My Happiness, My Heartbreak
Author's Notes: Very sorry for the long lack of updates…anyway, it seems like people aren't too interested in the story. Oh well, I'll see how things go. Lights, camera…action!
Disclaimer: All characters and places are property of the manga-ka CLAMP and companies related to it. Only the plot and story is my intellectual product.
Chapter Four: The Discovery
"SAKURA!"
Uh oh. What a wonderful way to start the day…
"Sakura! What's the racket up there!"
5:46 AM. For Touya-san, it's late morning - but for Sakura (and the rest of the normal population) it's incredibly, too early.
Groaning deeply, the auburn-haired girl tried to jump out of bed, but found herself unsuccessful. Instead, she resorting to plain old replying back. "I just hit my head on my table, Touya-san! Sorry!" She said, putting in a sincere tone. There was no further reply from downstairs, so she collapsed back into the bed.
Looking around the room to see what had caused the racket, she squinted in the dim light. There was barely any sunlight outside the small window, and it was difficult to see more than a meter from her face.
After feeling around for a few minutes, she finally found what she was looking for: something on the floor.
Or rather, someone.
"Li-san," Sakura whispered, attempting to lift him from the floor, "please wake up." She was getting to rolling him across the floor, until she was interrupted. "I never fell asleep," said Li.
Eyes widening slightly in surprise, she nudged him up onto the bed. As he settled back into the covers, it was quite clear that he was telling the truth. Dark rings had formed on his face, and his eyes were slightly red.
Checking the clock once more, Sakura realized that she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep again; not with Mitokono-sama (mock mock mock) lurking around, ready to pounce at every single little sound…
"You're frowning too much."
"Ah! Ah, what?"
"You're frowning too much."
"Oh…okay…"
Sakura's heartbeat was speeding, surprised from the sudden comment. Things then quieted down again…until…
"Excuse me," Mitokono-sama's voice came through the door, "Sakura-san, I have some homemade porridge you might want to have. I'll be glad if you took it…"
Gulping, Sakura quickly tossed the blankets onto Li-san without even a warning and bolted to the door. Faking a smile, she turned the doorknob, only to find that…
"Good morning!" Touya-san shouted, yelling at the top of his lungs…dressed up in a pink frilly apron and…a maid's hat…as well as a sunflower headband…with a silver tray in his hands.
"Uh, Touya-san?" Sakura stuttered, unsure of what to do. The last time she saw him wearing that…well, he never wore that, really.
Li remained silent, buried and nearly suffocating under the pile of blankets - but he didn't make a sound.
There were two…TWO plates on that tray.
What could this mean?
"Are you alright Touya-san?"
"Of course I am, darling. Now, call your friend for breakfast." I'm on to you Kinomoto.
Sakura swallowed hard. How did he know?
"Oh, right, my friend…my imaginary friend Tomoyo, right? Alright, thank you very much Touya-kun!" Sakura didn't catch herself - Tomoyo was her best friend from so long ago that she sometimes thought it was another life.
Touya-san blinked. Maybe Sakura wasn't really keeping someone secret from him, and was really that insane…insane enough to jump from Touya-san to Touya-kun.
Only Yukito calls me Touya-kun.
But was it really possible that she was just tootsy, and not hiding some one from him?
"Well, darling," Touya-san attempted to say cheerily, "tell your friend that she's-"
"He's."
"Tell your friend that he's always welcome."
Sakura faked a wide smile. "Did you hear that Tomoyo?" she said brightly, looking at the air as if someone was there. "Touya-kun is always so nice, isn't he?"
Touya-san blinked some more, bewildered. In his shock, he couldn't do more than march downstairs in a robotic manner.
"That was close." A voice came from the covers.
Sakura's eyes widened. Li-san! It must have been impossible to breathe down there! But she didn't have to worry - soon he tossed off the ridiculous heap of blankets and pillows and stood upright. Somewhere outside, she thought she heard Touya-san trip and fall.
