"It is HOT out today, folks! Despite the cold chill we had yesterday the heat is turning right up! So get out your t-shirts and shorts, you'll definitely need them today-" Syaoran turned off the T.V. That announcer always bothered him and he wasn't a big fan of listening to him while he ate his dry cereal.
Naomi shuffled into the kitchen and poured herself some coffee. "Are you going out like that Syaoran? I thought it was supposed to be hot out?" She said as she looked Syaoran up and down. He was wearing his usual pants, t-shirt and sweater.
He shrugged, "It might get cold out again." That was a lie. Syaoran just didn't want anyone to see the bruises shaped like baseball bats.
"If you say so, sweetie." Naomi smiled.
Syaoran looked around and noticed that something was missing. "Where's Nobu? I thought he'd be up by now? Not that I'm complaining." He grunted the last part.
"He left early today. Something about a business meeting." She sighed. "He's had a lot of those lately. But never in the morning." Syaoran resisted the urge to tell her that Nobu was probably cheating on her too.
"I gotta head to school, Mom." Syaoran stood up and hugged his mother. "I won't be home right away after school. There's a new girl in town and Tomoyo wants us all to hang out today."
"Oh, well that's nice of you guys! Maybe I'll get to meet her some day." Naomi winked at Syaoran.
He rolled his eyes and said, "I'm not involved with her mom. She's just an acquaintance." Syaoran grabbed his back pack and walked to the door. Before he was able to leave though, he heard his mother say, "Well hopefully that will change." And then she skittered off into the living room.
Syaoran rubbed his eyes and sighed as he left his house to go to school. It wasn't a long walk. About five minutes or so. He really wasn't in the mood for seeing anybody though. He pulled out his pack of cigarettes and brought one out as he sat on the picnic table, glad that no one was around yet. Syaoran lit the cigarette and let the smoke flow into his lungs. It was soothing to him.
"Smoking will kill you."
Syaoran jumped a little, hearing the sudden voice. He spun around on his seat and realized that Sakura was standing there, arms crossed and almost a smirk on her face.
"Pardon?" Was all Syaoran could say.
"I said smoking will kill you. But don't take my word for it. I'm sure you already know." She replied as she sat down beside him. "It feels nice in the shade." Sakura sighed.
"Uh…yeah." Syaoran didn't really know what to say, but as an after thought, "Sorry, does the smoke bother you?"
Sakura looked at him with a small smile. "Well aren't you polite. Yes it bothers me, but I'm used to it. So don't give up the chance to ruin your lungs on my account." She waved her hand as a dismissal.
Syaoran shrugged and took another drag, "If you say so."
They sat there for a few minutes, not quite an awkward silence passing through them. Syaoran, as weird as he felt doing this, listened to her breathing. It was almost as though she….wasn't. Out of the corner of his eye he couldn't even really see her breathe. Maybe she was just holding her breath?
"Are you feeling better?" Syaoran asked because of how sickly she had looked the previous day.
"What?" She turned her head to him.
"Oh, you just looked like you were kind of sick yesterday. I'm just wondering if you are feeling better." Syaoran seemed a little nervous now. What if that was a personal question? Likely not to anyone else, but Sakura just seemed extremely different, and Syaoran felt as though he had to walk on pins and needles around her. Though it was odd that he felt that way. They hadn't really spoken much more than a few sentences to each other.
Sakura was silent for a moment, and Syaoran immediately felt as though he's blown it. "I've been sick for a while. Just a bug that won't go away. That's all." Sakura smiled. She looked at Syaoran and a frown grew on her face. "That's a nasty bruise." She said, referring to the shiner Syaoran had on his right eye.
Syaoran took in a deep breath. "Yeah. War wound I guess you could say."
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get it?" Sakura examined it from where she sat. She could see a cut in amongst the dark colours. It looked as though it was from a ring.
"Oh…I uh, just got into a fight with some guy the other day. Nothing serious." Syaoran tried to puff out his chest a little, making him look tougher.
Sakura had a look on her face that told Syaoran that she didn't believe him. But she nodded and let it go. Who was she to get into someone's personal life anyways? She wouldn't be around for long so what was the point?
"Hey, uh, do you think you could show me around the school?" Sakura asked, a little shy now. "The principle didn't exactly give me the grand tour. Guess he just kinda expected me to already know." She laughed half-heartedly.
"Sure. We have a while until class starts." Syaoran got up from the table, flicking away the cigarette he had forgotten about. Sakura gave him a dirty look as she stood up as well. Syaoran smirked and said, "Okay, I'll go put it in a trash can."
