Chapter 2
"A-are you talking to me?" Syaoran stuttered. He was hardly ever reduced to stuttering, but surprise had gotten the better of him.
The girl rolled her eyes before answering. "Who else would I be talking to? You're the only one here." She then mumbled something under her breath that he didn't quite catch but was sure he wouldn't like. Under normal circumstances he would have had a rude reply but this day certainly didn't qualify as normal. He had more urgent matters at hand.
"So…" Syaoran said slowly, pointing to his face. "You can see me?"
"Yes." The way she said it implied that she thought he was slow. Making a not-so-nice gesture with her middle finger she asked, "Can you see this?"
Syaoran mentally sighed. It was a shame that her personality didn't match her face. He just couldn't help himself. There was a limit to his self restraint after all. "Yes, but I'm not really in the mood for that right now."
"Oh?" The girl said, not missing a beat. "Judging by your choice in footwear, I would have to guess that I'm not your type."
While Syaoran was recovering from the shock that she had managed to one up him, the girl spun on her heel and walked away. Realizing that his only hope was leaving in a huff, Syaoran raced after her.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
She glanced over her shoulder to see that he had already caught up with her. "To school. Nar. You don't look any older than me; shouldn't you do the same?"
"I can't. I'm invisible." Never mind that he wouldn't have gone anyways…
That caught her attention. She stopped so abruptly that Syaoran had to backtrack a couple of steps.
"I'm guessing that you're either a psycho or a pathological liar. Which is it?" She asked, unflinchingly staring him in the eyes. He wasn't sure why but it was a bit unnerving; like she wasn't afraid of anything.
"I'm serious," Syaoran insisted.
"Uh huh. And I have psychic powers." Her voice was positively dripping with sarcasm.
Syaoran cringed at the ironic choice of words but he sensed an opening. "It's funny you should bring that up. That's actually how I got in this whole mess. You see-"
"I don't have time for this crap," she cut him off mid-sentence. Clearly finished with the conversation, she sped off into the direction of her school. If she thought running would deter him, she was dead wrong. Syaoran stayed on her heels the entire way.
"Go away!" She barked at him upon arriving at her school. She was breathing hard from her exertion and glaring at him fiercely. Syaoran simply scoffed at her. Her lips pursed together tightly and she swung open the entrance door to the school, trying to hit him in the process.
"Watch it!" Syaoran yelped when the door barely missed his toe. The pink slippers wouldn't have protected him in the slightest. She didn't say anything. He also noticed that she was no longer running away from him. "Give up so soon?"
There was no reply.
She was ignoring him, Syaoran realized with horror. He had never been ignored before in his life and there was no way he was going to take it lying down. He was getting ready to give her a good smack upside the head when the bell rang.
A sea of students appeared from all sides, everyone not paying attention to who they were walking all over. It was way worse than the halls at his school, and that was really saying something. Maybe it was his eyes deceiving him, but he was pretty sure he saw someone sitting in a corner and covering his head with his hands for protection. He was sorely tempted to join him.
The halls were so crammed with students that Syaoran had a hard time keeping sight of the girl. To keep up with her he had to push a lot of people out of his way. Luckily for him, everyone was used to being manhandled and they barely noticed.
A foot appeared from out of nowhere and Syaoran stumbled over it. He somehow managed to keep from falling (a good thing too since he doubted he would ever be able to get back up) but had to take his eyes off the girl. His eyes darted around and he was just in time to see her duck into a nearby classroom.
By the time he fought his way over to her classroom, she was unpacking and he cleared his throat to get her attention. She looked up at him with a pleasant expression, but it immediately turned sour at the sight of his face. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"That's not a very nice thing to say to your best friend, Sakura."
Syaoran turned around at the unfamiliar voice to see a girl with pale skin and black hair standing behind him. She was smiling sweetly at the girl with brown hair – who was obviously named Sakura.
"I wasn't talking like that to you, Tomoyo."
