Disclaimer – I still don't own anything. Sucks, don't it?
Chapter 2: Pretend to be Nice.
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Can't you just pretend to be nice?
Can you at least pretend to be nice?
If you could just pretend to be nice
Everything in my life would be alright!
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"Sakura! Sakura, wake up!" Someone knocked on the door. Sakura rolled over and buried her face in the pillow.
"Go away!"
"You're going ice-skating, remember? You've got an hour and a half before you have to be there." Fujitaka banged on the door again before coming in.
That was when Sakura remembered. Remembered about Syaoran. About the marriage. About everything.
Fujitaka sat on the bed as she sat up. He sat next to her on the bed and smiled.
"Good morning." She didn't reply, but pulled her knees up to under her chin. Fujitaka sighed.
"Sakura, there's nothing I can do about it. Just spend the three months with Syaoran and then we'll see."
"Dad… I don't want a boyfriend, fiancé, husband… anything like that. Not after-"
"Leon? Honey, he didn't deserve you. You deserve someone better than that."
"And you think Syaoran is better than that?"
"I don't know."
"Did her already know about this?"
"Yes… he's known his whole life."
"And you didn't tell me?" Fujitaka looked down.
"I'm sorry, Sakura. But will you do it? Pretend to be nice? If not for your Mother's sake, then for me?"
Sakura couldn't help thinking that that was a bit low. Stupid guilt trip.
"Ok… but this doesn't leave the house, ok? No one knows about."
"Agreed. Come down for breakfast." Sakura followed him down the stairs, putting on her bunny slippers. Syaoran, Yelan and Touya were already sitting at the table. Sakura went to the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice, pouring some into a glass. Touya was throwing evil looks toward Syaoran. Yelan was sipping tea, delicately. Sakura suddenly became very aware that everyone else was dressed and she was still in her PJ's. She sat down and piled some pancakes onto her plate.
"Good morning Sakura." Yelan said pleasantly. Sakura grunted. Fujitaka elbowed her and she replied,
"Good morning Yelan." She pointedly ignored Syaoran. Syaoran was returning the gesture. Fujitaka glanced at the clock.
"I have to go. I'll be late for the conference."
"Bye Dad." Touya and Sakura said. He kissed Sakura's head before leaving the house. Yelan rose to her feet.
"I have things to take care of in town. I shall be staying in the hotel for the rest of the three months. Goodbye." She was gone. Sakura swallowed the last piece of pancake before going to get dressed.
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"Sakura! Over here!" Tomoyo called. Sakura jumped out of the car and ran to her and Eriol.
"Hi!" she said. Tomoyo looked back at Syaoran and Touya.
"Who's that?"
"My brother, duh!"
"Sakura! I meant the other guy." Eriol leant close to listen. Sakura swallowed.
"That's Syaoran. He's my mother's friend's son."
"Oh… right. Ready to ice-skate?"
"Sure!"
"Ok, who is he really?" Tomoyo asked, as she and Sakura watched the others ice-skate. Syaoran was holding tight to the edge, looking terrified (This is what I look like, when I'm ice-skating!). Sakura sighed.
"Tomoyo, you cannot tell anyone this. Turn off your camera."
"It's off. Tell me."
"His mother and mine made a deal that my mother's first daughter would marry her first son."
"That being you and Syaoran."
"Yes. We have to spend three months together, and then decide what to do. My dad pulled a total guilt trip on me, and I agreed to it. You can't tell ANYONE!"
"Does Touya know?"
"Yes. He knew before I did!"
"Can I tell Eriol?"
"No!"
"He wouldn't tell anyone!"
"No! Not yet." Sakura stepped onto the ice and turned to look at Tomoyo, only to find the video camera in her face.
"Gah!" Sakura slipped and landed on the ice. Tomoyo giggled and pulled her up. Sakura gave her a look and she put the video camera away.
"Syaoran is cute, you know." Tomoyo said lightly, as they skated smoothly around the rink.
