Thanks for all the reviews! It's been more than a month since I updated... I blame lack of motivation. If it comes out disjointed - it's because I've worked on it throughout the month, adding bits and pieces all over the place. I'm also working on a new fanfic, which will be quite different to this one.
To awai-umi who said something about inline ANs - I tend to agree, but there are some places which I'm itching to add commentary when I'm writing, and yes, this is my very first fanfic...
This chapter explains some (most?) of the past, so hopefully, you guys will be less confused :)
Clamp owns the CCS characters. The story is mine and fictional. Any resemblance with reality is purely coincidental.
CHAPTER 3 - Delivered into the trap
"I'm sorry Syaoran-kun. I can't stay here. I have a big future waiting for me."
"A future that doesn't include me..."
"I have dreams, Syaoran-kun, I can't abandon them."
"I have a dream too, Sakura-chan"
"What is it? Oh, let me guess. It's to be a champion martial artist?"
"No. My dream is to be with you. Forever."
Sakura gave a chuckle. "Don't be silly. You're a good friend and all, but I don't think..." Her words trailed off as she averted her gaze. She tried to come up with a good excuse, but she knew no words could negate what he just said. He was supposed to be understanding and congratulating her and wishing her all the best...
The two were silent, both staring at ground with sad expressions.
"Will you write to me?"
"Of course I will" Sakura beamed.
After one last look, Sakura turned around and ran "Goodbye, Syaoran-kun"
Syaoran woke up sweating. His bedsheets were soaked, but only a single question ran through his mind. 'Why didn't she write?'. He glanced over to his alarm clock, which read 3:00. He cursed himself for waking up at odd times. His insomnia intensified these few months. Shaking away the thoughts and the dream, he decided that he should not be distracted from the objective at hand. Hopefully, he will be cured after all this. He would make her pay for all his troubles.
Somewhere in the same building, many walls apart, a girl with auburn hair rolled around in her bed. She could not fall asleep, for there was too much on her mind. Tomorrow was her D-Day. She did not think anything could stand in her way of achieving her dream. She recalled the fateful day when her fortunes changed...
The chibi Sakura had just come home from playing in the park. It was Saturday, and she could take a break from the tedious school work that occured during weekdays."Tadaima!" A cheery Sakura bounced into the house kicked off a shoe and jumped around trying to get her remaining shoe off.
"Had fun, Kaijuu?" her brother came into view.
"Hai, but I'm not a monster!"
Her father came from the kitchen and smiled pleasantly at the sibling banter.
"Sakura-chan, there's a letter for you."
"Really? Okaa-san? I never get any letters from anybody."
It was true. The 11 year old Sakura never wrote to anybody and nobody wrote to her. Feeling excited she recieved the letter from her father.
She carefully inspected the envelope. It was in a plain regular shape coloured in cream and had the words "Kobayashi College" labeled in gold letters. Anyone would know the letter was very important by looking at the packaging and was probably mailed by a highly-regarded institution. Sakura knew better - The name of the college meant more to her. It was attended by her mother, Nadeshiko. She was determined to follow her footsteps.
"Open it, Sakura-chan!" Her dad proded, equally interested at its contents said. Her brother, Touya, who became increasingly curious peeked over the two. Careful as to not ruin the envelope, Sakura slowly pulled on the flap. After the flap was completely open, Sakura took out the contents, which was a letter, its appearance on par with the envelope.
Sakura read it aloud to her eager audience:
Dear Sakura Kinomoto,
As you may or may not know, your principal Mr. Suzuki at Tomaeda Public recently submited your scores and achievements to our board for scholarship positions. The college reviews thousands of applications for prospective scholarship students, but only give out a handful a year. Only the top 0.1 of students get accepted.
Having said that, we at Kobayashi College recognized your achievements and potential and are pleased to offer you a Scholarship position. The details of the Scholarship will be discussed in an interview on...
Sakura felt this was the most exciting time of her short life. She was unsure if she could get into any college, let alone the best one, after a mediocre final year in Tomaeda public. Giving his father and brother a hug she ran off to tell her best friend the great news...
WWWWWW
Light came creeping in the window of Sakura room. She had thought that she would be awake till morning, but somehow, she mananged to sneak in a couple hours of sleep. Reluctantly, she crept off her bed, and drowsily walked to the bathroom.
The bathroom mirror revealed a horrible Sakura. Her hair was all messed up with bits of hair sticking out at the wrong angles. Her eyes had bags under them and resembled a panda. She cringed at the idea of looking like a panda in front of the School administration.
"I'll surely get expelled then..." she chuckled. At least humour was still in her.
When Sakura packed her school bag, the sight of her maths text book struck a memory - "Hooeeeeeeeeeeee" Sakura's trademark yelp was heard throughout the block. There was a maths test today! She had totally forgotten about it because of that idiot. It was five minutes until class. She quickly grabbed the book and frantically flipped through the pages.
