Valkyrie85: Here's the rest of the chapter. Thank you for patiently waiting! If you want to get into the mood of the story, you can listen to Scribble, by a very famous South Korean boy band, MBLAQ (They're my favourite, by the way.) I found the lyrics to the song extremely similair to the situation in the story now.
Chapter 25
On the Plane
Kaho's head left her husband's shoulders as she looked at him with a slight bit of concern.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Touya came out of his trance and eyed her with a confused look. "Huh?"
"What's wrong with you today? I've been asking you questions but you're just ignoring me…" Kaho placed a hand on Touya's forehead and waited for the temperature of his body to sink in. "Doesn't seem like you're sick to me. You've been acting weird since yesterday, Touya. What's wrong?"
Touya immediately grabbed a random magazine from the seat pocket and began flipping through it, while trying to act normal. "Nothing's wrong. I just have a headache from yesterday."
Kaho took the magazine away from her husband and stared at him until he looked into her eyes. "Don't make up excuses. You only had two glasses of wine last night. That shouldn't be enough to give you a headache,okay? You better tell me what's going on with you."
Kaho was a strong believer in honesty as being the foundation of a successful and long-lasting marriage. That is why she must know what was bothering her husband.
"It's about Sakura…" he trailed off, trying to think of a way to explain the situation. Kaho waited patiently as he searched for the right words.
"She seems like she likes Li Syaoran. I was there last night when they were talking in the hallway and afterwards, she cried like I've never seen her done before. "
"What were they talking about?" Kaho asked, even though she already kind of knew the answer herself.
"Li Syaoran accused Sakura of cheating on him with Shin and Sakura stupidly went along with it. Then he broke it off with her."
Kaho shook her head in disappointment. "Oh Sakura, she always keeps everything to herself and takes all the blame. What are we going to do with your sister?" Kaho sighed.
Touya nodded in agreement. "My idiotic sister is going to lose everything that's dear to her with a personality like hers."
"I'm glad you're finally accepting the truth, Touya," Kaho said.
"What truth?" He looked at his wife confusedly.
"That you know your sister loves Syaoran."
Touya huffed but didn't say anything to defend his stance. Kaho's lips raised into a small approving smile.
"And you have to fix the current situation, because you know it's all your fault. If you hadn't lied to both Sakura and Syaoran about the truth, none of this would have happened."
Touya looked out the plane window and watched the clouds outside. Then he felt Kaho's warm hand on his arm.
"If you want to see your sister happy again, you have to tell her that she was not the one who caused your mom's death, but your dad was. And if possible, you have to get in contact with Syaoran and explain that you lied to him about Sakura two years ago when he came to find Sakura in the States."
Two weeks after Sakura secretly returned to NYC, Shin also left for the same place to attend the opening ceremony of a new neuropsychology research centre. He was there to represent his mentor, Fukomoto Kenji, who was unable to attend the special event.
Of course, Shin was one of the few who knew about Sakura's disappearance, so he was extremely surprised during his visit to the research centre when he saw a beautiful woman, who seemed as if she were a part of Sakura's family, supporting Sakura as she and Sakura both walked down the hospital corridor towards the exit door. Behind them was a well-dressed and dark-haired man who seemed like a bodyguard to the two females, following closely with a small travelling bag in hand.
That day, Shin noticed that Sakura had no sense of "life" in her eyes. Even though it had only been two week since he had last seen her, she seemed about 10 pounds thinner. She paid no attention to where she was going as her head was kept down and she seemed so weak that she wouldn't have been able to walk by herself. Overall, there was an aura of gloominess coming from her as she walked past Shin towards the opposite direction without noticing him.
Shin hesitated, wondering if he should greet Sakura. No matter what, he was still her mentor and he had a right to know why all of sudden his student was no longer studying with him.
"Miss Kinomoto." He paused on his feet and turned around to face the group of three.
There was just silence for the first 10 seconds. Then, as if Sakura had finally realized that someone had called her, she slowly turned to see who had called her name. The woman looked at him with curiosity, while the bodyguard-like man stared at him in an unfriendly manner.
Shin closed the distance between them to an appropriate length before saying, "I'm glad to see you here. Did you transfer back to NYC for your residence?"
