Syaoran

Boredom was a term I used often. Everything bored me. Horses bored me. Castles bored me. Being a prince bored me. Acting like a prince bored me. Some call me cold hearted or aloof (And don't make innocent faces, I HEARD you. Especially YOU, Eriol) but in all honesty, life in general just bored me. There was absolutely nothing I found that could hold my interest long enough for it to quell my eternal state of boredom.

Until I met her.

Or, more precisely, until I was engaged to be married to her. Arranged by our parents of course who take the term 'nosey meddlers' to an all time high.

But I can't say that anything really happened until I found out about 'the curse'. And, boy, what a fun day that was.

The morning before I first learned of Princess Sakura's existence was actually pretty routine. I woke up to the beautiful and joyous sight of...

... Meiling screaming that I was oversleeping and that if I didn't wake up soon she's call 'Hiiragazawa-kun' to give me CPR. And there was no way I was having Hiiragazawa's lips anywhere near mine for any reason whatsoever, especially with his whole 'kawaii descendant' thing that already makes him sound fruity, but I'm getting off track.

"Syaoran, get up!" This was about the point where a nice and soft (Meaning hard and un-fluffed) pillow smacked me in the face, courtesy of Meiling. I sat up in bed and glared at her, but having known me since birth, she knew I wouldn't actually do anything to her and walked away with an arrogant, "You've got five minutes before I send up Hiiragazawa-kun.", before she was gone.

That was certainly enough to keep me from falling back asleep. Stupid Meiling.

I sighed and rolled out of bed, heading to the washroom. It was important to Mother that I be well-groomed and hygienic at all times, in case any princess or other royal people decided to stop by unexpectedly. And, being the kind and wondrous princely son that I am, I didn't mention that most of our honored guests probably walked around their own castles naked.

Following my bad luck for that morning, I ran into none other than Hiiragazawa in the hallway after I'd showered, groomed, and transformed myself from tired, bed-head plagued, Syaoran Li to Prince Syaoran, Future Ruler Of The Li Clan ("And all things cotton-y!" Meiling would always joke, whenever I felt depressed about my regal status. It was so restricting.).

"Ah, kawaii descendant." I quite maturely resisted the urge to strangle him and merely twitched as he spoke in that smooth, calmly, let-down-your-guard-so-I-can-bite-you voice of his. "I see you're up bright and early this morning, as usual."

"Don't mock me, Hiiragazawa. I'm late and we both know it." He merely smiled that charming smile that had his millions (Can you imagine?) of female (And some male) suitors going crazy over him. Personally, I thought they all had very bad taste. Anything that could like Hiiragazawa as an actual person had very bad taste.

"Mock you? Syaoran, I'm hurt!" I rolled my eyes at his expression of fake pain. The mischievous twinkle in his eyes gave him away every time. I shoved past him, intent on grabbing Meiling downstairs for a quick spar match to awaken my muscles before I ran into Mother, but he stopped me when his newly acquired sing-songy tone chorused, "Your mother wants to see you."

"She what?" I hoped I wasn't hearing right because hearing that Mother wanted to see me was like hearing that I had to go clean out the lion's cage while it was still in there and had yet to be fed. Every muscle in my body was on red alert. Guess I wouldn't need a spar session with Meiling after all.

"Your. Mother. Her. Royal. Highness. Yelan. Li. Wants. To. See. You. In. Her. Chambers. In. Exactly...." He looked at his watch. "Oh, wait. She wanted to see you exactly ten minutes ago."

"WHAT?!" Mother would kill me for being late. "And you tell me this now?!"

"Better late than never." Ha! HE wasn't the one who was going to lose a head for every nanosecond he was late. I dashed off without answering Hiiragazawa, nearly knocking over nine servants and a very angry Meiling who was storming out of the kitchens muttering something dark in Chinese. I skidded to a halt in front of Mother's chamber doors, pausing to catch my breath, before knocking.

"Come in, Xiao Lang. I've been expecting you." Translation: You're late. I can and will attack at any given moment.

