Flashback:
Sakura dug in her bag for her cell phone. ' Private number... Who could this be?' "moshi moshi?"
"is this Kinomoto-sesei?"
-end-
"Yes this is. Who is this?" Sakura asked. The line was dead silent. She then heard a clicking sound. ' hung up?'
She shook it off. ' Maybe the line got disconnected, or maybe it was. Nah it couldn't be. Why would he call anyway? She was just some teacher that he could care less about. He probably hated her too now. Just like all the rest of the students.'
Sakura docilely brushed her auburn hair in the mirror. Thin strands of hair covered her emerald eyes. Her pale hand reached for her head as she leaned back on the desk chair. Her headache was killing her. The aroma of sake was filling her nose, a distinctive stinging smell. She felt plain sick. Drinking plus depression and stress has made her life miserably worse then it has been lately. Sometimes she wanted to scream and run away. Or she wanted to cry it all off. But... Wasn't she supposed to be happy? Extremely and unbelievably happy? The man of her dreams has just asked her for her hand in marriage. And here she was sulking in her room.
Or was he really the man of her dreams? She was still young. She could still get a wide variety of guys, anyone for that matter. Even high school boys were drooling on her every move. Not that she was interested in any.
Sakura wondered what Keisuke was doing right now. Maybe she should give him a call? Since yesterday she has been ignoring his calls and trying to find any good excuse to stay away from him. She felt so bad. How could she live her life with the man if she was already avoiding him?
She filled her hands up with icy pure water and poured it onto her face. She just starred at her reflection in the mirror for what seemed like centuries. Letting the water droplets fall from her chin to the sink. She curiously looked at herself. 'What is my life missing? What is the missing puzzle piece to my life? Whatever it is, I'm going to figure it out. And I already know that Keisuke isn't the missing piece.'
Sakura smiled to herself in the mirror determined.
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"Is this Kinomoto-sensei?" The young boy asked. He heard her faint reply on the other line. "Yes this is. Who is this?"
What was he supposed to say to her? She probably thinks the same as all the others. Just some problem kid... That got kicked out of about ten schools so far. He hung up his phone and threw it to the floor. What was he thinking? Calling up his homeroom teacher? He picked up the sketchpad that was lying by his futon. He has been working on sketching 'The Creation of Adams'. It was his all time favorite painting. He drew lightly two hands grasping for each other, as they were pulled away from each other. It was symbolic to his life. Whatever he was trying to grasp, he was always being pulled away from. He was lost in his sketch. Amber eyes were full of concentration, as he shaded in the hands.
"Syaoran?" A familiar voice said. He looked up from his drawing.
"It's time for you to get tutored." It was Wei-san.
Syaoran groaned, as he shoved his sketch under his Japanese books. He hated Japanese. It was just too hard. Too many rules, too many words to memorize, too much of everything! ' Seriously they should just have one language in the world... So that everyone can understand each other.'
Syaoran starred blankly at the papers as Wei was talking to him about some Kanji shit. He felt his eyes starting to get heavy. Kanji was just a bore to him. It was almost exactly like Chinese characters. He was just about to close his eyes, then he thought about what the next day would be like. Seeing Kinomoto's bright happy spirit flowing throughout the room. Her face always had a smile glued onto it. He could tell why everyone liked her. She just had this special thing about how that every girl should have. Too bad she wasn't younger. Then maybe they could go... What is he thinking? He doesn't have a 1 chance with Kinomoto. She's too old, and too good for him. But that doesn't mean he can still like her right? Syaoran smiled a bit. This was the first time he was actually looking forward to school.
