Kalli: Hey again! I was shocked at the number of reviews this story got for
the last chapter! *cries* Your all so wonderful! I really appreciate that
ppl like it enough to review! And their all so nice! So, here's the review
replies/ thanks:
....- Sorry that it took me *counts* 3 months to update. *sweatdrop* Thank u for ur review!
Cherry Jade- Thank u so much! ^^ Also, there's a reason as to why updates are getting slower in the notes below.
Heather-and-Hezzer- Evil people are the best! ^^ I'm glad u like Sakura's personality!
LiL oBs3ss3r- You shall all see who the family connection is! *evil laughter* Neways, I liked ur description of Tomoyo's personality! *sniff* and THANK YOU for putting me on ur favorites list!
Iris dreamer- Eh? *blink*
UrbanCinderella- *tear* Yay! I got a death threat! ^^ Now I know I'm loved! Lol. *goes crazy* Beyond my control?! Oh, my poor hands shall ache dearly.
Midnight Crystal- I don't like perverts either! .. Newayz, thank you!
oXAmethystXo- ^^^^^^^^^Thank u so much for putting me on ur fav.list! And I'll be sure to give Cherrixwolf a special thanx!
xX-Angelic Petal-xX- *snicker* Eriol has been shot down! Lol, airhead boys suck. It's a fact of life. Lol, enjoy the new chappie!
Kitsune- are your teachers loading u up with assignments and stuff too? *sigh* I know watcha mean! So evil. Newayz, ur right about him thinking about Sakura.......hehe, thankies!
SaFiRe Star- Thank u so much! And of course I'll e-mail u again! I e-mail anyone who leaves their address if I upload a new chap, and I will continue to do so for my lovely reviewers! ^^
Suga Gurl- Thank you! I'm glad u liked the last chappie! (
Kim- The ages are indeed very weird, ne? 0.o But thank u for ur kind comment.
AnimeObsessionFantasy- Sorry about the slow updates!
Sweetcandies13- I hope u like this new chappy! I worked hard on it, so I hope it's to ur liking!
Cherrixwolf- BIG thank you to you, cherrixwolf, for recommending this story to someone else who reviewed! ^^ I really appreciate that kind of thing. Newayz, *wink* maybe she'll love him, maybe she won't. I could play the role of the evil author and make her end up with Yamazaki. *cringe* But I don't think I will.
UrbanCinderella- Oh, u left TWO reviews! ^^ thank u! Thank u for saying that I'm doing a wonderful job with it! And for your vote, as well! Oh, and Mini Sweety says 'Hi!'.
Blue-Dreamz- In a way, yes, he's trying to seduce her, but now he's trying more towards romancing her than seducing her. And I promise to write more chapters for u! ^^
SaKuRa LoVa- U shall find out who the connection is! Tee hee. Well, what is ur definition of 'soon'? .
Areida- I have to tell u, she doesn't throw her lunch in his face, but the thought of making her do that was VERY tempting, believe me! ^^ I love to torture him sometimes. Angry mob? *runs away*
Sara- *evil Tomoyo-ish laugh* You will find out how S+S turn out in the end! It's just......gonna take a few chapters......yeah.......:D, but don't worry, I'll eventually get them done.
Mini Sweety- About the lock the door thing, thank u for pointing that out, and I added in an explanation in this chapter about that. Sakura is acting how she is towards Syaoran because of his reputation and the fact that he's been a pervert with her, but this chapter will (hopefully) show that she doesn't hate him or anything. I know the chapter seemed shorter than the others, but I had to cut it off there to give somewhat of a cliffhanger (^^) and this chapter is extra-long to make up for it. And I remembered to tell UrbanCinderella Hi for u!
Dangerous-beans- Lol, gotta love the evilness! And thank you, ur the first person to call it devious. I like it!
JaMie LoVeR- Thank u for ur vote!
Poll Winner:
Eriol
Tomoyo and Sakura with a tie for second place.
Kira: Alright, the guest for this chapter is Rika!
Rika: Hello!
Kalli: So, Rika, how goes it?
Rika: Um....good, I guess.
*crickets*
Kira: Uh....anything you wanna talk about?
Rika: *frown* Yeah, why isn't Kalli updating faster?
Kalli: I figured some ppl would wanna know about that. I'm glad you asked that question. Well, I just started my Freshmen/Freshmeat (as Bit calls it) year in High school, and the homework keeps coming, and these first few weekends have been hectic! So, I'm doing the best I can to update fast, but time is short, so I'm working on it, but things seem to be smoothing out a little now, so, updates will become more frequent!
Rika and Kira: *confetti streamers pop* Yay!
Kalli: I feel so proud of myself after making that speech!
Rika: Finally, she's gonna update faster! DIDJA HEAR THAT PEOPLE?!
Kalli: *Cough* Well, let's start with this update! I'm sure everybody's just dying to see what happens and their anticipating the new chapter happily.......that was a joke, people. @.@ I'm just gonna shut up now.
Key and Disclaimer from former chapters will now count for every chapter, cuz it's such a pain to have to rewrite everything.
"Musings and Cherry Blossoms at the White Tulip"
~~~~~~~~~~~~Presentation Room~~~~~~~~~~~~~#$Sakura P.O.V.#$
*SNORE* ..........
*SNORE*.........
*SNORE*.........
*poke* ..........
*hiss* ............
"Sakura! Wake up! Everyone's looking at you!" whispered a feminine voice beside my ear.
I swatted at it in hopes it was some stupid talking fly, but no such luck. The thing caught my hand and shook me. "Sakura! Wake up!"
I slowly blinked sleepily. "Huh?" after a few seconds, my eyes had adjusted and I noticed everyone in the presentation room staring at me with looks that were murderous, irritated, amused, or worried. Most were the first 3.
Then I realized I had been snoring. I blushed. "Erm........sorry......" I mumbled as loud as I could.
I heard some laughter from scattered places, but 1 came from the front row and was very distinct. My eyes met the amused ones of Syaoran Li and he smirked with a look that said 'Can we say 'blackmail'?'. Damn. I glared with a red face and sunk into my seat feeling humiliated.
Why did I always have to fall asleep at the absolute worst times?
*sigh* Oh well. Might as well keep myself awake to listen to these oh-so- fascinating business presentations.......yep........fascinating......my ass, that is.
"Alright, Ladies and Gentleman, Lunch break! After your 1 hour Lunch Break, please report back to the Presentation Room to finish our presentations. After presentations, you are all free to go, but please, do not forget to try to make time for our optional Formal tonight in the ballroom at 8! Enjoy your lunch!"
I paused before getting up. "Formal? Were we notified about this?"
Nakuru nodded. "Yeah. But I guess Li didn't tell you. We didn't find out about it until we read the bulletin board this morning. I might go. I brought a formal dress just in case anyway. You never know when you'll need it!"
"Got one I can borrow?" I asked timidly.
She looked at me. "Dearie, even if I did, there's no way you'd fit. Mine are too big for you. We'll have to go buy you something downtown."
"When? There won't be much time left between presentations and the formal."
"We'll skip the presentations and go downtown. It's not like it's US who need to hear this. Plus, you're not technically REQUIRED to do any of this."
My face darkened. "You mean I didn't have to come here at all?!"
"Yeah. I was gonna ask about that. You mean you didn't know?"
I shook my head. "No! Nobody told me!"
"It was Li's responsibility. By the way, I heard you 2 are roomies!"
"NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He set it up in hopes of 'winning my heart' or whatever."
They all started laughing. "Oh, I can see that. Well, fine with me. I've got a whole suite to myself!" said Karina happily.
*glare* "You suck. I have to share with the pervert."
Eriol smiled. "He's not THAT bad, is he?"
"Well, I guess not...........but half the time he is!"
"Well, I'm still required to stay for presentations, so have a nice time shopping, ladies!"
"Thanks Eriol!" I said with a smile. "Well, Ladies, I'm off to lunch! Ciao!"
I walked up to Li, but slowed down when I noticed him talking with a guy in a gray suit. I caught his eye and gave him a questioning look. He rolled his eyes and slightly jerked his head in the direction of the exit. I assumed it meant to go on and head to the café'.
I waved behind me and walked out the door. It smelled strongly of roasted coffee beans and warm lunch smells. 'Mmmm........I could get used to this.'
I started walking in the direction of the White Tulip and glanced at all the small gift stores and food places around me. It was so quaint and homey-feeling with all the people around me chatting happily and laughing. I sighed contentedly. And the reason I'm here is because I'm a suspect of beating an innocent child on the way home from school. 3 more weeks until I can talk to Shiro. Hopefully he'll be feeling a little better by then.
I finally spotted the White Tulip and walked up to the front. A short woman with dark red hair smiled up at me. "Can I help you?"
"Ah, yes, Reservation for 2 under the name of Li?"
She looked surprised and looked me over. "So, you're the girl. Well, in that case, please, come right this way." She spoke with an excited tone.
She picked up 2 menus and started walking briskly towards the back of the restaurant until we reached a small booth. She put a menu on either side of the table and motioned for me to sit down. "A waitress will be coming soon to take your order. I hope you enjoy your meal!" she spoke, then gave a small wave and walked off.
I glanced around me to take in the surroundings. The walls were a light yellow-tan color that was enhanced by all the candlelight from the tables. I sniffed the candle they had put on our table. It smelled like lavender. How nice. And there were some roses mixed with some small white flowers in a light blue vase behind the candle. The booths and chair cushions were a rich dark green in color, which matched the carpet.
All in all, it gave off a very 'together' atmosphere. In a classy way though. It made me think of a restaurant that old friends might go to when they were seeing each other for the first time in years.
After looking around, I thought back to what the hostess had said. ''So you're the girl'? What was that supposed to mean?' I shrugged and picked up a menu.
'Linguine? Chicken Teriyaki? Maybe I'll start with some Gyoza (shrimp dumplings. Those things are so good!)....but I don't know what to get as the main entrée.....'
*sigh* Nothing was quite as interesting or exciting, it seemed, without that damned Li around. Curse him for making me wait with nothing to do.
Stupid Li.........well, he's not SO bad, I guess. He frustrates me like no one else can do. He MUST be a Gemini. He seems so 2-sided...maybe 3- sided!
There's that serious, no-nonsense, business attitude that he has sometimes. That's rare though. But when he gets into it, he's like.........a robot or something. Like nothing matters but the Company and it's welfare. That side scares me and fascinates me all at the same time.
Then there's his usual, perverted, dog-like self. This side was good AND bad. If you tell him I see ANY good in him at all, I will kill you mercilessly and bury your body in a deserted parking lot somewhere!
