"The New Teacher"


Sakura stared at the front of the class, almost wishing this were a dream. None of it felt real. She could feel her palms sweating, though his eyes were not on her. Li Syaoran was the teacher everyone had been talking about. Li Syaoran. He was the 'hot' teacher that everyone was going on about.

She held her breath, fearing that he would notice her if she made a single move, even though she was in the back of the classroom. She counted over thirty students in the classroom, noting that the likelihood of him spotting her was very slim. She reasoned that if she brought no attention to herself from the far end of the class in the back, he would not even notice her.

Yeah, that would be best to do.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" Her ears registered Tomoyo asking, but her heart thundering in her chest drowned out everything around her.

She suddenly felt dizzy as her head spun in spirals until she realized she was still holding her breath. Releasing it, she turned in the direction where she felt a hand grip her shoulder. "I-I'm fine, Tomoyo," she whispered.

"Have you heard of him before?" she asked quietly.

Sakura looked to the front of the classroom at Syaoran to see the familiar hard glare on his face as he set his things on the desk and unzipped the brief case.

Sakura looked at her best friend and shook her head, not wanting to risk anything. She could already tell that he was going to act his usual self, so why add fuel to the fire if he found out that she had told someone about their current situation. "No, but I may have," she said quietly.

Tomoyo looked astonished at that answer. "Are you serious?" she whisper-yelled.

Sakura shriveled back from her friend's tone, feeling like she answered the question wrong.

"He's one of the most well-known businessmen in Asia, Sakura."

Sakura started to respond, but stopped the moment she heard a voice clearing its throat in the front of the classroom. Everyone's whispering came to a stop, attentions becoming undivided to the teacher.

Sakura looked everywhere but the front of the class, praying to every god out there that the man would not notice her. There was the sound of chalk writing on the board before she looked to the front to see that Syaoran was writing something on it.

Once he finished, he turned to the classroom, which was her cue to look down again. "My name is Li Syaoran. If it isn't clear by now, I'm going to be your teacher for the rest of the school year." His voice sounded as it did when Sakura first met him a month ago. Cold and distant.

She wanted to bang her head against something hard, already knowing that it was going to be a rough rest of the year with him. This was the personality she hated the most, even though it was him majority of the time.

There were more gasps and whispers in the class, which only confirmed her suspicions that everyone knew who he was. She was the only person who knew nothing about the man before meeting him.

Syaoran cleared his throat, silencing the classroom again. "I am not a difficult man, but I do expect a few things from you all," he said.

For some reason, Sakura knew what was coming.

"I expect you all to act according to your ages because this is not a class that should be taken lightly. It is an advanced course, but not impossible to make it through. You all will be treated as adults in this course, so I will not baby anyone here" he said sternly.

When Sakura heard the chalk on the board again, she looked to the front to see him writing something else down.

Respect.

Attention.

He picked up the ruler and pointed to the first word. "I expect you to show me respect, considering I am taking the time out of my day to enhance your knowledge. I will give you as much respect as you give me."

He waited to see how the class would react to his statement before he continued. "When I am speaking, I expect your attention to be on me only. You don't speak unless you're instructed to. If you can't show that you are ready to be adults, you will be terminated from the course."

Sakura swallowed, looking down at her desk nervously. She could not help but feel like she would be the example to show everyone. It was not like she thought herself to be immature, but she knew he criticized everything she did. It was like the man hated her.

She took a deep breath, and then released it silently. She could do this. He had not noticed her yet, so she thought, if she could keep her mouth shut for the rest of this year, he would not look in her direction.

A sheet of paper was placed on her desk, catching her off guard. When she looked up, she was relieved to see that the person in front of her had only given her a stack of papers. She looked at it questioningly until she noticed it was a syllabus. She took one and handed the stack to the person behind her.

"I want you all to read over the syllabus, and then I will go over it with you all in details."

Sakura flipped through the pages, taking note of what she could remember. In bold letters, there was his full name, his office number, and the hours that he would be available for.

It was a little surprising to see that he had his own office, considering he was not really a teacher here, she thought. He was a businessman with his own job, so it did not make much sense why he would teach as well. Unless he was like her chemistry teacher who did it on the side.

She shuddered at the unpleasant times she had with that teacher again, but quickly realized that Syaoran might just be like him. What confused her even more was the fact that he would take on an extra load of work when he barely even had time to spend with his son.

A loud chiming sound in her bag interrupted her thoughts, causing her to jump and grab her bag to turn it down when she noticed it was her phone. She took the phone out, turning the volume off before looking at the notification. She froze, eyes widening after reading the text.

'Pay attention.'

