Okay, here I am. I'm so sorry for making you all wait for so long! Oh my god, I just never had any time to do anything [I know, I know, what could be more important that fics?] Well, a lot of things took up my time. First off, evil school and finals took up all my time. Then up came summer school which totally screwed me over. And all the while, Naruto took over my life. I became a Naruto addict. Oh my goodness, I'm still reading the manga, I'm almost done, I suggest that you should all go out and read it too. And fall in love with Kakashi, because he's beautiful. I've written two fics so far about it because I am madly in love with Naruto. So... go check them out before I die.

Here's a list of people who reviewed. Anyone who said something super snazzy gets a reply. I have to give special props to Rebellious-Cherry for being such a wonderful reviewer. I love you Rebellious-Cherry! You rock my socks! You stone my phone! You boulder my shoulder!

I hope this chapter meets all of my readers' expectations. That's all I can hope for. Remember, you can add me to MSN and we can talk about... stuff. =P


[Reviews]

Sam-the-Ham, Superboy4444, Awai-Umi, WezL, StrawBerryJunkie;Nobody's Here, AnimeAngel41, Strawberrylover, anonymous, Baby-Prue, lilc, AnnieS23, Only Sakura, Sango640, fallen-spirit, Kura-chan, sakura.cherryblossom.kinomoto, zeddy222, and Angel Of Darkness.

KawaiiBell: Thank you for such a super duper long review, and I'm super glad that you liked the comments at the end. And yes, I did pass my French final! Woot, go me. I think I got a B. And no, I don't think having a final on Humanities would be fun. X.X Anywho, I'm glad you look forward to this chapter.

cherrysakura5: I'm a big fan of Tony too. He's such an awesome character. And yes... high he was. Oh ho, but I haven't "been there" nor "done that." Yet.... LoL, I'm such a bad role model. Anywho, I'm glad you think it's cool.

tracy-kin: Ah, Tracy. Hello again. That's right, put away that spiky axe of yours. School is stressing... b/c now I'm in SUMMER SCHOOL! Well, I was... Oh yeah, go Social Studies 11. It was frickin' scary. One textbook every two weeks. I love CCS fanfictions. I know, sometimes it feels like the fanfictions are messed up, but if you take the time to look, you'll notice that there are a bunch of good authors out there. They're just hard to find. –dances- I like dancing... WOOT! M&M with SMILEY FACE? Oh yeah, I can totally feel the love. =]

Cherry Jade: Woot, glad you think it's a great chapter. And yes, I do have a retainer. And guess what! I have cavities! X.X The next time I go to the dentist, I'm getting drilled. Oh the horror of it all... Tony is very strange... but he's snazzy. How could I not put Syaoran in this chapter? Why, that was easy! Like this... -doesn't put Syao in the chapter- TA DA! See how easy that was? LoL. Don't worry, there'll be lots of Syaoran in this chapter. I think... I haven't written it yet. =P

lil sakura: I'm sorry that you found it so confusing. I'll try to give you hints as to who's talking this time. I'm glad you still like it.

Arsinen: I'm glad that you like this. Yeah, it's supposed to be depressing, it's just that, I spent so much time trying to show Syaoran's past, that I felt that I totally overlooked Sakura's. I had to stick that in to show how she met Tony and how she does have some sort of friends but she isn't really accepted on either side of the social barrier. She's an outcast among outcasts. I'm glad you like the plotline. I hope I can figure out what's going on in the next chapter. =P

Coolcalico-girl12491: Yay, thanks for saying I have a great chapter and I'm glad that you loved it. I totally love Tony and the vending machine guy. Vending machine man is awesome. =] He makes me laugh so much in real life, 'cause he's based off someone I know. Yep, retainers are awesome. Yep, half-hearted writing are I. I'm such a bad person, constantly making wonderful (or so I hope) fanfiction that I can't keep up with. I think that Unusual Job; Unusual Find will be the last one I try to make for a while now. But no... it's not. I made like, two more after that. I think eight stories is more than enough to keep me busy. In fact, they might make me swamped. Woot, if it gets published, I want to see! Send me a free copy, b/c... you love me. And no, you don't blather, I love your reviews =P

Rebellious-Cherry: That's the first time anyone has called any of my stories amusing and breathtaking. Breathtaking... it sounds so snazzy... LoL. I'm glad that the story made you laugh, that's a wonderful thing. Oh my god, I'm so glad that you're reviewing each chapter separately, that means a lot to me. Yeah, and cute was the way that I was going for in the second chapter.

