I dedicate this chapter to the birthday girl, to our beloved Sakura! ^___^   I 'forcefully' squeeze the creative juices out of my brain to produce a decent chapter.  Aaachk, so gomen if this looks like rushed.  I just want to finish this chappy in time for her birthday!  Again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And Happy April Fool's too to everybody!

CHAPTER THREE

DESTINATIONS

"What's this I've heard about you going to Japan, huh?"

Syaoran looked up from packing his clothes when he heard the voice.  He was already busy preparing for his flight to Japan which is due on a couple of hours.

"News sure do travel fast."  Syaoran couldn't help remarking sarcastically.

 "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're running away from here."  Meiling said, settling herself comfortably on the couch.

"Running away, eh?" He smirked. "Why would I do that?"

 "That, I do not know, my dear cousin."  Meiling rolled her eyes.  "MAYBE you're afraid that those girls you've dumped will come running back to hunt you down."

 "Very funny," He said coldly.

 "Or maybe, you've already ran out of girls here and you've decided to go to Japan to look for a new one." She joked.  "You know sort of like, to add a new variety to your boooooring lovelife."

 "Now, THIS is the reason why I want to take my vacation somewhere else. AWAY from here."

Syaoran dumped his clothes in his bags with a hint of irritation.

 "At least I won't get to hear your voice constantly bugging me about my lovelife!"

Meiling snickered haughtily, as she watched her cousin getting all bent out of shape because of her.  Sometimes, she just loves to tease him and watched Syaoran get all worked up.

"You can't possibly mean that.  I'm your favorite cousin!"

 "You are the ONLY cousin that I know of! As if I have a choice."  Syaoran chuckled slightly.  "I just don't understand why you're always so concerned about my lovelife!"

 "Not really."  Meiling narrowed her eyes at him.  " It just so happens that I'm the cousin of the most popular and handsome guy in our campus and that a lot of girls are actually BEGGING me to set them up with you!"

 "Yeah, Right."

 "Fine. Don't believe me.  You never did anyway."  She teased.

Syaoran stopped packing for a while to take a look at his cousin.  "Stop the drama, Meiling.  It doesn't fit you."

He turned back his attention to his clothes, as he surveyed what he still has to bring in the suitcase.

 "Now, if you'll excuse me, I still have some packing to do."

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're already approaching our destination, Tokyo, Japan, in a matter of few minutes."  The captain's voice echoed in the plane's PA system.

Upon hearing this, Sakura felt a sudden rush of anticipation and excitement.  She was really glad that she was able to go on this trip and part-time job at the same time.  This is just her first time to go to Tokyo and she's been hearing lots of good things about the place.

Sakura closed her eyes, remembering Tomoyo and Eriol's last words as they accompany her to the airport.

=FLASHBACK=     

 "You know what Sakura, I have this feeling that this vacation could change your life." Tomoyo had said.

Eriol had just laughed and pinched his girlfriend's cheeks lightly at that.  " You're always so hopeful, dear.  But you know, I agree with you.  I can even sense it."

Sakura just laughed.  "Come on, you two.  I'm just going there for a vacation and that's it.  Well, I'll be also working but that's just beside the point."

 "Yes, of course."  Tomoyo's eyes sparkled dreamily.  "But you better tell me as soon as you returned here if you've found the man of your dreams in Tokyo, okay?"

 "The chances of that are about one in a million." She shook her head gently.  Tomoyo' s always been the romantic and hopeful bestfriend that she knew.  Her friend even believes in destiny and soulmates and those kinds of stuffs.  "Even if that did happen, which is highly unlikely, of course, I will tell you about it!  You don't even have to ask!"

Eriol smiled knowingly at her.  "Well you've got a lot to tell us when you come back.  That, I'm sure of."

=END OF FLASHBACK=

            Sakura couldn't help smiling at herself, upon remembering Eriol's last words.  He was always like that; always talking philosophically and predicting about something.

            = Sometimes, I couldn't help thinking that those two always seems to be up with something. =  She sighed. = Particularly about my lovelife, which they always find interesting. =

            "You may now unfasten your seatbelt.  We've already landed in Tokyo, Japan.  Thank you for riding with us.  Have a nice day." (Um, yeah…it's what they say or something to that effect. Lol!)

            Sakura hurriedly gathered her belongings as she prepares to get off the plane.  She waited patiently as the other passengers also hurried to get out.   As soon as she was off the plane, she went to the usual luggage area to claim her luggage.

            "Hmmmpff." She grunted softly, as she lifted her slightly heavy luggage.

            Sakura looked around, as she figured out where she was supposed to go to.  Her brother, Touya is meeting her outside.  Touya's been living in Tokyo for months now and he already has a job there as a field engineer.  He will be the one who will help and show her around the place.  They haven't seen each other for quite sometime now and Sakura couldn't help but to feel excited at the thought of seeing her brother again.  Even though he's been a pest to her ever since, she must admit that she missed him a lot inspite of that.

            Sakura was busy looking around the place as she continued to walk that she didn't notice the guy, who was also busy about something else, walking infront of her.

            "Ouch!" They both shouted at the same time, as they collided HARD on each other.

            "I'm so—" Sakura started to apologize but he was cut off by the guy.

            "Look, miss, next time you have to watch where you are going!" He narrowed his eyes in irritation at her.

            "Excuse me?" She was surprised.  How come it is her fault, now?

            "You heard me right."

            "Is that so?" She couldn't help snapping back.  Normally, she is a cool-headed type of person but she couldn't help loosing her cool this time.  She had never met a guy a jerk as he is before!  "The last thing I remember is that YOU are the one who doesn't look where you're supposed to go to!"

            The guy's amber eyes rolled.  "I don't have time for this."

            "Me either!" Sakura's eyes narrowed at him. "But then a guy as rude as you interrupted me…hmp! Jerk!"  She couldn't help but to utter the last word with such emphasis.

            "Excuse me, the 'jerk' has a name, you know?"

            "I don't care.  I don't remember asking for it."  She quickly grabbed her belongings which scattered on the floor.  "Jerk."  And with that, she spun her heels around as she leaves the snobbish guy who bumped into her.

            "Sakura Kinomoto!" She heard her name being called out by the same guy.  Her forehead wrinkled in thought and surprise as she wondered briefly how in the world did he know her name.

            "What now?"

            The guy waved her wallet, smirking to himself.  "I think you dropped this."

            "Thank you." She said through gritted teeth, as soon as she went back to get her wallet.  She really can't stand the smug look on this guy's face. 

            "By the way, the name's Syaoran."

Sakura rolled her eyes.

            "Thanks, SYAORAN." she said sarcastically.

~~~~~~~~~

kotsch

A/N:  I've got nothing left to say so…PLS. REVIEW!  I need some inspirations. ^__~  Arigatou.