Skin-deep
©2008 By Julia and Tania
CardCaptor Sakura Fanfic
Chapter 14
07 April 2008
On the previous chapter: Sakura and Syaoran finally arrive at Syaoran's apartment. Both dry up and Syaoran offers Sakura a warm noodle soup while she waits for him to take her home. During this time, Sakura receives Kansuke's messages and they postpone their date to Saturday. During this date, it is an exciting one for Sakura as she gets close to Kansuke, but it is also a surprising one as she receives a kiss from Syaoran.
Location: Li residence
Time frame: Evening
Point of View: Syaoran
She likes him.
With only the streetlights lighting the streets outside my window providing the slightest illumination, I sit in the darkness of my apartment; and with the spoon of cold noodles meeting my lips, I realise that my thoughts have again wandered off to thoughts of the particular girl I want, but can't grasp onto. I've done many things, and shown her many things, but her heart is stubbornly with the guy that I have lost to.
What else can I do to change it?
Location: School
Time frame: Lunchtime
Point of View: Sakura
My thoughts had been filled with so much of Li since that evening he kissed me that I even dreamt about him. I don't understand dreams much and what they mean, but I believe that when someone enters your dreams for the very first time, something deep down has changed; and this has only given me more unsettled thoughts and feelings that I wish I didn't have.
It was not a smart thing to do, I now realise. Why I had kissed Li back like I did, I don't know. After coming home that Saturday night from a late night movie with Kansuke (it was an action movie which Kansuke chose—a movie which got my mind off the events of the night for that length of time), that scene replayed in my head so many times that I had to slap myself that many times to try get rid of it, but I couldn't; and I couldn't stop thinking about how stupid I had been to have done what I did.
I avoided him; it was the only thing I could do. I couldn't handle the questions I was sure he'd ask me: "Why did you kiss me?" "Did you not feel anything when you kissed me?" So, I avoided talking about it: dashed out of the room, changed topics, or pretended I didn't hear him. I'd done well thus far, but I know eventually I'd have to face him and talk to him about all this, especially now that Kansuke and I have become an item and he may still believe otherwise.
This Thursday lunchtime, I made my way to the fields to a quiet spot behind the music building where it was far from the rest of the school and it provided a decent amount of sun on a cold autumn day.
I was spending it by myself today. Everyone had somewhere to be: Tomoyo and Eriol had a meeting with the school administration to discuss school matters; Chiharu and Yamazaki were spending some time alone; and my other friends had club gatherings. Kansuke, on the other hand, was away from school. I don't know the reason though. I'd called and messaged him many times throughout the morning, afraid that he had come down with something, but still nothing.
There was suddenly a call from me, from somewhere. "Hey," this person said, but even as I searched long and wide, in front and behind, round and then back round the other way, I couldn't find this person who had called me. "Look up," he then told me.
I did as he told me. I searched up the tall birch tree right of me and there, high on one of the branches, I saw Li sitting relaxed on it. It was already spectacular the height he sat at, but was even more when, in one motion, he came descending towards the ground. My jaw was dropped low and my mouth was wide in utter amazement. I couldn't imagine myself doing that without my joints shattering to pieces.
I realised I had caused myself problems by standing here and watching him descend: I will now have to talk to him about that night. And as he approached me, I grew more apprehensive. He then came to stand before me; my heart bet fast as images of that kiss came flooding back, and thoughts of what I did embarrassed me.
"Having lunch out here, too?" he asked.
"Yeah. You spend a lot of your lunchtimes up there?" I asked, returning him a similar question.
"Uh. It's very peaceful up there. It gets quite lonely, though." A corner of his lips lifted up to a grin. "Maybe you could join me up there some time and provide me some company, Kinomoto."
I had no words to that. I didn't realise he could be so forward and it was uncomfortable. I wanted to be anywhere but here with Li. I wished for an interruption—a friend who could suddenly come up to me and say they need me to go somewhere with them so that I could get out of here, but there was no such circumstance. Instead, I was heading to my lunch spot with Li. He asked if he could join me and I didn't stop him. I guess, as uncomfortable and unwanted as this was I also thought that this was an opportunity as good as any to finally put all this mess to rest.
I sat myself down at the bench by the back wall of the music block. Li followed and took a seat some ways away from me to provide me the much needed space between us. For quite some time we ate our lunches in silence. I wasn't as hungry as I remembered myself to be as I took small bites of my sushi roll.
"Do you have any assignments coming up?" Li asked after a while.
"A couple."
"For modelling?"
"For school."
He nodded. "What about modelling assignments then?"
"I have one in about a week from now."
