Sakura sweatdropped as Tomoyo gave her trademark cackle.
"You look beautiful!" Tomoyo exclaimed. Sakura shifted with discomfort.
"It's really… frilly," Sakura said. Tomoyo had somehow convinced her to put on an extremely puffy blue skirt that flared outwards. Lace was sewn onto the edges of the skirt, as well as the shoulders of the top. Tomoyo also gave Sakura a pair of white gloves and an apron, both with blue embroidery sewed into the edges.
"Why an apron?" Sakura asked, squinting at it with one eye.
"I wanted an 'Alice in Wonderland' theme!" Tomoyo explained, helping her tie the strings of the apron. "All that it needs now are your stockings and a blue ribbon…"
Tomoyo walked to her drawers and removed a very thick ribbon. Sakura stood very still as Tomoyo tied it into her hair. Sakura sweatdropped.
"You never cease to amaze me," she muttered. "Dark-san's going to tease me awfully,"
"That's fine," Tomoyo said, giggling, "You look good when you blush,"
"He is so aggravating!" Sakura exclaimed. "I especially hate it when he flirts with me!"
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said calmly. "You adore Niwa-kun. So even if he flirts with you a little, it means nothing if you accept it,"
Sakura raised her eyebrow. "Why should I accept it?"
"You should accept everyone that loves you," Tomoyo said matter-of-factly. "It keeps everyone happier that way,"
Sakura sat onto Tomoyo's bed with a perturbed look. "I don't want the power to make people happy,"
"Why not?" Tomoyo asked gently.
"Because it means I have the power to make them sad, as well," she said. Tomoyo avoided Sakura's eyes as she began to wrap up strings of lace around a piece of cardboard.
"Everyone has this 'power', Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said. "But they don't make a person happy or sad on purpose. All you have to do is smile and be loving and caring to everyone… even kaitou Dark,"
"But he--!" Sakura began, a bit frustrated.
"From what I hear, he cares about you greatly," Tomoyo said wisely. "Or else he wouldn't have left you with Daisuke in the park, went to talk to you, and convince you to spend more time with him,"
"He just likes to flirt – and I just happen to be the only girl who wouldn't brag about our encounters or turn him over to the cops," Sakura said.
"I disagree," Tomoyo said bluntly. Sakura turned to Tomoyo, who smiled innocently back.
"You're too observant for your own good," Sakura muttered. Tomoyo giggled.
"Thank you, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said. "Now if I'm not mistaken, we'd better get to King Penguin, or you'll be late,"
She gestured to a clock, which read 6:50, and Sakura hesitantly stood up.
"Do you think this is a good idea, Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked. Tomoyo walked over to Sakura and adjusted her extremely large bow.
"It wouldn't hurt to keep a lonely man company," she said.
+++
"Thirty seconds to seven," Dark muttered, looking at his watch for the millionth time. He was sitting on the park bench near the King Penguin slide. His arms stretched along the sides of the bench, and his legs were crossed; he looked like any ordinary person relaxing at the park except for the fact that he was wearing yet another elaborate outfit. He grinned a bit, a bit glad that Emiko was becoming more and more fascinated with the effects of leather against his skin. She had given him a pair of said leather pants with a large, white, woolen turtleneck to wear. The sweater was purposely made a bit larger than his actual size, causing the sleeves to drape nearly past his fingers and for the collar to hang loosely down his neck. Multiple belts also jangled against his waist, placed over the large sweater, rather over his pants, in a criss-cross fashion.
Dark was a bit surprised at how well Emiko dressed him, seeing as that Sakura was Daisuke's girlfriend, and not his. Though he felt that it might have to do with getting Dark out of Daisuke's body as quickly as possible. He shrugged, still content on how he looked. He wisely decided to wear sunglasses, seeing as that seven o'clock was still rather bold to be outside – the police, as well as other various rabid fangirls, could easily spot them. Although, a few still managed to look past the sunglasses that hid his eyes and figure that he was extremely handsome. He smirked. Still got it. he thought proudly.
He looked at his hand again. "Seven. She's late,"
…Just because she's not here on the dot doesn't mean she's late, Daisuke said, annoyed. Dark gave an indignant sniff.
