Title : Rivalry

Author : Lain in the Wired

Chapter Two : New Friends

A figure with chocolate brown hair leaned over a smaller form wearing a light green outfit. "Come on, girl. Wake up," he whispered as he glanced around. It didn't seem like the other bikers were coming to look for him. He lifted the helmet carefully off her head and cursed when he saw a darker spot coming down from her forehead.

He put the girl carefully over his shoulder and started walking deeper into the forest. Good thing they had only been a short distance from his mansion, but he couldn't lead those other bikers there. It would have been harmful for himself and the rest of his friends living there.

A picture of the girl's face flashed in his mind. Would she be alright? He had tried to cover her head as well as he could. The problem was that he didn't know how loose the helmet was on her and how much she got jerked around.

She had only begun as a dare for him. The team had told him to nab some girl from the Midori High School stands. Fate had pushed him to pick her. She was the first girl he'd bet not to be at his feet in minutes other than his cousin. Other girls would have been trying to touch him all the time. She had been afraid of him at first. He had been the one to act at the park. But the thing she had done on the bike! His stomach still tingled from her touch. The Midori High School cheerleader had something. He just didn't know what.

A few minutes later, he was startled to find himself approaching his mansion. He glanced down at his watch. She had occupied his thoughts for a full twenty minutes!

He shifted her weight to one arm to push in the security code. Then something hit him; something was wrong with the small girl in his arms. She was really light for a girl her size. Too light. She had to be an inch smaller than Meiling, his cousin, but she must have been thirty pounds lighter.

He hurried inside the mansion and rushed past the kitchen while heading to his room. "Syaoran?" a voice called after him. He burst into his room and laid Sakura on the bed. "Syaoran, what are…? Who's that?" the voice said again as its owner walked through the door to his room.

"Meiling, just get me a wet washcloth and some medicine. I'll explain later," Syaoran commanded. Meiling's mouth clamped shut automatically and she began rushing around, doing what he requested. He gently stroked the side of Sakura's face. She'd be fine. His stomach tightened in worry. She just had to be, and he felt that she would.

Soon everything that they could do was done. Meiling told Syaoran to go to bed and that she would watch the girl. Syaoran agreed, but said that he'd only go to bed if she told him the moment she woke up. Meiling agreed with him and said that she would wake him up later so that she could get some rest while he looked after her.

Sakura slept the whole night with a guardian angel.

Night passed slowly for Syaoran and Meiling, so as the sun started to come up, Syaoran decided to take a break and go to the kitchen. He plopped down into a chair at the unoccupied kitchen table. He stared out the large window with a cup of coffee in front of him on the table. Meiling walked into the kitchen a little while later, rubbing her red-rimmed eyes.

"Who is she?" Meiling asked suddenly, breaking Syaoran from his soft trance.

"I don't know exactly. Some cheerleader from Midori," he answered, still thinking about her. Meiling rolled her eyes.

"So there's some random girl in your room and all you know about her is the school that she goes to."

"And that she's a cheerleader," Syaoran added. A movement by the door caught his attention and he was on his feet in seconds. "Are you ok?" he asked.

Meiling looked at the girl about her height in the doorway holding a hand to her bandaged head. "Where am I?" the girl asked uncertainly. Meiling glanced at her cousin.

"You're at my house," he answered gruffly. The girl raised a neatly waxed eyebrow but didn't push the subject. Meiling smirked. The girl must have some brains at least. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Sakura. You're Syaoran right?" she responded. He lifted his own eyebrow at her. He hadn't told her that. "I heard when the guys at the game called your name," she explained. He smiled genuinely at her. Meiling's brow furrowed. Syaoran didn't smile at anyone like that.

"Would you like anything?" Syaoran offered Sakura. She shook her head lightly, being careful of her bandaged head. "Why not? You must be starved," he pushed. Still she shook her head. Her light brown and green streaked hair moved stiffly around her face.

"I'm on a diet. I don't eat breakfast," she said. Meiling couldn't help but snort in laughter at the girl.

"Oh, you're one of those girls. The ones who always think that they are fat," Meiling mocked.

"No, I'm not. My mother is forcing me on the diet. If I eat anything she will know. She wants the perfect child and I'm not going to be the one to mess that up for her. The hair almost pushed her over the edge. I'm surprised she let me stay at school and not send me off to some finishing school somewhere else," Sakura explained. This time Syaoran's brow furrowed.

"What do you mean? You are too tiny to need a diet. Your mother is crazy," he said. Sakura just shrugged.

"Ok, well, since it's rude to refuse a meal as a guest, I am going to fix you something to eat," Meiling smiled at her. Sakura's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh please don't!" she said, but it was too late. Meiling was already pulling out pots and pans and loads of food from their places around the kitchen. Sakura looked helplessly over at Syaoran, but his eyes were sparkling and his mouth was growing into a large grin.

"Come help me!" Meiling insisted as she waved a mixing spoon around. Sakura rolled her eyes and then walked over to where Meiling was standing with the ingredients in front of her and the spoon in her hand. Sakura just stared at everything. "Don't you know how to make pancakes?" Meiling asked. Sakura looked at her sheepishly.

Meiling looked surprised for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. "Teach her how, Meiling," Syaoran said, laughing softly. Meiling glared at her cousin but took his advice.

"See, all you have to do is read the instructions. This part says put the flour into the bowl with the eggs, sugar, and milk," Meiling instructed. Sakura's brow was furrowed in concentration as she measured out the right amount of each ingredient to add to their mixing bowl. "See! You've got it!" Meiling said as Sakura did the next part on her own.

Syaoran watched them with a smile on his face. He couldn't even remember the last time that anyone had made him smile as much as he was doing now. He'd known it before; this Sakura girl had something. And he longed to know what it was.

She was different from other girls. She was polite and restrained like them, but he had a feeling she wasn't always mother's little angel. She seemed wild, but only to an extent. Would she fit in with his family and friends? Meiling seemed to attach to her immediately. Her personality was just too pure not to like.

"Would you like some, sir?" Sakura joked as she held a plate of steaming pancakes in front of his face. His mouth watered at the aroma and he nodded quickly. She set the plate down on the table in front of him and set a fork next to the plate. Meiling brought over the syrup and set it down on the table as well.

"Dig in!" Meiling said happily. She and Sakura laughed as Syaoran did exactly as he was told. Meiling watched his happy face as he would look up at her and Sakura. His gaze would linger on the young girl for a moment before returning to his plate. Meiling secretly smiled to herself. Her best friend, Tomoyo, was going to love this. So was her boyfriend, Eriol, who also happened to be a cousin of Syaoran.

Finally, they might have found someone to keep him out of trouble. They might have found someone for him to love.