Yeah, I'm super scared of rape too. It's one of the worst things that go on within our society and I find it sickening and wrong. And yet I write about it. How odd, no? Just think about the "Super Free" club fiasco in Japan. It's getting lots of publicity but the sentencing for the people involved in it is just messed up. Oh, the "Super Free" Club fiasco, in case you haven't heard about it, is a club near Waseda University in Waseda, Japan. The club owners got tons of young college chicks to hang out at the club. In the club, they were worked up to a frenzy in an odd cult-like way. Then groups were chosen and taken to special "VIP" zones and given alcohol, 94% vodka, and challenged to drinking games. Once the females were sufficiently drunk, young men would pay to have a go at them. That just sickened me. I mean, seriously... STOP IT. You know how many months they got in jail, those evil ringleaders? [Note, I say MONTHS, not years.] They got 30 months or so. THIRTY MONTHS. –is outraged- That's less than half the amount of time you get if you steal someone else's property. What does this tell you about the Japanese regards for the rights of a female? –shudder- Another reason why we should watch the news.

If I got a chance to sleep, [sleep, not have sex with] Syao, I'd take it. . That would make me super duper happy. The fifth chapter was kind of mushy =P

I love Sakura's sense of style. If I could, then I would dress like her all the time. Gah, damn these parental units and their horrible, horrible restrictions. Cows... Amagash, they have the most insane restrictions. I swear, if they knew half of the stuff that I know now, they'd kick my ass all the way to Timbuktu and disown me. Gah...

YOU CRIED? =O I made someone cry... I feel so special. I have the ability to grab people's [or at least, one person's] emotions and squeeze out tears. WOOT!

I want to take the time to especially thank you, yet again. I love your reviews and hope that you keep reviewing me.

PeachBerry: I am happy. . Sakura is a wonderful vending machine klutz. Just like me. X.X My noodles keep getting stuck in the machine! Eep! It's evil. I love Tony, I doubt I'll kill him. The thought never ever crossed my mind... until now... And thanks for visiting my Xanga. =]

V/Morgan/Angel of L and D: HI! How are you? I'm awesome. LoL. Tony is a pretty good guy, and yeah, he reminds me of a friend I have. Braces are off already? WHOAT! Go braces good-bye and happy really, really, really, really belated b-day. My birthday was the fourth of February when I turned... 16. WHOAT! Go me... Um... let's pretend that Syao and Sakura are... step-cousins. You'll learn more about their relationship in this chapter. And yeah, the environment they've been put in... TOTALLY SUCKS, so it's not their fault. They can rationalize a bunch of stuff, but sometimes they do it stupidly, like how Sakura thinks. Syaoran understands that it's not Sakura's fault, but he still blames himself for the same stuff that happened to him until he met Alex and Alexis.

Yeah, I guess I'm depressed. My parents can't tell. I'm an awesome actress. Not. LoL. But I did get into the Theatre Company at my school. That's a class in which you get to perform to the entire school for. I'm so happy about that. But... yeah, depressed are I. It's like all I can think about are the rainy days, which is fucking hard, 'cause it's been so fuckin' hot around here lately. I don't like having people around me; I think I have social paranoia or something. I always think they're looking at me or something. Call me self-conscious; call me Squeakerz; I don't mind if you call me Bob. Bah, psychiatrists suck. That's why I'm going to be one. Makes no sense, right? I didn't think so.

