STUFFED ANIMAL
by Adrimarie
CHAPTER 3: A NIGHT BERRY ARRIVAL
Card Captor Sakura © CLAMP/Kodansha. The only thing I own here is this fanfic's plot and whatever original characters I may create here.
One of Tomoeda's indigenous treasures is the night berry. Night berries are one of Tomoeda's staple fruits known for their naturally sweet and tender flesh and its juice simply burst with a lot of flavor, perfect for desserts, ice cream, beverages, and in some cases can be used for local stews. Night berries are white with a star-shaped burgundy red bottom and because of the purity of its white color, are almost invisible to the naked eye when faced against the sun. During harvest, night berries are openly visible, glow in the dark, at the night sky. In addition as to why nighttime was the best time to harvest them was also because it would be easy to determine the difference between the edible red-starred night berries from the poisonous dark purple-starred night berries. During daytime, the star marks are invisible to the naked eye.
All the harvester needed to do was to look at the color of the star-shaped mark underneath the fruit. If the mark is deep burgundy red, that would be the edible one. If the mark is dark purple, almost mistakenly for black, that would be the poisonous kind. The poisonous night berries are useful also, but obviously not edible. They are used by the town folks to poison any type of vermin that tried to invade and destroy their farm crops.
Every single Tomoeda folk were being trained to harvest night berries. Every night, it was the duty of each Tomoeda resident to go out to the fields near the entrance to harvest the edible night berries ready to be eaten raw, as well as used in their delectable dishes. At the town's bulletin board was the official schedule of the residents, by family name, scheduled to harvest night berries for their household and even for their businesses they support, such as the Tomoeda fruit stand and of course, Mooncastle Diner.
Tonight on the schedule board, the names appeared: Atsushi, Chinatsu, Daidouji, Kinomoto, Yamazaki, and Yanagisawa. Sakura and Tomoyo stood right in front of the bulletin board to see their family names mentioned for tonight's routine night berry harvest.
"Dad will be working late at the university today for his second doctoral thesis," Sakura murmured. "And Oniichan has the night shift at the Mooncastle Diner tonight. Guess I'll be harvesting alone tonight."
"No worries. I'll be harvesting alone too," Naoko Yanagisawa, their bookworm friend, sneaked behind them, surprising them with her appearance.
"Naoko!" Sakura and Tomoyo embraced their bespectacled friend excitedly. Naoko had been away on a writer's retreat trip for the last three days and revealed that she recently came home earlier in the afternoon.
"I miss you girls!" Naoko chuckled. "Say, I heard about this whole hoopla going on with the Wolfpups and the Moonies. Is it really true?"
"You better believe it, Naoko!" Tomoyo chuckled. "The news said they'll be arriving here this weekend, but actually they'll be arriving here tomorrow. There'll be a press conference tomorrow along with a special performance from yours truly!" She then placed her arm around her best friend, indicating to Naoko about their local band, Cool Rascals.
"Wow! I can't wait! I'll be sure to be there at the press conference! Here's my opportunity to write stories and articles for the Tomoeda Youth Official Blog! This is gonna be so awesome!" The three girls jumped happily, showing their enthusiasm for the upcoming events to come.
"Well, anyway," Sakura laughed. "Looks like the night berry patrol just arrived with the baskets. Time to pick some delicious night berries!"
As the girls approached the patrol booth to gather their baskets, Takashi Yamazaki, their friend Chiharu's boyfriend and the Cool Rascals lead guitarist, caught up to them. "Wait for me, ladies!"
"Hey there, Tak-kun," Tomoyo chuckled. "So, did you get to meet up with Chiharu?"
Yamazaki sighed. "I did… but all she talked about was Li Xiaolang this and Li Xiaolang that. Seriously, I know he's a popular teen action martial arts actor but seriously… what's so good about him?"
They finally grabbed their baskets and were now heading out to the fields. The sun finally disappeared and darkness was about to arrive. This was definitely the perfect time to find the right kind of night berries for tonight's harvest.
"Don't be jealous now, Yamazaki," Naoko snickered. "She's the president of Club Wolfpups, the official fanclub of Li Xiaolang. Of course she'd be so excited that her idol will be arriving here at our beautiful town!"
"Did you know that Li Xiaolang has a hidden evil side of him?" Yamazaki suddenly began bursting out random statements.
"What evil side?" Naoko raised an eyebrow. "Don't be making up stories about people you don't know."
"Sure, he's currently dating Meiling Li, but whenever she's not around, he actually likes to flirt around pretty girls that he sees—"
"Huh?" Sakura blinked. "But… but that can't be true, can it…?"
"Oh Tak-kun," Tomoyo chuckled. "You're so cute when you're jealous… but it's really bad that you make up false stories about famous people like Li Xiaolang."
"He… doesn't seem like a flirt to me based on what I read in the magazine earlier," Sakura said. "Well, we'll never know what type of person he's like until we meet him, ne?"
"But get a load of this, guys," Tomoyo immediately gave a snicker. "Sakura seriously fallen head over heels on Li Xiaolang the first time she's seen him on the cover of the Li Xiaolang special edition of the Swag Starlets Magazine!"
"Am not, Tomoyo!" Sakura frowned. "I… I just like his eyes, that's all…"
"His eyes, right," Tomoyo winked. "If you only like his eyes, then why did you insist on keeping the Li Xiaolang edition to yourself, hm?"
"It was your idea, Tomoyo! You're the one who said you'd keep the Eriol Hiiragizawa edition."
"You could've said no…"
"You tricked me, Tomoyo!" Sakura pouted as Naoko laughed.
"Oh come on now, Sakura, there's no denying it," Naoko said. "Li Xiaolang is drop dead gorgeous… even I've fallen for him too and I'm not even a fan of action martial arts teen movies!"
"Waah!" Yamazaki screamed. "Don't tell me you girls also started falling for him too! Now I'll lose Chiharu once he arrives here…"
"Don't be ridiculous, Yamazaki, that's not gonna happen," Naoko rolled her eyes. "Calm down, okay?"
Once they got to the fields outside the main entrance, the harvest group easily found the night berry bushes, where they spotted the glow-in-the-dark fruits with the deep red star mark underneath the berries. They approached the area where there were the most fruit. Good thing that the red-starred berries were separated from the poisonous dark purple-starred berries at this point and that they can stay at one place rather than going on both sides of the main street leading in and out of town.
The teens began gathering their share of the night berries when Yamazaki brought up the subject of the Cool Rascals' rehearsal at Tomoyo's house earlier. "Daidouji, why on earth are we going to perform depressing breakup songs for tomorrow?"
"They're not depressing, they're upbeat," Sakura protested.
"Well sure they sound upbeat but the words are just depressing. I don't want to be reminded of breakups…"
Tomoyo sighed while she examined the night berries in front of her. "Are you still going on about that? Chiharu is very devoted to you, you know that. Besides, idols need level-headed presidents like Chiharu to run their fanclubs. In that way they can keep the rabid fangirls under control."
"Well… okay… I know that bit, but… I'm a bit scared that she might invite Li Xiaolang to like… sleep over at her house or something for the time being. You know it's dangerous to have boys sleeping over at a girl's house during their stay like that…"
"Yamazaki sure does love Chiharu, ne?" Sakura gave a soft chuckle. "I'm happy that there are still devoted and caring guys like Yamazaki existing here in Tomoeda. I really do think Tomoeda's running out of good guys, you know?"
"You're telling me," Naoko said. "I actually hoped I'd meet a cute boy during my writer's retreat trip but all the nice guys at the retreat all have girlfriends already. Well, there was one cute guy I met but he was a major player, flirting around the prettier writer girls. I can't deal with guys like that."
"I wish my mom would stop setting me up with spoiled rich brats," Tomoyo sighed. "I mean, I can date any guy regardless if they're wealthy or not, as long as they love me for me…"
"I just wish my dad would stop setting me up with any guy at all," Sakura sighed along. "I've told Dad many times that I'm completely dedicated to Syaoran Li… I'll be glad to die an old maid if I have to if I don't succeed in seeing and reuniting with my little wolf."
"Wow, such dedication, Sakura," Naoko gasped. "I don't think my patience can last that long at all, especially when it comes to boys."
Interrupting their conversation, two of the night berry patrol members came by with a pushcart where the berry-filled baskets may be placed. There were empty baskets also in the pushcart so they may use them to harvest more berries.
"The pushcart's here, kids!" The adult male called for them.
"And there's more empty baskets here," the adult female standing next to the male added.
"Thanks, Mr. Atsushi, Mrs. Chinatsu!" The teens acknowledged them with their thanks as the two adults headed back in to town. The teens brought their berry-filled baskets in to the pushcart, grabbed the empty baskets, and then headed back to their night berry picking.