It's only good because it makes him fun to joke around with, a guy with an......interesting sense of humor. But since that 'sense of humor' usually means something perverted, it makes the entire point of him being fun to joke around with into fun to watch fall down the 10 flights of steps you have to walk up when the elevator's broken. Damn steps..........
Then there's the side that scares me. The sweet, much more innocent side to Li that makes him the kind of guy you could actually grow to like.........a lot.
Why does it scare me? Because it makes me think, sometimes, when he's acting like that, that I might actually like him..........a lot. I've only had a few boyfriends before and they weren't serious. But when he acts so sweet, it's like I'm seeing a different person, a person that you could fall in love with, that you could have a lasting relationship with, someone that you could do all that lovey-dovey, mushy junk with.
He confuses me sometimes. One minute, his face is in my chest staring shamelessly, the next he's comforting me and hugging me gently. Why do you frustrate, confuse, and intrigue me all at the same time, you stupid man!?
I sighed once again and massaged my temples with my fingers. I do like him, actually. As a friend, at least. I'm still not sure that I am, or want to be, having stronger feelings than that. It drives me nuts the way he switches personalities so fast! And the worst part is that there are probably even more sides to him that I have yet to see!
Oh, curse my stupid bad luck.
I picked up the menu to continue trying to decide what to get. 'Li, you better get your ass over here soon, or I'm gonna die from lack of excitement.' I thought, then growled softly under my breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Presentation Room~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#$Li P.O.V.#$
'Great. I'm gonna be late for lunch with Sakura.'
'She doesn't allow you to call her Sakura' said a very matter-of-fact voice in my head.
'Not you again.' I had the urge to groan out loud, but considering I was standing there trying to look like I was actually interested in what this guy had to say, I figured it wasn't a very good idea.
'Yes, me again. If you really want her to become your fiancé like you want, your gonna have to respect her more. No cheating, no lying.'
'I have never cheated on a woman!'
'Just dropped them after 2 days.' Said the voice sarcastically.
I inwardly scowled. 'Shut up.'
'Make me.'
'I will!'
'You can't. I'm you. Now hurry and ditch this guy so you can get to lunch with Sa- Kinomoto.'
'Ha! You want to call her Sakura too!'
'Fine. We can call her that in our mind. Just not out loud.'
'Agreed. Now how to loose this guy?'
I glanced at the man in front of me. He was still chatting animatedly. I coughed suddenly to interrupt his train of thought.
"Are you okay, Sir?" he asked with concern.
"Yes, I'm fine. Oh, do you have the time by chance?"
The man pulled up his sleeve and glanced quickly at his watch. "It's 12:04."
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we'll have to talk another time. I have a lunch date to keep."
He smiled once again. "Alright then. We'll chat another time! Hope your lunch goes well!" He spoke as he turned and waved over his shoulder.
I weakly waved back, then quickly turned on my heel and headed towards the Café.
'Finally! I didn't think I'd ever get out of there! I bet Sakura's probably already sitting there, awaiting my wonderful presence.' I smiled to myself at that thought.
'Too bad it's not true. She doesn't like you very much, ya know. Your always such a pervert to her.'
'Yeah, I am. But, I'm trying to be better! She's one of the women I could bear to marry. Do you think that she'd turn out to be one of those husband beaters, though?'
'I don't think so. She's a nice person when you're not being stupid again. Now, you know, and I know, and we're essentially the same person, that you don't have to be perverted and have dashing good lucks to attract Sakura. She's a great girl, she's talented, smart, sweet, AND she's got a spunky personality. She's your dream girl!'
'My dream girl.........yeah, I like the sound of that. Maybe I should tell her that.'
'I think we like Sakura. Very much. She's the kind of person you could fall in love with. Even though you kind of just turned her into a goal to reach.'
'Yeah. Now that I've gotten to know her some, she really WOULD make a good wife for me. If she accepts, that is. I'm not in love with her right now, but I feel very strongly attracted to her. I think that I'm currently in the process of falling in love with her. She's some kinda woman.'
'So, she's not just a goal to reach anymore?'
'No. But I wanna get to know her better first.'
'Did you really just say that?'
'Yes! What if I think she's perfect, but it turns out that she's allergic to chocolate and peonies? 2 of my- I mean, OUR, favorite things in the world, ya know?'
'True. I think this is the first time you've actually wanted to get to KNOW the person before you date them.'
'Shut up. We're here. Time to find Sakura and start the romancing!'
'Your really stupid.'
'Don't put yourself down.'
I walked up to the front of the restaurant and a short redhead looked up at me with wide eyes. "How can I help you?" she asked pleasantly.
"Reservation for Li. I believe my date should already be here."
The redhead blinked, then a recognizing look came over her face. "Oh! You mean that cute auburn-haired girl with the emerald eyes? Such pretty eyes, rare here in Japan."
"Sounds like her. Green business suit?"
The girl nodded enthusiastically. "That's her! You must be Li Syaoran." She gave him an appreciative glance. "You ARE cute. Your sister was right!"
As it happened, my sister, Feimei, just happened to have a talent for cooking, and had attended prestigious schools around the world to learn all about the art of cooking.
After she'd done that, she started up her own little restaurants. She refused to do a chain restaurant, no, not a chain restaurant for her.
She decided to put a few different restaurants with different names and foods, around the world, and lucky me, she decided to visit this particular restaurant on account of me being there.
All the sudden, a feeling of extreme dread overcame me as I remembered my promise to my sister the night before.
~~~Flashback~~~
I was sitting in the hotel suite, waiting for Sakura to come and find out that I was her roommate, and thinking about ways to get her to go on a date with me. And what better way, of course, than to get reservations to one the best lunch spots around?
Of course, to do this, I'd have to get special reservations from none other than one of the 4 hells herself. 4?, you ask, wasn't the saying 7 hells?
Not anymore. If there were and ever had been 3 more hells, the first 4 had destroyed it. And the first 4 were named Fuutie, Fanren, Feimei, and Siefa. Namely, my older sisters.
*shudder* *twitch*
Reluctantly, I picked up the phone and dialed the number listed on the Hotel's local phone book.
"Hello, White Tulip Café, what can I help you with?" a chipper voice asked.
I sighed. "Can I please speak with Li Feimei?"
There was a happy gasp from the other line. "Is that you, little brother?!"
I thought about saying 'No, I'm a stalker who's been watching you and I know that right now your talking on the phone!' because she was one of the few people I knew that would fall for it and start to freak out.
But no, being the nice brother I am, just said, "Yes, it's me. It's good to talk to you again!"
"You too! So, what can I do for you?"
"I need to make reservations."
"Alright. What time?"
"12."
"How many?"
"2."
*silence*
"You've got a hot date, don't you."
"Uh..........not exactly. I'm taking Eriol. We have to discuss Business plans."
"I think you've used that excuse before."
"Um. New friend from the convention?"
"Female friend perhaps."
I sighed. "Fine. My new secretary. I swear, I've never met such a hard headed woman in my life! She refuses to date me! So, I figure she'll feel at least somewhat obliged to go if I went to the trouble to make reservations."
"Always such a charmer, aren't you, little brother?" she said with a laugh on the other line.
"Yes, of course."
"Well, I like this girl already! She's not just one of your skanky bimbos this time!"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, your kinda notorious for being a playboy and your secretaries are generally considered to be slutty."
"Well...................uh........."
"I think I've made my point. And I'll make sure I'm your waitress tomorrow so that I can meet this girl! Now, promise me that I get to meet her."
"Well, you see-"
"Otherwise no reservations."
I was trapped between a rock and another rock. If I say yes, I get a date with Sakura. If I say yes, Sakura meets my sister and gets loads of blackmail on me.
'And remember what happened LAST time she got blackmail on you? Dude, she had your CAR!'
'Well, yeah, but, I am determined to get a date with her if it's the last thing I do.'
'Ah, famous last words.'
'Shut up. And just to let you know, you stupid little voice inside my head, I'm giving you a really bad mental death glare right now.'
'Whatever. Get back to weighing out the pros and cons.'
Fine! If I say no, no date with Sakura. If I say no, Sakura doesn't meet my sister, and I don't have to undergo embarrassing childhood stories.
"Hello? Syaoran, are you still there?"
"Huh? Oh yeah. Fine, you get to meet her."
"I thought you'd come to your senses. Well, I'll see you tomorrow, little brother!"
*click*
I sighed. "Oh, goody."
~~~~~Present Time~~~~~
My eye twitched slightly.
Then I noticed the redhead giving me a worried look. "Sir, are you okay? You spaced out for a while, and then your eye twitched."
"Heheh. Uh, sorry about that. I'm fine. Just thinking."
"O........kay. Um, follow me to your table please."
I followed behind her until we reached one closer to the back of the room where Sakura sat, looking at the menu in frustration.
"Here ya go." Said the redhead, handing me a menu. "Enjoy your meal! Your waitress will be with you shortly." She spoke, all the while looking pointedly at me, then walked away slowly.
Somehow I had the feeling that my sister had little minions to keep an eye on me and she was one of them.
Then I turned to Sakura, who was looking at me, obviously waiting for me to say something. I smiled charmingly. "Hey. Sorry I'm late, that guy just kept on talking!"
She nodded, excusing my tardiness. "That's okay. It wasn't your fault."
I glanced over the menu. "Would you like to order some wine?"
She glanced down, looking slightly embarrassed. "I'm not old enough to have wine." (a/n- I base this on the US drinking age. I'm sorry, but I have no idea if there's a drinking age, or what it is, in Japan.)
I hadn't even thought about her age. I knew she was younger, but I had no idea how much younger. "How old are you?"
"18."
Eh. Not too bad. 5 years younger, I could deal with that. "And you've never had wine?"
"Well, I've had a glass at like a wedding, or something special, but other than that, no."
"Well, I consider this something special. Don't you?"
"I suppose. Alright, wine is good. But I want some water too."
"You got it. What kind of wine do you want?"
"I don't know what kind I want. I never paid attention to that."
"Alright. Casa Carneros wine, it's one of my favorites. All the way from California." (a/n- I'm pretty sure this is a real wine, I saw the name on one of the wine lists at a restaurant. Not that I was drinking it or anything. *cough*)
She shrugged uncaringly. "Okay."
"So, what are you going to order?" I asked, trying to get some kind of conversation going.
She looked thoughtful for a minute as her eyes quickly scanned the menu. The redhead hostess had been right. She did have rare and gorgeous eyes. And they were extremely bright and vivid as well. I wondered fleetingly if she wore contacts.
