Sincerity to the Cherry Blossom 4
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Clamp owns CCS. Takeuchi Naoko owns SM.
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Juuban High students didn't have to spend money to completely change their school uniform and it unsurprisingly caused a string of staring faces in Tomoeda High. It was undecided on whether that was a good thing or not. But that was supposed to happen anyway, wasn't it? Most of the school must have heard about there being students temporarily studying here to keep up with their school work while on their catering training course at Chez Nori.
They wouldn't be here till their final year of High School. They would be back at Juuban by the end of this week. Unless they wanted to extend their training course for some strange reason. Thankfully most of the Tomoeda High school students welcomed the twenty 'exchange' students to their school and showed them around the school site or helped them find their way whenever they were lost.
As Touya walked around the tennis courts, he easily spotted a few girls from Juuban High walking into a geography classroom and gasping in awe at the excellent display on the walls. His mind wandered to the rest of the wide spread field where he saw a mixture of Juuban and Tomoeda High students liasing with each other. This morning Touya had only spoken to three boys from Juuban High.
Yeah he was being friendly but it was his scheme to find out more about who Makoto really was. It wasn't as though he hated her at first glance (in the same sense as meeting Syaoran for the first time). His pessimistic senses just wouldn't give his mind a break and forced him to keep his guard up around the girl. It was rare to see anyone be as good in cooking as Makoto was. She really was an expert in this area and Touya couldn't help acting cynic about her. Hell he barely knew anything about her. Maybe feelings like this were supposed to happen when there was a pretty girl nearby.
Touya slapped his brain from thinking such a thing and thought about something else other than testosterone. What he did know was that she was taller than most girls in his year. And if his eyes didn't deceive his imagination, Makoto had muscles not many females would develop during puberty. How did she get those strong arms, Touya wondered? He leaned his back against the fence as he watched young elementary boys play basketball on the other tennis court.
Yukito came by to see him, joining his best friend in a broody observation trance in the sports area. What was it that Makoto had that made her peculiar? Was it her abnormal height, the cooking expertise or…? Touya's brain stopped when his eyes caught sight of a familiar figure hiding behind the bushes. Long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and long legs stretching out on the grass…that had to be her. Plus she was eating food – maybe she cooked it herself.
"Hey, Touya!" Sakura greeted on the other side of the field, pulling her face close to the fence. Tomoyo was next to her, smiling joyfully.
"Hi, Sakura," Yukito said cheerfully to break the silence from Touya who was still a little startled by his sister's surprise greeting.
"Hey, monster. Sorry gotta run," He said in a distracted volume, his back still facing to his sister as he walked off like a marching soldier. Sakura and Tomoyo both went 'huh?' while they watched Touya walk off. It wasn't like him to suddenly take off without insulting his sister much more. Somehow it didn't completely bother Sakura and she instead diverted her smile to Yukito.
"I wonder where Touya went off to in a hurry," Tomoyo pondered intriguingly.
Yukito scanned the playground and wasn't able to see his best friend very well among the active peers walking about. There were so many students in different uniforms it was impossible to find his best friend that simply.
"I think he was looking for someone," He guessed It couldn't be her, could it?.
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Touya saw Makoto sitting alone behind a thick green bush, holding a lunchbox on her lap and chewing food in a focused rhythm. Nobody seemed to have noticed her eating away by herself. In fact no one was talking to her. And where the heck were the other Juuban High school students? Didn't they like her? Why shouldn't they? They went to the same school as her. Touya wasn't friends with everyone in his year but he still tried his best to say hello to anyone who passed him.
He peeked inside her lunchbox to see what she was eating. The food looked like jam tarts with a variety of fruity toppings such as strawberry, apricot and raspberry. He told himself to say hi to Makoto so she would know he was here. However other instincts told him that he should stay and watch her in secret to see how she truly acted outside the kitchen. Idiot! He thought You don't know her so wake up and be friendly! Put those suspicions aside.
His hand brushed against the bottom of the bush, giving out a soft sound as if a gentle gust. Makoto's head turned around sharply when she heard the rustling. Now didn't this sound familiar? This was a déjà vu of her first day at Juuban High and her first meeting with Usagi. Although that was a while back and whomever it was creeping up on her wasn't another Odango Atama.
"If you don't want to get a facial mutilation come on out," Makoto sternly warned. Whoa that's a new threat I've come across Touya was taken aback by the toughness in her statement. Since when did girls try to fight?
"I shouldn't be doing this but when people creep up on me, I get mad easily so…" Reaching round the bush Makoto's hand clutched the person's shirt and dragged it towards her. Her right fist came into the air to prepare a punch. However when she saw who it was, the grip loosened on the shirt straightaway. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Touya! What the hell? Oh Kami, don't do that to me. You would've been one of the many victims of my deadly attack."
"What deadly attack?" Touya asked. Makoto pouted at the bluntness in his question and didn't bother explaining what she meant in easy words. It seemed like he hadn't heard the usual gossip about her yet. Well it wouldn't take long till the rumours came over to him. Then he'd know who she was for real. Thank goodness no one saw her deliver a real punch or else that would break the ice of her sensible behaviour role. It was pointless for another school to jeer at her for her reputation as the karate maniac. She had one school to cope with for this piece of gossip.
"Haven't the rumours about me been going around yet?" Makoto looked at him, raising her eyebrows as if expecting him to say yes. Touya's brown eyes remained blank without feeling and he stared back into her emerald orbs. "Come on, girls have been giving me nasty looks. Surely that must make you realise something is up with me."
Yeah there is something up with you Touya agreeably thought but told himself to be nice.
