Out of Order
When Syaoran Li kicked the vending machine one hot summer's night, he didn't get his change back. Instead, he got Kinomoto Sakura.
2 Her name is SakuRA Kinomoto
"Shit," Syaoran cursed softly, fumbling for his keys. He'd bought this pair of office slacks because it had style, but he'd never expected deep pockets to cause him so much trouble. Frowning, he clumsily used his free hand to try and fish said set of keys out of his pocket once more, but he lost his grip and it tumbled to the floor, metal clinking against metal almost tauntingly. He let out a sigh.
Come to think of it, everything had been causing him trouble lately, and it was only Wednesday! On Monday, he had been picked on by his supervisor for no particular reason at all, on Tuesday; a –huge- batch load of paperwork seemed to have dumped itself nicely into his IN tray—which he was still struggling to finish now, by the way…and today…
Syaoran closed his eyes, feeling pressure build up in his temples painfully. I don't even want to think about today, he decided, extremely grumpy now due to his severe lack of caffeine. If he didn't get his fix by morning…he'd be very, very disagreeable, that was for sure.
He looked down at the cargo situated in his arms, frowning slightly. All this seemed to be her fault somehow, although it wasn't really. She was a contribution, a small factor to the overall problem. As if feeling his gaze on her, 'Saku' shifted slightly towards him, resting her right cheek gently on his chest. Her slow, drawn out breaths tickled his arm, and Syaoran shivered involuntarily.
With a sudden sheer resolve to get her off him, he stooped down and snatched the ring of keys off the floor at the speed of lightning. Then, jamming one of them into his door's lock, he gave it a giant twist and pushed it open. The wooden door slammed into the neighboring wall with a large bang. The noise echoed throughout the apartment, but after a few seconds, everything faded into silence. Taking quick and steady steps, Syaoran made his way over to living room.
He nudged the girl onto the couch gently. At first, she tensed, as if missing the human contact, but relaxed quickly and burrowed herself into the armrest, relishing the soft material. Retrieving a blanket from his own bed, Syaoran tucked her in, then stepped back, letting out a breath he didn't know he had held.
He looked sideways, at the window. The view from outside had been blocked by the drawn curtains. Fluorescent light reflected off the smooth glass, and he soon found himself looking at his own reflection.
His cheeks were still tinged with red.
Jerking his head away, he looked resolutely at the carpet, hands slowly clenching into fists.
A stranger, just a stranger...she'll be gone by this time tomorrow.
Syaoran let the thought repeat over and over in his mind. When the strange feeling had finally faded away, he returned to his desk and threw himself into his work. His typing was faster now, and fingers stabbed at the keys more viciously then normal.
He worked late into the night, and by the time he was finished, the first rays of sunlight had already broken into the dark sky. Weary and sleep deprived, the young man ran a hand thorough his chocolate-colored hair, tousling it up even further. He felt like the dead, but at least he was done.
Another hand blindly reaching for his alarm clock, his fingers configured the device to ring at eight am out of habit. After this was done, Syaoran dragged himself to his room. Letting his head fall roughly onto a pillow, he let his eyelids close (finally) before falling into a deep, fatigue-induced sleep.
Not surprisingly, his dreams were of coffee.
She felt the first rays of sunshine warm her cheeks, and the unwelcome light seared her vision red. Groaning, she pushed herself up. Her throat was sore and scratchy, and she felt like she'd swallowed several mouthfuls of gravel. With her eyes scrunched up tight, 'Saku' let a pained whimper escape her lips.
"I hate hangovers…" she murmured.
She sat there, still as stone, adjusting herself to the light before finally opening her eyes. What she saw, however, was unfamiliar, and confusion filtered into her mind.
"…Where am I?" She asked croakily, but there was no one to answer. The young woman, deciding to investigate, pushed herself up with effort. Her limbs were sore all over, and seemed to be filled with lead.
After awhile, it struck her that moving wasn't such a great idea.
