A/N: Yes, Yes, I KNOW! Chapter 18 was WAY too short and it was more author notes than actual fic. Anyway, I'm sorry if the release date for this chapter was late. I hope this chapter is long enough to last you 'till twenty. I may have to stop for bit due to technical difficulties..(I NEED A NEW COMPUTER NOW!) this Don't worry, this chapter shall suffice your kawaii S+S needs. =)
Thankyou again MeilingLi for gathering my Syaoran information since my computer keeps crashing every ten minutes. =)
Another Thank you to ChetteTeng for helping me translate the tagalog words. You're much too nice Ate Chette! ^_^ Salamat Po!
Ummm...the author anonymously known as Wings Of Fire...you are sooo I dunno....how to say, enthusiastic? Haha. wow, 18 straight reviews O_O You made my day. Hehe, I feel flattered...I guess. ^_^ Am I really a good author? I don't really take half this stuff all too seriously...fanfiction is my hobby =P
I began to think back to my MUCH earlier work...gawd it's craptastic. Haha. I mean you may have to write for awhile before you can be good at it. Practice makes (close to) perfect ne? ^_^ IF anyone feels that I am a wonderful writer...I was once like you. =P...probably still am =)
Teehee, well if wasn't for all the reviews I get, I wouldn't write, I'd find no purpose to really continue a story unless someone wanted it to be completed. =) So if you wanna have an conclusion you guys better review and tell me =P I'll probably write more too...let's say...go for 200 reviews @_@ Teehee! Hell, I'd release a chapter every week =)
Sheng Xin (Sacred Heart)
Chapter 19: Marriage is but a Game
Sunlight filtered through the blinds of guest bedroom window. The green-eyed sorceress perked up and stretched as she rubbed the sandman's work out from her eyelashes. Yawning she stole a glance at her alarm clock. 11:43 AM. Her eyes widened. "I slept in AGAIN!" In a frantic rush she dashed down the stairs. She greeted everyone in the living room as she made her way toward the kitchen. "Ohayo gozaimasu!" she bowed. Touya passed her at the kitchen counter, a smirk glued to his face. "Ohayo Kaijuu."
Sakura's brow twitched at this familiar and unappreciated greeting. Instead she smiled. "Ohayo oniichan." Touya was slightly disturbed.
"You in a good mood today?"
"Mochiron desu! (Of course!)"
"Shouldn't you be nervous? What ever the hell is going on starts today."
She shook her head. "I know, but I feel I am ready. All for the sake of winning Syaoran's freedom."
"I thought you're engaged to him, so you're supposed to compete for the right to marry him against that other Chinese chick." he replied pouring himself a glass of orange juice.
Sakura's cheeks reddened, "Well yes, in a way. But I am not obliged to marry him."
"Oh," Touya arched an eyebrow, "you don't want to marry him?"
"Chotto matte (Wait a minute)...are you implying something?"
"Am I? I'm just asking whether you want to marry the gaki or not. It's a interrogative sentence. Nothing special meant by it."
"Hmph. Right, well I'm 16. I not even sure of what I want."
"Yes, you do. Inside your heart you know what you want. Whatever that decision is Sakura-chan, I want you to know that I support that decision and you'll always be my imouto (little sister) itsumo (forever)." He smiled gingerly, a rare older brother caring side of him surfaced. "Gambatte. (Good Luck)"
Sakura grinned. "Arigato (Thankyou)."
The serious and tender sibling moment dissovled away. Touya scoffed and tilted his head, "Now maybe you should put on some proper clothes..."
Sakura stared at her pajamas and blushed, "Hai!" She ran back upstairs to change into more presentable clothes.
Touya shook his head stifling a laugh, "Kaijuu will never change. I wonder how the gaki puts up with her...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura dressed in more appropriate house clothes. She began brushing her hair and out of the corner of her eye she spotted Ming's reflection leaning against her doorway through the mirror. Sakura turned and faced in her direction smiling, "Ohayo Ming-san."
Ming crossed her arms in her aloof position. "Heh. Morning clow mistress. You lied. I too am a sorceress. Do you think I'm stupid?"
Meiling began her way up the stairs and overheard conversation. Being as devious as she is, Meiling crouched down to listen further.
