syaoran's birthday 2

Syaoran no Tanjoubi (Syaoran's Birthday)

Two: Preparation's A Pain AKA Get Ready To Boogie

On the morning of 13th July, Li Syaoran was feeling mildly puzzled.

For one thing, Tomoyo and Eriol were both flashing him beaming smiles every time he turned their way, smiles that were just a tad too wide for his liking. He'd been acquainted with Tomoyo long enough to know that the width of her mouth was directly proportionate to how outrageous a secret happened to be stuffed up her sleeve at the time. It didn't help that Eriol seemed to share eerily similar behavioural leanings. Chiharu-tachi were also oddly excited - Yamazaki exuded an air of complacence so smug he could practically see it.

And Sakura was being terribly nervy. She jumped every time he looked her way, and couldn't seem to meet his eyes when he spoke to her. It was worrying him badly. He would have pressed further, but he wanted to spare her any more discomfort his very presence seemed to be bringing her today.

What was *wrong* with them? Something was amiss, but for the life of him he couldn't put his finger on it. He was sure he hadn't done anything particularly outstanding, not since Yamazaki had convinced him that snails would make an elegant house-warming dish two weeks ago. He winced, recalling Rika's shrieks of horror. "And you're not supposed to STEAM them!"

Thankfully the rest of the class were behaving as usual. He sighed, only half-listening to the elderly sensei droning on about Japan's technological history in front of the room. Staring at Sakura's delicate profile two seats in front of him in the next row, he could sense an aura of repressed tension around her, in contrast to her normal glowing cheerfulness. But it was a strain that anticipated excitement, almost like a child waiting to unwrap birthday presents. Noting that, he relaxed slightly. At least it didn't seem to be any sort of trouble.

Birthday presentsthat rang a vague bell in his mind, but it was horribly muffled. He mentally shrugged, and tried to concentrate on the lesson.

It didn't seem to be working.

~~~~

"I feel like a thief right now," Sakura confessed as they rode the lift to Syaoran's apartment. They' consisted of her, Tomoyo, Eriol, Yamazaki and Chiharu-tachi, all crammed into the shiny confines of three steel walls and sliding doors.

"It's for a good cause," Yamazaki said with cheerful unconcern. "If we're going to make Li-kun feel loved, we need to take extreme measures."

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan," Rika added. "I'm sure Li-kun won't mind us breaking in." The doors opened and they stepped out into the corridor.

"I hope you're rightI'd hate it if he was angry at us for this."

~~~~

"Atishoo! Ati-*shoo*! ATISHOO!"

"You all right, Li?" a passing teammate called.

"Fine," he mumbled, rubbing his nose.

"Heh. Someone talking about you? Maybe you'll get a surprise."

"I'll bet."

~~~~

Eriol carefully inserted his skeleton key into the lock and turned. There were a few soft clicks before the door creaked itself ajar. He smiled in satisfaction, and held it open for the others to file in before locking it again.

"Wow, it's neat," commented an impressed Yamazaki. "Hard to believe he's a bachelor."

"He's only 13," an irritated Chiharu pointed out. "And it's not at all surprising that Li-kun's neater than *you* are."

"But I _am_ neat."

"I don't call mixing underwear with your homework neat'!"

"Quit it," Naoko said firmly. "Get into the kitchen, Yamazaki-kun. I think Chiharu-chan had better help decorate the place."

"Why can't I cook?!"

"Just start decorating, okay?"

~~~~

During the break, Syaoran wiped his heavily perspiring face with a towel and threw himself down on the grass. He was having a strange, niggling feeling that something was going on behind his back. The idea gnawed at him, impossible to shake.

He growled softly, slung the towel around his neck. This was idiotic. But he somehow knew that it was connected to the odd way Sakura and the others had been behaving that morning.

"Yo, Li-kun! Catch!" His head snapped up in time to grab a bottle of isotonic drink with moisture running down its sides. Yamada, a boy from his class, stood grinning down at him, figure blocking the light before he squatted down beside him.

"Sankyu," he said shortly, opening the bottle and gulping the salty liquid down.

"No problem," the other replied. "Why not join the rest of us over there?"

He shook his head. "I'd rather not, thanks."

"Suit yourself." Yamada got to his feet, stretching with a yawn. "By the way," he casually added as he turned to go, "this is from everyone on the team. Happy 14 years old, Li-kun."