Wolf Jade: Hiya. Yeah, I get how you feel. Sometimes I read things and they don't make sense at all. And then I got back and I'm like... ehehehheheh... I'm so stupid X.X I'm so glad that you loved it. Oh, she whispers everything to Mikey 'cause she doesn't want anyone else to hear her talking and also because he's the only person she can really speak to other than Tomoyo and Tony & Co. without being ridiculed.

Magical-Dark-Angel: They do know each other. And yes, he's checking her out, but he's trying not to. Why? 'Cause he's in DENIAL. He's kind of like... her... step-second-cousin... Don't ask me how that happened. Just BELIEVE. And remember... there is no blood connection so they can GET IT ON! O.O I can't believe I said that. I'm so glad you noticed the alphabetical thing . Took me forever to do.

Wow is a good thing! And... uh... no... I don't think there are log cabins here. Well... if you go into the northern places, like... the territories, maybe. And if you go to campgrounds... I live in a beautiful house surrounded by even more houses... and an aboveground subway system thingy. =) It looks like the US here... 'cept... more... Canadian. LoL. It's like a tiny version of the US. O.o Tell me... don't they have log cabins where you can go camping in the US as well? O.o

Know me...: I am... CANADIAN! Woot! Go me! I can also be further classified as Asiatic Indian and that can be broken down to Punjabi. Syao and Sakura are magical step-second-cousins. Syaoran is living with Sakura because his mom kicked him out for punching her current boyfriend at the time. I know a bit of Tagalog... [I think that's how you spell it] my friends taught me... swear words. =) ] oh, how mean. LoL. Yeah, it's Mama and Papa because... it sounds like something a little kid might say. That's the only reason. Also 'cause it sounds cool. =]

The Lizzie Lizard: Oh my goodness, I love your fics and I'm honoured that you read this. Oh, yeah, all of my stories are rated R, and that's the best part about them! Rated R for RANDOMLY-NISHA... Er... inside joke. =) Perverts are cool.

haley: Well... Tony? Hmm, I like him, he's awesome, I hope I can stick him in again. =) He's an awesome human. Mad props to him and his insane beauty. [he's be-joo-ti-ful]

P.S. Thanks a billion to everyone for reviewing my fic...it made me extremely happy!


AH... before I begin... here is something important for all of you people who don't read carefully enough or thoroughly enough... Stop asking me who Koshi is! Seriously! Just stop! I know you want to know... but if you read the first two chapters well enough, you would know. Now, for all of you who are too lazy to go back and read up about it...

KOSHI IS A COMIC BOOK CHARACTER THAT I CREATED! He is not a real human in this story, he is just a character created so that another character may read about him when she's bored. Ta da! There... the secret behind Koshi. Now... shaddup about him. X.X I'm so rude... sorry!


BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER

"..." Speech

Italics or '...' Thoughts

[Linkin Park; Crawl... LOVE THAT SONG!] A/Ns

Disclaimer: I have never and probably will never own CCS. I do however, own Yukio and Tony.


Find Hope

Chapter Nine

After Class


Crawling in my skin, these teachers just won't give up. Oh my god... thought Syaoran his day as a student of his school ended.

There must be something in their coffee that makes them act like this.

/Yeah, I bet they put in like... crack or something into it. Or some other weird drug./

Or maybe... they're just naturally like this...

/NO, don't think like that! It defies the laws of physics! No one can be this messed up./

True...

All of his new teachers in Japan were FUCKED. Like, seriously, messed up, BIG TIME. Not only were they weird, forgetful, pompous, and had no fashion sense whatsoever, but they didn't know jack shit about the classes they were supposed to be teaching. He wondered how on earth they had passed their teaching courses, let alone gotten their jobs.

At least the day's classes were over, but now he had to face the new terror.... And he knew that it would be waiting for him. It had waited for him after every single bloody class he had left and it had found him during lunch and it seemed to have a freaky second sense as to where he was at all times. Even when he exited the little boys' room that day, the horror had been waiting for him. He shuddered at the thought of it.

