Hey. Not much to say. I feel so empty now and sad. I lost someone I loved very much. And I was not able to see her in time before she left us forever…:(
currently unbetaed (lol i just couldn't wait)
Disclaimer: I do not own CCD. Clamp owns it.
Chapter 12" Hello, may I speak to Ms. Kinomoto please?"
" This is her."
" Sakura! It's Maiko."
" Hey! Maiko, how are you?"
" I'm fine. I just came back from school. You're working aren't you? Anyway, there isn't much credit in my phone left. Just called to tell you that mom told me that a man called you this morning."
" Oh. Well okay, I would have no idea."
" Yeah, he didn't leave his number. Ok well I have to now, Genma asked me out! We're meeting like right now. Ok buhbye." There was buzz on the other side of the line before the line was clicked, indicating that Maiko had hung up.
Sakura sighed; she was packing all her things at a steady pace, when the office phone rang. Maiko had called because for the first time in many months, someone had called asking for Sakura. She shrugged her shoulders in careless way, she has no idea and she doesn't' really care. Probably her banker, she had a tinge of hope for that he will unravel some of her deceased parent's lost fortune. Like that'll ever happen.
She took a deep breath and studied her surroundings again. She was so happy she couldn't help but repeat it over and over again in her head. She was finally, finally going to start a graphic novel on her own. She was filled with joy that her petite slender body was going to hit the ceiling.
The phone rang again, Sakura let out a whiny sigh and picked the receiver.
" Yes, Mr. Li's office." She spoke in her business tone.
" Yes, Mr. Li's office." A squeaky catlike voice mocked her voice in a way Sakura could tell it was not mean to be nice at all. " Kinomoto, just hurry up. The world does not revolve around you you know."
"Thank you, Ms. Shin." Sakura gritted through her teeth, Azusa won't ever stop being a bitch to her. And Sakura sighed with grim bitterness, she won't stop now because she recently got promoted, in fact it was actually yesterday.
Sakura quickly picked up her box and went straight to the elevator.
She walked quickly with her box and folders to the meeting room.
" You're late." Syaoran's voice echoed through the spacious meeting room as soon as she opened the door. Azusa smirked devilishly as Sakura looked embarrassed, Azusa shifted her position on her seat next to Syaoran( who doesn't seem to care). Sakura placed her box on the meeting table with a loud thud before clumsily finding a seat opposite both of them.
" Okay so, now that Saku…- Kinomoto here has signed to our publishing unit of graphic novels. You will be given a room with three or four assistants from now to work on your first volume of your graphic novel, and we'll see for a few volumes if yours is worth continuing." Syaoran explained.
" But I'm being too ahead. Kinomoto, do you have plans or story line of some sort about your graphic novel that you can show me and Shin?" Syaoran asked.
Sakura shifted nervously. " Yeah, I do actually. Um, I haven't actually made any changes to it since I showed it to Mr. Kagiyama."
Sakura took out the paper she typed at the internet café of the whole plan of her graphic novel, she even already made up a few characters. This she showed to Syaoran and Azusa. They both took the sheets of paper and schemed through it. Syaoran raised his eyebrows.
" Care to explain?" Syaoran asked.
" Oh, well it's about this girl who is poor and insecure and lives on top of the bathhouse. I haven't decided her name. But yeah, she is someone who's very unpopular and invisible at her school. She is truly in love with this guy who doesn't even notice her, but then you know he does, eventually." Sakura explained.
" That's way too vague! Explain with more detail please." Syaoran shook his head.
" Um, okay. So yeah, well how they meet, is like when she signs up for an after school job and volunteer thingy to help old people around the city. Turns out that the guy she signs up for the same thing. They are also assigned to be partners. And so, they go around Tokyo and even beyond, helping old men and women, each person they are sent to are strange, so they will have many adventures and learn many things, and also bond. To make it complicated, the guy she likes, he likes this other girl, who is really beautiful and kind." Sakura explained with more effort.
" That's quite interesting. Very basic, but it's your first. And, I like that old people being strange each time… What kind of genre would it go to?" Syaoran and Azusa started taking notes.
" Um, I don't know. Romance definitely, and I guess fantasy. The old people will have some creatures or powers that make them weird." Sakura guessed.
" Right. And have you assembled some of your characters?" Azusa finally spoke.
