There is no real point to this chapter, but I think most parts are completely kawaii! Also there is another Card, see if you can guess which one is it! There are enough hints, and this one isn't invented, it's a real existent Clow Card!
Elements
Chapter Nine: A Fast and Unknown Card
A Fanfiction by Kyo
-*-*-*-*-*-
"Why do I always get the floor?" Syaoran complained. Sakura giggled while she laid down on the only couch Syaoran's living room had. Syaoran carried both sets of books and placed them on the coffee table. "Because you are the gentleman." She said teasingly. "If instead of laying down you sat, then we both would fit in the loveseat!" Syaoran insisted, but he was already taking his place at the foot of the coach. They always had the same argument and Sakura always won, mainly because she had a pout Syaoran couldn't resist.
Sakura giggled some more. "But I can't study if I'm sat, I always study in a laying position." She complained. Syaoran eyed her. "Maybe that's why you don't get good grades at Math." He said just above his breath, but to his bad luck, Sakura heard him. She pouted and had teary, shiny eyes when she spoke. "That was mean!" She complained. Syaoran instantly regretted having said this. Being called mean by the love of your life isn't exactly everyone's goal, and especially not Syaoran's.
He laughed nervously. "Um... I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." He said softly, a pink color on his cheeks. Apologizing, even if he only apologized to Sakura and anybody else, was not his specialty. She smiled. She knew he was right. She never studied very well because she often fell asleep in the middle of the studying session. She also smiled because he looked so cute when he was apologizing! And the fact that she knew he never apologized to anyone else, made her feel all warm inside.
You had to admit, not every male would apologize for such a thing, specially if he was the type Syaoran was. Strong, silent type.
"Apology accepted! So where do we start?" Sakura asked cheerfully, getting out her all too hated Calculus book. She hated Calculus, but it was also a very good reason to be with Syaoran without her brother teasing her and calling poor Syaoran-kun a gaki.
Syaoran laid on the floor parallel to her. "What is that you don't understand?" He asked her, while he opened his own book in page 646. Three-Dimensional Coordinate Systems, was the title of the Chapter.
Sakura laughed nervously. She was sure he wouldn't like what she was about to say. "Everything?" She responded as a question. Syaoran looked at her with a sweat-drop on his face. He sighed. This is going to be one long day... He thought, almost bitterly. "Okay. Let's start from the beginning." He said tiredly. The things I do for her... He had absolutely no reason to study Calculus, he had already learned everything he had to, but Sakura had asked for help and he wasn't about to refuse. Any chance he had to be with her was a very good one.
"If you want to locate any point in one plane, you need two numbers." He started, making sure she was paying attention. Sakura made her best effort to concentrate on what he was saying, but her mind kept drifting away. She wondered how they both could still get fairly good grades when they had to go out almost everyday to protect the world.
Calculus was such a boring subject. She had only decided to take Calculus because it offered her more opportunities to be with her Little Wolf. She had to admit he was not exactly hers, but a girl could dream!
It's been almost three weeks since the last time a Card attacked them, and that suited her just fine. The problem was, she knew that if a Card was going to attack it was more likely to happen around this days, and that kept her walking on her toes all the time. Stress was going to kill her. Her neck pained her like a thousand daggers and she was sure that before the day ended, another head splitting headache was going to attack her. This was affecting her grades as well as her reflexes. That was what worried her the most, bad reflexes were most likely to kill her if she got into a fight.
Syaoran frowned slightly. He knew she was not listening to him. Her eyes were glazed, and she was looking at some point in space, while she, unconsciously no doubt, clutched her neck. She had been acting strangely the last few days. She was jumpy all the time. Whenever he stretched his magical senses and aura near her, she almost jumped ten feet in the air. He could guess she was stressed. There was no other way to explain it. With exams on their noses and the Cards being unusually silent lately, there was no wonder why she was stressed. Syaoran stopped talking and decided to use something that always worked to calm him down whenever he was like her.