He walked over to his locker, and was immediately latched onto by Connie who was now also known as the Insane Bunny-Loving Terror (and Bringer) of Doom in Syaoran's mind. He tried to move his arm out of her grasp, but she was too into herself to pay attention to his efforts.

"Hey Syaoran! So, like, we've got to, like, go to, like, Dan and Cassandra's together!" she piped out in her annoyingly perky voice. "We'll have, like, so much fun!"

"Uh..." he said.

/Right, fun, that's exactly what's going to happen when your circulation cuts off and your hand falls off./

Boo yeah, my thoughts exactly!

"So, like, why aren't you, like, getting ready?" she asked.

"Because you're cutting off the circulation of my arm?" he asked, wryly.

"What?" she asked, looking completely dumbfounded. He wondered how she kept that face from showing up all the time. She always seemed to be slightly confused at all times. He wondered if she was suffering from a mental condition. She never seemed to have a complete grasp on reality.

/Yeah, marching down a library aisle and planning your wedding with her seems to have helped that out a bit, now hasn't it?/

I didn't do it on purpose.

/That's what you want me to think./

Damn it! That's what I know! And you know that too.

"I can't open my locker if you're latched onto me like that," he snapped, trying to be as rude as possible. Maybe being rude would get her off his back, or in this case, his arm. "What are you trying to do? Make my arm fall off? Gees, you're like a leech."

She laughed and let go of his arm.

She laughed.

Laughed.

Laughed as if he had something insanely hilarious and not more than a little insulting. What was wrong with her? Didn't she get that he had just insulted her?

"Oh, Syao, you're, like, so FUNNY!" she exclaimed while smacking him on his bicep.

His eye twitched as he opened his locker and started pulling random things out of it and stuffing them into his backpack. He wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.

/He, he... "SYAO! YOU'RE SO FUNNY! Tell everyone about the leech story! That's how you got my nickname for me: LEECH!" I bet she'd say that to you at your wedding reception./

We are NOT getting married.

/Oh? You're going to smash her puny hopes?/

OF COURSE! I am going to smash them because her hope to marry me is UNFOUNDED and ridiculous. I mean she's pretty; I just don't... like her.

/Of course, the fact that she has the IQ of a gnat has nothing to do with it./

Actually, it does.

/Aw, doesn't she give you butterflies in your stomach?/

No, she gives me indigestion and an intense urge to vomit.

He slammed his locker shut and his left eye twitched as she again grasped his right arm. "Oh, Syao, let's like, go and like, find Dan and Cassandra's like, house! Okay?" He wondered why she had asked him if it was okay. If he knew the ways of the jungle of high school well, that question she had just asked was rhetorical in her mind.

"Uh... how about no?" He shrugged out of her grip and walked off. Okay, he didn't shrug out of her grip; he had to pull her arm off of his before he could start walking off. But he pulled it off. That was a good thing, right?

He heard the uneven click-clacking of her shoes before he felt her clamp onto his arm again. Oh, how he had become conditioned to flinching every time he heard that familiar click-clack. This time, her vice-like grip on him scared him. How on earth was she that strong? She must have worked out her hands or something.

"Oh, Syao, you're, like, so, like... CUTE!" she exclaimed yet again at a high pitch that kind of hurt his ears.

"Uh... I'm not cute. And neither are you." There, a direct attack to her beauty. That ought to shut her up and get her to leave him alone.

"I'm not?" she asked, giving him a strange look.

"Nope, you're not cute at all. In fact I think you look," he paused, trying to think of a word grotesque enough to describe the fake way she smiled and her horrible leech-like tendencies.

"BEAUTIFUL?" she supplied, screaming loudly. "You think I look beautiful?" She started jumping up and down in glee as his eyes widened in horror.

No, no, no, no, no! This is not supposed to happen!

/AHAHAHAHAH! You're SCREWED!/

If I'm screwed, then YOU'RE SCREWED TOO!

She had him in a hug now; a suffocating, bone-crushing hug. Maybe this was how she trapped her potential boyfriends. She'd bother them so much that they'd become weak and tired and when they let their guard down... BAM! She would hug them until they passed out. As to what happened after that, he didn't want to know. He shuddered on the inside; she was like an evil Black Widow spider.

