Syaoran glanced at the kitchen from his position on the couch. Sakura's face loomed with worry and he knew why. He never dreamed of meeting that woman again. Her face just brought back memories of that year, and it was utterly horrible. It was true that he did hold feelings for her, but he was only 15 then. How was he to know the meaning of love? Hikaru never gave up and he admitted that he gave her credit for that. Syaoran knew that if she had cried on that fateful day, he would have kissed her. But when she didn't, he knew she just wasn't for him. Goodbye was the best word he'd ever said to anybody, and he meant it.
--
Tomoyo put the fried shrimp on a plate. Eriol wiped his hands after he finished the dishes. Sakura stood, leaning on the counter, with her head looking down miserably. Her mouth made a small frown and she couldn't help it. Tomoyo sighed and pinched Sakura's arm lightly to get her back into reality. Her eyes opened at the pain and she gave out a small yelp.
"Get back into realism, honey." Tomoyo smiled wryly. "Come and help us prepare the dinner table."
She nodded and opened a cupboard to get the glasses out. "You guys have the utensils?"
"Yep." Eriol responded.
"Ok." Sakura made her way to the table and placed the glasses in its regular place.
Syaoran stood up from his sit and went over to the table, sitting on his original place. Tomoyo shot him an annoyed look, but he chose to ignore it. Eriol sat down across from him and gave him a moronic grin. Syaoran rolled his eyes and apologized to everyone for not helping. Sakura mumbled 'ok' while Tomoyo grumbled on forever. Eriol scrunched up his nose and complained why no one ever let him just sit back and watch some TV.
"Think of it this way, man." Syaoran explained. "They think you're a lot more helpful than I am."
Eriol nodded in understanding. "Yeah. When you put it that way, I do sound better than you."
Syaoran smirked.
Sakura was unusually quiet.
"Honey, you okay?" Tomoyo asked, glancing at her friend from across.
"Yeah I'm fine." Sakura murmured and ate a spoon of rice and shrimp.
Syaoran waited until she swallowed the food. "You're still upset about Niijimata?"
Eriol almost choked. "That sounds familiar…"
The whole dinner table was quiet.
"Wait! N-Niijimata?? I-isn't she that girl from high school??" Eriol interrupted yet again.
Sakura stopped and just stared down at her food. "Do you still have feelings for her?" She asked quietly.
Syaoran crossed his arms in front of his chest. "If I did, would I be with you?"
She frowned. "To tell you the truth, I don't know."
"Uh…" Eriol glanced from the other's face.
"Guys, please don't argue in the dining table." Tomoyo said lamely.
"Fine." Syaoran stood up and waited for Sakura to stand.
They both walked out of the kitchen and into Syaoran's room.
--
"What's your problem, Sakura?" He asked in a confused voice.
"I don't have a problem." She muttered, walking over to the window.
"You've never been good with lying. Why start now?"
"Just stop with the sarcasm, please!" Turning her back around to face him, she glared.
He sighed. "Fine. Just…just tell me what's the matter."
"God, Syaoran! This woman just comes back from your past and you don't even give a shit!"
"That's because I don't!" He growled. "I don't get what the point of this fight is! I don't have feelings for her!"
"That's not just it." Sakura snapped. Even though her anger was getting worse, she was very afraid.
"Then what else is there??" Syaoran was so puzzled. "I don't understand why this is such a big deal to you."
"Why did you tell me I was your first kiss??" Her voice broke. "Why did you lie to me?"
"I didn't…lie to you," his voice softened, "I don't consider that…kiss…whatever the hell it was…my first." He moved closer to Sakura and grabbed her chin, making her look into his eyes. "Sakura, listen to me, nothing happened. I…I don't understand. Tell me why you're so upset!"
Her eyes and lips trembled. She hesitated a bit. "If you can't even see…" She mumbled in a small voice. A tear made its way down her cheek.
Syaoran's heart constricted at it and he was about to kiss her lips, but she turned her head. Backing away, her shoulders quivered and she walked out of the room, leaving him in the shadows alone.
----
The next day at work, Hikaru waited patiently for the arrival of Sakura. She stood by the window of her office and stared down at the streets, hoping to see Syaoran. Sadness flickered in her eyes, but lust quickly covered it. She turned around and walked out of her workplace to the other workers' cubicles. She glanced at them and how well they were doing their jobs. Mostly everyone became so agitated when they saw her. That got a chuckle out of her. Then when she looked up, Sakura came walking out of the elevator. Hikaru plastered on a smile and walked over to Sakura.
