Stuffed Animal

by Adri Mars

(AU) 17-year-old Sakura Kinomoto has been waiting for seven years for her childhood sweetheart, Syaoran Li, to return before her father finds her a suitor. News spread of a movie cast and crew arriving in town, including Japan's hottest teen idol today, but when he arrives in Tomoeda and meeting Sakura and the locals, he slowly realizes that he had lived here in his forgotten past.

10. 09: Sakura Swag

STUFFED ANIMAL

by Adrimarie

CHAPTER 9: SAKURA SWAG

Card Captor Sakura © CLAMP/Kodansha. The only thing I own here is this fanfic's plot and whatever original characters I may create here.

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One Week Later… (or rather, four days before Syaoran's 18th Birthday…)

Fujitaka Kinomoto stared at his watch while gazing at the staircase leading upstairs. Some moments later, Touya came downstairs along with his diner uniform and backpack, heading to his new day shift at the Mooncastle Diner. His other next-door neighbor and childhood best friend Yukito was currently waiting outside at his new sleek black pick-up truck that his grandfather Soun invested on a few days ago.

"I'm off, Dad. I'll be home early early today," Touya reminded his father. "Man, I can't believe you're taking a day off from work and your thesis just for that brat?"

Fujitaka sighed and crossed his arms again. "My reason isn't just because of our important guest, but you do realize that cooking the perfect Whisperjay Stew takes almost the entire day to make. That's why it's important that we go to the farmer's market this early in the morning so we can buy the necessary ingredients fresh."

"I can see why Whisperjay Stews are only served on occasion at Mooncastle Diner and they don't put it in the regular menu," Touya gave a slight frown. "But yours is still the best in town!"

"Well, thank you, Son," Fujitaka grinned. "You better head off to work now or you'll get your buddy mad for being late."

"Yeah yeah, I'm going." He patted his father on the shoulder and then dashed to the door.

Meanwhile, Fujitaka turned towards the stairs again. "Sakura dear, are you ready?"

"Almost, Dad!" Sakura shouted from upstairs.

"The Farmer's Market will be open in about five minutes now. We want to be there first so we'll be first to get our ingredients fresh and ready to go now!"

Few seconds later, Sakura, now wearing her chin-length hair with two small pigtails, a pastel yellow t-shirt with the printed words "Go-Getter Girl" on it and light blue denim capri pants, dashed downstairs and then began to breathe hard. "Sorry Dad… I didn't get enough sleep… dang that shooting last night…"

"Oh, it wasn't that bad, Sakura, you were only at Tomoyo's house last night, so stop complaining," Fujitaka smiled.

Sakura checked her shoulder-strapped white purse to make sure that all the things she needed to bring were in there. "I'm ready to go, Dad!"

"Let's go!" Fujitaka smiled. They both headed for the door, but before that, the two passed by another beautiful pic of the late wife and the late mother, the alluring Nadeshiko Amamiya Kinomoto, and both bowed to her photo. "We're leaving now, Dear."

"See you later, Mom!" Sakura smiled happily as the Father and Daughter exit.

#

In Tomoeda tradition, the Whisperjay Stew, a chicken or steak-based stew with the freshest local ingredients only found in Tomoeda, is a dish that takes careful precision and timing to get the form, scent, and taste as any local townsfolk should be familiar with. The sauce is as creamy, light, but bursting with distinctive flavor, mixed with sweet, pungent, and spicy herbs and spices with a few hints of the fruity and the savory. Because of the intensity of the required ingredients and its measurement precision, this particular stew could take almost an entire day to prepare. This was why this dish is only served in certain occasions when needed. Birthdays, weddings, graduation parties, and so on and so forth are perfect times for families to serve the dish. Town-wide, the dish becomes very popular and high-demanding in seasonal festivals.

Even if that was the case, not every single Tomoeda family are able to prepare the stew the most proper way. It takes a true master cook to master the complexity of its recipe and in addition, to make the dish a signature to the one who prepared it. The two families in Tomoeda who are known to have the tastiest, most authentic versions of the dish are the Kinomoto Family and the Tsukishiro Family. According to the Book of Keroberos, it was these two families who invented the Whisperjay Stew, but like everything else written in that book, it was only a legend. No one really knows, by fact, where the origins of the Whisperjay Stew actually came from.

Fujitaka's late mother taught him how to prepare the stew since he was little and whenever she prepared the dish, he was always there to lend a helping hand. From then on, eventually, Fujitaka learned how to prepare the Whisperjay Stew himself and had been preparing it for the family, friends, even colleagues back in the university. Although his academic background and interests are anything related to history, which of course explains why he is an archaeologist today, his second passion from history was none other than cooking. In every seasonal festival cooking contests, he always participated and had won several awards, but he had never served the Whisperjay Stew as his entry to these contests. When he and Nadeshiko started dating, one of the first few things that he did was to teach Nadeshiko how to prepare the Whisperjay Stew. Eventually, he had his own share of cooking students for the dish, in which his two most famous students, Sonomi Daidouji and Yelan Li, also became known for being able to prepare authentic Whisperjay Stew. Even so, they all believed that Fujitaka's version was still the original, true Whisperjay Stew.

At this point, father and daughter arrived at the farmer's market at the town square and the merchants were still setting up their booths. The summer sun was becoming really hot and both father and daughter exited the car with sunglasses and visors to protect themselves from the sweltering heat.

"Wow, Dad," Sakura gasped. "It's like 7:30 in the morning and the heat of the sun feels like the afternoon."

"We'll be having fresh harvests today, that's for sure," Fujitaka grinned. The two entered the farmer's market area where there are some booths ready for business and others still setting up. "Well, looks like we'll have to wait until all the booths are open. Let's sit over there at the fountain benches while we wait."

"Sure, Dad."

They sat at one of the empty benches right next to the central fountain. A majestic statue of a mythical-looking lion stood at the center of the fountain. At the outside circle of the fountain had the name "Keroberos" written around it. Once they sat down, Fujitaka began a conversation.

"Well then. It's been almost a week since you stopped talking about that teen idol friend of yours. Is the dinner still going to be on tonight?"

Sakura chuckled. "Of course, Dad. Xiaolang will still come over tonight. It's already been set."

"Well, so it's Xiaolang now and not Li-kun, eh?" Fujitaka grinned.

"Well, he asked me to just call him by his first name so… I am."

"He must have grown very fond of you, Sakura. Unfortunately he is a movie actor and that he would have a very heavy schedule for him to even make time for his non-celebrity friends."

"Well, that's the reason why I haven't spoken to him in a week. He'd been busy with his shooting and then I've been busy with The Cool Rascals at the audio studio at Tomoyo's house practicing and recording songs for the movie soundtrack."

"Well I do hope that you're not drifting apart or anything like that."

Sakura shook her head. "Oh, nothing like that, Dad. Even if we haven't seen each other for almost a week, we still keep in touch through texts." Immediately she reached for her phone and then showed her father Syaoran's latest text. "This was dated last night before I went to bed. He was at his night shooting then."

Fujitaka read what the text said: I like my Whisperjay Stew with water chestnuts. Please ask your father to add water chestnuts in them. I'd really appreciate it!

"My my," Fujitaka chuckled. "He must be used to the Kinomoto Style Whisperjay Stew. The Tsukishiro Style doesn't have any water chestnuts or whatever nuts they have. Apparently majority of the Tsukishiro Family Clan are allergic to peanuts."

"Eh? But Yukito-niichan isn't allergic to peanuts at all," Sakura blinked.

"Well obviously he's from the minority," Fujitaka said. "My family adds water chestnuts, almonds, cashews, and peanuts in the stew to have a bit of crunch and the nutty sweet flavor hinted in the sauce so that's how we've always made our Whisperjay Stews. I also thought your mother and Tomoyo-chan's mother and even Syaoran-kun's mother the same style as how it's been through the past generations of the Kinomoto Family."

"We're nuts, Dad," Sakura laughed using a pun.

"Right." He then handed back her phone. "Considering your friend Li Xiaolang is Chinese, he would want to have water chestnuts in his stew."

"Ah, you're right. It's a Chinese crop." Her father nodded and then fell silent again, still waiting for all the booths to set up and then become open for business. Right then, Sakura broke the silence. "Say, Dad?"

"Hm?"

"Well… um… I'm wondering… are you ready to meet him?"

"You mean Li Xiaolang? Of course I'm ready to meet new people."

Sakura took a sigh of relief. "Um, he might bring his manager Wei along with him. Hope that's okay."

Fujitaka smiled. "Of course that's okay. I'm planning on making a huge batch of stew tonight so your friend can take some home and share it with his friends if he likes."

"Oh, that's so cool, Dad!" Sakura cheered happily, then gave a loud sigh. "Dad…"

"Yes?" Right then, he discovered his daughter's head lowered down. "What's the matter, Sakura?"

"It's… it's about Xiaolang, Dad…"

"Hm? What about him? Good or bad, I'm still interested in meeting him tonight."

"No, nothing like that… it's just that… I think I'm going crazy…" Sakura gulped and sighed once more.

"Knowing you dear, that shouldn't surprise me."

