Author's Note: It's time to
get the fanfic going. The previous chapter was a just reminisce of what
happened. My plot will start from this chapter. I won't tell you ahead of time
what's going to happen, but rather let you read on as the story continues. Actually,
I had drawn up Sakura's bedroom map. But when I read that you can't have
colours, I thought what the heck and gave it a try. It's too bad that I can't
load it in as well. I was going to have a map for every chapter. Enough with
the talk. Let's get on with the story.
Disclaimer: As usual, the
characters and everything belongs to Clamp. I possess credit only for the plot.
Again, I've made my disclaimer, so please don't sue me.
Summer was officially over. But the temperature
still hovered around 35 degree Celsius. It was just another ordinary morning.
And for some, the beginning of another boring semester. In the Kinomoto
household, there was the 'Usual Morning Commotion'.
"HOEEE!!!" Sakura exclaimed when she
took one look at the clock. Jumping out of bed, she grabbed her uniform and
struggled with her PJ. She had barely pulled on her shirt before she threw open
her bedroom door and ran downstairs. "I'm going to be late! I'm going to be
late!"
"Ohaiyo, Sakura-san." Fujikata
greeted as Sakura practically flew into the kitchen and into her seat at the
dinning table.
"Ohaiyo, Oto-san." Sakura managed to
gasp out. "Ohaiyo, Oka-san." She said lovingly to Nadeshiko's picture on the
dinning table. "Itadakimasu!" She started to shove food into her mouth but
froze all of a sudden. "Where's Oni-chan?"
"He left for school about 15 minutes ago. I was going upstairs to wake you up." Fujitaka informed her.
"Hoe!"
"Made it!" Sakura said as she yanked
open her classroom door to find it teacher-free. "Ohaiyo!" She called out the
moment she stepped into class.
"Ohaiyo." The entire class answered
back. Alarmed, she looked around. Indeed, she was the last one in.
On both sides of the blackboard were
two notice boards, for the class to bring in interesting flyers to share with
everyone. Right in front of the blackboard was the teacher's desk which was
unoccupied at the moment. On top of the table was a vase with flowers which
were changed daily by the people on duty. Today the flower of choice was Lily. It
must have been brought in by Rika-chan, Sakura thought. Sakura rushed over
to her seat in front of Li Syaoran and to the left of Daidouji Tomoyo. Her seat
was in the extreme left of the classroom, right beside the window. It looked
outside to the track and soccer field where Syaoran played soccer with the guys
during P.E. It was also the second last seat from the back, which meant Syaoran
was seating in the left hind corner of the class. Li Meiling used to sit beside
Syaoran behind Tomoyo. But the seat had been left vacant since she returned to
Hong Kong. At the back and left wall of the classroom were lockers and racks
for the students to lock their bags and hang their coats on respectively.
"Get seated everyone. Have you all done your vacation homework?" Terada asked when he came in.
"Hai."
"I have an announcement to make.
There'll be a new transfer student from England today. You can come in now." Terada
said as he turned towards the blackboard to write the new student's name.
Everyone looked towards the entrance
of the class. The door slid open and a guy with black hair and blue eyes walked
in unselfconsciously. He was a striking young man, glasses and all. He might
not be as good-looking as Touya nor was he the strong silent type like Syaoran,
but he definitely had this air of mystery around him. Sakura was checking him
out when he turned his eyes upon her. She didn't understand. He didn't just
happened to look her way. It was as if he could sense that she was staring.
Behind her, Syaoran tensed up.
"Hiiragizawa Eriol." Terada
introduced. "Let's see… you shall sit… behind Daidouji-san."
"Hai." Tomoyo raised her hand and waved to let Eriol know where she was seating.
"Dostano, Li-kun?" Sakura whispered.
Syaoran didn't have a chance to answer. Eriol had been moving towards them, eyes continued to be on Sakura. He looked almost as if he was going to stop and talk to Sakura any moment. Surprisingly, he walked past her and sat down. She couldn't help but wonder if Eriol was staring at her. But she sure didn't feel uncomfortable like the time Syaoran had glared at her for the entire day of school.
The last bell of the day rang five minutes ago but nobody was making a move. Sakura had made an announcement during lunch break that they were to stay behind after school so that she could introduce them to Eriol. Sakura had been voted as the class monitress for this semester earlier during the day and Syaoran, the monitor. She was responsible for everything regarding the class and she was glad it was Syaoran who would share the load with her. She wouldn't have minded if it was anyone else. But they had capture Clow Cards together and therefore were closer. She had taken on different tactics to make Syaoran explain his bizarre behaviour whenever Eriol was around but his mouth was simply shut too tightly.
"Eriol-kun, if you need any help, be
it homework or that you need someone to bring you around town, you can always
come to me." Sakura offered while walking home. Syaoran and Tomoyo had lagged
behind while she was chatting with Eriol.
"Hai. Arigato gozaimasu, Sakura-san." There was something about the way Eriol spoke her name. He spoke it in a peculiar way, as if it was important. She didn't have time to ponder upon it. They had reached a crossroad. "I'm walking this way." Eriol pointed straight ahead.
"I'm walking that way." She said,
pointing to the left.
"Mata ne, Sakura-san." There, he did it again. He spoke her name as if it was important to him.
"Mata ne, Eriol-kun…" She whispered. His voice speaking her name had left her weak in the knees.
