Chapter 26

Hey again guys. Uhm yeah so…sigh. Sorry, once again, for the uber long update wait. :/ I hope you can forgive me…especially being as it's so close to the end, I guess you want the chapters even more. :P So again, I'm sorry. Please review and vote in the poll, more in the a/n at the bottom. :P

Sakura's Point of View

The door clicked and opened. I looked over and saw Syaoran entering the classroom, a tired smile spread across his face. I smiled back empathetically.

"Hey," he said, walking over to me.

"Good morning," I replied, stepping closer to him. I looked into his eyes and saw they were drowning in worry. I let out a humourless chuckle and stretched up to kiss him lightly on the mouth.

"I've been worrying about you," he mumbled, looking embarrassed.

I smiled, and touched his hair lightly. It was soft and thick; I ran my fingers through it. "I can see that. But don't worry about me. I'll get through this. We'll get through this."

His lips curved into a smile, a real smile, and he wrapped his arms around me and pushed his lips against mine. Our kisses always seemed so perfect, like it was something we were meant to do. Then again, it probably was.

All of a sudden, I saw a shadow in the window of the classroom door. My heart almost stopped as I immediately pulled away from Syaoran. What if it's Li, or another board official?

The door swung open, and Meiling stood there, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed.

"You guys are too stupid. After all that happened yesterday, you'll still do that at school?" she scolded before taking a seat. "You're just lucky I wasn't someone else."

I sighed shakily, greatly relieved that it was only Meiling. I whacked Syaoran's shoulder. "Go sit down. Class is about to start."

The vending machine rumbled and dropped out my soda. I grabbed it and brushed it off. I could faintly hear the kids outside talking and fighting and doing whatever. Lunchtime was a jungle at Tomoeda High School, I concluded with a smile.

I started towards the staff room to see if there were any more doughnuts left, daring to open the soda so early after being taken from the machine. It only fizzed up a little, rushing down the side of the can and making a small puddle on the floor. I glanced around; no one was there. I quickly walked away from the—miniscule—puddle, giggling to myself.

Sadly, there were no more doughnuts in the staff room, so I just walked back over to my classroom. I threw myself down into my cushioned spinning chair and twirled around in it a couple of times as I sipped my drink thoughtfully.

There was really nothing to do to stop Li. He had money and power and I was a teacher with my high school students. I doubted we could use any type of magic; I repeat, he had money and power. A magic of his own.

I nearly choked on the soda when my door suddenly opened. I stopped spinning, coughing, and set the can down on my desk. When I looked up, tears in my eyes from coughing and choking, I saw Li smirking down at me, hate in his eyes. I glared back up at him.

"Yes, Li-san?" I asked politely, my face still a mask of resentment.

He just chuckled, shook his head, and left the room.

Syaoran's Point of View

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sakura walking into the video store. I quickly stuffed the magazine I was holding back onto the shelf and rushed out into the mall and after Sakura.

I walked up behind her silently and glanced at the DVD she was holding; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I put my hands on her shoulders, and she jumped.

"You know there's lots of sexual content in that movie?" I whispered into her ear, chuckling.

She wheeled around. "Syaoran!" she said angrily. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

I grinned at her and took the DVD out of her hands. "Really though, this is a great movie." I kissed her on the mouth.

I took her hand and we walked over to the front desk to rent the movie. Then we went over to the ice cream place in the food court and shared a large cone of French Vanilla ice cream. We sat down and took turns licking it.

"So did anything happen today?" I asked.

"Your dad came into my room while I was having a soda and almost killed me," she said, shaking her head. I looked at her in alarm, and she looked back at me, startled. "Oh, I didn't mean—I meant, he surprised me and I choked on my drink." She smiled sheepishly up at me and I sighed. "Sorry. But then, he just laughed and walked away. It was the strangest thing."

I frowned. "That is strange. Sounds like he might be plotting something," I joked lightly. I bent forward and licked off some more ice cream, oblivious that he was. And his plan was taking place right at that moment.

Honda Atsushi's Point of View

Beside me, Suzuki Yoko was, once again, shooting her mouth off about the teachers at Tomoeda High School. I was, once again, tuning her out.

"Is that so?" I said, placing it in somewhere randomly in her rant.

"Yes!" she fumed. "And that Kinomoto Sakura girl—she's barely out of high school herself, it looks like! As a Director of that school, I think she should be gone!" She turned to look sharply at me. "You're on the Board of Directors, too, Atsushi-san. Don't you think she should be gone as well?"

I shrugged. "I don't see a reason to kick her out. She's a good teacher."

"A GOOD TEACHER?" Yoko exclaimed, infuriated. "Hardly! She—"

At this point, I tuned her out yet again. I glanced around the mall, hoping no one saw me with the incredibly loud, fat woman walking next to me. I had only come to get something for Li. We'd become friends of sorts after being on the Board of Directors together for a while. It had been terrible luck that I had run into Suzuki Yoko at the mall. She'd bounded after me, screaming "Atsushi-san! Atsushi-san, wait for me!" Of course, it would have been rude to keep on walking. It was obvious I could hear her—no one couldn't have heard her.