"Good morning." Hikaru greeted.
Sakura gave a small smile. "You too."
"Listen, I'm sorry if I got you upset yesterday." She lied skilfully. "I just got carried away with my emotions."
"How do you know if I was upset or not?" Sakura asked, putting her things down, and looking up at the woman.
"I saw it in your eyes. And well…you seemed to want to get away from here rather…fast." She inquired and sat on Sakura's desk.
"I wasn't feeling well, remember?" Sakura murmured and sat on her own chair.
"Ah. Yes." Hikaru took a pause. "I would just like to know if you and Syaoran are…tight."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Are you and Syaoran together?" She asked in a slightly angry voice.
Sakura wavered a bit, but she nodded. "Yeah…we are."
"Oh." Hikaru stood up in surprise. "How long have you been together? If I may ask?"
"We just started a few weeks ago." She said in a small voice. "Why do you want to know?"
Hikaru shrugged casually. "Wondering." Sakura didn't believe this. Not one bit. But she decided to go along with it anyway.
----
"Hey man." Miguel scooted his chair towards Syaoran's.
Syaoran glanced up from the computer and watched as Miguel slid down to him.
"Hehe! That was fun!" He laughed.
Syaoran nodded his head and gave a smirk. "What's up, Miguel?"
"I just heard there's this movie coming out in the theatre a couple blocks down here. Wanna come with us?"
"Us?"
"Yeah, the guys here." Miguel looked around. "It's at 8 tonight. You coming?"
"Uh…no." Syaoran answered. "Sorry no thanks."
"Come on, man. It's just one time." Miguel pleaded. "It'll be great, seriously."
Syaoran thought about it. "I don't know…"
"Worried about your girlfriend?" He gave a small laugh. "It's only one night. How bad could it be?"
At the mention of Sakura, his jaws tightened. "What's the movie?"
"I forgot the name. Uh…it's an action movie. I'm sure of that. Oh hey, take that guy with you! The blue-haired dude."
"Eriol? Why?" Syaoran asked. "Do I have to?"
"Yeah! All guys!" Miguel grinned. "So will I see you there?"
"Sure why not."
"All right! So uh…later!" Then he slid himself back to his own cubicle.
----
Syaoran lazily got out of his chair and walked towards the elevator just ahead. The office looked a lot lonelier in the afternoon than in the morning. Most of his officemates were already gone, but some had stayed for overtime and such. He saw Miguel groaning at his computer, his head buried in his hands. That was pretty sad. Syaoran couldn't resist a smirk coming out of his lips. Then the cell phone from his pant pocket vibrated. He looked down and retrieved it.
"Yeah." He muttered.
"It's me." Sakura mumbled.
"Oh." He felt kind of glad that she called. "Hey."
"Are you picking me up…or am I taking the bus?" She sounded hesitant.
"I'll pick you up." Syaoran replied.
"Ok." She hung up the phone.
"What the hell…?" He glared at it and closed the cell in frustration. 'Damn that woman.'
----
Eriol went out to their slightly large balcony and glanced up at the sunny sky. Summer was almost over, he thought, and yet he hadn't done anything special. Every summer of his life, he was given the chance to see parts of the world with his family, but when he graduated from high school, all that changed. Eriol hoped it wouldn't, but he knew it was going to happen. Sadness waved through his body and he glanced down at the cool floor. Getting what you want isn't always as important as getting what you need…
The door opened and he turned and came back in the apartment. Sakura yelled some greetings while Syaoran went to his own room. Eriol then felt that living there with the three of them was a lot better than cruising the world with strangers. He sat on the couch and watched some TV. He saw Tomoyo sitting on the reclining chair, reading a novel that displayed 'Harlequin'. He didn't want to think about that anymore, and so he continued his channel surfing.
Just as Eriol was about to doze off, Syaoran had to interfere.
"Eriol." Syaoran called and sat beside his friend.
His eyes opened and glanced at Syaoran. "What?"
"Guys from work invited you and me to go downtown and watch this movie."
"Why'd they invite me?" He asked curiously.
"Beats me." Syaoran shrugged. "I didn't exactly suggest it, but then again, I didn't want come either."
Eriol laughed out loud. "When is it?"
"8."
"Yeah all right, let's go."
Syaoran nodded. "Thanks man."
"No problem, Syao-Syao."
He turned around and faked a punch to Eriol's stomach, getting a small laugh from the mauve-eyed woman.