Then suddenly a face popped in his mind. ' Meiling...'. Why did she have to go to the same school? Meiling gave him the one reason to not go to school. But he wanted to see the emerald eyed beauty so that gave him a reason to go to school. Syaoran sighed. ' Well I survived one day. I can survive another. Hopefully'
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' The sun was shining high in the sky. The sky was a beautiful cerulean color. She felt the cold ocean water brush up against her feet. A hand suddenly entwined with hers. She didn't know who this stranger was, but all she knew was she was happy. And that was all that mattered. She suddenly heard the deep voice next to her say "What are we going to do now. They'll find us, and you know they will." She shrugged. "Go wherever our hearts tell us too." She felt herself smile as she felt the cool wind blow against her hair.
"No we shouldn't hide! We should stand up for what we believe in!" The voice argued.
"Your right..." She frowned a bit. " Our love for each other can last through this mess" '
A shrill beeping noise came from the clock that lay next to her. She groaned as she tiredly got up. 'That was such a weird dream. But it felt soo good. I wish I didn't have to get up.' She scratched her head and yawned as she tiredly rose from her futon.
Sakura kept rewinding back to the dream she just had. It felt so real and she felt the happiest she had in a while. Oh how she wished that dream would become real. The waves the warmth the kimochi ( feeling) just felt so real.
Sakura snapped herself out of it. She grabbed a few papers as she stuffed it into her suitcase. She sighed as she got ready for classes. ' Another day of girls who can't get enough of themselves and perverted boys. Joy.'
She walked down to the street near her school. A gust of wind blew and swept away a paper that she had nestled in her coat. She ran down and caught it. Suddenly Sakura remembered. This was the street where she met Li-san. It all happened just yesterday, but it seemed like such a long time ago. Memories suddenly flashed into her mind. His stubbornness his shocked face when he found out she was his teacher. She smiled as she looked back on the pleasant memories.
The class started filling up with students. Sakura just sat at her desk. She tapped her nails on it and she started humming a little tune.
' Saikou no kisu wa tabako no...'
Meiling's voice could be heard. She was busy talking about a new pair of coach shoes her dad had bought her. On the other side of the room Eriol, Takahashi and a boy named Hikaru were talking about some porn site. Sakura found it rather amusing to hear what the kids were into now days, and how pathetic their interests were. Coach shoes and Porn weren't going to get them anywhere in life
The door swung open. It was Li-san. Sakura felt herself lose her breath for a second. He was breathing heavily. His hair was messy and wet. He looked at her. Amber met emerald once again. The looked at each other for a few seconds, lost in each other's eyes. Her heart began to pound faster. Sakura was the one to break the trance. Blushing while she looked down.
"Syaoran! Ohayo!" Meiling said happily.
Syaoran ignored her and took his seat. Syaoran made a deal with himself. Since he had to deal with her, he would just pretend she wasn't there.
Sakura handed out some worksheets. "This is just a review to see if you got the lesson yesterday. If you need any help just ask."
Syaoran looked up and watched her adding some numbers into a grade book. He then looked down at the paper. ' I don't even remember learning this.' Syaoran started debating if he should ask for help or not. He didn't want to seem stupid. Everyone else seemed to get it.
He sighed. ' I wish I was paying attention to the board instead of her.'
He then raised his hand. Sakura walked over and kneeled by his desk."What do you need help on?" She then asked.
He felt nervous all of a sudden. "Uh this problem..." ( A/N: By the way I don't know ANYTHING about factorials. I'm not even in high school yet!)
Sakura smiled. "Well you need your calculator. Just type in 6! And divide it by 4!."
He looked up at her, and looked straight into her emerald eyes. "What about this one?"
Sakura explained it to him. But he wasn't actually listening to her. He was admiring her. So intelligent, and so beautiful. Suddenly he felt his mouth curve a little.
"Do you get it now?" She asked. Sakura saw him smiling at her. She should've felt uncomfortable. If this were any other boy she would probably get up and leave, but she couldn't help but smile back at this one. ' He seems different then the others.'
