FALL PLAY
by Daidouji Tomoyo

DISCLAIMER: (gotta love these! = P) Card Captor Sakura/Cardcaptors © CLAMP/Kodansha. "Fall Play" is a fanfic written by----- ME! This story takes place sometime during the series (or maybe an alternate scene..?)--- Meiling and Eriol are present in this, both are students along with Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, and others at Tomoeda Elementary School.

I'm not getting any reviews for any of my poor sappy fics .... are my stories that boring...? ;_;
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CHAPTER 3: Dramatis Personae

By the end of the last period in class, Eriol finally completed the whole newly-written "Tomoeda Elementary" version of the Romeo and Juliet script--- edited, proofreaded, and all. He even had Tomoyo type it on Terada-sensei's laptop, printed it out, and even made copies at the school library so everyone can have one. I noticed Eriol and Mizuki-sensei having some strange eye contact at each other while they were talking about the script. Mizuki-sensei said that once Eriol was finished rewriting the whole script to a much simpler form for us that she will take the original that he wrote and have it translated in Japanese. We all truly needed the translation, but as much as I'm concerned, Romeo and Juliet sounded so better in its true original form... well, that is, Syaoran's recital earlier with me completely convinced me that the ORIGINAL is always the best.

I still could not stop thinking about Syaoran earlier. I thought that throughout the whole day today that my face was as red as a tomato everytime Syaoran was right so close to me. But at the same time I was talking to all our other classmates about the roles, since I read the whole summary of what the story was about and even the profile of each character. To me I think both Romeo and Juliet were completely in love with love... they kinda reminded me of myself a long time ago when I had a crush on my brother Touya's best friend, Tsukishiro Yukito-san. Anyway, back to Syaoran. He was talking to Meiling right now, with Meiling still with her usual Syaoran-clinging. I always thought they always looked so cute together first and foremost in the beginning but now it was not as strong as it was before. Whenever Meiling was around Syaoran at the time I tend to stay away from them. I never really liked Meiling yelling at me or picking on me everytime she saw me talking to her future husband. I still feel icky everytime I think of the fact that they're engaged... I mean, it's really not normal for two 10-year-old kids to be engaged right away, you know? I tried to avoid the both of them as much as I can--- unless of course if Syaoran voluntarily started talking to me (which he usually does anyway) or Meiling started to pick on me again as usual.

Tomoyo had been really busy talking to everyone regarding the play and how it should be. She already organized a "prop group" - the people who were going to make the props and the setting for our school stage and a "costumes and makeup" group. I'm part of the "actors' coaching group"... actually, I'm the ONLY one in that group... so far. I already told Tomoyo so many times that Syaoran would be helping me out with the actor coaching but Tomoyo always said to me several times: "Oh, I have a way much better role for Li-kun, Sakura-chan!" Even so, I knew deep in my heart that I wanted Syaoran to be Romeo in our play.

Now I truly regret for deciding not to be part of the play. If I had known better what Romeo and Juliet was about then I would have agreed to it. If only I knew how beautiful the words were in that play I would have auditioned as Tomoyo wanted me to and play Juliet. But I had to keep my word. I did not want to be always the center of attraction. Have someone else be the star at this one time.

Finally, the bell rang and it was time for the whole class to meet at the school auditorium for the casting/audition meeting. The whole class including Terada-sensei and Mizuki-sensei were so excited with Romeo and Juliet. This was completely brand-new to us-- well, to me, actually -- and we were actually going to get through this play! I walked along with Tomoyo as usual, along with Syaoran, Meiling, Eriol, Yamazaki, Chiharu, Rika, and Naoko behind us. I felt so lively and fresh outside the field, sniffing the fresh, clean air of nature. Tomoyo was completely concentrated on the new script that Eriol wrote, while I overheard some chatter going on behind me.

"I'm going to be the brave, arrogrant Mercutio!!" Naoko cheered happily and started to pose as a medeival swordsman. She even imitated a scoundrel when she recited one of the lines: "Consort? What, dost thou make us minstrels? And thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords! Here's my fiddlestick..." Naoko started moving her hand imitating that she was holding a sword, as she continued on, "... Here's that shall make you dance. Zounds, consort!" We all giggled and applauded at Naoko's mini-performance. I guess I just learned now that Naoko's obsessed with something else other than her obsession with ghosts and poltergeists and horror movies.

"Hey, that was pretty good, Naoko-chan!" Tomoyo giggled. "You'd make a really good Mercutio!"

