Author's Note: Sorry that the last chapter was super short, but the longer chapters are starting now. And I don't know how orphanages work, so please bear with me as I make some of the stuff up. LOL Don't expect quick updates like this one. I just felt bad giving you a short one so I had to make it up.
Reviews:
Pinaygrrl: Of course I'm gonna continue it! I can't stop writing a story once I've stopped.
Dbzgtfan2004: Well, the beginning is sad, but it's the prologue. The rest won't be…hopefully… Thanks for the review!
Li'ain: Yeah, but the rest of the chapters will be long. Oh, and that's a first for me to have a good summary. I suck at summaries. Thanks!
Viky: Glad you like it!
Tomiki: Thanks for the review! Hope this was a quick update for you, but I can't make promises when school starts.
RRE! (Read, Review, and ENJOY!)
Under the Cherry Blossom Tree
Chapter II
--Christmas Warmth—
It was a cold winter day, the day before Christmas. The old orphanage was bustling trying to clean it before an important guest was going to arrive.
Seven-year-old Syaoran looked around wondering why he had to clean. This was his first month at the orphanage and without any family to spend Christmas with for the first time.
"Hey, don't stand there and daydream. We have to make it spotless when Mr. Kinomoto comes," an older kid yelled.
"Ryu, it's his first time at the orphanage so back off," yelled his new friend, Eriol. Eriol (who is seven also) was different from other kids. On his first day at the orphanage, Mrs. Ewina, the owner of the orphanage told Eriol to show him around. The navy hair boy showed him everything and the next day, wouldn't leave him alone.
Syaoran was annoyed with Eriol following him around and asking him questions day after day. He gave him his scariest glare the second day and that didn't work on him, but it did on the other children. From then on, he considered the crazy navy eye boy his only friend. Syaoran was the only one that could deal with Eriol and vice versa.
"Mr. Kinomoto owns most of the town and is really rich. He's super nice. Every year around this time, he comes to visits us and donates money and gives us gifts. There's a rumor that he's going to bring his daughter today so she can play with us. The owner said she was pretty," Eriol explained to him.
Syaoran nodded his head knowing why everyone was cleaning now.
"Good. Now go clean."
Syaoran walked to his room and started making sure everything was perfect on his side of the room. The older kids got to clean the kitchen, living room, etc. The younger kids had to clean the rooms only.
Pretty soon, a honk was heard, and every kid rushed out to greet Mr. Kinomoto.
The kids lined up in straight lines and Syaoran was in the front next to Eriol.
"Hello Mr. Kinomoto," they said in unison once he stepped out of the limousine.
"Hello kids. I have a surprise this year," he started. "I brought two very special people here to visit you."
The kids got excited and started to whisper among each other.
"Lemme guess, Santa Claus and your daughter," Syaoran muttered in a boring tone so only Eriol could hear.
"First I would like you to meet my daughter, Sakura," he said, stepping aside so the kids could see her.
Sakura was nice, cheerful five-year-old. Her light auburn hair was in mini pigtails, and she had two long bangs in the front. She opened her eyes revealing big emerald eyes that seemed to glitter.
The older girls were screaming about how kawaii (cute) she was while most of the younger boys blushed at the sight of her.
"I want you to be nice to her, OK? Her mother just passed away," he told them, as he face seemed to turn sad. "Now, for our other surprise, it's Santa Claus!" Mr. Kinomoto said, revealing a plump man in a red suit with a white beard.
"HOHOHO! Merry Christmas!" he said. "Now since Christmas is tomorrow. I have a special gift for each and every one of you," he crouched down to their height.
The kids screamed and shouted happily running to the plump man in the red suit.
Syaoran didn't flinch. He stayed there. Eriol decided to grab a present and left his side.
Sakura stayed by her father's side not sure what to do. He promised her that she was going to have fun, but this was boring. All of the kids were waiting for presents. She couldn't blame them after. Sakura waited patiently on the side as she watched each kid receiving a present, opening it, and showing it to his or her friends.
"HOHOHO! Looks like someone hasn't receive their present," Santa Claus said once every kid got a present except for one. The man in the red suit held a box in the air.
Everyone looked around and all eyes lay on a particular brown hair boy. The kids cleared the way making a path from him to Santa Claus. This attracted Sakura's attention.
'Why isn't he getting his present?' she thought, moving closer so she could get a better look at the amber-eyed boy.
Santa Claus walked up to him and crouched down to his size. "So little boy, here's your present," he said, handing him the wrapped box.
"I don't want it," he said in hush tones.
"Hmmm?" the man asked couldn't believe what he just heard.
"I don't want the present. I don't need some pity gift," Syaoran grunted, running to the backyard of the orphanage.
Silence took in for a few minutes as the children started talking about him.