Meiling looked up at her worksheet and saw the two smiling at each other. She felt a shock of anger flow through her body. ' What does Kinomoto think she's doing?' She couldn't hold in her anger anymore. Syaoran never smiles. The last time she saw him smile like that was when he liked that Hanako girl in pre school. Meiling beat her up of course. Wait he couldn't like Kinomoto-sensei. But then why is he smiling like that? Meiling felt herself start steaming up, she never felt so much hate toward her teacher before. But this was the first time a teacher was hitting on her fiancée!
She looked over at Eriol. She knew Eriol and Takahashi would do anything she asked. Especially if it involved a little something called sex. Meiling was desperate at this point. She wouldn't let some slut ruin her future life with Syaoran. She ripped a part of her paper and scribbled something on it. She then threw it to Eriol.
Eriol fixed his glasses. The note read. ' Want to do me a favor? I'm sure you would want to do it any way. I'll give you anything you want. All I ask is that you'll ruin Kinomoto. Rape her do whatever you think would embarrass her so much that she won't show her face in school again. Break would be a good time. In the empty room next door.'
He looked up at Meiling. She flashed him a sweet smile. And mouthed the word please. Why would Meiling want to do that he thought. He then looked over to the other side of the room. Kinomoto- sensei was talking to her so-called fiancée. Eriol thought about the consequences. He could get expelled and grounded until the end of forever. But Meiling said she'd give him anything. This was a once in a lifetime chance.
He passed the note to Takahashi. He looked back and nodded.
M,eiling smiled. During break Kinomoto will pay.
----------------------about a hour later
"Okay class we have about a 15 minute break." Sakura leaned back on the chair and stretched out her arms. She has been working hard this whole period. Li-san didn't have a slight clue about factorials, so she had to explain the whole thing from the beginning to him.
She felt a slight tap on her shoulder. She looked up and saw two boys grinning at her.
"What do you need?" Sakura asked. They looked at one another, and it took them about a minute to respond. They seemed nervous.
"Well we were wondering if you could help us with... Math." Eriol commented.
"Yeah. I don't get it at all sensei. Please help me too!" Takahashi pleaded.
Sakura groaned inwardly. She just spent an hour teaching this to them yesterday! Does any one listen to her? " Okay. Lets go to the board shall we?"
"Chotto matte sensei! It's so noisy in here. I can't concentrate with all this noise! Can we learn in the spare room instead?" Eriol asked. He then smiled a 100watt smile at her. Which was pretty scary looking.
Sakura felt uneasy about the idea. But what mattered was that they would pass math and graduate and get out of the school, so she would never have to face them again. She nodded. "Ok... " She paused. "Let's go."
She turned around missing a couple of high fives being exchanged, and a pair of ruby red eyes starring at her from the corner. Meiling smiled. Her eye's shown glints of mischief in them. ' This is what you deserve for messing with my husband.'
As she left the room Syaoran glanced at her. He didn't mean to feel jealous or anything.. It just hit him suddenly. He couldn't understand what was going on with him. He caught himself blushing and smiling when he was near her. ' Why were her and the two guys leaving the class anyway?'
----------------------- Meanwhile in the next room
The room was dark. Sakura switched on the lamp. The room hasn't been used for ages so dust clung to everything. Spider webs hung from one corner of the ceiling to another. The dust made her asthma worst. She felt her lack of oxygen entering her body, she took deep breaths and decided to start teaching. ' Better getting over with this.'
She walked over to the board writing down some factorial problems. Sudenly she heard a click. And then suddenly the lights went out. Panic started rushing toward her. 'No we can't have a black out now! ' She walked toward the door to try to get it open. It was locked. ' Where's the key! I swear I left it right here.'
She heard someone walking right next to her. She then heard a jingling noise.
"Looking for this sensei." One of the boys said in a seductive voice.
"Eriol or Takahashi cut it out right now and give me the key! This isn't funny!" Sakura yelled. She tried to snatch the keys out of the boy's hand but instead, she landed on the cold dusty floor.
She felt someone pick her up and bang her against the wall. "Nani! What are you trying to do! Get off me!" She squirmed and screamed.
