Multiple Personalities

Chapter 6

A Date Gone Wrong

Hey, guys, I'm really sorry for the update wait. I've been busy and such, the usual excuses. ;D But anyways, I hope this jam-packed chapter will make it up to you. :) I really hate the first chapter, just saying, and I like this chapter a lot. I like the way I wrote the last, say, three chapters, but I hated the first two chapters for sure. D: Jus thought I'd say that, so…yeah. :D Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing, and have a happy Easter!

I took a deep breath, smiling. My heart was pounding as I went through some nice clothes. I settled on jean capris, and a black t-shirt with a white cardigan. I brushed my hair, failing to hide my excitement as I grinned to the mirror.

Syaoran stopped at my door, leaning against the frame with an eyebrow raised. "And exactly what are you getting all giddy about?" he asked skeptically.

I glared at him briefly before turning back to the mirror. "I have a date with Takada-kun."

His eyes widened in surprise. "You have a date?!" he exclaimed, letting his jaw drop in his faux surprise.

Again, I glared at him. I grabbed my little shoulder bag and slung it over my arm, pushing past Syaoran on my way downstairs. He followed me.

"Yes, in fact, I do have a date," I snapped. "And don't worry, he's better looking than you." I snatched one last glance in the mirror by the door before slamming it behind me.

We agreed to meet at the Café de la Gateau. (That means Cake Café in French ;D) I got to it quickly enough—maybe a bit too quickly. I was about ten minutes early. Still, I skipped a step on the stone porch leading up to the door in my excitement.

A bell rang when I entered, and I looked around. It was a nice place; not too big, not too small. It was painted with warm brown and gold colours, creating an even more relaxed atmosphere.

I was studying the menu when someone bumped into me. I was about to hiss a rude retort, but I realized I knew the man. I smiled. "Xie-san!"

Shanyuan blinked in surprise, but grinned when he recognized me. "Kinomoto-san! How nice to see you again."

I nodded. "So how have you been?"

"Just fine, thank you." He looked around. "Are you here alone?"

A light blush spread across my cheeks. "I'm waiting for my date, actually."

He chuckled. "With that Li Syaoran, I presume?"

The blush got darker, and my eyebrows creased. "Certainly not. I'm going out with someone way better than Syaoran."

Shanyuan chuckled again, louder this time. "You kids are so amusing."

I briefly remembered Wei's reaction to Shanyuan's name. He'd told me not to bother myself with the likes of him…

I couldn't figure out how Shanyuan could be such a bad guy. He seemed like a perfectly nice man. I told myself that he was probably just paparazzi, like I did before—I mean, after now, it'd be weird to run into him again…But I couldn't really bring myself to believe it.

I didn't need to think about it anymore, because then the bell rung and my eyes flicked to the door, where I saw Yuusuke looking around for me. He spotted me, waved, and walked over to me.

"Hey, Kinomoto-chan," he greeted. He held his hand out to Shanyuan. "And who's this?"

"Takada-kun, this is Xie Shanyuan," I said as the two men shook hands. "Xie-san, this is Takada Yuusuke. This is my date," I said pointedly.

"Nice to meet you, Takada-kun," he said to Yuusuke, and then he turned to me. "And you can call me Shanyuan."

Yuusuke smiled at me. "And you can call me Yuusuke…Sakura-chan."

I bit my lip, trying to hide a smile, and grasped Yuusuke's hand. Shanyuan laughed. "Well, then, I should be going now. I don't want to intrude. Bye, Sakura-chan." He winked at me, and I grinned back.

Yuusuke and I sat down at a booth, and ordered what we wanted. I got an iced cappuccino, and Yuusuke got an espresso.

"Our first date and you're cheating on me already?" he asked, winking and flashing a smile. "I never took you for a gold digger."

I giggled. "Oh, definitely, you couldn't satisfy me if you tried."

"We'll have to test that notion, now won't we?" he chuckled, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

We both laughed, and after some more sips of our drinks, we started talking about school, and all the latest 'drama'. But after another silence of drink drinking, he brought up a different subject.

"So…what are all these rumours going around that you and Li are dating? Engaged, even?" he asked, frowning slightly.

I fiddled with my straw, twirling it between my fingers. A light, pink blush sprinkled across my cheeks. I hated this subject. I tried my hardest to come up with the right words to describe it. "We're certainly not dating, I can tell you that much right off the bat," I started, sticking my tongue out in disgust. Yuusuke smiled at that. "And the whole fiancé thing…that was our parent's idea." I shook my head. "We're not actually engaged. If we were, I'd have killed myself already."

