AUTHOR'S NOTES with darkshadow36:
All right! I'm back. Yes, I'm thrilled to say that I'm back! Hehe… Jokingly speaking! Anyways, as I always do, I thank my reviewers… reviewees…
SPECIALTHANKS TO: Pinaygrrl, a.s.u.n., obitakuleht, disturbed tammi, cristal-shian, sakandliluver, madcatherine, wiLLowitch, neopyrocitrine, Elihice, Lin, LiLbLuenageL1223, tsuzuki-kun, mauinetani, phycodoughnut, sabishiikage
BACK TO darkshadow36: Sorry if I can't comment on your reviews right now.
To elihice—I don't know what you're trying to imply on your review but certainly I've got my own style. All the same, I appreciated your review; in fact, it has opened my eyes to something.
To you pips out there, go ahead and read the long-awaited chap.
: MAIN CHARACTERS:
Li Syaoran – clueless of what's behind him
Sakura Kinomoto – darkened over her dark past
Tomoyo Daidouji – optimistic and willing to help
Eriol Hiiragizawa – has his hidden talents
: SUMMARY FOR CHAPTER 5: The four finally gets to be interviewed—and it was in just a short while! And finally, Sakura's bag has been found.
(UPDATED: May 14, 2005) Chapter 5: Once In a While
-0-
…at Redstone, Syaoran and Sakura's second day…
A few and a half hours had already passed since Sakura went out of her house. She now found herself sitting with other people, mostly students, inside the Redstone court. There were no teachers around, except for the moderator of the school paper, Ms. Finn.
"Way to go, Li!" Sakura yelled excitedly as she gleefully watched Syaoran and the others play basketball. He was able to block Yamazaki from shooting in the basket. The ball hit the basket but it didn't get in. The ball then bounced back to Yamazaki, hitting him on the head when he wasn't looking.
All the people laughed, and so did Yamazaki.
Meanwhile, Tomoyo was far too preoccupied to watch the practice. She had been looking at Sakura ever since she yelled those words, which were minutes ago. She only glances at the practice once in a while, usually catches up with those funny parts when Yamazaki gets a nice little told off joke by other players. Other people inside the court were enjoying this sight.
Tomoyo cleared her throat. Sakura spun around to look at her as she sipped from her coke.
"Eh?" she said.
"I was just wondering…" Tomoyo said as she wrinkled her nose, "since you and Syaoran-kun are now… err…"
"We're not yet official," Sakura sipped again from her coke. "In fact, I don't feel anything yet, if you know what I mean. It'll take decades before I fall for a slug like him; he shouldn't have thought about that 100-day deal stuff. So, what were you asking?" She said sheepishly.
Tomoyo laughed at her softly. "Don't call him a slug, y'know," she said. "He's pretty nice… I thought you were best friends? You don't seem to treat him that way anymore. It's like, more than what you really are…"
Sakura went pink. "Nah, you better cut it out before I throw my bag on your—" She stopped. She remembered her lost bag, but she now feels less concern about it. 'Just a few notes and books were there anyway, I could buy the books and copy the notes from my classmates,' she thought.
"You're… not bringing any bag with you," said Tomoyo. "Is anything the matter about a bag? Looks like there is," she seemed to know something.
"Wait," Sakura kept herself calm. "You know about my lost bag yesterday?"
Tomoyo gaped at her. "That's a big no… But now you mentioned it, it's time for you to tell me the story!"
'How could you be such an idiot,' Sakura thought. She was getting quite annoyed, wishing she didn't come here at all.
"Okay, whatever," Sakura began, "I met two boneheads yesterday on my way to my humble abode, and they cornered me around and blah blah blah… They asked me about… something…" She didn't want to mention anything about her big fortune. Tomoyo noticed she was looking quite uneasy when she said the last sentence. She continued, "My bag fell off when they got me. I only realized it wasn't with me any longer along my way home. But I think those two didn't steal it. It only contained books and notes and other school stuff… Including my mud-splattered clothes…" She frowned slightly upon the thought.