Sakura was somewhat astonished. "Lied? I did not lie, and I am not the clow mistress. I am Kinomoto Sakura, grade 10, number--"
"Don't give me that shit Kinomoto. You have magic. You know it. I know it."
Sakura's eyes narrowed, her serious face became more apparent. "Listen, Ming-san, I am no longer the Clowmistress. The clow cards have been transformed into Sakura cards. There was no reason to use my magic. I captured the cards, my duty fufilled, destiny complete. I can be a normal person once again."
"Is that all you want to be? A normal person? Why not just give up then? Make all our lives easier. Hand over the Sakura cards." Ming said, coldly staring as she held out her hand.
"Never, I will never give the cards to you."
"And why not?"
"Because, they belong to me. I am the chosen and rightful owner."
"You don't use them. You're making them purposeless. Such a waste." She replied clucking her tongue.
"No. They're safe and sound. Happy and secure. I am their mistress. I can't just give them away so easily."
"Well I can obviously see you're good enough to control the cards... but, are you worthy of Xiaolang?"
Sakura's hand balled into a fist, shaking violently in her bottled anger. Her eyes burned like fire. "You're asking me if I'm worthy of Syaoran? Maybe you should be asking yourself that question Ming-san."
Ming arched a brow, "Me, worthy of Xiaolang? The question should be, is Syaoran worthy of me?" She chuckled arrogantly.
"Alright. That's it." Sakura glared, her eyes unmoveable.
"What'cha gonna' do 'bout it Japanese girl? Bring it on."
"You have been SO asking for it." Sakura held her hands back trying her best to resist, face red and angry.
"And what is this it?" She asked, unthreatened.
"This!" Sakura's hand shot up into the air then slapped Ming across the face. The slapping sound echoed throughout the halls.
Meiling gasped in shock, her mouth agape. She rubbed her eyes twice in disbelief. "D-d-did I just witness Sakura....mad? Seriously angry with reason?" She thought back to the ma huang-dojo incident...."note to self, NEVER make Sakura angry."
Ming was entirely amazed. She cupped her cheek trying to rub the pain outwards. She rid of her surprised stare and plastered on her haughty attitude. "Just as I suspected. The cherry blossom isn't totally sweet and nice afterall. It's all a fake face for good impressions. You can stop pretending now, bitch." She smirked.
"Hmph. Like I need good impressions. You're simply annoying and naive. It's the people like you who make a bitch. Blame yourself."
Almost speechless with Sakura's come back she spewed aimlessly, "Whatever. You know I'm the better canidate. I'm more beautiful than you. I'm also more popular than you here in China."
She shoved a teen magazine in Sakura's face. Ming was starring on the front cover alone, posing cutely in a gaudy outfit--like something that Sakura might have worn during her card catching days--and her face covered in make up. Headline read: Pretty bubblegum pop star and actress, Ming Li!
Ming smirked triumphantly at her supposed greater reasons. "Imagine yourself with Xiaolang as a couple. Hah! You know you'll never look as good as we do, Jap girl." she sneered.
Meiling's eyes were wide open in more shock. 'This is unheard of. Ming went so low as to racial terms! This has to stop before it gets out of hand. They're breaking the ground rules.'
Sakura was ready to unleash all hell. "You are so shallow. I see that you must be used to this prepped up treatment. Being rich, famous, getting your own way all the time. Understand this," Sakura paused and stared Ming straight in the eyes, " Social status means absolutely nothing to me." Sakura tossed the magazine back at Ming. "Pretty pop star ne?"
"Don't forget actress." Ming added smirking as she caught the magazine.
"More like pretty pathetic spoiled brat. Get out of my presence. Leave. Just leave."
Ming remained where she was.
"I'm telling you to leave. Now. It's not an option."
"That's right Ming." Meiling stood at the end of the hallway. Both Sakura and Ming turned toward Meiling in surprise. "Your room is in the guest house. You don't want to be breaking rules now do you, Wu-chan?"
Ming's eyes narrowed, "This is none of your concern. Besides, Xiaolang rejected you from the start Mei-chan. "
"Well then you might wanna put some foundation and blush over that huge red spot on your cheek to keep up with your pop princess outlook or Xiaolang will reject you too."
Ming fished out a miniature mirror from her pocket and gasped in horrorified shock.
