Agent08 Reporting for Duty!

Now on with chapter fourteen!

Saving Syaoran

The Lessons Learned

Have I ever mentioned how hard it is to witness all this stuff? Seriously. It's tough watching Sakura do all those clumsy things and watch as Syaoran saves her. It gets boring sometimes and also pretty repetitive. Like I said, it's a tough job witnessing all this stuff. But you know, someone's got to tell you this story. (You guys can thank me later.)

But for my sake, you'd think one of these two would start getting a clue by now. But density is common when in love, wouldn't you agree? Also common when in love would be the cheesy moments that would sometimes get one to either vomit or melt with warm fuzzy feelings. I have mixed feelings whenever I witness those cheesy moments.

You guys be the judge of the following cheesy moments and tell me how you feel. Deal?

"Otou-san, I'm fine..." Sakura assured quietly over the phone. The senior students had just climbed down the mountain (safely), and once they reached the bottom, Terada-sensei had called up Sakura's father just to let him know what had happened. I'm sure you'd want to know if something like that ever happened to your child!

"Sakura-san, if you want to go home..." her dad said.

"Otou-san! I'm fine for the last time. I don't need to go home. I was just being a little clumsy again."

Tomoyo giggled from the far side of the room. A little? Sakura scoffed at her.

She heard her dad sigh calmingly on the other end of the phone. "Alright then, Sakura-san. But please, no more accidents like that. Terada-sensei gave you those partners for a reason. To be careful. Which you obviously were not. But I'm not going to lecture you, sweetheart, I know you'll be even more careful next time. Won't you, my dear?" He asked caringly.

Sakura nodded. "Of course, otou-san. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart. And do thank that Syaoran Li boy who saved your life."

"Sure thing, otou-san. Goodbye!"

Tomoyo walked up to her, shaking her head slowly from side to side. "Why are you so clumsy again, Sakura-chan? I can only imagine how worried your otou-san was. No wonder Touya-kun was so overprotective of you! You can't take care of yourself even with the cards at your disposal." She said it almost scoldingly.

"Tomoyo-chan! Shhh!""Sakura said underneath her breath for she had mentioned her biggest secret that only Tomoyo knew of. Or so she thought.

She rolled her eyes. "No one heard me, Sakura-chan. I know when there are other people around."

"You don't think I'm trying to be less clumsy?" Sakura retorted half angrily, "I can't help it if I'm really clumsy. I don't want my dad to always be so worried about me." She sighed and held out her arm for Tomoyo to take. "Let's just go to dinner, okay? I don't want to think about what happened today anymore."

Tomoyo agreed silently and took her arm.

What Sakura had said was half true. Yes, she did not want to think about how she fell off the cliff. But she could not stop thinking about the conversation she had with Syaoran. His own personal Lois Lane, huh? If she was correct, Lois Lane was the lady who was always saved by Superman, and also his love interest.

She sighed dreamily.

The two seniors made their way to the mess hall. The mess hall was where all breakfasts (the ones they didn't spend at the top of a mountain), lunches, and dinners took place for all who stayed at Camp Sunshine. There were three lengthy tables where any student could sit. But for dinner, it was a rule that everyone sit at the table in the middle. It seated more than enough for the sixty-something seniors.

Sakura and Tomoyo joined Chiharu at the table. Eriol, Syaoran and Yamazaki sat across from them, smiling as they sat. Once everyone had gotten a seat and they had said what they always said before eating, they dug into the meal of the night. But not before Terada-sensei made a short announcement...

"One more thing," he began, raising his glass, "a toast to Syaoran Li-san for, once again, saving the life of our Sakura Kinomoto-san."

Fan girls fumed as some boys grumbled angrily. Sakura blushed and drank to the toast. Syaoran nodded at those who smiled at him but did not drink. He did not need to be thanked. He was very modest like that. Even when Sakura thanked him he had never said "You're welcome." He didn't find it necessary.

"About that..." Sakura said to him once everybody had begun eating and were absorbed into conversations of their own, "I was on the phone with my 'tou-san just a few moments ago. He was told by Terada-sensei about how you saved my life. He sends his thanks." She said sincerely.

"No big deal," he replied, shrugging.

Sakura smiled at him encouragingly. "Of course it's a big deal. This is like, the millionth time you've saved me."

"The fourth." He corrected. Not that he kept count...

"See what I mean?" She exclaimed.

"It's not a big deal," he repeated.

"Do you not want to be thanked?" She asked quietly.

"It's not necessary. I know when people are thankful."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "First you're Superman, now you're a mind-reader?"

"I'm rubbing off of Daidouji-san," he replied jokingly.

