Disclaimer: CLAMP owns Card captor Sakura.

Chapter Twelve:

"Are you nervous, Mei Lin?" Sakura asked. They were at the oval, stretching. The marathon was going to start in ten minutes time and they were already wearing their shorts and running sneakers. Sakura was on her butt, her legs spread out as she reached her toes.

"Not really… I ran in Hong Kong too." Mei Lin said as she stretched her legs.

"Wow! Now I'm scared." Sakura chuckled.

Mei Lin laughed at her too."I'm more scared of you. Syaoran beat me every time."

Sakura frowned over this. "Oh… You went to high school together?"

Mei Lin nodded. "Yeah… But he had to drop out because Aunt Yelan needed help in the company. SO we transferred here."

Sakura didn't say anything. It felt weird knowing things about Syaoran.

"He's in martial arts like me." Mei Lin added.

Sakura nodded. "Okay."

Suddenly, there was a loud whistle. All the other runners including those from the other schools stopped exercising and looked at where the whistle came from. Mr. Kurogane, who was supervising that event was at the edge of the oval, holding a clipboard.

"All runners, an announcement!" He called out.

Mei Lin helped Sakura up and they approached Mr. Kurogane.

"Okay, the marathon starts in five minutes, please be in your positions by then." Mr. Kurogane said. "First one to the finish line will win and so on."

Sakura looked at the other runners. Mei Lin and herself were the only one representing their school. She could see familiar faces, other students she competed with before this year. She waved at Fye who was a senior just like her but from a private all-boys school. She sees him every year.

When Mr. Kurogane dismissed them, Fye approached her. His blond hair shone like gold in the light and his smile was cheerful.

"Sakura-chan, maybe I'll finally beat you this time?" he said, shaking Sakura's hand.

"I don't know. Do you feel lucky, Fye-san?" Sakura asked him.

Fye laughed. "Maybe?"

Sakura gestured at Mei Lin. "This is my friend, Mei Lin Li. She's new this year."

Fye shook Mei Lin's hand. "I noticed."

"It's very nice meeting you, Fye-san." Mei Lin said.

"You know… we could help each other out. You hold Sakura then I'll punch her. With that, we may have a chance to win this thing." Fye winked at Sakura.

Sakura just laughed. Mei Lin looked at her in awe. "Wow… Is she really that good?"

Fye shook his blond head. "You obviously have no idea."

Mei Lin sneered at Sakura. "Sakura! You didn't tell me you were good!"

Sakura raised her eyebrows. "You didn't ask, Mei Lin! And besides, who am I to brag about running?"

Fye crossed his arms, "Only the champion for five straight years."

Sakura pouted at him.

"Well, well, well. This might be hard. And I finally thought that I'll be able to win first place without Syaoran around." Mei Lin teased Sakura.

Fye looked at her curiously, "Syaoran?"

Mei Lin nodded, "Only he beat me like, forever. Plus he's my boyfriend."

Fye raised an eyebrow. "Boyfriend, eh?"

Mei Lin nodded.

"That's nice to hear." Fye said.

Sakura avoided Fye's eye. She knew the next question.

"What about you, Sakura? Any boyfriend?" Fye asked her grinning.

Sakura groaned. "Last time I checked, none."

Mei Lin laughed. Before she could say anything about Ezra, she looked over Fye's shoulder and saw Tomoyo and Eriol approaching.

"Tomoyo! Eriol! Over here!" She waved at them.

"Fye-san, it's really nice to see you again." Tomoyo said as they came nearer.

"You know I wouldn't pass up on an opportunity to beat Sakura." Fye said, laughing.

Tomoyo laughed. "By the way, this is Eriol. Eriol, meet Fye."

"Hey, man." Eriol said as he shook Fye's hand. "Are you a senior too?"

Fye nodded, "Yep. My last chance to finally beat Sakura."

Eriol winked at Sakura, "Looks like you've got competition, Sakura."

Sakura stuck out her tongue, "What competition?"

Fye snorted. "So I wasn't competition for you before?"

Sakura shook her head with a grin on her face, "Nope."

Fye san pretended to look hurt. "You'd better get ready for losing this time, Kinomoto."

Sakura laughed at the renewed use of her surname. "Is that a threat?"

Fye nodded. "I guess, I'd better threaten Mei Lin too."

Mei Lin laughed. "There's no need, I'm already scared."

