XOXO
A week passed without incident.
Ever since the… night of the dance, Sakura had avoided Syaoran, as best as she could. She was the last person to arrive in the classroom, and the first to leave when the bell rang. At lunch times, she glued herself to Tomoyo and Jake, and she left school at a run.
She knew she couldn't avoid him forever, but she just couldn't face him.
Not yet. Not now.
Sitting in social studies, the last lesson she would have to endure before the weekend started, she could feel his stare burning into the back of her head.
'Oh why does Syaoran have to sit behind me?' She wondered feebly, doing her best to ignore him.
She was broken out of her thoughts when she felt a sharp jab in her ribs.
She glared at the offending person, Tomoyo, whose wide eyes gaped behind her. Sakura gulped, before turning slowly to face the teacher, who was apparently, waiting for Sakura to do something.
Sakura stared helplessly at the teacher, who stared back offering no help. She glanced down at the hat that was placed in front of her, before turning to Tomoyo desperately.
Tomoyo discreetly pointed at Sakura, and then at the hat.
With a certain level of understanding, Sakura picked a slip of paper out from the hat, and unfolded it.
The teacher, along with the rest of the class, continued to stare at her, expectantly.
"Yoko Yang." she uneasily read aloud.
"Thank you, Kinomoto-san for wasting ten minutes of my lesson to pick your partner for your following assignment." The teacher bit out sarcastically.
Sakura never liked that social studies teacher.
XOXO
The doorbell rang.
It might as well have been the chimes leading to hell.
Sakura didn't even bother to put a smile on her face as she answered the door.
Yoko stood there, looking just about as enthusiastic as Sakura.
Sakura was surprised when Yoko vehemently refused to work at her own house, and insisted they worked on their project as Sakura's house, considering Yoko's previous comments concerning Sakura's house. It was understandable that Sakura was reluctant to let her in.
For a moment they stood, staring.
"Well, aren't you going to let me in?"
Sakura contemplated replying 'no', just for the heck of it. But instead, she stepped aside, civilly.
Yoko wandered into Sakura's living room, standing there awkwardly.
"Let's get this over and done with, shall we?" Yoko sighed.
Sakura gestured towards the sofa. "Sit down." She offered, tonelessly.
Yoko obliged, dumping her books and her bag on the coffee table in front.
Sakura's mom walked in, rummaging through her purse.
"Honey, I'm just headed for work, but I'll be back at around eight, so if you could cook dinner, that would be great-- oh!" She exclaimed. "Sorry, I didn't know you had company."
She waited for Sakura to introduce them.
Sakura forced a smile onto her face. "Mom this is Yang Yoko, Yang-san this is my mother, Nadeshiko. We're working on a school project. The teacher assigned us together." She added in, rather unnecessarily.
"It's nice to meet you, Kinomoto-san." Yoko said politely, surprising Sakura a little.
"Please, call me Nadeshiko-san." Sakura's mom corrected, smiling. "And its nice to meet you too, Yang-san.
Yoko smiled back.
"I'm sorry I have to leave so briskly but I'm a little late. Sweetie," she turned to look at Sakura, "Don't forget you have your last check up with the doctor at six. You sure you don't mind going alone?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. I don't even need this final check-up. My fever's gone and everything. But I'll go. No worries." She hastily added, as Nadeshiko was opening her mouth to protest.
Nadeshiko shot her a stern look before heading out the door.
"Come back anytime Yang-san!" She called out, before the door closed behind her.
Sakura couldn't help but scoff under her breath.
XOXO
Her study session with Yoko, didn't quite go as bad as she expected. Sakura decided as she packed up her books, after Yoko had already left.
No words were passed between them, except when necessary, and because of this, they worked through their project quickly and efficiently. Overall, it was a good effort.
A little buzzing sound altered Sakura to a bag left on the table. She groaned realizing that Yoko had accidentally left it behind.
A little cautiously, she took a peek inside, half expecting to see torture items inside.
A cellphone was vibrating, the contact name appearing as Private Number. There was also a compact, some lip gloss, mascara, and a wallet… the usual.
Having an internal debate with herself, Sakura was torn between waiting till Monday to return it, or risk going to Yoko's lair and return it now.
Deciding that Yoko would probably need it, Sakura sighed as she checked up Yoko's name in the phone directory and found her address. It wasn't that far from her house.
Half-heartedly, she picked up her feet and began the walk there.
'Look like it's going to pour tonight.' She observed, looking up at the grey sky, and picking up her pace.
Sakura did a double-take when she reached the supposed address. She was expecting a lavish mansion -the size of Syaoran's house, but this house… this house was only a little bigger than her own.