"I think I'll have the Fettucine Linguine."
"Sounds good."
"What about you? Do you know what you're going to get yet?"
"I think I'll get the Chicken Parmesan."
"That's good too."
Then, I saw her. Our waitress, my sister. She came out smiling happily with her long brown hair back in a braid and the waitress uniform on with a smile on her face.
She walked up to our table smiling like she was on crack. Ya know, sometimes I wonder...............
"Hi! I'm Feimei, and I'll be your waitress today. And I'm also Syaoran's sister."
I dropped my head onto the table and groaned.
Sakura's eyebrows raised with interest. "Really?"
She nodded. "Yes." Then she took a long look at Sakura, then put her face close up to Sakura's.
Sakura freaked out a little, then finally managed to stammer out a question. "W-what exactly are you doing?!"
Feimei smiled another BIG smile and hugged Sakura tightly. "You are SO cute!"
"Th.......ank.....you!" she spoke in intervals because the air was currently being squeezed out of you.
Feimei finally pulled back. "I'm sorry, I didn't even introduce myself. Li Feimei, call me Feimei!" she said, sticking out her hand.
Sakura smiled. "Kinomoto Sakura. I'm his secretary."
"May I call you Sakura-chan?" she said with big, round eyes.
"Uh..........sure." Sakura said, looking slightly scared.
"So, you're here for the convention."
"Yep."
"That's nice...........did you know that Syaoran used to be afraid of trees because he thought they were going to eat him?"
I choked right after she said that. My eyes widened and I must've looked pretty damn desperate, because Sakura was smirking at me like she was Elmer Fudd, and I was Bugs Bunny, and I'd just gotten caught in one of her traps and she had my life in her hands.
Well, maybe not that bad, but it just screamed 'I've-got-you-right-where-I want-you-which-is-the-scenario-where-you're-a-tiny-bug-under-my-finger-and- I-can-squish-you-at-any-time.'
"No, I didn't know about that. He never mentioned it." She spoke smugly, her already wide smile growing bigger and scarier with every word she spoke.
"Yeah! It was so funny! He went running into the garden one day, and we have a lot of trees out there. He was running on the walking path, but then he saw a tree in front of him, and went running back into the house screaming that it looked evil and was gonna eat him. It was adorable!"
"Aww, that's so cute!" she looked at me with that smile, except now it looked like she was gonna burst out laughing.
I glared, then replied. "Did you happen to mention that it was a SAKURA tree?"
Sakura shot me a glare, and then I felt a very painful sensation hit me a few inches below the knee. I visibly winced, then turned a glare, once again, at Sakura. 'Why, you............of all the things she could do, she kicks me?! Geez, did she play soccer or what?'
"Tell me more about his adorable childhood. I'd love to hear all about it."
'I bet you would'. I thought with a scowl.
Feimei just smiled. "Well, he used to be paranoid about the Easter Bunny."
"I was 5!" I finally burst out.
Sakura gave me a fake understanding look. "That's okay. A lot of people were paranoid of the Easter Bunny at that age! Like..........uh, that one guy. Yeah, so see, your not alone."
I could just tell how bad she wanted to laugh, then say that she now had enough blackmail to make me her personal servant for life. And she did, but of course, I'd never tell her that.
Feimei nodded. "Of course! Oh, you know, I've got the cutest picture of Syaoran right here in my wallet."
As she started fumbling in her pocket for her wallet, I suddenly realized what it was she was talking about.
"Oh, here's that wallet of mine! I swear, I keep losing it, it's driving me crazy!"
"I know how you feel. I'm constantly losing my purse, but then I look all over for it, then flop back on my bed after searching for it, and I see it hanging on the door!"
They both laughed. Then, Feimei unfolded the wallet, showing Sakura the picture.
My eyes widened, and I frantically tried to snatch the wallet from Sakura's hold so that she didn't see that horrible thing, but alas, it was too late.
Sakura burst out laughing, earning a few curious looks from the other people sitting around us.
I shrank back in my chair, embarrassed as I could possibly be. Sakura had just seen the worst piece of blackmail anyone had on me........we're not talking a picture of you making a really stupid face, a picture of you in your cute little Halloween costume from when you were 6, we're talking real bad..............
Sakura looked up with a laughing smug look. "Well, I absolutely LOVE the pink bunny outfit! And the little footies and the big floppy ears are just too adorable!"
I buried my face in my hands, wishing that suddenly, a huge volcano would erupt and distract everyone.
Sakura then turned back to Feimei with a charming smile. "Say, do you have another picture of that?"
"Well, you can have this one. I've got more copies at home."
"Really? Oh, thank you! I'm so glad I got to meet you, Feimei!"
Feimei handed her the picture, which Sakura slipped into her pocket with a smile. "I'm glad I met you too, Sakura-chan!"
Then Feimei coughed. "Oh, yeah, what can I get you to drink?"
"We'll have water and a glass of Casa Carneros wine." I said quickly, before they could start another conversation about embarrassing things from my childhood.
"I'll have the same." Answered Sakura.
"Do you already know what your gonna get as the main course?"
Sakura nodded. "Yes, I'll have the Fettucine Linguine."
"Alright." Said Feimei, as she briskly scribbled the order down on her notepad. "Syaoran?"
"I'll have the chicken parmesan."
"Alright, I'll be out with your drinks shortly, and I'll get the chef started on your entrees!"
Sakura nodded and waved at Feimei, who smiled in return, then grinned devilishly at me.
That's when it hit me. 'She planned that whole thing! That little schemer!' All the sudden, a picture of Feimei with an innocent smile on her face, devil horns in her hand, a devil tail sticking out from behind her, and a pitchfork in hand with my pink bunny footie pajama picture stuck on top of the pitchfork popped up in my mind.
Then I noticed Sakura looking at me. She smiled. "I like your sister. She tells the most interesting stories!"
"Yeah, whatever."
"I really do think it was kinda cute of you in your little bunny suit. It really made you look so vulnerable and innocent. It made me think that maybe there's a non-perverted guy buried in there somewhere."
"I'm not always perverted, ya know."
"I know. I actually kinda like you Ok when you're not being perverted."
"Well, thank you. And I seriously didn't mean to walk in on you in the shower this morning. I feel bad about that."
I noticed a slight tinge of pink come to her cheeks. "That's alright. One question though."
"Yes?"
"The door was locked, I remember locking it! How'd you get in?"
"It was locked?" I asked with surprise. 'Oh shit. I broke it.'
"Yes. Didn't you realize that?"
"No, I thought the door was just stuck or something, so I just pushed down on the handle really hard, and it opened."
"So, you broke it?"
"Looks like it."
"Good job, Li."
I pouted. "Rub it in."
She smiled. "You can bet I will."
There was silence, and then I remembered something I'd wanted to ask her.
"Hey, are you going to that formal?"
"Yeah, I'm going dress shopping and skipping the rest of the presentations."
I glared. "Lucky."
Then a fleeting look crossed her face as if she'd just remembered something important. "Li, Why didn't you tell me that I didn't have to go to this convention?"
I decided to go with my best option and feign innocent. "Did I forget to tell you that?"
"Yes, obviously. Otherwise I wouldn't be here."
"I'm sorry I forgot to tell you."
She scoffed. "Bullshit. You obviously planned this whole thing so that I roomed with you."
"...."
"A-ha! I knew there was something fishy about this whole thing!"
"Fine! I'm sorry! Just, don't kick me again."
"Did that hurt?"
"Yes!"
"Mission: Accomplished."
"That's cold."
"You deserved it."
"No comment."
"Good choice."
"Oh, about the formal....."
"What about it?"
"Would you go with me as my date?" I asked hopefully.
She turned her gaze to the tablecloth, suddenly looking very uncomfortable. "Um, I-I dunno. Look, I'll be truthful. I like you, when your not being a huge pervert that is, and I think that maybe there's a spark- Itty, bitty, tiny, microscopic, .00000000000001 percent- spark, but, well, I'm not sure I'm ready to actually start dating you yet. I just don't know enough about you. Sorry."
I smiled lopsidedly. "How about we let this be a trial date? I won't expect anything out of it except to have a good time, and you to accompany me. And meanwhile, we'll take this chance to get to know each other better, okay?"
She looked very hesitant, as she searched my face for some hint of falseness. But I was serious. She had to be the first woman that intrigued me so. She was also a great secretary, besides a few screw-ups on math, that is. "I guess."
"Great. So, tell me about yourself. Your friends, hobbies, that kind of thing."
"Ok. Um.........Meiling has been my best friend since 2nd grade, and we're always getting in trouble."
"Like detentions?"
"Yeah."
I quirked an eyebrow. "Well, she never put THAT in her letters to the family back in Hong Kong."
Sakura laughed. "Well, a lot of letters were sent home to her guardian, Wei, but if they were sent home with her, she just ripped them up or forged a signature. And she always got the mail first in case they decided to send letters through the mail. She did the same thing to those."
"What happened at Parent-Teacher conferences?"
"Well, Meiling never told him, so she always just told the teachers that they had other things planned."
"And she got away with it?"
"For a while. But finally they called when only Wei was home and he found out. But she got away with it for a few years."
"Impressive."
"Yeah, but unfortunately, I wasn't as good as a schemer as she was, so I got found out in 4th grade."
"When was she 'discovered'?"
"7th."
"I see. What'd Wei do?"
"Took it pretty good actually. We think he knew the whole time and just let her get away with it, but there's no proof."
I had to laugh at that. "She always was slightly devilish. I could never get blackmail on her."
Sakura grinned happily. "I've got so much, I could write a book about it. Of course, that wouldn't matter to you, because a lot of it is crushes and boyfriends she had, but you wouldn't know any of the guys."
"I see. So, tell me about your other friends."
"Um...........Naoko, you know her. She and my other friend Chiharu are really into action flicks."
"Are we talking about the same Naoko?"
"Shocked me too."
"Well, waddya know. Oh, continue."
"There's Rika. She's the same age as me. She's really pretty, she's got short dark brown hair, and she's probably the tallest of us. She's into economic stuff, especially sewing and cooking. But don't let that fool you, she does have a different side."
"She sounds nice."
"She is. Let's see, there's Chiharu and Yamazaki, they're an item, but Chiharu may not admit that. Yamazaki is always telling us stories, like 'Did you know that fish used to walk on land? It's true, they had their own army, and they tried to take over earth, but the humans defeated them and they were banished to bodies of water for the rest of time!'"
"You have some interesting friends."