"Don't you want to come back for your bag in case it's still there?" asked Tomoyo.
Sakura shook her head. "I don't think it's still there, that was yesterday afternoon and a night had already gone."
"Hey…" Tomoyo exclaimed, "Why don't we tell Syaoran-kun and Eriol-kun? Maybe they can help…"
"I don't think so—"
"Want to share something with me, sweetie?" Sakura recognized Syaoran's teasing voice.
"What are you doing here? You're both supposed to be in the practice," Sakura's mouth twitched sideways.
"Haven't you heard?" Syaoran continued in his drawling sarcastic voice as he sat down beside Eriol, who gave Tomoyo an I-know-where-this-is-going look. "Yamazaki yelled that we've got a nice 30-minute break! We've been here for hours, y'know, and we deserve a break! Unless you want Redstone to lose on our next game…"
"Don't be stupid, Li, I trust Redstone athletes!" Sakura said hotly, avoiding commotion. "All of 'em, except you, that is!"
"But I'm a heartthrob! I'm perfect! Girls—"
"Redstone's giggly pink girls are stupid enough to like you—"
"What do you mean by pink, punk?" Syaoran retorted, keeping his voice low enough too.
"Too feminine!" Sakura stopped there. Syaoran noticed this since she suddenly looked away.
"What's up with you? Don't you want to continue our fight, sweetheart?" Syaoran said bracingly.
"Dimwit, shut up," Eriol put a hand on Syaoran's shoulder. "Keiichi and Hikari are approaching us, see?"
Syaoran looked. Indeed, the two school paper members were approaching them with those smiles plastered on their faces.
"Kinomoto-san, just don't tell them anything about you-know-what," Syaoran whispered quickly. Sakura heard but she didn't respond in any way.
"Hiya, heartthrobs!" Keiichi seemed to be in a very good mood today. "It's really nice of you all to gather around here… Hehe… Just joking… I think we should begin now…"
"Yes," Hikari sat down beside Keiichi on a bench below the four's. "And we'll make things quick since the practice will resume in 15 minutes." The tip of her pen stood poised on her notebook. She prepared herself for this.
"Okay… First question," Hikari quickened her voice with every word, "How did you become a couple, Mr. Hiiragizawa and Ms. Daidouji?"
"Err…" Eriol's face reddened slightly. He too, was ready for this, he had been thinking about his lines since practice started. "I… courted Tomoyo. She's new to the neighborhood and Sakura was one of her first friends then. They used to be neighbors in the other side of town, as Sakura had told me before we boys met her… I'm the closest friend of Sakura while Syaoran and Tomoyo are the closest." He thought for a while.
"Ooh," Hikari gushed and then went back to her questioning. She turned to Syaoran and Sakura who weren't looking at each other. "And you two? How did you become a couple?"
"We're not a couple," Sakura snapped. "Li's fans are undoubtedly jealous though. Those riffraff from the fan clubs had been stalking us for sometime, and there is one of them, looking right at us." She didn't turn to the direction where the girl was sitting. The other five looked and they saw Karen Yu look away when she realized they saw her.
"But, Mr. Li, don't you have a plan of courting her too? Many from our batch think you'd make a great couple!
The two blushed. Eriol chuckled.
Hikari bit her lip. "Err… Last question, I think… Aren't you afraid of whatever will be the reaction of your fans?"
"No," said Syaoran. "I think they've got their own lives to live and we've got ours. We're not trying to be mean or something, but, I think they shouldn't even come buzzing around Eriol and me every time they see us. For goodness' sake, we're ordinary people too."
"Ah, okay," Keiichi smiled. "But we're also your fans, you know. I think this is all the time we have for now. I know that was kind of short, very short… I was wondering why you didn't have the time for the interview yesterday…" He said that hastily. He continued, "But anyway, that'd make a great headline article, though. And I think all students will receive copies of the school paper after 25 days or something. Well… Chow!" He and Hikari ran as fast as they could, approaching Ms. Finn.
