"The Full Truth"


Sakura stared at her best friend, immobilized from shock at the girl standing in front of them with a questioning look on her face. She had feared this happening over and over in her head a million times already. She had not wanted her best friend to find out this way. She had wanted to tell her herself, but now…

Her fingers tightened around the ice cream cone in her hand slightly, but not enough to crush it. "T-Tomoyo—"

"Would you like to join us? I ran into Kinomoto on the way here, while taking my son Xing out for ice cream," Syaoran interrupted Sakura before she could explain anything.

At hearing his explanation for her being here with them, Sakura could feel the heat of anger rise in her chest. First, the altercation with Masamoto and now this too, Sakura mused mentally. There was only so much she could take before she broke. She had let him off easily about the Masamoto situation, but she refused to let him off easy with lying to her best friend and taking away her voice again.

Tomoyo looked at Xing who was sitting in the chair, licking his ice cream. A warm smile formed on her lips before she nodded. "If I'm not intruding," she said kindly.

"Of course not. Here, take this and go get some ice cream," Syaoran said casually, handing her money.

"Oh, that's not necessary, Li-sensei—"

"I'm insisting," he said, pushing the money towards her. "Please."

"Well...alright," Tomoyo said, taking the money from him.

The moment she left, Sakura turned to Syaoran with a glare on her face. "Do you take her for an idiot? Do you still expect me to hide this from her like she won't know?" she hissed, forgetting about their surroundings.

He looked at her, visibly showing his surprise. "Excuse me?" he asked, sounding offended.

"She's my best friend, Syaoran. She's seen us together, in public. She's going to know—she can see straight through my lies. She's going to have questions, she's going to know, and she's going to—"

"And you're not going to say a word to her about this," he said sternly, interrupting her rant.

Her eyes widened, looking at him incredulously. "Are you seri—"

"Yes, I'm serious. You're not going to say anything—"

"I won't have to say anything for her to know, Syaoran, so there's no point in us trying to keep up with this lie when we can just explain to her—"

"No, you know why—"

"Don't fight! Don't fight!" A little voice beside her interrupted.

Sakura looked over, seeing Xing stare at them with threatening tears in his eyes. Her heart wrenched, having forgotten that he was there with them. "I'm sorry, we're not fighting, sweetie," she said in a trembling voice.

"Xing, you are not to say a word about Sakura living with us, understood?" Syaoran said, staring at Xing.

Sakura frowned, feeling offended that he would go as far to tell Xing not to either. It was not like she wanted the whole world to know, but her best friend was a different story.

Xing frowned. "Why?" he asked sadly.

"We will talk about it later, buddy. Just do as I tell you now," Syaoran said in a much gentler tone.

Sakura almost fumed at the air of stubbornness the man held about himself. Just when she thought they were getting somewhere with the dynamic of their relationship, he reminded her that he was still the same man she first met.

"Yes, sir," Xing said quietly.

That's when Tomoyo came back over, sitting in the chair next to Sakura with her ice cream in hand. Tomoyo gave her a knowing look, that said, "I know your dirty little secret, but I want all the details later."

"Thank you again, Li-sensei," Tomoyo said, taking a lick from her own ice cream.

"It's no problem. Is your mother around the area as well?" he asked casually.

"No, sir. I was just taking an evening stroll," she said. "And who's this cutie sitting over here?"

Xing's face flushed slightly, and he licked his ice cream shyly.

"My son, Xing. You don't want to introduce yourself, Xing?" Syaoran asked, almost sounding like he was encouraging him to.

Xing shook his head, no, and continued to taste his ice cream. Sakura had not remembered him to be a shy and quiet kid when she first met him. In fact, he had been the highlight of her day most times.

"That's okay. My mom said I was also shy as a kid," Tomoyo said with a smile.

Syaoran remained silent at that response.

"That's alright. Speaking of quiet, what are you doing out?" Tomoyo asked, looking Sakura in the eyes as if she were trying to read her.

