Disclaimer: Don't own Card Captor Sakura.
Stuck With You
By: Lotus Dreams
Chapter 3: Far, Far, Away
Bounce...bouncebouncebouce...
Sakura bounced a volleyball, letting it slam against the pavement. She threw it up, spiked it against the school wall, and caught it as it bounced back.
"Kinomoto-san, onegai, STOP," commanded Terada-sensei. "We're leaving as soon as Syaoran comes back from the bathroom." Sakura's eyes flashed.
"I don't give a damn about Syaoran Li. He can rot to hell as far as I'm concerned." She spiked it again, and this time, it bounced off and towards Tomoyo. She caught it in the tips of her fingers.
"Really, Sakura, is this necessary?"
"YES, it is," glared Sakura. She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked away, deprived of her ball.
She hated him for that. What was her problem? Did he HAVE to prove that he could keep someone for more than two seconds? It wasn't a sitcom or soap this time; it was for real. And she had thought those things only happened on TV. How could anyone be so STUPID?
Syaoran came back from the bathroom. Terada-sensei blew his whistle and shouted,"Okay, kids! As you all know fully well, we will be staying at hotel for two days, and we will be going to Ito Dock and taking boats to go out and observe the waters of the lake. DO NOT DO ANYTHING TO THE BOATS. They are on a loan to us, and we don't want to have to pay for them. Also, do not paddle away from shore. You will be given oars in case of emergency, but do NOT use them to your advantage, do you all understand? If any one of you little--I mean, any one of you misbehave, you will be sent home with 164 questions to do, understood?"
"Hai, Terada-sensei," sang the class.
"Okay then, our bus is here. GET ON!"
Sakura started to climb the bus, but was quickly shoved away by someone else so they could get a seat. When she saw the brown hair, her blood started boiling.
First you use me, then you actually have the nerve to push me out of the way just to get a seat? You will pay, Li Xiao Lang, Sakura hissed inwardly.
She stepped onto the bus and quickly took a seat. When all of the students had assembled, Terada-sensei instructed the driver to drive. "Ito Lake Hotel, remember that."
"Yes I will."
"ITO LAKE HOTEL."
"Yes, I know."
"ITO--LAKE--HOT--"
"HEY, I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING, OKAY?" bellowed the bus driver. "I'VE BEEN DRIVING FOR 8 YEARS, DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW WHERE TO GO WELL ENOUGH, SIR? DON'T YOU? DON'T YOU? DON'T YOU?"
"Hai. But remember, it's ITO--" The bus driver slammed a fist against the driving wheel, slamming the horn button in the middle of the wheel in the process.
HONK!
"Okay, bus-driver-san," said Terada-sensei meekly.
They reached Ito Lake Hotel. Terada-sensei did a student count, and then shouted, "Okay, kids, we're just going to sign in and then we'll be able to get rowing!!"
It took them about an hour to sign in because of the paranoid clerke, who wanted EVERYONE to sign in.
Finally, when the last student wrote their name down, Terada-sensei led the students to Ito Dock, where the boats were waiting for them. A man in a lifejacket squinted at them.
"Are you guys from Tomoeda Collegiate Institute?"
"Hai, we are," replied Terada-sensei. "We would like to take our boats out now, onegai." The man shrugged.
"Sure, why not?"
"Okay--CALM DOWN, MEILING, WE WILL GET TO THE BOATS SOON--people! Now, I'm sure all of you had been paying close attention afterschool yesterday when we were demonstrating how to row a boat properly. Does anyone NOT know how to row a boat here?" No hands went up. "Okay then. Now, only two students per boat, no sharing, and each of you will get a pair of specialized binoculars as well as a lifejacket. No fooling around, I don't want any horseplay. Also, do not row/paddle more than 15 metres from Ito Dock, do I make myself clear? In case you get lost, the school has also paid for speedboat to come and rescue you. Remember to take your walkie-talkies and if you must, your cell phone. Call us in case of emergency. Are we ready? PAIR UP AND GET ROWING!"