"Not an ordinary interview for me," said Eriol. "But I think they did fine 'coz they're just new to the school paper. They're polite… Unlike when we were in eighth grade, those ninth and tenth graders interviewing us keep on buzzing around us… They used to ask many pointless questions."
"Kinomoto, why are you so meanto me? I haven't even done anything wrong to you!"
"Well, if you want to be on my soft side, stop calling me sweetie or sweetheart or something like that! You know I don't act like a normal girl!"
"As if you ever had a soft side! It's a shame you act like a lesbian! What's more, we might see you hanging out with a girl no sooner, if you know what I mean!"
Eriol covered his eyes with his left hand as he lowered his face. "Ooh, looks like another round of trouble."
"You know, Syaoran-kun… You shouldn't add yourself to her burdens 'coz she's lost her bag yesterday," Tomoyo spoke up. Syaoran rounded on her, and then his eyes snapped back at Sakura who looked at him unblinkingly.
"You shouldn't have told him," she said flatly.
Tomoyo realized she shouldn't really have told him, because this was what happened next.
"But… We have lots of homework to do! And it's Trigonometry quiz on Monday! Mr. Hahn wants us to do his stupid essay for Geography! And—" He looked quite panic-stricken. "Now tell me what happened, Kinomoto, maybe Eriol and I can help you about your bag—"
"Ooohh, concerned now, eh?" Sakura continued looking at him with those cold eyes.
"TEAM! Back to practice!" Yamazaki's voice boomed across the court.
"We'll continue this talk later!" Syaoran waved his hand as he and Eriol got down from the benches and off to the middle of the court.
"Why did you tell him?" Sakura said, calming herself. Tomoyo, however, looked quite as panic-stricken as Syaoran was a while ago.
"It's because… I know they can help you! Err…"
"In what way?" Sakura required.
Tomoyo sighed for a while. "Well, I suppose they can use their popularity to advantage," she said tersely. "What's nice about them both is that they're always willing to help during these times…"
Sakura groaned. "I just can't imagine Syaoran being willing to help me out," she said. "I don't think—"
"Stop being stubborn, or else he really won't help you," Tomoyo said in a this-will-totally-solve-the-matter tone.
Sakura quieted herself for some moments.
'All right, I can forget our fights for a while,' she thought. 'And I hope that'd be a big help for our 100-day deal. We're on our second day as a couple anyway and we're not supposed to admit anything yet to the school body… I just hope someone will return my bag; it didn't contain anything that valuable when it was stolen or snatched…' She was a bit surprised that she became kind of worried about her bag this time. She was jolted back to her senses when she realized she really needed to catch up with the top students of their batch, since she used to be one.
Soon, after the basketball practice which ended a few hours later, the four went directly to Silverfang Restaurant, which were a few distances away from Redstone School to have their lunch. It was Eriol's treat.
"So, how will we find my lost bag?" said Sakura, looking outside.
Syaoran looked at her. "Even if I'm willing to help you the best I can, we just can't do it by posting flyers around about it saying your bag's missing. People will think we're nuts. Imagine…" A picture of him advertising a flyer saying 'Have you seen a dark-colored lost bag' floated in his mind.
"We're not going to post flyers, dummy," Tomoyo chuckled. "We're not that stupid. And I don't think even the culprit wouldn't return it if ever he passes by the flyer."
"Yeah," said Eriol. "And it's the same with TV advertising; we couldn't do that either. We can't afford to disgrace Redstone and to make a fool of ourselves."
"Just forget it," snapped Sakura, her eyes drooping. "It's only a bag. I don't mind copying notes from classmates; in fact, I think that'll occupy my mind into something new, I s'pose, to keep me from fighting people… What do you think about me fighting my notebooks and books instead? You know, I can throw them across my room or bite them…"
"I think that's way more brutal than fighting people," Syaoran snapped, taking a big bite on his sandwich. "I'd love to see you do it, sweetie."
