Here's chapter two, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura rightfully belongs to CLAMP.


I've never really liked him. A messy one, a fire eyed boy with nothing to do, but I know I've caught him staring at me once or twice in our twelve years of sitting by each other. Twelve years of nothing, simple words exchanged out of formalities, but never out of charisma or character. What is wrong with him? What is wrong with me? He's a good natured boy, I can feel it, and I can see it, too. Our eyes just never seem to intertwine.

"Hmm, Sakura, how do you think we should paint the backdrop?"

I turn to see a girl with tresses of sleek onyx; she's holding a paint brush not nearly dipped in enough crimson paint.

"Well, the setting is fall, so why not traditional fall colors?" I suggest, thinking about the obvious.

She scrunches her nose and purses her small lips. "Traditional is a little too boring, don't you think?"

Always inventive, Tomoyo, the only other girl I've known all my life, complains.

What do I tell her? Fall is fall, if I could change the weather for you dear Tomoyo, I would, if only you would stop complaining over the clothing covering way too much of my legs during the cold weather. But I can't, so I tell her, "Moyo, our fall festival is traditional" my lips smirking a bit.

She sighs, rolls her eyes and clicks her tongue at the air, particularly not at me, indeed.

"Keep rolling your eyes at me and your brain will pay the consequences"

"Oh for the last time, Sakura, rolling your eyes does not kill brain cells"

"Does too"

"Does not"

"Does too"

"Does not"

"…Oh, Moyo, whatever will we do with that brain of yours"

Our teasing halts with her giggles, while she drops the paint brush gently into its rightful bucket. I see her sitting arrangement change, but also her facial expression.

"Neh, Sakura…what were you and Li talking about in Brit. Lit.?"

Tomoyo could not have picked a more awkward question to ask. I felt annoyance trickling down my spine, an irritation I did not want to reply to. Why is Syaoran Li plaguing not only my mind, but my conversations? There isn't a special thing I used to like about him.

"Uh, just small talk, nothing important"

"It's important if you're speaking to Li directly, you know that"

What did that even mean? My ears burned with ease, nothing I couldn't control, but everything I wanted brushed aside.

"What I mean is, you two have never ever had a conversation that I would know of, it just seemed a little odd that you would have one out of the blue"

The only other girl I've known all my life also had the special ability of reading my mind, you see.

"It's our senior year, might as well socialize with everyone, don't you think?" If my answer sounded completely insignificant to me, it would sound superficial to her.

"Sure, Sakura, sure" but she left it at that. If there was anything Tomoyo needed to know about Syaoran and me, life itself would unfold every whispered secret our thoughts would have. Because that would be all that should be said.

"Hey! Kinomoto-san, I need your help with the hallway designs"

Luckily, I heard Watanabe's freckled eyes search for me. Shouta Watanabe. The only other boy I've ever wanted to want to love. I'm on the lookout for his reach; we just never seem to meet.

"Ah, Watanabe-san, I don't think I could help you with that…my color coordination is pretty awful, no joke" I respond with the humility I've become apparent for, something I refuse to believe.

Tomoyo's eyes search for mine, I feel them, but I ignore her, knowing what they'll say. So I conform to feeling the burn of her smug smirk, tensing every muscle our day at the spa attempted to relax.

"All lies, Sakura-chan comes second best to designs, she knows that too" I hear Tomoyo support his pleas. I'm not sure whether or not to be upset or relieved.

"Tomoyo can help you! She's in charge of costume designs, if she can get those done, I'm sure she can do anything else" I resist the temptation, though it's all I've ever longed for in my high school existence.

"Um, well, you guys don't have to, it's alright, see ya!" before his lovely body leaves for the doorway, my hand reaches his shoulder.

"You know what, I can help" I reply, allowing the smile to come in contact with my lips.

He turns, the fall sun blessing his honey eyes, highlighting every speck I ever adored.