"Tomoyo!" hissed Sakura. "You're coming with me!" Tomoyo looked at her apologetically.
"Gomen nasai, Sakura...but Naoko asked me when Terada-sensei was talking and I promised her."
"Fine! Rika--can you be my partner?" Rika also looked at her apologetically. "Sorry, I'm with Chiharu."
Sakura groaned inwardly. Why do all the people choose when the teacher is talking and then end up lost?
"Eriol!" commanded Syaoran. "You're coming with me."
"Nope, I'm with Han," said Eriol. "Gomen, Syaoran."
"Yamazaki!" Yamazaki shrugged. "Can't. Meiling asked me before you, and she desperately needs someone to row for her. I would have gone with you or Chiharu, of course, but Chiharu's with Rika and Meiling kind of...dragged my arm about ten centimetres longer so..." As if on cue, Meiling snatched Yamazaki's arm away, and pushed him into the boat.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah..." came Yamazaki's helpless voice. (A/N: Don't worry, there won't be any Meiling/Yamazaki!)
At last, only Sakura and Syaoran were left. Sakura glared at him.
"Do NOT even think about it."
"Why would I?" Syaoran shot back.
Terada-sensei looked at the two of them. "Oh, it's you two, isn't it?" he said a-matter-of-factly. "Well, I guess you two will have to be paired up."
"NO--FREAKING--WAY!" both of them objected. There were two boats left. Sakura grabbed one and threw it into the water, Syaoran doing the same with the other boat. Terada-sensei looked helplessly at the both of them.
"What about me?!"
Sakura paddled furiously. Why was I the last one to be picked? Why didn't I just get Tomoyo before Naoko beat me to it? UGH! I can't believe Li had the same luck...stupid idiot, fink, just the sight of him makes me puke, with his stupid face, stupid hair, stupid cold remarks, stupid STUPID STUPID!!!
She stopped rowing. The boat floated around for a bit as she reached up to her hair to tie up in a short ponytail. She tightened her lifejacket, and continued to paddle. She remembered every single point Terada-sensei had said, except for one:
Do not row more than 15 metres from Ito Dock.
She kept on moving her oar ferociously, the wood churning the water. She was practically 50 metres away from the dock when she realized she had gone too far.
Aw, crap.
She threw her oars down in frustration, and jiggled the small boat in the process. Then, she tried to stand up and look at where she was, but...
...she ended up falling.
Syaoran moved his arms easily, his muscles burning pleasantly. He didn't plan on observing anything; what was the point, anyway? He rowed smoothly away from the dock, ignoring the fact that he was MORE than 15 metres away.
Stupid Kinomoto Sakura. What was her problem? So he dated her just to prove that he could keep her. What was wrong with that? A ton of guys dated for three days and dumped their girlfriend, and went on. It wasn't as if she hadn't dated anyone else before. Why was she so pissed off at him?
The fact that she was pissed off only at him but not at other guys kept HIM pissed off, which was the main reason he acted so pissed off around her.
"Help! Help!" came someone's voice. "Onegai! Help!" His head turned around. The bright orange and yellow of a lifejacket was seen, and a helpless arm waving in the water. "HELP!"
"I'm coming!" yelled Syaoran. He rowed faster, towards the bright orange, and yanked up the arm in the water. He had quite a bit of strength, from sports and martial arts, and was able to actually pull the victim onto the boat as well--with just one arm.
"Arigatou gozai--" gasped the girl sitting on his boat. Then he saw who it was. Thenshe saw who it was.
"--masu."
His oars dropped.
"You."
Sakura glared at him. "You know, I wish I had drowned instead of being rescued by YOU."
"You know, I wished I HAD drowned you instead of rescuing you." Sakura shivered in her lifejacket. Syaoran smirked.
"Want me to push you back in?"
