Chapter 25 Space

"Sakura…Sakura…" Tenaka's voice was breaking.

Her heart almost stopped beating. Something must have happened. Her brain told her. Her heart was skipping beats before beating faster and faster. "W-what…is it, Tenaka-san? W…what's…wrong?" She forced herself to say.

"Touya…Sakura…"

"What Tenaka-san? What happened to 'nii-chan?" Sakura said, her own voice was breaking, fearing the worse. It was almost like she didn't want to hear anymore.

"Sakura, he's getting worse. He's-"

"No! I won't believe that, Tenaka-san! My brother is strong! He won't…not that easily…please…help him…not now…not when…last year…please…he's not…he's not weak…Touya 'nii-chan…Tenaka-san please do everything to save him…I will fix everything here immediately and I will come home as soon as I can…until then…please…I beg of you…don't give up on my brother…he will get better…please…" Sakura pleaded as new tears came and flowed from her eyes.

Tenaka was silent on the other end. He knew that Sakura's heart was breaking again. His heart was breaking too. He had witnessed her go through such horrible things the year before and her life hadn't gone any better. Her life was still threatened, having close brushes with death countless times. Now, with the new development with Touya, he knew that it was exhausting the last of her strength. He wished he could take it all away. She had suffered enough. What made it worse was that she had to suffer alone and in secret…

Without realizing it, Tenaka's own face was drenched with tears. His heart went out to the two siblings whom fate had been cruel. Those feelings mixed with anger and helplessness brought free falling tears to his eyes. He stood there outside Touya's hospital room as he knew Sakura was crying silently on the other end. He ended the call, being the only mercy he could show her.

XxXxXx

When Shaoran entered the room, Tomoyo noticed that Sakura wasn't with him. Other students noticed, including Kumiko. She grinned and said to herself, "You're finished, Sakura." Tomoyo noticed her grin. She turned to Shaoran and saw his stoic face not betraying anything. She got up her courage to confront him but then she thought against it. She knew that it would create a scene.

Eventually she passed a note to Shaoran. He seemed surprised but quickly hid his reaction as he took the paper and unfolded it.

"I need to talk to you. Meet me later at the coffee shop down the block from the flower shop after you have accompanied Sakura to work."

He placed the note in his pocket and gave Tomoyo a nod when she glanced at him. Shaoran wondered what Tomoyo had in mind. He knew that it had something to do with Sakura but he couldn't help but think of what it was going to be about.

Last period ended and still, there were no sign of Sakura. As their teacher left, a couple of minutes passed before Sakura finally entered. She headed straight to her desk and prepared her stuff to go. She didn't say anything to Tomoyo or Shaoran. She didn't even make eye contact. Both could tell that she had been crying.

"Sakura, where were you?" Tomoyo finally asked when she couldn't take the silence between them.

"I had to compose myself…get it together. I had things to do." Sakura answered softly.

"Sakura, what's going on? Did something happen?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura looked at her and forced a smile. "I'm going home. You already know why I'm like this…especially this time of year." She answered before getting up and heading to the door. She didn't wait for Tomoyo to reply or Shaoran to say anything. All she was thinking was her brother back at home and how he needed her to be there. Other things that were happening around her seemed to grow silent to her. Nothing else mattered than getting home as soon as she could.

Tomoyo quickly understood what she was trying to tell her. She understood why Sakura was like that. She knew that something must have happened back at Tokyo and was fully aware that it was taking its toll on Sakura. Tomoyo wished that there was something that she could do.

Shaoran felt this pang of pain inside his chest. Having seen so much sorrow in her face, he knew that he was partly to blame for that. He had walked out on her. He felt like the biggest loser, jerk in the entire world for having hurt her so much. It took her almost a year to open up to him, to care about him and he just threw it all away because he was frustrated. Having her avoid his gaze, avoid him entirely made the feeling of guilt hurt even more.

He wanted to get up and grab her, wrap his arms around her and apologize. But he knew that it would only make her push him away. With the advent of things around them, doing something like that would definitely put some things better left in the closet into open air. That was something that shouldn't happen. His and Sakura's secrets, especially their relationship, are only supposed to be kept between the two of them. They didn't need to explain that to any one. If the others must know, that sudden impulse shouldn't be the way to make them understand.

Sakura walked as confident and as coolly as she could towards the door. Her emotions were already in turmoil without the help of the rumors or Kumiko. She wanted to keep as much dignity as she could as she walked out. She could feel eyes on her, including those she cared for the most. She tried to shake off the feeling. She didn't want to feel anything anymore. She wanted everything to go away. She couldn't take it. She knew she would break down if she didn't get out of there right away.