She tilted her head to the side and gave him a confused look. "I don't get what you mean."

Right. She didn't know about how it was Tomoyo that knew even before he himself knew that he had feelings for her. "Nevermind," he said, shaking his head. "I can just tell when people are thankful. It's obvious." He smirked. "And it's very easy to read your expressions." It was quite true. If one looked at her as closely as he did, they'd think the very same thing.

"Oh really now?" Sakura retorted. "You find it easy to read me?"

"Yeah, in fact, I do," he answered.

She smiled childishly at him. "Well..." she said, sticking out her tongue. He laughed at her adorable reactions. He loved it when she did that. "If I'm so easy to read...what am I thinking right now?" She asked, turning her face to the side and hiding herself with her hands. At this, Syaoran laughed again. Was she serious about that?

"Kinomoto," he said sternly, though the smile on his own face was clearly visible, "stop that."

"Nu-uh," she said, giggling.

"Kinomoto!" He exclaimed playfully, "You know that in order for me to read your expressions, I will have to see your face?" Without thinking, he pushed his plate to the side and stretched out his arms to take her face in his hands. Underneath his palms he felt her face go stoney and the smile that was once on her face, disappear completely.

This movement had instantly caught Tomoyo's attention. She was suddenly pulled away from the paradise-like dimension she had been in with Eriol, sucked into the one that her best friend was in. Covering her face with her hands and Syaoran, holding each cheek lightly. Her eyes went oval as she looked to Eriol to see whether or not he'd seen it too. His eyes were just as round as her own.

"It'd be easier for me to read you..." he said slowly, removing one hand from her cheek and pulling her own away from her eyes, "if you weren't covering your eyes like that..." he then used the other to do the same thing. Instead of letting go of them, he held on tightly, not exactly aware of what he was doing.

She glanced at him shyly, her eyes roaming his own face, as if trying to read him herself. "Better...?"

Before answering, he squinted his eyes at her, staring deeply into those emerald orbs of hers. He studied her intently, hoping to reach the dark corners of her soul as he looked into her eyes as if they were open windows. "A lot better," he replied finally, sliding his hands out of hers, leaving a lingering, burning sensation where he had last touched her.

"And what were you able to read?"

Quietly he muttered, "I'm not quite sure..."

Sakura smiled, hoping to forget what he had just done. "And what does that prove?"

"You're not so easy to read as I thought..."

Oh contraire, Mr. I'm-So-Dense. From beside them, Eriol and Tomoyo could easily read the both of them and their expressions. It was so plainly obvious, what with the way Sakura's eyebrows lifted, half confused, half surprised, and how she was so tempted to smile. And the way Syaoran's facial expression was just completely blank - Eriol, being a guy, could easily interperet that.

It was their turn to play Cupid.

Once dinner had finished, all the students filed out of the mess hall loudly, chatting to their friends and so forth. Sakura and Syaoran had walked out together silently, not talking since he had done what he did. They were both very confused and at a loss for words, which would explain the no talking. Eriol and Tomoyo walked behind them, amused.

"Don't forget, students!" Terada-sensei called out to them. Each and every head turned and gave him their atention. "Tomorrow will be your first full day of activities. Schedules will be given to all of you first thing in the morning. We'll be going swimming too, so get your swimsuits ready, etc. Understood?"

Everyone being very tired, simply nodded or grumbled in reply. They all stalked off to their cabins, bidding goodnight to those who were not in their cabins and went to grab their toiletries to get ready for a much needed good night's rest. Sakura was joined by Tomoyo and Eriol joined by Syaoran, as they were going different paths.

"Goodnight, boys," Tomoyo said, waving at the both of them.

Eriol waved back and Syaoran nodded. "Goodnight, Daidouji-san."

Nudging her best friend lightly in the rib, Tomoyo whispered, "Sakura-chan. Say goodnight."

Smiling she said quietly, "Goodnight."

Without waiting for a reply, she turned around and began walking along the trail that would lead her to the girl's cabins. Tomoyo caught up to her but did not say anything, only smirked to herself, lost in her thoughts and future plans. This not only gave her a reason to play matchmaker, but to spend time with Eriol. They were partners in crime, now. She really liked the sound of that...

Not that they'd be commiting any crimes. Just conducting a few simple, harmless plans that would (hopefully) bring Syaoran and Sakura together.

xxxxxx

The trumpet played its annoying sound once more, awakening the girls in their cabins. Sakura lay awake in her bed, staring at the bunk above her. Lifting her leg like she did the other day, she kicked it just to assure that her best friend was awake. "I'm awake!" Tomoyo exclaimed a nano-second after Sakura's foot had made contact with its target.