Sakura looked away, knowing she would give away everything in her expression. "U-uh..." she stuttered, not sure what to tell her.

"I ran into her down the street from here," Syaoran said as if it were the most obvious thing.

"Oh, your uncle wasn't with you?"

"Uncle?" Syaoran questioned, looking Sakura directly in the eyes.

She could feel her cheeks warm as her eyes strayed from his, embarrassed that she had been exposed for calling him her uncle again. She could tell that it made him uncomfortable for some reason she had not bothered to explore. She felt a sense of relief for upsetting him now since he was being difficult. "Well, yeah. I forgot to mention that I stay with my uncle and his family," Sakura said, letting her eyes lock with Tomoyo's.

"Oh, I didn't know that," he said, not even bothering to mask how upset he was about it.

"So, how's your mother doing?" Syaoran asked Tomoyo.

They carried on the conversation between each other as Sakura and Xing kept quiet, listening to them. She looked at Xing, noticing him withdrawn from them. She could not help but wonder what had gotten into Xing suddenly.

When they all finished their ice cream, Tomoyo stood from the chair, along with them. "I have to get going. My drivers are here," she said, smiling at them. "Oh, would you like a ride home, Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head slowly, though tempted to tell her yes, just to see what Syaoran would do. "It's alright. I'll walk back. I need the fresh evening air," she said, smiling at her.

Tomoyo nodded before she bid them goodbye.

"We should go," Syaoran said quietly.

Instead of responding, Sakura and Xing started walking back to the car without him.


Sakura helped Xing out of the car as soon as they got back to the house. "Come on," she said.

When they got in the house, Syaoran retreated to his office, leaving her alone with Xing. As soon as they sat in the living room alone, she turned to him with a frown on her face. "Xing, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Mommy and Daddy used to fight all the time..." he said quietly.

Her face softened, realizing that her disagreement with Syaoran had affected him. "We weren't fighting. It was just a little disagreement," she said softly.

He sniffed, looking at her with tears in his eyes. "But, you guys were loud," he said quietly. "And, I don't want Sakura and Daddy to be like that…"

She pulled him in her arms, holding him a little tightly. "I'm sorry." She shook her head. "No, we're sorry. We weren't fighting, just talking loudly when we shouldn't have been," she tried to explain.

"Okay..." he said against her chest. "Promise that you won't yell again?"

"I promise to never scare you like that again," she said instead.

"Okay…"

They sat in silence as she held him before she felt her eyelids getting heavy. When she felt Xing relax in her arms, Sakura knew it was okay to fall asleep.


"Sakura."

Sakura cuddled closer to the soft thing she held, ignoring the voice that had been calling her name for the last minute. "Sakura."

This time, she felt a hand shaking her gently. She ignored it again. The hand shook her again, making her eyes flutter open. She sat up from her lying position and looked around until her eyes landed on a person standing in front of her. She rubbed her eyes and then looked around the room. She wondered when she had fallen asleep in the living room.

"You should go get in the bed."

At hearing that voice, she remembered the little boy falling asleep in her arms. Her eyes searched for the little boy who was sad before they fell asleep.

"Don't look so panicked...I put him to bed an hour ago," Syaoran said quietly.

Sakura looked for the time before disappointment met her. "What time is it?" she asked.

"It's after two," he said quietly.

She sighed, slowly standing from the couch. She remembered she had school in a few hours, so she wanted to get better rest in her bed. "Okay. Goodnight," she said, getting ready to head to her room.

"Wait," he said, grabbing her arm gently.

She turned to him with a raised brow, waiting for an answer.

"Earlier today—"

"You made your point," she interrupted before he could even say anything about it.

She had already made up her mind about the issue. She was going to tell her best friend, whether he liked it or not.

"Sakura, I just want you to understand that this can't get out to anyone," he said quietly.

"Okay."

"Look at me and tell me that you understand then," he said, sounding concerned. About what?

"I have to get to bed," she said instead.

"Sakura," he pressed, starting to sound annoyed.

