Middle of Nowhere
by
Sakura-chan Master of the Clow
Chapter 14: 상사병 Symptoms
Summary: Sakura is the loner, the nerd, the freak of her school. Syaoran, the popular heartthrob. She's been picked on ever since she could remember which has made her close off to everyone around her except those she feels truly comfortable and close with. One day, Syaoran's "buddies" make a bet: go out with Sakura for two months and have her fall in love with him before dumping her. But, he cannot fall in love with her. Can he get her to tell him she loves him? Or will he fall hard?
Disclaimer: I do not own any original characters from CardCaptor Sakura. All belongs to the wonderful members of CLAMP. I also don't own any songs or inspired quotes or excerpts that may appear in this fanfiction. All belongs to its corresponding owner. The story line for this fanfiction, however, is all mine so please no copyright.
Announcement: There have been some major changes made. First of all, Syaoran and Sakura are still not a couple at this point, and secondly, Sakura hasn't become friends with Rika, Chiharu, Naoko, or Yamazaki yet. I have made it so that they are now part of her Drama department and build up from there. You can go back and reread the changes as the revised chapters have already been updated, or you can continue to find out what happens next. For those who have stuck around until now, or those just joining in after catching up, enjoy. :D P.S. sorry for the cheesiness in this chapter—I wrote it months before but didn't post it until now, and although I fixed most of it, but I couldn't edit out all of the first part unless I wanted to redo the chapter all over, but that would have made you wait more so . . . yeah, enjoy, I guess. ^-^
It was strange. His whole body was aching at the mere thought of her. Even being near her was starting to cause his body to grow numb. But how, when she was doing nothing but standing there next to him. They had been having more and more rehearsals on their own. The park seemed to have become their go-to meeting place. He had tried, but he could barely focus on the song. How could he when she was so close. To him. Alone.
His hand had reached up to touch his cheek. He could still feel her warm hand. He didn't care if it was part of the "choreography" she had willingly touched him. He had held her. She was so small and fragile in his arms; he had the undeniable need to protect her like he had the first time he had witnessed to extent of her bullying problem.
Every time he was away from her his chest seemed to hurt. It was one of the reasons why he began eating lunch with her more frequently—he couldn't stay away from her for too long. When had he first started feeling this way? When had his body become so accustomed to having her with him? When had it started causing him pain when she was away? When? No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pinpoint and exact time he started feeling this way.
It took all he had to not kiss her in the middle of the song whenever they practiced for their duet. It was torture to be so close to her, but it was torture to be away from her too. He put his arm over his eyes as he lay in bed and his head continued to be plagued with thoughts of her.
"If it's not too much trouble, would it be okay if you stopped picking me up from work from now on?" she had said. She didn't go into much detail, something about not wanting to attract any more attention to them—which he understood to a certain extent. He knew how hurtful the netizens could be and she had enough to deal with in real life as it is. But did she really have to go as far as to tell him that he didn't need to walk her to work or home anymore? Seriously, every time he thought he got closer to her, she always seemed to pull back.
And yet, even the smallest gestures she did to show—or at least to him it seemed like she showed—that she trusted him, or even liked him made his heart sore. Something as small as not pulling away from his embrace or keeping her hand in his may not seem like a big deal, but to him it was a triumph in a long battle ahead.
Rehearsing together seemed to have brought them a little closer, and even he seemed to be enjoying the company of their new friends, Chiharu, Rika, Naoko, Yamazaki, Shun, and Daisuke, whom both he and Haruto learned from Sakura that they were the top of the top in Drama. He knew there were cliques in school, but it looked as if they were all divided into smaller cliques in accordance to the different clubs, who then in turn had their own cliques. From what he had experienced, it seemed as though the Drama cliques were the friendliest. Weird, but friendly nonetheless. They were all outcasts; they had all been picked on at some point or another. Although there was friendly competition in the department, no one ever did anything to harm another—they knew how that felt like. They had no problem speaking their minds, which eased the atmosphere of the place where stress and anxiety from the upcoming competition had taken over. Everyone was fun to be with when they weren't in their "professional" mode, as Sakura put it.
Sakura. No matter how hard he tried to turn his brain elsewhere, it would always somehow, someway lead right back to her. He reached for his phone which lay next to him on the bed to check the time. 10:30PM—she would be cleaning up about now, and getting ready to leave work. He groaned as another hot wave flowed through his chest. His free hand went to grab his shirt, right above from where his heart would be. It didn't ease the pain, but he liked to think it helped.
"Sakura," he called out in the dark, black night. "What have you done to me?"
x~X~x
Syaoran walked in to find Sakura the only one in the classroom—her arms supporting her head down on the desk. He asked one once why she was always the first in class. She said it was because she used to always be late so she had to change her alarm clock so it read three hours later to trick herself into thinking she was late.
"But once you've tricked yourself long enough, wouldn't you know better and end up going back to sleep?" Syaoran asked. "It's not like you could fall for it every time."
Sakura shrugged. "I'm not a morning person, so I wouldn't notice until I came down for breakfast."
"Still, isn't three hour a bit much?"
"Not for me," Sakura said, giving out a small laugh. "At least I get plenty of time to eat breakfast and make lunch."
