You're My Check-Mate

~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~

Plan #2:

The queen can abuse her pawn all she wants;
But for the pawn to abuse the queen… Not in her life.

~ o ~ O ~ o ~

"I am really, really sorry for what happened before!"

The brown-haired man with heavy bags under his eyes held out his hand. "That would all be thirty-five bucks," he forced out a smile.

Sakura took out her purse and handed him the money. "I know what I did was reckless. I understand if you're mad at me—oh! What happened to your eyes?"

"Receiving fifty bucks," the guy said as he entered the amount into the cash register. He later handed her an amount of fifteen bucks. "Here's your change, ma'am."

The girl received her change and put her purse back into her bag. "Anyway, if only we could talk this out, maybe over dinner?"

"Thank you for shopping!" The store clerk heavily dropped the bag of groceries right in front of her face. "And please don't come again," he said with a very pleasant smile.

What do you mean 'don't come again'?!

"Hey!" Sakura slammed her hands on the counter. "Were you even listening?!"

"I'd love to hang around and chat but as you can see…" Syaoran motioned his hand to the long line of impatient customers waiting behind Sakura, "…we have a lot of customers."

Sakura glanced behind her and noticed that his 'long line of customers' were all growling at her. And the fact that they were all girls told her that they were not just 'customers'. She later looked back at Syaoran and stared at him up and down.

Hmm… Not bad—except for the eye bags. She had to admit, he looked pretty attractive. She wondered why she hadn't noticed it before.

The store clerk heaved a sigh. "Are you going to stare at me all day?"

Sakura leaned a bit closer to him. "Are you sure these people are 'customers'?" she whispered.

Syaoran groaned in frustration, trying to stop himself from saying 'Isn't it obvious?' to her face. "They buy. They pay. They're the source of my salary. So, yeah. They're customers. Now, will you please move?"

"Fine."

Sakura took her bag of groceries and stepped aside. But she wasn't planning on leaving just yet. She had a purpose for going there. A very important purpose. But to attain her very important purpose, she had to do the most difficult task on the face of the planet…

…Bringing out her cash in a 'no-sales' day.

Crap. All my savings, gone!—well, not really.

But, if she could find a way to talk to the cashier boy without letting him escape, she would be determined to do it. She would even follow him to the male's restroom if she had to!

"You're really persistent, aren't you?"

Sakura jumped when a voice came out behind her. When she turned around, she saw a black-haired guy with a happy-go-lucky kind of face. He was wearing the same uniform as Syaoran's so she thought that he must be working there as well.

"I used to think that you were just another one of his fans but after I saw how he talked to you, it looks like you two have a rather close relationship."

A close relationship? Not exactly. A complicated one? Yes.

"He looks pretty busy, huh?" Sakura saw him looking at Syaoran.

The girl plainly shrugged. "I suppose."

"Poor guy." As much as the man tried to sound like he was pitying Syaoran, the smile on his face couldn't say the same. "I gotta thank him, though. He makes life easier for me," …and that answered the carefree look on his face.

"Oh, who's this?" a long, brown-haired girl appeared behind them. "A friend of yours, Yamazaki?"

Yamazaki shook his head. "Syaoran's. She always comes over to see him."

"I see! Nice to meet you then!" the girl took Sakura's hands and shook hands with her. "I'm Akizuki Nakuru, their supervisor."

"Uhm… I'm Kinomoto Sakura," the auburn head shyly introduced herself.

"So, you're Syaoran's friend, eh?" asked Nakuru.

Sakura smiled oddly as she scratched her cheek. "I-I guess?"

"I bet you're here 'cause you're worried about him, too."

Technically, Sakura went there for other reasons they didn't need to know; but she supposed they could say that she was sort of worried as well. She did kiss him by force after all. God knows what he might do to himself after what happened.

"I'm really worried," Nakuru looked very concerned as she was watching Syaoran. "He's trying so hard to smile to our customers even after what happened to him."

Sakura swallowed. She couldn't be referring to what I did to him, right?

"What… What did happen to him?" she tried to hide the uneasiness in her voice, pretending to sound as concerned as the other.

"Aren't you his friend? Didn't he tell you?" Yamazaki questioned. "He got himself raped."

Sakura gulped.

Rape?! I didn't rape him!

So maybe what she did was some sort of sexual harassment. But she didn't remember a 'forced kiss' to be regarded as something as horrible as 'rape'! But what if that was actually his very 'first' kiss? It could be possible. Maybe the reason why he had those large eye bags in the first place was because he cried all those nights after she stole something very precious to him. He must had felt so depressed and lonely…

Oh, God! He's not planning to commit suicide, is he?!