Sakura looked at Shin with a lifeless look, and then said, "Hello, . I've transferred back to the States. I'm sorry that I made the decision without discussing it with you first."
The man at the back turned to Sakura and asked in Japanese, "Who is he?"
Shin noticed Sakura replying to the man with a sudden change of cold voice, "He was my mentor in Tokyo. Mr. Yasahiro, let me introduce you to my brother, Kinomoto Touya, and my sister-in-law, Kinomoto Kaho…"
….
The simple encounter led to a series of events that eventually saved Sakura's life. Two days after their meeting, Shin received a call from Touya, who asked Shin to help his sister out of the trauma she was suffering as a result of finally recalling the tragic accident that had killed her mother many years ago. Shin declined the request at first when he found out that Touya had hired investigators to look into his past and the death of his wife. Touya told him that Shin was the only person he thought could help his sister because the two of them had the same kind of unfortunate experience and he could probably do some counselling with Sakura.
However in the end, Shin agreed to help Sakura recover because he remembered the painful stages in life that he went through after his wife's death, and he realized that he didn't want to see someone who he knew suffer like he did. From that day on, he visited Sakura's house everyday and did counselling with her until she began to slowly see the "light" in life again. While he extended his trip in the States, little Michio was taken care of by one of his friends' parents.
Syaoran and Ruo Xi had a memorable day at the amusement park. For the first time in a while, Syaoran was able to enjoy himself without fearing for any consequences that might occur as a result of his actions.
For that, he had to thank no one but Li Ruo Xi. It was she who had confiscated his phone, laptop, and anything else that was related to work the minute they landed in Japan. It was also she who forbade him to talk about work, at least in her presence (she had no clue that he was using the phone in his hotel room to keep in contact with his subordinates in Hong Kong every night). And, it was she who took him to the amusement park and made him forget about everything that was piled up in his mind at the moment. For all of these reasons, he felt thankful that someone like her was part of his life.
In order to show her his appreciation for her efforts, he even agreed to her begging and got her a huge teddy bear from the hoop-shooting game. Even though Ruo Xi was probably even better at shooting hoops than Syaoran was since she used to be on the basketball team at her school, he still played the game for her and got ten shots in a row. His precise aiming received quite a bit of attention because as they were about to walk away from the hut after collecting "Xiao Lang," as Ruo Xi had later named him, there was a crowd of people watching them. For a minute, Syaoran thought that his real identity was discovered even though he still had the wig and the sunglasses on, but then deciphering the expressions on the people's faces, he knew that it was not the case.
After shooting the hoops, it was close to noon. Ruo Xi complained about her hunger and the two of them walked hand-in-hand towards the nearest restaurant.
The interior of the restaurant was interesting. In fact, it matched the name of the restaurant, which was "Bumpy Ride Restaurant." There were no regular tables inside the restaurant. Instead, there were tables inside each of the many different types of classic vintage cars. The floor of the restaurant was drawn into 3 lanes, as if it were a road. And surrounding the "car tables" were wallpapers that showed houses and stores aligning the sides of the highway. Finally, there were street signs and lamp posts here and there that made the interior even more realistic.
With the restaurant's decorations, it was no wonder that there were so many children, who had come with their parents, running around excitedly inside when Syaoran and Ruo Xi entered from the front door.
They were guided to a quieter part of the room, near the back, and were given the restaurant's menu. Syaoran tossed the bear lightly onto the seat before climbing into the car himself. Ruo Xi observed the surrounding happily as she sat down across from him.
When little Michio got out of his dad's car, he ran straight into Sakura's waiting arms without feeling any kind of awkwardness towards her, even though he had not seen her for almost two years. "Mommy!" he exclaimed happily as he planted a kiss on Sakura's cheek.
Sakura was glad that the child didn't change much other than his height during her absence. She was still able to pick him in her arms, however with a little bit more effort than before.
From the other side of the car, Shin appeared and he walked towards them with a rare smile on his face. "Michio, what did I just tell you in the car?" It wasn't meant to be a scolding, but it had a hint of irritation.
Michio looked down sadly and hugged Sakura's neck, as he quietly mumbled, "But I want to call you Mommy even if you're not my Mommy."