I timidly headed into the room. Well, as timidly as one can while maintaining the stoic expression one had been trained to have since birth. Mother was sitting down on one of the many fluffy cushions that adorned her room along with the gold, the beads, the carpets, rugs, tapestries... Mother was all about extravagance. Extravagance and image are the two main elements to remember with royalty, she always said. The royal are always extravagant and worried about their public image.

"Hiiragazawa-san," the -san only added because Mother hated to hear me bad-mouthing Hiiragazawa. "Said you wished to see me?"

A strange look appeared in her eyes as she smiled. "Ah, yes. I have great news."

Translation: It's good news for me, bad news for you, but you're already in trouble so just agree that it's a good idea and go complain to Meiling later.

Bearing this in mind, I raised an eyebrow. "Which is...?"

"You're getting married."

...

...

An ever-intelligent, "What?" came out through my lips as I stared blankly at Mother. Her smile widened as she did the same annoying thing Hiiragazawa had done. I swear, those two were identical!

"You. My. Son. Prince. Xiao. Lang. Future. Leader. Of. The. Li. Clan. Are. Getting. Married."

...

....

She had to be kidding. "To whom, may I ask?"

"The lovely, smart, and independent Princess Sakura of Japan." Translation: Some loud-mouthed, opinionated girl with an attitude problem who will probably make your life hell for the next... Century, but who looks very good with you and therefore will help you gain even more of the public's approval. Insert sly indication of a desire for grandchildren.

"And I suppose the fact that I don't want to get married until I'm dead is of no meaning in this arrangement?"

"Absolutely none." No translation. Side note: Ho ho ho ho ho!

I sighed. "So, when do I meat the girl of my nightmares?"

Mother smiled. "Tomorrow afternoon. A carriage will take you, Meiling, and Eriol over to Princess Sakura's castle, where you will be residing until the wedding. Remember to be kind and courteous. Act like a prince. No snide remarks. Don't let Meiling corrupt you. I have a feeling she won't take to Sakura right away. Don't let her push her opinions on you. Whether you like or dislike Sakura will not matter when the two of you are saying 'I do' in six months."

Translation: Blah, blah, blah. Ho ho ho ho ho! Blah. Moo. Oink.

"Yes, Mother."

"Good boy. Now go pack your bags. Meiling and Eriol have already been informed." I remembered Meiling's colorful words from earlier, now realizing what she was so angry about. She was quite possessive of me. Hearing that, not only was I engaged to marry another girl that she didn't know, but was moving into her castle for the next six months, wouldn't have made her happy at all. She probably hadn't heard she was coming along, too. I feared for the safety of this Sakura girl already.

"Yes, Mother." I stood up and left the chambers, nearly crashing into Hiiragazawa on the way out.

"Getting a little clumsy, kawaii descendant?" He asked, his eyes getting wide and innocent when I gave him a death glare.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" I accused. Eriol had a way of knowing about things before they happened and not being courteous enough to inform the rest of us. Sometimes he even played with us like puppets to ensure that things happened the way he wanted them to.

His eyes remained wide, though no longer innocent. "Possibly."

"And you're just going to let me get married off to some bimbo?"

An amused smile grazed his face. "I must remember to ask you at the wedding if you still think of young Sakura as a 'bimbo'. I must be sure to ask Sakura-san as well."

I narrowed my eyes. He was such a smug, arrogant, little--

"Hiiragazawa, stop bothering Li-kun before I am forced to remove one of your lungs. The old fashioned painful way." Interjected Meiling before I could tell Hiiragazawa off. She stood beside me, narrowing her own two ruby eyes at the boy, who merely sent a smile her way. Thankfully, Meiling was NOT among Eriol's suitors, so the smile further infuriated her instead of making her go weak in the knees. "Don't even try charming your way out of my wrath! Hell hath no fury like a Meiling scorned, didn't you know?"

I sneaked away as Meiling began what I'd wanted to do: Tell Hiiragazawa off. I began heading out to the grounds, hoping to sneak away into the village and get a break from the royal life for a bit.

I had the feeling that my life was going to get even more hectic.

Sometimes, it really sucks to be right.