"I think he's exaggerating though—ow!" Nakuru elbowed the guy beside her.

"Well, I think it's awful," Nakuru sighed. "I wish I could do something for him."

"I-Indeed…" Sakura was slightly trembling in her sweat. "I… I think I should see him some other time."

"Why not wait for him?" Yamazaki asked her. "His shift is about to—" before he could finish what he was going to say, Sakura was already out of their sights, "—end?"

- O -

Dear Otou-san,

By the time you read this letter, I am sure that you would have already noticed that I am nowhere to be found. But do not worry. I'm still alive and breathing. I am just currently hiding in a faraway land.

I am writing this letter because I have unintentionally raped a guy.

Wait a second—If her father knew what she had done…

'My daughter raped a man… How I have failed as a father…' her father might kill himself!

She quickly erased the last line she just wrote.

I am writing this letter because I have committed a very grave sin. I do not wish to tell you what this 'grave sin' is because I worry that your heart might suddenly freeze due to ultimate shock after finding out what it is.

Yes, that's better. She smiled, thinking to herself.

I am extremely sorry for troubling you and bringing you shame. But please remember that I am always proud to be your daughter.

I love you very much. Take care.

With lots of love,

Sakura

P.S. If onii-chan says anything related to me, do not believe him.

"How sad. Otou-san will surely kill himself."

Sakura scratched everything she just wrote with her pen and tore the entire letter into millions of pieces.

She turned her seat around and glared daggers at Touya. "Can't I have any privacy here—in my room, at least?"

"What's to have a privacy for? I was eventually going to read it anyway, before you shredded it with your hands though. Oh, wait!" Touya acted as if he just realized something. "I have already read it."

"Just pretend you haven't read anything," Sakura flashed him a really cute smile, "please?"

"Nice try," he smirked. "But it's not going to work."

"Oh, forget it!" Sakura screamed in annoyance. "What are you doing here so early anyway? Aren't you still supposed to be at work right now?"

"I left early."

He just left early?

Sakura just couldn't imagine her brother's life in the office. It was like he was his own boss. She wondered why he never got fired or threatened to get fired. Unless… he was actually the one brave enough to threaten his own boss for trying to think of firing him.

Yeah, that's probably it. It was so like him.

"So, who was it?"

"Just who is 'who'?"

"The guy you—" Sakura covered his mouth when she realized just what he was going to say.

"I did not do such a thing!"

Touya took her hand off his mouth. "Then I wonder what the word 'rape' was doing in your letter a while ago."

Sakura eventually sighed in defeat. There was no escaping him and his big mouth.

"It was that guy, wasn't it?" Touya asked.

"Onii-chan, is stealing a guy's first kiss considered 'rape'?"

He shrugged. "Depends on how you do it."

"But what if you forced it on him?" she asked.

"I knew it! He isn't your boyfriend after all."

"He is so my boyfriend!" Sakura retorted.

Her brother gave her that smug look that told her he didn't believe a word she had said.

"Fine. I'll prove it to you," she finally decided.

"Oh?" Touya looked amused. "And just how are you planning to do that?"

"It's going to be something very convincing," Sakura said proudly.

"Don't tell me you're going to make me see your 'night stand' with him because I am not going to watch that." He would rather give them his blessings than see his own sister's you-know-what.

Sakura stared at him, confounded. "What 'night stand'?"

The giant muscle head started laughing like a maniac. "My poor sister is about to get herself raped." Wiping his tears from his eyes, he patted her head and walked out of her room, leaving his little sister puzzled by the words he had left in her young mind.

No, really. What 'night stand'?

- O -

It had been an hour and a half since Sakura stood waiting outside the coffee shop where Touya was supposed to pick her up. She had just finished her work and since her brother told her that he was also going to leave the office early, they had planned to just meet up outside that coffee shop and go home together.

But it's been almost two freaking hours!

If she had known that he was going to be that late, she would have just went inside the coffee shop and bought herself a relaxing hot cup of choco. But if ever her brother arrived and didn't see her outside, he most probably wouldn't trouble himself trying to look for her—or even call her, at least—and just go straight for home without a care in the world, knowing the impatient type of guy he was.

Big brothers suck.

"Kinomoto-san…?"

Sakura wondered where the voice came from until she looked at the direction of the voice. Her face turned pale as soon as she saw the one guy she had wanted to avoid the most.