Tomoyo took out her camera and gathered them for a picture. She called out to Mr. Kurogane who approached her with a knowing smile.

"Hiring me as a photographer, Ms. Daiduji?" he said with a smile as she handed the camera to him.

Tomoyo grinned as went to Eriol's side. "Take a good one, Mr. Kurogane, or else you're fired!"

Mr. Kurogane grinned at this. "I'm sure. One… Two… Three!"

When they finished taking the picture, Fye shook Mei Lin and Eriol's hands again and wet back to his team.

"Well… Fye-san looks a lot better than last time, Sakura." Tomoyo remarked.

"But Mei Lin and I trained better." Sakura said as she retied her shoelace. "Did you find Ezra?" Sakura asked them as she retied her other shoe. Eriol and Tomoyo both shook their heads.

"Chiharu said something about someone looking for him." Tomoyo said.

Sakura just nodded. She looked in front of her and time seemed to have stopped. Syaoran was walking towards them, looking very much real.

AAA

"SYAORAN!!" Mei Lin shouted as she ran into him and flung her arms around him. Syaoran gave her a kiss on the forehead and smiled at her.

"Sorry I'm late, Mei Mei." He said softly. He could see the others approaching him. "What's with that face, Eriol? Didn't think I'd turn up do you?" He sneered at Eriol.

Eriol shrugged. "You got lost again?"

Syaoran shrugged.

"How can you get lost, Syaoran?" Tomoyo asked him. He was the only one who sensed the sarcasm in her voice. "The school ain't a mall."

"Still big though. And there are lots of people around." Syaoran said, looking straight into her eyes.

Eriol laughed. "Idiot."

Mei Lin whacked him on top of the head. "He's not an idiot!"

Syaoran laughed at his. "I am, Mei Lin."

Mei Lin shook her head. "No you're not."

"SEE!! Even he himself admits it!" Eriol said forcefully as he rubbed the top of his head.

Mei Lin crossed her arms and looked at him threateningly. Eriol hid behind Tomoyo who was laughing hard.

As if reminding them of the time, a whistle sounded again and they heard Mr. Kurogane's voice through a megaphone. "All non-runners please clear the oval immediately! All runners, please go to your positions!"

Tomoyo hugged Sakura tightly, "Good luck, Sakura."

Eriol gave her a brotherly squeeze after he hugged Mei Lin.

Mei Lin was clinging onto Syaoran again. "Good luck, Mei Mei. Go beat them all." He said with a smile.

Mei Lin nodded as she let go of him. She took Sakura's hand and was ready to go to positions when she turned back and called out to Syaoran.

"Syao! Aren't you going to wish Sakura good luck too?" she asked.

Syaoran looked at Sakura who was standing beside Mei Lin, looking extremely cute and pretty in her shorts and tight shirt. He gulped and decided to put his plan into action.

"Why should I?" he said coldly. He hated himself for the shock his words brought Sakura.

"Because she's competing too!" Mei Lin said, gesturing to the obvious.

"Oh. Okay. Good luck then." Syaoran said icily and he turned around to walk away, followed by a bewildered Eriol and a suspicious Tomoyo.

Mei Lin shook her head and looked at Sakura apologetically, "I'm sorry, Sakura. He isn't usually like this."

Sakura shook her head and smiled, "It's nothing really."

They approached the starting line and got into position, Mei Lin was on Sakura's left and Fye was on the right.

"Good luck." Fye called out to them. Mei Lin nodded as she pulled her hair into a tighter ponytail.

Sakura just nodded. She was trying to compose herself.

Where was the kind Syaoran who always greeted her last time?

Why was he so cold?

Did she do something?

Was it because of the party??

All kinds of questions barraged her mind and Sakura pushed them all away. She focused on the toe of her right sneaker.

Where was Ezra when she needed him to distract her from everything else?

She rubbed her palms together and got ready for the gunshot. They still had about a minute left before the marathon starts.

"Look, Sakura! Eriol and Tomoyo are waving!" Mei Lin said.

Sakura looked at the direction where she was pointing. Eriol and Tomoyo were shouting something. She couldn't understand. She could see Syaoran, who was the only one sitting down. He was beside Eriol.

Amber met emerald eyes. Sakura shuddered. Hatred seemed to pour out from Syaoran from all directions. And she knew it was directed at her.

But why?

AAA

The gunshot fired.

Mei Lin sprinted swiftly, slightly behind Sakura. This was just another meet.