"Tomoyo, you remember Eriol, right? Your boyfriend?"
"Yes, of course! But why not give it a go?"
"No way! Not a chance in hell!" Sakura protested, turning around so she could face Tomoyo, skating backwards. Tomoyo shrugged and asked,
"Coming to the hospital on Thursday?"
"Of course."
Sakura and Tomoyo were volunteers at a children's hospital. They spent two or three hours playing with the sick children, helping the staff and keeping the children busy.
"And Karaoke on Wednesday?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Sakura replied. She soared to a stop beside Syaoran. Eriol was chatting noisily to him. Tomoyo grabbed the blue-haired boy's hand and pulled him away. Syaoran glanced after him.
"Noisy, isn't he?"
Pretend to be nice, pretend to be nice, pretend to be nice.
"He can be. He's not always like that though." Sakura replied. Syaoran took a step, and promptly fell over. Sakura hid a smile behind her gloves. Syaoran clambered to his feet and hung firmly to the side of the rink. He glared at her.
"This is not funny! I have not ice-skated before in my life!"
"That's what makes it funny. You look like an idiot." He gave her a dirty look before climbing over the barrier to the seats. He pulled off the ice-skates and looked up to see Sakura leaning over the barrier, in fits of giggles. She caught her breath and sighed deeply. Syaoran asked her,
"What's your school like?"
"Why? Oh, are you going there? It's ok, I guess. I'm not that great at schoolwork. I prefer sports."
"I like both. You said you were a cheerleader?"
"Yeah, that's great! I'm the head-cheerleader now!" They lapsed into silence. Eventually Syaoran said,
"I'm sorry about my mother. She's a pain sometimes."
"My dad too. But at least you knew about all this."
"I think I'd have preferred to not know."
"How come?"
"I bet you've had a boyfriend." Sakura closed her eyes, squeezing back tears. Leon…
"Yes… I have."
"Well I could never have one, because I knew that there was no point having a relationship when I was engaged to someone I didn't know."
"But what if you hadn't known, gotten a girlfriend, then found out?"
Syaoran considered it and shrugged.
"I'm not sure."
Sakura kicked the ice with her skate. Syaoran looked up at her.
"Sakura, I'd prefer if people didn't know about us…"
"Same here! I mean, Tomoyo knows, but that's only because she's my best friend. She knew something was going on straight away. You can't keep secrets from someone like her."
"The situation is just too… weird to handle. So I'm just a friend of the family who has come to stay with you for three months, ok?"
"Works for me. What about our parents?" They thought carefully. Then Sakura said,
"Let's just pretend to be nice. I love my Dad, and he wants us to try at least, and I'm sure Yelan is the same." Syaoran nodded. Sakura grinned
"Come on. I'm going to have you ice-skating if it kills me."
Ten minutes later she was skating backwards, talking while he tried to keep is balance.
"Just don't think about falling over!"
"But then I do. And I do if I am thinking about falling over. So I lose either way." she was going to reply when there came a shout from the other side of the rink.
"Sakura!" she turned to see Chiharu, Yamazaki, Naoko and Rika tumbling onto the ice. She skated across to join them.
"Hey guys!" They all said hello and Chiharu asked,
"Who's that cute guy?"
"Friend of the family. He's staying with us for a few months."
"He's really gorgeous! Oh, he just fell over!" Rika said, wincing as Syaoran hit the ice. Sakura rushed back to him.
"What were you thinking about? Falling over?"
"No, just remembering that I left my wallet in the car."
"It'll be ok." Sakura did a couple of turns then stopped. Syaoran asked,
"Three months seems like a long time."
"It'll be gone in a flash. The you'll go back to China and we'll never have to see each other again!" Syaoran grinned.
"I can't wait!"
"Me neither. And it's only three months. What could possibly happen in three months?"
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End of another chapter! Please review!
Lotsa luv
Katie.