Dedication: To Anais, for reminding me that I've got unfinished business.
Beyond All Words
Chapter Nine When Everything Goes Wrong
hitokiritomoe
Syaoran walked into the piano room where Sakura was playing the piano. The melody was not soothing, though it was meant to be. The player seemed to be distracted.
"Konnichiwa," Syaoran said, but Sakura didn't stop playing. The music grew louder and seemed to radiate a hostile air. Syaoran was about to take his usual seat when he saw a note with his name written on it. He looked at Sakura's back. She was still playing her eerie music and didn't seem to notice. He picked it up and opened it. Inside, scrawled in Sakura's handwriting, though it looked like it was written in haste, were the following words:
Leave me alone, Li-san.
Syaoran looked at Sakura's back with stricken eyes.
"D-doushite?" he asked in a voice hardly more than a whisper.
Sakura fumbled and stopped playing. She attempted to go on playing but kept making mistakes. She sighed and stopped, her back still turned towards Syaoran.
The cherry blossom in his hand dropped to the ground unnoticed. He stood staring at her unyielding back, trying to make sense of the cold message.
"Sakura—" Yukito called out as he opened the door.
He stopped short, seeing the two. Without a word Syaoran left the room, his head bowed. Yukito could only feel sorry for the guy. Silently, Sakura stood up from the piano seat and looked at him. Her eyes were dry, but she was very pale.
Let's go home, onii-chan, she signaled to her brother, who nodded.
"I'll wait for you outside," he said as he closed the door, knowing that his sister needs this time alone.
When her brother was gone, Sakura picked up her things and started putting them in her vackpack. She passed by her note. It was then that she noticed the cherry blossom on the floor. She knelt down beside it and picked it up. And silently, because she could not speak, she started to cry.
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Syaoran walked with his head bowed down. He didn't care where he was going, as long as it was not in the direction of the piano room. All the girls he passed smiled at him, but he paid them no attention. His mind was on only one girl. And that girl didn't seem to like him anymore. He sighed loudly as he walked, thinking of what he could have done to have deserved this very sudden change of attitude from her. He could only see the ground as he walked, but suddenly he saw shoes in front of him. He slowly looked up and saw Kyoichi glaring at him. He saw a fist headed towards his face and then he was on the ground, the side of his cheek feeling like it was on fire.
"Gaki!" his best friend shouted, his hands shaking at his sides.
Syaoran groaned and blinked and tried to pull himself up, but found that he couldn't. Around them, a crowd had gathered. Whispers could be heard everywhere.
"Aren't those two best friends?!"
"Oh my gosh! What did he do to my Syaoran's face?"
"Twenty bucks says the chestnut haired guy beats the crap out of the brunette."
"You're on."
Kyoichi pulled up his friend roughly and supported him out of the circle of people. Syaoran's head throbbed and he couldn't think straight. All he could think of was a girl with short, ginger-colored hair and green eyes that sparkled every time she smiled. Kyoichi laid him on a bench and he smiled, his eyes closed.
"Sakura…"
"Aargh! Baka! Wake up! I didn't punch you that hard!"
Syaoran was shaken into consciousness. "Sakura?"
Kyoichi let out a howl of frustration. "We aren't here to discuss your Sakura. We're here to discuss about Meilin. Li Meilin. Your fiancée. Remember?"
Syaoran slowly shook his head, trying to clear it. But the image of Sakura didn't disappear. He gave up and sighed.
"Listen, Syaoran, get your act together. It's either you stop seeing this Sakura, or you break your engagement. Kami-sama, don't you see how much you're hurting your cousin?"
Syaoran just looked at him stupidly. "I—I can't."
"You can't what? Stop seeing Sakura or break your engagement?"
"Both." He sat up straighter, concentrating on the throbbing of his head… and on the image of Sakura.
"Both?! You and your damned pride!"
"Look, Kyoichi, you don't understand, I—"
"Damn right I don't understand! You don't tell me anything. Look. Syaoran, I may not understand a lot of things, but I do understand one thing: You're hurting my friend's feelings. I always knew how things stood between the two of you, but I never thought you'd be so low as to cheat on her."
And with that, Kyoichi, his best friend, walked away from him. Syaoran sighed, feeling sick and frustrated.
"Nothing is going right."
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To be continued…
Author's Note: I know… delayed for months on end. Well, this is the only time that I could spare to update. Hope all of you understand.