"Plenty on your plate then." I only nodded. Idle chitchat didn't interest me. This whole meeting didn't interest me. I decided to take it upon myself to get our talk started.
"That night," I began. I struggled to not falter under Li's unwavering eyes. I spoke my next words with caution. "I hope you don't think it was anything." I lost the courage to maintain eye contact and sought the ground below. Li began after a moment:
"You kissed me back that night."
"I did…" Embarrassment resurfaced and I struggled to find the right response. And then it came—I said, "Kansuke kissed me that night, too."
He had a look of shock before it changed to something like disappointment. "Why?" he asked.
I asked for an extension of the question, uncertain of the question he was asking: "What do you mean?"
"Why choose him, Sakura?" he said.
My ears perked to the last word; it didn't settle well with me. "You shouldn't call me that…" I told him.
"I'm not following," he replied, his brows furrowing.
"You called me, 'Sakura'…"
His eyes left me as he looked out onto the fields for a moment before they returned to me. "Ashida Kansuke," he began. I had to gather additional strength to hold the piercing gaze he'd directed at me: "is who you want?"
'Want' was not in question. Even if it was, 'Want' and 'Li' was never in the same sentence.
"I am with Ashida Kansuke," I told him.
It took him a few seconds to respond, but he nodded and said "I understand". He swung his bag strap onto his shoulder before he rose to his feet and said, "See ya." I leaned back into the wall and tucked a lock of hair that brushed across my face from the wind Li created as he walked past me. I dared not return a greeting and just let him be.
Some weeks passed for the above meeting with Li. I no longer had troubles with being in contact with him: he doesn't suddenly appear in the hallway to come talk to me; I don't find him coming over to my desk to talk before class started; and there isn't the surprise bump outside of school either. It was a strange thing, though, to have Li nowhere to be seen. He attends his classes, therefore I see him during those times, but after those, it's a mystery where he spends his time, not a sight of him during morning tea or lunchtime. I had looked up into that tree he sat on a couple of occasions and it was always empty. I didn't hate him, I wasn't an unfeeling person, so the sudden difficulty of finding him anywhere besides the fifty minutes in classes I had with him, I have wondered where he was these days.
This rainy lunchtime, I found him. He was in the library at the library computers, scrolling through the library catalogue. I had little idea of what I'd say and I wasn't sure where his feelings lay now, but I decided to make my way over to him. I slotted my book in the 'Returns' slot at the issue desk before I did so.
My reaction was slow to avoid the body-on-body collision with Li when he turned in his seat at speed and he came into me, my jaw stung and the inner part of my bottom lip sore from the unexpected biting I did because of the collision. Li had extended a hand to my arm to my aid. He released it and the concern I found in his eyes a moment before changed to one devoid of emotion. As he resumed, passing me to the study tables behind, he said,
"It's dangerous to stand so close to someone. Next time, make sure you make a noise so I know you are there." He came back with a pen from his pencil case and sat back down at the computer. I just nodded to words that told me he was still annoyed with me.
I continued to stand there as I watched him write some titles and their reference numbers down. When I realised he wasn't going to take a break from his task to talk to me, I decided to leave him to it. As I motioned to do so, he then spoke, asking—
"Are you spending lunchtime here today?"
I stayed. "No, I'm just returning a book I borrowed," I answered. "I'll be heading to the common room for lunch in a while." Li nodded. I walked to stand a little closer, pointed to the computer screen then asked, "What are you searching for?"
"I'm looking for some things on UK and London."
"UK and London?—are you planning to take a visit there?"
"I want to study there," he replied.
I watched him reach over the next computer table for a piece of cue paper, but it was a fingertip too far. I helped him grab a piece. I extended him a smile, hoping he would see I wanted us to have a conversation with each other and not continue being something like enemies. He remained reserved, however; only offered a small "thanks".
My cell phone sounded. Li returned to his task. I moved some ways away and took the call. It was Kansuke.
"Hey," I said to him.
"Hey, the football meeting has finished. I'm in the common room now. Where are you?"
"I'll be there soon…" Natsumi came walking into the library. She gave me a smile and a wave. I returned a smile. She past me and headed to Li. She handed him a couple of magazines and pamphlets and both started flipping through one. I returned to Kansuke and informed him, "I'm just in the library talking to a couple of people. I'll be there in a minute."
"I bought some food, don't be long, Babe."
"Alright. See you soon." I clicked off.
I watched Natsumi look over Li's shoulder to some travel zine that I presume was related to the search Li was doing on the library computers. She sensed me looking and looked up and gave me a kind smile.
