Notes: Lalala! :) Oh I had so much fun writing this chapter! That's because I'm just like Sakura-chan when it comes to scary movies and stories! I can't watch anything even remotely scary. I end up going to the bathroom whenever a really scary part comes up. :)

I realize that many of you may find this fic kinda boring because it doesn't have much plot. I wanted to focus on the relationships between the characters because that is probably my favorite part of CCS. In my opinion, it's what separates CCS from all of the other magical girl shojo out there. But just so you know, there is more plot coming. I haven't quite got it all figured out yet, but it's definitely coming!

Reviewers:

Flaming Soul: Thanks for reviewing again! And yes, I think you may be right. ;)


Chapter 5: Some Things Never Change

"Sakura-chan!"

"Nani?" Sakura asked as she worked on her homework during her free period. Syaoran, who had the same free period, was on the other side of the table doing his homework as well. It'd been a week since their talk and their normal bickering had settled into a sort of teasing camaraderie. They often did their homework together during free period. He would help her with calculus and she would help him with literature. Syaoran glanced up at Chiharu and then continued writing.

"Do you want to go to the movies with me, Naoko-chan, Tomoyo-chan, Rika-chan and Yamazaki-kun?" Chiharu asked.

Sakura thought about her schedule for a moment. "I'd like to, but I have cheerleading practice after school."

"It's okay. Since Naoko-chan has practice too we're going at 6:30. So can you go?" She asked cheerfully.

"Hai!" Sakura said and then she was struck with a thought. "Ne, can Syaoran come too?" she asked. Syaoran lifted his head with a startled look in her direction.

"Sure!" Chiharu said as she turned to Syaoran. "Li-kun, would you like to come with us as well? I know that Yamazaki-kun has missed you and would be happy to talk to you again!"

"Eh..." Syaoran started uncertainly.

"He'll come," Sakura said genkily with a cheeky smile in his direction. He glared back at her and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Okay! We'll see you two at the movie theater at 6:30 then!" Chiharu headed back toward the door with a wave.

"Aa! Chiharu-chan!" Sakura called after her. "I might be a few minutes late because I have to stay after practice to clean up!"

"Hai hai!" Chiharu said with a wink from the doorway. "That's what you get for being captain!" With another wave, she exited. Sakura glanced at her homework on the table. She was working on a poem for her English class. She'd decided on a non-rhyming free verse and it was going nowhere fast. Her page was covered with scratch-outs and blots. Sakura sighed.

Syaoran snorted and she sent a piercing glare in his direction. "Nani? Did you have something to say?"

He glanced up at her. "You're cheerleading captain?"

She sniffed at him. "It just so happens that I am very good at it."

Even though his expression was as bland as ever, Syaoran was laughing at her, she could tell. Her green eyes narrowed as she waited for his retort.

"So I guess when that clumsy streak hits, it's pretty bad huh?" he said with a smirk. With his hair falling into his eyes, he looked quite devilish. It didn't help that he was right. Just the day before she had fallen from the top of the pyramid sending the rest of the girls scrambling in a heap with pom-poms flying everywhere.

Sakura harrumphed and grabbed the blotted out paper on her desk. Wadding it into a ball she quickly threw it and hit him right in the forehead. "Hah!" she laughed triumphantly. "Gotcha!"

"Hm. After that, maybe I won't go to the movies with you," he said as he picked up the paper from the floor and smoothed it out. He examined the copious scratch-outs. "Not getting anywhere very fast are we Sakura-baka?"

"Yeah well. I can't decide what I want to write about," she said. "Looks like you're not having any trouble though. Can I read it?"

She watched in surprise as his face suddenly grew pink. Hm? She thought. What's this? Sensing his embarrassment she said, "I guess not, ne?" She smiled at him and grabbed another piece of paper.


Syaoran, Tomoyo, Chiharu, Rika, Naoko, and Yamazaki stood waiting in front of the theater for Sakura. At first Syaoran had felt uncomfortable waiting around with a group of people he hadn't seen since he was eleven. They talked about people and events that he didn't know. But then Yamazaki-kun turned to him, waved a finger in the air and said,

"Li-kun! Did you know that—

"It's a lie. It's a lie." Chiharu cut him off.

Yamazaki looked crestfallen and Syaoran couldn't help but quirk the corner of his mouth.

"I can't even start to tell a story now! It's like she's psychic or something," Yamazaki complained to Syaoran. "Demo, I guess it's what I get for going out with her for three years." He smiled at Syaoran and before he knew it, they were engaged in a catch-up conversation.

