Stupid Cupid
Disclaimer: The cast of Card Captor Sakura does not belong to me… most unfortunately.

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So and so months later…

She tapped the eraser of her pencil against her desk as she faintly hummed. Her cheek was rested on her palm while her elbow was propped up on the surface. Her emerald eyes stared out the window as the sun beamed brilliantly into the classroom. Tiny earphones were plugged into her ears, their chords hidden by her auburn hair that spilled about her shoulders before disappearing beneath her zipped up jacket.

It looked nice outside, so very nice… outside looked more tempting rather than inside. It was only a week since school started and it hasn't officially fallen into fall yet. So it was still warm and bright outside. Too bad she was stuck in second period history. Don't get her wrong, history was interesting and all… but not when you had Suzuki-sensei as your teacher. He had to be the most boring-est professor in the whole world. His voice was positively dull and drawling and unenthusiastic and it held no excitement or emotions whatsoever!

Some students had drooped their heads on their desk, giving in to the temptation of sleep that their sensei's voice put them into. She was glad she had her IPod or she'd be one of those students sleeping – and sleeping with your head on the desk was very, very uncomfortable.

But Sakura wasn't paying attention to the other students or to her teacher. She was aware of the scene around her, but she was staring out the window with a bland and bored look plastered on her face.

Introducing: Kinomoto Sakura. She was in her last year of high school, at the peek of her teenage years. She was seventeen going on eighteen this coming April. Ahh… the years go by so fast…

Where had her days as a freshman gone to? And didn't it feel like it was just yesterday that she was in her third year of high school?

Sakura blinked as realization sunk in.

OHMYGODI'MGRADUATINGTHISYEAR!

The very thought sent her sitting sharply upright as she blinked again… and again.

…And to think she didn't even know what college she wanted to go to yet!

Wow… Sakura! You're a senior and you don't even have any idea what college you want to go to yet… Hmmhmm… might as well start trying to think of one to go to while you're on the topic…

"Kinomoto-san."

Maybe I can go to Tokyo University? Onii-chan went there… and 'tou-san taught there for a while…

"Kinomoto-san!"

Oh… but maybe school in Osaka? Or I could go abroa-

"KINOMOTO-SAN!"

Sakura hastily reached into her pocket and turned her IPod off and directed her attention to Suzuki-sensei. That was the first time they have heard their dull-voiced teacher yell in that week, and everyone noticed because those who were sleeping sat up abruptly. Sakura blinked innocently.

"Hai, Suzuki-sensei?"

"Will you please raise your hand." She blinked again as her teacher fell back into his usual dull and drawling tone.

"Ano…" She did.

"You will be sitting behind Kinomoto-san over there," Suzuki-sensei said, directing his attention to the boy Sakura finally noticed standing next to the teacher.

She tilted her head at him curiously. He was obviously new, and she could tell just by hearing some of the silent swooning and chattering of the girls that he was going to be very popular with the female population. She could see why. He was very, very handsome. His kind of handsome almost didn't look normal… like he held a different kind of… 'beauty'… she just couldn't quite put her finger on it…

Even she had to admit that he was good-looking. Sakura kept her gaze locked on the chestnut-haired boy as he wandered down the aisle. He seemed to notice her staring at him because his amber eyes met her emerald ones – and that, my friends, although cliché, was the first time amber met emerald.

Sakura immediately averted her gaze as she blushed from embarrassment at being caught staring. There was something intense about those eyes of his though… She heard the chair behind her shift as the boy sat down in his seat, and even then she could feel those intense eyes boring through the back of her head, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. It was very unnerving having someone sit behind you glare holes through your scull.

She could hear Suzuki-sensei return back to his lecture about Lord only knows what… but Sakura wasn't paying much attention. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and rubbed the back of her neck as that boy continued to glare at her. What the heck did she do to him anyway?

Sakura slowly craned her head around in order to glance at him from over her shoulder. The second she met his eyes she immediately turned back around and straightened herself, sweat dropping. She sat there stiffly for a while before turning her IPod back on. She folded her arms on her desk and tucked her head against them. Although she could still feel the boy glaring at her, the music somewhat distracted her from his very unnerving and squirm-worthy stare.

Hoe… I hope I don't have to sit in front of him all year…

It wasn't long before the bell finally rang. Sakura bolted upright and gathered her things, stuffing them into her army green bag. She brought the single strapped bag over her head and across her chest before walking rapidly out of class. Once she was out, she let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding. It felt good to get out of there… and away from the boy.

