Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. I never have and I never will.
Summary: By day, she's a host on the local radio, by night, just another waitress at a café in downtown Tomoeda. Life's hard for Kinomoto Sakura, and it's about to get even harder. Especially when he shows up again... AU
Notes: Here's the deal. Both Sakura and Syaoran are very OOC here. This fic is an AU, and most likely an S+S. Both Syaoran and Sakura are thirty. An interesting fact came to me. Sakura is actually older than Syaoran. If you think about it, Sakura's birthday is April 1, and Syaoran's is sometime in July, I have a feeling that it's July 13, but I'm not very sure... so that makes Sakura four months older than Syaoran. Useless information, ne? ^_^;; Sorry, I have a habit of rambling. Anyway, on with the story.
Footprints in the Sand
You know what? Life has always been difficult for me, particularly when it comes to the area of getting jobs. I've also had more than my fair share of slime around me too. It hasn't always been all that nice. My brother always told me to get a decent job that paid well. I didn't really listen to him. He also told me not to fall for Li Syaoran. I didn't listen to that either. I ended up falling for him, hard. I haven't always been the brightest around, one would say that I'm very dense. I like to say that I've improved with time, but I guess I haven't. It's not easy, being me.
I've been learning different languages since I left high school, the odd night class between jobs. Right now, I work as a radio host during the day, and a waitress at night. I guess you could say that my life sucks right now. I get to see my nephew, Roka, quite often. I'm thirty years old, and still my love life is going slowly, ever so slowly, down the drain. Pretty soon it's going to become a whirlpool. My life is unpredictable like that.
I've been working on the radio show for as long as I can remember. It seems to be the only thing in my life that's stable. I work there during the day, talking on the air, playing the songs. Life seems to be easy, but I don't think it is. Maybe it's time to move on...
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Sakura collapsed onto her bed after another hard night at work. She'd been flat off her feet all day. Her hand lazily hit the messages button on her bedside phone and the machine told her that she had a message. Hitting play it said:
'Hey monster. Roka misses you. He hasn't seen you in a while. Feel free to come in anytime. We keep hearing you on the radio and we're all missing you, okay? Come and see us. Okay, later.'
Sakura groaned. She felt like passing out on her bed. She curled up underneath the covers and was about to drift off to sleep when the doorbell rang. Throwing an irritated, half-sleepy glare at her clock, she noted that it was 3am in the morning. If whatever it was wasn't important, she was gonna shoot the person at the door. Sakura kicked the covers off and walked down to the front door, occasionally banging into the wall. She cursed under her breath when a statue fell off its pedestal and crashed onto the concrete floor. Oops, the landlord was going to be overly happy about that. Just another thing to add to her ever-growing list of bills... what a life.
"Yeah?" Sakura asked sleepily as she opened the door. She stood there for a few moments, still blinking sleepily and not registering who was at the door.
"Geez, monster, this is the welcome we get?" Touya asked.
"Sor," – Sakura yawned loudly – "Sorry. I haven't got much sleep for the past few months. I'm a bit tired."
"I'll say. Just look at your pyjamas." Touya laughed.
"Okay, you're way too perky and you're frightening me. Also, you diss the pyjamas and you're out, kapeesh?" Sakura opened her door a bit more and stepped aside. "How can you be so cheerful at 3am in the morning? It's way too early to be even thinking of waking up. I'm due at work in three hours. I need sleep."
"We figured that this was the only time that you'd be home. Sorry for waking you, auntie Sakura," Roka said shyly, making Sakura smile.
"You know what kid? Usually I'd be shouting bloody murder if someone was on my doorstep early in the morning, but for you I'll make an exception." Sakura crouched down to her nephew's height. "I'm not going to be happy when you've grown up."
"Why?" Roka was confused.
"Because I like you just the way you are."
"Monster, that sounds like some line from a cheesy song," Touya remarked.