She was running, her hair flying behind her. Her feet weighed like nothing. It seems as if everything was on mute. She was running and Syaoran was there to see her. Nothing else mattered.

Several minutes passed by and Mei Lin still felt light, not at all tired or exhausted. Syaoran had this effect on her.

The fourth lap came and the finish line was near. She was right behind Sakura, almost parallel with Fye.

She looked at the audience roaring from the stands. She saw Eriol and Tomoyo cheering. Syaoran was smiling at her.

Smiling at her…

Wait…

He wasn't looking at her.

His gaze was a little bit farther to the left.

Mei Lin looked at the person in front of her with chocolate brown hair and emerald eyes.

No…

That can't be…

Syaoran IS looking at her.

That was when Mei Lin got distracted.

She yelped as she fell down, hot asphalt grazed her knees and her ankle hurt. As if someone had turned on the full volume, she suddenly heard the loud groans from the stands. She looked frantically around her, seeing glimpses of Eriol and Tomoyo with shocked faces. Syaoran still wasn't looking at her. Mei Lin cursed. If she wins, Syaoran will look at her. She looked behind her. Other runners were still far behind! She can still make third place! Mei Lin groaned as she tried to pull herself up.

But her ankle wouldn't straighten itself out.

She heard faint calls of her name from amidst the cheering.

"Mei Lin, are you alright??" Sakura dropped down beside her. She seemed out of breath. Mei Lin looked over her shoulder and see Fye running towards her too.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?? RUN!!" Mei Lin said.

Sakura shook her head as she pulled one of Mei Lin's arms over her head and helped her up. Fye took the other arm.

"We are not going to leave you here!" Fye said as they helped the limping Mei Lin out of the tracks before she was run over by the other runners.

"But the competition? The finish line??" Mei Lin stuttered.

Sakura shook her head again. "Shut it, Mei Lin."

Mei Lin looked at Fye. "We're not leaving you, okay."

Paramedics received Mei Lin from the stand.

She was already crying. Both from the pain and the disappointment in herself.

Why wasn't Syaoran looking at her anyway?

Mei Lin looked upwards, seeing Sakura's pair of emerald eyes looking worried as one of the paramedics took off Mei Lin's sneakers and prodded her foot. Another paramedic cleaned the gashes on her knees and shins. Mei Lin's elbows were also being dabbed with iodine.

She could see Tomoyo and Eriol running towards them, closely followed by Syaoran.

She looked at Syaoran.

She looked at Sakura

It can't be…

A paramedic reached her ankle and she yelped out in pain.

Hot tears fell freely down her face.

Why was she crying?

Oh yes…

The pain…

Was it the pain?

Or the shock of seeing Syaoran smiling at Sakura when he was supposed to be cheering her on?

Mei Lin closed her eyes.

She didn't want to see anyone.

She cried some more.

Someone told her that she'll be taken to the hospital because her ankle seems to be broken.

She didn't say anything.

Tears.

She felt someone holding her hand, coaxing her to open her eyes but she squeezed them shut.

"Mei Mei…" she heard Syaoran's voice beside her ear.

She cried some more.

Hoping the pain will go down with the tears.

"Mei Mei…" Syaoran said again.

Mei Lin shook her head as she bit her bottom lip, tears still falling freely.

Syaoran was smiling at Sakura… Cheering her on…

Why?

She heard the siren of an ambulance and she felt herself being lifted onto a gurney. Someone hit her foot and she cried out in pain.

She could hear Syaoran cursing and Eriol shouting. "YOU IDIOT! DON'T HIT HER FOOT!"

But she still closed her eyes.

She wanted very much to stop thinking right now.

Even for just a little while.

She felt herself being raised inside the ambulance as someone clambered in and held on to her hand.

"We'll follow in the car." Eriol's voice seemed distances away.

Mei Lin was still crying.

"I'm here, Mei Lin…"

She cried harder if possible. She bit her lips, tasting blood. She heard him utter those words before… but not at her.

Her mind was a mess. She didn't know what to think.

She wanted to disappear. Back to Hong Kong where she doesn't have to get worried about losing Syaoran.

Where there is no Sakura to distract him.

Where there is no Sakura to compete with.

What are emerald eyes over her plain ones?

How can she get Syaoran back?

Then, as if by a miracle… She felt herself let go and she thought no more.

BBB Hey hey. I dreamt about this chapter.  haha. Hope you like it. Please review!! 