Syaoran smiled at the memory even when his chest started to ache at the thought of it, but the pain wasn't as bad as last night, as if his body knew that she was only a mere few feet away. Ignoring it, he walked into the room and quietly slid the door shut. He shifted into the seat in front of her and placed his arms on the back of the chair to rest his head on. She didn't even stir. Lightly he gave her a few light shoves while calling out her name in a sing-song voice.
He was met face to face with cold green eyes glaring at him through her soft auburn bangs and his breath stopped. She was staring at him with the same cold eyes as when he was first trying to earn her trust. He knew he had more ways to go, but he was getting closer little by little. Her eyes soften a little; she must have finally realized it was him. She sat up straight and rubbed her eyes as she murmured a low, "Oh, it's only you."
"Good morning to you, too," he said, smiling. He placed his hand over her own that was going for her glasses and gently brought it back down on the desk. "If you're tired, you can sleep for a few more minutes. I'll wake you up when class starts."
She gave a small nod and placed her head back down over her arms, her face facing the window. It was barely audible, but he heard a small "Thank you." Not long after that her breathe evened out and he knew she was fast asleep.
Syaoran's face softened as he looked at the girl before him. He let his fingers brush her bangs away to get a better look at her sleeping face. Her mouth was completely closed but relaxed, and her lashes kissed the top of her cheeks. She looked so peaceful, and innocent, and . . . vulnerable.
"She's so cute when she sleeps, huh? Like a little kitty cat," came a whisper right next to his ear.
Syaoran jumped and had his hands in a fighting-ready position. He sighed and lowered his arms when he realized who it was. "Don't scare me like that," he said in a hushed voice, mindful of Sakura sleeping.
Haruto gave a low chuckle and moved to kneel in front of Sakura. He smoothed her hair out gently and smiled. "She's always been like this. She can fall asleep practically anywhere—even standing up. It's always a pain trying to get her to wake up."
Syaoran laughed at that. "Somehow I believe that. She's been sleeping a lot before class recently. Sometimes I see her nodding off in class too."
Haruto turned to look at him. "That's not like Sakura. Not matter how tired she is, she always does her best to stay awake in class. She takes her studies seriously." Haruto looked back at Sakura. "The fact that she's starting to fall asleep during class must mean she's having trouble keeping up with her hectic schedule."
"I'm sure it's just because she's stressed over Districts. It's only a few days away and there have been rehearsals every day now," Syaoran reassured. "She even had to cut back on her work hours at the bakery for this too."
"I guess," Haruto sighed. "Or there's something else bothering her that she's not telling us." Syaoran didn't know what to say to that. A few students have started to pile in and just kept increasing. Haruto noticed and stood up. "It seems class will be starting soon. I'll stop by during the breaks. Take care of her in the meantime, okay?"
Syaoran could only nod as he saw Haruto slip through the door to go to his own classroom. Looking back at Sakura, he worried that the noise from the students would bother her, when he noticed something white on her ear and he immediately recognized it as an ear bud. She must have put music on to drown out the noise for this reason. Syaoran smiled and patted her head. Don't push yourself too hard, Sakura.
x~X~x
True to his word, Haruto came to visit Sakura during the breaks. And every time Sakura politely excused herself to spend some one-on-one time with her old friend leaving Syaoran to stare off after her alone—if you call being surrounded by every girl in his class alone. He was blatantly ignoring the girls around him but he doubted they cared as long as they were able to say they were in his presence.
One of the girls finally followed his line of eye sight and gave a small huff. "Why do you even bother with her, Li-san?"
Syaoran snapped back to reality and gave the girl a questioning look. "What was that?"
The girl wasn't pleased by his answer. Syaoran recognized her as Makoto, one of Hanako's friends whom was lucky enough to share the same classroom as him. Syaoran figured Hanako probably had her keep an eye on him, something she was much too happy to do. "Kinomoto Sakura," she stated sourly. "I just want to know why you're bothering with someone like her," Makoto repeated. "It seems to me like she prefers the new guy more than you."
Syaoran swallowed and managed a smile. "She's just more comfortable with him than me," he said. "They are childhood friends after all."
"I'm amazed you can put up with her, Li-kun," another girl said. "I mean, she's such a freak. She doesn't even try to talk to anyone, as if she's better than everyone else."
Syaoran's hand clenched into a fist but he didn't say anything. He wanted to see how they really thought of Sakura.
"Right?" another girl chimed in. "And what with her always making it a point to be at the top of the class. Is she trying to show off or something?"
Makoto scuffed. "It's so annoying. Like, if her nose isn't dug into a textbook in class, it's dug into some kind of book in the library. I'm amazed she even has a friend like Haruto-kun, whose way out of her league."
"I bet that if he wasn't here, she would still be friendless, how pathetic. It's not like those stupid books of hers have done her any good."
Syaoran heard just about enough. "Stop," he said in a low voice. It sounded much more commanding and menacing than meaning to, but he really didn't care at this point.
The girls turned to face him. "What was that Li-kun?"
Syaoran stood up and glared down at them. "I said stop; that's enough. I don't want to hear you bitching off about her again, understand?" The girls were shocked by his tone more than anything and didn't say anything after that their heads hung low—like a kid when being scolded by their mother. He started walking away from them when he suddenly stopped. "And you're wrong," he said, not turning to face them. His anger was still high and he didn't want to do something he'd regret later. "I would make it my purpose to be friends with her even if Tenshi wasn't here."
