AU – Sakura and Syaoran met as small kids, lost touch, and grew up. Years later, he is a notorious player while she is a charming pediatric dentist with a very handsome boyfriend. What will happen when they finally bump into each other again?
Disclaimer: CCS and TRC belong to CLAMP.
General Notes: We start on the same day where we left off. For MeiLing fans, sorry but she will only be playing a small part here. The events in S&S and E&T are happening at the same time of the day but I've written S&S's first.
Chapter 3. Happy Reunion-S&S
After the heated argument with her friends Sakura drove to her favorite "cool down" place just beside Seijuu Soccer Field where there is a small park. She parked and gave way to her tears. Even though it hurt she had to admit that there were times when doubts about how her boyfriend felt about her. She wonders if he's even thinking of marrying her; when they first went steady she's always dreamed that someday she will marry him—although lately she's not so sure anymore. Maybe that's why she was so defensive and harsh with her friends. She started to feel bad about the entire encounter so she sent them both a text message, saying she's all right and will be back before dinner. She intends to apologize personally to them later.
After a few minutes, she looked at herself in the mirror and brushed her hair. She decided to take a walk a few laps around the outer rim of the soccer field to relax. She saw that there was a boy's soccer game scheduled today on the sign board: "Practice Game: Seijuu vs. Tomoeda". When she was younger, she would watch her onii-chan play soccer games here. She used to be a cheerleader too so she was always here whenever there was a game.
Today's game has just started. The Tomoeda boys were in green while the Tomoeda boys were in yellow. She continued to watch as she walked. The Tomoeda boys were quite good and had high energy level. She also noticed that they have a new coach, but all she could see was his back as he was watching his players closely. He is quite tall and well-built, with broad shoulders and toned arms that his green shirt emphasized. He had a brown cap on his head but she could see stray strands of brown hair peeking out. His butt is cuter than Yuki's too. Sakura shook her head and continued to walk.
"Tomoeda scores a goal!" The announcer says. The mostly-Seijuu audience moans. She felt sorry for the visitors since they had no one to cheer for them.
Their coach pumps his fist into the air. "Good going boys! Attaboy Chen!" He shouted to the brown-haired boy who just scored. The boy waved proudly back at him.
'He has such a deep voice'. Sakura noted. She has rounded a bend now and was seized with curiosity as to what the coach looked like but he ran to the opposing team's goal post. 'He has a good profile and is certainly more absorbed with the game compared to the Seijuu coach, who just sat on the sidelines.
One of the Tomoeda boys was able to gain control of the ball and was heading back to their team's side, their coach closely following their progress. "Yan! Careful!" His cap fell from his head. He leaned down to pick it up.
She was then able to see the coach's face at last. He had thick rich brown hair some of which fell to cover part of his face. He had deep-set, expressive eyes (which she suspects is the same shade as his hair), a strong jaw, chiseled nose. In short, he looked handsome and quite young, maybe just a few years older than her. His whole facial expression radiated confidence and action. Everything about him screamed "masculine". She found herself staring at him longer than she should, chided herself and turned away, continued to walk. Little did she know that he too had noticed her.
Her phone rang so she had to stop and take it. "Moyo? Look, Moyo, I'm really sorry about earlier. I feel so bad."
"We understand Kura. We can talk more at home later. Listen, I got a call from my boss—I need to go downtown immediately and meet with him and the composer of the theme songs for the anime."
Sakura frowned. "But it's a Sunday--how inconsiderate of them."
"He said he was urgent because a manga-ka group called Clamp will be there too—they want my inputs for the background story they'll write."
"Oh! This is good! I'm excited for you Moyo! Tell me about it later!"
"Wish me luck, Kura—I'm nervous." Moyo replied.
"I'm sure he'd be a nice guy—it's Hiirigizawa right?"
"I'm not nervous about him; I've heard that he's a womanizing weirdo who goes for matrons. I'm nervous about meeting Clamp." Moyo said.
