Card Captor Syaoran

A CCS Fanfic By Card Captor Schlueter (a.k.a. Syaoran-kun)


Memo From The Legal Dept.

We don't own this stuff and we don't care because we have disclaimers. Try to sue us and we'll shred you into coleslaw, got it?


Chapter Four: She's Not Who She Used To Be.

Dinner in the Kinamoto house that night was uneventful. At least as uneventful as living someone else's routine can be, I guess. I had to restrain myself from injuring Touya further, at least for now. I continued Sakura's practice of sneaking off with dessert for Kero-Chan.
"You know," said Touya as I headed up the stairs. "You sure have been touchy on the subject of the brat today."
Okay, that was it! This time I was going to snap him like a twig. I was going to…
"Does this mean you have a crush on him or something?"
I stopped dead in my tracks. How do I reply to that one?
"Sorry." said Touya "Stupid question. How could anyone love that obnoxious little jerk?" He walked away and I just stood there on the stairs thinking about those last words. Was all of that true?
I snapped myself out of it. This was Touya, right? But what if he was right? I tried not to think about it as I climbed the remaining stairs and went into Sakura's room.
"What's with you?" asked Kero-Chan "You look like someone kicked you in the stomach. What, did Touya decide to get back at you?"
I glowered at the stuffed toy. "It's nothing." I said in my usual calm tone. But, I couldn't help thinking about it. I was already trying to sort the whole thing in my mind when nature called. (I can't think of a more polite way to say it.) It was just as I was about to head out the door when a whole new horrifying thought hit me.
"ACK!" I said aloud when I realized what this thought was.
"What is it?" asked Kero-Chan.
"I'm in Sakura's body!" I said, on the verge of heart failure.
"I see you're a little slow to catch on." Kero replied.
"No, you don't understand." I said "I… um… I have to…" My face was turning red again.
"Is that what you're worried about?" said Kero.
"Well, I can't do that when I'm in Sakura's body!" I replied.
"So what're you planning to do? Hold it for the next two days? I don't think Sakura's going to appreciate it if you wreck her kidneys."
"But… but…" Somebody smack me. I'm skipping.
"And you can't exactly go for two days without bathing or changing clothes either, you know." Kero pointed out.
"ACK!!" This was very, very bad!
"Besides, you don't think Sakura's not going to do the same thing?"
"ACK!!!" That was even worse!
"Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that part, ne?"
At that point I did the only thing I could think of.
I fainted.

**

Kero was trying to wake me up by smack me across the face with his little paws.
"C'mon, kid. Snap out of it!"
"I'm awake! Okay?" I growled. I let out a pitiful sigh. "So what do I do?"
Kero shrugged. "Just get it over with. It's not like anyone else is going to know."
"Sakura will." I protested.
"But she has to deal with the same thing as you. So that evens the whole thing out."
"Or maybe you just want me to do this so you can bring it up whenever you want to humiliate me." I replied.
"No. I'm just saying it like it is." said Kero. "Being able to humiliate you late is just a bonus."
I let out another sigh and made the death march to the bathroom.

**

Is there some kind of phobia that causes people to be afraid of baths? I ask only because at the moment I was suffering from a serious case of it. I felt embarrassed and guilty and a whole lot of other bad things. After locking the bathroom door, I proceeded to hang towels over the bathroom mirrors. That sounds stupid, I know. As I got undressed I spent the whole time staring at the ceiling. In fact, I spent the whole ordeal staring at the ceiling. I think if you asked me I could tell you exactly how many pieces of ceiling dirt there were in the bathroom and their exact locations.
I'd really rather not go into much more detail, except to say that I was still blushing the next morning. I also must say that it was the first time I can remember feeling like I had more dirt on me after a bath than before. I kept repeating to myself that I hadn't seen anything, even though that was a lie.
Humiliated and feeling awful about myself, I trudged back to Sakura's room.

**

"You don't look so good." Kero said when I got back.
"Somebody, please just kill me now." I replied.