She pulled her arm back from him, looking up at him finally. "I understand exactly what you're saying," she said tightly.

His brows knit together. "What's that supposed to mean? What's gotten into you suddenly?"

She sighed exasperated, annoyed with him. It annoyed her that he seemed to care for her again suddenly. "You're ashamed of me," she said.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"You're ashamed of me. For what? I really don't know. But, that's why you don't want anyone to know about me living here and being the nanny to your child. What's so wrong about that, anyway? People have nannies all the time, so it only makes sense that you're ashamed of me for watching your kid while you overwork yourself and don't have time for your kid," she said. She knew that it could be dangerous if people were to find out about their physical relationship, but it was not like she wanted to tell anyone about that. Quite frankly, she did not see the big deal about people finding out she was the nanny.

Syaoran's tough face faltered, eyes widening as if he were surprised that she had just said that. She let out a huff, folding her arms around herself. "I know it's not fair for me to say anything about this…I mean, you're paying me and letting me stay here, but that doesn't mean my feelings don't matter," she said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself in hopes of some comfort. "It hurts lying to people dear to me. Especially when they are concerned for me. I want to tell her the truth. She's worried about me and all I'm doing is lying to her." When he did not say anything, she stepped back a little, ready to get out of there.

"You really told her I was your uncle?" he asked quietly.

She could not even understand why she had the slightest bit of hope that he would take how she feels into consideration. She felt like an idiot for getting her hopes up about the man again. "Goodnight." And she walked to her room, just wanting to sleep the rest of the night away.

She wished she could understand why he could not see how she felt about all this. Did he even try to see and understand her? It seemed like he only cared about how he felt in all of this. She had hoped that he would talk to her and help her understand why he wanted to keep her watching his kid a secret. She tried thinking of the worst-case scenario, but found that there was none.

She remembered him saying something about the previous nanny exploiting and trying to ruin his name, but she had thought she did enough to show she would never do anything like that. It was not like she was his mistress. He had not minded the other nannies being known for watching his kid in the past, so she wondered what is so different about her. She may have probably been a few years younger, but she thought, nonetheless, she is still Xing's nanny too. She had never done anything untrustworthy to make him think otherwise.

Sakura huffed, closing her eyes as she buried her face in the pillow, hoping it would swallow her whole. She took a deep breath, and then let it out as she turned her head over, so she could breath. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. She could not understand why she felt so upset about all this. She had already made her mind up about telling Tomoyo, yet her panties were still in a knot.

She thought about it for a moment, trying to come to terms with herself. And then, it hit her. It was because she felt like he was ashamed of her. She could feel a frown tug at her lips, not understanding why she felt oddly strange about that. She had never met anyone who was ashamed of her before.

She sighed, deciding in her mind that she need not to stress about it. Xing was the only focus here, and if he did not feel ashamed of her, she had nothing to be sad about. A smile tugged at her lips before it disappeared immediately at the thought of Xing. He had been upset before she fell asleep because of something that she did...

She could feel regret wash over her as she reprimanded everything she had done earlier that day. She thought that if she had not opened her stupid mouth and tried to defy Syaoran, Xing would not have been upset.

She curled up on the bed, feeling the guilt swallow her whole. She realized that she acted out irresponsibly again. At times like this, she needed her big brother to tell her how reckless she is. Xing was already going through enough, yet she felt like she had added more on to his plate.

She closed her eyes tightly, fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill at the thought of how much pain Xing must be going through. She had not expected Syaoran to say that Xing's mother passed too. The guilt of ever thinking such crude thoughts of the missing woman because she was not around for Xing, horrified her. Even thinking that she could throw her missing in Syaoran's face made Sakura feel like the worse human being on Earth. All because he disregarded her feelings for a crush...

She wondered what had gotten into her lately. She was turning into something that was clearly not her. She knew that Xing must have been so hurt after finding out.