She was still nice to me and talking to me. I gather from the way that she was still talking to me and nice to me was that she knew nothing about Li and me. I'm glad; we're friends as well as peers who worked alongside each other a lot. I wouldn't want us to suddenly hate each other over something I never wanted to happen or even saw happening.
I entered into the circle. Noticing Natsumi's dishevelled hair, I said to her—
"Bad weather today, huh? Taking shelter in the library for lunch?"
She shook her head. "No, we're just going to be here for a bit longer before we head off to the English classroom to have lunch. But yeah, gosh the weather is not nice today." She lifted her right foot and pointed to it. "I accidentally stood on a puddle on my way here and now my socks are so wet and uncomfortable."
"Bad luck, huh?" I said.
"Yeah, I know. I shouldn't have tried avoiding those puddles. I might still have dry socks." She chuckled and I chuckled, agreeing. She groaned as she lifted her right foot towards her and reached inside her shoes to squeeze the sides. She became unsteady. Li had noticed and turned away from the computer to extend a hand, holding her upright by the arm. The pigment in Natsumi's face changed as he helped her. Li released her once she was steady. She thanked him, the blush still clearly visible.
"Quick reflexes you have, Li," I said to him. He just nodded to the compliment. I turned to Natsumi. "Natsumi, you alright there?" I was referring to her beet-red face; she'd not realised. She just nodded, still affected by Li's grasp that had been on her arm. It took her a moment more before she looked away from where it had been and went back to normal. I continued,
"Yeah, I'm sure that I'd be soaked from head to toe by the time I get home, too. I didn't think to bring my umbrella today."
"You can ask Ashida to take you home—he drives to school, right?"
Reflexively, my gaze darted to Li thinking his head jerked at the mention of him. He hadn't as his attention stayed on the pamphlet that was now below his gaze.
"Yeah, I guess," I replied.
She smiled then moved onto another topic, asking—
"So, you're spending lunch here then?"
"No, I'm going to the common room. My friends are there with some food waiting for me."
"Well, that's nice!"
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to what they have for me," I replied.
The conversation was ending. I announced by leave:
"I'll be off then. I'll see you in Music class, Natsumi." She said goodbye. Li, who had been quiet and focused on his task during the conversation between Natsumi and me, was still so. I said to him, "Good luck with your search, Li." He lifted his head only for a moment to nod before returning it back down to his pamphlet.
Still so cold, I thought. I let him be. I did try, I told myself. I then made my way to the common room.
Location: City park
Time frame: Evening
Point of View: Sakura
I had been nervous when I first stepped out onto this five-or-so metre platform elevated above an audience made up of city goers, passer-bys, people in their cars, and many other occasional onlookers in their offices and shops in the city's central business district, but soon nervousness became excitement. I drew energy from the boisterous crowd below me and the vibrant atmosphere of this eventful Saturday.
The magazine was holding a promotional event and my job was to showcase some of the most beautiful clothes out to this evening's enthusiastic crowd. After twenty or so minutes going out onto the runway and then back into the changing area backstage, I was finally on my final run. My last outfit was a casual, yet classy, one piece, white and moss-green dress with a white, knee-length cardigan and winter boots.
I made my way down the runway. Upon reaching the edge, I stopped; I posed; and then, this being my last run, I had a little fun: I snuck in a small smirk and cocked an eyebrow before I headed back down the platform and returned backstage.
Waiting backstage for me was Tomoyo. Her eyes widened; her lips lifted up and formed a big smile; before she ran fast towards me, with arms opened, and gave me a big bear hug.
"That was so exciting!" she exclaimed. "You were so great out there. I can't wait to see it all again on video!"
I hugged her back too then released and thanked her, before I asked, "So you are finished filming for the day?"
I hoped she would say she was, for I preferred not to be filmed, especially when Tomoyo would edit it and show it to everyone and make praises about me which I always found embarrassing. But of course, hoping was all I could do. She said:
"No, we must film you in the next part when you get some of the crowd to come up on stage."
The elementary age Tomoyo was what I pictured in my head right about now. Conversation of this kind in the past always ended up like this: she would persist on filming and I would give up and give her a false smile of compliance. I was doing that now.
I then moved on and asked, "Kansuke arrived yet? I didn't manage to spot him in the crowd."
You see, I hadn't been able to see Kansuke at all today. He and I were supposed to go together to the city, but he called me an hour before we had to leave the house that he couldn't get me to this event because his sister needed a ride to her friend's place, so I had to take a ride with Tomoyo (and Eriol and her two attendants, or rather filming crew).
Tomoyo nodded, "Mm, he managed to come just before I came backstage. He didn't miss much."
