After
reading this you will all probably want to kill me, but just remember
to be grateful that I posted two chapters in one day! Read and review
please!
Chapter 7: Too Much for Me?
Weeks passed as Syaoran and Sakura put all their effort into turning the school musical into a success. Eriol grew increasingly bad-tempered as the dress rehearsal day loomed closer, and Ami made sure no one noticed she was quitting the drama club bit by bit. The rest of the cast practiced until they knew each other's lines by heart, the props people started smelling permanently like paint, and everyone else tried to do their work without getting yelled at.
As for the Prince-with-Syaoran's-hair, Syaoran still didn't know his first name; everyone called him Mizuno-kun and no one bothered to get friendly. There was just something about the guy that made people stay back, like the way he stared at Sakura.
"I don't know, is it the scary eyes?" Sakura asked.
They were walking to the last practice before the dress rehearsal. Syaoran laughed. "What scary eyes?"
"His eyes are blue."
"So? My eyes are brown." He watched her look up to check, and grinned back.
"No, I mean… light blue. Very pale blue. It's almost as if he has white eyes." She shuddered and then pushed open the auditorium door, the two of them stepping forward into complete chaos.
Eriol was perched on top of a chair, fastening an emergency light with masking tape and yelling at someone below him. Syaoran walked up to him, trying not to look amused. "What's up, Eri-san?"
"Something happened to the electricity in here," the director replied, words muffled by the roll of masking tape in his mouth. "We have to put emergency lights up everywhere."
"Oh." He looked around. "But no one else is putting anything up."
Eriol spat out the tape. "That's because they're all happy with working in the dark, and I'm not." He climbed down and then smiled. Syaoran turned to see Meiling come into the auditorium, giving Sakura a piece of candy and eating the last one right in front of Syaoran.
"So what's up?" she asked.
"Where's Tomoyo? ...And why are you here anyway?" Syaoran stuck his hand in her pocket, but there was no more candy and Meiling only laughed at him.
"Tomoyo's coming. She stopped by the bathroom." With that she made her way backstage to talk to some friends, and Syaoran turned to Sakura.
"Are you going to practice or what?"
She was looking down at her nails. "Umm… I don't know. I have most of it perfect already."
Syaoran cocked his head to one side. "So? You still sing your songs over and over again, even when there aren't any mistakes."
"I know, but we're doing the tower scene again," she spat out. "And that Mizuno guy freaks me out."
"Ohh, him," Syaoran said, faking a grin. "Why avoid your new boyfriend?" He ducked when she took a swipe at him, laughing as usual, but he decided to go and talk to the rest of the drama club first. Thinking about Sakura and Mizuno together always gave him a funny feeling in his chest.
"Syaoran-kun!"
Tomoyo ran in, face flushed with what seemed like excitement. She got to him and then for some strange reason looked around quickly before retreating into the most shadowy part of the auditorium to talk to him.
"Eh… umm… is Hiirigaziwa-kun anywhere around here?"
"Eriol?" Syaoran asked, a little surprised. He jerked a thumb behind him. "Yeah, he's backstage."
Tomoyo breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay." She looked around nervously again, and then went to help some of the props people. Syaoran stared after her confused—was she avoiding Eriol? He hadn't even known they were friends. Shrugging and moving closer to the stage, he decided to watch them practice the tower scene, even if it meant seeing Sakura and Mizuno so near each other.
"Give up, boy!"
For the real performance they had a hideous papier-mâché dragon that the Prince would battle with, but right now the evil fairy's actress stood in the middle of the stage instead, looking a little pathetic even if she was pointing an imaginary claw at Mizuno's throat.
"Never," the Prince cried nobly, and Syaoran forced himself to watch the stupid battle scene. (They couldn't do it properly without the dragon.) Once Maleficent was finally dead, the Prince climbed up the 'tower steps' (a construction ladder covered with stapled grey paper) into the round room, where Princess Aurora lay in her magical sleep. For this the props crew made the stairs lead off stage, so they'd darken the auditorium and switch furniture to make the tower room into the next scene.
For now they rushed around moving Sakura's bed into the middle of the stage. Syaoran waited and then grinned from the audience as she ran irritably into the scene, fixing her tiara before lying down against the pillows and closing her eyes. The Prince came into the room, his face melting into joy with just the right amount of sappiness. Syaoran groaned.