Sakura looked to the front of the classroom, only to see him looking down at something on the desk. She had been caught red-handed.

Kill. Me. Now.

Immediately, she put her phone away after switching it off with a blush on her face at the class attention.

"First warning, considering I did not touch on this topic. No phones out, and if you have them on you, they are to be turned completely off. If another incident like this happens again, I will dismiss you from the class early, and it will be your loss for any work that is missed."

Everyone in the classroom nodded, and gave him a 'yes sir.'

However, Sakura remained quiet and began to read through the rest of the syllabus quickly, embarrassed that she had to be the first example of some form of chastisement. She had predicted it would be her earlier.

She heard Syaoran stand from the chair at the desk with the papers in his hand. "Assuming that you all have had enough time reading through everything, I'm going to continue on with the class."

Sakura looked around to see everyone staring at him determined; fearfully even. Everyone seemed to be taking the man as serious as she had when she first met him. She paused, taking in the emotions that she felt right now. It was surprising to notice that fear was not one of those emotions.

She felt more astonished, above all else. He was not as frightening as he was the first time she met him for some reason. She knew him to be the same man, but perhaps she had grown used to it.

"My office hours are after this class and they end at 4:30. It isn't up for debate, as I do have a job that I must go to after this one. Don't think that you can show at my office at 4:29 because I will dismiss you," he said.

Sakura decided to look at the man, just to see if he was glaring at the class since that is what he usually did with her. She had another shock of her life when she saw he was not. He just had a stern look on his face that made people not want to argue with him.

From there, he read the course description, and then explained everything that they would learn in the class, and the book that was required. He broke down the grading scale, which things counted for more, and the basics.

"Are there any questions, so far?" he asked.

A few of the students asked a question or two, no doubts trying to come off as overly interested in the class, something Sakura noticed. She could not understand the hype about the man from her classmates. She knew he was attractive, but that certainly had not made her interested in him. Especially with how rude he had been in the beginning.

After Syaoran explained the learning outcome, he had dismissed class early, much to Sakura's relief.

When he dismissed them, he placed emphasis on it being a one-time thing, considering he did not come up with the lesson for the first day of class.

Sakura decided to wait for everyone to stand before she did so he would not notice her, though she knew that was impossible since he knew she was there.

"Sakura?" Tomoyo called, making Sakura stand taut from her ducking position.

Sakura turned to her best friend and forced a smile on her face. "Yes?"

She chuckled, giving Sakura a strange look. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Sakura could feel her cheeks warm, eyes looking around her nervously as she tried to come up with something to tell Tomoyo. "Uh…I don't want Li-sensei to notice me after my whole embarrassing accident with the phone," she said lamely, hoping her friend would not see through her lies.

Tomoyo shook her head with a smile on her face. "You're being silly, Sakura. He probably doesn't even know that it was your phone that went off."

Oh, but he does since he is the one who texted me!

Sakura's tight, forced smile widened if that were possible, as she shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe not, but can we just get out of here? Please?" she asked, grabbing her friend's arm to rush them to the area where everyone else had been.

Just when the door was right in front of them, Sakura heard the teacher clear his throat from across the room, stopping her in her escape. "Kinomoto."

Sakura closed her eyes, praying to any and everything out there that she had only imagined his voice calling her name.

"Kinomoto," he called in a sterner tone again.

"I guess he knew after all," Tomoyo murmured to her with a giggle.

Squeezing her eyes shut tighter, Sakura released her tight grip on Tomoyo's arm. "Just kill me now," she whispered to her.

Tomoyo smiled. "I'll wait for you outside by the school gate. Good luck," she said, slipping from Sakura's side.

Sakura took a deep breath, and then turned to him, hesitating for a moment before mentally kicking herself to walk over to his desk.

It felt like an eternity of him not speaking to her, until the last student finished buttering him up with compliments, and their excitement for the school year in this class.

Once the door automatically slid shut behind the student, Sakura could feel his burning eyes on her, though she did not look in his direction. She chose to stare at the papers on his desk, hoping they would come to life and save her from this torture.

"Sakura," he called softer than she expected him to.

She looked up, eyes wide from shock at his change in demeanor towards her. She mentally took note that it was personality 15; the nice one that rarely came to the surface. "What is it? If it's the phone situation, I'm sorry. I swear I didn't leave it on, on purpose, and I—" She stopped, cheeks growing unbearably hotter by the seconds with his eyes locked on her. She could not understand why she felt so embarrassed right now.

He did not say anything, but continued to stare at her, so her eyes averted from his, down to his lips. She was starting to get insufferably uncomfortable with the attention from him, especially with his silence.