"Hm, that reminds me," Yamazaki broke his silence. "I didn't want to tell Chiharu this, but there are at times that I do take a peek at all of her collection of rare and new Li Xiaolang pics never before seen on magazines or on TV or on the ads. He reminds me of someone…"
"Me too, Tak!" Sakura exclaimed. "He has this beautiful, alluring, deep, and hypnotizing deep amber eyes…"
"Hey, you noticed that too, Kinomoto?" Yamazaki became curious. "That's the first thing I noticed about him too! Those deep red eyes that look like its ready to hunt its prey like a wolf, you know? Reminds me a lot of Li-kun…"
"Then… you haven't forgotten about Syaoran also, Tak?"
Yamazaki stood up from his berry picking to place his newly-picked night berries in his basket. "Of course I haven't forgotten about him, Sakura. He's my best friend and I'm currently living in the house he and his family used to live in seven years ago."
"I can't believe he's not keeping in touch with us anymore… I hope his life back home in Hong Kong is a whole lot better than living in this very quiet, very secluded little town…"
"Maybe he got busy or something… or maybe he lost our contact info, like address and phone number, you know?"
Sakura shook her head as she reached for her basket to collect her night berries. "No way. I received a few letters from him two weeks right after they moved out. And then about two months later or so, all of my letters kept returning back to me with stamps saying no such person or no such address. It really broke my heart and cried for so many days because of it. Dad even tried finding the Lis himself when he was invited as a guest lecturer at the University of Hong Kong many times but… no luck…"
"Same with me," Yamazaki said. "He wrote me letters too for the first two months…" He trailed immediately when he came to a realization. "Hey, Kinomoto…"
"Hm? What is it, Tak?"
"You said… he stopped writing to you two months after he moved out…?"
"Yeah. He did."
"Weird… he stopped writing letters to us at the same time."
Sakura swallowed nervously. "What if… what if something really bad happened to him…?" At this point she found herself shaking with worry, thinking of what her long-lost love Syaoran's fate might have been that made him stop writing to them after two months of being gone from Tomoeda.
Tomoyo moved from her spot and headed to where Sakura was sitting down. "Ah, Sakura, don't think of things like that! Remember the wise words from The Book of Keroberos. He has your stuffed animal. As long as he has it, he'll always be protected from harm. Come on now…"
"Are you sure, Tomoyo?" Sakura gave a faint smile.
"Positive." Tomoyo grinned, placing her arm around her best friend. "I know how we can lighten the mood up!"
Naoko arrived at their spot to grab more of the night berries. "Why don't you guys sing a song? You two always sounded so good and so heavenly when you guys sing a duet! Come on Tomoyo, Sakura."
Tomoyo giggled. "How about it, Sakura?"
At first, Sakura was hesitant, still not confident with her singing voice. She knew that she would only sounded really good if she and Tomoyo were singing together in a duet. She already received Tomoyo's special solo song for her earlier today and she still had no confidence with singing that particular song along. But just for this night, plus it was only Naoko and Yamazaki present anyway, she decided to surrender.
"Okay, sure thing, Tomoyo."
"Let's sing a capella on the song we did earlier."
Yamazaki's eyes widened. "Oh come on… not another breakup song, please…"
Despite his complaints, he was flatly ignored when Tomoyo began to snap her fingers to simulate the beat of the song. Simultaneously, the two best friends began to sing duet:
You cheated, you lied
You said that you love me
You cheated, you lied
You said that you want me
Oh what can I do
But just keep on loving you
Yamazaki frowned once more. "Oh you gotta be kidding me. Come on now Daidouji, Kinomoto…" Still, the girls continued on with their duet.
Love is something you know nothing about
Love is something you can't throw about
So please try to love me
Love me like I love you
"Daidouji… Kinomoto… you're gonna remind me of my soon-to-be breakup with my Chiharu… please sing something happy…"
Oh please try to love me
Love me like I love you
"Please… change the song… I beg of you girls…"
You cheated, you lied
You said that you love me
You cheated, you lied
You said that you want me
Oh what can I do?
Oh what can I do?
Oh what can I do?
As their short song ended, Naoko cheered and applauded with delight. "Waah, you girls sounded so good as always! You two should be a duo in the J-Pop business. You girls are so gonna rock if you do!"
"Nah, just a way for us to serve the wonderful community of Tomoeda, that's all," Tomoyo smirked. "Ne, Sakura?"
"Sure thing!" Sakura gave a sheepish grin. "Let's sing another one, Tomoyo!"
Yamazaki interrupted again. "How about that song that Daidouji just gave you, Kinomoto? I'll sing along with you guys since I sing back vocals too, right?"
"But… I haven't memorized the entire song yet…" Sakura made her excuse. "I don't want to sing my song all tone-deaf and all that…"
"Well, here's a good time to practice, Sakura, what else?" Tomoyo giggled, nudging her on the shoulder. "Come on now, you'll have to perform this tomorrow in front of a lot of people, most especially with Li Xiaolang and Eriol Hiiragizawa!"
"Hoe…" Sakura suddenly dropped her head with a huge sigh. "I… I'm gonna mess up… that's for sure…"
"That's why we'll be singing it together. It's not so we can have a lively mood on our nighttime harvest picking or to entertain our dear bookworm friend Naoko, but to also practice, right?"
Just as Sakura was about to answer, they heard some trembling noise behind them. They turned to their backs to see what was making all that racket and spotted two individuals pushing their night berry pushcart away from them, leading out of the Tomoeda vicinity. The four stood up and then shouted and ran after them.
""Hey! That's our pushcart— get back here, you thieves!" Even though they shouted as fast as they can, the pushcart thieves ignored them and continued their escape.
Sakura then turned to her friends. "Tomoyo, you go and get Mr. Atsushi and Mrs. Chinatsu. Naoko, you stay here with our baskets. Tak and I are gonna go right after the thieves."
"But Sakura, isn't that dangerous?" Tomoyo cried her concerns.
"Don't worry, Daidouji," Yamazaki said. "Kinomoto is the fastest runner among the girls in town, remember? I'm gonna be with her."
"Okay. Be careful, guys," Naoko warned them. The group then split up to their duties. Tomoyo headed back to town to call for help, while Sakura and Yamazaki began dashing right after the thieves, but not before Sakura grabbed a few pebbles on the ground near the main road while they were at it.
#
"Are we there yet, Director Terada…?"
Meiling muttered in exhaustion while being carried in to a piggy back ride by the tall and broad-shouldered Director Yoshiyuki Terada. It seems the long walk from their buses to Tomoeda took whatever energy she had left. Just fifteen minutes right after they left their camp, she felt immense pain on her left foot that she couldn't walk anymore. Syaoran, Eriol, and Wei, who both took supplemental First Aid classes during their idol training at their agency, examined Meiling's foot to see if she twisted her ankle or something else. It turned out that she wore the wrong pair of shoes and that she earned a few blisters instead. Because they neglected to bring any First Aid kit, they settled in taking turns giving Meiling a piggy back until they reached Tomoeda.
Syaoran was the first to carry her. Five minutes later, Eriol took his turn. Tonight was Terada's turn.
"How are you feeling, Meiling?" Eriol asked her with concern.
"I feel a little relaxed, but I really don't want to walk with these blisters on my foot. I should have worn my sneakers instead…" Meiling sighed.
Just as Eriol was about to continue, they noticed Syaoran halting from his trek. They thought that he too may became exhausted as well at this point that Wei suggested that they take another rest. Instead, Syaoran shook his head.
"Hang in there, Meiling, we're almost there," Syaoran said. "Just a little more…"
"How do you know that, Xiaolang? I mean, we've been walking on this same road as if we weren't even moving forward… you know?"
Syaoran turned to her and gave a confident smile. "I'm sure of it. I can sense it…. Somehow…"
"You can sense we're nearby, Master Li?" Wei asked curiously.
"Just a few more… just a little more… we'll be there…"
"Lead the way, Xiao," Eriol shrugged. Syaoran proceeded as the others followed him from behind.
He couldn't exactly tell the others of this very strange and familiar aura suddenly coming over him. He also wondered how this inner phenomena happened to him but ever since they began their long trek on foot and how all of a sudden the atmosphere and the environment around him now became so familiar to him. It was if he had been to this scenery before. He decided to ignore this strange aura and continued on the long walk.
Even as he kept his pace, the more he moved forward, the more the familiar visions coming on to his mind until everything became crystal clear. No doubt, the voice inside him spoke. He had been in this place before. In fact, it was one of those secluded, mysterious places that only those who dwell within these grounds would know the way here and about without even looking for any specific landmarks for them to remember. By the time he finally got his clear picture, the faster he walked.
"Xiao, you're walking too fast right there, lad! Wait right there!" Eriol called out for him, but Syaoran was so entranced by this aura of familiarity that his best friend's voice was nothing but a faint sound carried on by the breezy night wind. At this point, he was no longer aware that he was all alone, leaving his two fellow idol friends, his manager and butler, and the movie director far behind.
