I Think I'm In Love with My Bestfriend's Boyfriend

Author's Notes: My apologies if the previous chapter was found to be confusing and instable. There is a real reason to Kaho Mizuki's actual resurrection…

I'll try my best to make things clearer here, and improve the quality of my writing this point on. Thank you to all reviewers and readers! I appreciate your feedback, and use it to the best of my ability to enhance and satisfy.

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 Seven: The Course of Action

"What am I going to do?" Eriol asked, more unsure of everything than ever before. Suddenly feeling weak, he half-collapsed onto Kaho, who was only too ready to help her old dear out with maternal instinct.

"Now, now, Eriol…" said she, putting her arms around him protectively, "I'm also confused with what is to become of us now. But there is something that I'm very sure about."

…………………………………………………………

Even in the small matter of days that had gone by (only a little more than a week), Syaoran could feel the true bond forming between him and his newfound interest.

Tomoyo was the true description of "darling": sweet as sugar, she was always the one to start a light conversation or brighten up the day. From what he had gathered Tomoyo had her own share of not-too-perfect lost loves, and Syaoran felt like they could relate very well.

He found himself looking forward to every meeting: be it morning, afternoon or evening. No matter what the circumstances became, the two found in each other a special fondness that they hadn't held in such long years.

It would all begin with the day before. After another happy date together, there was the excited planning for the next time to come. Then, the next day, they would finalize their rendezvous details and meet.

Syaoran loved every kind of encounter. There was a time when they met each other along the way to the actual place: another when Tomoyo had surprised him with superior cooking skills. None would forget the moment when Syaoran presented Tomoyo with a gold necklace - or that peculiar experience with a feisty restaurant waiter. And how about the first time that Syaoran had allowed them to call him by his first name?

Syaoran loved his present state: Tomoyo was a darling, and Sakura was nice too.

'Sakura…' thought Syaoran, feeling memories flooding in from behind the blockade he had constructed to stop them. No such use or luck. While he indeed was beginning to cherish Tomoyo…there was that living ghost that both brightened and shadowed their moments.

Tomoyo and Sakura were the best of friends: Sakura didn't mind when Tomoyo invited her to their own date, and Syaoran wasn't annoyed at all. If anything, the cheerful girl prevented any awkwardness that came when it was just two of them.

The bad part was…Sakura was a constant reminder of the past.

A constant reminder that Syaoran wasn't at all at peace with it. Wasn't yet settled with the fact that he lost Sakura long before they even began.

"Want some pudding, Syaoran?" Sakura asked innocently, unaware of the thoughts that were racing through the Chinese boy's mind like lightning.

Reality was a cruel being: it pulled him back from the realm of the deep mind and into the truth of the present where challenges existed.

"Yes and thank you, Sakura." Was the slightly side-tracked response.

Tomoyo suddenly leant on his shoulder. "Is there anything wrong, Syaoran? You look bothered by something," she said, genuinely concerned.

'Ah,' Syaoran commented silently, 'pleasant, caring Tomoyo…'

At that moment, a small cup of (thankfully) sealed pudding landed on his knee. Looking up from where he was looking at Tomoyo, he saw Sakura's face twisted into an expression of childishly tender playfulness…

'And Sakura,' he added, 'bright, kind Sakura. Tomoyo couldn't deserve a better friend than Sakura.'

…………………………………………………………

"I see," Kaho said, nodding her head in understanding. "You believed that Sakura would be your third chance…but wasn't aware that she was talking about Tomoyo."

"Right," confirmed Eriol, still clueless of what course of action to take.

There was a strange look that came into Mizuki's face. Eyes were half-closed: lips down to a contemplating frown - lines forming to sign the state of a pondering mind.

"There is one question that would decide everything, Eriol."

"What's that?"

Taking a deep breath, Kaho replied soberly--

"Do you still love Tomoyo?"

…………………………………………………………

Moments went by.

Then Syaoran had to ask himself an intriguing thing.

