A Walk in the Rain
Summary: Another night spent alone...Sakura's alone, but not lonely. Then Tomoyo calls, and invites her to watch movies with her, Eriol, and a newly-transferred cousin. On her way, she gets distracted and loses track of time...who'll find her? AU, maybe a little OOC. One-shot?
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS...I'm just like all the others who write because they love the characters and writing.
She stood there, staring out the big window in her living room, watching the rain pour down from the sky. How appropriate, she thought; the house was otherwise empty, the room was dark without the lights, but not as dark as the clouds and sky outside. Glancing at the clock, she was surprised to see that it was only six thirty; it seemed like it would be so much later...then again, that might be because after she got home from school, she'd spent the day alone with her homework. A small sigh escaped her lips as she let her forehead drop onto the glass pane that separated her from the rain.
She stayed like that until she realized that a faint ringing sound was coming from her backpack on the other side of the room; pushing herself off the pane she walked over to the bag, searching for her purse. Who'd be calling me at this time? Finding her purse, she rummaged through it until she felt the object she sought: her small silver-colored cell phone. By the time she reached it, it had unfortunately stopped ringing, and the voicemail icon was flashing at the top of the tiny screen. Obviously whoever it was hadn't been very patient...either that or the phone had been ringing longer than she expected, which was very possible. Pushing a button, she waited for the automatic voice to answer so she could check her message; as she waited, she wandered back over to the window, turning the big comfortable chair around so she could continue watching the downpour. Her lips curved into a half-smile as she heard her brother's greeting resound through the little phone, then drooped back down when she heard him say that he'd be late...again. He worked as much as he could to provide for the two of them, and she appreciated it, she really did...but sometimes it seemed like being all alone in the big, empty house wasn't worth it. With a flick of the wrist she shut her phone, tossing it on the wooden sill before curling up in the chair, running her hands down her bare arms. Again, she just stared...to anyone looking at her it'd seem like she was lost in a trance of some sort.
She was abruptly jerked out of it by the shrill ringing of the little device in front of her; checking the ID, she saw it was her best friend, Tomoyo calling. "Hey Tom, what's up?" She didn't bother trying to sound overly happy, because Tomoyo was one of the few people who could see right through any of her little charades no matter how hard she tried.
"What're you up to right now, Sakura? If you're not doing anything...well, I was hoping you could come over! Eriol's coming, and he's bringing his cousin; you remember, the boy you briefly met at school earlier today? Anyway, they're both coming, and I thought we could make it a foursome...?" She sounded pretty hopeful, so Sakura hesitated before attempting to answer.
"I dunno, Tom...I'm not sure I feel like going anywhere right now. The weather's–" She was cut off before she could go any further. "Come on, Kura! It's a Friday night; you shouldn't be stuck home alone! And don't try to deny it, because you had that 'Touya's-working-late-again-so-I'm-all-alone' tone of voice when you first answered the phone. Please?" There it was, her famous begging tone; she knew it was hard for Sakura to say no when she used that tone...she knew it, and she abused it, in Sakura's opinion. "I can have someone drive over to pick you up, if you want; just please say you'll come!" Sakura sighed; she was no match for Tom's persistency...well, she could be, but she didn't really feel like arguing with her right now.
"Okay, I guess I'll come...but you know all along who'd win this, didn't you." It was more of a statement than a question, and was only met with a few happy giggles through the phone. "So how soon can you be ready? You are coming for the night, right? If Touya's going to be out on one of the late shifts again, then you might as well just stay over since I know you don't sleep well in an empty house." Sakura sighed again; this girl knew her way too well. "Yeah, yeah, I'll stay the night," an excited squeal pierced her ear, "but I'm going to go ahead and walk. It's not that far, and since we do this so often I don't need to bring much; I'll slip whatever into one of my backpacks and walk, no arguments." Tomoyo tried protesting, but Sakura was adamant about this; Tomoyo finally relented, saying she had to get things ready anyway. "I'll be there in...say, twenty minutes? That sound okay?" Sakura asked, getting up from the chair stretching before moving towards the stairs to grab whatever she'd need for the night. "It's what, six forty-five now? Can't you come any earlier?" Sakura just shook her head, an amused little smile on her face. "Tom..." She dragged the name out, a mock warning not to push her any further. "Fine, you win, Kura. The guys are actually going to be here around seven, but I think I can manage to entertain them for awhile as we wait."