"Well, Chiharu usually whacks him if he says something like that, and he's knocked out for a few minutes, but eventually he wakes up. She's a nice person other than that."
Then she looked thoughtful for a few moments. "I think that's the main ones, I have others, but their not real close. Now, tell me about your friends."
"Well, you already know the closest ones. Meiling and Eriol. Watanabe's a good friend, but he's not as close as either one of them."
"Alright. What are your hobbies?"
"Um............."
She gave me a dry look. "Let me guess. Women?"
I smiled sheepishly. "Well, it was. I never really tried to find a hobby that wasn't, well, women. But I'm stopping! Have you seen me with a woman lately?"
She blinked. "Besides me, no, actually."
"See! I'm changing my ways for you."
She blushed, but glared at me. It was kinda cute, in a semi-scary way. "Whatever."
"Really!"
She shook her head. "Don't you have ANY other hobbies?"
"Um...........I used to climb trees a lot."
"Anything else?"
"Er, no."
"Then we are going to find you a hobby, got it?"
"What?"
"Every day this week after work, we are going to try a different hobby until you find something you like."
"But I don't know if I can get off work."
"Get your secretary to cover for you!"
"YOU'RE my secretary."
She blushed and laughed nervously. "Oh, so I am. Well, get Eriol to cover for you. I'm sure he won't mind."
I thought about it. 'Think about it, she's offering to do something with you every day for 5 days, man! Take it!'
I smiled. "Fine, I'll do it."
"Great! I've already got some things in mind for you..........." she grinned devilishly.
I gulped. This wasn't a nice afternoon romp through the park, this was her way of getting revenge! A-ha! The REAL motive behind her actions! I'm so dead.
Fortunately, before I could think of all the horrible things she was planning for me, our food came. And, boy, did it look appetizing right about then.
Sakura thanked the waitress, which, thankfully, wasn't Feimei, and dug into her food. Her eyes widened and she grinned. "This is great!"
I slowly took a bite of my chicken parmesan, just in case Feimei had put sleeping powder in it so that she and Sakura could trade stories about me without me awake to prevent it.
It was a long shot, but, hey, my family was weird.
Since it tasted pretty good, I took a bigger bite. "Yeah, this is pretty good. Feimei still knows how to cook."
"I thought she was the waitress?"
"She's actually the owner, but when she visits, she does her share of work, and she always cooks for family."
"Well, that's really sweet of her."
"Yeah." I paused for a moment. 'Did I really just call my sister 'sweet'?'
For the most part, the meal was silent, except for an occasional 'Pass the salt.'
When we finally finished, Sakura grinned. "I don't think I'll be able to fit into any dresses!"
I snorted. "I don't think you gained too much weight. Plus, you'll still be pretty slim if you put on more weight. And I'm sure that you and I will be burning plenty of calories this week."
She smiled. "If you only knew........"
"I dunno if I like the sound of that."
"You shouldn't." She paused, then looked at me gratefully. "I really did have a good time today........." she paused again, and took in a deep sigh. "Syaoran."
I blinked rapidly. "Does this mean I can call you Sakura now?"
She sighed in defeat. "I guess."
"I knew you'd come around eventually."
"Watch it."
"Sorry, sorry. I was just kidding."
"Good."
I paid the bill, and we walked out together. "Well, I gotta go find Nakuru and the others."
"You mean their all skipping it too?"
"Looks like it, doesn't it?"
"No fair! Eriol and me are supposed to stay, but you girls go gallivanting off shopping!"
"Tough luck. You guys already have your tuxedos, I'm sure. Now it's our turn. Well, my turn."
"They're just going to help you pick out a dress?"
"Well, yeah."
"How does that make sense when your perfectly capable of picking it out yourself and they should be suffering with the rest of us in presentations?"
"It's a girl thing."
"That's the reason?"
"Hey! You don't mess with the female code, got it?" she said demandingly, pointing her finger at me.
"You tell him, girl!" came an approving shout from behind me.
I turned to see Karina grinning wolfishly. I narrowed my eyes at her. "Karina! You traitor!"
She winked. "Tough luck."
Nakuru bowed to Sakura. "Now, you know how to tell a man how it is, like it is!"
I scowled at the happy little feminists. "Is this another 'girl thing'?"
"No, we're just weird." Said Naoko, who had been staying quiet.
"What are your thoughts on this, Naoko?" I asked.
All the girls turned to her expectantly and she simply smiled and said. "You don't mess with the laws of feminism." And started walking in the other direction towards the stairs.
The other girls started to follow her, but not before Sakura turned around and stuck her tongue out at me.
Turned quickly to make sure no one was looking, then stuck my tongue back out at her.
She just glared and stuck her tongue out even more.
I stretched my tongue out a little more, and she stuck hers out all the way.
Then, I stuck my tongue out as far as it would go, but then Karina pointed at something to my left and they all burst out laughing, then ran to the elevators.
I closed my mouth, with my tongue in it, and turned to see Eriol and Watanabe giving me very amused looks.
"Not.A.Word."
Watanabe put his hands up in defense. "Fine. But, just to let you know, I think she won."
I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came to mind, so I just closed it and walked off with a red face.
~~~Girls~~~ #$Normal P.O.V.#$
"Oh my God, that was so funny!"
"Did you see that look on his face?!"
All the girls burst out laughing again, as the old woman and her grand daughter sharing the elevator gave them weird looks.
"Oh, hey, this is our floor." Said Nakuru, as they stepped off.
As the elevator door closed, they heard the little girl say "Grandma, were those people crazy?"
They looked at each other, then started a fresh round of laughter.
"Alright, we'll meet back in here in 5 minutes after we change, ok?" asked Naoko, looking at the others.
The rest shrugged, and went to their rooms.
Karina's suite was 2 doors down from Sakura's, so before she went in, she smiled at Sakura. " I'll be out after I change in this HUGE suite that I have ALL to MYSELF!"
Sakura turned around angrily, while Karina just cackled insanely and ran into her room.
"Ooh, I'm gonna get you for that." Sakura muttered under her breath.
She was halfway to her door when Karina poked her head back out the door. "Sorry, I couldn't resist!"
Sakura just gave her the evil eye, then smiled and went into her room.
A few minutes later, they all met in the hall, except Nakuru.
Naoko sighed. "She's always late. Give her 2 more minutes."
Nakuru finally came out into the hall, energetic as ever. "Sorry bout that!"
"It's okay, let's go. We need time to find Sakura's dress!"
"Did all of you bring yours?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Yea. A lot of times, conventions like these have another social thing, usually a dance." Said Karina.
"What do yours look like?"
They all looked at each other. "Well, their pretty simple." Stated Naoko.
"Mine is a jungle green color with this huge poofy skirt that I really hate, but it was all I had left. But the ballroom can get pretty warm with all the people in there, and it has no straps, so it gives a little more air." Said Karina.
"Mine is a maroon one with regular sleeves and glitter at the bottom. Simple and comfortable." Naoko smiled confidently.
Nakuru blinked. "Oh, is it my turn?"
They all sweatdropped and nodded.
*DING* The elevator door opened at the bottom and we stepped off briskly, then started walking towards the parking lot.
"Hehehe........mine is black and red. Mostly black with red stripes at the waist. It's got really small slits at the bottom, and it's strapless. It's the best!" she cooed.
"She loves that dress. She wears it every chance she gets." Said Karina, with a roll of her eyes.
"It's true!" Nakuru admitted, quite happily.
"I can see that."
They walked out to Karina's car and headed to the downtown shopping area to scan the shops.
When they got out of the car, they looked around with big smiles. C'mon, if you were in a huge shopping district for anything you could ever want, wouldn't you smile a little? Even if you don't like to shop, there were a bunch of café's and bookstores that you could sit in and read.
So, their journey for Sakura's perfect dress began.
"Oh, look at that one!" cried Nakuru, pointing to a clothes shop with a pink dress displayed in the front.
"Let's go try it on!" said Sakura happily.
Little did she know, that she wouldn't be quite so enthusiastic a few hours later......
~Dress # 43~
Sakura twirled around in front of the mirror. "It makes me look fat."
The other girls groaned at yet another rejected dress. "It looks great on you! And the green really compliments your eyes!" said Naoko with disbelieving eyes.
"I still don't like it."
"Let's go to the next shop then." Said a not-so-hyper Nakuru.
~~Dress #52~~
"It's gorgeous!" exclaimed Naoko as Sakura walked back and forth in a flowing white dress that trailed gracefully behind her.
"It's too white. What if someone pours punch on me accidentally?"
*Groan*
~~~After attempted dress # 56~~~
"Sakura, you may just have to pick one of the more 'imperfect' ones." Said Karina, with exhaust evident in her voice.
She sighed. "I guess." Then she looked up and there it was, right across the street, with a heavenly light shining on it. Who cares if the 'heavenly glow' was just the display light? It was still the perfect dress.
"That's it! That's the dress!" she yelled, waving her finger at the window across the street.
They all looked quickly to where she was pointing and smiled with relief.
"Then, let's go get your dress!"
They swiftly crossed the street and walked into the store, found the 'dream dress' in Sakura's size and quickly made Sakura buy it so that she didn't change her mind. AGAIN.
~~~~~Later at Hotel before formal~~~~~
Sakura was inside the suite watching TV on the couch when Syaoran walked in.
"Hey. Have fun dress shopping?"
She nodded enthusiastically, still thrilled with her new dress. "Yep!"
"Can I see the dress you bought?"
Sakura smiled secretively and looked up at him with a twinkle in her eyes, and winked. "Your just gonna have to wait to see it. But I promise, it's worth the wait."
He grinned at her, then walked into their room to change, and was about to close the door, but took a glance at Sakura, sitting happily on the couch and sighed. "I already think you're worth the wait, Sakura."
The End
Kalli: Damn, that was a long chapter! My fingers are aching here, people! This was almost 30 pages! Which is an extra special treat, so don't expect it to be this long every time, but it'll happen sometimes. Just not very often. Alright, here's the preview!:
Formal time! Day one of Hobbies, and it's..........you'll just have to wait and see what it is! (But u can leave guesses! ^^) And Eriol seems to have hired a new worker who seems to like Sakura a little too much for Syaoran's liking. Competition? You shall see, my friends.
Kira: Wow, 30 pages.
Rika: Isn't that how long her Inuyasha story is?
Kira: Yeah.
Kalli: Oh, yea, if ur interested, I just wrote a new Inuyasha fic called 'Matchmaker, Matchmaker', so take a look and tell me what you think if u leave a review.
Well, that's it for now, so I'll see you come next chapter!
I'll give you 3 guesses what's coming next........