Sakura immediately understood what Shin had meant. She gently rubbed the child's small back and whispered, "Call me whatever you like, Michio. I'm your Mommy and I'll always be your Mommy."
She gave a determined look at Shin, who sighed in defeat and gave up on the topic for now. He marched to the back of the car and held the door open for the two. "Let's get going. The circus show will be starting soon."
During the ride to the amusement park, Shin had to let his doctoral instincts slide as he was not able to ask about Sakura's condition because she was busy conversing with Michio. He quickly took a glance at them through the rear view mirror and noticed that she seemed better, at least physically, although the amount of weight she had lost then wasn't completely regained. As for her psychological conditions, he wasn't able to decipher them at the moment. So, he told himself that he would observe her throughout the day just to see how well she was able to handle her emotions.
"Yeah, and she probably wants lemon sorbet as a dessert, so please add that as well," Syaoran told the waiter and nodded his head towards the empty seat across from his, as he handed the menu back to him.
"Sure, your food will be ready for you very shortly," the waiter politely said as he walked back to the kitchen to place the orders.
"Thank you."
Syaoran took a sip of his glass of water and looked around at the front part of the restaurant, where the kids were running after each other playing tag. He realized that he had not interacted with a young child for quite some time, and staring at them right now, he somehow felt a sense of jealousy towards them because they were able to be so carefree.
He sighed and turned away from the sight. However, before he did so, he saw two people, a man and a child, coming in from the front door and waiting to be seated at a table. Something told him that he knew them, but he just couldn't recall who they were. As they were guided towards a table that was 2 away from his, their identity began to dawn on him. He knew immediately who the kid was the minute the kid's eye colour was close enough for him to recognize. He knew that the kid was Kinomoto Sakura's mentor's kid, whose name started with an M. Despite the child's above-average cute face, Syaoran could not feel any affection towards him. Even the tiger ear headband he was wearing on his head, which he got from the souvenir shops in the zoo, couldn't make Syaoran like him.
For a reason he knew well, he despised the kid with all of his heart.
And the same kind of feeling multiplied by ten times was directed at his dad, Yasahiro Shin. If Shin had not sat with his face facing away from him, he didn't know what kind of actions he might take.
The two of them did not notice that Syaoran was staring at them. The little kid swung his body back and forth on the chair and looked around the room with the same kind of excitement as that of Ruo Xi when Syaoran first entered the restaurant with her. He grinned as his dad stretched across the table to run his hand over his hair, as if he were praising him for something.
Suddenly, the kid jumped off of his chair and ran towards the door when the bell of the front door rang.
In walked Kinomoto Sakura, the woman who he least expected to find at a place like this. He watched her taking his small hand and leading him back towards their table. The tiger ear headband on her head told him that it wasn't just a coincidental meet-up with the other two. It made him feel sick to see the three of them together, so he turned his head away from them and checked to see if Ruo Xi was returning from the washroom.
Sakura didn't take a seat beside Michio. Instead, she went straight towards Shin's side of the table and pulled his arm out to check the deep cut on his right arm. None of them knew what had happened for him to get this kind of injury when they were at the zoo. Sakura insisted that she would go to the nearest pharmacy to get some band-aids and some rubbing alcohol. She looked at the wound carefully before placing his arm back down.
"It's not a big deal," Shin commented on his arm. He was about to take out the band-aid from the bag that Sakura brought, but Sakura grabbed it quickly before he had a chance to.
"Please, Mister Yasahiro. We don't even know how you got that cut. What if you get infected?" Sakura said, giving the bag for Michio to keep. "Consider this a testing of my skills."
Shin watched her as she left for the washroom to clean her hands.
Sakura entered the washroom and came face-to-face with Ruo Xi, who was just about to leave.
Both of them stood there in silence, not knowing what to say to each other, until a child behind Ruo Xi asked her to politely move out of her way.
"Long time no see," Ruo Xi started the conversation in English, with an emotionless voice when the child was gone.
"Yeah," Sakura replied, feeling that their old friendship was non-existent. She moved herself into the washroom, so that the door behind her could close.