Syaoran practically stomped over to where Sakura and Haruto were at. Sakura eyes bore into his as he was approaching them and he could swear he could feel his heart pierce as her green eyes made contact with his. Damn it, Sakura, how do you do that?
"Hey, Syaoran-kun," Sakura greeted cheerfully. She and Haruto were sitting with their backs against the wall right between their two classrooms. "How did the girls treat you?"
Syaoran growled at the thought of what the girls had said about Sakura just moments prior. "I don't wanna talk about it."
Sakura gave him a questioning look but decided to drop it. "Well, want to sit down with us? We're just talking about school, nothing fancy." Syaoran shrugged and sat down next to Sakura. He was being uncharacteristically quiet today, and he knew Sakura could sense this. Still, she wasn't the type of person that wanted to know every detail about everyone and everything so she didn't comment on his behavior. "Soooo, what do you think of the school so far?" Sakura asked turning back to Haruto.
"Great, except for the fact that I had a pop quiz my first day here.
Sakura winced. "Ouch. How was it?"
"Well it was English so I think I passed."
Sakura laughed. "I think you're more than good. I bet you don't have to worry about English class at all." Syaoran could see a tint of pink forming on Haruto's cheeks. "Hey, since you're pretty much fluent in it, maybe you could tutor me sometime?"
"Sure. No problem."
Sakura's eyes lit up. "Really?" She grabbed his arm and tugged on it. "You really mean it?"
Haruto nodded, smiling down at her "Of course, what are friends for?" He must have been used to this kind of behavior from her—if it were Syaoran in his shoes he would barely be able to nod at her. He needed to get to know this Sakura better; the Sakura who wasn't afraid to smile, joke around, share her feelings, rely on him, or anything else that she and Haruto seem to share throughout their long years of friendship.
Sakura, with her hands still wrapped around Haruto's arm, rested her head on his shoulder. Even Haruto must have been surprised by her actions when he asked her, "What's wrong?"
Sakura nuzzled deeper into his arm in response. "Shh. Sleepy," she mumbled. For the second time that day, he saw Sakura's peaceful sleeping face. His eyes shifted to Haruto to see a concerned look on his face which he was sure matched his own. He was just about to ask what was wrong when a teacher called Haruto over. He answered back saying he's be right there before turning to Syaoran.
"Can you look after her for a minute?" he asked carefully prying Sakura's hands off his. Sakura's eyes scrunched together at the lack of warmth but Haruto gently pushed her so she laid her head on Syaoran's shoulder instead. Syaoran's breath caught when Sakura wrapped her hands around his arm so she was in the same position as she was with Haruto before. "I'll be right back," Haruto whispered, and Syaoran could do nothing but watch him leave, a perfectly content and oblivious Sakura in his arm.
Haruto came back a minute later with a stack of papers in hand. "Hey, I have to go do something for the teacher. Tell Sakura I'll meet up with her at lunch or something, okay?"
"Sure." Inside, Syaoran was relived; he didn't want to give Sakura back right away. Only a few minutes had passed but Syaoran's lower back was starting to hurt. He looked down to see how Sakura was doing. She didn't seem to have a care in the world—he wondered if she really was comfortable in that position. It certainly didn't look comfortable but her peaceful face told another story. He let out a small chuckle "You really are like a cat."
The warning bell rang then and the students around them rushed to get to their class. He managed to glare away anyone who dared say something about them. "Sakura-chan," he called out. Nothing. "Sakura-chan, time to wake up, we don't want to be late for class now do we?" Still nothing. "Do I need kiss Sleeping Beauty awake?" Again, nothing. Sakura instead squeezed his arm closer to her. "Okay, suit yourself~"
Syaoran placed his thumb and forefinger under her chin and gently lifted her face. He leaned in and gave a soft, chaste kiss on her cheek. Nothing. He leaned in again, this time going for her nose. She stirred but didn't open her eyes. "Well, you forced me into it, Sa-ku-ra-chan," he whispered. He leaned in again. This time going for her lips. He was just centimeters away when her eyes slowly opened. It took about three full seconds for her to read the situation.
She jerked away from him and glared. "What are you— Syaoran-kun?" Her eyes blinked in surprise. She must have sensed it was someone else other than Haruto, but obviously didn't know it was him until now. "What the hell?" She was back to glaring at him with those same cold green eyes as before.
Syaoran shrugged and stood up. "You wouldn't wake up," he said simply. "So naturally, being the prince that I am, had to wake up his Sleeping Beauty."
"All right, you need to stop with all the Disney references." She took his extended hand and pulled herself up. "First you rip off Flynn Rider's signature look, and now Sleeping Beauty?"
"I didn't rip it off," Syaoran said, in a matter-of-fact kind of tone and began walking into their classroom. "I perfected it."
Sakura hid her laughter with a cough. Syaoran gave her a strange look which she simply waved off. "I'm sorry," she said as she took a seat down on her chair.
Syaoran followed and sat down at his seat right behind hers. "No you're not," he said. "You don't believe I perfected it do you?"
Sakura turned around to retort but stopped midway. He was doing it and, she had to admit, it was impressive, but much like Rapunzel, she was unaffected by it. The final bell rang and Sakura knew the teacher would soon come in. She pushed his shoulder playfully. "Oh please, just—" She smirked. "Let it go."
x~X~x
"Oh, my dearest Halia. Faithful servant…" Hagitha spread her arms wide and went to hug Halia.
