"Their New Beginning"
Sakura's thumb lingered over the keys of her phone, as she stared at the beaming screen. She had been staring at her phone, at his name, for a solid 10 minutes. She was debating if she should text the man to let him know how she had been.
Her heart told her not to, though. Her mind even agreed with her heart how he did not deserve to know how she felt after everything that just happened today. Her heart and mind never agree with each other.
The little demon on her left shoulder began to blame him for her pain. He had been her best friend over a decade now, and he kept this from her.
'Please call me when you can'
She wanted to throw her phone against a wall after reading the text he sent her as soon as Syaoran left the hotel.
At the thought of Syaoran, she could feel her cheeks almost melt into a puddle of mush, as the thought of him distracted her mind from the other man.
He had left 10 minutes ago to get drinks for them to have for the next few hours before they would go out.
She could not believe she had cried in front of him like that. She had never bawled her eyes out in front of anyone like that—not even Eichii or Akinari.
What warmed her heart even more was the fact that he had no type of judgement or ill-thoughts about her. He had been so sincere with the simple responses he gave her.
He made her feel like it was okay to cry and feel the things she felt.
Everything Syaoran had done for her in these last few days made her realize that she could never find anyone who feels as strongly about her than he does. Syaoran was the type of man she could see herself spending the rest of her life with.
Her heart sped up at that thought, wondering where it had even come from. She was getting way ahead of herself and Syaoran now. They were not even together yet, and she was already thinking long term with the man.
They still needed to go on their first official date before anything else, she reasoned.
Click.
Her head turned towards the hotel door, hearing that noise. She took a deep breath, hoping it would calm her raging heart.
The moment the door opened, and she caught a glimpse of the man, all the blood rushed to her face.
Syaoran flashed her a charming smile as he held up the two bottles of alcohol. "Sorry it took so long," he said, walking through the door. It closed behind him, automatically locking. "Apparently a lot of people are staying inside their hotel rooms tonight for New Year's."
She smiled, shaking her head. "It's fine," she said.
"Is something wrong? Your energy level is different from what it was earlier about us drinking," he said, sitting the bottles on the counter before walking over to her.
Unconsciously, her fingers tightened around the forgotten object in her hand.
He sighed, eyes drifting down to her hand. "Give me your phone," he said, holding out his hand for her phone.
"What?" she asked, holding her phone closer to her chest now. "Why?"
"It's New Year's Eve...we've stressed about enough today, especially you. You aren't adding anything else to this list, so give me your phone," he said sternly.
"But—"
"I've informed your dad where you are and will be tonight, tomorrow, and the day after that. He has my number too, so if anything happens, he'll call me. The phone," he said, motioning her to give him the phone.
For a moment, she wondered when he had got her father's number.
"But, Tomoyo—"
"I've contacted Hiiragizawa and told him where we are and to also tell your friend, so we'll be getting a call from them probably tomorrow or tonight. Your phone," he said again, motioning her to hand it over.
She looked at him, seeing how serious and determined he looked to get her phone. The butterflies in her stomach could not help but appreciate all the effort he had been putting into her, even now.
If her dad and Tomoyo knew where she is, she could give him her phone.
"Here." She handed it to him slowly.
Not even bothering to look at the phone, he turned it off before slipping it in his dark loosely fitted denim jeans, making her realize he had on normal clothes. He even had a navy blue sweatshirt on with tennis shoes.
"I didn't know you were capable of dressing so...normal," she said, letting her voice turn playful towards the end.
She wanted to lighten the mood between them now. She had been the one to suggest them having fun for the remainder of the day, so they would have fun.
"I..."
She looked at him, seeing his cheeks color. "You look good," she complimented to make him feel less uncomfortable about her comment on his appearance.
"Well...I didn't bring any of my scrubs, so this is all I have, unfortunately," he said, giving her a crooked smile.
She giggled, standing from the little flat couch where the window is located. "That sucks, because...you look good in those too," she said, smiling at him bashfully, though she had a playful hint to her tone.
Syaoran chuckled, walking towards her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him in a hug. "Well, you look good in everything you put on," he murmured in her hair, making the butterflies in her stomach flutter.
"Syaoran..." she called, closing her eyes as she rest her head on his chest, breathing in his scent.
He pulled back from her, but kept his arms wrapped around her waist as he stared in her eyes. "I mean that."
Staring in his eyes made her realize the honesty in that response. She knew they had to talk about that. "You don't have to say these things to me," she said softly.
"I know, but I want to," he said, resting his forehead against hers.
"I..."
"I know we haven't talked about us or whether or not we're getting together or anything, but I mean it. I mean everything I tell you," he said, holding her tighter.
