"I need," Kinomoto Sakura declared with a vehement expression at the bills on the table, "a job." Her best friend and roommate, Daidouji Tomoyo, hurried over to the couch.

"Sakura, I told you. If you need money, 'kaa-san is more than willing to take you on!" Sakura shook her head and sighed.

"Tomoyo," she took her friend's hands in hers, "try and understand my point of view, ne? With onii-chan off to university, and 'tou-san at the dig, do you know how difficult it was to convince them to let me be here, on my own? I need to gain my own independence, and I need to prove to both of them that they don't need to worry about me 24/7. Don't you understand, what would they think if I went to Sonomi-okaa-san for help?" her friend Tomoyo smiled.

"I understand, just give me some time."

"Of course, spoiled brats don't need to worry about money," Sakura shot back, half-joking. The other half was genuinely worried; Tomoyo was already paying three-fifths of all the bills, with her half-inheritance at the age of 21. But still, rental fees for their apartment building very close to Hatakeyama University were high, and Sakura's only source of income, stuffing papers for the school, had recently stopped when the school had gone tech.

Sakura ducked the pillow flying her way and pulled out a stack of newspapers.

"And since you assured me time and again that you had absolutely nothing to do all weekend, you are volunteered to help me find something." Tomoyo grinned and grabbed a paper and a marker.

"Aye aye, captain!" They were about to start when there was a knock on the door. Seconds later, Hiiragizawa Eriol and Li Syaoran walked into the living room.

"What are you ladies doing?" Eriol looked at the massive pile of newspapers with misgivings, expecting it to fall over any minute now. As it was,

"Hoe! Arigato, Syaoran-kun," Sakura grabbed the top few papers from where the brown-haired man was sprawled, trying to prevent them from falling. He fixed her with a glare.

"We just came to drop off the groceries. Hiiragizawa and I need to get going to the Irie Library to work on term essays." Sakura pushed her face close to him, their noses almost touching.

"E-ri-o-l," she said, accentuating the syllables, "and the Irie Library? That's reserved for the Masters students!" Syaoran shrugged and made a face as Eriol greeted his girlfriend enthusiastically.

"Syaoran here needs it to access the Neuro Room," he said, using the popular term for the vividly coloured lab, "so that I can go over the latest research on the effects of cardiac strokes on the frontal lobes. And Eriol here…Oi! Get a room!"

"Ota-sensei recommended it to me to find the works of Gregory D. Englebreight on laws regarding the capital offences connected with basic civil disobedience infringements over political turmoil," he looked at the two women, "I take it you understood zilch." Tomoyo raised an eyebrow.

"Fashion design," she pointed to Sakura, "journalism. Now, out, before we get headaches." Sakura nodded, the swirls in her eyes practically visible. Syaoran massaged his temples.

"Oh, and before I forget, hai." He opened his bag and an orange blur shot out, "Kami-sama, never give me that thing again." The said 'thing' glared at the boy.

"And I'd have clobbered ya if we hadn't been in sucha crowded place!"

"Kero-chan, go to your room." Tomoyo waved him away, "And you too. Shoo!" Syaoran turned to go, rather hastily, when Sakura called out.

"Syaoran, the bill for the groceries…" Syaoran winced and pulled out a slip of paper. Sakura took it, her face registering shock when she looked at the total. She hastily tried to cover it up.

"My, we do eat a lot! Just give me a second to get my pocketbook…" Syaoran took the slip from her.

"Um…it came up free. The Visa magic moment or something," Eriol deadpanned. Sakura looked up, her eyes slightly glassy.

"Again?" Syaoran looked down.

"Sakura, just…I'll pay, I got money from Saburo, and you know how much I hate him…" he looked even more guilty, "…again…" Sakura looked up at him.

"No, I will pay!" she stamped her foot a little for emphasis. Tomoyo stopped her as she went to get her purse.

"Wait, Sakura, I'll…go get your purse." Tomoyo walked into the room, and came out a little while later. Sakura opened her purse, and took out a small stack of bills. She looked at them confusedly.

"Did I have this money in there before?" Tomoyo nodded furiously.

"Don't you remember the bonus that the school offered you?" Sakura looked confused for a second, then smiled.

"Oh, of course!" she handed the stack over to Syaoran, "Hai!" Syaoran took it, uncomfortable.

"Well, I guess…I guess I'd better leave," he marched out the door. Sakura and Tomoyo sat there, listening until the two sets of footsteps faded into nothing. Tomoyo turned to Sakura, a serious look in her face.

"Sakura, I know this is slightly rude, but…what is your state of finances?" A single tear trailed down Sakura's cheek as she pulled out her banking statement from her purse. Tomoyo unfolded it silently. There, in red, was written the truth.

"It's…over two hundred thousand yen!" Sakura burst out into tears and buried her face into Tomoyo's lap. Tomoyo looked at the bill for ¥207,477.11 and sighed.

"Sakura…zettai daijoubu. Like always." Tomoyo sang softly under her breath, noting the huge circles under Sakura's eyes. Within minutes, the twenty-one year old girl was sleeping like a baby. Tomoyo looked worried at her sleeping form.

"I think…"

~*~

AN: Well, this seems cool! Now we have a base, we can get on with plot…so, to wrap it up:

- The foursome are all attended the same university, a private university by the name above

- Eriol is becoming a lawyer, Syaoran a doctor, Tomoyo a fashion designer, and Sakura a journalist.

- Sakura is in debt. I'm sorry, I'm not Japanese and don't know what debt is really like there, but from some quick research, you could expect to pay about ¥60,000 in apartment rent fees per month, and that means Sakura pays ¥24,000, plus food, books, electricity, etc, I think that amount is nice. In today's terms, that's about €1,521, $1756 (US), £1055, $2706 (Canada) and Rs.81408/-. Anything else?

Never fear, I haven't abandoned tPoT, it's nearly finished!

Please review!

wicherwill ^_^