They brushed, washed and dressed quickly. They were met at the front by their teacher chaperone who gave them a tiny brochure that when unfolded became a map of Camp Sunshine, just in case one was lost. She also gave them a slip of paper that indicated where they should be and at what time - their schedule.

"If you are in Cabin One," the chaperone explained, "then you are Group One. If you are in Cabin Two, you are Group Two, so on and so forth. You will be joined by the boys who are also the same group as you and go do your activities together. If you look at your schedules you will see that the very last thing we do for the day before dinner is swim in the lake. We will all be doing that together."

The girls nodded.

"Are there any questions?"

None came. And so, in just a matter of a few minutes they were joined by the boys for it was their turn to come to the girls. Tomoyo waved furiously at Eriol once she saw him appear on the trail. He smiled at her handsomely, walking up to her, Syaoran following behind. Seeing this, Sakura turned away, ready to speed off into a different direction. However, Tomoyo took hold of her elbow, dragging her along with her.

"Morning, Eriol-kun." She greeted.

"Goodmorning, girls," he replied, "what group are you guys?"

"Group Two," Tomoyo answered promptly.

"No kidding!" Eriol exclaimed. His shock for some reason to both Syaoran and Sakura did not seem sincere, "Li-kun and I are also in Group Two. I guess that means we'll be spending the day together. What fun!" Tomoyo nodded vigorously in agreement. Their two friends did nothing but shrug. Barely. More like jerk their left shoulder an inch from its original place.

They were then all joined by everyone else who was part of Group Two and a staff member of Camp Sunshine, who would be guiding them to all their activities aboard a welcome wagon. "What are we doing first?" Sakura asked Tomoyo in wonder as the wagon began moving along the trail. She glanced at the schedule she was given.

"Archery." Syaoran told her.

She barely even looked up from her paper. "Oh."

Tomoyo raised a kind of worried eyebrow to Eriol, who returned this look. "Sakura-chan, switch spots with me," Tomoyo told her so that their seating arrangement would be Sakura, Tomoyo, Eriol, Syaoran. Without waiting for a reply, she got up and plomped herself in between her best friend and Eriol. Bringing her head forward so that her hair swung with her, creating kind of a curtain, she whispered, "What is going on?"

"Nothing," Sakura whispered right back, "It's just...I'm feeling a little weird around Li-kun right now."

"Why!" She hissed, nearly screamed.

Sakura raised her eyebrows warningly. "Tomoyo-chan, not now!" She said through gritted teeth, "I will tell you later!"

As the girls continued arguing, Eriol placed his hand on his cheek, also leaning forward, creating his own kind of curtain. He looked at Syaoran who was staring straight ahead, seeming a little disturbed. "What's up?" Eriol asked, concerned. Syaoran shrugged his shoulders, practically ignoring his question.

"Nothing." He replied, just as Sakura had. "Is there something wrong with Kinomoto-san, though? I mean, is it because of what I did last night? I wasn't thinking. I mean, if it made her a little uncomfortable, I really didn't mean for it to be like that..." He hadn't meant for it to be anything. He didn't even realize what it was that he'd done until his senses came back to him.

"I'm sure she wasn't bothered by it," Eriol insisted.

"Then why is she acting like that towards me?" Syaoran asked.

"I'm sure she'll tell you."

"I hope she does. I mean, Kinomoto-san can tell me anything."

"You're right."

"Of course I'm right!"

Tomoyo turned around, whipping her hair back behind her shoulders, revealing Sakura's eyes who, were Tomoyo's hair still in its place, would've been staring at her raven strands. As it suddenly disappeared from view, Sakura was left with nothing to look at but Syaoran's eyes, which she did not feel comfortable looking into at the moment.

Quickly, she averted her gaze to the floor of the wagon. Syaoran noticed this and his face fell, a little hurt.

In turn, Eriol and Tomoyo shared exasperated looks with each other, which went unnoticed by their friends because of the fact that they were too busy staring at the floor.

This was going to be harder than they'd thought.

The wagon arrived shortly at the Archery Station where they all climbed off board. The wagon driver left them behind once they were met with the archery instructor. She was a pretty red head who seemed very young. Her eyes were like charcoal, smokey and mesmerizing. She didn't look more than twenty years old.

"Hello," she said politely. "Group Number Two, correct?"

"Yes," they answered.

"Wonderful. Follow me," she gestured for them to follow her through the field. In the distance they could see twelve target boards sitting in a row and across from them, quite a few feet away were four bows and a cylinder containing at least twenty arrows. Once they reached this particular area of the field they were all told to get into groups of four and pick one of the twelve stations.