It was a simple aura wrapping trick. But it had to be slow, eventual and patient. Without these, it could make her feel even more distressed. He concentrated on his magical eye. The one that could see auras and the magical presence of the Cards.
It was a beautiful sight to see, he had to admit. Liquid-like light surrounded both of them. The only difference was their color. His was green and hers was pink. If you were skillful enough to read auras, you could even know what the aura's owner was feeling or doing at the moment. At this time, Sakura's regularly bouncy aura was now close to her body and... jumpy, just like her. It moved around her body in a frenzied zigzag pattern. Like static. Stress could be easily read on it. Syaoran sighed. This could be even more difficult than he thought. He started on himself. He closed his eyes and laid on his back, that was the easiest way to concentrate. He calmed himself and it was instantly reflected on his aura, it grew bigger and made flowing motions around his body. With the same gentle, flowing motions, it grew bigger and neared Sakura's bouncy aura.
The thing that followed was even more beautiful than the last events. The one that was able to see such an amazing light show was lucky.
Syaoran's aura brushed Sakura's. Sparkles of liquid green and pink followed. He focused on that event. Sparkles were good. His aura flowed slowly, but steadily and soon he got her surrounded. He wrapped himself like a blanket around her. He let go of a sigh. It felt so good to be with her like this. It made him feel just right. Meant to be.
Sakura's aura followed him wherever he went. Her physical self had closed her eyes as well and her aura followed his flowing motions like a loyal mirror. Her aura was no longer jumpy, and it was no longer moving in zigzag motions. Now it flowed... like a river. And both of them flowed like one.
Rivers of pink and green extended throughout all the apartment, and Sakura was no longer stressed.
Suddenly, there was a noise. An open-close noise. This went absolutely unnoticed by the relaxing Card Captors. The sound of steps followed this noise. The footsteps were quiet, soft, cautious. It didn't want to go noticed. Of course, this was an easy task, since the Card Captors were not paying attention to the world, only to their magic, and their auras.
The footsteps continued, gaining confidence. Obviously, the owner of the footsteps thought there was nobody at home. The footsteps arrived to the living room. They stopped immediately. A soft gasp followed, and then a faint and controlled sob.
-*-*-*-*-
Meiling froze at the sight. There he was, laying on his back, his eyes closed, breathing slowly and steadily, like he was asleep. But that wasn't what had made Meiling freeze, gasp and sob.
Next to him was Kinomoto Sakura, also on the floor, next to him. She had both of her hands on his chest and was using his shoulder as a pillow.
Maybe this thing wouldn't have made Meiling react like she had done. It was what he was doing that made her react like that.
Li Syaoran had an arm wrapped around the Card Mistress shoulders, very protectively. And what amazed Meiling the most, was the small trace of a contented grin on his face. A grin that was copied perfectly by one Kinomoto Sakura.
If Meiling could have seen auras, she would be amazed by the show being displayed. Two identical rivers of liquid light flowed like one. The pink and green intermingled and joined to the point where it was difficult to tell each other apart.
Meiling couldn't resist it anymore. She was willing to let go of him. But that was too much for her.
"So that's what you have been doing?" She said loudly in a pained voice.
Meiling's voice broke the spell. They both opened their eyes at the same time. A look of confusion and a little disappointment filled their faces. They took a while to locate where the voice was coming, they were a little disoriented at the moment.
Sakura was surprised to find that she was on the couch. But she didn't remember falling down from it. She also was more than a little confused to find that a heartbeat was under her. A very powerful, comforting and soothing heartbeat. She also found that her neck no longer pained her, and that the headache that had been forming in her temple was receding.
She searched for the owner of the heartbeat and was surprised to find Syaoran under her, wearing exactly the same surprised and confused expression on his face.