"Sakura, stop scratching your arm! You're supposed to be asleep!" someone said
He hid his laughter as Sakura sat up abruptly and yelled something. Eriol shook his head, and they started again.
Mizuno ran onstage, breaking into a relieved and triumphant smile when he saw Sakura. He crossed the room and knelt beside her bed, suddenly looking disappointed when he saw she was asleep. Syaoran had to admit that he had a gift for expressions.
"Fair Aurora, I have come..! What? She sleeps? I am too late, then!"
He let his head fall onto his arms, clutching one of Sakura's hands as he said some other things about despair and failure. Syaoran wasn't listening. He glared fiercely at Mizuno-kun's hand as if that would make it let go of hers.
The Prince wept, and then stony resolute seemed to blank his face. He slowly stood, looking adoringly at the sleeping Aurora.
"Alas, I have failed. She is gone. Yet here she sleeps, unreachable by all," he said loudly, starting to bend over. Syaoran tapped his fingers on the armrest.
"…Let me steal one kiss from thee…"
Syaoran checked his watch as the Prince closed his own eyes and bent over Sakura. Finally it was too much. He leaped to his feet and ran up the steps backstage to watch from the left. It was the only way he could see if Mizuno really kissed her or not once the curtains fell to change scene.
"…my dear Aurora."
Syaoran's eyes narrowed.
Mizuno bent down, his face inches away from Sakura's, and the curtains swung shut on the tower scene as the music started and a computer projected some images on a giant screen. Briars and brambles twisted themselves away from the castle, turning back into flowers, and the guests rose from the ballroom floor, rubbing sleep from their eyes.
Behind the curtain, Mizuno put his hand on Sakura's shoulder…
…and let his lips brush past her right ear instead, murmuring just three words.
"…Maybe next time."
Syaoran heard them well, and he glared openly at the Prince as the two of them got up to do the final scene. Sakura rubbed the right side of her face until it was red—or was that a blush? She put up a smile as soon as the curtain revealed the two of them, and played the part of the joyful bride, but Syaoran could see she was mad. Hopping mad.
That made him feel a lot better, actually.
----------------------------------------------------
"I swear, whoever said that Mizuno guy is, and I quote, 'a quiet and thoughtful boy', must be out of his mind!"
Syaoran ranted with wild hand gestures in the air, walking backwards in front of Sakura as the two of them headed up the street. She wasn't as angry as he would have liked, but right now the old Kinomoto was coming back. Syaoran watched her carefully as she walked with her books hugged to her chest, saying little or nothing instead of getting annoyed at him. He'd have liked the latter a lot more.
"I mean, Eriol already said he didn't have to kiss you, okay, he doesn't, but he goes and whispers something. Sneaky-sneaky. What kind of sicko…" He trailed off as he realized she wasn't really listening to him.
Sakura looked up. "Go on…?"
"No, you don't want to hear it," Syaoran muttered. It was a good thing he'd stopped. If he'd gone on insulting the guy, it would be hopelessly obvious that he was jealous.
"Mm." She nodded slowly and they continued walking, in complete silence this time. It was like the first day they'd met all over again.
The two of them reached her house. Syaoran stood by the gate as Sakura started walking up the path to her door without a backward glance. Then, just before he turned to go, her shoulders seemed to crumple and she looked at him over her shoulder, a smile on her face.
"You really are jealous, aren't you?"
Syaoran stared at her. He'd been expecting something like 'thank you', or 'it's you I want and not him', but not that. "Jealous? Me?" he said too loudly. "Why would I be jealous? I just have to make sure no creeps get to my best friend."
Sakura kept looking at him, and slowly raised an eyebrow.
"See you tomorrow. Don't forget your costume." He spun and stomped off to his own house, mentally kicking himself many times.
Why do I have to be
so touchy about this?
If it were Meiling I would have told her to slap the guy or something. But with Sakura all I can think about is… is… her letting him do it.
I'm going soft. Girls are a waste of time and I always thought I could make them do anything. It's as if Kinomoto Sakura is too much for me.
A faint flicker of a smile crossed his face.
Well, it's not really her. It's the whole package that comes with her.
Syaoran let himself into his house and closed the door. A few unfinished props were scattered around his living room, since the props crew had gone to his house a few days ago to work on some of their things.