Sakura felt around for the light switch in her room, blinking rapidly when she flipped it up. "Okay, Tom; I'll see you then. I'll get my stuff together and write a note for Touya." Tomoyo snorted, "As if he wouldn't know where you were, anyway." This made Sakura smile. "You never know with him, Tom...he might end up thinking that some people came and kidnapped me or something like that. You know how paranoid he can be about me. Anyway, I'll see you in a bit; bye." Sakura flipped the phone shut again, thinking about how saying that Touya was paranoid was an understatement; when it came to his dear little sister, nothing could be too much. A light chuckle bubbled up inside, forcing through her lips as she searched around her room for her stuff. He liked to know where she was, and who she was with at all times, and he didn't like her being around guys. But Sakura understood; after all, since their parents had died, all they had was each other, not counting Tomoyo and her mom, even though Sonomi was their mom's sister.
After gathering everything, Sakura set it all on the bed, surveying the meager pile. She had changed into the dark blue long-sleeved shirt that she liked so well, a black hoodie, a normal pair of jeans, some thick socks, and black tennis shoes; who in their right mind would walk outside in the thin white t-shirt and shorts she had been wearing before? Not even she was that crazy. The other stuff on her bed included: a couple notebooks in case she wanted to write, her math analysis book so she could finish that homework, a green shirt that said "You can look..." on the front and "...but not touch" on the back (courtesy of Tomoyo for her 18th birthday), another pair of jeans for the morning, some extra underclothing and socks, as well as a few accessories. She nodded her head at the pile, and spun around, looking for the waterproof backpack she knew she had in her room somewhere. Spotting it in the closet, she walked over, grabbed it, and put her stuff inside, careful not to wrinkle or rip her notebooks.
All right, change: check; packing: check...what was next? Snapping her fingers, she turned to her desk and, grabbing one of the memo sheets her brother had given her as a gag gift not long ago, proceeded to write a note to Touya telling him where she was, how long she'd be there, and that he could call her when he got home if he wanted to. After she signed it, she tore it off the tab, grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs. She put the note on the table near the door and dropped her bag beside it, going back to the kitchen and grabbing a water bottle to take with her.
"Am I forgetting anything...?" She surveyed her stuff critically before lightly smacking her forehead; she almost left without her purse! Rolling her eyes she grabbed her purse, picked up her stuff, checked to make sure the door would lock behind her, and left. It was seven o'clock, on the dot.
-----Sakura's Point of View-----
I pulled the door shut behind me and stepped out into the rain; the water felt good, though I'm not sure why. I started off, since the walk to Tomoyo's would take me between ten and fifteen minutes depending on my pace; I normally bladed there, and that'd take me between five and ten, depending on the how crowded the streets were, but blades and slippery wet pavement are a disaster waiting to happen.
I know I'm starting off late, so I should probably hurry there, since Tomoyo's prone to worry and I don't get soaked to the core and get sick and die and such, but the water just felt so...good. I think I'll go ahead and take the park path to her house. It's kind of a roundabout way and a longer walk, but since I'm not exactly in the most sociable of moods and it wasn't my idea to go to Tomoyo's in the first place, I think I'm allowed to take as long as I want.
-----End Sakura's P.o.V., back to normal-----
She strolled leisurely along the empty streets, obviously deserted because of what people typically thought of as "miserable weather". Sakura, however, just took her time and enjoyed the rain. It was kind of odd the way it fit her mood today; nothing was wrong, exactly, but she just wasn't feeling normal. Since there were no people around, she wasn't surprised to see that Tomoeda Park was deserted when she turned into it.
Walking through the soft grass in the park was second nature to her; she had practically lived there as a kid. She knew the place so well that she could navigate it in the dark...which was lucky, seeing as how it was fairly dark out, and all she had was the small pen-sized flashlight that she always kept in her purse.
As she passed the swings she slowed, debating on whether or not to actually stop and swing for a bit...but decided not to, instead moving on to the path that lead through the trees to the pond and, eventually, the entrance that was closer to Tomoyo's house. Well, if you wanted to call it a house, that is; it was pretty huge, more like a mansion, but Sakura had gotten used to Tomoyo calling it a house, therefore...it was just a house to her.
She wandered down the path, ignoring the fact that she was now dripping wet. Once she reached the pond, however, she took refuge underneath one of the evergreen trees, leaning up against it as she stared at the water in front of her. She just found something fascinating about watching the raindrops hit the pond...it was rather mesmerizing. Her watch said it was ten after seven.
-----Meanwhile at Tomoyo's-----
The guys had arrived at 7:00, just as Eriol had said they would. It was a rather funny sight to behold when Tomoyo opened the door to let them in. Eriol was standing there in his black jacket, with his hair plastered against his head from the rain. His cousin, Li Syaoran, was standing behind him, also in a black jacket.
