.
I Am Not My Sister's Keeper - Interpretation
It was the 28th of February, which was about as close to Kinomoto Touya's birthday as it was going to get this year, it not being a leap year and the general populace still unwilling to recognise the day he came into the world more often than every four years. Regardless, his date of birth being somewhat of a fiction in such years, Fujitaka was taking them all out to dinner in recognition of the fact that he had been around for twenty three years now with nothing yet to deter that course.
"You should know, I refuse to sing 'happy birthday' or offer any birthday related sentiments," Nakuru teased as she happily glomped his side. That had been her response to his suggestion that as her birthday gift to him she could refrain from any unnecessary glomping. There was always at least one person in every group who took it upon themselves to point out the obvious.
"You are a very economical friend to have, Tou-kun," she added, still refusing to unlatch her arms from around his form. He cringed from the childish nickname she had imposed on him. "You're only one quarter of the effort, and ten times the fun!" She laughed loudly and squeezed him tighter, causing the twenty three year old male to sport a rather fetching blush.
"Yes, how old are you really 'nii-chan?" his imouto, Sakura, joined in with Nakuru's teasing. The mahogany haired girl responded for him, cutely holding up her palm to indicate five years. Touya frowned – he was technically almost six and felt that should be accounted for.
"You are so kawaii, Tou-kun!" she squealed at his pained expression, happily pinching his cheek.
This gesture engendered a laugh from Yukito who always enjoyed watching Touya's cheeks turn red from anger and embarrassment (and probably a little hanyann Touya wasn't quite ready to admit to) as Nakuru ignored his demands for personal space. It also earned a chuckle from the teenage boy seated next to his imouto-chan, and quite frankly, sitting far too close for Touya's liking.
"Perhaps you should call him 'otouto-chan'," the Chinese gaki suggested with a snort.(1) Touya still refused to acknowledge the fact that his sister was friends with that thing, and feverishly denied the thing he had known from the start – that this gaki was Sakura's destiny even if she was still miles away from realising her feelings for him. At least he hoped she was miles away.
"Mou, Syao-kun," she admonished, although the wide smile that reached her eyes and the playful slap to his shoulder seemed to defeat the supposed scolding.
Touya recognised the whole thing for what it truly was – his sixteen-year-old baby sister was flirting with that gaki and Touya would have none of it. The way she purred his name, the shortened address to something more intimate, the way her hand lingered on his chest unnecessarily, and did she just scoot closer to that boy! Oh, she was so getting it now. His eyes narrowed dangerously in their direction.
"C'mon, kids," Fujitaka cheered, including both the three twenty something year olds (none of which were truly their age – both Nakuru and Yukito only came into existence less than ten years ago) and the three teenagers in his address. "We need to go now to get our reservation. Hiragizawa-san and Mizuki-san will be wondering where we are."
Touya wondered briefly why he was spending his birthday celebration with Sakura's friends, but the bright look that she sent their father explained it all. Sakura had been somewhat responsible for the guest list and for some reason thought it appropriate to invite his ex-girlfriend who was now romantically involved with the half-reincarnation of some sorcerer (his father being the other half) who had stalled his aging so that he appeared the same age as his sister (this he found incredibly creepy, but was pretty sure that Kaho would be moving on soon to a younger model as she had with him). Not only that, but she had taken it upon herself to invite Akizuki Nakuru who would undoubtedly attach herself to him for the rest of the evening.
"Thank you for letting Syaoran-kun and Tomoyo-chan come with us, 'Tou-san," she said sweetly, smiling up at their father endearingly. The warm smile Fujitaka returned seem to convey a hidden message of approval that did not go unnoticed by Touya.
Touya also did not fail to notice the order in which Sakura spoke her friends' names. Tomoyo came second to that boy now, where as before he wouldn't have even made it onto the list. Seven years ago there was no such person as 'Syaoran-kun' – at least as far as Sakura knew – and Touya considered that a much simpler time when he wasn't in constant fear of losing his sister.