Suddenly, he stood from the chair, making her breath catch in her throat as her eyes shifted back up to his before she jerked back a little, protectively.

"Did you…"

She took a deep, shaky breath, not expecting him to be this close to her suddenly. She could not even remember when he moved closer to her. Deciding to stand her ground, she raised a brow, waiting for him to continue, instead of scrambling to her best friend.

"You haven't told anyone about…?" he trailed off.

She continued to watch him, waiting for him to get out what he wanted to say.

"Living with me. Have you told anyone that you're under my care?" he asked.

She thought about it for a moment, wondering how he would react if she had told him that she had. She quickly realized she did not have the mental energy for that today, so she shook her head. "Of course not. Y—"

"Good," he interrupted as his eyes dropped down to something on her face.

She swallowed, throwing her hands behind her back nervously to hide their fidgeting. "Uh…can I…" She stopped, realizing what she was about to ask.

She recalled herself saying that she would not treat him as her guardian, so she planned to stick to that. Matter of fact, she did not even have to tell him what she was going to do today. She knew that she had to for Xing's sake though.

"A couple of friends wanted to hang out today, so…" she trailed off, looking elsewhere to avoid any judgment that he normally would throw her way. "I wasn't sure when Xing would be finished with school."

He stared at her for a moment before nodding his head. "Okay. Xing attends after school activities sometimes throughout the week, so Kenta will bring him home. You need to be home before six though," he said.

Sakura glanced at the clock on his desk to see that it was 3:02. She nodded, reasoning with herself that that was fair. "Okay."

"Who are they?" he asked suddenly, looking at her seriously.

Her brows scrunched together in confusion at the question. "What do you mean?"

"These friends you're associating yourself with."

"The same ones I was telling you about two weeks ago," she said, not having a problem with him knowing this. She just could not understand why he wanted to know.

He raised a brow. "And they are? Are they in this class?"

She nodded. "It's Tomoyo, Naoko, Rika, and Chiharu," she said, smiling at the thought of them actually being together finally.

He nodded, moving closer to her.

Her body stiffened at the sudden move and invasion of her privacy. She watched his hand move to her hair, gently grabbing a few strands of it. "Okay," he said, leaning down towards her face.

Her eyes widened, almost sure that he would kiss her, but his lips met her hair instead. "Be careful," he whispered.

Her eyes shot up to his that were staring at her intensely. Afraid that her vocal chords would not work, she just nodded slowly.

He released her hair, and moved away from her.

She let out the breath that she had been holding, quietly. "I'll see you later?" she asked, looking at him expectedly.

He looked away, face appearing as though he were deep in thought. "No. I won't be back until late tonight."

"Oh."

He reached his hand out towards her, making her raise a brow at the sudden move. "The phone. Let me see it," he demanded, rather than asking.

"Oh," she said, reaching into the bag to grab it out. She handed it to him.

He turned it on and pressed a few things on the screen. Sakura was tempted to lean over and look at what he was doing, but knew better than to. In fact, she knew she could since he had said it is her phone, but she decided she was not in the mood for a fight today.

"You keep it turned off in my class," he demanded sternly. "But, keep it turned on when I'm not around." He handed it back to her.

At a loss for words at his request, she just accepted it back and nodded mutely.

"You can leave," he dismissed.

Sakura took a deep breath and pulled the bag towards her side tightly, and then nodded. "Yes, sir— I mean, Syaoran," she said before almost rushing out of the classroom.

It could have just been her imagination, but she thought she might have heard him chuckle after closing the door behind her.


"Really?!" Chiharu exclaimed.

Chiharu had brown hair that was always pushed back into two low pony tails with light brown eyes. Sakura had met her in Elementary School. They had split up during middle school and halfway through high school until Chiharu and the others started attending school in Tokyo as well.

Sakura grinned, nodding her head. "Yes. It was so much fun! He bought us tickets, so we didn't have to wait in those long lines too," she said.

"You're really lucky, Sakura. I haven't even been out of the country before," Naoko said in awe.

Naoko had short, brown hair with brown eyes. Same as Chiharu, Sakura met her in Elementary school too. She remembered the days where Naoko had an obsession with telling scary stories to creep everyone out.

Rika nodded. "I didn't even know that you had a rich uncle! Is it on your dad or mom's side?"

Rika had short dark, chocolate hair that normally curled around her face with brown eyes.

Sakura laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of her head nervously. "I didn't either…" she murmured, looking away to avoid her lie being exposed. She thought about Syaoran for a moment, trying to rationalize which side he would most likely fit in with. "He's from my dad's side. He's uhh…a long distant uncle, I suppose. He's my dad's father brother." Syaoran was nothing like her father, but she thought that it would be more believable.