"First inners outers last, C equals two times A times B times cos C" she chanted, trying to memorize all the methods and rules. It was like trying to jam everything into a small cupboard furiously only to have it explode on the other end - you put something new in, an old one gets pushed out.
Bbbbbbrrrringgggggg...
That was the bell for the first lesson. No time for breakfast as Sakura rushed out her room grabbing her bag. It was a 5 minute run from the dormitories to the classroom, but Sakura put her skates and illegally skated through the hall ways. She made it in 3.
Upon arriving at the classroom, the maths sensei said "Ah, nice of you to join us Kinomoto-san. No doubt you were studying all night for this maths test which would explain your lateness this morning, right?"
"Err yes, Sensei" Sakura sweatdropped as she took her seat.
"Well that'll be a first - Let's hope your scores for this test reflect this." Sakura felt like sinking into her seat.
As the sensei was handing out the papers, Sakura looked around her, only to find her nightmare sitting next to her. He kept his neutral facade and stared straight ahead in a serious manner. Sakura knew he would probably ace this test as maths was one of his strengths.
Sighing, she looked at the paper that was just placed on her desk. She flipped through the pages hoping to she'll see questions which she studied this morning.
"Alright class, you have 30 minutes, starting from now. Good Luck!" The sensei declared.
Sakura decided to start from the beginning. The first section was just teasers which Sakura fortunately had no trouble with. The following sections were harder. Sakura began skipping questions which she was unsure of.
She looked around the room to see how other student are doing. Many were scribbling furiously. The amber eyed demon beside her looked as he was finished. He was just reading over the paper. Looking past him, she tried to find the sensei. Where did he go? It was then she noticed an unusual shadow billowing upon her.
"Hoeee.." she gave a quiet yelp and quickly resumed working. Not daring to look anymore, she picked the first blank question she saw and tried to work through it. She had to appear like she had studied and hoped the sensei will move away, soon.
'What was the formula again? c equal cos a time b? cos a and b?' her mind was filled with jumbled maths signs and symbols. She just could make sense of them. It was a whole 5 minutes until the sensei finally moved away, probably had Sakura's one figure mark already calculated.
After much pretending and trying for the test, it was finally over. Sakura looked at her paper. Half of the answers were blank or crossed out. Sighing, she wished for the best.
The sensei shook his head as he collected Sakura's paper. She had a feeling this was going to be the worst day in her life.
At the end of maths class, Sakura braced for smartass remarks from Syaoran. She received none - not even a stare. Sakura knew he was planning something, but she had bigger things to worry about, like the audit this afternoon.
The day went slowly as Sakura thought about her future. The uncertainty and suspense in her mind was impeding her from doing any classwork.
At recess, Tomoyo tried to counsel a depressed Sakura.
"Sakura-chan, don't worry, I'm sure they won't kick our star pupil out!"
"Tomoyo-chan, I'm hardly a star pupil. You know what happened in my Maths test today?"
Sakura then told Tomoyo about her lateness and what the sensei did.
"So how did you forget there was a maths test today?"
'Should I tell her about Syaoran? No, not yet... there's too much to tell.'
"I just somehow forgot... I guess"
"It must be the audit this afternoon"
"Yes! That's it - The audit"
Tomoyo became suspicious again - There was something else on Sakura's mind and she didn't want to tell her.
WWWWW
Sakura glanced at her watch - it read 1:01. Despite being here at the college for so long, there were places where she never ventured to, including the hall where her trial is taking place. Sakura skated around the corridors of the main building trying to find the right room.
Turning a fast corner, she bumped into someone. Subsequently, they both went to the ground. Sakura, who was in a daze, was about to apologise when the other person said
"Gomen"
"No, no, it's my fault." Sakura quickly corrected.
"Sorry, but I was in a hurry. Do you know where court room 2 is?"
Taking a closer, she saw this boy she bumped into had longish black hair with a few strands spiking at the back.
"It's just over that corner and first room to the right"
"Oh thanks. What's your name?"
"Sasuke"
"Thanks Sasuke. I'm Sakura. I'd love to chat but I gotta go now."
Sakura rushed off, turned the corner and proceeded into the court room which was filled with people. There was a panel of judges, including the principal and deputy seated at the front.
"Late as always, Miss Kinomoto." The deputy principal said. She never liked the deputy who was harsh and mean. The pricipal however was kinder and gentler old man. Sakura was led by the guards to the box where would sit for the remainder of the trial.
The proceedings of the hearing was simple. Many people would come and testify for or against Sakura and a final verdict would be made by the panel of judges.
As the hearing continued, more and more "witnesses" came forward to give their testimonies about Sakura. It was an amazing array of evil people - some of them Sakura even knew!
"Would you say the Sakura has a tendancy to be lazy?" The deputy, who was loudest out of the whole panel asked the witnesses.
"Yes I would" A random teacher said.
Then there was this...
