Disclaimer: Shut up. I don't own.
-.-.-.-.-.-
- Supermarket -
"So how did it go yesterday?" Sakura asked Syaoran as she tossed a quart of vegetable oil into her shopping cart. He answered her, "Fine." Sakura looked up at him disbelievingly. She then grabbed a few medium-sized packs of Lays chips, handed one to Syaoran, and placed the rest of the packs into the cart as they passed by a short lady sweeping the floor with a broom.
"I don't eat this crap," Syaoran retorted.
"It's not for you to eat, silly." Sakura answered. "It's for you to channel out your anger." Sakura threw a few small fake punches at the Lays bag.
"What anger?" Syaoran bit back, glaring at her. "I am not angry."
"No need to pretend in front of me, Syaoran. Go on," Sakura encouraged. "After all, you're a god catch. You don't deserve to be dumped—"
Just as Sakura was about to finish her sentence, Syaoran held the Lays in his left hand and his right hand smashed the bag with much force. With a loud pop, the bag blasted open and the chips scattered all over Sakura, who jumped in surprise. She muttered, "Ugh, could have warned me," as she brushed off all the chips from her hair and grabbed a few that flew into her shirt when the short lady sweeping the floor came up to them, fuming. She shoved the broom into Syaoran's hands and looked at him expectantly.
"Um...I'll be in the next aisle if you need me," Sakura quickly said as she rolled her cart forward with her hastily.
When she turned to the next aisle, she saw a bunch of T-shirts on sale. "Buy one get one free!" read the sign. Sakura took two shirts and looked at them. 'Hmm, not bad. As long as it's cheap and so-so quality, I'll buy it.'
When Syaoran emerged from the aisle he was cleaning, Sakura shoved one of the shirts into his hands. "Change out of that shirt. You smell. A lot like Lays, too..."
Syaoran obediently took it and walked to the bathroom.
"Hey Sakura!" Sakura turned at her the sound of her name and saw Yuuhi with a bunch of raw meat in her cart. "Shopping?"
Sakura looked at her viciously. "No, I'm doing my laundry."
Yuuhi giggled. "You have a weird sense of humor, Sakura."
"It's called sarcasm."
"Are you seriously buying that ugly shirt?" Yuuhi asked as she eyed the plain black shirt Sakura was holding as if it was something slimy.
"I think it's rather nice," Sakura said matter-of-factly.
"Anyways, I'm buying some steak. Ichiro loves barbeque steak. We're having dinner tonight." Yuuhi smiled. Sakura glared at her fiercely. Yuuhi frowned at her expression. "Don't look so surprised." Silence. "Relationships in your business is always so complicated. But...I admire the way you put up with the pain, being the other girl and all."
"You...you know?" Sakura gaped at her, shocked. Yuuhi nodded. "Mmhmm, of course. It's obvious." Sakura bit her lip. 'Oh no, she found out! Crap...'
"I don't know what you see in that cook. Doesn't he have another girlfriend?"
"Wh-what?" Sakura asked, perplexed at what she said. 'The cook? She thinks I'm dating Syaoran! What a retard.'
"It's okay, your secret's safe with me."
Sakura scoffed. "He's not just a cook, he's a professional cook." Her face was that of pride mixed with ferocity.
"Whatever." Yuuhi smiled. "Anyways, Ichiro's waiting for me outside. Bye, Sakura!" She then steered her cart away to the front door with Sakura glowering at her back and breathing deeply to maintain her temper. Just then, Syaoran appeared behind her. He studied her face and chuckled. He grabbed a bag of Lays from her cart and handed it to her.
"Looks, like you need this more than I do. You're practically steaming."
"No, I'm not!" Sakura hissed.
"Very convincing," Syaoran commented sarcastically.
"I-said-I'm-not-angry!" Sakura shouted in one breath. Her nose and mouth were both taking in a great amount of air as she struggled to stay calm. She was glaring at the front door where Yuuhi disappeared to like a mad bull eyeing a red flag billowing in the wind. Syaoran stifled a snigger.
"C'mon, Sakura, there's no need to pretend in front of me."
And with that, Sakura grabbed the Lays from him, held it tight in her left hand, and smashed it open with her right hand with a frustrated scream. The bag popped and the chips were strewn all over the floor. The short lady sweeping the floor came up from behind them and she held her broom up, looking at them both furiously. Sakura and Syaoran, nervous, hurriedly pointed at one another, trying to shift the blame.
