Apartments
AN: I do not own Card Captor Sakura
Chapter 4
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I opened my eyes. Across from me was the girl, sleeping with the pillow pulled tightly against her body as she hugged it… In my bed! She didn't hear or feel me when I sat up. I sure as hell remember going to bed alone last night.
I silently climbed out and made my way to the kitchen. My eyes fell on my half open balcony door. So that is where the little bugger got in. She must have sneaked in when I was fast asleep. Kids! What am I to do with this one? I glanced to my room, but no sound came from it. Sighing I switched on the kettle and leaned on the counter. I felt my head bump slightly against the cupboard as I leaned my head back. What am I going to do?
The water came to a boil and I poured it into my mug with coffee. Sighing again I made my way to my computer. I clicked through the files automatically. The document opened leaving me to stare at the text. My eyes scanned through it.
Beautiful, energetic, open, caring, a loner, lonely, silent, wordy, careful, daring… All words I used to describe the girl in the pieces I have written so far. But nothing, none of the descriptions or the dialogue or even the story managed to capture the essence that is the girl.
I closed the document. I clicked on its icon again. Shift, delete. It's gone. A sudden sense of relief and dread ran through my body. Months of work deleted in one go, months of rubbish destroyed forever.
I sipped my coffee and tapped my mug lightly with my fingers. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. The hot liquid was bitter as it slid down my throat. Naoko is going to kill me when she finds out. But I'd rather have nothing than rubbish to give to her.
Shit.
"Why did you delete it?" I looked up at the girl. She was standing there, with her hair at all ends, her pyjamas crinkled and the pillow still in her arms. "Wasn't it good enough?"
"No, it wasn't."
"But you worked so hard on it."
"Not hard enough. I can't get it to sound right. The character… She isn't who she is supposed to be."
"Who is she suppose to be?" She pulled up a chair and sat down next to me. Her eyes were soft when she looked at me. The pillow still tightly clutched against her body.
"You." I looked away as I let the word slip from my mouth. Now she knows. My dream character is her. She is the one person I desire to write about, to learn more about, to know inside and out.
"What do you want to know?" I frowned at her. "You need to know someone before you can write about them. Here." She stuffed my notebook and a pen into my hands. "I'll tell you, you can decide what you like and what you want to use. Let's see… I was born in Tomoeda, 1 April. My mom is Nadesiko and my dad Fujitika Kinomoto. I have an older brother, Toya, who is seven years my senior. So he is close to your age.
"I attended Tomoeda elementary and later Tomoeda High… if we didn't move I would have attended the same collage my brother did. My mom died when I was three, my brother moved out of the house when he finished university… Oh, my best friend it Tomoyo. She's a bit of a rebel, but very sweet."
I wrote down the names and approximate time frames in between as she continued to tell me about herself. She told me about her mother's illness and how she died. She told me about how her father devoted his time to his children and to his job. She told me about how her brother would call her names to annoy her and how he would protect her when he thought she was in danger.
She told me about her life in school, how she never really did fit in anywhere. She told me about her friend Tomoyo, the one she calls a rebel. And how they would get into mischief together… She told me about when Tomoyo first told her that she slept with her boyfriend and how for a brief moment it changed her view about her friend.
She told me about her grandfather who she hardly ever sees, but love dearly. She told me about her dreams, her nightmares, her hopes and wishes, her aches and pains, her longings, her losses, her gains, her wins, her desires, her repulsions… She told me about her life.
She told me everything up to the point they moved to this apartment complex. I was enthralled by this girl's simple, yet somehow complicated life. In her seventeen years she has experienced so much and yet so little.
But above all I realised one thing. She is wise. She is incredibly wise for her years, and it somehow scared me. Such a young girl, a young woman, should not be walking around with all those heavy thoughts in her mind. That is why she doesn't have friends her own age. She scares them. That is why she calls me her friend. I am able to understand her. I am able to comprehend the multiple meanings she carries in her sometimes carefully chosen and sometimes reckless words.
I wonder if her teachers see it.
I wonder if her peers are able to see it.
I wonder if her family sees it.
"Shh… Sakura." My voice was gentle as my touch when I pushed her hair from her face. "You don't have to tell me all of this."
