He Said He Loved Me – Madam Flutterby
Chapter Four: "Getting to know you…"
Author's Note : no i'm not dead… just lazy. sorry!
Disclaimer : I do not nor will I ever own CCS as the wonderful fantabulous CLAMP does. Therefore please don't sue me cuz I only have five cents
Updated: June 27, 2005
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Senior Year At Last…
The first day back was a sweltering 30 degrees (Celsius, of course) with the sun beating down on everyone who was unfortunate to be outside. Tomoyo and Sakura stepped off of the air-conditioned bus together optimistic, despite the heat.
"Ah," sighed Tomoyo, "The first day of our last year."
"Sakura! Tomoyo!" Fei waved down the pair as she finished chaining her bike to the bike rack.
"Fei-chan! Ohayo!" Sakura smiled. The three of them walked through the gate, all smiles and met up with Syaoran, Eriol, Yamazaki, Chiharu, Naoko, and Rikka.
"Waii! Last year of high school! Let's study hard so we can go to good colleges, okay?" Chiharu said. Eriol noticed Naoko's oversized bag,
"Looks like Naoko's way ahead of us."
"Naoko, we didn't have that much summer homework and today's only the first day of school. Your back's practically arching." Sakura looked at her with concern.
"Yeah, what the hell is in your bag?" Fei tried lifting it from the handle at the top.
"Nothing really… just some text books I borrowed over the summer to get ahead and some of my manuscripts." Naoko said. The bell went off in its familiar tune, and it was time for the team to head to class.
"Uh, you guys go ahead, I need to go to the bathroom. Tomoyo, Chiharu, Rikka, Naoko? Come with me?" Fei nudged.
"Couldn't hurt to have two extra body guards." Yamazaki said, catching her drift. The caravan shuffled towards the girls bathroom, leaving Sakura and Syaoran alone. Again.
Sakura jogged to catch up with Syaoran, "You were really quiet back there, everything okay?"
Syaoran nodded his head silently and thought for a moment, but decided not to say anything. Not yet.
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Earlier that morning…
"Oy! Li-kun!" Yamazaki spotted Syaoran walking with Eriol among the field of students in the front of the school.
"Ohayo Yamazaki, Chiharu." Syaoran and Eriol greeted.
"So, this is the year that we rule the school."
"It's so strange that we were just as confused as those first-years over there years ago." Chiharu sighed, "It's been great."
"Hey! It wasn't that long ago! Besides, the year's just started! Don't start reminiscing yet!" Naoko ran over to the three of them. While the girls got into a conversation about the summer homework, Yamazaki spoke to Syaoran offside.
"So, is this the year you finally tell her? Cuz you know, it may just be your last chance. What if she wants to go overseas to study?" Eriol sensed a conversation without his presence going on and quickly joined in, "And you- you're probably going to have some leadership position to fulfill back in HK."
"I'll tell her soon… but not today. What if she doesn't feel the same way about me? If I tell her now, it may be awkward between us for the rest of the year."
"You guys have known each other since the fourth grade. Things can't possibly be awkward, even if she rejects you," Eriol encouraged him, in which then Yamzaki quickly added, "Which she won't."
"That's exactly why I can't tell her. She's felt rejection herself, and if I confess to her, she may feel obliged to be my girlfriend because she's known me for so long, and she'll be afraid to hurt me. Anyway, let me just make sure that she likes me the way I like her before I tell her."
"Don't take too long, there's some dude over there checking her out." Yamazaki pointed their direction over to a very familiar looking boy standing by himself. Before anything else could be said, the moment was broken by Chiharu.
"Waii! Last year of high school! Let's study hard so we can go to good colleges, okay?" Chiharu said as Sakura, Tomoyo and Fei walked up to them.
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End flashback and to the classroom…
The pair walked through the hallways like two lovers going on a stroll through the park. Syaoran took a look at Sakura, wishing for the millionth time that no harm would ever befall such an angel. She caught him looking at her and smiled so radiantly that to Syaoran, Sakura outshined the sun itself. They got to their homeroom and took their seats, with everyone except for the teacher already there. ("How did Tomoyo and them get here so fast?" –Sakura's thoughts)
At last the teacher arrived with her briefcase, "Ohayo minna-san."
The class stood up, "Ohayo!"
"Welcome to your last year. Everyone here seems to be familiar except for… Aki, Ryu…? Aki-san, please stand in front of the class and introduce yourself. The very familiar looking boy stood up and walked to the front of the class. He wrote his name on the board and bowed to the class deeply.
"Boku wa Aki Ryu desu. I'm a transferee from Furinkan high school. I look forward to being friends with you all."
"Very good. You may now take a seat."