"Aa! Gomen! Gomen!" Sakura called as she ran up to them waving, her bag slung over her shoulder and her cheeks flushed with exertion.

"Don't worry about it Sakura-chan! It's only 6:35 and we already bought your ticket! Here." Tomoyo-chan fished the ticket stub out of her purse and handed it to Sakura.

"Arigatou Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura said as she gave her friend a quick hug. She turned the ticket over in her hand and examined the name of the movie. Dead Walking. Sakura shivered and laughed nervously.

"Ano...who picked the movie?" she asked the group.

Rika answered her, "Naoko-chan did. She's already seen it three times—"

"—and it's really, really, really good!" Naoko cut in her eyes sparkling madly. She had nixed the glasses in favor of contacts the year before and it had made a startling contrast. She was now quite cute and very popular with the boys.

"E-eto..." Sakura stuttered. Syaoran looked at her, puzzled by her odd behavior.

"We'd better hurry up or we'll miss the movie!" Tomoyo said. She gently grabbed Sakura's arm and led the nervous girl toward the theater. "Come on Sakura-chan, minna!" As they walked through the lobby, Sakura caught sight of a poster. It had the words Dead Walking written in huge bloody letters that dripped down the paper. And behind the words was a grotesque rotting zombie missing an eye and displaying a lipless grin. Sakura shuddered and clutched tighter to Tomoyo's arm.

Meanwhile, Syaoran was observing all of this with amusement and some dismay. What the hell is she so worked up over? He wondered. Then a thought struck him. Masaka...don't tell me she's still afraid of ghost stories and all that stuff! I'd have thought she'd be over it by now! He watched as the man ripped their tickets in half. He glanced at Sakura and took in her wide eyes and slightly paler than usual complexion. 'Taku...and we're not even in the theater yet. He shook his head as they approached the door to their movie.

Naoko, Chiharu, Rika, and Yamazaki were chattering happily behind him as he watched Tomoyo pull Sakura into the dark theater.

Once they were inside the semi-dark theater, Tomoyo insisted that she sit on the end of the row because "I have to get up and use the restroom sometimes and I don't want to disturb the rest of you!" Of course, she wanted to sit next to Sakura, and Sakura wanted Syaoran to sit next to her. So Rika, Naoko, and Chiharu sat down first, followed by Yamazaki and Syaoran, then Sakura and Tomoyo.

The previews faded away into darkness and Syaoran glanced at the brown-haired girl to his right, only to see that she was practically sitting in Tomoyo's lap.

"Oi," he said, poking her gently in the shoulder. "Daijoubu?"

Sakura looked over at him with wide eyes. "Oh yes, I'm j-just f-fine."

"If you say so," he replied unconvinced seeing her clutch Tomoyo even closer when the eerie music started. Syaoran shrugged and turned his full attention to the huge bloody words dripping across the screen.

Try as he might though, Syaoran just couldn't keep his attention on the movie. It was one of the usual horror flicks with the usual plot twists. Nothing new. But Sakura-chan...now there was something interesting to watch. He observed her out of the corner of his eye as she "eeped", buried her head in Tomoyo's shoulder, nibbled nervously on her nails, and clutched the arm rests on either side of her. At least she hasn't run out screaming, he thought.


At least I haven't run out screaming, Sakura thought grimly to herself as she watched another person get chopped up by a zombie. ...yet. She was pretty proud of herself. She'd never been able to make it past fifteen minutes into a scary movie, but she'd made it to twenty this time.

I can do this, she thought, determined. I've fought Clow Cards that are more dangerous than this stupid movie. I can do this!

"Sakura-chan," Tomoyo whispered. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Nani?!" Sakura whispered back, panicked. "Can't you wait another..." she checked her watch. "...hour and thirty minutes? Onegai Tomoyo-chan?" she begged.

"Gomen ne Sakura-chan, but I really have to go. It'll be alright, I'll be back in five minutes okay?" she smiled reassuringly at Sakura.

Sakura breathed in deeply. You can do this, she told herself as she forced herself to pry her fingers from Tomoyo's arm. She quickly transferred them to the armrests on either side of her. "Okay," she whispered back shakily. Fiveminutesfiveminutesfiveminutes, she chanted to herself.

"Arigatou. I'll be right back." Tomoyo got up from her seat and exited the theater.