"I mean, Dad… the last time I've seen was during our screen test last week. I… I just couldn't help but… connect all the dots together."

"Connect the dots? What do you mean?"

"Dad… I… I'm really beginning to think that Li Xiaolang may be Syaoran in disguise…"

Fujitaka held his throat to refrain himself from laughing. "Say that again?"

"I mean… I think that Li Xiaolang and Syaoran may be the same person."

"Now where on earth did you get that idea, sweetie? Just because the boy looks like your special best friend from the past, doesn't mean it's really him, right?"

"I have enough evidence to support my claim, Dad…"

"Did you even talk to Li-kun about this?" Sakura quickly shook her head. "Oh boy…"

"Well, he's busy with his shooting and… I… I don't want him to hate me for being nosy about his personal life…"

"Alright, fair enough, Sakura. Well, the best thing that you could do from this point is to confront him about it."

"Dad, his hair has the same color, he's also got deep amber eyes too, and the way he smiled is the same way as the way Syaoran smiles…"

Fujitaka gently scratched the side of his temple with a finger. "Are there different ways of smiling…? I never thought of that…"

"Dad, I'm serious!"

"Alright, alright. I'm listening. Keep going."

"Dad, other than they look so much like each other, they almost have the same name. Their names mean 'little wolf' too. Syaoran's name means little wolf and Xiaolang's name means little wolf too. And both their last name is Li… Syaoran has four older sisters, Xiaolang also has for older sisters too. They're both from Hong Kong. Xiaolang also has a copy of The Book of Keroberos that had the Syaoran's family members in there. And most of all, the biggest key evidence of it all…"

"What's that?"

"He has the pink stuffed animal that I gave Syaoran before he moved out of Tomoeda. We exchanged Tomoeda stuffed animals before we left. Mine had white wings on them and the one he had also has white wings on them. And most of all, I sewed a small cherry blossom at the bottom of the bear's tush and in very small letters have my initials in them: S.K. And even until now I still get dreams of seeing Syaoran and Xiaolang being the same person. Conclusion? They're the same person!"

Fujitaka gave a soft sigh. "Well, if you say so…"

"But what I don't understand is… if Xiaolang really is Syaoran, then wouldn't he recognize me immediately? And also Tomoyo and Tak too? How come he's acting as if we've never met before?"

"Didn't you say that Li Xiaolang is currently suffering amnesia? Maybe that's why he's acting as if last week was the first week that you and he have known each other."

"Oh… oh yeah…" Sakura gasped, closing her mouth with her hand. "I forgot that he has amnesia…"

"Didn't you ask me if I could help him restore his lost memories, ne?" Sakura nodded. "Well, you've got a lot of evidence, so you say, that truly proves that famous teen actor Li Xiaolang is none other than you long lost little wolf. Tonight would be a good time for me to examine him and see how bad his amnesia really is. Then we could go from there."

Sakura then clenched her shirt where her heart was located. "Oh Dad… if Syaoran and Xiaolang are the same person then… gosh…" Right then she began to blush tomato red. "My Syaoran has finally returned…"

"Let's not jump in to conclusions now, Sakura. Just be careful with that. You don't want to get hurt…"

"And also… I kinda told him about Syaoran and… he decided that as part of his character research that he would do his own acting with me."

"Acting with you?"

"He said that while I wait for Syaoran to come back that he would take his place for the time being."

Fujitaka almost stumbled off of his seat once he heard the last few words. "So… he's… acting as Syaoran-kun? For your sake? You didn't coax him or anything did you?"

"Huh? Of course not, Dad! He… he volunteered… I know this is all for his character research for his role in the movie because of the major similarities to both Syaoran and himself, but… in a way I never thought about this until now. I wonder now his real reason why he would do such a thing for me. I mean we've only known each other for four days back then." She then dropped her head and placed her hands on his head. "Oh Dad, I'm so confused…"

"Your… interesting… friendship… with this young man baffles me right now," Fujitaka said. "But like I said, let's wait until tonight and get to know him better together. I'll do what I can to get your brother out of the way should he try to interfere. You know how he is when it comes to you and boys."

Sakura lifted her head and smiled. "Thank you so much, Dad."

"Well, looks like all the booths are open now," Fujitaka smiled and stood up from his seat. He then reached in to his waist fanny pack and then tore one half of the list and gave that half to her. "Since we've got a lot to shop, why don't we split up and buy these items ourselves. We'll meet here and then I'll pay for all the items together at the counter."

"Sounds good, Dad." The father and daughter headed back to the entrance of the market. When they arrived there, Sakura spotted three familiar adults approaching their way. Just as she would about to call for them, one of them immediately recognized them first.

"Oh!" Sonomi Daidouji gasped once she spotted the Kinomoto father and daughter. "Good morning Fujitaka, Sakura-chan!"

"Oh!" Fujitaka also reacted. "Good morning, Sonomi. Long time no see!"

"Good morning Aunt Sonomi!" Sakura waved.

Sonomi approached the two and then embraced one another. "Good morning to you too Sakura. Early farmer's market shopping, I see."

"Yup. We're having a very special dinner tonight," Sakura gave a soft chuckle.

"Yes, I heard about it just now from Wei-san and the director himself. Li Xiaolang is your very honored guest tonight."

"Haha yeah," Fujitaka chuckled nervously. "I don't know how Sakura was able to convince someone like Li-kun to have dinner with us, especially with Whisperjay Stew as the main course."

"Aah," Sonomi grinned. "Now I see why." Right then, the other two adults, Taeko Kashii and Wei, finally caught up to them. "Oh, sorry for taking off like that."

"It's not a problem," Taeko smiled. "We're just here to examine the farmer's market area for the shooting, remember?"

Sakura gasped. "Wait… you're having the day shooting here at the market?"

"In a few minutes, Sakura-chan," Taeko said. "They're around the corner nearby getting things prepared, such as the equipment and blockage and of course, the makeup and costumes. That's why Sonomi-san is here today to look over the clothing."

"Ah, makes sense," Sakura nodded.

"Oh right," Sonomi changed the subject. "Taeko-san, Wei-san, this distinguished man standing before us now is Sakura's father, Fujitaka Kinomoto."

"Don't forget the 'doctor'!" Sakura reminded her best friend's mother.

"Hahahaha, of course," Sonomi chuckled. "Dr. Fujitaka Kinomoto, professor of archaeology at Clow Reed University. He's also one of the renowned historians of this town as well."

"I heard about you!" Taeko offered a handshake to the father. "I'm Taeko, one half of the Kashiis, the screenwriters of the movie Cherry Blossom, Little Wolf. I have to admit that your publication, A Visitors Guide to The Book of Keroberos, was my favorite source when my husband Toshifumi and I were currently writing the screenplay. A pleasure to meet you, Dr. Kinomoto."

"Well, thank you, Mrs. Kashii," Fujitaka grinned. He also offered a handshake towards Wei. "You must be Li Xiaolang's manager, Wei, was it?"

"Wei Wang, Doctor," Wei said, exchanging handshakes. "I also manage Eriol Hiiragizawa and Meiling Li as well."

"Ah, that's great to hear!"

Sakura then cleared her throat. "Well, I must be going now. Got to shop for this half of the list! I'll see you guys later!"

"Take care, Sakura-chan!" The adults see Sakura leaving the scene and made her way to the first booth opposite of their direction. At this point, Fujitaka turned his head back towards the three adults.

"I understand now," Fujitaka gave a grin. "If it hadn't for you three being here, I would have been a very puzzled man."

"Then," Sonomi said, "you do recognize Taeko-san and Wei-san, do you?"

"Of course I remember," Fujitaka gave a soft chuckle. "Jingmei and Wei, the Li Clan's caretaker…"

Taeko gasped and hushed him. "I'm a Japanese citizen now so I changed my name."

"You're still Jingmei to me," Fujitaka grinned shyly.

"Seriously, you and Sonomi are the same," Taeko muttered, then cleared her throat.

"I'm quite surprised that you remember me, Dr. Kinomoto," Wei said.

"Well, you were a lot younger the last time I've seen you, but I guess age really caught up to you, Wei-san… former next door neighbor and guardian to the future heir to the Li Clan. Am I right…?"

Sonomi gasped. "So, you knew all along… about the movie's leading star, Li Xiaolang? Or rather, Syaoran-kun?"

"I didn't at first, but I was a bit suspicious," Fujitaka said. "But now that you three showed up, especially Wei-san here, now my suspicions have been confirmed."

"And you haven't confronted Sakura-chan about this?" Taeko gasped, as Fujitaka shook his head. "You really are one clever man, Dr. Kinomoto."

"I'm just a father watching over his only daughter after all. I don't like meddling in all her teenage affairs, ne? But you know, hopefully everything will be clear later tonight…"

"Yes," Wei nodded in agreement. "Master Xiaolang invited me for dinner also. I refused at first but he insisted. He needed a trusted company, so I decided to come along."

"Good to hear," Fujitaka nodded. "We'd love to have you over tonight, Wei-san."

Sonomi cleared her throat. "You haven't heard from Yelan, have you?"

