Taken For Granted

danz03

A/N: Hey, guys! Chapter 2 is up… Hope you'll enjoy this… Reviews will be very much appreciated… :D

Chapter 2

One Friday afternoon, Penguin Park was swarming with students from the schools surrounding it. Sakura was with her girl friends, sitting on the grassy land, watching the other strollers as well as their school mates who were skate boarding – mostly the guys.

"Egan is so cute…" Sakura sighed dreamily, watching him who was with the other skaters.

"Syaoran's much cuter…" came her friend's counter. Her friend, Rika, was also watching the group, particularly Syaoran.

"Syaoran is short-tempered not like Egan who is so patient and kind…" Sakura countered in defense of Egan.

"Whatever. But I fancy Syaoran more…" Rika announced dreamily.

"Guys…?" their fantasies were interrupted by the complaining voice.

"Huh?" Sakura asked, pulling her gaze from Egan reluctantly and Rika followed. They looked at Tomoyo inquiringly.

"You weren't listening, were you?" she accused with a grin of amusement.

"Do you have to ask the obvious, Tomoyo?" came Chiharu's mirth.

"Anyways, as I was saying… they're here." Tomoyo announced wryly, looking at the Park's entrance. They followed her gaze and saw a large group of students from their arch-rival school. They entered and bullied the little kids into leaving the swings.

"They're such bullies." Chiharu commented quietly, shaking her head.

"Look at what they're doing to the kids!" came Tomoyo's outraged voice as she watched a guy snatch one of the kids' chips.

"Trouble's brewing." Rika whispered near Sakura's ear. She had noticed that Syaoran had clenched his hands and was advancing to the newcomers' direction.

"Damn his temper!" Sakura hissed, bolting up and running to where he was. She caught up with him before he could step on their opponent's territory. She was gripping his arm so he stopped his advance and looked at her, eyes blazing with silent fury.

"Forget it!" she hissed quietly, meeting his furious gaze.

"I just can't stand here and watch them terrorize the kids!" he said through gritted teeth.

"Syao?" her voice had become pleading.

"He's coming…" a voice from behind them whispered. They turned and realized that all their school mates were already behind them. When they looked at the other side, their nemeses were approaching. She felt Syaoran's body tense and she reached for his hand and held it. She felt him grip it tight that she could have sworn that her bones there cracked but she didn't say anything, just looked at the approaching group. They stopped a few meters from them and one student came forward. It was Archer Fentom, the MVP of that school's soccer team. He was smirking smugly as he studied Syaoran.

"Got any problem?" Archer asked in amusement, eyes mocking.

"Nothing." Sakura spoke up, trying to tug Syaoran away who was obviously itching to punch Archer's arrogant face.

"Scared, Kinomoto?" he sneered, looking at Sakura smugly.

"You wish!" Sakura retorted, her usually care-free eyes becoming icy cold and deadly.

Syaoran removed his hand from hers and pushed her to stand behind him, a protective gesture. At this, Archer howled with laughter while the others sneered and smirked.

"What's so funny?" the sarcastic inquiry came from Egan who had stepped forward, his usual friendly aura became foreboding. Everyone was alert, waiting for the other to make a wrong move. The air was full of tension.

"Ah… Higgins…" Archer smirked at him, "Trying to play as the Knight in Shining Armor again?" he mocked.

"How's the bruises we gave you last week?" someone from behind Archer mocked and the others howled with laughter. Sakura noticed that Syaoran's and Egan's hands were already clenched.

Any minute now… she thought as she steeled herself.

"You want another round?" Archer challenged, laughing.

Then suddenly… PACK! Archer staggered backwards. Syaoran had punched him hard and it seemed as if he'd broken his nose because it was bleeding. Archer's friends had caught him before he hit the ground.

"Why, you!" Archer yelled and a fist fight ensued.

No one was spared.

xxx

"Now, I'll be sporting a lot of bruises. Weekends are supposed to be fun…" Sakura complained as she and Syaoran walked down the sidewalk towards Sakura's home. Her body was sore all over and her uniform was dirty. She had acquired more than a dozen of bruises on hr legs, arms and her face – to her annoyance.

Syaoran on the other hand, was also sore all over. His brown hair was mussed and his white polo looked like shit, that's why he removed it and was only wearing his shirt which was a bit dirty. His black pants even have smudges of dirt on all places. Like Sakura, he had also acquired dozens of bruises but his were worse compared to Sakura's because his opponent was Archer and two other guys.

"I already told you a hundred times to stay out of the fight but you wouldn't listen." Syaoran informed her dryly as he touched the aching pain on his lower lip. When he realized there was a cut, he cursed quietly, raking his already unruly brown hair.

"Why did you have to start the fight, anyway?!" Sakura argued annoyingly as she tried to untangle the tangles of hair that her opponent had done.

"He was getting on my nerves!" he informed her with an edge of impatience.

"That much was obvious. But still, you shouldn't have punched him first!" she insisted, tugging her long auburn hair, starting to lose her patience because of the stubborn tangles.

"Damn!" she cursed as she surrendered her struggle with the stubborn tangles.

"Let me do that." he offered when he saw her annoyed look.

They stopped walking and Sakura turned her back on him so that he'll have better access to her hair. He started untangling it but it was so much harder than he'd expected. He let out a huge, audible sigh to contain his growing temper.

"Hand me your comb." came his brisk order. Sakura complied. He ran the comb on the tangles. It stuck but he forced it down.

"Ouch!" Sakura protested when she felt her scalp prickle.

Syaoran cursed silently then held the back of her head to prevent her from following the comb's descent. After a few moments of painful struggle, Syaoran managed to smooth the tangles. Then he combed her long hair gently to make it presentable before he returned the comb to her.

"Thanks!" she announced gratefully when she faced him, giving him a wide smile which made him grin wryly.

"Whatever." He shook off her grateful thanks with a shrug, feeling awkward at being thanked.