Just as she was uneasily lifting up a hand to knock, a loud crashing noise was heard from inside, causing Sakura to warily take a step back. Loud but muffled voices broke out from behind the door.
Tentatively, Sakura gently rapped her knuckle on the door. When there was no answer, she repeated the action, with a little more force.
The door was flung open. A large, gruff-looking man stood in the entrance. He was wearing a white wife-beater which clearly displayed his beer-belly, and his face looked like it hadn't been shaved in weeks.
"I errr… I think I may have gotten the wrong address." Sakura stammered, nervously. "I'm looking for Yang, Yoko Yang."
The man grunted.
Sakura didn't know how to interpret that.
"Yoko!" The man suddenly barked, just as Sakura was ready to turn around and run.
Abruptly, the man ducked, catching Sakura by surprise. A hairbrush hit the wall behind his head with a thud.
Sakura jumped back, involuntarily.
"HEY! WE'RE NOT DONE HERE YET YOU BASTARD! COME BACK AND FACE ME YOU SLIMY SCUMBAG!" A voice suddenly screeched from somewhere inside the house.
"CHRIST WOMAN! I WAS JUST ANSWERING THE FUCKING DOOR!" The man bellowed in reply. "HOW ABOUT YOU REMOVE THE STICK UP FROM YOUR ASS FOR ONCE!"
He left somewhere into the house, still shouting obscenities along the way, and leaving Sakura frozen on the porch, horrified.
A patter of footsteps was heard, and Sakura's attention was drawn to Yoko who was just in her peripheral view, coming down the stairs.
Yoko winced noticeably, as more swearing was heard.
"What is it?" She asked irritably, at her bickering parents. "I told you, I'm not getting in the middle of this!"
Sakura heard another grunt, and Yoko's gaze instantly fell on her.
Sakura watched, as Yoko's eyes widened, aghast and almost… embarrassed, at the sight of her. She quickly rushed outside to join Sakura, slamming her front door behind her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She snapped at Sakura immediately the minute the door closed. "I thought I told you not to come here!"
Yoko's eyes were blazing with such fury that Sakura was unable to reply. She just held out the bag to Yoko wordlessly.
Yoko looked at the bag, and then back up at Sakura again.
Suddenly, the front door was thrown wide open, and an unfamiliar woman came storming out from it.
"WHY DON'T YOU JUST BURN IN HELL FOR ALL I CARE, YOU BASTARD?!" She walked passed Sakura and Yoko without a second glance.
The previous man, stood in the doorway. "YOU'LL COME CRAWLING BACK, BEGGING ON YOUR KNEES FOR ME TO TAKE YOU BACK! YOU ALWAYS DO!"
The woman replied with a very rude gesture, before marching off.
"Stupid bitch." The man muttered from the doorway.
He seemed to catch sight of Sakura and Yoko. "Yoko, your stupid mother's sodded off again." He growled at her, "So get your own dinner." The door crashed close.
For a moment, no one moved. Then Yoko sunk to the pavement, her head in her arms.
Sakura didn't know what to do. She contemplated leaving Yoko –it seemed like she was intruding in on a private moment- but that would seem cruel, plus she was still holding Yoko's bag. So instead, she awkwardly sat down beside her.
After minutes of silence –Sakura didn't know how long, Yoko finally lifted her head.
She stared at Sakura with red and swollen eyes, and Sakura looked back, thoughtfully.
In that brief moment, the hostility that had always been there between them, seemed to vanish. Instead they were just two strangers, who realized that they really didn't know one another at all.
Then, it started to rain.
Yoko's eyes hardened. She snatched her purse from Sakura's hands and stood up, glaring down at Sakura.
"If you tell anyone, anyone," she stressed "about what you saw here today, you will be sorry."
With that, she strode off, leaving Sakura sitting by herself on the walkway, smiling slightly.
After all, it was a bittersweet moment.
XOXO
Sakura shrugged off her wet raincoat as soon as she entered through the hospital doors. She clapped her hands over her ears as a loud burst of thunder boomed.
She immediately headed for the elevator. Spotting one that was on the midst of closing, she hurriedly called out "Hold the elevator!" and managed to slip a hand between the closing doors.
To her relief, it re-opened and she hastily got in, automatically hitting the fifth floor button.
A small cough alerted her to another presence, and she whirled around only to be met by a casual Syaoran, leaning against the back wall of the elevator, arms crossed over his chest and gaze focused intently on her.
Sakura froze, cursing her unbelievably bad luck.
'Him? Or all people? Kami-sama, why?'
He didn't initiate any conversation, so Sakura turned back to face the doors of the elevator, trying hard to focus on the rising numbers, instead of his scorching gaze burning holes in the back of her head.
