Summary:
"As your punishment, you have to do everything he tells you to, for a month" The principal said. "Everything?" She asked. "Yes, EVERYTHING" said the principal.
Having read many fanfics, this is my first attempt at one... and I don't own CCS. Clamp does. Don't sue me.
Thanks for everyone's reviews!
Replying to 'blue morning tide' who said Syaoran was OOC: after looking back at chapter 1, I can see where you're coming from - but this is an AU fic. Hopefully, as I write along, personality of characters solidify.
As to the past, it should be revealed in the next few chapter(s). I'm trying very hard to make everything go at the right pace and length. Hopefully I don't screw up too bad :)
Oh, BTW single quotes ' encloses thoughts, " double quotes encloses speech.
CHAPTER 2 - Can't you give me a break?
"Kinomoto! What is the meaning of this?"
The science teacher arrived at their table shocked at the sight she was presented with. There Sakura was, burnt lab book in hand and thermometer in mouth.
Sakura quickly took the thermometer out of her mouth and started "Sensei, it's all that baka's fault! He burnt my book and..."
"ENOUGH! It's very impolite to call our new student Li-kun names!"
To Syaoran, the sensei's expression soften and said "Li-kun, I'm very sorry, but Kinomoto-san here has a knack to screw up experiments." he turned to Sakura "Apologise to Li-kun now!"
'I can't believe this! The sensei is siding with Syaoran! What have I done to deserve teachers from hell??'
Biting her lip, she uttered "Gomen nasai, Li-kun" Syaoran just nodded in response.
Unsatisfied, the teacher continued:
"I'm disappointed with your performance in class, Kinomoto-san. The college expects all of its students to come out on top of the food chain. You Miss Kinomoto have sunk to the bottom lately. Expect an audit by the school."
Tears threatening to spill, Sakura tried "But, I will improve..."
"Kinomoto-san, this is not my decision alone, but a number of teachers have expressed the same view. I'm sorry it has to come to this."
With that, she swung on her heels and left the couple alone.
Syaoran said nothing and kept a neutral expression.
"What have I done to deserve this?" Sakura turned to Syaoran. Anger can be felt from her tone, but tears filling up her eyes.
"You should ask yourself that" Syaoran said with an icy tone.
The bell rang straight after that and Syaoran left Sakura to finish up the experiment.
Before anyone knew it, it was lunch time. Sitting below her favourite Sakura Tree, two friends began to converse...
"AN AUDIT!?" Tomoyo nearly screamed. "Yes that's what she said". Tomoyo quickly hugged Sakura "They can't take my Sakura-chan away".
"What's an audit?" Chiharu and Yamazaki came up and joined the conversation.
"Oh didn't you know Chiharu-san? It's a spell, which Santa Claus casts in Christmas, to see if you've bad or good that year. It you're good you get sent to heaven, but if you're bad-" Yamazaki's sentence was cut short by a smack in the head, courtesy of Chiharu.
"Stop it with the lies and let Tomoyo speak."
Letting go of Sakura, Tomoyo began "An audit is when the College thoroughly evaluates the performance of the student in question. They will look at all their past scores, achievements etc to see if they're worth keeping. Most students who get an audit, gets kick out."
"Sakura-chan will ace it no question then. Although she isn't really good with maths and science, but she is top-notch in the rest. She's the captain of the cheerleading team. She participated in the debating team and represented the school in gymnastics." Chiharu said as if she was reading off Sakura's CV.
"Yeah, I'm surprised they even dared to slap an audit on you, Sakura?! What really happened that led to it?"
Sakura explained the incident in Science class, but left out the identity of Syaoran.
After the story, Tomoyo-chan began "Sakura, are you sure you're telling us everything? There has to be more to this!"
Sakura sweat-dropped, Tomoyo was very astute in all things Sakura. She can sense whenever Sakura is hiding something.
'Damn, Tomoyo suspects something. Should I tell Tomoyo now? But that will complicate things further. I'll just have to find a better time to explain everything. Tomoyo had always confided secrets to me, like her feelings for Eriol - but my problem is more complicated.'
"Hello? Is Sakura-chan still in here" Tomoyo waved her hand in front of Sakura face.
"Oh, did you say something Tomoyo?" Sakura asked.