As she walked through the doorway to the corridor, one of Kumiko's proxies was standing on a chair and poured water all over Sakura. After doing what she did, she stepped back down on the corridor together with Kumiko and started laughing. Other people started laughing as well as Tomoyo and Shaoran sharply stood up. Sakura stood there, not saying anything or even moving. Her hair was obscuring her face. She bit her lip to fight back her bottled up anger and tears. She wanted to break down then and there. Her knees threatened to give way. The laughter became more daunting as seconds passed. Time felt like it was passing in excruciating slowness.

Kumiko was yelling insults towards Sakura. Others continued to laugh. Sakura stood there, trying to shut everything out but the more she tried, the more she was unable to and her strength slowly started to fail her. She started to feel the coldness around her, stabbing her to her core. Kumiko started walking over to her and was about to slap Sakura, who only prepared herself. But the hit never came. She glanced up slightly and saw that Shaoran had caught Kumiko's arm before she could slap her and roughly pushed her away from Sakura. He was standing in front of her protectively. Sakura felt warm again. She still chose not to move.

Shaoran had shed off his uniform jacket and placed it over Sakura's shoulder. He whispered so that only she would hear, "Even if you don't love me, I love you. I promised you that I will always protect you. I don't intend on turning back."

"Tomoyo," Shaoran called out, coolly but laced with seriousness. "Take Sakura to get changed into something dry." Tomoyo said nothing as she gentle ushered Sakura away with Chiharu not far behind. Some of Kumiko's proxies tried to follow them but were stopped and blocked by Yuta, Yamazaki and Ryota.

Shaoran looked at Kumiko sternly. She smiled at him and tried to flirt. Shaoran quickly put an end to that when he said rather harshly, "That is the last time you are going to touch Sakura. Stay away from her or I swear I will make you sorry that you came to know me or the Li name."

The smile on Kumiko's face was instantly erased. Jealousy ran through her body as well as anger. She had never been rejected before and she certainly wasn't used to not having her way. Being embarrassed in front of a lot of people didn't help either. "Why are you so adamant in protecting a piece of trash? I am your fiancée!" Kumiko answered. People around stood still, watching the fateful exchange. It was a long time coming.

Shaoran's eyes darkened. His features showed how his emotions hardened. "You are not my fiancée! The only piece of trash here is you, Kumiko. I will never learn to love or even care for someone as conceited as you! You will leave the house as soon as your parents are back in the country and never come back."

Kumiko smirked and crossed her arms in front of her. "Like that's going to happen. Your mother is not going to allow that to happen."

"The woman you call 'my mother' will have no authority about this. You forget. I am the heir to the Li name and once I turn 18 in two days, my word will weigh more than that sorry excuse for a human being. Do not test my patience because I can assure you that it is running thin. Leave. I do not want to see you. And if you even try to attempt to come close to Sakura, I will not hold back in making you pay."

"If you don't care about me, why are you letting me stay until my parents are back?"

"Don't mistake that as caring for you. I'm not doing this for you. I will never do anything for you. I'm doing this for Sakura. If you weren't so blind, you might just see the only reason why neither Daidouji nor I have acted sooner. Sakura is the bigger person in all of this compared to you. You can never even come close to the person she really is." With this, Shaoran turned his back on Kumiko and walked away, closely followed by Yuta, Ryota and Yamazaki. The crowd stood still, parting to let them pass. Kumiko was put in her place and she was still reeling from the shock when her proxies came to her side.

XxXxXx

Tomoyo and Chiharu led Sakura to the comfort room near the gym where there weren't much people left. Sakura was silent the entire trip there and both girls were really worried about their friend. They could see that Sakura was having an inner turmoil. Instead of letting it all out, she had decided to shut everything around her out and at the same time keep it all inside. They wanted to say so many things to her but didn't exactly what how to. Tomoyo and Chiharu would look at each other, guessing what the other wanted to say and how to comfort Sakura.

When Sakura had changed from her wet uniform, Tomoyo finally asked, "Are you alright, Sakura?"

As Sakura put away her wet garments, she forced herself to smile but said nothing. She stuffed the plastic that contained her clothes inside her bag. She then tenderly gathered Shaoran's coat into her hands. She had to take close her eyes and bite her lower lip to keep herself from shedding tears.

"Sakura?" Chiharu asked worriedly.

Sakura opened her eyes and forced herself to smile again. It was small and rather weak but she tried to put everything she had in it to keep her friends from worrying too much. She refused to utter a single word. She knew that if she did, she might just lose it. She had already broken down earlier that day. She didn't want to strain the remaining strength she had left. Instead, she gave a small bow and started for the door. Her friends had no choice but to follow her.