"That's good he made it. You think he's enjoying the event so far?"
She smiled then told me, "His girlfriend is up there on the stage in beautiful outfits…" She paused then with conviction, she completed, "without a doubt!" She paused then added excitedly, "Oh! I instructed my filming crew to get Ashida to do a little talk on film especially for you. We can watch that when I finished editing!"
I was taken over by curiosity as I wondered what Kansuke might have said on film.
"Miss Kinomoto…" I exited my thoughts and turned to the call behind me. The events organiser, Ms. Kawano, had called me. "Please change quickly. You are needed out there," she informed.
Ms. Kawano Aiko, she was a young and extremely talented individual. I was not certain of her age, but I guessed she was in her early twenties. I have been told that she's already married and has a husband who's almost ten years older than her. I do say I am slightly intimidated when I'm in her presence: she was extremely beautiful—tall and slim with beautiful expressive eyes—and held great authority. Intimidating she was to me, but she also had a kind heart. When I asked if I could have Tomoyo backstage with me for support, she allowed it.
I immediately obliged and excused myself from Tomoyo. Quickly, I got changed into a more casual ensemble and waited for Ms. Kawano's instructions. My final task for the night was to put the spotlight onto those in the crowd with confidence, pizzazz, and attitude.
"You're on, Miss Kinomoto. Remember to turn it on when you get out there." I nodded and headed out onto the stage.
For the many times tonight, I walked out onto a crowd of several hundred. Those closer to the platform stood, while many further back took a seat on the lawn area the event was held on. The pace now a little more relaxed, I took the time to take in the crowd. I searched for Tomoyo, Kansuke, and the gang. After two sweeps, I found them. They were quite far in the back, several metres from the water fountain in this small city central park, but I could still see them. Even from this distance I could feel Kansuke's strong aura. He could stand simply in a crowd and still be the centre of attention. As I looked in his direction, I hoped he could see the smile I was giving him.
And then I returned to the crowd and began:
"Good evening everyone! I hope it has been fun so far! Are you all enjoying everything so far?"
I allowed response from the crowd. The crowd acknowledged with claps. "That's great to hear! We'll have more live music playing later in the evening, but right now I have a request from the female part of this crowd…" I took the scripted pause as I scanned the crowd. "Mm-mm, what a good-looking bunch we have this evening! I see a lot of beautiful girls and hot guys out there…" I smirked before I winked at several guys who caught my attention. "Because backstage we have some clothes left that we haven't shown to you all yet, I have a request: can I have several female individuals come help me model them? Are there any hopeful models out there?"
The crowd seemed shy.
"Come on, don't be shy! You will be one of the first people to try out some of the newest designer clothes," I tempted them.
They were still too shy.
"Well you give me no choice then. I'll have to bring some of you up here myself. Guys, will you lend me a hand," I said as I looked to the two security personnel just below the stage. "Please find some volunteers from the crowd."
The two security personnel just below the front of the stage obliged. I watched one look for a volunteer in the front row as the other walked further down. A girl, who looked to be around my age, who stood some distance from the main bunch of the crowd, caught my attention.
"Excuse me—Mr. Guard-sir…" I called the security guard standing by a small park tree at the back of the crowd. The guy didn't hear me. "Excuse me, the security guard at the back." Finally he came around and found my gaze. "Yes you, Sir. Can you help me bring that young lady near you up here?" I pointed to the left; he gestured to a young lady in pink. "No, the one wearing a maroonish jacket with the black fur collar, but bring that young lady up as well."
He asked the young lady in pink. She shook her head and waved both hands; she didn't want to come up. After some strong resistance from the girl, the security guard gave up and went onto persuading the one I had picked out. She also didn't want to come up, but she wasn't as resistant as the first girl. It took a little persuasion before she gave in and was making her way to the stage.
The two security personnel at the front found a volunteer each too, and after some minutes all three girls were up on the stage with me. Finding that all three had looked nervous, I tried to put them at ease by initiating small talk, but it didn't relax them too much more. I took them closer towards the centre of the stage and brought the girls closer to me so I could see each of them. In doing this, I discovered that I knew one of these girls; the one I had personally picked out from the crowd was actually Li's friend from Hong Kong, Jinwei.
And I was shocked to see her here. After the show, I got her to join me as I made my way to meet my friends at the water fountain.
For a while, the city streets and the cars that drove by filled the silence between us before I decided to initiate a conversation.
"Sorry for picking you out like that," I said. "If I knew it was you, I wouldn't have made you come up onto the stage."