Fujitaka shook his head. "I tried finding contact with her or anyone in the Li Clan for the last seven years. I've been doing guest lectures several times at the University of Hong Kong for these past seven years and so far no luck."

"Don't worry about that," Taeko smiled. "She hadn't had any contact with anyone at Tomoeda for almost seven years. It wasn't until three months ago when I received contact from her again. She was able to trace my contact info and Sonomi's contact info in Tokyo, but tracing contact info in Tomoeda was really difficult, so she hasn't contacted you yet."

"I see," Fujitaka gave a slight frown.

"Once Yelan made contact with me, I gave her your contact information. I don't know how strong signals in Tomoeda are, so I just gave her your contact number at your office at Clow Reed University instead."

"Ah I see. Thank you for that, Sonomi. What's happened to the Li Clan all this time?"

Sonomi glanced at the time. "Oh no, we need to head back at the set now. Tell you what, Fujitaka, why don't we have some time off, maybe at the local cafe or something, and we'll talk about this."

"Sounds good," Fujitaka nodded. "I'm currently busy working on my final thesis for my doctorate in anthropology, but I'm available anytime. Just give me a call. You know my number."

"We'll do," Sonomi nodded. "We were instructed by Yelan this past week to eventually have a meeting with you about Syaoran's condition. You see, this movie isn't just an attempt to make Syaoran's acting career a breakthrough, but Syaoran meant to meet Sakura once more, and through her, he'll recover his memories. His eighteenth birthday is coming up this weekend, and because of that, he will be bearing a whole lot more responsibilities as the future leader of the Li Dynasty that would limit his acting career. He's going through a final test of approval by the elders through the shooting of his movie and by being here, Fujitaka."

Taeko nodded. "That's right. His final test is to recover the remaining of his lost memories, but he has to recover them on his own with no aid from anyone in the family or even among the movie crew. The only aid that he can have is from the locals here in Tomoeda, most especially his childhood friends…"

"Yes… most especially Sakura-chan…" Sonomi added.

"I understand now," Fujitaka nodded. "Well then, you better get going. I got some shopping to do."

"We'll keep in touch, Fujitaka. It's good seeing you again." The adults exchanged their byes and parted their own ways.

"Luckily I still remember all of Syaoran-kun's likes and dislikes when it comes to food." Fujitaka grinned to himself as he proceeded to the first booth.

#

About an hour and a half later, Sakura and Fujitaka arrived home along with the groceries they purchased at the farmer's market. As they were unloading their ingredients for tonight's dinner feast, Sakura noticed a few more items she didn't recognize being in the grocery list her father made earlier.

"Dad, what's all these? Organic confectioner's sugar, Saigon Cinnamon, organic cocoa powder, a bag of hazelnuts… why do you have a lot of ingredients related to chocolate?"

"For dessert," Fujitaka grinned. "Let's have cinnamon chocolate mousse, hazelnut pie, and strawberry pudding for dessert."

"Hoe…" Sakura blinked. "I wonder if Xiaolang likes sweets…"

"What makes you say that, Sakura?"

"Well… it's just that… most boys hate sweets, that's all. I bet boys get really annoyed whenever girls give them so many chocolates during Valentines."

Fujitaka chuckled. "You used to give Syaoran-kun chocolates yourself. You do remember that chocolates are his weakness. I remember him begging us to bring some chocolate mousse whenever we have our annual neighborhood potluck picnic."

"Hee hee. You're right about that, Dad. I'm sure Xiaolang would like some dessert as well."

"Then, no need any more explanations. Let's get these ingredients in the cupboard and fridge except for the ones for the Whisperjay Stew."

"Mmm, yummy!" The two began sorting the ingredients from those they didn't need for the day. While they were doing that, they both heard ringing on their landline phone. "I'll get it, Dad!"

Sakura rushed to the living room where the phone is located and answered it. "Hello, Kinomoto Residence." She carefully listened to the voice on the other line. "Oh, hi Chiharu! What's up?" She then continued to listen to her message, which made Sakura gently scratch her head. "Hoe?… You're doing a urban dance scene? With a very famous hip-hop dance choreographer? Wow, that's so cool!" She then chuckled afterward. "What's Director Terada and those screenwriters up to? It seems that they're prolonging the movie shooting on purpose. Are they trying to make the movie in to a musical now? Never mind us doing singing scenes but… dancing too?" She paused to listen and then answered again. "Well, I'm a little bit busy right now…"

"Sakura, who's that on the phone?" Fujitaka called out, overhearing a bit of the conversation.

"Hang on a sec, Chiharu, let me talk to my dad first." She then covered the speaker end of the phone and turned to her father. "Dad, they're doing a hip-hop dance scene at Busta Moves Dance Studio, just a few blocks from the farmer's market right now. They're calling me and Naoko to go over there and… well… you know… help them…"

"Well, sounds important," Fujitaka smiled.

"But Dad, I wanna help you make tonight's dinner…"

"Considering you're part of the cast, so to speak, why not go over there and check it out and see what's going on?"

"Well, you know Naoko and I are still at our school hip-hop dance club, right? We both gave up cheerleading to concentrate more on studies, plus we just switched our interests to just strictly hip-hop dancing. Anyway, Chiharu said that a few of the cast members are having trouble with the dance steps even though they're so simple and that this famous choreographer couldn't work with them for some reason. They said they'll pay us extra if we come over and help out…"

"Well, that's money for your future college tuition fees there, Sakura," Fujitaka said. "Don't worry about me here. I've prepared Whisperjay Stew by myself several times. You'll still have time to prepare the desserts later, so no worries."

"But Dad… um… are you sure…?" Sakura gave a worried expression on her face.

Fujitaka gave a wink. "Positive. Now go and help your friends, ne?"

"Alright…" Sakura shrugged and turned to the phone. "Okay, so you want me and Naoko there now?… Oh, Naoko's already on her way? Okay, I'll be on my way too… Right. Thanks, Chiharu. See you there. Bye." She hung up and gave a salute to her father. She dashed upstairs to get herself changed.

When she got in her room, she heard her phone vibrate on her desk. She dashed to it to find Naoko's name flashing on her screen. She grabbed it and answered. "Hi Naoko!"

"Hey Sakura! Did Chiharu call you?"

"Yeah, she just did." At the moment she placed her phone on speaker so she can hear her friend's voice while changing her clothes. "What's going on with that movie now? I just barely started reading the script, I mean I only read the parts where I come in and begin my singing scenes, but other than that…"

"The producers wanted the movie to be part-musical, that's why they included local artists such as The Cool Rascals to make cameo appearances there. As far as the dance portions go, they were already there in the first place."

"Hoe? What do you mean?"

"Well, the Kashiis personally gave me a copy of the script so I can have some source whenever I write the blog articles and I began to read and analyze it. Li-kun's character, Hinata Chiirou, isn't just a struggling teenager who couldn't remember himself, but he's also a professionally-trained urban dancer, and surprisingly, Mai Hirashiki's character, Sakura Kumamoto, is a ballet dancer. There's a scene where they enter a competition to earn money and save their town's youth dance program from shutting down. Something like that… I have to re-read the script again…"

Sakura found her black shin-length baggy shorts with a pink sakura blossom print on her right leg and still had to choose her shirt. If this were hip-hop dance, she knew she had to dress the part. "So, do you know the story behind this whole dance bit?"

"A bit. Here's the story as to why Chiharu wanted us over at the Busta Moves, girl. Majority of the girls are having trouble getting the moves down. So far only Meiling Li was able to capture the choreography. The guys have no problems because the moves are pretty much guy-friendly, but the girls are the problem. Chiharu and Rika were called in by the director since Tomoyo suggested them so maybe the girls would be able to get the choreography down with a bit of feminine touch. It makes sense after all since they're the co-captains of our cheerleading squad now. Apparently, the dance routines were all hip-hop and neither of them have any knowledge or a bit of training in hip-hop, so yeah. That's where we come in."

Sakura found a long white shirt with another pink sakura printed at the bottom left corner of her shirt. "So, when we get there, what exactly do we do?"

"Say, that reminds me. You need to dress the part. The choreographer, I'm pretty sure you've heard of him before, wanted to see a sample of our routine. I guess it's time for the Sweet Nuthins to reunite, ne?"

"Who exactly is this choreographer?"

"Chiharu said it's a surprise. Even I don't know who it is, but she guaranteed us that we've heard of him."

"Well, he better be good."

As she wore her shirt, she then gazed at the top of her dresser cabinet where she gazed at her three trophies that she and Naoko won at local and regional urban dance competitions as a duo known as the Sweet Nuthins, three more trophies as a five-member dance crew known as The IllTrix, and five more as being a member of the Tomoeda Middle School Cheerleading Dance Team and the Tomoeda High School Cheerleading Dance Team.

Last year, their second year of high school, was the last time they competed. She and Naoko decided to retire as competitors to focus more on their studies, most especially towards college entrance exams, as they entered their final year of high school last April. Maybe when they finally settle down as college students that they may go back in to the urban dance competition scene once more.

"Man, Naoko. I can't believe that we started hip-hop dance when we were still in elementary."