Syaoran hadn't intended to be physically close to her. Magical had nothing to do with physical. Yet here they were. He pushed the thoughts away. There had been someone that had woken them up from their reverie. Someone he knew, yet he didn't remember. He blinked a few times to get rid of the confusion and started focusing on his surroundings. He discovered he had an arm around Sakura's shoulders and that she was intently looking at him, as confused as him. He was going to take back his arm but abstained from doing it when Sakura didn't do the least effort to move from top of him.
"AHEM!" A female voice interrupted. Both Card Captors were surprised to find a somewhat angry Meiling standing on Syaoran's living room.
Both of them stood up like the floor was on fire. Syaoran stood in front of his Cherry Blossom in a unconscious effort to keep her safe from any harm.
"So this is why you didn't called, Syaoran?" Meiling asked in a pained voice. Syaoran looked at her and blinked.
"You didn't call her?" A sweet but angry voice asked from his back. Oops! Now I did it! They are both mad at me! He thought desperately. Meanwhile, Sakura had moved from behind him and now stood at Meiling's side.
"You didn't call her?" Sakura asked of her partner again. Syaoran gulped and cast his eyes low. He swallowed in an effort to get rid of the lump on his throat. Having Sakura mad at him was really a torture. He couldn't understand how he had made her mad in their early Card Captures and still outlive it. He shook his head lightly, his eyes never leaving the floor.
"Apologize." Sakura said simply in a commanding voice. A voice you couldn't say no to.
Syaroan's head instantly bolted up at the thought of apologizing. He? Apologizing? To Meiling? He asked himself desperately. He looked at her in a look that read: You know I never apologize.
Sakura ignored that look. Of course she knew how hard it was for him to apologize, that's why she was making him do that. "Apologize. Now." She said firmly, with more determination she had ever faced him.
Syaoran cast his eyes low again. Defeated. "I... um... I'm sorry for... um... not calling you, Meiling." He said softly in a barely audible whisper.
Sakura's frown turned into a tender smile that he didn't see. Meiling was surprised by this turn up of events. She had never dreamt of Syaoran apologizing to her. It was unthinkable. And the fact that he had made it only because Sakura had ordered him to, made all the thing even more amazing.
She felt a soft pang of pain. She was willing to let go of him. If he was going to be happy. But now that she had seen that he was happy made her feel useless. Her gaze softened at the look Sakura was giving Syaoran. Somehow she felt she wouldn't be capable of looking at him like that. Love was written all over her face. Then she looked at Syaoran. He still was looking at the floor and she thought she had seen a little pink on his cheeks. He was ashamed.
Suddenly, Meiling leaned on to Sakura and whispered something in Sakura's ear. She listened intently before nodding and smiling. Then, she returned her gaze to Syaoran, who was looking at them suspiciously.
"Syaoran, could you please get us something to drink?" Sakura asked sweetly. "Meiling wants to talk." She added. She saw how he stopped in mid-step and was about to turn around. Sakura's next sentence kept him going. "To me. Alone." She finished. He grumbled a bit but complied.
They sat on the coach, a bit awkwardly. Meiling opened her mouth to talk, but she was interrupted by a loud BANG!
Meiling straightened abruptly, scared by the load noise. Sakura didn't even acknowledge it. "What was it?" She asked uncertainly.
BANG!
"Oh that!" Sakura said after hearing the sound. "That is Syaoran, he is...getting rid of his frustrations." Sakura finished with a giggle. Meiling looked at her strangely. "Getting rid of his frustrations?" Meiling asked with a raised eyebrow.
BANG!
"Oh yeah." Sakura said casually. "Syaoran is banging his head on the table. That's what he does when he is frustrated by something." She explained. "Just don't break the table, Syaoran!" She shouted just before another BANG! Was heard. Sakura giggled.
She was glad Syaoran had such a hard head, if he hadn't, he would have passed out a long time ago. And she certainly was happy the table was made of oak, or he would have been one table short by now.
Syaoran let go an annoyed "Hmph!" and resumed banging his head on the table.