"Really? It would mean a lot, Terada sensei's been on my ass about it this whole day, I don't even know what to do" he lets out a sigh of relief and contentment.

"Oh, don't sweat it! I had some ideas Tomoyo wouldn't dare let me say earlier at the meeting" I let my perkiness get the best of our moods, hoping it elevates us somewhere better.

"I wonder why…" I hear his sly remark and laugh a smidge.

"Oh yes, your very own student council president has her own rebellious streak"

His laugh joins my own, celebrating absolutely nothing. We continue our walk towards the engineering building of Tomoeda Academy. The wonderful advantage of staying after school welcomes me once more. Quiet halls rid of all the gossip, clear windows free of every tired face in need of a nap, the sun creating a carpet on our tile floor. Nothing is ever quite like this, I think.

"Ah, I forgot the keys to Morita sensei's class, I'll be right back, I thought I saw a custodian nearby, don't leave!" quickly interrupting every feeling I thought of feeling, Shouta exclaims, dashing forth the exit. I sigh and glance at my watch, four forty-seven, only a few more minutes until my body collides against a plush of love (my bed).

The engineering building's door opens, I hear the footsteps I would think of Shouta's own, but as I turn, the very own Syaoran Li walks my way. He's speaking with his friend, Eriol Hiiragizawa.

I remember Eriol in elementary mostly. I remember the way he would pretend to eat glue for money, also of that enormous crush he used to have on me. I remember the chocolates he left at my doorway every Valentine's Day from our kindergarten class to our fifth grade class. I still don't remember any confession though. I'm afraid it's a little overdue.

The closer the two get, the more their conversation dies, and the more my heart begins to revolt. Revolt in embarrassment, revolt in agitation, and revolt in anything I've never thought to feel for Syaoran Li walking my way.

"Li-kun!" I'm not sure when it is I grew balls, but apparently I had some.

His face shows surprise or confusion, but after all the uncomforting glances, he sends me a smile. Half-assed in all its mediocrity, I can tell, but a smile, whatsoever.

Eriol looks around, glancing anywhere but in our greetings. I'm afraid he'll be a little uncomfortable.

"Hey, Kinomoto, what're you doing here?" the difficulty in his question settles me down. Nothing awkward is asked, nothing awkward can be said.

"Oh well, you know, helping with the hallway decorations" as I thought, nothing awkward.

Syaoran nods, Eriol just stands there, his lips fussing with the atmosphere.

"And you?" I ask, even though I know the answer.

"Eh, we didn't really feel like going home, so we stayed for tutorials to help some underclassmen out"

I knew this; I had seen the two help out Miyazaki sensei's first year student's out every Thursday. Well, every Thursday I stayed for student council, anyway.

"Doing your good deed to the school, eh?" I wink, aware of the academic conformist ways of the duo before me.

Syaoran smirks, raises an eyebrow and says, "I'm sure our abysmal student record concerns you, considering you're just making note of it…especially Eriol's"

I can't help but laugh at Eriol's uncomfortable glare to Syaoran. Or at Eriol's impossibly blushing face.

"Hmm, Hiiragizawa-san, how do you manage with him around?" my voice holds sarcasm, the playful type; I'm forgetting its name…your very own literary enthusiast.

He seems to finally engage in our small words of absolutely no significance, so it feels, and nervously grins. "Well, after some odd years of therapy, you see…" he allows me to fill in the blank.

I giggle, the least flirtatious I can, well, not like Sakura Kinomoto is capable of flirting anyway (seriously, seventeen years, perfect teeth, friendly approaches, and no boyfriend, not one single application).

"Hey, sorry for the wait!" another voice joins in our bubble, some bubble our awkward ease has created.

I hear the steps that surely belong to Shouta; definitely, his voice accompanies the sound of his Oxfords.

His smile fades little by little, but still regaining his Shouta Watanabe charm I've so much heard of, the closer he nears our bubble. I discretely glance at Syaoran, no smiles, no twinkle of the eye (there wasn't one to begin with; luckily), nothing can be read on his boyish face. Eriol gives Shouta a lopsided grin, a nod of his head, the normal for Japanese teenage boys, I assume.

