Summary: Sakura and Syaoran are in a singing contest, which, if they win, get a recording contract plus a lot of fame. They're rivals, of course, but once they get closer, they start to fall in love. They work their way up to the top two, but who will win?


A/N: Yay! Chapter 5!! Not much to say here. Well, like the title says, the rival is introduced. I mean, we have to have a bad girl in every story, don't we?


Disclaimer: I do NOT own CCS, plus I don't own the songs that are in here. Let me say that again, I DO NOT OWN THE SONGS THAT ARE IN HERE.





Road to Stardom



By SwEeT AnGeL 1004


Chapter 5: The Rival is Introduced











Sakura was in her hotel room, Thursday morning, furiously scribbling on a piece of paper the lyrics she had thought of last night.


Her last pencil broke from the pressure she was giving it, and Sakura sighed and threw it into the foot-high pile of pieces of wood.


"Tomoyo!" Sakura hollered (Tomoyo had told her to holler if she needed her), and there was silence.


"Tomoyo!!!" Sakura yelled again, but again there was silence.


Sakura sighed and got up and peeked into the bathroom, where no one was there.


She knocked on Syaoran and Meiling's door, where a grumpy Syaoran opened it.


"Hi, Syaoran. Is Meiling or Tomoyo there?" Sakura asked with as much politeness she could muster.


"Nope. They left half an hour ago, giggling something about shopping. I swear, those two are obsessed," Syaoran said.


Sakura smiled and said, "Well, do you have a pencil I can borrow? Mine are all….broken."


"Sure," Syaoran said, and retreated into his room.


He came back, and said, "Hey…wanna go get some breakfast or something? I heard they have a good breakfast buffet downstairs, and Tomoyo's not here so you can eat to your hearts content."


"Sure!" Sakura exclaimed, a little too quickly.


"Aight. I'll be dressed in five," Syaoran said, and nodded and shut the door.


Sakura quickly changed into some more decent clothes, which was a pair of yellow sweatpants and a baby blue sweatshirt.


She went out to the hallway, remembering to grab her wallet and shoved it inside her pocket.


Syaoran emerged from his room shortly after, wearing a black shirt and jeans that had one pantleg rolled up.


They walked downstairs in silence and went to the dining room, where there were tables and tables loaded with all kinds of delectable breakfast foods.


Sakura's mouth watered at the sight of pancakes, waffles, muffins and sweets.


"Let's get a plate and dig in," Sakura said, and waited in line to grab a heavy plate that was warm from coming out of the dishwasher.


Sakura and Syaoran got as much food as they could eat and piled it on their plates and found a good seat in the corner of the room.


Suddenly Syaoran groaned and said, "Hide me."


"Why?" Sakura asked, and Syaoran pointed into the direction of a tall, slender girl with icy eyes.


"Her! Oh god, she's been after me since the first day," Syaoran moaned.


"Maeko Koi?" Sakura asked, and Syaoran nodded.


"Isn't she really nice?" Sakura asked innocently.


"No, she's a freaking b---, hi Maeko! What's up?" Syaoran suddenly asked.


Maeko gave a tight smile at Sakura and said, "Hi, Sakura."


She spoke the name like it was venom, and Sakura winced at the sound of her name being abused.


Sakura quickly said, "Um, Syaoran, I'll go now. I'm done. Here's some money to take care of this stuff," Sakura said and shoved ten dollars (converted into US currency) to Syaoran and left, trying to ignore the pleading looks Syaoran was giving her.


"So….what are you doing hanging out with that little brat?" Maeko asked.


"She's not a brat. She's my friend and so we're having some breakfast together. Why do you care?" Syaoran asked.


Maeko quickly changed the subject and said, "Well……I guess I'll see you tonight at the rehearsal. And stay away from Sakura. Girls like her aren't good news."


Syaoran rolled his eyes at her back, and sighed, stirring his orange juice a fork he had eat a waffle with.


When Syaoran had decided to participate in this contest, he had expected to sing, maybe win, get the money and leave.


He never expected to fall in love with Sakura or be chased by Maeko or have his credit card maxed out by Meiling.