"You know what Tomoyo, I'm really disappointed in you..." Naoko smirked a bit.

"Eh? Why's that?"

"Because I wanted a Halloween-themed play instead of this mushy tragic romance stuff..." Naoko playfully pouted. I shrieked right away towards Naoko just to keep her from continuing on with her ghostly/supernatural/spooky obsession.

"NO! ROMANCE IS GOOD! ROMANCE IS GOOD!" I yelled, feeling cowardly as usual. This is one thing I really hate about myself--- I am a total coward--- towards ghosts and other spooks... and I hate thunder and I hate the dark too...

"You are such a baby, Kinomoto," I heard Meiling spoke while she had her arms around Syaoran's right arm.

"Meiling, please don't start..." I heard Syaoran murmured softly towards his girlfriend. Cousin, fiancee, whatever... girlfriend...

"Hoe..." I gulped nervously after seeing the couple ready to argue again. I decided to humor the both of them to avoid any problems: "... I'd rather be laughed at than be scared off of my pants..."

"I'd rather have you safe than being in deep danger, Sakura..." Syaoran's expression turned seriously towards me. I was startled and just stood there looking like a nervous moron towards him.

"H... h... hoe...?" was all that I can say to what he just said. He sounded so concerned, yet sweet at the same time... even if he just said that out of random... it still was sweet.

"Well well, aren't we all become natural Romeos, my cute sweet descendant," Eriol joined in with a little wink towards Syaoran.

"QUIT CALLING ME THAT!" Syaoran glared at Eriol like he usually did everytime he saw him.

"My my, temper temper," Eriol smirked a bit. "Is that how you address to your elder...?"

"Ugh, whatever, you're weird and annoying, so go away!" Syaoran turned his head away from Eriol while the British kid in glasses just smirked behind his back.

"Hey you guys, let's not fight now, come on, we've got a play to do!" I went out with my perky self again just to make these two boys stop from getting themselves into another fight of words again.

"My apologies, sweet daughter," Eriol winked at me while Syaoran continued glaring at him.

"Yeah, sorry," Syaoran murmured his little apology, even if he didn't sound like he meant it.

Rika giggled from behind and just shook her head. "What can we all say, Sakura-chan? Boys will be boys after all!"

"Anyway, back to the play," Chiharu interrupted and changed the subject. "So Tomoyo-chan, who's going to be our 'star-crossed lovers', huh?"

"Yeah, Tomoyo-chan! Tell us! Tell us!! PLEASE!!" Rika-chan jumped up excitedly after Chiharu asked the question.

Chiharu suddenly took Yamazaki's arm and cuddled next to him: "Tell us, Tomoyo, don't you think Yamazaki and I make a good Romeo and Juliet?"

"AH! KAWAII!!" Both Rika and Naoko cheered happily. Yamazaki, on the other hand, looked clueless. I just giggled along with everyone else.

"No!!!" Meiling suddenly clinged herself on to Syaoran once more and showed off right at Tomoyo. "Syaoran and I would make a REALLY good Romeo and Juliet!!"

"KAWAII!!!" Both Rika and Naoko cheered once more for them. I just laughed along with the others as Tomoyo smiled at the two couples.

"I hope NOT..." I heard Syaoran murmured to himself. Again, my heart was still praying for Syaoran to be Romeo.

"You guys will have to find out in the meeting... NO SPOILERS FOR YOU!!"

"Come on, Daidouji, you gotta choose!" Meiling continued to be persistent as she clinged tighter towards Syaoran. Syaoran tried to struggle away from her. He did not had a pleased look on his face.

"Meiling... I can't breathe..." Syaoran murmured, trying to get himself away from her.

"Yeah, Tomoyo-chan!" Chiharu joined in. Yamazaki grinned once more and started to say something:

"I am gonna start praying if Chiharu and I are chosen to be Romeo and Juliet..." Yamazaki said. I started giggling again, knowing what would may come next after that.

Chiharu turned to Yamazaki with one eyebrow raised, looking a little suspicious at him. "Pray? And why's that, Yamazaki-kun?"

"Because you might choke and fall off from the stage balcony when you start to say 'Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo'---" I spanked my forehead, hearing what Yamazaki just said to Chiharu.

"WHY YOU---" Chiharu suddenly started choking Yamazaki tightly, as the timid, fibbing little boy just laughed.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...." Everyone else shook their heads as Chiharu continued to shake and choke her best boy friend back and forth.

"You two are so silly!" Tomoyo giggled happily. "But NO, I won't say who's going to be Romeo and Juliet!"