Tomoyo sighed. This wasn't getting anywhere. She decided to change the subject.
"Have you heard? There's this really hot student from Hong Kong! Have you seen him guys?"
"Isn't Eriol enough for you, Tomoyo?" chiharu said
"No, I'm just excited for you guys!"
Her eyes then narrowed on Sakura "I heard he's your classes Sakura-chan. Have you seen him?"
Sakura nearly choked on her sandwich upon hearing Tomoyo.
Everyone stared in Sakura's direction.
"Are you okay Sakura-chan? You've been acting unusual ever since the beginning lunch"
"Sorry Tomoyo, it's just that a lot has happened today..."
"So have you?"
"Have I what?"
"Don't act dense Sakura-chan. You've seen him haven't you?"
"Oh, you mean Sy... the new guy? Uh yeah..."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Well is he hot? Have you talked to him?"
"Uhhm, no"
"You're not being very talkative, Sakura-chan. No he's not hot? or no to you haven't talked to him? We want DETAILS!"
"Yeah, I'm curious as well" came a voice from above.
The gang looked above and found a boy with messy brown hair sitting on the top branch of the Sakura Tree.
'Great, just what I need...'
Skillfully jumping down from the tree, by jumping from branch to branch, he introduced himself to Sakura's friends "Hi, I'm Syaoran Li. Call me Syaoran."
"Ooooh, you're the new guy!"
"And you guys are Sakura's friends. Mind if I join?"
"Yes I..." unfortunately Sakura was cut off by Tomoyo. "No, please come and join us."
"Thank you, Tomoyo-san. So I believe Sakura-chan was gonna say something?"
How dare Syaoran spy on her!? Sakura wanted to hide under a rock. The interrogation by two of her most feared people today was too much.
Tomoyo eyed them both suspiciously. 'Something is up and that reminds me I'm gonna have to get new tape ohohohoho' /AN: me sweatdrops/
Sakura's mind stopped working. She was stunned by the sudden appearance of Syaoran and could not think of anything to say to get her out of this predicament. But she was now in the spotlight, she needed to save herself.
"I..."
She averted her gaze to her right, finding herself being able to think better without looking at her awaiting audience.
"I met Li-kun in my maths class"
"Oh, so did you guys talk?"
"Uh yeah - he helped me with my maths" Sakura lied. 'Please play along, please play along' Sakura hoped.
"Did I?" Syaoran chimed in, and paused for a moment and pretended to think.
'I knew it! My cover is gonna be blown'
"Oh that's right. Sakura thought a triangle had four sides and angles. I went out of my way and corrected her."
"Yes, aren't you nice" Sakura said sarcastically. 'What does he think he's doing, now everyone's gonna think I'm a total ditz in maths...'
"You know Sakura, the word triangle was named an ancient king named Tri who had thre--"
Takashi was cut off by a smack to his head by Chiharu "LIES! Don't listen to him Sakura, just remember, triangle has three sides and..."
'Sigh... I'm being lectured by my friends about kindergarten math. At least my secret is safe for now. He's up to something.'
"I'm worried about you Sakura. I knew you were bad at Maths, but I didn't know you were that bad."
Seeing Sakura getting upset, Tomoyo changed the conversation subject.
"So tell us more about yourself, Syaoran. You're from Hong Kong?"
"Hai, my family thought I should learn about different cultures, so here I am."
"That's strange, because the College rarely accepts students in the middle of the semester"
"Really? They must've made about an execption for me."
"Sakura lived in Hong Kong for a while, didn't you, Sakura?"
"Uh yes"
"So you two are technically from the same place. I'm not saying that you guys might have met each other, since HK is such a large place, but maybe you two will get along better."
'If only Tomoyo knew...' Sakura thought
"On the contrary, Tomoyo-san, Hong Kong is pretty small and packed with people. We might've even ran into each other at some point, but we just don't remember."
Sakura felt the need to correct the view Syaoran is presenting to her friends. "But chances of that is quite small because the places Li-kun likes to go, I don't"
"But Kinomoto-san, how would you know which places I like to go?"
The conversation was turning into a competition.
"Well, I'm good judge of character" Sakura folded her arms and raised her chin indignantly. Though, the unfazed Syaoran still overshadowed her.