"NO!" he growled, prying himself out of her insanely tight grip. "I don't think you're beautiful, I don't think you're cute, and I don't think you're attractive in any way!" He scrambled out of her grip and pushed her away to the other side of the hallway, getting ready to face the wrath of an angry female. He had just attacked her in the worst way possible; he had insulted her beauty. Surely, at least now, she would be insanely pissed off and LEAVE HIM ALONE.

"Oh, Syao!" she screamed, yet again, hugging herself tightly. "You're so cute!" She started walking towards him, her heels click-clacking against the linoleum tiles that made up the floor. Her arms were outstretched and due to that fact and the fact that her hair was shining artificially and the fact that she had an insanely large, shining smile on her face, she looked like a horror movie zombie risen from the dead, ready to take down her victim.

/Syao, you idiot! She thinks you're playing hard to get!/

Hard to get? HARD TO GET? I DON'T WANT TO BE GOTTEN! I mean... taken!

/I know! But she doesn't!/

Syaoran stared in horror as the female approached him with her huge smile and her powerful arms, arms that were just waiting to encircle him and squeeze the life out of him. Eh! What was he supposed to do? He did what any other stupid male would do in such a situation; he screamed out exactly what was on his mind.

"I'm not playing hard to get, Connie! Leave me alone!"

He watched her as she froze, her smile glued to her face, but her eyes confused. Aha! He had thrown her off guard! MWAHAHAHH! Now he could make a run for it or he could...

He watched in horror as she started to laugh again. "Oh, Syao!" she exclaimed yet again. "You're so FUNNY!" He continued to watch her, frozen in place as she started for him again. He knew that he should have run, he knew that he should have moved, he knew that he should have done something and tried to have gotten out of her way, but he was frozen. He finally understood what a deer in the headlights of a car felt like. He knew what was coming was horrible and scary, but he just had to stand there and watch. He had to, he was powerless to move. The odd way that she was coming for him was entrancing, so entrancing that he felt himself losing the ability to make coherent thoughts. His thoughts were now jumbled and confused, he wondered what he was doing, why he was there, who that girl was in front of him, why he couldn't move, why that girl's smile was so... wrong.... Why...

"Hey Syaoran! Connie! Hi!"

He was snapped out of his trance by Mikey, the large boy who had been snacking on Sakura's ear in math class. Even though he sort of resented him, he was ready to bow down at this green-haired male's feet. Which he did; he grabbed at Mikey's legs and started whispering "Thank you, Thank you," into his pants. He was sure that he was a weird sight, but he couldn't help it. Who knew what would have happened if he hadn't come by and knocked him out of his trance.

"Uh... hello to you too Syaoran," said Mikey, looking rather confused at the teen who was hugging the legs of his jeans and murmuring something that sounded like, "Shank Jew, Shank Jew."

Connie just kind of gave him a weird look before smiling at Mikey. "Oh, like, Mikey! We can all, like, go to, like, Dave and Cassie's, like, together!"

"Uh, yeah..." said Mikey, rubbing the back of his head. "But, before we do, I need to talk to Syaoran..." He gave the boy on his knees an odd look. "Uh... Syaoran? What are you doing?"

Syaoran stood and started blushing like mad. He realized what an... awkward position he had just put himself and Mikey into. "Uh, nothing, just... thanking you."

Mikey laughed. "Thanking me? What for?"

Syaoran just shook his head, "For more than you will ever know."

Mikey gave him an odd look. "Uh... okay. Well, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure."

Mikey grinned at Connie. "Well, if you'll excuse us for a minute, Connie," he said to her. "I need to talk to Syaoran about something, man to man, if you know what I mean."

Connie giggled a very high-pitched giggle. "Oh I do!" She smiled flirtatiously at the two of them before walking away. "I'll, like, go find the others! Bye, Syao!" she shouted.

"Uh... bye, Connie," he replied in a monotonous voice.