"Awww..." The others moaned when Tomoyo still refused to let us know who's going to be the starring pair of our play. After our little walk, I finally saw the auditorium building right on our way.

"Okay guys, here we go!" I called towards everyone and then... "LAST ONE TO THE DOOR IS A ROTTEN EGG!!" I giggled and dashed away from the group, running as fast as I can.

"NO FAIR... YOU HAD A HEAD START!!!" I heard them yelled right at me as I heard their running footsteps, trying to catch up to me. I just loved doing that to them everytime I see the destination right ahead of us. I guess I'm just your usual perky, bubbly little girl.


This is it, I thought. It was time for auditions to fill up the cast for Romeo and Juliet. I sat right at the front row while the teachers and Tomoyo stood at the stage, holding our meeting. Sitting next to me are Syaoran and Eriol, each from both my sides. Meiling was sitting next to Syaoran's other side. Luckily that Terada-sensei was discussing more of our play so that no one else would exchange any kind of expressions towards each other. I noticed Eriol smiling directly at Mizuki-sensei; the same went with Mizuki-sensei herself. I always thought to myself that there must be something going on between these two, but I really just could not figure out what it was. I noticed Tomoyo blushing and smiling towards our direction. She could be smiling at me, but then again, it could either be one of us three--- myself, Syaoran, or Eriol (since these two guys are sitting next to me).

"... unless if you want to challenge the one Tomoyo picked to play the role, everyone chosen by Tomoyo in the cast will be the ones who will play the role by default. In other words, only challengers may audition for that role." Terada-sensei said during his discussion. I was a little confused at this auditioning thing. I always thought that we should audition first and play our own version of the role before they get chosen. I guess this was Terada-sensei's idea or Tomoyo-chan's idea. Oh well, whatever.

I turned to my left side to count and see how many kids in class showed up for this meeting. I thought that only those who were interested in being in the play itself would be the ones who would attend the meeting. It looked like everyone showed up for this meeting. This was going to be one really big play! I slowly backed to my seat and immediately saw Syaoran looking at me with a small smile on his face. I blushed a bit, loving his very rare and priceless smile, the smile that he rarely displayed towards anyone. I returned to smile at him when it suddenly turned into an embarrassing pout when Meiling immediately turned her head at me, glaring at me as usual. Eep... I'd better pay attention to the teacher before Meiling starts yelling at me again ...

"Well then, that's all that we have for today's meeting," Terada-sensei concluded his little lecture towards us. "Any questions?" Right away, I raised my hand randomly before anything bad happens. "Yes, Miss Kinomoto?"

"When's the date of the performance? Uhh... yeah..." I scratched my head, feeling like a moron again.

"The end of the month, Kinomoto," Terada-sensei answered directly. "We only have two to three weeks to rehearse and prepare. We have loads of time, so nobody panic." He turned to all the others and asked again: "Anyone else...?" For some unknown apparent reason, I raised my hand again. "Again, Kinomoto...?"

"Um... um... are there going to be understudies for every role... I... I mean... what happens if the one who's gonna play role... um... gets sick or something... um, yeah..." I blinked in confusion as I noticed both Syaoran and Eriol looking at me as if they were thinking that there was something wrong with me.

"Just for the main roles, Kinomoto. We can always grab some other kids outside of our homeroom to play stand-in at the time being if no one else from the backstage crew wants to stand in for that empty role..."

"Okay, thanks! Heh..." I felt another sweatdrop falling from the side of my head. Again, the two boys and even Meiling herself were looking at me with that same look on their faces. I smiled shyly at all of them and looked directly towards Terada-sensei.

"Alright, any more questi---" Before he was about to continue on, he took a glimpse right at me and changed what he was about to say: "... Kinomoto, I can tell you have more, don't you...?"

"Um... heh... heh..." I sank slowly down on my seat and gulped. "Um... are there... um... are there any... um... gonna be... err... kissing scenes and..."

"YES, KINOMOTO!!" Meiling suddenly stood up and answered my questions. "ALL THE KISSING SCENES ARE GOING TO BE IN IT!! DAIDOUJI SAID SO HERSELF!! NOW, CAN YOU STOP BEING ANNOYING WITH THOSE QUESTIONS AND LET'S GET ON WITH THIS?!"

"Eep!" I shrieked in horror to see an angry Meiling. I noticed Syaoran lowering his head, shaking it in dissatisfaction at the same time. "Sorry... I'll be quiet now..."

