Blame It On Sakura

Kristy Selean: Hi! I know some of you guys liked it and some other people didn't, but please bear with me and I will do my best to satisfy both sides and show you my plot soon. Some of you have been wondering if the boy Sakura liked was Syaoran-kun. Well, I can't really tell you right now, but he is very important so take very good notes on him. *note: this isn't finished yet!!!*

Chapter 2: Betrayed?

The sound of a fairly loud alarm clock was the only sound in the whole house. However, no one was there to turn it off. It was Syaoran's old apartment room that had not been used since he left. He somehow left behind his alarm clock when he was packing in a hurry. Mysterious and eerie magic began to move its way into the room. A gentle yet firm hand grasped the clock that was under the bed and quietly turned it off. The owner of that hand smiled.

"You will do nicely. She will never know what hit her."

*~* In Sakura's room *~*

Sakura stared at her image in the mirror. Something just wasn't right. She studied her reflection from head to toe until she realized her problem. Her ace bandage was such a boring shade of beige. Sakura added a few pins in her hair and pulled up her socks to realize that they weren't high enough to cover the bulge of ace bandaging around her leg. Sakura shook her head and sighed. She just didn't want to think about it anymore. Suddenly, she had a great idea. Sakura hopped over to her jewelry box and pulled out a few gold safety pins and pinned some silk flowers, beads, ribbons, and artifacts of color to liven up her boring bandage.

"Well, at least it looks better than before."

Sakura glanced over at the clock to realize that she would be late if she didn't hurry. She wouldn't be able to roller skate to school just as she used to and made herself wake up half an hour earlier to have enough time. Just as Sakura closed her jewelry box and grabbed her crutches, the flower card popped out and put a peach blossom in her hair. Sakura thanked the card for its thoughtfulness and rushed out the door, barely having time to grab her lunch and schoolbag. Just as she closed the door to her house and began to leave, a blue sportscar sped up to the driveway and stopped in front of her. To her surprise, Touya came out of it.

"Touya?"

"I heard what happened. Hop in. I'll give you a ride."

Sakura smiled at her brother. Even though he had a tendency to tease her a lot, he still cared about her more than anyone could imagine. Sakura gingerly came up to the car with her crutches as Touya helped her in. However, even though she started to be cared about more, Sakura couldn't help but feel sad that she was still stuck in her disposition.

"Arigato, Oniichan."

Sakura secretly shed a tear and quickly wiped it off. She hated looking weak in front of her brother, and now was definitely not the time to worry him.

*~* At School *~*

"Whoah! I never knew you could do that with those!"

"When we sprain our legs, you have to decorate our bandages too!"

"I will, don't worry."

Sakura smiled at her friends. Somehow they always knew how to cheer her up and make her feel special. After a whole day of school in crutches and friends to help her, Sakura started to feel a bit tired from all the work she had to do.

'I never knew crutches took up so much effort to use. It's a good thing I'm still in shape from gymnastics.'

Even though she had to work so hard to get from class to class, Sakura still felt happy, espescially when the captain of the boy's team talked to her. Although it was just a brief moment of giving her a compliment of her bandage, it meant a lot to her, considering that he wasn't ignoring her after her mistake. It was a shame that he was accompanied by too many people that Sakura could barely catch a glimpse of him when he was talking to her, but it still felt good to know he cared unlike Syaoran who abandoned her.

'He would never do anything for me, would he? We may have worked together for a while, but he's never there when I need him anymore. What's the point of liking him anyways?'

As the last class of the day drew to an end, Sakura and her friends from gymnastics headed out of the school, engaged in a very interesting conversation. Although Naoko had made it to the semifinals in the writing competition that she had tried out for years, she still didn't seem happy about something.

"Your writings made it?"

"Way to go, Naoko-chan!"

"Arigato, but that means I have to go to America for the semifinals today. Then I won't be able to be Sakura-chan's replacement for our next match."

"That's okay. We got our new alternate today, remember?"

Naoko, Rika, and Tomoyo all shot a glare at Chiharu for starting the conversation. Sakura felt shocked and betrayed that they would have to get an alternate, but then immediately felt sorry that she felt that way. After all, it wasn't their fault that they needed an alternate but hers. On top of that, she knew she should be thankful that they found an alternate in such a short amount of time.

"Alternate?"

"She's been here before, and I think you'll recognize her when you meet her. She's really good at gymnastics."

"But she's not as good as you are, Sakura."

"Yeah, Sakura. Nobody can take your place."

"Thanks, but why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"We wanted to but we thought it would be better to tell you personally?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because, we didn't want you to get mad or upset."

"Tomoyo, why should I be upset? You guys obviously need someone to take my place. I was just wondering if she was good enough, that's all."

"She is. Definitely."

Tomoyo, Rika, and Naoko rolled their eyes again. Chiharu means to be nice, but sometimes she had a hard time being a bit tactful. Sakura did feel upset that someone had to take her place, but she knew that it really was her fault for not obeying the rules. The friends waved good-bye as they went their separate ways.

'First Syaoran leaving me, and now this. Is my life just cursed or something?'

*~* At the Gym *~*

"Do you need help?"

"No thanks. Besides, the last thing you'd want to get is to hurt your ankle again."

Sakura sat back down on the bleachers while watching Eriol roll out the mats as the Blue Stars were coming out of the locker room. Alongside them was another girl, someone who was really familiar.

"Hey, Sakura. Remember me? My friends call me Mei Mei now, but you can still tell that I'm the old..."

"Meilin!"

Sakura and Meilin embraced after being away from each other for so many years. Meilin still had the same features as she did back in fourth grade, except for the fact that she was taller now and was really skinny. However, even though her figure made her look a bit weaker than the others, Sakura knew very well that Meilin could teach anyone how to fly with her fists.