The two friends continued to talk for a few more minutes. Sakura was smiling broadly now. Next she received a call from Haru. Sakura started to apologize but her friend cut her nicely. "Kura—I've done worse, stop apologizing. I called because I need to ask you something." Haru's voice sounded nervous. "Is it all right with you if I invite my boyfriend for dinner with us tomorrow night?
"Why of course dear! Moyo and I have always wanted to meet him." Kura replied eagerly.
Haru sighed with relief. "I hope you'll both like him."
"I'm sure we will, Haru!" Kura said encouragingly. "If you want, Moyo and I can cook for you lovebirds. Could you text me what food he likes?"
"Ummm…OK…I'll ask him…I'm going to his place right now to…um…I might stay the night." Haru said.
"Sure! Talk to you tomorrow then." Kura ended the call. Her old cheerfulness was back. She sat on a stone bench. Tomoeda has scored 3 additional goals! It's now Tomoeda 4- Seijuu-0. 'They're very good. Onii-chan will have a heart attack when he finds out about this.' Touya had been Seijuu's soccer star in his day and their team never lost.
XOXOXOXOXOX
Syaoran scratched his head. He hated distractions especially now that they're in their opponent's home base but he couldn't help it. The other coach had called for a short time out so he spent a few minutes patting the back of his team and giving them advice to sustain their momentum. But then, he couldn't help but glance at the very attractive girl talking with someone on her cell phone just some distance ahead. She was smiling prettily while she talked. He reminded himself that a girl that beautiful is most likely taken. He looked at her hands and saw no engagement or wedding ring. 'Hmmm.'
The game started again and he sent off his nephews (the players were all his nephews) somewhat distractedly. The pretty girl is wearing a simple white blouse with little holes at the bottom (eyelets) and pink capris. The fabric hugged her bottom and her legs very well. He strained a bit to get a better look at her chest but was startled from his pleasant observation when someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Syaoran Li is that you? I can't believe it! What a lucky coincidence -- I just dropped by to get some sun." A screechy female voice asked him. He turned and saw MeiLing Rae. They attended the same high school and she was one of his most ardent fan girls. She gave him the creeps. "And still as gorgeous as ever I see!"
"Um. Hi Rae. How's it been?" He asked, not really caring what her answer is.
MeiLing started to say a verbal autobiography but Syaoran cut her in the most polite way he could. "Look Rae, I have to look after my team."
Her big disappointment is apparent on her face. "OK then, but please call me Mei, Syaoran. After the game we can catch up—by the way I'm still single and available." She winked suggestively sauntering off with a pronounced sashay in her hips for his benefit.
It sent unpleasant shivers up and down his spine. 'Desperate times call for desperate measures.'
His nephews had scored another goal while this was happening. It's now 4-0 in favor of Tomoeda. He ignored the dour faces of the Seijuu crowd watching from the stands. MeiLing waved to him from where she sat. 'Ugghh..'
The Tomoeda coach called for another time out, obviously panicking. His nephews ran towards him and he gave them a few pointers all the while noting that the pretty girl is now sitting on a bench in one side of the field, watching them with interest. He felt Meiling's eyes almost boring a hole on the nape of his neck. He whispered to his nephews during their huddle. "Guys, I need your help on this—this means an additional gallon of ice cream for your cooperation." His nephews nodded. Extra ice cream is always good news.
"Just agree with everything I say when a woman approaches us later, OK?"
"Yes, uncle!" They saluted smartly.
There was a 15-minute break before the second half of the game so MeiLing took advantage of it and approached Syaoran and his resting players. "Syaoran!" She screeched.
"Rae. I'd like you to meet my kids." Syaoran gestured towards Mianhua and Xian (both 7) his youngest twin nephews. He quickly slipped his hands in his jacket so she won't see that he doesn't have a wedding ring.
His nephews misunderstood—they thought their uncle meant all of them. In unison, they said, "Hi there, Dad's friend." (Syaoran's instructions were not that clear come to think of it.)
MeiLing mouth popped open. "Dad's? Oh..uh..you mean, they're ALL your kids?"
"Ah…" Syaoran started to say something but the kids beat him to it.
"Yes, we have different mothers!" The kids said, thinking of the extra gallon of ice cream.