Yuusuke's smile got wider, and amusement glittered in his eyes. "That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"

I shook my head. "No way, not with that jerk."

"A lot of the girl's at school think he's some kind of gorgeous god, sent from the heavens." He gestured upwards.

"Not a chance. While he may look…good," I stressed, frowning at the lack of insults to his looks, "he's an idiot. A complete retard. He's really abusive, in every way!"

Yuusuke let out a blurt of laughter. "How cruel; he hits you, too!"

A smile tugged at my lips. "Yep, he's really rude and gets drunk every night, comes home, gets mad and just clocks me. Right in the face." I pointed at my nose, the smile breaking through. I knew it would be better if I didn't say anything about the other personalities. Obviously.

For an instant, I wondered if Syaoran had fully recovered from his sickness. He seemed to be fine, but who knows, since he's always trying to act all tough and manly. He's not as fun when he's sick.

I blinked, surprised at where my thoughts were heading. I mentally kicked myself and shook my head, ridding myself of those horrible thoughts…!

I realized we were both finished with our drinks.

"You wanna head over to a movie?" he asked, motioning to the waiter for the bill. I nodded, and we walked to the theatre. We watched a romantic comedy, of course. Enough romance, and enough comedy. That sucked up an hour and forty-five minutes, and by the time we got to the park, the sun was starting to get low.

We walked hand in hand, talking and laughing. We came across a bench, and sat down in it. I glanced around; the park was totally deserted. He put his arm around my shoulder, and I leaned onto him. I could feel his muscles, but I knew instantly that he was scrawnier than Syaoran.

His hand slithered around my waist, and I looked up. In a flash, his lips were pressed against mine. One hand inched towards my chest, sliding up my shirt. The other was fumbling with my jeans. Surprised, I gasped for breath. I tried to push him away, but he overpowered me.

"Hey, stop…Yuusuke-kun!" I gasped. He pushed me back onto the bench, pinning me down. His hand was snaking into my pants, popping the button open. My face was heating up, and I kept trying to push him off, but he was stronger than me, and on top of me. His tongue slithered into my mouth, and he nibbled on my lip. "Stop…!"

Suddenly, all the weight was lifted off of me. I breathed in deeply, raggedly, still shocked by Yuusuke's actions. I looked over to see what had happened.

Syaoran was gripping Yuusuke's collar, his knuckles white. His face was shoved close to the other boy's face, making him more intimidating. His expression spelled death, his amber eyes slits as they glared at their victim.

"She said stop," he growled through grit teeth.

Yuusuke was gripping Syaoran's forearms, as if he was loosening the Chinese boy's grip. He wasn't.

He stuttered out a response, and I wasn't able to decipher it. Syaoran let go of Yuusuke's shirt, now wrinkled and seemingly stuck in the position of Syaoran's fisted hands. Then he pulled his fist back and launched it directly into Yuusuke's nose. There was a sickening crunch, and when Syaoran withdrew his hand it was stained with blood. Yuusuke took in a staggered breath, and reached up to his nose. His frightened gaze met Syaoran's furious one, and he spun on his heel and ran as fast as his legs would take him.

Syaoran turned to me, his eyes no longer angry. He walked over and helped me stand up. I breathed in deeply again, more evenly this time. My stomach was exposed, and I pulled my shirt down hastily.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly as I buttoned my jeans up again. Only as I looked up at him did I realize there were tears in my eyes. I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face in his chest, letting the tears fall. After a slight hesitation, he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Thank you," I murmured.

"No problem," he whispered back, putting one hand on my head and stroking my hair comfortingly.

The next morning, I left for school earlier than usual. It would have been too embarrassing to see Syaoran, and I didn't know what I would say to him. My cheeks were still burning from last night's events, and I slapped them gingerly in attempt to stop the blush.

It seemed strange, now, walking to school alone. It had become a habit, a routine, to walk with Syaoran and bicker all the way there. It was fun, even if he was really annoying.

When I got to the school, there was almost no one there. I thought maybe I'd sit down in the grass and read a book, but everything was still wet and dewy. So instead I started over to the doors, hoping I could sneak in early and do something, not wanting to stand outside all alone.

I pulled on the door gently, but instead of slowly and heavily moving, it swung open and hit me in the face. I staggered backwards, stunned. When I gathered myself again, I rubbed my forehead and looked to see who it was that had hit me. I gasped when I saw Tomoyo, wide eyed, cupping one hand over her mouth while the other rested on the door handle.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry, Kinomoto-san, I didn't see you! Are you all right?" she burst out, concern creasing her beautiful features.

"Ah…D-Daidouji-san, it's fine, I'm okay," I told her, smiling reassuringly.

