The next chapter for my story is up for reading. Here you go….chapter 6. For some of my readers who have been anxious to know what happens after Sakura reluctantly agrees to go out with Syaoran, I hope you find reading this chapter worthwhile..
Sakura's P.O.V
I don't know what my dad was thinking, asking me to accompany this jerk to the grocery store. I already have much work that needs to be completed before this vacation draws to a close and here I am aimlessly wandering with this womanizing freak. What did I do to deserve this? Why does he keep bothering me when I am not the least bit interested in him? Oh! God knows what tricks he has got up his sleeve. I better keep my distance from him.
"So I have a question for you and I need you to answer honestly" he requested me.
"What is it now?" I asked him irritatingly.
"Oh come on! Can't you be more welcoming towards me? I am not some stranger that you need to act all defensive around. Loosen up a little" he said to me.
I wanted to retaliate but he suddenly raised his finger and silenced me. Reluctantly i had to swallow my words and I let him ask me the stupid darn question.
"Back then you told your dad that both of us were friends when clearly I know that we are not even close to call ourselves acquaintances. Can I ask you the reason why you said that?" he asked me out of the blue. I had not expected him to ask me this question and I thought he would have forgotten about it. I guess I can't escape and might as well tell the truth.
"Well if u must know, my dad doesn't like me behaving rudely to people. He always thinks I am this model daughter who is always polite and kind to them" I said to him.
"So why put up this act? So what if my first impression is not good? You can't always go judging people with their first impressions. What if there is more to me than meets the eye?" he told me holding a half smirk.
"I don't know what your problem is with me. I have never behaved rudely to you as far as I know. Is it that difficult to change your opinion about me?" he asked me and there he had me stunned and utterly lost for words. In all this worthless talk we didn't notice that we had arrived at the grocery store. Thank god! This atleast gave me an excuse to avoid his question.
"Oh look we are here already!" I said and entered the store leaving a puzzled Li outside. I looked out and noticed that he wasn't coming inside. After a while I knocked at the glass door and snapped him out of whatever he was thinking about. He came inside and grabbed a shopping basket near the cash counter and so did I.
"Wow this place is huge. Are you sure this is just the grocery store? This looks more like a super market to me!" he said trying to maintain a conversation with me.
"Ya this is the largest grocery store in all of Tomoeda. Now could you please just hurry up. I need to get home soon" I said to him impatiently.
"Alright alright! Whatever you say princess!" he stuck his tongue out to me as he advanced. Ugh! This guy was driving me nuts! The more time I spend with him the more I feel close to losing my sanity. I could rip my hair out any moment and could be pulled in to some mental asylum possibly.
It seemed like ages since he started picking out the necessary items that he needed. And I was losing valuable time. Finally he finished his shopping and headed towards the cash counter. A girl who seemed like a teenager was the cashier. And she immediately got smitten by his looks. I could see her playing with her hair and twirling it between her fingers nervously while stealing glances at him and speaking to him in a sickly sweet tone that made me sick to my guts. What is wrong with girls these days? Just what do they see in him that makes them go weak in the knees in an instant? I impatiently crossed my arms and started tapping my foot on the ground while this flirt fest continued. When I felt I couldn't take it anymore, I raised my voice at her that made both Li and her jump and come back to Earth.
"Ahem! Excuse me. If you don't mind I would like you to take care of my payment first so you two can continue your coochy-cooing in peace" I said with sarcasm evident in my tone.
"Um! Sorry about that! I am terribly sorry" she apologised profusely to me while I just ignored.
By the time I settled my payment and was heading out I could hear her asking" Is she your girlfriend?" to Li. He replied "Nah! Why would I be interested in a nerd like her when I have a fine girl like you in front of me!"
I felt my insides churn when I heard this. The nerve of this pervert! First he comes into my house and practically orders me around and then he daringly insults me in front of a nobody. I furiously turned away and slammed the glass door shut intentionally such that it made an audible clanking sound. I was at my wits end. And I could just blow my top at anyone or anything that came way at this moment. In the distance I could hear footsteps approaching me and a strong hand held onto my arm stopping me from walking. I turned around and saw that it was Li heavily panting and sweat dripping from tips of his bangs.
"Where do you think you are going without me?" he asked me breathlessly. I squirmed and finally slipped out of his iron grip.
"This is a free country. I could go wherever I please and its none of your fucking business by the way!" I said to him.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you being so rude to me?" he asked me exasperatedly.
"What's wrong with me you ask? What's wrong with you? You were the one who wanted my help and being an idiot as I am I agreed without thinking and here you are courting some random cashier girl and bad mouthing about me to her like I wasn't even there and you are asking me what's wrong with me!" I vented out all my anger at him. In the process I didn't even realise that I had shouted at him so loudly that people in the vicinity started glaring at us.
