IN HIS EYES By Sakura-dani

Disclaimer: Okay I shall say this right here and now-I do not own any of the CCS chara's CLAMP © are the wonderful people that do :D

A/N: Wow Thankies for the reviews again ^_^ Well here is the next chappie, I hope it's orthodox enough =) R+R plz ^-~ And btw I live in Australia so my schooling is entirely different to other country's including holiday periods^^; Oh and thank you for that person who recommended Syaoran getting ill from the rain, I was actually considering doing that and since I have your approval of it it's dedicated to you ^_~ thanks for the reassurance.

Chapter thirteen- A guilty conscience

~Sakura's POV~

About ten minutes ago she had left Syaoran alone. Alone to hurt-alone to suffer. She hated doing this to him, but how could he expect her to forgive him? And the worst part was that he was still continuing on with the bet! If he cared so much why wouldn't he just drop it? Sakura stared outside the window, watching Syaoran outside in the rain. He just knelt there in the rain looking sullen. He did not move from his spot. Sakura began to feel worried for him. Why was he staying outside in the rain? All the students were asked to stay indoors now, as it was pouring and far too wet to stay outside. Yet he stayed out there. What if he catches a cold and becomes very ill? Her heart began to race faster in anticipation for him to remove himself from the cold weather. She even began to count. One.. two.. come on Syaoran get out of the rain! Three.. He still didn't budge.

'Oh Syaoran!' she exclaimed getting up abruptly from her chair. Despite Sakura's enraged feelings towards him she still cared for his safety. She turned to begin heading outside but bumped into Meiling.

'Sakura-chan!' Meiling gasped.

'M-Meiling-chan?' Sakura exclaimed glancing towards the door.

'Can we talk? I am worried about your behavior and wondered if you wish to discuss your feelings with me?' Meiling took a seat gesturing for Sakura to do so as well.

Sakura glanced to the window and still saw Syaoran remaining out there in the rain. 'Um Meiling-chan can this wait? I really have to go do something important.'

'Oh?' she raised an eyebrow feeling slightly agitated at Sakura's keen tone of wishing to dismiss her from talking with her. 'Sure okay, later then?'

'Yeah-thanks Meiling-chan!' she smiled slightly and then dashed towards the door and pelted down the stairs in a hurry.

Oh Syaoran please be all right! I wish he would get out of the rain! Sakura's thoughts ran through her mind quickly as she made it downstairs and stood in front of the door that would lead to outside. She flung it open quickly; ignoring the many loitering students' gazes upon her and ran outside into the rain. She immediately felt her uniform begin to saturate, she shivered slightly wishing that she had brought an umbrella outside with her now. She pushed these desires away and concentrated on getting Syaoran out of the rain. She ran all the way along the side of the school, splashing through many puddles that had already began to form on the ground and headed towards the big tree, as that was where Syaoran remained. Sakura's hair became matted and she struggled to remove it from her eyes, as it was already enough with her vision being so poor out in the rain. Syaoran came into focus; he was just a little further ahead. She put on a burst of speed and hurriedly made it over to his side.

'Syao-ran!' she panted kneeling over clutching her stomach trying to catch her breath. She looked down at the boy, he was drenched head to foot, and there was not one bit of him that was dry. He shivered but kept his focus to the ground. Syaoran's hands were gripping the ground tightly although the dirt had already formed into mud. 'Syaoran?' she hesitated watching his breathing pattern, he looked like he was struggling. 'Syaoran please let's get out of the rain!' she cupped her hands around the rims of her eyes trying to prevent the water seeping into her eyes.

'No Sakura I shall not go!' he said sternly and with a cough.

'But why? You're going to catch a really bad cold if you do not get out of the rain!' she knelt down ignoring the squelching sound of the mud against her knee. She placed a hand on his very cold shoulder and felt him shudder at her touch. 'Come on let's get out of the rain!'

Syaoran shivered once more and looked into her eyes, he looked so cold. 'You go-get out of the rain Sakura, it's too cold for you-' he coughed once more and shook.

'Syaoran I refuse to leave without you! You are coming inside with me- please?' she added trying her best to sound sincere.

'I-' he coughed again, this time it sounded more hoarse. 'I don't want you to get sick, please go inside Sakura.'

It appeared to Sakura that he would just use her advise against her. Sakura couldn't take this nonsense anymore so she grabbed his hand and pulled upwards.

'Come-on-we're-going-inside!' she said in a strained voice and kept pulling at his limp body.

'I don't deserve to..' He said gruffly, 'I am so cynical to you.'

'Syaoran just-let's talk about this inside!' she said stressfully. The rain was coming down even harder now and she felt her feet starting to become glued down into the mud.

'Talk? That'd be nice.I need warmth.' he closed his eyes apparently not knowing what he wanted anymore.

Sakura panicked, he didn't seem like himself. She tugged harder and surprisingly he sprung up but began to flop back down. Before he did she grabbed his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder, supporting his weight.

'Now let's go inside.' She said calmly, beginning to lead him inside the school building.