"Urgh…" Her stomach churned uncomfortably, and she could almost feel her face turn a sickly green. Dizziness and urgency took over just then, and her legs suddenly reacted—escorting her quickly to the nearest sink.
7:59, the bright green numbers screamed. The figure sprawled onto the bed did not move—Syaoran Li's mind was clearly still suspended deep in the depths of his dreams. His legs were tangled tightly with the bed sheets, which had somehow dislodged themselves a few hours ago. His free hand was clutching a pillow to his body tightly, and his face was relaxed for once, free of the stress that plagued him during the day.
The numbers changed over abruptly. 8:00, said the screen, and a shrill ringing sound sliced through the morning air, shattering the stillness immediately. From his spot on the bed, the young man moaned pitifully, slamming a pillow onto his head. Pushing the material into his ears, Syaoran tried to will the sound away. Unfortunately, the alarm went on.
A huge flurry of rustling began as he reluctantly disentangled himself from the warm mass of sheets. His eyelids felt awfully heavy, and sleepiness hung over his head like a thick, endless fog.
"I hate mornings," he grumbled, shutting the alarm off with the quick slam of a fist, which he was all too glad to do. Yanking his tie and a fresh set of clothes off their hangers, he rushed into the bathroom and set about his morning duties. Making sure the door was shut; he shrugged off his clothes and stepped into the shower.
Syaoran loved having showers, though he had no idea why. He had no time to dally this time, though— and after a quick once over with a bar of soap and shampoo, he turned the shower on. The water that rained down on his body was crisp and cold, waking him up immediately. The young man stayed in the cubicle for a few minutes longer before making his exit. Snatching a towel off a rack, he dried himself quickly before yanking on the bottom part of his office wear.
Brushing his teeth and putting on the top part of his outfit only took up a few minutes. Once all that was done, Syaoran rushed out of the room; intending to scrimmage about for a quick bite to eat. To his surprise, there was a strange smell of breakfast in the air, something warm and delicious. It almost made his mouth water right then…
…But he never cooked, and didn't have anyone to do so for him either.
Did he?
Eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion, Syaoran looped his tie carelessly around his neck before stepping into the kitchen.
"Who's there?" His voice low and cautious, and the young man edged further across the room.
One eyebrow shot up when he spied the dining table, prepared with food for two. A quick scan around the room found nothing else, though. This was strange, very strange indeed…
"Good morning!"
The voice was clearly intended to welcome, but it gave him a gigantic scare instead. Knocked off guard, Syaoran whirled around, intending to hit whoever the intruder was with his fists alone. However, what he saw thoroughly floored him.
It was that pair of emerald eyes again, no more clouded by alcohol. They were dazzling, and his heart started thumping in his chest loudly.
Syaoran licked his lips, which had gone dry all of a sudden.
"Er…" he said incredulously. Wasn't this the girl he had brought home the night before? What in the world was she doing, cooking breakfast! She was supposed to be having a hangover.
"You're…Kinomoto Saku, right?" Syaoran asked tentatively, scratching his head in confusion. The girl shook her head, smiling.
"I'm Kinomoto SakuRA, actually. …Erm…" She continued, cheeks flushing. "Thank you for taking me in yesterday. I kind of borrowed the sink and some panadol this morning, if you know what I mean…so I thought that breakfast was the least I could do." The young woman, now known as Sakura, looked down at the floor in embarrassment.
Syaoran flushed as well. Holding his hands up awkwardly, he tried to reassure her. "No, no, it's perfectly alright," he flustered, growing more and more nervous by the minute. "You shouldn't have cooked breakfast, really— I'm not very hungry in the morning—"
His stomach decided to voice its discontent right at that very moment, exposing his lie immediately.
Syaoran would have dug his own grave if he could, but all he managed to do right then was gaze pointedly at the floor as well, cheeks burning. The silence was extremely uncomfortable, and the seconds crawled by as the two struggled to overcome the tension.
Sakura voiced out first. "…Breakfast, then?"