Outside, they saw that Shaoran, Yuta, Yamazaki and Ryota were there. Sakura refused to make eye contact with Shaoran or any of them for that matter. Tomoyo stood next to Sakura while Chiharu moved slightly away and towards Yamazaki.

Shaoran was about to walk towards Sakura when she held up her hand and shook her head. She gave him a weak smile. Shaoran didn't understand. He was confused as the others were a little shocked.

"Please…don't…" Sakura said softly, barely audible but they all heard it.

"Sakura…" Shaoran started, quite confused.

She forced herself to smile again before replying, "I've been clinging to you so much…to feel comforted…everything…I can't…please…just…please…if you come, I will lose it…I don't want to cry anymore…just allow me to breathe on my own…I can't always come to you for help…I need to deal with this alone…" She then took his jacket and handed it to him. Shaoran was reluctant to accept but eventually did. He received another weak smile from Sakura as she uttered her thanks to all of them and turned to leave.

Sakura walked away not looking back. Shaoran wanted to follow her but Tomoyo quickly held his arm. He sharply turned to her, couldn't quite bring himself to believe that she would stop him from comforting her best friend. "Shaoran, don't. I know Sakura…you know her…she needs this…give her space. If you come to her now, she will only push you away and it will hurt more…to both of you."

Shaoran knew that Tomoyo spoke of the truth. He had pushed her too much to the brink of walking away and accusing her of something that he knew wasn't true. He had already hurt her so much that afternoon and if he continued to act foolishly like he was, he would be hurting her more.

"I better get going," Yuta exclaimed. "I'll cover for her at the flower shop. I'll bring Naoko up to speed about how Sakura's feeling." When he was about to pass Shaoran, he said, "Don't sweat it, Shaoran. I may not know her as good as you but I know that Sakura knows what she is doing. She trusts you and you can trust her. Don't ever doubt that. She needs that from you because I honestly think that you are the only one who can help her." As Yuta walked away, Shaoran stood there, surprised with what his friend had told him.

Chiharu dragged Yamazaki away, to let Shaoran have a moment to himself, to gather all the things that had been happening and get it together. Ryota decided to tag along with the two, leaving Shaoran and Tomoyo.

Tomoyo walked beside Shaoran and said, "We need to talk. Follow me." She started walking. Shaoran sensed this strong resolve around Tomoyo that only made known whenever it involved her dreams or Sakura. He put on his jacket and followed her without another word.

XxXxXx

"I wonder if Sakura is ok?" Yukito commented as he readied himself to head to work that afternoon. Yue was lying on the sofa, reading a report he had from work.

Yue looked up from what he was reading and onto Yukito. He saw that his cousin genuinely worried about their neighbor. Come to think of it, he too didn't seem to have seen Sakura around since the week before. He couldn't help but wonder if something must have happened. But him being the 'cool' one, he wasn't going to openly proclaim his thoughts or admit his concerns. Yukito had told him what had happened at the flower shop the previous Friday. He wasn't really interested in knowing all the details. He thought it was a little foolish, some sort of too much drama for his taste. He had other things to worry about instead of that.

Yue sat up from and said, "We can't do anything, Yukito. Even if we did, it won't make anything different. Only she can fix things around her. Only she can take care of it."

Yukito looked over at Yue. His words seemed cold but he knew that Yue spoke of the truth. No matter what happened or they did to make her feel better, Sakura was the one who ultimately had to decide on how to take things and make herself feel better. But he wished that there was something more he could do. He wanted to help her. He just didn't know how.

"You're right," He then got his backpack and swung it over his shoulder. "See you later." Yukito said as he headed out the door. He was deep in thought walking through the corridor.

As he walked, Yukito couldn't help but let his mind drift towards Sakura. The pain he had seen in her face that day. He couldn't get it out of his mind. But he was shaken from his thoughts when he saw a figure walking towards him. Yukito stopped walking. As the figure came into view, he was a little relieved and worried. She looked very pale.

"Sakura," He said. She didn't seem to hear him. Her eyes were dropping as her body too started to give way. "Sakura!" Yukito exclaimed as he ran towards Sakura and caught her just in time before she hit the ground. "Sakura! Sakura!" Yukito called out to her, shaking her slightly but she would not wake.

(to be continued…)

Hmmm…I had to do this because I want them all to realize something else. Thanks for reading this far but I really, really need your reviews. It's not a joke because I'm running low in inspiration. Please, please do me a favor and send in what you think. It will help up my spirit hehe. Thanks.

Michiko