He slowly stared around the empty room, and then leaned against the wall.
This is all too much for me.
------------------------------------------------
The next day Syaoran walked into the auditorium and stared in disbelief. Everything was, for once in all the weeks he'd spent here, clean. The floors were swept and there wasn't any trash between the seats. The stage had been waxed until he could see his reflection on it.
"Anybody home?" he called. There was no one in the audience, but when he pushed open the backstage door a wave of shouts and shoving greeted him. Syaoran closed the door behind him and let himself be pushed around by the others as he went to talk to Eriol.
"Hey, Eriol."
"I said, move the props for the first scene here! No, not first team, first scene! What!" he asked suddenly, looking down at Syaoran.
"Oh, um… why is everyone so nervous?"
"Why? Why!" Eriol drew himself up to his full height. "Well today is the dress rehearsal, Li. Not only will a few teachers and students watch and evaluate, but also this will be our first time to all practice in costume. Do you know how many people trip over ballgowns!"
"Oh. Okay. Sorry then." Syaoran edged away from the director. Eriol was getting more and more stressed by the minute.
"Syaoran-kun! Finally!" Sakura's arm reached out and pulled him to one of the dress-up corners. She was putting on her dress. "Could you just check the sash please?"
She turned to face her back to him, and Syaoran let his eyes trail from her bare shoulders to her slim waist. It was like seeing a fairytale princess step out of a book. "It's fine," he said shortly, smiling at her. "But why are you wearing it now? Aren't you supposed to be the forest girl first?"
Sakura grinned back. "Oh, the props crew did something special to this dress. It's more convenient than changing." Reaching down, she took hold of one of the layers of her skirt and pulled on something. Instantly the gown shrank a little, letting her put on a simple everyday dress on top of it.
"Great," Syaoran said unenthusiastically. "So, when's it starting…?"
She put a finger to her lips—Shh—and Syaoran listened carefully. Outside, the theme music began. He peeked out from behind the curtains and saw a handful of teachers and students sitting in the audience.
"Crap!"
"What?"
"Oh, one of my old enemies came to watch." Actually, one of his ex-girlfriends.
Sakura let the subject drop and stood in a corner of the room, shifting her weight from foot to foot as the first few cast members tromped onstage.
"Syaoran?"
"Yeah?"
"My birthday's the same day as the musical."
He turned and grinned at her. "Really? What are you going to do for it?"
"Nothing, actually," she said. Her voice was very nervous. "I thought of just staying home with maybe just you and Tomoyo and Meiling. We could watch a DVD and stuff."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Syaoran, I'm scared."
"I know."
"What am I going to do?"
He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You're going to show them how good you really are. And don't say, 'Syaoran-kun, you're touching me again.'"
She laughed, but he looked down and saw her hands shaking.
"You're really that scared, huh?"
She nodded. "I can't make them stop."
He reached out and then hesitated, but then made himself go on. One hand came to rest on Sakura's, just there to stop it from shaking. It worked, and technically he wasn't really holding it, but it still made him feel a bit embarrassed. Syaoran drew back his hand.
"No, I need it," she said quickly.
He looked up at her, but she was staring distractedly at the stage, and he realized she couldn't really feel anything anyway, not right now. So he pressed her fingers down to keep them from shaking, and they stood that way for a while.
-
"That's right, princess. Closer, come closer!"
Syaoran watched from stage left as Sakura walked up to the spinning wheel as if in a trance. She was good. Maleficent, disguised as an old woman, started singing one of the songs they'd added in, and he saw Sakura reach out to prick the spindle. As the song ended and she slumped backwards into a bed, some applause came from the audience. They liked Sakura's acting too.
In the next scene, every single guest and royalty in the castle fell asleep. A few scenes later Mizuno battled the dragon, with every single member of the drama club crossing his or her fingers in hopes that the papier-mâché wouldn't fall apart. The end of its tail broke off, but otherwise it stayed intact and Eriol sighed with relief.
Then next came the Tower Scene.
Syaoran told himself that he wouldn't be jealous, that he wouldn't even watch, but everyone's eyes were drawn irresistibly to the 'happy ending'. Still watching from behind the curtains, he saw Sakura's sleep-smile falter just a bit and he knew she was getting nervous about it too.
"…My dear Aurora!"