Day 3
"Sakura!"
The emerald-eyed girl didn't seem to hear.
"Sakura!"
Sakura Kinomoto continued to toss and turn on her bed.
"SAKURA KINOMOTO! Get down here this second!"
She got irritated. She covered her ears with her pillow, a bit confused.
'Who's Sherri to destroy my beauty sleep… Why would she be yelling out so loud at this time of a beautiful sunny morn?' She thought.
"All right, sleepyhead! I'm coming up there to kick it out of you—"
"No need!" Sakura's eyes snapped open immediately. "Why—"
"Your friend Tomoyo Daidouji is here!"
Sakura exactly got down from her room that moment. Yukon snored from the other room at the same time. This made her grin to herself, thinking it was very funny.
"Oh," she said, approaching her friend who had just got in. Sherri then walked back to the dining room where she was cooking breakfast.
Sakura beckoned Tomoyo to sit down on the sofa in the living room. She turned on the TV for a bit of entertainment.
"So, what brings you here very early in the morning?" yawned Sakura.
Tomoyo held up a bag with lots of button pins on the strap. Sakura gaped at it.
"Isn't this yours?" smiled Tomoyo. Sakura looked at her, and then nodded.
"Yes… But how--?"
"I don't know either," Tomoyo grinned. "All I know is that it landed right on our doorstep this morning. And I immediately knew this was yours because that someone who left it on our doorstep left a note. Here," she handed Sakura a small piece of crumpled paper. "It was already crumpled when I saw it."
'Please give this to Ms. Sakura Kinomoto who lives in Number 15, Bluebell Street.'
"But… How did that man know where I live?" Sakura's face was blank. "All the same, thanks to him…" As Tomoyo handed her the bag, she remembered something.
"You know, Tomoyo…" she said, "I think there had been someone watching me the day I dropped my bag…"
Tomoyo sighed deeply. "Well, maybe that explains it," she said simply. "Anyway, I'm surprised no one dared steal it since it looked as if it had been there for the whole morn. Maybe that someone watched for it all throughout the morning until I woke up to get it."
Sakura didn't mind asking any more information. Sherri soon came in and brought them a tray of snacks.
"Thanks, Sherri," Sakura said without looking at her. The woman just went back to her business.
"I don't want to butt in, but…" Tomoyo hesitated at first, but Sakura looked at her expectantly. She continued, "How does it feel--?"
"I'm okay with them, as long as they don't butt in my business too much," Sakura replied hastily.
Tomoyo tried changing the subject. "Oh and… That's not the only reason why I'm here," she opened her bag and held up two sheets of long cardboard.
"What's that? Some sort of junk?"
"Hoho, very funny," Tomoyo said a bit sarcastically. "No…" She gave Sakura a cardboard. "I call this the 100-day love calendar, specially made for you and Syaoran-kun. I designed it, so better make good use of it."
Sakura looked at it. Indeed, it was designed beautifully with those matching flowers and other calligraphic stuff.
"I also wrote there the date when you and Syaoran first agreed on your deal," explained Tomoyo, "and what will you do with that? It's perfectly simple. Just write on the boxes below each date what you and Syaoran were able to do for that particular day. In that way, I guess it could help you both understand what's really love… Or in short, it's some sort of a diary. Don't make your notes too long, though—just the important stuff. It's back-to-back. The first 50 days are on the front as you can see now, and the other half at the back. You can fold it if you want… Just don't throw it."
"Okay…" Sakura munched on a cookie. "When did you make these?"
"Last night," answered Tomoyo. And then a smile played on her lips. "I think Syaoran is coming any time by now…" She said in a low voice only she and Sakura can hear.
"What the hell do you mean?" Sakura stood up, nearly knocking off the vase near her.