"I think there really is magic going on. We see each other no matter where we go, back then and now." Sakura understood what she meant because she felt exactly the same way. Yesterday she saw her at the wedding with Syaoran, but never had a chance to talk to her, which she was glad about. But today she couldn't think of a reason why she would see her at this place.
As if she was able to read her mind, Ruo Xi said, "I came here with Xiao Lang. He's ordering food outside right now. Are you here with friends?" She glanced at her headband.
Hearing Syaoran's name made her heart skip. She didn't know he was in the restaurant when she was outside.
"Yeah," Sakura said weakly.
Ruo Xi nodded. "Okay, see you." The atmosphere in the washroom was nothing but awkward. Neither knew what to say, yet neither understood the cause for the awkwardness.
"See you," Sakura replied. Assuming that their conversation had ended, Sakura paced to the sink to clean her hands.
However, Ruo Xi's voice traveled to her ears again. "I listened in on the two of you last night."
Sakura's hands immediately paused under the running water.
"I never knew you are that kind of person. Even now, I still can't imagine that the Sakura I thought I once knew is like this. I know that your character has nothing to do with me, but I can't let it pass without saying a word if it hurts the man I love."
Ruo Xi had her back facing Sakura as she was speaking because she was sure that her courage would disappear if she had looked at Sakura.
"I've never in my life met a man like him who could be so crazy about a girl. He gave up his film award so he could go find you in the States, but only to be told by your brother that you didn't want him anymore—"
"My brother said what?" Sakura's head turned swiftly towards Ruo Xi.
"Your brother told him that you got bored of the relationship and that you had asked him to transfer you back to New York as soon as possible. Don't pretend like you don't know anything about this," Ruo Xi said with a hint of rising anger.
Sakura was at a loss for words. She knew nothing about Touya's lies, or even Syaoran's visit to New York.
She was beginning to feel anger towards her own brother, but she also didn't want to defend herself because she knew it would be the best for everyone who was involved if she didn't. In the end, she chose to remain silent.
"Even with that, he still didn't leave the country. On the last day when he went to your house, he found you and your mentor cozying up in the garden before he got dragged away by your guards…"
Sakura was no longer listening to Ruo Xi. Now she understood why Syaoran was mad at her last night, and where all of the "You cheated on me" stuff came from. She felt the energy in her legs being sucked right out of her, and she held onto the edge of the sink for support.
Ruo Xi seemed to have asked a question because she finally turned her head to look at Sakura when she got no answer. The rim of her eyes was slightly red and watery. "I will never forgive you for what you did to him. But I need confirmation from you that you don't have feelings for him anymore."
"Why?" Sakura asked weakly.
"Because tonight is our engagement party, and I don't want to have remorse for taking him away, even though it was your fault in the first place."
For the first time since seeing Ruo Xi, she finally saw her old self. She didn't know whether to praise her or to call her stupid for being so nice to her old love rival.
"If you really listened in on our conversation, you would have heard me say that I never liked him in the first place. So, you don't have to feel guilty. I don't want him anymore, so just take him," Sakura said, almost in an arrogant voice. She hoped that it sounded as close as how she wanted it to sound.
Ruo Xi frowned in disgust. "Wow, you're a real bitch."
Sakura winced at her word, but recovered quick enough for it to be unnoticeable. "I know," she agreed softly.
It took a long time for Sakura to control her emotions before she stepped out of the washroom. As she was on her way back to her table, she saw Syaoran sitting two tables away from hers. Even with a wig and a pair of fake glasses on, she knew it was him.
He didn't seem to have noticed her because he was so enticed by whatever Ruo Xi was telling him about, which she knew was definitely not the conversation she just had with her.
When Ruo Xi dipped a fry in ketchup and brought it up to his mouth, he took a huge bite of it. Sakura look away. For the rest of her time there, she never looked in that direction again.
After the three of them ate, Michio ran off with a friend to the restaurant playground, leaving just Shin and Sakura at the table. Their time alone wasn't as awkward as it had been before he spent time with her in NYC. She felt a sense of attachment towards him because she and he were both living in their own guilt of causing the death of their loved one. Although still using formalities, she didn't consider him a friend, a lover, or a family member. He was just someone in an entirely different category.