Meiling's jaw dropped to the ground. She had always known that Syaoran was a player but she never thought that he would be that bad! The oldest kid looked about 8 or 9 years old—he had started earlier than she thought! She said goodbye abruptly and walked back to her car.
Syaoran smiled in spite of himself, giving two thumbs-up to his nephews as they went back in formation. His eyes scanned the field and saw that the pretty girl had walked closer to his team's area. She was talking again on her phone. 'To her boyfriend no doubt.' He thought, narrowing his eyes. He usually didn't go for girls who were taken but for some reason something about this girl reminded him of something and he felt the urge to get to know her better.
In the final few seconds of the game, Tomoeda was winning 15-2 when Chen of Tomoeda was roughly pushed by two players from Seijuu. Chen fell on his face to the grass hard. The referee whistled signaling the end of the game. The Tomoeda boys cheer loudly for themselves with some polite applause from the crowd. Syaoran barely noticed as he was hurrying over to Chen, who was still lying on the ground. The referee was kneeling beside him. "I think he broke a tooth or something—his mouth is bleeding, sir."
"Oon-cle, my front teeth." He's having a hard time speaking so Syaoran grabbed his hankie and gave it to the bleeding boy. His older sister will strangle him if anything in her son's anatomy is damaged. Syaoran saw that the front tooth (which was already permanent) was chipped at an odd angle and there were a few milk teeth dangling from the gums.
Sakura saw what happened and rushed over to the where the boy is together with the other Tomoeda players. She heard the coach asking the referee if there was a dentist nearby where he could take the boy.
The referee shook his head. "It's a Sunday, sir, all clinics are closed except the dentist at the hospital about 3 miles from here. I'm sorry."
Syaoran let out a deep breath, frustrated. "Come on then, let's go there team. Just close your mouth Chen and cover it with the hankie, we'll go to the hospital."
"I'm a dentist! I can help!" Sakura's voice broke the tense atmosphere. The eyes of the others all turned to her. "There's a clinic nearby with the equipment, I can take you there."
Syaoran nodded, relief washing all over him. She knelt on the grass and scanned it for the chipped portion of the tooth, just in case. She found it and stood up to see that Syaoran had the other boys carry their stuff to their van which was parked nearby.
"My car is on the other side of field and…" She started.
"Do you mind joining us in the van?" He asked.
She looked at him. Normally she would not even consider riding in stranger's vehicles but she found herself saying "No. Let's go." He looked like a decent person.
Chen sat on the second row behind Syaoran and the other boys piled in quickly. Sakura sat on the passenger seat in front. She gave him directions on where to turn and sure enough they reached Yukito's closed clinic in two minutes.
Luckily he had given her keys long ago and she hurriedly opened it. They all entered as she flipped on the lights. "Let's go." She motioned to Chen to come with her to the treatment room. She turned to Syaoran and the other boys. "It will be fine." They heard her switching on machines from outside. Syaoran instructed the other boys to change clothes in the van while they were waiting. He looked around the waiting room and saw the Dentist's name "Tsukishiro Yukito, DMD, Dental Surgeon." He didn't see any other name and wondered what the pretty girl's name is. She sure is a good Samaritan. He was wondering how he can return the favor when his nephews entered and started sneezing one after the other. He approached them and touched the forehead of the nearest one. "Don't tell me you're all coming down with something."
"It smells like it's full of lemons here uncle." Yan answered a bit too loudly. The other boys agreed.
Syaoran bit his lip. "Shhh… She might hear you and she's been nice and all. Behave."
In less than an hour, Chen walked outside the treatment room followed by Sakura.
"It's OK—it's fixed." She announced happily, the other boys cheered. She put an arm on the boy's shoulder. "Cheng, please sit there while I talk to…your…um…"
"Syaoran. Syaoran Li. I'm their…" He extended his hand to shake hers, she did the same. 'Soft and smooth', noted Syaoran as he held hers in a firm and friendly way.
Chen's twin brother, Chang remembered their uncle's instructions earlier and cut off his uncle: "He's our Dad! We're Fuutie's sons." He said pointing to him and Chen. He nudged the other boys and they all said. "Yes, he is. We're Huanglian's sons." Yan and Xian said. "I'm Xuehua's," said Chuyin. "And I'm Feimei's," said Mianhua.