"Alright, alright, that's enough," Terada-sensei interrupted and turned his eyes towards Tomoyo. "Okay Tomoyo, the stage is yours."

Tomoyo took over the meeting and started to talk some more about the play. In the meantime, I covered my face to cover the embarrassed look before anyone else (Syaoran, especially) sees. I sighed deeply as I listened to Tomoyo: "... Throughout the whole day, you guys already looked at your copy of the original script. Right now, we've got copies of the script that Eriol Hiiragizawa did for us. Unfortunately, it's still in English, but it's way simpler and come on! It's also educational, right? My mom always said that learning another language can be very useful to life, otherwise you won't be able to go anywhere in life, right? Besides, if you're stuck at something, you can ask Hiiragizawa-kun here!"

Eriol smiled and waved towards everyone. "Just consider me as the human English-Japanese dictionary and I'll give you all the answers to the best of my knowledge!" I giggled and applauded towards Eriol while Syaoran just rolled his eyes behind my back. "Well then, Miss Daidouji, carry on now!"

Tomoyo passed out the new copies to us as we started to look through the following changes that Eriol made. As I flipped thrugh the pages I caught the sight of the whole Romeo line that Syaoran recited earlier to me and read every single word. I noticed that it was exactly the same as the one Syaoran did earlier. Eriol did not make a single change in here. Well, whoever was going to play Rome, that is, if it's not Syaoran, is going to have a hard time memorizing the whole line. I decided to read the whole scene to see what this whole scene was about. I started to imagine this whole scene in my head, and without no doubt, my mind showed me Romeo and Juliet--- Syaoran and me--- with me as Juliet and him as Romeo. Immediately I blushed heavily when I saw that imaginary scene and used the script copy to cover my face to hide the tomato from the public.

"... Kinomoto Sakura will be able to help you when you're stuck at something in the script--- on the ACTING part, not the speech dictation," I heard Tomoyo spoke from out of nowhere as I was startled back to reality.

"Hoe?!" I shrieked as everyone else started looking at me again. "Um... yeah... I'll be able to help you out... I'm a one-member ACTOR-COACHING CREW! Heheheheheheh..." I laughed silly while twitching at the same time. Boy, did I feel like an idiot.

"Poor poor poor sweet daughter..." I heard Eriol smirked behind my back and turned my head towards him.

"Hoe...?"

"You seem so nervous, my dear," Eriol whispered with a little smirk on his face. "Don't worry, you will be a good coach. I do have faith in you..."

"He's right, Sakura," I heard Syaoran spoke from my other side. I turned my head towards him. "Hopefully I won't be in this play either, so I can be 'Actor-Coaching Crew' member number two'."

"Hoe..." I gulped while the other two boys were looking at me with that same look again. "Heh... heheheheheheheheheh... um.... heh..."

Finally, Tomoyo called out the names of the kids who will be playing what role. I still preferred auditioning, but I guess this is what Tomoyo wanted. I did not want to object, since Tomoyo's heart is set on Romeo and Juliet, so I decided to just let her do whatever she wanted to do... except of course, me being named as Juliet. Naoko-chan got the Mercutio role, Rika-chan won the role as Juliet's nurse, Yamazaki-kun is Tybalt...

Eh...? Yamazaki-kun as Tybalt?! Uhh... "M-me?!" Yamazaki-kun pointed to himself after he heard his name along with the Tybalt role. "Why me?! But... but... I don't act like Tybalt at all!"

"THEN START ACTING LIKE HIM, YAMAZAKI-KUN!" I heard Chiharu yelled right at him. "Come on, it's not like it's for real, you know?"

"But... but... I wanted to be Friar Lawrence, Chiharu-chan..."

"You? Friar Lawrence?! Yeah right!! You're too much of a liar to be a priest anyway!" Chiharu glared right at Yamazaki. "Besides, Tybalt would suit you better!"

"Ohhh yeeeahh..." I noticed Naoko-chan smirked, cracking her knuckles at the same time. "That would mean that you and I get to do the dynamic swordfight scene much much later in the play... heh heh heh..."

"Eh? Mercutio and Tybalt get to fight in this play?!" Yamazaki gulped as Naoko stood up from her seat and started to play the swordfighter and recited one of the Mercutio lines again.

"Good King of Cats, nothing but one of your nine lives that I mean to make bold withal, and as you shall use me hereafter, dry-beat the rest of the eight..." Naoko made a stabbing act towards Yamazaki, which made him leap back from where he was, as Naoko continued: "Will you pluck your sword out of his pilcher by the ears?" She continued to approach Yamazaki, as he suddenly hid behind Chiharu-chan.

