sup? 8th chapter @ last! wahahahaha!!! finally, eriol finds out about the truth... wut will happen? don't ask me and just read and find out. am i being mean??? oh yea, keep those reviews coming coz i'm getting to the good part of the story! oh and before i forget, i'd like to thank alex'z death chic for the MANY ideas she gave me. check out her stories when you have the time, ok?

Disclaimer: try readin the past disclaimers and see how hard i've been tryin to shove this tiny piece of info into everyone's minds: I DON'T OWN CCS!!!

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CHAPTER EIGHT

Learning the Truth

Sakura got up early the next morning. She didn't want any time to lose. She wanted to get to school early and surprise the others. It was odd though that Tomoyo didn't even call her up the last evening to check up on her. She must have been busy because she would always call Sakura whenever she didn't go to school. Sakura threw on some clothes and shoes, ate breakfast in a hurry, then rushed to get to school in her Porsche.

She got there and found that only a few students were already in school. Some were looking at her and would whisper to someone all of a sudden. Full of crap. Sakura went around and after half an hour, more students started to come over. She spotted Eriol on her way. Sakura couldn't even bear to look at him. They just both walked past one another as if neither one of them existed. Great. What a way to start a day... not!

Soon, Chiharu and Rika [she appears at last] arrived almost right next to one another. They were both happy to see Sakura. After a few minutes, Tomoyo came at last. She seemed okay, the same ol' light-hearted Tomoyo who was Sakura's best friend for as long as she could remember. Chiharu and Rika separated from the two while Sakura and Tomoyo went on their own way as well.

"I'm glad you came to school today, Sakura," Tomoyo told her.

Sakura smiled and replied, "Yeah, me too. By the way, what happened yesterday? You didn't even bother to give me a call."

"Oh, sorry. I figured it might not be the best time to call you because of your little dilemma," came Tomoyo's answer.

"I can see that," Sakura uttered as she and Tomoyo headed to class.

~*~

Syaoran was talking to Jin at the side of the school building where people rarely go. Obviously, he didn't want anyone to see him talking to Jin.

At another side of the building, Eriol was looking around for Syaoran. He wanted to tell him that he had seen Sakura a while earlier. As Eriol was looking almost everywhere, he figured someone might've seen Syaoran. Eriol started to ask other people if they have seen Syaoran anywhere around campus. He got near the side of the school where Syaoran was seen to have gone to. Eriol rushed to see if his best friend was anywhere in there.

Eriol was surprised to catch sight of Syaoran talking to a very familiar guy. In an instant, Eriol recognized who it was... Kagami Jin, the person who made him break up with his cherry blossom. Damn asshole was talking to Syaoran. But why? Eriol had no idea so he decided to see it for himself. He didn't know why he was about to do what he had in mind. Eriol was planning to listen to Syaoran and Jin's conversation. The first one to talk was Syaoran.

"Hey Jin, I need you to keep your mouth shut about this, alright?"

"So, where's the cash? You've kept me waiting long enough."

"Here. But don't you ever spill this out to anyone most especially to the ones who were actually part of the gig."

"Sure, whatever you say. It was great doing business with you, buddy."

"Don't call me buddy. Just go already! Don't you ever bother me about this again."

That was all Eriol had to hear. Eriol could not believe what he heard Syaoran say in front of Jin. Since when did his best friend do stuff to ruin his life? Suddenly, Eriol realized something. He left Sakura for nothing but a stupid misunderstanding. Sakura had been trying to explain but he just ignored her. He felt like a big idiot. For that, he needed to talk to Syaoran. He needed to make something clear with him. Eriol needed an explanation from the person he thought was his best friend. The bell rang and Eriol wasn't able to confront Syaoran in time so he decided to see Syaoran some time later.

~*~

Syaoran was relieved to see Sakura present that day when he got to class. Hold that. Can you say that again? Is it me, or did I hear him say he was "relieved" to see 'her'. [Fine, I'll fix that.] Syaoran was okay with having Sakura around at last [happy?]. It was better than seeing an empty chair in front of him. That would definitely crack him up.

The teacher was discussing this sort of activity in class. Syaoran wasn't exactly listening to what the teacher was talking about up till... "Li shall pair up with Kinimoto," the teacher gave Syaoran a grin. He wanted to curse her right then if only she wasn't a teacher! Damn. Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other and groaned. She had no complaints but he was *full* of them...? One by one, he exclaimed every negative reason to why he shouldn't work with Sakura, which of course didn't take him much time because all he could think of were "Sakura's my all-time rival" and "We don't work good together" or "I can't deal with this crap with her around". Lame, totally lame. Syaoran couldn't help but feel stupid. Who wouldn't?

Sakura turned her seat to face Syaoran. "Both of us know we're no good as a team but at the moment, I don't think we have a choice," she said as she shook her head. "So, I guess it'd be better if we just do what we can. I'm not expecting us to get a high grade at this but I'm not planning to fail either, capish?"

"Okay, whatever," Syaoran replied as he took out a pen and started to answer the worksheet they were given. They were supposed to help one another and surprisingly, that's what Sakura did. Syaoran found that very strange and unusual. He squinted his eyes once at her in bafflement.