"It's very rude not to either be on time for a date," he said. "It's a universal rule – you're not supposed to keep your date waiting…"
Dark sighed simultaneously with Daisuke and leaned back into the park bench. He then lifted his hand and placed it in front of him. Rolling back the sleeves, he revealed Sakura's handkerchief, still wrapped carefully around his fingers and palm. Silently and without saying a word, he brought it to his lips.
"D-Dark-san?"
He immediately dropped his hand and rubbed the sleeve against his thigh so that it would unroll itself and hide his injured palm. The carrier of the voice, which he heard from behind him, walked around the park bench and stood uneasily in front of him. His breath hitched without warning, and he nearly choked at the sight of Sakura.
"Y-y-y-you…" he stammered. He nervously began to cough and sputter. Sakura blinked with surprise, and sat next to him.
"Daijobu?" she asked. She reached out to touch his forehead, but he quickly turned away. Dark somehow managed to regain his composure despite the fact that Sakura had willingly sat next to him, was concerned about him, had dressed up for him…
Stop being so full of yourself, Daisuke said, feeling the tables being turned. Dark gave a final small cough, and gave her his trademark smirk.
"Concerned?" he asked. Sakura looked away. Dark, feeling more confident, reached out and touched a frill on her blue dress. "And you're back to your outfits, I see?"
"My friend made it," she said quietly. "She insisted that I wear it,"
"How disappointing," Dark said. "And I thought you were wore it for me,"
She remained silent, and stared down at her lap. Dark's arm rested itself behind her neck, and to any normal passerbyer, they were a couple having a casual date in the park. He smiled at himself for his luck.
"You're late, by the way," he said, breaking the silence. She looked up.
"Hoe?" she said. "But it's seven…"
"Seven o' two," Dark said, checking his watch again. "That qualifies as late,"
"Two minutes is late?" Sakura asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Oh, absolutely," Dark said. "Back in the medieval days, if a person were even a second late for a meeting with a noble, they would be beheaded,"
Sakura's eyes were as wide as saucers. "Really?"
Dark grinned – he had seen this same expression whenever Yamazaki hold just concocted another tale in front of her. He congratulated himself on being able to fool Sakura.
"Yup. And then if they were a minute late, they'd be starved for an entire week, and only given water," he said, stretching the tale even further.
"This really happened?!" she exclaimed, "because I think Yamazaki-kun told me something like this before…"
"Yes, I even got tortured once for being late to a date with a princess," Dark said, his grin growing larger. "I have the scars to prove it,"
Sakura gasped in shock. "That's dreadful! How did you escape?!"
"You're asking a master kaitou how he escaped?" Dark asked, pretending to look aghast. Sakura laughed nervously.
"Ah, gomen. Beg your pardon," she said. Dark shook his head.
"I was just kidding; I don't mind. I'll even... let you see the scars," he said. Sakura was caught by surprise, and hiccupped, causing Dark to chuckle quietly.
Where is this going, Dark… Daisuke muttered.
Dark grinned again and pulled his shirt up. "There," he said, pointing to an indistinct place on his upper abdomen. Sakura squinted at where he was pointing.
"I don't see anything…" she said. Dark picked up Sakura's hand, and removed the glove, his hand slightly unsteady.
"Here…" he said. He pulled Sakura's fingers towards his sharply toned abs, and ran her fingers over it. He gasped inwardly at how soft her hands were. He lightly ran them back and forth, reveling in the feel of her fingers against his skin.
"A-Ano… there's nothing there," she said, after a moment. Dark smiled at her gently… almost innocently.
"Really? Hmm… it must've been somewhere else then. Ah yes," he said. He brought Sakura's fingers higher up towards his chest. "I remember her running a knife across here," he let go of her hand and the sweater loosely fell over her arm.
"Yeah," he said huskily. "There,"
Sakura's frowned in confusion. She ran her hand across his chest, and wondered where exactly the scar was. She couldn't really feel anything…
"Dark-san… I think you're scar isn't here…" Sakura said, looking up and removing her hand from his chest. His sweater fell limply back over his jeans. To her surprise, Dark was leaning back on the park bench and gripping the seat edge tightly. His eyes were closed and there was a faraway look on his face.
"D…Dark-san?" she repeated. He opened one eye and turned to look at her from beneath the sunglasses lens. She noticed a glazed look in it. It sent a nervous chill up her spine. He slowly sat back up and looked at her with half-lidded eyes. Something in his look made Sakura to slowly scoot away from him.