The rest of the class period was spent collecting summer homework and such. (Don't really want to bore you with details.)
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Lunchtime…
Sakura and everyone else sat together in the classroom since outside, the sky had suddenly turned cloudy and showed signs of rain.
"Hey, Tomoyo-chan, isn't that the guy from Mode?" Naoko whispered to Tomoyo.
"You're right." Tomoyo agreed.
"We should keep him clear of Sakura." Chiharu whispered.
"Right."
"Oy… What are you guys talking about?" Syaoran appeared out of nowhere. The girls made their little pact a bit too late however.
"Hey, Aki-kun looks lonely, let's invite him to eat with us!" Sakura suggested, and without waiting for anyone's confirmation invited Aki right over, "Aki-kun! Come sit with us!"
Aki looked around and realized that they really were talking to him. He picked up his lunch and walked over to where Sakura was, "Hey, you were at Mode, right?" Aki tried to take a seat next to Sakura but was immediately blocked by Tomoyo ()
"Oh yeah! Now I recognize you!" Aki proceeded to take a seat to Sakura's other side but was then blocked by Rikka, who began braiding Sakura's long brown hair. Aki had no choice but to sit across from Sakura between Eriol and Yamazaki.
"Hey, you have onigiri too!" Aki looked at Sakura's lunch, "It's my favorite food."
"Really? Here, let's trade one each." Sakura and Aki exchanged an onigiri and took a bite, "Oishi! Did you make this yourself?"
"Uh-huh! My secret recipe."
"You should try Syaoran-kun's onigiri sometime. He makes them himself, too." Then she jokingly added, "But you're going to have to work to make yours as good!"
"Did you know, onigiri originated with the peasants who would make cakes with snow during the winter?" Yamazaki's background music begins to play "Of course the onigiri would melt, so they would have to eat it as soon as they made them."
"Enough of your lies! Last time you said that onigiri fell from the heavens so only the emperor could eat it!" As usual Chiharu kept Yamazaki in line. Syaoran looked over at Sakura and Aki happily chirping away. Still, no one was surprised at how fast Sakura had struck up a conversation with this stranger. The rest of the lunch period was spent talking about where Aki Ryu came from, what it was like ("There were fights practically everyday!") and what everyone else did during the break. Before they knew it, lunch was over and it was time for class again.
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After school…
"Finally! I never thought that math class would end!" Sakura stood up and stretched.
"Ah, Sakura-chan, you'll help me plan my party, right?" Tomoyo asked her. It was no secret that Tomoyo Daidouji threw the best parties at Seijou High, and her beginning of the year parties were always anticipated by the students of the class.
"Of course, Tomoyo-chan." Sakura picked up her book bag and proceeded out the door with Tomoyo when she passed Aki, "Ano… Aki, Tomoyo's having a party this weekend to break in the new school year. Will you be coming?"
"Uh, sure." Aki smiled at her, each of them blushing, "Where is it?"
"Just look for the blimp." Laughed Yamazaki and Chiharu as they waltzed by them, "See you guys tomorrow!"
"Naoko, Fei, Li-kun, you coming along?" Tomoyo asked, "You too, Eriol."
Naoko shook her head, "Gotta go to the library to research for a story."
"Ditto, gotta oversee the café. Plus I got this new guy working for me." Fei then added mischievously, "I need to run him through some initiations."
"Okay, so then it's just me, Sakura-chan, Li-kun, and Eriol-kun."
"Tomoyo," Sakura whispered to her, "Could we invite Aki-kun along?"
"Umm… Sure. Oy, Aki!" the sound of Tomoyo's voice calling Aki called not only Aki's attention, but Syaoran and Eriol's.
"Hmm… Syaoran-kun, I sense trouble for you in the near future." Eriol warned.
"You know Sakura – she's probably just being friendly," defended Syaoran.
"A little too friendly, if you ask me," Eriol replied as Sakura linked arms with Aki playfully.
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Planning…
Sakura and the others sat around a round table at a nearby café to plan for Tomoyo's party.
"Hey guys, what can I get you?" Fei came up to them in her Le Chat Noir uniform – black clothing and cat ears.
"The regular for all of us," Syaoran replied.
"Well, I've never really been here since I'm new so… Kinomoto-chan, mind ordering for me?" Aki asked her. Sakura smiled and ordered a taro root smoothie with pearls (A/N: yum!).
"Coming right up! Hey new guy! Mix these and don't screw up." Fei headed back to behind the counter.
"So, I guess we'll have the regular music: two turntables, the other for anyone who has the balls to challenge Eriol, and instruments for anyone who wants to play, so Eriol can have a break." Tomoyo wrote it down in her notebook.