"No, that's not right," Sakura told him as she took his paper and pointed out his mistake. "You have to answer this question in order to end up with the answer for that one," she said and he just nodded in understanding. Both of them noticed the people who were eyeing at them but they just had to ignore them all for now.

Syaoran wanted to say, "Kinimoto, I don't need your help. Mind your own business" but none of those words slipped out from his mouth. He felt as though he was sick or something. Maybe he acquired some disease that makes you act "nice" around your enemies. Or maybe he was dreaming. Or maybe, he was just thinking stupid. Yeah, that must be it.

After school, Syaoran got out of the school building only to find Eriol waiting for him outside. Eriol seemed upset from the looks of his face. But why? Syaoran approached his friend. "Hey, why the sour face?" he said. With that, Eriol punched his jaw with much strength. "What was that all about?!" Syaoran exclaimed, picking up his composure.

"You paid Jin to kiss Sakura didn't you?!" Eriol shouted in fury.

'What the hell?! How did he find out?' Syaoran thought, with no sensible words to reply. "What are you talking about?" was all he managed to say.

"Answer me you god damn liar!" Eriol demanded. "You paid Jin to ruin what I thought of Sakura! I heard you talking to him this morning. Dammit Syaoran, how could you do this to me?! And all this time I thought you understood how I felt!" he added. Syaoran just stood there in silence. "You are so fucking narrow-minded! You destroyed everything for me! Syaoran, you are no smarter than a piece of rock!" Eriol continued spilling out his anger.

"I... I did that for your sake!" Syaoran spoke up. "You and Sakura weren't even meant to be in the first place! I just did you a favor." He couldn't believe how furious Eriol was. But he couldn't believe how careless he was for even letting Eriol find out.

"You dumbass! You made me think that Sakura wasn't worth it! But in reality, she is! You were just jealous that I have someone to love! And other than that, you couldn't put up with Sakura because she was your enemy! You care nothing about what others feel! You just want to be the center of everything! That's not a reason for you to destroy my relationship with Sakura!" Eriol shouted even more. Other people started to gather around to watch. Curious imbeciles.

Sakura had just gotten out of the school building when she saw Eriol and Syaoran who both seemed to be angrily talking about something.

Syaoran and Eriol saw Sakura behind them. "Sakura," Eriol uttered, the anger nowhere to be found. He left Syaoran and headed towards Sakura's direction. He got himself in front of her. Tomoyo, Chiharu and Rika stepped back, leaving Sakura and Eriol for themselves. "Sakura, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being such an idiot," Eriol told her.

Sakura looked at him with teary eyes. She saw Syaoran over Eriol back and remembered what he had said. 'If Eriol really loved me,' Sakura clearly recalled Syaoran's words. She turned to Eriol once again. "I... I'm sorry," she uttered.

"What are you saying? I'm the one who should apologize to you. I love you Sakura. I love you very much," Eriol replied taking her hands in his.

Sakura hesitated at first then eventually shook her head at him. "No, Eriol. It... It's over for both of us. There is... there is no more 'us' anymore," she stammered, avoiding to gaze into his eyes.

Eriol refused to believe what she had just said. "No, it's not over yet, Sakura. You see, it wasn't your fault. We could still be together," he told her with a look that appeared very hopeful.

"I'm sorry. I... have to go," Sakura muttered before she slipped her hands away and started to walk back. Eriol took her hand again and kept her close.

"Tell me. Why? Why can't we be together?" Eriol asked.

Sakura looked at him and answered, "If you really loved me, you wouldn't leave me just like that. You would've at least hear me out. And if you really loved me, you would've stayed with me no matter what happened." Her words were that of Syaoran's. It was what he told her before, much too alike. Syaoran stared at Sakura in surprise. Was she letting go of Eriol all because of what he told her?

Eriol looked at her with disappointment. He knew he had been a jerk and nothing more. Sakura was right. If he really loved her, he would've stayed with her no matter what. But fact is, he didn't and now, it was all over for him and Sakura. "I... I understand. Forgive me for being so harsh on you. I know you were hurt all because of me. I should've treated you better. I'm sorry I made you feel bad," Eriol said looking away.

"Eriol, I can't feel any worse at the moment. I loved you, I really did but things just had to change. You were very kind to me and made me feel unlike any other guy has. However, I feel we are better off only as friends. You were a wonderful boyfriend but even more wonderful as a companion," Sakura managed to say despite how hard it was to hold her tears back. It was too much for her to handle. She felt like a complete fool except she was the fool who was doing the right thing.

Syaoran was feeling as guilty as he had ever been. It was like all this time, he was trying to wreck Sakura's life, not caring about her feelings. He saw the sadness in his best friend's eyes and he just couldn't take it. Syaoran stood there as he watched Sakura and her friends walk past them. He knew what he did to her was wrong.

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is anyone about to stare daggers at me??? or is anyone relieved about this chap??? hmm... you guys owe me a review for getting this far! you ought to give me one! pleeeaazzee [with puppy eyes]!!! any suggestions? plz no flames, k? i'm glad no one is giving me any. don't get me wrong. i'm not giving any ideas for someone to flame me! i'd slit my own throat if i did that. though that would be kinda gross... uck! anywayz, reviews are all welcomed. go ahead and press that button!