*

~Syaoran's POV~

Do you ever feel like you have lost the most important thing in the world? Well I do-I've lost her.. my only hope of salvation from my callous self. She was my escape to freedom. She taught me how to love, laugh, feel good, smile, and to see the world in a totally different aspect. Without her I do not function, well so I feel. I feel so miserable. It's just like when I knew I had lost all love towards mother, except this isn't a plutonic love, this is love. I finally understand my feelings towards her, and now I can't have her. Why? This stupid bet, her feelings disdained for me now. I still wonder why and how she found out, but I guess that's not so important now. She knows and I cannot undo what has been done. Maybe-maybe if I drop this bet.she'll see? I think I'll do that. It sounds good. I do not care for my dignity anymore, for all I care the whole world can know that I love this girl. But at least I know she cares for me.she wouldn't have come for me out there otherwise.

'Syaoran?' Sakura's voice whispered.

Syaoran slowly opened his eyes and Sakura's face swam into vision.

'Are you all right?' she murmured wrapping the blankets firmly around him.

Syaoran glanced around to try and figure out exactly where he was. He was in the school infirmary. Syaoran shivered, he felt extremely cold, like his bones were made of ice as well as his skin.

'Yeah.. kinda.' Syaoran's throat tended to hurt now and felt dry and scratchy. 'I don't feel too good though.' Syaoran shivered violently and tried to snuggle under the blankets even more.

'It's okay Syaoran the school nurse has checked you out, you might have the flu though..' She murmured and leant closer to Syaoran. 'You know you really scared me out there.. I thought you were giving up on everything.'

Syaoran opened his eyes and gave her a sincere smile. 'Oh no not everything.. not you.ever..' he smiled once more and then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

*

~Sakura's POV~

'Oh no not everything.. not you.ever.' These words repeated in Sakura's mind. Did he really mean this? He sounded so sincere in every possible way. And she had cared for him she knew she did. But did he really care for her like she did about him? Sakura also felt slightly guilty, guilty about what Syaoran's mother had asked her to do. She hadn't exactly been truthful to him either, but at least it wasn't a bet.

Sakura shivered, wrapping the blanket around her more tightly and edged closer to the furnace. She had been in the rain for quite a bit herself, but she felt fine. It was Syaoran to worry about. He had been in the rain for an extremely long time. The nurse said she was lucky to get him out of there so quickly otherwise he may have developed pneumonia. She stared hard at him he was still quite wet. The nurse and Sakura had dried him off as much as possible before lying him down on the bed to rest. There was a knock on the door right then.

'C-come in,' Sakura said. The door slid open and Meiling appeared there.

'Oh Sakura-chan is it true that Syaoran is-' she paused and her ruby eyes traveled over to were Syaoran remained asleep.

Sakura nodded. 'Shh! Please be quiet Meiling-chan, he is sleeping.' Sakura warned the Chinese girl and beckoned for her to take a seat next to her.

Meiling looked very apprehensive now, but did as she was told and sat down next to Sakura on the padded seat.

'What happened?' Meiling whispered glancing from Syaoran to Sakura.

Sakura messaged her temples and gave a weary sigh. 'Syaoran got.. depressed.and remained outside in the rain.'

'Depressed? I have noticed his behavior was quite peculiar this morning.that brings me to this question. Do you have anything to do with his atypical behavior?' she queried leaning in closer to Sakura, as she felt her voice was a little to loud and might wake Syaoran up.

'I-I.it's.it's both our faults.' Sakura said while trembling. It was both their faults in a way. Syaoran had misused her trust, and she felt she carried a tremendous weight on her shoulder now, as she felt slightly guilty about Yelan's wishes for her at the beginning.

'Both? But-Syaoran was rather upset this morning too.what happened?' Meiling inquired.

'Meiling-chan-I haven't told you what has been going on for the past week or something have I?' she paused to see Meiling shake her head silently, her fringe falling in front of her eyes once more. 'Well let's say ever since I had Syaoran over my house and he slept over-we formed a sort of-' Sakura searched for the right word. What had it been that she had shared with the boy? '-bond. Meiling I-I have feelings for him.' She bowed her head in shame.

'Does he return them?' Meiling's voice had apparently risen into a higher pitched tone.

'I.I think so. Well he kissed me,' she blushed, 'but then he kinda pulled away afterwards. I think it was just an accident and all. But he did say that I was his friend, and he addresses me by my first name now.' Sakura tried her best to sound cheery.

'Aunt Yelan was right..' Meiling murmured.

'Hoe?' Sakura tilted her head sideways trying to hear what Meiling muttered to herself.

'Oh-never mind. So why the tears now?'

'Well Syaoran apparently had warmed up to being my friend in the first place all because of a bet he had made with Yamazaki-san. I found out.. by over hearing their conversation in the hallway.and then I got upset and all..' Sakura trailed off. Re-collaborating on these thoughts was painful.

Meiling placed a hand on her shoulder to somewhat try and comfort her.

'Sakura-I understand this whole situation now-but, I think for the first time in Syaoran's life, he meant something. He couldn't have acted so perfectly and pretended to be your friend like that.'