"Shut up will you. People will hear your screams." One of the boys held her mouth closed. As the other one tried to undress her.
"Do you know how much trouble your going to get into!" She screamed. But it only came out into gibberish.
" Stop moving sensei. Just admit it already. This will be our little secret. I know how much you want me. I won't tell anyone what you're doing with me and Takahashi." Eriol's voice said as he continued to try taking of her work skirt.
She looked at Eriol. His eyes were no longer a calming blue color. His eyes were now hungry for her, and were filled with lust. Sakura wriggled as his hand slowly went up her leg.
She started to cr. Salty tears poured out of her emerald eyes. This was not happening... She was not being raped... By her own students....
When Eriol's grip started loosening on her arms she decided to take the advantage. Sakura took self defense classes in high school and the only thing she could think of doing was...
"OW!" Eriol screamed... He groaned, for Sakura has kicked him in his special spot. The family jewels, little bob, the thing that hurts a guy most. He removed his hands and touched his crotch in pain. As he did that he dropped the key to the floor and Sakura quickly grabbed it. She buttoned up her skirt and fixed her clothes with agility before running for her life, and escaping outside the door. Takahashi tried stopping her but he lost grip of her hand.
Her face was hot. Her hair looked like some kind of shrub from all the tangles it had in them. She was ashamed. She could never show her face in class again. She would never feel comfortable around Eriol and Takahashi. The only thing she could think of doing was running away.
She ran outside to the door that led to the back of the school. If she went out the front way someone would catch her. But sadly there was no where to escape a tall fence circled the property, She sighed as she leaned against the fence. Her vision blurred. She could feel tears starting to form in her eyes. One by one they started to fall down to her cheeks. Rivulets formed as they dropped to the cement floor.
"Why me..." She sobbed between words. " Why... Oh why..."
"Maybe because you're the hot shot teacher on campus, that oh so many guys are in love with." An arrogant voice said.
She looked up. IT was Li-san he must have followed her outside, and he also must have known what went on in that room. Sakura looked down embarrassed. He leaned right beside her, and gave her a white handkerchief,
"Thanks." She took it and started wiping the tears that were still falling.
He nodded and climbed up the fence. She looked up shocked. Figuring out how he got up there. "What are you doing?" She asked.
"Ditching." He replied. Syaoran then grinned at her. "School is just a waste of time."
"What! You can't do that! And mister school is what gets you into college and gets you a job and..." She exclaimed.
He shrugged. "Ever tried it?"
Her eyes widened.. "Tried what? Ditching school?"
He nodded
"Of coarse not..." She responded.
Meanwhile the bell rung. Her eyes looked downcast... She had to face her class again.
He noticed her uneasy-ness as she fidgeted when the melodic bell rang signaling class to begin in five minutes.
" Well I'm going. Have fun back at class teach." He jumped of the other side. " Unless you want to give ditching a try you know."
"Nani! I can't do that! I have to be a responsible adult here! I'm supposed to be a good role model! Speaking of which Mr. Li come back here right now before I send you to the principal!" She scolded. His amber eyes looked at her through a crack in the fence. She noticed him starring at her and glared back. "Get over to this side now!"
"You're no fun." He yawned and started walking across the street. "If you want to come you better decide quickly. I'm getting my bike now."
Sakura yelled back through the fence. "Are you crazy?!" He shrugged. "Maybe."
Sakura debated weither to go or not. She was known as a perfectionist. She was always prepared and always on time. She never missed a day of school in her life. She got all A's in class except for math. But since she majored in it she perfected it. A small side of her wanted to go with him though. After the instance that just happened she thought of maybe taking a break. Her marriage would be a good excuse to retire from work. One day couldn't do any harm right? The students probably would be thanking god that she forgot about class. The rebel side started coming out of her.
"What will I tell Tanaka-san? That I wanted to take a break so I left school without telling anyone?" Sakura yelled.