- Restaurant: kitchen -
"Hey, Eriol! What should we do with these?" Takashi asked as Eriol passed. In Takashi's hands was a box filled with small sector slices of a cake leftover. Before Eriol could answer, the refrigerator door next to them closed and Syaoran's head appeared. He smiled and said, "Wait, I could use those."
Sakura walked up to them holding empty mugs. "What's going on?"
"Wanna help me make a special delivery?" Syaoran asked.
-.-.-.-.-.-
"So you're sure Ichiro's out at Yuuhi's house for steak, right?" Syaoran asked as he climbed up the stairs of the apartment to Ichiro's front door.
"Positive," Sakura replied through gritted teeth.
"Ah, nothing like a freshly baked cake," Syaoran smirked as he opened the box, took a piece of cake out, and nibbled the edge. "Mmmm, Ichiro will be glad." He smiled slyly at Sakura's worried face.
"No, let's not do this, please," Sakura said timidly. "He'll know it's me when he sees the cake!"
"That's a big difference between men and women: He won't know what you're thinking if you don't tell him," Syaoran told her as he held Sakura's right hand palms up and placed the cake into her grasp. "Trust me. And besides, this will be fun. It's what he deserves. You can tell Kero to keep watch."
"Kero, keep watch!" Sakura shouted at the leash at the bottom of the stairs. She turned her head back to Syaoran nervously.
"Nooo, I can't do this..." Sakura pleaded as Syaoran held her hand up higher. She turned her head away, not wanting to watch what she knew Syaoran was going to do. "No, don't make me!" In a split second, Sakura squashed the cake onto Ichiro's front door with Syaoran in control. Sakura, all nervousness lost, started laughing with Syaoran. She started jumping in excitement and they both reached their hands into the box for another slice of cake. As their laughs grew louder, they looked anxiously but sternly at eachother. They both hissed, "Shhh!" and tried to stifle their chortles as they threw, smashed, and smeared more cake onto Ichiro's front door.
After they finished the entire box and decided they made an excellent "delivery", they quickly ran down the stairs, picked up Kero, and left the apartment. Syaoran snorted as he and Sakura tried to maintain straight faces while they walked out of the apartment in case Ichiro suddenly stepped in. Fortunately, he didn't. When they were finally outside, Syaoran turned to Sakura. "Geez, I wish I could see his face when he gets home."
Sakura stopped in mid-laughter and bit her lip. She looked down and thought for a long moment. After a minute, she looked up at Syaoran with the same concerned expression she had before. "I'll be right back." And with that, Sakura ran back into the apartment and up the stairs to his front door.
She held the box up to the door and used a paper towel to wipe it off. It took a long while since the cake was so sticky, but she did the best she could before returning to Syaoran. When she got back outside, she and Syaoran continued to walk away from the apartment. She inhaled deeply. "Alright, go on. Just say it."
"Say what?" Syaoran asked.
"That I'm pathetic," Sakura said with her face down.
"It's not a crime to be in love," Syaoran responded, though he looked disappointed nonetheless. "It could really be that he's your 'special one.'"
They continued to walk down the sidewalk when Syaoran spoke up. "No matter how serious or casual a relationship is, I believe that there is always that 'special someone' out there. (A/N: Cliché, I know. XP) It could be her, her, her, or her," Syaoran said as he pointed in random directions. "But I believe that Arisu's my 'special one.'"
"Mmhmm...and Ichiro is mine. But then he's special too. And him. Him. Him, him, him, and him. They're all special in their own ways," Sakura said as she also pointed in random directions.
"How did you meet him?" Syaoran asked.
"When I went to Shanghai a couple years ago, I was working at a café. Ichiro was a voluntary doctor at this hospital neighboring us so he'd always come into our café and sit at the same table." Sakura smiled. "Anyways, what time is it?"
Syaoran took out his cell phone as Sakura did the same. "Oh, no!" She yelped after she flipped her cell phone open. Syaoran shot her a confused glance. "My phone's out of batteries!"
"Mine's not...but I've got no messages. I suppose that's worse, huh?" Syaoran asked her. Seeing her frustrated face, he decided not to wait for an answer. He looked down at the leash and collar. "Isn't that right, Kero?"