As the aura continued to surround his soul with so much familiarity as if it was welcoming him to this land, another strong force jolted within him. It was then that he stopped with his speed walking and then gazed all around and about to see what was about to happen at this point.
Someone's coming… coming fast…
Syaoran prepared himself for this upcoming new force. He kept his eyes and ears open and kept his guard up. Or so he thought.
"Who are you…?" he muttered softly to himself as he kept his amber eyes shifty in all directions, just like how a hungry wolf would be searching for its prey.
Just as he thought that he kept his guard up, an unfamiliar presence immediately rushed right at him. Before he even realized it, he found another human being with palms flat against his upper chest. All this human being could mutter to him was:
"Help… please, help me… I'm being chased…"
Syaoran quickly pushed her away but not abrupt enough for this figure to fall down on her back. He then found his hands on to her waist. "Hold on, wait a minute—" Once he took a good look at the one who simply ran to him, his eyes spotted the others of the other.
Eyes like emeralds. No. It's gotta be jade. Well, whatever it may be, they're green— his favorite color and green looked so good on this girl. Not only that, the red that was blushing on to the troubled girl's cheeks somehow complimented her pure, innocent beauty. His heart began to beat rapidly.
"Hurry, please… he's coming…" she begged with so much fear in her eyes.
"Oh Sakura! Come out, come out, wherever you are! Come to Papa! Come on now, I just wanna talk to you!" Another intimidating-sounding male voice called out towards their direction.
"Please…" The green-eyed girl quickly hid behind him. Syaoran knew that he just walked himself in to trouble. If this were a fangirl who only acted as if she was some kind of a damsel in distress he would normally just ignore her. But after hearing that voice out for a kill, plus his entire movie cast and crew are already lost in the middle, he could simply help her in exchange for aid.
"If I help you," Syaoran whispered, "will you help me in return?"
"A-anything… just… get that guy away from me… please…"
Before anyone knew it, the hunter already arrived. Sakura quickly released herself from the mysterious handsome amber-eyed young man and hid herself behind him.
"Well well, look at what we got here," the tall and slightly skinny young man, almost the same height as Syaoran, gave his threatening tone.
"I… I have nothing to do with you anymore, Sakamoto, so please, go away and leave me alone!" Sakura protested while hiding behind Syaoran.
At this moment, Syaoran finally found an opening to get himself in this situation. "Is there a problem here…?"
The young man pointed right towards his and Sakura's direction. "I searched all over town and I can't find that turd-faced punk-ass brother of yours, Sakura, so I'm gonna have to deal with you now as revenge!"
"Revenge?" Sakura cried. "Against my brother? What on earth did he do to you?"
"Ehem," Syaoran interrupted again once more, restraining himself from breaking in to laughter. "Who the hell is this idiot?"
Sakura quickly replied: "He's Takuya Sakamoto… he was… one of my suitors…"
"Ha! I've got no interest in you little girlie, I'm right after that punk-ass turd who did this to my face!" He pointed right on his bandaged face. "But then again…"
"Wait a minute here," Syaoran gave a slight smirk on his face. "So, dude, are you saying that her brother kicked your ass real good and because of that, you wanted revenge?"
Sakura muttered. "He… he and my brother got in to a fight yesterday… all because he and his friends humiliated me at our supposed dinner date because I have a habit of consoling on my favorite stuffed toy… he couldn't find my brother anywhere so he and another friend of his tried to lure him out by stealing our pushcart filled with night berries… my friend and I came after them, and I ended up throwing a pebble on his head… and then… he saw me as the culprit and he started chasing after me… I didn't know about the entire fight until just now, please believe me…"
How can I believe you? I don't even know you… Syaoran's voice spoke in his mind. But somehow… the way you clung on to me… your small hands on my chest… why did I like it…? He decided to ignore that thought and focus on the current situation.
"So, you can't get your revenge on her brother and now you're going after her instead? You're not only a moron but you are a whiny little coward too."
Takuya's eyes widened with a huge shock on his face. "What did you say? Just who the hell are you anyway? Get out of my way if you know what's good for you!"
Syaoran turned to Sakura, who was now rolled herself in to a ball with her face hiding and crying in fear. Since everything was going by fast, there was no time to prod for more questions on things he shouldn't be involved with.
"And if I refuse?" Syaoran asked curiously, but now his guard is back up again.
"Then I guess you'll have to suffer the same misery as I am right now—" Immediately, Takuya dashed full-speed towards Syaoran, but with a gentle movement, the teen idol stepped aside just a few inches from the mad boy's fist. Takuya found himself eating dust on the road.
"You're too slow," Syaoran smirked. "Get up."
Takuya quickly got up, still with the rage on his face. "Why you— you're gonna pay for that!"
Syaoran broke in to laughter. "You idiot, I haven't even laid a finger on you and you're already eating dust!"
"Butt out, pretty boy, this ain't your business! I just want the girl and you're free, got that?"
"Heh," Syaoran snickered, slowly removing his backpack and then taking off his olive green blazer, revealing a black sleeveless cotton tank top, showing off his perfectly contoured muscles. He placed his backpack aside and then placed his blazer around Sakura. "Hang on to this, will you?"
"Y-you don't have to do this…" Sakura warned him as she held his jacket tightly around her to keep herself warm from the cool breeze. "You're gonna get hurt easily! Takuya Sakamoto is one of the strongest fighters around and—"
"Just stand back," Syaoran simply winked at her. "He'll go down in a few seconds without even laying a finger on him."
"But…"
Takuya overheard the rather cocky tone from Syaoran's tone and he began to approach him again with full speed. "You bastard! You don't know who you're messin' with! I'm the most feared hot guy all of Tomoeda has ever seen! Now you're gonna get it!"
Just as the teen idol expected, Takuya was using all his might and energy to throw a series of random fists and kicks. Thanks to his lifetime martial arts training and discipline, Syaoran was able to read every single of his attempts and simply dodged them with his precise body movement. Takuya haven't touched Syaoran from his attempts and Syaoran himself had no intention of touching the pig-headed fool either.
While Sakura witnessed the hit and miss match between the boy who humiliated her two nights ago and the stranger who offered to help her, she couldn't help but notice the form, movement, build, and the facial expression of the stranger. Her heart began to beat rapidly again with thoughts flowing through her mind.
Syaoran… is that you…? Look how fast and precise you move…
No way, she thought. She placed one hand on her chest to calm down her rapid beating. Am I… seeing things…?
Some three minutes later, Takuya found himself out of energy and ended up collapsing on the ground, breathing heavily. No matter how much he combined all of his best moves to take any opponent down to their knees, he was unable to touch the stranger who protected Sakura from his clutches. If this stranger was even able to dodge all of his best moves and combinations, he wouldn't even want to imagine how he would be like if he were actually going for the counterattack. Because of the dark sky, he couldn't get a clearer look of his face, but he knew one thing. This was one stranger he would not even want to mess with, even for a burly-minded guy like him.
"Get up," Syaoran commanded him, this time his cocky expression turned in to the wolf-like hunter mode. Takuya reluctantly followed him, knowing he did not have enough energy to stand up against him. Once he was finally on his feet, Syaoran didn't end it there.
"If I see you aiming at Sakura again— even with just one look— you better start saying your prayers because you'll never know who would be tapping on your back shoulder."
Takuya could not say any more words to throw right at him at this point. Rather, he gave him a glare instead. He did find an opportunity to lighten things up in this scenario. "A little warning, buddy." He began. "That girl you're protecting? She's nothing but a little goody-too-shoes child who still clings to her teddy bear thinking it'll transform in to her very own prince or something, heh. Who on earth would want a girl who prioritizes stuffed toys over real men? She'd dump you instantly before you can even confess to her!"
"So?" Syaoran answered flatly. "What's the problem with that? Her teddy bear obviously has more manners than your imaginary girlfriend."
The pigheaded teen gritted his teeth, and without any more words to throw out, turned around and ran. Syaoran then turned to the girl, who was now standing up from her cowardly shivering. Once they faced each other, Sakura immediately fell right in to the richness of those amber eyes.
Those eyes… they're… they're like Syaoran's and… just like Li Xiaolang's eyes from the magazine… and… why can't my heart stop beating so fast…?
As for Syaoran, those sparkling emerald eyes that can also convert to jade just by the movement of the moonlight entrapped him right on the spot. Without even aware of their surroundings, they found themselves drawing towards each other.
Closer… and closer… and closer… and…
"Oh no! I'm sorry!" From out of the blue, Sakura snapped back to reality and quickly backed away from the stranger who saved her from the heated clutches of her former suitor. "I… I'm sorry!" Quickly she bowed as low as she can to show how much she meant with her apology.