C'mon, you know you know it........
REVIEW, PEOPLE!
^^ Thank you and have a nice day!
....- Sorry that it took me *counts* 3 months to update. *sweatdrop* Thank u for ur review!
Cherry Jade- Thank u so much! ^^ Also, there's a reason as to why updates are getting slower in the notes below.
Heather-and-Hezzer- Evil people are the best! ^^ I'm glad u like Sakura's personality!
LiL oBs3ss3r- You shall all see who the family connection is! *evil laughter* Neways, I liked ur description of Tomoyo's personality! *sniff* and THANK YOU for putting me on ur favorites list!
Iris dreamer- Eh? *blink*
UrbanCinderella- *tear* Yay! I got a death threat! ^^ Now I know I'm loved! Lol. *goes crazy* Beyond my control?! Oh, my poor hands shall ache dearly.
Midnight Crystal- I don't like perverts either! .. Newayz, thank you!
oXAmethystXo- ^^^^^^^^^Thank u so much for putting me on ur fav.list! And I'll be sure to give Cherrixwolf a special thanx!
xX-Angelic Petal-xX- *snicker* Eriol has been shot down! Lol, airhead boys suck. It's a fact of life. Lol, enjoy the new chappie!
Kitsune- are your teachers loading u up with assignments and stuff too? *sigh* I know watcha mean! So evil. Newayz, ur right about him thinking about Sakura.......hehe, thankies!
SaFiRe Star- Thank u so much! And of course I'll e-mail u again! I e-mail anyone who leaves their address if I upload a new chap, and I will continue to do so for my lovely reviewers! ^^
Suga Gurl- Thank you! I'm glad u liked the last chappie! (
Kim- The ages are indeed very weird, ne? 0.o But thank u for ur kind comment.
AnimeObsessionFantasy- Sorry about the slow updates!
Sweetcandies13- I hope u like this new chappy! I worked hard on it, so I hope it's to ur liking!
Cherrixwolf- BIG thank you to you, cherrixwolf, for recommending this story to someone else who reviewed! ^^ I really appreciate that kind of thing. Newayz, *wink* maybe she'll love him, maybe she won't. I could play the role of the evil author and make her end up with Yamazaki. *cringe* But I don't think I will.
UrbanCinderella- Oh, u left TWO reviews! ^^ thank u! Thank u for saying that I'm doing a wonderful job with it! And for your vote, as well! Oh, and Mini Sweety says 'Hi!'.
Blue-Dreamz- In a way, yes, he's trying to seduce her, but now he's trying more towards romancing her than seducing her. And I promise to write more chapters for u! ^^
SaKuRa LoVa- U shall find out who the connection is! Tee hee. Well, what is ur definition of 'soon'? .
Areida- I have to tell u, she doesn't throw her lunch in his face, but the thought of making her do that was VERY tempting, believe me! ^^ I love to torture him sometimes. Angry mob? *runs away*
Sara- *evil Tomoyo-ish laugh* You will find out how S+S turn out in the end! It's just......gonna take a few chapters......yeah.......:D, but don't worry, I'll eventually get them done.
Mini Sweety- About the lock the door thing, thank u for pointing that out, and I added in an explanation in this chapter about that. Sakura is acting how she is towards Syaoran because of his reputation and the fact that he's been a pervert with her, but this chapter will (hopefully) show that she doesn't hate him or anything. I know the chapter seemed shorter than the others, but I had to cut it off there to give somewhat of a cliffhanger (^^) and this chapter is extra-long to make up for it. And I remembered to tell UrbanCinderella Hi for u!
Dangerous-beans- Lol, gotta love the evilness! And thank you, ur the first person to call it devious. I like it!
JaMie LoVeR- Thank u for ur vote!
Poll Winner:
Eriol
Tomoyo and Sakura with a tie for second place.
Kira: Alright, the guest for this chapter is Rika!
Rika: Hello!
Kalli: So, Rika, how goes it?
Rika: Um....good, I guess.
*crickets*
Kira: Uh....anything you wanna talk about?
Rika: *frown* Yeah, why isn't Kalli updating faster?
Kalli: I figured some ppl would wanna know about that. I'm glad you asked that question. Well, I just started my Freshmen/Freshmeat (as Bit calls it) year in High school, and the homework keeps coming, and these first few weekends have been hectic! So, I'm doing the best I can to update fast, but time is short, so I'm working on it, but things seem to be smoothing out a little now, so, updates will become more frequent!
Rika and Kira: *confetti streamers pop* Yay!
Kalli: I feel so proud of myself after making that speech!
Rika: Finally, she's gonna update faster! DIDJA HEAR THAT PEOPLE?!
Kalli: *Cough* Well, let's start with this update! I'm sure everybody's just dying to see what happens and their anticipating the new chapter happily.......that was a joke, people. @.@ I'm just gonna shut up now.
Key and Disclaimer from former chapters will now count for every chapter, cuz it's such a pain to have to rewrite everything.
"Musings and Cherry Blossoms at the White Tulip"
~~~~~~~~~~~~Presentation Room~~~~~~~~~~~~~#$Sakura P.O.V.#$
*SNORE* ..........
*SNORE*.........
*SNORE*.........
*poke* ..........
*hiss* ............
"Sakura! Wake up! Everyone's looking at you!" whispered a feminine voice beside my ear.
I swatted at it in hopes it was some stupid talking fly, but no such luck. The thing caught my hand and shook me. "Sakura! Wake up!"
I slowly blinked sleepily. "Huh?" after a few seconds, my eyes had adjusted and I noticed everyone in the presentation room staring at me with looks that were murderous, irritated, amused, or worried. Most were the first 3.
Then I realized I had been snoring. I blushed. "Erm........sorry......" I mumbled as loud as I could.
I heard some laughter from scattered places, but 1 came from the front row and was very distinct. My eyes met the amused ones of Syaoran Li and he smirked with a look that said 'Can we say 'blackmail'?'. Damn. I glared with a red face and sunk into my seat feeling humiliated.
Why did I always have to fall asleep at the absolute worst times?
*sigh* Oh well. Might as well keep myself awake to listen to these oh-so- fascinating business presentations.......yep........fascinating......my ass, that is.
"Alright, Ladies and Gentleman, Lunch break! After your 1 hour Lunch Break, please report back to the Presentation Room to finish our presentations. After presentations, you are all free to go, but please, do not forget to try to make time for our optional Formal tonight in the ballroom at 8! Enjoy your lunch!"
I paused before getting up. "Formal? Were we notified about this?"
Nakuru nodded. "Yeah. But I guess Li didn't tell you. We didn't find out about it until we read the bulletin board this morning. I might go. I brought a formal dress just in case anyway. You never know when you'll need it!"
"Got one I can borrow?" I asked timidly.
She looked at me. "Dearie, even if I did, there's no way you'd fit. Mine are too big for you. We'll have to go buy you something downtown."
"When? There won't be much time left between presentations and the formal."
"We'll skip the presentations and go downtown. It's not like it's US who need to hear this. Plus, you're not technically REQUIRED to do any of this."
My face darkened. "You mean I didn't have to come here at all?!"
"Yeah. I was gonna ask about that. You mean you didn't know?"
I shook my head. "No! Nobody told me!"
"It was Li's responsibility. By the way, I heard you 2 are roomies!"
"NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He set it up in hopes of 'winning my heart' or whatever."
They all started laughing. "Oh, I can see that. Well, fine with me. I've got a whole suite to myself!" said Karina happily.
*glare* "You suck. I have to share with the pervert."
Eriol smiled. "He's not THAT bad, is he?"
"Well, I guess not...........but half the time he is!"
"Well, I'm still required to stay for presentations, so have a nice time shopping, ladies!"
"Thanks Eriol!" I said with a smile. "Well, Ladies, I'm off to lunch! Ciao!"
I walked up to Li, but slowed down when I noticed him talking with a guy in a gray suit. I caught his eye and gave him a questioning look. He rolled his eyes and slightly jerked his head in the direction of the exit. I assumed it meant to go on and head to the café'.
I waved behind me and walked out the door. It smelled strongly of roasted coffee beans and warm lunch smells. 'Mmmm........I could get used to this.'
I started walking in the direction of the White Tulip and glanced at all the small gift stores and food places around me. It was so quaint and homey-feeling with all the people around me chatting happily and laughing. I sighed contentedly. And the reason I'm here is because I'm a suspect of beating an innocent child on the way home from school. 3 more weeks until I can talk to Shiro. Hopefully he'll be feeling a little better by then.
I finally spotted the White Tulip and walked up to the front. A short woman with dark red hair smiled up at me. "Can I help you?"
"Ah, yes, Reservation for 2 under the name of Li?"
She looked surprised and looked me over. "So, you're the girl. Well, in that case, please, come right this way." She spoke with an excited tone.
She picked up 2 menus and started walking briskly towards the back of the restaurant until we reached a small booth. She put a menu on either side of the table and motioned for me to sit down. "A waitress will be coming soon to take your order. I hope you enjoy your meal!" she spoke, then gave a small wave and walked off.
I glanced around me to take in the surroundings. The walls were a light yellow-tan color that was enhanced by all the candlelight from the tables. I sniffed the candle they had put on our table. It smelled like lavender. How nice. And there were some roses mixed with some small white flowers in a light blue vase behind the candle. The booths and chair cushions were a rich dark green in color, which matched the carpet.
All in all, it gave off a very 'together' atmosphere. In a classy way though. It made me think of a restaurant that old friends might go to when they were seeing each other for the first time in years.
After looking around, I thought back to what the hostess had said. ''So you're the girl'? What was that supposed to mean?' I shrugged and picked up a menu.
'Linguine? Chicken Teriyaki? Maybe I'll start with some Gyoza (shrimp dumplings. Those things are so good!)....but I don't know what to get as the main entrée.....'
*sigh* Nothing was quite as interesting or exciting, it seemed, without that damned Li around. Curse him for making me wait with nothing to do.
Stupid Li.........well, he's not SO bad, I guess. He frustrates me like no one else can do. He MUST be a Gemini. He seems so 2-sided...maybe 3- sided!
There's that serious, no-nonsense, business attitude that he has sometimes. That's rare though. But when he gets into it, he's like.........a robot or something. Like nothing matters but the Company and it's welfare. That side scares me and fascinates me all at the same time.
Then there's his usual, perverted, dog-like self. This side was good AND bad. If you tell him I see ANY good in him at all, I will kill you mercilessly and bury your body in a deserted parking lot somewhere!