She went to her third period class and slumped down on a seat in front of a raven-haired girl. Sakura twisted around in order to face her and beamed.

"Hi Tomoyo-chan!"

Introducing: Daidouji Tomoyo. She was a very delicate looking girl with ivory skin and gentle features. Her amethyst eyes reflected the smile on her lips. Wavy locks of raven hair cascaded down her shoulders and back. This is Sakura's best friend.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura looked around shiftily before lowering her voice and muttering seriously: "There's this new boy in my second period class… and he sits behind me… and he kept glaring at me, Tomoyo!"

She brought up a hand to stifle her giggle.

"It's not funny!" Sakura turned around in her seat with a pout. She crossed her arms and huffed. "It was very unner…ving…" She trailed off as she noticed that same glaring-boy walk into the classroom. "!" Sakura hissed from over her shoulder, "That's him!"

Tomoyo laughed. "He's cute."

She groaned. Sakura looked around frantically. There was an empty seat to her left, and another one way across the room. She silently prayed he'd get the seat way across the room.

Their Psychology teacher cleared her throat as soon as the bell rang. Class started. She walked out from her desk, having been conversing with the new transfer student. Takahashi-sensei gestured at the boy.

"As you can tell we have a new student joining our class. His name is Li Syaoran and he's a transfer student from Hong Kong, China…"

Now that she thought about it, Sakura didn't pay attention last period and never learned his name – until now, that is. But she held her breath in anticipation to know where he'd be sitting.

Takahashi-sensei scanned the seats with a thoughtful look before smiling. "You can take that empty seat next to Kinomoto-san. Kinomoto-san, please raise your hand…"

Sakura almost toppled out of her chair. Keyword: almost. She had grabbed the ledge of her desk to keep herself from doing so. Her action caught the amused stares of her classmates. Sakura coughed abruptly and oh-so-reluctantly raised her hand. Oh the fates were cruel to her today… at least he wouldn't be sitting behind her glaring at her back… unless he openly turns around and glares at her… which she honestly wouldn't be surprised if he does…

She purposely avoided looking at him as the Chinese boy occupied the seat next to her. But, well, if she was going to be in some of the same classes as him…………

Sakura turned around to face him as she held out a hand and mustered up the most nicest and abnormally brightest smile she possibly could.

"Konnichiwa, Li-kun! Watashi wa Kinomoto Sakura!"

Syaoran slowly turned his gaze upon the auburn haired, emerald-eyed girl who called herself 'Kinomoto Sakura.' He blinked slowly, blankly, making Sakura feel unnerved once more.

"…" He glanced at her hand.

Sakura started to squirm in her seat, painfully uncomfortable. Eto… maybe he doesn't know how to speak…?

"Ano…"

Syaoran grunted in acknowledgment before turning away to focus on the teacher. Sakura withdrew her hand and sweat dropped.

Hoe…

A certain Daidouji Tomoyo, who happened to be observing their little introduction, smiled in much amusement to herself.

Third and fourth period gone and went all too slowly for Kinomoto Sakura – but in the end she found herself lounging beneath one of many trees in the school yard. She lay sprawled on her back with her jacket folded behind her as a pillow and her head propped up on her arms. She was watching the clouds move languidly across the blue sky, smiling every now and then when she saw them form into recognizable shapes. Her earphones were plugged into her ears as music blared from them.

She loved laying beneath the tree, watching the clouds… it was relaxing. It made her feel lazy. And even as a kid she enjoyed finding shapes in the clouds themselves. She still did even though you think she'd have outgrown it by now.

Her ankles were crossed together as she tapped her foot against air, humming to herself. Her eyes closed. The only thing she was obvious to was the music echoing in her ears. Music. It was one of the things that she could relax to.

She failed to notice the several shadows that passed over her.

It wasn't until she felt something poke her that Sakura's eyes flew open and she stared up startled at the several pairs of eyes peering down at her. Each face wore an amused smile. Sakura sat up and plucked out her earphones, smiling sheepishly.

"Aah… konnichiwa, minna."

Tomoyo laughed. "I knew we'd find you here, Sakura-chan."