"H-huh?" Syaoran blinked and slowly approached her. "Wait… um…"
"I… I'm sorry I got you in to this mess! Forgive me!" Sakura exclaimed, still in that same bowing position. "I'll… I'll make it up to you… I-I mean, I'll gladly repay you for saving me from Takuya Sakamoto…"
"Okay… calm down… relax…" Syaoran gently placed his hands on to her shoulders. Somehow with those hands, Sakura found herself getting relaxed. "I don't particularly care what happened with that pea-brained dweeb there, but I do know that you're in trouble, so… it's natural that I should help you out."
"And I… I… I really do thank you for that…" Sakura studdered nervously. "But I… I mean… I feel really bad that you had to go all the way in to challenging him in to a fight. I mean he could've really killed you with those killer punches and kicks he's got."
Syaoran gave another smirk. "Oh?"
"I mean... .my brother had quite a number of bruises on his arms and even on his face and…" Sakura slowly dropped her head. Right then, Syaoran couldn't help himself but to fall for the unintentional humor from this girl and broke in to laughter.
"You're funny. I needed the laugh!" The girl couldn't respond in words at first. But in the end, she joined in the laughter.
"I'm sorry… It's just that… I've never really… um… it's very rare for me to encounter someone I'm not quite familiar with so…" Sakura flashed a shy grin, trying to refrain her heart from beating rapidly once more.
"By the way," Syaoran interrupted. "That idiot you're warning me about couldn't even touch me, so I don't see why I should be threatened of losers like him." He then gave a wink at her. "Seems like fate has brought you to me, ne?"
Sakura gasped once she found her entire face completely flushed red. She then quickly covered her cheeks with her hands and then swallowed with nervousness. "W-well… um… you had me worried and… yeah!"
Syaoran chortled quietly again, then finally changed his tone. "Right. Your payment for saving you."
"R-right." Sakura swallowed again while she waited for him to respond.
"I heard that idiot say Tomoeda… perhaps you wouldn't be from Tomoeda, are you?"
"I am," Sakura nodded. "I can tell you're not from around here yourself."
"Well… um…" Syaoran found himself scratching his head nervously. "I know I'm not from here, but… it feels like… I've been here before… I… I'm not sure if that makes sense…"
The green-eyed girl simply grinned. "I understand a bit… I think…" Quickly she turned her head and cleared her throat while Syaoran also ended up looking away from her. Still, both just couldn't help themselves but to gaze at each other's jeweled eyes once again.
"Sakura…" Syaoran murmured her name, feeling that this familiar aura surrounding his mind forced him to call out her name.
The girl stared at him in bewilderment. "H-how did you know my name?"
Syaoran blinked his eyes. "Oh… well… isn't that what that loser called you before…?"
"Oh… that's right…" Sakura sighed in relief, followed by a soft chuckle. "But that's not fair… I don't know your name…"
"Well, I'm—"
"Well well, we finally caught up to you, Li Xiaolang!" Another voice interfered with this short one-on-one moment. The girl quickly backed away from him, realizing who she just ran in to, begged for help, and then protected her from the former suitor.
Syaoran turned to see Eriol, Wei, Terada, and Meiling still on riding Terada's back. "Ah. Eriol, Meiling. Wei and Terada-san."
Just by hearing the names, Sakura continued to back away in fear. It wasn't just the irresistible Li Xiaolang who just appeared right before her, but Eriol Hiiragizawa and Syaoran's ex and fellow co-star Meiling Li also. Looking at herself in her standard gray white-flower print t-shirt, denim shorts, and dark blue canvas sneakers, she obviously did not look presentable enough to face them.
"First you take off away from us, Xiao, and now we find you flirting with a lovely local lass here?"
"Eriol, I wasn't flirting!" Syaoran raised an eyebrow while glaring at his best friend.
Meiling giggled. "I have to admit that you and her do look cute together, Xiao!"
"Shut up, Meiling!" Syaoran gave a second glare to the girl on the piggyback.
Eriol grinned and then turned to Sakura and bowed. "Lovely evening to you, Miss!" Sakura only returned with a grin, still completely stunned by the sudden arrival of the ones who wasn't supposed to arrive in Tomoeda until tomorrow.
"Um, hello," Sakura gave a shy nod.
Terada then stepped forward and turned to the nervous-racked girl. "Miss, you happen to be from Tomoeda, aren't you?"
Sakura nodded quickly. "Y-yes, I am."
"I was wondering if you could help us and—"
"Sakura, there you are!" Another interruption came when Sakura heard three familiar voices coming from behind her. She turned around and waved right at Tomoyo, Naoko, and Yamazaki already approaching. Once they finally arrived, Tomoyo quickly embraced her.
"Oh, we were so worried! I thought you got caught by that jerk Sakamoto and who knows what harm he may have done to you…" Tomoyo cried.
"I'm… I'm okay… I was saved… by… um…" Sakura found herself blushing again as she turned right towards Syaoran.
"Hey there," Syaoran gave a slight wave. Once Tomoyo spotted him, she gave a loud shriek.
"Oh my god! Sakura! Am I hallucinating?!" She began to shake her best friend like a mad girl and then turned her head right towards Syaoran. "Do you know who you think you are?"
"Huh, what?" Syaoran chuckled. "Do I know who I am… what? I don't think your Japanese makes any sense…"
"Gah! I mean… I mean…" Tomoyo quickly turned around to see Naoko already fainted under Yamazaki's arms.
"They're here… aren't they…?" Yamazaki sighed, carrying the fainted Naoko with her. "I can't believe we are looking at Li Xiaolang and Eriol Hiiragizawa in the flesh in the middle of a night berry harvest…"
#
Moments later after this rather interesting meeting, the night berry harvesting group of the night, along with the three hot teen celebrities, Syaoran Li, alias Li Xiaolang, Eriol Hiiragizawa, and Meiling Li, right at the outskirts area where they were harvesting the night berries. Before that, everything was cleared up by Terada regarding their reasons why they arrived a day early instead of tomorrow. Naoko gave the good news to Terada that her uncle owns a local auto repair shop and that she was sure that her uncle and his crew may be able to tow the buses from where they stopped all the way back in to town. Terada also informed the four teens that no one in town should know of their early arrival tonight and that they need to provide room and board for Syaoran, Eriol, and Meiling somewhere else other than the local Tomoeda Motel to keep them safe and secure from any nosy fans and any paparazzi nearby. As part of the Tomoeda hospitality, the four teens guaranteed them that they will keep silent about their early presence in town until the press conference tomorrow.
When the four teens finally introduced themselves then, Yamazaki was rather shocked that Syaoran recognized him and even knew his name. Syaoran simply explained to him that he has all the photos of the all the regional officers of the Wolfpups, his official fanclub. When Chiharu Mihara, the president of the Tomoeda Branch of the Wolfpups, she sent her photo to him with Yamazaki in it. This also meant one thing. He already knew that Yamazaki is the president's boyfriend before Yamazaki decided to become man enough to warn him that his Tomoeda Branch Wolfpups president is already taken.
While Naoko escorted Terada and Wei to his uncle's repair shop in town, the three idols remained with the other three local teens at the night berry bushes, where they actually continue to harvest more of these night berries. Meiling rested on the cool grass barefooted to rest her blister-filled foot and didn't need to do some work. Instead, Sakura and Tomoyo gave her a small basket of freshly-picked night berries as their welcome gift. Syaoran and Eriol didn't need to do anything but remain with Meiling, however for their hospitality, they decided to help out with the harvesting anyway.
"So, these are night berries, huh," Eriol curiously gazed at a night berry he just picked from one of the bushes. "I've never seen a berry like this before."
"Only grown in Tomoeda!" Tomoyo grinned. "It's also Tomoeda tradition that we give a small basket of night berries to visitors as our welcome gift. Try one!"
"Really? Can I?"
"Yup! They're lightly touched by the night dews and they make the berries tastes so much sweeter and gives a lot of flavor!"
"I shall," Eriol smiled. He gazed at the berry he just picked and popped it in his mouth. He slowly chewed it to savor the juicy sweetness within. "Wow… this is… really refreshing…"
"They're a perfect snack for the summer season. It cools you right inside of you instead of the other way around."
"Ah, I see!" Eriol grabbed more of the berries from the basket and ate some more. "Who would have thought that the daughter of the great designer Sonomi Daidouji of the Daidouji Couture could be so…"
Tomoyo gazed right at the half-English idol with her amethyst eyes flashing right at him. "Could be so… what?"
"Um… well… small town…" The raven-haired beauty chuckled as her reaction.
"A small-town girl, I see," Tomoyo chortled. "Fair enough, Hiiragizawa-kun."
He took one berry from the basket and then offered it to Tomoyo. "For my gratitude…"
"For me?" Tomoyo giggled softly.
"Say aah!"
She couldn't help but giggle but freely opened her mouth. "Aaaaah…" Eriol gently placed the berry inside her mouth as Tomoyo began chewing on the berry. "Delicious! Thank you!"
