Normal P.O.V

It was a bright sunny day and the sun's rays started creeping into her room through the window. Touya had already left early in the morning to catch his train back to Tokyo since his holidays were over. In her room, Sakura had her plush toy named "Kero" tightly clasped close to her chest. But the problem was that she was having a disturbed sleep. She tossed and turned in her bed when suddenly her alarm clock went off and she woke up startled. It was 6 a.m but she couldn't fully open her eyes because of the insufficient sleep last night. Her head was feeling groggy and she couldn't breathe properly. She thought that it could have been due to the harsh weather lately. She immediately pulled the drawer that contained the necessary emergency medicines in her room and popped in a para-acetamol in her mouth and drank some water. She thought of catching on to some sleep afterwards. Nevertheless her breathing trouble didn't cease.

Her dad had called her to come downstairs to have breakfast but she said to him that she will have it after some time 'coz she was tired. Hence her dad climbed upstairs to see if something was wrong with her.

"Sakura are you alright?" asked her dad.

From under the covers Sakura replied "Ya dad. I am alright. Just a little tired from lack of sleep"

"Can you get up? Do you need anything right now? If you are not well, I can take a day off and look after you. We can go to the doctor. What do you say?" her dad asked out of concern."No dad. I just gotta catch some sleep. I will be fine once I do that. Please don't worry yourself over me and go." She said reassuringly.

"But still…" her dad tried saying something but was interrupted by Sakura.

"Dad I told you I am fine. Please get going. You are gonna be late for your classes" she said to him.

"Humph! Alright then. But you are to call me immediately if something is indeed wrong with you" he ordered her.

"Sure dad. I will. Have a safe trip" she bid him goodbye with a nice and warm hug. With that her dad left for Tokyo. But little did she know that her condition could get worse.

While leaving, her dad didn't want to take any chance. He rang the doorbell of the neighbouring house and Wei opened the door.

"Oh! Good morning . Please come in" he said warmly.

"Thank you but I am kind of in a hurry. There is a favour that I need to ask of you, if you don't mind!" Sakura's dad asked Wei.

"Of course I don't mind. I will be more than happy to help you." Wei asked him.

"Thank you. I think my daughter is sick but she keeps denying the fact and I am worried about her health. So I will be very much thankful if you could keep an eye on her for me." He said to Wei.

"I see. Well no problem Mr. Kinomoto. I will take care of your daughter. Please don't worry about her and have a safe trip" Wei said to him reassuringly.

"Thanks once again. I will be leaving now Mr…I am sorry but I don't know your name" Sakura's dad told him.

"Oh well! My name is Wei and I am Master Li's butler" Wei introduced himself formally and even gave his contact number to Sakura's dad.

Within a few minutes Sakura's dad left to Tokyo.

"Wei! Who was it at the door?" Syaoran asked Wei.

"It was our neighbour Master Li" Wei said to him.

"What? Was it Sakura?" Syaoran asked him.

"Oh! No, it was her dad. It seems as though Ms. Kinomoto is sick and he asked me to take good care of her while he is away!" Wei said to Syaoran.

"What the fuck? Kinomoto is sick? But she was perfectly fine last night" Syaoran told him.

"Master Li! Just because I am nice to you always it doesn't mean that I can tolerate the use of abhorrent language in this household. Is that perfectly clear?" Wei asked him in an authoritative tone that left even Syaoran speechless.

"I am sorry Wei. It won't happen again" Syaoran told him.

After a while, Wei made some chicken soup and some porridge to give to Sakura. He then asked Syaoran to go and give it to her without any delay.

Meanwhile, at the Kinomoto household, Sakura kept tossing and turning in her bed and this frequent motion had already taken a toll on her body. Every inch of her body and every ounce of flesh ached really bad. The constant banging on her head seemed like somebody was drilling a hole through her skull. Struggling to make her body move, Sakura finally made an attempt to get up from her bed. It seemed like a Herculean task for her as she approached the jug of water to satiate her thirst. She checked her mobile and noticed that she had received a text message from her dad saying that he had asked the neighbour to take care of her and that she needed to rest her body. The mere mention of her neighbour made her think of Li immediately. She thought of last night's events. Li had treated her to ice cream and she seemed to have had decent conversations with him without having to blow her top at him every now and then. He didn't seem too bad either. Suddenly it struck her like lightning. Ice cream! It was due to the ice cream that she caught a fever.

