Author's Note: HELLOOOOO! It is I, back again! Since I updated 'I Choose Sakura', I might as well update this. Just one last reminder: this will be the last chapter in this story. I know this is short, but don't you agree that there are long chapters? And for the last time, these are actually PARTS, and NOT CHAPTERS!
Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura, and this is for entertainment purposes only.
Sorry, Wrong Admirer
By: Wings of Jade
A week later, Mr. Hayashi called Syaoran to his office.
"Did she accept?" he asked anxiously. Syaoran shrugged. He was getting tired of working for Mr. Hayashi.
"Iie," he replied simply. Mr. Hayashi turned a deep purple hue.
"WHAT?"
"Iie. No. You just went too far, Hayashi-sama. She wasn't ready, and she just doesn't like you. You've already had fun with other girls, and Sakura just can't like men like you, who treat women as if they were toys. I tried to persuade her, but she seemed pretty determined not to take the flowers. She let me stay, though. That's why you haven't been able to reach me for so long. Gomen." Mr. Hayashi's purple complexion was quickly mixed with a dark red and green. He stood up and stared at Syaoran right in the eyes. Syaoran didn't flinch. It was as if a dramatic change had risen in him.
"First of all, you don't talk to me like that." His breath smelled like mouthwash. Syaoran could feel the heat radiating from his cheeks.
"Did I ask you to give me your opinion about me? Did I? No. You do what you're told to do. You don't talk back to me all smart alecky and rudely. Nobody talks to be like that, you understand? And I don't treat women as if they were toys."
"You're treating Sakura like a toy," interrupted Syaoran. "At least that's what she feels like at the moment."
"SILENCE!" roared Mr. Hayashi, spit flying from his mouth. "I THOUGHT I JUST TOLD YOU NOT TO ANSWER BACK TO ME THAT WAY!" Syaoran still did not flinch. Mr. Hayashi forced himself to remain calm. Not getting the most beautiful girl of his dreams was too much for him.
"Secondly," he said dangerously, "I thought I told you to stay there until she accepted."
"You thought," retorted Syaoran just as dangerously. "You thought."
"SHUT YOUR STINKIN' HOLE!" bellowed Mr. Hayashi. "DON'T MAKE ME USE R-RATED DIALOGUE!" His face had no trace of skin colour anymore, all replaced by red, and his chubby fingers were clenched into fists. Syaoran knew he was taking risks by defying Hayashi Kano, but he had had enough of going back and forth between him and Sakura. Besides, how can you let someone else win the girl of your dreams's love? Syaoran told himself, Still, just listen and don't get yourself into trouble.
"I told you," said Mr. Hayashi loudly, "To return with Sakura." He had said no such thing, of course, but he was mega-angry at Syaoran for not following instructions. "And lookie here; you don't even have the bouquet of flowers! I bet you sold them or something."
"Iie," Syaoran replied calmly. "She threw them away. I guess she just doesn't want to accept your apology."
"SYAORAN!"
"Yes, sir, you called me?"
"DON'T TRY PLAYING YOUR SMART ALECK GAMES WITH ME! STOP SAYING IIE!"
You know, said a sudden voice in Syaoran's head(that was happened more and more often too), Hayashi-sama could fire you for making him this mad. Then you'd be without a job. Syaoran chose to ignore it.
Mr. Hayashi was breathing very deeply. He forced himself, again, to remain calm. He even unclenched his fists. A few violent purples and greens disappeared from his complexion. He had been gritting his teeth, and he slackened his jaw. Then he did something that finally made Syaoran squirm.
He smiled evilly at him.
"Third of all," he told Syaoran slowly, enunciating each syllable clearly, "You're fired, you stinking baka."
I told you.
"What?" Syaoran cried, against his will.
Mr. Hayashi's smile grew wider, his expression eviler.
"I told you," he repeated. "You're fired, you stinking baka. Nobody defies me like that and gets away with it. You're fired."
I told you...and he even called you a baka. Tsk, tsk.
Mr. Hayashi flexed his fingers and leaned back in his chair, tilting it so that his feet rested comfortably against his wooden desk. "Oh yes," he grunted suddenly, "That felt good. Good...I miss the days where you could just throw people out the window and get over it, but this is so much better; you get to witness it personally!" He laughed nastily. Syaoran was standing there, struck dumb. The voice kept saying, I told you, I told you, I told you...
"Well?" barked Mr. Hayashi. "What are you doing here, stupid? GET OUT!"
"Y-Yes sir," stammered Syaoran. "Yes, sir." Syaoran bowed and turned away. I really shouldn't have flapped my mouth, thought Syaoran bitterly. Now how am I going to survive? A china statue sailed over his head, narrowly missed his temple. It shattered against the door, bursting into a million tiny pieces. Syaoran whirled around. Mr. Hayashi was still smiling his devilish grin.