"Ooh, don't do that Wu-chan, wrinkle lines." Meiling teased.
Ming began to walk toward the stairs, "Well I'm going to do something about this Kinomoto. You won't get away with it. Don't ever call me Wu-chan again, Mei-chan." Ming flipped her hair over her shoulder then left.
Sakura let out a sigh of exasperation. "Thanks for helping me Meilin-chan."
"It's nothing." She smiled, "She's a vanity queen. Don't let Ming break you down like that."
"Don't worry. I didn't let her."
"I saw." Meiling nodded grinning widely. "I didn't think you'd ever do that. My my, you can't go around doing that to people. It's also against the rules. Unsupervised conflicts."
"I know. I know." Sakura hung her head low, "It's just, I couldn't take her garbage anymore. I'm not just going to let her walk all over me like that. I can't. I'm sorry."
Meiling smirked, "Don't be. She deserved every word. She was asking for a beating. You only gave her a little sip from your bottle of rage. You should have knocked her lights out." She looked into Sakura's eyes. "Look at me Sakura-chan. I. Want. You. To. Kick. Her. Ass."
They giggled in unison.
"Okay."
The grandfather clock chimed twelve times. Meiling looked at her watch. "It's time Kinomoto." Sakura nodded. Sakura went downstairs and stopped midway. Meiling bumped into her. Their eyes wide in confusion. "W-w-what happened to the living room?"
"I don't...know Meiling."
Flashing lights complete with a pink stage TV show dating set and video camera replaced the Li living room that once existed this morning.
Fanren's voice sounded from the front stage. She stood behind a plastic podium decorated in colored hearts. "Hello, and welcome to the very first and very last game of 'Who Wants to be Xiaolang's Wife'!"
Sakura facefaulted. A bright yellow spotlight shined upon Sakura, "Everyone, please give a big round of applause for contestant number one! Kinomoto Sakura!"
Clapping in background by anonymous people.
Meiling picked Sakura up from her dazed state helping her on the way to the stage. Sakura managed to sit down in the chair next to the podium. Spotlight still on Sakura, she smiled wanly and waved.
The spotlight shut off and focused on Ming. "And now contestant number two! Give it up for Li Wu-ming!"
Ming made her way confidently toward the stage and sat down next to Sakura giving her a warning glare then smiled innocently and waved once.
More anonymous clapping in the background.
Sakura looked back and forth wondering where the applause came from. Fanren lifted her cue card from the podium, "We now reveal your husband to be, Li Xiaolang!"
Syaoran walked solemnly to his chair on the opposite the side Sakura and Ming. The light beamed on his face. He simply waved keeping a straight face.
Loud hooting and applause.
Fanren read the next cue card, "Alright. Time for round one, 'How well do you know your financee?' Let's explain the rules for round one. I'm going to ask a question about Xiaolang and you," Fanren guestured to Ming and Sakura, "the contestants must write down what ever they think is the answer and hold up the card when I say so. After that, Xiaolang will give out the correct answer. You each have 45 seconds to answer. To prevent cheating, Ming and Ying Fa will be placed in separate stalls."
Feimei dressed in black gown with a low neckline whisked her arms toward the stalls then lead Ming and Sakura into their own stall.
"There is a total of five questions. Each question equals five points. As we progress the questions will become more difficult. Now who ever gets the most questions correct will win round one! Any questions?" Fanren paused, "Let's begin!" She whipped out another cue card, "Question number one. What is Xiaolang's favorite color?"
Both Sakura and Ming wrote their answers on their piece of papers. They waited for Fanren's signal.
"Hold up your answer now please!"
Sakura grinned ear to ear. ' Easy one.'
Sakura's answer: GREEN
Ming's answer: BLUE
"Your answer Shao di. (little brother [in Chinese])"
Syaoran raised a brow. "Uh...Green."
"Five points awarded to Ying Fa!"
Ding! Board on the back wall under Sakura's name with digital light numbers changes from zero to five.
"Alright. Question number two! What is Xiaolang's blood type?"
"We're supposed to know that?!" Ming and Sakura asked unaminously.
"Yes. Yes you are. You have thirty more seconds to answer!" Fanren smirked as she glanced at the game clock over head.
Sakura tried to think logically. 'Generally most people have type O blood...'