He was on the other side of the street now. " Just say you suddenly started feeling sick. You tried calling but you couldn't get through."
Sakura smiled and climbed over the fence. She was afraid of heights, but she didn't care at the moment. Right now all she desired was the adventure and the new side of her that never came out before, her dark side.
"Wait! I'm coming with you!" She yelled over to him.
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Meiling stormed through the hallways trying to find Eriol and Yamazaki.
"YOU!" Meiling said as she pointed to Eriol. She stormed her way to the end of the hallway and slammed him into a locker. Yamazaki backed away and started walking toward the other direction, hoping Meiling wouldn't catch him and scold him too.
"What was that for." Eriol groaned.
"You didn't do as I asked. You didn't get rid of her! Someone told me that they saw her and Syaoran in the back lot. My directions were to completely get her out of my life and this school! And get her away from my Syaoran! This is all you're fault, and Takahashi's fault. " Meiling looked around for Takahashi but he disappeared.
"Now they're getting closer and closer to each other!" Meiling screamed. She pouted and leaned on the locker next to Eriol.
"There's nothing to do about it. Me and Takahashi tried our best Meiling. And my special friend down there got a beating from her too!" Eriol replied, trying to calm her down. Meiling glared at him.
" Apparently you didn't try hard enough." Meiling looked downcast. Then a smile appeared on her face.
"What are you thinking." Eriol asked.
"Something even worst. You see..." Eriol covered her mouth before she could say more.
"No offense Meiling but, I'm not getting expelled for your ideas. Whatever you're thinking... I'm not going to do it." Meiling frowned.
"Eriol you can have whatever you want!" Meiling grabbed his hand and started playing with it. She then flashed him one of her seductive smiles, that would usually make guys go crazy for her.
" No... No.... No.." Eriol took his hand away from her. "Meiling don't do this. That face of yours always works on me."
"Eriol!" Meiling whined.
"Have you ever took into consideration that Syaoran may not even like you. You might be wasting you're time on someone that's not worth it." Eriol said.
Meiling steamed inside. 'What was Eriol talking about? Of coarse he liked her. He loved her. He had to love her.' "Baka! Of coarse he likes me. He probably loves me! You're just jealous. Jealous because I have someone and you don't. No one will ever love you Eriol." Meiling snapped back, before realizing what she just said.
Eriol starred at her. He looked like he was deeply hurt. Her words hit him like a dozen bolts. Each word more painful then the last. He started to walk away from her.
Meiling suddenly felt guilty for once in a long time. "Wait... Eriol I didn't mean it." She grabbed his arm.
"Meiling. Don't even try to apologize. For the years I've known you I helped you, and risking my life on these dangerous tasks you want me to do. You're just a spoiled brat. Always putting your self before everyone. Oh and what you made us do to Kinomoto-sensei was low. The lowest you ever made us do. Just because you were JEALOUS that she was talking to Syaoran. Just get over it. Sometimes I wonder why I even like you." Eriol pulled her hand off and kept walking.
"Eriol likes me?" Meiling mumbled as she watched him disappear from sight.
(A/N:: I still want to kick myself for not making Eriol the fiancée. Then it would be partially a Tomoyo/Eriol fic. Now it seems like a Meiling and Eriol fic! It's not right!)
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"Do you want ramen?"
"No."
"What do you want to do then?"
"I'm freaking out here! I just skipped a class! I never did this before! I feel so terrible! Maybe I should go back!"
Syaoran groaned. " No you're not. I'm already a couple miles away from school. No way in hell am I turning back." He said as he sped around a corner.
Sakura pouted. " Fine then. But can we at least.... Can we at least stop by at the end of school so..."
"Stop being such a worry freak. God you sound like my mom. And that's not a complement." He frowned as he thought about his family situations.
The bike ride was silent for a while. Sakura just hung on to Syaoran's back listening to the sound of him breathing in and out, in a rhythmic pattern. The cold breeze blew against her face. It felt so refreshing. The heavy ness in her life just seemed to fade away little by little.
