Sakura ran down the college road, her slightly above shoulder length auburn locks streaming behind her. She grabbed open the door to her classroom and sank onto the floor, not gazing at the clock.
"Did…did I make it?" A cheery voice spoke up from the middle of the rafters.
"Hai! But just. Hayaku, sensei is coming!" Sakura grabbed her bags and ran two by two up the auditorium seats in the classroom. As she sat down, both Syaoran and Eriol looked at her. The tips of Syaoran's mouth seemed to be fighting a smile, and Eriol was also smiling furiously through his eyes…Sakura knew that they were remembering days past in Tomoeda Elementary School.
She smiled to herself as she turned to the three girls sitting next to her, Yanagizawa Naoko, Ii Ume, and Ohka Gemmei. The cheery voice, Ume, sighed as she glanced upwards.
"Sakura, get over it and admit Li likes you-"
"-yeah, and he's liked you ever since sixth grade in Tomoeda Elementary-"
"-really? In any case, you are so kawaii!"
"-like Tomoyo always says, and it's true-"
"Ume, Naoko, you are cute too…" Ume had ear-length black hair, ordinary brown eyes, and a habit of never betraying much emotion in her face from her former-geisha mother. However, if someone were to concentrate on her 'ordinary' brown eyes for a while, they would notice that those eyes spoke volumes. Sakura was about to continue when the teacher came in.
"Welcome," he droned, "to the second semester of Formal Writing. I hope to get to know each and every one of you, and to teach you the nuances of writing." The four girls rolled their eyes and began to mouth the words to the teacher's speech.
"Writing is an important aspect of all the majors you have selected, and through this course you will be able to fully succeed in the field of your choosing…"
~*~
Sakura glanced around the field, looking for a spot to sit down. She had just about chosen a spot when a familiar face appeared in her vision.
"Rika! I thought," she glanced at her friend's round belly, "I thought you were on maternity leave." Her friend laughed.
"I was, when a very excited Chiharu ordered me to 'stay in a place where I can find you 'coz Rika is the master of hiding in plain sight.' I want to find her and leave, so help me." She exaggerated the italics in Chiharu style. Sakura turned to her friends.
"I'm sure I've mentioned Sasaki-Terada Rika? Rika, these are my two journalist geeks, Ume and Gemmei."
"Sakura-chan!" Sakura looked towards the hill in the centre of the field, where Tomoyo was waving along with everyone else. A minute later, all of them, including the due Rika, were on top, where Chiharu was waiting with Naoko.
"I just had to wait until you were all here, 'coz my life has just taken a huge turn for the better!" Chiharu paused dramatically, "I am…engaged!" The Tomoeda five-some all squealed together, and the other four just looked on, amused. That is, until Yamazaki came behind them and started talking very enthusiastically to a hooked Syaoran and a slightly suspicious Ume.
"-of course I know what I'm talking about! Before I could ask Chiharu, I had to make sure that the Engagement Act of 1893 had been repealed, since I'm moving to England. Of course, Eriol here could tell you a little bit about that…"
"You see for a while after the act was passed, couples who wanted to get engaged and move to England had to go out on a boat-"
"-during the windiest day of the month-"
"-and catch a lobster-"
"-with a net made by the girl-"
"-and then cook it over a fire-"
"-and eat it together, and save the claw-"
"-which would be the centrepiece for a table at the wedding, but-"
"-do you know how difficult it is to find lobsters in England?-"
"-and then the guests at that table would run away-"
"And Chiharu is allergic to lobsters, so I had to make sure it was repealed." Ume was about to nod slightly when Gemmei spoke up.
"Hey, I know you! Sakura was telling me about you! Whenever you started going on like that, Chiharu would come and-"
"Lies, lies, ALL LIES!" the four of them face faulted as Chiharu bopped Yamazaki on the head, then turned around and picked up the conversation exactly where she had left it off. Sakura giggled, Chiharu's excitement getting to her. You could practically see the italics in the air.
"-and then I said, Sakura has to be the principal bridesmaid – to which Yamazaki started talking about the plight of bridesmaids during the Edo era – but I said she had to be it 'coz if it weren't for her, I'd have never asked Yamazaki out in the first place. Don't you think so?" Naoko chimed in.
"Ne, Sakura definitely pinned that one down!"
"Hai, you're so good at this relationship stuff. She even got Eriol and I together. Of course, there is one that she hasn't been able to guess…" Sakura sweatdropped as all of her girlfriends, Ume and Gemmei included, started laughing.
"H-hoe?!"
~*~
"Yuhara-sensei asked me to see her after hours…am I in trouble?" Sakura was walking with her friends, worry etched on her face. Gemmei shook her head.
"Sakura, you couldn't get in trouble if you tried," Ume nodded, and the two of them cackled. Gemmei stopped laughing abruptly when they passed a boy and a girl making out. Ume noticed immediately and clenched her fists.