"Always welcome, my lady."
Just a few feet from them, Meiling called out to them as she nibbled on the night berries endlessly. "Hey guys! Would it be okay if you could just give Xiaolang and Eriol two separate bowls of night berries for their welcome gifts instead of us three sharing one bowl? Because I'm about to finish this…"
Eriol raised an eyebrow and glared at the blistered girl. "Greedy!"
"Oh come on, Eriol, there's plenty of night berries here. You're already picking them!" Meiling stuck her tongue at him.
"Well, if you run out, Li-san," Tomoyo called out, "we have more here if you like."
"Eee! Please gimme some!" Meiling giggled happily. "Oh, and you can call me Meiling. You don't want me and Xiaolang get mixed up since we have the same surname, ne?"
"Haha, alright then, Meiling!" Tomoyo grinned. She then turned to another area of the night berry bushes where she spotted Sakura, Yamazaki, and Syaoran picking the berries. "Hey you guys! How's it going there?" Yamazaki and Sakura simply raised their hands and gave Tomoyo a thumbs up. "Great!"
In the meantime, Sakura, Yamazaki, and Syaoran continued on choosing and picking the best night berries when Yamazaki broke the awkward silence from one another. At the moment, due to Sakura's extreme shyness around someone as famous as the strikingly handsome Li Xiaolang, Yamazaki sat between them.
"The Book of Keroberos may be puzzling, but everything written there is always true!"
"Oh?" Sakura asked curiously. "Why mention The Book of Keroberos?"
"Heh," Yamazaki smirked, "just giving our guest Li Xiaolang a bit of an overview on how awesome our town is, even if it's secluded from civilization and all."
"I… I don't think he would be interested in—"
"I'd like to hear more, Yamazaki." From out of the blue, Syaoran joined in the conversation. "I'm having a bit of a personal crisis and… this would definitely beat me thinking about it."
"Oh… then… um… please, continue, Tak!" Sakura chuckled nervously.
"Okay. You see these night berries? According to The Book of Keroberos, the night berry can also be used as an aphrodisiac! It said that if a girl gives a guy night berries for the first time, they are definitely going to be destined to be together in the near future—"
"Eh?" Sakura blinked. "I don't remember hearing that in The Book of Keroberos. Are you making up stuff again?"
"Oh? But there's just no way you can prove it. No Tomoedan folk would be able to memorize everything that's written in The Book of Keroberos. A lot kept on ignoring the night berries section, you know."
"So… it's true then…?" Sakura blinked in confusion.
Syaoran gave a slight chuckle. "You two are hilarious." He turned his head right towards Yamazaki. "You remind me so much of my very old childhood best friend."
Yamazaki turned to face him. "Me?" Syaoran nodded. "How so?"
"He had a penchant of making up these crazy stories. I was pretty naive back then and believed everything he said. Seriously, he'd make a good fiction writer one day, you know?" Right then, he changed the tone and sighed, feeling the nostalgic aura surrounding him. "I miss the guy… I really miss him…"
Yamazaki swallowed nervously. At first he thought that he wanted to be the real man by telling off someone as good-looking as Li Xiaolang of his love for Chiharu, but now it felt as if he was getting along way more with the teen star than his fanclub president would. "You know… speaking of familiarity…"
"Yeah?"
"Sakura and I… well, there were four of us best friends. Me, Sakura, Daidouji, and one more who no longer lives here with us. I gotta admit you've got really intimidating, hypnotic red eyes. It's like one look at your eyes and you know you'll be dead on the spot. You know?"
"Uh, thanks… I think…" Syaoran gently scratched the side of his head with a finger.
"You have the eyes of a hunter, Li Xiaolang."
"Am I really that scary?"
"Well, it's a compliment, Li-kun. Your deep red eyes really remind us of our long-lost childhood friend, you know? He was always silent most of the time but we got along with him really well." While Sakura was busy picking up more berries, Yamazaki leaned over to the stars. "He's the one Sakura is deeply in love with, you know."
"Ah…" Syaoran gave a surprising gasp. It wasn't because he was shocked to hear that Sakura was in love with a certain guy in general, but because that same aura of familiarity he had been experiencing while they were walking on the road returned to him again. That aura also made his heart beat fast once more. "So… she has a long-lost love…"
Yamazaki nodded. "We have this… town tradition… guys are mostly free and can date whoever they wanna date, but as for the girl… when she turns fifteen—"
"What?" Syaoran gave another curious look. "Are you saying that when a girl turns fifteen, she has to find a man or else her family is going to set her up with some random guy potential to be her future husband or something like that?"
Yamazaki then gave a gasp. "Wait… how did you… how did you know that, Li?"
Syaoran simply shrugged his shoulders. "Just… a… lucky guess…?"
"Well, Sakura is seventeen now and she still hasn't found the right guy. In fact she even refused to be with anyone—"
"What about your other friend who no longer lives here? You said she loves him, right? What happened to him?" Right then, a quick realization came to him. Knowing himself, he couldn't care less about the problems of common people at all, knowing he has his own life and his own world to deal with. But somehow, why did he care about this stranger town girl Sakura in just an hour and a half?
Why would I care about all this? They don't mean anything to me… she doesn't mean anything to me… but…
He turned around to find Sakura, who still continued to pick berries. She then turned her head towards his direction and then gave a shy smile. He returned the smile with his own along with a wave. At that moment, that same aura came to him again, and this time, not only that it's making his heart beat so rapidly, but he felt this powerful warmth within him for her.
God, help me… how can she have such beautiful emerald eyes? It's killing me inside…
Just before Yamazaki becomes suspicious of his reactions, he shook everything off and turned back to him. "Well… does that explain… the guy she was being chased earlier? What's his name… Sakamoto or something?"
"So, you already know about her situation," Yamazaki sighed. "That bastard was so hell-bent for her brother, who literally beat the crap out of him in public yesterday for humiliating Sakura on their dinner date."
"Was that about some stuffed animal she was clinging to?"
"So you know the entire story already?"
"A… a little bit… that moron has a big mouth."
"Sakamoto is one of Tomoeda's richest families, but not exactly on the same level as the Daidoujis or even our long-lost friend's family. Her father is an archaeology professor at Clow Reed University, just three towns over from here, and since he spends a lot of time in the university doing research and going through expedition trips, he doesn't spend as much time as he does with his family. Her mother died when she was only three or four years old. So technically all her life she always lived under the care of her older brother Touya. Touya-san may be hotheaded and stubborn, but he is a good man. He would do anything to keep his sister safe from the wrong clutches, you know? He only respects those really nice guys. He doesn't really dig bad-ass guys like Sakamoto… or even our long-lost friend."
An invisible lightning somehow stroke Syaoran inside, making him swallow. "His brother didn't like the boy she's in love with?"
Yamazaki shook his head. "He was so disciplined, strict, especially with his martial arts training and everything else that Touya assumed that he would grow up to be those rebellious bad-ass types, you know? Those are the types of guys he does not want to see his sister to fall for. But you know at the same time, he has to learn how to accept his sister's happiness too. Well, that's Touya-san for you!"
"Wow, what a devoted brother," Syaoran said. "She's definitely in good hands."
"Well, it won't be long now though. Touya-san's engaged to the lovely Kaho Mizuki, high school teacher. They're both grad students working on their masters and they're graduating next spring. Touya-san's taking masters in business and management, Mizuki-san is studying for her masters in education. After they're finished, they can get married and settle down. There's even a possibility that they may move out of Tomoeda too…"
Syaoran nodded. "I understand now why her father's desperate for her to get a man. She won't be living with the newlyweds then?"
"That's the hard part, Li," Yamazaki continued. "A Tomoeda girl can't be set up with some random guy. The guy has to be a Tomoeda resident. What I mean to say is that at some point that the guy lived in Tomoeda for at least five years or more. She can get set up with some guy from the next town, as long as the guy was either born in Tomoeda or had lived in Tomoeda for five years or more. The town registry has all of the names of the residents listed, old and new, so for example, you lived in Tomoeda for five years, but then you had to move out. Your name and the time of your residency here is officially recorded in the town registry. When a parent sets a girl up with some guy, they're required to check through the town registry to see if the guy was either Tomoeda-born or a past Tomoeda present. And another thing, the guy's family must also prove to the town council that they were Tomoeda residents by showing them their copy of The Book of Keroberos."
"I see. I guess The Book of Keroberos is pretty much like the Tomoeda Constitution, ne? It seems to rule over this town."
"Well, um… I really don't know to be honest… but Tomoeda is a very mysterious town. Some say it used to be ruled over magic and all sorts of enchantment, and that the Book of Keroberos is sort of like a diary of prose from the founder himself."
"Founder?"