"Um! I am sorry about what I did! I feel so ashamed for having said that." he said to me.
"Just being sorry doesn't cut it Li. You know what this tour is off and so am I. Go look for some girl who likes ogling at your so called seemingly perfect face" I said to him in a fit of anger. And as I turned to leave he came and stood in front of me blocking my way.
"What do you think you are doing? Let me go!" I said to him sternly. Out of nowhere both his hands came and rested on my shoulders. I noticed he was leaning down so that he could get to my eye level. He made eye contact with me and brought his lips near my ear and whispered "No..Can..Do..Princess"
I could feel my ears starting to burn literally and my face thoroughly flushed red like a ripe tomato. The moment he huskily whispered those words to me seemed to freeze and it felt as though time refused to move forward. I got goose bumps at places that I didn't even know I could possibly get. All in all I was a downright flustered mess. How can he make me feel these weird things that I haven't experienced ever in my life?
"A..and w..what makes you think I can't leave without your consent? I am outta here!"I said struggling to get his hold off my shoulders but failing miserably.
"You can't go. I don't even know how to get back. What if I get lost?" he asked me with a sullen expression.
"Ha! And you think I care? I would be the happiest person on this planet if that ever happened!" I said with a sarcastic smile.
"Look I am sorry alright! I was being a jerk back there and I really wanna make it up to you! Please just give me one chance" he begged me. "You are out of your mind if you think you can ever make it up to me" I said to him.
"Please just give me one more chance. Please please please!" he said while suddenly kneeling down and holding both his hands together as a symbol of his earnest request. I looked around and was embarrassed beyond limits when I found people staring at us and muttering something under their breaths. Before I lost even the slightest bit of dignity left I had to stop this drama queen.
"Alright alright fine! Just get up already. Man! This is so embarrassing. Why did you have to put up this drama anyway?" I asked him.
"Anything to get your trust back princess!" he said with a triumphant smile. Oh brother! I am stuck with this guy like a Velcro and he sure knows how to get things done his way! I feel my steely resolve slowly melting away the more I am stuck with him.
"How about we go to some fun place? What do you say?" he asked me.
"I can't, I have to get home soon. My dad would be worried about me" I said.
"Oh come on! I said I will make it up to you didn't I! And I really wanna do it now." he insisted.
"Alright you win! Just don't go kneeling down again. Where are we going?" I asked him as I was utterly defeated.
"Lets have some ice cream. My treat!" he said.
"Well I can't say no to free ice cream. I hope you have enough cash 'coz I am gonna drain you out" I said to him. For the very first time I felt startled at my own tone of voice while I said that to him. Never in my life have I ever dreamed that this day would come. I was being cheerful around the one person who has annoyed me to hell, the one person that I despise the most. And I must say that he was equally startled as I was.
"I didn't know you had this side to you princess. I quite like it!" he said to me.
"Well don't get the hang of it already 'coz this is only for tonight and that too because its ice cream and you are paying." I told him.
"Ever heard about the word "Cheapskate"? That's you right now" he enlightened me.
"If its bothering you so much then we can forget about all this "making-up-to-me" agenda entirely" I said to him sarcastically.
"Ok ok. No need to take such drastic measures." He said and both of us got seated.
The waiter came to get our orders.
"A double chocolate fudge with extra cherries and nuts for me" I ordered. "The same for me" he said without thinking. I suddenly felt "Deja' vu" as I heard him say that. It was not too long ago that he did the same and nearly made me get admitted in a hospital because of the disgusting strawberry flavoured ice cream that I had that day that made me puke my guts out.
I glared at him and signalled him that I would leave if he ever thought of doing the same again. Somehow I think he would have figured it out 'coz he called the waiter back and requested a change of order.
"I will have a double chocolate chip mint please" he said and the waiter scribbled it down and left to get our orders.
"Much better! You are a fast learner Li" I said to him.
"You are such a blackmailer you know that? I was afraid you would bail out on me" he said to me, worry etched in his amber eyes. He then continued "And I was afraid that you might do something stupid like having strawberry ice cream again and puke all over me"
"I am tired arguing with you. So please stop provoking me" I pleaded with him.
"Does that mean you will befriend me?" he asked me innocently.
"Ha! Don't get your hopes up buddy! I meant I was tired arguing today. Befriending you is still a long shot" I told him firmly.
" I have never noticed even you can be cheerful at times" he said while resting his face upon his palms.
"Well since you said you were gonna treat me to ice cream I couldn't say no and since this place has a male waiter I feel all the more relieved!" I said to him.
"And why is that?"he asked me. "Well if it's a female I will have to witness a nasty case of flirting and it really sickens me" I told him.