"Tell them about the cousin you were talking about, Sakura. He sounds so adorable, guys. I heard him over the phone the yesterday. He had a different accent than most Japanese," Tomoyo said.

Sakura smiled, thinking about Xing. He had run in her room when she was on the phone with Tomoyo yesterday and talked about everything he and his dad did on Saturday. She could not come up with anything, so she just ended up telling Tomoyo the little boy was her cousin.

She wondered when she had become such a good liar.

"You have a cousin!? I thought you didn't have any relatives on your dad's side!" Chiharu exclaimed, dropping her spoon of ice-cream.

"Yeah. He's a handful, but I love him already," she said truthfully. "I have to watch him when he gets out of his after school club activities at six, so I have to be back before then."

In all honesty, Sakura could barely wait to get home to see him. She knew he would probably tell her everything about his first day of school. She felt excited to know.

"You babysit?" Naoko asked.

Sakura shrugged nonchalantly. "Sometimes. My uncle's busy a lot since he owns his own businesses," she said.

"Speaking of people and businesses, what do you guys think about Li-sensei?" Tomoyo asked, grinning at the group.

"He's hot," Naoko said thoughtfully.

"Agreed. He seems like an asshole, though," Chiharu said, taking a scoop of her chocolate ice-cream to eat while looking thoughtful about her speculations of the man.

Sakura smiled, nodding her head. "He does give off that vibe," she said, hoping she sounded convincing enough. She did not need them suspecting anything, especially after he stressed enough to tell no one.

"Well, maybe he has his reasons for coming off that way. Nicer teachers do tend to get taken advantage of than assholes," Tomoyo tried reasoning.

Doubt it.

"That could be true. Terada-sensei was very kind, though, and no one took advantage of him," Rika said with a blush.

Sakura smiled at her knowingly. Rika had had a crush on their teacher when they were younger, and even went as far as confessing her love to him.

He had let her down so nicely that it seemed like he gave her the slightest bit of hope that they would be together one day.

Chiharu chuckled, shaking her head. "Well, I guess that just leaves him in the category as an asshole," she said.

Sakura smiled. "That sounds a little rude," she said in a playful tone.

"How was it, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked.

"How was what?" Sakura asked, confused by her best friend's sudden question.

"What did he say about your phone going off in class?" Tomoyo asked.

"Oh!" Sakura said, blushing in embarrassment. "Uhh..."

"Did you get punished with that ruler he had?" Chiharu asked in a mischievous tone, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Sakura almost melted into a puddle of mush at that question. "Chiharu!" she exclaimed.

Everyone laughed at her reaction, to her disappointment.

"Well, did he?" Naoko asked, wiggling her eyebrows playfully too.

Sakura bit her lip nervously before releasing it with an aggravated sigh at her friends teasing. "No! I can't believe you guys would even ask me that," she said the last part shyly.

"I don't know. He gives off the whole dominating vibe for some reason," Chiharu said, shrugging her shoulders.

"That's true. I mean, did you hear the things he told us? And the tone he used?" Naoko asked exasperatedly.

"Guys! Rika, do you hear this right now?" Sakura asked, turning to the only other shy person in the group.

Rika giggled, shaking her dark brown hair comically. "I know it's embarrassing, but they have a point," she said softly.

Sakura knew she did not need to think about Syaoran in situations like that, so she changed the subject. "Anyway, he only warned me not to let it happen again," she explained.

"Are you sure, Sakura? I mean, you were gone for quite a while for him just to say that," Tomoyo said, smiling at her mischievously.

"Do you mean after he used that ruler on you?" Chiharu chimed in before Sakura could respond.

"Guys!" Sakura whined, burying her face in her hand, embarrassed.

She could not understand why they were doing this to her. She had to go back to his home and live with him for the next couple of months. Certainly, she did not need them to keep giving her scenarios to imagine with him.

Everyone burst out laughing and continued their teasing and taunting for the rest of their time at the ice cream shop.

Once they finished, they went to the mall and walked around for a bit and bought a few things from the stores.


As soon as 5:30 hit, Sakura had decided to call it a day so she could get back in enough time before Xing did. They all walked her back to the train station, and then bid her goodbye once she got on.

When Sakura sat down in the train, she looked out the window with a grin on her face. She could barely contain this bubbling happiness in the bottom of her stomach at the thought of Xing being home. Sakura lingered on that thought, realizing what she had been thinking. When had their home become her home?

"I'm assuming things are going well since you look excited right now," Sakura heard a familiar voice she had not heard in a month.