"Clow Reed. He was a very famous scholar and educator that many believed possessed immense magical powers. That university that Sakura's father is currently working used to be called Tsukisora University, but after his death, they changed the name to Clow Reed University in his honor. He founded this town, Tomoeda, several hundreds of years ago, originally as a town for dedicated scholars and researchers to do their research work, but eventually the town flourished when these scholars eventually got married and then raised their own families and moved them here. They really did a lot to make this town as homely as they can. They discovered a lot of indigenous species, like the night berries and a whole lot more. Everything is recorded in The Book of Keroberos. It's not just about town customs, but the history and background were written here too. Of course, in weird prose and poetry or whatever you called it. Clow Reed did get married eventually and together, they made this town flourished with so much richness. You know they had children too, but sadly their current descendants no longer live here in Tomoeda…"
As far as Syaoran goes, the more Yamazaki explained the history and background of Tomoeda, he began to feel a few slight contractions within his head. He remembered suffering this before since his fatal car accident at age eleven whenever her family tried all they can to restore all of his past memories while creating new ones. He hadn't had these contractions for many years now until today. He then began to place his hands on both sides of his temples, which made Yamazaki worry.
"Hey, are you okay Li?"
Syaoran closed his eyes while giving a soft hiss to ease a bit of his pain. "I… I'm alright… I must be really tired…"
From behind, Sakura arrived back at their spot. "What's going on…? Oh no! Li-kun, what's wrong?"
Finally the contractions stopped and Syaoran gave a soft sigh. "I'm… I'm okay now… sorry about that…"
"Dude, maybe you need to lie down and you know, rest," Yamazaki said.
Moments later, two tow trucks drove past them, exiting the town and heading out. The tow trucks had the name "Yanagisawa Auto Repair" on them and those who spotted it already knew they were there to tow the two buses back in town. Naoko arrived just in time and waved at everyone.
"Hey everyone!" Naoko called out. "The night berry harvest patrol said that we can stop harvesting now. We have more than enough."
"Ah, finally!" Yamazaki exclaimed as everyone stood up. "You need any help getting up, Li?"
Syaoran then got himself up. "No, I'm alright."
"So, Terada-san and Wei-san had a meeting with the mayor," Naoko updated them. "It was a good thing the mayor was at the auto repair shop getting his son's motorcycle repaired, so they had a meeting inside the office. It's been decided as to where Li Xiaolang, Eriol Hiiragizawa, and Meiling Li can board throughout their stay here for the movie shoot."
Tomoyo headed towards where Meiling was resting and eating the night berries away. "Here, let me help you up, Meiling."
Quickly, Meiling got up with a grin on her face. "Wow, looks like my feet doesn't hurt as much anymore! And somehow my feet feels so good if I walk barefooted. I still have the nasty blisters but somehow they don't bother me as much anymore!"
"Ah, it must be because of the night berries!" Tomoyo grinned. "See, night berries have medicinal powers too. That's another reason why we give them to visitors as our welcome gift. Not only do they taste refreshing, but they're very healthy for your body and can cure any kind of pain."
Meiling giggled and began to twirl around with her left foot on the grass. "I feel great! I have to admit the berries really made me feel so refreshed!" She then turned right towards Syaoran. "You should eat some night berries, Xiaolang. This should be our snack during the movie shoot so we don't get tired easily when we do the shooting, ne?"
Syaoran simply smiled. "Thanks, Meiling."
Naoko cleared her throat again. "Anyway, after much talk, they decided that you guys should stay at someone's house."
"Really?" Sakura asked curiously. "I… I hope they stay nearby our houses and…"
Tomoyo and Naoko suddenly giggled. "Aww… for someone who's not a fan, you sure want to have Li Xiaolang and Eriol Hiiragizawa very close to you, ne?"
"Th-that's not it, Tomoyo!" Sakura protested. "I meant to say that… it'd be best if they stay at a house that's closer to us, since we're the first four people they've met upon their arrival here in Tomoeda, right?"
"Hm, you got a point there, Kinomoto-san," Eriol chuckled. He then nudged a heavily blushing Syaoran. "How about it, Xiao?"
"Uh… um… right…" Syaoran quickly nodded nervously.
"Oh that wouldn't be a problem, Sakura," Naoko winked. "You see, there will be two houses. Li-kun and Hiiragizawa-kun will be staying at one house, while Meiling-san will be staying in another house across the street. Wei-san will be staying with the boys and Terada-san had no choice but to sleep at the Tomoeda Inn with the rest of the cast and crew."
"Well? Then whose house?" Yamazaki asked in anticipation. "Come on, Naoko, so we can bring our guests in already!"
"Well, the houses that Li Xiaolang, Eriol Hiiragizawa, and Meiling Li will be staying at will be…"
#
Two hours later, Sakura arrived next door to the Yamazaki Residence with a glass pot on her hand. It was decided by the mayor and the director that Syaoran, Eriol, and Wei will be staying at the Yamazaki Residence, knowing that Takashi Yamazaki lives by himself in such a huge house anyway. Meiling Li was to stay ating the Daidouji Residence right across the street from the Yamazakis knowing that it's inappropriate for a girl to be alone in a house full of boys. Besides, being a model of the Daidouji Couture fashion, she wanted to get to know more about the alluring world-renowned fashion designer Sonomi Daidouji, her hometown, and of course, her family, in particular the daughter her age named Tomoyo.
Naoko was right, Sakura thought. Li Xiaolang is my temporary next-door neighbor! Keroberos must be on my side today!
As a welcome celebration, the four teens decided to have a potluck dinner. The three teen idols did mention that they haven't eaten for several hours and have been starving all this time. Because no one in town was supposed to know of their early arrival in Tomoeda just yet, treating them out to Mooncastle Diner was out of the question. Instead, Sakura, Naoko, Tomoyo, and Yamazaki decided they will be preparing one dish for tonight's welcome dinner potluck. Sakura decided to make her best dish, simply known as Vegetable Shrimp Fritters. Tomoyo would be bringing in Tomoeda Salad, a local salad with the freshest, organic ingredients, imitation crab, thin strips of chicken, and a special salad dressing that only the locals would know the recipe. Naoko decided to make homemade no-bake cheesecake that only took thirty minutes to prepare.
When Sakura rang the doorbell, to her surprise, Syaoran answered the door. At first she was taken aback, but then she realized that Yamazaki may be busy in the kitchen that one of them would have to answer the door. Luckily there was an electronic peephole installed in the Yamazaki home that helped the teen star identify the face of the one behind the door.
"Li-kun!" Sakura gasped.
"Hi, Sakura. Come on in," Syaoran grinned, as he opened the door, letting Sakura enter. She appeared in another white dress, this time a short-sleeved long dress that reached just below her knees. "Wow, I like your dress!"
Sakura blushed and gazed at the dress that Tomoyo made for her last Christmas. "Tomoyo designed this dress herself and gave it to me last Christmas. I felt like dressing up for the occasion so…"
"Here, let me take that." Syaoran slowly took the glass pot from her as Sakura quickly removed her shoes and slipped in a pair of slippers.
At this point, Sakura noted the attire Syaoran was wearing: An olive green long t-shirt and black sweatpants. Looks like he easily made himself at home since their arrival in their neighborhood. She followed him towards the kitchen, where she passed by Eriol at the living room, reading through the movie script.
"Hello there, Hiiragizawa-kun!" Sakura greeted.
Eriol placed the script down and looked up. He donned a pair of eyeglasses, which really surprised Sakura. "Good evening, dear damsel from next door!"
"Don't listen to him, he's always like that with the ladies," Syaoran warned her. "He likes to sweet talk girls, you know."
"Ha!" Eriol snickered. "At least mine were just words. You, on the other hand, had to have some action along with your sweet words, Xiao."
Syaoran rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Eriol." He proceeded to the dining room, where he placed Sakura's dish on the table. He even reminded Yamazaki at the kitchen that Sakura just arrived.
"Well well, don't just stand there, Kinomooto-san, come join us here!" Eriol then patted the empty seat next to him. Sakura was nervous at first, but because she was invited, she approached the sofa and sat next to him. "My, you look a whole lot more radiant than you were earlier, now that the light has shine upon your pretty face."
Sakura couldn't help but chuckle. "Th-thanks, I think. But night berries are only good for harvesting during the night, so that's why we're still hanging around at night, you know?"
"You know, you have quite an interesting town," Eriol answered. "Have you heard of anyone who goes by the name of Kashii?"
Sakura began to contemplate. "Well, there is a family named Kashii here. I don't know much about them but my father knows them quite well. I think their youngest son is one of my dad's students back at the university."
"The screenwriters for the movie we're shooting, Cherry Blossom, Little Wolf, is written by a married couple, Toshifumi and Taeko Kashii. I heard that Toshifumi Kashii had been here in Tomoeda which was why he chose this location for the movie shoot."