Sakura giggled. "What did you want to talk me about, Meiling?" She asked sweetly. Meiling gulped and opened her mouth again.
Sakura straightened suddenly and stood up like the coach was burning hot. She looked at her surroundings with a glare. This could only mean one thing.
The banging in the kitchen stopped abruptly and the sound of a chair being dragged away and running footsteps was heard. "Clow Card!" Syaoran hissed when he was near his partner. He too, searched his surroundings with a fierce glare, proving with his magical senses all the corners in the apartment cautiously.
Meiling watched intently the whole scene. A scared look on her face. She wished so hard she could see what they could. She sat there with open wide eyes, looking at the developing events.
Sakura and Syaoran stood back to back, searching their surroundings. Their backs didn't touch, but they guarded each other. It reminded Meiling of the Ying Yang. They completed each other, in a dance familiar only to them.
Meiling decided to do something. Anything. She picked up the phone and punched the first number that came to her head. Tomoyo's number. It rang once and Tomoyo had already picked it up.
"Tomoyo! Come to Syaoran's apartment! Quick!" Meiling near shouted to a very surprised Tomoyo.
Tomoyo hesitated for a moment before gathering the just-finished battle outfit she had created for her adored Sakura. "What's happening?" Tomoyo asked Meiling. She wondered what was she doing in Li's apartment. Wasn't she in Hong Kong?
Meiling watched the Card Captors. They were walking in circles, searching for the source of the magical presence. What was the most amazing thing was that they didn't even seemed to be thinking on what they were doing, but they were moving in circles, unconsciously watching each other´s back. Other thing that caught Meiling's attention was their ever growing frowns. They appeared to be confused.
Suddenly it hit her.
They still didn't know from where the Clow Card was coming, nor where it was. It was freaking them out.
"They are confused..." Meiling muttered, forgetting she was over the phone with Tomoyo. "They cannot find the source..."
Syaoran frowned in ever growing annoyance. Where the heck was the Card!? He had already stretched his senses all he could and yet, it seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere. This was freaking him out. He took out his sword and took a fighting stance. Sakura stopped too and took her wand. If they couldn't get to it, they would let it come to them.
Sakura was getting overwhelmed by the feeling of the Card. Each time she proved a place with her senses, the presence seemed to slip away from her hands, leaving only a faint trace that it had been there. For some reason she didn't like this. For one thing, they couldn't risk the apartment building, it was too risky. There could be victims, and Syaoran's apartment could get wrecked. She turned to her partner, who looked at her direction at the same moment. Sakura signaled the window with her chin. Syaoran nodded, understanding what she wanted to say.
They made a ran for it. If they made as if they were running away, it was probable that the Card made a mistake in it's overconfidence.
Sakura released the Fly Card. Huge wings appeared at one extreme of her wand. She jumped in it and flew away, bursting the huge window open. Syaoran jumped out behind her and followed at a quick pace. Both had their magical senses in alert mode.
Meiling blinked at their quickness. They had got a lot better ever since she had left. Meiling ran outside through the proper way. Five stories were too high for her.
Meiling ran trough the streets. To her amazement, they were deserted. But then again, they always seemed to be deserted when they had to do a Card Capture.
She followed the general direction they had taken. She hated to be left back. She hated not being able to see and fell what they saw and felt. She hated not to have magic. She cursed under her breath and kept running. She was panting hard by now. The distance between the park and Syaoran's apartment was to very large, but large enough to leave her panting.
She heard another panting by her right. She turned sharply. She blinked in surprise. A mass of fabric was walking toward her. She knew only one person that could do that.
"Tomoyo!? How did you know they were going to get here?" Meiling asked, puzzled while she relieved her from her load.
"Well—" She panted. "One way or another they always seem to end up fighting here, so I decided to start here instead of ending up here." She explained in-between pants. To Meiling's surprise, everything she had said, had sense.
Roll of thunder was heard inside the park. But there was no clouds above their heads, in fact, the sky was as blue as it sill ever be. This could only mean one thing.
