Chapter
One:
"Hoeeeeee!"
Kinomoto Sakura tossed aside her
alarm clock frantically, lunging out of bed. She was late. Late! Only by a half
hour but late, nonetheless.
The drawer to her dresser slid
open slowly and a sleepy Kero-chan floated up out of it, limbs seemingly heavy.
"Sakura-chan…" he whimpered, "why is that always the first noise I hear from
you in the morning?"
"It is not, Kero-chan!" she
argued and she hurried to get her morning ritual done. High school was hardly a
place she wanted to be late to. Especially her third year of it. She was old
enough to follow her responsibilities, wasn't she?
She came to a complete and utter
stop suddenly, right in the middle of pulling on her uniform. "Do you feel
that, Kero-chan?" she asked faintly, green eyes focused on the far wall.
Kero sat up quickly. "A new evil
force come to rid the world of the Card Mistress?" he asked excitedly. It had
been a while since they had faced anything. Eriol-kun had long since given up
on putting obstacles in their path.
Sakura hesitated a moment longer
and then blushed furiously as her stomach growled. "Forget it, the feeling's
gone." She giggled, embracing herself around the stomach.
Kero hit the floor hard, his
tail sticking up and quivering.
Sakura finished getting ready,
humming to herself, and lifted her school bag onto the bed. "Kero-chan?" she
asked, holding the bag open. When he didn't respond she looked over toward his
seemingly dead form on the floor still. With a sigh she rose, lifted his limp
body by the tail and deposited him in the school bag.
Downstairs, Touya already had
breakfast done. He was dependable, her oni-chan, always on time, and always
responsible. He chatted with their father, Fujitaka, as he settled some
pancakes on a plate and then handed the plate to him. Father and son looked
nothing alike, except perhaps for their height and even then Touya outdid him
by a few inches. He had inherited his dark looks from her mother and Sakura
from her father.
"Ohaiyo!" she cried happily,
bouncing into the room. And then, tracing her fingers across the small counter
near the kitchen table, she looked toward a lovely picture of a young woman
with long, flowing black hair. "Ohaiyo, oka-san…"
"Ohaiyo gozaimasu." Her father
smiled as Touya put down another plate of pancakes for her across from their
father.
"Here, kaijuu." He said by way of greeting, turning
to go back to the kitchen.
"Oni-chan! I am not a monster!"
She shouted at his back indignantly then shook her head as she seated herself.
She figured after years of the game he would have given up. It was not so. In
fact, he seemed to enjoy it even more now.
Sakura wolfed down her
breakfast, grumbling throughout about monsters and being big. Even about a big
card. Touya wasn't sure. He didn't care much either. He had to meet Yukito soon
for his new part time job or else Yuki would leave. No, that was a big fat lie.
Yuki would probably wait all day for him. He chewed slowly on the pancakes,
thoughtfully, and utterly unaware of Sakura as she finished up and raced around
the house.
"Itte kimasu!" she shouted from
the front hallway. Then he heard the hard clunk of roller blades and the front
door slammed shut.
Touya cursed under his breath,
throwing down his napkin. "Sakura!" he called after her. He waved goodbye to
his father quickly, rushing after his sister. He had to catch up or else she
would come along. Sakura and he had made a new plan, never leaving at the
normal time anymore because it was the only way to avoid-
He had barely stepped out the
front door when two arms wrapped around his neck from behind, cutting off his
intake of oxygen and effectively making his eyes swirl. "Touya-kun!" a feminine
voice sang happily in his ear, a body suddenly being supported by the strength
of his neck muscles.
"Akizuki…" he sighed, wheezing.
"Na-ku-ru." She corrected. She
gave him an extra squeeze before pulling back the slightest bit. "I finally
caught up with you!"
Touya disentangled himself from
her, hopping down his front steps. "How can you catch up when I haven't gotten
ahead of you?" he asked sourly, pulling out his bike and adjusting the seat a
bit.
Nakuru came to stand beside him,
hands clasped behind her back, smiling. "Off to the part time job?" she asked
innocently.
Touya paused, throwing one leg
over the bike. "No, actually. I was thinking about doing that but as soon as
you popped up I had the sudden urge to…I don't know. Throw myself off a bridge
and die…" he steadied himself, prepared to go when that extra body landed
behind him once more, nearly throwing him back off balance. He peeked over his
shoulder to see Nakuru seated one-sided on his bike seat, smiling brightly.