"Wh-who knows!" Sakura chuckled nervously. "M-maybe they're related to the Kashiis here in Tomoeda. I'll have to ask my dad but he'll be working in the university late today. I wish my brother can come here too but he's got the night shift at Mooncastle Diner, so… it's just me now!"
Few seconds later, Syaoran appeared at the living room and immediately claimed his spot on the space right next to Sakura. "It's only a few hours and you're making moves already, Eriol?"
"Hah!" Eriol smirked once more. "I'm merely trying to start a good conversation between new friends, Xiao. Besides, if you're wondering about the new desirables, I've already set my eyes on one already."
"Psh, whatever, Eriol. I don't believe you." Immediately, Syaoran switched his position and sat quickly between Eriol and Sakura. The girl couldn't help but laugh at the situation while Eriol stuck his tongue at his best friend.
"Always the party pooper, are we, Xiao?"
Right then, the doorbell was heard as Eriol quickly stood up. "My turn this time. That must be the lovely ladies Meiling, Daidouji-san, and Yanagisawa-san!"
Syaoran continued glaring at his best friend while Sakura couldn't help but to simply laugh nervously. Once Eriol answered the door, he greeted Tomoyo, Naoko, and Meiling, along with their dishes and a huge case that shaped like a guitar on Tomoyo's other hand.
"A guitar?" Eriol chuckled.
"Yamazaki's acoustic guitar," Tomoyo smiled. "He plays guitar in our band, you know."
"Is that so?"
"Yup. Maybe we can have a bit of entertainment right after dinner."
"Good idea, Daidouji-san. I look forward to it."
At that point, Yamazaki appeared at the living room, still with his apron on.
"Alright! Just in time, everyone!" Yamazaki waved. "Time for dinner!"
The table was already prepared and all the guests had to do was to sit down at their seats. Yamazaki sat at the end, while Sakura, Tomoyo, and Naoko sat on one side. Syaoran, Eriol, and Meiling sat across from them, respectively.
"Itadakimasu!" After that familiar gesture, they all dug in to eat. Over dinner, they complimented each other's home-cooked meals, with the three teen stars indulged themselves in such delicious homely meal as if they never had this particular meal ever in their lives. Sure, it wasn't exactly gourmet cooking, but it was indeed local Tomoeda dishes and with the company of newly-formed friends, this was one dinner they would never forget.
After dinner, Naoko noted that she had to leave soon as she was needed back home by her family. She did inform the teen stars that she will be attending the press conference tomorrow for the Tomoeda Youth Official Blog website and will be asking some questions herself, and thus she excused herself. Yamazaki thanked her for joining in the potluck party and Syaoran, Eriol, and Meiling thanked her for being one of the first few people in Tomoeda to welcome them.
In the kitchen, Yamazaki and Sakura washed the dishes, while Tomoyo excused herself to entertain the teen stars. Among the three though, only Syaoran who volunteered to help clean up the dinner table. Although the three are also from high-class families, somehow Syaoran felt like doing some self-labor around someone's house felt like it was just the right thing to do.
"Somehow," Syaoran began, while placing all the dirty dishes over the island counter. "The dinner we had earlier felt very… nostalgic… to me…"
"Nostalgic?" Yamazaki chuckled. "You mean you've had these Tomoedan local dishes before?"
The chocolate-haired, amber-eyed cutie nodded. "It's really strange. The fritters that Sakura made for today's dinner… somehow… I've had it before."
"Interesting," Sakura grinned. "Have you been to Tomoeda before, Li-kun?"
The young actor sighed. "That's what I've been trying to figure out these past few days." He began to scratch his head lightly. "I'm not so sure. I know this is the first time I've been here, but somehow, some weird force within me is telling me that I've been here before…"
"Well," Yamazaki said, "maybe Sakura and I can help you refresh your memory for a bit."
At that point, Sakura remembered reading the Li Xiaolang magazine she received from Tomoyo earlier today. At age eleven, he got in to a fatal car accident that left him with a concussion that resulted in amnesia and that his father paralyzed forever. She may have figured if his amnesia was causing all this. Although it was already public knowledge, she didn't want to bring up his condition and instead, just went along.
"So, what's your favorite Tomoeda dish then, Li-kun?"
His amber eyes widened. "My favorite? Whisperjay Stew."
Immediately, the girl gave a shocking, astonished expression on her face, so much that even Yamazaki also found himself at awe. "Whisperjay Stew… wow…"
"Why?" Syaoran softly chuckled. "Something wrong?"
"N-no," Yamazaki muttered nervously. "It's just that… Whisperjay Stew has got to be the most difficult dish to prepare and… it's also very rare as well. We only serve Whisperjay Stew on special occasions, you know?"
"Is that so?" Syaoran's eyes blinked in curiosity. "My mother, although she just let our family chefs do all the cooking, on special occasions, she would prepare Whisperjay Stew for me whenever I feel down or if there's a special celebration. It was one dish that she's very good making at by herself."
"Ah!" Sakura gasped once more. "Your mother? Then that must mean that… your family has lived here in Tomoeda before? Maybe you have lived in Tomoeda before yourself also?"
Syaoran slightly lowered his head. "That's… one main reason why I decided to take this role in this upcoming movie. When my parents heard that the movie shoot will take place in Tomoeda, they pushed me in to taking the role. I wasn't interested at first because the movie happens to be a high school romantic comedy and as you know, I'm a martial arts action star. They also said… well… they also said that if I take this role and come here to Tomoeda… that I will finally find my true whole self again."
Later, Sakura and Yamazaki finished washing the dishes and the three began fixing the dinner table. "Here's one question I would like to ask," Yamazaki continued.
"Sure, Yamazaki. What is it?" Syaoran asked curiously.
"Do you have a copy of The Book of Keroberos?"
"Huh?"
"The Book of Keroberos."
Syaoran gulped nervously, then cleared his throat. "Yes… yes, I do."
"Oh my!" Sakura gasped in shock. "Then… that means that your family has lived here in Tomoeda for a period of time."
"I'm not sure where you're getting at…"
"Li, every Tomoeda resident family is given a copy of The Book of Keroberos by the town council. The keyword here is given. The Book of Keroberos isn't for sale at all. When a family reaches their fifth year as Tomoeda residents, they receive one copy of The Book of Keroberos."
"Look," Syaoran began his reply, "I only found out about The Book of Keroberos a few days ago. My family lives in Hong Kong and my mother sent me that book via express delivery in a package. I only got a note saying that while I'm here at Tomoeda that I should start reading the book."
"No doubt about it though, Li-kun," Sakura smiled. "Maybe that's why you seem to be familiar with all of Tomoeda, somewhat. I even noticed the way you eat the night berries reminds me of someone I knew before… and even Whisperjay Stew? No outsider would be able to know about the Whisperjay Stew, let alone eating it, ne?"
Syaoran couldn't respond to everything that these two local teens just informed him, however deep within, he discovered that he can trust these two. They didn't exactly act like rabid fans once they first saw him anyway, plus he remembered that Sakura owed him after he rescued her from her small trouble with that airheaded goon. "Can I trust you…?"
Sakura and Yamazaki looked up to face him. "What is it, Li?"
"Can I trust the both of you… regarding my life…?"
It was a good thing that Tomoyo was already entertaining Eriol and Meiling at the living room by playing Yamazaki's guitar and singing for them, meaning they wouldn't be able to hear their conversation at the dining table. Sakura and Yamazaki approached Syaoran, being aware that secrecy and privacy are very important to celebrities like Syaoran.
"I want to help you, Li-kun," Sakura said. "You said so yourself earlier when you helped me get rid of Sakamoto. I promised in return that I would help you with whatever help you need."
"Then," Syaoran said, facing Sakura's green eyes. "Will you help me remember…? About my life here in Tomoeda?"
Sakura gave a nod. "Thank you for sharing this with us. I'm sure Yamazaki and I— and Tomoyo too, for sure— would be more than happy to help you. Ne, Tak?"
"Thank you. I really appreciate it," Syaoran bowed at them to show his gratitude. "And Yamazaki… a favor… please… not a word to your girlfriend or the entire Wolfpups Fanclub. Please?"
Yamazaki gave a slight chuckle. "It's bad enough that we just had dinner with you and I didn't even invite my girlfriend along. She's gonna kill me big time if she finds out."
"I'll deal with her if she asks, Yamazaki."
"Then sure. I'll make sure that I keep my mouth shut whenever Chiharu starts opening her big mouth and mentions your name in there."
"Thank you." Right then, he and Yamazaki shook hands. "Well, I know that I'll be spending most of my time in the set, but I want to keep in touch." He reached in to his pocket for his mobile phone.
"Sure thing," Yamazaki said and also reached his phone. He placed his mobile phone against Syaoran's mobile, and then two beeps coming from the two phones sounded.
Syaoran then turned to Sakura. "May we exchange phone numbers?"
Sakura gulped and swallowed. "I… I'm sorry! I don't have a cellphone!"