"I meant what I said about wanting to be with you. Seeing Eichii today changed absolutely nothing about the way I feel."
She wanted to get that out in the open so he could know she still wanted that. She still wanted him.
"Is it really what you want?" he asked, looking in her eyes seriously. "Because saying that means you're not getting rid of me."
Her cheeks warmed at the sincerity in his voice. "I do."
"No more mind games. You can't change your mind about this anymore. You either want me or you don't," he said.
She smiled at him a little before nodding her head against his slowly. "With all this work you've been putting in...I'm pretty sure I don't want to lose you. No one could ever be as patient as you've been with me. We still have a few things to fix before we can make this work, but I'm certain about wanting to be with you," she said.
He let out a sigh of relief. "Good, because you don't know how long I've been holding my breath to hear that answer," he said.
She giggled before biting her lip bashfully. "How did...you know to do this? What made you think of this?" she asked.
"You," he said, unwrapping his arm around her waist to caress her face. "We've had too many conversations; too many sessions for me to not know what has to be done to fix a problem. I know I have to face the thing that started the problem and one part of me feels like...things will be a lot better in my life if I did. But the other part dreads it, but I have this feeling somewhere deep inside that it'll all be worth it. So...I figured...if I feel this way about facing the thing that started the problem, you might feel that way too. I don't know, I'm probably not even making sense right now."
Sakura smiled at him, leaning into his touch. "It does. I'm so glad that you've really been listening to me the entire time of me trying to help you," she said.
He smiled at her. "Of course I have," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
She looked at him, glaring at him playfully. "Don't 'of course' me, when you were a complete asshole halfway through all of our sessions," she said with a smile on her face now.
Syaoran chuckled, leaning down to kiss her forehead before pulling back from her. "That doesn't mean I never listened. Besides, I'm not now, so that's what matters."
He walked over where the drinks were to grab them and the glasses.
"I don't know that. We haven't had a session in like a month," she said, giving him a pointed look.
"You know I wouldn't treat you that way anymore. You're special to me now," he said quietly.
"Even though I'm a psychologist?" she asked testily.
She knew how he felt about psychologist when they first started talk therapy. She could briefly remember him saying how they never did anything to help him or the woman who gave birth to him.
She never knew to the full extent of what happened with the psychologist and his family, so she wondered if she could coerce it out of him.
He turned the top of the whiskey and poured himself some in the glass before pouring Sakura's. He handed it to her, which she accepted.
"Even though you're a psychologist. I told you that you're different. You're not like most psychologist I know," he said.
Sakura smiled at him a little before holding up her glass for a toast.
He chuckled. "What should we toast to? The start of our relationship?" he asked in a joking tone.
Her heart sped up at that statement as the excitement coursed through her body. "To a new beginning," she said.
He was all teeth the moment she said that before he touched her glass with his. "To a new relationship," he corrected before downing his drink in one go.
Her eyes widened, surprised to see him drinking the full glass of whiskey as if it were juice.
Feeling like she was getting behind, she attempted to drink hers in one go, but found herself stopping the moment the burn hit her throat.
She heard snorting beside her, making her eyes open to look in the direction of the noise.
"No whiskey?" he asked, raising a brow at her.
"Of course not. I barely drink alcohol," she said.
He chuckled before moving over to the bed with the bottle in his hand. "Come here," he said in a husky tone that was all too familiar to her.
She walked over to the bed where he was, slowly, with her glass in hand still.
Syaoran grabbed her free hand, pulling her between his parted legs on the bed so she could stand directly in front of him.
She swallowed, feeling nervous about what he would do. He had not tried to do anything intimate with her since their big fight, but now...
"We're going to make this work," he said confidently. "If you really want to be with me, I'll make sure it works out in your favor."
"What about yours?" she asked in a timid voice, suddenly feeling shy and embarrassed about something that had not even happened yet.
"What about mine?" he asked, gently squeezing her hand.
"Everything should work out in your favor too," she said.
"Sakura," he called, making her look him directly in the eyes. "I'm not going to get anything negative from everyone if we get together. I mean, there will be here and there snarky comments, but nothing that will ever compare to what you'd have to face, being with a man who has a disgusting past ..."
Hearing the way he spoke about himself made her realize he may have still had some underlying issues with himself.
"You are not a disgusting man, so stop that," she said in a reprimanding tone.
"Do you know how many women I've been with? How many women I've paid to sleep with? I'm pretty disgusting," he said in a concluding tone. "Drink the rest of your drink."
She looked down at the glass in her, seeing she still had half a glass. "We aren't done with this conversation," she said before drinking the rest of her drink in one go.