"Group?" Tomoyo asked Eriol and Syaoran, smiling with Sakura at her side. Who, unlike herself, was unsmiling.

"Sure," he agreed, "Shall we use this one?" He suggested, pointing at the station nearest to all of them. They nodded with a shrug and waited for further instruction.

"My name is Miya," the red head told them, "I have been working at Camp Sunshine for about a year now as the archery instructor." She paused and took an arrow from the station nearest to her, "For safety reasons, the arrows are not sharply tipped. Instead, we have curved the end of it. If one releases properly with the right amount of force, the arrow will easily go through the target board."

Miya returned the arrow to the station she took it from. "Has anyone hear ever done archery before?"

Only one lone hand rose into the air. It was a reluctant hand that barely went past his shoulder.

"Li-kun?" Tomoyo asked quietly, "You've done archery before?"

Walking up to him Miya asked, "You have?" Syaoran nodded carelessly. "What is your name, boy?"

"Syaoran Li." He replied.

"Would you consider yourself very good at archery?"

He shrugged. "I guess."

Miya studied him closely, trying to catch his bluff. Since she had started working at Camp Sunshine, she had asked that question to every group that joined her for the very first time, just hoping to make conversation. Oddly enough, no one had ever answered "yes" to that question. Until now, with Syaoran of course.

"Would you like to show us a demonstration then, Li-san?" She suggested, hoping to irk him.

"Do I have to?" He answered reluctantly.

Miya smirked. Now she knew that he was lying. Because he did so, he got to embarrass himself in front of his class. "Yes." She replied, "You do."

Sighing like it was such a bother, Syaoran took a bow and an arrow ever so slowly. Shrugging his shoulders back a few times for exercise, he held the bow out in front of him with his right hand and attached the bow to the string of it. He held that position for a moment, hoping that he didn't have to.

"Go on," Miya insisted, "show us what you've got."

Giving one last, final sigh, he drew back the arrow and let it go, allowing it to fly straight before him, spinning as it did so. The class held its breath, wondering if the arrow would meet the target board or miss it completely. Syaoran, however, once having released the arrow immediately returned the bow and stood behind all of them, hoping to shield himself.

In just a matter of seconds the arrow sank easily into the fabric-like material of the target board. You'd think that the fact that it had at least hit the board was good enough. But no, that arrow did not sink itself into any old place of that board. It had made contact with the bullseye, directly in the middle.

The class burst out into applause. A large amount of fan girls shrieked from where they stood and sprinted to Syaoran hoping to congratulate him (hug him, kiss him, whatever works) - hence the shielding. Sakura had opened her mouth to tell him how amazing he was but of course, she was pushed aside in the stampede.

"Impressive," Miya told him, seperating the swarm of girls, "it seems to me that you don't even need to be here learning how to do this right now." She folded her arms in thought. "Perhaps you could help me, then? I shall teach the lesson, and you can help those who are in need of your help. Does that sound alright wth you?"

Shoving multiple fan girls off of him he agreed grumpily. Fan girls often got him feeling like that.

And so when the fan girls were calmed and Miya had finished teaching the lesson, Syaoran was able given the permission to stand on the sidelines and watch as his classmates attempted to perform the difficult art of archery. Most of them were not releasing properly and their arrows had not even left two feet from their original spot.

Others were not putting enough power into it and though their arrow flew the distance, they hit the target but bounced back, not able to sink into circular board because of lack of force.

He was enjoying laughing at his classmates from the sidelines until he was asked by the archery instructor to help the dozens of people that were not holding the bow properly.

Surprise, surprise. All of the people that were not able to hold the bow properly were fan girls. You see, if one was not holding the bow properly, Syaoran would have to teach them how. And of course, these crazed, insane, desperate girls would do just about anything to be in breathing distance of Syaoran.

"Show me again, please, Syaoran-kun?" A fan girl practically begged.

Sakura watched from afar as Syaoran huffed angrily and positioned himself behind the girl. He tried doing it as quick as possible just so he could get onto the next girl, but through Sakura's eyes, it seemed to go much too slowly for her liking. It disgusted her the way the stupid girls smiled as Syaoran's arms wrapped themselves around their own, holding their hands whilst positioning them. He was practically hugging them!

It was an odd, burning sensation that built up inside of her that she did not like. It was a very new kind of feeling that she could only name as one thing - jealousy. In her envy, she did not focus properly on her bow and arrow and released at an odd angle with a little too much power than actually needed.

A few people screamed as her arrow whizzed past them, missing them by inches and landing in the trunk of a tree with a loud thwonk.