She turned in the direction, surprised to see the last man she thought she would see standing in front of her. "M-Masamoto-kun!" she exclaimed.

He offered her a sad smile, glancing at the seat beside her, asking with his eyes if it would be alright to sit there. She nodded, sliding over for him to. "Where have you been, Sakura? I've been worried sick about you," he said, pulling her in a warm embrace.

Her heart warmed at the gesture as she returned the hug. "I've been…fine," she said into his jacket, mesmerized by the smell of home on the man.

He released her, pulling back so he could look her directly in the eyes. The look in his eyes told her he was serious and upset. "I'm being serious, Sakura. Do you know how many times I've phoned your apartment? And on top of that, I've been to your apartment complex several times and you've never been there. You don't understand how close I've been to reporting you missing," he explained, making her feel guilty the more he spoke. "You know what would have happened if I had done that, right? The—"

"Yes, yes, yes, I know, Masamoto-kun. I know…I just…I've had so much going on and…it just slipped my mind to—"

"Sakura, things like your well-being and you missing cannot just slip your mind when I am involved. You know how I feel about you from how much I've stuck my neck out for you. It should be clear that I care about you as if you were my own daughter. I don't think you can even come to understand how close I've…Sakura, where have you been?" he asked again, sounding frustrated with the entire conversation.

Sakura was suddenly at a loss of words to tell him. She knew she could not tell him that she had been taken in by some rich guy who wanted her to watch his kid. He would freak out and definitely turn her in. Masamoto was the closest thing to a father to her, so she knew he would react like any normal father would.

"I…am staying with an uncle," she tried the lie on him, though she knew it would not work on him.

"Bullshit. Don't even go there with me, Sakura. You can't try to lie to me when I was the one who went through the process of you not being put into the system. You don't know anyone on your father or mother's side, so where would this magical uncle have come from when we couldn't find any two years ago?" Masamoto asked, keeping his voice down so no one could hear their conversation.

She swallowed, fiddling with her bag now. She did not know what to tell him.

"Sakura—"

"He really is my uncle—"

"I want to meet this uncle of yours then. Give me his number so I can call him up right now and give him a piece of my mind since he wanted to hide at a time where you needed him most after your brother passed," he said infuriatingly.

Sakura frowned. "Please…I promise that I am safe and have a place to stay. I don't live at that apartment complex anymore because of an incident that happened with the landlord. He tried to force himself on me, but…I got away safe. After that, I found this babysitting job that pays well to take care of all the bills," she explained.

"Where do you live now then, Sakura? I need you to tell me answers, or else I will get the answers myself. You really don't want me to do that, because it will involve getting your school into this," he said.

"No!" she said immediately, knowing that would ruin everything. "It's…it's just complicated to explain because I can't and…can't you just trust me with this?" she asked weakly, hoping he would give in to her request.

She knew he cared for her too much to do that though.

"I really don't want to have to do this, Sakura. I really don't want the social workers to get involved again," Masamoto said in a gentle, threatening tone. Sakura knew exactly what he was trying to say though.

She had no choice but to tell him if she did not want to be snatched away from the broken family she currently lived with. Especially Xing.

"I'll give you my new number," she said, digging in her bag to grab out a sheet of paper and pen. She wrote her number down and handed it to him. "I babysit, so I have to get home before the kid. Can we schedule to meet up another time to talk about this?"

He accepted the paper from her, stuffing it in his pocket. "Are you actually going to get in contact with me? You know that I know that school has started, so I can easily get in contact with you. I don't want to have to chase you down," he said with a frown on his face.

She shook her head vigorously. "No, nothing like that. Just…give me a call and we'll discuss a time and place to meet up to talk things through," she said softly.

He stared at her face for a while, no doubts, looking for a lie he would not find. "Okay," he said.

Sakura had not been happier to see that it was her stop on the train. She stood from the seat, turning to him. "I promise I'm fine. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

The man looked at her worriedly before he nodded and bid her goodbye.


As soon as Sakura reached the house after walking the rest of the way from the bus stop, she almost ran the rest of the way home when she saw Kenta's car parked on the side of the rode.

"Sakura!" Xing exclaimed, running to her half way to give her a tight hug with his little arms.

Sakura held onto him tightly, picking him up so she could walk them back to the house. Kenta was outside of the car with a warm smile on his face. "Hey, Kenta-san," she said, smiling at him.

"Did you walk home?" he asked, looking at her a little worried.

She shook her head, waving a hand for him not to worry. "Of course not. I caught the train and bus," she explained.

He looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded his head. "How was school for you?" he asked instead of voicing his thoughts.

"It was great. I got to see all of my friends," she said.

