Heya Minna-san!! ^^ Gomen nasai!! I've been really busy with school lately, so I haven't had much time to work on this story (big Biology essay on Evolution). I'll try to make this chapter worth the wait (and if someone has had this idea before, gomen, I didn't steal it!). I'm not really sure how long this story is going to be, so I guess I'll just keep going until I run out of ideas. A million 'Arigato's to everyone who reviewed this story so far (and my other two)!! You guys keep me going, and I thank you for sparing the time to tell me what you thought!! ^_^ You guys are great!! Arigato, and here's chapter 4, dedicated to all people who reviewed my story!! ~Manda-chan
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, and you'd be wasting your time trying to sue me.
The Forbidden Clow Chapter 4: It Was Syaoran's Typical Monday Until...
*Bleep Bleep Bleep*
Syaoran slowly opened his eyes and sat up, gazing lazily out his bedroom window. He squinted into the golden glow flowing into his bedroom.
"Ugh...morning already?"
A bird's cheerful singing and chirping gave him the affirmative. He let out a large moan and finally managed to hoist himself out of the comfort of the green blankets. He yawned and sauntered into the bathroom.
After his nice hot shower, he put on his school uniform and headed downstairs to make a quick breakfast. He got some tea heated up and made some toast. Then he sat down at his little apartment-sized bachelor's table and had his food.
As he drank the tea, his head started to pound severely.
'That's what I get for working on that chemistry problem at one in the morning.' he thought, getting some aspirin from the medicine cabinet.
Surprisingly, before he even had the chance to take the aspirin, the headache went away as fast as it came. He blinked, making sure it was gone, and shrugged.
'No use taking this now.' he thought, placing the medicine back on the shelf.
With a rather large yawn, he returned to the table to finish his forgotten breakfast. After he'd finished eating and cleaning up, he snatched his backpack from the back of the chair and headed out the door.
Something was going to happen today, he could feel it.
He trudged out of his apartment and cautiously locked the door behind him.
'Can never be too careful,' he thought, 'there may be more people like Meilin running around this town.'
He shuddered at the thought of Meilin.
'Thankfully she's back home in Hong Kong and won't be bothering me for awhile.'
He sighed in pure relief and continued his promenade toward Tomeda high. After a few minutes of walking, he checked his watch. He let a small smile creep across his face.
'Right on time...5...4...3...2...1...'
Sakura suddenly appeared turning from her walkway onto the sidewalk, not too far ahead of Syaoran. She was on foot today for some reason. Syaoran didn't mind though, this was even better than the normal routine. Over the last few days, Sakura had somehow managed to keep punctual and hardly ever ran late to school anymore. Syaoran had even managed to pinpoint almost to the exact second when she would round that white fence every morning on her way to school. Unknownst to her, he had made it part of his daily routine to walk along behind her. He longed to call out to her and walk with her, (instead of behind) but he could never manage to get her name to come vocally out of his mouth. Not even just a simple little whisper, much less a call. He sighed heavily and stared from behind at her graceful figure. He wanted to call out to her; he really did, but...
"SAKURA!" he yelled.
It took a moment to register in Syaoran's mind, then he stopped dead in his tracks and immediately clamped a hand over his mouth.
'I didn't...did I? I wanted to...but I didn't? Right? Am I going crazy or something?!'
Sakura halted at the sound of her name.
'That sounds like...'
She shook her head vigorously, trying to push the thought out of her mind.
'No, it's not him. Why would he be calling to me?'
She turned around, trying to suppress a giggle at the silliness of her thoughts. She looked up, only to see an embarrassed-looking Syaoran with his hand clamped over his mouth. She gasped.
'It WAS him!'
She ran up to him and smiled with the brightness only she possessed.
"Hai?" she asked, cocking her head to the side in a cute manner.
Syaoran unclamped his hand from his face and blinked a few times.
"Ano...ano...Do you want to walk to school together?" he blurted out.
"Hai!!" Sakura replied cheerfully.
Syaoran blushed at her giddiness.
"You seem to be in a good mood." he commented, smirking slightly.
"Hai!!" she said again, mirroring the same reply as before.
"Know any other words?" Syaoran teased.
