by: peach
A/N: *hugs reviewers* Wheee!! Thank you for all the reviews… *big smile* You guys made me feel lots better (ehehe)!
.::. To SaKuRa LoVa, btw, thanks for giving me the names of Syaoran's sisters ^^. The thank-you came a little late, sorry… Anyways, I might be able to use them now so I can quit referring to them as "four squealing voices" or "Syaoran's four sisters" or something like that. (",)
So, people… second chapter up! Lots of OOCness here… A lot more, believe me!
Chapter Two. Deal?
Syaoran couldn't believe it.
He was plain unlucky.
There were some eight hundred girls who would volunteer to be his girlfriend, about two hundred who were on neutral ground at that issue but pretty much thought he was all right, and just a single one who hated him more than anybody else.
The odds on getting somebody quite willing to pretend were good. Very good, in fact.
Then again… what can we say? He picked Sakura Kinomoto—also known as his only and number one -_-;; hater (sorry—kept on saying that). He picked that girl over a thousand others who'd fit "better" into the situation.
He looked at her in utter disbelief just as she shrieked, "HOW DARE YOU!"
Sakura was seething by then, and he knew she was just about to explode in a few moments. Still, he had to take care of his sisters. The four were looking at him and his new "fiancée" in confusion. He shifted his gaze to them and back to Sakura. He had to cover for the girl's reaction—and quick.
"I'm sorry, Sakura," he said hurriedly, blurting out the first thing that came to his mind. "I knew I should have told you that you were meeting my uh, sisters today. It's my fault, I know. I'm sorry."
Sakura's glowering expression faltered for a moment. For one whole second she stared at him as if he was stupid. After that she immediately went back to shooting daggers at him.
She was about to say something again, when Syaoran said rather loudly to his sisters, "Uh, we have to talk for a moment. Sakura's just upset that she wasn't well-prepared for your meeting."
Not waiting for a reply, Syaoran immediately grabbed Sakura's hand and, despite her resistance, was able to drag her about fifty meters away from the group.
His sisters just stood back, speechless.
After fifty-meters, Sakura got too tough and pulled her hand away.
The first thing that Syaoran could remember after that was the painful sting of a hand slapping his left cheek.
To his amazement, Sakura said rather coolly, "That's what you get for LYING and for DEFAMING me."
He had quite expected a torrent of furious words.
Syaoran gently placed a hand on his left cheek. "Ow…" he muttered under his breath as he looked up at the cinnamon-haired girl.
"That suits you," she hissed. "And make sure you clear things up with those girls at the gate! I would know better than to be your fiancée." She turned and began to stomp away.
For the third time that day, Syaoran grabbed her arm. Sakura was very well prepared for a second round of a slap, but then she was caught by surprise when the boy spoke.
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. He absolutely meant it, trust me ;). "Really, I am."
Sakura faced him, and for that time at least, she let her a bit of her nicer side—the one the whole school knows her for—disclose itself to him.
"Frankly speaking, I didn't really get what happened," she said sheepishly, a sudden change of attitude taking place. "I was just sort of stunned. But tell me, what's going on?" She stopped abruptly and looked at him with a hint of concern in her eyes. "But, uh, I guess I shouldn't have slapped you just like that. Sorry."
Syaoran smiled. She might be quite radical in all these mood swings she's having… but they're for the better, at least. "Yeah, well, let's get over that," he said. He cast a brief glance at his sisters, who, as he noticed, were also looking at them with incredulous faces. "For now, I need to ask you for something."
The jade-eyed girl tilted her head. "What's that?" she asked.
"Well… since I already introduced you to my sisters as my fiancée…" He paused. He could just see her reaction after he finished what he was saying. "Maybe… you can, well, actually pretend (ironic?) that you are…" He saw the immediate change in her expression and continued right off. "I need a fiancée really bad or else I'd get engaged to someone that—uh, I just don't like. But see, this setup will only be until my family's convinced that I am engaged. We could pull this for only a month. After that they'll probably leave for Hong Kong, and once they get there I'll just call them and say we broke up and that I've found a new girl. That won't be a lie since by the time I called them I'll really have picked someone I really like."
His last statement would have seemed offensive, but then Sakura had absolutely NO feelings for him and didn't mind.
Anyway, back to earth, Sakura—whose face was, sad to say, again twisted in irritation—said in annoyance, "Why don't you just tell them NOW that we've broken up and you've gotten someone else?!?? It's not my fault that I just came walking by at the time you decided to grab somebody's arm, right?!?? Why not just pick some diehard fan of yours—someone actually EAGER to get on with this dumb hoax?!??"
Syaoran hesitated. She's right, he thought. Why don't I just do that…? It sure would be better with a bigger chance of survival for me.
In his mind he pictured Sakura and him together. He saw himself being treated like a slave because he was roped to the agreement.