Halia placed a hand on Hagitha's head and pushed her away. "Oh, hell no! Back away you crazy old bitch!"
"Are those the words of a killer? Huh?" Pureluck accused, finger pointing at Halia. "How about it Halia Jackson? Was a lifetime of cleaning up after Poopsie enough to drive you over the edge?"
"Hell yeah it was!" Halia confessed. "That little yappy dog, spent his days stinking up the place, dropping his little Poopsie poops everywhere! I hated that little rat, but that don't mean I killed him."
"Halia! How could you?" wailed Hagitha dramatically. "My….beloved…Poopsie."
"Beloved my ass! You might have loved that little rat, five years ago, but something happened after Mr. Featherbottom died …"
Dodson, notepad in hand, asked, "What was that? Halia? What happened?"
"Well, I don't know what exactly. But something was different. Mr. F always hated that mutt, but Mrs. Featherbottom worshipped the ground little Poopsie peed on. She nagged him all the time." Halia went upstage center and grabbed the painted frame of Poopsie from the stand, mocking Hagitha's fake Brtitish accent. "'Look at the puppy! Look at the puppy! Isn't he pre-es-cious.'" She slammed the picture down on the floor. "She even insisted on leaving Poopsie everything in the will. That way, whoever took care of him would be in control of their money and take good care of him. Mr. F, resisted, but Hagitha was persistent, and eventually he gave in. Then when he died, it was like his hate for Poopsie transferred into Mrs. F."
"You hated Poopsie, huh?" he said, his head already calculating what Halia had said. "You hated the one pers…thing…standing between you and a multi-million dollar inheritance.
"How dare you accuse me!" Hagitha retorted in her 'British' accent. "How very dare you! I could NEVER hate Poopsie! He was my angel! My everything!" She fell dramatically on the chaze lounge
"Ha! Not her everything," Halia said, her sassy hips swaying as she walked towards Hagitha. She bent down next to Hagitha's ear but said, just loud enough so everyone could hear, "Why don't you tell them about Rodrigo?"
Hagitha sat up straight and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't have the slightest clue what you're talking about."
"Who is Rodrigo?" Dodson asked.
"Her Pilates instructor," Halia clarified, emphasis on instructor.
"He keeps me in shape!" Hagitha defended.
"In more ways than one."
Hagitha stood up. "Halia! Your lies have reached a new level of loooow,"
"And where can we find this Rodrigo?" Pureluck asked.
"He's been hiding in the secret room behind the bookcase the whole time," Halia said, feather duster pointing to the bookcase
Everyone, except Halia and Hagitha, screamed, "What?"
"How do you know about my secret room?!" Hagitha asked, rather embarrassed.
"And how do you know he's in there?" Dodson, added.
"I've been cleaning every corner of this house for twelve years," Halia said calmly. She sat down on the couch where a passed out Jessica was at on the floor at the very foot of it—due to too much pills and liquor—and dusted the couch with her feather duster all the while looking at Hagitha. "I know all of its secrets."
"Not ALL of its secrets I hope." Hagitha looked hopeful.
"ALL of its secrets!"
Pureluck stepped up. "Even those secrets involving . . . MURDER!" He nodded towards Dodson.
"Oh!" Dodson, who was trying to find something to open up the secret room behind the bookcase, stopped what he was doing and pressed play on the boom box. Except instead of the Dun Dun Dun, music playing, LMFAO's I'm Sexy and I Know It started playing. Everyone broke out into dance and the bookcase slowly swung open, revealing a dancing Rodrigo on the inside, LED lights surrounding his silhouette. Dodson pressed stop on the boom box and everyone, including Rodrigo (being portrayed by Yamazaki) stopped dancing.
Rodrigo looked out confused and snapped his fingers back and forth awkwardly, turning off the LED lights inside the bookcase in the process. "Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah?" He peaked his head out and his head shook as he looked from left to right. "Can Rodrigo come out now?"
Halia gave a sarcastic, "Mmmm Hmmm." Sakura (Halia) rested her head on her arm, her arm being supported by the back of the couch. Sakura saw Daisuke's (Hagitha) eyes meet hers, silently asking if she was okay. She gently nodded her head, telling him she was fine. The exchange went unnoticed by the audience. Only those in the cast knew everyone's movement and staging as if it were their own. Daisuke, quickly snapped back into Hagitha as Rodrigo said his next line.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Featherbottom, but it is cold in that room, and Rodrigo is used to tropical climates." He sees LaDeucé on the ground and gasps. "Oh my goodness! What happened to Mr. Douche?"
"Rodrigo! He's dead!" she said and pointed her hands in LaDeucé's directions. "And please respect his late name. It's LA-Douche!"
Rodrigo bent down and cradled LaDeucé's head. "Aye! Poor papi!"
"That's right, he's dead, and you sir are now a suspect!" Pureluck announces.
Rodrigo gasps and stands up, dropping LaDeucé in the process. "Rodrigo is a suspect?!"
"Yes, Rodrigo. You are. And we're going to have to question you." Dodson gives him a once over and cringes. "So you may want to put some pants on."
"Rodrigo IS wearing pants!" he said, clearly offended. He spread his arms wide and crossed his feet, one over the other. "This is my pilates outfit."
"You call THAT an outfit?" Pureluck snickered.
Halia stood up and laughed. "You call THAT an outfit?" She sauntered over to Pureluck, and said in a baby-like voice. "What is that a Fisher Price, My First Detective costume?"