Syaoran jumped out of the way just in time. A second later and Tomoyo would have walked right into an invisible wall. Sakura shot him a confused look but didn't comment. She had obviously decided to go back to her ignoring tactic.
Tomoyo took her seat next to Sakura and set her bag down. "So, what's going on?"
"I met an idiot guy in the park," Sakura started to say but had to pause for the tardy bell. There was no teacher in the classroom yet so she continued. "He's been following me."
"Really?" Tomoyo arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow at her friend. "What did he look like?"
"You're kidding, right?"
"No."
Sakura lifted her hand and pointed in Syaoran's direction. "He's right there!"
Tomoyo turned her head and arched her eyebrow again. "Takashi's been following you?"
Syaoran looked over his shoulder to see a boy with black hair behind him. He assumed that boy was probably Takashi.
"No, I-" Sakura blanched. Syaoran enjoyed watching as the color drained from her face. "You don't see him?" she asked, barely above a whisper.
"Um… no?"
"You don't see the guy standing in front of Takashi with brown hair who isn't wearing a school uniform?" Sakura sounded a little desperate and Syaoran chuckled.
"Sakura, are you feeling okay?" Tomoyo reached across their desks and put her hand on Sakura's forehead. She looked concerned for her friend.
"I'm fine. Are you sure you don't see him?" Sakura asked one more time, gently brushing her friend's hand away.
"I'm sure."
"Good," Sakura said, her tone and posture changing completely. She didn't want her friend to worry about her so she would pretend. "It was just a joke. You know, one last prank before Spring Break. The old 'Sakura has gone bonkers' never fails!" Syaoran was a bit taken aback at how quickly she was able to change gears and come up with a cover story.
Tomoyo rolled her eyes and smacked Sakura on the arm. She was about to say something but the teacher chose that moment to burst through the door, looking harried in only the way a high school teacher can. "Get out something to do," she snapped. "I don't care what, just don't talk."
Tomoyo got out a book but Sakura rummaged around in her bag and pulled out a pen and some paper. Syaoran moved so that he was standing right next to her and she eyed him wearily. He had to admit that it was a bit of a power trip that he was able to make a girl like her look unsure about something.
Shaking slightly, she wrote 'Are you a ghost?' on the paper.
Syaoran leaned forward so that he was right next to her before whispering. "No." It was unnecessary for him to whisper since she was the only one who could hear him, but he wasn't quite ready to relinquish his newfound power over her. It was with no small amount of satisfaction that he noted the shiver that shot down her spine caused by his hot breath on her ear.
Reaching over to Tomoyo's desk, Syaoran selected a single hair from her head and yanked hard and quick. Tomoyo jumped, and glared at the boy sitting behind her.
"I wouldn't have been able to do that if I were a ghost."
Seeming satisfied with that answer, Sakura scribbled down another message: 'Don't do that again. Tomoyo might kill the poor guy behind her.' Syaoran chuckled and watched as she wrote more. 'If you're not a ghost, what are you?'
"That's a long story. You see…" Syaoran launched into his story while Sakura pretended to be working. Not that it really mattered – her teacher wasn't paying attention anyways. "And since you're the only person who can see me, there's no one else I can go to. Will you help me?"
Sakura scowled.
Uh oh.
That definitely was not the reaction he was hoping for. Angrily, she scribbled down another sentence: 'It sounds like you got exactly what you deserve.'
"You're not going to help me?" Syaoran shrieked. It wasn't very manly but there was no time to worry about that. Sakura winced at the sound but wrote three more words.
'No. Go away.'
After reading her message, Syaoran let out a bark of laughter. "Ha! Yea, right! There's no one else who can help me. There's no way I'm giving up!"
More writing: 'Try all you want. I don't care. You won't change my mind. Don't think that I forgot what you did to that poor guy in the park.'
Can't change her mind, huh? Syaoran thought evilly. We'll see about that.