"Gomen...I was just so happy when you called out to me and..." she trailed off as a familiar warmth crossed her cheeks, the one that always did when she was around him.
An awkward silence followed soon after, as each was unsure of what to converse with the other about.
"Ano, Sakura-chan, I..."
Syaoran let his speech die off as the school came into view. He frowned.
"Here we are." he finished lamely.
Sakura's smile also seemed to turn upside down.
'That was too short...' she thought.
Despite how she felt, she mustered up one of her brilliant smiles.
"C'mon, Syaoran!" she laughed, tugging on his sleeve, "We don't want to be late for class."
"U-un." he choked out, being pulled down the hall by his uniform sleeve.
Sakura got to her locker and pushed Syaoran across to the other side.
"Better go get your books! See you in class!"
She slammed her locker shut and skipped down the hall toward homeroom. In the meantime, Syaoran got everything he needed from his locker and hurried to catch up.
'I can't figure out what, but something weird is going on...' he thought, as he entered the chatter-full room, 'And I don't think it's good...'
What Syaoran first saw made his blood boil.
"Damn you Hiiragizawa..." he cursed silently, trying to hold back his shaking fist.
Eriol was giving Sakura his traditional greeting, with a kiss on her slender hand. Although Syaoran didn't know it, he did it for the sole purpose of making Syaoran pissed off. However, on this particular Monday, Syaoran's reaction surprised even Hiiragizawa Eriol.
'Keep you hands off my-'
"Keep your hands off MY Sakura-chan!!" Syaoran yelled, from a foot or two away from the group.
Eriol looked up at him and blinked, generally surprised (and even perhaps a bit frightened for once), Tomoyo was videotaping as intently as ever, and Sakura looked half-alarmed, half-clueless. The entire class was focused on a scarlet-faced Syaoran, who looked to be in shock.
'I THOUGHT that...I...I didn't want to SAY it!! Oh Kami-sama...everyone's staring...'
Syaoran blinked in confusion and embarrassment and ran into the hallway.
'Water...I need water.'
He found the fountain and took a few drinks before he could finally calm down a little bit.
'Someone please...tell me I DIDN'T do that!!!' he pleaded inwardly.
His heart was still beating rapidly, but he had to return to class before the bell rang. He came to the door and retracted slightly.
'How do I face everyone now?...How do I face Sakura-chan now??" he thought, slowly pulling the door open and stepping in, 'Please, don't let her remember what I said.'
Sakura's gaze was the first he caught as he made his way to his desk. He expected a look of disgust, but instead received a confused yet cheerful smile. He smiled to himself.
'Thank the heavens she's as dense as she is...' he thought, letting a small sigh escape his throat.
He sunk into his seat and prepared his materials for the lesson, or at least TRIED to. He couldn't seem to keep his eyes and mind from wandering to the auburn-haired angel seated in front of him. He leaned his head on his right hand and heaved a blissful sigh.
'She's wearing her pigtails again today too.' he realized, watching them bob around as she roughly erased something with her pencil, 'Suddenly I feel like I want to...'
Syaoran reached his left hand out and flirtatiously tugged one of her pigtails. Sakura yelped in surprise, causing the class's and the teacher's attentions to be focused on the back of the room.
'What's WRONG with me?!' Syaoran thought, turning into a tomato on the spot, 'I thought about doing it, but I didn't actually want to DO it!!'
Sakura gave Syaoran a kind of frightened look but turned around at the sound of the teacher's voice.
"Is something wrong, Kinomoto?" he asked quizzically.
"Ano...Iie...I just got a little startled, that's all. Gomen."
Eriol almost cracked up laughing, but stopped himself when he received a death glare from Syaoran. Tomoyo was, as usual, taping the entire scene, letting small sounds that sounded suspiciously like "kawaii" out now and then. Syaoran was starting to get severely annoyed by the camera.
'When I get my hands on that thing, I'll bust it into at least 30 pieces...'
Without warning, Syaoran snatched the camera from Tomoyo and smashed it on the floor. Tomoyo was shocked and looked about ready to cry. Sakura on the other hand, couldn't believe what Syaoran just did.
"Li-kun!! What a horrible thing to do!"