-*-*-*-*-*-
"God of Thunder! Come on forth!" Syaoran cried as he hit the thunder ofuda with the flat of his sword. A rampaging electrical force flew through the air and missed it's target.
"Kuzo!" Syaoran cursed. "That damn thing sure is fast!" He said under his breath.
Silently, Sakura agreed. They have been fighting it for more than ten minutes now, and they had gotten nothing but a few glances of it, before it disappeared completely in a blow of light purple.
"Which Card do you think it is?" Sakura asked her partner. She kept her eyes wide open for any sign of the stray Card.
"I don't know." He said softly. "Where is the stuffed animal when you need him!?" Syaoran asked loudly to no one in particular.
A blur of purple charged at him. Only his fast reflexes saved him from being hit. He frowned in the general direction he thought it had gone.
Nothing there.
There was a rustle in the bush behind him. Both turned quickly, ready to fend and attack.
But there was nothing to fend of, nothing to attack. Meiling and Tomoyo watched them in fear, praying that they didn't attack them by accident.
Syaoran's frown deepened. "It's only you." He near barked. "You really shouldn't be here. We could have hurt you." He said angrily, getting rid of the frustration of not having caught the Card yet.
Sakura smiled to them and nodded. This time she thought exactly the same as Syaoran. With a Card as tricky as this one seemed to be, they really should be in some safe place.
"Kuzo!" Syaoran cursed suddenly. Sakura turned to him and frowned, as if saying: "Watch you mouth, young man!" Syaoran ignored her look. "The Card's gone!" He explained. Sakura was taken aback by his answer, and proceeded to see if it was true. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the magical colors.
It was true. The Card was no longer near.
"It's gone." Sakura confirmed softly. Silently, she was glad it had gone away. That way they could ask Kero about it.
Tomoyo was glad, too. But for a different reason concerning the same event.
"Sugoi! I'll have a chance to videotape my beautiful Sakura in a new Card Capture!" Tomoyo near screamed in a shriek voice.
Sakura looked at her friend with a look of sheer amazement. Then, she laughed nervously and sweatdropped, while Syaoran sighed exasperation.
"Look like we will have to go for it some other day." He said finally, while Sakura was being videotaped by her insistent friend. "Yes, it looks like it." She said to her partner with a warm smile. In the background, a "Kawaii!" shriek could be heard. Both Card Captors decided to ignore it.
It was around 7:00 by then. "We'll hunt it down tonight!" Sakura suggested cheerfully. Syaoran, who was walking by her side, didn't think the same. "No, not tonight." He said firmly. Sakura looked at him sharply. "Why not?" Sakura asked with a confused frown.
"Tomorrow you have calculus exam, and you are going to study." He said firmly.
"Oh, yeah? And who are you to tell me what I have to do, huh?" Sakura asked playfully, while she looked at him strangely.
Syaoran went on with the game, while he dragged her subtly to his apartment, where they had been studying before all the mess started. Tomoyo and Meiling followed them, giggling. "I'm your partner, that's who! I don't want a partner that fails Calculus!" He said, partly in joke, partly seriously.
Sakura giggled. "But you'll have to help me!" She told him, while she skipped around. Syaoran mock sighed and nodded. "We always go to your apartment!" She complained. Syaoran raised an eyebrow in her direction, as if saying "And your point is..." Sakura ignored him. "Let's go to my house!" She finally said, already changing her direction toward her house. Syaoran froze in place. Meiling and Tomoyo didn't say anything, but they were thinking exactly the same as him. What about Touya?
Sakura guessed what he was thinking as she continued to walk. "Don't worry about Touya! He is not going to hurt you." She smiled tenderly at him, then her smile turned fierce. "if she tries to, he will pay it." She said seriously, in a tone that made Syaoran gulp. He didn't want to know Sakura mad.
"Um... guys?" Tomoyo interrupted. "I don't think I'll be able to go. I have my own exam to study for."