"By the way," he said. "Don't call me sir again." He chucked another china figure at him. Syaoran ducked. He felt the tiny pieces explode over his head.
"Hayashi-sama," Syaoran said lamely. "Your china figures." Mr. Hayashi shrugged.
"I don't care. I can always buy more." It was fair for him to fire me, thought Syaoran angrily, But that gives him no right to throw things at me while I'm leaving, the bastard. Syaoran glared at Mr. Hayashi, stomped out of his office, and slammed the door dramatically. Little asshole. I hope you rot in your own friggin' filth.
~*~
"Syaoran?" Sakura had been waiting outside Syaoran's workplace for hours. She hadn't expected him to come out early. He seemed as if he was in a bad mood. "Syaoran!" She grabbed the collar of his shirt. He turned around wearily.
"Hi, Sakura-chan," he muttered. "Gomen."
"What's wrong? Daijoubu ka?"
"Of course I'm not okay," snapped Syaoran viciously. Sakura withdrew her hand, alarmed at Syaoran's sudden outburst. Then he sighed and patted Sakura's shoulder.
"Gomen, Sakura. I'm sorry I snapped at you like that."
"It's okay," replied Sakura. "Tell me what happened."
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to. Maybe I don't care about it anyway."
~*~
"He what?"
"He fired me," Syaoran repeated calmly. "And I don't care."
"He fired you?" Sakura asked in incredulity.
"Hai," sighed Syaoran.
"But that means you have no job anymore," stated Sakura, twining her fingers into Syaoran's. Syaoran sighed again.
"I know," he replied heavily, "But I think I can live. I'll just have to find another one. It might be difficult and everything, because everybody's looking for a job these days, but I'll try." Sakura was silent for a moment.
"Maybe I can find one for you," she said eventually.
Syaoran snorted. "Yeah, right. Everywhere's full now, you know." Sakura shook her head.
"I don't think so," she replied. "How about we work together? I think I can get my manager to let you do some things backstage, to prepare me for singing." Syaoran made a disbelieving noise, but a spark of hope had risen inside of him.
"Really?" Sakura shrugged.
"I'm not sure, but I can try persuading him." Syaoran gave her a tight smile. To make things a little less miserable, Sakura added, "And if he doesn't, I'll be after him." Syaoran laughed.
"That makes me feel better," he said. "Listen, how about I make some noodles?" Sakura returned his laugh with a smile, her jade eyes twinkling merrily.
"Sure. Sounds good to me. Only let me do the cooking part."
~*~
A knock sounded at the door two days after Mr. Hayashi fired Syaoran. He slurped up the rest of his lunch, dabbed his face with a napkin, and gave an almighty belch. He patted his large stomach fondly. "Come in," he called. A young lady pushed the door open, her head down. Her eyes were usually quite cheery, but this time they seemed abnormally dark. (A/N: I think everybody knows how Rika looks like now, right? If not, then I'm not launching into a description.)
"Rika-san," greeted Mr. Hayashi fondly. "What do you have here?" Rika still kept her eyes down.
"Hayashi-sama," she replied quietly. "I think we've got a problem." She had an envelope in her hand, and she took out the contents for Mr. Hayashi to see. "I think we've got a big problem." Mr. Hayashi look over the remains of his lunch to observe the papers.
"Sorry, Rika," he grunted. "I don't have my glasses here. I can't read nothing." Rika resisted the urge to correct him.
"This here is a graph that represents..." Mr. Hayashi stopped her in mid-sentence.
"Just revert to plain Japanese, okay? I can't understand all that mathematical crap." Rika rolled her eyes. The language that she was going to use was in fact not mathematical at all, but she obeyed anyway.
"We're out of business," Rika shot at him. "Is that plain enough for you?" It took several seconds for the impact of the words to register.
"WHAT?"
"We're out of business," repeated Rika slowly, staring at Mr. Hayashi dead in the eye. "Do you hear me now?"
"We can't be! This is impossible! I checked the stocks myself!"
"The last time you checked it was three months ago."
"SILENCE!" roared Mr. Hayashi, tearing his hair out furiously. Rika chose to ignore his order. What use was obeying Mr. Hayashi now if they were out of business?
"Would you like me to tell you what happened?" Rika asked politely. She pointed to the graph again. Mr. Hayashi listened in horror as she explained what had caused them to go bankrupt; no workers, no more stock, etc....
"So," concluded Rika, gathering all the papers together, "We're out of business. You've been firing people like crazy in the last three days, but not hiring new ones. You haven't even bothered to check the stock daily, so we've got none. So, we're gone. Or rather, you're gone." Mr. Hayashi purpled.