Syaoran looked down and even in the dark he could see how tightly she was grasping the armrests. Her hands must be hurting, he thought as he watched her squeeze her eyes shut.

Sakura closed her eyes and tried not to look at the screen. It didn't help at all. Since she could still hear the sounds, her imagination filled in the details. Fiveminutesfiveminutesfiveminutes.


Gomen ne Sakura-chan! Tomoyo thought as she sat in the couch in the restroom. She was glad that the managers had been thoughtful enough to place it there. Otherwise, she would have had to sit in the stall. Tomoyo checked her watch. I'll have to wait at least fifteen minutes. I doubt that she can last that long. I'm so sorry Sakura-chan, demo...it's for your own good.

So thinking, Tomoyo sat resolutely on the couch reading her fashion magazine and checking her watch, waiting for her plan to come together.


Five minutes had never seemed so long to Sakura. It felt like forever. Where's Tomoyo-chan? She thought nervously. I can't sit through this without her! She tried plugging her ears to block out the sound of the movie but it was too loud. She settled for just squeezing her eyes firmly shut. However, that could only last so long and finally, despite herself, Sakura opened one eye...just in time to see a zombie with blackened, rotting flesh pounce on a woman and rip her head off.

With a muffled shriek she latched onto Syaoran's arm and buried her face in his shoulder. Startled, he blushed and glanced down at her. This is getting ridiculous, he thought as he watched and felt her shake. With most girls, he would have figured they were faking it, but Sakura was not most girls, and he knew she wasn't.

Syaoran's arm was starting to go numb. How on earth does Daidouji put up with this? He thought. But even as he thought it, he was enjoying the sensation of her body pressed close to his. She was so soft. Waitaminute. Soft? Looking down more closely, he realized that his arm was being clutched against her breasts. He felt his face turn several shades of red.

"O-oi!" he stuttered quietly. "Are you okay?"

Sakura nodded, her face still hidden. He must think I'm such a baby, she wailed to herself. Demo...I don't care and...and...he smells reeeeally nice. He smelled like soap and skin and something purely masculine...and it was thoroughly enjoyable. No cheap cologne for Li Syaoran, she mused to herself as she inhaled again.

Syaoran couldn't stop blushing. She seems to be relaxing though. And she was. He could feel some of the tension draining from her body and she loosened her grip on his arm just enough to allow for blood flow. Thank God! He thought though he was secretly glad that she hadn't let go. She was nice and warm and the theater was cold and it was her...it was Sakura. That thought quickly jerked him back to reality.

He thought for a moment and turned to Yamazaki. "Ne, Yamazaki," he whispered. "I think we're going to cut this short." Syaoran gestured to Sakura. "Is that okay?"

Yamazaki grinned. "Yeah sure. We might do the same." He leaned back to reveal Chiharu clutching his left arm, face buried in his chest. "Demo...I think she's just faking." Yamazaki winked at him and Syaoran nodded. He turned back to Sakura.

"Oi. Let's go," he said shaking his arm gently.

She looked up at him questioningly.

"This is a stupid movie," Syaoran said as he carefully extricated his arm hoping she didn't notice exactly where it was and what it had touched, "and I don't think that you're enjoying it either, so let's go."

He both saw and heard her breathe a sigh of relief as she nodded. She leapt from her seat, and practically ran down the aisle. Syaoran followed her through the lobby and outside. The sun had set a good thirty minutes before. The sky was a deep periwinkle and the first stars had already begun to shine.

Sakura stretched, reaching for the sky and yawned.

"Man. Practice really tired me out today." She hesitated. "Arigatou...for not getting mad at me."

"Why would I be mad at you?" he asked, a bit surprised.

"Eh heh," she laughed nervously. "I'm still a baby about scary movies. Actually, that's the longest that I've ever sat through one."

He looked at her. "Like I said, it was a stupid movie."

She looked him over carefully. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. "Yeah well, thanks anyway." Sakura smiled at him.

"You're welcome," he mumbled.

"What was that?" she asked incredulously holding her hand to her ear. "Was that a 'You're welcome'? From Li Syaoran? For me?" Sakura gasped as she drew a hand to her chest in feigned shock. "Oh I'm soo happy! I've been blessed! I've been—"

"Shutup," he said, not unkindly. He turned and started walking. "C'mon. I'll walk you home."

Realizing that she'd been left, Sakura ran to catch up. "Ne Syaoran, Chotto matte!"


End Chapter 5

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! :)