"Sakura-chan, you feel like singing for us again? Fei, Yamazaki and I have already started picking out songs, sorry Tomoyo- you can still pick out a few songs though." Syaoran said, trying to catch Sakura's attention as she was engaged in conversation with Aki.
"Yeah, a lot of people like it especially when you and Tomoyo sing a duet," Eriol continued, trying to help out Syaoran.
"Sure, Syaoran-kun! So, do you play anything, Aki?" Sakura asked him.
"Well, I don't really want to brag, but I play guitar, drums, bass, piano… I dunno, just hand something to me and I'll figure it out eventually."
"Sugoi!"
"Maybe you should play something at the party," Syaoran said kind of tauntingly.
"You don't believe me?"
"I'm not asking you to prove anything."
"Sounds like a challenge," Aki replied, and then leaned forward toward Syaoran, "I like challenges." The two of them stared at each other for awhile.
"Here are your orders!" Fei came by and broke the silence. Syaoran and Aki immediately took their drinks, chugged them down and slammed them on the table.
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Heading home…
Everyone had parted ways and now it was just Tomoyo and Sakura boarding the bus home.
"Tomoyo, do you think… do you think…" Sakura wanted to ask Tomoyo something, but was still trying to sum up the courage and overcome the nervousness to ask.
"Aki-san… you like him, don't you?" Tomoyo asked quietly.
"Yeah, kinda. I mean, I know we've only known him for a short while, but well…"
"Ah… teenage hormones. I understand." Tomoyo looked at Sakura's hair. It had grown awfully long. If Sakura dyed her hair purple, or if Tomoyo dyed her hair brown, they could be mistaken for twins, "Sakura-chan, I don't know Aki-san quite that well since we've just met him. If he likes you, I'm sure he'll let you know… Unlike a certain someone."
"Ano?"
"Ah… nothing. Sakura-chan, I need to go home early. Gotta start putting away the expensive breakable stuff."
"Oh, I'll help you."
"It's alright, you go on home. You'll need an early start on that math homework."
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Phone call…
Tomoyo:
Oy, Fei-chan, we have a problem.
Fei:
Yeah, I know. Listen, I'm sorry that guy screwed up your order. I told him that I mislabel the bottles and jars on purpose to protect my recipes but the ass-
Tomoyo:
No, no, that was fine. Actually, I thought the orange-vinegar juice with pearl was good. But anyway, it's about Sakura and-
Fei:
Oh wait, someone's calling. Hang on. silence Hey Tomoyo, I three-wayed with Hong Kong.
Tomoyo:
No problem. This concerns him, too.
Syaoran:
What concerns me?
Tomoyo:
Sakura thinks she likes Aki. cricketcricket
Fei:
Nani!
Syaoran:
Wait, she told you?"
Tomoyo:
Well... she didn't come right out and say it, but she asked me if I thought he liked her and-
Syaoran:
What'd you say?
Tomoyo:
I just said that I hadn't known him long enough to read his moves.
Fei:
Great. You know, I kinda blame you for this, Syaoran.
Syaoran:
What? Why me?
Eriol:
Cuz you waited too long, moron.
Syaoran:
Eriol? How'd you get on this line?
Eriol:
I'm at your house, loser. I just picked up a phone in another room.
Syaoran, Tomoyo & Fei:
Ohh…
Tomoyo:
What are we going to do?
Fei:
Well, we could-
Syaoran:
We do nothing.
Fei:
What? Why?
Syaoran:
Sakura likes him, we shouldn't force her out of it.
Tomoyo:
But Syaoran…
Syaoran:
Just… just disregard me for a moment. This is what she wants. Let her have it.
Fei:
But what if he doesn't like her back?
Syaoran:
He'll like her… definitely. How could anyone not?
Eriol:
Well… Yukito-san…
Syaoran:
That was an entirely different case, and you know why.
Fei:
Yo, isn't that Touya's-
Tomoyo:
So that's it. You're giving up?
Syaoran:
It's not giving up if I wasn't looking for anything in the first place.
Eriol:
Okay, so you're giving up any chances that you could have possibly had with Sakura had you been ambitious enough to pursue them.
Syaoran:
Eriol get out of my house. Tomoyo, Fei, I'll see you tomorrow. click
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End Chapter... couldn't think of a title for the next one
it's getting hard to keep track of everyone so im gona start dropping out minor people like rika, naoko, and maybe yamazaki and chiharu. They'll be coming and going, but you'll prollie not see them in every chapter. So yeah. Long time since I've updated, (try a year!) and I promise promise promise that this won't become an annual update thing. I'll try to keep the story going, (and interesting) but my writing hasn't really improved the past three years so forgive me please!