"Yeah! DJ Kenzo and his crew found Tomoeda and decided to move here, live here, and train here, and eventually they introduced urban dance to the townsfolk here, especially with the kids. I remember how we stood out so much on our first class because we were the only girls who joined at that time, that is, at our ages then. Most of the kids in our class were guys. I hoped that the entire cheerleading squad would join but Chiharu and Rika really preferred the super-cutesy dances that those cutesy otaku chicks always do on Nico Nico Douga, you know?"

Sakura softly giggled. "Yeah, I know, but at least we didn't feel left out when we were there. Syaoran and Yamazaki joined too."

"Haha, I know! To tell you the truth I felt more love over there than in the cheering squad. Apart from the two of us, Chiharu, and Rika, everyone else seems to want to compete with each other to see who's the best dancer or who's the cutest and all that. Not worth it."

"That's because the hip-hop community's got nuthin' but love.

"True that, Sakura. Ah, the power of love!"

"I'm really glad Syaoran and Yamazaki joined along. Well, of course, they joined for the wrong reasons, somewhat. Syaoran joined because his mother wanted him to right after they heard that I wanted to join.

"Well, the choreography that we first learned wasn't a problem for Syaoran because of his martial arts training and all so he can move the way urban dance is supposed to move. Yamazaki only joined the classes because he wanted to impress Chiharu and you know, both of them can dance and stuff and finally have a passion that they can share together. But he was pretty good too for a beginner who had no interest in dancing in the first place."

"Haha, that's how much Tak loves Chiharu so much, ne?"

"Yup. You got it. Remember Oh-kun?"

"Oh-kun?"

"Yup! That half-Japanese Korean kid who used to live here in Tomoeda, but then had to move back to Korea due to family issues back there. Man he was awesome. He can murder the dance floor big time whenever he does his freestyles!"

Sakura gasped. "Oh yeah, duh! Of course I remember him. Yun-kun. Comrade of The IllTrix! We always called him Yun-kun!"

"Yup. Oh Yun Hwa. Though he's already far away he still keeps in touch with me. He's become one of the famous urban dancers in Korea now and he's even had a chance to do some choreography with some of those K-Pop groups."

"Oi, how come you never told me about Yun-kun's whereabouts all of a sudden, Naoko?"

"Well, you never ask." Naoko giggled at her end.

"Oh. Well that was dumb," Sakura returned the giggle.

"Anyway, we were an unstoppable dance crew in the pre-teens category then. The IllTrix!"

"Yup. I'm looking at the trophies we've won as The IllTrix."

"The girls didn't care about us though, but that's okay. We had the three most popular guys in The IllTrix too, so that sorta made us special!"

Sakura giggled. "Yup. Syaoran, Tak, Yun-kun. Man girls were chasing after them, even if Tak already has Chiharu, no one really cared. Ne, I wondered if Yun-kun ever liked a girl here in Tomoeda…"

Naoko gave a soft snicker. "Who knows…."

"Ne, Naoko… I know that little snicker of yours. You know something that I don't."

"Hm. Perhaps."

"Oh come on, Naoko, a hint! You know something about Yun-kun's past love life here in Tomoeda! I mean, Tak has Chiharu, Syaoran has me, what about Yun-kun?"

"Not telling!"

Sakura gasped immediately. "Wait… maybe the reason why you're not telling is because that mystery girl Yun-kun liked back then could be you?"

"Dream on, girlfriend! Hahahahaha…"

"No fair…" Sakura pouted.

"Well, anyway. Since that choreographer wants us to give him a sample to show him that we're seriously for real, I'm thinking of doing our 'Drop It Low' routine. That was like two years ago and I remember how we killed the dance floor with that routine when we competed."

"Just who on earth is this famous choreographer that Chiharu's talking about anyway?" Sakura began to gently scratch the side of her head. "Now I'm curious!"

"Dunno. But Rika and a few of the girl extras part of the dancing scenes thought he's pretty hot, like on the same level as Li-kun and Hiiragizawa-kun. He looks like those K-Pop idol guys, they said. I dunno."

"Well, I'm pretty sure he's gotta be a really good choreographer then for the girls to have trouble getting their steps down."

"Most likely. But anyway, you still remember our 'Drop It Low' routine, right?"

"Yup. I still remember the routine. We'd be able to show our own individual freestyle moves too with that song."

"Got that right. Anyway, I'm on your way to your house now. I'll be biking."

"Good. I'm gonna hitch a ride with you on rollerblade."

"Awrighty girl. See you then!" They exchanged their byes and hung up.

She sat at her dresser, facing the front of her mirror. "I'll just wear this visor from earlier. That should do it. Now I'm good to go!" She placed her pastel pink visor on her head and then gave a salute to herself on the mirror.

"Time to kick the dance floor, Sakura!" She stood up, grabbed her small backpack, and then dashed downstairs.

#

Music was already playing inside the Busta Moves Dance Studio just a short walking distance from the farmer's market when Sakura and Naoko arrived at the lobby of the dance studio. The receptionist, a part-timer and a fellow former classmate from the dance studio's hip-hop class and a former senior of Tomoeda High who graduated last year who only went by the nickname of Ai, gave a wave at the two girls. Sakura appeared in white shirt and black baggy shorts with cherry blossom prints on them, along with black high top sneakers and white socks and wearing her pink visor as her accessory. Naoko appeared in light orange loose top with the words "THS Cheer Dance" on them (THS meaning Tomoeda High School) and black sweats with one sleeve rolled up above her knee, along with white socks and white high top sneakers.

"Sakura-chan! Naoko-chan!" Ai waved happily as the girls exchanged hi-fives. "I haven't seen you girls for like… months!"

"Yeah, seriously," Sakura chuckled. "We haven't been here for quite awhile since Naoko and I decided to retire from the competition scene."

"And now you girls are back because a certain hot hip-hop choreographer is desperate to teach those snooty teen actresses how to dance," Ai snickered.

"Something like that," Naoko said. "Well, where are they now?"

"Studio C, where you hear that smooth slow jam song playing in the background. I bet that's Li Xiaolang-kun and Mai Hirashiki practicing their lyrical hip-hop routine…"

"Lyrical hip-hop?" Sakura and Naoko gasped simultaneously.

"I had a chance to take a little peek," Ai grinned. "Both of them can dance well alright. It's just that the Hirashiki girl can't dance hip-hop, which is why that certain hot choreographer is really frustrated right now."

"Ouch," Naoko chuckled. "I guess it's Sakura and me to the rescue?"

"I really don't know what that movie's about but they sure are trying to please the young generation with different types of pop music tastes, I guess. We've got J-Rock, J-Pop, and now hip-hop. Next thing you know we'll be having classical music too, hahahaha!" Sakura and Naoko joined along with the chuckling.

"By the way, I'm still a closet Wolfpup, guys," Ai continued. "I really think Li Xiaolang is the hottest, sexiest being the world has ever seen. But then when I finally got to meet him in real life, now he looks like a person I used to know in the past. It's so weird, really…"

Oh boy… don't tell me… he reminds you of Syaoran, right, Ai-senpai? Sakura's voice spoke in her mind.

"Yeah, totally weird," Sakura chuckled nervously.

"Well, just enter right through Studio C and good luck!" Ai gave a thumbs up to the two girls.

"Thanks so much, Ai-senpai!" Sakura and Naoko bowed as they made their way towards Studio C.

When they arrived, Ai was right about having a dance session at the moment. The girls caught a glimpse of seeing Syaoran and Mai doing a rather passionate and powerful lyrical hip-hop couple dance to a song called "No Air," just nearing the end. Sakura found herself hypnotized with the dance routine that she also felt some blushing at the same time.

Wow… they're so fluid and… powerful… Sakura then placed her hands on her cheeks and accidentally lead out her signature mutter. "Hoe…"

When the song ended and the dance concluded, everyone cheered and clapped for them. The two dancers split and sat back at their own spots at the wall. Right then, Eriol and Meiling, paired up together, take the dance floor with the mysterious choreographer wearing a baseball cap backwards at the background.

"Sakura, Naoko, you girls made it!" The two girls turned to see Tomoyo standing right next to them.

"Hoe? Tomoyo, what are you doing here?"

"I came here to deliver the costumes for them to wear for the dance scenes. I had help from Yamazaki so he's here too," Tomoyo answered. "Waah, urban dance! So exciting and so raw! I love watching hip-hop! I didn't forget my camcorder this time!"

"Wow, Tomoyo, you sure can't afford to miss a single moment, ne?"

"Hey, this is our last year in high school, girl. Even during the summer I gotta document our moments together." Sakura responded with a laugh.

"So, where's Chiharu and Rika?" Naoko asked. Tomoyo pointed her finger at the adjacent wall, where they spot the two girls with Chiharu's boyfriend Yamazaki sitting with them. Next to Yamazaki is a resting Syaoran, wiping off the sweat from his forehead with a small towel while sipping from his bottled water.

Without further ado, Tomoyo already approached the choreographer and reminded him of the girls' arrival. Right then, the choreographer, with his back at the back, spoke to Eriol and Meiling, reminding them to sit down for the moment. Judging by the stance and build, Sakura thought that the choreographer seemed rather young to be on a professional level. But then again, knowing Japan's street dance scene, dancers begin their journey towards street dancing as young as age five. When Eriol and Meiling nodded and sat back down in the same area as where Syaoran was sitting, the choreographer turned his head.