**

The next morning I was feeling somewhat better, although I wasn't sure if I could face Sakura. This gives new meaning to the concept of not being able to face yourself in the morning. (Ha, ha. I made a funny. Oh, who cares?) Things went downhill when I realized I'd have to show up wearing Sakura's roller blades. Being a skilled martial artist and practitioner of magic, it wasn't too hard learning how to maintain my balance, although I did get a couple of brief painful lessons in why Sakura wears all that padding. Touya made some wisecrack about my having two left feet, so I hit him with a blunt object. My fist.
Before he could respond to my attack, I was off. I was starting to feel a lot better now with the horrors of last night behind me.
I was actually starting to feel optimistic. Hurtling at high speed around corners can do that to a person.
I was feeling very aloof, so to speak, until I spotted Eriol and Nakuru ahead of me. As I skated past I shot him my usual glare. I would've kept on going, except…
"Good morning to you to, Li-kun." Eriol said.
I promptly fell down.
"Come now, Li-kun." He continued. "You don't think I wouldn't recognize that glare of yours. I mean, after being on the receiving end of it so many times."
I got to my feet and dusted myself off. I was in no mood to deal with this twit today.
"I guess you still don't trust us, Li-kun." Eriol inquired.
I crossed my arms and gave a contemptuous sniff. "Gee, nothing like stating the obvious, eh, Eriol." I said with bison-killing levels of sarcasm. "No wonder you're supposed to be so powerful. No, I don't trust you. I don't trust you as far as I could throw you, and believe me, throwing you around is something I think about a lot. I don't trust you, or that stupid cat or that pink haired twit…"
"Hey!" Nakuru shouted.
"Now, now." Eriol said, trying to calm her. "Li-kun is under a lot of stress."
Nakuru growled and glared at me. I glared at Eriol. I was not going to let this pathetic Harry Potter wannabe patronize me.
"Oh, really?" I said with great sarcasm. "Another one of the great Eriol's premonitions, huh?"
"Isn't this out of character for Sakura?" he asked.
"Bite me." I replied. Then I stuck out my tongue at him and skated off. Frankly, I was feeling great. I'd have never said that to him as myself, but somehow, as Sakura, I knew I'd get away with it.
I was chuckling quietly to myself the rest of the way.

**

"Morning, Sakura-Chan." Rika greeted me as I stepped into the class.
"Morning, um, Rika-Chan." I replied. It wasn't easy remembering everything about being Sakura, or really anything about being Sakura.
When Sakura finally showed up she (or should it be he. Damn, I'm confused) was with Tomoyo.
Big surprise.
"Morning everyone." She said. I didn't know my voice could do chirpy and sweet. Frankly, I didn't want to know. I yanked her away from the door.
"What are you doing?" I asked in a harsh whisper.
"Saying 'good morning'. Why?" she replied.
"Well, stop! I never sound that cheerful and I never smile like that!"
"Well, why not?"
I let out a sigh. "Look, just act like me."
"You mean sullen and grouchy?"
"That isn't how I would've put it." I replied. "Look, just try to do what I would do. Think of Touya's stupid remarks if you're not getting the right effect."
"Touya? You haven't been arguing with him again, have you?"
"No, of course not." I've just been beating the living daylights out of him.
"What are you two talking about, over there?" Naoko asked.
Sakura and I sweat dropped. "Nothing!" we replied.
"Oh, by the way, Sakura-Chan…" said Chiharu.
"Yes, Chiharu-Chan." I said in my best chirpy Sakura tone.
"Don't forget about cheerleading practice this afternoon."
I sweat dropped again. "Oh… Right… How could I forget?" Somebody please just shoot me.