"Well? Let's go already." She
said and she wound her arms around his neck once more.
Touya sighed to himself and
steered the bike off to find Yukito.
Sakura caught sight of
Tsukishiro Yukito, waiting patiently along the road as she roller-bladed along.
Her heart skipped a beat, still, after all these years. This was love, she told
herself once more. This was no crush. Crushes came and went but love…love hung
on always. She slowed the slightest bit, gazing at the innocence in the
beautiful face of the young man. And she saw the exact moment he caught sight
of her for he smiled, lifting a hand in greeting.
"Ohaiyo, Sakura-chan." He said
sweetly, holding a large bag in his hand, his usual bag slung over his
shoulder.
"Ohaiyo, Yukito-san!" she
replied, skating to a stop before him. She fixed her wild auburn hair
self-consciously, pulling another lock away from her mouth. "The new part time
job, right? With oni-chan?"
Yuki nodded. "We start in a half
hour but I'm automatically going to be late because my bike is in the shop
getting fixed. One of the break lines snapped." He explained.
Sakura's face dropped. "I'm so
sorry. You shouldn't have waited, I'm sure 'ni-chan would have understood." She
said. And she looked at the large bag he held.
Yukito shrugged. "I don't mind.
I was just going to wait for him to tell him to go without me. That or maybe
share his bike." And he smiled innocently once more, noticing her curiosity in
his bag. "I haven't eaten breakfast yet."
Sakura sweat-dropped, smiling
lopsidedly. "I figured as much. But it's ok, it's a sure sign of health."
"Hai." He agreed. Then his happy
expression slipped a bit. "But…I find myself so very hungry, even when I do
eat. It's…almost strange." He said in a quietly thoughtful voice.
It wasn't strange. Sakura gazed
at him, sadly, not even hearing as he continued on about how he was also
strangely tired. It wasn't strange and it was hardly new. It was part of being
a false form of a greater being.
Yue.
Yukito was fishing though the
bag and he pulled out a small bag of sweets, holding them out to her. "Here,
take it. A small snack for the day." He said graciously, and he smiled cheerfully
once more.
Sakura took it, reluctantly. He
would be needing it more, she knew. It was hard for him, for Yue, to support
both himself and Yukito and she knew that Yue did it for her. Because though he
denied the fact, he did care for her and he would never want any harm to come
to her. "You won't be needing these for the day?" she asked, staring down at
the plastic bag of goodies.
Yukito smiled. "I have more
where that came from." He replied. And he suddenly looked over her shoulder
towards the way she had come. "Ah, here comes Touya."
Sakura turned to look and
grimaced. "Nakuru caught him again." She said quietly, catching sight of the
brown-haired girl chatting up a storm in her brother's ear. And 'ni-chan's face
was not one of happiness as he steered the bike at a snail's pace.
Nakuru suddenly squealed, waving
towards them. "Ohaiyo, Sakura-chan!" she cried, upsetting Touya's balance on
the bike. She instantly embraced him around the neck as he swerved a bit.
Sakura waved back half-heartedly
before looking back at Yukito once more. "You may have trouble getting on the
back of that bike, Yukito-san." She let him know and she began to skate away
backwards, glancing once more at Touya and Nakuru.
"That's all right." Yukito said,
following her with his smile as she left. "I have two legs." And he waved
good-bye.
She waved also, laughing to
herself.
Two legs and a nice set of
wings.
"Ohaiyo gozaimasu." Tomoyo
greeted her as she entered their first period class. She sat with her legs
drawn in on the seat, following Sakura's every movement as she found her seat
beside the black-haired girl.
"Ohaiyo, Tomoyo-chan." She said
in return, sitting down. The teacher did not appear to be in yet and so she
slouched in her chair with a sigh. "It feels like a long morning already."
Tomoyo's face became worried
almost immediately. "Daijobu?" she asked, dark eyes wide.
Sakura looked her way quickly.
She was almost tempted to see her reaction if she answered no. Maybe she could
make up a nice lie, like Yamazaki, and scare the poor girl out of her wits.
Instead she smiled soothingly.
"I'm ok."
"Ohaiyo." A gentle, masculine
voice said behind her.
Sakura turned instantly to look
towards Syaoran. She couldn't explain it. Seeing Syaoran every morning always
made the day brighter and she needed some brightening today.
But it wasn't Syaoran. It was
Eriol. "Eriol-kun…" she said in surprise. "Ohaiyo. But you're not in this
class." She said, stating the obvious.