"Oh, well, least you had some company" Shouta says, making notice of Syaoran and Eriol.

"We'll be leaving, so, you two can go on doing whatever you're doing" Syaoran states, a voice I've known for most of my life. Not particularly my favorite voice.

"Oh, it's alright, we weren't that busy or anything" Shouta politely, still casually, eases his nerves, I hoped.

"We're just working on the hallway decorations" I say, knowing it would help some more.

"Yeah, well, we'll see ya guys tomorrow, later" Syaoran waves a hand in our direction, Eriol does the same.

"See ya Li-san, Hiiragizawa-san!" I call out after their moving bodies, Syaoran waving, his back towards my face, Eriol turning his head, sending me a constricted smile.

Once the two were out of the engineering building, I heard Shouta sigh.

"I really don't think he likes me, that Li" his words aren't menacing, nor are they bitter. They're really just words.

"So it wasn't just me…" I murmur, certain he heard me, I hoped he would.
I would really like Shouta to know of my insight and perception. I'm sure he likes smart girls (I do try).

"I think it's been around fifth grade, we used to be alright before then, I mean, not really friends or anything, but it just feels like something snapped around that year"
Shouta explains all that he can, all that he knows.

And fifth grade, you say? It's around the time I started to like you, you know.

"Ah…well, I guess that's unfortunate" it's the only thing I can give him.

"Guess so" he shrugs, not bothered by anything, my mood hopes.

We're both left thinking; I know he is too, why else would his eyes be at their best? Eyes dimmed by a pensive shell, leaving me cold in the world, warmed only by the comfort that my thoughts are here, too.

"Anyway, let's go get some of those decorations, yes?" he smiles, accompanying the warmth my thoughts provided.

"Mhm" I reply, walking along with his steps.


He's always bothered me. I know that's all. He's Sakura's male reflection, always stunning, never careless. And if there's ever a speck of discourteous behavior, it's not by accident, it's by charm and grace. They're too good of people, I can't trust my chances.

What the hell were they doing together anyway? They're never together.

"Hey, so, you and Kinomoto talk now, or what?" Eriol's questions always need answers, trust me.

I look at him, harnessing my annoyance, knowing it'll find some fault in my indifference towards my platonic, newfound friendship with Sakura.

"So?" his question is answered, there's nothing left to bother with.

But I know he's bothered, so he'll want to bother even more.

"Eriol, don't tell me you still like her?" he might, I know I would.

But his face remains composed, his lips the only indicator of anything left for his infatuation with the girl. They're closed, compressed tightly, his eyes looking anywhere else.

"You know how there's people you always kind of, sort of have something for?" he says.

"No, but Eriol, please tell me you're not serious" I groan. This wasn't bad; it just didn't feel good to me.

"Well, sheesh, I'm not going to change my world for her, I just find her cute and you know…wonderful" He mumbled his last adjective, his thoughts arguing with the best of him, I figured.

Sighing, I say, "Doesn't everybody?"

He smirks at me, asking, "Do you?"

I look at him, an incredulous look I worked so hard to build up, but surrender and answer, "And?"

His grin grows; his eyes are narrowed until they are finally closed.

"Oh Syaoran, you've proven me right all these years" his eyes are still, his smile still.

"What?" irritation borders my question, desperately casual, hiding my trembling heart (I do try).

"You know I've liked her, I know I've liked her, so of course I'll know if you like her" he states, calmly letting me know of everything I've been dreading most of my life.

"What the hell are you even talking about?" desperation holds me tightly, seeping through my words, and I know Eriol has figured out my irritation too well.

"Don't worry, it's not like I'm in love with her or anything" he says, leaving out my name, luckily.

"Not anymore?"

