Intertwined : Chapter 17

It was Monday morning, and Sakura had managed to pull herself out of bed early. The nightmares of what might happen to Daisuke if he came to her house haunted her the entire night. She avoided her brother entirely the whole morning and quickly left the house just to reach school with an intense frown on her face.
"Ohayo Sakura-chan!"
"Ohayo…" she said wearily. The entire class smiled wistfully, and turned their backs finding nothing unusual about her listlessness. Tomoyo, however, went up to Sakura with immense concern.
"Are you alright?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura sighed.
"Oniichan wants Daisuke to come over for dinner," she said. She spotted Daisuke getting up from his desk with a worried expression on his face. She gave a sigh as he walked towards her and quickly cupped her face in his hands. Tomoyo slowly stepped backward, and took out a camera from nowhere and began filming their transaction with a large smile.
"Sakura," he whispered, "Are you okay?"
"H-Hai," she said nervously, blushing from his touch. His thumb gently caressed her cheek, and she closed her eyes in response. Tomoyo chuckled to herself as Daisuke leaned in to kiss her…
"Okay! Class is starting! In your seats please! Kinomoto! Niwa! That means you too!"
They both flushed as red as tomatoes and rushed off, highly embarrassed. The entire class stared as they both hid their faces from one another and avoided everyone else's eyes.
"Alright, roll call…" the teacher said.

+++

Sakura's head began to droop as she listened to her teacher lecture about an obscure Japanese war and she somehow managed to wake up every now and then to scribble a few notes. Suddenly, as she picked up her pen to write another date down, a paper was thrown to her from her right. She looked up, a bit surprised. She turned to Tomoyo who grinned and mouthed, "From Daisuke".
Sakura's cheeks singed as she opened the piece of paper discreetly.
The trees by the track field at lunch – we can talk there.
Sakura quickly scribbled a response and watied for her teacher to write a sentence on the board. Then she chucked the note back at Niwa, who deftly caught it with a smile.

Stop grinning like an idiot, Dark said, cutting through his thoughts. People will think you're a doofus.
Can't help it, Daisuke said dreamily. She always makes me feel this way.
Dark tsked, and began muttering loudly about nothing in particular, although Daisuke did manage to hear the words "Sex-deprived", "pervert", and "wet dream". He twitched and once again began to wish that he had some way to hurt Dark without doing any physical movement.
Tomoyo stole peeks at Daisuke through the corner of her eye. She raised a delicate eyebrow at the constant changing of facial expressions. He went from smiling indulgently, to glaring, to contorted anger, and finally to contemplation. She was a bit confused by this odd behavior and decided to place it neatly in the back of her head for further observation. Daisuke was definitely a very strange boy.