Sakura smiled, "Thank you. It's good to know that I have an impression on you."
"Yeah, the impression that if I litter you'll rip my heart out and show it to me." Syaoran laughed as he picked up the cigarette butt. Sakura punched him in the arm, if you could call it a punch, for it was weak and Syaoran barely felt it.
As they walked through the school Syaoran asked, "Which classes do you have?"
Sakura took out her timetable. "Um…English, Geography, Math, and History. I'm definitely not going to do well on the last two." She sighed.
"Well, I have Math and History too. And I don't mean to brag but I have pretty high marks in those. So if you ever need help I'd be willing to take some off my busy schedule." Syaoran nudged her arm, making her surprisingly stumble a little.
"Don't make it sound like a chore." Sakura laughed.
They went on through the school, Syaoran showing Sakura her classes and where her locker would be. It was odd though, for Syaoran was actually having a good time with this girl that he only met a day before. And Syaoran liked it. He liked laughing again. He liked having a conversation with Sakura. Any other girl he had talked to didn't have the same intelligence and infectious laughter as Sakura did.
And for once…he didn't think about Nobu.
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"Okay class, I want you to get your note books out and a couple pens because we have a long note to write today." Mr. Terada said, leaning over an overhead projector. He stood up straight again and looked at Sakura. "So, Sakura, we're just getting into the story of Hitler. I assume you know all about him."
Sakura looked up and said, "Yes."
"I asked the class yesterday what they thought of him, excluding Mr. Li whom I also expect to give me an answer." Terada gave him a look. "So what is your opinion on Hitler Sakura?"
"He was a genius." Sakura answered right away. A few gasps went across the room.
"Interesting, and what do you mean by that?" Terada leaned forward a bit.
Sakura cleared her throat. "Well, he managed to manipulate an entire country into believing one thing. Not that I agree with the horrible things he did. But manipulating one person to us is hard enough. To manipulate a country….I say again the man was a genius."
Syaoran snorted with a smirk on his face. Sakura turned to look at him.
"You disagree Syaoran?" Terada asked.
"Yes and no." Syaoran answered. "Indeed he was an incredibly smart man, but he was also a fool."
Terada was really getting into the discussion. "Can you explain that?"
Syaoran sat up straighter. "He was a fool for thinking that he could take over other countries. He was like a child. Once he got his way with one thing, he thought he could get away with it every time. But he failed when the Americans joined the war."
Terada looked shocked but satisfied. "Very good. These are the first two points that no one else, even in my other classes have made. Good job you two." He nodded at Sakura and Syaoran. "Now, to get on with that note."
Syaoran tapped Sakura on the shoulder and she turned her head to look at him. "I thought you said you wouldn't do well in this class." He whispered.
Sakura smirked, "That doesn't mean that I don't know anything about history."
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Tomoyo ran up to Syaoran and Sakura who were sat quite comfortably at the picnic table. "Sakura! How was your first day?" She asked excitedly.
"It wasn't all that bad. Except for the times that I had to spend with him." She pointed at Syaoran teasingly.
"Oh, come on, I'm not that bad to be around am I?" Syaoran said, almost pouting.
Tomoyo giggled, "You guys seem to be getting a long well." She eyed them both.
A light brush of pink went into Sakura's face. "Yeah right. I can't stand him." She looked away laughing.
"So what do you guys want to do today?" Tomoyo asked, quickly changing the subject to save Syaoran some embarrassment.
Eriol and Takashi came up behind Tomoyo. "I think we should go to your place. Maybe watch a movie, go swimming, have a few drinks." Eriol suggested.
"I like that idea." Takashi said. "You want to Sakura? Tomoyo's house is really nice." He said in a very tempting way.
"Why not?" Sakura agreed.
"I'll call my mom to send us a ride. It's a little far to walk in this heat." Tomoyo got out her cell phone and excused her self from the table.
Sakura knew all too well how hot it was outside. I don't know if I can make it through the rest of the day.
As they got up to go to the parking lot, Sakura swayed a bit as she put her hand on her forehead. Syaoran stopped and put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"
Sakura stabilized herself and looked up at Syaoran. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just…got up too fast. That's all." She smiled to try and hide her pain and walked ahead with Tomoyo.
There is definitely something up with her, Syaoran thought.
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There we go! Chapter 4!
As one of you guys mentioned in a review, when it said in the last chapter "where I relieve myself on my clothes" that was a definite mistake haha. Sakura's not a creep like that in my story. I'm just too lazy to change it. Hopefully you all knew what I meant.
Reviews help!