"Chiharu-chan... get her away from me... she's insane!!" Yamazaki cried as Chiharu rolled her eyes at her boy friend's reaction. Naoko bursted out in laughter, which also scared me to death as much as it scared Yamazaki-kun.

Tomoyo continued to call off the roles and the names of those who would play them. Chiharu got the Friar Lawrence role. Eriol even had a role for himself as Benvolio. Though it was a small role Eriol just grinned to himself, relaxing himself against his seat. Finally, the moment that we waited for all this time throughout this little meeting. Tomoyo was about to announce who will be our "star-crossed lovers" for this play. "Okay, everybody, we've got two roles left! The question is finally going to be answered--- who shall be Romeo and Juliet?"

Please let Syaoran-kun be Romeo... please let Syaoran-kun be Romeo... I closed my eyes and prayed towards Shakespeare's Ghost that Tomoyo did listed Syaoran as Romeo. I don't care who the Juliet is, since this is all aren't for real anyway, just let my handsome friend Syaoran-kun be Romeo, please, oh great Shakesepeare-sama... onegai..?

"Oooh!!" Everyone got all excited as everyone fell silent. We all gathered close and waited for Tomoyo to announce the names. Meanwhile I noticed Syaoran getting a little nervous, Meiling smiling while resting herself on Syaoran's shoulders, while Eriol continued to have that smirk on his face.

"Come on, Daidouji, hurry it up!... Tomoyo-chan, who's going to be Romeo and Juliet...?" Many random voices from the rest of the class started to call out from the crowd. Tomoyo hushed everyone as I giggled softly to myself.

"Okay, okay!" Tomoyo giggled and hushed. "Okay--- our Romeo and Juliet for our play will be..." I heard Naoko-chan simulating a drum roll, startling Tomoyo while a sweatdrop fell from her face. "Umm... th-thanks, Naoko-chan... anyway..." She cleared her throat as she continued: "Ladies and gentlemen, teachers and students, for our version of Romeo and Juliet, the pair who will be playing our star-crossed lovers are..."

Naoko-chan finally ended her little drumroll simulation, as Tomoyo finally mentioned the names...

"LI SYAORAN AND LI MEILING!"

"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!" The rest of the kids screamed happily. "KAWAII NE!!"

"DAIDOUJI, YOU MADE MY DREAM COME TRUE!!" Meiling screamed happily as she held Syaoran tighter to her with me standing there, laughing without showing any embarrassment and another sweatdrop fell on the side of my head. "OH ROMEO, DOST THOU LOVE ME?!"

"NOOOOOO...." Syaoran cried in panic as he stood up from his seat and glared right at Tomoyo. "I THOUGHT YOU AND I HAD A DEAL EARLIER, DAIDOUJI--- YOU SAID THAT I WON'T BE PART OF THIS BORING PLAY!"

"Uh oh..." I murmured to myself, feeling as if having Tomoyo cast Syaoran as Romeo was entirely my fault. Darn you, stupid prayer to Shakespeare...

"I never said that you WON'T be part of the play, Li-kun," Tomoyo smirked and stuck her tongue at him. "I said that we'll just see about that!"

"OH ROMEO, I LOVE THEE, MY ROMEO!!" Meiling continued to squeeze Syaoran tightly to her as Syaoran pushed Meiling out of the way and continued to complain.

"Why me, Daidouji?!" Syaoran frowned with a really angry expression on his face. "Why not him?!" He pointed his finger right at Eriol, as the young British kid blinked in confusion.

"Because you're cute, you're sweet, you're handsome, and you're the only one who knows Romeo in and out, according to Meiling, of course..." Tomoyo winked at Syaoran. I blushed heavily and covered my face.

"WELL HIIRAGIZAWA HERE IS CUTE, SWEET, HANDSOME, KNOWS HOW TO ROMANCE GIRLS, KNOWS THE WHOLE PLAY BY HEART, AND HE'S BRITISH!" Syaoran retorted towards Tomoyo.

"Oh my..." Eriol interrupted with a shocked expression on his face then returned his usual smirk, "... I really do hate to disappoint you, but Romeo definitely fits you very well, my cute little descendant!"

"YOU SHUT UP!!" Syaoran yelled right back at Eriol.

Eriol returned his answer: "Calm down, dear chap... this isn't for real, you know? It's not like you and the lovely Miss Meiling are really trying to romance each other for real, you know...? Unless of course, I'm actually missing something here that I should not supposed to know ..."

