Chapter Five
Staring Problem

"Morning Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura exclaimed, dropping her things on her desk by the window. She had the second-to-last seat in the last row opposite of the door. It was one of the best spots in the room. The teachers didn't notice her because she was off to the side, which made it easy to daydream— especially during math lessons.

"Good morning Sakura-chan," Tomoyo replied. She sat next to Sakura one row over. "You seem much more cheerful this morning. Yesterday you were not quite yourself."

Sakura took her seat, hanging her small black book-bag on the hook attached to her desk. "That's because my alarm clock went off on time this morning."

"So you got up too late yesterday?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura shook her head. "I got up too early."

"Too early?" Tomoyo repeated, holding a finger to her chin.

Sakura grinned and was ready to explain further, but the class respectfully quieted and moved to their seats as the teacher entered the room.

"Good morning everyone," the tall man with a shock of orange hair said, setting his brief case on the desk at the head of the room.

"Good morning sensei!" the class chimed.

"Before we get started, I'd like to introduce a new addition to our class," the teacher said.

Sakura sighed inwardly. From what she had been told, Terada-sensei used to be an elementary school teacher, so some things he did in the classroom had carried over from working with younger kids. One of his worst habits was that he felt compelled to make each new student stand in front of the class as he introduced them. It was one of the most nerve-racking experiences in Sakura's recent memory, as it hadn't even been a year since she transferred to Tomoeda High School. Whoever the new kid was, Sakura already had a certain level of sympathy for them.

"Come on in," Terda-sensei said, gesturing to the door.

A tall, rather pale boy stepped into the room and moved uneasily to the front of the class. He had a mass of disheveled, chocolate-colored hair that fell messily over his serious amber eyes. His face was completely blank, almost as if he didn't have much practice using facial expressions. In fact, the only thing that gave his appearance any life at all were his eyes. They seemed to display emotions far more efficiently than his face could (which wasn't really all that helpful,) but without them he might as well been a zombie.

Sakura probably wouldn't have paid so much attention to his eyes had they not been staring directly at her. She blinked and awkwardly looked down at her desk, but could still feel the boy's eyes on her. It was disturbing.

"Sakura-chan," Tomoyo whispered lightly, her gaze skipping back and forth between Sakura and the boy. "Do you two know each other?"

Sakura shook her head firmly, as if she could shake off the boy's stare in the same gesture.

"This is Syaoran Reed," Terda-sensei said, after what seemed like a thousand year long silence to Sakura. "I hope everyone will give him a warm welcome. Now let's see… The only desk that is vacant at the moment is the one behind Kinomoto-san. Please have a seat."

Sakura went ridged. The boy headed back in her direction, his eyes never leaving her general location. Sakura hadn't even seen him blink once since he entered the room. Even as he passed her to sit down, his eyes followed her until he got to his desk and was able to stare intensely at the back of Sakura's head. She could feel a heated gaze burning a hole through her hair.

What did I do to make him stare at me like that? Sakura wondered wildly, feeling self-conscious and awkward.

It had been an extremely stressful morning for Syaoran. When he had arrived at the school, he had no idea where to go or what to do. He considered simply going into a classroom and sitting down, but that didn't seem right. Thankfully, a teacher found him walking aimlessly around the grounds and took him to the office to find his classroom. Before he knew it, he was being introduced to the class. To his surprise, there was the Kinomoto girl, sitting in front of the only empty desk in the room. Either this was a big coincidence or Clow had something to do with it. Whatever the case, it did make his job a lot easier.

He was determined that she would never leave his sight. He had no interest in talking to her or socializing with anyone else, but he figured he could protect her without drawing attention to himself. He was still getting used to the fact that the Living could actually see him now, however, and often forgot. This led to a lot of jumping and anxiety when the teacher would call on him to answer questions. It seemed that the teachers liked to pick on the new kids because he was called on quite often throughout the day. He could usually answer the questions fairly accurately, thanks to all the reading he did from the Kinomoto family's book collection. The teachers were always telling him to speak up, though. It was annoying.

