Title: An Irreplaceable Lotus

Chapter Three

"That punk. I'm going to kill him." Touya muttered, a wave of anger washing over him. "I'm going to kick that runt's sorry ass to the curb." He was somewhat relieved that her father had been sent on a business trip to Beijing. If he were around, Sakura would have had even more of a reason to strain herself to act her usual—bright and cheerful.

He'd been somewhat avoiding her since, to keep her from hiding her real thoughts under a false, happy mask. He wasn't sure what to do, exactly. Sakura was sure not to confide in him, and he didn't want to force her to act all bubbly. So all that left was for him to keep his distance. Unfortunately enough, that did nothing to imply that he wasn't there for her, which he was.

He looked down at his watch. Eleven forty-five. He heard the rustling of the wind outside, and sighed.

He wasn't stupid. He had known that Sakura had snuck out. Some time after she left, Meiling had called him, confirming it. When she had found out what Sakura had already told him, Touya as very much tempted to punch a hole in the kid's face.

And here I thought drama like that existed within TV shows and elementary school, Touya thought, eagerly eying that square piece of wall with his fist's name written on it. I'll get you for doing this.

Yukito, who had been doing an abroad program in Paris, had been updated on Touya's daily life since the day he left. The two of them spent at least three hours a day on the phone, which put a significant dent in Touya's income, despite his multiple jobs.

"So you're not doing anything?"

"I'm not you, Yuki. If you were here, she'd talk to you. I'm her brother. That's against the rules." Touya protested angrily. "What a smartass. I hope that little bastard burns in hell."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Grateful to her years of being on the track-and-field team, Sakura managed to gracefully leap over the fence before quickly scaling the bricks of her wall and swinging her slim, lightly tanned legs over the windowsill into the safety of her room. In Japan, a girl being tan was unfashionable, since men seemed to like their paleness, but since she spent most of her day in the sun her skin would have to be abnormal not to tan.

Then again, she had better things to worry about than boys and their stupid thoughts right now.

Dropping back onto her without saying a word, her chest heaved silently and her breath shook, but she resisted the urge to cry. She had done enough of that today, and she was sick of lying on this bed and brooding over her problems.

My God.

Sakura felt her fists clench against her pillow, and slowly fury and rage took over her feelings of loss and heartbreak. Hurt tears were replaced by angry ones, and she felt the pillow grow heavy in her hands.

What the hell was wrong with those people?

No one could tell her this was just about one silly little kiss anymore. Although in hindsight, sure, some people have experienced worse and may say she's still just overreacting and acting like a total girl—

-But this was real. She wasn't some jaded fool thinking her love life was the most important and significant one in the history of relationships, but she knew for absolutely certain that she had thought her relationship was for real.

This wasn't about one silly little kiss.

There was something new that Gwen brought to the table. Something that sparked a certain something within Syoaran that just made the two of them be together—and want to be together. And look annoyingly perfect that way.

Why not just break up with her? Did that idiot truly believe that he could have them both? So much for the notion of Syoaran feeling shitty and wanting to patch things up. He seemed perfectly content on the leash of Gwen who flaunted their irreplaceable bond around like Queen of the entire freaking Universe.

Suddenly, her open window brought in a surprisingly cold breeze, sending chills down her spine but sending a refreshing touch of cold to her face. Suddenly, she felt alone and naïve—but strong. All of a sudden, she couldn't care about those people.

That's right, she didn't care.

She didn't give two damns if Syoaran made love to Gwen on a lamppost, or if the two of them from blew up from spontaneous human combustion. She'd never have the same respect for Syoaran again. This was for absolute certain.

She never did understand how couples could break up and then recover. That whole "we're-on-we're-off" thing always made relationships seem so very artificial to her. That was why when she dumped Syoaran and his two-timing ways, it'd be for good.

Whatever faith, trust, reliance and respect she once had for the boy had quickly diminished once she felt this new confidence brought on by a simple spring breeze. May it be love, friendship, or any other platonic relationship—how could any of that exist between them anymore? Clearly he couldn't be trusted even after four years.