Jinwei shook her head. "No, it's not a problem. Besides, in the end I had a lot of fun," she replied with a smile. She held up the bag of sponsored goods that she and the other girls got for their participation. "Also, I got free stuff out of it, too."
"I wanted the free stuff too, but I'm not allowed." Jinwei chuckled. "But I'm glad you had fun up there."
"Do you do this all the time?" she asked.
"I'm a part-time model for the magazine."
"You're a part-time model for this magazine? That's really great," she said with surprise.
"It's gets a little overwhelming at times, but I think it's great that the magazine is giving me this opportunity also."
Jinwei then asked me how I got the job and I told I was scouted when someone saw me at one of Tomoyo's fashion design competitions. She asked about Tomoyo's fashion design and a little more about my job. A brief silence entered before I resumed:
"It's strange to see you here at this time. School's still in over in Hong Kong, isn't it?" I asked her. Her appearance at this time in Japan was unusual to me.
She nodded, "I'll be flying back tomorrow night. I'm here to surprise Syaoran."
"You're here for a special occasion?"
"I'm not over here for any reason, really. I just wanted to see him." I found warmth in her tone, and I found it strangely curious. I dismissed it as another question dawned on me:
"So, you came to Japan by yourself?" I asked her.
"Yeah."
"And your parents aren't worried about you coming to Japan by yourself?" I asked, surprised.
"No, my parents are fine with it. They know I'm here to see Syaoran."
I wondered what relationship Li had with Jinwei's parents. But by the sounds of things, Jinwei's parents trusted Li a lot.
"I gather you haven't met up with him yet, then?" I asked.
"No, not yet." She brought her right hand up and looked at the display screen of her cell phone. "I landed in the country around lunchtime, and I spent it sightseeing for most of the afternoon before coming here where I met you." I smiled when she gave me one. "Syaoran gets off work at ten I think, so I'm going to head back to my hotel around eight-thirty or nine. I'm going to try and get to his place before he does." A mischievous grin then appeared on her lips. "Because you see, I can. He doesn't know this, but the last time I was here, I made a copy of the key to his apartment, so I could use it anytime I want!"
I chuckled as she chuckled. "That's really smart, Jinwei."
"Yeah, I think so too!" she said. Her expression then straightened as she became serious. "But I really do hope that Syaoran won't mind me stay at his place. He does seem to like his space." I agreed to the fact with a nod. "I guess I could just book out another room if worse comes to worse."
"I'm sure he won't mind," I offered. "You flew all the way from Hong Kong to see him. It would be rude if he didn't allow you to." She nodded before her expression filled with slight concern. I didn't know if she would have trouble with accommodation by the end of the night; all I knew was that I had a spare room. I offered—
"Well, if you are really stuck on finding a place to stay, then you can try me. We have a spare room that used to be my brother's."
"Really? Is that really okay?" surprised, she said.
I affirmed with a nod. "My dad should be okay with it."
She extended me a gratuitous smile. "That's really, very nice of you. Thank you, Sakura."
I saw the water fountain a couple of metres ahead of us and a part of Tomoyo's person.
"Hey, my friends are just by the water fountain over there. We are going to hang around here until the event ends. Do you want to join us for a while? That way I can give you my number and address. Also, you can fill your time with us until you go and meet up with Li."
"Yeah, sure. That'll be good actually. Thanks."
I got my friends' attention with a call and a wave. Tomoyo and Chiharu spotted me first and they hugged and congratulated me on a job well done. The many looks that came Jinwei's way, I introduced her to the gang before we all moved to a sitting area and sat down. As promised, I gave Jinwei my contact details before I felt a pair of lips on my right cheek. I turned in that direction and met up with Kansuke. He handed me a paper bag and a bottle of drink.
"I thought you might be hungry, so I bought you something to eat," he said.
It was times like these that I just loved; and he guessed right: I was hungry; and a little tired as well, but that was probably because I was hungry.
I opened the bag and found a pottle of miso soup and a tray with salad, chicken omelette, and shitake mushroom on rice. The bottle of drink Kansuke bought me was iced green tea. I thanked him with another kiss before I dug into the food.
As I enjoyed the food, my friends talked to Jinwei. The girls asked questions I had already asked: her reasons for visiting Japan; length of stay; and questions about Hong Kong. The guys were much quieter, but Eriol did praise her for her bravery of going up on stage and modelling. "I'm no where near as brave as Sakura," Jinwei said in response; then added, "I think the guts to do that again ended at the end of that runway." My other friends agreed with Eriol and told her that she was brave and had done a good job.