Eriol was a fairly tall young man of eighteen, same as Sakura, Tomoyo, and evidently his cousin; he had semi-long, yet neat, black hair with just a hint of blue to it, and some of the bluest eyes a girl could ever see. He wore a black pullover jacket with the collar opened, a white shirt peeking out underneath. Syaoran was quite the opposite; he was taller than Eriol by an inch or two, with light brown, quite unruly hair, and amber-colored eyes that, when smiling, could make a girl's knees melt. He wore black jacket, left open to reveal a forest green t-shirt underneath, both a little wet from the walk from the car.
"It's days like this that I wish you didn't have such a long walk, Moyo," greeted Eriol, giving her a small kiss on the cheek. She just laughed and pushed him away. "Don't be getting me wet, buster; I'm not planning on changing. Take your coats off and hang them up on the rack over there, and I put a couple towels on the table if you needed them for anything." The boys hurriedly took off the wet jackets, hanging them just as they were told; Eriol grabbed a towel and ran it through his hair as he and Syaoran followed Tomoyo into the living room where they were planning to watch movies. He dropped on one of the big couches while Syaoran just sort of...stood there.
"I hope you guys don.t mind, but I called Sakura and asked her to join us. She should be here within" she glanced at the clock on the wall, "anytime now, actually. I thought it.d be more fun if we had another person. I tried calling the rest of the gang, but they all had plans tonight or they weren't home." Eriol smiled, and Syaoran just shrugged; it wasn't like he knew any of them anyway.
"So, in the meantime, I thought we could get together the snacks and pick out what movies we'll watch. Sakura won't care, so we can go ahead and get that done. Eriol, why don't you come with me into the kitchen to get the popcorn and chips and stuff, and Li, you can start looking over the movies, okay?" Eriol got up from the couch, and Tomoyo motioned to where the movies were. "Li, the movies are right there; if you see one you think is interesting, just pull it out and put it on the table." Eriol snuck an arm around Tomoyo.s waist, pulling the surprised girl towards the kitchen. "You can call him Syaoran; no need to be so formal, right cuz?" Syaoran gave a noncommittal shrug before saying "It really doesn't matter to me."
-----Tomoyo's house, 7:20 pm-----
Tomoyo stopped pacing, only to lift the curtain to the front window in the living room. And stare outside. "Okay, I'm worried now. Why isn't she here yet? She said she'd be here around seven! What if something happened to her? She never takes this long to get here, and the weather is pretty bad out there..." Tomoyo trailed off, feeling rather helpless at the moment.
Eriol got up from the couch and walked over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "I'm sure she's fine, Moyo; she's a big girl, and it's only water." Tomoyo turned her face towards him, amethyst eyes clouded with worry. "I know, Eriol, but still...I can't help worrying about her. She's not even answering her phone..." Eriol sighed and pulled her over the couch, pushing her down to sit before taking the place next to her. "I know, Moyo; you.re only worried about a friend. But still...you should stay here, and I'll go look for her, okay?" He started to stand again before her hand shot out, gripping his shoulder. "I'll come, too! There's no way I'll let you go out and look for her alone."
"Why don.t all three of us just go?" Syaoran spoke up; this was possibly the first time he'd voluntarily said anything that evening. "The more people to go, the more to look. We all have cell phones, so if one finds her they call the others; though I doubt she'll appreciate the search party, from the sounds of her. How's she likely to get here?" Tomoyo bit her lip in thought before replying "Well, she'd either take the street way or the walk through the path. I'm not sure which, but those are the two ways she prefers to go." Syaoran nodded. "Alright then. Eriol, you and Tomoyo take one of your cars and drive along the road, and I'll walk through the park path. That way, Tomoyo, you'll stay dry and someone can watch as Eriol drives. I like the rain, anyway." Tomoyo looked uncertainly at him, and then agreed reluctantly. "Are you sure? Eriol can walk the path instead since he knows it better..." Syaoran smiled slightly. "I doubt that, actually; I used to spend a few of my summers here, and if there's one place I remember, it's the park." The clock now read 7:25.
-----In the Park-----
Sakura shivered, starting to feel the effects of the cold; looking at her watch, her eyes got big. "Oh crap! I was supposed to be there twenty minutes ago! Hoe...I totally lost track of time...Tom's so gonna kill me!" She grabbed her backpack off the ground, then doubled back toward the branched trail that led to Tomoyo's.
The rain hadn't let up at all, but Sakura still didn't mind; her thoughts were focused more on what she'd say to Tomoyo to keep her from freaking out about how late Sakura was. She was walking at a fast pace, since she still had about a five minute walk to go before getting out of the park, and another four minutes to Tomoyo's house.
