Chapter 10-

"Hello everyone. My name is Kasutarou Dai…" Syaoran said in front of around 30 students staring at him like he was a part of a circus. Or at least, that's how Syaoran felt as he grimly introduced himself in front of the students. His voice sounded edgier than he wanted it to sound, but there was no way to control his tone when he was feeling as uncertain as he did. As of last night, he was excited about going to school and thrilled at the prospect of getting closer to Sakura. But he could already see where he was going to sit, and the option before him was not a good one.

"P-p-please welcome Kasutarou Dai to our class…" the teacher said, a hint of fear in her voice. "As for where you s-s-sit... there is an open s-spot next to Saitou Machi. Machi, please raise your hand."

'Whhhhhy?! Out of all people, why do I have to sit next to her?!' Syaoran thought, the anger in his mind showing with a scowl on his face. Fortunately, he was in the same class as Sakura, but he was in a seat that was almost as far away from her as possible.

For a brief moment, Syaoran made eye contact with Sakura. A sense of deja-vu overcame him as he remembered the day that he transferred into Tomoeda elementary and had faced a similar situation. A shiver ran down his spine as he looked into Sakura's eyes and saw the face of the elementary school girl he once knew. He felt a connection with Sakura, a connection that was strong enough to overcome appearances. Syaoran just hoped that it wasn't all in his imagination and wished desperately that at this moment he could read Sakura's mind.

Shizu's words concerning Sakura suddenly came to his mind, making him feel more angry than anything else. Looking away, Syaoran headed towards his new seat. Machi smiled at him as he walked towards her and leaned over her seat with her elbows tucked under her in order to be as provocative as she could be.

'Doesn't work when I know you're an evil bitch,' Syaoran wanted to say. 'And why would I want to see your boobs when there have probably been a dozen other boys who you have gone through.'

Throwing his bag on his desk, Syaoran plopped into his chair, feeling a bit uneasy knowing that everyone's eyes were on him.

"Machi, will you please show Dai around campus and help him get situated into high school life here?" the teacher asked timidly. "And Dai? I know that the office probably mentioned this to you, but jewelry is against school regulations. I do not mean to complain about your appearance on the first day of class and cause you any embarrassment, but could you please change your hairstyle and… m-makeup?"

"No kidding. You look like such an idiot that it makes me sick looking at you," a guy muttered at the opposite end of the classroom.

Syaoran glared at the boy, a look so fierce that would have scared most people into silence. The boy that made fun of him was an exception however and just smiled a smile that irritated Syaoran even more.

"The necklace doesn't come off," Syaoran said, sounding a lot angrier and rude than he meant to.

The teacher was immediately silent and didn't pursue the issue any farther. He could hear whispers around him about what a horrible attitude he had, but could only think about the fact that Machi was batting her eyes at him. Syaoran desperately wanted to leave, but knew that for the sake of getting to know Sakura and gaining an ally in Tomoyo he had to stay and suffer through it.

The bell signifying lunch break came in what seemed like no time, although the whole time Syaoran had been staring off into space.

"Time to show you around," Machi said coyly. "There are plenty of quiet places we could go together…"

'Her clinginess is worse than Meiling's,' Syaoran couldn't help but think. So he decided to treat her the way he would treat his cousin in this situation. He stood up and walked towards the door, feeling that the best thing would be to find a nice place to sit for the rest of the break time.

On his way out of the classroom, he noticed Shizu, who was also coming out of a different class. Shizu, surprised to see Syaoran, ran up to him and patted him on the back.

"I'm surprised you're here. What do you say to leaving though? I could barely stay awake in the last class…"

A few people behind came out of the room behind Shizu, including Tomoyo, who apparently was not in the same class as Sakura this year. Like Shizu, Tomoyo also seemed surprised to see Syaoran.

"So you came. And you're in the same class as Sakura. Don't think that just because of that, you'll have your way with her. Even if we aren't in the same class, I'll protect her all the same…"

Although it was only a few days ago since Syaoran had first talked with Tomoyo, he felt like he was talking to a different girl than he had talked to from the first time. Not only was she a different girl from a few days ago, but over the years Tomoyo had grown into a beautiful young girl who was starting to show a stronger spirit than he had ever seen from her.

"I would have it no other way," Syaoran said simply.

"I actually have a request of you," Tomoyo said, smiling.

Her change in attitude was so quick, that Syaoran felt that he needed to run away, although he couldn't reasonably tell why.

Without waiting for Syaoran to respond, Tomoyo continued, "Please come to the drama room after class today. It's near the music room, which I'm sure you passed coming to class today. I expect to see you there."

Shizu, who had been just standing and watching, cried out, "Hey. He's not your bitch you know. As a matter of fact, today we were planning…"

Cutting off Shizu, Syaoran replied, "I'll be there."

As Tomoyo left, a satisfied smile on her lips. Syaoran couldn't explain his feelings, but he almost felt like he had been sucked into something terrible that he wouldn't be able to get out of.

"Hey! Snap out of it!" Shizu yelled, cutting off Syaoran's thoughts. "I thought you were into the Kinomoto girl. What's with taking Daidouji's orders? Thinking of playing both of them now? Cause I gotta tell you, I don't think that Daidouji is much better of a choice… she's pretty… but is she really your type?"

Syaoran looked at Shizu and sighed. "I don't think you'll ever understand the way I think…"

"Like hell I don't! Whatever! Take the purple haired commander! Heck, and her best friend. At least it means you'll leave my girlfriend alone!"

Shaking his head, Syaoran began to walk away.

"You have very strange taste in girls, Dai. That Daidouji, she's as weird as you get! You haven't spoken to her enough to know her true intentions! You're gonna wish you didn't agree go to the drama club after class. Who knows what sick fantasies she has going on in that twisted head of hers…"

Although Dai could vaguely hear the words of caution coming from Shizu, the words weren't completely making sense to him. 'Sick? Twisted? That's not the Tomoyo I remember…'

A/N- Thanks for all the feedback that I got! I was really surprised and happy to hear everyone's thoughts. I know that there are a lot of holes in the story and I'm trying to fix a lot of them- but I think that there are a lot of things that will be hard to fix until I finish and go back and fix the beginning. One problem is that because I have everything from Syaoran's POV, it's hard to really understand Sakura's thoughts and actions—although that's something I'm working to fix ). Also, when I started this fanfic I hadn't seen the 2nd CCS movie (it wasn't yet released in America OO) so I was writing from the perspective that it hadn't happened yet. I would like to continue this story as if Sakura had not confessed her feelings and that the second movie had not happened- sorry if it messes up anyone's image of the story!