The adults were stun of the event.
"Uhh…Mr. Kinomoto, what should I do?" the man in the red suit whispered.
"I guess we can give it to Sakura," Mr. Kinomoto replied, taking the gift and handing it to his daughter. "Well, I guess this is for you, honey."
Sakura took the box, looked at it, and ran away.
"Sakura, where are you going?" her father yelled.
"I'll be back, Daddy!" she yelled, running the path that she saw the mysterious amber-eyed boy went.
Once the auburn hair girl reached the backyard, she looked around. It was spacious and the trees and garden were bare. It looked so dead. Under a tree was the boy sitting on a bench with navy hair boy.
"You know, Syaoran, it wasn't very nice of you to run off like that. Mr. Kinomoto is really nice. He's not like some jerk who does it for publicity or because he has too. He wants too and he's really nice. Just give him a chance," the glasses wearing boy said, trying to ease him.
"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want…" the brown hair boy started, but was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.
"I don't know why you don't like my dad. I mean, he's never done anything to you. I'm sure if you'd get to know him, you'll see that he's super nice and really polite," the auburn hair girl defended her father.
"Do you think I'm going to listen to some little girl?" he glared.
"I'm not little. I'm around your age! I'm five," she said proudly, holding up her five tiny fingers and accidentally dropping the wrapped box.
"I was five two year ago," Syaoran spat.
Sakura's response was sticking her tongue out.
"You're such a baby!" the brown hair boy chanted. "You're a baby…You're a baby…"
"I AM NOT A BABY!" she shouted, running after him, but her short legs were nothing compared to Syaoran's.
Eriol sat where Syaoran was and smiled. Things were looking pretty interesting. It was nice to see that he wasn't the only one who could stand Syaoran's glare. Hmmm… if things work out for Sakura like it did him, they were going to be friends…maybe even more, but that was asking too much.
"What are you smirking about, Hiiragizawa," Syaoran snapped, calling him by his last name for the first time as he stopped running. That gave Sakura a perfect opportunity. She jumped and tackled him. They were both on the ground, Syaoran under Sakura.
"I am not a baby," she said proudly, trying to wrap her tiny hands around Syaoran's neck.
"Yes you are. Now get off of me," Syaoran demanded, glaring at her once more.
"No."
"Get off!"
"No."
"Get off! You're heavy!"
Sakura gasped. "I am not heavy and no."
This was getting no where. Then, a brilliant idea struck him. "If you don't get off, feel the wrath of the tickle monster."
He started tickling her the best he could in his position. Sakura started laughing and fell backwards hitting her head on the ground.
Even though Sakura got off, Syaoran continued to tickle her.
"HAHA…st…stop…HAHAH! Pl…ple…please…HAHA!"
"Then get off."
Sakura admitted defeat as she stood up and held out a hand.
Syaoran ignored the offer and got up by himself. "I don't need your help."
"Syaoran, you were having fun. Why did you stop?" Eriol asked innocently, trying hard not to laugh.
The young brown hair boy knew what he meant. "Hiiragizawa!" Syaoran started chasing him.
Now it was Sakura's turn to plop watch. She was amused at how Eriol could get Syaoran mad so easily, but after a few minutes, she got bored.
Sakura grabbed the box, and Eriol got an idea. He ran toward Sakura and then made a quick turn, whispering something to Sakura. Syaoran didn't know that he would do that and when Eriol moved, Sakura smacked him with the box.
"Ow! Why did you that for?" Syaoran said coldly.
"Hiiragizawa told me to," she said innocently. "He said that it wouldn't hurt you because you had a hardhead. Besides, I wanted to give you your present."
The box had a dent now, but Sakura didn't care. She stretched out her arms holding the present to give to Syaoran.
"Didn't you hear what I said? I don't want it!" Syaoran snapped.
Sakura was about to argue, but Eriol intervened.
"Kinomoto, we haven't been properly introduce. I'm Hiiragizawa Eriol, and this is Li Syaoran. You can ignore Syaoran. He doesn't like getting presents, but I do. Why don't we open it over here and play with it together?" Eriol proposed.
"Sakura. Call me Sakura," the girl corrected, agreeing to the idea.
The two sat down, their backs facing Syaoran's back. Sakura opened the package to find a shiny, red firetruck.
"Hey, I got an action figure. We can use it to be a bad guy or something," Eriol said.
Sakura and Eriol started playing. Eriol made some noises to go with the game trying to convince Syaoran to join.
Sometime later, Syaoran was caving it. He wanted to play, but then he remembered his promise. He remembered how cruel the murderer was to his parents. The killer didn't even sacrifice or prolonged their death. The worst part was that he killed them right in front of him.
Life was cruel, and the strong live. Life was survival of the fittest.