Both Syaoran and Sakura tensed—Syaoran readying himself to throw anything potentially damaging at the guy, Sakura readying herself to get up and punch him in the face—but neither of them expected what came next.
Before the curtains could close, before Syaoran could kick him between his legs, and before Sakura could peek and see it coming, the Prince leaned down and, in one swift motion, kissed her full on the lips.
The (small) audience gasped.
The curtain closed on them.
Syaoran froze.
Sakura opened her eyes and pulled away quickly.
The Prince grinned, straightened up, and went on to get ready for the next scene.
No one really understood why during curtain call the Princess seemed to have tears in her eyes and the Assistant Director never showed up, but somewhere in the world two people were very, very unhappy.
------------------------------
Walking home in silence, again.
Syaoran stared blankly down at his feet, for once too stunned to say anything. Sakura walked beside him, chin held up though her face was unusually pale.
And neither of them said anything. That is, until they got to Sakura's gate.
She opened it, walked in, closed it behind her, and then leaned against the gate. She looked up at him and said, "I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for?"
"For being all grouchy on you again."
"Well, I…" Syaoran looked down. They both knew very well she wasn't apologizing about being 'grouchy'. "I'm the Assistant Director. I have to take care of everyone. I should have done something… when he… did it."
"But it's not your fault!" Sakura choked out. "I mean, I should have seen it coming. I should have opened my eyes and slapped him in the face."
"Oh. No, it's okay, it's nothing." He looked away and started up the road. He didn't feel like talking about this, especially because he'd just seen it happen and he hadn't done anything.
"So you don't care!" Her voice was angry now, but he didn't turn back.
He sighed instead. "I do care, Sakura. It's just… it's not me who was kissed, right? You're mad and I understand that, but it's not my business."
"That's a pile of crap and you know it," she shot back. "Why can't you just admit for once that you have feelings? Why do you always have to be the bigshot popular cool kid? Why can't you just admit you were jealous!"
"All right already!" He turned and was back at her gate in four big steps. "Let's say I'm jealous. Let's say I'm mad! Let's say I'm in the mood to beat someone up right now! What difference does it make!"
She was crying now, and he wasn't surprised—she'd been holding in angry tears since the curtain call. "Of course it makes a difference!"
"No, it doesn't, because nobody cares about my feelings anyway!" he shot back. It was a stupid argument, but he had nothing else to say.
"Oh, and so you're Mr. Sensitive now! You don't even notice when I'm crying on the phone," she whispered savagely.
"Why the hell would you cry on the phone!"
"See! That proves you don't listen! You don't care! You don't care about anything; I bet you don't even remember how sad I was when I told you my family wasn't coming home for my birthday!"
"Well I'm always supposed to be the cheerful one, the happy one, the carefree one! Can't I be jealous too without my friend jumping on me for it!" This was stupid. This was stupid, and they'd regret fighting, but he still wanted to do it. He'd wanted to yell for the longest time.
"All right, let's say you're jealous." She was breathing hard, and Syaoran noticed that she was too mad to cry now. "Let's say you're jealous! Why the hell would you be jealous anyway, Syaoran-kun!"
"Because!" he shouted as loud as he could, and then he stopped and leaned heavily on her gate, just breathing. "Because…"
He looked up at the same time that she did, and her eyes caught and held his. Syaoran straightened and Sakura stepped forward, the two of them standing as near to the opposite sides of the gate as possible.
This is it, I guess.
"It was my first kiss," she breathed, so soft that he had to strain to hear it.
"I care about that, too," he said. And then it happened. Time stopped and everything became a whirl of color except for the two of them, tightly gripping the gate with their hands because it was the only thing they could hold on to.
Syaoran bent to complete the picture, and just before their lips could touch he opened his eyes and looked at her, really looked at her.
Traces of tears were still fresh on her cheeks, and her eyes were gently shut, face tilted upward just a little for what was to come. He watched her. She noticed that he was taking a little long, and smiled expectantly, patiently, innocently.
And he realized that he couldn't do it.
With that thought the colors stopped spinning and Syaoran stepped away from the gate as if it had burned him.
Not here, not now. Not yet.
Sakura's eyes opened and he caught a glimpse of them—startled, disappointed, sad—before he turned and ran.
…Too much for me…
I'm going to... hide from you now. Ja ne!