If there wasn't even trust in a relationship, there was no foundation whatsoever.

"I should've listened to Touya's advice years ago." Sakura murmured, that same, dizzying headache that had been plaguing her these past hours miraculously beginning to subside. Dimming her lights, she fell back against her bed, feeling slightly feverish. No more regrets. "I'd rather not have a relationship at all than have one that'd end this way..."

If only I'd known before that our relationship was as stable as a stack of cards.

"Chin up. End the relationship as if it didn't mean the end of the world..."

She'd be fine.

…Really.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Oh God... I'm such a fucking bastard." Syoaran's head dropped droopily over the ledge of his couch, and it just hovered while his hair flew back and out of his eyes. "I guess it doesn't get much more selfish than this, huh?"

Meiling looked disturbed. You jackass. What are you feeling so fucked about? She cursed toward Syoaran angrily. How could you just sit there when Sakura is probably crying back at home? If she can sneak out, you can most definitely sneak in. How could you let this happen? You don't see her making out with God-knows-who. Oh, fuck you.

The two of them together knew that Sakura had about fifty more than normal admirers that were all-too itching to have the two of them split up. Syoaran knew that best of the two of them- so why was he doing this?

"You let her kiss you. That was your own fault." Meiling confirmed for him, her voice sounding dead. She had to refrain to hold back a tone of bitterness. She was asked here to remain ambivalent. "What're you so confused about? You claimed to be Saku's boyfriend, yet you let that girl lock lips with you."

Syoaran just gave out a heavy sigh through his nose.

For some reason, this really pissed her off.

"Okay, you know what? I'm not even giving you a choice in the matter. If you really can't fight off Gwen's pheromones that much, I'm telling you to break up with Saku. Do you know how much this hurts her?"

Syoaran covered his face with his hands. "I know, you told me." He muttered miserably. "But, believe me when I say I do like Sakura. Really, I do. But Gwen—"

"Stop making this about Gwen. This is about you and your lack-of-discipline and your lack-of-judgment. You want to do the thing that's best? Then stop being so selfish and think about Sakura's feelings. Sometimes saving someone from hurt means hurting yourself."

"Shouldn't letting her go be the worst case scenario?"

"Maybe. So I still think you should try blowing Gwen off. If you can't do it, stick with the broad. You two would be quite a match. Sleazy and deceptive."

"But how am I supposed to know if Sakura's the one?" Syoaran protested. Meiling stared at him, dumbfounded.

"If that was a question you really had to ask, then you really don't deserve her." Meiling said, getting up. Syoaran got to his feet and grabbed onto Meiling's wrist desperately to keep her from leaving.

"That's not what I meant. What if she hates my guts right now? I know her brother certainly does, and we never really were peachy-keen to begin with. He practically yelled me out the door when I tried to apologize before you arrived. What do they expect me to do? I don't know what they're thinking."

Meiling raised her hands in innocence. "Hey! You know my poker face. I'm not playing decoy. I'm always decoy." She pouted. "I hate being decoy."

"As I recall, you kick ass at poker."

"That's irrelevant."

Syoaran stared at her. Meiling stared competitively back.

After about five minute later, Meiling sighed, exasperated. "Fine! I'll do it. God, save me."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

She loved it so much when things went her way.

Certainly a pleasant change from her rollercoaster ride of a life up until this point.

Gwen entered her mansion that night with the biggest, most smug smile she'd pulled off in ages. After the scene with Syoaran and Meiling—and well, her—the reunion made her confident that Sakura may just as well hate Syoaran by now. She practically had Syoaran wrapped around her little finger.

Just like it should've been long ago.

Sitting atop her bed with a flourish, she felt a surge of triumph as she eyed the couch. If Sakura broke up with him first, then Syoaran would have close to 0% chances of getting her back. That would assure her position with him in the future.

Just as things should be.

"Trust me, Sakura, you're better off without him." She murmured, taking out a photo that Sakura and Syoaran had taken together. She took it out of Syoaran's wallet from his jacket pocket when he had lent it to her this one time. Admittedly, a trace of anger had been shown, but she had thought better than to actually get mad. After all, the two of them didn't have a recent picture to put in! This must be remedied in the near future.