'Yes,' Syaoran thought to himself, 'I surrender. I admit that I'm in love with Sakura. Or I know that I at least like her. I wonder if she likes me. She DID say I was cute. But then again, she might have a boyfriend waiting for her back home. She IS too hot to not be taken yet. But then again---'


Syaoran was interrupted by a waiter who was asking him if he was done.


Syaroan nodded and paid the bill, making sure that he didn't use Sakura's money.


He left the dining area and went back to his room.


Syaoran stealthily went into the bathroom and cracked the door to Sakura's room, which was never locked, open.


He saw nobody and quickly ran to her bed and under the pillow, put the money and a note that read "It was my treat".


Syaoran shook his head as he went to his room.


Love was making him acting like a stupid person….


Sakura had ran to the gift shop and bought a pack of newly sharpened pencils and went back to her room to finish composing her song.


She was almost done with it and just needed to add the finishing touches, like the drums and guitar.


Sakura sat down in the seat next to her keyboard and turned it on, inserting a blank CD in the drive.


Sakura changed the music type to GUITAR, and started playing.


The guitar intro played and Sakura spoke softly, "Uh huh. Uh huh. Life's like this. Uh huh. Uh huh. 'Cause life's like this. Uh huh. Uh huh. That's the way it is…….."









Syaoran was also at his keyboard, roughly playing the first part of his song.


He and Meiling had gone over it a million times, and it was, without a doubt, ready.


Syaoran was the type of guy who liked to be prepared, so he got out blank legal pad and a ball point pen and tried to think of lyrics for his next song.


(A/N: Yes, everyone. I AM aware that singers DO NOT compose songs like this. But this is a fanfiction, and I'm writing it, so I can make anything happen….BWAHAHA!)


Syaoran couldn't concentrate, so he got his gym bag and his keys to go work out.


Before leaving, he wrote Meiling a note that he was going to the roof, and promptly left.







Inside her room, Sakura stretched out.


She had prerecorded everything that needed, written out her lyrics and memorized them from beginning to end.


She patted her stomach and said, "I better do some crunches from getting to flabby. After all, the camera does add ten pounds……." Sakura sighed and got ready to go up to the gym.


She changed into the same thing she had worn last time, and stuffed her keys and a towel into her gym bag.


She ran up to the roof, where she went into the room she had used last time.


Surprise, surprise, Syaroan was there, lifting weights that looked like they could crush Sakura.


"Hi. Can I work out in here?" Sakura asked tentatively.


If Syaroan was a girl, Sakura would've long since labeled him as PMS---periodical mood swings. But he was a guy, so Sakura never knew if he would be sweet, tolerable or rude.


Syaroan grunted, "Yeah."


Sakura quietly put down her bag and got onto the running machine thingy, and set the speed to 7, which was pretty fast.


They worked in silence, only the machines humming and the occasional grunt from Syaoran.


"Do you work out a lot?" Sakura suddenly asked.


"Not really working out. I've been trained in martial arts and swordfighting ever since I was young, so I'm used to it. You?"


"Nope. I did cheerleading in high school, a little bit of soccer in college. Now, I just work out whenever I'm in the mood to write songs. It helps a lot," Sakura answered, staring at the wall, running at a steady pace.


"Ah. I like soccer. We should play sometime. One on one?" Syaoran asked, and Sakura looked at him and saw a twinkle in his eye and the barest hint of a smile.


That was enough for Sakura, and she happily said, "Yep! I'll kick your butt."


Sakura, now visibly sweating and panting, turned off the machine and got onto the ab cruncher.


She sat down on the machine and wrapped her legs around it, and started doing some heavy crunching.


The door opened and Maeko cried triumphantly, "There you are! I've been looking for you all over the place!"


Syaoran groaned loudly, but Maeko mistook that as happiness of seeing her.


"What are you doing with HER?" Maeko suddenly asked, and gave a disdainful look at Sakura.


Sakura answered with a cool stare, and Maeko turned away, saying, "Huh? Huh?"


"Working out! Maeko, please leave me alone. You're nice and all, but not my type," Syaroan said, trying to tell her off.


"Playing hard to get, right? Anyways, I know YOU'RE my type. Anyway, you never answered my question. Why is Sakura in this private work out room with you, huh?" Maeko asked.