She would not just let him talk down on himself like that. Not in her book, at least.
"This is why I can't let you go out. How are you 27 and can't take whiskey?" he asked in a teasing tone.
That was when she realized she made the same face she had earlier when drinking the alcohol. She tried to straighten up her face, but the burn in her throat said otherwise.
"Alcohol is just not my style, but you aren't changing the subject," she said, sitting her glass down.
He sighed, drinking more of the whiskey from the bottle. "It doesn't matter, right? I just want you to be sure that you're willing to take that on. I don't want you to have to go through anything bad because of me. That's why I...don't want you to do this unless you truly want to," he said the last part quietly.
"I want to," she said confidently. And she meant that. She wanted to be with Syaoran.
Syaoran took one more chug from the bottle before setting the bottle down on the small night stand by the bed.
"Come here," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her towards the bed more.
He slid his hand down her waist, to her leg before he lifted it up on the bed so her knee could rest on the bed as she straddled him.
Her mind told her they would finally do this again, but her heart told her it would not happen.
Deciding that she had enough of the anticipation, she pushed him back on the bed before resting her behind on his lap. She looked down at his red face, seeing the familiar lust in his eyes.
"Are we really going to finally start something serious?" he asked, grabbing her hand to pull her down with him.
Before she could even respond, he wrapped a hand around her neck, pulling her face towards his to kiss her lips hard. She responded back with the same amount of passion he put into the kiss, moving her body closer to his. Before she could even think twice about making any other moves, he flipped them over to where he was on top. She looked up at him, lips slightly parted from their intense kiss.
He groaned, closing his eyes tightly before she felt something hard press against her stomach. She looked down, seeing him press his lower body against hers.
"I really wasn't planning for us to do this right now..." he said against her lips before he started kissing down her face to her neck slowly.
She sighed, sliding her hands up to his hair, as all the hairs on her body stood on end. Her senses all seemed to heighten, signaling the alcohol had finally taken effect.
"But?" she managed to get out.
He kissed back up her neck slowly until he reached her lips so he could place one long kiss on hers before pulling back. "We're going to be in this hotel room all day if we start something," he said, standing from the bed, pulling her up with him.
She smiled, feeling just the slightest bit of disappointment that they would not be doing that. Somehow, she felt a bit grateful that Syaoran had not been making huge advances. She knew that when he started, he would never stop.
Her lady bits tingled at the thought before she brushed the feeling to the side.
She held his hand a little longer as they stood up beside the bed before she let it go. "Aki texted me," she said out of the blue to change the subject. She needed to calm down too, and he would be the perfect subject to get her mind off her raging hormones wanting the man to tackle her already.
Syaoran rolled his eyes in annoyance. "What does he want now?" he asked with the same manner his body language showed at the mention of the man.
She smiled a little, glad to see that he had not changed too much. "Did you tell him that we went to see Eichii today?" she asked softly.
"I never told him directly that we would, but I did have a conversation with him to find out that the bastard was still alive, so I'm sure he put two and two together on his own," he said.
Sakura realized she had not become annoyed with his insult of the man, surprisingly.
Usually, she would be ready to defend Eichii whenever Syaoran would talk down on him, but this time felt different.
In her heart, she knew Syaoran meant well with most things, and there was nothing she could do or say to convince him not to hate her past lover.
"Why'd he text me to call him then?" she asked testily.
He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to his hard body. She could still feel his arousal, letting her see how much self-control he has now. "Why are you worried about him? I told you..." he kissed her forehead, "..the rest of this trip is about you..." he kissed her nose, "...and me spending time together to get away from it all," and then he kissed her lips briefly.
"I know, I'm just not used to...ignoring him for long—"
"Sakura," he called in a scolding tone gently.
She bit her lip lightly, realizing how wrong she is being right now. Syaoran had set all of this up for her, and here she was, worried about another man after they were just about to make love.
"I talked to Akinari when I went to go get the drinks. I told him you were fine and that he didn't have anything to worry about and that I'd make sure you're safe. Does that make you feel better?" he asked.
She smiled at him a little, nodding her head. "You're right. I'm sorry for being such a worry wart sometimes," she said bashfully.
"More like all the time," he remarked teasingly.
She giggled, pushing against his chest playfully so he could release her. "Don't be an asshole," she said.
For some reason, that had lifted a huge weight off her chest. Even though she felt mad and upset with Aki, she still wanted him to know that she was fine.
She did not even know if she would be able to face him after finding out he had been hiding this, but she knew she would not ignore him forever. Just until she felt her negative emotions towards him calm down. And that would not be for a while.