"Follow me," said the green-haired boy as he started down the near empty hallway.

"Uh, so what do you want to talk about?" asked Syao as he fell in step with Mikey.

"Not out here," replied Mikey, "too many people could overhear."

"Oh, so it's important?" asked Syaoran, slightly intrigued.

"You could say that.... So, what's up with you and Connie?"

Syaoran sighed. "Nothing. At least, that's what I feel." He decided to confide with the green-haired male. "For some reason, she feels like she's my girlfriend or something. It's scary. She has a grip like a lobster."

Mikey snorted, "I know what you mean."

Syao shot him a look of disbelief, "She's latched onto like that before?"

Mikey rolled his eyes. "She's latched onto every boy in this bloody school," he drawled. Syaoran wondered how he learned to walk. He moved like he was in water. It was a fluid grace, like a cat, or something. He wasn't sure how to describe it. He felt more than just a little inept walking next to him. "She didn't get the nickname 'Sharp Claws Connie' for nothing. You should be happy that short nails are in now. Kami-sama, when long nails were the 'in' thing..." He trailed off and shuddered.

Syaoran shuddered as well. Just the thought of it was making him cringe.

Mikey stopped by the door of a bathroom. It looked like any other bathroom in the school, that was, until Mikey pulled out a red rectangle of card and placed it on the doorknob. He smiled when Syaoran looked at it funny. "It's to keep people from bothering us," he explained. "The red on the door means I'm busy."

Whoa... he must be some big shot... thought Syaoran stared at the open bathroom door. He wondered why on earth Mikey would need a bathroom all to himself. Then he wondered why on earth he would be allowed such power. Then he wondered just what the bloody fuck Mikey wanted to do with him. Images of rape filled his head.

"Hey, why are we going in there?" he asked, more than a little suspicious. He swallowed nervously. The last thing he wanted to do was be alone with Mikey. He may have saved him from the clutches of Connie, but that didn't make him Superman.

Mikey chuckled. "Relax, it's not like I'm going to rape you," he said, laughing at the odd expression on Syaoran's face. "I just want to talk to you in private."

"Oh, right," answered Syaoran as he walked into the bathroom. He heard Mikey shut the door behind him and he walked around the corner that kept females from seeing the insides of the bathroom. There were five empty stalls in the bathroom; you could tell because the doors were wide open. The urinals, however, were another story. Two boys were standing, doing their business when Mikey and Syaoran entered.

"Mine's bigger," came one of their voices.

"No way! Mine is the biggest! Just look at it!"

"Nuh, uh! What are you, blind?"

"No, you're blind! Mine is the biggest!"

Mikey cleared his throat.

The two males at the urinals froze. Syaoran coughed, looking to the side, trying to avoid looking at them. The two boys looked behind them and sighed. Syaoran gave them a weird look.

"Oh, Mikey, it's just you," one of them said, as the two of them finished off their business.

"Yeah, I thought it was someone else," said the other, snickering.

/Hey, would you look at that!/

Look at what?

/Your's is bigger than both of theirs!/

/What? It's the truth./

/Eh? Syao? You there?/

SHUT UP!

That was just too much information. Syaoran waited in silence as the two males washed their hands and walked out the door while waving good-bye to Mikey. He heard them begin their argument all over again in the hallway.

Mikey turned to him, blushing slightly. "Tehe, sorry about that, Syao. I forgot about those two. They're always fighting about stuff like that."

"Oh, that's okay," said Syao. Oh yeah, the fact that I'm now scarred even more for life is just hunky-dory for me. I don't really care. URGH... He tried to get the gross mental pictures out of his head. "So, uh, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Mikey, who had been staring into the mirror, continued to stare at his own reflection. Syaoran gave him time; maybe what he was going to ask him was really important. Or maybe Mikey was trying to psyche him out for some reason. Or maybe... Mikey saw that pimples were starting to pop up in a weird formation on his left cheek and formed the image of the playboy bunny. Or maybe...

"Why is your phone number the same as Sakura's?"