'Level 2… Level 3… Level 4--'
Suddenly, the whole elevator came to a grinding halt, the lights in the lift flickered and died, and the floor shook slightly, causing Sakura to grasp blindly on to the sides of the elevator in an attempt to stay upright.
Simultaneously, there were two crashing sounds, just as Sakura felt something nip her right shoulder and then fall onto her foot. She yelped slightly.
Her ears picked up on a groan. "Li-kun," She called into the darkness sharply, "Are you okay?"
There was a pause. "Yeah. I just fell on my broken leg again." Even though she couldn't see him, she was sure he had said it between gritted teeth. "Are you okay? I heard you scream before."
"Something just hit me is all. It was more the shock of it, than any actual pain." Sakura explained.
"Sorry. I think that was my crutches." Syaoran informed her, "I leant them against the wall, and they both fell."
Sakura slowly slid down the walls of the lift until her bottom touched the floor. "What happened?" She wondered aloud.
"It may have been because of the storm," Syaoran replied, "A power cut or something."
"This is a hospital though. Shouldn't they have back-up generators or something?"
"Stupid cheap, government hospital." Sakura heard Syaoran grumble.
Sakura sighed. "Then why did you even come here Li-kun? I'm sure you could've been provided a private, specialized doctor right in the comfort of your own home."
It was quiet for a moment. Just when Sakura was going to give up hearing a reply, he murmured, "Because I wanted to see you."
Sakura felt her breath get caught in her throat. She felt a blush creep onto her cheeks, and she silently thanked Kami-sama for turning off the lights in this elevator.
She tried to play it cool. "Well, you must have an 'in' with God."
"And by that you mean…?"
"Well, we're trapped in an elevator together." Sakura replied simply.
"You think we're trapped?" His tone was unusually sharp.
"Well, there's no way to get out, really."
She heard him inhale deeply. "At least until someone comes to help us." She added in quickly. "Are you okay, Li-kun?"
"Fine. Why do you ask?" He said -a little too quickly, in Sakura's opinion.
"Well, you're breathing rather heavily…" She trailed off, 'Why am I asking?' "I don't know. I just sense that something's wrong with you. You sure you're okay?"
There was a long pause. "I just don't really… take much pleasure…" Syaoran drew out slowly, "in being… confined to… small spaces."
"You're claustrophobic?"
"No. I just don't like being restricted to such limited areas."
"You're claustrophobic?" Sakura repeated, a hint of amusement clear in her voice.
"No!" His frustrated tone took Sakura aback. "I'm not." He said, more calmly.
"Okay." Sakura said softly, "You're not."
For a while, nothing could be heard except for Syaoran's laboured breathing.
"You know," Sakura started cautiously, "Its okay to have a weakness."
When he neglected to respond she continued, "You don't have to be strong… all the time."
"…I do."
He said it so quietly, Sakura wasn't sure if were just the wind. Then again, the air in the lift was completely still, eerily silent.
Impulsively, she blindly reached out in the darkness, until her hand wrapped around something warm and hard. She moved closer, as she gently probed it with her fingers, finding it to be a closed fist. Slowly and carefully, she pried his fingers apart until they were an open fan.
It was pitch black. Utterly dark. It was not logic, it was not reason that led her on… it was pure instinct.
Because her sight had failed her, she had to reply upon her other four senses:
The smell of his intoxicating scent –a mixture of spice and flora: cinnamon and peonies.
She heard him draw in a sharp breath, as her slight fingers, smoothly glided over his open palm, drawing small, round circles. Her own, slender fingers –with a mind of its own- crept up onto his arm, the tip skimming the surface of his arm lightly –up and down, up and down. She felt him shiver under her touch. Gradually, they slid gracefully onto his shoulder blades… his neck… his jaw line.
The feel of his skin –silky and callous at the same time.
They moved on to the contours of his face. The curve of his nose, the shape of his cheekbones. They flew over his closed eyelids, before resting on his parted lips. And they were plump, Sakura remembered from the day they were stranded in that cave.
The sound of –not only his- but her, heavy breathing.
Slowly, she felt his lips move to form a word.
"You."
And before she could comprehend the meaning behind those words, she felt his mouth crash onto her own.
The taste?
Indescribable.
XOXO
Author's Note: Seemed like a nice place to end it. You should know, I am on holiday… overseas. I am being charged by the hour… at my hotel. It is not cheap, lets put it this way. In other words, I was rushed, I haven't read it over searching for mistakes like I usually do, I wrote the first things that flew into my mind (reacting on instinct), and hopefully, it shows you guys my dedication to this story, and you readers. So I apologize for any spelling or grammar issues (try and ignore), and please rewards me with your REVIEWS! I am especially nervous about this chapter, not sure on how you guys will react to it.
XOXO