She could not tell if it was the alcohol or her carefree spirit now, but she felt oddly...relieved about everything. There was no wrenching feeling in her chest anymore like there always was. No unsettling feelings in her stomach anymore. She felt...okay, for the first time in a long time. She would always say she is alright to everyone, including herself, but for once...she actually does this time.
She felt alright and it oddly felt great to feel alright for once in a long time.
"So, how about we play a little drinking game?" he suggested with a smirk on his face.
Already feeling herself a little gone, she smiled and nodded her head. "I'm down."
Sakura leaned against the counter top of the bar counter, giving Syaoran a view of her cleavage. "We would like...a shot of your most ordered drink tonight," she said, grinning at the bartender.
Syaoran dropped his hand under the counter, landing it on her thigh. "Could we just get a water for now?" he asked the bartender, glaring at the man as he caught him looking at her cleavage as well.
"Don't be such a party pooper," Sakura said with a pout on her lips.
Syaoran turned her chair towards his, raising a brow. "Is this what you do when you go out with others? Flirt with the bartender?" he asked with a frown on his face.
If she were to tell him that is true, he would not know how to feel about her going out without him anymore.
"I am not flirting. I'm just trying to get us free drinks," she said into his ear, in not the quietest tone.
"No, I can pay for the drinks. You're going to make me kill every guy in this bar if you don't stop the flirting," he chastised gently, squeezing her hand.
"No...you," she poked his chest, "…just need a little bit to drink so you won't be so uptight." She hopped off the stool, moving over between his legs.
Instantly, his body reacted to the heat of her proximity. "You agreed to get drunk with me...so get drunk, please, baby. We're in Tokyo...at a bar, where no one would probably even know who we are...we're fine, so let loose," she said, wrapping her arms around his body.
He closed his eyes, feeling his heart beat faster in his chest as the guy in his pants came to life. "If we're fine to do whatever we want...kiss me like you mean it in front of all these men you've been flirting with tonight with your little outfit on," he said in her ear, as he pulled her body closer to his tightly. He slid his hand down to the small of her back, dangerously close to her bum.
She pulled her face back from his, looking in his eyes.
He mentally groaned, seeing her flushed face with her lips slightly parted.
"Right here?" she asked with heavy lidded eyes.
"Right now," he confirmed, his breath brushing dangerously close to her lips.
They had played a game of two truths and a lie, which resulted in them both being too far gone.
She ended up changing into a dress that showed way too much for the public eye—at least to Syaoran—but she persisted on keeping it on.
Syaoran almost took her at that very moment, seeing how the green of the dress complimented her eyes. The cleavage was low cut and the back showed way too much to be considered appropriate. It was not too short, but short enough for him to pull the tight fitting dress up her waist to take her from behind.
He groaned at that thought before grabbing the back of her neck with his other hand to pull her towards his face to close the gap between their lips before she could even respond.
As soon as their lips met, Sakura kissed him with all she had, holding on to him tightly. He allowed his hand to drop lower to her ass, grabbing it tightly as she slipped her tongue past his parted lips.
Someone cleared their throat, making Sakura break apart from his lips immediately.
They both looked in the direction of the noise, only to see the bartender looking at the two, a little annoyed.
Syaoran smirked at him, giving Sakura one last squeeze before releasing her. He looked towards the counter and grabbed the glass of water and handed it to Sakura. "Drink this," he said.
She smiled at him a little. "Only if you promise to drink more. You're not supposed to be a babysitter tonight," she said, looking at him with a mischievous look in her eyes.
He smirked at her. "Alright, baby. No more babysitting, now drink the water," he coerced.
"I like when you call me that," she said with a grin on her face.
"Drink," he said in a playful stern tone, pushing the glass towards her lips.
She drank the water within a span of a few seconds.
Syaoran turned towards the bartender. "Barcardi."
"Finally," Sakura exaggerated, leaning towards him.
"You're drunk," Syaoran stated.
"I am not. I'm just tipsy," she said.
"Prove it," he said, smiling at her a little.
He was the definition of tipsy, but slightly drunk, while Sakura had to be drunk, he noted.
"I'm here with...the most beautiful, talented, smart, and sweetest doctor alive. And I know that there's no one else in this world who I'd rather start my year off with," she said.
Syaoran knew it was just the alcohol talking, but his cheeks still warmed at her confession.
"Here's your drink, sir," the bartender said, interrupting their moment.
Syaoran took the drink and downed it in less than a minute.
He closed his eyes tightly, feeling the burn like he always does. The alcohol had his body on fire.
He turned to the bartender, ordering another drink like he promised Sakura. He wanted to be as drunk as Sakura so he could enjoy himself with her. He had promised to get drunk with her tonight, so he would.