"Ah," he said. "I suppose so. She didn't make very deep cuts, actually," he said, smoothing down the front of his sweater.
"That's amazing…" she said in awe. "How you lived so long and were able to see so much,"
"Is it?" Dark said, his eyes focusing a bit. "Funny, I don't feel that way about it,"
Sakura looked a bit deflated. "H-hoe… I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way,"
"It's okay," Dark said, waving it off. "You really haven't experienced living that long… you're still really young…"
"I know that living forever isn't the greatest thing in the world," she said, the words tumbling out of her mouth. She remembered Clow and how long he lived – how lonely he was. "You must be lonely,"
Dark stared at her. He could even feel Daisuke's surprise.
For someone as gullible and innocent as her… she's very observant. Dark said to Daisuke.
Yeah… it's kinda scary, Daisuke muttered in return.
"Very observant of you, Sakura-chan," Dark said playfully. "But being able to detect a problem is not as good as being able to solve it,"
"I'll be your friend," Sakura said simply. Dark was a bit startled at this. He did not respond at first – he allowed the words to sink in before saying anything.
"Why the sudden favor?" Dark said. "Do you really want the orb that badly?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Sakura said. "I don't need an ulterior motive to be your friend. Anyone's friend,"
She's right. Daisuke muttered. She'll be a friend to even the dangerous of criminals…
"What happened to your dislike for me?" Dark asked. Sakura gave him a small smile.
"'Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love'," she said. He looked at her questioningly. "Buddha,"
He laughed. "What suddenly inspired you?"
"A friend," she said. "If I can make a person feel even marginally better… it'll be enough,"
Dark was struck dumb by her words. He felt the sudden urge to do something drastic – grab her, hug her, mash his lips into hers, hold her tightly against him… his heart swelled at her kindness. Her extension of friendship touched him more than anything before. When was the last time he felt this way?
"Sou," Dark said. "Well, Sakura. I'd greatly appreciate it if you were my friend,"
"Will it make any difference to you?" Sakura asked hesitantly. Dark's hand clamped itself down onto her head and ruffled her hair fondly.
"Of course," he said, "I don't know a lot of people here, and I'm glad you're my first friend," He helped her untangle the extremely large blue ribbon from her hair, seeing as that he had accidentally caused it to untie itself and hang awkwardly on her hair. He removed it with great care and delicately held it in his hands.
"Arigatou," Sakura said meekly, taking it from him and wrapping it around her wrist. When she was done, she straightened her back and began to childishly swing her legs back and forth. With her costume, and her youthful demeanor, she looked extremely young.
"You know… there are some swings over there," he said. He pointed to the distance where two lone swings swung back and forth, the chains creaking slightly. He stood up, and brushed himself off. He held out a hand to her.
Sakura looked up at him, uncertain of what to do. Then, she hesitantly reached out to take it. Dark quickly grabbed her gloved hand and walked over to the swings with Sakura trailing slightly behind. He let go of her only to sit onto the swing, and looked at her expectantly. She immediately followed suit and sat next to him, holding onto the chains of the swing.
Dark began to swing back and forth slowly. "I can't remember when I last played at a park like this," he said, laughing. "I wonder what it'd be like to slide down that penguin…? Or play in the sand? Or to just run around and play tag…" He grinned at the thought.
"We could do that," she suggested. "I haven't done those in awhile either,"
Dark began to laugh. "Not in these clothes. Don't want them to get ruined,"
"Oh," Sakura said, a bit disappointed. "Yeah, I suppose me too,"
Dark looked at her sideways. She began to slowly swing too, although not as high. He slowed down, and pulled on the chain of her swing. Sakura gasped as she came face to face with Dark, who had a serious look on his face.
"What does your boyfriend think of all this?" Dark asked. Whatever she expected, it was not this. His tone and his expression frightened her. Not only that, but the thought of Daisuke's face shaking in shame and disappointment filled her mind. She felt her entire body go slack.
"H-he… he said it was alright," she said quietly.
"You told him that you were coming to see me?" Dark asked quickly.
"N-no!" she said, "I said I was going to my friend's house… which I did… but…"
"…How much do you like this guy?" Dark said, releasing his hold on her chain. Sakura began to blush and she tried to hide her flaming cheeks.
"V-very much. I like him very, very, much," she responded.
