Chapter 3: Change of Heart
As I promised, here you go!! I hope you like it!! EEK! THANK YOU FOR THE GOOD LUCK!! SUCH LOYAL FANS-*crying*-I'M SO TOUCHED!! THANKS!!!!!!!!
Summary: Sakura & Takara Kinomoto, twins with the same looks, but opposite personalities. They don't get along and they hate each other a lot. They become each other's archenemy when a certain chestnut-haired guy comes in the picture! Sometimes things don't go the way we think they do. That goes along with this story. These two sisters, biggest enemies ever imagined, might also have something growing between them: a friendship
Last scene:
She sighed. "Syaoran yelled at me and blah."
"Why?"
"Because of how I was treating you." She scoffed. "He warned me about some stuff…anyway, who cares? I apologized. Let's go."
Sakura nodded vacantly. 'Syaoran defended me??' She was surprised, but felt absolute happiness and contentment in her heart. 'Wow, it's such a great feeling when a guy protects you! Especially a good-looking one…with a cool attitude, but caring heart…'
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They arrived home and Sakura quickly ran to her bedroom. She felt like squeezing anything as hard as she could to take out the happiness she felt inside. Her heart felt like it was about to explode.
Takara heard from the outside when Sakura squealed. 'Ugh! It's not fair how she gets all the guys' attention! I'm just as good as her! Why should Syaoran protect her?? I'm the one who's vulnerable!! I'm the one who's suffered a lot in this family of ours!! Nobody accepts me!!' She thought angrily, hot tears running down her cheeks. 'Why do people keep thinking I'm such a brat?? Or I'm too spoiled? Or I'm perfect?!'
She ran to her room and slammed the door. Takara jumped on her bed and cried to tears. 'Nobody is ever perfect!! I know that for a fact! I don't live a normal life! Why do people keep envying me and calling me harsh names? It's true I act mean! But it's not because I…' She stopped. 'I…I'm jealous of Sakura. Dad and Touya love her way more than they love me. Just because I'm popular in school doesn't mean I'm all that. I don't have the smarts to go to a university. I don't have a future in front of me. And Sakura…he's daddy's girl. So she gets all the attention.' She reflected furiously. 'That's why I put her down all the time! To remind her that she's not all that!! To remind her that not everybody loves her! Sakura may be my sister, but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to hate her!!
'And WHY does she cry all the time?? Can't she suck it up and fight like me? Can't she fight for herself?? Does she need Syaoran to always protect her? That just proves how much of a wuss she really is. Why does she keep thinking she doesn't have any respect?? Why does she feel like her world's falling apart?? I make her life a living hell because MY life is a living hell!! If I feel it, then she has to feel it too!! Isn't that what twins are supposed to be?? Twins are supposed to feel what the other feels!! Well, she needs to know how it feels to be ignored and pushed around! She deserves it all. I don't care what she feels. I care what I feel and I feel angry, hurt, and mean.'
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During lunch, Takara waited patiently for Sakura and Tomoyo to arrive. Five minutes after, they walked in the cafeteria. Takara smirked evilly and started walking over to them. "Hey Sakura, our drinks got switched."
Sakura looked at Takara's drink. "Ok, just wait." She opened her backpack to take out the juice when she felt cool liquid on the top of her head, streaming down to her face. She felt great anger inside.
"Oops, I really didn't mean that. Must have slipped!" Takara laughed.
"Takara, SHUT UP!" Tomoyo yelled.
"My, my, the precious Tomoyo's getting really pissed. I'm scared." She sarcastically said.
Sakura's eyes blazed with fire. 'I won't cry.' She thought in her head. Out of nowhere, she punched Takara on the face.
Takara started gasping as she fell backwards. "What the hell was that??"
"How do you like this feeling, DEAR sister??" Sakura took out the milk and poured it all over Takara's body. Her dress got ruined and her face…oh her face. The make up ran all over her cheeks and she looked despicably ugly.
"OH!!" Takara stood up. "You're gonna pay for that!!" She slapped Sakura hard on the cheek. "That'll teach you to respect me!!"
Sakura's cheek turned scarlet. She ignored the flickering pain and swallowed up her cowardly feelings. Sakura kicked Takara on the stomach. "THAT'LL teach YOU to respect ME."
Takara toppled back to the floor.
"What's going on here?" The principal came in. His eyes bulged at seeing two very red-faced sisters. "What the hell happened here??" No one spoke. "Somebody answer me!!"
"We had a fight." Takara muttered. She stood up. "No big deal."
"No big deal?? No big deal?!?!" He yelled angrily. "Both of you! Follow me! NOW!" Tomoyo sent a sympathetic look at Sakura, who glared daggers at Takara. They both walked out of the cafeteria behind the principal.