He only hesitated because he wanted to stick to the plan of them going to the festival after this.
He looked down at his watch, only to see it was past nine, which meant they still had time to get there. He could feel Sakura's eyes on him, so he looked at her, only to see a dark look in her eyes.
He mentally groaned, knowing that look more than anything. He could spot it a mile away.
"Let's go to the festival before it's too late," he said, loosely wrapping an arm around her.
The bartender handed him his drink and he drank it quickly. He threw a large amount of money on the counter before hopping off the stool. "Keep the change," he said over his shoulder before grabbing Sakura's hand, pulling her with him.
He heard her faintly giggle over the noise in the bar as she tried to keep up with him. "I'm glad I didn't wear any heels," she said over the music.
"I'm glad you didn't either, though it would have been nice to show those sexy legs off," he said without much thought into it.
Fuck.
Just at the boldness and forwardness of that statement, Syaoran knew the alcohol had finally settled in his blood.
Syaoran led them outside of the bar to the Uber he paid extra money to drive them around.
He helped Sakura settle in the back before he sat beside her in the car.
"The festival," he called to the driver before turning his attention back to the woman sitting next to him.
"You just know you look good tonight, don't you?" he said, moving his hand up to caress her face gently.
Her cheeks warmed under his palm before she bit her lip coyly.
He groaned, leaning down to kiss her lips hard.
Even though they had kissed earlier, this felt like the first time they had kissed in a long time.
He pulled back slightly. "I missed these," he kissed her lips hard before moving his lips up. "I missed this too," he kissed her nose, forehead, cheeks, and all the way back down to her chin.
"I missed you too," she said breathlessly as he started traveling kisses down her face to her neck.
His kisses turned from soft and gentle to vigorous suckling on the sensitive flesh of her neck. "Now, you're off limits from those guys you've been trying to get the attention of," he said, biting her neck a little hard, but not enough to hurt her.
She yelped as his teeth tugged at the huge hickey he left behind his suckling. "I told you I was just getting us free drinks," she whimpered weakly.
He could feel a sting of jealousy play at his heart. "Is that really what you do? You flirt to get free drinks?" he asked, dropping his hand to her thigh.
"As a single woman, I would," she answered confidently as her thighs automatically squeezed together.
Syaoran slid his hand down between her thighs, squeezing one of them gently, causing her to jerk a bit. "And now?" he asked, trailing wet kisses down her neck slowly. "Will you still flirt to get free drinks while you're with me?" His hand slid under her dress a little higher.
He studied her facial expressions, seeing how flustered and frustrated she looked as his hand teased her smooth thighs.
"N-no," she whimpered.
He slid his hand up a little higher. "I don't think I quite heard you," he said in a teasing tone.
All he could see was her bright red cheeks in the dark car with her mouth slightly parted as she pant softly.
"No...I'm done flirting for free drinks," she said weakly.
"Good," he said before closing the gap between their lips again.
Feeling someone's eyes on them, Syaoran looked to the front, only to catch the driver's eyes glancing at the front rearview mirror at them every few seconds.
He smirked against her lips before removing his hand from under her dress.
If there was some barrier to block the man's eyes from seeing Sakura naked, he would have taken her in the back of the cab.
He pulled back from her lips with a smirk on his lips; eyes feeling extremely heavy. He was done drinking for the night, he decided.
"Why'd you stop?" she asked with a pout on her lips.
"Because, we have an audience I'd rather not perform for," he said quietly.
She opened her mouth, ready to respond but he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him. "Just take it easy for right now. You're going to be sick in the morning," he said, leaning his forehead against her head.
He could feel a headache start to rise, but he chose to ignore it. The night was still pretty young, so he did not want to be a buzzkill by calling an early one.
"I will not. I had that huge glass of water back there, didn't I?" she slurred.
Syaoran chuckled, hearing a hiccup even erupt from her belly. "You're right," he said, deciding to play along with her.
"Oh! Look at all the lights!" she suddenly exclaimed, looking out the window.
His eyes followed hers, looking at all the bright lights in Tokyo. He smiled.
"I've never seen something so beautiful," she said in a daze. "Oh, look! There's a dog!"
For the rest of the ride, Syaoran listened to her random outburst and never-ending rambling about any and everything they drove past.
"Here, try this too," Sakura said, already stuffing Syaoran's face with the unknown food.
She had been dragging him around this festival for the last two hours, making him taste all the different foods the people had at the stands.
He was on the verge to puking up his insides, but was trying his best to keep it all down.
She had been trying all the food too, so he was surprised none of the food had come back up yet.
He chewed the food slowly, immediately recognizing what it is in his mouth.