"You can't?" Sakura asked. She panicked. If Tomoyo wasn't going to be there to halt Meiling, this was going to be something bad. She didn't know if she wanted to find out how Meiling behaved when there were only the three alone.
Tomoyo shook her head sadly while she nudged Meiling. Meiling instantly started talking. "Actually guys, I won't be able to go, either. I need to unpack and stuff." She continued when she saw the face of Syaoran who didn't know how to react at that situation. "I'll only be here a couple of weeks, so it isn't much." She could even feel the relief on Syaoran's eyes.
"I could help you unpack." He offered politely. She was about to accept when she received another nudge on her side. "NO!" (Syaoran narrowed his eyes suspiciously) No, it won't be necessary, Tomoyo is going to help me." At her side, Tomoyo nodded quickly.
They ended saying their good-bye's, turned and left them, alone.
Sakura and Syaoran started walking again when they saw their friends hide in the darkness. There were a few moments of silent walking.
"They were acting kind of strange, weren't they?" Syaoran semi-asked, semi-affirmed when they were near her house. Sakura nodded. "Yeah. Especially Tomoyo. She was acting weirder than usual."
Syaoran chuckled. That sure was a strange sentence. Sakura looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Apparently, she didn't think that was an strange sentence. "What are you laughing at?" She asked when he had finished laughing.
Syaoran sweatdropped. "Nothing." He said finally. "What do you mean nothing?" She asked stubbornly.
Then, he saw her house getting closer. He thanked Kami-sama for that and changed the subject. "We are here." He said when they had arrived. Sakura forgot her previous question and examined her house. There were two lights on. The study and the kitchen, no doubt.
They entered silently. They took their shoes off and put the slippers on. Syaoran was nervous. Touya always glared at him even if he didn't want to take over a fight. And Syaoran was too proud not to glare back. That always got Sakura on her nerves but it was always that way.
Syaoran wondered how much Touya knew about the Cards and Magic. Ever since the biting episode when he was a wolf, Touya had been a little more aggressive and glaring than usual.
"Tadaima!" Said Sakura in her usual cheery voice. "Okaeri Nasai!" Two male voices responded her. One appeared to be coming from the kitchen and the other from the study, just like Sakura had predicted.
Sakura started walking toward the kitchen, Syaoran followed. "Ohayo onii-chan! Syaoran is staying for dinner." Sakura added cheerfully. That struck Touya like a knife and he almost choked. Sakura ignored him.
"Hello Sakura!" Another male voice greeted. Sakura turned around and found...
"Yukito! I didn't know you were coming!"
"Touya invited me for dinner since my grandparents went for another trip." He said calmly. "Hello Li!" He greeted Syaoran in the same cheerful voice.
"Hello." Syaoran said dryly. He had soon moved on from his "crush" with Yukito. Thank goodness! Syaoran thought.
When Touya had recovered from his choke he screamed. "What is the Gaki doing here!?" He asked harshly. It gained a glare from Sakura, a very fierce glare from Syaoran and a small frown from Yukito, which was the same as saying that Yukito had glared and cursed, but he was too much Yukito to do that.
Touya gulped. "Do you deny your hospitality to Syaoran?" Sakura asked, her glare never leaving Touya's eyes. Touya's eyes flickered nervously. "Um... no?" He finally said. He might be Kinomoto Touya, but three glares are too much for him, specially if it came from his best friend.
Sakura's smile returned at that lame answer. "Good!"
"What's good, Cherry Blossom?" Another male voice joined the party.
"Hello otou-san! Nothing, I was arguing with Touya. Syaoran is staying for dinner." She announced to one Kinomoto Fujitaka, who was very placed with the extra company.
"That's very good! Hello Li!" Fujitaka greeted the young warrior. Syaoran bowed and returned the greeting.
"So, what are we waiting for? Let's eat!" Fujitaka said happily and urged them to sit down.