Fujitaka hustled the group towards the vehicles. Nakuru insisted on accompanying him on his bike, while Yukito and the teenagers took the car. Touya snarled a little at the travelling arrangements, or rather the fact that Sakura was sandwiched between her two friends in the back seat of Otou-san's hybrid sedan. He swore it was some kind of conspiracy, probably that she-devil Daidouji-san meddling once again. He just knew his camera-wielding second cousin had something up her sleeve and would be using everything at her disposal to get those two together.
The thought caused him to flex his grip on the throttle and the speedometer to rise. It was never a good idea to be around Touya when his 'sister-complex' came to head, and even more so when he was on his bike.
"Slow down, Tou-kun!" Nakuru cried gleefully, holding him a little tighter as she rested her chin on his leather clad shoulder. Her long hair trailed behind them like ribbons in the wind as the sped through the streets of Tomedea at something that didn't come even remotely close to the speed limit.
It was one of the things he liked about Akizuki Nakuru; she never meant it when she told him to slow down. On her command he increased the throttle, and allowed the cool wind on his face and her cheerful laugh in his ear to cool his temper.
"Oh damn that Sakura-sama," she complained almost suddenly. "She's used loop on us."
"Huh?" Touya asked in surprise.
Nakuru shook her head at him. "You're not nearly as observant without your magic, Touya-kun," she told him sweetly.
"Says the girl who wanted to steal it from me," he replied grouchily, his eyes trained on the road.
"You can have some of mine," she offered, tapping his chest lightly and letting out a spark of her magic that warmed his body. "Although I'm not sure you'd approve of the method of delivery."
"And what vehicle, pray tell, will fulfil such a role?" he questioned, turning his head so that he could glance at her to see if she was serious.
"A kiss," she replied, before capturing his lips with her own. He could feel his body tingling from the surge of magic that flowed from her, filling the emptiness in his soul. At least that was what he told himself that undeniable sense of warmth emanating from her was – that it was magic and not something more perturbing. He understood that this – although she would probably deny it – was his birthday gift, and even if it was temporary, it was exactly what he wanted. It was the chance to say goodbye.
"Now, Tou-kun," she purred softly, her lips by his ear and her warm breath on his cheek. "Slow down."
"What took you so long?" Sakura asked smugly when Touya and Nakuru finally arrived, both their faces flushed from the high-speed ride. "We've been waiting ten minutes." She glanced at the gaki, who sniggered at her cruel trick. Touya was sure it had been the gaki's idea, and just went to show that he wasn't the kind of person that should be hanging around with his sister.
"I don't know, Sakura-chan," Nakuru replied, drawing her pointer finger to the corner of her lips in a gesture of mock thought. "Perhaps some naughty card mistress played a mean trick on her brother in the hopes that – as usual – he would be driving too fast to notice, and thus delay him by ten minutes."
"Who would do a thing like that?" Sakura responded, blinking her eyes innocently. The two shared a look that Touya didn't understand, almost as though Nakuru had known all along. "C'mon!" Sakura cheered before Touya could consider that look further, "Kaho-san and Eriol-kun are waiting."
With that a somewhat annoyed looking maître de led the seven of them through the restaurant to a large round table where Kaho and Eriol were in fact waiting for them. Two seemingly inanimate winged teddy bears lay upon the table – one jet black and the other a golden yellow.
'Great,' Touya thought sulkily to himself, 'even the stuffed animals get invited. Do I have no friends of my own or something?'
"Syao-kun, sit next to me," Sakura insisted happily, drawing Touya's attention from his thoughts. He glared as the Chinese gaki obligingly took a seat next to his dear sister, gritting his teeth together at the sight of the pair.
"Mou, Touya," Nakuru said softly beside him as she dragged him down into a seat. "Be nice."
Touya frowned, but allowed his jaw to slacken ever so slightly into a sulky pout.