Just by the glance of the choreographer's face, Sakura and Naoko gasped in shock. Chiharu and Rika weren't kidding, Sakura thought. This choreographer was indeed gorgeously handsome, although in her opinion Syaoran was a whole lot more handsome. However, as she took a closer look at the choreographer as he approached them, she also noticed something very familiar about him.

"No way…" Naoko gasped happily, placing her hands on her cheeks. "Yun-tan!"

"Hoe? Yun-tan?" Sakura blinked in confusion as the choreographer finally faced them. This young man was no taller than Syaoran or Eriol or Yamazaki even. In fact, he was barely a few inches taller than Sakura or Naoko.

The choreographer flashed a heartwarming smile. "I had a feeling it would be you who would come… Nao-tan."

"Nao-tan?" Sakura raised an eyebrow of suspicion. What on earth is going on here?

"I didn't expect that you would be here in the flesh!" Naoko chuckled.

"Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but… I couldn't wait to see you." The two immediately embraced while the others present gave rather confused looks. Immediately, the choreographer turned to everyone watching. "I guess I didn't exactly tell you more about me. I too used to live here in Tomoeda… and her?" He pointed his thumb towards Naoko. "She's my girlfriend." Immediately he flashed an adorable grin.

"Ehhh?" Everyone gasped, while the others remained silent in shock.

Moments after the choreographer explained more about himself, even Sakura found herself shocked. The fifth member of their old childhood hip-hop dance crew, The IllTrix, Oh Yun Hwa, was personally hired by Sunbow Productions' producers to be the choreographer for the ten main cast teens for the movie. Now a famous idol himself back in Korea and a part-time choreographer, once he heard that the setting was in Tomoeda, he just couldn't refuse. For one thing, Tomoeda was his original home. Second, being able to see his long-distance girlfriend since he and his family moved out of the country would be the sweetest moment he would ever have outside showbiz. There was gonna be a lot of catching up amongst old Tomoeda friends at this point and a lot of explaining from Naoko's side.

"So, you still want us to do our sample, Yun-tan?" Naoko chuckled. "You know Sakura and I are prepared."

"Well, I was gonna say you don't have to, but since hardly anyone here except for a few know what kind of moves you have, you might as well. Two-minute sample," Yun said. He then turned to Sakura, who looked a lot more perplexed than ever. "You haven't changed yourself, Saku."

Sakura slowly nodded. "So did you, Yun-kun…"

"Yeah, well," Yun chuckled. "I was the shortest guy in our crew and even if we're almost adults now I'm still the shortest. Guess some things will never change."

"Nah," Sakura gave a simple grin. "You're still cool like that."

"Okay then, Sakura," Naoko said, nudging her on the side. "Let's do our sample!"

"Right!" The two girls turned to the crowd and waved at the others watching them. Sakura then noticed Syaoran and grinned happily. Syaoran returned her smile with a smile of his own. Naoko hooked up her mp3 player in to the speaker system as she and Sakura lined up in their positions, waiting for their song to begin.

When the song began, the two girls began dancing with swag, attitude, and flair. It was slow and simple and laid back at first, but once the main vocals began to sing, the complicated moves began. The others watching them began to clap along with the song's beat. Once the refrain was sung and the second verse came, Naoko broke out and Sakura made her smooth swagging freestyle solo. She did her freestyle for thirty seconds, and then Naoko stepped in as she stepped out and began her freestyle. The refrain came again for the second time and the two girls danced the same choreography as the first time. Right then, their sample ended and received plenty of praises and cheers from the crowd.

Yun stood up and thanked the two girls for the sample. He had them sit down, in which Syaoran signaled Sakura to sit next to him when he patted an empty space next to him. Sakura accepted the invitation and sat next to him. On her other side was Yamazaki, who exchanged hi-fives with her. She spotted Chiharu and Rika thanking her and Naoko for showing up and gave them a sample.

"Well then, even though the sample they gave us looked rather simple and relaxed, the truth is, no hip-hop routine can ever be simple and relaxed. You still gotta deal with a lot of intricate moves for you to capture the moves and once you do, it's what the routine makes it a lot simple and relaxed," Yun began speaking at the trainees in front of him. "Even though I've been busy with my budding career in Korea, I do keep in touch frequently with Nao-tan, so I'm actually caught up with what's going on with Tomoeda since I left."

He then glanced right at Chiharu and Rika. "You two are co-captains of the Tomeoda High cheerleading squad, right?" The two girls nodded.

"Sakura and Naoko used to be the co-captains," Rika said. "They were our best and the most original dancers in the squad, so we rely a lot on their choreography whenever we have to enter through cheer competitions. We've been doing so well national-wise thanks to them."

Chiharu sighed. "I feel a bit ashamed that we couldn't even come up with good choreography for the girls here, let alone our own squad in school. Even though Sakura and Naoko are no longer with the squad, they still teach us new choreography for our cheer routines as their homage, you know?"

"Nah, no worries about that," Sakura grinned happily. "I know Naoko and me are always happy to lend you girls a hand with choreography. Ne, Naoko?"

"You bet!" Naoko grinned and then began sipping her water from her bottle.

"Since the boys seem to have no problem with the original choreography," Yun said. "I'm talking about the choreography I just taught you all earlier, the plan is now this. At this point, you stars and even the extras participating in the dance scenes should practice what I taught you guys earlier. While you guys do that, I'll be teaching Sakura and Naoko the same choreography myself. Then from there, we'll split in to two groups: guys will be with me, girls will be with Sakura and Naoko. Those two girls will be tuning the choreography with you girls to make it easier. Then we'll go from there. Got that?" Everyone replied with a yes or simply with nods. "Alright then, we'll meet back here in fifteen minutes."

Sakura turned to Syaoran and grinned, as she stood up. "You and Hirashiki-san looked so good together with your lyrical hip-hop dance! Totally off the hook!"

Syaoran stood up and then answered. "You really think so, Sakura?"

"Yup. Positive. I always enjoyed watching lyrical hip-hop dances, especially with couples. It's like… never mind that the movements are intricately lyrical, but they're just so beautiful to look at. Sensual and smooth and yet so strong… you know?"

The amber-eyed idol stepped a little closer to her. "Have you danced lyrical hip-hop yourself?"

Quickly, Sakura shook her head. "Nope… I never had. Well… no partner…" Right then she found herself blushing. Just as Syaoran was about to reply, they were interrupted by Eriol calling out to them.

"Xiao, come on, the guys are waiting!"

"Right," Syaoran muttered. "Well, I'll see you later." He gave a small wave as Sakura grinned.

"Awrighty Li-kun. Good luck!" Sakura turned around and caught up to Naoko and Yun.

#

About an hour later after lunch, the dance session finally ended for the day. Yun and Naoko decided they would hang out together for the rest of the afternoon near the area. Many of the other dancers stayed to practice their own routines. The five pairs at this point decided to practice on their own couple lyrical hip-hop dance routines. At this point, Sakura, Tomoyo, Yamazaki, and Chiharu could just leave at this point but by the insistence of Syaoran, Sakura was needed to stay in order to review their dance routines. At this level, with Yun and Naoko gone, Sakura was the remaining person in the dance studio who was now the expert urban dance choreographer.

Tomoyo continued to record the practices with her camera on the sidelines. Rika had a scheduled meeting with her Moonies Fanclub and had to leave early. Chiharu and Yamazaki sat next to Sakura, who was now resting with a bottle of ice code water and a towel around her neck.

"Jeez," Sakura began, but not before she sipped on her ice cold water. "Naoko's always been secretive and usually we would figure out what's really in her mind, but learning that she's been having a long-distance relationship with Yun-kun was a total shocker."

Chiharu giggled softly. "Yeah totally. That's like the biggest surprise we've ever received from our dear bookish Naoko ever!"

Yamazaki shrugged his shoulders. "I guess Yanagisawa just likes to play cool like that. When she was on hip-hop mode today, she was a totally complete person. Now she thinks she's all that. Completely different from the usual Yanagisawa that we know of. But it's not a secret for me that Yun's got a thing for Yanagisawa since we started taking hip-hop dance classes back in elementary, but he used to be like Syaoran back in those days."

Sakura nodded. "Yup. The quiet and sullen type. But somehow I find those types of guys really attractive for some reason." Of course, having Syaoran, and possibly the idol Li Xiaolang dancing right in front of her with Mai, she just had to mention that.

"Probably because of the language barrier," Chiharu noted.

"He's half-Japanese, so at least he could've known how to speak some Japanese if not fluent," Yamazaki informed. "It took about two weeks since class that he finally talked to us. DJ Kenzo really knows how to open people's hearts through dance just like that. He was a born dancer, that I can tell you."

Chiharu sighed deeply. "I can't believe that this hot choreographer was none other than Oh Yun Hwa, the shortest kid in all of Tomoeda Elementary. I didn't know he hung out with you guys."