It just now registered to Syaoran exactly what he had just done.
"I...I...Gomen nasai, Daidouji-san!!!" he said quickly, "I didn't mean to break your camera, I just-"
"I know you don't like how she's always video-taping us Li-kun," Sakura interrupted, glaring at him while comforting Tomoyo, who was carefully rummaging through the remains of her new camera, "but you didn't have to do THAT!"
Syaoran grunted in frustration and banged his head off the desk a few times.
'BAKA!! BAKA!! BAKAAAAA!!!' he cursed mentally.
Tomoyo suddenly stood up, head lowered, facing Syaoran. He looked up, expecting to be slapped or something.
'I deserve it...' he thought.
However, Tomoyo lifted up her head and a huge grin spread across her face.
"Don't worry about it Li-kun!" Tomoyo said, pulling a mint-condition video camera out of nowhere, "I have at least a dozen spares!"
The previously shocked class (as well as Syaoran, Sakura, and Terada-sensei)face-faulted (anime style). Tomoyo chuckled and picked a cassette out of the wreckage.
"And the tape wasn't even scratched!" she squealed happily.
Syaoran, Sakura, and Eriol sweat-dropped simultaneously.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What do you mean by that?" Tomoyo asked, becoming curious.
"I-I don't exactly understand myself," Syaoran admitted, "I think about doing or saying something, and I actually end up doing it."
"Hmm...weird." she commented, looking off in the distance.
"Intriguing." Eriol interrupted, "You actually think about those things?"
He smiled slyly in Syaoran's direction.
"Iie-I mean, not really...or...sometimes I guess."
The more Syaoran kept on talking, the redder his face got.
'I guess this means I can't think about...' he thought, suddenly cut off as he began to speak his mind.
"I guess this means I can't think about kissing her..." he said softly.
"Think about kissing WHO?" Tomoyo asked, giving him a knowing look.
Syaoran's whole face and neck turned an alarming shade of crimson. Tomoyo went right up in his face.
"Hmmmmmmm?" she pushed.
Syaoran tried desperately to shake off his blush and give her serious look.
"No one." he stated firmly.
Eriol patted his back.
"I doesn't hurt to admit that you like Sakura-san." he reasoned.
Syaoran crossed his arms over his chest and gave them the best glare he could muster up.
"I DON'T like Sakura!" he stated stubbornly.
"What about me?"
Syaoran gasped. Sakura popped up on the left side of Tomoyo, looking confused. Eriol sweat-dropped and put a hand on Sakura's shoulder.
"Nande mo nai, Sakura-san." he said.
"Oh, I see. You were talking about something else." she realized.
All three nodded eagerly, which made Sakura sweat-drop.
"Well, if you were talking about something important, I can leave for awhile." Sakura said, pointing her thumb behind her.
Syaoran stepped forward.
"No. Don't go."
He gazed at Sakura and she blinked back at him. He snapped out of the dreamy daze and felt his face flush.
"Ano! I mean, we weren't talking about anything important." he said, trying to fake a laugh.
Tomoyo sighed and sweat-dropped.
'Li-kun is so...OBVIOUS! Now if only Sakura-chan wasn't so CLUELESS!'
By the look on Eriol's face, he was thinking the same thing.
"Brr...The wind is a little chilly today." Sakura shivered, rubbing her shoulders.
'I would be warmer for her if I...NO! Don't think it!'
Too late.
Syaoran casually took a few steps forward and wrapped his strong arms around her shoulders.
"Is that better?" he asked in a low voice.
"Ano...ano..."
Sakura was too shocked to say anything clearly. Once again, Syaoran went bananas when he realized what he was doing. He let go of Sakura like she was on fire and ran away screaming "I NEED WATER!!!!". Sakura just stood there, still utterly shocked. Eriol shrugged at gave a lopsided smile to Tomoyo, before heading back into the school. Tomoyo in the meantime, tried to shake Sakura out of her state of mind.
"Sakura? Are you in there? Snap out of it!"
Tomoyo shook her a little harder until she finally responded with a blink.
"...hoe?"
Tomoyo smiled.
"Welcome back."
Sakura blushed sheepishly.