+++

Sakura rushed out of her Pre-Calculus class and ran down the hallway towards the track field. She cursed herself for being in a math class that was a level lower than everyone else, forcing her to study with people a year younger than her.
No use complaining, she scolded herself. Besides, it's not like Math is my strongest point…
She rushed passed many stunned people, who stared at her speed. Sakura had no idea why she was rushing so much when she dreaded the thought of Daisuke coming to her house to witness the disaster she called home. However, her heart began pounding wildly at the thought of seeing Daisuke. One period without him nearby caused her to be immensely depressed and bit lonely. More so than usual in her math class.
Sakura finally reached the track field and rushed over to the groove of trees nearby. She walked down the path, panting slightly. She looked for Daisuke and clutched her books tighter to her chest. Only the rustling of the leaves were heard.
She suddenly felt strong arms wrap around her waist and a voice that chuckled in her ear. "You got here before me,"
"KYAAAH!!"
Daisuke leapt backwards as Sakura pushed her way out of Daisuke's grasp and she panted even harder from fear. Daisuke was a bit taken aback.
"A-ano… Gomen," he muttered, scratching his head. Sakura gripped her knees as she doubled over, trying to catch her breath. She waved away his apologies and shook her head.
"No…(pant) …it's just that… (pant) people don't usually (pant) … scare me so easily," she said. She took deep gulps of air.
Daisuke felt a stab of guilt.
It's because we took her magic, Dark said, voicing aloud Daisuke's thoughts. Daisuke immediately reached out to help her up.
"Gomen, gomen. Honto gomen," he said worriedly. She rested her forehead on his chest and panted softly.
"Daijobu," she said as she felt his arms pulled her closer to him protectively. "Really, I was just a little startled," She reached up to touch the tips of his lips. "Smile,"
Daisuke blushed and began to nuzzle her cheek with his nose to hide his embarrassment. She giggled and lightly touched his face.
She kissed him first. The slow and languorous kiss fogged Daisuke's mind and he reacted without thinking. He reached for her waist and pressed himself against her. God, how he missed her touch. Only a day had passed, and already he was longing for more. Separation between them was just torturous. His fingers wove themselves against the hem of her shirt.
He felt her tugging urgently on his tie, and he smiled against her lips.
"Mm, Sakura," he murmured. "If you want me to remove my tie, just say so,"
She flushed, and slowly drew back from Daisuke. "Oh, I-I… gomen, I didn't… Hoe…" she stammered, embarrassed.
He grinned and gave her another kiss on the lips. "I'm just teasing you," he said with a playful smile. She looked down, avoiding his eyes. He reached out for her hand and drew her towards a grassy area underneath the trees. He sat down and pulled for her to sit next to him.
Sakura followed, but suddenly tripped on a random root. She fell. Daisuke blinked from the suddenness and reached out to catch her. She landed with a jolt into his arms.
"Ah!" she yelped, trying to get up, "Gomen!"
Daisuke smiled and slowly drew her back down to sit by his side. As soon as she settled down, he held her tightly to him. He felt her relax in his arms. She rested her head onto his shoulder and sighed.
"So," he said, lacing his fingers with hers. "What's wrong?"
"Tired," Sakura murmured. Daisuke felt the intense stab of guilt again.
"When you go home, take a rest, okay?" he said. Sakura stiffened a bit. Daisuke blinked in alarm.
"What is it?" he asked.
Sakura anxiously chewed at her lip. "Well… no use beating around the bush…" she muttered. "Onii-chan wants you to come over for dinner tonight,"
Daisuke blinked, and he could feel Dark's interest perking. A dinner? With her family? So fast? Dark asked.
"Sure, I'll go," he said with a broad smile. "That's nice of your brother to invi—"
"NO!" she exclaimed. Daisuke was a bit surprised as she whirled around to face him.
Eh? Dark said.
"…Geh… What?" Daisuke asked. Sakura looked at him with extreme worry.
"No, no, no… aah… darn," she said, a bit deflated. "I was hoping you'd say you were busy,"
Daisuke felt a bit disappointed. She doesn't want me to go? He said.
Argh, find out what's really up before you start angsting your ass off. Dark said.
"Why don't you want me to come?" he asked.
"E-hehehe…" she chuckled. "You've …talked to Onii-chan right?" she said.
"Hai?"
"Then you know how," Sakura began. She struggled a bit through the next words, "How… he is?"
"Well, I thought all brothers would be protective," he said, resting his head against the tree. "Are you saying you don't want me to meet your family? I mean, your dad looked pretty nice and I haven't seen your mom yet…"
Sakura hesitated. "My mom is dead," she said.
"Um!" Daisuke exclaimed, sweatdrops appearing. "Aah, sorry! I didn't know,"
"It's okay," she said. "She died when I was very young. But that's not what… I'm worried about," she said.
"Then what do you think is going to happen?" Daisuke asked. Sakura laughed more nervously as she imagined The Disastrous Dinner™ with Kero-chan, Yue, an angry Onii-chan, a half-reincarnation of a great magician, and a dead woman. She winced as she imagined Daisuke freaking out and running out of the house.
"A… lot of things," she said.
Hmm… Dark said. I have a feeling it's not just her brother she's worried about.
You think so? Daisuke asked. Something to do with her … magic? Maybe we should look up some more stuff about her in Hiiragizawa's books.
Daisuke gave her a reassuring kiss. "Smile," he whispered to her, rubbing a finger against the edges of her lips. "Everything will be alright,"
Sakura blinked as the words seeped into her. Everything will be all right.
"Yes… they will…" she said, with a faraway look in her eyes. Daisuke watched as she stared out at the blue sky for a long moment.
What is she doing? Dark asked.
Magic? Daisuke suggested.
But didn't we…
"Hooee…" Sakura said, rubbing her head. "That hurts,"
Yeah, I thought so, Dark said, letting out a sigh of relief. Thank god she doesn't have her magic or else we'd be CAUGHT because she can read our MINDS and YOU chose this SECLUDED place just so you two can MAKE OUT.
SHUT UP! Daisuke cried. He hurriedly placed the back of his hand onto her forehead.
"Are you coming down with a fever?" he asked. Sakura blushed and shook her head.
"Ano… iie. I'm fine," she said. She looked at her watch and yelped. "Hoe! Daisuke, we're going to be late! Lunch hour is over in three minutes!" She started to get off her feet before Daisuke hurriedly got up as well and held her before she could rush off.
"What time," he murmured against her ear, "am I supposed to come?"
Sakura, highly embarrassed, murmured, "7:00, please,"
Daisuke pecked her cheek, and grinned. "It's a date,"
She flushed. "Ah, h-hai. I should get to my next class now," she slowly backed away, too nervous to break eye contact with Daisuke until the school bells rang urgently. She jumped with a terrified squeak, and ran off waving.
"I'll see you later, Daisuke-kun!"
Daisuke gave a smile and stood underneath the trees with the same dreamy smile on his lips. An indescribable feeling fluttered in his chest and caused him to feel light-headed. It was like he was floating on the clouds…
Stop being an idiot and get to class, Dark snapped.
"Yeah, yeah," Daisuke said. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked back towards the school.