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Everyone started chatting about what happened. 'Hmm.' Tomoyo stood up and started yelling at the top of her lungs. "EVERYBODY SHUT THE HELL UP!!!! DON'T DARE MAKE RUMOURS ABOUT THIS INCIDENT!! THIS WAS NONE OF OUR BUSINESS, THEREFORE WILL STAY THAT WAY!! IF I HEAR ONE WORD ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED RIGHT NOW, WHOEVER SAID IT WILL DIE TONIGHT!" Tomoyo breathed out. 'Ah…' Everybody feared Tomoyo and so didn't mention anything about what just happened.
"Gee, Tomoyo, why did you threaten everybody?" A girl asked.
She smiled happily. "Oh I'm just protecting my friend!"
"So you didn't mean that?"
"Oh I meant it, all right! Hohohohoho!" She giggled.
"Uh… Each person sweat dropped.
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Sakura and Takara went to First Aid before having the meeting with the principal. The nurse took care of Takara first. "Where does it hurt?"
"Nowhere." Takara growled. "I'm fine. Now let me go."
"Ms. Kinomoto, please." The nurse started.
"UGH! My stomach hurts from that lame-ass kick my sister gave me!" She sent Sakura an evil frown. "My face hurts! What else do you want to know?!"
"That's all." The nurse said hastily. "I'll give you a bag of ice for your face. As for your stomach, take these pills and rest once you get home." Takara rolled her eyes. "Ms. Kinomoto, please tell me where it hurts."
"My cheek. I think it's bleeding." Sakura mumbled.
"All right." The nurse gave her a glass of water. "Gargle your mouth to spit the blood out. After that, I'll give you a bag of ice also." Sakura nodded.
While the nurse was gone, Takara and Sakura kept eye contact. "How did you learn to kick so hard?"
"I got lessons."
"From who?!"
"T. O. U. Y. A. You know him?"
"He taught you?? I knew it! That bastard really did hate me from the beginning!!"
"The only bastard I see here is you!" Sakura snapped. "And he taught both of us! You were too into your looks to even care!"
"Uh, whatever!" Takara held out a hand. "You really hurt me there."
"And I enjoyed every single minute of it."
Takara showed a small smile. "That's good. You're finally defending yourself."
"W-wha?" Sakura's eyes widened at that sudden confession.
"I'm just saying." She shrugged. "And I'm glad you didn't start crying."
"T-Takara, what are you talking about??"
"Look, let's just say it was all worth getting hurt to teach you a lesson."
Sakura kept staring at her sister. 'Why the sudden change of attitude?' "You're joking me."
"I'm not. Believe what you want. I don't care."
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The nurse came and gave them the ice bags. Takara stood up and walked out of the First Aid to the principal. Sakura followed.
"I'm disappointed. Very disappointed. Coming from you, especially Sakura. I don't understand how sisters hold such hatred in their heart to actually start a fight publicly. It scares me how you'll both grow up holding this abhorrence between you."
Takara was about to interrupt, but the principal raised his hand to keep her quiet.
"Let me talk. I've heard enough talking from either of you." He paused. "You two learned in this school what to do whenever you're being intimidated, am I right?" They both nodded. "One thing you learned is to never use violence, because violence is not the answer. Here comes the irony of it all. Both of you received an A in this subject, and yet you don't follow it."
Sakura lowered her head and pressed the ice tighter to her cheek. Takara held her stomach carefully.
"Now I would like to understand these feelings, whatsoever, between you sisters."
So Takara started talking about her feelings and Sakura listened carefully. "Ever since I was little, I never felt the happiness and closeness in a family. Dad and Touya, our brother, seemed to favour her more than they favoured me. I felt like I was being isolated from the family, that I didn't deserve to feel what Sakura felt." Sakura was surprised at this, but kept on listening. "I've been the rudest person in the planet my whole life. I deserve to go to hell, I know." She laughed dryly. "But there's a reason why I feel these things." She turned and faced Sakura. "I know it's wrong to take it all on you, but I wasn't taught to speak out my feelings and not do that. I had no idea how to keep my anger and hatred inside me, so I took it out on you. Every night whenever we'd eat dinner, I'd feel secluded from the conversation. I'd feel like I don't belong, so the next day after that, the anger boiling up inside me comes out…as insults and sarcasms…to you." Takara felt emotional tears rolling down her cheeks.
Sakura was speechless. "Sakura, do you mind explaining to us your behaviour in the previous hour?" The principal asked.