Ming guessed.
"Hold up your answers please!"
Sakura: O
Ming: O
"Syaoran, your answer."
"I dunno...."
"I do." Yelan appeared. "It is O." She handed Fanren a medical report.
Fanren flipped through it's pages skimming the report's contents. "Oookay, this information is reliable I suppose....both Ying Fa and Ming recieve five points!"
"Moving on, question three! When was Xiaolang born?"
Sakura sighed with relief, 'this one isn't so bad...'
Ming concentrated....
"Your answer please!"
They held their signs high in the air.
Sakura: July 13th
Ming: July 13th
"Your answer Shao di?"
"July 13th."
"Good job! Another five points to the both you!" Fanren turned around. The camera followed closing in on the score board and Feimei waving her arms in it's direction. "So far, Ying Fa is in the lead with fifteen points and Ming is behind with ten points. Wow, pretty close already. Well let's continue."
"Question number four! If you were to have intercourse with Xiaolang, what kind of position would it be?"
Everyone gasped. "What kind of question is that??!!"
Fanren checked the cue card again, "Huh? Oh scratch that question! That's not supposed to be there..." She said glaring at Nakuru.
"What? You can tell it's my handwriting?"
"That's a confession!"
"I mean--no....well I was just curious..."
"Okay...anyway...the REAL question number four, what annoys Xiaolang the most?"
Sakura thought back to card capturing days, she wrote her answer immediately.
Ming snickered and wrote down her thoughts.
"Hold up your answer!"
Sakura: Kero-chan
Ming: Losing
"Your answer Xiaolang?"
"Well ever since I met with the guardian beast, I'd have to say Kero."
"Oi!! I resent that!" Kero yelled as he flew to Syaoran's side and bit his finger.
Syaoran whacked him off, "Hey, you should be flattered. Not many people can claim to be what annoys me most." he said jokingly.
"Right...." Kero returned to his seat pouting.
"Uhh...okay, well five more points to Kinomoto! Last question for round one. What is Xiaolang's favorite food?"
Sakura pondered over this...
Ming wondered as well....
"Your final answer?"
Sakura: Chocolate...
Ming: Dim Sum
"Xiaolang, your answer?"
"Err...both."
Everyone arched a brow.
"What do you mean BOTH?" Fanren inquired.
"I mean both. I like both dim sum and chocolate."
Fanren sweatdropped. "Does chocolate really count as food?"
"I'd say so. You can eat both of them. They both taste equally good too." Syaoran replied.
Meiling facefaulted, "I've never heard Xiaolang obesess over food before...well you learn something new everyday."
"I don't know how to do this one..." Fanren said confused.
"Umm...how about Chocolate Dim Sum?" Siefa piped in.
"Siefa!"
"Okay, okay. Maybe not."
Fanren left the judges table nodding. "I'm sorry Ying Fa. After discussing with the other two Judges, Yelan and XueWeng, they consider chocolate as unhealthy. It will not count as food."
Dissappointed 'awwwwwing' from background.
"So now you each have a total of twenty points. It's tie! My oh my, such an exciting show so far. Well stick around for round two after this commercial break!"
Sakura facefaulted. "Commercial break? This thing is being filmed?"
"Of course! By Me!" Tomoyo giggled.
"I should have guessed so....wait is this thing on TV?!" Sakura asked on verge of freaking out.
"Nooooo. Silly. I'm just recording it becuase it's sooo kawaii!"
"Mou..." Sakura moans as she sweatdrops.
"Don't worry Sakura-chan, go get yourself a glass of water and freshen up. Daijobou? (You all right?)"
"Hai. I'll do that." Sakura headed for the kitchen. Kero, Yukito and Touya were already there conviently and gave her a glass. "Arigato oniichan."
"No problem. Just hang in there." Yukito told her.
"Hehe, I will."
There was the voice on the mega phone once again. "Calling ALL contestants. Report to your places now! You have 60 seconds!"
Sakura turned, "Ara, gomen, I have to get back..."
Touya nodded. "We understand."
Kero yelled as she ran back to the stage, "Break the tie Sakura-chan!"
Ming sat in her chair as if she never left it. No doubt she was ready. Sakura returned to her seat and waited.