Her heart tightened in her chest, thinking about it. She wondered how the little boy was coping with it. Had Syaoran sent him to talk to a psychologist? Sakura could only imagine how he felt. She had her brother and father around who gave her enough attention. They never made her feel like she missed out on anything, because they were always there for her. But, with Xing... he had babysitters coming in and out of his life like it was nothing and a busy father. She felt that he did not deserve this and she could not help but feel his pain, having lost her own mother.

She sighed, realizing she needed to get some sleep before she let this darkness swallow her whole.


"Be good, okay?" Sakura said, smiling at Xing after he kissed her cheek.

He grinned, nodding his head. "Yes, ma'am. I'll see you today after school, right?" he asked.

She nodded. "Of course."

He cheered before Syaoran told him that they had to get him to his class.

She sighed, glad to finally breathe after the two walked off. Syaoran had only said a few words to her that morning. She could not detect if he was upset or not, but she knew she had nothing to worry about with him anymore. There was this sense of…freedom she felt with him now lately. She did not know what, but she knew that he would not do anything to hurt her.

"What are you thinking about?" she heard a voice ask, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She turned to the voice, seeing Syaoran sit in the driver's side of the car. "Nothing..." she said softly.

"Okay."

The ride to school was quiet and awkward, aside from when she told him goodbye and to have a good day.

As soon as she closed the door, she looked up, only to see Tomoyo standing in front of her with a kind smile on her face. Automatically, Sakura panicked, wondering if her friend had seen who she was just in the car with. She walked over to her slowly, not knowing how to react. Had Syaoran seen her standing here, or was he too busy trying to keep the stick stuck up his tale?

"U-uhh…"

"Li-sensei ran into you this morning and offered you a ride to school as well?" she asked with a mischievous grin on her face.

Sakura covered her face, feeling ashamed of being caught again before she could do any explaining. "We have to talk…" she said softly. Tomoyo stared at her, looking clueless at her sudden shift in mood. "About yesterday…and right now," Sakura said nervously.

"Oh, gosh, is it—"

"Please, don't say anything," Sakura interrupted, holding onto her bag tightly. Sakura wanted to tell her before she could guess. "I'll…explain everything, as soon as lunch comes."

Tomoyo smiled at her, nodding her head. "Okay, I can wait."

Sakura sighed in relief, glad that she was not pushing it. It was like her best friend to be understanding of her. Thank God…

They walked to class together, talking about what they had to do before she remembered that she had not done Syaoran's homework.


"Hoee…you're a life-saver," Sakura said, marking the last answer as true on the sheet of paper.

"Anytime," Tomoyo said sweetly as she ate from her bento.

They were sitting outside on the rooftop, eating lunch together. Tomoyo had helped her do the homework for Syaoran's class.

"So, yesterday and this morning," Tomoyo said anxiously.

Sakura's eyes widened, almost have forgotten that she would tell her about everything. Instead of beating around the bush about it, she took a deep breath and said, "I'm living with him." Sakura watched her facial expression that changed from relaxed to shock and then wonderment within a span of ten seconds.

"No!" she exclaimed.

"Yes…"

"No!" she replied, eyes widening even more, if that were possible. "How?!"

"Long story…" she said sheepishly, feeling ashamed of herself for keeping this from her.

"We have this entire break, get telling, missy!" she said.

Sakura told her everything that happened that summer from her losing her job to the creep at the old apartment, to her meeting Xing and all the way down to her staying at the house. And very little details of their physical contact.

"He did what? And you were comfortable with it?" Tomoyo asked incredulously. "Oh, gosh…where has my innocent, little Sakura gone?"

Sakura blushed. "Please, Tomoyo. You're going to kill me," she said, hiding her face behind her hands in embarrassment.

"Since when did you feel comfortable even talking about kissing someone? And, of all people, Li-sensei?" Tomoyo said.

"I don't know. It just…happened, and it feels…normal…I mean, it feels right, so it isn't that bad," she said shyly, feeling her cheeks warm, and not because of the embarrassment this time.

"So, my suspicions were correct, then," she said.