Sakura's eyes widened, her mouth formed an "Oh." Why did she feel a tinge of disappointment just now? All the boys did share a close resemblance to Syaoran--same unruly brown hair and brown eyes, same facial expression, same confident demeanor. She never imagined that he's such a prolific dad. Then they both realized that Syaoran was still holding her hand. She withdrew hers shyly.
Syaoran heart was slowly sinking through all this and glared at his nephews (don't worry, they're immune to it) "No, I'm not. I'm their…"
The ring of her cell phone startled all of them. She saw in the caller ID that it was her boyfriend. "Excuse me but I have to take this call. It's the owner of the clinic." She said and proceeded to a corner of the room. Six pairs of young boys' eyes followed her curiously, which their uncle noticed. "It's impolite to stare." Their uncle reminded them quietly. The boys went back to the couch and talked quietly among themselves.
"Yuki..hello. Yes. By the way…sorry but I commandeered your clinic….there's an emergency…but its OK now…He's a nice father of 6 boys…one of his sons…"
Syaoran winced and felt something weird at the pit of his stomach as he heard her mention the caller's name. It was probably the owner of the clinic Yukito. He found himself frowning for no reason at all. He didn't notice that his nephews have surrounded him. Chang (8) tapped his hand. "Ne, Uncle, can we ask her out for a snack? She's really sexy."
Chen (8) nodded in agreement, "Yes, I think I'm in love." Yan (7) piped in, "Do you think she'll come with us?" Xian (7) winked at his uncle: "She left her car near the soccer field, ne, uncle?" Mianhua (7) said: "I'll ask her on a date." Chuyin (7) protested. "No you don't I will!"
"Shhh….!! I told you all to behave. No more ice cream for…" Syaoran said in a loud whisper. He was getting beaten at his own game by his boy-nephews.
"Er…Mr. Li?" Sakura suddenly felt shy. She only heard the "behave" part.
"Call me Syaoran. I'm sorry but I didn't get your name earlier."
"I'm Sakura. Sakura Kinimoto. Pediatric dentist." She held out her hand, he took it again (it's becoming a habit now) and shook it. To his chagrin, his nephews hurried over to shake hands with her too while introducing themselves. He was forced to stand aside to make way for them. They looked every bit like excited school boys fawning over their crush.
Sakura was smiling amusedly when she said: "Syaoran, I need to explain what I did to Chen's teeth." He nodded and followed her to a desk where they sat down. She showed him a diagram of teeth and explained the procedure but he sort of zoned out—he probably couldn't explain it to Fuutie later. He only listened to her voice and looked at her.
"Can I get your um…ah…number? My sister might want to ask more detailed questions." He paused. "And I'm their uncle by the way, not their father."
Sakura's lips curled into a smile but she bit her lip. The smile lingered in her eyes though. They looked at each other for a moment. She broke the gaze. "Oh you have to fill-out these forms too before I forget."
Syaoran nodded. He took the forms and did as she said. Sakura observed him discreetly. He was better looking up close. His lips were full and his hands were big—with long fingers, his feet are large. She recalled that Haru mentioned something about how significant the size of men's feet is in terms of women's pleasure…she just couldn't remember the premise behind it. She thought it was all so illogical at the time—how would men's feet contribute to pleasure anyway? Haru was a bit weird sometimes. She woke up from her trance when she noticed he was taking his wallet from his pocket. Sakura held up her hands to him. "Oh no…Yuki said to not accept anything…please…I told him that Chen was pushed. Yuki's a former soccer player for Seijuu too and he feels bad about what happened."
"That's very kind and charitable of him but I really must insist since you were the one who did it…" Syaoran will not let her win this one. He felt though that he might have come off as arrogant.
"But we used his clinic and supplies and all, what I did is ." Sakura replied, not willing to back down either. She almost always won over Yuki over their debates. This man was so different from Yuki in this respect.