She turned her eyes at him. "Uh…"
Takara smirked. "Can't think of anything to say, huh?"
"I know what to say." Sakura shot back. She paused for a minute before yelling out. "It's not fair to me to be getting all this anger from you!! I did nothing to you, but you blame me for everything! Now I understand why you've been doing this, and it was a very heartless thing to do. I'd always, always think that I shouldn't live; because of all the words you throw at me! Do you think that when you make fun of me, it doesn't hurt?? My self-esteem goes down lower and lower every time you say one bad thing to me." Sakura looked out the window.
"Everybody in this school practically thinks I'm a freakin cry-baby!! They just don't understand anything, but you, you don't care if anybody else makes fun of me! No one really knows me…not even Tomoyo. You know me, and you use that knowledge to abuse me." She paused and continued. "I heard you. I know I should feel pity for you because of your feelings, but I don't. Sixteen years is too much, Takara."
The three kept quiet for a whole 5 minutes. The principal didn't have any idea on what to do with them. When he finally got to a decision, the girls had stopped their tears. "Clearly, you have some issues to talk about together. I'm forbidding the both of you to attend school until you have straightened this out." He stood up. "By the end of the next block, I want you to gather your things together and go home." Sakura and Takara looked very surprised. They glanced at each other before looking away. "You should be glad this is what you're getting." He mentioned before they could leave the office.
The twins met each other by the car. The tension between them was so heavy it could almost lift the whole city. Neither one said a word as Sakura drove the vehicle back home.
----
In school, Tomoyo wondered worriedly what had happened to them. Eriol hurried over to her and lovingly put his arm around her. "What the hell do you think you're doing?? Get your arm off of me!"
Eriol's face turned bright red and quickly backed away from her. "Sorry Tomoyo."
"Eek." Tomoyo gasped at seeing Eriol's face. "I-I am SO SORRY!! Eriol, I'm really sorry! I thought you were someone else!!"
Eriol sighed happily. "Oh, thank god you're not mad at me. I-I was just trying to comfort you, Tomoyo. Sorry if I scared you."
Tomoyo blushed heavily. "I wonder what happened to both of them."
"They got sent home." A chilling voice behind Tomoyo muttered.
"How'd you know?" Eriol turned around faced Syaoran.
"From the principal." He shrugged carelessly. "Besides, it's none of our business. Who knows? Maybe they'll get along."
"Why do you act as if you care nothing about this?" Tomoyo asked heatedly. "You didn't care if Sakura or Takara got hurt when they were fist fighting."
He smirked. "You think I don't care if either of them get hurt? I don't show it, but I do care, all right? I just think that after everything I've seen between them, and I've seen a lot in a really short time, they need to fix this problem between them."
"Why are you sounding so serious? And wise?" Tomoyo mumbled.
Eriol stopped Syaoran from explaining. "Tomoyo, Syaoran and my life are very complicated to understand. We grew up in a very different way that you or Sakura grew up. Our parents didn't connect with us as much. Their first priority was to get us rough and strong. Our emotions are almost covered behind a barrier inside our hearts. We act as if we don't care and yet we possess such intellectual minds. We speak in a way only adults speak. This is because we learned like this. Syaoran and I might act like a punk or a thug, but we've adapted that. In truth, we are great thinkers."
"Stuff it, four-eyes." Syaoran pushed him. "Eriol's gone crazy, Daidouji."
Eriol started laughing hysterically. "But some were true, though!!"
"How'd you learn all that fancy words?" Syaoran asked.
"Here and there." He grinned. "But Tomoyo, I'm being honest before. I just started cracking up when I started talking weirdly…"
"Ah ok…" Tomoyo sweat dropped. "Eriol, you scare me sometimes, you know that?"
"Sorry babe."
"It's ok!" She blushed at Eriol calling her 'babe'.
Syaoran kept his feelings hidden. 'I'm glad Sakura stood up for herself, but…she shouldn't have used violence. No one should violence…not even people like Eriol and me…' He felt ashamed for already hurting so many people in his past. 'Because of my mom, everybody was scared of me. Everyone saw me as a bully…' He looked away. 'I hope the Kinomotos learned their lesson.'
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Sakura parked the car skilfully in the garage and they both got their things out. She walked to the living room first and sat on the sofa, waiting for Takara. A few minutes later, Takara finally showed up, wearing different clothes.
"What were you doing?" Sakura asked suspiciously.
"I changed. If we're gonna be staying here, might as well."
"Oh." She glanced down at her own clothes. "I guess…I'll change too."
"Your choice."
Sakura ran up the stairs and changed into some more comfortable clothes. When she got to the sofas, she was surprised by the way Takara was acting. She looked like nothing was bothering her. She even laughed at the show she was watching on TV. Sakura felt upset by this.