" Yeah. Here." Sakura handed them the paper.
Azusa shook her head.
" All your characters, they all have the same description of personality and they're all nice. That is not good. You must express different traits and personality. One has to be mean and evil, one has to rebel, one has to be dominant, one has to be quiet and sensitive or crybaby. You can't make all the people in the girl's grade all nice and smart and pretty." Azusa complained, but for once Sakura actually is going to take her advice, Azusa was right.
" And the old people. They're not all going to be nice baking cookies type. Some should be stubborn or smokes all the time. Few should be flirtatious and pervert. Or, they're just senile." Syaoran added thoughtfully.
" I understand." Sakura said firmly. " I'll fix it."
" Obviously." Azusa said.
" By the way Kinomoto, your editors are me and Ms. Meiling. However she is in Hong Kong, trying to open a branch of Li Corp., so for a few weeks Azusa will be standing in for her." Syaoran stated.
Joy, Sakura thought depressingly. I hope that woman comes back here pronto.
" Improve everything by tomorrow. We'll have another meeting by then to make schedules. For now, go to room 32, that will be your place and your assistants to work from now on. Start improving on your characters appearances and description of personality. They are way too basic." Syaoran concluded.
Sakura bowed them thank you and headed straight to the room.
When she opened the familiar black door, that had once lead her to the mean old witch Azusa, in another one, she came face to face with Naoko, Rika and Chiharu, and Tomoyo.
" Guys??" Sakura choked in happiness. " You're my assistants?"
" No. We're just strippers you hired." Chiharu rolled her eyes.
" Hehe. I'm really happy you guys are. And no I'm not gonna be mean like Azusa."
" Oh please." Naoko said.
" I heard that." Azusa snapped. Sakura eerily turned her head around, she didn't notice the woman herself had entered to check on them.
" And I don't give a damn. Oh, and Kinomoto lay your paws of my man." Azusa snarled before closing the door shut behind her.
" Why is she so obsessed with Syaoran?" Sakura rolled her eyes.
" Uh. I don't think it's Syaoran." Tomoyo said.
" Um, okay. Anyway. I think we have to start working now." Sakura clapped her hands together.
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Sakura felt pressured, obviously, by the start of lunch. She just couldn't actually do it properly. She thought it was easy. But the characters, she'd already made their faces fit to their personality. If she changed the whole personality, then she'd have to change the faces. It was so damned confusing.
As she was walking with her friends to the lunchroom, a hand held itself firmly on her shoulder making her turn around. Everyone else looked as well.
" Ken?" Sakura said nervously.
" Hey, Sakura, can I talk to you for a sec?" Ken asked casually.
" Um. Okay. I'll see you guys later." Sakura said, trying to gather all her thoughts. Eek, she is so excited! Wonder what he's going to talk about? Congratulating her into finally starting a graphic novel on her own perhaps? Or maybe Azusa broke her leg and now Ken is her temporary editor, oh yes please!
Ken walked forwards to the end of the hall with Sakura following gingerly behind him. He stopped at the corner and put his hands in his pockets. Sakura stopped in front of him and leaned behind the wall against her.
" So…" Sakura said.
" Hey, congrats, I heard the news. Glad you could join." Ken congratulated her warmly.
" Really? Thanks! I'm really glad as well." Sakura gushed.
" Yeah. Well that's not what I'm here to talk about?" Ken told Sakura.
" Um, okay. So shoot." Sakura said.
" I was wondering, if you and me, we could go out?" Ken said.
" What? Really? I mean I'd love to." Sakura said calmly. But inside, her heart was racing in excitement and pumping in endorphins, she was sooooooooo into Ken.
" Cool. So I'll talk to you later. I gotta go now. Book conference. We'll pick a date then!" Ken waved her goodbye and left Sakura there to squeal in delight by herself.
She was hyperventilating. Sakura wanted to jump up to the ceiling. As if this week could not get any better! Ken asked her out! K-e-n asked HER out! KEN ASKED HER OUT!!! This is like a dream come true. And after that, Sakura's legs wobbled out of synch to the lunchroom full of happiness.
Sakura saw the familiar shades of brown hair seated at the lunchtable. They raised their eyebrows when they saw their friend totally spazzing out in the lunchroom. It was indeed embarrassing, but they love her all the same.