"DO NOT SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT! I AM HAYASHI KANO! I AM STILL HAYASHI KANO! I AM A MILLIONAIRE! I AM RICH AND FAMOUS! I AM A HIGHER CLASS THAN YOU! YOU SHOULD BE CALLING ME 'HAYASHI-SENSEI'!" he screamed. Rika smiled, shaking her head. She had waited for the day to get back at Mr. Hayashi. She hated everything about him, and he treated her like a touching post. Well, he tried to touch her, but she wouldn't permit it.
"Not anymore," said Rika calmly. "I told you. You're gone, Hayashi Kano. Long gone."
"SHUT UP!" screeched Hayashi. "LIAR! LIAR!" Mr. Hayashi was losing his mind. One of the reasons he thought himself God's gift to women was that he was rich and famous and successful. Never mind that he was unattractive, he had money! Now he was going to end up bankrupt, with everything taken away(he had actually listened to Rika's lecture), but he would still be famous...just humiliated in the newspapers.
"THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!" roared Mr. Hayashi. "THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" He jumped to his feet and began waving his arms wildly, yelling unbelievable and illegible swear words to the air. Then he collapsed. Mr. Hayashi collapsed, sobbing, onto his desk. "I have nothing now," he wept. "Nothing."
Despite her hatred of Hayashi Kano, Rika found herself feeling sorry for him. Because of one little mistake, he had gone down in a space of three days. (A/N: Sorry! Just wanted to tell you: if you feel that this is unrealistic, keep in mind that this is Alternate Universe!) Oh well, she thought grimly. That's his problem. I'm off to solve my own. She gave Mr. Hayashi a brief salute.
"Good luck, Hayashi," she said. "But I doubt it'll ever come." With that elegant parting phrase, Rika opened the door and walked out.
~*~
Sakura waited with pleading eyes, her fists clenched behind her back, hoping, hoping...Syaoran was in a relative pose, biting his lip, waiting, waiting...
"Well..." Sakura's manager scratched his bald head. His squinty little eyes were thinking as well as his brain. Sakura and Syaoran said nothing, still waiting and hoping.
"I don't know..." Sakura's features were beginning to twist into a whining expression.
"Maybe..." They twisted back into hopeful mode.
"But..." They went back to a whining expression.
"Okay, okay..." They were hopeful again.
"Except..." Whining.
"But maybe..." Hopeful.
"Wait a minute..." Whining.
"Yeah, I guess..." Hopeful.
"Just that..." Whining.
"Okay!" declared Sakura's manager. "Syaoran can work backstage!" Sakura's face broke into a brilliant smile.
"Really?"
"Really!" he replied. "And I'll give your boyfriend good pay, too!" Sakura was practically bouncing up and down by now.
"Arigato, arigato, arigato, arigato, arigato, Tsuki-sama!"
"No problem, Sakura-san," said Mr. Tsuki. Sakura threw her arms around Syaoran and hugged him tightly. In three seconds his face was turning purple.
"Sah-koo-rah," he choked hoarsely. "You can let go now." Sakura just hugged him even tighter before letting go.
"This is so cool!" she squealed. "When can he start, Tsuki-sama?"
"Today!" answered Tsuki. Sakura started jumping around and hugged everything, including the lava lamp sitting on her manager's desk and his special feather pen. Syaoran watched in amusement.
"I think tomorrow would be better," said Syaoran finally, grabbed Sakura's arm. To her he added, "And I should be happy, not you, so don't you be happy for me or you'll be throttling the Mona Lisa in a week."
"Sorry," squeaked Sakura, "But I'm just so happy for you!" She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Syaoran smiled.
"Okay, this calls for a celebration. Let's have some noodles!" Sakura arranged her face into a puzzled look.
"But I just thought we had noodles an hour ago..." Syaoran shrugged.
"Okay. JUNK FOOD!"
~*~
Sakura curled up beside Syaoran, like a contented cat. Syaoran absent-mindedly stroked her hair. Then she squealed again.
"I'm so happy for you, Syaoran!" Syaoran laughed.
"I know, huh?" He fixed his dark eyes onto her green ones. Sakura looked away. She'd get too caught up in them and...never mind. She nuzzled him.
"We're all happy now, aren't we?" she said softly. Syaoran nodded.
"I guess so," he answered, cupping her chin.
"Does this mean we'll live happily ever after?" asked Sakura playfully, her voice childish and adorable. Syaoran was laughing again. Sakura, Sakura, he thought in amusement.
"I believe it does," he replied, and kissed her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
YAY! FINALLY! The last chapter done! I hope you enjoyed it! It's a little shorter than the other ones, probably less exciting, but this is the ENDING after all! REVIEW!