Tomoyo smiled calmly. "I thought Syaoran can help you with our assignments…"
"But he isn't my classmate!" Sakura hissed. "He doesn't know what's going on in our class! Teachers usually give out different tasks for every class! You should have invited Eriol instead!"
"He told me he couldn't come 'coz he got a dressing down by his guardian…" said Tomoyo, "and so I invited Syaoran to come along to celebrate with you the homecoming of your bag…" She laughed at the thought of Sakura's bag flying above with wings saying 'I'm home!'
It seemed as though Sakura had read her mind about the flying bag. "Well… I will give Syaoran too his calendar…"
Sakura never mind asking more details. She was a bit weak to say more, especially after being awaken up so abruptly.
"I'm glad he could come…" she said, although she didn't want to say that at all.
"SWEETIE! Open the door!" someone yelled from outside.
"Grr…" Sakura hit her forehead with her hand. "Will he stop calling me those fucking names?"
Tomoyo laughed again. 'Oh, Sakura… You're so comical sometimes…' She thought as she watched Sakura approach the door in anger.
The door flew open in front of Syaoran's sneering face. "I've come here to celebrate your bag's return," he said jokingly. "I hope my girlfriend will let me come in her humble abode, as I am her humble boyfriend."
Sakura stuck out her tongue. "All right, come in, you mutt…"
When the three of them were gathered in the living room, Tomoyo gladly gave Syaoran his 100-day love calendar. Tomoyo soon left after that. Sakura and Syaoran feasted on the cookies and milk.
"So, need help with the Geography essay?" Syaoran said coolly. Sakura shook her head.
"No, thanks," she said slowly. "I excel in Geography. You can even ask Mr. Hahn about that. But anyway, I think we should take a better look at our ickle calendar here…"
Syaoran looked at his impressively. "Tomoyo's a really great designer when it comes to these kinds of things," he said. "I guess I'll take her word for it. Let's say… Why don't we try writing something on each box? I mean, what happened to us two days before since this is specially made for us and for our 100-day deal. Can I borrow a pen please, sweetheart?"
Sakura gritted her teeth. It's no use trying to argue back because she didn't want to wake up Yukon and Sherri; and she doesn't feel like retorting back at Syaoran. "Whatever," she reached for two pens on the nearside table and both of them started scribbling.
"What shall we write in the first box? So, that was Friday… And we both discussed our heartbreak situations…" Syaoran said bemusedly. Sakura didn't reply back for she was busy writing on her first box.
When she had finished writing for the two boxes, she showed Syaoran what she wrote.
Syaoran read:
'Day 1 – Yesterday, Syaoran and I agreed on this weird thing about us being a couple for 100 days. Today's our first day. Things went well as the day continued. We admitted to Eriol and Tomoyo why we did it, and they laughed… Well, all the same, they supported us and we all promised to keep it a secret. What have we learned about love this day? Well, it's only the beginning, you'll never know.
Day 2 – It was Syaoran and Eriol's basketball practice. Gack. Syaoran and I keep on arguing already, honestly speaking. Two members of the school paper were assigned to interview us; and it was a short interview. And I think they love their work so much they could try licking Syaoran's shoes.'
Syaoran looked at Sakura with that screwed face.
"Hey, there's nothing—"
"Sorry, can't erase that," Sakura interrupted him, smiling in a sarcastic way. "Now let me see what you've written in yours. Oh, and… If you did the same to me, you know what I can do to you—"
"I know!" Syaoran started scribbling as fast as he could on his first two boxes.
Sakura played with her fingers, waiting patiently. "I can hardly wait to see what you've written," she said enthusiastically.
Syaoran continued to write furiously. Soon, he was finished. That was two minutes later.
It was Sakura's turn to read. She babbled aloud:
'Day 1 – Heartbreaks and curiosity… That's what made Sakura and I do it—to be a couple for 100 days! For today, we walked together to school hand in hand. We decided then not to tell anybody except to our other best friends, who are now a young coupling—Eriol and Tomoyo. Yeah, right, say I'm stupid about the plan. And imagine, we got ourselves into a fight with two boneheads.