Yamazaki nodded. "Syaoran helped him get used to being one of us, let alone just living in Japan. He can relate a lot, being Chinese himself. I mean think about it. Two foreign kids living in a town located in the middle of nowhere who probably hasn't seen a single foreigner ever in their lives. Since those two, everyone here learned how to appreciate the diversity of our world altogether. Of course, we didn't really get to meet Yun until first day of hip-hop class right here in this very studio."

"Yup," Sakura nodded. "Brings back so many memories."

Tomoyo took a break from the video recording and joined in the conversation. "One of Korea's top idols is actually dating our sweet and smart Naoko all this time… long distance… and in secret… how romantic is that?"

"I should've paid attention more back then," Sakura sighed. "I was just so hung up on Syaoran back in those days that I didn't even give attention to anyone else around us. Now I feel really bad…"

"Well, now that he's here, Sakura, you've got plenty of room to make up for those times," Chiharu grinned.

At this point, the couples split again with the girls joining the other female dancers to do their group routine. The boys decided to take a rest by sitting at the sidelines once more. Syaoran and Eriol joined the Tomoeda locals chatting about the blogger and the choreographer.

"You guys done for the day?" Sakura smiled as Syaoran took the empty space next to Sakura while Eriol sat next to Tomoyo.

"Yeah," Syaoran breathed while wiping off the sweat from his face. "I'm off for the rest of the day now. Eriol had to go back to the Daidouji studio basement at five for the night shooting." He drank from his water and then sighed out in relief. "I'm all yours today and tonight."

Sakura blushed. "So, you and Yun-kun have known each other for awhile now?" Well of course, she thought to herself. They're both popular idols with high reputations in Japan as well as in their own country after all.

"Forever," Syaoran laughed. "Although it's rather weird though. Yun claimed that we've known each other since we were little. I felt that he was telling the truth, but until now I still can't remember where on earth we first met. I mean we've already known each other way before we entered the biz but I can't exactly remember where." He took a sip of water again. "Now I know after hearing his explanation."

"Hm. Here in Tomoeda?" Sakura confirmed. Syaoran nodded. "Now isn't that a coincidence? Your roots are seriously derived from our little old town, ne, Li-kun?" At this point, she could hear her conscience's voice echoing in her mind. No doubt about it. Li Xiaolang is definitely Syaoran. Immediately, she could feel her heart rapidly beating at the thought until another foreign voice came in to her mind.

"Let's not jump in to conclusions now, Sakura. Just be careful with that. You don't want to get hurt…"

Aw Dad, why you gotta have to spoil my hopes like that… I can't wait until dinner already…

Although her father had a point regarding jumping in to conclusions, she still couldn't help herself but to stay to the conclusion that her new idol friend may be her long lost childhood love. Just a little sneak peek, she decided to give herself a little test. At this point, she noticed Syaoran watching the girls practicing their routine at the floor while at the same time she was sitting right at his left side. She first gazed at his side profile, and then her eyes slowly dropped from his head right towards his waist. With a free pointer finger on her right hand, she gently reached for a certain spot on his waist.

To her knowledge, most guys aren't that sensitive with a certain pressure point on their bodies, especially those muscular types. Syaoran was incredibly well-built to the point that anyone can tell that he's slightly buff that her little test may fail. Just for the heck of it, she thought, she attempted to do this test by gently poking a spot on his left waist.

"Gah!" Syaoran shrieked and quickly scooted away from Sakura. "What… what are you doing?"

"Uhh…" Sakura had to find a good excuse for her little deed. "There was a bug that's crawling up your shirt so… I…. flicked it away…"

Syaoran gave her a suspicious look. "A bug, huh…?"

"Yeah! It was this big and it was crawling right at—" Just as she was attempting to touch that same spot again, Syaoran quickly scooted away from her again.

"Aaah! D-don't do that… I mean… don't touch me there… I'm… I'm a little sensitive there…"

Sakura found herself giggling with a hint of blushing on her cheeks. "I guess even strong and powerful handsome guys have a weak spot too…"

Syaoran quickly rubbed that spot with his left hand. "N-no one knows about that spot except my family… I can't believe you actually nailed the spot…" He let out another sigh. "Just… don't tell anyone about it… Sakura…"

"I'm sorry about that…" Sakura gave a slight pout. "I had no idea…"

"It's… not your fault, really… You just happened to find it…"

"I'm pretty sure it'll be hard to find again the second time. Ne?" Sakura grinned humbly.

"R-right…"

The two remained silent again as they continue to watch the girls' dance rehearsal. At this point, Sakura grinned to herself while shifting her eyes towards the handsome boy sitting next to him.

Welcome back home… Syaoran.

#

When the clock reached five in the afternoon, Sakura arrived back home with a rather guilty expression on her face. She found her father already decorating the top of the hazelnut pie with whipped cream. Fujitaka found Sakura looking a little bit haggard from all the sweat she earned from too much dancing. Still, he welcomed her home with a smile.

"Well well, looks like you've got another job in the movie, sweetheart?" Fujitaka gave a grin.

Sakura approached her father at the island of their kitchen. "Sorry I got home so late, Dad. I was supposed to bake the desserts."

"No worries about that, Sakura. You know I'm one of the culinary masters in all of Tomoeda, ne? I knew you would take long with this dance project in the movie production. Those types of things take awhile after all."

"Really am sorry, Dad. I'll make breakfast for the entire week."

Fujitaka chuckled. "You're simply enjoying your youth, Sakura. Don't feel guilty just because I prepared all our dishes for tonight. Besides, I had a wonderful time spending the entire day in the kitchen. It really kills off my stress. I have to thank you for inviting your new friend along for dinner tonight that gave me a chance to spend more time in the kitchen."

"Oh Dad, you seriously are the coolest ever!" Sakura embraced her father as Fujitaka returned the embrace for his daughter.

"Well then. Did you see your friend there?" Sakura nodded happily.

"Oh I really can't wait for Xiaolang to come to dinner tonight! It's gonna be awesome, that I know!"

"It'd better be awesome. Your old man gave all the effort of preparing suitable dishes for your friend. But let's work together to make sure that the dinner will be a success."

"I'm with you, Dad!" Sakura winked and then headed upstairs to take a shower and get herself ready. Fujitaka continued on with what he was doing.

Five minutes later, his eldest son arrived from work.

The dinner was scheduled at seven in the evening, and when the clock reached at 6:30, the doorbell ran. Sakura gulped nervously just as she was placing a red ribbon headband on to her head. She got rid of her hip-hop mode after taking a shower and switched back to normal and sweet Sakura with the long, short-sleeved white dress that stretched down just below her knees and with a dark pink ribbon tie around her waist. Knowing her beloved Syaoran had finally returned without anyone else even noticing it, she knew she had to dress to impress.

Syaoran always loved seeing me in simple dresses like these, Sakura thought happily. Oh God, please let this dinner be the moment of truth between Syaoran and me…

After finally fixing herself, she opened her door and dashed at the hallway. At the balustrade, she gazed downstairs towards the living room, where she found her father answering the door and inviting Syaoran and Wei inside. She gasped and quickly fixed her dress and then her hair. She had to considering Syaoran showed up in a rather stylish white long-sleeved shirt with a dark green vest and black slacks and simply just looking irresistibly handsome.

Just as she was about to head downstairs, she felt something that was tickling on her knee. When she gazed down, she noticed a loose thread hanging from the hem of her dress.

Loose thread. Not good! Quickly she headed back to her room to fix her dress.

"Take a seat, take a seat," Fujitaka invited both Syaoran and Wei inside, leading them to the living room. When he sat down, Syaoran placed his backpack next to the sofa. At the coffee table, there was a tray of a variety of snacks from nuts to fresh fruits to even potato chips. "I'm just setting up the dinner table. Sakura will be here in a moment."

"Thank you, Doctor," Syaoran and Wei responded as they took a seat at the larger couch.

While at the dining table, Fujitaka began a short conversation. "Well now, I know movie shoots are unpredictable, but how long do you think this movie shoot will be finished?"

Wei decided to answer the question. "Originally it would be around two to three months, by the end of summer break, but with all these changes made by the producers and the screenwriters, we may even be here for as long as six months."

"Wow, this movie must be very long," Fujitaka gave a soft chuckle. "Well, don't think that you're disturbing the peace of our town or anything like that. I was just curious, that's all."

"We're not offended at all, Dr. Kinomoto," Syaoran responded. "Even us main cast were also wondering to ourselves for awhile now if we're being a hindrance to the entire town—"

"No, no, don't think that, Li-kun," Fujitaka gasped. "Quite the contrary. The entire town is so delighted to have you here. Our small businesses have been booming as of late. We've been getting visitors in and out from other neighboring towns to other places around in Japan just to take a glimpse of our town. After all, it's no secret to the entire country of the location that you are shooting the movie at."

"Well, Xiaolang doesn't watch that much TV or even read the entertainment section of the news," Wei said. "But I have been keeping an eye on the media for all this time now. Yes, Tomoeda has been in the media several times now. Appropriate journalists and newscasters have been visiting the sets to interview the cast and crew in and out. These past two weeks have been very hectic."

"I can imagine. Help yourselves with some appetizers at the table. I'm almost finished."