Then came the real surprise.
A faint smile - almost a silent laugh - had formed on Li's usually stoic face.
"Li-san…"
…………………………………………………………
Later that day, after Touya-san had gone out to one of his many unusual jobs, Sakura took the liberty of going into the kitchen, and dragging Li along with her to help.
"You're going to have to help me in exchange for everything Li-san," Sakura said good-naturedly, smiling in a friendly manner. It seemed like things were much different now, even though it hadn't been a long time.
He simply nodded.
When he found out Sakura's clumsiness with a spatula, he quickly took advantage of her klutzy fingers and snatched the instrument from her. Startled, Sakura didn't do much but watch as he tossed up a meal for lunch in a record seven minutes.
Astonished, Sakura just let him set the dining table and serve the food. All she could do was sit down - it reminded her of one of the little memories she had of her father.
Over lunch, she tried to bring up some kind of comfortable conversation. She wanted to know more about Li, but didn't ask, feeling that she didn't know him enough. In some awkward way, it felt like…a date. Minus the roses and the candle light of course.
It didn't take long for the both of them to finish up their lunch, as no words whatsoever were exchanged. As swiftly as he had set the table, Li cleaned it all up.
Talk about a perfect wife, Sakura thought.
"What now?" Li asked in his normal, dull monotone.
Sakura was still thinking when she heard the bolt of the gate outside wiggle. Gasping, she grabbed Li's thin hand and dashed up the stairs, nearly tripping in the process.
"It's Touya-san!"
"Touya-kun…" Li murmured under his breath.
Leaving Li inside her room and locking it behind her, she ran down the stairs just in time to see the door to the kitchen open. She had about two seconds to catch her breath, then Touya-san came inside.
At her slightly disheveled appearance he raised an eyebrow. "Did you participate in the Olympics today, darling?" he mocked in a sarcastic, high-pitched tone. "Or are you playing tag with your imaginary friend Tomoyo?"
Sakura somehow managed to keep the annoyed look from crossing her face. "As a matter of fact, I am. Would you like to join us?" She inquired, jumping up and down enthusiastically.
"No thanks…" Touya-san muttered, before climbing the stairs to his own floor of the apartment building. "I'll be here for just a short time - in about half an hour I'll leave again. It's 12:45 now so…I'll be back about 8:00. Watch over the apartment."
Sakura heaved a sigh of relief - taking care of the place wasn't as much trouble as hiding her newfound stranger from him when he was around.
"Alright, Touya-san."
He stopped climbing the stairs and looked at her from his shoulder. "I thought you would call me Touya-kun." Without waiting for a reply, he climbed the rest of the stairs and disappeared into his room.
She waited five more minutes for safety, then did the same, entering her own apartment room. Her unit wasn't as great as the kitchen even, but it felt a lot more safe behind a locked, private door.
"What happened?" Li asked, toying around with his strangely shiny hair. It had become fine after the long bath he had the day before - a life on the streets had covered it with dullness.
"Nothing much, thank goodness…" Sakura said, then informed him about Touya-san's instructions. He didn't seem to be too interested in what she was saying, but she continued to speak anyway.
…………………………………………………………
Forty-nine rounds of chess later, 5:36 PM, Sakura geared herself for one more game. Out of the rounds they had already played, she won 12. Li was certainly smug under his blanket of indifference.
Twenty-six turns later, Li announced, "Checkmate."
Sakura slumped. Oh well.
She looked at her watch, and seeing that it was getting close to six, she got her coat. "I'll be right back, I just need to drop by at this quick seminar. I'll be back at around 7:30, and Touya-san wouldn't be home until 8:00 at the earliest. See you."
Li didn't appear to mind as she left the room (locking it of course), leaving an emptiness even in the cramped space. There was nothing he could do but fall into silence again.
