Wow, I had a bigger response than I expected. Thanks for the reviews. It prompted me to write up a second chapter instead of studying for finals. ;;; At the request of one special reviewer, I'll think about throwing a lemon in this. Edit: Can someone let me know how to upload my documents without losing my formatting? xoxoxoxoxoxo serve as line breaks for now...
Syaoran poured himself a glass of water in the privacy of his apartment. He sighed as he tossed a careless glance over to the sleeping figure on his couch. He walked over slowly, sitting on the edge of his glass coffee table as he studied the girl's mussed honey locks, his eyes tracing along the curve of her cherry lips. She rested her slender wrist over her forehead as she began to stir.
"Au-e-wai… wawa" she mumbled. Syaoran blinked. He prided himself in being a master of languages, but she said something he had never heard of before. Hesitantly, he poked a finger against her cheek.
"Oy. Wake up," he grunted, a bit nervously.
"Wa…wa…" she muttered again heavily, as her eyes finally fluttered open partially, revealing the most brilliant shade of emerald Syaoran had ever seen. Her fingers struggled to point at his hands.
Syaoran glanced down to where she was gesturing, finally noticing the glass in his hands. She was thirsty. He stared at her for a while, a little thrown off by her actions. He knelt closer to her side and tipped the glass partially across her lips, pulling it back immediately as she began to cough and splutter on it, choking as it went down.
"Goddamned, idiot. Are you trying to drown me?" she growled, weakly pulling herself up to sit properly.
Syaoran was bemused, snorting suddenly as she wiped the water away from her cheeks, grabbing the glass from him with a glowering glare before taking a sip. "You speak Japanese."
Sakura answered with a moan, rubbing her forehead. Everything hurt. She glanced up to the dimly lit apartment, gazing around the modern green and black décor before returning her glance to Syaoran. Headache or not, she did not miss the handsome man leaning back on the table as he matched her gaze, smirking slightly. "Who are you?" she asked him.
Syaoran smiled broadly. "You're the first to ask me who I am, and not wonder where you were."
Sakura rolled her eyes, setting the glass down next to him. "I take it I'm not the first girl who woke up here to the face of a grinning stranger, then?"
Syaoran chuckled softly before he extended his palm to her. "Syaoran."
Sakura glanced at it critically before taking it in a firm handshake. "Sakura Kinomoto."
She held his hand for a second longer than necessary. "I take it you're the guy who saved me last night?"
He smiled briefly before letting go of her hand. "I suppose I did."
"Do you make it a habit of yours to patrol dark alleyways at midnight?"
"Came in handy, didn't it?"
Sakura liked this. It was a friendly banter that took years to develop among closer friends. She nodded slightly, her palms resting in the puddle of torn silk of the dress between her thighs.
"Thanks," she whispered quietly. "It's been a while since someone's done something nice for me."
She expected him to say something like "Don't mention it," or "It was no problem. Anyone else would have done the same." But he didn't. He just nodded in acknowledgement and rubbed his palms together. She was glad… He wasn't full of horseshit like the other guys around there. She had a feeling he wouldn't tell her anything that wasn't true.
"Hungry?" he asked her.
Sakura's stomach growled in response.
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A few hours after battling over the last spring roll (Sakura was amused to discover that Syaoran was a horrible cook. They had opted to order in after he burned the ramen.), Sakura was wiping the tears from her eyes as she laughed, comfortably slouched on the floor next to Syaoran in his t-shirt and shorts, swimming in the oversized clothes. Hell, the bottom of his shorts reached her ankles.
"So there I was, stark naked on the top of a cherry blossom tree, with no way to get down, and the entire Li clan royalty preparing to walk through the garden for the annual festival."
"Oh my god, so what did you do?" she giggled.
"The only sane thing I could do. Calmly jump down and walk past them, as if nothing were the matter at all," he nodded solemnly.
"I guess it takes a true Li to do that gracefully," she smiled.
"Well, I admire my mother more for not missing a beat and directing the Li elders further down the path to continue the festival." His smile was sad.
"Sounds like you really miss her," she said as she leaned her cheek against her knee as she hugged them.
"She was a great woman."
Sakura nodded slowly before feeling the need to add… "My parents were great too, but they died when I was 13, along with my older brother. After that, Tomoyo took me in, but… she died too." Sakura paused, feeling the tears rise. Her voice cracked with a soft laugh, "I must be a jinx."
Syaoran's expression grew grave. "It wasn't your fault." His palm found hers, squeezing her hand reassuringly. She believed him. But at the time, she didn't realize how wrong he was.
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The next morning, Sakura bowed at the entrance of the apartment. She was in her silk dress again, but wore Syaoran's dark leather jacket over it.
"I could drive you home, you know." It was an offer.
She shook her head. "No it's ok. It's not that far, and you've done so much for me already." She paused. "Thank you."
He nodded, gazing down at her silhouette as she walked down the hallway. He did not let her out of his sight as she left the apartment. His fingers drummed along the open sliding door of his balcony, a cool breeze rushing over his body and ruffling his unruly hair as he watched her figure step out onto the sidewalk. He timed it before he leapt outside to the burning sun, his black t-shirt and jeans fluttering in the wind. Tokyo did not notice the flap of raven feathers from the dark angel as he followed his destiny, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, his amber eyes fixed on honey-blonde hair...