"Gomen I-"
"You like, Li-kun a lot, don't you?" Tomoyo interrupted.
Sakura lowered her head.
"....hai." she whispered sadly.
*************************************
A few kids shook their heads sadly at the sight before them.
"Crazy..." one of them muttered.
Syaoran was on his knees just a few feet from the water fountain, hitting himself in the head repeatedly.
"Come out of there! Stupid card! I know you're in there!" he yelled, not paying any attention to the looks other students were giving him.
'It's got to be a black clow card.' he thought, 'There's no other explanation.'
He finally gave up the head pounding and stood up.
'Why is it torturing me like this?'
He rushed back into the school, receiving a few gasps from the people he pushed by in such a hurry.
'How do you prove yourself to a card like this?' he wondered, sitting down in his seat in the presently vacant classroom.
His thoughts were cut short as Tomoyo and Sakura entered the room. Sakura's face was still bright red and Tomoyo seemed satisfied about something.
"Li-kun!" Tomoyo waved, "Konnichiwa! Can I talk to you in the back room for a minute?"
Syaoran swallowed the lump in his throat, not liking the look on Tomoyo's face. It was the all-too familiar, 'I've got something to show you' look. Despite the fear welling up inside of him, he followed Tomoyo to the back room of the classroom, while Sakura took her seat in the classroom.
Tomoyo shut the door behind them and pulled out her video camera.
'Oh no...' Syaoran thought, 'She must have caught me doing something...please don't let it be embarrassing...'
Tomoyo grinned in her own sweet way.
"I have some video footage that you might find...familiar." Tomoyo said, turning on the camera.
As the image came into focus, Syaoran felt the air catch in his throat.
"How did you? OH KAMI-SAMA!!!"
Syaoran watched himself talking to his bathroom mirror, as if the mirror was Sakura. He was confessing his love. Tomoyo's grin spread wider, and that really scared him.
"That's not all!"
She fast-forwarded the tape and pressed play again.
"Are you spying on me all the time or what?!?!"
He turned his attention toward the screen and gasped, his eyes bulging outward.
"Masaka...how? HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO FOLLOW ME??!!" he demanded.
Tomoyo smirked.
"That's easy," she said, "I already knew where you were going, so I just waited there."
On the screen, Syaoran could be seen up in a tree, a very familiar tree outside the Kinomoto house. The screen was dark, indicating that it was night, but Syaoran was crawling along the limb of the tree toward an open window with pink curtains. The camera did a close up on inside the window, where Sakura was sleeping in bed, facing opposite of the camera. Syaoran outstretched hand suddenly came into the shot, reaching toward the window and almost grasping the edge. "Almost there..." he whispers. Suddenly, a large creak is heard, followed by a snap. Then the camera follows Syaoran as he and the limb go tumbling to the ground. Next, a door slam is heard, and the camera swerves over to the front door, where a tall figure is running toward the broken limb. That figure of course being none other than Kinomoto Toya. The camera moves back and forth as the two young men eye each other, until Toya steps forward in an outrage.
"YOU AGAIN!!!??? GAKI!?!" he roars, "IT'S TOO LATE FOR YOU TOO BE WORKING ON A PROJECT, YOU'RE NOT FOOLING ME THIS TIME!!"
The camera finally fades out as an enraged Toya is chasing Syaoran down the street.
"I've got a few other things-"
"NO MORE!!" Syaoran pleaded.
Tomoyo smiled.
"I know someone who would just LOVE to see this!" Tomoyo announced excitedly.
Syaoran's face went pale.
"No...NO!!! Daijoudi-san, PLEASE!!!" he pleaded, practically on his hands and knees.
Tomoyo ignored him.
"Sakura-chan!" she called, "I've got something to show you!"
"I'll do whatever you want!!" he continued to grovel, "Just don't show her anything!!!!!!"
Tomoyo turned off the camera.
"Okay, fine." she said, "There's something I want to know ab-."
Syaoran quickly stood up.
"Anything!" he interrupted.
"Admit that you like Sakura-chan." she said simply.
Syaoran sighed in defeat.
"Okay, okay. I'm in lov-I mean, I like Sakura-chan a little..." he admitted, "Happy now?"