…………………………………………………………
7:46 PM. Li was immediately alert as he recognized the racket as knocking. He jumped up quickly, already expecting Sakura to be at the door. Opening it, he simply turned back and sat back into his chair.
"I wonder who you are."
The familiar but non-Sakura voice made Li open his still-sleepy eyes wide. For the first time during his stay with Sakura, he had a good look at 'Touya-kun' - the land lord.
And he was struck. Extremely shocked, so much that he struggled to keep his jaw from dropping.
"Sakura-san's boy friend? Ah, finally…" he commented, walking carefully towards him, seeming to study him from different angles. "You're a pretty boy…how'd you meet Sakura-san--"
"Li. She met me a few nights ago." Li made no attempt to deny Touya-san's remarks.
Touya-san smiled. "Just like Sakura-san to randomly pick someone. Well, I can't blame her, it's not as if you're hideous. I guess she has some taste after all."
As if nothing had happened, he walked out the door. At that same moment, the same wiggling of the bolt on the gate resounded. "There's your girl friend. Let me go meet her."
…………………………………………………………
Sakura quickly let herself in, chilling from the biting cold outside. It had been a tad bit cold than she had expected, and the seminar ended ten minutes late. Luckily there was no problem on the way home besides the cold, and-
"Good evening, darling."
Sakura backed up a few steps before realizing whose voice that was. If it wasn't for the situation, she might have been relieved, but not now.
"Touya-san…" Sakura said, shaking on every syllable. "What a pleasant surprise, you're home ea-"
"I met your boy friend a while ago. Hmm, and just when I thought that 'Touya-kun' meant something special…"
Sakura's mind went blank. Her boyfriend? That could only mean…
"My boy friend?" Sakura tried, a pathetic last resort.
"Don't play idiot with me, Sakura."
At that moment, Sakura knew completely that she had lost her battle with Mitokono Touya. It was going to be a painfully long night…
…………………………………………………………
"So…you're really not her boy friend?" Touya-san mused, drinking his tea casually, as if this kind of thing happened every other day.
"No." Was the simple answer.
"Hmm…I never thought about it, Sakura Kinomoto the Good Samaritan. You were never this kind to me Sakura-san…" Touya-san said, nudging her in the side.
Sakura was too tired to fire back her an insult. "Hmm…too bad…"
Touya-san laughed good-heartedly, taking another sip of his tea. Fortunately for Sakura (and more importantly Li), Touya-san didn't take it too hard. He didn't explode like Sakura thought he would do, and took it quite jokingly.
"I'll have to make breakfast for three tomorrow then…one for Li-san, one for Sakura-san, and one for her friend, Tomoyo-san…right?" Touya-san pushed.
"Well…" Sakura started to say, but was interrupted by a hard thump on the floor. She looked around her to see what had caused the hollow thud, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Li kneeling on the floor beside an unconscious Touya-san.
"Touya-san!" she yelled, rushing to the telephone to call the hospital.
…………………………………………………………
The day after the ambulance had come and brought the young man to the hospital, Sakura decided that it would be proper to visit him. She had no idea why on earth he collapsed like that, but she guessed it was plain fatigue. Working many different short jobs was harder that working on a permanent one.
On the way they picked up some flowers from the florist, then headed to room 308.
Inside, Touya-san looked like he was at a hotel. He didn't look too sick, and there were countless balloons and flowers on his table - surprisingly, all from the nurses. There was a large stack of letters on the other table.
Sakura went in first after Li said he needed to use the restroom. "How are you feeling Touya-san?"
The mask of plainness dropped. "Sakura-san…it's very strange, and unexplainable. You see…I started having strange images appear randomly a few weeks ago. It just went on and on, more and more, and it's as if…it was my past. As for you, I see-"
But he was cut off by his door swinging open. Li entered silently, his face looking down at the floor as if it was some kind of treasure. As he looked up to face Touya-san, the landlord turned pale.
"Touya-san!" But it was no use. He had fainted again.