"But if I want to?" Her green eyes were pleading. They were pleading for someone to understand her in some way.
"If you want to, you can tell me anything you want." She smiled slightly.
"I'll tell you something no one else knows. Something that I've been hiding for a very long time." Her eyes fell to her lap as she pulled the pillow tighter against her. "I hate being alone, but I always seem to end up alone."
"Kid…" I got up and wrapped my arms around the girl. I pulled her against me. I could feel her face press against my stomach. She let go of the pillow and wrapped her arms around my legs. "As long as I am here, you don't have to feel alone. Promise."
"Thank you Mr Li."
"I'm not mister."
"Syaoran."
"That's better." I pulled her arms from my body and kneeled down to look her in the eye. Her green eyes were flooded with emotions as she stared at me. "So, are you going to help me write this book? Its long weekend and we have three months worth of work to catch up on."
"I'm not good with words."
"Nonsense. You just need a little practice. But first things first… Breakfast."
"I swear Yue, if you don't come and pick up your toys from these stairs right now I am going to throw them away!" I sighed at the girl's voice as she threatened the little boy from down the hallway. Added, his toys lying everywhere is a bit of a nuisance, but it always seems to be Sakura to do something about it.
"You're not my mom!"
"No I'm not. I say something once and then I act on my threat."
"You can't do anything to me!"
"Wanna bet? I want those cars gone when I come back up." I laughed slightly when the boy walked whining down the hallway in the opposite direction. He had no intentions of cleaning up his toys. And most of the time everyone lets him do what he wants. He's the only kid in the entire apartment block and the rest are mostly young singles or older couples.
I suppose Yue got a bit spoiled between all the cool drink and cookies. It's just Sakura who doesn't seem to fall for his charm and wits – as much as a seven year old has. "They are going!" I laughed at Sakura's threatening voice. "Going, going… oh Ninja Turtle, I'll keep that one for myself."
"You can't take my toys!"
"Watch me! It's the blue one, I like the blue one."
"You don't even know his name."
"And you do?" I sighed as I stood up and walked to my door. I laughed at all the amused faced poking there heads outside to see the new strict teenager battle is out with the spoiled pre-teen. "Oh, another red car! And look here… A dump truck. Perfect for the rats on the dump."
"No!"
"It's Jack Sparrow the Lego man. Perfect for my little pirate section I have in my room. I'll put him with my poster of good old Captain Jack."
"No! It's mine."
"Doesn't look that way… It's been lying here for three days and you didn't bother with it, so now its mine." I grinned at the girl as she stuffed her arms full of toys that she picked up on almost every step. "And another red… Aaaahhhhh!"
"Sakura!" My heart just about stopped. I watched the girl… fall. The toys fell from her arms as she fell backwards down the stairs. I pushed Yue aside as I dashed after the girl. Skipping steps along the way. I found her in the corner of the bend. Tears were streaking from her eyes. "Sakura! Are you alright?"
"It hurts."
"What hurts?"
"My arm." I pulled her up and this time my heart did stop. The girl's arm stood at an odd angle, tears were staining her beautiful face as she continuously mumbled that her arm hurts. With out thinking I picked the girl up and ran up the stairs with her. I grabbed my car keys and dashed down the stairs again with her still in my arms. A long the way I barked at Yue to pick his toys up this time.
I gently set the girl down in the passenger's seat. "Hold on kid." I stroked her face gently. "I'll get you to a doctor." I'm sure I ran over more than one speed trap, but I could care less at that stage. The girl was hurt, crying… and it was up to me to get her help. I think we made it to the hospital in record time.
When I entered the emergency ward with the girl in my arms nurses seemed to appear from almost everywhere, calling doctors and instructing me to put the girl down on a bed in a room. "Sir, are you her boyfriend? What happened?"
"She stepped on a toy from the kid in the apartment block and fell… Is she going to be alright?"
"Sir, the doctor will do everything within his power to ease her pain. What's the young lady's name?"
"Sakura… Sakura Kinomoto."
"Are you a relative?"
"No. Her dad is way on some business trip."
"Is Miss Kinomoto allergic to any medicine?"
"I don't know."
"How old is she?"
"Seventeen."
