It was becoming less of a fairytale and more of a drama -- one that kept her preoccupied through all of her classes.
In P.E. she got smacked by a stray volleyball and knocked on her butt. The embarrassment and fall both stung enough, so she didn't need to hear that low, familiar voice.
"Can't stay on your feet, monster? I suppose those big feet don't help matters." An elegant, long-fingered hand moved into her field of vision. She glared at the dark-haired young man as he helped her up. "You okay?" He was shifting to walk away even as he asked.
"Yeah," she replied in a voice as soft as the one he'd used. "Thanks, Touya." She tried to pay attention after that.
Her brother was two years ahead of her, an eighteen-year-old senior at their high school and one of the most popular boys on campus. He ignored most of the other students, preferring to spend time with himself or his longtime friend, Yukito.
Today, her friends wre talking in class about the new boy and girl from Hong Kong. It seemed, she found out when she couldn't find Touya at lunch, that the school had assigned Touya and Yukito to show the new kids around the school and that this was the reason she hadn't seen her brother since P.E.
She had a suspicion that Yukito had more to do with setting this up than her brother had, and that the latter probably just went along because Yuki had asked him to.
"Hello, Sakura," said a pleasant voice from behind her as she put away her lunch.
"Yukito!" she replied, turning around with a smile for one of her favorite people. There were, as she suspected, two strangers with him, but what she didn't expect was that one of those would be that boy -- Li -- whose lips she had been reacquainted with just last night.
He was looking away toward the fountain, so she had time to look away and fake another smile. She knew that her expression was somewhat desperate, but she tried to hide it by picking up her things.
"Syaoran Li, Meilin Li," Yukito told them, smiling, "this is Sakura, Touya's sister."
"Little sister," Touya specified, his arms folded. "Right, monster?"
"Right," she replied, not really thinking about her response.
Touya frowned.
"Hello," the Li cousins murmured, bowing.
"Good morning," she replied softly, not looking up. All she could think of was how the sunlight brought out the highlights in his hair and glinted in his eyes. She didn't know that they were amber.
"Afternoon."
Sakura's head came up, her eyes meeting Syaoran's. "What?"
"You said 'good morning.' It's afternoon." His voice was flat and cool, almost negligent.
She stared at him, but before she could respond the bell rang.
Touya put a hand on Yukito's shoulder. "I'll catch up." The three left and Touya put a hand on his sister's arm.
She was just about to head for class but paused to look up at him. Her eyes were clear but it seemed she had just suffered a blow.
"Are you okay?"
For a moment, she was terrified that he'd noticed her reaction to Syaoran. But the look he gave her was not suspicious. "Not really." She moved and was in his arms. It was different from being near Syaoran Li. Li represented excitement and discovery, but Touya was safety and old, faithful love. Touya was steady and reliable. Touya would be there to pick up her pieces.
She began to cry into his school blazer and he held her until she calmed.
"I knew you weren't sleeping well lately -- ever since Tomoyo . . ." He trailed off and looked away over her head. When she had calmed down, he sent her home to get some rest.
Sakura walked slowly all the way home, feeling horrible. Maybe . . . maybe he had been preoccupied. That's why he hadn't recognized her or been kinder. Assimilating to a new school had to be tough.
Vaguely cheered, she lurched into her house and dropped some food for her cat, Kero, before staggering up to her room and falling, fully clothed, into bed. She must have been more tired than she thought because she didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until she woke up several hours later.
Her legs were too warm and heavy, so she tried to kick her blankets off. Only when she heard a wild scrabbling did she realize that Kero had been sleeping on her.
"Sorry, Kero," she murmured, swinging her legs off of the bed. She wandered to her closet and began to strip off her uniform, pulling cooler clothes from the hangers. She tugged on her jeans and adjusted her bra before slipping her shirt on. A-cup. Pitiful little A-cup. She stared down the neck of her shirt in dismay. How could Li have considered her the most beautiful girl he'd ever met? It must have been the dress. That gown had been the last of Tomoyo's creations before she died. It would make anyone beautiful.
She smelled cooking as she made her way downstairs and saw a tall, aproned young man in front of the stove. She was still a little bleary-eyed and so hugged him from behind without first checking to make sure he was her brother.
"Thanks for earlier," she told him softly. "You were right -- I do still miss Tomoyo."
The boy in her arms had stiffened on first contact. "Who's Tomoyo?" he asked now, glancing over his shoulder at her. Amber eyes met hers and she jumped and squeaked in surprise.