That was definitely not what he had thought Mikey was going to say.

"Uh..." What to say, what to say? Syaoran scanned his mind for some odd, somewhat reasonable explanation.

"Why are you living at her house?"

Uh... good question, well you see, her stepfather is my mom's adopted elder brother. I'm –

"Why did you come to school with her?"

Because we're living in the same house? Because she woke me up and dragged me out—

"Why is she talking about you?"

She's talking about me? WOOT! I am flattered. Wait, is she saying good stuff or is she saying weird crap? Oh my god, did she tell you about the fight? Did she tell you—

"Why do you keep looking at her?"

Why? You want to know why? Because she confuses me. Because she cares for me, or at least because I think she does. Because I want to know why she shoved me this morning even though she knew that I was hurting like a bitch. Because I have so many bloody questions in my head that I thought that if I thought long and hard and stared at the back of her head, she would answer me. Because –

"Why aren't you answering me?" Mikey's tone of voice changed drastically at the end of his sentence and in seconds, Syaoran found himself without his backpack and pinned to the wall with a maniacal appearing Mikey staring deep into his eyes with his hands wrapped around his neck. Gee, maybe because you won't let me finish my –

"Why?" he demanded as he started to shake Syaoran. "Why won't you answer me?" he asked again and again, bruising Syaoran's throat as he shook him. His eyes flashed horribly in the dim light of the bathroom and Syaoran wondered if he was going to die.

"Because you're choking me!" Syaoran managed to choke out.

Mikey looked at him in shock for a second. He didn't seem to have realized that he was holding Syaoran up by his neck against the wall. He let Syao go and watched him fall to the ground, clutching his neck.

On his hands and knees, Syaoran looked up, grinning nastily. "Gees, you sure know how to make a guy feel welcome at this school," he wheezed out, still massaging his neck. "First you sick the Insane Bunny-Loving Terror (and Bringer) of Doom a.k.a Connie on my heels and then you make me walk in on two guys checking out the size of their penises and then, to top it all off, you attack me. Gees, I think I'm really starting to fit in here. It feels just like home."

Mikey just stood there, silently watching him before taking a deep breath and shutting his eyes. "Look... I'm sorry... I just... don't..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know," said Syaoran, still wheezing pathetically. "You're madly in love with Sakura and have only her best interests at heart." Syaoran shifted so that he was leaning against the wall with his back. He pulled his legs up towards him and rested his forehead on his knees. "Don't worry, I won't steal her away. She doesn't like me. Least, I don't think she likes me. I don't know; I'm confused."

There was a pause. Syaoran wondered if he had said too much.

"I don't like Sakura," said Mikey, breaking through the silence.

Syaoran looked up. "What do you mean you don't like Sakura? Of course you like Sakura."

"No, I mean, I like her, but," Mikey shifted on his feet, his face confused. "I like her, but not in like, a girlfriend way. She's like my..."

"Fling?"

Mikey gave him a weird look. "No, she's like my little sister."

"She's your little sister whose ear you bite on during class?"

"Eh... you saw that?"

"Yeah." Syaoran continued to rub his neck. He wondered if it was going to bruise. He wondered how he would hide it. Maybe with a choker or something?

Mikey sighed and slid down to sit next to Syaoran. "Well, she's not really like my sister. More like... a sister that I can... uh..."

"Incest?"

"No, not that far. Just kisses and stuff."

"Ah... I see."

"So... why is your phone number the same as hers?"

"Well... uh... you see... We kind of, sort of, live... together."

"Kind of, sort of?" asked Mikey, sounding rather humorous.

"Yeah..." Syaoran stopped rubbing his neck. "It's hard to explain."

"We have time."

"Don't we have to get to that meeting?"

"Oh, right..." Mikey trailed off and then perked up. He grabbed at his bag which was lying next to him and pulled out a cell phone. He smiled, "the magic of cell phones!" He started to punch in numbers, "I'll just call and tell them we'll be late."

Syaoran nodded. "Right."