He left, Syaoran staring after him in shock.

~~~~

"Is everything going okay in there, Tomoyo-chan?"

"Fine," the purple-haired girl called from the kitchen. "Rika and I are just waiting for the cake to be done before we ice it."

"Un!" Sakura called back. She brushed auburn hair back from her face as she surveyed the living room, flooded by warm rays of evening sunlight. It did look nice. Balloons - check. Streamers - check. Party utensils and hats on the table - check. Yamazaki holding a bottle of alcohol -

Yamazaki holding a bottle of *what*?

"Yamazaki-kun, what's that bottle in your hand?" Naoko enquired from the other side of the room.

"Wine," he laconically answered.

"Are you nuts?" a horrified Chiharu demanded. "All of us here are minors!"

"In England there's a tradition that families celebrate their eldest son's 14th birthday by giving him wine at night. It's supposed to signify maturity and the coming of manhood"

"I don't want to hear it," Chiharu snorted, taking firm hold of his ear and dragging him into the kitchen. "You get rid of it bottle before you get into trouble."

"But--"

"Shut UP, Yamazaki."

Sakura watched them go, sweatdropping. "Hoee"

"We're almost done," Naoko said comfortingly. "Li-kun will be back in about an hour's time."

"That only makes me more nervoushoe? Where's Eriol-kun?"

"He said he went down to do something important. I think he should be back shortly."

~~~~

"See you guys next week!"

"Bye"

He stuffed his soccer gear into his bag amidst the raucous goodbyes of the other boys, slinging it over his shoulder and hurrying out of the school before any of them could offer to walk home with him. He knew they were only being friendly, but he wasn't really comfortable in their company - and besides, he wanted to be alone right now.

Today was his birthday.

As usual, he'd forgotten all about it.

It wasn't so surprising - in Hong Kong, his family never made a great fuss about things like birthdays. His sisters would glomp him silly and try to dress him up, and perhaps his mother would even be slightly lenient in his daily exercises with sword and magic, but that was about all. It definitely wasn't a day that was considered special, back in Hong Kong.

So why, deep inside, did something feel like it was twisting apart?

He didn't know. Back in Hong Kong, he wouldn't have felt like this.

But he wasn't in Hong Kong.

And maybe that was the problem. He shoved his bag a little higher and continued to walk.

Funny, how the road home seemed to be longer today.

~~~~

The sun was setting as Syaoran walked into the lobby of his apartment, tired and sweaty. Right now, all he wanted was to shower. Maybe flop on his bed and not wake up until tomorrow arrived.

"You're late," a quiet voice observed. He glanced up sharply, frowning as he saw a familiar bespectacled figure with blue-black hair leaning against the wall.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he demanded, unconsciously tensing his muscles into a fight' stance.

"Take it easy," Eriol said calmly. "I came here for the right reasons."

"Which are?"

"You'll find out." The other boy turned towards the lift, pressing a button. The doors slid open. Eriol took a step inside, then paused as Syaoran stood unmoving, still staring at him suspiciously.

"You might not trust me, but I'm telling you that you can. *She* would want you to." His eyes were gentle.

And after a while Syaoran slowly, reluctantly relaxed, giving him a very slight nod.

"There are people waiting for us," he said softly. "After you."

Syaoran entered the lift without another word, Eriol following close behind.

~~~~

He fumbled with his keys, almost dropping them. At last the door swung open, and he entered the dark living room

Which was dark no longer as the lights sprang on, a noisemaker blared, and a chorus of voices yelled "SURPRISE!"

He stood slack-jawed, blinking in the sudden rush of light as he took in everythingthe decorations, the food, the laughing friends. And understood the reason for their odd behaviour that morning.

Movement at the corner of his eye made him turn his head, and _she_ was there, smiling somewhat tremulously at him as she twisted slender hands together.

"I'm sorry we didn't ask permissionwe just wanted to give you a surprise" Sakura broke off, biting her lip. "Are you angry?" she finally burst out.

"No," he managed to say through a throat that was feeling strangely tight. "It's perfect."

~~~~

Notes:

  1. When I planned this fic, I didn't intend for it to morph into *chapters*. It did that itself. Two down, two to go, folks. *_*
  2. I'm thinking that everyone is OOC, but they *are* older here, so please adjust mindsets accordingly. ^^;;
  3. C&C still very much appreciated!

--Syaoran no Miko