Tomoyo grinned from ear to ear.
"Yep. That's all I wanted to know." she said, heading for the door.
"Wait, Daijoudi-san!! You can't tell anyone about this, okay?"
"No problem, Li-kun." Tomoyo winked, "Your secret is safe with me."
As the door to the backroom shut, Syaoran slid back against the wall and groaned inwardly.
'It could have been worse...' he thought, trying to look on the brighter side, 'It could have been Hiiragizawa with the dirt on me, instead of Tomoyo.'
He hoisted himself off the floor and returned to the classroom. It was much more populated now, as the bell was to ring within a couple minutes. He went back to his seat and decided to get his class materials out.
'No more thoughts about Sakura...' he thought, 'I've got to keep my mind off her somehow...'
He cleared his thoughts as best he could, and turned his attention toward the conversation Tomoyo and Sakura were having.
'There's nothing wrong with eavesdropping.' he thought, 'Besides...maybe I can dig up some dirt on Tomoyo...'
"Look at this Sakura-chan! I got you doing this on film yesterday!" Tomoyo whispered excitedly.
Syaoran noticed that Sakura's face reddened quite a bit as she tried turning the camera off.
"Tomoyo-chaaaaaan! What if he sees that?!"
Syaoran lifted up out of his seat a little to get a better look.
"Who?" he asked curiously, "See what?"
Sakura had finally managed to turn the camera off and jumped practically three feet in the air when she heard Syaoran's voice.
"HOE!?!?!"
Syaoran desperately tried to keep the thought from coming to his mind, but he couldn't stop it.
"I love the way you say "hoe" Sakura, it's so kawaii..."
Both young teens seemed to turn the exact same shade of red. Tomoyo couldn't believe her ears.
"Did I just hear the word "kawaii" come out of Li Syaoran's mouth?!"
Eriol was practically rolling on the floor with laughter.
"That's enough back there!" Terada-sensei called, "It's time for class to start now."
"Gomen, sensei." the four said in unison.
***************************************
"Do you mind if I walk home with you?" Sakura asked, catching up to Syaoran.
"I don't mind." he answered, trying to fight of a blush.
They walked in silence for awhile, until Sakura finally decided to strike up a conversation.
"Y'know Syaoran...you were acting kind of strange today..." Sakura started.
"Gomen, I'm still not sure exactly what's going on..."
Sakura smiled brightly, which made his face color a little.
"Actually, I kind of liked the way you were today." she admitted, putting her hands behind her back, "You don't normally talk much, but today you talked quite a bit. It was nice."
Syaoran slowed down his pace until he came to a stop.
"Is something wrong?" Sakura asked, backing up to him.
"...I think it may be a black clow card." he stated.
"Do you want to talk to Kero-chan about it?" Sakura asked.
"No." he said firmly, "I'll figure it out on my own."
"Okay..."
Sakura noticed a pouch swinging off his right wrist and made a grab for it.
"Hey!"
"What's this?" Sakura asked curiously, swinging it in front of his face.
Syaoran made a swipe for it, but missed.
"Give it back!" he said, trying to get it away from her.
"Can't you just tell me what's in it?" Sakura asked, still keeping the pouch from his reach.
"N-no!" he sputtered, turning red in the face, "It's personal!"
"Does Syaoran-kun have a secret?" Sakura teased.
"You'd better give it back Sakura." Syaoran warned.
"And why would that be?" Sakura challenged.
Syaoran smiled devilishly.
"Because Daijoudi-san told me all your ticklish spots!"
"Not fair!!" Sakura cried, running down the street, Syaoran hot on her trail.
He caught up to her near her house and began tickling her all over.
"Hahahahahahahahahhah-Okay!hahahahah-stopHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Syaoran finally managed to get the pouch and promptly stopped tickling her. Sakura got up and went up her walkway.
"I guess you win."
"Darn right I won." he said, shoving the pouch into his pocket.
The front door suddenly swung open and Toya stepped out.
"What the hell are you doing back here AGAIN?!" he yelled, "I told you to stay away from my house and my sister, you gaki!"
Syaoran tried to fight the urge that was welling up inside of him, but couldn't quite stop it.