It was after lunch and Sakura's class as watching a movie while Sakura attempted to ignore Syaoran once again. She still refused to help him, but Syaoran hadn't given up. He had bothered her all throughout the day and wasn't about to quit.
"I have all the time in the world," he said out loud. "You're the only one who can see me. I'm not giving up." He poked her in the side for emphasis. No response. He mentally sighed.
Frustration was beginning to settle in. He may have been notorious for being stubborn, but he might have finally met his match in Sakura. She had gotten so used to his constant pokes and prods that she had stopped reacting to them completely. It was a good thing too. She was tired of people thinking she was having a seizure.
An idea crept into Syaoran's mind but he wasn't too sure he was willing to go that far. He watched Sakura's side profile. She was still diligently pretending like he was a figment of her imagination. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Syaoran crouched down low and moved so that he was under Sakura.
"What are you doing?" Sakura hissed out of the corner of her mouth, curiosity getting the better of her.
"Trying to see your panties," he answered simply. That was always a sure way to get a girl's attention, even if it was negative.
Sakura's eyes widened and she kicked him in the head. A few people turned around in their seats to see what she was doing.
"There was a bug on my leg," Sakura said lamely. They looked at her like she was crazy and then turned back to the movie. Sakura shot a death glare at Syaoran who was sitting on the floor and rubbing his head.
Sakura got up and went to her teacher. "May I go to the restroom?"
The teacher nodded. She was probably very glad to be rid of Sakura, even if it was only for a couple of minutes. Sakura's constant fidgeting was getting on everyone's nerves.
Sakura left the room and Syaoran followed. The walk to the bathroom seemed longer than it ever had before, but that probably had something to do with the invisible guy singing 'I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves' at the top of his lungs. Her left eye managed to develop a twitch by the time they reached the restroom.
She was unsurprised that Syaoran followed her into the girls' bathroom but she drew the line when she realized that he was in the stall with her.
"What are you doing?"
"I've always been curious about the anatomy of a girl." He grinned widely at her, waggling his eyebrows.
Sakura pushed him out, slammed the door and locked it. "Yea, well, I'm willing to bet money that you're going to remain curious about that until the day you die."
"Ouch. That one struck a nerve." Syaoran paused, examining his fingernails. "No, really it did." His insistence was obviously not sincere. Her lack of a response was grating on his nerves. Bending over, he peeked under the stall door. Luckily for Sakura, she was only unzipping her pants. When she lifted her leg in warning of another kick to the head, he withdrew.
Syaoran leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. Sakura took care of business and reemerged. Turning on a faucet, she began to wash her hands.
"You win," she muttered under her breath so softly that he wasn't sure he heard her correctly.
Syaoran uncrossed his arms and leaned closer to her. "What was that?"
"I said you win! I'll help you." Sakura let out an exasperated sigh. "You're driving me crazy and I can tell you're not going to give up any time soon. The sooner I help you, the sooner you go away."
"Glad to see you finally realized the smart thing to do."
Sakura gave him a withering glare. "Don't push it. I can still change my mind." Syaoran raised his hands in surrender, unwilling to start another battle so soon.
They fell into silence while Sakura was drying her hands on a coarse paper towel. "So, what's your name?" she asked.
"Syaoran Li."
"So tell me, Syaoran, do you make it a habit of following girls into the bathroom and listening while they pee? Does that kind of thing get you off?" she asked, apparently raring to go for another battle. It only made sense, since she had lost the first one.
"Don't kid yourself," Syaoran quipped. "I don't see you that way. I only like attractive girls."
Sakura frowned. "You certainly are a mouthy little bastard."
"You're one to talk."
Sakura groaned, tossing the paper towel in the trash bin. "I can see this is going to be a long day." Realization dawned on her. "You said that you wanted me to help you, but what exactly do you want me to do? And how come I'm the only one who can see you? Why me?"