He hated the way all the students would turn around and look at him when he was asked a question. Why couldn't he just be ignored?

When the recess bell finally rang, Sakura nearly ran out the door to escape the new boy's staring.

"Maybe you remind him of someone," Rika said logically as the usual gang sat under the large tree in the courtyard.

"Or maybe you had something on your face," Chiharu said, studying Sakura's face with squinted eyes.

Sakura's hand went flying to her face. "Is there something on my face?"

Tomoyo shook her head, smiling. "You look as cute as always, Sakura-chan."

"I wonder where he's from," Naoko said. "He's kind of weird-looking, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Chiharu said. "He never smiles or anything. It's like that blank look is plastered on his face."

"And he won't speak above a whisper," Naoko commented. "The teachers are always telling him to talk louder. I don't know how they hear him."

"I don't think he's feeling well," Rika said. "He's so pale. It doesn't suit his complexion. It seems like he should be a little bit tanner than he is."

"But that doesn't explain why he won't stop staring at Sakura like she ran over his dog or something," Chiharu said.

"Maybe it's simply a case of 'hate at first sight,'" Tomoyo said, a finger on her chin.

"But I didn't do anything!" Sakura said, feeling distressed.

Tomoyo patted Sakura's knee in a comforting gesture. "It's okay Sakura. He's new. Maybe he just needs some time to adjust."

"Hey, Sakura, don't look now," Chiharu said. "But New Kid is back and just as blank-eyed as ever."

Sakura gingerly turned her head. He was sitting across the courtyard on the steps to the school. And those amber eyes were as intense as ever and trained right on her. A shrill of alarm danced down her spine.

"What was his name? Syaoran?" Naoko wondered, trying her best not to stare back.

"Yeah. Syaoran Reed," Chiharu said. "Reed is an odd name, don't you think?"

"It sounds English," Rika commented. "But he doesn't look English, does he?"

"Why does he keep looking at me like that?" Sakura mumbled.

"Maybe you should go talk to him," Tomoyo suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," Rika said.

"Oh no, it's too late," Chiharu said gravely. "Yamazaki-kun got a hold of him. Poor Reed-san."

Yamazaki was dragging Syaoran away by his arm.

"What's so bad about that?" Naoko said. "He needs someone to show him around school."

"That idiot's not gonna show him anything useful," Chiharu said, her fists balled.

At least I get a break from those eyes, Sakura thought to herself.

"And this stuff isn't really chalk," Yamazaki was saying. He had led Syaoran into the classroom and was now introducing him to the chalkboard. "Here at Tomoeda High, we try our best to cut down on the careless expenditure of natural resources. That's why this 'chalk' is really made out of used eggshells instead of real shells. You'll sometimes hear the students call this stuff 'chick' instead of 'chalk' for that reason."

"Really? These are made out of eggshells?" Syaoran said incredulously, looking at the white substance that rubbed off on his fingers.

"Yes," Yamazaki said, raising his index finger and looking very learned. "And to wipe the board every week, one must use a mixture of cooking oil and paint thinner to remove it. That's why we all have to wear masks and keep the room well-ventilated or we could die."

Syaoran nodded gravely. "The weekly chores at this school sound hard."

"Oh, well, you'll get used to the fumes after awhile," Yamazaki said. "Feeding the giant three-toed sloth in the school clock tower, on the other hand, takes some practice."

Syaoran nodded, feeling a bit more nervous as Yamazaki kept talking. He had no idea that going to school would require so much extra work. He would have to balance his time wisely between the school chores and watching Sakura.

He would've been a little more apprehensive about leaving Sakura alone had he not been able to see her out the window. She was sitting right where he had left her: by the oak tree with all her friends. This school was obviously a very dangerous place, what with all the giant monsters and poisonous fumes. No wonder she was destined to die so unexpectedly. He had his work cut out for him to keep her alive.