"Touya, one would think that you would've grown up by now," Sakura replied blatantly. She patted Roka's head and pointed them through to the barely used living room. She wasn't home all that often and she didn't have much money to throw around on expensive furniture or anything, as she just had enough to keep her head above water... for now. She had been finding the demands on her time a little tedious now, and they were slowly but surely wearing her down. She hadn't been sleeping much lately, and even found herself dozing halfway through hosting one of the radio shows that she did.
No one knew much about her private life or such. They only knew her by name, but she was a forgettable person. She wasn't all that tall. Average, average and more average. Her brown hair was relatively short after a recent hair disaster which had involved her hairdresser cutting her hair into a straight length bob cut. It had looked absolutely horrible. She'd had to endure spiteful remarks about her appearance for months, but now that it was longer, more like just under her shoulder blades, she had been thinking of getting it layered. Sakura hadn't had much time though, so she had made do with what she had had.
"Auntie Sakura, do you ever have anyone over?" Roka asked.
Wasn't he the blunt one? "Not often, honey. I'm too busy."
"That's what you always say," Touya mumbled.
"Touya, the door is that way," Sakura said, pointing stiff-armed to the door. "You can wait out there in the cold while Roka and I finish our milo."
"What about mine?" he asked.
"Take it out with you. Hold on," Sakura said. She went to the kitchen and pulled out some polystyrene cups. Pulling one out, she went back to the table and began pouring Touya's milo into the now rapidly filling container. "Not everything is what it seems, Roka. I don't use glass cups because I usually break them. Either that, or the dog that runs through my house on a daily basis does."
"You have a dog?" Roka asked. "Cool! Can I see him?"
"He ain't my dog. His name's Kero and he's an absolute pig. He belongs to the people next door." Sakura gave Touya the cup and sat down again. "I'd want to have a dog, but I just don't have the time. Who would look after it? Who'd keep it company?"
"I would," Roka chimed in. "Dad, can I keep him?"
Touya looked down at Roka with a raised eyebrow. "Wouldn't it be monster's dog?"
"Well... kinda. I really want a dog though! Please, please, please! Can I have one!? Please!!" Roka begged.
"He doesn't get that from me," Touya stated, looking at Sakura. "You must be around him too much."
"Was I really that bad?" Sakura was surprised.
Touya nodded. "Yeah, only sometimes though. There's the puppy face... that one I can never forget. It's what you would use on anyone when you wanted something. It worked pretty much all the time."
"Do I do that?" Roka asked.
Innocence, that boy had. "Keep that, Roka. It's good for you," Sakura said with a laugh, patting him on the head and smiling.
"Hey, watch the hair!" Roka protested, trying to brush her hand off his head.
Sakura and Touya just both laughed, watching the comical act. Kids were a blast, that much was certain.
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"I'm signing off, me, Kinomoto Sakura," Sakura said into the microphone, "See you tomorrow everyone, same time, same time, same channel. Goodnight." With a triumphant push of a button, she was off air and grinning, then the smile faltered. That was right, she had traded shifts with someone tonight. She had traded because of Roka's birthday. It had been last week and she'd sworn to Touya that she would go. She had been working that night, but had managed to guilt one of her colleagues into working the shift. Okay, so she owed them a couple of favours now, but it sure was better than missing out on her nephew's birthday. He had been turning six and Touya had thrown him a big party for him and all of his friends.
Sakura removed the big headphones from her ears and gave a sigh, reminiscing on the previous week's events. She'd experienced so many fun things the past week that she hadn't had for a long time. Why, last week had been more fun than the entire year.
"Hey, Sakura? The manager needs to talk to you," one of her assistants, Mareo, poked his head through the door.
Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "What would he need to talk to me about?"
"I don't know exactly. He just said that he needed you ASAP. I have to go now. It's my youngest kid's birthday soon and I need to get him a present. See ya."
"Okay, Mareo. Good luck and have fun," Sakura called out the door. She got off her swivelling chair and stood up, her mood and facial expression one in the same, puzzled. "What would the manager want me for...?" Sakura thought. I haven't done anything wrong... have I? I know that I've been a bit distracted lately, but he wouldn't need to call me up to his office for that, would he?"