"Miss Kinomoto, is it true that you once kissed a man in the school yard. I quote Section 31 of the School Code of Conduct - A student is forbidden to have a sexual relationship with outsiders while living in the dormitory."
"No! I have no idea what you're talking about"
A tape of the security video rolled showing Sakura giving a young man a hug and a peck on the cheek.
"That was my brother!"
"So, you just lied to the court. Now you do admit that you did have an illicit relationship with a man - That man being your brother!" The man said in a damning tone.
Gasps were heard throughout the court.
Before Sakura could rebut, he chimed in "I rest my case."
"NO. It was just a friendly kiss on the cheek and our rel-"
"Kinomoto-san, speak only when asked to." Another figure from the panel said in an authorative tone.
Sakura felt she needed smack these idiots on the head with a clue-stick. All these so-called evidence is a fraud.
It wasn't all bad however. The lunch lady that worked in the mess hall helped out.
"Oh yes, Sakura was a good girl. She would always help me clean the lunch hall whenever she had time. She and that other girl... What's her name? Tomomo? Tomoko? Hmm I-"
"Okay, thank you Mrs Cornball for your input."
Things were not going in Sakura's favour. The anti-Sakura camp had marginally more numbers. Finally the audit hearing was coming to an end. It was adjourned for 5 minutes while the panel decided on Sakura's fate.
Sakura went to a vending machine outside to retrieve a drink. In 5 minutes, her life could be in ruins. As she rummaged through the purse to find the correct change, a masculine figure was approaching. After failing to find a dollar coin, she cursed at her bad fortune. Seems everything was going against her.
"Need some change?" a voice behind her said.
For a split second, emerald met amber. She almost saw the same pair of eyes that she knew from many years ago - But she knew he was a mere imposter now. His presence here is merely to intimidate her. She had no trust in him. He hadn't been annoying her, let alone talk, since this morning - what prompted the change of heart? More importantly, why was he here?
Sakura thought about accepting his money, but she decided she couldn't trade her pride for a simple drink. Lifting her head up, she walked away without a single word.
WWWWW
To Sakura's relief, the longest five minute of her life was finally over.
The crowd waited patiently. The anti-Sakura camp waited with bated breath. An amber-eyed boy sat there emotionlessly. The principal was about to read the verdict.
Time seemed to have slow as Sakura watched the principal utter his verdict.
"I'm sorry, Kinomoto-san, but in light of all the details, we have decided that you are no longer suitable to be a student of this College."
Certain members of the audience shook their heads at fleeting words for a variety reasons.
Tears brimmed up in Sakura's eyes. She was trying really hard not to cry out loud, but the thought of shame and embarrassment to her friends and family was weighing on her, not to mention her dream.
"But..." The principal continued slowly.
The single word of contrary was enough to capture Sakura's total attention. She looked up curiously, tears still in her eyes as to what the old man would say.
"There is one last resort... An alternative if you will."
A glitter of hope rose inside Sakura. She was sure that anything other than expulsion is good news. Dare not interrupt, Sakura waited for the panel to continue. The principal spoke up again.
"Since you are performing well in arts and your extra-curricular activities, we have decided to give you a final chance to improve. The condition is that you have to be scoring distinctions in your Science and Math subjects by the end of this month. A mentor will be assigned to assist you. This means that he'll monitor your progress and school work, bringing it up to the standard the school requires. He has our authorisation to use any means necessary to help you improve during a one month period. And likewise, while you are still a student of this school, you will obey his instructions. If I hear any complaint from the mentor that you are being uncooperative, I will not hesitate to terminate you!"
'This sounds really helpful. I hope the mentor will be good at Maths and Science.' thought Sakura.
"Simply said, you have to do everything he tells you to, for a month" The principal said like a judge handing down the final sentence to the guilty criminal.
"Everything?" She asked in disbelief.
"Yes, EVERYTHING, it's for your own good." the principal said sadly.
"So who do I have as my tutor?" Sakura asked.
"We have assigned a top student who just arrived from overseas. I believe he's already in several of your classes and I believe he will be of a positive influence on your education." Sakura didn't need any further word from the man. She knew who it was already. Glancing back at the audience, she spotted the boy with messy brown hair that showed a seemingly neutral expression. However, she knew those amber pools were shining with amusement.
"His name is Syaoran Li."
Silence was heard throughout court room as Sakura looked at her options. Though, they didn't really give her an option.
'I guess I have no choice but to endure the one month of hell'
Sakura bit her lip and said "I'll take it"
-
Are you still confused? Don't worry, I am as well :p Hopefully, in the end, everything will tie up nicely. And I'll possibly be editing the first 2 chapters - but don't worry - the bulk of the idea of the story will remain the same. And I'm considering upping the rating - what do you guys think?
On another note, I wish ff dot net would stop editing out my star seperators... I have to resort to using ugly Ws.
Lastly, please review!
17FEB2005