"Come over here and say that!!!" he challenged, immediately regretting what he said.
Toya punched his fist into his hand and headed for Syaoran.
"My pleasure, gaki."
Syaoran ran forward as fast as he could, Toya not too far behind him. He dashed all the way to his apartment and locked the door behind him.
'Why couldn't I have just kept my mouth shut?'
He sighed and wiped his sweaty brow with his sleeve.
'It's all because of this stupid card.' he thought.
**************************************
Time passed by and it was getting dark out. Syaoran sat in his favorite chair and looked out his front window.
'All this time being home and I still can't get her off my mind.'
He slowly got up from the chair and walked over to his sliding doors. He pushed them open and walked onto the small deck, leaning over the railing. From the high floor of his apartment, he could see Sakura's house.
"Sakura..." he whispered.
His voice faded into the starry night sky and he sighed. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the pouch and opened it. He dumped the contents into his hand and gazed on them fondly. A clean white hankie, a hair tie, a ribbon, a tiny crystal trinket, and a small silver ring with a little pink stone in it.
'Things of Sakura's that I've collected.'
He had gotten the hankie when Sakura bandaged a wound he had gotten protecting her from a card, the hair tie was left behind after a card capture, as well as the ribbon, and the trinket and the ring were found in her school uniform pocket (when he had taken care of her as a baby). He really had planned to give them back to her right away, but something inside him told him to keep them for now, so he did. He looked back over at her house again, and noticed that all the lights were out. He placed her belongings back in the pouch and put the pouch back in his pocket.
'I guess this is an urge I don't want to fight...' he thought, gracefully leaping from the balcony to the ground.
Upon reaching the grass below, he dashed toward the yellow house in the distance. With his speed, it didn't take him long to get there. He stood at the base of the tree for a few moments, just gazing up at the open window.
'Just a quick 'goodnight' and I'll leave.' he decided, making his way up the tree as he had many times before.
Since the largest limb was missing from his last visit, he had to use a less sturdy limb to get to the window. Although the branch did wobble quite a bit, he somehow made it safely into her room.
He stood there for a while, just watching her sleep peacefully, his hand resting against the side of the window. He was thinking about her so much back at the apartment, that he just had to come see her.
"Goodnight, Sakura..." he whispered.
He was about to turn and leave, but stopped.
'Would she mind if I...'
He quietly crept up to her sleeping figure and leaned over the side of her bed. The moonlight seemed to carve around her, creating an almost ethereal glow. Raising a hand up to her face, he gently moved the bangs from her forehead. Slowly, he bent his head down to her level and gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek.
"Aishiteru..." he whispered softly into her ear.
Sakura smiled in her sleep and a slight blush seemed to spread across her face. Syaoran stood back up and smiled down on her fondly. He suddenly felt that strange pounding in his head again and fell to his knees. As the pain left his head, not one, but two cards materialized into his hand. They beared the titles "The Thought" and "The Urge".
'That pretty much explains what was going on today.' he decided.
He stood up and was about to place the cards with the other few Sakura had captured, but noticed something weird.
The backs of the cards had turned to a pure, pristine white.
'How?' Syaoran thought, 'Weren't they black clow cards?'
Before placing them with the other cards, he turned the other three over that Sakura had captured.
They too were white.
'That's strange...why are they all white?'
He shook the thoughts out of his head and decided to head back to his apartment before it got too late. Taking one last long gaze at Sakura, he hopped out the window and headed back. Sakura sighed dreamily in her sleep and wrapped her hands lovingly around her blanket.
"Syaoran..." she mumbled, "Aishiteru..."
That's it for Chapter 4! I hope you enjoyed reading it. I'll try to have Chapter 5 out sooner than this (gomen that it took so long). I'd be very grateful if you reviewed! Helpful criticism is extremely important to an author! Arigato for reading, and stay tuned for the next chapter!! ^_^
Japanese terms: Hai-yes masaka-impossible kawaii-cute Iie-no sensei-teacher aishiteru-I love you gaki-brat Ano-(equivalent to:)um/uh gomen-sorry gomen nasai-please forgive me baka-stupid/idiot nande mo nai-nothing hoe-a word Sakura made up arigato-thank you