"I should have known! Its all that Li's fault. He made me eat ice cream yesterday. That's why I am sick. Wait till I get my hands on him" she said to herself.

As she approached her bed to lie down again, somebody rung the doorbell.

"Oh why now? Who could it be?" she asked and headed downstairs. She descended the stairs with much difficulty and opened the door to see who it was. It was Li and he had a big polythene bag in his hand.

"Whoa! No kidding! You look even worse than I thought you would!" he said to her.

"You must be happy now that I am sick. After all its because of you that I have a fever now!" she said to him sarcastically.

"What the fuck are you talking about Kinomoto? How is it possibly my fault?" he asked her.

"The ice cream that you made me eat yesterday caused all …achooo! this." She said while she sneezed.

"Whoa! Watch it. don't get your cooties all over me and get me sick as well" he said while he backed away from her.

"Wonderful! That would give me enough reason to shoo you away from here. Now get lost!" Sakura said to him.

"Unfortunately my sick and miserable princess, I can't do that 'coz my butler has ordered me to give you these. And as always I am forced to welcome myself into your house. What a pity!" he said while he entered. Sakura didn't have enough strength in her body to retaliate.

He kept the bag on her table and turned around facing Sakura. "You will have to eat all this if you wanna get better. Alright princess!" he said to her.

"I don't wanna. I just need some…."she tried her best to keep herself steady and prevent from falling but her body gave way and her vision became darker and darker by the second. But before she fully lost her consciousness Li had caught her. He checked for her pulse and it seemed to accelerate. He touched her forehead and it seemed like her body was on fire. She had a terrific amount of fever and she was mighty weak. He carried her to her bedroom and laid her on her bed. Her breathing was laboured and she was covered in sweat. The top two buttons of her pyjamas was undone and he forced himself to look anywhere but there and suppressed a blush.

"What to do now?" he asked himself and tried calling Wei.

Wei picked up the phone and told him that the first thing to do is to get her temperature under control by keeping a towel dipped in cold water on her forehead.

He immediately searched for a thermometer and found one in one of her drawers and put it in her mouth. After a few minutes it read 102 F.

"Man! Such a high temperature! To think she was actually gonna bite my head off when she was this sick. She is one scary girl!" Syaoran said.

He brought a basin filled with cold water and dipped a clean towel in it, soaked it and placed it on her forehead to bring her temperature down. He did this repeatedly for half an hour and it seemed like her breathing became more eased now. Slowly she opened her eyes and saw Syaoran sitting beside her.

"What are you doing in my room?" she asked him in an irritated tone.

"I can't believe you still have the strength to argue with me right now! You really are something princess!" he said to her.

"I don't. Which is why I want you to leave without creating any ruckus!" she said to him.

"Just why do you hate me so much! I don't understand. I came here to look after you and all I get is a load of bullshit. No matter how nice I am to you, you always misunderstand me. What happened to the Kinomoto from last night? I want her back!" he said with a worried expression that made Sakura feel guilty for yelling at him previously.

"Ok ok! Just don't get sentimental on me. That gives me the creeps. And try keeping your voice down 'coz my head feels terrible right now!" she said to him.

"Is that your supposed truce? Well anyway, I am happy you let me take care of you and don't you worry, 'coz by the time your dad comes back you will be feeling better in no time!" he promised her.

"Ya ya, whatever! I am hungry. Bring me something to eat. Now!" she ordered him.

"Jeez! Just don't get the hang of it princess 'coz its only until you get better!" he said to her and headed downstairs.

He opened the thermos flask that contained the chicken soup, poured it in a soup bowl and climbed upstairs. When he opened the door, Sakura had her eyes closed and was leaning back on her pillow. For a moment he wondered how peaceful she seemed when she had her eyes closed like that. He noticed her flawless features one by one. Her long lashes that were curled at the ends, her auburn tresses that formed a mess over her forehead, her well defined jaw line, her sharp nose and her pink full lips that were pressed together tightly and the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest while she breathed in and out gently really had him spellbound. This girl before him never ceased to amaze him and he found his cheeks getting flushed the more he revelled at the sight of her. Snapping out of his adoration for her, he gently came and sat beside her and shook her gently, waking her up. She opened her bright green eyes and looked at him puzzled.