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she missed seeing the person in front of her, and bam! They collided solidly, and since neither had seen the other they both fell backwards, landing on the sidewalk. Sakura winced as she and pavement connected, letting out a small shriek of surprise at meeting another person in the park in this rain. She heard a deep grunt along with the thump of the other person, a guy she assumed from the low voice, hit the concrete. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention so I didn't see you there at all! Here let me help you..." she trailed off, surprised to see a hand extended down towards her. He must've gotten up pretty fast, she thought. "Looks like you're the one who still needs the help," said the voice with a laugh. Sakura smiled, accepting the hand that hauled her into an upright position. "You wouldn't happen to be Sakura Kinomoto, would you?" asked the man as he handed her the backpack she'd dropped. "Umm…yeah, I am. I'm sorry, but...do I know you?" Another laugh was heard as the boy – no, young man, not boy – reached for the umbrella he had dropped on impact.
"You could say that, I suppose," Syaoran mused aloud. "We met earlier today, in school, and I was recruited for the search party by a certain Tomoyo to search for a missing friend." Sakura blushed at the last statement and let an awkward, embarrassed laugh. "So you're...Li, right? Eriol's cousin?" She saw him nod in the dim light. "And here I was, hoping that she'd lost track of time."
"Care to share the umbrella? It's big enough for two, and Tomoyo insisted I bring it. I don't bite, I promise." Sakura let out a real laugh this time, joining him underneath the umbrella. "Speaking of Tomoyo, here." He held out his cell phone to her, shrugging at her surprise. "You might want to call and tell her you're not dead or kidnapped or anything. She said you weren't answering yours when she tried earlier." Sakura smacked her forehead, much to Syaoran's amusement, as she groaned softly. "I forgot I had it on vibrate when I stuffed it in my backpack. I am so dead..." she began dialing Tomoyo.s cell, dreading what was to come.
"Hello? Have you found her, Syaoran? Please tell me she.s ok-" Sakura spoke up, cutting Tomoyo off. "I'm fine, Tom; I was standing at the pond and lost track of time. And I forgot to take my phone off vibrate when I put it in my bag, so I couldn.t feel or hear it." There was silence for a moment, before a loud, shrill "Sakura!" pierced her ear from the phone. She was so surprised that she almost dropped the phone, bobbling it as it slipped through her wet hands before finally getting a good grip on it. Syaoran smirked at her reaction, though he pitied Eriol for taking the brunt of that noise.
"LookTomI'lltalktoyouwhenwegettoyourhouseokaybye!" (translation: Look, Tom, I'll talk to you when we get to your house, okay? Bye!") Sakura quickly flipped the phone shut before Tomoyo could say anything else, then handed it back to Syaoran. "Thanks for letting me borrow the phone." She reached down to pick up her backpack...but it wasn't there anymore! She started to panic before she saw Syaoran's shoulders shaking with laughter, and tossed over one of those shoulders was the bag. She reached for it only to have Syaoran start walking away, taking the umbrella with him. "Hey, wait! That's my bag!"
Syaoran grinned. He liked this girl; she was pretty amusing. "I know; that.s why I'm carrying it. C.mon now, unless you want to stay over there in the rain." He waited for her to catch up with him before walking again.
The path they were on lead through a more densely wooded area, with maple trees on both sides of the path, extra droplets of water falling off their soaked leaves onto the umbrella above the youth.s heads. The sky was still dark with rain clouds, with the luminescent moon occasionally shining through a patch of the thinner clouded area.
There wasn't much conversation between the two of them; Syaoran enjoying the rain, Sakura preoccupied with Tomoyo's impending reaction. She didn't even realize that she had begun shivering; Syaoran, however, picked it up. He stopped, snapping Sakura out of her thoughts as she watched him out down her bag, puzzled. He stripped off his coat, hanging on the astonished girl's shoulders. "Wha...? No way! You need this more than me; I mean, you've only got a t-shirt on! How's that warm?"
Again with the little grin; not a smirk, but not the friendliest look, either. If I see any more of that, I think I'm going to end up smacking him; it's cute, but kinda annoying, she grimaced to herself. "So…? You going to answer me or what?" She wasn.t going to let him get away with brushing her off so easily.
Despite her insistence, Syaoran noticed that her hands had come up to grip the collar, pulling it a little tighter around her small frame. He had taken in her appearance with the small side glances he'd been giving her as they walked, when she was lost in her thoughts. This was what he saw:
A very wet girl who looked around his age, with long light brown hair that was currently hanging limply against his jacket, with a few shorter strands plastered to her face, reaching her chin in length. She was somewhat petite, no taller than 5'6", and that was pushing it. Her facial features were fine with long, smooth cheekbones, a small nose, sculpted mouth, and amazing emerald eyes. He hadn't seen her much earlier that day at school, only in a passing introduction by his cousin, but he had done a mental double-take when he saw her eyes; he'd never met anyone with eyes as green as hers...especially not in Japan or China.