He chuckled, nodding his head. "I'm glad you enjoyed your day then," he said kindly.

Xing unburied his face from her neck and looked at her. "I missed you so much!" he yelled in her face.

Sakura giggled, ruffling his hair before she sat him down on his feet. He held on to her tightly. "No! I don't want you to put me down yet," he whined.

"Come on, Xing. We need to go inside," she said, prying his little arms away.

"Aww…" he said disappointed.

She ruffled his hair again and the pout left his face with a giggle. He grabbed her hand, holding on to it tightly. "I have so much to tell you! I told Ken-kun everything, didn't I?" Xing said, turning to Kenta.

He chuckled, nodding his head. "You sure did, buddy."

"Would you like to come inside?" Sakura offered Kenta.

He smiled at her kindly. "I would be more than happy to, but I have to get back to the office to give some paperwork to Xiao Lang."

"Oh…" she said a little disappointed. "Alright. Maybe next time then."

He nodded and ruffled Xing's hair before he bid them goodbye.

Sakura reached into her bag, grabbing out the key that Syaoran had given her yesterday before they left. Once they settled into the house, Xing told her everything he did at school, from his arrival to his departure.

"So, you made a new friend?" she asked, wrapping her arms around him as they cuddled on the couch.

"I made lots of friends! There's Amai, Tenshi, Sora, and…" He stopped, looking deep in thought. "I think that's all, but they're my bestest friends in the whole world! They played with me all day on the playground, we shared our things, and we, we, we—"

"Xing, breathe," she said, rubbing his back when she noticed his face pale from the lack of oxygen.

He took a deep breath and then exhaled it. He giggled. "It was just so awesome! I can't wait to go back!" he exclaimed.

Sakura giggled, just happy that he was happy right now. "I'm sure you can't. You want to tell me what you learned today?" she asked, smiling at him.

"Well, we learned some of the alphabets, but I already knew them all, so I got a star! Isn't that awesome!?" he exclaimed, holding on to her tighter.

"Yes, it is. I'm so proud of you," she said, excited for him.

"Do you think Daddy will be proud too when I tell him?" he asked, grinning at her.

Her smile softened, and she nodded. "I know he will," she said softly.

"Maybe I can tell him when he gets home!"

"I don't know, Xing. You'll have to go to bed early since you have school tomorrow," she said, hoping to shift the conversation away from his father.

"But, Daddy would want to hear about my day too," he said, smiling.

"He would, but he would also want you to get your rest so you can have another great day tomorrow," she said encouragingly.

His smile faltered for a minute before a sad smile formed on his lips. "That's true…maybe I can tell him in the morning when he takes me to school?" he said questioningly.

She kissed his cheek to brighten his mood. "Of course. He's just as excited to hear about it as you are about telling him."

His smile turned into a grin and he nodded his head with a blush tainting his cheeks. "You're right!"

His stomach grumbled, catching them both off guard. His blush darkened as he looked down sheepishly. "I guess I'm hungry, huh?"

She released him. "Yes, you are. How about we go and warm up the food Ms. Hana cooked and feed our stomachs? I'm hungry too," she said.

He nodded and hopped off the couch, running to the kitchen. She giggled, following him to warm the food up.


Sakura hummed, walking to the living room after they had finished eating dinner. She had heard her phone ringing. She grabbed the phone off the entertainment set and looked at the caller id. She stared at the caller ID for a few moments, trying to gauge if this was a dream or reality.

She swiped it across. "Hello…?" she answered uncertainly.

The man on the other end of the line let out an exasperated sigh. "Do you not know the purpose of a phone?" Syaoran asked, irritated in the phone.

She frowned, brows scrunching together in confusion. She wondered what had his panties in a knot. "What's wrong?" she asked, tone laced with confusion.

"I sent you a text earlier, asking if you got home," he said, annoyed.

She pulled the phone back from her ear to see something on the top of the notification bar. "I'm sorry…I've been with Xing since I got home," she said sheepishly, seeing he had texted her around five.

He sighed again, still sounding annoyed. "I expect you to answer me when I contact you in any kind of way," he said.

Her frown deepened, irritation growing towards him and his attitude. It was not like she had ignored him on purpose, so she did not understand why he was letting himself get all worked up about this. Besides, she owed him nothing; especially when he agreed that she did not have to inform him of her whereabouts 24/7.

"Well, I'm sorry, okay? I'm home if that makes you feel any better," she said in a tone similar to his.

"Excuse me?" he said, sounding offended she had used a similar tone to his own. If he did not like her using the tone, then she could not understand why he would use the tone with her.