He questioned her plans after Bryon, to which she had no answer. He suggested that she could travel around the world and volunteer in the developing countries. It was a dream that he once had, but was unable to accomplish because of the birth of Michio and the death of his wife.
Sakura said she would consider the suggestion. Meanwhile, she just wanted to wait until Tomoyo returned from her honeymoon.
Almost an hour into their lunchtime, Shin received an urgent phone call from the hospital for an on call. Seeing that Michio was still enjoying his time with his new friends, Sakura said that she would take him home later. Shin apologized for the trouble and handed his house keys to Sakura and wrote the address of his home on a piece of paper. He placed a few bills on the table and rushed out of the door with his jacket, without saying goodbye to Michio.
Fifteen minutes after Shin left, Michio's friend came running to Sakura with a worried face.
"Michio's Mommy! Michio got hurt when he came off of the slide!" The little girl quickly led Sakura into the playground, where all of the children gathered around a crying Michio. Sakura pushed through the children.
"Michio, honey, show me where you're hurt," she asked as she gently smoothed out his hair.
Michio showed her his scraped knees while sobbing. Sakura gave them a quick look and then picked up the child in her arms to take him out of the playground. "You kids can go back and play. I will treat Michio's wounds first."
She placed the child on the bench in their car table and rubbed a bit of alcohol on his knees as gently as possible. "Does it sting?" she gazed up at Michio.
"No," the child bit back the pain and replied.
Slowly, she pulled out two band-aids from the package and placed them on his wounds. When she was done, she wiped his tears away with her fingers. "You're just like your Daddy. You have to be careful next time, okay?"
Michio bobbed his head up and down a few times. "Thank you, Mommy."
"Now, do you want to go back and play with your friends, or do you want to go home?"
"But if I go home, will I have to say bye bye to Mommy?" Michio asked sadly.
Sakura smiled at the innocent child. "Your Daddy went back to the hospital, so I will be taking care of you tonight."
Michio gave a huge grin and clapped his hands in joy as if Sakura had just told him that she was going to take him to Disney World.
Sakura told him to stay put while she went outside to get a cab. Once she left the restaurant, she realized that it had been raining for awhile. In fact, it was more like a thunder storm than just rain. All of the drivers sped down the road, without a care in the world, trying to get to their destination before the thunder storm worsened. After waiting there for 15 minutes, she finally got a cab and asked for the driver to wait for her while she went to get Michio.
She ran back into the restaurant and found Michio sleeping soundly on the bench.
"Michio, Mommy got a cab for us. Let's go," she whispered into his ears and gently shaking the small body awake. The child groaned in annoyance and didn't want to wake up.
Having no choice, she swung her bag over her shoulder and picked up the heavy child in her arms, and rushed out of the door.
When she reached the cab again, she saw an old lady with a walking stick standing beside the driver's window, asking if his cab was available. Sakura immediately paced towards the lady and offered the lady her cab.
"Are you sure, young lady?" the woman asked in a husky voice, uncertainly. She glanced at Michio and then at Sakura again. "Is this child sick? If so, take him to the hospital. I can wait for another cab."
Sakura shook her head quickly. "No, no. The child is just sleeping. Please just get into the cab."
The old lady gave an appreciated smile. "God bless you and your child, young lady."
With that, she entered the cab and waved at Sakura as she was driven off.
Sakura sighed as she waited under the canopy for another cab to appear. As Michio began to feel heavier in her arms, she knew that she had been standing there for a long time. She decided it would better to leave the child inside while she got a cab because she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold onto him.
As Sakura began to walk into the restaurant, a person's voice called out from behind. "Get into the car, Xiao Ying. We'll give you a ride."
It was Ruo Xi who called from her car. Beside her, she saw Syaoran looking straight at the road, without caring about her the least bit.
"Come on, I've seen you standing there for a long time!" she called out with genuine concern. Sakura knew she meant well, but she still wasn't sure if Ruo Xi treated her as a friend or a foe.
It was the weight of Michio that made her give in. She opened the back door and slowly placed Michio beside the large teddy bear that Syaoran had gotten for Ruo Xi. She climbed into the car right after him and closed the car door beside her.