Syaoran gave in after another squeal from Sakura. He faced Sakura and Eriol. They thought he was going to play with them, but Syaoran grabbed the firetruck and ran away to his room.
Technically, the present was his, and he had all the right to take it away from him.
"Hey!" He heard Sakura scream.
Syaoran locked himself in his room playing with the firetruck by himself. Sure it wasn't fun playing alone, but it was better than doing nothing.
Someone knocked on the door. "Go away!" Syaoran said harshly.
"That voice isn't going to scare me away," Eriol said.
"Is that girl with you?"
"No."
Syaoran reluctantly opened the door, impatiently waiting for Eriol to hurry in.
"Hiya!" a familiar, feminine voice exclaimed.
"Wh…What are you doing here?" Syaoran snapped, but then it hit him. "Eriol! You little liar!"
"You asked if she was with me, and she wasn't. She followed me here," Eriol said in a matter-of-fact voice.
The brown hair boy mumbled something under his breath.
"You have a clean room," the auburn girl stated.
"Nice of you to state the obvious," he snapped.
"Why are you so mean to me?" she whimpered.
"Sakura, this is how Syaoran always is. He's even mean to me, and I'm his friend."
Sakura nodded.
"When are you leaving?" he said annoyed.
"I don't know. When my dad leaves I guess." Sakura shrugged.
"Great," he mumbled under his breath so only Eriol could hear.
"Hey! Why don't we play hide and seek?" Sakura suggested.
"Sure. Syaoran, you're it," Eriol tagged.
"What? No way! I didn't even say I wanted to!" he argued, but both Eriol and Sakura were out the door finding a place to hide.
Syaoran reluctantly counted to ten, but decided not to find them. He sat on the floor playing with his firetruck until they got bored and came out.
He had to admit that it was a lot more peaceful without Eriol and Sakura, but it felt lonely.
Then, someone knocked on the door. He had expected it to be Eriol or Sakura, but to his surprise, it was Sakura's father.
"Hello, you must be Syaoran," her father greeted him with a smile.
"Hello, Mr. Kinomoto," he said coldly. "How can I help you?"
"I was wondering if you know where my daughter went. Some kids said that they saw her come in here," he explained.
"I don't know," he replied stiffly. "We were playing hide and seek, and Eriol and Sakura went to hide."
"I see…then why are you still here? Aren't you suppose to be looking for them?" the auburn hair man asked.
Syaoran flushed. "Well…I was suppose to, but I didn't want to play. Don't worry, they'll give up sooner or later," he defended.
"I did, but we don't know where Sakura is." Eriol popped out of know where, scaring Syaoran.
"Hah, I thought she was going to give in sooner than you, Eriol," he stated.
"I know you, Syaoran. I know you weren't going to find us, but I think Sakura believed you were. Everyone's looking for her right now, but no one has seen her," Eriol told him.
"Do you think you can help me find Sakura?" Mr. Kinomoto sincerely asked.
Syaoran looked uneasy, and grumbled, "Fine."
All the kids were looking inside the house so he went outside to look.
He didn't care about her so why did he have to search for her?
Syaoran closed his eyes and leaned against a bare tree. Then, something rustled in the far side. He immediately opened his eyes and quickly glanced around the backyard.
The rustling continued, and it got louder as he got closer. It had to be Sakura, but when he peeked behind a bush, it was just a rabbit.
The rabbit hopped away and went through a hole in the fence. The hole was a bit larger than you would think. It was big enough for someone his size to fit through.
The brown hair boy sighed. "Great, just great," he murmured.
He crawled through the hole. Behind the backyard was an area filled with bare trees and bushes. White snow covered the ground, and tiny footprint tracks could be seen. He followed the tracks hoping to find her.
He found her under a tree, hugging herself to keep her warm.
"Hey, everyone in the orphanage is looking for you," Syaoran snapped, getting the shivering girl's attention.
"You found me! I didn't think you would," she smiled.
"I wouldn't, but your tracks led me to you. We better get back before you dad sends the police in or something," he spat coldly. "I wasted my time looking for you."
Sakura ignored his cold tone and stood up. "You know what kind of tree this is?" she asked, placing a hand on the side.
"No and I don't care," he hissed.
"It's a cherry tree. I love cherry trees because of the cherry blossoms. Maybe it's because my name means cherry blossom, but they're so pretty in the spring." Sakura took a moment to picture the forest like area with Sakura trees.
"Whatever. Let's go back," he mumbled.
XXXXX
Author's Note: I know that they probably don't speak very well since they're little, but I'm too lazy to actually make it sound like that. I didn't use big words though.
Oh, and let's say that Syaoran's birthday came up after he was dropped at the orphanage and before Christmas so now he's seven, not six.
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