Fanren plucked another cue card out of the podium. "Now its back to the show 'Who wants to Marry Xialong!' As we have seen, it has been a close match, with Ying Fa and Ming tied at 20 points. Yet, we still round two to decide who gets the point in this test!" She stopped and smiled. "I know what you're all thinking. What is round two? Well I'm gonna tell you right now because I'm getting tired of this job! As the last half of the show, Round two is....drumroll please!"
Fuutie bangs a gong instead.
"Err...I guess that will do...anyway...Round Two is KAREOKE ROUND!!"
Everyone questions simultaneously, "Kareoke?"
"That's RIGHT! You heard me. Kareoke! Now...to explain the rules. We will let the contestants each a choose a different song they're familiar with and sing just a little excerpt in a cappella. The catch is it may not be in either Chinese or Japanese. Now you sing along best you can and the judges will score you upon your singing, 3 points (Yelan), style, 3 points (XueWeng), and overall performance, 4 points (Xiaolang). Any questions? "
"What does this have to do with marrying cute descendent?" Eriol asked.
"Oh nothing really," Fanren replied, "We just thought that it'd be an extra for Shao di to have a wife who can sing nice."
More sweatdropping.
"Well anyway, who wants to go first?"
"I will!" Ming shouted jumping out of her chair. "Afterall, I'm a famous pop singer!"
"Very well. Choose your song."
"I pick my favorite song from the famous AMERICAN pop world, Britney Spears! And I'm gonna sing her first hit debut single, HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME."
The unfamiliar crowd who does not know the unmentionable Spears blinked puzzled.
Ming swiped the microphone from Fanren's podium and waited for the camera and lights to shine upon her.
"Ready? Begin."
Ming confidently smiled and began to sing the second verse then chorus.
"
Oh baby, baby
The reason I breathe
is you
Boy you got me
blinded
Oh pretty baby
There's nothing that I
wouldn't do
It's not the way
I planned it
Show me how you
want it to be
Tell me baby 'cause I
need to know now,
oh because!
My loneliness is
killing me
I must confess I
still believe
When I'm not with you
I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me baby
one more time!"
She held out her hand toward Xiaolang and struck a dramatic pose. Syaoran sweatdropped.
"Well done!" Fanren concluded for Ming.
"Ahem," Fanren coughed, "Okay. Judges, give us your rating please!"
"Well I personally think Ming has a beautiful voice with the exception that she can't truly carry a tune. So she gets a two." Yelan stated.
XueWeng winced, "Well, being that she is my daughter, I'd give her three points because she has her own flashy outlook."
~~~~~
"Aren't we his daughters too..." Fuutie whispered to Siefa.
"Yeah, but he's referring to Yelan's perspective. Mom is not the mother of Ming. Understood?"
"Sou ka...(I see [Japanese].)
~~~~~
"And your reason Shao di?"
"She didn't really do much but try to sing. No choreography or rhythm at all for a rhythmic song. I say two because that's what she deserves."
"Ooh, harsh Xiaolang...hehe" Meiling smirked.
Ming shot Meiling a death glare.
Yelan:2
XueWeng:3
Xiaolang:2
"Sounds fair enough. That's a score of 7 points that give you a total of 27 out of the supposed 35 perfect score. Good job Ming. Can Ying Fa break this score? We'll find out now!" She passed the microphone to Sakura, "You may begin."
Sakura shyly came up to the spotlight. A bit nervous, she started off slowly with a slow tone. As she sang, she swayed back and forth, sauntering and making direct eye contact with her audience.
"
Sa aking pag-iisa [On my own}
Ikwa lang ang [You're the only one]
Tinatawag ko [I'm calling]
Di ako mapalagay [I can't concentrate]
Ka pag akoy [When I'm]
Nag-iisa [Alone]
Kung nalalaman [If you]
mo lamang [Only knew]
Na ako sa yoy nag-hihintay [That I am waiting for you]
Lagi kitang [I'm always]
Inaasahan [Expecting]
Na magbalik sa aking buhay [You to come back into my life]
"
"In Chinese/Japanese/English please?" Fanren sweatdropped.
"I'm sorry." Sakura responded, "it's Tagalog." She wrote down translations and gave it to the judges.
"Since when do you know the langauge of the Philippines?" Syaoran inquired.