"I didn't ignore you on purpose," she said in a calmer tone instead. "I don't appreciate you reprimanding me for things I have no control over."

"You have control over answering a text I send," he said in a reasoning tone.

Sakura had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down before she said something she might regret. "Syaoran, I'm sorry I didn't respond to your text," she said, deciding to be the bigger person. She could not believe the man acting like he were her boyfriend.

"I hope that it doesn't happen again," he said in a dangerously low tone.

She was tempted to ask, 'and if it does?' but caught herself, remembering the conversation between Chiharu and the others. She pushed the thought of the comment and ruler to the back of her head, not wanting to test him with that.

"Sakura!" Xing yelled from the kitchen.

She sighed, mentally exhausted from the ridiculous conversation. "I have to go."

"Was that Xing?" he asked, tone changing immediately.

"Yes…we were eating dinner before you called," she said.

"Are you guys finished?"

"Yes, but—"

"Could you give the phone to him?" he asked.

"Of course. Give me a minute," she said, already rushing to the kitchen where he was.

Xing looked at her curiously as she handed him the phone. "It's your dad," she said.

He gasped dramatically, almost snatching the phone out of her hand. "Daddy?" he called, placing the phone against his ear.

A wide smile spread across his face, warming her heart at the sight. Nothing could ever make her stay in a sour mood when Xing was around.

She left to give them some privacy on the phone.


Xing yawned, laying his head on Sakura's shoulder as they watched the tv after the phone call. "I'm getting tired, Sakura," he said tiredly.

Sakura glanced at the clock to see that it was eight o' clock. "How about we take you a bath, read a bed time story, and put you down for bed?" she suggested.

He smiled, nodding his head. "Daddy isn't going to come home tonight, so can I sleep with you?" he asked shyly.

"Of course. Come on," she said, picking him up to bring him to the bathroom.

Sakura ran water, and then bathed him as soon as the water finished. Once she tucked him into bed, she read a story to him. Before she had even finished the book, he was already asleep, cuddling up to her.

Looking down at him, she smiled, caressing his hair gently. She felt relieved to know that he had a good first day. Also, she had, too. Though it was shocking to see who the new teacher was, everything else was still great.

She felt relieved to know that she would not have anything to stress about besides math. It had never been her strong subject, so she could only hope she made it through it in the end.

She closed her eyes with her arms wrapped around Xing, hoping she could fall asleep with him, but found she could not.

As soon as sleep almost overtook her hours later, she heard the front door opening. For a moment, she thought about letting herself sleep, but changed her mind at the last minute. She pried Xing's hands from her body with a little struggle, and then left the room. She left the door cracked open just in case he woke up at any time. She went to the kitchen, expecting the man to be there like he normally would be.

And there he stood, facing the microwave. Clearing her throat to get his attention, she was surprised when he flinched, turning to her immediately.

"Hi," she said quietly.

He sighed, turning back to the microwave to stare at his food. "What are you doing awake?" he asked coldly.

She frowned. "I wanted to see and talk to you about something," she said softly.

"Why?" he asked, raising his voice a little at her.

"Because, I—"

"It doesn't matter. Just, go get some rest," he said.

Confused by his sudden change of behavior, she huffed quietly. "Did I do something to you for you not to like me so much?" she asked, walking further in the kitchen.

She was fed up with his attitude. She did not even know why she was trying to reason with the unreasonable man. He was always all over the place. One minute he was warm and the next he was hot, and the next cold. Or lukewarm. It was becoming too much to even cohabitate with the man.

Her question was met with silence.

When she realized he would not talk, she let out an exasperated sigh. "Syao—"

"Just stop talking, okay?" he said harshly. "You never fucking stop and it drives me mad."

Her jaw clenched as she tried her best not to bite back a harsh response. "If this is about our earlier conversation on the phone, I said I didn't ignore your text," she said, ignoring his demand about her being silent.

He sighed, opening the microwave to grab his plate out of it. "Goodnight, Sakura," he dismissed, walking over to the table to sit his plate on it. He sat in the chair in front of it.

Stubbornly, Sakura walked further in the kitchen, sitting in the chair beside him.

His breath caught in his throat at her close proximity, eyes looking at her, shocked. "W-what the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

He did not move away, though.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what I did that has you upset; why you don't like me," she said, folding her arms stubbornly. She could not even tell herself what had gotten into her. It was not like it mattered if he liked her or not.

He sighed, picking his chopsticks up to eat his food, pretending she was not there.

The man made her want to pull her hair out in frustration. Why did he keep doing this? She had never been a violent girl, but the level of irritation this man brought in her life made her rethink that.