She rubbed the back of her head and stuck out her tongue in that sheepish manner of hers. Tomoyo and a few of their other friends slumped down around her. Let's see… from Sakura's left and around the circle sat Tomoyo, whom you have already been introduced to, and then followed by Tomoyo sat Mihara Chiharu. She was a bubbly girl with brown hair and eyes. As a child she always wore her hair in curled pig tails, but she long ago changed her hair style and wore her hair in a simple braid instead. Back in elementary, Sakura and Chiharu were in the same cheerleading squad. While Chiharu's still a cheerleader, Sakura gave that up, having lost interest in the 'cheering' part.

And then there's Yamazaki Takashi – another childhood friend of theirs. His eyes were always closed, why remained a mystery to Sakura. He kept the same short black hair, and now that she thought about it, he always remained the same throughout the years. He was always smiling. He always had some sort of 'tall-tale' to tell them… which always resorted to Chiharu either strangling or plummeting him. All of them were more than aware of the fact that Takashi and Chiharu felt more than just friendly affection towards each other… they just never acted on it.

Followed by Takashi was Yanagisawa Naoko. Like Chiharu and Sakura, she was in the cheerleading squad as well, but eventually gave that up before Sakura did. She grew her hair out over the years, but kept it trimmed so it reached up to the middle of her back. The girl could always be found with her face buried in a book, or engaged in narrating a scary story to a group of freshmen she cornered into being her prey. Sakura smiled crookedly to herself. Naoko got better at telling ghost stories – much to Sakura's horror.

And then last but not least – Sasaki Rika. Out of all of them she was possibly the sweetest and kindest of them all – which is surprising considering Tomoyo's already as sweet and nice as it is. She's also quite shy, and if Sakura recalled correctly, liked their fourth grade teacher Terada-sensei a lot. Her hair remained short and curly, and though she kept some of the same hair styles and what-not, it was pretty obvious she grew up quite a lot over the years – they all did.

Sakura smiled to herself as they conversed. They were fortunate to remain friends for so long. She brought her legs up and tucked them Indian-style as she reached out for her soda and took a sip of it. Her eyes scanned the other students wandering about and enjoying their lunch when she noticed a certain glaring-Chinese-boy sitting by himself at a table – well not really by himself…

On the contrary, he had quite the company. There were plenty of girls there, but she couldn't help but notice how harassed and annoyed he looked. Sakura almost choked on her drink as she bit back a laugh. That poor guy.

Leaving him there to suffer and be tormented sounded like a good payback for him constantly glaring at her and making her feel uncomfortable… but not even Sakura was that mean…

"Li-kun!" Sakura waved widely in order to catch his attention. Her friends looked around to see who she was calling, and the said Li boy looked up, as did his group of fan girls. "Come join us for lunch!"

He looked very reluctant to come over, but Sakura knew he'd do anything to get away from those girls… it was obvious since he tore himself away from them and hurried over. His groupie scowled. Sakura giggled and smiled as Syaoran sat down in their little circle.

"Li-kun, these are my friends," Sakura said, gesturing at said friends.

Syaoran looked mildly taken aback by their cheery greeting and introductions.

"Eh… Li Syaoran," he mumbled after they were done with their introductions. He shifted his gaze from one smiling face and to the next before, unable to take such… bright expressions… averted his gaze and poked away at his food.

Sakura grinned. So the Chinese boy can talk…

"Ne, Li-san, tell us about Hong Kong!" Takashi spoke up.

Syaoran paused. "…What's there to say about it?"

"Well…" Chiharu intervened, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Hm… Tell us about your family then! Have any siblings?"

"Yeah… Four older sisters…" At this, Syaoran scowled darkly. Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the face he made when talking about his sisters. It reminded Sakura of herself when she talked about her older brother sometimes. Syaoran sent her a look when she started laughing. "What's so funny, Kinomoto?"

She brought up a hand to stifle her laughter, but that didn't really help much. "It's just… the expression you made… Hahaha… I'm sorry for laughing." She wasn't really, but oh well.

And he knew she wasn't, but it wasn't worth getting angry over.

"How long are you staying in Japan for?" Rika asked curiously.

"A year."

"Why did you decide to come to Japan anyway?" Sakura questioned out of the same genuine curiosity of her companions.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "'kaa-san thought it'd be… a good experience to brush up on my Japanese…"

They all nodded to that and asked him a few more questions, to which he answered, although with short and to-the-point kind of answers. Sakura watched amused the whole time. She didn't know why… but the Chinese boy amused her! …Just not when he was glaring at her back.