After the conversation about Jinwei and her modelling looked to be finished, Kansuke entered his thoughts on it: "You looked good. You should try doing that again," he said. That surprised me; and for some time, it went around in my head, wondering why he said it; and so seriously, too. But after a while, I decided to let it go; he was only being nice to someone who had just done a good job on their first go of modelling on stage.
The end of the event finally came at around quarter to nine and my friends and I were going our separate ways. Chiharu, Yamazaki, and Eriol said that they were going to continue the night by hitting the clubs; Tomoyo was going to head home to edit the footage she captured this evening so that she could get it ready for me when she came over to my house tomorrow; and Kansuke and I decided to spend some quiet time at his place.
Before Kansuke and I could do that though, we had to drop Jinwei off at Li's apartment. The hotel that Jinwei stayed at and Li's apartment were both on the way and I asked Kansuke to offer her a ride.
After dropping by the hotel Jinwei stayed at to gather her gear, check out of the hotel and then driving for twenty minutes, we finally reached the familiar lofty white building Li's apartment was in.
"Hey, Sakura: thanks for helping me direct towards the end," Jinwei said as Kansuke pulled the handbrake up. She gave a laugh in embarrassment. "I forgot how to get to Syaoran's place. I'm glad you know the way."
"No problem, I just know the street very well, that's all," I replied, disposing any questions that might arise about how I knew how to get to Li's place.
She unbuckled her seatbelt before she gathered her belongings. She had a small luggage bag, a bag of drinks, the bag of sponsored goods, and gateau. She slid her left hand through the handles of the bag of sponsored goods and the bags of drinks before she balance the gateau on her right palm of her hand. She reached for the car door; grabbed her luggage bag; then made her way out of the car.
But she stopped midway and turned back towards me. She said:
"Actually Sakura, do you think you can help me bring my luggage up? I'm afraid that I might drop the cake on the way with all this," she said as she grinned sheepishly.
"Oh yeah sure," I said. Quickly getting out of the car, I opened the side door and took hold of the luggage bag she passed to me through the door. I waited for Jinwei to come out before I stuck my head back into the car and told Kansuke—
"I'll be back in a bit; won't be long." He nodded. Jinwei thanked him for his patience before I shut the door and we made our way up to Li's apartment.
A minute or so waiting in the lobby and in the elevator, and arriving on the third floor several seconds later, a short walk down the narrow hallway we stood outside the door to Li's apartment.
I have been outside this apartment door once before and I felt uncomfortable that time. With Li and me not on good terms, it made standing outside his apartment and waiting to go in the more uncomfortable. I was glad that Li wasn't going to be on the other side when we entered the apartment—I don't know how much more I could take of his cold stares and cold comments that he gives out to me.
Jinwei struggled with opening the door as the bag of drinks and the bag of sponsored goods that dangled from her left hand hindered her efforts in putting her key to the keyhole.
"I'll hold onto those two bags for you while you get the door open, Jinwei," I offered. I took the bags from her and she thanked me.
Without the extra things, this time Jinwei got the key in. The door made an unlocking sound, and Jinwei celebrated as she quietly giggled to herself. She placed her keys back into the pocket of her jacket before she pulled the handle down. Jinwei and I proceeded to go in, but we were stopped; by some thing that was unknown to me at this time. The events which happened so quickly, and what I believed were in this order, were: shuffles of the feet; hollow knock on wood; a high shriek; Jinwei backing into me; I backed up; I yelped; before the gateau box Jinwei held in her right hand smacked into my right eye area.
I recovered moments later as I heard Jinwei say:
"I got cake, Syaoran!"
I peered a little to my left to see why Jinwei had said that. What I saw was Li and his elbow up against Jinwei's chin and neck area, looking ready to crush this intruder who had just tried to enter into his apartment.
It took a moment longer before Li finally registered that it was Jinwei before he relaxed his hold on her. A questioning look appeared on his expression. "Jinwei?—what are you doing here?"
"I was bored, so I decided to give you a visit."
He still held a puzzled look. "Do your parents know you're here?"
"Of course!" She then slipped through between him and the door as she mumbled, "Gosh, you are home so early. I thought you'd be at work still; I thought I was going to be able to get here before you did and surprise you…" She then trailed off.
Li was about to answer Jinwei's unhappy mumbles when his eyes found me. An expression of surprise plastered across his face; I dipped my head politely and explained my presence: "Jinwei needed help with bringing things in," before I showed him the luggage and bags that I had in my grasp. He stepped aside and allowed me in. I didn't look in any direction but towards the ground as I entered his apartment.
Jinwei was putting the cake on the dining table when I stopped by the couch with the luggage and bag of drinks and bag of sponsored goods still in my hands. She came over and took the bag of drinks and the bag of sponsored goods off of me and placed it on the dining table.