'But do I deserve Sakura? Even as a friend?'

…………………………………………………………

Moments went by.

After analyzing the inquiry, taking all factors into consideration, inferring the outcome of his answer and many other complicated things, there was but a simple conclusion.

"Yes."

…………………………………………………………

January 27 (Friday)

Dear Diary,

Phew. What a day. I just got back from being with Tomoyo and Syaoran. It was at Penguin Park this time. I can't believe we managed to picnic behind the giant penguin: really comfortable though!

I have to admit: Tomoyo and Syaoran make the cutest couple…but sometimes I can't hold back the fact that I'm trying to get Syaoran's attention. Little things like asking about the day, inquiring about his opinion, tossing high-velocity treats at him…

…but nothing works.

It used to be that I thought he was weird. Back in high school, I thought he didn't even talk, but now I regret that I never did take that first step. No time for regrets now though.

I can't separate the two of them at this point; they seem more than okay with each other. Luckily Tomoyo doesn't notice my actions towards him, but unfortunately he doesn't. Actually…that's good. I wouldn't forgive myself if I broke my best friend's heart.

Till tomorrow: I'm so excited about it, because we're going to Syaoran's house! I heard that it's really big, and really beautiful.

…………………………………………………………

"You'll have to make a decision Eriol," began Kaho, stroking his hair gently, "because all ways have their ups and downs."

"I'm honestly not sure what my choices are." Indicated Eriol.

"You have two choices," she said, holding up two slender fingers. "One is called Tomoyo Daidouji, the other named Sakura Kinomoto."

Images of both wonderful girls flashed in Eriol's eyes.

"Tomoyo," the advising continued, "is your first and true love. While her way may seem brighter, it appears that she and the other boy are happy together."

"As for Sakura," Kaho said again, "she is your second and easier chance. Sakura might still love the other boy, but is too afraid to interfere between her best friend and him. Downfall: Tomoyo is in your thoughts."

Eriol gave off a deep, sorrowful sigh. He was sure that whatever road he would choose would be a rough, unchartered lane. Grasping Kaho's hand tighter, he came to an initial finality.

"Whatever of the two choices I choose," Eriol told Kaho, "they both are in Tomoeda. My road from here leads towards Japan."

Smiling sadly, Kaho nodded. She had known from before that they would go separate ways once again; but now they would part as close friends, not soulmates. "So…when would you be ready for the flight?" she asked, trying to seem enthusiastic.

Looking up from where he was gazing at Sakura's letter, he replied a firm,

"Today."

…………………………………………………………

Morning came. Sakura excitedly jumped out of bed, not bothering to clean up the mess of blankets, pillows and comforters she made on the mattress. Opening her cabinet quickly, pulling out a nice pink dress and a good pair of shoes, she ran downstairs after putting on the garment.

Satisfying her energized self with two bowls of sugary cereal, cold milk and a few small pieces of bread, she made towards her roller skates. Carrying a basket of food in one hand and her shoes in the other, she rushed out the door and went in the direction of Syaoran's house.

Tomoyo was just walking up to the doorbell when she spotted Sakura coming down the corner. Smiling happily, she waited for her friend to catch up before pressing the button.

Moments passed by.

More passed by.

Moments passed by.

Then, finally, the door swung open. Syaoran stood there in the doorway, looking a bit tired but refreshed all the same.

"Good morning, you two. Sorry I took so long: I was cleaning up the house and had to ran all the way from my room to open the door," he said good-heartedly, chuckling at the enthusiasm of the duo.

"Sorry if we were too early," Sakura and Tomoyo apologized amusedly at the exact same time. The three burst into a fit of laughter, and then stepped inside the large house with giggles still erupting.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" he asked both of them, and they both had the same nodding reaction. There was another explosion of mirth.

'Just like twins…yet so different…' Syaoran silently observed, releasing a slight frown while they removed their skates. "I'll show you around the house, I guess?"