"Ah!" She shrieked in her shock, "I - I'm sorry!" She apologized, bowing multiple amounts of times.

Seeing this, Syaoran smiled. "Miya-san, don't you think that Kinomoto-san needs my help the most right now?"

Her charcoal eyes wide and jaw nearly touching the floor, she nodded. "Absolutely. You stay with her the entire time if you need to, Li-san. Just make sure that she does not do it again."

Sakura blushed, embarrassed.

Smiling even wider, Syaoran left the herd of fan girls who screamed and yelled in protest, which he ignored as easily as he ignored, well, fan girls. He walked up to her, laughing with both his mouth and his eyes. "Very nice," he commented, earning himself a playful slap on the arm which did not hurt at all.

"Be quiet," Sakura ordered him, "that was a complete accident."

"I'm sure it was," he agreed, "let's just make sure it doesn't happen again, okay?"

"Fine. But how?"

Tomoyo stood with Eriol, their heads leaned in to each other's, watching their friends ever so closely. At least they weren't avoiding each other now.

"Well, firstly..." Syaoran instructed. He placed himself behind her and did what he had done with all the other girls, however, this time, he did it very gently. Unlike the other times, when he'd done it quite gruffly and rudely. "Try angling the bow and arrow like this." He held her closely from behind, positioning her arms for her.

"Okay..." she replied, very conscious about his body.

"Now..." removing his arm from her own, dragging his fingers lightly across her porcelaine skin, he held her elbow and pulled it backwards gently. "Your releasing arm is being held together a little sloppily." He tightened his grip on it, but not so that he hurt her. "Try tensing it a little. If it feels a little weird, that's alright. That's normal."

"It...does...feel weird," she commented. Though she was not talking about her arm.

"It's okay," he assured her.

"Is it?" She questioned, her voice whisper-soft.

Syaoran raised an eyebrow. Were they talking about the same thing? "Um. Yeah?"

"So...uh," she glanced backwards making contact with his eyes, "even if I strengthen this feel - I mean, my - er, arm - and it starts feeling really weird...it's...okay? Because...it's normal?"

His eyebrows furrowed together. That was basically what he said. "Uh...yeah..." he smirked a little, "don't chicken out. Just release it and hope to God that things don't go wrong," he laughed a little, remembering how badly her previous arrow flew.

Sakura waited. "You're right."

"Sure I am," he replied. Slowly, he let go of her but remained crouched so that he was at her height. He placed his hands on top of her shoulders and they immediately stiffened. "Good," he breathed into her ear, thinking that they had already been like that for the sake of releasing properly. "Now...let go."

Immediately, the arrow was sent soaring through the air, making a nice, clean, hit on the yellow part of the board, which was very near to the bullseye.

"Great job!" Syaoran congratulated, holding his hand up for a high five.

Sakura stared at him with wide eyes and happiness radiating from her smile. "I did it!" She shrieked. "Yay!"

Ignoring his high five, she threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. A little shocked, Syaoran did not do anything. Instead, he looked above her shoulder and let his eyes wander. First he saw the fuming fan girls with their arms crossed over their chest, stomping their feet angrily.

Then he saw Tomoyo and Eriol, smirking and giving him the thumbs up.

He was just about ready to give those two a piece of his mind.

But before he did that, he incircled his own arms around her tiny waist and lifted her from the ground, spinning a full 360 degrees. "It's strong!" Sakura exclaimed, once he had placed her back onto the ground.

Syaoran cocked his head to the side. "What?"

"And it feels really, really weird!"

"Uh...Kinomoto-san, you know you're not holding the bow any - "

"But you're right! It's okay, because it's normal!"

He stared at her. "I really have no idea what - "

"I have to go speak to Tomoyo-chan! Excuse me!" Without another word, she left him standing there, completely confused, and streaked after her best friend whom she took eagerly by the hand and dragged to a far off place into the field where no one would be able to hear their conversation.

Syaoran stared after the two, still very, very confused.

"What the hell was that about?" He asked Eriol, who had joined him just recently.

Eriol laughed. "You know, you're as dense as she is."

xxxxxx

That, my friends, was Cheesy Event numero uno that took place at Camp Sunshine to our unsuspecting characters, Syaoran Li and Sakura Kinomoto. But hey, let's not make my life difficult here. I'm not going to label each and every cheesy event that happens to them just for your sake! I have other things to witness.

And dont forget, ladies and gents, we made a deal. You guys be the judge. Tell it like it is.

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Happy New Year! Read and review, thank you! Pls visit my profile on deleting info for 'Calendar Girl.'

Signing Off,
Agent08 - My life as a secret agent xD