"Smile," she commanded, "you look so handsome when you smile."
The corner of his mouth quirked slightly at her comment, but it was clear that was the most she was going to get with that brat seated so close to his sister. Sakura smiled wanly at the two males either side of her glaring darkly at one another, glancing helplessly at Nakuru for some kind of assistance.
"Tou-kun?" Nakuru asked sweetly. Touya glanced her way briefly before returning his glare to Syaoran for fear that the gaki would try something while he wasn't looking. He grunted to show he was listening.
"How is your chair?" she asked.
He frowned briefly at her question. What on earth kind of question was that? He turned his head, unable to deny her his attention after such a phrase. "It's fine," he answered her in a clipped fashion, glancing at her worriedly.
"Good, 'cause I think we should switch," she told him with a determined nod. "My chair is too soft, and I can still see the lobster tank from here and they make me sad."
"The chairs are all the same, and I can see the tank from my seat as well," he said flatly, rolling his eyes at the soft-hearted guardian. "If you don't want to see the tank then you should swap with Yukito-san or 'tou-san as they've both got their backs to it."
"But then I won't get to sit next to you, Tou-kun," she pouted, thrusting her lip out at him and her dark chocolate eyes looking large and innocent. "Your seat feels firmer," she added, poking his cushion. She leaned over him to make her final point. "You can't see the lobsters from your seat, Tou-kun, only the tank. You can't see their sad little eyes and their little clippers all bound up like prisoners."
Touya blushed as he caught a whiff of her scent – she smelt sweet and citrusy like a lemon tart, and he caught a hint of some other flavour that told him she had spent the day baking. "Nakuru, I am not moving," he replied somewhat flustered and thus failing to correct his address. He glared pointedly at Syaoran to ensure that he got the message that he would be staying put as long as the gaki remained so close to his baby sister.
"Fine then, we'll share." Before Touya could argue, she scooted closer, and began to encroach on his chair territory. She swung her legs over her knees, letting him know that she would not be content sitting on the edge of the chair, and as nice a thought as it conjured, Touya immediately turned bright red and slipped off the side of the chair, relinquishing his place to its new owner.
Nakuru smiled triumphantly at the whole table, while Sakura sent her a small, grateful smile. Not that the distance made any difference to Touya or Syaoran, who continued to glare daggers at one another across their respective females.
Eventually a waiter arrived to take their orders, going immediately to Sakura's side. As usual, she was taking her sweet time and asking questions of the various dishes. Anyone else might think that she was doing her darndest to monopolize the waiter's full attention, but Sakura was just incredibly indecisive when it came to dining out. The waiter did not seem to understand this distinction (assuming the former rather than the latter) and immediately began to shower Sakura with indiscrete compliments to which the auburn haired girl was oblivious.
'Looks like we finally agree on something,' Touya thought to himself with a snort as his eyes met Syaoran's briefly as they both refocused their glares upon the waiter speaking with Sakura. He tried to convince himself that anyone was better than that stupid gaki when it came to his sister, but in the end he realized that logic did not extend to twenty-one year old smarmy waiters. A look of understanding passed between Touya and Syaoran, indicating that the latter was to do what it took to get her away from the waiter.
"I was thinking of getting the chicken breast myself," Syaoran cut in, referring to the two choices she was dilly-dallying between. His eyes narrowed dangerously at the waiter. "Why don't you get the snapper, and we can share?"
Sakura's face brightened at the suggestion, and Touya couldn't help but cringe at how happy just a few brief words from Syaoran were able to make the young card mistress. "The snapper please," she said happily, blushing as she glanced at the object of her affections.
"What can I get you, mademoiselle?" the waiter asked smoothly, turning his attention to Nakuru.
Touya's eyes narrowed once again, not given a second to rest now his little sister was free of his advances. He was so concerned with glaring at the waiter that he didn't hear a single word of what was spoken.
"Touya-kun," Nakuru called, dragging him from his bubble of loathing, "what did you want?"