"Hoe?"

"You do like him," she exaggerated.

"I-I…I don't think it's like that. We don't like each other because I like Yukito. And, Syaoran doesn't see me like that," she said confidently.

"Are you kidding me? Do you not see the way he looks at you during class? I thought I was just imagining things at first, but now that you've…" Tomoyo stopped, a frown forming on her face.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"Why didn't you tell me this until now?" she asked sadly.

"Well…he didn't want me to tell anyone about us living together…so he told me that I couldn't," she said, feeling guilty all over again. "I'm sorry."

Tomoyo shook her head before smiling at her. "I understand why he doesn't," she said.

Sakura looked at her with scrunched brows. "Why? We kind of…got in a fight yesterday because of it," she said timidly.

"Sakura, you're a 17-year-old, staying in the house with a 23-year-old man with a kid," she said. "If that got out to the media, his name and your name would be ruined."

Sakura remembered Masamoto saying something similar along those lines. But again, Sakura had thought that nothing inappropriate would occur between them, so she did not see how her name would be ruined. If anything, Syaoran could have promoted her name and she would probably have a lot of people offer her a babysitting job since a Li trusted her with their kid.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"It means, you would be categorized as, 'Li Syaoran's whore.' And then, people would assume that you both are involved in the practice of enjo kosai," Tomoyo explained.

Sakura's face twisted, feeling disgusted by that. "Syaoran isn't paying me to do anything, besides being the nanny to his child. He isn't paying me for anything else."

"I know, I know, and I believe you, but who's to say that, that's what everyone else's going to think? And, think about it, if word got back to his mother, she would have his head," Tomoyo said.

"His mother?" Sakura wished she knew about this family. She took note to look the family up when she got home that day.

"Yes. She's very strict and expects the best out of all her kids. And, Li-sensei 'paying a student to date him' isn't necessarily something she would be pleased to see plastered on every news article," she said.

"Have you met her before?" Sakura asked.

Tomoyo shook her head, no. "Mother has though."

"Oh…" she said quietly.

"What did you guys fight about specifically?" Tomoyo asked, curiously.

Sakura could feel her cheeks warm at that question, feeling silly for her behavior towards him now. "I thought it was because he felt ashamed of me and didn't want anyone to know about me being around them…" she said sheepishly, looking down at the lunch she had abandoned.

"Oh, Sakura, you're not wrong for feeling that way, and honestly, I would say that you should be careful," she said in a concerned tone.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…it'll be hard if you fall for an influential man who already has a kid and is six years older than you are right now, at this age. The expectations of you will be set so high and, while I think you are perfect the way you are, I fear that you will not think so," she said quietly.

Sakura frowned. "I'm not falling for him," she said confidently. Yet, she felt a bit uneasy about that.

She was no fool. She understood how clear that the age gap was a major factor that bothered Syaoran, so she knew nothing would happen. And she was okay with that. Or, so she thought.

"I'm not saying that it'll be wrong to, but I do think you should think about what I've said. I just want you to be careful, is all. I've seen first-hand how the press acts." Tomoyo went silent for a moment, giving Sakura time to think about what she had just said for a moment.

"But, on a brighter note…your nephew was a lot more adorable than I expected!" she exclaimed with a grin. "I wish I had my camera to take photos of him! I could definitely use him to advertise my little Chinese collections for little boys."

Sakura smiled, thinking about Xing to erase the uneasy feelings of that conversation. "He is adorable, isn't he?" she said, glad they were off the subject of her falling for the man.

"Yes. He didn't sound so shy over the phone earlier this week," she said, looking thoughtful for a moment.

"He isn't normally that shy. In fact, he's always active and very sociable when I'm around. That's how he was when I first met him, at least. I think he was just out of it yesterday because of the arguing between Syaoran and I, and he was tired," she said.

Tomoyo stared at her for a moment before a gentle smile formed on her face. "You're getting attached, Sakura," she said.

Sakura sighed, feeling a sad smile play at her lips. "I know and I can only feel it increasing," she said.