"Remember, Sakura, we may be friends and we may be on the same team, but I'm going to be competitive with you, got it?"

"Alright, Meilin."

"Girls, it's time to warm up."

Sakura watched as Meilin along with her friends went down to do their stretches. She had to admit that she did feel left out watching them have fun, but what bothered her the most was that Meilin was gaining altitude in her reputation quickly. She immediately got recognition from Sonomi and the other Blue Stars, not to mention someone else Sakura wanted to get attention from. The captain of the boy's team seemed to be watching Meilin's every move, studying her closely... too closely.

'Maybe they won't be needing me anymore. Wait a second, Sakura. Get a hold of yourself. That's going way too far. Even if Meilin was far better than she was, they wouldn't try to replace her, would they?'

"Alright girls. Now that we warmed up, let's go to the beam for some practice on that. Meilin, why don't you go first?"

Meilin climbed up on the beam and stood poised and ready to start her combinations of moves. Sakura clasped her hands in front of her as her pulse raced. No matter how good Meilin was, Sakura couldn't help but think about falling off the beam. Sakura winced her eyes shut to keep it out of her mind, but as soon as she closed her eyes, a flashback of the time she fell replayed in her mind. Every move she made from the air to the ground was crystal clear. Sakura fluttered her eyes open and tried to watch Meilin, but she realized that she couldn't. Even though she knew she should be watching them, Sakura couldn't focus without being freaked out.

"That was good, Meilin, but your transitions are a bit jerky. What do you think, Sakura?"

"Uh.... I thought it was good... I didn't see it at all..."

"Well, try to keep an eye on them next time, okay?"

"Yes maam. Um... I'll go get a quick drink and come back."

Rika and Chiharu gave each other a glance as Sakura carried herself in her crutches to the drinking fountain. The cold water soothed her as it went down her throat, instantly calming her down.

'That's all I needed. I was just thirsty, that's all.'

However, Sakura had a sinking feeling that the reason why she had to leave the gym in a hurry was because she couldn't stand watching them perform anymore.

'If I can't bear to watch them practice, how am I going to perform?'

Sakura stepped back in the gym to see her friends working on their beam tactics with the boy's team working on their moves. The captain was still watching Meilin intensely which started to stir up Sakura's jealously. Knowing she couldn't watch any more of situation, Sakura called her dad to pick her up early.

"Dad, can you take me home?"

"What's wrong, Sakura? I thought you liked watching your friends practice."

"It's just that... my ankle's starting to hurt again."

There was hesitation on the other line. Sakura hated trying to lie espescially to her dad, but she knew that she had no other choice.

"If something's bothering you, Sakura, just know that I'll always be here for you, alright? I'll be there in about five minutes."

"Arigato, otousan."

*~* At the Hospital *~*

Sakura yawned as Dr. Kamiya unwrapped her Ace bandage carefully so he wouldn't ruin the designs that she had made. Sakura woke up an hour earlier than usual to get to the hospital so she wouldn't be late for school. Besides, her father knew that she would have to walk considering that Touya was the only one in the family who had a car and was late last time for his exam from dropping off Sakura. Sakura fidgeted in her seat as the bandage was pulled away.

"Am I hurting your ankle?"

"Hm? Oh, no."

Dr. Kamiya carefully checked over her ankle as Sakura watched his expressions in suspense, hoping that he had good news for her. When he realized that Sakura was anxious, Dr. Kamiya smiled.

"It looks good, Sakura. The swelling went down, and it doesn't seem stiff. I think it's safe to go back to practicing, considering you won't take down everything at once. Great news, isn't it?"

"Yeah, terrific."

Even though she knew that if her ankle was better so soon and it would mean she could return to practice sooner, Sakura still didn't feel right. Noticing how she felt, Dr. Kamiya smiled at Sakura.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. You'll catch up. From what I see, you were ahead of them anyway. Just make sure you continue to soak your ankle in warm water and baking soda for another week or so just in case, ok."

"Ok. Thanks for everything, Dr. Kamiya."

Dr. Kamiya gave Sakura back her Ace bandage as a momentum. After the nurse helped her get down from the examination table, Sakura walked gingerly out the hall to the main waiting room to find her friends and her dad waiting for her. Sakura gasped in surprise as they waved happily at her.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We just wanted to give you some moral support. Besides, it's never fun seeing the doctor when you feel like you're alone. Sorry, but no offense Dr. Kamiya."

"It's okay, girls. Everyone seems to have some sort of fear of the doctor even if you may be close friends with him. You gals better hurry up, or you'll be late for school."

"It's alright. We have a ride arranged for us so we can take our time a bit. Come on, girls. Let's go."

Sakura and her friends were hopping in the car when Fujitaka stopped her for a quick moment. Sakura looked back at him, hoping she wasn't in trouble, when he gave his usual understanding smile.

"I thought that you wouldn't want to forget your lunch twice, so I brought it for you."

"Oh, oops. Arigato, otousan."

Sakura hopped back in the car as they started to head for school. Just as they started going on the road, Sakura saw a brown paper bag waving in front of her face.

"We thought you might want breakfast, considering how late you always wake up."

"Oh wow, thanks! I'm starving!"

Sakura began to dig in, eating the chocolate muffins, remembering to leave a few pieces for Tomoyo to sneek to Kero who was hiding in Sakura's backpack as usual.

'Hm... chocolate. Syaoran used to love chocolate... Oh, Sakura, stop it! Get over him will you? Even Meilin came back, and he's still not here. Obviously, he's gone for good. Even more, stop debating over this. It's settled and eat your muffin before Kero-chan wants the whole thing instead of just pieces of it.'