"I'm eighteen! You doofus!"
"Well you answer her questions then, smart mouth! Just a moment ago you will balling your eyes out."
"I'm still balling my eyes out and it still hurts! Some friend you are!" I glared at the girl's pale face as she glared at me. "You should shave again."
"What! For pity sake, you sit there with a broken arm or something and you tell me what to do!"
"If Yue listened to what I told him to do, this wouldn't have happened."
"He's seven Sakura!"
"I don't care how old the little brat is. He's a spoiled little twit! Owe!" I watched as a nurse forced her to lay flat on her back as the doctor examined her arm. "I told you not to encourage him and what did you say 'what's the harm?'. This is the damn harm! Owe!" The nursed forced her back onto the bed again and a male nurse started to push the bed out of the room to x-rays. "Oh no, you don't!"
"Hey!"
"You are coming with me! This is all your fault!" I tried to loosen her grip on me as she pulled me with, with her good arm. Her fingers curled itself tightly into my shirt pulling me next to the bed. I could hear people laughing at us and the nurses giggle at my little predicament.
"It's not my fault! I should have left you on the stairs."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Then stop complaining, I ran through five speed traps for you."
"So, Toya ran through ten!"
"I'm not your brother!"
"Miss, you have to let go of your boyfriend now. He can't go into the x-ray room."
"I want to spoil his chances of having children ever again!"
"You are such a brat." I whispered at her as I pulled her hand off my shirt. I had ten minutes of semi peace as I sat outside with nurses pointing and giggling at me. The door opened again and I sighed as the girl was pushed out glaring at me.
"Care to repeat that?"
"You heard me."
"Wait until we get home Syaoran Li!"
"We'll kiss and make up."
"Says you."
"Knows me."
"You have really bad grammar for a writer."
"That's why I have a copy-editor love."
"I hate you."
"I love you too." I waved at her as they pushed her into a room again. I was more than aware of all the eyes watching me, but paid no heed to it. Good heavens. Who knew the girl could be so… Abusive, is that the word? Or perhaps more stubborn… Yeah, stubborn. Especially with a broken arm. I let a sigh escape me.
"Syaoran! Don't you dare leave me alone!" I looked at the roof in the hope that it would give me strength before making my way to the room. Behind me the giggles turned into full blown laughter.
"Not so loud." I sighed again as I sat down next to the girl and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. The doctor came in and told me to hold onto the girl as he straightened her arm and put the plaster around it. The girl was crying next to me when the doctor finished. "Hey, come now… Everything is over. Sakura?"
I let my thumb brush away her tears as I held her face in my hands. How small she seemed all of a sudden. "We'll get you your medication at the pharmacy and your medical aid will cover everything. And you can still write with your right hand. Hush now, Sakura. There is no need to cry."
"My mom died in this hospital."
"I'm sorry love."
"It's okay. I only remember the walls." I held onto the girl as she cried in my shirt. The doctor looked at me sympathetically and I half smiled at him. He must have seen so much death in his life…
"That's that. There is nothing more to worry about miss. Come and see me in six weeks time and I'll remove that cast for you. In the mean time, get your boyfriend here to spoil you a bit." He smiled encouragingly at her and I frowned. The guy's about my age!
"Thank you sir."
"Come on love, I'll take you home."
"Will you make me some of your lemonade?"
"Sure love." I glanced back at the doctor as I led the girl out of the room. He smiled at me – almost telling me… I should take care of her… she is a jewel. I glanced down at the girl holding tight onto me. What did they talk about in my few minutes of absence?
AN: Hello! I visited my friend in the hospital yesterday (22 Sep). He was in a car accident, but is doing really well know. The doctor did such a good job that you can't even tell that they had to reconstruct half of his face! My friend will be his normal dark handsome self again. I'm so happy!
To those of you who read Short Stories with Tragic Endings, it's going to be on hold for just a bit. I have a problem with authority at the moment. Let's just say I had a really unpleasant experience with the police (what do you expect from a country in Africa). I will finish it though! Promise.
Has anyone seen Bobo? I haven't heard from her in a while and I'm kind of concerned. She's kind of become my pal. If you know if she is okay, let me know please.
Thank you for the great reviews!
Tella