"Ugh..." Syaoran moaned and sighed deeply. "Okay, Hiiragizawa, let's make a deal, shall we? Why don't you and I switch roles? You'll be Romeo and I'll be Benvolio.. that's even more fair than me not being in the play..."

"Um..." Tomoyo lost her words when Meiling stormed up from her seat and panicked.

"NOOOOO!!" Meiling cried and clinged Syaoran's arm to her. "DAIDOUJI, DON'T MAKE MY SYAORAN AND HIIRAGIZAWA-KUN SWITCH ROLES... I LOVE MY ROMEO DEARLY NOW..."

"Jeez, get away from me!" Syaoran lifted his arm away from Meiling and crossed his arms, looking right at Meiling. "Well if I have to be Romeo, why don't YOU give up the Juliet role to some other hopeless girl who wouldn't mind romancing with me WITHOUT the clinging..." Right away, the rest of the girls immediately gave hopeful, blushing faces towards Syaoran. Then immediately, Syaoran turned his head right towards me, which of course, startled me immediately.

"H... h... hoe...?" I tried to restrain myself from blushing again, but Syaoran continued to glanced right at me. Meiling noticed Syaoran's look towards me and immediately glared right at me.

"NO!! I'M KEEPING MY JULIET ROLE AND YOU SHOULD KEEP YOUR ROMEO ROLE, SYAORAN! I'M NOT GIVING UP MY JULIET ROLE TO ANY OTHER GIRL--- ESPECIALLY KINOMOTO SAKURA!!" Meiling growled right at her boyfriend.

"Hoe?!" I continued to cover my cheeks again and immediately shook my head with panic. "N... n... no way... I don't wanna be in the play.... I'M THE ACTORS' COACH!!"

"Sorry, you guys," Tomoyo smirked again. "But the role stays unless SOMEBODY wants to challenge the person I gave the role to by auditioning and portray a line from that character's role. Now...minna-san, listen up! Anyone here approve of Li-kun and Meiling as Romeo and Juliet? Say 'Wai!' if you agree, say 'No Way!' if you don't!"

"WAI!!" The whole class cheered. I decided to keep quiet and stayed neutral.

"Sorry Li-kun," Tomoyo smiled sweetly at him. "Majority rules. You are now OUR Romeo."

"Great..." Syaoran lowered his head and sighed deeply.

" ALRIGHT... that's ALL for the meeting today! We're gonna start rehearsing tomorrow during class so you guys study all your lines, okay?! Thanks for coming!!"

Our first meeting ended and finally we can all go home. I decided to stay after school and wait for Tomoyo so we can go and walk home together. Meanwhile, I noticed Li and Meiling talking again down the seats while I saw Eriol and Mizuki-sensei conversing with each other alone. I wondered what they were up to, but eavesdropping was never really my thing (unless if it had something to do with me). Tomoyo-chan was still talking to Terada-sensei while I just sat on the edge of the stage, looking out towards the seats. I opened my copy of the new script again and started to read when a voice interrupted me from nearby.

"Hey, Sakura..." I lifted my head and turned to my right. I blushed right away to see who was right up in front of my face.

"Syaoran-kun..." I smiled shyly and softly spoke: "I... I guess you're Romeo, huh...?"

Syaoran lifted himself up on the edge of the stage and sat right next to me. I saw Meiling talking to Mizuki-sensei and Eriol, probably about the play. Now I saw why I did not see her glaring at me again everytime I was near Syaoran. "Yeah... I tried to resist, but..."

"The whole class, including the teachers, wanted you to be Romeo," I continued on. "But to be honest... I really do think you'd make a wonderful Romeo..."

"The four-eyed kid is more romantic than I am," Syaoran rolled his eyes. Obviously he was talking about Eriol. "And he's got his little girl charm and that weird accent of his to prove it."

"I... I wish I would've said something to defend you, but... there's no one else who's good enough to be Romeo, you know?" I lowered my head, trying to hide my usual blushing. Oh God, I thought to myself, why can't I ever not blush everytime I'm near him... or even next to him... I, I mean he is my very best friend along with Tomoyo-chan and such, but... why can't I look directly at him through the eye and not get embarrassed at the same time...?

"Can't be helped... but... I... don't think I'd get used to be in a play without you in it, Sakura..." I lifted my eyes slowly and saw him with his head lowered. At the same time, I also saw some blushing on his face. This even made me blush more than earlier... I just could not help myself but to turn my head into the ripest tomato in the whole farmland.

