A New Semester of Love
Up to this point in this fic, this chapter has the most direct references to the story's prequel, A Semester of Deceit and Love. If you get confused at all about anything…it might be a good idea to go back and read the first story. It's probably not necessary though.
Enjoy!
Chapter 5: An Outing
The rest of the week passed in much the same way. Classes were still just getting started so the amount of work they had to do for each class was still quite minimal. They always met for dinner when everyone was free, happily eating and talking together for at least an hour every night. The rain had continued to fall throughout the week, little breaks in the clouds only appearing every now and then to give them short respites from the rain. With the arrival of the weekend, however, the clouds completely vanished.
Sakura and Tomoyo woke late in the morning on the Saturday after the first week of classes to a gentle knock on the door.
Tomoyo, whose bed was closest to the door, slowly got out of bed and made her way to the door, her eyes still not fully open.
"Good morning there," Eriol greeted her. Tomoyo blushed immediately, her eyes widening as she looked at the young man fully dressed and looking as if he had just gotten out of the shower, his hair still slightly wet.
Eriol grinned as he looked at the sleepy Tomoyo. He reached out and smoothed down a loose strand of hair that had been sticking out, causing the girl to blush even more. His own face obtained a red tint as well as he realized what he had, unthinkingly, just done.
She just continued to stand there, finally noticing a lazy looking Syaoran leaning against the wall opposite her door. Eriol cleared his throat and looked past her into the room to see Sakura sitting up staring sleepily at him from her bed. "And good morning to you too, Sakura-san." Sakura yawned and mumbled a good morning back. Eriol smiled.
"We were wondering if you want to go out into the city with us, to go shopping or whatever…maybe get some lunch," Eriol told them. They were both now seemingly much more awake.
The two girls looked at each other and nodded approval. "Just give us a little bit and we'll be ready," Tomoyo told him.
"We'll come and get you. It shouldn't take us that long," Sakura added, yawning once more.
"Sounds good," Eriol said, backing away from the doorway. "We'll be up in my room, okay?" Tomoyo and Sakura nodded.
***
In only about 15 minutes, both girls had finished getting dressed and had made their way up to Eriol's room on the floor above them. Tomoyo suggested they should invite Rika and Naoko, but Eriol told her that they had already tried, but they hadn't answered the phone when he tried calling their room. "They must be out somewhere already," Eriol suggested.
They made their way out of the dorm and to a bus stop not too far away where they had to wait only a few minutes for a city bus to come by and pick them up, taking them into the city. The group remained basically silent during the bus ride, only deciding that they would just shop in and around the Ginza district, and got off the bus not too long after. The city was crowded already, and Syaoran protectively took hold of Sakura's hand keeping her close by him as they walked along the streets looking at the stores all around them.
Tomoyo walked on the other side of Sakura with Eriol beside her as they walked, the girls stopping to stare every once in a while at window displays featuring new fall designs that Tomoyo was specifically interested in, comparing her own designs with those in the stores.
"That's so pretty!" Sakura exclaimed, seeing a simple sleeveless fall dress in a display.
Tomoyo glanced at it and immediately pulled Sakura away from the expensive dress. "I can make you something like that much cheaper and much better you know." Sakura smiled at her friend and sweatdropped, thinking about all the times Tomoyo had made costumes and clothes for her in the past, and easily let Tomoyo pull her away from the display.
Syaoran and Eriol watched the two girls in amusement as they continued to window shop, which they did until they came upon a small but cute café situated on a corner where two streets met, French in name, with peaceful guitar music floating out the door every time it opened and healthy plants decorating the area in front where small tables were set for anyone who wanted to eat outside instead of inside the café.
They decided they would stop there to get a little snack and a drink, having already walked around window shopping for over an hour.
They found an open table outside and waited as a waiter made their way over to them after a few minutes and ordered some small sandwiches and some refreshing juice. The other tables around them were crowded, and they could see that inside, the café was also full. Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, and Eriol glanced around at first just looking at their surroundings in the, what could be called, quaint settings in the middle of Tokyo.
The waiter returned with their drinks as they continued to look around them, promising to be out again in about ten minutes with their food.