Syaoran and Wei grabbed a few of the appetizer samplers and began to nibble their pieces. While enjoying themselves while waiting, the elder Kinomoto arrived at the staircase, also dressed properly in a long-sleeved black unbuttoned collar shirt and black pants. This is a semi-formal dinner with guests after all, so why not dress for the occasion. The two guests stood up to greet the son. Just like as always, Touya did not exactly give them a welcoming expression.

"Whoa. You're early," Touya said in a rather surprising expression. "If I can recall dinner's at seven."

"Well, thank you for having us too, Senpai," Syaoran gave a snicker on his face.

"Yeah, well you're here already." Touya shrugged. The two guests sat back down as Touya sat at the adjacent love seat couch close to where Syaoran was currently sitting. "I gotta admit, it's been awhile."

"Eh? It's only a week," Syaoran shrugged.

"All the shots I've been having as an extra all didn't include you, plus we're mostly cooped up in the recording studio at the Daidouji House," Touya said. "Seeing as how much your schedule's been full this past week from all the twenty-four hour shoots to interviews with the media left and right, you still remember our little dinner gathering tonight?"

"Master Xiaolang is very efficient with his schedules, Kinomoto-kun," Wei said. "Not very many celebrities can get their schedules efficiently organized without the proper tools and the proper manager just like that."

"My smartphone has been very helpful to me," Syaoran gave a smirk. "I can never leave home without it."

"Right," Touya raised an eyebrow, still giving that suspicious look. "Now that we're on the subject, I heard about my little sister having another job in the movie shoot? Is this true?"

Syaoran raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Senpai?"

"I heard from some of the extras kids at the diner earlier that you've got my little sister doing some urban dance choreography for your dance scenes? What the hell was that all about?"

"Relax, Senpai," Syaoran said. "It wasn't just Sakura who got called in. Yanagisawa too. And don't worry, in the end, Yanagisawa said she'll be able to do full-time choreography training with all the girls in the cast since Sakura is already busy recording with you guys. Our head choreographer, maybe you know him from the past too, did say that he would need Sakura to train the couples in our lyrical hip-hop numbers and she was happy to accept it."

Touya raised an eyebrow. "In case you don't know, Sakura is currently laying low from all of these extracurricular activities. I mean she still has her summer homework to work on. She'll never graduate with flying colors in the spring next year if she doesn't do well with her studies this year."

"Sakura is smarter than you think," Syaoran reminded him. "You know, if you really care for your sister so much, you shouldn't underestimate her."

"What would you know, Li? You don't know the entire story so please, cut the lecture."

Syaoran sat up straight. "Listen, Senpai, you don't know me that well either so don't assume. I may not be able to relate to you but I can relate to Sakura. We have a lot of things in common, more than you know."

"And what would that be?"

"First of all, we're both the youngest. While there's only the two of you, I'm the youngest of five children with four older quadruplet sisters the same age as you and Yukito-senpai. At least Sakura only had to deal with you. I had to deal with four nosy, overprotective sisters who's very picky with the girls I get involved with. They were like that with Meiling in the beginning but eventually they got used… to…" At that point, he found himself trailing with words when he noticed Touya giving a rather fearful look on his face. "Senpai?"

"Quadruplets…" Touya immediately dropped his head. "Oh I can see the nightmares coming back…"

Syaoran crossed his arms. "I know, it's not normal for a family to have more than two children being born at the same time but—"

"No… not that…" Touya gave a huge sigh. "It's just that… next door, where Yamazaki lives right now… there used to be this really huge family who lived there. There were four quadruplet sisters who wouldn't leave me and Yukito alone."

"Oh? What happened there?"

"Two of them had a crush on me… the other two had a crush on Yukito… everywhere when we were still in school, back in elementary, even through middle school, and it became worse when high school came! One of the other reasons why I'm not down with the kid next door."

At that point, Syaoran raised an eyebrow, thinking that somewhere in his mind that Touya's complaint about quadruplet sisters in general sounded way too familiar to him. Rather, he decided to ignore it. Right as he was about to answer, the lady of the house finally arrived. This time, she wore a different dress from earlier: A shoulder-strapped white dress whose hem reached just at the bottom of her knees and three small sakura flowers of light pink, dark pink, and white just sewn at the center.

"Sorry I'm late," Sakura chuckled, while Syaoran and Wei stood up to face her. "I had a bit of a problem with my other dress. I'm gonna have Tomoyo fix it for me tomorrow." She bowed gently and then faced Syaoran. "I hope you guys didn't wait that long…"

Wei shook his head and answered her. "You're just in time, actually. Dinner is still being set up."

Syaoran remained silent, simply because he was at awe to find this green-eyed girl go through a huge transformation from her swag hip-hop style at the dance studio earlier to being a rather proper and slightly conservative young lady. He was already amazed with her tomboy look earlier and still amazed with her simply dolled up with dark red ribbons on her hair and of course, the dress.

Right then, Fujitaka appeared at the living room, still with his apron on. "Ah, looks like everyone's here," Fujitaka smiled. "Sakura, please do keep your guests company. Touya, I need your help in the kitchen."

Touya gave a slight frown. "What? Now?"

"Yes, Touya. Now," Fujitaka gave a glare at his son.

"Fine, fine." Touya shrugged his arms and headed to the kitchen with his father. At this point, Sakura is now alone with Syaoran and Wei. She sat down on the spot where Touya was sitting before.

"Whatever it is my brother told you," Sakura began, then sighed deeply. "I apologize."

Syaoran quickly shook his head. "Nothing to apologize for. Although I have to say that your brother hasn't changed much since the last time we've worked together."

"He's a little bit insecure too," Sakura chuckled. "When he was in high school, he used to be one of the town's most popular guys. I remember our phone was always busy ringing and it was always from the girls, looking for him. It was so bad that Dad had to change our home phone number a few times because he also needed the phone so that his colleagues from the university would be able to keep in touch with him. Of course, at that point we couldn't afford having cellphones then."

Syaoran gave a snicker. "I can imagine. I'm a purely straight guy but I gotta admit your brother's pretty good-looking you know. Good thing he's finally found the right girl for him to settle down soon."

"Yup! Their wedding is planned to take place next year. That's why right now for Dad, it's really crucial that I find someone special soon so that I would be secured that I have someone to marry. Dad said that when that time comes, he can finally retire as a university professor and focus more on both being a writer and participate in bigger excavation projects."

Syaoran nodded. "Your father looks really good to tell you the truth. He's quite young for his age."

"Hahaha, he's in his mid-40s now, but you know, I gotta agree that he does look pretty young at that age."

At that point, Wei stood up from his seat. "I need to use the restroom. I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation."

Sakura stood up. "Nah, you're not interrupting anything," she chuckled. "Just go straight past the staircase and it's to your right."

"Thank you." Wei made his way to the restroom, now leaving the two teenagers alone.

At this point, Syaoran's eyes became fixated right across from where he was sitting. Above the fireplace were family photos, with two particular photos caught his attention. He stood up to take a closer look. Sakura followed him from behind.

The first image he took a closer look at was the solo portrait of Nadeshiko Kinomoto, Sakura's mother. "Your mother?"

"Yup. Beautiful, wasn't she?" Sakura grinned. Syaoran nodded in agreement.

"You have her eyes," he muttered. "I bet she had guys running after her when she was our age."

"Well, you're right about that, actually. But she wasn't interested in dating when she was our age. It wasn't until she met dad at the university that she started dating. Dad said that her parents were also trying to arrange her with random guys to find her potential husband, but she survived through all that and became independent once she started college. Dad said she got really frail and weak when she got older, but she used all the energy and power she had to bear Oniichan and me and even vowed that we would grow up strong and healthy. We felt blessed that the doctors did find us strong, healthy, with no strange genetic deficiencies at all. Her illness was genetic, but neither Oniichan nor myself inherited that illness gene. Still though…" She sighed and lowered her head.

"I'm sure your mother was very happy though. But think about it, Sakura. You did say that she did live three more years after she gave birth to you. Even though you couldn't remember her much, at least, she was there to spend your first three years being alive. That in itself is a blessing and I'm sure your mother had no regrets."

Sakura placed her hand on to her heart and turned towards him, standing next to her. "That's what Dad and Oniichan said when I finally understood what really happened to Mom some years later. She passed away, sure, but when she did, she died a very happy and content woman."

At this point, Syaoran faced the portrait again, and then placed his palms together and bowed his head. "Thank you for having me and my manager in to your home, Mrs. Kinomoto. I'm Li Xiaolang, a friend of your daughter's. Thank you for being a strong and passionate mother, and that you gave birth to the most wonderful girl I've ever met."

Sakura blushed at the latter words, then Syaoran was finished giving his prayers to her deceased mother. Next, he turned to the second photo, which was a group of four teenage girls in old and traditional sailor-style high school uniform. His reaction to this photo was different from the way he reacted towards Nadeshiko's portrait.

"Can I… look a little closer at this one?" He asked permission regarding the second photo.

"Sure!" Sakura smiled. "It's an old high school picture of my mom and her three best friends."