"Ignore him, ignore him," she whispered under her breath. As soon as they were behind a tree, Gemmei stopped, tears welling up in her eyes. As Ume was about to say something, she said softly,
"It's all cause I'm fat." Sakura shook her head vigorously. Gemmei had gorgeous features: her hazel, slightly larger-than-normal eyes inherited from her Irish father were set in a blemish free face that was always in a happy mood. In fact, she would be a model, if it weren't for her chubbiness.
"Gemmei, stop crying and look at me. Look at me," the girl hiccupped, staring into the jade eyes of her friend, "Any guy who is stupid enough to dump you over your body is a total jerk, you hear me? You are beautiful, inside and out, and you don't need any guy who doesn't see that." Gemmei nodded, wiping away the remaining tears. Ume gazed at her friend in wonder.
"Sakura, everyone is absolutely right. You work wonders in relationships!" Sakura smiled.
"What did I do here? All I did was show her what's right under her nose." Gemmei made a face and punched her on her shoulder.
"Well, this is Yuhara-sensei's classroom. Ganbatenai, although I'm positive you don't need it. No, really. Go!" Sakura walked up the marble steps of the Journalism Wing and opened the door.
"Ah, Kinomoto. Glad you could make it." All the students – except for those who got on her legendary patience or lost her easily gained trust, liked slim, spry Yuhara-sensei. Sakura smiled back.
"I…I'm not in trouble, am I?" Yuhara laughed, and it echoed down the corridor.
"Far from it, Kinomoto," she began walking briskly down to her room, and Sakura ran a bit to catch up. "I called you back because, simply put, you are the most brilliant student in my entire class." Sakura flushed.
"A-arigato gozimasu."
"Don't. Compliments should be given when deserved. You've challenged me as a teacher throughout your years, and I've become a better teacher from it…and I thought it was time to repay the favour." By now, they had reached her office. She snapped her briefcase open and pulled out a section of the newspaper.
"The Herald is a newspaper that was started by students from Hatakeyama. It's grown to now the most popular newspaper around, and it's still almost entirely student-run. With the departure of one of the authors, they have a loose double column open. Would you like it?" Sakura opened her mouth to speak when Yuhara slammed her briefcase down and looked her squarely in the eye. "It pays, Kinomoto, a nice base figure and generous benefits if you pull in readers. If I'm not mistaken – which I rarely am, mind you – you could use the money." Sakura found her voice.
"How…how would you know?" Yuhara laughed.
"I wasn't a student that long ago. I know that look of a debt-ridden student – overly cheerful in every respect. Although, with you, it was more like overly overly cheerful. Now, if I could just have you fill out this form, I have a letter of recommendation written out. If you hurry, then we can have this in today's post." She put down a pen and a form in front of the stunned girl. A smile slowly broke out over her face as she started filling in the questions.
As teacher and student watched the university post go out, Sakura sighed.
"But what should I write about?" Yuhara turned to the courtyard.
"My advice is to write about something that you're good at, and that will interest readers. Oh my, look at them!" She pointed to a couple wandering back to the dorms and looked meaningfully at her. Sakura smiled.
"How about…Dear Koi-chan?" Her teacher nodded, a serious look on her face that was given away by her twinkling eyes.
"Well, with any luck, I should see many more couples roaming these grounds. And for the cherry on top…" she scribbled a number with a red pen and pushed it towards Sakura, who grabbed it.
"You'll be getting a huge present this year!" she waved goodbye and ran down the steps, nearly running into someone.
"Oh, gomen, Syaoran-kun."
"You seem happy."
"I got myself a job!" Syaoran looked at his watch.
"Well, if we hurry a bit we can make it to the ice-cream store before it closes…" the pair of them shot across the courtyard. Yuhara watched from the window.
"Right under your nose!"
~*~
"Double Chocolate Chip with chocolate syrup and chocolate sprinkles. In a chocolate wafer cone, please." The lady didn't even raise an eyebrow, just said, "Li's here again" and turned to Sakura, who was eyeing the towering mass of, well, chocolate, convinced it would fall any second.
"Uh…I'll have a strawberry with a cherry and those cute heart sprinkles." Syaoran paid and found a table by the window. After a few minutes of the sound of ice cream being devoured, he spoke up.
"So, what's this new job?"
"Oh, I'm going to wr-" Sakura paused; if she was using a pseudonym, then it wouldn't be wise to give out her identity. "I'm going to help some people with writing." It was technically true; she was going to be helping people – with her writing. Syaoran nodded.
"Always good," he put his head closer to the table, "You have ice cream on your nose." Sakura swiped the said nose.
"Better?"
"No, it's still there…" he picked up his napkin and carefully wiped it off. Sakura felt her face heat up as she realized what she was doing. I'm at an ice cream store – WITH SYAORAN! Her mind suddenly clammed up as he moved back, satisfied.
"It's gone."
"Ah…g-good. Noses are ba- I mean, ice cream on noses are bad. Anything on noses is bad. Have you ever tried those nose pore removal things?" Sakura waited for a second before realizing what she had just said.