Pureluck look horrified. "I beg your pardon?"
"You can beg for it, but you ain't getting it." Halia added a slight sexy pose at the end. "Is that even a real pipe?"
"It's a bubble pipe. I quit smoking two years ago, thank you very much." To prove his point, he blew into it and bubbles started floating out.
"Cool! Chad exclaims and begins popping the bubbles around him.
Jessica springs up from the ground causing Halia, who was nearest to her, to give out a yelp. "Mama needs another pill!" she exclaims. She notices the bubbles and instantly becomes distracted. "Heylook," she slurs, leaning on Pureluck for support. " It's Glinda, the good witch. Just you and IIIIIII Defyyyyyyyying graaaavity …" She passes back out.
The scene continues on but Sakura was barely able to keep focus. She felt herself getting sleepy once more but she fought it back. You're almost done, Sakura told herself. Rodrigo is here so you're a little more than half way done. Soon LaDouche will pop back up and you will shoot him and Rodrigo takes hold of him. And then the big reveal. You can do this.
The rest of the one-act went on without a hitch. A few gunshots were out of place, with which Sakura knew they would have to talk about after they were done running through the show. Before she knew it, it was time for her to storm off stage, yelling something along the lines of a family that's nuts and she's quitting. She snickered with Daisuke, whom was already backstage with his "male double" taking his place on stage, before standing at attention, her legs apart and hands behind her back, in front of him.
"Hey, Sakura-chan," Daisuke whispered, tapping her shoulder lightly. "Are you okay? Your face looks a little red."
Sakura nodded, blinking away the black dots that starting clouding her vision. "Yeah, I'm fine." She faced front once more and decided it was best to close her eyes for a brief second, hoping it would help her tired eyes. When she opened her eyes, her vision was turned on her side, and why was everyone so tall all of a sudden? She saw Raven and Chad's footsteps approaching as they were exiting out of the stage and she immediately knew what had happened to her. They stopped briefly in front of her surprised to find her lying on her side on the floor. Luckily they were already far enough in the wings that no one in the audience noticed it.
She saw the concerned faces of the tech and cast that were there so far. If Raven and Chad were there already, it wouldn't be long until LaDeucé, Dodson, and "Hagitha" would exit the stage too. She stood right up and instantly regretted it. She grabbed hold of her head and felt someone take her hand, she grabbed hold of it gratefully to help steady herself.
Naoko, who was the floor manager, was instantly at her side. "Are you okay?" she whispered. Sakura managed a nod but it seemed Naoko was ignoring her. Taking hold of her other arm carefully, she led her to the girl's dressing room crossing the stage, making sure to travel behind the mid drape.
"Wait, hold on," Sakura said as she was forced to take a seat. "I still have to go out and help strike the set."
"Oh shush, you're an actor now, we have someone in tech to take care of it," Naoko said, handing her a bottle of water and a lollipop she got from the bowl of candies they had lying around the dressing room. "Daisuke-kun, stay with her, okay?"
Daisuke nodded in understanding and sat in one of the chairs in front of her. Sakura had just now realized that it was Daisuke that offered his hand earlier to keep her balanced. She blushed at the thought, obviously still not over her little crush she had on him. It was silent between them. Sakura finally took a deep breath and gathered her courage speak. "I fainted, didn't I?"
He mimicked, Halia's "Mm hmm," and Sakura gave a soft laugh.
"How long was I out?"
"Not long," Daisuke spoke. "About five seconds." Sakura didn't know what else to do but nod. "It kind of scared me to be honest," Daisuke spoke up. "One minute we're standing at attention, and the next I see you fall back. I couldn't get my arms out in time to catch you fully so you kind of just slid down. No one knew what to do."
Sakura blushed in embarrassment and hung her head. "I'm sorry."
Daisuke shook his head. "Don't be. But um, are you okay?"
"I'm all right now," Sakura assured, taking a sip from her water bottle before popping the lollipop back in her mouth. "Really, I can go out and help strike the set."
As soon as the words left her mouth, they heard Beyoncé's Single Ladies blast through the doors, indicating it was the end of the show and the tech crew would be dancing on stage as they striked the minimal set. "Too late now." Daisuke smirked. He stood up and held his hand out.
Knowing what he was insinuating, she grabbed his hand and stood up. They looked at one another for a brief second before breaking out into dance. They danced their way back to the other side of the stage (going behind the mid drape so they couldn't be seen) and took their place backstage as they were before. Sakura assured the cast and crew she was all right at the concerned looks they gave her.
"42.25!" came Yukari's voice through the speakers. "Good job guys, come on out for notes."
x~X~x
Sakura was right. Right after notes, they worked on perfecting the gunshots at the end. Sakura already had the cues ready to call out on her copy of the script for when she was Stage Manager, but now it was a matter of Akane (a sophomore), whom took over as SM in Sakura's place, getting used to calling them at the precise moment and the actors getting accustomed to their gestures used to cue them so it would look natural. They ran through the ending again to help Akane get accustomed to the cues from the actors. As soon as they had it all figured out and settled, Yukari called it a day and dismissed everyone.
As soon as Sakura stepped out fully out of costume and make-up, Yukari called her over. She looked towards the audience and easily spotted Syaoran and Haruto, who were patiently waiting for her, and signaled to them that she would be there in a minute.