"Love?" Dark asked cautiously. Sakura's hands dropped to her sides, and she gripped them tightly in her lap.
"…" she said. Dark looked for any signs of a reddening or embarrassment, but found only a distinct sadness spreading across her face.
"Is something wrong?" Dark asked. Something snapped in Sakura, and she quickly shook her head.
"No! I'm fine. I was just lost in thought," she said. Dark gnawed anxiously on her lip, unsure on how to bring up the next question.
"How do you think he'd feel about… all this?" Dark said, gesturing to the both of them.
"Probably badly of me," she said softly, scuffing her foot against the sand underneath the swings. "Even if he is fond of you,"
"He said that?" Dark said, incredulous. "I didn't know your boyfriend was a fan,"
I'M NOT YOUR FAN. Daisuke exclaimed.
"He spoke highly of you when I… when I told him about how I felt … about you. Before," she said, a bit hesitantly. She didn't want to look at Dark's face.
"How do you feel about me?" he asked.
"You're lonely," she said simply. Dark began to laugh.
"Is this a pity date?" he asked. He got up from the swing. "Because if it is, I won't stick around to –"
"It's not a pity date," Sakura said, looking up at him. She then looked back down, "It's not even a date…"
"Then what is this?" Dark asked. "Why did you come?"
"You told me to!"
"But you didn't have to," Dark pressed. "What made you come?"
Sakura was silent and Dark watched as her brow furrowed in concentration.
"I guess… I didn't want you to feel lonely or sad," she said. "I didn't want to be the cause of it,"
Dark stared. She began to laugh nervously.
"I want you to be happy. And if I can somehow help you to… I'll do it. I don't want to make anyone sad," she said.
The same previous feeling washed over Dark. Comforting warmth. The sincerity in her voice and the kind look in her eyes caused him to tingle from head to foot. Millions of thoughts crashed in his head. All of the sane ones flew out.
Dark reacted without thinking. He reached out for Sakura, who stood shock-still as his face hovered a millimeter's length away from hers. His fingers ran across her cheeks and clutched her hair.
"Why…" he whispered huskily. The tantalizing smell of her breath from her shocked gasp intoxicated him. "Why are you so…"
He leaned in and pressed his lips tightly against hers. Her eyes widened with shock and her hands, still on the chains, tightened until they were white with strain.
Dark's hands reached for hers, but before he could move any further, Sakura pulled away. She turned so that he could not see her embarrassed reaction. His hands fell limply to his legs and he watched as her back trembled.
"I-I wasn't thinking," he said quickly. He kicked himself for the shaking of his voice. And for once, Daisuke was completely silent – he wasn't even sure if he was still there. "S-Sorry. It's j-just…"
"P-please," she whispered, her back still turned to him. "Don't do that again,"
"O-okay," he said shamefully. He turned away from her.
Crap. Dark thought to himself. Now she's gonna hate me all over again. What the hell did I…?! Things were turning out all well and I screwed it up with this and… now she's freaking out…?
There was an awkward silence between the two of them as Sakura silently ran her fingers over her lips and Dark mercilessly berated himself. He watched Sakura from the corner of his eyes as she nervously swung in the swing.
What is she thinking…? He wondered.
…you confused her, Daisuke finally said, barely above a whisper.
What? Dark asked.
First it was Li, Daisuke said, his voice rising. Then it was me. And now you're--!
I didn't mean to, Dark said softly.
Bull, Daisuke said. She can't ever forget her first love. And I'm with her now. You took advantage over her friendship and now she's lost over who to love more and…
I screwed things up? Dark finished.
"Dark-san," Sakura said softly. "You told me before that you like me," She turned to face him, and he could see the worry in her eyes. "How much…?"
She looked at him expectantly. Dark hesitated.
Should I? Dark asked Daisuke.
...It wouldn't do well to lie, Daisuke admitted, though a bit peeved. He felt history repeating itself, as he had heard a similar question from Sakura himself.
"I…" Dark began. He paused before continuing. Three simple words… and they were so hard to say. He looked down at Sakura's glistening eyes, and sighed. "I love you," he confessed.
Don't you love cliffhangers? I know I do! XD. Enjoy waiting for one (or two) more weeks until I post a new chapter up. (waves cheerily)
PS: I just realized that I had clicked the "signed-in users only" review thing. So if you're an anonymous reviewer, feel free to spam. And flame. Whatever.