"I mean-"
"Actually, I have," Sakura stared at him quizzically, and he flushed a bit as he tried to explain, "because one day Xiefa-san was using them and she needed a test tube and it's not like I use them myself daily…" he trailed off, unsure of his original point and radiating enough heat that he was sure he saw the thermostat go up. The two of them stood up at the same time.
"I-I have to leave now!" They both nodded furiously and made to exit. Sakura reached there first, and a second later a hand closed upon her…they sprang apart, blushing. Syaoran was the first to recover, and he held the door open.
"A-arigato…"
~*~
"I just stood there like an idiot and now he probably thinks I'm one tooooo!" Sakura trailed off into her pillow, relating the events of the evening to her friend. Tomoyo clucked sympathetically.
"Sakura, I'm sure that he was just as embarrassed."
"No he wasn't. *I* am the idiot who likes him, not the other way around! My life," proclaimed the Tare Panda clothed girl, "is over." Tomoyo raised one delicate eyebrow, at both her friend and her myopic life.
"Sakura, I'll try once more…I'm telling you, Syaoran likes you." Sakura smiled sarcastically.
"Right, and I'm about to confess that I'm the author of a love column. Get real, Tomo-" Sakura broke off, "Great, I can't even be sarcastic without messing up." Tomoyo looked interested.
"A love column?"
"Yeah, Yuhara-sensei offered me the job, and it pays money, so I took it."
"Do you have anything?"
"Well, I posted basically a double-column plea for letters last Friday, which was…two days ago, I think. I don't know if I actually got anything yet, though…"
"Check! We've got the whole weekend to ourselves!" Sakura bounced up from the swath of blankets on the sofa-bed and nodded.
"No boys, no one else but the two of us! And especially no Kero! Mou, I feel sorry for Syaoran and Eriol…" she walked into her room.
"A-CHOO!" Three voices sneezed in remarkable sync one street over and across.
A few seconds later, Sakura shrieked. Tomoyo came running.
"Nani?!" Sakura pointed at the screen.
"Twenty four of them! Look! Count them! Savour them!"
"Open them!" Tomoyo dragged a chair over as she opened the first one.
From: Gemmei gemgem2424@hatakeyama.edu
To: Koi-chan koi_chan@hatakeyama.edu
"It's from Gemmei!"
Dear Koi-chan,
I'm a college student, and overweight. Do you have any suggestions for places to go so that I can lose weight and get a date?!
Ohka Gemmei
Tomoyo looked at Sakura.
"Just how desperate was this ad?" Sakura sweat dropped.
"Okay, so I made it a bit broad. But loosing weight is definitely under the 'Relationships' category." She poised her fingers over the keyboard.
From: Koi-chan koi_chan@hatakeyama.edu
To: Gemmei gemgem2424@hatakeyama.edu
Gemmei-
How dare you think of loosing weight to snag a guy? Feel proud of your body and find someone who will love you unconditionally!
Koi-chan
Tomoyo shook her head slightly, "You can't give this away. Add something a bit less…Sakura-ish." Sakura paused, then typed,
(P.S. I'd have to say a 'twice-daily salad' diet and bicycling)
Tomoyo nodded approval, "Much better."
The two girls worked steadily through the rest of the letters, exchanging banter all the way through.
"Kami-sama, Naoko likes him?!"
"Oh dear, Eri-san is going to be one happy girl! She's been talking about how she was afraid he was afraid of commitment for ages now!"
They finished quickly and Sakura stretched out. Saving a copy of a few letters – Gemmei's included – she e-mailed them to the editor of The Herald.
"Those will go into the paper under 'Dear Koi-chan'." Tomoyo voiced approval, and her stomach voiced hungry. Giggling, the two girls made their way to the Pancake House down the street, pyjamas and all.
~*~
Version 1.0: Changed title from Dear Madame Amour to Dear Koi-chan, which is Japanese for love and makes more sense to me.
AN: So, how'd I do how'd I do how'd I do how'd I do? I made it all long and stuff, and at the time of publishing, ff.net isn't working for me. But I finished this, and I know exactly how the ending for tPoT goes.
Q: Um…If they are all taking different majors, why are they in the same class?
A: Writing is important for a lawyer and a doctor…right?
Q: Japanese Irish?
A: Japanese Irish people look really cool.
Q: Excuse me, what kind of person has only two friends at college?
A: Sue me, but I didn't want to have to look up names for fifteen friends and come up with personalities. Although I still have to fully develop personalities for the two I have anyway.
Q: You're telling me that they all got into the same college?
A: It's a special college that private school people get into. In any case, Chiharu and Yamazaki don't go there, and Rika took a year off and now is on maternity leave. How you'd know that, I have no idea. And Naoko is becoming an author. Um…*furiously redoes the beginning* and now she is in the first classroom scene.
Oh, and I dearly hope Gemmei and Ume aren't turning into Mary Sues. I worked hard at that (Gemmei is overweight, and Ume doesn't have perfect features at all). Tell me if they appear too perfect, and I'll see if I can do anything.
Until then,
wicherwill ^_^