Syaoran looked uncomfortable at the third degree. "I'm… not really sure. The psychic said that I'm going to have to figure it out on my own."
"Is that your answer to all three of my questions?"
"Yes."
"So what you're telling me is that you have no idea what we're supposed to do." Sakura looked suspiciously close to strangling him. "This is going to take more than one day, isn't it?"
"Probably."
Sakura groaned loudly at the ceiling.
"So..." Syaoran poked her in the side. "What class do we have next?"
"Keep your eyes shut," Sakura hissed at Syaoran, turning the last number to the combination of her locker and opening it with a click.
"Did you say something?" Tomoyo asked, tugging her shirt over her head.
"Nothing," the brunette grumbled, wishing that she didn't have tennis that day. It figured that she would have to go into a changing room full of half-naked girls the day that an invisible boy was following her everywhere. The irony.
"Hey!" Syaoran snapped Sakura out of her thoughts. "Your friend has a nice rack. Oooo, and that girl over there…"
He was only saying those things to annoy her. Of course, he was a red-blooded heterosexual male so there was some truth in his words, but he would never normally say it so bluntly. It was fun to watch her get mad.
Sakura ignored him and stuck her nose in the air, tugging her shirt off and exposing herself. She kept repeating to herself that she changed clothes in front of girls all the time and this was no different. Unfortunately, her mantra couldn't block out Syaoran's voice.
"Hey, you're not too bad yourself," Syaoran commented offhand.
Sakura could feel her face heat up against her will. Damn right! She silently agreed, but continued getting dressed as if he had never said anything. She was lucky enough to have put on her nicest bra that morning, so she was at least spared that embarrassment. On the other hand, her panties were a completely different story.
Sakura quickly pulled on a large shirt before changing into her shorts. That way, no one would have to know that she was wearing her teddy bear print underwear with the worn elastic and the hole.
After attempting to pull her short hair up and tying her shoes she grabbed her racket, slammed her locker shut, and scurried out of the locker room. Tomoyo was still pulling her hair up so she stayed behind.
Once they were alone outside, Sakura turned to look at her shadow companion, intending to chew his ass off. The words died in her throat when she got a good look at his face. He seemed shocked into silence and – even though she would never dream of asking why – she was curious. Fortunately he supplied an answer without her having to say a word.
"Some girls have absolutely NO business wearing thongs."
Sakura laughed in both amusement and triumph. "I told you to stay outside and wait for me while I changed."
"But you might have tried to ditch me," Syaoran said. "And I can't have that."
"The thought never crossed my mind."
It actually would have been impossible to lose him at this point, but she would have been willing to try if he had given her the opportunity. Apparently, that wasn't going to happen.
"Let's get something straight," Sakura began, laying down the ground rules. "You sit around during my practice and I'll help you out afterwards. You are to do nothing, hear me? Nothing for the next couple of hours."
The threat might as well have fallen on deaf ears but Syaoran pretended to agree anyway. Together they made their way to the tennis courts, not talking because other people were around.
Syaoran basically tuned out the coach's long and boring speech until it seemed like she was winding down. "…and Tomoyo Daidouji on court two. Sakura Kinomoto and Eriol Hiiragizawa on court one."
Sakura grabbed a couple balls from the basket and walked over to court one with Syaoran following. Another boy joined them. He was about Syaoran's height but had darker hair and wore glasses.
Syaoran took note of this new boy, but what really caught his attention was Sakura. When Eriol was talking to her she seemed very hesitant to meet his eyes. In fact, her whole demeanor changed from how she was around everyone else. Very interesting.
It didn't take long for Syaoran to get tremendously bored while watching them play. There was only so long watching a ball go back and forth could hold his attention, and Sakura sensed it. Perhaps his enormous and loud yawning tipped her off.
They finally finished a set and while Eriol was off to get a drink of water, Syaoran sauntered up to Sakura.
"Do you know how boring tennis is to watch?"