Sakura finally had enough and spat, "Stop clinging to Syaroan like I'm not there. If you must know, Syaoran and I are roommates, and close friends. That's why I'm in here. And I think I'm about to leave. And a word of advice? No guy would ever like you the way you're trying to snag Syaroan."


Syaoran was startled by the change in Sakura.


He had always thought of her as a quiet but sweet girl, always kind and polite and a friend to everyone.


Sakura gave a disdainful look to Maeko, similar to the one she had given her before, got her bag and left with her head up high.










Sakura, on the way out spotted a card on the floor.


She bent down and got it and realized that it was a driver's license……Maeko's, to be exact.


Sakura looked at the birthdate and realized that Maeko, was 25---while the rules clearly implied that contestants had to be from ages 21 to 24.


Sakura smiled rather evilly, a look she had acquired from years of hanging out with Tomoyo, and pocketed the card.


When Sakura got back to her room, Tomoyo was there, and once again the floor was a sea of shopping bags.


"You CANNOT believe the sales they have at the mall! We couldn't resist ourselves, and Meiling had to buy an outfit for her part in Syaroan's song," Tomoyo gushed.


"Okay! Hey, I'm in the mood to do something, so you guys wanna go get some coffee outside?" Sakura asked.


A plan had begun to formulate since she had seen the drivers license, and she knew Tomoyo and Meiling were the ones to trust.


"Sure! Why?" Meiling asked.


"I have to tell you guys something very interesting. It's about this little brat I know. Not so little, though…….." Sakura said.


"I'm sold. I'll get changed and let's go to the little French bakery and coffee shop on the corner of the road," Meiling said.


"Same here," Tomoyo said, and Sakura said, "Let me take a quick shower first. You guys buy anything for me?………"









Ten minutes later Sakura was done in the showers and got changed into a pair of khaki slacks and a blue sweatshirt.


She walked out with Tomoyo and Meiling to the coffee shop and once they got there, ordered three lattés and cinnamon rolls.


Once they sat down, Sakura began telling them her plan.


"You know Maeko Koi?" Sakura asked.


Meiling groaned, "Oh not her! God, I hate her freaking guts!"


Tomoyo said, a little more calmly, "I think I know her. She's the one that's super mean, anorexic and has the ego bigger than the world can hold?"


Sakura grinned and said, "That's her. Well, she's like really bitching at me, plus she's hitting on Syaroan and she's a slut."


Meiling and Tomoyo nodded in agreement.


"So, I've found a way to kick her out of the contest. It's totally legal and in the rules, and I didn't do anything bad to find this information," Sakura continued.


Meiling and Tomoyo nodded again.


"I found her drivers license, and it shows that she's 25. The rules for the Road the Stardom say that you must be from ages 21 to 24 to compete. I think she lied about her age to get in. I mean, I don't think they do a background check on you, so she probably got away with it," Sakura said.


Meiling's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "That's the PERFECT plan to get her kicked out! Let's go show Mr. Kenora RIGHT NOW!"


Some people stared at Meiling from her outburst, and she apologetically smiled.


"Not yet. I'm going to wait and see if she makes the second cut, and then I'm going to find the perfect time to break the news. It'll make a more….DRASTIC impact," Sakura said, and smiled evilly again.


"Ooh…I like this new evil side to Sakura!" Tomoyo exclaimed.


The worker at the counter called out their names, and they got up to get their drinks and rolls.


For the rest of the of the little outing, they gossiped and discussed fashion, drinking their coffee and nibbling at their cinnamon rolls.











Meanwhile, Syaroan barely managed to escape from Maeko.


"God, she should get a life," Syaroan said, and shuddered again at the revolting kiss Maeko had tried to give him.


He went back to his room and took a shower, making sure to lock both doors.


He blushed in the shower, remembering the embarrassing scene that had happened a week.


He blushed even redder when he pictured her body again. She was beautiful, no doubt about it.


And no doubt about it, Syaroan was in love.












A/N: Yes, the end of Chapter 5! Look for chapter 6 soon to come! I've plotted out a lot of the next chapter. It'll include the next contest, and a slap fest. And don't worry, I'll put in more mushy parts where Sakura realizes she's in love, too.

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