"Takara…" Sakura started.
She glanced up. "Yeah, what?"
"W-why are you acting like this isn't bothering you? Like…nothing happened?"
Takara shut off the TV and sat down properly. "Look, the principal made a very big mistake doing this. He should have given us a suspension or detention or something, because guess what I've got in mind?" She looked mischievous. "We don't have to go back to school until we've got this 'problem' fixed. We can 'fix' this so-called problem and not have to go back to school for a whole month. Isn't that great?" She squealed.
Sakura felt disappointment slap her in the face. 'And I thought she changed in that office. I guess it's true when people say some things will never change.' "But Takara, you're deceiving Mr. Kasahara. And if we don't go to school in a month's time, we'll be missing so much stuff, we might not even graduate!! And you know better than to think he won't get suspicious of this."
"Sakura, you're too much of a smarty-pants. You have to let loose once in a while! Get in touch with your wild side! Besides, a month isn't long! And why are you getting so uptight about all this? We've already told each other what we felt. We don't need to talk about it anymore. We're gonna graduate. You'll graduate, no doubt! You're in the top 10 smartest people in Tomoeda High!"
"You don't understand where I'm getting at!" Sakura' s forehead was creased with frustration. After a few minutes or so, she started talking again. "I thought you changed, Takara. I really thought you did."
"I did." She answered. "Really I have learned my lesson. I'm never going to throw insults at you or say anything mean towards you. But I can't just change in an hour. It'll take me a really long time to get used to this, Sakura. You have to understand that. And about my behaviour…being spoiled and show-off, well I grew up that way. I can't change that. I've accepted it long ago. Maybe you should too."
"I've already accepted it, Takara." Sakura mumbled. "I just…I want a sister."
"You have a sister."
"No. I mean a sister, Takara. I need a sister who I can face to whenever I'm hurt. I need a sister who'll take care of me when I'm sick. I want a sister who I can talk to about my problems in school. That's a very rare thing to have between siblings. And I want that. Takara, you and I, we can fool anyone into thinking we're the opposite of each other. It's just that…I've always wanted to be close to you and to be best friends with you, because you and I can connect a whole lot more than ordinary best friends could. We know each other. We've lived together for 16 whole years."
Takara felt tears burning her eyes. She wiped away hastily. "Sakura, I-I can't do that." Her tears managed to escape her fingers, and finally freely flowing down her cheeks. "I can't be that sister you're yearning for. I-I don't know how to be that sister you want!"
"Takara…I'm not asking you to be all that in just one day. I just want us to try becoming…friends…"
Takara sobbed and sniffed. "You don't know this, but I've always looked up to you…always. You were kind of my idol, because you were everything I couldn't be. I mean, yeah, we had the looks, and yeah we're, I guess, popular, but…you had dad and Touya's attention. You had friends who you could count on, not like me. My friends don't care about me. They just hang out with me, because I'm popular." She smirked a little. "When Syaoran was new…he noticed you first. You know why that is?"
"Because he bumped into me before he met you." Sakura interjected.
"No! I mean…he's interested in YOU, not me. And we've both got the same looks! In your eyes, you show a lot of compassion and love that I don't, well…can't, show. You were loved, Sakura, and still is being loved, but I wasn't. I didn't feel the love you felt while growing up."
"Takara…" Sakura felt helpless. 'I have no idea what to do…'
"You don't need to do anything for me. Just understand that this is going to be hard for me. Building a sister relationship with you. It'll take me a really long time to…open my heart…and change from someone mean and nasty…to someone…nice and sweet…like you."
"Don't worry. I don't expect you to be someone you're not. I want you to be yourself, but you have to learn to care about other people…and their feelings. You know?"
Takara nodded and took a nearby tissue. "Yeah I know."
Sakura slowly walked to her sister. "C-can I hug you?"
Takara almost laughed out loud. "Yeah you can hug me!" Sakura laughed with tears in her eyes. When they held each other, Takara whispered in her ear. "I'm so sorry…sis."
Sakura burst with happiness. Her sister was finally changing…and it was all thanks to---Sakura's eyes widened with absolute shock. It was all Syaoran Li's doing who made them be sisters again.
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If you're wondering how Syaoran got to be the whole reason for the sudden friendship, here are two proofs.
- Syaoran tells Sakura to toughen up and stand up to her sister.
- Syaoran yells at Takara for making Sakura wait.
Oh and thanks people!! This isn't as long as the chapter before, but I've hit the points I wanted to hit! I just needed Takara to start changing, because something's gonna happen…