"Yes, Captain?" It was Yukari's nickname in the theater. She preferred to go by it; she thought it seemed fitting as she was the only adult in charge of the Drama Department whereas most other schools had two or more teachers to run the department.
Yukari put an arm around her and started walking with her to the back of the auditorium, heading to the booth. "Hey, I heard you fainted backstage. Are you okay?"
"Oh." Sakura was surprised but kept her composure. Sakura figured Naoko must have told her what happened. "Yeah, I'm fine. Naoko-chan gave me a lollipop. I guess I was just low on sugar."
Yukari gave her a skeptical look. "Are you sure?"
Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I mean, I woke up late and missed breakfast this morning, but other than that, I'm completely fine."
It was a lie. She had been missing breakfast for the past few days now. She had time in the morning to make her and her father lunch, but made enough breakfast for him only. He almost always woke up after her and she was almost always long gone by the time he made it down for breakfast. She had also been staying up late trying the keep up with her studies. It's true, she took off hours at the bakery due to the constant rehearsals, but what Syaoran didn't know is that she had more than one job, which is why she had asked if he would stop taking her to work; she didn't want him to find out and worry about her—even Haruto didn't know.
"All right, then." There was reluctance in Yukari's voice, but having her for three years as her student, she knew Sakura well enough by now to know she wasn't one to express herself often as much as the others. "Do you mind showing Akane how to turn off the light and sound board again? And here." She placed the God mike in Sakura's hand. "Show her how to set this up too. You're free to go after that."
"Sure, no problem!" Sakura smiled brightly and jogged to the booth. As much as she was enjoying being on stage performing, she loved the technical aspect of the theater.
Sakura patiently showed Akane how to properly turn on and off the light, and especially, the sound board. Sakura was one of the few tech people who knew how to operate both the light and sound board so when inexperienced hands tried to shut the sound board on and off, a loud popping sound came through the speakers in the house, which was not a good sign. "So make sure to do it in that order precisely. Otherwise you'll get that popping sound and it could damage the speakers."
"Got it." Akane was finishing writing something on the inside of her binder. "I have it written down step by step, so hopefully that won't happen anymore. Thanks for being so patient with me."
"It's no trouble," Sakura said as they made their way down the small set of steps that lead to the door. "Once you've done it enough it becomes like second nature. Any time you need any help, just let me know. I miss being up here so I'll take any excuse I can get." Sakura opened the door to find a startled Daisuke on the other side. "Daisuke-kun?" Sakura blinked. "Did Yukari-sensei send you up here to get something?"
Daisuke's feet shuffled. "Uh, no, actually . . . I was looking for you."
Sakura blinked. "Me?"
Akane's eyes shifted between the two and smiled. She placed and encouraging hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Well, I'll see you later, Sakura-chan. Thanks again for before." She snaked her way out the door. "See you, Daisuke-kun."
Sakura looked at Akane and caught her sending her a wink. Okay . . . that was weird. "Anyways," Sakura started. She locked the booth from the inside and jiggled the knob to make sure it was locked before falling into step with Daisuke as they made their way down the aisle to the front of house. She saw that Syaoran and Haruto were conversing with Yamazaki near the stage. "What's up?"
Daisuke shrugged. "Nothing much. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Yeah, I am." Sakura's eyebrows scrunched together. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Daisuke gave her an incredulous look. "Uh, because you fainted earlier," he pointed out. "Did you hit your head harder than we thought?"
"Oh, yeah that. Sorry I forgot." Sakura laughed nervously.
"How could you forget something like that so easily?" His hand went up to her head and rubbed it. "Are you sure you didn't bruise you head or something."
Sakura rolled her head away. "No, I'm fine, really." He gave her a skeptical look. They had stopped walking. "Seriously, I'm okay," she insisted. "But thank you for showing your concern." Sakura smiled. "It means a lot."
Daisuke studied her a bit longer before cracking a smile of his own. He took her hand in his and pulled her towards him into a tight embrace. "I'm glad." She heard him whisper in her ear; he was at least and inch taller than her so his head was able to comfortably rest on her shoulder. Sakura was too stunned to do anything. Eventually she relaxed and managed to return his hug happily. She closed her eyes as she felt him relax too. All too abruptly, he let go of her. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." He didn't wait for her response as he started walking away. He stopped momentarily and added, "Make sure to get some rest tonight."
Sakura blinked. "Yeah, okay." She watched his retreating figure with a confused expression. "That's weird. Why did he leave so suddenly?"
Almost as if on cue, she heard a gruff "Ah-hem" come from behind. She turned around to find a rather irritated Syaoran. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and he was glaring at Daisuke's retreating figure. "What was all that about?" As soon as he disappeared behind the exit doors, his glare shifted to Sakura. She visibly shuddered under his gaze.
"Oh that?" She pointed behind her. "Nothing. Daisuke-kun was just saying goodbye." She didn't know why but she had the sudden urge to protect Daisuke from Syaoran. That and she didn't want to tell him about the whole fainting incident. After all, him telling the rest of the school to back off had done more harm than good. If he found out about what happened backstage who knows what he would do.
"By hugging and getting all . . . touchy-feely with you?" His voice was cold.
"Yes, actually." It was Sakura's turn to glare. "Here in Drama we're like a family, so it's not unusual if we get touchy-feely with each other." She made air quotations as if to mock his choice of words. Behind him, she saw Haruto bid farewell to Yamazaki and make his way to where they were, her bag in hand. He must have seen things were about to get ugly.