-*-*-*-*-*-
"That sure was a huge meal!" Syaoran exclaimed as he sat down beside his Cherry Blossom on the floor. Sakura smiled up at him. "With Yukito around, what could you wait for?" She chided gently. He returned the smile, but Sakura noticed it was a sad one. Over the years she had learned to read all his different smiles, everything his eyes said and his habits, too. For example, whenever she surprised him looking at her, which was often, he would turn as red as a tomato. And she had noticed that whenever she mentioned Yukito, his smile would turn that way. A sad smile. Now that she saw him smile that way, she knew he was not telling everything. But whenever she tried to get an answer from him, he would never give it straight.
Sakura debated between asking him or not. She sighed audibly. Syaoran turned to look at her, but she smiled at him as if saying: "Nothing's wrong!" He decided not to ask.
Suddenly, Sakura realized something. "We forgot our Calculus books in your apartment!" She near shouted. "Aww man! Now we will have to go there!" She said desperately. To her surprise, Syaoran was looking at her with amusement, as if he had the answer to her dilemma, which, later she knew, he already had.
"We don't have to go there." He affirmed. She looked at him strangely. "It's a simple spell I learned from one of Clow Reed's books." He explained.
Sakura listened to him like an attentive student to a favorite teacher. She even changed place and sat in front of him. Syaoran smiled at this. "First," He continued. "you have to close your eyes, and concentrate." As he said this, he did what he was saying. Sakura did the same. "Now, picture the item in your mind, in this case your Calculus book." Sakura nodded even if he couldn't see her. "Then, along your book, picture something that relates it to here, to the place you want to make it come." He told her.
As he said this, he pictured the book and then tried to relate it to something that was present in Sakura's room. The first thing that came to his mind was Sakura herself. Why? Because that was the reason he came for in the first place, and Calculus was the excuse.
Sakura too, was making her part of the spell. She had a hard time picturing the book, she kept distorting it into some sort of monster. A monster she was sure she didn't want to ever see in her whole life. But the second part was so much easier. She immediately related Calculus with the person in front of her.
The books appeared in front of them without them even noticing. Finally, when they felt the weight of the books in their hands, they opened their eyes.
"It worked!" Syaoran exclaimed. Sakura looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a strange look. "What do you mean it worked? You never did it before?" She asked him.
Syaoran laughed nervously. "Well... no." He said at the end, sweatdropping.
Sakura giggled at his embarrassment. "Now we can start studying!" She said, happier than she felt.
-*-*-*-*-*-
"Ah! Everything is unpacked! Finally!" Meiling sighed. Tomoyo nodded in agreement. Unpacking could be such a hard work. Then, Tomoyo turned serious. "Why are you back, Meiling?" She asked gently. She didn't know what to think. Why was Meiling back? If she knew she would only hurt herself further?
Meiling's expression changed, too. "you want the truth, Tomoyo?" She asked seriously. Tomoyo nodded. "When I returned to Hong Kong, I was sure about what I was doing. I wanted to get rid of everything that reminded of him. The first week I was sure I didn't want to see him anymore. That was when I was angry about him not being able to be there to say good bye, not even good bye!" Meiling was about to cry. She was angry, Tomoyo could tell. "Then, when the anger was gone, I felt sad. He didn't even called afterwards! And all this time he was with Sakura! All the time! He forgot me right away!" So that was it... Tomoyo thought a bit bitterly. "And I can't forget him! I'm not able to. It's frustrating." Meiling suppressed a sob.
"Meiling, you know everything?" Tomoyo asked her sobbing friend. Meiling looked at her with a hurt and confused expression. She shook her head.
With that, Tomoyo proceeded to tell her friend everything that had happened those two first weeks and what had happened afterwards.
-*-*-*-*-*-
"If a + b is equal to the division of x by y then..." Syaoran continued with his explanation. It's been a while since they started studying and they were just finishing. He continued to explain her about their exam and a and b and whatever. Sakura was no longer hearing him, but he didn't seem to notice.