"No, that's okay," said Sakura sarcastically. "There's no point. I'd live anyway, in case you didn't notice; you're not the only one with a lifejacket on."
"You're just scared."
"Am not."
"Yes you are. I thought you said you would rather drown than be rescued by me?"
"I would. But then again, the water's too shallow to drown me anyway." Syaoran smacked his head.
"I was being sarcastic, baka!"
"Yeah, I know, BAKA!" Sakura shot back.
Both of them remained silent. Sakura hugged herself, trying to stay warm, while Syaoran glared at a frog sitting innocently on a lilypad.
Finally, Sakura spoke.
"Where are we, anyway?"
The two rivals looked around at their surroundings. No dock was in view, just tons and tons of lake blue.
Then it dawned on them just about how much trouble they were in.
"This is all YOUR fault."
"No, it's all YOUR fault."
"No, it's YOURS."
"YOURS."
"YOURS."
"YOURS."
"If you hadn't been crying for help, I wouldn't have gone this far!"
"If you hadn't rescued me, you wouldn't have gone this far either! What, are you blaming me for you acting like a pathetic hero?"
"Well, there's no point in firing smart aleck remarks at me because we're stuck here anyhow!" shouted Syaoran. Sakura's eyes met his, full of pure hatred. For a moment, he was taken aback. Her eyes were fiery, looking at him with disgust. They locked eyes onto each other.
"I hate you," Sakura spat out, each word dripping with ice.
"For a simple bet?"
"Yes. In case you don't know, it's not very nice to toy with people's feelings."
"I wasn't toying with your feelings! What makes you think THAT? Is it such a crime to just date you and then tell my friends that I can actually keep a girl so they won't freaking remind me and laugh at me every freaking second?"
"Wasn't toying with my feelings?! Hah, that's a good one! What happened after? You confronted me and told me that it's over. After one date! Not even after 48 hours, you dumped me. Do you really think that you're the only one who has feelings? Don't you think I have feelings too? Do you really think dating a girl just to stop your friends from teasing you is right? Especially dumping her afterwards? If you didn't want your friends to talk about it anymore, why didn't you just tell them you didn't like it?"
"Do YOU think they would listen?"
"Well, if they are your friends, then they would!"
"No they wouldn't. You don't know them. They want proof."
"How do you know them then? Have you even told them to stop?"
"Iie."
"Exactly."
"But even if I told them to stop, they wouldn't have stopped anyway. They would have forced me to date a girl."
"But which one? Any girl would have been fine. But no, you just had to pick me. Captain of the girl's volleyball dating the captain of the boy's volleyball team, isn't that sweet? A couple that so many people supported? I swear, Li Syaoran, stop making up stupid excuses. If you just dated me to dump me and embarrass me afterwards, just say so, stop pretending to be good person."
That really hit the spot.
"'Pretending to be a good person'?" he spluttered. "Oh, so I'm a bad person, now, am I? Why is it so hard to convince you that I--"
"--am a baka?"
"Iie!"
"If you weren't, you could at least keep me a little longer. Impress your friends a little more." Her eyes flashed.
"That's not it!"
"Then why'd you dump me after less than two days?"
"Because..." Syaoran sighed. "Because, the deal was also sealed with two days. Han didn't tell you that, did he?"
"No. But I don't care." Sakura's voice was cold. "You are despicable, Li Syaoran. Despicable and loathsome. It's not a surprise that Han betted you couldn't keep a girl for more than two seconds."
Syaoran remained silent. Her voice, her cold, icy, unfeeling voice bothered him--it was making him feel ashamed of himself.
It's not a surprise that Han betted you couldn't keep a girl for more than two seconds.
"You're right," said Syaoran, in a resigned voice. If you listened ever so slightly, you could hear a tinge of hurt in it. "It's not a surprise, is it?"
Sakura looked at him curiously. He was looking away, at the water. His face...his expressions was so lonely for a second she almost felt sorry for him.
For the rest of the day, they remained silent.
All the way until evening.
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