Chapter 5: Dinner with the Lis (Part 1)

A young lady led us into a beautifully furnished room. "Please be seated. I'll go & call Mrs. Li," she said before leaving.

I sat down on the sofa and looked around in awe. In barely two days they had managed to set everything in order. Advantages of having 25 servants, I suppose.

The sound of excited girlish chatter drifted into the room. I turned around to see four girls entering the room, talking excitedly amongst themselves.

"Oh!" the eldest among them exclaimed, suddenly spotting us. "Oh, you must be our neighbours, the Kinomotos. Mother said that we should be expecting you." She said giving dad a bright smile.

Dad nodded & smiled back. "Yes, and these are my daughters Meiling, Sakura & Tomoyo."

She looked at us. "Well, hi. I'm Xiefa, and these are my sisters-"

"Fan-Ren." The girl standing next to her responded, as if on cue.

"Fuutie."

"Fei-Mei."

"Ah, Mr.Kinomoto. I'm glad you came." Everyone's attention turned to a very pretty lady, who had just walked into the room.

"Mrs. Li, I'm honoured." Dad said, standing up and bowing. We followed his actions. She returned the courtesy and sat down. Her every movement held elegance and poise and I couldn't help admiring the way she held herself. Her eyes were the same intense amber, as Syaoran.

I saw each of the sisters observing us carefully, with Meiling, not surprisingly, receiving most of the stares. A knowing look passed between Fei-Mei and Fuutie and they grinned. They probably could see right through her intentions. I turned my attention to my sister, who was looking around the room as if searching for someone. That's when I suddenly realised that Syaoran was not there.

"I feel so lucky to be able to meet the most famous fashion designer in China, Mrs. Li. I just simply adore your designs." Tomoyo's voice cut into my thoughts.

"You like my designs?"

Tomoyo nodded fervently. "Uh-huh. Especially your 'la belle soir' collection."

Li Yelan smiled. "You seem to have a keen interest in fashion."

Dad looked at Tomoyo fondly. "She designs dresses in her free time. She has quite a huge collection of all sorts of dresses."

"Really?" she asked surprised. "I would love to see them sometime."

Tomoyo's eyes widened. "You would?"

"Er- I was just wondering out of curiosity- where's Syaoran?" Meiling interrupted.

Yelan who had been engrossed with Tomoyo, looked at her, then her dress and raised an elegant eyebrow. "You mean young Xiao-Lang?"

"Oh, he doesn't like meeting new people." Xiefa answered for her.

"He's kind of anti-social. Bit of an introvert." Fan-Ren continued.

"He's most probably sitting in his room, right now, and reading a book." This from Fuutie.

"Or feeding Spinel, you know, our dog." Fei-Mei finished. I wondered if they always spoke on cue, like this. But as I observed them, they all had identical smirks on their face. Meiling on the other hand was scowling. I tried hard to suppress a grin.

"You know Xiao-Lang?" Yelan asked, regarding Meiling coolly.

"Oh, yes. He's in the same class as we're." Tomoyo replied.

"Is that so?" Yelan smiled, turning to Tomoyo, who she seemed to really like. "That's wonderful."

I hadn't said a word, all this while. I decided that keeping your mouth shut was the best way of making sure you don't make a fool of yourself. I really didn't need to talk, not when Tomoyo was there to do all the talking. Meiling's quite a loudmouth herself, but right now she didn't seem in the mood. She was still scowling.

I trailed behind the group of chattering girls. With Tomoyo & now Meiling (who had gotten over her disappointment of not being able to meet Syaoran) keeping the other four girls engaged in conversation, I remained unnoticed. Not that I minded it. I was in fact quite used to it, me being the plain Jane.

"And that's Fan-Ren's room. And the room just across it, that's mine." Xiefa described, walking ahead of the group. Mrs. Li had told her daughters to show us around the Li mansion, while we waited for dinner to be ready.

"How many rooms are there in your house?" Meiling asked.

"About 20-25. I haven't counted." Fei-Mei answered. "There's the study room, mum's room, then the room where she keeps all her designs. My room's upstairs & so is Fuutie's. Her room is quite easy to spot- it's the one which seems to have been hit by a hurricane."