+++

"Sakura-chan!"
Sakura turned around and saw Tomoyo racing towards her. It was after school and Sakura had completed cheerleading practice, whereas Tomoyo needed to stay for choir. Sakura gave a relieved smile as her friend caught up with her.
"I'm so glad to see you," Sakura said. "I need your help,"
Tomoyo chuckled. "Does it have something to do with your dinner with Daisuke?"
Sakura blushed. "Hai,"
"You want me to make your clothes for tonight?!" Tomoyo said excitedly. Sakura blinked, and then vigorously shook her head.
"N-No! I wanted you to come over and stay with me. I'm scared Onii-chan will gang up on us…" she said. Tomoyo chuckled.
"I see," Tomoyo said. "But I don't know, I mean, there's really no point in going…"
"Nani?!" Sakura exclaimed. "Tomoyo-chan!"
Tomoyo grinned evilly. "There's nothing interesting for me to videotape," she said.
Sakura opened her mouth to protest, when she realized what Tomoyo wanted. "But Tomoyo-chan…"
"Oh, I'd better get going Sakura-chan~"
"Hoee, fine. I'll do it," Sakura said dejected. Tomoyo's eyes sparkled.
"Fabulous! I've got a nice dress for you right here!" she said. She pulled out a dress from nowhere. It was what seemed to be a frillish nightmare, with bows sewed in. Tomoyo eagerly handed it to Sakura, who had a large sweatdrop. Sakura held it in front of her and examined it, sighing as she imagined Daisuke's frightened and horrified expression.
"You'll look stunning!" Tomoyo exclaimed.
"But we're only eating dinner… why do we need to dress up?" Sakura asked, with a sigh. Tomoyo tapped her chin in thought.
"It is a bit too frilly for the occasion…" Tomoyo said. Sakura brightened.
"So I don't have to wear this?" Sakura asked eagerly. Tomoyo nodded and stuffed the frillish nightmare back into her bag. Sakura grinned.
"Thank goodness, I was afraid I'd flip the table if I tried to sit down…"
Tomoyo immediately pulled out another dress. "This seems a bit more homely, no?"
Sakura facefaulted. Tomoyo chuckled and handed her the new dress, which was completely devoid of frills. Sakura relaxed slightly at this.
"It's based on an old Japanese style that I found was very interesting and I mixed in some more Westernized ways of dressing," Tomoyo explained, as Sakura looked it over. "It's simple, but beautiful,"
Sakura smiled slightly as she touched the knee-length skirt with a light pink sakura pattern on a white background. Sewed into the waistline was a thick, light pink ribbon. Sakura then stared at the top, which was made of very soft, white, material. It's sleeves billowed out and flared at the end, and the neckline was very widely cut. It was much simpler than Tomoyo's previous creations, and Sakura admired it for its uniqueness.
"I like it," Sakura said. "It doesn't seem too… out there,"
Tomoyo beamed. "Thank you,"
She then hooked her arm with Sakura's and walked down the street with Sakura, dreamily imaging taping Sakura in her new outfit.