My gaze fixed on a couple eating ice cream together. They were sharing one cone, and the boy kept daring to lick it at the same the girl was. I smiled; I found it cute.

Then my face pulled into a frown. I recognized those two from somewhere.

"Yoko," I said, interrupting her rant and forgetting any formal terms. She blinked at me, surprised I had cut her off so abruptly. "What did you say Kinomoto Sakura looked like?"

"Well," she started, "she has big, naïve, stupid green eyes. And incredibly short, brownish hair—"

"Auburn hair?" I put in, still watching the couple as my frown deepened.

"Uhm, I suppose so, yes."

"Suddenly, Yoko, I have a reason for Kinomoto Sakura to be fired."

I felt like a storm cloud coming to ruin a sunny day as I stalked over to the now kissing Kinomoto Sakura and Li Syaoran. I put a firm hand on Kinomoto Sakura's shoulder, causing her to look up in surprise. Li Syaoran, confused, resorted to glaring at me.

"Kinomoto Sakura, I am Honda Atsushi."

She looked up at me, confused.

"Of the Board of Directors for Tomoeda High School," I continued.

Her face blanched and a strangled noise came from her throat.

Sakura's Point of View

Honda Atsushi sent Syaoran home. He looked back at me over his shoulder, despair written across his face. I knew that despair would soon turn to anger and someone would end up with a broken arm.

I recognized Suzuki Yoko, the stuck up lady, as she glared at me, disgusted.

Honda Atsushi fixed me with a piercing look that made my stomach churn. "We will discuss this matter in the morning, in Mizuki-san's office." He turned sharply on his heel and walked away, leaving me feeling deflated and frightened. My breath caught in my throat. I grabbed my purse and dashed the opposite way out of the mall.

I jumped into my car and slammed the door. I felt the tears coming up behind my eyelids as my body shook. They spilled out all at once and I sobbed loudly, leaning against the steering wheel.

It was dark outside. The street light near my car sputtered and went out and I was drenched in near complete darkness. My tears made the top of my shirt wet, and that made me cold in turn. Goosebumps rose on my skin and the fine hairs that lined my arms stood on end.

I suddenly felt very alone in the cold and dark. Come the morning, what would I do? My life would be over. An affair with a student was possibly the worst thing that a teacher could do. I'd be thrown behind bars and never be able to work near minors ever again. And I'd probably never be able to see Syaoran again either.

Fresh, hot tears streamed down my cheeks. I let out another cry that sounded like a wounded donkey and hugged my knees to my chest, feeling utterly alone.

When I finally got home, I was tired and dazed. I shut the Lamborghini door and wobbled over to my door, unlocking it with fumbling fingers. I didn't bother locking it behind me. I just stumbled over to my bed, undressed, and curled up under the covers, more tears threatening to fall.

"Sakura!"

My heart almost cracked my ribcage as I shot up in bed, startled.

"Sakura!" came the urgent whisper again.

I pulled the covers up around myself. "Who's there?"

"Sakura, it's me." Surprisingly, it was Kaho who stepped out of the shadows. I blinked in surprise.

"Kaho-chan—?" I gasped. Then tears blurred my vision. Her office tomorrow morning would spell my doom.

"Sakura," Kaho said again, and dropped down onto my bed. I noticed she was panting slightly. I reached over and rubbed her back.

"What's wrong, Kaho-chan?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Honda Atsushi," she began, and I cringed, "he saw you and Syaoran-kun together." I nodded. "I tried, Sakura, I really tried."

I frowned. "Tried what?"

"I tried to cloud it over with magic, but I couldn't—I've used so much of it lately, I'm just…I'm all worn out now, Sakura, I'm sorry. I couldn't do it."

"You…?" Suddenly realization dawned upon me. Before, that news clip of Syaoran and I, why hadn't I noticed that no one was attempting to have me locked up or fired or sent to the corner at least? Nothing happened to him or me because Kaho covered it up with her magic. And now, she was trying to do it again…

"Kaho-chan," I whispered, more tears springing to my eyes, this time out of utter gratitude to the woman before me. She sat up, looking tired, and I hugged her. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Kaho-chan."

"I'm sorry, Sakura," she murmured, hugging me back, "but this time I could only cloud over some of the story."

I shook my head. "Don't feel bad, Kaho-chan, you've done more than enough. And I'm so grateful for that…thank you."

She smiled and stroked my hair. "It'll still be better than normal though. Don't cry anymore…little sister."

My eyes widened at the term. I hadn't heard that in a long time. She used to call me 'little sister' when she and Toya were dating. That was so long ago. I always used to call her 'big sister', which prompted my own nickname. And right now, it comforted me to know Kaho was the big sister I never had.

"So what's gonna happen?" I asked nervously.

"Don't worry," she said, pulling away and standing up. "You'll find out in the morning. Good night, Sakura-chan." I watched the doorframe she had walked out of until I heard the front door shut. Then I leaned back in bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

Hey so, I hope you liked it. :) Again, I'm really sorry for the long wait…again. I think I might just write the next two/three chapters so I can be done with this and not have to worry about it anymore, and worry about the readers having to wait. :P And sorry if you were confused at the Honda Atsushi part. xD

AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE IN THE POLL! PLEASE!

And please review too! :)