"Yeah, well, it didn't seem like you were that close before you became part of the cast," Syaoran shot back.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura's hands were on her hips now.
"I'm just saying, I didn't see any of them try to defend you when the whole school ganged up on you the other day."
"That's because no one in Drama leaves through the front of the school." They way her tone was he was surprised she didn't add a "duh". "Everyone leaves through the two exits here."
Syaoran's eyebrows set to ones of confusion at this new set of information. "Well if you could have avoided them that day, why didn't you?"
"I'm not a coward, Li-kun," Sakura hissed. "I chose to go that way because I knew they could never do anything to hurt me more than they have already. I needed to prove to them that I after all they've said and done, they could no longer control me with their hateful words and that I forgave them for it. And more importantly I needed to prove that to myself."
"How in the world could you ever forgive them? You're lucky I was there or things could have gotten far worse than a slap."
"Yeah, I guess I am," Sakura said dryly. "Just be glad you don't know what it feels like to be in their place. Forgiving someone who has hurt you is far more painful for that person than getting revenge."
Syaoran didn't know how to respond to that. Even if he had, he wouldn't have gotten the chance as Haruto decided to make his presence known at that exact moment. "Sooo . . .," he said cautiously, looking from Sakura to Syaoran and back. "Are we all ready to go home?"
Sakura was the first to break eye contact. She turned and smiled brightly at Haruto. "Yeah. Sorry to keep you waiting."
"It's no trouble," Haruto answered just as brightly.
Syaoran was left to stand in awe, wondering how they could both act so nonchalant. He and Sakura pretty much had their first somewhat big argument and they weren't even together yet! Syaoran shook his head and followed them out. He kept a few strides behind them as they walked home. They were talking amongst themselves in hushed voices, making it plainly obvious that they didn't want him to hear their conversation, but in the moment, he didn't care—too lost in his own mind.
He couldn't believe his jealousy got the best of him. Yes, he admit it—he was jealous; sue him. He couldn't believe that it got Sakura to be mad at him because of it, too. He was so stupid. Everything was going perfectly smooth between them, and he had to go and screw it up. He knew he had to somehow fix things between them, or else he might lose her. And he couldn't live with himself if that happened.
Sakura's house was always the first stop, but Haruto didn't seem to be bidding her farewell; instead, he was bidding Syaoran farewell. Syaoran raised an eyebrow at the two.
"Since Haruto lives by himself and can't cook anything to save his life, he stays over at my house and for dinner," Sakura explained at his unasked question. "Would you like to join us? I'm sure there's plenty to go around," she added as an afterthought. It's been a while since Syaoran walked her home, obviously he wouldn't know about Haruto staying over practically every night.
Syaoran shook his head. "No, that's all right. But I would like to talk with you." He glanced at Haruto and added, "Privately."
Sakura looked back at Haruto. They seemed to be having a silent conversation with their eyes. Syaoran felt a ting of jealousy at that, but he suppressed it. Finally, Haruto nodded. "I'll meet you inside," he told Sakura. "See you tomorrow, Li-kun."
Syaoran only nodded in response. He wasted no time as soon as the front door closed. "Look," he started, "I'm sorry for earlier. I guess I let my jealousy get the best of me and I took it out on you."
Sakura raised her eyebrows. "What could you possibly get jealous of?"
"Daisuke," Syaoran said, as if it were obvious.
"Daisuke-kun?" Sakura blinked. "Why would you be jealous of him?"
"Why wouldn't I? Haruto-kun told me you still have a crush on him, even though it's been three years." Sakura blushed at this. "And when I saw him hold you like that, I couldn't help it. He's gotten closer to you in a shorter amount of time than I have."
Sakura gave a light laugh. "Believe me, he hasn't. I've wanted to be in his circle of friends since our freshman year and it took me this long. We've only ever acknowledged each other in class or in the hallways but that's it. If I would have known that becoming an actor would get me closer to him, I would have done it a long time ago.'" She was half -joking, of course, but her words didn't seem to make him feel any better. Seeing that, she reached up to take one of his hands in hers. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have been so harsh."
"You had every right to be. I shouldn't have touched such a sensitive subject." His free hand stroked her hair lovingly. "The last thing I would want to do is hurt you." His hand traveled from her cheek down to her chin and gently pulled her face closer to his. He heard her sharply inhale. "Forgive me, Sakura-chan?"
He could see the blush creep up on her cheeks. Her green eyes were blinking rapidly behind her glasses. He restrained himself from smiling—glad she wasn't completely invulnerable against his charm. "Y-yeah," she breathed. "N-no worries."
Syaoran was finally able to bring out a smile and did the one thing he had wanted to do for the longest time now, without the excuse of rehearsing their song. Okay, scratch that, the second thing. He took hold of her shoulders and pulled her into a tight embrace, one hand cradling her head. "I'm glad," he whispered in her ear.
Sakura had a weird sense of déjà vu—except, in Syaoran's arms, it felt so natural. She felt safe, the way his hands were gentle around her and she could feel the sincerity of his earlier words. Any doubts she had about Syaoran seemed to vanish when he held her like this.