"Look I'm used to it, ok? If girls or boys don't wanna talk to me because I'm the Karate Maniac." Her fingers gestured quotations. "It's normal. You and Yukito could do the same thing. I don't exactly make friends easily." She moodily chewed her jam tart while she sat back down on the bench behind the bush. Touya still continued to watch her eat. This could explain why she had muscles and a tall height. She was a fighter. Oh and probably a tomboy too. Things seemed clearer to Touya now. She did have a good grip on his shirt. Not many girls could keep a hold of him in a weak fight.
Though Makoto was likely to be able to, knowing a tough girl like her. Touya suddenly could see her point as he saw groups of girls from his drama class whisper to each other when they walked past. Their eyes were in shock when they saw Touya there too. In other words their message to him was 'what are you doing with a weird girl like her? She doesn't deserve friends.'
"You know I fight as well," Touya added, sitting nearer to her on the bench.
"Yeah but have you ever been expelled from school for brutally beating people up?" She read his face and knew his reply. "Obviously not. That's because boys who fight in school is normal. Violent girls who punch and kick till the bully bleeds is NOT normal in school."
Touya glanced at her in larger amazement. "You're joking, aren't you? What you're saying can't be real." Makoto shook her head honestly. Touya couldn't believe he was talking to a cooking expert who had been expelled from her previous school for fighting. And this was becoming an easy gossip topic. Maybe not many knew she could cook wonderfully unless they worked in Chez Nori like Touya and Yukito did. People were only concerned about the karate maniac reputation and nothing else. Once they heard a girl was expelled from school for fighting then they would keep their defence up and stay far away from her.
"Touya, there you are. Sakura wanted to know where you ran off," Yukito said standing in front of Makoto and Touya.
"Your sister came into Chez Nori yesterday, didn't she?" Makoto asked Touya. He nodded. "Ha, she's so sweet. How old is she?"
"Sakura is a cute yet annoying ten-year old," Touya replied monotonously.
"Oh Touya, don't be too hard on your sister. She isn't half as bad," Yukito defensively stated and smiled at the obvious joke from his best friend. Makoto didn't know what it was like to have a younger or older sibling but she was still able to understand the teasing Touya gave as an older brother because she always saw Usagi and Shingo act similarly.
"Hey I'll introduce you to my brat sister. Come on." Touya lead Makoto back to the tennis courts where Sakura and Tomoyo remained on the other tennis court, watching other students running around and playing sports games together. She's looking at her again Touya looked in the corner of his eye at Makoto as they walked. So far he could see she was a nice girl. Why couldn't that nice thought stay? It was like an angry bomb going off inside of him when he saw Makoto look strangely towards his sister for a second time.
"Hey, monster this is Kino Makoto. She's from Juuban High," Touya then whispered into Makoto's ear. "The one I called monster is my sister. Her name's Sakura." He pointed to the tiny girl who growled huffily at him then to the other girl with long ebony hair. His voice went to its ordinary volume as he introduced Sakura's female friend. "That's her best friend Daidouji Tomoyo."
"Nice to meet you, Sakura and Tomoyo. I take you tried my cherry cream cake yesterday. Was it good?" Makoto grinned, bending down to look at the tiny girls.
Tomoyo clapped her hands together in delight when she mentioned the cake, "Sakura and I loved it. Did YOU make the recipe?" Makoto nodded confidently. "Oh wow! You must be really fantastic at cooking. You have to teach me or Sakura how to cook next time."
"Maybe next time," Makoto agreed. The bell rang for the end of morning break and like a swarm of ants returning to their nests, the students from both Tomoeda Elementary and Tomoeda High school started to take their bags and head to their next lesson.
"Later, Sakura." Touya waved to his sister and Tomoyo then disappeared with Makoto and Yukito. "What's your next lesson, Makoto?"
"I've got history," She replied.
"So do we. It looks like you're in the same classroom as we are. You can follow us," Yukito suggested and gave another gentle smile. Wordlessly, Makoto decided to follow them to show she said yes. These boys were the only two friendly people around at the moment. First they spoke to her in Chez Nori and now they were walking to the same lessons as her in Tomoeda High. She appreciated their helpful manner on her first day. One girl studied in Tomoeda High was kind enough to show her where the girls changing room was and that was about it. Everyone else had heard the rumours from her own Juuban High peers, regarding the Karate Maniac reputation.
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"Can you believe it, Sakura? Kino Makoto is the one who made those delicious cakes." Tomoyo exclaimed on the way to class. Her voice had become as high pitched as her singing. "Her mother must be a famous chef in Juuban or something to cook that good."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Sakura responded respectively. Out of the blue she felt a strong poking sensation strike her head as her hand wrapped around the doorknob to the classroom. Flashes of different scenes clouded her eyes at such speed that she wasn't able to pick out what each one was about. She managed to capture the last scene that involved bright lightning coming from what seemed to be a female shadow. Sakura couldn't see her face very well because the lightning in her hands was too bright. All she could see was the outline of her long ponytail and what appeared to be rose shaped earrings.
What the…? She gasped in her visions Who is this?. Even though this wasn't a Clow card, Sakura couldn't help sensing a powerful force near her. It couldn't be Clow Reed again, could it? Eriol was in England with Miss Mizuki. Nakuru and Spinner were with Eriol too. So it couldn't be him that Sakura was sensing. She looked outside to see Makoto, Touya and Yukito walking distantly to their lessons. Somehow Sakura's eyes kept focusing on Makoto. What was it that was strange about her? There was some sort of powerful aura around the other girl, which only Sakura could sense and others couldn't.
TBC.