"Um! Well you said you were hungry. Here! Have some of Wei's special chicken soup! It will make you feel better!" he said trying hard to hide his blush.

"Oh! Thanks a lot! Wow! The aroma is simply delicious" she exclaimed while she held the bowl in her hands. She slurped on the soup and closed her eyes to relish its taste. She raised her eyebrows and said "This is simply awesome. Wei's gotta teach me how to make chicken soup like this!" she exclaimed that earned her a low chuckle from Syaoran.

She turned to him and noticed that his cheeks were flushed. She asked "What's wrong with you? Your cheeks are flushed. Don't tell me you are running a fever too!"

"What? No. I am fine!" he told her nervously. Meanwhile he didn't realise that Sakura had gotten closer to him suddenly. She placed her hand on his forehead and felt his temperature. That made Syaoran blush even harder and made it all the more difficult for him to regain his composure. Slowly he held her hand and lowered it from his forehead and said "I am alright princess. And you should be worried about your health right now. Not mine!"

"Oh! Well I am feeling much better now. T..th. thank you for taking care of me. I really appreciate it" she said to him with a heart warming smile.

And that really did it. Her smile was something that could lift away sadness and despair. He thought he couldn't break free because her smile really tugged at his heart strings. Regaining his composure, he said to her "I can't believe you are thanking me. Are you really alright? Or has this fever gotten to your head or something?"

"Huh! You are simply hopeless Li. I swallowed my pride and thanked you from my heart." She said to him.

"Jeez! Relax princess! I was just pulling your leg! And you are welcome. This is the least that I could do as your neighbour" he said to her.

"Fine whatever! And for heaven's sake stop calling me that! I do have a name" she said.

"I will! That is, if you stop calling me by my surname" he demanded.

"What should I call you then?" she asked him.

Sakura innocently asked him and failed to notice how close Syaoran got to her in an instant. Their faces were just inches apart while he opened his mouth and said "Call me Syaoran!" His cool minty breath fanned her cheeks and she widened her eyes when she realised how close she was to him.

"Um! Yya! Sure then!" she said to him and she blushed and turned away from him.

"Well you should! 'coz we are gonna be friends from now on!" he said to her.

"We are? Uh! I mean, we are." She stuttered.

"Ha ha! That's more like it. Whew! Thank goodness. You cant imagine how happy I am that we are finally friends! It was worth the wait though!" he beamed at her.

"Hm!" she smiled at him again. Syaoran heard someone knock at the front door. He headed downstairs and opened it to see that Wei had come to check up on her.

"Master Li! What took you so long? I hope you haven't done anything mischievous!" Wei said.

"Oh come on Wei! You have gotta stop this and start giving me some credit!" Syaoran complained.

Wei and Syaoran climbed upstairs. Wei enquired about Sakura's health and she said that Syaoran took care of her just fine. Wei gave her some medicines that she needed to take after lunch. He advised her to take lots of rest till her father came back. She agreed with him and waved him a goodbye.

"Bye Sakura! Take care!" Syaoran told her calling her by her first name.

Sakura was a little startled with the way her name rolled of his tongue so easily. She didn't mind all that as she had to get used to this from now on.

"Ya! Bye S..Syaoran! And I am sorry. All this time, I had misunderstood you and behaved rudely." she uttered his name for the very first time. Syaoran felt that he was literally on fire as he blushed furiously. He even wondered whether he had been infected as well but he realised that it was due to the fact that Sakura had called him by his first name.

"Um! Its alright! what matters is that we are friends now right?" he asked her.

He went downstairs and headed out closing the door from behind and wondered how this new found friendship would progress. All the while he pondered on his feelings for her. He just couldn't figure out what he was feeling for her, whether it was just friendship or something more than that!

To all my wonderful and patient readers. Thank you so much for waiting patiently for this new chapter update. Sakura has finally acknowledged Syaoran as her friend and things are gonna be a lot more interesting from now on. So stay tuned. Read and review. And I am sorry if you find this chapter a little bland. Anyways do keep supporting me. Have a nice day!