"Hey!"

"This is Xiao Lang's room." Xiefa continued. She stopped in front of the room and knocked on the door. "Xiao Lang. Are you in there?" She opened the door. "Great, he isn't here either. Where is he?"

"I'm telling you he's gone to feed Spinel." Fuutie said. "That's what he always does when we have guests over. Hides himself quite conveniently."

"Oh well." Xiefa sighed, closed the door and walked on. "So, here's the library. All the books haven't been arranged as yet, though."

"Wow, you have your own library!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

I looked at all the book shelves arranged one after the other. Some of them were empty and I noticed several piles of books kept on one side.

"Let's go to the garden." Fei-Mei suggested. "We're sure to find our little brother there. It's really rude on his part to avoid our guests like this." Meiling's eyes brightened and I saw her lips curving up in a very sinister smile.

"Um, I'll just stay here." I said. Xiefa looked at me, as if noticing me for the first time. "Well, if you wish."

Tomoyo frowned. "Why what's the matter, Sakura?"

"Er- I just feel a bit tired, that's all." I lied. Actually, I'd had enough of following them around like some non-entity. I preferred staying alone in the library. "I'll just sit here and read some book. You can call me when it's time for dinner."

Tomoyo looked at me and then reluctantly said. "Oh, fine."

I watched them leave the room, and headed towards a shelf marked 'Fiction'. I wasn't very much into reading books, and I had no idea about good authors. So I just picked one at random.

"I wouldn't recommend that. The story is just too dragging."

I almost dropped the book in shock. I turned around to face a pair of amber eyes focussed on me.

"Syaoran! I-I didn't know you were here." I stammered.

He smiled. "An effective hiding place, isn't it? Between the shelves."

I remained silent for a while. "Why do you keep hiding like this?"

"The same reason why you decided to remain here." He answered simply.

"Oh..." I kept the book back in the shelf, not knowing what to say. I was feeling extremely conscious around him.

"So your name's Sakura." I nodded. "I didn't know that. Until I heard your sister talking to you. Her name's Tomoyo isn't it? Eriol's girlfriend."

"You know Eriol?"

"Yes. He used to live in Hong Kong too. We studied in the same school."

"Oh." I said.

"They both are very close, aren't they? Eriol goes on about her all the time."

"Well, they've been together for two years now. You could say they're in love."

We both were silent again.

"Sakura. Cherry Blossoms." Syaoran suddenly said, softly. I felt my cheeks getting warm. "You know the name really suits you." He said, almost laughingly. "Your face turns pink all the time, just like cherry blossoms."

I turned even redder, if that was possible. Why, I thought, why do I blush so much around him? I felt so stupid. Why couldn't I hold myself in a casual way like Meiling does, so effortlessly.

"Can I call you Ying Fa?" he asked.

I blinked.

"Not that I don't like your name. Ying Fa just sounds...better." he added quickly.

"Um-well- I suppose."

"Sakura. Come on. They're calling us for din- oh!" We both turned to face a wide-eyed Tomoyo standing at the door & staring at us. "Um hi- Syaoran."

Syaoran gave her a smile and then turned back to me. "I guess, you should go for dinner now, Ying Fa. Would you tell my mother that I'll be coming in a short while?" I nodded dumbly.

"Ying Fa? What was that all about?"

I looked at my hyper sister as we made our way to the dining hall. "Um...nothing."

Tomoyo stopped, folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Sakura, you little schemer!" she said, laughing out loud. "You knew Syaoran was in the library. You saw him. And so you decided to stay there and flirt with him and try to gain an upper hand over Meiling!"

I stared her. "You actually think I was trying to flirt with him? Tomoyo, it was just a coincidence that he happened to be in the library. I never saw him, I swear!"

"Right. And you expect me to believe that?" she said. "Oh Sakura, don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Before I could open my mouth to protest any further, she dragged me along towards the dining hall. "Come on now, I don't want to be late for dinner."

Sometimes I wish I were an only child.