"Stay away from him, he still doesn't like you!"
-.-.-.-.-.-
The next day, Sakura walked down to the restaurant at 7 AM. However, before she had gotten to the small back door that led to the kitchen, she saw a small crowd of her fellow cooks all peeking through the window not too far from the door. She narrowed her gaze as she observed them suspiciously and her pace lessened. "What are you guys up to now?" She asked in an exasperated voice.
"It's Syaoran! With Arisu!" Naoko whispered to Sakura, who ran up to the window and peeked with everyone else at these words. "She's such a fool, marrying the other man!"
"I say Syaoran's the fool," Takashi retorted. He was about to say something else but was silenced by Sakura's mean glare of "don't-call-him-a-fool."
"I can't believe she had the nerve to bring her fiancé down here!" Chiharu commented.
"Two men who are both after one girl? And all in the same room?" Sakura asked rhetorically. "We better call the police!"
"I think we should call the ambulance," Takashi said as he peered through the window.
"She even went a bit further and asked him to make the wedding cake! The nerve of her!" Chiharu continued.
At this, Sakura ran to the back door, opened it, walked into the kitchen, then into the restaurant, and sat down next to Syaoran when Arisu excitedly said, "Let's make it four layers!" She stared at Arisu angrily. "I'm sorry. We don't have the time to make your wedding cake."
"Syaoran already agreed," Arisu spat, her voice like venom as she immediately started to hate Sakura.
"I'm the catering manager, and I say we can't do it," Sakura simply said.
Zen glimpsed around at everyone at the table. He then started to laugh and stare at Sakura. "Please, I don't mind paying extra."
Sakura rounded on him. "I said we can't do it!"
"Sakura..." Syaoran's voice came up for the first time. "It's Arisu's wedding. It'll just be a nice wedding gift."
She looked at him in astonishment, but knew she couldn't stop him. "Oh, alright. We'll find time..."
-.-.-.-.-.-
- Gift shop -
Sakura picked up a pair of earrings from a turning display and studied it. She sighed and placed it back. She looked around the room and unknowingly walked up to a plastic model of a woman wearing an olive green dress. Just in time, she stopped millimeters away from it and found herself staring at a necklace around the model's neck. The glimmer of it had caught her eye. It had a silver chain with a lovely cherry blossom charm made from pale pink mother-of-pearl. She gasped at the beauty of it. Unable to resist, Sakura quickly unchained the back of the necklace and found Syaoran, who was conveniently next to a mirror looking at other jewelry.
"Syaoran! Look what I found! It's beautiful!" Sakura whispered, though she really wanted to shout. If only the room wasn't so quiet. "Help me put it on!"
Sakura fumbled with the lock but Syaoran was able to clasp the necklace together. Sakura smiled excitedly and she looked into the mirror. First, she straightened out her clothes and grinned at her reflection. Syaoran was right behind her, looking at the mirror also. He looked taken aback at her first wide grin but Sakura was oblivious to it since she started to move around, admiring the necklace at all angles. She giggled and said, "This is so pretty! If a guy bought this for me, I think I'd marry him right then and there."
Without thinking, Syaoran pulled out his credit card as one of the shop assistants passed by and handed it to the lady. He still looked dazed but was brought out of his reverie when a female voice chirped, "Would the lady like to wear it or wrap it?"
"Oh! Wrap it!" Sakura said, surprised. She was too busy admiring the necklace to notice Syaoran give the assistant the credit card. She turned her back to Syaoran and fumbled with the chain again. "It's a wedding gift."
"Uh...yeah, that's right," Syaoran faked a laugh as he shook his head and helped Sakura unchain the necklace. After giving it to the lady, he mentally slapped himself. 'What was I thinking!'
"So...do you think Arisu will like it?" Syaoran quickly asked.
"Of course!" Sakura answered as the lady handed the wrapped necklace to Syaoran.
'Yeah...this is for Arisu. Duh...for a wild moment, I felt like I wanted to buy it for Sakura. But why? Was it because she said she'd marry a guy right then and there if he bought it for her? No way...wait, it's possible...'
Syaoran's eyes widened in realization, for his heart was much stronger than his mind.
-.-.-.-.-.-
I'm sorry it's short but...at least it's an important chapter, right:) Therefore, you have to review. Duh.