**

Class was uneventful except that Sakura and I sat in the wrong seats twice. Cheerleading practice was something far more eventful. I will not mention the whole matter of changing uniforms, except to say that is very embarrassing and that Rika and Naoko kept asking why I was blushing.
The basic gimmick behind practice, at least the way it went for me, was all baton related. Someone blows a whistle, you twirl the baton, toss it in the air and then you catch it.
A less coordinated person would've had trouble, but I was okay. I was not as good as Sakura by any stretch of the imagination, but I was good enough not to attract any attention. I was expecting chaos and got monotony instead.
Just as we were down to the last few throws, I noticed Touya about fifty yards away at the other end of the field. He was talking to Yukito and was definitely not aware of me.
That was when a brilliant and evil idea entered my head. Naturally, since this involved Touya, I acted on it. As my baton started to come down, I raised my arm and grabbed the end of it. In one swift graceful motion, I brought my arm swiftly down and released the baton in a fashion similar to a knife throw. The baton traveled the full distance and whacked Touya right in the back of the head.
"All right!" I shouted triumphantly. "Bulls-eye!"
I was busy laughing my brains out when Naoko interrupted. "Sakura-Chan, are you all right?" she asked.
"Of course, I am." I replied wiping away the tears from my laughter. I was still chuckling quietly.
"I knew that you didn't always get along with your brother, Sakura-Chan," said Chiharu "but, since when does the mere sight of him inspire you to hurl objects at his head?"
"Yeah, since when." I knew that voice. It was me.
"Li-kun!" I said in a chirpy tone.
"Can I speak to you for a moment?" Sakura asked.
"I'm afraid not, Li-kun." I replied sounding sunny and cheerful. "I have to go retrieve my baton. I lost my grip on it. Silly me." I gave my best 'kawaii-as-a-basket-of-kittens' Sakura expression and headed off to get the baton.
"Drop something?" asked Touya, who was not in a good mood. He held up the baton.
"Why, I guess I did." I was having a lot of fun with this. I snatched the baton from him.
"What's the big idea?" he asked.
"Bite me, oniichan." I replied while smiling and sounding cheerful. And then I took off.
Today was a good day.

**

"Hoee… Li-kun." Sakura said, shaking her (or my. Damn, I'm still confused.) head, as we walked home. "Why are you beating up on, Touya-kun like that?"
"You want me to beat him up another way?" I replied. "I'm open to suggestions."
"I think what Sakura is trying to say, is that you weren't very, well… Sakura back there." said Tomoyo.
"What did I say or do that was so out of character?" I asked.
"Well, we could start with 'Bite me, oniichan'." replied Sakura.
"What can I say?" I said shrugging my shoulders "The jerk has it coming for all the times he called me a 'brat'. Besides, don't tell me you haven't thought about getting payback on him."
"Yeah, but I haven't been mad enough to throw a baton at his head yet."
"Call it 'advance retribution'." I replied.

**

The next day went by a lot smoother, I think. All though we fell 'out of character' a couple of times. Once, in class, Terada called on 'Syaoran' and I spoke up.
Whoops!
I refrained from causing any further injuries to Touya. All in all, a good day. Although I was still feeling a little creepy about the bathing thing, I was feeling great. You know what they say about pride coming before a fall.
It's true.

**

The time for us to change back was only a few minutes away. The park was, thankfully, empty. Tomoyo was getting the whole thing on tape. Kero-Chan and Kero-Ni were arguing over which of us handled the other's role better. Ever Eriol and Nakuru had shown up to watch.
I didn't care about Eriol or Nakuru or the Keros arguing. I was feeling good.
"You seemed to have enjoyed your time as Sakura-Chan, haven't you, Li-kun?" Eriol said in his usual droll tone.
"Actually, a lot of the time, I have." I said. "And I got even with Touya too."
"What ?!" began Nakuru.
"Uh, nothing." I replied.
"Okay!" Kero-Ni shouted. "Let's get this show on the road!"
I gathered up my sword and Clow key in one hand and 'The Change' card in the other.
"Well, don't get any ideas about keeping it, Li-kun." Sakura said. "I want to have my body back."
"You worry too much." I said. "I want my body back too. I mean, just because I'm in love with you doesn't mean I want to be you." As soon as I finished those words, I knew I should never have said them. My face suddenly turned red and I clapped a hand to my mouth.
"Wh- What did you say?" asked Sakura.
"We're running out of time!!" shouted Kero-Ni.
I suddenly went into full blown panic mode. "Uh.. Um…" The card! "Change Card! Release!"
Sakura and I were surrounded by blue energy for a few seconds. As soon as the card returned to my hand, I grabbed my sword and key and ran for it. Sakura was still a little disoriented by the card's magic.
I quickly used 'The Jump' card to get over the fence. After that point I just kept on running.


Next: Syaoran has gone into hiding, embarrassed, humiliated and afraid to face Sakura again. It's almost Christmas and Syaoran must decide what to do next.

Tune in for "Chapter 6: A Walk In The Park."

Same Syaoran Time. Same Syaoran Channel
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Notes: Yes, I know Syaoran would never say "Bite me" to anyone. But I thought it was funny. I always wondered what would happen if Syaoran blurted out his feelings by accident. I think the concept is sort of anti-WAFF in a way, but I couldn't think of any other way to write it. Gomen.