"Not anymore"

"…You still like her"

He rolls his eyes and says, "Shut the fuck up, who doesn't"

"Don't do that…it kills brain cells"

He's right. Who the fuck doesn't like Sakura Kinomoto? Her teachers have all liked her, her friends have all loved her, any sane boy discovers love at first sight upon discovering her, and I'm sure her parent's love the hell out of her soul. It's a simple question with a very complex person. A complexity I think I have to reconsider…Sakura, you're not half as bad my intentions set you out to be.

We leave Tomoeda Academy just as we leave the first conversation Eriol and I have shared about Sakura since our elementary days (those mainly concerning Eriol and his massive crush).
Our neighborhoods aren't too far apart, but I know mine's further, so we bid goodbye until the next day, and I continue my pace for home.

The day feels crisp, manipulated and convinced by my dislike for summer's overbearing weather. The skies are clear, clouds are wispy, and the thin, cool smell intersects with that of cherry blossoms…and coconut. The other scent is warm, and it's getting closer, too close. Soon, I feel a poke on my back.

I turn my head, only to find the face of the prettiest girl I could ever think of.

"Are you stalking me now?" A blush I've never witnessed graces Sakura's dainty face, her eyes glancing at her shoes.

"Oh, shush! I always take this route home, you know that too…" her words begin to fall apart.

I smile, genuinely, hoping she senses it, all the same, I don't know if I really want that.

"Well, we've only lived in the same neighborhood forever"

"At least your mind likes to think its forever"

"Kinomoto, are you flirting with me?" my question isn't serious, but a serious answer I wouldn't mind.

A faint blush returns, but her words sway my question far into the sky. "Li-kun, keep your fantasies where they should be" she smirks, too.

Interacting with a Sakura I've never imagined makes the thought of kissing her bearable. Not like it's never been.

"It's weird, I don't think we've ever met up on our way home" she mentions, and I know why.

"Oh well, normally I go to Eriol's"

"And normally I stay way too late after school"

So we each had our reasons. Did we have a reason keeping us from walking together today? I couldn't find one. I looked at the scene behind her, impossible as it sounds, and realized there weren't many places that didn't compliment her. If anything, I'm sure she'd spark up the location. Why weren't there other girls like Sakura Kinomoto? Did God realize the horrible danger our world would be in for the sake of the beauty in her nature? I'm sure she would be our sun, but reality's sun silly with envy, would act on impulse and kill humanity. That sounds reasonable.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" her voice is gentle, not implying anything at all, but a question.

"You can ask me something else"

"You think we should hang out sometime?"

"…Are you asking me out on a date?" my reply baffled me entirely, just as her question did too. Was Sakura Kinomoto willing to tolerate my presence for absolutely nothing in exchange?

But she stammered her reply, "N-No! I mean, whatever, you know, since our families are working together, I think it'd be pretty cool if we spoke more, seeing as these business-slash-family dinners will probably continue"

I understood her. I think she wanted to get to know me, more than we've known bits and pieces of our lives all these misunderstood years. I'm afraid I did too…

"I think we're up to a good start already" my words caused the loveliest smile on her lips. So I like to think.

"I suppose so…" she trailed off her words, letting her smile speak for her.

We finally reached her house, charming in all its modesty, but glamorous in the peeks of wealth it rightfully owned. She unlocked her gates, allowed herself in, turning to me, she asked,

"I'll talk to you later?"

"I'll talk to you later" I replied, reluctantly elating in the smile of relief she elegantly displayed.

How has this really annoyed me all these years?


For the first time in my life I faced a dilemma completely out of my element. Shouta, save me, please. Should he? Should anyone? Things feel so right today…

I had arrived home about an hour ago in the company of Syaoran, a first event in my seventeen years. Not just by Syaoran, but by any boy, that brushing aside Yukito, who used to accompany Touya and me every morning to school…but he never really counted, this I knew.