Breaking away from his thoughts, he realized that she wasn't beside him anymore; he turned his head to see her stopped a few feet back. Her brow cocked, arms crossed beneath his jacket that was now getting wet, her frame supported by one leg while the other was angled slightly forward, foot tapping the pavement trail impatiently; when she spoke, it was tinged with a bit of annoyance; "Well?" Much to Sakura's shock, he just threw his head back and laughed. After laughing, he turned around, fully facing her, eyes glinting in amusement before asking, "How long did it take you to perfect that stance, princess? And in case you didn't notice, you're sopping wet; I'm dry. Not to mention we're at the park entrance-" he paused for a second, seeing her eyes go beyond him to the gate that led into the street. "which means that we're almost back to Tomoyo's house. I'll be fine 'til we get there. Now, is her majesty ready to keep moving, or would she prefer to stand in the rain, allowing my jacket to get as wet as the rest of her clothes?"
Sakura huffed, sending a small puff of air in front of her before moving to join him underneath the umbrella. "Fine, you win this round, but don't call me majesty." He gave a slight half-bow at the waist, dipping the umbrella slightly with the bend. She couldn't see it, but he was grinning again and his eyes were twinkling mischievously. "Yes...princess," he answered, attempting a solemn tone but failing quite miserably. Sakura just rolled her eyes and threw up her hands as if surrendering.
"Whatever. Let's just get to Tomoyo's."
-----Tomoyo's House-----
As soon as Sakura stepped into the house, she was knocked back against the wall as Tomoyo threw herself at the drenched girl. She started talking rapid fire, not giving Sakura a chance to respond. "Sakura! You knew I'd worry about you! You never take that long! What if something had happened to-" Her rant was interrupted by Sakura's voice saying "Umm...Tom? Would you mind letting go so I can go change, please? I feel like a drowned rat."
"You look one, too." Sakura directed a slight glare at the amber-eyed boy standing in the foyer next to the coat rack hung on the wall. "Thanks oh-so-much for that endearing opinion, Li. I really needed that." This only made him chuckle. "I'm more than happy to agree with the princess whenever it's needed." Tomoyo had pulled back by now, and was giving the two of them a puzzled somewhat puzzled look, while Eriol was grinning as he leaned comfortably on the doorway to the living room. Obviously something had happened during their lovely little walk.
Sakura rolled her eyes, again, as she threw the now-dripping jacket back to its owner. She proceeded to peel off the black hoodie she'd been wearing, before throwing it at him as well. He caught both, whistling somewhat appreciatively in his mind. When the black hoodie had come off, it revealed a small but well built body, the wet dark blue shirt splayed tightly across the unaware girl.
"You might want to go change now." She looked over to see a smirk on his face, before realizing the state her shirt was in. Her face immediately flushed and she crossed her arms in front of her, which widened the smirk on his face; she's pretty cute, actually, he surmised. "Yeah, I think I will." She walked toward him only to grab her backpack from its spot at his feet, spinning on her heel and walking to the stairs heading to the room she always stayed in at Tomoyo's house. He just grinned 'til she was gone; tonight was going to be fun.
Unfortunately, that little exchange was caught by two pairs of eyes, both highly amused by this time. The two dark haired people stepped back quietly into the living room before they started laughing. Tomoyo giggled, looking up at Eriol. "Did you see what I saw?" He nodded, a semi-devious smile still on his face.
Her amethyst eyes drifted back towards the doorway, as she thoughtfully whispered "This could be an interesting night...I may have to get involved in this."
Author's note: Hey all! I know, I shouldn't be writing this when I've got Can I say Goodbye going on (info on that can be found on my author page), but this was seriously random. Believe it or not, it was inspired by a friend's myspace name; go figure shrugs. Inspiration comes in all forms, I guess. I hope you enjoyed the story...like I said, it was a random little piece, but I kind of like it. The ending was a bit stiff...I'm not sure whether to leave it as a one-shot, or write another chapter or two to it; any thoughts? I wrote the first part as a small story for me...then I thought about putting it to an anime, and since I know CCS best...yeah. I may re-write another version later for another anime. So yeah...please, let me know what you liked/didn't like, any errors you saw, if I should write more (or change some of it), or if you think I should delete it and throw it in the trash. Anything's welcome, really. Well, 'til next time