It's only good because it makes him fun to joke around with, a guy with an......interesting sense of humor. But since that 'sense of humor' usually means something perverted, it makes the entire point of him being fun to joke around with into fun to watch fall down the 10 flights of steps you have to walk up when the elevator's broken. Damn steps..........
Then there's the side that scares me. The sweet, much more innocent side to Li that makes him the kind of guy you could actually grow to like.........a lot.
Why does it scare me? Because it makes me think, sometimes, when he's acting like that, that I might actually like him..........a lot. I've only had a few boyfriends before and they weren't serious. But when he acts so sweet, it's like I'm seeing a different person, a person that you could fall in love with, that you could have a lasting relationship with, someone that you could do all that lovey-dovey, mushy junk with.
He confuses me sometimes. One minute, his face is in my chest staring shamelessly, the next he's comforting me and hugging me gently. Why do you frustrate, confuse, and intrigue me all at the same time, you stupid man!?
I sighed once again and massaged my temples with my fingers. I do like him, actually. As a friend, at least. I'm still not sure that I am, or want to be, having stronger feelings than that. It drives me nuts the way he switches personalities so fast! And the worst part is that there are probably even more sides to him that I have yet to see!
Oh, curse my stupid bad luck.
I picked up the menu to continue trying to decide what to get. 'Li, you better get your ass over here soon, or I'm gonna die from lack of excitement.' I thought, then growled softly under my breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Presentation Room~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#$Li P.O.V.#$
'Great. I'm gonna be late for lunch with Sakura.'
'She doesn't allow you to call her Sakura' said a very matter-of-fact voice in my head.
'Not you again.' I had the urge to groan out loud, but considering I was standing there trying to look like I was actually interested in what this guy had to say, I figured it wasn't a very good idea.
'Yes, me again. If you really want her to become your fiancé like you want, your gonna have to respect her more. No cheating, no lying.'
'I have never cheated on a woman!'
'Just dropped them after 2 days.' Said the voice sarcastically.
I inwardly scowled. 'Shut up.'
'Make me.'
'I will!'
'You can't. I'm you. Now hurry and ditch this guy so you can get to lunch with Sa- Kinomoto.'
'Ha! You want to call her Sakura too!'
'Fine. We can call her that in our mind. Just not out loud.'
'Agreed. Now how to loose this guy?'
I glanced at the man in front of me. He was still chatting animatedly. I coughed suddenly to interrupt his train of thought.
"Are you okay, Sir?" he asked with concern.
"Yes, I'm fine. Oh, do you have the time by chance?"
The man pulled up his sleeve and glanced quickly at his watch. "It's 12:04."
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we'll have to talk another time. I have a lunch date to keep."
He smiled once again. "Alright then. We'll chat another time! Hope your lunch goes well!" He spoke as he turned and waved over his shoulder.
I weakly waved back, then quickly turned on my heel and headed towards the Café.
'Finally! I didn't think I'd ever get out of there! I bet Sakura's probably already sitting there, awaiting my wonderful presence.' I smiled to myself at that thought.
'Too bad it's not true. She doesn't like you very much, ya know. Your always such a pervert to her.'
'Yeah, I am. But, I'm trying to be better! She's one of the women I could bear to marry. Do you think that she'd turn out to be one of those husband beaters, though?'
'I don't think so. She's a nice person when you're not being stupid again. Now, you know, and I know, and we're essentially the same person, that you don't have to be perverted and have dashing good lucks to attract Sakura. She's a great girl, she's talented, smart, sweet, AND she's got a spunky personality. She's your dream girl!'
'My dream girl.........yeah, I like the sound of that. Maybe I should tell her that.'
'I think we like Sakura. Very much. She's the kind of person you could fall in love with. Even though you kind of just turned her into a goal to reach.'
'Yeah. Now that I've gotten to know her some, she really WOULD make a good wife for me. If she accepts, that is. I'm not in love with her right now, but I feel very strongly attracted to her. I think that I'm currently in the process of falling in love with her. She's some kinda woman.'
'So, she's not just a goal to reach anymore?'
'No. But I wanna get to know her better first.'
'Did you really just say that?'
'Yes! What if I think she's perfect, but it turns out that she's allergic to chocolate and peonies? 2 of my- I mean, OUR, favorite things in the world, ya know?'
'True. I think this is the first time you've actually wanted to get to KNOW the person before you date them.'
'Shut up. We're here. Time to find Sakura and start the romancing!'
'Your really stupid.'
'Don't put yourself down.'
I walked up to the front of the restaurant and a short redhead looked up at me with wide eyes. "How can I help you?" she asked pleasantly.
"Reservation for Li. I believe my date should already be here."
The redhead blinked, then a recognizing look came over her face. "Oh! You mean that cute auburn-haired girl with the emerald eyes? Such pretty eyes, rare here in Japan."
"Sounds like her. Green business suit?"
The girl nodded enthusiastically. "That's her! You must be Li Syaoran." She gave him an appreciative glance. "You ARE cute. Your sister was right!"
As it happened, my sister, Feimei, just happened to have a talent for cooking, and had attended prestigious schools around the world to learn all about the art of cooking.
After she'd done that, she started up her own little restaurants. She refused to do a chain restaurant, no, not a chain restaurant for her.
She decided to put a few different restaurants with different names and foods, around the world, and lucky me, she decided to visit this particular restaurant on account of me being there.
All the sudden, a feeling of extreme dread overcame me as I remembered my promise to my sister the night before.
~~~Flashback~~~
I was sitting in the hotel suite, waiting for Sakura to come and find out that I was her roommate, and thinking about ways to get her to go on a date with me. And what better way, of course, than to get reservations to one the best lunch spots around?
Of course, to do this, I'd have to get special reservations from none other than one of the 4 hells herself. 4?, you ask, wasn't the saying 7 hells?
Not anymore. If there were and ever had been 3 more hells, the first 4 had destroyed it. And the first 4 were named Fuutie, Fanren, Feimei, and Siefa. Namely, my older sisters.
*shudder* *twitch*
Reluctantly, I picked up the phone and dialed the number listed on the Hotel's local phone book.
"Hello, White Tulip Café, what can I help you with?" a chipper voice asked.
I sighed. "Can I please speak with Li Feimei?"
There was a happy gasp from the other line. "Is that you, little brother?!"
I thought about saying 'No, I'm a stalker who's been watching you and I know that right now your talking on the phone!' because she was one of the few people I knew that would fall for it and start to freak out.
But no, being the nice brother I am, just said, "Yes, it's me. It's good to talk to you again!"
"You too! So, what can I do for you?"
"I need to make reservations."
"Alright. What time?"
"12."
"How many?"
"2."
*silence*
"You've got a hot date, don't you."
"Uh..........not exactly. I'm taking Eriol. We have to discuss Business plans."
"I think you've used that excuse before."
"Um. New friend from the convention?"
"Female friend perhaps."
I sighed. "Fine. My new secretary. I swear, I've never met such a hard headed woman in my life! She refuses to date me! So, I figure she'll feel at least somewhat obliged to go if I went to the trouble to make reservations."
"Always such a charmer, aren't you, little brother?" she said with a laugh on the other line.
"Yes, of course."
"Well, I like this girl already! She's not just one of your skanky bimbos this time!"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, your kinda notorious for being a playboy and your secretaries are generally considered to be slutty."
"Well...................uh........."
"I think I've made my point. And I'll make sure I'm your waitress tomorrow so that I can meet this girl! Now, promise me that I get to meet her."
"Well, you see-"
"Otherwise no reservations."
I was trapped between a rock and another rock. If I say yes, I get a date with Sakura. If I say yes, Sakura meets my sister and gets loads of blackmail on me.
'And remember what happened LAST time she got blackmail on you? Dude, she had your CAR!'
'Well, yeah, but, I am determined to get a date with her if it's the last thing I do.'
'Ah, famous last words.'
'Shut up. And just to let you know, you stupid little voice inside my head, I'm giving you a really bad mental death glare right now.'
'Whatever. Get back to weighing out the pros and cons.'
Fine! If I say no, no date with Sakura. If I say no, Sakura doesn't meet my sister, and I don't have to undergo embarrassing childhood stories.
"Hello? Syaoran, are you still there?"
"Huh? Oh yeah. Fine, you get to meet her."
"I thought you'd come to your senses. Well, I'll see you tomorrow, little brother!"
*click*
I sighed. "Oh, goody."
~~~~~Present Time~~~~~
My eye twitched slightly.
Then I noticed the redhead giving me a worried look. "Sir, are you okay? You spaced out for a while, and then your eye twitched."
"Heheh. Uh, sorry about that. I'm fine. Just thinking."
"O........kay. Um, follow me to your table please."
I followed behind her until we reached one closer to the back of the room where Sakura sat, looking at the menu in frustration.
"Here ya go." Said the redhead, handing me a menu. "Enjoy your meal! Your waitress will be with you shortly." She spoke, all the while looking pointedly at me, then walked away slowly.
Somehow I had the feeling that my sister had little minions to keep an eye on me and she was one of them.
Then I turned to Sakura, who was looking at me, obviously waiting for me to say something. I smiled charmingly. "Hey. Sorry I'm late, that guy just kept on talking!"
She nodded, excusing my tardiness. "That's okay. It wasn't your fault."
I glanced over the menu. "Would you like to order some wine?"
She glanced down, looking slightly embarrassed. "I'm not old enough to have wine." (a/n- I base this on the US drinking age. I'm sorry, but I have no idea if there's a drinking age, or what it is, in Japan.)
I hadn't even thought about her age. I knew she was younger, but I had no idea how much younger. "How old are you?"
"18."
Eh. Not too bad. 5 years younger, I could deal with that. "And you've never had wine?"
"Well, I've had a glass at like a wedding, or something special, but other than that, no."
"Well, I consider this something special. Don't you?"
"I suppose. Alright, wine is good. But I want some water too."
"You got it. What kind of wine do you want?"
"I don't know what kind I want. I never paid attention to that."
"Alright. Casa Carneros wine, it's one of my favorites. All the way from California." (a/n- I'm pretty sure this is a real wine, I saw the name on one of the wine lists at a restaurant. Not that I was drinking it or anything. *cough*)
She shrugged uncaringly. "Okay."
"So, what are you going to order?" I asked, trying to get some kind of conversation going.
She looked thoughtful for a minute as her eyes quickly scanned the menu. The redhead hostess had been right. She did have rare and gorgeous eyes. And they were extremely bright and vivid as well. I wondered fleetingly if she wore contacts.
"I think I'll have the Fettucine Linguine."
"Sounds good."