Momentarily, I rested on my bed, leaving my Calculus homework for another hour and my usual trips to the market for dinner to Touya, for once. Today's morning feelings mentioned of an odd day, these were signs I could not ignore, and my experience just an hour ago was sure to kickstart even more confusion. Oh, if Tomoyo were here….I would truly be acquainted all the more with this predicament.

My phone vibrated somewhere in my purse, alarmingly interrupting my thoughts (my feelings as well, thank goodness). I reached into the front flap and held onto my pastel pink cell phone.

"Hello?"

"WHAT ARE YOU HIDING FROM ME?"

The voice shattered my will entirely, if anything my eardrums, as I stood dumbfounded, completely out of sync with anything I could say. Besides, I had no idea whatever Tomoyo was hollering about.

"Um…what?" I managed to ask her.

"Sakura, I may be wrong, but I'm almost positive I saw you and Li walking together…laughing"

"Is there anything wrong with walking and laughing?"

"Oh, no, no, no, don't play dumb with me; this isn't your typical walking and laughing most people do"

"Tomoyo, have you been rolling your eyes lately?" I heard her scoff, then groan, then stomp on something capable of squeaking (I really hope it was that stress ball I gave her for Christmas and not her cat, Suppi).

"SAKURA, I will be there in ten minutes, goodbye" before I could protest (not like I could, in any case), she ended our conversation, and true to her word, my doorbell rang ten minutes later.

I slowly and cautiously opened the door, fearing the fumes her nostrils would produce. But against my will, her hand pushed my door open completely, as she shut it behind her, slamming her purse against my sofa.

"Are we alone?" she asked, surprisingly considering anything but her curiosity.

"…Yes" I meekly, and regrettably, answered, knowing I had to.

"WHY AREN'T YOU TELLING ME THESE THINGS? I AM YOUR BEST FRIEND, I SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU SHOULD EVEN KNOW, SO TELL ME, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU HIDING?"
With eyes wider than her words echoed, lips tighter than her blunt words meant, there was no way of bullshitting my way around Tomoyo Daidouji's inescapable wrath.

Sighing, I sat on the sofa, motioning for her to sit.

"You know…it's really nothing, but, if I must…"

"And you do" she quickly retorted.

I groaned quietly, frustrated at how something as simple as bonding could be so enticing to Tomoyo.

"Well, my dad's the publisher of Li-san's mother's upcoming book, we had a dinner last Thursday – "

"Which was about a week ago?"

"Yes…Tomoyo, exactly a week ago today"

"And you've kept this from me for this long?"

I sighed, an action becoming too familiar around my dear Tomoyo lately. But if she knew there was something I wasn't telling her, then there must be something I am not telling her. She does know best.

"It's just been regular good mornings and random smiles in the hallway, today in Brit. Lit. was our first official conversation in school"

Had I said something I shouldn't have? Tomoyo's eyebrow was raised, her lips perked at their corners, and her eyes possessing a sly glint. Help?

"So…it was your first one in school?"

"Oh for heaven's sake, Tomoyo, all we did was go to a café, and all on a whim!"

"WHAT? YOU HAD A DATE?"

The absurdity in the entire scenario became unbelievable. The more Tomoyo's voice grew in pitch and volume, the more I felt everything pertaining to Syaoran Li all a lie my jaded love life concocted out of anxiety. And I'm saying love life because Syaoran is a boy, a boy entering Sakura Kinomoto territory. A territory fresh in excessive purity and naivety…at nearly eighteen years of breathing, this is no accomplishment, ladies and gentlemen.

"No! Not even, we both got bored at the family dinner and decided to ditch, that's all"

I made double sure to emphasize my last words. And I hoped I believed them too.

She glared intensely at me. I felt the sting of her violet eyes; I know she was satisfied I did.

"Do you like him?"

"What?"

"Do you like Li?"

My breath was hitched, lips biting, eyes wondering, fingers twirling hair. Anyone could tell you I did, but I didn't even know the boy. I never even cared to know the boy. Not once in our school life, not once in my bedroom life, or in my kitchen life, not once in my Penguin Park life, not in any place I could recall being in did I want this boy.