"If Xiao Lang is taking up too much space, I'll toss him into the back trunk," Ruo Xi said, pointing at the huge bear.
Sakura shook her head. "No it's not. Thank you for the ride." Although she should have been thanking Syaoran, the driver, she said it to Ruo Xi instead because she couldn't bring herself to speak to Syaoran directly after what happened yesterday.
"Where are you going now?" Ruo Xi asked. Sakura quickly searched for the note that Shin had copied down inside her bag and handed it to Ruo Xi. "I'm going to this place."
Ruo Xi handed the note to Syaoran. He took out his Phone and entered the address in for GPS navigation.
As he was entering the address, Ruo Xi questioned, "Where is your boyfriend?"
The entire car fell silent, even the sound from Syaoran's typing stopped. All they could hear was Michio's soft breathing.
"H-He got an on-call, so he had to leave for the hospital," Sakura replied, feeling nervous for an unknown reason. She didn't know what Ruo Xi's intention was, although Ruo Xi sounded like she was just curious about the whereabouts of Shin.
"So, you're taking the child home?" Ruo Xi continued to pose questions, being oblivious to the awkwardness in the car.
"Yeah," Sakura said.
All of a sudden, Syaoran pressed down on the petal so hard that all of the passengers in the seat were pushed back against their seats.
"你在干嘛？" (What the hell are you doing?) Ruo Xi exclaimed in surprise.
"没事，只是想测试一下他的加速," (Nothing, I just wanted to test how well this car accelerates) Syaoran smiled at her sweetly. He was acting weird in the car, just as how he had acted when they were eating in the restaurant.
During the rest of the car ride, Sakura kept her eyes glued on the rain and the buildings passing by outside of the car, while Ruo Xi and Syaoran were just talking privately in Chinese. She silently massaged her sore arms at the same time.
"记得带一份礼物回来给我哦," (Remember to bring me back a gift from the States).
"我是去工作，并不是去玩若希" (I'm going there for work, not for vacation, Ruo Xi).
"你好讨厌哦。要你带一份礼物回来你会死吗？" (I hate you. Will you die if you just bring one gift back for me?).
Syaoran stretched his arm across the seat and pinched Ruo Xi's cheek as he replied, "会啊." (I will).
Ruo Xi pulled her face out of his grasp and glared at him. "You piece of shit." Syaoran laughed at the expression on her face.
Although Sakura kept her eyes occupied by the view outside, she couldn't help but notice what was going on in the front of the car through the corner of her eye. She wished that she had never gotten inside the car.
As the car came to a halt, Sakura peeked out to find herself in front of a twenty-floor high-rise condo. She hoped that she was brought to the right place because she had never been to Shin's house before.
"This is it, right?" Ruo Xi turned back and asked Sakura.
Sakura shrugged. "I think so."
"You've never been to his place?" Ruo Xi asked, somewhat surprised.
Sakura shook her head. She noticed that Syaoran was quietly sitting in his seat and looking out the window again. Sakura thought that he probably couldn't wait until she got out of the car.
"Thank you for driving us," she thanked Ruo Xi, while unbuckling her seat belt.
"Michio, wake up. We're home." Sakura attempted to wake the child up but to no avail. She hoped that he would listen to her because her arms were so sore that she didn't think she could carry him up to the tenth floor.
The sky had cleared when Sakura came out of the car. She then picked up the kid and brought him out of the car as well.
"Xiao Ying, are you sure you can't come to our party?" Ruo Xi rolled down her window and asked.
She didn't know why Ruo Xi always brought up her engagement with Syaoran. Did she want to share the good news with a friend or was she trying to remind Sakura that she had lost a great man. No matter what her real intentions were, every time the word "engagement" was brought up, Sakura felt suffocated and a new round of tears tried to break free inside of her.
Sakura shook her head. "His dad won't be back until tomorrow morning. I will be staying here tonight to look after him."
"Okay, see you soon," Ruo Xi said, feeling a bit disappointed. She was unaware of Sakura's struggle to steady herself on the ground.
"Bye." All she wanted to do was get away from those two and quickly take Michio home.
As she walked towards the entrance of the building, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Unexpectedly, the person turned out to be Syaoran. "I'll help you carry him up." He talked to him in the same emotionless voice as he had used last night. The voice he used towards her was also the complete opposite of the one he had used towards his fiancée when the three of them were in the car.