"I wonder why we never found this place last year," Tomoyo commented admiring the café. "I wonder if it's a new place."
"It definitely seems popular," Eriol said, almost unnecessarily as it was quite apparent that the place was full.
Sitting in the table next to them were two young men, looking to be about the same age as Sakura and the others. Syaoran had noticed them looking at them as they sat down, and now watched the two as they continued to glance in their direction, specifically eyeing Sakura and Tomoyo. Eriol followed his gaze when the two girls turned to each other to comment more on the items they had both liked while they had been shopping. His gaze hardened as he noticed the looks they were giving the two girls sitting with him, as did Syaoran, but the two men seemed oblivious to their glares.
The waiter returned once more, this time with their food, pulling the group's attention to the small assortment of sandwiches in front of them.
"These are really good," Sakura mentioned as they ate, it being her and Tomoyo's first meal of the day. Eriol and Syaoran had both gotten up early and eaten breakfast that morning while the girls had been sleeping.
"Hey there pretty ladies."
The sudden voice directed in their direction caused Tomoyo and Sakura to look first at each other than behind them at the two men who had been looking at them since they had sat down. Syaoran and Eriol resumed their glares at them.
"How about you two ditch those guys and come talk with us," one of them said.
The other smiled. "I'm sure you'll have a lot more fun with us than you will with them."
Sakura stared at them a moment longer and then looked down. Tomoyo just kept looking at them, one eyebrow raised, amused at how pitiful they were.
"We go to school at Waseda and came into town today looking for hot girls like you. There's a party tonight that one of our friends is holding. I'm sure you'd enjoy it," one explained, grinning smoothly at them.
Sakura looked away. Tomoyo, noticing her discomfort, remembered everything that had happened last semester and realized Sakura might be thinking of the same thing. She looked away from the two guys as well, hoping that by ignoring them, they would give up.
Syaoran had also noticed Sakura's sudden gloominess as well. She was now just staring at her sandwich in front of her.
"Come on," the two men continued. "We're a lot better looking than those guys you're with now."
"Back off," Syaoran muttered angrily, his glare suddenly becoming noticed by the two. He took Sakura's hand and held it firmly in his, surprise filling his eyes as he realized how cold they had suddenly become. Eriol had moved his chair closer to Tomoyo's and had sent meaningful glances at the two men that Tomoyo did not fail to miss. And she definitely could not miss the possessive arm that circled around her chair. She looked up surprised at him, as he showed protectiveness over her that she didn't expect.
The two guys sitting next to them just looked at them all a little more and then, mumbling "Whatever," looked away.
Sakura kept her gaze focused in front of her, staring but not really seeing anything before her. Her thoughts had taken her back to the previous semester when another overly aggressive man had tricked her and tried to get more from her than she ever thought he would. Why did they make me think of him?
Syaoran just continued to hold her hand as she sat there.
Tomoyo, finally pulling her gaze from a now blushing Eriol, looked worriedly at Sakura. "Are you okay, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura looked up at her and smiled. "Of course I'm okay." Tomoyo just continued to look at her for a moment and sighed.
The group didn't stay much longer. Their spirits not so high as they had been previously, they paid for their meal and left the café, half-heartedly shopped for another half hour then decided they might as well make their way back to the dorm.
Syaoran and Eriol walked back to Sakura and Tomoyo's room where they decided to put in a movie and just relax. Syaoran sat with Sakura leaning on him on her bed while Tomoyo sat on her own bed with Eriol in a chair beside her. He looked at her, remembered the questioning glance she had given him at the café when he had gotten closer to her and put his arm around her chair…around her. He blushed again and looked away. Tomoyo watched him blush.
Not one of them paid much attention to the movie they had put in. Tomoyo continued to glance every so often at Eriol, and if not at him, then at the couple on the other side of the room, now snuggling comfortably. Eriol just kept thinking about what had happened earlier at the café and looked at Tomoyo every time he thought she wasn't looking his way. And Sakura just remained in Syaoran's arms, eventually falling asleep, her thoughts finally moving away from the horrible memories that had been brought back to her only a few hours before. Syaoran kissed her on her head as she fell asleep.
***
End of Chapter 5
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