"Thank you for helping me and for everything else today," she said. "I want to pay you back with cake. Stay for a bit; we can have cake together."
Li came up to me and took the luggage off of me and placed it beside the couch. I thanked him, but avoided looking directly at him. I still felt bad coming into his apartment.
I returned to Jinwei to answer. "Kansuke's still out there waiting for me." Jinwei made a sound that told me she had forgotten he was still out in the car waiting. "He's probably getting very bored waiting for me, so I think I'll head off now. Thanks though."
"Okay, but wait for a bit longer," Jinwei said as I turned to head out. "I'll cut up some for you: one for you and one for your boyfriend. You can have the cake at home."
Jinwei dashed to the kitchen area and searched around a drawer—for a knife to cut the cake, I believe. She found one, but then she looked to be searching for something else as I saw her go through a cupboard. Jinwei then started to call out the item she was looking for: "Cake container, cake container. Where is a cake container?"
"Syaoran, do you have any containers I can use to store the cakes for Sakura?"
Li was already on his way to help her find one when she asked him. He went through the cupboard beside the refrigerator, but didn't find one. He went to the pantry and finally returned with one. He handed it to Jinwei.
"Thank you, Syaoran," she sang. His right brow raised as Jinwei returned to the dining table and began cutting up the cake. Li returned to his seat at the couch.
"That's one piece…" Jinwei said as she placed the first piece into the container—a rather large piece, it was, and I wondered how the second piece would fit into the container with the first piece being so large. Another large piece was coming as Jinwei's knife marked out the second piece.
"Syaoran," Jinwei called as she brought the knife down onto the cake, "can you put my luggage in your room?"
Li didn't reply immediately; he had a strange look on his face. "Put your luggage in my room?"
"Yeah. I'm sleeping there tonight."
His relaxed posture straightened as one brow rose. "Where am I going to sleep then?"
"I don't care; wherever you want," Jinwei replied, looking unconcerned, although playful. She finished cutting out the second piece. She placed the knife under the cake and slowly slid it out.
Li remained seated. He seemed to have ignored Jinwei's request, but several seconds later he made his way down the hallway behind the couch with her luggage in hand.
I was taken by the sight: he was allowing Jinwei to have her way and let her take his room? A thought not of the most innocent kind then entered by mind:—or was it that he was going to share his bed with her?
I shook myself off from such thoughts quickly before I went any further down that line of thinking and have unwholesome images float in my head. It was not my place to think about such things. Li came back into the room; he caught me in the midst of exiting from those thoughts; I turned my head away quickly from his view.
"Sorry it's a little squished," Jinwei said, handing the container to me.
"It's fine. Thank you for this," I replied. I turned to Li. He was standing beside the couch as opposed to sitting on it as he had done so previously. He looked to be standing in a casual manner, with his hands in his trouser pockets, but he seemed stiff at the same time. "I'll return the container to you on Monday," I said to him.
"It's not necessary," he replied. "You can keep it."
I wanted to say that I will return the container back to him, but I went against the thought and nodded to the preference he had made.
"Here are some drinks as well," Jinwei said as she handed me two cans of drinks in a plastic bag. "It's my favorite."
I took it and thanked her again. I then made my way towards the door to head out. Li followed behind. I stood aside when I reached the door to allow Li to undo the keychain. He opened the door for me. I stepped out then turned back.
"Thanks," I said to him.
"Uh." Again, he stood like he had done so moments ago: hands in his trouser pockets, casual, yet stiff at the same time. "Thanks for helping Jinwei." A small smile spread across his lips.
It was so long I saw him smile at me. And even though the smile was small, I was happy. I was about to answer him back when I caught onto a fragrant smell. It had come from Li and I got lost in it for a moment as I tried to decipher the scent. However, it only lingered for that one brief moment. I couldn't smell the pleasant scent anymore.
I returned my mind back to the present moment and answered Li. "It's no problem. We had fun together." I then held the container with the cakes out. "I'll finish this and return it to you on Monday."
"Uh."
I motioned to leave, but he called out and said—"Ashida…" I turned back at the mention of Kansuke. I anxiously, but also fearfully, waited for his reasons for speaking of him. "His car is ready. My boss says he can pick it up tomorrow."
It wasn't about Kansuke, but his car. Kansuke had taken his car back to the place where he got the door fixed from having had a minor accident on his way to school on the day that I couldn't get through to him. The driver's side door got beat up and was stripped off of some paint after having collided with a right-turning car. Kansuke liked the paint job that they (Li's workplace) did on the door that he brought it back to them to redo the whole car. Tonight Kansuke drove his parent's car.