Making direct eye contact with him made her want to cry. She pushed back her tears for the whatever-number of times that day.
"It's okay, I don't need your help," Sakura replied in a tone as if she were annoyed by his interference.
"I don't care if you don't need my help. I am only here because my fiancée has asked me to take this kid up for you."
Sakura looked past him and into the car, but she couldn't see Ruo Xi's face for confirmation. She wondered why Ruo Xi didn't call out from the car window about sending Syaoran to help her.
Sakura handed Michio over to him with uncertainty because she remembered that back then, he already developed a strong dislike for the child. So it made sense if he planned on dropping the kid now that his animosity was on an entirely different level.
"I won't do stupid things to a kid that has nothing to do with me, but for sure your arms will before you reach his home," he told her as if he could read her mind. Even now, Sakura thought, he had the ability to read her face. He waited for her to look for the keys to open the front door.
When it opened, he carried Michio effortlessly towards the elevator.
How does he know my arms are sore? She asked herself as they waited for the elevator to arrive.
Their trip from the lobby to the tenth floor was in silence. Once they stepped out of the elevator, it was Sakura's turn to lead the way to the correct home. Behind her he heard Syaoran talking on the phone with someone in Chinese. After she made a turn down the corridor, she found Michio's home, 104.
The phone call was quick and short. Sakura unlocked the door and turned to take Michio back from Syaoran.
"I need you to be my translator for my one-week business trip in NYC," he spoke to her with seriousness, while still holding onto the child.
Sakura thought she didn't hear properly, so she asked for a repeat.
"My translator had to take care of her kid so she won't be able to come with me. I need an English interpreter for tomorrow, and you are the only one who can travel to the states without a visa," he explained.
"And why do I have to help you?" Sakura asked in that same irritated voice in which she was slowly getting used to pretend.
"Because you, Kinomoto Sakura," he said, while smiling dangerously, "you owe me close to $1 million for breaking the contract that you had signed for the magazine photo shoot. If it weren't for me, you would be in jail right now."
The keys from Sakura's hands dropped on the floor with a loud cling.
"It's hard to believe that you out of all people surrendered to fate," Linda Hamasaki said, looking through the glass of her martini.
Although she wasn't drunk, unlike Chou Jin who was sleeping like the dead on the stool beside Syaoran, her words were incoherent to Syaoran. The three of them decided to have some drinks together after the party. All of the guests left and Syaoran told Ruo Xi to go back to the hotel first, as well.
"Huh?" Syaoran asked, his fingers spinning around his car key.
"All those rich second-generation bastards were waiting for the day when you cancel your engagement to Ruo Xi," Linda explained.
"Oh."
"They looked up to you when you rebelled against the norm, but after today, you'll be on the bottom of their list."
"I don't remember being involved in a 'rebellion'," Syaoran said with humour. Then, he mouthed 'one more' to the bartender.
"You know what I mean. You escaping to Japan to become an actor, you running away from your parents in Hong Kong, you dating girls who were against your parents' wishes…All of these things made you a rebel in the upper class world. And you became a legend. But now, just like everyone else, you surrender to fate by agreeing to marry a girl who you don't even love."
Syaoran was able to become best friends with Linda Hamasaki after their relationship as lovers didn't work out because her personality and way of thinking was too similar to his. Other times, they got along just fine, however, under the spell of alcohol, she was being sentimental and it made Syaoran feel a little bit uncomfortable around her.
"How do you know I don't love Ruo Xi," he asked defensively. If he had to be honest with himself, though, he knew what Linda said wasn't far from the truth.
"Because of the way you act around her. It's different from how you acted around Sakura."
Hearing Sakura's name suddenly made him tense up. "Don't mention her name. How I act around one woman shouldn't be used to make comparisons with the other women I date."
"Fine, I won't mention her. But seriously, Syaoran, do you really want to spend the rest of your life with a woman that you have no feelings for?"
Conversation to be continued…
Valkyrie85: And that's the end of the chapter! Tell me your thoughts and also tell me if you think Syaoran still likes Sakura xp
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