Sakura walked out of her recording room and up the stairs slowly. With each step she took, a random new theory took hold in her mind. Soon she had a whole bunch of outrageous thoughts, and not one clue of what was happening.
"Rei, what is it?" she asked, poking her head through the door.
"Come in, Sakura. Please, take a seat," Rei gestured at the seat situated in front of his desk.
Sakura nodded and complied. "What do you need me for?" she asked.
"Sakura, I have a feeling that you're going to take this very hard... please, just know that it wasn't my decision. The investors in this place are cutting costs and we don't need so many people as we have now."
"What does this mean?" Sakura asked. She held her breath, but nothing could have prepared her for the words that were about to come out of Rei's mouth.
"You're fired."
"WHAT?!"
"You have one week left in this place, then you're out of here."
"Look, Rei, I know that I've been slacking a bit and all, but I need this job. If I don't have the money that this job supplies me with, I'm as good as dead. Please, Rei, help out a friend."
"I'm sorry, Sakura, but there's nothing that I can do."
Shit.
"Try getting in touch with this person." Rei handed over a business card. "He might be able to help you."
Sakura took the business card from Rei and put it in her pocket. "Right. Bye," she said coldly and went to leave the room.
"Sakura, please know that this wasn't my decision. I couldn't have effected the outcome, even if I wanted to."
"Right." And she left the room, slamming the door behind her with a bang.
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"Just my bloody day," Sakura muttered over and over to herself. "What else could possibly go wrong?"
"Hey, lady! Look out!" a voice called. Someone crashed into her with a skateboard and Sakura went sprawling to the ground, her limbs akimbo.
"Watch where you're going!" she yelled at the boy, who was quivering under her fierce stare. Sakura was no taller than 5'4", but she could win any staring contest.
"Y-Y-Yes mam," he stuttered and he picked up his skateboard and rode away. Sakura sighed, dropping the act. She was too tired to keep it up. "This day sucks," she thought. "What else can possible go wrong?"
Soon after she arrived at her apartment, the phone rang. Sakura looked over at the caller ID and grimaced. It was her work place down at the café. She picked up the phone and said, "Sakura here."
"Kinomoto, get your ass down here. We're full up and busy as hell."
"Why should I? I don't start work for another hour. I'm tired." She was irritable, and didn't feel like being bossed around.
"Screw you. If you don't get down here, you're fired."
"Good riddance!" Sakura yelled into the phone and hung up.
She'd always hated that job. Maybe it was time to get something better. Oh heck... she had nothing to do. Time to make a trip down to the pub.
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"Another beer over here!" Sakura called out, thumping more money down on the bar counter. She was sitting on a stool situated near the end of the bench.
"Mind if I sit here?" a voice asked.
"No, sure, go ahead," Sakura waved a hand at the stool next to her and knocked back the beer. "What's your name?"
"Li Syaoran," the voice said.
Sakura was really too drunk to care. "Li Syaoran, huh? Don't I know you from somewhere?"
"I don't know. You?"
"Sakura, that's all you need to know. Whoa." Sakura dropped her glass on the ground, fell backwards off her stool, and landed with a loud thump, her head landing the hardest on the concrete floor.
Syaoran got off the stool and crouched down to examine her. Then he noticed something. Blood. That wasn't a good sign. "Bartender, call an ambulance!" Syaoran yelled. "She needs to get to a hospital!"
"Right." The bartender dialled for the operator and was put through to emergency services. "The ambulance will be here in five minutes."
"Thanks," Syaoran said and he turned his head to examine Sakura again. "You've really got to be careful, Sakura. I know that your life is hard and all, but you've got to watch yourself."
Sakura lay still, not moving, even after the ambulance arrived.
To be continued...
Those of you who have read my fanfic, Wishing Well, would have known that this fanfic was coming sometime soon, and here it is. What did you think? The idea has probably been used before, and I know that the fanfic bears some resemblance to some others posted around here, but I'm going to try to make it different. See ya everyone! ^_^
Review if you want to.
--Kaiwawata
AKA Karisa Temura