"Is this about the kiss?" she asked without thinking twice about it. "Because if it is, it was your idea. You suggested the kiss, so you can't be upset with me about it."

He froze, turning in her direction, glaring at her with so much hatred in his eyes that it made her shrink back a little in fear. "Why must you bring up such troubling issues?" he asked coldly.

She frowned. "Fine. Forget you and your twenty personalities while I go and tell Masamoto-kun that I'm living here because he's concerned about me," she said angrily.

"Masamoto? Who the hell is that?" he asked defensively, dropping his chopsticks loudly.

"Someone who cares about me more than anyone else has in a long time, and yet here you are, making things that much more difficult for me because you don't know how to communicate or show any emotions," she said. Everything was coming up like word vomit. She could barely control herself at this point.

"Well, if he cares about you so much, why hasn't he been here for you the way I have? Have I not given you a place to stay? Food to eat? Money? Where the hell was he when your landlord nearly took advantage of you?" he asked angrily, abandoning his food.

"He hasn't been here by my own choice. He's the one who's been here for me the most since Touya passed. Just because you've given me all these things because I'm watching your kid, does not mean that you've treated me nicely. You haven't made me feel welcomed once since I've been here. I don't even know why you don't like me yet keep me here and it's so frustrating being around you sometimes," she rambled, feeling her emotions get the best of her.

"Sak—"

"I have to tell him where I am…who I'm staying with or I'll end up in the system. And I'm not letting that happen—I can't let that happen," she said, not letting her eyes look in his direction.

"Well, fine, go stay with this fucking Masamoto then since he cares about you so much," he said, tone void of any emotions. She could tell he was angry at that though.

"Is that a threat?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Are you telling me that you're going to tell him who you're staying with?" he asked, instead of answering.

"I'm going to do what I have to do," she said, standing from the table. She did not want to break down in front of him. He was the last person she wanted to see her like that. "I can pack my bags tonight—"

"Stop," he said firmly, grabbing her wrist tightly.

She froze at the sudden contact from the man. She had not expected him to react so fast.

"Is it always going to be like this? You just up and try to leave?" he asked incredulously.

"He's worried about—"

"And you don't think I will be?" he blurted, sounding angry at his own statement.

She fell silent at that. Now she was really confused. His other personality was coming to the front, it seemed. She wanted to scream at him for confusing her so much. She could not even understand why she was sticking around.

She took a deep breath, gathering her emotions to calm herself. "Masamoto is my old boss…he's…been like a father since I moved to Tokyo. He offered me a job two years ago and…pretty much looked out for me to make sure I was good on money and food so that I wouldn't be put in the system. He really looked out for me and worked with the social workers to make sure I was okay and…he also offered me a lot of emotional support when my brother passed…but I got laid off from that job because they weren't getting as much business so…he has all the power to make or break me right now and…he's worried about me. He's the closest thing I've had to a father since mine passed and I just don't want him to worry about me…" she explained calmly, hoping he would see from her perspective.

His grip loosened on her wrist, but he did not release her still. "Okay," he said quietly. "You're going to stay here. I'll handle it," Syaoran said softly.

"Y-you'll handle it? How?" she asked hesitantly, looking at him worriedly now.

"Do you have his number?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Give it to me. I'll have a talk with him."

Sakura thought about it for a moment, not sure if she should give the man information away. "He…wants to meet with me sometime later this week," she said instead.

"Alone?" Syaoran asked.

She shook her head vigorously, hearing the insinuation in his tone. "It's not like that at all. He's more like a father to me than anything else. He really is just worried about me…" she explained, hoping he would back off that idea.

"I'll come with you."

"What?"

"I will come with you to meet him. I'll do the informing," he repeated.

She frowned at that, but decided to lay off it. She did not feel like convincing him to change his mind. "Okay."

She tried to pull her wrist from him, but he held on a little tighter. "And…I don't dislike you," he said a lot softer than he had been speaking to her all night.

He released her, much to her relief. She had enough of the man for the night. She already had to see him at school tomorrow too.

"Okay…goodnight, Syaoran," she said, walking out of the kitchen.

She really hoped rest would make things better.


A/N: Thank you guys for the reviews and support! I don't know if I will be able to get another chapter out this week because I have a lot of work to do this week. Everything piled up at once, so that's great. I'll try to find down time, but I can't promise anything yet _ sorry!

Uhhh, I've actually been doing school work and editing this chapter in between all day lol. Soo, what'd you guys think of this chapter? If I'm remembering correctly, the next chapter is in Syaoran's pov, so you guys will definitely get more of a glimpse of what he had going on this chapter :P.

I'm going to get some rest because I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.

Ja ne!