"Yes." Sakura scowled. "That's why I play it and don't watch it. I thought I told you to sit around while I have tennis practice. You're standing."
"I just thought I would say hi while you're all by your lonesome," Syaoran replied. The mischief in him couldn't resist saying, "You like that Eriol boy, don't you?"
"No." Sakura answered a little too quickly to be convincing. She wanted to smack herself when she realized her mistake. It was too late now anyways. "Maybe. How did you know that? No one else has noticed."
"Seriously?" he asked incredulously. "People are even dumber than I thought. You act different around him. Let me guess – love at first sight?" Syaoran rolled his eyes at the thought. She had probably liked that Eriol guy since the moment she laid eyes on him. The idea made him want to hurl.
Sakura snapped her narrowed eyes on him. "You're awful quick to jump to conclusions. As a matter of fact, I don't believe in love at first sight. Infatuation maybe, but not love." He must have been looking at her strangely because she backtracked. "That's not to say that it couldn't turn into love. There are a lot of relationships that…" She stopped herself from babbling. "But my point is that I knew Eriol for over a year before I started liking him like that."
Syaoran was actually stunned. Until that moment he had never heard a girl say that she didn't believe in love at first sight. This Sakura girl was a strange one.
"So what do you like about that guy?" Syaoran's curiosity got the best of him. He had to ask.
"Well, actually-"
"You know Sakura, talking to yourself is a sign of insanity."
Sakura froze and turned slowly. Eriol smiled at her jovially.
"I-I wasn't talking to myself!" Sakura sputtered. Syaoran laughed the entire way through her lame explanation, but she still somehow managed to wiggle herself out of the embarrassing situation and went back to playing tennis.
Syaoran sat down on his appointed spot and was getting extremely bored when an idea popped into his head. He knew a way to make tennis practice more fun.
When he stood up, Sakura glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. If Eriol weren't there she would have asked him what he thought he was doing.
Slowly, Syaoran moseyed to the center of the court. Eriol hit the ball, and as it was going by Syaoran stuck his hand out and… grabbed it.
Time seemed to stand still. Deciding that he had held it long enough, Syaoran dropped the ball back on Eriol's side of the net.
"What just happened?!" Eriol asked, utterly bewildered.
"I have no idea," Sakura said, feigning ignorance. When tennis practice was over she was going to have a word or two with that invisible pain in the ass.
And that was the way the rest of practice went. Syaoran continued to mess up both Eriol and Sakura's shots ("The wind is being strange today!") and also began to pirouette around the court. It got to the point that Sakura wasn't even trying to get the ball over the net anymore. She had a new target. Syaoran dodged most of the time, but she did get a couple of good shots.
It was at 4:45 that a thoroughly pissed Sakura went back to the locker room with the rest of the team.
"I hate my partner!" Tomoyo cried, slamming her locker shut with a bang. The partner under discussion was already gone. "One of my biggest pet peeves is having a ball hog for a partner and just who do I have as my partner? The biggest ball hog on the team! It wouldn't even be that bad if she could get her shots in!"
Sakura nodded along, shutting her locker door and retying her shoes. "You know what my biggest pet peeve is?"
Tomoyo stopped her ranting for a second to look at her best friend. "What?"
"Things that are invisible."
"Invisible?"
Sakura nodded. Syaoran got what she was implying but it didn't faze him in the least. At least he had enjoyed himself a little that day.
"Care to elaborate?" Tomoyo asked, obviously confused.
"Like the wind (among other things). It's harder to play tennis with the wind around. It just makes life more difficult."
"Uh huh." Tomoyo accepted that as an answer but shook her head in mock sadness. "I swear you get stranger every day. I've got to go now. I'll call you. Bye!"
"Bye!" Sakura waved and as soon as Tomoyo was out of sight she turned to her invisible companion.
"Alright you stupid," insert several unprintable words right here. "What do you want me to do?"