And then there was a second picture with some girl who was actually babying him, thus humiliating him in front of everyone, literally.
Slave or baby?
I guess I'll take in the slave… since I probably won't be one, anyway. They all say that Kinomoto's the friendliest girl out here, after all. Maybe she has the potential to be nice even just for a month and would consider being uh, less hard on me… That would sure be better.
In fact, he thought suddenly. Maybe it wasn't a mistake to pick Kinomoto-san. Maybe things would turn out better since she wouldn't be overreacting in her role as a fiancée.
"No," Syaoran finally told the girl. "I can't get someone who'll be treating me like her baby doll or some lost puppy." He sighed and tried again. "So, can you just do me this favor? Just this one?"
Sakura looked skeptical, but the fierce look she had two minutes ago had disappeared. "It's a one-sided deal," she told him flatly. "I'll be wasting my time."
"Once we pretend to be a couple, the boys after you would probably disintegrate, you know," Syaoran said matter-of-factly. "Don't you consider that an advantage?"
The jade-eyed girl realized that maybe those annoying boys behind her back would probably disappear once they find out she's hooked to someone else. But then… "No way would I let anyone know—if ever—that we are engaged!" she cried.
Syaoran sighed. How in the world could he make her say YES?
He looked past Sakura at the milling students all over the campus. The familiar sight of dark blue hair suddenly gave him an idea.
"Okay, I have another deal," he suddenly told Sakura with a confident smile. "After our 'break-up', I'll help you out with Hiiragizawa."
At the mention of the name Sakura's forehead creased. "What do you mean?"
"I meant that I'll help you become Hiiragizawa's girlfriend!" he replied with a shake of his head. "Get it?"
Sakura tried to think about what he said. Does he mean it? Maybe. But maybe he'll just leave me hanging in the air after I do my side of the bargain… Then again, he could be telling the truth…
Her head was just beginning to ache.
"So?" Syaoran almost anticipated a big fat OKAY from her.
"Well…" Sakura closed her eyes for a moment. Upon opening them, she said, "I'll sleep it over."
The boy almost forced her to make her mind up that very day, but then decided that might drive her into saying no. He shrugged, thinking there was nothing he could do about it, anyway. Besides, they both needed to get home—and his sisters were probably bewildered at what was happening by now.
"Okay, then. Think about it real hard and let me know tomorrow," he finally said. And suddenly—he smiled. "Thanks a lot, Kinomoto-san."
"I didn't promise you anything."
"Thanks, anyway, for your time at least."
Sakura had to smile back before she turned and walked away.
Meiling was already there by the time Syaoran reached his sisters.
"That was Kinomoto-san," she said rather suspiciously. "What were you doing with her?"
Fenran, one of his sisters, looked at the dark-haired girl. "So her name's Kinomoto?" she inquired. "That's a pretty strange name."
"It's her last name," Syaoran explained patiently. "Her first name's Sakura. It means cherry blossoms."
Xiefa tilted her
head. "You forgot to introduce her to us." She rolled her eyes.
"But anyway, what happened out there to you two? Did you and your fiancée just have a lover's quarrel or something like that?"
Meiling was watching them with a confused expression. But when Xiefa said the word fiancée she got the point and almost fainted -_-;;. "SYAORAN!" she squealed. "You mean that Kinomoto-san is your new girlfriend?!" She started to hyperventilate and began mumbling, "I can't believe it!" over and over again.
The amber-eyed boy gave a casual shrug of his shoulders. "Just keep it to yourself for the time being, Meiling," he told her. After all, it's not yet decided whether she's really going to be my pretend fiancée or not.
Meanwhile, his sister Feimei jumped in the conversation. "We don't have much to tell Mother about her since you whisked her away," she complained. "Then again, I guess it would be all right to tell her that you had a fight…"
"NO!" Syaoran glared at her. "Don't do that. We made up anyway and that uh, disagreement was as good as forgotten."
Fuutie, by now, was impatient to get home. "We'd better go home, now," she told the group. "Mother would be surprised if we don't get there before she does."
The other five followed her out of the school campus.
Meiling, on the other hand, fell behind as she walked with Syaoran. "Did I hear things right?" she asked with a shake of her head. "That is so weird, Syaoran. This must be the end of the world. You and Kinomoto—together?!!??"
Syaoran couldn't guess if she was going to shriek or just laugh. "Things do work out weirdly at times, Meiling," he told her. And hopefully, this time, they'd work out weirdly but still okay…
A/N: It IS a weird chappy, isn't it? I sort of felt strange writing it. Oh well. Don't mind me.
Review! Pretty please? ~no flames, still…
Another weird thing. After I posted the first chapter, Tuesday this week a storm really hit our place and classes were suspended. Queer, huh? ^^