'You think?' Sakura gazed at him. Maybe Meiling was right? Maybe Syaoran was telling the truth? But if she meant so much to him, then why didn't he drop the bet?

'Another bet..' Meiling breathed out softly a few minutes later. 'Just like him, he'd never back down from a bet..' She muttered shifting uncomfortably on her chair as she was starting to get rather hot from sitting next to the furnace too long.

'Meiling-chan?' Sakura started.

'.Yes.?'

'Can you-keep this between us? I'd rather not have the entire school know about this. I'd like to sort these complications out between us by ourselves, not with help from other students.'

'Oh sure thing Sakura-chan!' Meiling stretched getting up from her chair.

'You're leaving?'

'Yeah best get home and tell Auntie that Syaoran is in no position to go home. Best stay here overnight and rest you know?' Meiling winked.

Blush crept upon Sakura's face slightly. 'S-shall I stay overnight to-watch over him?'

'Could you please? I'll call your father up and tell him the circumstances 'kay? Thanks a lot Sakura-chan!' she grinned and then left the room.

'Looks like it's just you and Me.' she murmured pulling the blankets around her more tightly.

*

Sakura awoke during half the night to hear moaning. She rubbed her eyes and blinked, she could hardly see anything but pitch-blackness surrounding her. She yawned remembering the nurse had given her a pillow to lean her head on in her chair that she slept on. Sakura heard Syaoran let out another painful moan again. Her ears pricked up and listened carefully to what he muttered in his sleep.

'Sakura.. please forgive me.. please just give me another chance? No-but I- listen to me! I just wanted to say that I-' with another painful moan he turned on his side and pulled the blankets up tightly to his chin.

Sakura felt so sorry for the poor boy. He was ill and was murmuring things out loud. He was dreaming about her she figured. Sakura silently slid off her chair and carried her blanket with her and made her way over to his bed. She knelt down on the floor and leant an elbow on his bed carefully trying not to rouse him from his sleep. Without thinking of what she was doing she reached out a hand and brushed his fringe away from his eyes and began stroking it softly. A small smile formed on her face as she stared at him. He looked more peaceful in his sleep now. What shocked her was that his hand found hers and clasped it gently in his, bringing it below his chin. He was still asleep, but had grabbed her hand for comfort. Sakura couldn't leave him now. She hesitantly glanced around and thanked herself that she had grabbed her blankets with her. She slowly hopped over Syaoran's sleeping body (his hand still clutched to hers) and she sidled down next to him pulling her blankets over her with her free hand. She suddenly felt a lot warmer sharing body heat with him slightly. Her head sunk into his pillow and she closed her eyes slowly, feeling at peace now. She felt a lot more comfortable now.

I'm sleeping next to him.. why? Is it because I enjoy his comfort?

Sakura no longer questioned herself but managed to bring herself to say two last words before going to sleep.

'Goodnight Syaoran.'

*

~Syaoran's POV~

Syaoran awoke feeling quite warmer then usual, he realized why that was. Curled up next to him was Sakura. It alarmed him to see his hand clasped in hers tightly and his other hand around her waist. He smiled to himself. How had she come to sleeping next to him? He shrugged off the idea and concentrated on the feeling of tranquility that took over him now. He breathed in the scent of her hair, smiling to himself. He liked being this close to her, and he surprised himself too as he surely would've pulled away by now.

Oh how I love her. I wonder if she has forgiven me? Surely not-but what happened yesterday was foolish and could've caused her to become ill too.

Syaoran cleared his throat as silently as he could, not wishing to rouse her. His throat felt dry and scratchy, and hurt slightly. He had come down with some sort of cold he figured, as he felt weak to the bone and nauseous. He didn't feel as cold as he had last night, but still felt a slight chill creep up his spine. Sakura moved suddenly and turned around to face him. Her eyes still asleep but she now faced him. He blushed trying to look away. Sakura's eyes opened slowly and as she saw Syaoran come into focus she let out a sort of suppressed giggle and a half serious look.

'What the--? Syaoran how did I?' she murmured.

Syaoran shrugged. 'Don't look at me Sakura.I was asleep.' he grinned.

For a second Sakura forgot all about her grudge against him and returned the smile, but as she did so she remembered that she was supposed to be mad with him. Her eyes followed Syaoran's other hand, it was wrapped around her waist and she blushed furiously sliding off of his bed.

'Syaoran I-I'm so sorry please forgive me. I-I had to stay over night and-' she bowed and stood back slightly.

'It's okay,' he pulled his hands underneath his head and stared up at the ceiling. 'Thanks for staying.'

'No problem.Syaoran this doesn't mean that I'm not angry with you still though.'

Syaoran did not look at her this time but exhaled sadly. 'I know, but take my word I will prove that I am worthy of you.'

Sakura just looked at him and half smiled.

When I am better I shall drop the bet and prove that I love her.. Syaoran told himself silently.

'So how am I getting home?' he asked.

*

A/N: Sorry to leave it there but I had too ^_^;;; I finished this off at midnight believe it or not, but I had fun writing every bit of fluffiness ^_^ R+R please! Thankies!

Ja ne,

Dani-chan