"I don't even know him"

"You're not convincing at all, you know that?"

Tomoyo's lazy grin assured me of nothing I wanted to be assured of. In fact, she frightened my teenage dreams. Syaoran Li frightened my teenage dreams.

"I have no one to convince"

"But yourself?" again her words pierced sensibility somewhere in my heart. And in my eyes too, because for a moment, all I wanted to see were Syaoran's fire eyes.

"You're ridiculous"

"And you're in denial"

"Tomoyo!" I grumbled at the nerves of the girl. Who did she think she was? Well, my best friend.

"I'm sorry, but you know, this is the first boy I've ever seen you get fussy over so quickly"

And she had a point. A very, very accurate and terrifying point.

"You know I like Shouta"

"You know that's going nowhere"

"Moyo, how can you say that?"

She let her body drop against the sofa, her eyes closing, and her eyelashes kissed her softly.

"You could be the one for him, but I don't think he's the one for you" she let out in an unruffled tone.

Her words resonated along my thoughts all throughout the night. Even when I brushed my hair, and brushed my teeth, her words were not brushed away. I could have practiced my tumbling routines about my bed for all the pent up energy my thoughts were producing. My heart cried in the same frustration.

I felt the hours of the night waste away with every increasing thought I had of Syaoran and Shouta. It was a tug-of-war competition, the prize wrapped in a haze of my own fears. Fears collected amongst my high school life, a life missing of the typical experience. Where are the boys lining up outside my door Mother promised me? I convinced myself of my own physical, of my own personality, so where is the result?

I've never even been kissed. And no, Takashi's sloppy surprise in the first grade does not count.


Morning barged into my eyes before I could count to ten. I glanced at my clock and realized I had forgotten to set the alarm. I also realized I had ten minutes before the tardy bell rang.

I sprinted towards the shower, clumsily dressed in my uniform, shouted my good morning to Touya (father is normally at his office by seven-thirty), and biked like I never had in my entire life.

A first time for all days, I was late to Terada sensei's adoring British Literature class.

Several classmates gasped, only Tomoyo smiled. No ordinary smile, may I add. What a malicious best friend of mine. But on instinct, it felt, I glanced at the other empty desk behind mine. Absent? Tardy? Syaoran Li, where are you now?

I apologized to Terada sensei, and he understood, knowing it was a first in nearly all my life. About the same time my feet guided me towards my desk, I heard heavier footsteps coursing through the hallway just outside our classroom. These footsteps had an owner.

"Sorry, I'm late, won't happen again" the way Syaoran stated his apology paled in my Oscar winner's speech.

"Yeah, yeah, take a seat Li" and the way Terada yawned his apology off made my existence in Tomoeda Academy all the more apparent to me. Have I always acted like a perfect student? I am nauseated.

Seconds after I took my seat, Syaoran walked past me. I didn't know if to share a 'good morning' with his eyes, or a 'oops, looks like we're both late!' smile of sheepish realization. But he quickly took his seat. Just like that.

"Alright guys, can anyone remind me where we left off on The Importance of being Earnest?"

On any other day I could tell you, Terada sensei. Today is not any other day. Today is the day I will avenge every hopeless thought I could not reenact in reality. Today is the day I am pouting my lips at Syaoran's negligence, the day my ears are burning my eyes, because I did not see nor hear anything from the fire eyed boy. I did not find the gift my dream surmised through the lack of sleep. Do all girls feel this way? I don't know what it's like.

"Kinomoto please read your lines"

How long has it been? I don't remember hearing any lines previous to mine. Where are we? Who was my character again? God, please destroy every remnant of Syaoran's existence…especially his eyes.

"Um…I'm sorry, I'm not sure where we are"

Because my class is one of gossip and exaggeration, a collective gasp replied my question.