Changing the subject Syaoran began "I heard Kinomoto-san is being audited"
'Yeah, like you had nothing to do with it'
"Yes, however, I don't think there's any danger of Sakura being kicked out." Tomoyo offered.
"That's good to know. It would be a shame for such a good student like Sakura to be kicked out."
However, Sakura was not so confident. All the students she heard being audited are all on the way out and now she was being placed in the same league as them. She was definitely worried of her future, for it relied on her graduating. She would probably do anything to stay here to complete her studies.
/AN: Argh, I gotta come up with a scene to fill the gap to the key scene. Scratches head... I'm really jealous of the authors who can write 3000 words for a chapter :p/
The rest of the school day went comparingly well. The final school bell rang and Sakura could get her much needed rest. Most students of the college lived in dorm rooms and Sakura was no exception. On the way back to the dorm rooms, Sakura stopped to pickup mail in her pigeon hole. There was only one letter, enclosed with a plain white envelope. Printed on it was the name of the establishment, signifying it was an important and official letter. Neither shock nor despair registered as Sakura already knew what it was about. Deciding to read it later she closed her pigeon hole box and proceeded to her dorm room.
Dorm rooms in the college were spacious and were normally for two people. The college gave students relatively high autonomy in how they decorated their rooms. Sakura's room had pink wallpaper with cherry blossom imprints. She used to share the room with another girl, Yumiko, but she left a few months ago. Her parents wanted to move overseas, so she had to follow.
After she left, the College Accommodation had not organised for a new roommate for Sakura. Sakura sat and looked at the empty bed beside hers. She missed Yumiko's company. Yumiko belonged to a different peer group than Sakura's so she was like a third-party. Sakura would confide problems she had with her friends and vice versa. She dearly missed her presence right now, because so many things were happening at once. Her future was in question and the person she feared most was back.
Opening the envelope sent by the College Board, she found that her audit will take place 1PM tomorrow. She would miss lunch with her friends.
Deciding she needed to think, Sakura went outside the room and leaned against the railing of the corridor balcony. The place was devoid of people as this dormitory block was new and a lot of rooms were vacant. The sky above was grey, reflecting Sakura's mood perfectly.
"What should I do? Before today, everything was going good." She said to no-one in particular.
"Maybe for starters, you should admit your mistake." Sakura looked behind for the source of the voice.
"Syao..." She quickly covered her mouth. But the slip had already been clear enough. She started to escape in the opposite direction. But she was quickly grabbed by her aggressor.
Syaoran pinned Sakura to the wall. His left hand latching on to her shoulder, while his right pressed against the wall left of Sakura. Sakura felt his chest press against her trapped arms - The only thing dividing him away from her. She refused to look into his eyes, fearing the things she'll see.
"Look at me!" Syaoran demanded, his face just mere centimetres from hers. Seeing no reaction he continued
"Are you scared? Scared because what you did to me?" He challenged.
She shot back, her eyes staring fiercely into his. She knew that it was no use hiding anymore and that he won't give up unless she takes a stand.
"Fine! I remember. But the past is the past, you should forget about it like I did."
"How could I ever forget..."
Syaoran inched his face closer to Sakura. She could feel her cheeks heat up and his breath softly brushing against her lips. Their eyes were locked in a trance. Sakura felt herself stall in place. She could feel her stomach churning slightly.
Syaoran felt himself on cruise control. His lips instinctively edged closer and closer to hers. For a split second, their lips made tangential contact. But before either of them knew it, it was all over.
Sakura found herself pushing him away.
"... what you did" Syaoran managed to finish his sentence.
Sakura countered in brave, but shaky voice "No I did nothing wrong. We're over. Now, leave me alone."
"I gave you a chance, Sakura. I know you still have feelings for me. But you're just too stubborn and dense. You're going to regret it." Syaoran said a cold tone.
Giving one last look at her, he turned around, leaving a shocked and confused Sakura to digest the words he left her.
- - -
Can you guess what happened in the past or what will happen next? I wonder if my story is too predictable. Shrugs. I have general plot outlined. If you think you can guess it - email me treadcstrg21 at hotmail so I can change the story :p Just kidding. Also, does anyone have a good name for the college?
Until next time.
13/1/200FIVE