"I don't. I just listen to the international radioes." Sakura smiled cutely.
"Oh."
"Err...anyway, judges, your scores please!"
"Seeing that I do not know this song, it is exceptionally sad yet beautiful. Singing is not based on langauge, it is founded upon the singer and how much heart they put into it. Therefore, a three."
XueWeng smiled, "As not to be biased, I award Ying Fa with a full three points because she's not wearing ridiculously low necklines, frilly skirts, myriad ribbons or feathery stuff all over. She looks like a sweet everyday person with a decent amount of make up."
"Shao di? Your answer?"
"Yes, I like how Sakura made contact within the audience and even though it was a sad song, she gave it life with movement. I say three instead of four because I don't like to see such a beautiful person so sad."
Sakura blushed. "Ari-arigato..."
~~~~~~~~~~
Touya coughed, "That was a hit on Sakura wasn't it..." he whispered to Yukito.
Yuki nodded. "Oh Touya, so protective."
~~~~~~~~~
Yelan: 3
XueWeng: 3
Xiaolang: 3
"That's an almost perfect score of 9 points for round two, giving Ying Fa a total of 29 points! That makes Kinomoto Sakura today's winner of the FIRST TASK, 'Who Wants to be Xiaolang's Wife'!! Join us next week for the SECOND TASK!"
Sakura, Meiling and Tomoyo hugged celebratory. Everyone congratulated her for winning the first task. "One down, three more to go." Meiling said optimisticly.
"Yeah. I'll keep doing my best!"
Ming walked over to her own corner, pouting and glaring at Sakura. ' The way she smiled so innocently, was just so perfect as it seemed. Everyone loves her. She's not even famous. I will make them love me.' "I'm going to break her down and get rid of that masking innocence. I just know she's hiding something." she said to herself under her breath. "And I'm going to find out just exactly what it is...."
Disclaimer: (Hadn't had one of these for a long time...) Nothing against Britney Spears....she just can't sing. As for the Tagalog Song Sa Aking Pag-Iisa(On my own), it's composed by Fernando Puranil and the Artist is Cinderella.
A/N: If you're thinking what the hell am I smoking...well you can't have any of it =P What do you think so far anyway? TELL ME! EMAIL ME! REVIEW NOW! =) Ooh lol, I made it a song ficcie too...gawd, I don't go this far....
Okay, did anyone notice that next week in the story? Haha, and you say I don't give you guys updates =P
Well I'm supposed to get my computer reformatted sometime later so I'm trying my best to write and post everything up before I have too. Thank you Travis for posting chapter 18 for me ^_^ Such a sweet boyfriend you are. (Who is smart and hott just to mention =P) lol luv' ya!
I know some of you have been asking for the longest time that Sakura should pound Ming's face in. I wasn't planning to in this chapter....just to let you know--but I did anyway. You know why? It's called 6th--or should I now say 7th graders who don't have any buissiness in your social life and try to piss me off!! ARGH! SOOOOOOO annoying. What do I care, I'm going to highschool =) Anyway.....
Oh and my brother got really bored.....and he's wrote whatever the hell it is at the bottom. I'm gonna leave it there to fill up some space =)
Occassionally, the author of this fic goes away... and leaves the computer alone... with her work up... *Evil Laughter*... Then I come along to add my two cents into the fic... yesh yesh, you're probably thinking that this is the just the author going insane, but no, it's worse! It's the other force... the one the haunts the the outside of your windows and the makes all the funny noises... I know, I know, I really shouldn't do that, but it's so much fun... You should try it sometime... =) But anyway not really having read the fanfic... here's my own story...:
Once in the world where there was nothing but snow, there lived a girl... This wasn't just some normal little girl, no... it can't be that way, but she had special powers too... otherwise this wouldn't be story! Anyway her special power was to be able to talk to hamsters, and only hamsters... She couldn't talk to dogs, cats, or any other animals, just hamsters... Now a girl with the ability to talk to hamsters shouldn't be able to do much... but in this world, hamsters were everywhere... over the river and through the woods, like my bonnie is over the ocean... this was dark world where the girl was but the absolute ruler, Hamster Queen... You can't imagine how terrifying her hoards of rabid attack hamsters are...
What? Wait, I'm not done yet!
Now you are!
NOOOOOOOOO!