"What about you? Do you know what you're going to get yet?"
"I think I'll get the Chicken Parmesan."
"That's good too."
Then, I saw her. Our waitress, my sister. She came out smiling happily with her long brown hair back in a braid and the waitress uniform on with a smile on her face.
She walked up to our table smiling like she was on crack. Ya know, sometimes I wonder...............
"Hi! I'm Feimei, and I'll be your waitress today. And I'm also Syaoran's sister."
I dropped my head onto the table and groaned.
Sakura's eyebrows raised with interest. "Really?"
She nodded. "Yes." Then she took a long look at Sakura, then put her face close up to Sakura's.
Sakura freaked out a little, then finally managed to stammer out a question. "W-what exactly are you doing?!"
Feimei smiled another BIG smile and hugged Sakura tightly. "You are SO cute!"
"Th.......ank.....you!" she spoke in intervals because the air was currently being squeezed out of you.
Feimei finally pulled back. "I'm sorry, I didn't even introduce myself. Li Feimei, call me Feimei!" she said, sticking out her hand.
Sakura smiled. "Kinomoto Sakura. I'm his secretary."
"May I call you Sakura-chan?" she said with big, round eyes.
"Uh..........sure." Sakura said, looking slightly scared.
"So, you're here for the convention."
"Yep."
"That's nice...........did you know that Syaoran used to be afraid of trees because he thought they were going to eat him?"
I choked right after she said that. My eyes widened and I must've looked pretty damn desperate, because Sakura was smirking at me like she was Elmer Fudd, and I was Bugs Bunny, and I'd just gotten caught in one of her traps and she had my life in her hands.
Well, maybe not that bad, but it just screamed 'I've-got-you-right-where-I want-you-which-is-the-scenario-where-you're-a-tiny-bug-under-my-finger-and- I-can-squish-you-at-any-time.'
"No, I didn't know about that. He never mentioned it." She spoke smugly, her already wide smile growing bigger and scarier with every word she spoke.
"Yeah! It was so funny! He went running into the garden one day, and we have a lot of trees out there. He was running on the walking path, but then he saw a tree in front of him, and went running back into the house screaming that it looked evil and was gonna eat him. It was adorable!"
"Aww, that's so cute!" she looked at me with that smile, except now it looked like she was gonna burst out laughing.
I glared, then replied. "Did you happen to mention that it was a SAKURA tree?"
Sakura shot me a glare, and then I felt a very painful sensation hit me a few inches below the knee. I visibly winced, then turned a glare, once again, at Sakura. 'Why, you............of all the things she could do, she kicks me?! Geez, did she play soccer or what?'
"Tell me more about his adorable childhood. I'd love to hear all about it."
'I bet you would'. I thought with a scowl.
Feimei just smiled. "Well, he used to be paranoid about the Easter Bunny."
"I was 5!" I finally burst out.
Sakura gave me a fake understanding look. "That's okay. A lot of people were paranoid of the Easter Bunny at that age! Like..........uh, that one guy. Yeah, so see, your not alone."
I could just tell how bad she wanted to laugh, then say that she now had enough blackmail to make me her personal servant for life. And she did, but of course, I'd never tell her that.
Feimei nodded. "Of course! Oh, you know, I've got the cutest picture of Syaoran right here in my wallet."
As she started fumbling in her pocket for her wallet, I suddenly realized what it was she was talking about.
"Oh, here's that wallet of mine! I swear, I keep losing it, it's driving me crazy!"
"I know how you feel. I'm constantly losing my purse, but then I look all over for it, then flop back on my bed after searching for it, and I see it hanging on the door!"
They both laughed. Then, Feimei unfolded the wallet, showing Sakura the picture.
My eyes widened, and I frantically tried to snatch the wallet from Sakura's hold so that she didn't see that horrible thing, but alas, it was too late.
Sakura burst out laughing, earning a few curious looks from the other people sitting around us.
I shrank back in my chair, embarrassed as I could possibly be. Sakura had just seen the worst piece of blackmail anyone had on me........we're not talking a picture of you making a really stupid face, a picture of you in your cute little Halloween costume from when you were 6, we're talking real bad..............
Sakura looked up with a laughing smug look. "Well, I absolutely LOVE the pink bunny outfit! And the little footies and the big floppy ears are just too adorable!"
I buried my face in my hands, wishing that suddenly, a huge volcano would erupt and distract everyone.
Sakura then turned back to Feimei with a charming smile. "Say, do you have another picture of that?"
"Well, you can have this one. I've got more copies at home."
"Really? Oh, thank you! I'm so glad I got to meet you, Feimei!"
Feimei handed her the picture, which Sakura slipped into her pocket with a smile. "I'm glad I met you too, Sakura-chan!"
Then Feimei coughed. "Oh, yeah, what can I get you to drink?"
"We'll have water and a glass of Casa Carneros wine." I said quickly, before they could start another conversation about embarrassing things from my childhood.
"I'll have the same." Answered Sakura.
"Do you already know what your gonna get as the main course?"
Sakura nodded. "Yes, I'll have the Fettucine Linguine."
"Alright." Said Feimei, as she briskly scribbled the order down on her notepad. "Syaoran?"
"I'll have the chicken parmesan."
"Alright, I'll be out with your drinks shortly, and I'll get the chef started on your entrees!"
Sakura nodded and waved at Feimei, who smiled in return, then grinned devilishly at me.
That's when it hit me. 'She planned that whole thing! That little schemer!' All the sudden, a picture of Feimei with an innocent smile on her face, devil horns in her hand, a devil tail sticking out from behind her, and a pitchfork in hand with my pink bunny footie pajama picture stuck on top of the pitchfork popped up in my mind.
Then I noticed Sakura looking at me. She smiled. "I like your sister. She tells the most interesting stories!"
"Yeah, whatever."
"I really do think it was kinda cute of you in your little bunny suit. It really made you look so vulnerable and innocent. It made me think that maybe there's a non-perverted guy buried in there somewhere."
"I'm not always perverted, ya know."
"I know. I actually kinda like you Ok when you're not being perverted."
"Well, thank you. And I seriously didn't mean to walk in on you in the shower this morning. I feel bad about that."
I noticed a slight tinge of pink come to her cheeks. "That's alright. One question though."
"Yes?"
"The door was locked, I remember locking it! How'd you get in?"
"It was locked?" I asked with surprise. 'Oh shit. I broke it.'
"Yes. Didn't you realize that?"
"No, I thought the door was just stuck or something, so I just pushed down on the handle really hard, and it opened."
"So, you broke it?"
"Looks like it."
"Good job, Li."
I pouted. "Rub it in."
She smiled. "You can bet I will."
There was silence, and then I remembered something I'd wanted to ask her.
"Hey, are you going to that formal?"
"Yeah, I'm going dress shopping and skipping the rest of the presentations."
I glared. "Lucky."
Then a fleeting look crossed her face as if she'd just remembered something important. "Li, Why didn't you tell me that I didn't have to go to this convention?"
I decided to go with my best option and feign innocent. "Did I forget to tell you that?"
"Yes, obviously. Otherwise I wouldn't be here."
"I'm sorry I forgot to tell you."
She scoffed. "Bullshit. You obviously planned this whole thing so that I roomed with you."
"...."
"A-ha! I knew there was something fishy about this whole thing!"
"Fine! I'm sorry! Just, don't kick me again."
"Did that hurt?"
"Yes!"
"Mission: Accomplished."
"That's cold."
"You deserved it."
"No comment."
"Good choice."
"Oh, about the formal....."
"What about it?"
"Would you go with me as my date?" I asked hopefully.
She turned her gaze to the tablecloth, suddenly looking very uncomfortable. "Um, I-I dunno. Look, I'll be truthful. I like you, when your not being a huge pervert that is, and I think that maybe there's a spark- Itty, bitty, tiny, microscopic, .00000000000001 percent- spark, but, well, I'm not sure I'm ready to actually start dating you yet. I just don't know enough about you. Sorry."
I smiled lopsidedly. "How about we let this be a trial date? I won't expect anything out of it except to have a good time, and you to accompany me. And meanwhile, we'll take this chance to get to know each other better, okay?"
She looked very hesitant, as she searched my face for some hint of falseness. But I was serious. She had to be the first woman that intrigued me so. She was also a great secretary, besides a few screw-ups on math, that is. "I guess."
"Great. So, tell me about yourself. Your friends, hobbies, that kind of thing."
"Ok. Um.........Meiling has been my best friend since 2nd grade, and we're always getting in trouble."
"Like detentions?"
"Yeah."
I quirked an eyebrow. "Well, she never put THAT in her letters to the family back in Hong Kong."
Sakura laughed. "Well, a lot of letters were sent home to her guardian, Wei, but if they were sent home with her, she just ripped them up or forged a signature. And she always got the mail first in case they decided to send letters through the mail. She did the same thing to those."
"What happened at Parent-Teacher conferences?"
"Well, Meiling never told him, so she always just told the teachers that they had other things planned."
"And she got away with it?"
"For a while. But finally they called when only Wei was home and he found out. But she got away with it for a few years."
"Impressive."
"Yeah, but unfortunately, I wasn't as good as a schemer as she was, so I got found out in 4th grade."
"When was she 'discovered'?"
"7th."
"I see. What'd Wei do?"
"Took it pretty good actually. We think he knew the whole time and just let her get away with it, but there's no proof."
I had to laugh at that. "She always was slightly devilish. I could never get blackmail on her."
Sakura grinned happily. "I've got so much, I could write a book about it. Of course, that wouldn't matter to you, because a lot of it is crushes and boyfriends she had, but you wouldn't know any of the guys."
"I see. So, tell me about your other friends."
"Um...........Naoko, you know her. She and my other friend Chiharu are really into action flicks."
"Are we talking about the same Naoko?"
"Shocked me too."
"Well, waddya know. Oh, continue."
"There's Rika. She's the same age as me. She's really pretty, she's got short dark brown hair, and she's probably the tallest of us. She's into economic stuff, especially sewing and cooking. But don't let that fool you, she does have a different side."
"She sounds nice."
"She is. Let's see, there's Chiharu and Yamazaki, they're an item, but Chiharu may not admit that. Yamazaki is always telling us stories, like 'Did you know that fish used to walk on land? It's true, they had their own army, and they tried to take over earth, but the humans defeated them and they were banished to bodies of water for the rest of time!'"
"You have some interesting friends."
"Well, Chiharu usually whacks him if he says something like that, and he's knocked out for a few minutes, but eventually he wakes up. She's a nice person other than that."