"Hey..." I snapped my fingers, realizing something that I just remembered. "Isn't Romeo a swordsman too?"

Syaoran turned his head towards me: "Yeah, he gets to fight Tybalt later in the play after he kills Mercutio... why?"

"OF COURSE!!" I cheered happily, finally perked myself up from the blushing. "In Sleeping Beauty, while I was playing Prince Charming, I had to fight the witch who turned into a giant dragon! Yeah! I think I'll be able to help you guys at the swordfighting scene!!"

"That's a good idea, Sakura!" Syaoran cheered along with me.

"YES!!!" I cheered happily as I immediately embraced Syaoran to me without me noticing it. "YOU ARE A GENIUS, SHAKESPEARE-SAMA--- uhh..." Right away, I just realized what I just did... I suddenly felt Syaoran's soft chocolate hair and immediately let him go from my arms. I scooted away immediately from him, turned around, and hid my tomato-faced self away from him. "Uhhh.... uhhh.... hoe....?"

I slowly turned around, breathing heavily at the same time, trying to hide my nervousness from him. Then I saw him also breathing heavily, looking shocked as much as I was... "Uhh... um... n-n-nobody... saw it... I think... I hope... yeah..." Syaoran murmured nervously, as I gulped in nerviness.

"Y-y-you're right, Syaoran-kun... um... nobody saw it... yeah... heh..." I almost choked myself saying that, trying to catch my breath before somebody else saw what just happened. Before I had my high hopes that what just happened would be a secret, another voice joined in along with our breathing.

"Oh yes... nobody saw it... EXCEPT ME!"

"HOE?!" I shrieked in horror to see Tomoyo-chan with her videocamera again towards Syaoran and me.

"AGH..." Syaoran suddenly slipped off the edge of the stage after he saw Tomoyo taping us from behind.

"Ah! Syaoran-kun!!" I shrieked in horror when I saw him fell down from stage and fell on to his back. I jumped down as Tomoyo-chan continued to tape us from the stage. "Syaoran-kun, are you okay...? Are you hurt...?"

"I'm... fine..." Syaoran murmured as I helped him up from the ground and glared right at Tomoyo. "CAN'T YOU LIKE NOT TAPE PEOPLE FOR ONCE FOR THE WHOLE DAY?!"

"Aww..." Tomoyo giggled at Syaoran as she continued taping us. "But I just CAN'T miss this very sweet moment between you and Sakura-chan!"

"Hooooeee...." The tomato has returned and suddenly ran out from the auditorium before something more embarrassing happens.

I rested against the wall next to the door as I breath heavily like earlier. I felt as if I completely ran out of oxygen and was ready to die instantly from out of embarrassment. Later, Tomoyo-chan ran out and saw me with a smile on her face. I turned to her and sighed deeply: "Tomoyo-chan... why'd you have to do that...?"

Tomoyo just smiled and leaned against the wall next to me. "Sakura-chan, don't you think it's obvious...?"

"Hoe?" I blinked and turned my head towards her. "What's.. obvious...?"

"That you have a crush on Li-kun, Sakura-chan, what else...?" Again, I felt myself turning into the tomato again and tried to cover my face once more just so Tomoyo-chan does not see me.

"No I don't, Tomoyo-chan... he... he's just a friend..."

"If he's just a friend, then why are you all acting shy around him, Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo giggled softly. "It's love, Sakura-chan.. face it... it's L-O-V-E!"

"No it's not... it just shows that... um.. I don't want to embarrass him and.. I don't want to make him mad and stuff... y-you know how he is... he's always serious..." I sighed deeply, trying to cover my exact feelings for him.

"Well, you know what I think?" Tomoyo said. "I think that Li-kun has the same exact feelings for you... except that he's stuck with Meiling, but on the other hand... I really do think he wants you more than just a friend---"

"HOE!!" I shrieked right away, trying to avoid the fact that I just heard Tomoyo-chan said that to me about him. I just realized that I had to say something to Syaoran before I freak myself out again from Tomoyo's lecture about my feelings for him and vice versa. I ran back inside the auditorium to look for him, only to find that Terada-sensei was the only one left in the auditorium. "Hoe.. Terada-sensei?!"

"Ah, Kinomoto, you're still here?" Terada-sensei smiled at me. I had to admit that Terada-sensei was one good-looking young man for a teacher. I even heard from other kids in class that some girls even have crushes on him. Now who would I know who would actually have a crush on him? Wow, strange...

"Ano... Li-kun wa doko desu ka, Terada-sensei...? ("Uhh... Where's Li, Terada-sensei?)" I asked him politely, looking all over for him.