His nephews had followed them. Chan spoke up. "Uncle, Miss Sakura…" His stomach growled loudly, followed by five other distinct growls from the other boys. "Sorry!" The boys said when they saw the embarrassed look on their uncle's face. Sakura smiled widely at their expressions. Come to think of it, she had very little breakfast earlier.
Syaoran turned to her. "OK, let's compromise Sakura. You can send us a bill and you'll join us for a…" He looked at his watch. "Late afternoon snack?"
"Er…I wouldn't want to impose…I…" She wanted to go but felt very shy. She's sure that she's blushing now.
"Please Dentist Sakura." The 6 boys flashed pleading lost-puppy-dog eyes to her. They all looked so much like their uncle that it was like they were tiny clones of him, and who could ever resist 6 small versions of Syaoran and 1 fully-grown version? No one. Nu-uh.
Sakura cleaned up and closed Yuki's clinic again. Syaoran was dying to ask her what her relationship to Yuki was but stopped himself. His nephews piled into the van chatting happily. Sakura took her place beside him in front, where he looked at her discreetly from the side mirror of the van. He felt like he was being given a preview of something. Is this what it felt like to be domesticated? To have a wife and kids?
"Ne, Syaoran, where will we go?" Sakura asked him softly.
"Pizza Palace!" The boys said in unison. "And you promised us two extra gallons of ice cream uncle!"
"Two? I said just one.." His brows furrowed. "You're mothers will kill me if you get sick."
Sakura chuckled at this exchange. Syaoran had no choice but to throw his hands in mock surrender.
XOXOXOXOXO
They drew the attention of all the customers and waiters as they entered the pizza restaurant. Some old ladies shook their heads and muttered "so young and so many children already… tsk tsk."
A waiter welcomed them and said rather loudly. "Please follow me to the family room, sir, ma'am, kids."
Sakura blushed and looked away from him. The boys got hold of both her hands and arm as they followed the waiter. Syaoran followed them all the while struggling to wipe off the silly grin on his face. Come to think of it, this situation felt a little familiar, like déjà vu? Sakura's name somehow rings a bell too. He just couldn't figure out exactly where he heard her name before.
By the time he entered the family room, he saw that his nephews had taken seats on either side of Sakura, leaving him alone on the opposite bench. The boys appeared to be on their very best and most polite behavior.
They ordered several pizzas, a large bucket of chicken, pitchers of drinks and ice cream. The boys seemed to be competing in offering the best food to Sakura from their own plates. It amused her a lot. Their uncle sat across her, observing her quietly as he ate. His nephews then started to interview her on her favorite things and hobbies which she answered cheerfully. Syaoran smiled to himself, his nephews inherited something from him after all—in about an hour—he found out what her favorite color, hobby, movies, cartoons, TV shows, food, ice cream flavor, cereal, songs, places, were and discovered that they had a lot in common.
Chen wiped his mouth. He had been quiet up until now. "Dentist Sakura, do you have a boyfriend?" Seven pairs of eyes looked at her. She felt like she was under an X-ray.
"Yyy-es." She said, her cheeks turned pink. She realized that thoughts of Yuki did not cross her mind for most of the time that she was with Syaoran and his nephews. (Except when she talked to him of course.) The boys sighed loudly, their uncle sighed inwardly. How disappointing.
Chang spoke up undeterred. "How long have you been together?"
"Chang, that's personal." Syaoran said though he was dying to find out himself.
"Four years." Sakura replied quietly, she also noticed that she did not seem to want to talk about Yuki at all right now.
"SAKURA! I've been looking all over for you!" They all turned and Sakura saw Naoko Yanagisawa, one of her college friends, walk over to her. "Oh, sorry for intruding." She said to Syaoran.
"It's all right." He said, although he was a bit annoyed with the interruption.
"Sakura—oh my…I didn't know you got married and have kids already!!" Naoko covered her mouth, suddenly embarrassed.
"They're my friends, I'm not married." Sakura replied.
"I'm so sorry! I just got back from Europe to get married here! You must come! You and Tomoyo. Here, Junoesque is doing all the arrangements for me. Please?" Naoko handed her a business card. "Please contact my planner." Her cell phone rang. "Sorry Sakura, but I have to go now." She looked at Syaoran, "I'm so sorry for taking her away." She then left.