"It taste weird, doesn't it?" He read her lips.
It was loud and crowded out, as they were at a festival with thousands of people. It was a wonder how she had not gotten lost yet.
"It's Cantonese food," he said, remembering the rich taste of food in Hong Kong.
He could not help but miss the place, just thinking about the food alone. It had been years since he went back there.
The thought of Hong Kong used to always leave a bitter feeling in his chest, but this time it was quite different. For the first time in his entire life, he missed home.
"I've taste Chinese food before, but it taste slightly different than that..." she said very thoughtfully.
"Well, you might've taste mandarin food. There's different kind," he said.
"Oh wait! You're from Hong Kong, aren't you?" she exclaimed, sounding surprised by her realization.
He smiled a little, being reminded that she was drunk. "Yeah," he said.
"So, it doesn't make sense why you would be in Japan," she said, leaning against him.
He could feel his cheeks warm at the heat from her hot body close to his.
He could not understand why she still had this effect on him when they had been so close—more intimate than her leaning against him slightly.
Suddenly feeling bold, he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her even closer to him. He leaned down, kissing the side of her head before kissing down until he reached her ear. He whispered, "Because I want to be with this...beautiful woman who has the most amazing heart I've ever encountered," he said before kissing her ear gently.
"Hoee..." he heard her quietly say over the noise as a blush spread across her face.
He chuckled, moving back from her ear to look at her face. He could tell the natural blush on her face from the cold weather, but he could also see the arousal written all over her face.
He could not help but wonder what would happen when they went back to the hotel room.
The moment his buddy sprung to life at that thought, he mentally piped him down, warning him not to think he would be so lucky to get some tonight.
"We'll visit your hometown one day, right?" she asked, looking at him hopefully.
He could not tell what she was thinking or what she was referring to, due to her drunken state, but he knew she had good intentions in her heart.
"Of course," he promised, meaning it from the bottom of his heart.
"When?" she asked innocently, catching him off guard.
"Uhh..."
When would they visit his hometown?
"Ohhh, we should go to the shrine before it hits New Years," she suddenly changed the subject.
He felt oddly relieved she changed the subject.
"The shrine?" he asked. He had never done this before.
"Of course. We have to start the year off right. You've never done it before? Me and my family normally do it as a tradition," she said. "Come on! We have to head there now," she said, grabbing his hand, dragging him through the crowd of people.
He stumbled in the process before catching himself and walking closely behind her as he excused them through all the people they were pushing.
Unconsciously, he situated their hands to where they could intertwine their fingers. This felt much more comfortable and calming.
He could finally hold her hand in public without either of them giving a care in the world.
Needless to say, it was a nice feeling.
By the time they found the shrines, Sakura had calmed down and seemed to be completely sober. He could not tell if she truly was, or if she was pretending. Something seemed serious about her now, even though nothing had happened between them within the timeframe of them coming here.
A sudden realization hit him, making him feel guilty for his earlier actions.
"Sakura, I'm sorry if the hand holding made you feel uncomfortable in any kind of way—"
She turned to him with a raised brow before holding up their still intertwined hands. "If this felt uncomfortable, I would've let your hand go a long time ago," she said softly.
He felt grateful that it was a lot calmer and more peaceful here, even though it was still a lot of people here.
Everyone seemed to respect what the place is meant for, so for that, he felt relieved.
"It's just...I'll be bringing in the new year with you..." she said.
"Yeah. Is there something wrong with that?" he asked, hearing the concern in his own voice.
He had not wanted her to feel uncomfortable with that thought. Otherwise, he would have never brought them here to Tokyo to bring in the year together.
She squeezed his hand. "Of course not. It's just...I want to cherish this moment forever with you," she said sincerely, making his cheeks warm.
He brought their hands to his lips so he could kiss the back of hers. "I've never done this with anyone before..." he said quietly against the back of her hand.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Brought the year in with someone...like, I usually work," he said, suddenly feeling himself sober now.
Had he already been sober, but had not noticed?
She gasped, looking at him surprised. "Why? You've really celebrated New Years alone?" she asked brokenly.
The alarms went off in his head immediately, hearing the tears in her voice. "It's not a problem or anything. I just choose to, so please don't worry or anything like that," he tried explaining, turning to her.
"That's so sad, though. The feeling that you get from bringing it in with your loved ones is an indescribable feeling. Just...knowing that you made it another year with your loved ones is...great because not everyone gets blessed to see another new year—especially with a loved one," she said.
Syaoran could not understand where this emotional side of her was coming from. It may have hit close to home for her, though. For years she had been thinking that Eichii was dead, so of course this meant a lot to her.