"Li just left with Meiling to go home... were you supposed to meet him...?"

I sighed deeply, knowing that Syaoran decided to leave anyway without any other last words to me after the embarrassing moment earlier. "No, never mind, Terada-sensei... thanks..." I was about to turn away towards the exit but Terada-sensei said something else.

"Oh, he did leave me a message... Li said that he's sorry about what happened earlier and that he will see you tomorrow so you and he can talk."

Oh God... totemo doumo arigatou gozaimasu... (thank you so much...) Syaoran's not mad at me after all... oh, what a sigh of relief! I smiled happily towards Terada-sensei as he returned the smile to me. "Thanks, Terada-sensei!! I'm gonna go home now--- see you tomorrow!!"

"You take care now, Kinomoto. See you tomorrow." We both waved goodbye as I headed towards the exit. Tomoyo-chan was waiting as the two of us went ahead and strolled back home.


I got home right away. I noticed that Touya was not home, but he did make dinner. He left a note in the refrigerator for me, saying that Dad would be late again from college, researching along with his colleagues, while he went over to Yuki-san's house to study for a huge Physics exam. I went ahead and ate dinner, washed the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, then ran up the stairs to my room, washed myself up, and threw myself down on my bed. At the same time, Kero-chan was playing videogames again as he paused his game when he saw me, all looking tired. He flew right towards me with a smile on his face.

"How was school, Sakura-chan?" Kero-chan greeted me with a curious look on his face.

"We're doing Romeo and Juliet, Kero-chan... do you know anything about it...?" I looked up to the flying yellow creature as Kero-chan landed on top of my pillow and relaxed along with me.

"Clow Reed may lived way before William Shakespeare did, however, his descendants on his father's side during Shakespeare's time were avid fans of his work. Romeo and Juliet was their most favorite work! I see that Tomoyo-chan decided to go for a classic English play, eh?"

"We had Hiiragizawa-kun there to translate and rewrite the whole script anyway... thank goodness!" I sighed deeply.

"Hey, wait a minute, don't forget about me, Sakura-chan! Sure I talk with a Kansai dialect but I know English too--- old English, especially!" Kero-chan chuckled. "Back in the days Clow Reed's descendants were using that language when they speak to each other and their fellow countrymen, so it was a natural language. Anyway, so... who's playing who...?"

"I'm going to work with the actors, so I'm basically part of the backstage crew..." I yawned lowly.

"Backstage for a change, eh? Okay... then who's playing who?"

"Syaoran-kun is playing Romeo..."

"Eh?! That Chinese pookie brat boy?!" Kero-chan frowned in dissatisfaction. Kero-chan never really liked Syaoran since they first met. He was a sensitive little creature and Syaoran called him a stuffed animal the first time they met and until now it still gets to him. I wish Kero-chan would just get over it, you know? "Yuck, why him? Why not give the role to that other weird kid, since that other kid is from the same country as the great Shakespeare?"

"Syaoran-kun studied Shakespeare back in Hong Kong... and he knew all of Romeo's lines... so Tomoyo-chan made him become Romeo... he didn't like the idea, but he accepted it anyway..."

"Hey, that brat should be grateful that he's playing lead! Why is he being prissy?"

"'Cuz Meiling's playing Juliet..." I yawned and stretched my arms.

"Well then, now that would be really interesting..." Kero-chan smirked as he stretched his arms as well.

I yawned again, completely falling asleep, as I sighed deeply to myself. "I.. can't wait till we start..."

"Heh, I bet you do... hey Sakura-chan, listen... let me know what happens, eh? Besides, I think seeing the two little Chinese spoiled brats as Romeo and Juliet will be really funny... heheheh..."

I giggled along with Kero-chan as I tucked myself in my bed. "Welp, I'm going to sleep now... got a long day tomorrow..."

"Whew..." Kero-chan sighed in relief. "Wow, for the first time, there's no trouble with any Sakura Cards on the loose... what a good change indeed..." He flew up towards his little bed in my drawer and even tucked himself in. "You have a good night now.. and don't forget to set the alarm on your clock or you'll be late in school again."

"Thanks, Kero-chan... goodnight to you too!"

Both of us turned off our lights, as I fell myself into a deep sleep for the night...

Syaoran-kun... I can't wait to see you tomorrow... I'm so sorry this whole thing had to happen, but... let's make this play the best that we have, 'kay...? I'll be thinking about you tonight in my sleep...


To be continued...

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