Day 2 – We had a half-day practice at the Redstone court. We've been interviewed by two youngsters for the first time. I mean, those years before—we've never been interviewed by pips who are younger than us. Ang guess what—Sakura lost her bag. She had been cornered around by two big blokes.'
"Good job," Sakura said mildly. "Err… Since you're already here, maybe you can help me with my Science assignment…"
"Why not?" Syaoran said eagerly. Sakura then brought out her science notebook.
"Hey, Li… What's the answer to this one? Vehicle give off exhaust in the form of…?"
"The answer to that one's carbon dioxide…"
"How about this?"
It took them an hour to finish it.
Just then, Sakura paused for a moment a few minutes after the assignment.
"Li… I think you should go now…"
"Why is that?"
"Hurry up, Li! Just go!" Sakura whispered. "Yukon and Sherri… I can hear them going down the stairs!"
"What's the problem with that?"
"They might think you're my boyfriend or—"
"But that's the way it is! J—"
"Well—"
Syaoran looked at Sakura, puzzled. "But I've been here once before, remember? And they didn't even put malice to that."
Sakura gulped. "But that was because they knew I was looking for someone to talk to that time… And I think that's why they didn't even inquire what your name is and why you have come…"
"All right, whatever you say, honeybunch," Syaoran quickly ran towards the door and outside he went.
Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. At that exact moment her two guardians appeared.
"Tomoyo… She had to go home quickly," Sakura said hastily before the two could think of anything else that might lead this subject somewhere. "She just helped me with my assignments."
Sherri looked at her doubtfully with those hazel eyes. "But, Sakura, I would like to ask you a question…"
Sakura looked at her.
"Why was there a male voice a while ago? I've heard…"
"Oh, you're mistaken by that," Sakura said quite nervously. "Tomoyo and I had been playing RPG… And she had to imitate a man's voice."
"Oh, I see…" Sherri sighed. "And… what's RPG?"
"Role-playing game," Sakura said quite cheerfully, knowing that she wouldn't ask any more questions regarding the male voice.
-0-
Day 4
"Wow… How touching…" Tomoyo rubbed her eyes to wipe off a few tears, "It's about the love between parents and their children."
Syaoran pretended to puke. "Geez, Tomoyo-chan, I can't believe you're affected to this TV show thing…"
"Well, it doesn't happen everyday, you know," Tomoyo said.
"I've never seen someone cry during watching this show," Eriol's eyes widened. "Except for you, that is."
"Oh, c'mon, this kind of thing doesn't happen everyday," Sakura grinned, looking back at the large TV screen. "I mean, when someone cries in front of the giant screen…"
They laughed.
It was Sunday. The four of them were at Eriol's house. Eriol invited them all to come to his house since he'll be alone for the whole day. His guardian went out to have fun with her friends.
"So, what did you do yesterday?" Syaoran asked.
"I did our assignments and some more school stuff," Eriol replied. "And I'm not allowed to go out during weekends."
"But why not?" Sakura continued watching the show.
Eriol shrugged. "I guess Nakuru is very overprotective when it comes to me… All the same, I appreciate her for that."
"What—having yourself cooped up here during weekends while your guardian goes out? I think that's a torture already," Sakura said quite sympathetically.
"You don't know what it's like being with Nakuru, though," Eriol smiled. "It's fun. And I think you haven't met her yet…"
"So is this what you've been up to?"
AUTHOR'S NOTES with darkshadow36:
Well, I have to leave a bit cliffhanger there, but I suppose you already know what's going to happen next? I guess you should just stay tuned to see what happens next.
BTW, I think this might be my last update for now, but I'll do my best to type the other chaps.
I won't be surprised if only a few reviews for this chap, since I haven't updated for so long. Want to know why?—Well, it's the time.
Thanks and tell me what you think!