He released her hand, wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her in a warm hug. "I've always just kind of thought of the hospital as my home...my family, because it's all I've ever depended on within the last couple of years of my life. It's not the people or the patients that keeps me there...it's more of the feeling of being there that makes me feel like it's my home, so it's not like I hate how I spend my New Years," he said, holding her tighter.
"Well, you're with me this year then," she said in a promising tone. "As long as I know you, you won't ever spend New Year's alone anymore. I'm going to be the loved one in your life who spends it with you."
He loosened his hold on her, chuckling at her determined and stubborn tone. "I believe you will be," he said.
"Good. I didn't stuff your face with food all night for nothing," she said in a teasing tone. "Papa always told me the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach," she said.
He chuckled, hearing that phrase from somewhere.
He thought it to be cute that she said her father. He remembered it being a mother telling her child that, but soon remembered after that that her father had to play the role as her mother and father.
"So, you were priming me to agree to you being a loved one in my life all night with food?" he asked with a smirk on his face. He moved back so he could look down at her.
She grinned. "Maybe..."
"Well, sweet cheeks," he let his hand boldly slide down to her ass, cupping her cheeks. "You were already a loved one in my life before today."
He leaned down and captured her lips with his.
For a moment, she did not respond, seeming stunned by his sudden, bold affectionate actions, but she responded back, nonetheless.
Deciding to keep the kiss sweet and simple, as they are in public, he pulled back with a grin on his lips.
They were openly showing their interest in each other finally. He never thought they would get to this level with each other. He no longer felt like a dirty little secret.
The question that still lingered in the back of his mind is, would things be this way when they got back home, though?
He brushed it to the side, deciding that he should just enjoy things while they are as they are. They would have to deal with that tomorrow, so there was no point in worrying about tomorrow's problems.
He slid his hands up to the small of her back to make their contact a lot more appropriate. He smiled at her, staring in her adoring green eyes. "I know this isn't the place and time to say this, because there's so many people out and a lot of distractions, but I think I'm ready to tell you. Sakura, you are...the one that I want to—"
"Oh, look!" Sakura interrupted, looking at something behind him. "They never do fireworks in Japan for New Years, so this is something new," she exclaimed.
Just then, he heard the sounds of the firework, though his mind was elsewhere. He wanted to get this out in the open so she could finally know how he truly feels about her.
"Sakura," he called, making her attention revert back to him.
She seemed to be enthralled by the fireworks behind him, so he sighed, releasing her. Her attention span only made him realize how much she had drank earlier.
She definitely was not sober enough for this.
Fireworks never happened in Japan or at these events, so it must have been the gods telling him the time was not right.
He smiled at her before turning in the direction where she was looking, only to see a few fireworks going up.
She walked beside him, making him look at her face. "Whatever you have to tell me, I'd rather you told me when I'm sober and can remember," she said, still looking ahead.
"You're right. It's nothing you should worry about right now anyway. Not more important than fireworks happening on New Year's Eve in Japan," he said, smiling at her.
She grinned, turning to him with her eyes closed. "I'm...really tired," she said.
"It's not even midnight yet," Syaoran said, chuckling when she lied her head on his shoulder.
"I just need to sit down and close my eyes for a moment," she said.
"I don't think that's a great idea. How about we wait a few minutes before—" He stopped mid-sentence, hearing soft snoring coming from her.
He nudged his shoulder gently. "Sakura, you're kidding me, right?" he said, not believing she had just fallen asleep.
When she began to fall forward, his reflexes kicked in and he caught her in just enough time before she could hit the ground.
"Sakura," he called, shaking her gently as he held her limp body up awkwardly.
His eyes scanned their environment, still seeing a lot of people around. There were even some staring at them strangely, making him feel extremely conscious.
Attention had never been his thing and it certainly was not in this moment either.
Deciding he had enough of the awkward position they were in, he picked her up bridal style. He looked for the nearest bench and sat down on it with her laid across his lap.
He knew nothing else he could do aside from taking her home, but there was no way he could walk through this crowd holding an unconscious woman in his arms. People would think all sorts of things about him. More or less, they probably would not even let him get them back to the hotel.
He mentally reprimanded himself for letting her drink so much and taking her out with all these people.
By now, he had sobered up completely, knowing he had to take care of her, which he felt fine with, but this had not been the plan.
This was not how he planned to bring the new year in. He just felt glad that he would be with her the first of the year.
He was certain of what he wants now, despite his confusion of believing that maybe he had been unconsciously looking for love in a woman.