It seemed all too surreal –and- crazy to be true, but Syaoran just nodded silently. After a while, both of them seated themselves at the table and tucked in, eating each mouthful quietly. Syaoran, munching idly on a piece of egg, noted that Kinomoto Sakura, in actuality, was a pretty good cook...
"I'm Li. Li Syaoran, if you can't remember last night." He said after awhile, finishing the last of his meal. Sakura, on the other side of the table looked up, expression mildly guilty.
"I must have been totally out of it," she said, tone apologetic. "I'm so sorry—for all the inconvenience I've caused." She brushed a stray strand of auburn hair behind one ear, breaking out in a small, shy smile. "…Nice to meet you, Li-san."
Syaoran found it hard not to smile as well. "Same." He trailed off, then started again. "Well, I'm just curious, but how did you get so drunk, Sak—er—Kinomoto-san?" He kicked himself mentally for the slip up. Where had his manners gone!
"You can call me Sakura if you like..." She said teasingly, emerald eyes mischievous. But after that, her expression turned secretive. "I prefer not to say, though." she said guardedly, looking at Syaoran. "Is that okay…? I just feel kind of weird talking about it." Her hands twitched under the table, obviously uncomfortable. Syaoran decided not to press her.
"Ah. In that case, I'd better be going. I've got work starting in half-an-hour," He informed her. Sakura nodded and stood up as well, getting ready to leave. At this, something inside him protested reluctantly. Following his instincts, Syaoran put his hand on her shoulder, holding her back.
A rush of nervousness suddenly overcame him and he felt the blood rush up to his cheeks once more. "I've got a car, you know. I could give you a lift to your place."
He mentally kicked himself again. …why am I even asking her! She –can- walk home by herself. Besides, I'll probably never see her again. He fiddled with the cuffs of his pressed sleeves, unbuttoning and re-buttoning them frantically. I've practically degraded myself to the level of a love-sick school boy…
She looked back, expression thoughtful. A smile settled itself upon her lips, and the whole room seemed to light up along with her.
"You're such a gentleman, Li-san. I'm surprised you don't have girls hanging all over you." Sakura said, voice gentle, yet slightly teasing.
…He blinked. Syaoran, taken aback, let his mouth hang open slightly at her words.
"You remind me of someone. One my friends," He said after awhile, still gaping. "She said the almost same thing yesterday."
"For real?" Sakura said, intrigued. "That's definitely weird…Hoooeee…"
"Hooooeeee?" Syaoran echoed, his lips curling up into a smile. Sakura blushed.
"Childhood habit…"
And holding a pleasant conversation, both exited Syaoran's apartment.
Syaoran led the way to his vehicle, and slid carefully in the driver's seat. Sakura made herself comfortable in the passenger seat beside his, and he started the car. The engine started, humming softly. Sakura told him her address without much prodding, and soon, they were right in front of the area she specified.
Far too soon, a tiny part of Syaoran's mind thought, but he squashed the notion immediately. Instead, he forced himself to smile.
"Thanks again, Li-san," Sakura said, bowing politely. "I'll never forget your kindness."
Syaoran nodded in return. "Take care of yourself, Sakura. See you soon, if we ever meet again." Something inside him ached with longing, but it was ignored. The young woman graced him with another mega-watt smile, and without warning bent forward and planted a customary polite on his cheek.
"See you," she said softly, and started away.
Syaoran, unfortunately, was stunned into silence, and stayed that way until Sakura had long gone. After he had overcome his state of disbelief, he ran a hand through his hair, baffled.
I'll probably never see her again, he thought again forcefully, banishing all other thoughts from his mind as he restarted the engine. He couldn't seem to insert the ignition key properly, though…
His hands were shaking way too much.
…and he was late for work.
Why didn't he care?
To be Continued.
(Wow! Thanks for all the reviews, guys. If you could comment on this one, that's be great as well. I need advice to improve terribly…Hope –this- chapter ain't too stinky too, heh.
…sorry for the bad word at the beginning of the chapter.)