Syaoran reached for the second photo and then took a closer look. "Wait… this one is your mother… but… that's impossible…"

"Eh? Impossible? No doubt, this is my mom!"

"I'm not talking about your mom here. It's just that… I've… I've seen this picture before…" He took the frame with him to the sofa as he and Sakura sat next to each other.

"You have? But this is an old Tomoeda High School photo. Of course, our school uniforms are completely different now but yeah. How is it that you've seen this picture before?"

Syaoran placed his hand on to his forehead again, feeling a bit of aching once more. "Dammit… not now…"

"Oh no… your migraines!" Sakura gasped. Good thing that her father also served a pitcher of water along with the appetizer tray. She reached for a glass, poured on some water, and handed it to him.

"Thanks, Sakura…" Quickly he drank the water and then sighed in relaxation. "I seriously need to see a doctor soon…"

"I was thinking the same thing. I mean for some reason, whenever I'm around you seem to be getting these migraines. Could it be because of your amnesia?"

"Dunno. It's possible. I hope it's not anything worse than that." He placed the glass on the table and then gazed at the photo again. "Listen, Sakura… I swear, I've seen this picture before. Several times, to be exact."

"But… how could you? Just these four girls have a copy of this same photo. This one is Tomoyo's mom, as you know. She has a copy of that photo at her house."

"I know. I've seen it before at her house. It gave me a slight migraine when I saw that. I wanted to ask Sonomi-san but decided to just ignore it and move on with my own business."

"And these two are actually exchange students from China, cousins to be exact. But only one of them remained in Tomoeda until she had to move back to Hong Kong with her entire family…"

"This is my mother, actually." Immediately, Syoaran pointed right towards a beautiful Chinese girl standing next to Nadeshiko. "She has this very same photo on display at the master bedroom. I swear, it's the exactly same photo."

"Eh?" Sakura gasped. "How could she be your mother when she's actually—" At that point, Fujitaka arrived at the living room.

"Alright kids, dinner's ready. Wei-san is already at the dining table ready to feast. Come on now."

"Coming, Dad," Sakura called out. Syaoran returned the frame to where it was before.

"Let's eat! I'm starving!" Syaoran chuckled as the two followed Fujitaka towards the dinner table.

---

A/N: Doumo. ^.^ This chapter is a whole lot shorter than the previous chapters. That's because that I'm trying to please majority of the reviewers to update faster. You'll have to forgive me for my busy real life but I can do so much. Did so many major "spring cleaning" of my room these past few days and rather than prolonging it with more plot, I decided to just cut it short. I have to say that I cut at the right spot. Dinner is about to commence!

I just want to point out a couple of things regarding this chapter. So now, we go from a pop/rock band to urban/hip-hop dancing. Before you start complaining about the whole hip-hop dance thing (I know most of you don't listen to rap/R&B/hip-hop- I do, actually, but mostly on the old school stuff, like from the late 80s-early 2000s), I have to remind all my fellow writers about this. Regardless if it's original fiction or fanfiction that you're writing, it's always best that you do a bit of research. If you live in the US, some of you may probably be familiar with talent competition reality shows such as America's Got Talent, SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance), and America's Best Dance Crew, so you should have at least some familiarity with urban/hip-hop dance in general. Urban/hip-hop dance has become really huge in Asia and Japan is no exception. In fact, Japan is one of the strongest countries in the entire world when it comes to international urban/hip-hop dance competitions, and plenty of Japanese urban dancers actually start off at the age of four. Japan is so strong in this dance genre that plenty of the choreography you see in K-Pop (Korean Pop) groups happened to be choreographed by Japanese professional urban dancers (I said many, not all). With that being said, I have been a fan of urban dance/hip-hop since middle school and still am up to now (even though today's rap/R&B/hip-hop music is blah compared to the ones in the past). In Japan, the best hip-hop dance crew, so to speak, today is an all-girl group called Rushball. Rushball consists of two girls: Maika and Kyoka. I've been a fan of Rushball since the girls were still cute little girls (and they're still cute and feminine by the way) and made their debut on Japanese national TV when Maika was only 8-years-old and Kyoka being 10-years-old in a popular urban dance variety show called Super Chample. This year, 2013, Maika is now 13-going-on-14 and Kyoka is now 15-going-on-16. Maika, with a different partner (Kazane), made her debut in the international circuit at age 10 at the highly prestigious Juste Debout Hip-Hop Dance Tournament back in 2009 in Paris, France. She, along with Kazane (she was 12 back then) became the youngest dance crew to ever make it to the final round (unfortunately they didn't win, but they became 2nd runner up that year). And if you're wondering, we're talking about battling against other dance crews on the dance floor, not like in SYTCD or something where they perform one at the time. We're talking real-time move-busting here! The reason why I mentioned Maika-chan, not because she's my favorite Rushball member, but because her energy, spark, smile, personality, and charm reminded me a lot of Sakura. She's one of those cute little girls who just look so sweet outside but is actually an athletic firecracker on the inside ready to explode in to the scene. Since that year, Maika and eventually Rushball (with Kyoka) became one of the most recognized and respected dancers in the international hip-hop scene. You can check out plenty of videos of the sweet girls serving the big boys at the dance floor in YouTube. Just search for Maika, Kyoka, Kazane, Rushball, Juste Debout in any of those combinations and you'll find them plenty. I recommended the Juste Debout 2009 clips (since that was their debut). I guess you could say that Rushball gave me inspiration in to having Sakura and Naoko be urban/hip-hop dancers in this fanfic. :)

Anyway, enough of that. I guess that's all I wanted to say for now. Time to reply to the reviews. :)

Aizawa LSV – I don't know which one you are frustrated with exactly. Are you frustrated with the fact that Sakura is too dense to realize that Syaoran and Xiaolang are the same person? Frustrated with the plot of the chapter? Or are you frustrated with me as a writer? For one thing, I'm not just making Sakura naïve, she was written by CLAMP as being naïve in the first place and I'm simply keeping that naivete along with her. Sakura isn't the Sakura that we all know and love if she's a know-it-all if you know what I mean. Sorry if I can't please you but I don't write my fics simply just to cure the readers' frustrations with reading fics, but I write my fics to make myself and the readers happy and entertained altogether, and if I failed to do that in your tastes, then I guess that's just you. If I have the two figure things out immediately then this story will simply just get in to an abrupt end and I as a writer will not be having fun with it. Not only that it would frustrate me as a writer, but it will also frustrate the other readers who are enjoying the pace of the story (which based on the reviews I've received, these types of readers are the majority). I feel rather offended that you're using my fanfic as your way of venting off steam instead of you reading it for sheer entertainment and to at least uplift your spirits when you're not in your best moods. Am I really that horrible as a writer? Send me a PM and we'll talk from there if you want. And I'll have to say this: if you're looking for a quick SxS fanfic then "Stuffed Animal" isn't the fic you're looking for. When I write chapter-based fanfics, they're usually long.

Deadflo – Thanks for reading! Glad to have you here! :)

DualStarduster – If you read my profile, I did mention that I don't dig tragedies/angst/hurt-type of fanfics. It's just not me, so to speak. Real life isn't always about happy endings but despite of my troubles in my real life, I still remain a happy and content person. If people have a problem with that then that's who they are, not me. You know what I mean? LOL XD

pricious7divil – Irrashaimase! "Stuffed Animal" e youkoso! I read a lot of books and watch a lot of old movies and other shows regardless if they got cheesy plots and all that. Either that or just the fact that I love music and RomComs. :)

stayAlive06 – As the saying goes, it's better late than never. :) Welcome to "Stuffed Animal." I'm doing as best as I can to update faster but it's a little bit impossible if you're writing long-chapter fics, you know? ^^;

Cat Dawntreader – Yay you remembered "Study Buddy"! I thought about re-writing that one-shot but then that would only "remove" my memories of being a noob writer then, so I decided to keep it. I might do a rewrite on "Fall Play" but I dunno if that idea will actually go through or not LOL. My younger sister, although she's not much of a hardcore fan compared to me, actually bought and owns the entire CCS manga herself because she was a fan of the chopped-up Cardcaptors dub that was used to be aired on TV (this was several years ago when they were still sold in individual volumes, way before the omnibus versions came out). She's really bad at reading subtitles so she rather watch anime in dubs and then just read the manga if she's seriously interested in the whole entire story. I don't blame her.

Smazzle – Welcome aboard fellow reader! :)

.3363 – Thanks for reading and following! :)

Kimiko17 – I like them long because it gives me plenty of room to write more in-depth plot and I'm not just referring to the dialogue alone. Plenty of "long" fanfics I've read on FFnet have really short chapters (thus they have so many chapters). For me personally, I prefer quality over quantity- longer chapters when there aren't that very many chapters altogether in one fic over so many chapters when they're only just a few paragraphs long. Thank you for reading! :)

chocomonkey1018 – It was a gamble for me to stick to Syaoran on narration mode and just leave Xiaolang on dialogues. I've had these problems before on past fanfics and just to avoid confusion with the readers, I went for the name that everyone's familiar with on narration. It's not that hard if this was an original fiction, but it's difficult with fanficion because the readers already know who the characters are in the first place. Hope that makes sense. ^^;