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With Or Without You
Chapter Four: Avoiding the Memories

Flashback
 "I don't know how I can say it again." Syaoran breathed, his breath hot against my skin, or maybe it was just that my skin was hot, his arm was delightfully possessive around my waist.

What? Oh my God.

"So you're not going to tell me now?" I frowned, mad that he couldn't see me pout.

"No." he said softly. The hand that was behind my neck gently started to stroke just under my ear, sending sweet shivers down my spine.

Damn him. He was good.

"I'm going to show you." he whispered, connecting his lips to mine.

Well, I guess this was a little, okay a lot, better than him just telling me.

The hand that was around my waist, gently slid along my hip, his other hand that was on my neck slid down to join his other hand on my other hip, all the while his lips working their magic on mine.

Ode to joy.

"I love you Sakura." Syaoran breathed, holding me tightly against him, as if he were afraid I was suddenly gonna jump up and run away. "I love you."
End Flashback

I frowned, lying back in my bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling, my fingers scratching Kero's fuzzy ears.

That had been the night I'd slept with Syaoran. That had been the night when we'd confessed our love, finally, and he'd cancelled his flight to Hong Kong, just to be with me.

I wish I could go back to that night.

I would rather be there than here, right now, lying in bed, wishing that I'd never met Syaoran so I wouldn't be feeling the pain that I was feeling now.

If only I could just…forget. That would make everything so much easier.

When my phone buzzed, telling me I had a text message, I picked it up.

ChinaRae: Where R U?

I frowned. It was past noon on a school day.

Yeah, I was skipping.

I had even locked Touya and my dad out of my room. They'd given up on banging on the door hours ago.

Thank God.

So there I was, just lying there, ignoring every call and text message that I got.

I was so screwed when I got back to school.

I hated lots of homework.

My phone rang, again, and I picked it up, staring at the screen.

A text message, from Syaoran.

Xiao-Lang: We need 2 talk. Where R U?

Duh, at home. Where else? God, it's not like I hopped the first flight to America or anything.

Should I text him back?

Not.

I may as well get up…

I sighed and got off the bed, coming out of my room, surprisingly enough, and crossing the hall, walking into the bathroom.

Damn that bathroom.

Only a few months ago, Syaoran had been attacked by some low-life's in the middle of a rainy day. I had come to his rescue and we'd ran to my house so I could tend his bleeding nose.

Well, somehow that whole situation had ended up in a near-kiss. The only reason we hadn't kissed was because Touya had walked in…that had been interesting.

God I missed being able to kiss Syaoran, and it had only been a day…

I was so pathetic.

Why not just get over him? I mean, it couldn't be that hard…

Yeah, right, I was kidding myself.

I tore off my clothes and hopped in the shower, enjoying the feeling of the hot water against my skin. I just wish it could wash everything away…

As I got out of the shower, I said to myself "Sakura, you need coffee".

Yeah, totally random, but coffee totally helps cheer me up.

(AN: This totally works, too. When my sister and I were having major problems at home, we went out for coffee, walked around the neighborhood, and everything didn't seem so bad. Try it sometime! Okay…words of advice over)

So, since it was still cold outside, I dressed in some light jeans and a long sleeved pale blue zip-up and some fuzzy white mittens and toque Tomoyo had given me for Christmas.

Oh, and these totally amazing black Airwalk boots I'd gotten for my birthday from Touya.

So, grabbing my house key and some money, I was out the front door.

And it was cold.

Damn. Everything was against me lately.

Whatever, I needed my coffee.

So I walked out into the street, my arms wrapped around myself tightly, each step crunching beneath me.

I didn't want to think about Syaoran anymore, really, I didn't. I mean…he's engaged…so why bother? Engagement was, like, final…so
I couldn't really get him back.

I smiled faintly, remembering the first day, or, rather, night, that I'd met Syaoran.

It hadn't been a pleasant experience.

Flashback
"Hey! Watch it!" the boy snarled, sitting up, rubbing his head. Then he muttered something under his breath, something that I didn't understand for it was in Chinese.

I'm guessing he said something like "Stupid tourist" or something way, way worse.

I glared at him. "Why don't you watch it?"

He opened his eyes, which were a brilliant amber color, and glared at me. "Stupid girl."

"Girl? Who the hell are you to talk?" I snapped, gathering my bags back into my hands. "Chinese gaki!"

"I know what that means." he growled. "I'm not stupid."

"Oh really, because you look mighty stupid." I retorted.

"Why you little Japanese-"

"Hey!" Touya thundered, standing behind me, glaring acidly down at the teenager in front of me. "Want to say that again?"

The boy looked up at Touya, his glare never faltering.

Wow, that was the first time I'd ever seen anyone stand strong under Touya's glare. The guy was hot, and brave. Too brave for his own good.

Wait. Did I just say hot? Yeah…I did. What? He was hot! He had the whole sexy rock star look. You know; sexy/messy chocolate hair, brilliant eyes, handsome face, good looking body, worn jeans and a clean cut dark green t-shirt. He was at least sixteen, most likely seventeen.

But still, his hotness would have no effect on Touya. I got to my feet just as the boy did, my bags in my hands. "Touya, it's okay. It was an accident. Right?"