"Hello Eriol-kun," Yamazaki said, pulling Syaoran's attention back to the classroom. He was speaking to a very pale, sapphire-haired young man who had just entered the room. "I was just telling Reed-kun here about the giant three-toed sloth in the clock tower."

"Ah yes," Eriol said, smirking slightly. "I almost lost my arm to it just the other day. When he gets hungry, he gets greedy."

"You wouldn't be the first one to lose a limb," Yamazaki said casually.

Eriol approached Syaoran and extended a hand. "Hello Reed-kun. It's nice to meet you. I'm Eriol Hiiragizawa. I hope we can be friends."

"Yeah," Syaoran said, unsure of what to do with an outstretched hand like that. It must have been some foreign custom he wasn't aware of.

Eriol dropped his hand, still smiling warmly. "I'm sorry, your surname sounded English. Where did you say you came from?"

Syaoran didn't like the look Eriol had in his eyes. He looked friendly enough, but Syaoran felt as if he were being… analyzed.

The bell signaling the end of recess suddenly rang shrilly, giving Syaoran an easy way out of answering Eriol's question. Syaoran took a moment to watch Sakura from the window as she got up and headed back into the classroom. Her friends were still around her, so Syaoran felt like it would be safe to head back to his seat.

As he passed Eriol, the boy leaned close to Syaoran in a casual way, as if to grab something from the teacher's desk. Instead, he whispered something very faint in a mysterious and oddly resonate tone towards the table.

"Be careful around sunset."

Syaoran's head snapped back around to look at Eriol, but he was already heading back to his seat. The exchange had happened so quickly and subtly that Syaoran couldn't really be sure if Eriol had said anything at all. Maybe hearing things was a side effect of his transformation. As the classroom filled with noisy, hyper students, Syaoran became less and less sure that Eriol had really said something.

Regardless, Eriol was defiantly someone to watch carefully. He was exactly the kind of person who could cause Sakura the most trouble. Syaoran continued to stare at him as he took his seat. He hadn't noticed that Eriol sat right next to him the next row over. In fact, he hadn't noticed anyone else in the classroom besides Sakura. He resolved himself to become more observant. He couldn't really protect Sakura by staring at her and her alone. The plush toy said that Sakura's death would come from an outside source. It was important to take note of everything in her environment that could be deemed a hazard.

Syaoran wandered back to his desk and sank into it. This guardian thing was a lot harder than it seemed.

"What a day," Sakura said, walking beside Tomoyo as they left the school behind. She had her roller blades slung over her back. "I'm already exhausted."

"It seems you can't relax just yet either," Tomoyo said, an amused smile playing on her face. "He's right behind us."

Sakura cringed and turned casually, as if she were getting something out of her backpack. The Reed boy was indeed several paces behind them, although he wasn't staring directly at her any longer. Instead, his gaze was wildly flittering around, looking at everything but Sakura. This was probably the reason why she hadn't been able to tell he was there. His gaze seemed to burn holes into whatever it landed on.

"Do you think he's following us?" Sakura asked, sounding anxious.

Tomoyo put a finger to her chin. "It could be that he just lives in this direction as well."

Sakura nodded. Maybe any second now, he would turn off onto a side street…

"Syaoran Reed…" Tomoyo said slowly, as if analyzing every syllable. "It's a very strange name, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Sakura said. It didn't really matter what his name was as long as he stared like that.

"Sakura-chan, do you remember the card game we played at your house during the slumber party?" Tomoyo asked offhandedly.

Sakura cocked her head in confusion. Why was Tomoyo bringing this up?

"Of course I remember. I'm still looking for that one missing card," Sakura said.

"Syaora… n…" Tomoyo said quietly and slowly. "Hmmm… That's very interesting."

"Hoe?" Sakura said, completely confused. "Tomoyo-chan, what are you talking about?"

She took her finger from her chin and turned to Sakura, a smile beaming on her face. "Nothing, never mind. Have a safe trip home, Sakura-chan."