Syaoran asked for the bill. "Enough questions boys, it's getting late, we've already taken a lot of her time."
"Awwww…." said the boys.
"That's OK, you can just drop me off at the school I left my car there," she said.
"Won't it be dangerous?" Syaoran asked. His phone rang. It's a conference call with his four sisters. "Excuse me. It's my sisters." He spoke with them and hung up shortly. He paid the bill and they left the restaurant. Syaoran found himself driving more slowly than usual towards the soccer field. His nephews had used up most of their energy and were leaning drowsily on their seats.
"I'm sorry I haven't even thanked you yet for what you did." Syaoran said.
She stared at her hands. "It was nothing."
"It's not nothing." He replied. "How could you say that."
"Thanks too for taking me with you to the restaurant."
"Yeah right and had those boys interview you," he smirked.
"You're a really nice guy…uncle…you know." She looked at him shyly.
"And you're a…great…" He wanted to hit himself for being such a stuttering idiot. He had been so glib with women UNTIL now. He felt like a stupid school boy.
"Uncle! We passed by the soccer field already--about two blocks ago."
XOXOXOXOXO
Sakura thanked him again when he escorted her to her car. She felt sad, like a load was placed on her chest when she walked him walk away, but she convinced herself that she feels the exact way when Yuki leaves. Or did she?
He went back to the van and drove after her. At an intersection, she rolled down her window and signaled that she was going to turn to the left. Syaoran waved yes and watched her car disappear into the distance. That's when he remembered. Kinimoto. His mother had a friend named Kinimoto. He will look into his old stuff when he gets home. He looked at the back where his nephews were dozing off in their chairs. He drove off towards Tomoeda, thinking only of how her scent still lingered in the van.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
E&T:
Moyo drove off downtown after speaking with Kura. She's relieved that they had reconciled. Kura never stayed angry for long anyway. She was also looking forward to meeting Haru's hot date that they've been hearing about. Sakura sent her a text message asking her if she wanted to cook dinner with her for the lovebirds when they come over and she said yes. Moyo only wondered why Haru was being so secretive about her boyfriend's identity but very open about the more private things that they were doing. She felt that Haru was hiding something from them. Of course, Kura wouldn't agree with her on this—she's never been the suspicious type that girl.
She was supposed to drive to King Penguin Tower for the meeting with Kerr Beros, her boss, the Clamp group and that Hiirigizawa guy. She's both very excited and very nervous about what's happening to her career right now—it had been so mediocre until now. Imagine having an anime TV show based on her creation! She would have to go to her mother's home in the country and inform her about it herself. It would definitely cheer her up!
She hummed happily to herself when she saw the towering building looming in the distance. It was her destination. Then from out of nowhere, another car cut on her and rolled over a puddle of water, spraying her clean, cream-colored car with dirty pavement water. She turned on her windshield wipers immediately and cursed under her breath. "Shit! Stupid asshole."
She saw that the driver of the midnight blue car ahead of her was talking on his cellphone—which may be the reason why he didn't see her. His plate number was
"E REED IZ HEA." For some reason, her blood boiled at the sight of his car that she tightly gripped her steering wheel. She stepped on the gas. She caught up with the driver of the car and honked loudly at him, cut him at the next turn then sped away.
She turned and thought she saw a rather confused expression on the driver's face. His mouth was partly open. She also noticed that he had dark hair and wore glasses. 'That felt really, really GOOD!' She increased the volume of her car's stereo and hummed to herself again.
"HONK!" A noise came from beside her. It was the asshole driver again! He seemed to be challenging her as he sped away, leaving her alone on the expressway. 'He must be laughing his warty ass off that …that…'
Tomoyo Taylor never backs away from a challenge. Memories of her car accident when she was little faded from her mind. Heck, she was suddenly in the mood for some drag racing right now. She flicked back her long hair and stepped on the gas. HARD.
(Uh—oh Road Rage Tomoyo here we go.)
TO BE CONTINUED….
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