I looked around the room, the first since my morning apology, and couldn't help but feel my cheeks sting. Chiharu's back no longer faced me; she had turned all the way in her seat just to make sure the usual Sakura was sitting behind her. Tomoyo's eyes were brimming with alarm, or curiosity, more than likely both. The boys all looked heartbroken, for whom? I'm sure your girlfriends are all healthy and alive, healthy in love with you all, how else would boys in love categorize health? Syaoran, well, I could not see his face. He may not have cared at all though.

"Erm…Sasaki, please continue where we left off" Terada sensei's voice was not one of disappointment. He could have feigned this, I would have noticed though.

Rika's voice took over the gradually lessening tension I apparently incited, and I once more decided to drone her meek voice out. Whatever.

Before anyone annoyed me out of my remaining wits, wits the regular Sakura Kinomoto once knew, the bell rang closing first period. The morning had run by much too fast, I felt. I hope I wasn't alone with this.

While all my classmates' exited Terada sensei's British Literature class, I lagged in my thoughts of my own unusual behavior. Taking too long on packing my books into my bag, I shouldn't have on any other day; I heard a small cough behind me. There he was.

"You alright, Kinomoto?" his gruff Friday morning voice spoke in gentle tones with me. I wonder what his Sunday morning voice sounds like.

"Oh, um yeah, why do you ask?"

"Well, for one you were late, apparently, and then you weren't paying attention in class"

"I was too paying attention!"

"So what was Wilde trying to convey in this act?"

"…who?"

"Oscar Wilde! Your own English report was on him, Kinomoto"

"Oh! Right, right…so you paid attention to my report last year?"

The look in Syaoran Li's eyes remained priceless. He looked a bit nervous, caught in the words I had revealed to him, more importantly, the discovery he thought I would miss. And if my day were today, he would have been blushing more noticeably than he tried not to now.

"I'm just a fan of Oscar Wilde"

"I never would have guessed" I replied to his dull cover up.

"Well, look, I was just wondering if you were alright, so…"

"Me too, Kinomoto, you weren't too busy with the fall festival set-up last night, were you?"

Another voice wondered over my unusual tardy and lack of attention during class. The voice I would gladly do much for, this much I would do for you Shouta Watanabe. …But maybe not today, though, because today is for you, Syaoran.

I turned to look at Shouta, hoping the concern in his voice was anything but formal.

"Oh, no, well, I'm fine, really…today's just had an off start" I smiled at the two, taking in Shouta's smile, but also Syaoran's look of suspicion. Do you know already?

"Well, if anything's wrong, you can talk to me about it, if you want" Shouta, like the gentleman and fellow vice president of the student council that we was, warmly offered, his eyes never leaving my own.

He left right after, nodding his head formally at Syaoran and me.
This reminded me of leaving soon after as well, I could not afford another tardy, all in one day. And neither could Syaoran…

"Want to walk with me to Economics?" so maybe that's why I offered him that.

He looked a little unsure, or alarmed. Why do you always make those faces at me?

"Sure" he shortly replied.

We walked the halls of the social studies building, alongside one another like we were old friends. A few of my classmates stared with discrete, perhaps a second glance at most, noting the different companion at my side (normally it was Tomoyo or someone else in my circle of friends). But today was Syaoran Li, and he didn't seem to care for anyone around us.


The way her eyes glimmered at the sound of Shouta's voice played over and over in my mind. I would like to say that her lovely eyes were the reason of this replay, but I couldn't lie. Because they reacted in such a way to Shouta, because Shouta offered her his hands, because he was the lucky guy Sakura would go to, I think this was why.

But I couldn't wallow in the bitterness of something so insignificant, not when we walked together to economics. Or when we walked together to Biology II, even when I walked her to choir class, and especially not when Tomoyo Daidouji and Rika Sasaki gaped at me doing so. It seemed we walked all day, walking nowhere special, but walking with her.

Just like I was doing now, walking home with her, not hand in hand or anything, but side by side.

