The first thing he noticed was how much taller the foreign girl was than Sakura. He'd barely caught a glimpse of her before Sakura had thrown open her arms and practically flown into the others arms. He had the impression of long, shiny black hair before the rest of his view was obstructed. Long white arms encircled the tiny Japanese girl, hugging tightly despite the fragile seeming bones. Then, abruptly, a large carry on was thrust into his hands, thumping almost painfully against his chest. The Chinese started walking, and he hadn't even seen her face yet.
"So, what is new?" Meilin linked her arms with Sakura's and walked briskly from the security check point toward baggage claim. Sakura stopped the forward march and swung the other girl around to face Yuki.
Her eyes were large and amber colored, Yuki blinked as her eyes bore into his own.
"You're a Sohma." she stated. Yuki opened his mouth as if to say something. Nothing came out.
"This is Yuki, Kyo's cousin."
"You'd be the rat then." Meilin nodded then held out her hand for her carry on. "Sorry, I thought you were one of Tomoyo's many helpers. You don't have to carry my things." Yuki felt his grip on the bag tighten.
"Actually, Tomoyo insisted I come to help out. So it seems you had the right impression after all." His spine went stiff as Meilin smirked.
"Fine, then, we can go get my bags from the claim, maybe we'll find out more interesting things about each other along the way. I already know you're a tight ass." Meilin said it in such sweet tones that Sakura didn't know that she and Yuki were fighting until Tomoyo told them to stop.
"Pwee?" Sakura touched Yuki's arm, trying to reassure, and noticed that his muscles were rock hard from the strain of keeping them at his side. She turned to Meilin, who was sneering at Yuki the way she used to sneer at Sakura. "Oh! Meilin, Yuki…. Please don't start off like this…." Sakura pleaded. Her worry pierced the others tempers and deflated them like a couple of balloons. Meilin recovered first and sent Sakura a brilliant grin.
"Sorry, I guess I'm a little out of sorts from the long plane ride." she admitted as she mounted the escalator toward the baggage claim. "Sohma-san, please forgive my rudeness." she bowed her head gently, which Yuki then mirrored.
"No, I apologize." he let his lips bend slightly, "I should not have been so easily affronted." He then followed Meilin onto the escalator and motioned for the other two to join them. His eyes grew large when he realized that the reason Tomoyo had been so silent during the whole episode was that her camcorder was recording every thing.
"This has been so educational Yuki!" Tomoyo chattered. She knew something interesting was going to happen, and come hell or high water, she'd get it all on tape!
He didn't realize he was staring at her until she blinked. Before she could comment he looked away and settled his eyes out the window of the limousine. Of course, that didn't work very well, he could still see her reflection as she shrugged and continued her conversation with Tomoyo. She was stunning. Long, thick, shiny black hair was left loose, traveling beyond her narrow waist and curving hips, like a waterfall of black ink.
"Yuki?"
"What?" Yuki startled as Tomoyo touched his arm. He let out a deep breath and smiled gently, "Sorry, just a bit jumpy. I wasn't paying attention, what was it?"
"I was just telling Meilin about tomorrow's outing. "
"What about it?" he scowled. It wasn't that he didn't like his brother, its just that he wouldn't trust that snake as far as he could throw him in human form.
"Just that he's part of the zodiac too, right? I got that impression as we were talking yesterday." Tomoyo settled back in her seat. "Which animal is he?"
"I'll give you a hint." Yuki chuckled, "He's long and slimy."
"What kind of a hint is that?" Tomoyo asked.
"Snake." Meilin smirked. "Though snakes aren't really slimy, they just look like they are because their scales are so shiny."
"I wasn't talking about texture, I was talking personality." Yuki crossed his arms over his stomach and sat back, enjoying the banter.
"So I should keep an eye on him."
"Only if you don't want to end up in an argument and suddenly wearing one of his many creations. I'm sure Tomoyo-chan will have a terrific time."
"My costumed days are long over, trust me." Meilin drawled, bored.
"Oh, but Meilin!" Tomoyo whined as Sakura chuckled.
"She's been working up to this for years Meilin, you can't cut her off at the knees now!"
"Of course I can Sakura. There is nothing Tomoyo can do to me that will make me wear one of her costumes." She shrugged, "Not that they're not nice Tomoyo, I just don't want a humongous bow on my ass."
Yuki lifted an eyebrow and took a breath as if to make a comment. Then he sat back and let the girls titter on. Tomoyo was starting to sound a bit like Ayame… and it was more than a little disconcerting…