He may have thought that he was looking for love in other women, but it was different with Sakura. From the very start of their relationship, his intent to sleep with her was completely different than it had been with other women in the past. His intent may have been malicious; just wanting to sleep with her in spite of her being the forbidden fruit. Things turned out completely different than he thought they would. Instead of looking for love in her, love came to him with Sakura.
He had heard that things are always better when they come unexpectedly to a person, but he had never believed that statement. Until now.
He looked down at Sakura, a smile tugging at his lips. The thought of a future suddenly seemed so much brighter than he thought.
He heard the crowd roaring the countdown to new year's, yet he did not feel the least bit left out. He was here with the right person and that was all that mattered.
"Happy New Years, Sakura," he whispered, leaning down to brush his lips against hers gently.
His heart leapt when a small smile formed on her lips.
Syaoran kissed her forehead after tucking her in the hotel bed.
It was past 2am when they had finally made it home.
Sakura had never woken up at the park, so he ended up waiting until the crowd calmed down a bit before he carried her on his back to the uber. She had even slept quietly the entire drive back to the hotel, which resulted in Syaoran having to carry her inside the hotel too, getting strange stares from people.
They had probably thought he was some creep who drugged a woman and took her back to his hotel room. Thankfully, the host at the hotel was quite familiar with him, so they had been nice and made light jokes about her predicament.
They commented how she might be sick, which he agreed until he thought about the weather also making her sick. It had not been snowing out, but it certainly had not been warm out. He had draped his coat over her, but it still had been cold out, so he prayed that she would not be thatkind of sick in the morning.
He sighed, reaching behind him to pull his shirt off. He needed a shower before he could get in bed and call it a night. He could have sworn his bones were icicles now.
He took the rest of his clothes off and kicked them to a corner in the room.
A nice, hot shower was definitely what he needed right now.
When he got to the bathroom, he stared at himself in the mirror, almost unable to recognize the man staring back at him.
Nothing physically had changed about him—maybe he needed to get back to his routine of going to the gym, he noted—but everything still looked the same, physically. He could not place his finger on what looks different about himself though, but there definitely was something.
Maybe time for a haircut.
Imagining his hair cut caused him not to see the change in his appearance. Normally, when he looked at himself in the mirror, there always seemed to be this...dark aura that radiated off him, but now...it was gone. He no longer looked like a miserable man. He looked...happy.
As strange as it sounded, he looked and felt happy. About what, though?
Life.
He finally felt happy about life and himself, which was a first. He may have felt proud of the things he has accomplished in life, but that never meant he felt happy with himself, as a person. He hated the things he had done in the past, and truly does believe they were disgusting, but that is not who he is anymore. He was certain of that now.
He grinned at himself in the mirror before moving over to the shower. He turned the water on, setting it at the perfect temperature.
After he twisted the shower head, he waited a few moments before stepping in the shower.
Immediately, his eyes closed as the hot water hit against his skin with the perfect amount of pressure.
This was exactly what he needed, he thought. A nice, hot shower to send him straight to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Also to relieve the slight headache he could feel creeping on. He was starting to wish he had not drank so much.
He sighed, feeling his muscles relax before the thought of sex crossed his mind. He could not help but wonder why sex always came to mind at the oddest of times.
He just felt happy that it did not come to mind to be used as a coping mechanism this time, though.
For a moment, he felt like a normal man wanting to have sex just because, and not because of his underlying issues; or as a distraction.
With Sakura, he wanted to make love most times, but this time...he just wanted a release justbecause. And that thought felt pretty damn good to know, as odd as it sounded.
The moment his hand began to move down his body to his rising manhood, he felt small, soft arms wrap around his body from behind.
When the hands rest on his chest, he already knew who it was.
God, what is she doing?
A/N: Ahhh! I know it's been a minute since I updated, but please forgive me. Ive legit had this chapter done for like 2 months now, but I have not felt comfortable with any of my stories!
I've read over this chapter at least 7 times, but I just decided today that I would post it! I know I didn't respond to the last few reviews, but they are really what pushed me to post the chapter(though I'm at work doing it on my phone, so please try to look past any grammatical errors since I edited this chapter on my phone!).
Aside from my inner turmoils, I'm extremely excited to get the next chapter out for you guys, considering that our lovely couple will be returning to their lives and facing their biggest problem head-on. This chapter was more of a breather for the couple. Aki does appear in the next chapter, just to give you guys something to look forward to! Syaoran's trial will be starting soon, so more action at the hospital is arriving(something I'm personally excited for).
Things we should all wonder about right now is...will Sakura continue on as his therapist, orrr...will she give the role to her pending status "best friend"? :P. Will she even face him in the next chapter? Does Aki have more secrets to expose about a certain man sitting at an institution? How will Syaoran react to a certain proposal next chapter? :P.