Of course, she returned the coat and its contents, excluding the picture that she had in her hands. Putting her other hand delicately on its carefully-taken care of edges, she ripped the photo monstrously in two, a jagged line separating Sakura and Syoaran- which gave Gwen a sadistic form of pleasure.

You won't run away from me again, Li. You came to Tokyo, and I came here to play your game. I don't care what it takes. I didn't come crawling back to the hospitality of my father for no reason.

She looked down at the picture. "You bitch," she said soundly, tearing up the half picture of Sakura Kinomoto. "You just wait and see."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

There was something different about her that day.

When Sakura entered the classroom that morning, she came in without a moment's hesitation and immediately, almost confidently, began talking to Tomoyo about future movie plans. Sakura also looked surprisingly, particularly good today, despite a night that potentially could have been in tears.

Meiling placed her face in the palm of her left hand which she used to prop up her chin. Okay, so Sakura didn't even say 'good morning' to her like she normally would have. Was she angry because she didn't separate Syoaran and Gwen? That wasn't fair. She ran away. She could've ended the conflict herself then and there!

Syoaran was the next to enter the classroom. He waved in a friendly manner toward Meiling. Without a chance to raise her hand to return the favor, Gwen entered the classroom close behind him. It would appear that they walked to school together. She had needed to run to class early, so that Mr. Geruga could bestow her permission to sit in on classes.

"Meiling! Good morning!" Looping her arm through Syoaran's, she used her free hand to wave at her. The calculated volume of her voice as well as the action caused many heads to turn and take in the unfamiliar sight of Syoaran and Someone-who-was-not-Sakura. Judging by the cutesy childlike way she greeted her, she was definitely slipping into what most guys would consider "So cute!" but in her case, it just made her want to gag.

Gwen was good. Meiling definitely had to give her that.

But the smile was grating on Tomoyo's nerves. Closing her eyes, she turned to face Sakura, her hands on her hips. "Honestly! What does Syoaran see in her?" She asked angrily. "Gwen is just glacial."

"Are you girls talking about the new transfer student?" Yamasaki asked, coming up behind them. "Pretty hot stuff, huh?" he began, when he barely dodged a chair that Tomoyo had cheerfully chucked at him. Pulling him out of earshot, she began shaking him by the collar. "Are you stupid?" She whispered hoarsely. "Can't you see that Sakura's upset?"

"Oh… I didn't—"

"If you're really his friend, you'd tell him to break up with Sakura immediately—preferably before he makes Gwen his new honey!"

The loud scraping sound of a chair being moved back caused Tomoyo to glance back over at her best friend, who had gotten up and was cautiously making her way over—checking twice to see if she were interrupting something confidential. "Sorry," she said to Yamasaki before turning to Tomoyo. "Tomo-chan, would you mind getting Meiling for me?" She paused. "I don't want to have to go over there."

Releasing his jacket, Tomoyo was gratified that Yamasaki had successfully received it as his cue to take off. "Of course. You're not feeling unwell, are you? No headaches? Holding things in aren't good for a girl's body."

"I'm fine."

As Sakura returned to her seat, Tomoyo made her way to Syoaran's table and put a hand on their desk. "Sorry to interrupt, but Sakura would like to talk to you."

"To who?" Syoaran asked, a bit too quickly. If it's me, please let it be good news, he prayed, not knowing exactly who he was talking to.

"That invitation was to Meiling." From the corner of her eye she saw Meiling give out a sigh of relief, happy that she wasn't being avoided. "But if it's quite alright, I'd like to speak with you, if it's not too much trouble."

Her gaze settled on Gwen, who gave her a knowing smile. Instead of a triumphant "try-all-you'd-like-but- the-outcome-will-stay-the-same" look, Gwen saw friendliness and a warm, welcoming expression that seemed like she genuinely had no problem with her simply stealing away her company. At least she wasn't being clingy and stubborn and trying to get in her way.

Actually, she seemed kind of cool.

What were Gwen's true colors?