I relaxed and nodded. "Thanks, I'll tell him that. He'll be very happy to hear that. He says you guys do a very good job."
"Thank you. We're glad our customers are satisfied with our work," he said.
"Mm. Anyway, I better be off. See you on Monday."
"Uh. Have a good weekend."
"You too."
I had turned to leave, and I felt the door to Li's apartment shutting, but I couldn't end it here—not just yet. I was not yet satisfied. The way he talked and acted around me tonight was definitely a whole degree better than the other encounters I've had with him so far, but I needed to know—I needed to know in words that he and I were okay. I turned back and quickly called for him before he fully shuts the door on me—
"Li!" I made it in time as there was only a two-inch gap between the door and door frame. Li opened the door again. He stood; then leaned against the brown wooden door with not any particular expression on his face. He waited for me to continue. "Are we… good?"
He stayed expressionless and silent after I completed my question; I wondered if he was going to dismiss it. But a moment more, his expression ever so slightly softened; he gave a small nod before he gently shut the door behind him.
His confirmation of us being okay was small, but it was enough; it was enough for me to be satisfied.
© 07 April 2008
Comments: Thank you to all readers and reviewers.
flowers: Thank you flowers for returning and reading this fanfic. Yeah, Sakura is very lucky have two kisses. She should count herself lucky to be able to kiss Syaoran hehe. We are glad you like the way we revealed Syaoran's feelings towards her. Sorry for the very late update. Thank you muchly for reading and reviewing again! xoxo
Ihaine07: Mm, we can see how the character annoys you with such an experience. It's always hard to see that your friend in such a situation. We hope you find this chapter less irritating and that you enjoy this chapter a little more than the last chapter. Thank you so much for continuing to read this fanfic!
BrOkEnHArTs: Yeah he kissed her. But… we hope that you aren't too disappointed with the way things turned out… (sorry in advance).
Yami Umi: We hope it didn't change course too fast. Sakura's reaction in this chapter—was it what you expected?
infiniteternity: We do have to say that we do make Kansuke quite irritating, but he's just your typical "evil" guy in this story. He's not too threatening so far is he?—nah! Enjoy!
Tinabedina: Thanks so much for leaving a comment!
insanity-ward: Sakura and realising Kansuke's a b-tard—she was quite 'dense' when she was little, she still hasn't grown out of that, we suppose! Still 'hopeful' to getting her dream man that she's pined after for most of her high school years, eh?
Sakuramsn: Welcome to the story. Thank you for reading from start to the end—13 chapters, it must have been really tough to do huh? so we congratulate you for getting so far and thank you so very much for your comments.
AnonymousT: Thanks for leaving two comments! Julia and Tania are very happy. When you have someone like the Li Syaoran teaching, school's just like playtime—all fun. Thank you for your encouraging words too! There might not be many more Syaoran's POVs here on in. We basically know enough about him. The ball's is pretty much in Sakura's court now. Hopefully, this chapter entertains you—though we're sure it is not exactly what you (or the others) are hoping to see happen.
obsessive me: We're afraid this chapter might be back to the "annoyingly slow progression" status. Still, we hope you will find something good in this chapter. Thanks for the comment!
READER, mac&cheese, girllyyy girl, DHESTESDE: Thank you for the comments. We're glad you liked the story. Please come again!
rosedreamer101: Yes you are right, Sakura isn't quite there yet. Thanks for leaving a comment!
oneandoneis37: Yeah thanks! The review did comment full. Yes you are making sense and thanks for taking some time out of your busy schedule to read the previous chapter! We still have a lot of things to learn with writing, but thank you so much for your positive words!
Whitewave16: Thanks so much for reading. Syaoran made his move, but what about Sakura? Sorry!
tinkerbellie: Hehehe, sorry for the late update. Thanks for reading, we hope to see you again and hope it's good.
Red-Emerald: Thank you for deciding to review this story. We've been told our story is draggy and slow. We realise it may not be interesting, but there are subtle details that help the story move as a whole. Thanks again.
kauju-gaki-kawaii: Sakura and Syaoran hasn't broken yet, they're still sticking… hehehe. Thankies!
Misaki Love: Thanks for you enthusiasm for the story. Sakura is misguided when it comes to relationships. Hot does not equal Kansuke. She was never good at maths, but she is getting better!
thepurplemaiden: Thanks for coming in and reading so very much. We hope you return and enjoy this chapter!
q.t a.k.a spice: Yeah -giggles- Syaoran does love Sakura. -grins-