Sakura's eyes were getting heavy. She like the sound of Syaoran's voice so close to her. It soothed her incredibly. It was lulling her to sleep, even if that wasn't supposed to happen. She was leaning on his shoulder. She had her knees up and her book over them, she had her eyes closed already. She was focusing, not on what Syaoran was saying, but on his voice, it made her feel all warm inside.
Syaoran had an arm around her shoulders casually. He had his hand right on her shoulder, where her short hair ended. His fingers played with the tips of her silk-like hair. Sakura didn't seem to mind, in fact she encouraged him to keep doing it by snuggling closer to him. He too had his book over his knees while he signaled stuff with his free hand. He liked the feel of her so close to him. He wanted to protect her from everything. She looked so fragile, and yet she was strong.
Syaoran knew Sakura was falling asleep. Calculus was very boring for her. His voice was lulling her to sleep. When her breathing became relaxed and even, he gently closed both books and slipped them off both their laps. Then, he, slowly and carefully moved his arm from around her shoulders and stood up quietly. He, then, picked her up from the floor and placed her on her bed. Sakura complained a little by making a soft sound on her throat, but she didn't wake up.
Syaoran smiled at the sight of her sleeping. He slowly, almost hesitantly, leaned over and kissed her brow. He decided the pants and T she was wearing were comfortable enough to go to bed. Even if they weren't, he wasn't about to put her PJ's on her, for obvious reasons.
He moved away from her bed without making a sound. He almost tripped with the books on the floor, so he picked them up and placed hers on her desk and tucked his under his arm. He turned around and went out the room the proper way. Through the door. Not before taking a last glance of her sleeping form. He smiled tenderly down at her, one of those smiles that took her breath away and made her weak on the knees, and went out.
He thought that everybody was asleep already, after all it was very late, more than 11:00, probably 12:00. Now he saw why Sakura was so tired. He could stay awake on days on end, but only because he had been trained for that. She hadn't.
He walked down the aisle and to the stairs. He went down quietly as not to wake up the sleeping family. He walked with light steps. For some reason he felt lighter today. He still had a long way to go to get to his apartment, but for some reason, he didn't care. He had done this for Sakura. Nothing was wrong today.
Well, maybe something.
His senses told him there was something on the house. Something magical, not-so powerful, but certainly dangerous.
An aura.
A magical aura.
A blue, magical aura.
He noticed all this in less than a second, before a voice spoke.
"Why didn't you went out the window, Gaki, like you always do?"
Touya's voice.
Syaoran responded automatically. "Nah! It's cold outside, I don't want Sakura to get sick." Then it hit him –too late-. He gulped. Touya knows I visit Sakura through the window? And it doesn't surprise him? Why didn't he stopped me, ever? And I responded him just like that!? I'm a stupid baka! He decided to play dumb, even if he had already messed it up.
"I know how you do that."
"What do you mean?" He asked in a way that he didn't cheat an ant.
"Don't play dumb with me, Gaki. I know." He said coldly, while he fixed him with an ice cold glare. Those two words seemed much more profound than they would normally be.
He knows? He knows what? "You know what?" He asked. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He forgot to play dumb.
"Something you two didn't want me to know." He said calmly.
"How much of it?" He asked directly, no use beating around the bush anymore.
"Enough." Touya responded.
"Which parts?" He asked again. "Enough" didn't tell him anything. There probably was more than what Touya thought.
Touya breathed slowly, as if trying to calm himself down –which he was probably doing-.
"I'm not stupid, Gaki. I can see and feel some things that I now you too can feel and see." He said calmly, more calmly than what he actually felt. Having a decent and civilized conversation with the Gaki wasn't in his to do list today.
"We need to talk." Syaoran said after he had examined Sakura's brother properly.
To be continued...
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Ninth Chapter! Done! REVIEW OR NO MORE CHAPTERS!!! JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!! ANYTHING!!!