"Hallo?" spoke Mikey into the phone. "Yep... I've got him here, tell Connie not to worry."

CONNIE? EH....

"Yeah, we're going to be late, sorry."

I wonder how late...

"Why? Business, important business that we have to discuss."

Business? Is that what they call this now?

"Yeah, okay, we'll see you later, okay? Okay, bye."

He shut the phone and put it back in his bag. He turned his head to Syaoran. "Why are you living with Sakura?"

Syaoran stared off into the distance, which in this case, was the sight of many urinals. "Do you know about Sakura's house?"

"You mean her life at home?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah..."

"My mom was like that, I mean, not like her step-dad, but like... she let her boyfriends..." Syaoran took a deep sigh. "You know, I've only told this to like... three people in my life. You're the fourth."

Mikey smiled, "Should I feel special?"

"Yeah."

Mikey waited as Syaoran collected his thoughts. He knew that it would be futile to try to force the guy to talk to him. Kami knew how many times he had to screw up with Sakura before he realized all that he had to do was be quiet and listen. So he waited.

"I hit my mom's boyfriend. Well, more like beat him up."

"..." Mikey didn't know what to say. He had beaten up his fair share of people... but never someone who was (in a way) the equal to his parents.

"It wasn't really his fault. He was just saying the same crap that everyone else said... But I snapped and I hit him and I didn't stop hitting him. I didn't stop until he was on the ground and bleeding and even then the only reason I stopped was because my mom hit me."

Again, another pause held the air. Mikey waited as Syaoran contemplated how to go on.

"She hit me... She hit me all the time, so it wasn't really very surprising. This time, she hit me on the face though. She never hit me on the face, because of children's aid and all that other crap. So that was when I knew that I'd gone too far.

"The fact that she hit me and the fact that she phoned her brother.

"He isn't really her brother though. Her parents adopted him. He's older though. And... she sent me off to live with him and his step-daughter because she couldn't deal with me anymore.

"And, WHOA! Would you look at that, Sakura's my step-cousin... but not by blood. And... yeah, that's pretty much it about why I'm staying with her."

Mikey realized that he was done. "So... does her step-dad... do the same stuff to you?" He wondered if he had toed the line... he didn't know where the line was, but he hoped he hadn't crossed it.

"Yep."

Apparently he hadn't.

"I don't really like it, but there's nothing that I can really do about it."

"Hey..." started Mikey. "If you... ever need any help or anything... you can call me or something."

"Okay..." Syaoran continued to stare at the urinals. "Am I... am I still allowed to stay at your house?"

Mikey laughed and stood up. "Yeah, of course!" He gave his hand to Syaoran to help him up. "I'd never ditch a friend in need."

Syaoran smiled and took his hand. "Great. Thanks."

They grabbed their bags and put them on. Syaoran stood in front of the mirror, checking out his throat. It was bruised. "Shit, what I am I going to tell everyone?" he asked Mikey.

Mikey shrugged. "Say you were mugged."

"Yeah, and the mugger decided to see if he could make my eyes pop if he squeezed my neck tight enough."

"Hey, what are you getting all worked up about? I'm sure it's going to make Connie fawn all over you even more than usual. She'll want to rub lotion onto your neck or something like that." Mikey snickered.

"EH..." Syaoran glared at Mikey's reflection.

Mikey grabbed Syaoran's bag, seemingly oblivious to Syaoran's dirty looks. "C'mon, we're already late. Let's get a move on." He dragged the two of them out of the bathroom.

They walked in silence down the halls before Syaoran started to speak again. "Uh... Mikey?"

"Yeah?" Mikey gave him a quizzical look. "What?"

"What were those guys doing in there? Seriously?"

Mikey patted Syaoran's shoulder, shaking his head. "You know, I don't think you want to know the answer to that question."


Ta da! The end... =) Woot, I know it's short... but... at least I've made some progress! I'll make more.... Later. I promise! . Ciao for now. Remember to check out my new Naruto fics! [Boo yeah, advertising for my other fics!] Don't forget to review!