…………………………………………………………

"Thank you and we hope to see you again." Was the pilot's goodbye to the plane passengers. Among the different faces and people was Eriol, rubbing his fingers repeatedly in anxiety.

There was the final descent: the wheels of the 747 giving off a slight screech as they touched the foreign shores of Japan. Slowly but surely the large aircraft halted to a stop.

As he exited the airport with two bags and Nakuru, he breathed in deeply. Surely that was the different, Asian scent that Japan was only wonderfully sprayed with.

"So Nakuru," he said, "I guess you should get back to pretending to be my house maid again. My apologies - you know how paranoid your grandfather was about you standing out."

"Oh, Eriol-san," Nakuru mocked at first, "I think I don't have to anymore."

They shared genuine smiles before getting into the taxi, heading towards their Tomoeda residence.

…………………………………………………………

"And this is my bed room."

Sakura was awed: she saw that in contrast to Syaoran's large chambers, her room was equivalent to a high school dorm. This time, she was feeling jealous OF Syaoran, not ABOUT him, despite the half-messy look of the place (as Syaoran was not done cleaning it quite yet).

"Nice room you have, Syaoran," complimented Tomoyo casually.

Suddenly there was the small alarming ring of something from downstairs. Looking surprised then horrified, Syaoran bolted down the steps. He called out, "I'll be right back!" as he did, but for a few minutes that was the last they heard of him.

The two best friends were admiring the delicate dry ice sculptures on one of Syaoran's tables, when they came to the window. At first both found it to be no more than an extremely large and beautiful window, but Tomoyo later changed her mind.

"The garden…the garden! Look at that garden! I need to take a few shots and footage of that place: my grandfather would love to see it! I'll be right back too!" Tomoyo said in one breath, then disappeared outside the door in the same way Syaoran had.

Sakura found herself solitary in such a large, quiet room. To pass the time she sat down on the floor and began to put the papers that lay there on the nearest table.

Well, that was what she was doing until a name caught her eye.

Her own name.

Scrambling up to get back the paper that she put on the table, she found the one with the word 'Sakura' at the very beginning. It was a letter.

She could not resist.

…………………………………………………………

"Sakura, are you here?" asked Eriol, who had gone straight to Sakura's house while Nakuru volunteered to unpack the bags. Accepting her offer graciously, he sped to Sakura's house, which wasn't really far away anyway.

There was no reply except his own voice echoing back at him.

'I guess she's not home. But I don't think she would have left the door ajar if she went off somewhere.'

Closing the door behind him, he saw numerous things in disarray. Items for breakfast were not put away at all, pieces of furniture slightly off their true positions.

Speechless, he scaled the stairs to seek more answers: there was the calendar.

On the date of September 28, there was a bunch of words written in large, blue marker. "Tomoyo and Sakura go to Syaoran's house"

"I guess she has a reason to be excited," Eriol concluded, a smug smirk on his face. After all…he had a decision to make.

…………………………………………………………

Dear Sakura Kinomoto,

My name is Li Syaoran: yes, the foreign exchange student. We share a few classes, remember?

Well…I wrote this letter because I like you. A lot. I think you're really nice, funny and pretty. You're also smart and talented in a lot of things. And you're cute when you're clumsy.

I hope you understand what I mean, Sakura Kinomoto. We might have just met…but I think that something can happen between the two of us, right?

Please reply soon, and please please don't get mad at me.

With admiration,

Syaoran

Sakura was utterly, definitely and completely shocked.

Her jaw dropped open somewhere during the letter…and now she had gone numb to the bone. Frozen fingers let go of the paper as if it was no more than a stray floating leaf…it blew out the open window like one.

Tomoyo ran inside, eager to test her brand-new footage, while Syaoran was outside neatening out a rose bush a little.

He was about to retreat inside the mansion when he saw a piece of scrap paper lying on one of the bushes. Picking it up, he was almost going to crumple it when-

-he recognized it.