The boy shot me a look, not a very friendly one, but I guess he figured I was trying to save his ass from getting kicked, so he nodded.

"Yeah, an accident." With that said he brushed past us. I swear I heard him mumble. "Stupid chick."

Oh he would so pay for that later. Next time I saw him, which I doubt I would, he was so going to get it, big time. I had a size seven pair of Jimmy Choo sandals in my bag, and when you were hit with one of those, it hurt, a lot.

"You okay?" Touya asked.

I nodded, turning and watching as the boy stood, waiting for the elevator. Touya and dad walked into their room, which was across from mine, and shut the door. So I was left alone in the hallway with the boy.

It's not like he was close to me or anything, but he was still there. I set my bags on the floor and slipped my key into the lock, smiling when I heard the familiar click of the lock.

I tossed my bags in the room and before I walked in, I tossed another look at the boy over my shoulder.

Only to find that he was watching me.

So I gave him a very nice gesture with one finger, just to show how much I cared.
End Flashback

God I wished I could forget that moment. That moment among many others.

I frowned down at the snow-strewn ground as I walked into the small coffee shop at the corner of the street.

And stopped dead in my tracks.

Damn it, I'd forgotten Tomoyo and Eriol had a spare during fourth.

Time to do the ten second dash Sakura!

"Sakura!" Tomoyo gasped, spotting me by the doorway.

Awe hell.

I sighed as the couple came up to me, Tomoyo throwing her arms around my neck.

"Sakura where have you been?" she cried. "I was worried sick about you last night! Eriol told me everything, I'm so sorry!"

"Uh, thanks Tomoyo." I said sheepishly as she pulled away. "But I'd rather not talk about it."

"Sakura you should have called me." Tomoyo frowned. "You should have. And you should at least answer your cell!"

I frowned and looked down at my feet. "I know…I'm sorry I just…needed some time to myself, you know?"

"Skipping school isn't the answer Sakura," Eriol said. "You can't avoid Syaoran forever."

"Who said I was avoiding him?"

They both glared at me.

"Fine!" I groaned. "But can you blame me?"

"No." Tomoyo sighed. "I guess we can't."

Good, I don't feel like being blamed for anything at the moment.

"Still Sakura," Eriol said. "Please, just come to school tomorrow."

"I will." I said. "I promise."

"Good." Tomoyo smiled, grabbing my arm, pulling me down the street, back towards my house. "Now, we need to plan."

Plan?

"What?" I gaped at her.

"Isn't it obvious?" Eriol smirked, walking on my other side, latching his arm with mine, as Tomoyo was doing. "The plan to get Syaoran back."

Say what?

"Oh come on Sakura!" Tomoyo groaned. "I know you think this is as wrong as we do!"

"Uh, of course. But I can't do anything about it, Tomoyo." I said. "He's engaged."

"I talked to Meilin." Tomoyo said. "The chick doesn't have a ring, it's only arranged so far. Yelan just told Syaoran to break it off with you and then they could make all the necessary preparations."

"What?" I gaped at her.

Yelan? Sweet lovable Yelan? I thought she liked me!

Guess not…

"Syaoran's uncle died," Eriol said. "You know, the one who had taken over the company, so Syaoran got full responsibility over the business."

"He can't handle it on his own," Tomoyo said, nodding at Eriol as we walked calmly down the street. "So Yelan decided that she would get Syaoran to marry Ciria Rae, because Ciria is the oldest child of the Rae family, and so she will automatically gain control of her family's company."

"Yeah," Eriol smirked. "So Yelan figured that Syaoran and Ciria would be good for each other and once they were married, the two companies would combine into one super company."

Okay…this really wasn't helping my mood.

Why hadn't Syaoran told me all this?

"And you know all this…how?" I asked.

"Meilin, duh!" Tomoyo grinned.

"Yeah but…Ciria is her sister, so why?"

"Step-sister, Sakura." Eriol pointed out. "And from what Meilin told me about her, she's not the nicest person on the planet."

Oh, so Meilin was trying to save her cousin from a miserable life!

That was sweet of her.

"Hold on!" I said, pulling my arms from them, taking a few steps backwards. "So you two and Meilin are plotting against Syaoran?"

"No, against Ciria." Eriol grinned. "Come on Sakura, it'll be fun!"

"Not for me!" I growled. "Syaoran's engaged, ring or no ring, and that would be called adultery?"

I did so not want to go to hell!

"He doesn't want to marry Ciria, Sakura." Tomoyo sighed. "But he doesn't want to let his family down, either. So why not stir things up a bit?"

I gaped at them. "Where have my friends gone?"

"Oh come on Sakura, kill the drama." Eriol groaned.

"No, I'm dead serious." I said. "You guys were never this evil!"

"Yeah, we were, we were just hiding from the darkness." Tomoyo giggled, grabbing my arm again. "Now come on, Meilin has fifth period spare, we'll meet her at my house."

Hmmmm…….I wonder what our dear Syaoran and Sakura are in for. Well, everything is going to get a lot more interesting.
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Just so you guys know...the whole "buisness" thing. Well, the buisness that the Li family wants is on Ciria's side of the family, so since she's Meilin's STEP SISTER, the Li family has no link to their buisness...until now