Crap! It's Syaoran!

"It is Kinomoto-san!" …and there was Yamazaki, too.

Syaoran diverted his eyes away after mumbling 'crap' to her face.

Of course it was only natural for him to curse the unfortunate moment of having to coincidentally meet her. After all, who would ever want to see the very person who caused him to lose his lips' virginity?

"Yamazaki-san! Li-kun!" Sakura cried out, trying to hide the nervousness that was clearly in her voice. "What a pleasant surprise?"

"I haven't seen you at the market these past two days," said Yamazaki. "Were you busy at work?"

Sakura had work but she wasn't really that busy. She had an ample amount of time to go to the supermarket and see Syaoran like what she had always been doing for the past week. But after she realized the great deal of damage she had done to his poor young body, she found it quite uncomfortable to see him in person.

She was planning to personally apologize to him but she wasn't planning to do it right away. I'm not ready to face him yet!

"Oh, you know… There were stuffs and, err… stuffs." Sakura struggled to avoid eye contact with Syaoran—who was obviously doing the same.

The black haired guy looked at the both of them, back and forth, with a baffled look on his face . "Are you two avoiding each other?" When he looked back at Sakura, he was even more baffled to see her eyes starting to water. "Kinomoto-san?!" he paused to look at the guy beside him in panic, "Syaoran! Did I say something wrong?"

Syaoran turned to see what his friend was talking about when Sakura surprisingly ran to him in a burst of tears and squeezed him tight. "W-What the—"

"I'm sorry for raping you!"

Syaoran's eyes widened in absolute disbelief. All the people passing by stopped to stare at them.

"O-Oh… So this is what this was all about," Yamazaki scratched his head, laughing awkwardly. "I guess this means I should leave you two for today?" He immediately sped away after saying his goodbyes to the odd couple.

As much as Syaoran wanted to run away with Yamazaki from all the humiliation, he knew it was impossible to escape her now.

Hesitatingly, he carried his hand over Sakura's back and patted her gently.

"Wonderful," he grunted under his breath. "Just wonderful."

- O -

"How are you feeling?" Syaoran asked the girl who was sitting across him in the coffee shop.

"I'm fine now. Thanks," Sakura smiled sweetly before taking a sip of her relaxing hot cup of choco.

Syaoran sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. He would sometimes open his mouth, trying to form the words he had in his head because frankly, after the many things that happened to him for the past week, he just couldn't tell what to think anymore.

"Uhm…" Syaoran began. "About what you said earlier, I'm sorry you misinterpreted what my colleagues said to you."

"About you getting—"

"YES!—That," Syaoran snapped, not wanting to hear the sound of the same 'word' again. "It's just an exaggeration about this certain girl who was stalking me for some time. I couldn't sleep every night because she kept calling me at my apartment and I have no idea where she even got my number."

"Wow…" Sakura leaned her elbows on the table and cupped her face, mesmerizing his pretty face. "You're pretty popular for a store clerk, but you don't look like you appreciate being popular…?"

"It's troublesome to be stalked by people." Syaoran carried himself over the table until his lips could reach her ear. "And you're just one good example," he hotly whispered to her with a smirk on his face.

Sakura felt hot with the trails of his voice spreading wide through her beet red face. When she realized that his face was too close, she quickly backed away and leaned her back against the chair.

"That," she pointed out, referring to his hot-voice-whispering-to-her-ear kind of thing, "is exactly why girls around you become so intoxicated."

"How can you tell? Were you intoxicated?"

"Obviously, yes—I-I mean, no! Are you crazy? Of course not!" Sakura's face could nearly explode with her face so flushed. "You have your own troubles, and I have mine. That is why I would like to propose a deal."

Syaoran heaved a looooong sigh.

"Become my boyfriend."

The man literally smacked his forehead. "Not that again."

"Think about it!" Sakura sounded really determined. "I, for one, only want to get rid of my arranged wedding. As for you, if girls find out that you're already in a relationship, your stalker fans would eventually give you up until their numbers lessen. Doesn't that sound good to you?"

"Yeah. But there's one girl who will probably be left though."

"Who?"

"You."

Sakura heatedly slammed her hands over the table as she stood up from her seat. "I am NOT your stalker!"

Syaoran smiled a small smile as he was trying to hold his laugh, while everyone else in the coffee shop were staring at her.