"Why does it bother you? Don't tell me you are beginning to have a thing for me?" he asked me. My mouth went wide open after I heard him asking that question.
"You are so full of yourself. I don't like it 'coz it sickens me, nothing more!"I said to him sternly.
"Ok I believe you!" he told me sarcastically. "But I am telling the truth" I said to him.
"I said I believe you princess! Honestly." he told me. To which I replied "Well it sure doesn't look like you believe me" By then the waiter came with our orders. It was heaven. Simply heaven!
As I was slurping on my ice cream I noticed that Li had already finished his and was rudely staring at me eating mine. I stopped eating and scrunched up my eyebrows and said "Its rude to stare at people while they eat. And if you think looking like that will earn you some of my ice cream you better think again buddy"
"Ha ha! I wasn't gonna aim for your ice cream at all. I was looking at you. You look so adorable smearing ice cream all over your face like that" he told me jokingly.
Embarrassed by his comment I quickly took a piece of tissue paper and wiped the remnants away. After finishing the ice cream Li paid for it and we left the shop with our grocery bags in hand.
Syaoran's P.O.V
At the ice cream shop, she looked absolutely adorable munching away on her ice cream greedily without having a care of the world. I was completely amused with the way she brought the spoon full of the mushy stuff and stuffed it inside her mouth relishing its taste by rolling the blob over and over her tongue till it melted completely and swallowing it afterwards.
I could say that she loved chocolate flavour so much with the way she relished it. Her green eyes usually symbolic of anger held pure happiness and amusement at that moment and it made me all the more happy. Suddenly she reminded me of her mother whose picture I had seen this evening in the living room. I could certainly see a stark resemblance between herself and her mother and I can say that she will grow up to be a beautiful and marvellous young lady someday just like her mother.
After she finished I paid for the ice cream as I promised and we both left the shop.
"Oh my! Look at the time. Its 8:30 already. Touya and dad would be worried sick about me." She said nervously.
"Oh ya. Well sorry about that little detour that we had to make! We better leave soon then" I told her and both of us started walking towards our homes.
"Um! So you have an over protective brother I see" I asked her.
"Huh! Oh ya. Well Touya can get over board sometimes but he is such a sweet heart. Sometimes he really bites my head off though." She told me. For some strange reason I could feel that the animosity that she had against me suddenly started to lift as she shared more and more of her personal things with me and I did the same.
"Do you miss your brother?" I asked her.
"Of course I do! I mean he comes here once in a blue moon. But he is finishing college this year while I am entering it" she said to me.
"You do work so hard for these entrance exams don't you? Has it been your dream to enter Tokyo university?" I asked her.
"Ya you could say that. My dad is an archaeology professor in Tokyo University and he goes there daily which is quite tedious. So I wanna make things easy for him next year. If I get admission there dad and I have decided to move to Tokyo permanently while Touya goes off to America for his Post Graduation" she told me.
So she is gonna be moving to Tokyo after her high school graduation. That means I only have another semester to be with her. This revelation made me sad. To think that I have roughly six months only to be with her really pained me.
"Here we are! So I will get going and um..thanks for the ice cream." she said to me and left me standing at her front door.
"Kinomoto!" I called out. She turned around and asked me" What is it?"
I paused a little and said "Good night". "Ya. You too" was her reply. Was it just me or did I see a faint smile playing about her lips while she entered her house? To think that treating her to an ice cream would actually have such a positive outcome really excited me. From now on things would become a lot smoother between me and her and I will do whatever it takes to keep it that way.
Sakura's P.O.V
I entered my house and it was 8:45 p.m. "Dad I am home. And here is the grocery" I said to him while I started upstairs.
"What took you so long?" dad asked me.
"Well I had to make a little detour that's all" I said to him and happily climbed upstairs and went into my room.
Seems like that Li isn't such a snobby, stuck up rich and spoiled pervert at all. The problem was in my thinking. I can't believe that I was so close to biting his head off just a moment ago and it had all turned topsy-turvy in minutes. I should give him a chance. I should behave nicely to him. After all its almost the end of high school life.
I went to close the window when I saw him staring out his window and at me. I was startled and surprised to see how close his house was to mine and how close his window sill was to mine. He smiled at me and mouthed a "Good night" to me.
Getting flustered I quickly shut the window and pulled down the curtains. Strange! Why was I getting flustered after seeing him? Not another complication!
I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter. Finally Sakura contemplates on her feelings for Syaoran and thinks of giving him a chance of being her friend. Will this new found friendship blossom into something more? You will have to follow this story to find out in the later chapters. For all of you who have given wonderful reviews, a big thank you from me. Keep giving me reviews and keep supporting me. Criticisms are also welcome guys. Sayonara for now! love ya'll..3