Then she looked thoughtful for a few moments. "I think that's the main ones, I have others, but their not real close. Now, tell me about your friends."
"Well, you already know the closest ones. Meiling and Eriol. Watanabe's a good friend, but he's not as close as either one of them."
"Alright. What are your hobbies?"
"Um............."
She gave me a dry look. "Let me guess. Women?"
I smiled sheepishly. "Well, it was. I never really tried to find a hobby that wasn't, well, women. But I'm stopping! Have you seen me with a woman lately?"
She blinked. "Besides me, no, actually."
"See! I'm changing my ways for you."
She blushed, but glared at me. It was kinda cute, in a semi-scary way. "Whatever."
"Really!"
She shook her head. "Don't you have ANY other hobbies?"
"Um...........I used to climb trees a lot."
"Anything else?"
"Er, no."
"Then we are going to find you a hobby, got it?"
"What?"
"Every day this week after work, we are going to try a different hobby until you find something you like."
"But I don't know if I can get off work."
"Get your secretary to cover for you!"
"YOU'RE my secretary."
She blushed and laughed nervously. "Oh, so I am. Well, get Eriol to cover for you. I'm sure he won't mind."
I thought about it. 'Think about it, she's offering to do something with you every day for 5 days, man! Take it!'
I smiled. "Fine, I'll do it."
"Great! I've already got some things in mind for you..........." she grinned devilishly.
I gulped. This wasn't a nice afternoon romp through the park, this was her way of getting revenge! A-ha! The REAL motive behind her actions! I'm so dead.
Fortunately, before I could think of all the horrible things she was planning for me, our food came. And, boy, did it look appetizing right about then.
Sakura thanked the waitress, which, thankfully, wasn't Feimei, and dug into her food. Her eyes widened and she grinned. "This is great!"
I slowly took a bite of my chicken parmesan, just in case Feimei had put sleeping powder in it so that she and Sakura could trade stories about me without me awake to prevent it.
It was a long shot, but, hey, my family was weird.
Since it tasted pretty good, I took a bigger bite. "Yeah, this is pretty good. Feimei still knows how to cook."
"I thought she was the waitress?"
"She's actually the owner, but when she visits, she does her share of work, and she always cooks for family."
"Well, that's really sweet of her."
"Yeah." I paused for a moment. 'Did I really just call my sister 'sweet'?'
For the most part, the meal was silent, except for an occasional 'Pass the salt.'
When we finally finished, Sakura grinned. "I don't think I'll be able to fit into any dresses!"
I snorted. "I don't think you gained too much weight. Plus, you'll still be pretty slim if you put on more weight. And I'm sure that you and I will be burning plenty of calories this week."
She smiled. "If you only knew........"
"I dunno if I like the sound of that."
"You shouldn't." She paused, then looked at me gratefully. "I really did have a good time today........." she paused again, and took in a deep sigh. "Syaoran."
I blinked rapidly. "Does this mean I can call you Sakura now?"
She sighed in defeat. "I guess."
"I knew you'd come around eventually."
"Watch it."
"Sorry, sorry. I was just kidding."
"Good."
I paid the bill, and we walked out together. "Well, I gotta go find Nakuru and the others."
"You mean their all skipping it too?"
"Looks like it, doesn't it?"
"No fair! Eriol and me are supposed to stay, but you girls go gallivanting off shopping!"
"Tough luck. You guys already have your tuxedos, I'm sure. Now it's our turn. Well, my turn."
"They're just going to help you pick out a dress?"
"Well, yeah."
"How does that make sense when your perfectly capable of picking it out yourself and they should be suffering with the rest of us in presentations?"
"It's a girl thing."
"That's the reason?"
"Hey! You don't mess with the female code, got it?" she said demandingly, pointing her finger at me.
"You tell him, girl!" came an approving shout from behind me.
I turned to see Karina grinning wolfishly. I narrowed my eyes at her. "Karina! You traitor!"
She winked. "Tough luck."
Nakuru bowed to Sakura. "Now, you know how to tell a man how it is, like it is!"
I scowled at the happy little feminists. "Is this another 'girl thing'?"
"No, we're just weird." Said Naoko, who had been staying quiet.
"What are your thoughts on this, Naoko?" I asked.
All the girls turned to her expectantly and she simply smiled and said. "You don't mess with the laws of feminism." And started walking in the other direction towards the stairs.
The other girls started to follow her, but not before Sakura turned around and stuck her tongue out at me.
Turned quickly to make sure no one was looking, then stuck my tongue back out at her.
She just glared and stuck her tongue out even more.
I stretched my tongue out a little more, and she stuck hers out all the way.
Then, I stuck my tongue out as far as it would go, but then Karina pointed at something to my left and they all burst out laughing, then ran to the elevators.
I closed my mouth, with my tongue in it, and turned to see Eriol and Watanabe giving me very amused looks.
"Not.A.Word."
Watanabe put his hands up in defense. "Fine. But, just to let you know, I think she won."
I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came to mind, so I just closed it and walked off with a red face.
~~~Girls~~~ #$Normal P.O.V.#$
"Oh my God, that was so funny!"
"Did you see that look on his face?!"
All the girls burst out laughing again, as the old woman and her grand daughter sharing the elevator gave them weird looks.
"Oh, hey, this is our floor." Said Nakuru, as they stepped off.
As the elevator door closed, they heard the little girl say "Grandma, were those people crazy?"
They looked at each other, then started a fresh round of laughter.
"Alright, we'll meet back in here in 5 minutes after we change, ok?" asked Naoko, looking at the others.
The rest shrugged, and went to their rooms.
Karina's suite was 2 doors down from Sakura's, so before she went in, she smiled at Sakura. " I'll be out after I change in this HUGE suite that I have ALL to MYSELF!"
Sakura turned around angrily, while Karina just cackled insanely and ran into her room.
"Ooh, I'm gonna get you for that." Sakura muttered under her breath.
She was halfway to her door when Karina poked her head back out the door. "Sorry, I couldn't resist!"
Sakura just gave her the evil eye, then smiled and went into her room.
A few minutes later, they all met in the hall, except Nakuru.
Naoko sighed. "She's always late. Give her 2 more minutes."
Nakuru finally came out into the hall, energetic as ever. "Sorry bout that!"
"It's okay, let's go. We need time to find Sakura's dress!"
"Did all of you bring yours?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Yea. A lot of times, conventions like these have another social thing, usually a dance." Said Karina.
"What do yours look like?"
They all looked at each other. "Well, their pretty simple." Stated Naoko.
"Mine is a jungle green color with this huge poofy skirt that I really hate, but it was all I had left. But the ballroom can get pretty warm with all the people in there, and it has no straps, so it gives a little more air." Said Karina.
"Mine is a maroon one with regular sleeves and glitter at the bottom. Simple and comfortable." Naoko smiled confidently.
Nakuru blinked. "Oh, is it my turn?"
They all sweatdropped and nodded.
*DING* The elevator door opened at the bottom and we stepped off briskly, then started walking towards the parking lot.
"Hehehe........mine is black and red. Mostly black with red stripes at the waist. It's got really small slits at the bottom, and it's strapless. It's the best!" she cooed.
"She loves that dress. She wears it every chance she gets." Said Karina, with a roll of her eyes.
"It's true!" Nakuru admitted, quite happily.
"I can see that."
They walked out to Karina's car and headed to the downtown shopping area to scan the shops.
When they got out of the car, they looked around with big smiles. C'mon, if you were in a huge shopping district for anything you could ever want, wouldn't you smile a little? Even if you don't like to shop, there were a bunch of café's and bookstores that you could sit in and read.
So, their journey for Sakura's perfect dress began.
"Oh, look at that one!" cried Nakuru, pointing to a clothes shop with a pink dress displayed in the front.
"Let's go try it on!" said Sakura happily.
Little did she know, that she wouldn't be quite so enthusiastic a few hours later......
~Dress # 43~
Sakura twirled around in front of the mirror. "It makes me look fat."
The other girls groaned at yet another rejected dress. "It looks great on you! And the green really compliments your eyes!" said Naoko with disbelieving eyes.
"I still don't like it."
"Let's go to the next shop then." Said a not-so-hyper Nakuru.
~~Dress #52~~
"It's gorgeous!" exclaimed Naoko as Sakura walked back and forth in a flowing white dress that trailed gracefully behind her.
"It's too white. What if someone pours punch on me accidentally?"
*Groan*
~~~After attempted dress # 56~~~
"Sakura, you may just have to pick one of the more 'imperfect' ones." Said Karina, with exhaust evident in her voice.
She sighed. "I guess." Then she looked up and there it was, right across the street, with a heavenly light shining on it. Who cares if the 'heavenly glow' was just the display light? It was still the perfect dress.
"That's it! That's the dress!" she yelled, waving her finger at the window across the street.
They all looked quickly to where she was pointing and smiled with relief.
"Then, let's go get your dress!"
They swiftly crossed the street and walked into the store, found the 'dream dress' in Sakura's size and quickly made Sakura buy it so that she didn't change her mind. AGAIN.
~~~~~Later at Hotel before formal~~~~~
Sakura was inside the suite watching TV on the couch when Syaoran walked in.
"Hey. Have fun dress shopping?"
She nodded enthusiastically, still thrilled with her new dress. "Yep!"
"Can I see the dress you bought?"
Sakura smiled secretively and looked up at him with a twinkle in her eyes, and winked. "Your just gonna have to wait to see it. But I promise, it's worth the wait."
He grinned at her, then walked into their room to change, and was about to close the door, but took a glance at Sakura, sitting happily on the couch and sighed. "I already think you're worth the wait, Sakura."
The End
Kalli: Damn, that was a long chapter! My fingers are aching here, people! This was almost 30 pages! Which is an extra special treat, so don't expect it to be this long every time, but it'll happen sometimes. Just not very often. Alright, here's the preview!:
Formal time! Day one of Hobbies, and it's..........you'll just have to wait and see what it is! (But u can leave guesses! ^^) And Eriol seems to have hired a new worker who seems to like Sakura a little too much for Syaoran's liking. Competition? You shall see, my friends.
Kira: Wow, 30 pages.
Rika: Isn't that how long her Inuyasha story is?
Kira: Yeah.
Kalli: Oh, yea, if ur interested, I just wrote a new Inuyasha fic called 'Matchmaker, Matchmaker', so take a look and tell me what you think if u leave a review.
Well, that's it for now, so I'll see you come next chapter!
I'll give you 3 guesses what's coming next........
C'mon, you know you know it........
REVIEW, PEOPLE!
^^ Thank you and have a nice day!