"I'm really sorry," she said again. "Here, lets go to the infirmary. You should probably ice that if you don't want to have a huge bump."

I nodded. "Right." She opened the door for me, and we both let out short giggles.

Walking down the hall with Tomoyo, I felt like an ugly rat. She shone with radiance, and her beauty seemed to light her aglow. Her long, dark hair bounced with every step, and her amethyst gaze was soft. I still didn't know what to really think of the girl. She seemed nice enough, but she had hit me with a door. Maybe it was just out of courtesy, guilt?

I dared to look over at her, only to find she was staring back at me. Her eyes were interested, impressed. I blinked, confused, and opened my mouth to say something, but she cut me off.

"I find you very interesting, Kinomoto-san," she said. "You seem like a very good person."

"Th-thank you," I stammered, taken aback.

Tomoyo smiled, and it turned into a giggle. "And what's going on with all of these rumours going around about you and Li Syaoran? Are you two actually engaged?"

I sighed. This seemed to be the most frequently asked question.

Tomoyo gasped sharply. "Oh, I'm sorry—I didn't mean to intrude with such a personal question, that was very rude of me."

A smile crept onto my face. Tomoyo was making out to be a very nice person.

I shook my head lightly. "You weren't being rude, don't worry. And you weren't intruding, either. Technically, we're engaged, but it's all our parents' doing. I don't even like—him…" I trailed off, the night before flooding my mind. He had really come to my rescue, and I was very grateful for that. I thought he hated me, and I hated him. But…did I really? Did he really?

I shook away the thoughts, my cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Either way, I didn't like him that much—not enough to proudly declare that we're engaged.

"I see," Tomoyo sighed. "I understand."

I stared at her, my eyes wide. "You do?"

She nodded. "My mother is always trying to set me up with guys. Blind dates, online dating, an omiai every once in a while, even locking us in a closet." Again, she sighed. "But love can't be forced, and my mother doesn't seem to understand that."

We were at the infirmary now; I slid open the door, and the nurse, Takarada-sensei, looked up, surprised that she had a visitor so early in the morning.

"Good morning, Takarada-sensei," Tomoyo bowed. "Uhm, Kinomoto-san here…I accidentally hit her in the head…with a door."

The nurse let out a giggle, then went off to get me an ice pack. I was going to say something to Tomoyo, but just then the door slid open again.

"Harumi-chan," I said, surprised.

"Sakura-chan! Are you all right? Chiharu told me you went to the infirmary—what happened?" she asked, her voice rushed. She glanced at Tomoyo, who seemed to be glaring at her.

"Oh, well…I got hit by the door," I explained. "We came to get some ice."

Tomoyo brushed past Harumi to the door. "Well, then, Kinomoto-san…it was nice talking to you. I hope the ice will help, and I apologize again." With one last sharp glare at Harumi, the door slid open and shut, and she was gone.

As the nurse came back with the ice, I wondered why Tomoyo didn't seem to like Harumi…

During fourth period, Syaoran came over to my desk. "I won't be walking home with you. I have soccer practice after school today."

I nodded. "All right."

After an awkward silence, he coughed and turned around to leave. I felt like I needed to say something…so I did.

"I…have fun—Syaoran…" I stammered after him.

He turned around, looking a little surprised. He started walking back over to me, and only then did I realize I had startled him into another personality. He took my hand and kissed it, and then sat on my lap, facing me. My cheeks were starting to heat up as his face got closer to mine. I knew everyone was watching, and it wasn't helping our denial of engagement.

"Thank you…I will," he murmured.

I abruptly scooted back in my chair, and he fell off, whacking his head on the desk. He twitched, and then sat up quickly, holding his head.

"Ouch, woman, what was that for?!" he yelled.

When school had ended, I was heading home quicker than normal. Since I didn't have to wait for Syaoran, I could just go on home.

I turned on my iPod, and put in my green earbuds. I turned the music up fairly loud, blasting The Ting Tings' "That's Not My Name." It gives me great pleasure to listen to English music.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a black van driving slowly up the road, like it was crawling. I thought it was pretty weird, but dismissed it.

I walked a few more steps before the van stopped. Frowning, I quickened my pace. I knew I was being a little paranoid, but it doesn't hurt to be safe, right?

Well, it didn't matter whether I walked faster or not, because a large man came up from behind me and grabbed me, covering my mouth. Another ran around in front as I struggled, and as one man took his hand away from my face, the other shoved a cloth against it. I soon fell into a swirling blackness.

Les gasp! :O What's happening to Sakura?! Review if you don't want her to die!!!!! Have I mentioned how much I hate Document Managers before????