"You order for me, anata," he told her as he settled his hand next to hers, and carefully intertwined their fingers.(2) His eyes narrowed at the waiter in gesture that quite clearly said 'back off' in no uncertain terms. Nakuru looked pleased at his suggestion, which didn't surprise him as Nakuru was always trying to order food for him whenever they were out together, and was always bringing him food during their classes even when she'd seen him prepare his own lunch earlier. She seemed to have a strange obsession with feeding people (well, really just him and Spinnel Sun, but it still counts).
"What did you order?" he asked once the waiter was far enough away and no longer a threat.
"I got the comfit of duck," she replied, "and I ordered you a steak with a side of fries."
Touya shook his head at her. "You're the only person I know who won't eat lobsters because of their sad little faces, but is more than happy to take a serving of roast duck." His lip twitched ever so slightly into something close to a smile, but otherwise his expression remained stony.
"Do you see any ducks around here?" Nakuru asked haughtily, waving her hand in a sweeping gesture of the restaurant. "I just think it's cruel to eat them when they can see us. It's like taunting them with their fate." She looked sad after that expression, and Touya frowned at her tone. He never did like it when she was unhappy.
Eventually the meals came, and Touya watched his sister carefully, only taking his eyes from her in order to glare at the waiter any time he came near their table. It was not particularly surprising that they were eventually approached by an entirely different waiter when it came time to order the next round of drinks.
She spoke to the Li boy constantly, taking more pleasure in pieces of food from his plate than her own, leaning across him to grab something from Nakuru when it would be just as easy to reach for the thing from behind, and causing all sorts of unnecessary contact. He wondered when his sister had become so skilled in the art of flirting, but it quickly became clear when his camera wielding cousin sent Sakura a 'thumbs-up' sign from across the table. Sakura had apparently been given lessons in the 'art of seduction'.
Oh and they were working. Every blush that flashed across that blasted gaki's cheeks told him that the boy was falling for her feminine wiles, well, that is assuming he wasn't long gone already. Touya suspected it was the latter, but would not let such thoughts make their way to his conscious mind.
Touya didn't know whether to be appalled or impressed with her 'talents'. After all, Sakura had never had a mother to teach her all the things a girl needed to know when it came to boys, and yet she was able to apply them so flawlessly to this particular boy. After giving it only a moment's thought, he decided to go with appalled.
When it came time for dessert, he was presented with a beautifully decorated peach blossom cake adorned with five large candles, and one just a quarter shorter than the other two. His name had been written in the peach coloured frosting, well sort of. Because Nakuru clearly couldn't help herself, the characters for 'Tou-kun' were drawn out deliberately, with little frosting hearts and glazed peach petals surrounding it.
"Make a wish, Tou-kun," Nakuru commanded softly, a gentle smile upon her lips.
Touya nodded. He knew exactly what he wanted to wish for.
'I wish,' he thought to himself as he stared intently into the burning candles. 'I wish I knew how to stop imouto-chan from falling in love with him.'
What a waste of wish. He should have known better than anyone, there was no way of stopping destiny. But even more importantly than that . . . he should have known it was already too late.
~ to be continued ~
This is a nice little four parter on how Touya eventually resigns himself to the S+S coupling. It's very Touya-centric so there won't be a major amount of S+S moments. I've been working on this one for a while now, and I've almost finished the final chapter, so I thought it was about time to start posting it.
Hope you liked it. Review.
Translations:
(1) otouto-chan means little brother – yeah, Syaoran, that was totally lame but we still lub yah!
(2) anata means 'my darling' (sort of, it's kind of complicated). Essentially it's a very strong signal to the waiter that Nakuru was taken, even though she isn't.
Next chapter:
"Don't you have a girlfriend?" he gasped, hardly catching his breath. He typed discretely on the open laptop where he had an open chat window – Shit! I think Kinomoto Touya just asked me out!