"We've been walking together all day, Li" so she noticed this too?

"It looks like it, Kinomoto" my response gave her nothing.

"I think you're starting to like me" her soft voice had no indication of teasing manners.

"I might be" and neither did mine.

Somehow she shook it all away. She giggled and turned, as she began to walk backwards. Her face towards mine, her eyes in mine, her smile captured in my mind…and with my phone.

"Hey! Don't do that!" she complained, lighthearted in all her beauty.

I laughed at her silly attempts, "I had to, you looked pretty ridiculous like that" Ridiculously lovely.

"Oh, gee, thanks Li" she muttered, still attempting to slip the phone out of my hands.

"Anytime" I said, as I placed my phone in my back pocket. If she dared get it from there, this would be the end of everything.

She grumbled at her failed accomplishment, "I don't even know why you need that"

"Because I need a photo ID for your number"

"Ooh, very sly, Li, is this how you got Sasaki to go out with you?"

"Maybe" I grinned at the pettiness she didn't even bother to give the Sasaki matter.

She grinned back and confessed, "Don't tell Hiiragizawa this, but I had a small crush on him our freshman year"

I felt my throat tighten uncomfortably. This was fine; it was the past, right?
Besides, we're not even dating. We're just getting to talk…and talking is perfectly fine with her.

"What? You're not serious, I mean, you know how obsessed he was with you in elementary?"

She laughed at this, loudly, proudly almost, but I knew with her mild modesty, she couldn't. "I think we were all obsessed with someone in elementary"

Her eyes were glazed with joy, perhaps at all our confessions, or at her own, since mine would never be revealed.
At least not to the likes of her, not the wonderful likes of her.

"Oh, really, so who were you obsessed with?" I really was curious to know.

"Promise not to tell a soul?"

"I don't know about a soul…but certainly not people without one"

"Good, those are the worst" the way our words pretended to know what we meant, made me think nothing happening today was pretense.

"So then?" I said, urging her to reveal the mystery crush of tender days.

"Shouta Watanabe" the way her voice still quivered in the smoothness of his name made my eyes roll.
My heart too, or it was tugged harshly, whatever motion it made, I did not like.

"So you do like him" I let her know of my observations.

"Not even…" her voice trailed in a miserable mediocre attempt at nothing really.

"I won't tell a soul"

"What about people without souls?"

"They probably wouldn't care for you, Kinomoto"
Her lips smiled in honey delicacy, her eyes warm with compassion, I loved her face this way.

After our silence, I boldly asked "Let's walk together tomorrow"

We had just reached the gates of her home.

"Let's exchange numbers first" she replied, tossing me her cell phone, I tossed mine back to her.

I couldn't help but notice my name was behind Shouta's. Even on your phone, neh, Sakura?

"All done" she announced as we exchanged our phones back. "I'll send you something" I told her.

She nodded as she began to unlock her gates, only to turn back, and with dawning realization, she spoke, "Wait, tomorrow's a Saturday…oh my God, Li…did you just ask me out on a – "

She couldn't finish her sentence, not without blushing even more, I bet.

"You can call it whatever you want to call it, Kinomoto" I smiled and waved, walking back home, acting cool, but really, not wanting her to change her mind. Desperation, you are very unbecoming.

On my way home, I knew of everything. I knew Sakura Kinomoto to be prettiest of all girls, I knew her to be the smartest of all seventeen year-olds, and I knew her to be my ticket to heartbreak.
I should have known better. You couldn't have a soul if Sakura couldn't get to it.


Well, this chapter may have seemed a little pointless and boring, but I'm hoping to draw out their characters out just a tiny bit more before progressing too fast with some half-assed personalities caught in some crazy plot-twisting disaster. I switched the POV's a bit here, beginning with Sakura and ending with Syaoran, hopefully you all noticed that. Next chapter should be a little more interesting, Syaoran and Sakura get to go on a "date", or almost date ;) Please tell me what you thought of this, thank you!