The embarrassed girl slowly sat down and drooped her face over the table. "…It's tiring… talking to you…"

Syaoran got rid of his chuckles before turning to answer her properly. "Alright. I'll accept the offer."

Sakura's ears went tingling. Her energetic soul returned to her lifeless body. She quickly raised her head and gazed at him in bewilderment. "Really? You'll really become my boyfriend?"

"If it's going to make my life any better, why not?" the man shrugged.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so happy that you—"

"But," Syaoran quickly cut her off, "that's an 'if'. If pretending to be your boyfriend becomes troublesome, I'll immediately quit."

"Okay!~ Okay!~" Sakura's voice jumped for joy. Syaoran wondered if her brain even registered what he had just said. "Well, now that's done, it's time to think of how I should call you."

"You can just call me Syaoran, you know."

"But that doesn't sound cute at all…" Sakura pouted.

Syaoran groaned. "Do what you want."

"Yay!" the auburn haired girl clapped her hands in excitement. She always wanted to know how it felt like for girls to call their boyfriend cute nicknames. "So, how about… Syao-Li?"

"No."

"Syao-kun?"

"No."

"Syaowwy?" Syaoran shook his head.

This is harder than I thought.

"Oh, I know!" Syaoran couldn't appear more excited to hear what she had to say next. "Syao-Syao!"

"HELL NO!" the furious man shouted at her. "What in the world do you take me for? A dog?!"

Sakura looked down on her hot cup of choco while playing around with her spoon. "But it's a cute name…" she mumbled to herself, feeling quite disappointed.

Syaoran tried to calm himself as he rubbed his temples. "Just… Syaoran is enough. Please."

"Alright…" She felt a little down for a moment before turning back to him with a pleasant smile. "What about you? How would you like to call me?"

"Is this a game to you?"

"Come on! Just try."

Syaoran sighed.

He folded his arms on the table and gazed at Sakura for a moment. He first stared at her beautiful auburn hair, down to her lovely emerald eyes, to her soft lips, her sexy neck, and lastly

He suddenly frowned when he stared at her chest.

"I think I know something that just might fit you."

Sakura couldn't hide away the smile that was clearly growing big on her face. It was going to be her first time to be called with a cute nickname by a guy. She never had a boyfriend before; she only had as much as a crush or a one-sided love. But even if Syaoran was only going to act the part, it still felt good to finally have someone she could call her 'boyfriend'. That was better than having her family choose her boyfriend—a.k.a. fiancé—for her.

"How about I call you 'flat tops'?"

Flat tops? It sounded like that chocolate brand her father used to bring home after his travels outside the country.

"Isn't that a chocolate brand?"

Syaoran laughed. "What? I don't know what you're talking about." Amused of just how naive she was, he pointed his hand to the part between her neck and stomach. "I'm referring to your chest."

The sweet, tender excitement quickly escaped Sakura's fantasies.

She gradually raised her hands as she was getting ready to strangle the devil sitting across her. "Why you—"

But before she could actually strangle him, the man instantly grabbed hold of her wrist and before she realized it, the gap between their faces decreased until she felt a tingling sensation against her lips. It felt different from what she had 'forced' unto him before. What she did back then only felt as normal as two people holding each other's hands. But this time was different— this was definitely a real kiss.

Syaoran slowly pulled away with a sly smile on his face. "How was it?"

Sakura's face went completely red when she realized what happened, like she had just woken up from a beautiful dream. She quickly pulled her hand from his grasp and covered her mouth. "What was that about?!"

Syaoran smiled evilly. "Aren't I your 'boyfriend'?" He relaxed onto his seat and calmly drank his cup of coffee. "And it's partly revenge for what you did to me before, actually."

The naive girl vacantly stared into a world of endless torture and suffering.

She thought asking a 'nice' guy to act as her boyfriend was just as easy and as normal as two kids playing 'house' where the little girl plays 'mommy' and the little boy is the 'daddy'. But those were the days of young innocence. How come she forgot that the man across her was already a full-grown adult?! Of course things could get bad!

This is definitely not what I have planned…

The man who was quietly drinking his coffee happily waved at her when he noticed her staring at him.

Sakura suddenly remembered what her onii-chan told her before… about getting herself raped.

Her upper lip twitched. Not in my life.


A/N: "Is 'Flat Tops' a real chocolate brand?" Yes, it is. You can search for it over the internet. Also, thank you for the kind reviews. I really appreciate it, thank you. I hope you liked this second chapter. And if you can, please be so kind as to leave a review~ Anyway, be writing again soon! :D

~EiffiE