…His mother.
"Syaoran! I didn't hear you come back," The elegant woman said, with a slight question in her voice.
"No, I only just got in," he said, standing up straight before her.
She looked at him as he faced straight ahead, and said, "Have you had flowers in your room?"
Syaoran frowned. "What?" He said before he could stop himself.
She glared at him and chided, "Its pardon, not what."
"Sorry. But I haven't had flowers in my room, what makes you think I have?" He asked.
"I just thought…" she trailed, not looking at him. Then she remembered herself and said, "Never mind. I'm going out for a meeting, will you be all right here on your own?"
"Yes, mother," He said.
She looked around his room, not quite searching. Then she walked out, saying, "I should be back around seven."
"Okay," He said, as she shut the door.
When the footsteps had faded away, he turned to the wardrobe and opened the doors, to find Sakura swirly eyed and almost suffocating. She fell out, and then rubbed her head wincing slightly.
"You all right?" He asked, looking down at her.
"I'm fine," she said waving her hand in a, 'don't worry about me' gesture. She looked towards the door where his mother had just left. "She's a bit icy," She commented.
"She's all right, you've just got to know her better," Syaoran told her.
"Still, I can see why you made me hide. She doesn't seem like the kind of woman who'd be very happy about a girl in her son's room, especially dressed in her daughter's clothes," said Sakura
"No, well, I've never had a girl in my room, so I wouldn't know how she'd react." He thought for a moment before adding, "And I don't want to find out."
"Right," he said, moving over to his desk, where he had put the scroll. "Now, start explaining."
She grimaced, and said, "Fine, but you're not going to like it."
"Let me be the judge of that," he said evenly.
"Okay, well, see, I'm the incarnation of Spring," she said, getting straight to the point.
"Uh huh," he said slowly, wondering what sort of wacko he'd let walk into his house.
"See, I knew you'd be like that!" She huffed, dumping herself on his bed. He sat across from her on the chair for his desk. She frowned at him and said, "But it's true. If you could read Japanese better you'd know that!"
"Hey! My Japanese is just fine!" He said angrily.
"Oh yeah? Then what does that scroll say?" She countered.
He glared at her, and picked it up. "It says," He said, frowning at it, "Er, it says, um, something about…" He trailed, looking at the words. "Well, the general idea of it is describing each season," He said uncertainly.
"Right, that's only part of it. By reciting the words you called me into being, so that I'm not just a certain type of whether or humidity attributed to a time of year or whatever, I actually have a physical body," She said cheerfully.
"And you expect me to believe this because...?"
"Because I have no reason to lie to you?" She tried.
He laughed without humour at that. "Yeah, right," He said. "How about you want to try and get money out of my family, because we're well off?"
"What? No!" She cried, hurt in her eyes. "I would never do that!"
She seemed so honest. "Hmm," was all he said.
She looked at him with wide wounded eyes, and "Do you really have such a bleak view of the world?"
He frowned at her in surprise and confusion, and said, "I don't have a bleak view of the world, just realistic."
Instead of looking hurt now she looked sad. "Is that so?" She asked quietly. She took a deep breath and fixed him with a look of resolve on her face. "Right, I am going to prove to you that not everyone is after your money, or your status, or anything like that, but that some people are actually genuinely nice people."
He couldn't help but laugh humourlessly. "And how do you propose to do that?" He asked.
"Well," she said, thinking, "You let me stay here for a while, don't worry, I'll pull my weight, help out and such, and I'll show you that people are good. If, by the end of spring you still think the same, and I haven't made a difference, then I'll go away, no arguments," she said, looking him straight in the eye.
"What happens if you do change my mind then?" He asked curiously.
She grinned, and said, "That's entirely up to you." She had a nice smile, he found himself thinking. She broke through his musings by saying, "I don't suppose you have anything to eat, do you?"
He found himself chuckling at her hopeful face. I never chuckle, he thought to himself. "Well, I usually make dinner for mother and myself when she goes to a meeting and will be back early enough to eat. I'll make something for you as well," he said.
"You cook?" She asked, sparkly eyed.
"Yes," he said slowly and warily.
"Wow, that's amazing, um," she paused, then looked horrified at herself. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I never asked you what your name was!"
He blinked. He had just assumed that like everyone who lived in the area she knew who he was. Why else would she have bought herself upon him? "Li Syaoran," He told her.
"Right, Li-kun," she said, more to herself than him. Then she smiled that dazzling smile and said, "Since you're letting me stay here, I'll help you cook!"
"Hey, exactly when did I agree to let you stay?" He asked, irritated. "And you still haven't explained about all this," He said, holding the scroll towards her.
"Well, I did try to explain, but," she started hesitantly, then sighed. "Look, it isn't important right now, but please, please will you let me stay?" She looked sadly at the floor. "I have nowhere else to go."
Damn, he hated it when girls guilted him into things. He couldn't exactly chuck her out, though, especially since she was borrowing his sister's clothes. And was lacking underwear, he reminded himself, causing a blush to rise on his face. She seemed so innocent as well, who knew what would happen to her if she wandered around Hong Kong on her own? It was a wonder how she had survived up until now. Which brought him to the question of where she had really come from in the first place… He remembered that she was still waiting for an answer while he went around in circles in his head.
He made a quick decision. "Okay, fine, you can stay in my sister's room for now, until your little mission you've set yourself is over one way or the other, then you're out, got it?"
Her head shot up and she happily smiled and said, "Right!" He didn't miss the tears glistening in her eyes, and felt guilty again.
"And remember you've got to help me do my chores and everything as well," he warned, ignoring the guilt.
"I know," She pouted.
After a moment, he sighed. "Right, so, dinner?"
Another short chapter, sorry. It just seemed right to end it here, though. Next chapter will be, um, soon. Ish… Hopefully. If I get my final major project done on time and everything.
Okay, reviews! There's only two of them this time, but that's ok, at least it shows some interest. And like I said before, I'm not going to make you review, it's entirely up to you whether you do or don't.
FlowerLover: Gah, I'm just trying to space it out nicely, lol. If I had the chapters longer you'd have to wait longer for updates, your choice; short chapters and quicker updates, or longer chapters with loner pauses between updates. Neway, this was as soon as possible, so yay, here it is, for your entertainment and amusement.
UreyEz13: Heh, I meant about the sticking to one story, not, ahem, anything else. And Syaoran being a gentleman? Well, let's just say with Sakura around he is really going to struggle to keep that up, heh. And my story's alive? Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it! I'm enjoying writing it as well, which is why updates are as often as they are. Hope this was soon enough for you, and anyone else reading this.
Neway, as I keep saying, I'm doing my final major project, which basically my getting into university depends on. So not too much pressure… Why do you care? Well, because it means I write my stories only when I have time, which sadly isn't very often. I'd like to go to uni, so I want to pass. Gah, art is so hard! I should have done something easier, like, um… Huh, there must be something easy to do at uni, right?