"You're not Touya!" she accused.
He only lifted a brow. "Smart kid -- only took you a few minutes to figure that out." He was cool and impartial, his face a study in seriousness.
"There you are, Sakura." A brown head popped into the kitchen doorway, smiling his benign smile.
"Dad!" She smiled back, hurrying over to hug him and calm her warm cheeks at the same time.
"Touya's friends from Hong Kong have offered to make us dinner tonight. I hope that's okay."
"Sure," she replied, smiling up at her father. He ruffled her hair and left to help Meilin set the table. Sakura bent to feed a mewing Kero, and Syaoran spoke to her over his shoulder.
"Meilin offered. I'm just doing this to make sure she doesn't kill you all."
Sakura looked up at him, curious. "Does Meilin cook badly?"
He snorted, an action that brought out a small smile and put Sakura at ease. She was used to seeing him smile. "My honored cousin has many great skills, but cooking is not among them."
Sakura laughed a little and stood, dusting her hands off. "My brother says the same of me but without much truth to it."
She hoped he would continue to talk, but he only grunted a little, so she slunk from the kitchen feeling worse for having spoken to him.
The table looked elegant and exotic. Meilin had done an excellent job of setting it up.
Her dad caught her as she reached to pick up Kero. "Sakura," he said, worry in his eyes, "Touya said you had a bad day. Are you okay?"
She gave him a cheerful smile and nodded. "I think Touya overreacted a little -- but I appreciate the concern. And I did need that nap."
"You're going back to school tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
It showed the extent of his worry that he said, "You can stay home again if you need to."
She laughed and shook her head, happy that they cared so much about her. "I'm already behind, and I might not pass math if I take too much more time off. I'll be fine, Dad." She added the last when she saw the worry in his eyes. She had been out of school for several days after Tomoyo's death. Rika and some of the other girls had brought her homework by, but she hadn't been able to concentrate on it.
They all knew she'd been there when Tomoyo was killed. They just didn't know that she'd had the power to save her. They all thought she'd barely escaped with her life.
If her family knew she was still going out at night, they'd put her under house arrest.
Not that that would help.
"Syaoran is very good at math," Meilin bragged. She seemed to have overheard the end of their conversation. "He's even head of the class here -- Japanese schools are very bad. We're far ahead in Hong Kong!"
Syaoran gave Meilin a scathing look that meant "Don't you dare volunteer me for anything else."
"Really?" Fujitaka Kinomoto looked at the young man with interest. "Do you think you could help Sakura catch up? I could pay you for your time."
"Dad!" Sakura began to protest, red-faced, but her father put a silencing hand on her shoulder.
Syaoran, she could see, was struggling. He could have said no to Meilin or Sakura or even Touya. But their dad . . . "S-sure," he stuttered, looking miserable.
So Sakura went out that night, masked, with the threat of a tutoring session the next day hanging over her head.
Syaoran arrived on cue, still wearing his school uniform. Sakura made sure that she destroyed her attackers quickly and then used Sword to make quick work of his. When they stood facing each other, their swords melting away, Syaoran smiled at her.
Sakura didn't smile back. "Why are you here?" she demanded.
His smile slipped a little. "What?"
"You didn't help me tonight, you earned no reward. Why are you here? Answer me."
"Why are you being so cold?" he retorted, hurt evident in his eyes.
She softened a little. "You just appeared in this town. Who are you? Why are you here? And how do you know when and where magic is happening? Tell me, Syaoran Li."
He sat with his back against the big penguin, looking pensive. "I guess you already know that I have a little magic. What you don't know is that I inherited it from my parents. My mother is still a very strong power in Hong Kong."
"What about your dad?" she asked when he paused.
He glanced up. "He died before I could really remember him." Sakura nodded. The same had happened with her mother, but she didn't say anything. "My mother noticed a strong magical force in this area and sent me to investigate."
She looked at him. "So you're just investigating. Does that usually involve kissing strange girls?" She was accusing and hurt.
His head came up. "That wasn't part of the plan," he admitted. "I didn't expect to be . . . attracted to you."
She paused then spoke very softly. "Attracted to me or my magic?" If he were just attracted to her, he would have wanted to kiss Sakura, right?
"You're not being fair," he cried, standing.
"No," she agreed. "But how can I know how I feel if I'm so uncertain about you?" Before he could reply, she melted into the night. Only her voice lingered. "Goodnight, Syaoran."
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