She could have sworn Eriol
sighed at her patiently. "I just came to say good morning." He answered and he
held out a small flower to her, with pink petals at the core that turned a dark
purple-blue at the tips.
Sakura took it, mouth forming an
o. "Oh, how beautiful..." she whispered faintly, gazing at it in awe. "Where
did you find something like this..?"
Eriol smiled. "In my garden." He
said with a careless shrug. And he placed a hand over the one she had laid
across the back of her chair. "I want you to have it. I'd be honored if you
would."
Tomoyo suddenly rose, causing
both Eriol and Sakura to look at her. "Eriol-kun…a word outside, please?" she
asked softly, piercing him with dark eyes.
Eriol looked at her, for a
moment longer than usual before straightening. "Mochiron." He agreed graciously
and he bowed to Sakura. "Sumimasen, Sakura-san."
"Hai." Sakura nodded. And she
watched them as they both floated towards the doorway. Just in time for Syaoran
to enter.
And pale considerably.
Eriol smiled at him, his usual
'Hello, how are you, I'm going to eat you now' look on his face. Syaoran
merely glared, tossing Tomoyo the same look as she moved aside for him to
enter.
"Syaoran-kun." Sakura said his
name as he made it passed them and neared his seat. He looked up upon hearing
her and a faint smile curled his lips.
"Ohaiyo, Sakura." He said to
her, sitting down behind her.
She gazed at him, almost
tenderly. How many years had they had the same class and how many times, in all
those classes had he taken the seat behind her? Sometimes she wished he would
sit in front of her. She wanted to be able to not pay attention in class, for
just one day, and concentrate on his soft, wavy hair. Maybe even ruffle it.
She blushed suddenly, looking
down at the flower in her hand in embarrassment. Where had that thought come
from?
"What?" he asked, noticing her
sudden shyness. And he looked down at the flower in her hand.
"Oh! Eriol-kun gave it to me!"
she said brightly. "Isn't it beautiful?" She focused on it, hoping that if she
focused maybe he would to. Focus on it and not the cherry red her face
had turned.
Syaoran stared at it, too,
wordlessly.
Score!
"Eriol-kun…?" he echoed softly,
his face turning the slightest bit blank. A sad blank, at that. Sakura looked
at him once more, even tilting her head questioningly.
"What is it?" she asked faintly.
Syaoran cocked his head also,
slanting a glance toward the doorway.
Tomoyo was arguing rather heatedly, Eriol merely
smiling patiently at her.
"He had a day!" Tomoyo
whispered, staring up into Eriol's eerie eyes in bemusement. "What happened to
that?"
Eriol continued to look aloof.
"He still has his day. This is his day." He replied. And as she opened
her mouth to protest he shushed her. "Believe me, Daidouji-san. This…is
nothing."
"Syaoran-kun." Sakura asked
again, this time reaching out to clasp one of his hands gripping the edge of
his desk.
He looked down, drawn back to
her and he shook his head, giving her a sheepish smile. "Iie. Nande monai." He
said and he pulled his hand out from under hers, clearing his throat. A moment
later he wondered why the hell he had done that. Wasn't the whole point of this
for him to finally let her know how he felt?
Sakura recoiled slightly,
pulling her hand back towards herself and when he raised his eyes to her she
forced a cheerful smile and turned around in her seat to face the front.
He sighed inwardly and then
jumped as Tomoyo suddenly hipped him on the way back to her desk.
She glared at him over her shoulder, moving to sit
and motioned toward Sakura discreetly, eyes widening as if to say, 'What are
you doing?'
Syaoran gestured just as
discreetly, only discreetly in his book meant flipping the bird at Eriol's back
as he sauntered out of the classroom. 'What was that?' he demanded,
mouthing his sentence soundlessly.
'I don't know!' she
answered right back, just as audibly.
"Tomoyo-chan-" Sakura suddenly began, turning in her direction.
Tomoyo turned to face her so
quickly her hair had to flutter slowly downward along her shoulders and back.
"Hmm?" she inquired innocently.
"For our math homework, what did
you get for the fifth problem..?"
Syaoran threw himself across the
desk burying his head in his arms. It was going to be a long day, he felt it
already.
And then something was pushed
into the crook of his elbow, plastic with sharp edges. He lifted his head to
look into Sakura's big green eyes and she smiled, her fingers still pushing the
small candy into his arm. "Here." She said.
And as he accepted the candy he
thought, 'Maybe it won't be so long at all.'