"No cellphone?" Somehow Syaoran responded with a rather sad tone.
"Well… it's just that… I mean I had one, but it broke and… my father was too busy to get my phone fixed and my brother simply refused to have my phone fixed." She sighed and dropped her head. "I'm hopeless, I know…"
Yamazaki snapped his fingers. "She does get her phone calls from Tomoyo's phone, so maybe just ask her for her number instead if you want to call Sakura."
"Hm. I guess it'll do." The two boys placed their mobile phones back in their pockets.
"Well, shall we join the others then?" Sakura grinned. "Tomoyo's at her singing sessions again. She's such a wonderful singer! You should listen too, Li-kun!"
"Haha, I'd like that."
The three teens left the dining area and right at the living room, where Tomoyo, Eriol, and Meiling have been busy being entertained.
#
Two hours before midnight arrived and Wei, Syaoran's manager and butler, arrived at the Yamazaki Residence. He reminded the three stars that they will be waking up early tomorrow morning for a breakfast briefing regarding their upcoming schedules for the movie shoot. Tomorrow afternoon is the press conference and performance by the local Tomoeda artists, meaning that the party among the teenagers at the Yamazaki living room was over.
Eriol decided that he would escort Tomoyo and Meiling across the street, just for courtesy. Syaoran, letting his pride take over him, saw this gesture as some kind of a competition on the gentleman category and volunteered to take Sakura home, even if it was just next door.
"Li-kun," Sakura chuckled as she exited the fence first, with Syaoran following her from behind. "It's only next door over there. I'll be fine."
"Well.. It's just that… after earlier today with that Sakamoto bastard I feel like… I'm obliged to protect you," Syaoran said, gritting his teeth in nervousness. Why on earth did I say that?
"After the way you tired him out earlier, Li-kun, I don't think he'll ever look at me or come near me ever again," Sakura answered in confidence. "But thank you so much for taking me home. That's very sweet of you."
They exchanged their goodnights to Tomoyo, Eriol, and Meiling as Sakura and Syaoran walked their way next door. Once they got to the fence, she spotted the living room lights on through the window. That only meant one thing.
"Looks like my father or my brother's home," Sakura gave a slight grin.
"That's good," Syaoran said. "If not I would've stayed with you until one of them comes home."
Sakura gasped and without thinking, placed her hands right against his chest. "Y-you don't want to meet my brother, Li-kun. Well, not yet anyway. My father is a very open and friendly man. I'd rather have you meet him than meeting Touya."
Syaoran gave a soft chuckle. "Considering what your brother did to that loser that made him want to get his revenge on him, I'm already aware about your brother's wrath."
"He's paranoid, Li-kun, so don't pay attention to any of his threats should he ever threaten you."
"Don't worry, I can deal."
Sakura gave a huge sigh of relief. Right then, silence fell between the two, with both find themselves blushing. Just as things were about to get awkward, both attempted to break the silence.
"Li-kun, um…"
"Listen, I…"
Sakura gasped. "Go ahead."
"No, ladies first."
"A-are you sure?" Sakura blinked.
"Please."
"Um… okay. Well… Li-kun… I know this is… awkward and a little early, but… this entire time I feel like… I mean… it's just that… when I accidentally ran in to you… and then we hung out at Yamazaki's house for dinner and then… the singing session and the chatting and… I felt as if… I mean… I feel as if…" Sakura found herself stammering, finding the right words while trying to restrain herself from blushing anymore.
"You felt as if we've known each other forever?" Syaoran assumed the continuation, which made Sakura gasp.
"Y-yes! That's it! And it's not just that… it's just… well…"
"You remind me of someone close to you?"
"Ack!" Sakura quickly covered her face to hide her embarrassed expression. "H-how… how did you…"
"Relax… Yamazaki told me—"
She dropped her hands quickly and glared immediately towards Yamazaki's house. "Why that blabbermouth…"
"I… I'm sorry about that." He bowed his head as his sign of apology.
"No, it's… it's not your fault. I was just shocked that you would mention about it…" She gave another sigh and then dropped her head. "I'm hopeless, I know…"
"Hey." Right then, Syaoran moved closer, just a few inches to where Sakura was standing. "I trust you with my life, remember? You and Yamazaki. I… well…" He turned his face away to hide the blushing. "I hope that… you'd trust me too… with your life."
Sakura gasped and slowly lifted her head towards him. "Li-kun… you have no idea how honored I am that you would trust me with your life. I… of course, I will trust you with mine. You already showed how trustworthy you can be earlier with the whole Sakamoto thing, so…" Once again, she bowed again. "Thank you so much, Li-kun!"
He returned the bow as well. "I thank you as well, Sakura."
When the two got up, Sakura couldn't help herself but flash a happy grin. "If you're wondering… my bedroom window's over there at the side, facing Yamazaki's side of the house." She pointed towards a huge window at the side of her house, right through a tall and fully-bloomed white cherry blossom tree standing between the Kinomoto Residence and the Yamazaki Residence.
"Well, is that so?" Syaoran smirked. "The room I'm staying is the window just across from yours."
"Eh?" Sakura gasped in shock. "You're staying at…" She pointed to the window at the Yamazaki's side facing her own window.
"Yup. Right there."
Sakura gulped nervously, knowing that the room where Li Xiaolang would be staying for the time being happened to be the former bedroom of her long-lost childhood beloved Syaoran Li. Still though, she didn't want to be rude to a guest, especially if that guest happened to be Li Xiaolang.
"I… I guess I still get to see you without going over to Tak's house!"
"And I get to speak to you through the window without your brother hounding me down like a dead turkey," Syaoran chuckled.
"Well then. See you tomorrow I guess," Sakura grinned.
"Yes. Goodnight, Sakura. Sweet dreams. See you tomorrow."
The two teens waved at each other, as Sakura entered her fence. Syaoran stood still to watch Sakura to make sure she does make it inside the house. When her door opened, four other individuals, namely the two older couples, Touya and Kaho, as well as Yukito and Nakuru, exited the house. Touya was escorting his guests while Sakura followed them from behind.
"Goodnight to all of you, Kaho-neechan, Nakuru-neechan, Yukito-san!" She waved at the three when Nakuru suddenly halted from the fence.
"Oh… Em… Gee…" Nakuru gasped once when her eyes spotted the hunble-looking Li Xiaolang standing right next to the fence. "Is that who I think it is, Kaho?"
"H-huh?" Syaoran gulped, blinking in shock.
Kaho quickly dashed right next to Nakuru and also spotted the handsome teen. "N-no way! Is that… is that…?"
"Huh? Who? What?" Yukito gasped, but it was too late. Both Nakuru and Kaho exited the fence and quickly approached Syaoran.
"It's Li Xiaolang! Oh my god he's already here— in our neighborhood and in front of the Kinomoto House!" Nakuru squealed happily like a fangirl.
"Li Xiaolang, I may be older than you but I'm your biggest fan!" Kaho screamed as a fangirl should.
"Can I have your autograph Li-kun? Please?!" Nakuru demanded.
"Uhh…" Suddenly Syaoran found himself in a bind. He had to make a run for it before these two older female fangirls get to him. "You mean me?!" He pointed immediately at himself with a shocked look on his face.
"What the— what's going on?!" Touya suddenly shouted his frustration. Just as he found the target, he began to throw threats right at him. "Get your ass over here, you little turd! That's my fiancee you're luring in! I'm gonna hunt you down like a headless chicken!"
"Oniichan, stop it! Leave him alone!" Sakura suddenly grabbed Touya by his arm, while Yukito also helping her to restratin the hotheaded older brother.
"Crap! Uhh— I don't know who Li what's-his-name is!" Syaoran began spitting out random words. "I'm Takashi Yamazaki's cousin… uhh… Shin! G-get away from me!" Quickly, he turned away and began to run from the two girls. Yukito decided to chase after the girls while Sakura continued to push Touya away from the fence.
"Nakuru! Kaho-san! Come back here!" Yukito called while he chased after the two women.
In the meantime, Touya continued to curse out his threats. "Next time I see your sorry ass face around here, you better start saying your prayers before I cream your brains out, you chick-stealing Don Juan!"
"Oniichan, please, stop! He's not who you think it is, please!" Sakura pleaded once more until she finally succeeded in pushing her brother back inside the house.
A/N: And so, we end this chapter with one of Touya's usual outbursts.
The song I used above is a very old song called "You Cheated" by The Murmaids (it's an early 60s song by the way). As I mentioned in my profile, I don't take any "song requests" to use in my fics. I only choose the songs that have suitable words to create the mood I imagined the scenario should be.
Just want to give a shoutout to OtakuThatIsMe and neurogal09 for being the first two to leave reviews LOL. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you. :)
And I still await for more reviews, so please, feel free to give your reviews, whether they're praises or constructive criticism. Thanks again!