" Oh my GOD! KEN asked me out." Sakura whispered hotly to her friends at the table.
" Are you serious? That's so freaking awesome!" Tomoyo gushed with Sakura.
" So, are you gonna say yes, please say yes he's a fucking hottay!" Chiharu said.
" M-hmm, we all agree." Naoko clasped her hands together and stared dreamily.
" Yeah." Rika blushed quietly to herself.
" I did." Sakura squealed again as excitement took over her whole body.
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Syaoran heard a random shriek just outside his door. He raised his eyebrows and continued typing the damned stupid pointless report, but it'll earn him a lot of cash if he would do it, and so he kept on doing it. But, it was going fine till he heard an all too familiar shriek outside his door followed by squealing. Only one girl could do that, it was Sakura, obviously.
He wondered what would be troubling or delighting her. Her shrieks were hard to differentiate from happiness and sadness. He hoped it'd be happy. The poor girl, how could the brother just ignore her for months and months. He'd never know.
Keiko, his newly hired secretary came in through the door carrying his favourite coffee.
" Keiko, do you happen to know why that loud shriek was outside my door, it's disturbing me?" Syaoran asked.
" Yeah I do, sir." Keiko said seriously, before bursting into fits of giggles.
Syaoran raised one of his manly chocolaty eyebrows again at the giggling woman.
" May I ask what's amusing you?" He said seriously.
" Kinomoto, sir." Keiko said between laughter. " She, got asked out, hehe, and yeah she totally hyperventilated outside when she told, hehe, Eriol."
" I see." Syaoran said with indifference. " Wonder who it was?"
" Hehe, it was Ken. Lucky doll." Keiko commented.
" That's all. Thank you for the tea, now leave me alone." Syaoran mumbled before turning back to type on his computer screen.
Keiko sensed the anger in his voice and immediately straightened up and coughed.
" If you need anything, I'll be here sir." She said.
Keiko immediately exited the man's office.
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Sakura arrived home around seven o'clock in the night, quite exhausted; she collapsed on her mattress and just cuddled Kero in her arms for a while. It had been a tiring day, she and the rest of the team really did try to make the quality better, but it was hella harder than she thought, it was way more than drawing. Sakura was sure she was probably going to suffer when it came to the plot. But she didn't want to think about that.
After laying down the mattress for a while, the auburn-haired girl decide to take a shower and just settle in for the night, it was definitely going to take on her health the next few days. When she had finished showering, she drank water before settling herself onto the comfortable mattress with Kero right beside her, mewing from time to time.
Sakura stared at the ceiling above her, deep in thought. She couldn't believe it still, Ken asked her out! It wasn't as if Sakura wasn't glad, no that was wrong to say, Sakura was ecstatic, it was just, unexpected. She'd never been a guy throughout her life, to her they are completely aliens from another planet.
It was the same even when she was in middle and high school. She was a shy quiet one that clings on only to her own gender and talk to her own gender. She would only sit and watch the bold and pretty ones ask other boys out and just harmlessly flirt with them. But Sakura? No way. She'd never flirted in high school. She doesn't know about now, she was sure most of the time talking with Ken, she was herself and she didn't act all flirty and high, except for today of course, when he asked her out, she had a good reason to be all giggly and hyper.
Sakura cringed and buried herself in her pillows. Kero mewled once more when she accidentally pinched his backbone painfully. Sakura realized and released him instantly, and stroked him apologetically. She pouted by herself in embarrassment.
Oh, God, I sound like a virgin. Sakura thought. What the fuck am I thinking? I am a virgin, how could I forget? What I'm trying to say is, I'm acting really really immature about this. It was just a normal date. A normal date where she and Ken would eat together hang out and get to know each other. A few kisses, and er sex.
Sakura immediately shook her head in shame for herself.
I am such a sick sick person! I haven't even gone on one date and here am I thinking about sex and getting married. I'm being way to imaginative here. Let's stop and just go to sleep.
And sleep she did.
And dream she did, but to her surprise, the man inside her dreams, waiting for her down the road, his eyes glazing harshly although it was hiding deep caring and love for her. He was not the one who asked her out.
TBC
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A/N: Just so you know, the whole mangaka thing, I'm not even sure it's real, the whole process, entirely it's all my imagination and my bestest to trying to make it reality. So stick with me…read and review…
Nops