He suddenly broke the silence. "Did they you know. Hurt you or anything?" His voice showed some concern.
"Nah. I think I hurt Eriol more then her hurt me. I'm just happy I took action before anything did happen." Sakura's mind still ran the same scenes over in her mind. It was like she was watching herself from another place.
"Where here." He got off his bike and let it drop down in the sand.
"Wow. I never been to this beach before." Sakura walked over and starred at the horizon.
" I go here to sort out my problems. This is the only place I can feel free. No rules, no parents. Just me." Syaoran lay down on the sand and put his hands behind his chestnut hair.
Sakura nodded understandingly. She had a place like that before. It was the park by her house. Penguin park. She would sit on the swings and try to cheer herself up, when she was feeling down. She felt free there. Free from everything, but now things were much more complicated. There were problems she couldn't run away from. She had to face them. She felt heaviness at the bottom of her stomach. She had to face Keisuke soon, and tell him her answer.
Sakura looked toward the everlasting horizon once more. Waves came splashing to her feet. She wriggled her toes in the sand and smiled. "I wish I could just escape."
He looked up at her. Her smile was like a ray of sunshine. It was bright and cheerful. " I know what you mean." He smiled back at her. He noticed the ring on her hand. It was the ring he helped her find the other day. It was the ring from the man she loved...
" I want to see it..." He said as he pointed to her marriage finger.
" Alright... But be careful." Sakura gave the silver diamond ring to him. "Don't drop it!"
"Don't worry!" He lifted it up toward the sun. "How much did this rock cost anyway?" He traced his hand on the word eternity that was penciled in on the bottom of the ring.
"I'm not sure maybe 1,000." Sakura watched him look at the ring. She suddenly laughed. He seemed so interested in it, like it was something he never seen before.
"What would you do if I ate this?" He asked, still looking at the ring.
"You wouldn't dare..." Sakura said seriously.
" Wouldn't dare huh. Hmmm." Syaoran then pretended to shove it into his mouth.
Sakura's eyes widened. "Li-san. Please take it out of your mouth before you..."
He started to run away from her.
"Li-san! Come back here." Sakura yelled as she ran after him.
"Catch me if you can." He smiled and ran off. Sakura chased after him. As soon as she got close enough she started to wrestle him. He stuck his tongue out at her. Then something unexpected happened. He stopped wrestling her and just looked at her. He then grinned. Sakura looked at him confused.
She then felt someone tickling her. "Haha! Li haha san hahaa stop hahaa." She dropped to the ground taking him with her.
She fell down on him in a very awkward position. She blushed as she met his amber eyes.
Syaoran looked at the emerald eyed beauty that lay on top of him. She looked so pretty... Her auburn hair was a mess, but it didn't ruin her perfect ness. Her blush made her look so cute. What has gotten into him these past few days? Just a week ago he could care less about girls. And now he was falling head over heels for this one. Maybe it was hormones? Who knows All he knew was that he couldn't resist himself.
"kirei na..." Syaoron said in a mere whisper, but Sakura heard him.
Sakura turned even redder.
He smiled and came closer to her face.
' Oh my god what is he doing...' Sakura's mind wanted to tell him to stop. But her heart seemed to want to do otherwise. What was more important to her, Her mind or her heart? She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help it. Her heart seemed to be taking control of every part of her body. And right now her heart only wanted him.
' I know I'm going to regret this later but I just can't help it.' Syaoran thought. ' She's probably going to hate me after this. She's just too beautiful, I can't help myself'
His face inched closer and closer to hers. Sakura put her hands around his neck and brought him closer. He closed his eyes as well as she.
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Ok I'm going to stop here. I was going to go further but this seems like a very good cliffhanger to leave you people at. I know how evil I am!
Thank you to my reviewers! I love you all MWAH!
- Rumiko Ishinomori