With that, she crossed the street toward her house, her lilac hair bobbing in time with her energetic step. She mumbled absentmindedly as she walked away. "I'll have to start bringing my camcorder to school, it seems."

"Wait Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura said, calling after her. "What do you mean by that?"

"See you tomorrow Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo said, grinning manically and waving.

Sakura sighed helplessly. Tomoyo was a very caring, wonderful friend, but she could be so weird sometimes.

Sakura was getting tired of people acting weird.

Syaoran refused to let Sakura out of his sight until she safely got into her house. It was officially her house now. From the outside, it looked completely foreign. Syaoran had a hard time believing that he had spent countless years wandering alone and forgotten in that house. Clow's words suddenly came back to him, resounding in his head.

"You have to ask yourself if it's worth it."

Syaoran continued down the sidewalk, not sure where he going. It didn't really matter, anyway. He just knew he didn't belong at this place anymore. It was… sad.

Syaoran frittered away the afternoon by wandering around town. Some of the locations, like the park with the giant penguin slide, seemed vaguely familiar, even though he had never been beyond the borders of his home.

He found that most animals were simply terrified of him. Dogs would growl viciously as he approached and birds would scatter from trees as he passed by. Cats seemed to be able to tolerate his presence, but they would eye him suspiciously and eventually leave the area. He figured that this was one of the side effects Clow had neglected to mention. He could only hope it was one of the only ones.

Syaoran eventually found himself wandering back to the park as the sun neared the horizon. He noticed a small nook under the penguin slide, so he crawled into it. Breathing a sigh of relief, Syaoran leaned up against the smooth, curving wall of his enclosure. He felt comfortable and at ease in small, cramped spaces. There was so much world out there that it made him feel dizzy. For a while, he was content simply to sit under the slide, watching the line of sunlight slowly drift down the wall.

Suddenly, however, Syaoran felt like a huge weight had lifted off him. At the same time, he fell backward through the wall he'd been leaning on and into the sand surrounding the slide. Confused, Syaoran stood up, passing through the slide as he did. He looked down at his hands and found they were half-transparent and fading away.

Syaoran looked up to the sky. It couldn't possibly be the next new moon already! Was this another side effect?

"You have violated the delicate process of life, death, and rebirth. For this, a sacrifice is required."

Syaoran whirled around to face the voice coming from behind him. The deep, menacing sound made him feel as if he should be anywhere but where he was.

A large, panther-like creature sat majestically before Syaoran, its tail twitching irritably back and forth. Giant, semi-transparent butterfly wings were unfurled on its back, which would've looked ridiculous had the creature not been giving off such a malicious air.

"You have willingly participated in a selfish act that threatens to breakdown the cycle of life as it now exists," the creature said gravely, its voice so deep that it seemed to shake the ground. "Such a violation will not be tolerated. A replacement must be found. A sacrifice must be made."

Syaoran was ready to ask just about a billion questions when the weight suddenly returned and his body became visible to him again. The creature faded from view.

By now, the pink of the sunset was rapidly giving away to the black nighttime sky. Syaoran wandered over to the penguin slide and gingerly laid his hand on the surface. His hand didn't pass through. He was solid again.

"Be careful around sunset."

Syaoran narrowed his eyes at the memory. Just who was this Eriol kid anyway? He obviously knew that at sunset something would happen. This must be another side effect. For some reason he would temporarily slip back into the metaphysical plane during sunsets.

The light of the moon melted most of Syaoran's anxiety away. There was only a sliver of it hanging in the sky, but it was enough to keep him from boiling over with frustration.

Yue and Clow had both mentioned a sacrifice, just as the panther-thing had. But Syaoran had nothing to give. What could the universe possibly want from him?

He hadn't meant to throw off the balance. He was just trying to save Sakura from an early, unscheduled death. Didn't that mean he was correcting the balance?

Apparently, someone didn't think so.