Eventually the lunch bell rang. Everyone scattered off to their classes. Sakura and Syaoran were the last ones left behind. Sakura picked up her bag just as Syaoran dusted himself off and reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Sakura glanced at it curiously and noted that it was his schedule.

"Ah… Kinomoto…" Syaoran started hesitantly. Sakura raised an eyebrow and smiled sweetly.

"Hai, Li-kun?"

"Do you know where… Hamada-sensei's Art class is?"

She blinked, surprised. "Why… yes…" Sakura then smiled again. "Follow me!"

"Er… okay…"

She could have just told him the directions, but… whatever.

Syaoran trailed after Sakura as she led him down the schoolyard and into the building where a mass of other students were trying to currently get into. They squeezed through the crowd and wandered up a flight of stairs.

"You know, since we have some of the same classes… and you're new here… you should stick with me!" Sakura rambled on happily as they walked down the corridor, passing by a few doors. "I can show you around and all that!"

"Yeah… sure…" Syaoran mumbled.

Sakura stopped in front of a door – Room 201.

"Here we are!"

She marched right in. Syaoran blinked, and as he walked in to see her sitting down, it hit him that they shared another class together. (How fortunate, mwahaha)

After the teacher introduced Syaoran to the class and was put into a seat, the teacher went off about one thing or another. He was sitting behind Sakura – but the desks were high, so they were all sitting on stools, and it was two students per table. The boy Syaoran sat next to kind of… weirded him out. Maybe it was the way he was smiling at absolutely nothing in particular… or the way his freaky sapphire eyes glinted behind those glasses of his… But really. There was something very, very standoff-ish about the midnight haired boy.

Maybe it's just that he wasn't from Japan that threw Syaoran off? He didn't look Asian… maybe he was from some European country? Were all Europeans weird and freaky like this one?

Syaoran kept as close to the edge as he possibly could. The boy turned to him with that weird smile of his and spoke to him.

"So you're new here? I'm a transfer student here, too. The name's Hiiragizawa Eriol."

Sakura glanced at them from over her shoulder, seeing the 'Yeah like I care so stay away from me you freak' look plastered all over Syaoran's face. She stifled a laugh and turned her attention back to the teacher. Unlike her other classes, this was one she thoroughly enjoyed. But she couldn't help but exchange a few words with Chiharu (her table partner) in order to confirm their after school trip to the mall.

"For your first quarter project…" Hamada-sensei was saying. The word 'project' caught everyone's attention, which is exactly what she wanted. Hamada-sensei was probably the youngest staff member at their school. She was in her mid-twenties – brunette hair tied up in a messy bun, black-rimmed spectacles, a white sleeved shirt that had one of the sleeves hanging past her shoulders, but she was wearing a red tank top beneath that, followed by torn-up jeans. It was only the first week and Sakura (along with the other students) positively loved Hamada.

"You will be given a task of finding an object that holds your interest more than anything," the young teacher was saying. She was sitting on her desk with one leg crossed over the other. "You must draw this object, and your drawing must reflect why it interests you so much…"

Not too difficult… Sakura mused.

"…Plus, an essay of at least 500 words on why exactly it holds your interests."

Sakura mentally groaned. Essays. Next to math, that was one thing she was really bad at. But five hundred words weren't that bad.

"If your essay and your drawing do not connect in any way… meaning when I read your essay I do not see what you see in your drawing, then do not be surprised if you receive a failing grade."

Someone raised their hands. "Ne, sensei? Does it have to be an object? Can it be like a person or an animal or something?"

Hamada smiled. "I don't see why not. That's fine by me."

Sakura propped her chin on her palm as she stared off into space with that thoughtful look of hers. The project's going to be interesting, she knew that, and drawing was something she really enjoyed… but finding something that held her interest would be a tad bit difficult.

"…You don't mind if I call you Syaoran-kun, do you?" Sakura could hear Eriol asking.

"Of course I mind," came the hissy response.

"Okay… Syaoran-kun." Eriol smiled.

Syaoran bristled.

Sakura laughed.

To be continued

Quick update, haha. Seeing as how I haven't been going to school… (not intentional, mind you!) I decided to work on this. But omigosh, thanks for the reviews, guys! They made me happy.

And don't worry! There will be more on Syaoran again next chapter (I think).

So yeah.

Leave a review!

--FT

(Please note - updates won't be coming out as fast as this came out. This was just a spur of the moment kind of thing seeing as how I "ditched" school. Shh. Haha. I'm not a bad student, honest!).