He drew back, his hands cupping her face. "Sakura-chan, I want you to know that you can tell me anything. You can trust me. I don't ever want to hurt you, and I don't want you to keep thinking I'm some bad guy with an ulterior motive. You know right? By now, you must know that I—that I like you." Sakura's eyes widened. He didn't know what possessed him to say it, but there was no turning back now. "Or maybe you don't." He laughed lightly and stroked her hair. "You don't know how badly I want to be with you." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "It hurts to be with you, but it also hurts to be away from you. I feel as if my chest is trapped in a constant flame. I have never felt this way before, about anyone. I feel sick constantly by just the thought of you, as if I might go crazy, but the only medicine . . . is you." He paused, searching her eyes. "Earlier, I felt as if I was losing you to Daisuke and I couldn't hold it in. I can't live if I lose you, Sakura-chan."
She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but no words formed. Syaoran merely smiled.
"It's okay. I'm not expecting an answer any time soon. I just wanted to let you know how I felt." If Sakura hadn't just seen it, she wouldn't have felt the kiss he placed on her forehead. "Goodnight, Sakura-chan."
상사병 Symptoms
by
SHINee
from
Everybody - EP
Anonymous Reviews from Chapter 13
reader I hope I put in enough SxS moments for you. Sorry for the wait.
DesMM Aw, you're so sweet, thank you. I was trying not to make this into a filler chapter like the last one apparently was. I hope I succeeded. ^^;
littlepuppylost I finally updated! . . . AGAIN! LOL No the person who gave Sakura her first kiss hasn't been revealed yet. But it will soon, if you don't know who it is already. I never gave a big enough hint, so probably not. The fight between Haruto and Sakura is a big part of her past, which will also be revealed eventually. Sorry, I know I've been keeping you all in the dark for so long! I hope you were satisfied with all the SxS scenes in this chapter. Also I added a jealous Syaoran at the end just for you. ;)
Anony Yes, last chapter was a bit of a filler. SxS didn't go on a date on this one, but Syaoran did make a move, ne? A big one. Sheesh, he just blurted that out of nowhere, even I'm surprised. I'm not sure what to do now. LOL If you don't know who Sakura's first kiss is by this chapter, I guess you'll find out soon enough. Sorry for the wait and thanks so much for reviewing!
disneydrm Thank you so much! I'll try not to keep you waiting for so long next time!
Littlepuppylost(2) Sorry! You had to review twice because of my lack of updates. But I'll try harder to write more this year.
YourBiggestFan Daw, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to keep my biggest fan waiting. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Guest (1st to review) Sorry to make you wait, too. But thank you! I love BoA too.
pooja manohar Yeah, this one took a while, sorry. Wow I feel like I'm apologizing in every review.
Anony (2nd to review) Yeah, sometimes the theater stuff can get a but fillery, but I hope this time it didn't. ;) I hope there were enough SxS moments for you. Touya will be making an appearance sometime in the future, I can assure you that. Please let me know what you think.
allyD Here you go! I'll get working on the next chapter now.
HikariAngel Aw, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to cause you pain! But I'm glad you identify with Sakura as much as I do. It'll get better, I promise.
BloodRose Yes, I'm alive! I'm sorry to keep you waiting! There have been some changes made in the last chapters. You might have to go back and reread it . . . again.
3 I know! I'm a horrible person for keeping you waiting so long! I'll try to work harder to not take as long next time.
Guest (2nd to review) Thank you so much! I will most definitely continue writing! Don't worry!
I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! OMG Thank you for 400 reviews! Gosh, I don't even feel like I deserve it cuz it's been like, more than year, right? Sorry for that. I've had a MAJOR writers block. It was bad, you have no idea. I had to go back and reread what I wrote previously. That said, I also made a few major changes. If you are an old reader and was too excited to head my warning up above and just wanted to read the chapter, it may be a good time to go back and reread the story now-although I'm not sure if it's all that necessary. Like I said before, the only major things I changed were that Syaoran and Sakura are not together at this point, and Rika, Naoko, Chiharu, and Yamazaki were not friends with her in the past—they've started becoming friends once she was in the cast of the One-Act Clueless, much like Sakura and Daisuke.
Oh and soooo sorry for the cheesiness in this chapter—especially that first part. Even my hands were clenching at it while I went back and edited this. Um, well I guess that's about it. I'll try to update soon-ish, if the major writers block doesn't strike again. Thanks to all the people who've reviews throughout my unexpected hiatus—I never wanted to become that kind of author I swear. I know I may have lost a bunch of readers, but I do hope I gained a few new ones. I look forward to what you have to say! Also, I didn't plan on making Syaoran confess this soon, but it seems like he's been waiting just as long as you all have. LOL
Sakura-chan Master of the Clow
Updated November 16, 2014
P.S. Support GOT7 at MAMA 2014 and vote for them! K-Pop lured me in deeper while I was away with no hopes of letting me out, not that I'm complaining. Last year was really the year of my ultimate babies SHINee and I thought I would get a break finally and catch up on writing this year but then GOT7 babies debuted and it was downhill from there once more. They're the only thing keeping me together because this year was just a mess, I'm looking at you SM Ent. OTL Again soooo terribly sorry! ALSO THEIR COMEBACK IS TODAY WITH THEIR FIRST FULL LENGTH ALBUM! WOOOOO! GOT7 IDENTITY FIGHTING! If you're into K-Pop, please support their title track "하지하지마(Stop stop it)"~! ^-^