"Why do you say it like that?" she asked.

"Because, I find myself getting extremely sad when I think about the time I'll leave them."

"Which is?"

"For college, I guess," Sakura said, shrugging her shoulders. "We didn't discuss that far ahead, but I did tell him that I'd leave after I graduated high school and go off to college. I'll have more than enough money saved up by then and be able to go out on my own, so I'm not too worried about it."

"Sakura," Tomoyo called in a serious tone suddenly.

"Yes?"

"You do know that, if you need anything, all you have to do is ask me and I'll help as much as possible," she said. "If I had known that you were struggling so badly, you could have come and stayed with me."

When a gloomy look crossed her best friends face, Sakura reached over and grabbed her hand. "I know, and, maybe I should have. But, I couldn't find it in myself to ask anyone for help. I'm truly sorry for keeping this from you," she apologized sincerely.

A small smile formed on Tomoyo's lips as she shook her head. "It's okay. I forgive you, on one condition."

"What is it?"

"If anything were to ever happen to you again, or made you feel sad, you'd come to me and ask for my help, okay?" Tomoyo said.

Immediately, Sakura nodded, holding her hand tighter. "I promise."

"It's a deal then," she said with a smile on her face. "And, your secrets safe with me."

Sakura smiled at her brightly, glad that she had finally gotten this off her chest. For the first time since losing her job, Sakura felt like she could breathe.


Sakura sat the homework assignment on his desk, avoiding all eye contact with him, as she waited for the other person to get out of her way.

After talking to Tomoyo today about why he did not want anyone to find out about her staying there, she did not feel so angry at him anymore. Plus, she had already told Tomoyo about it. That did not mean she did not want an explanation from him though. She just felt that Tomoyo was more spot on, than she had been.

She walked to the back of the classroom, sitting in her seat. She leaned down, grabbing her phone out, turning the volume all the way down. She turned her attention to the front as soon as the late bell rang, signaling that class was officially about to start.

"Did everyone turn in their assignments?" Syaoran asked from the front of the classroom.

Everyone was quick to claim they had, except Sakura. She had already learned the game with Syaoran.

"Alright. Let's go over it then," he said, grabbing the first paper on top of the stack.

Sakura rest her chin on top of her hand, listening to him read out the first question, and asking the class what the answer was. She was not really focused on what he had asked, because she just could not help but think about the conversation between Tomoyo and her at lunch. She could still hear him explaining the reason behind why the answer was the response everyone gave, but she could not seem to feel interested in it. She had read the chapter at lunchtime with Tomoyo, so she was not completely oblivious to everything he talked about.

It was just, what Tomoyo said made so much sense now. She knew she was not falling for Syaoran, especially since he kept giving mixed signals. One minute he was sweet and caring in a subtly way, and then the next, he was mean and cruel. She could not see herself falling for a person like that. Up until this point, she had thought that she liked Yukito, who is much sweeter and nicer. And, he did not have random mood swings, or a kid. But now…she was starting to question her feelings towards the grey-haired man.

Despite those thoughts, she could imagine taking care of Xing long term. She was not sure what that meant, and she did not want to explore the thought.

She silently sighed, listening to Syaoran talk about interaction skills in the business world. As if he sensed her looking at him, his eyes locked with hers, causing her eyes to stray from the front of the classroom.

Just kill me...

She kept her eyes glued to the paper in front of her, scribbling down notes for the remainder of class. She could feel her entire body heat up at the feeling of his eyes on her still, though. She was so glad when she heard him wrapping up the lecture.

"Read through half of the next chapter and be ready to discuss it in the next class. You are dismissed," he said.

Everyone stood from their seats, including her. She did not even glance in Syaoran's direction, keeping her attention directed to Tomoyo. "What was that again?" she asked Tomoyo, only hearing the last part of her question.

"I said, did you notice his ogling today?" she asked quietly, so no one else would hear.

Sakura blushed, remembering how her body felt, sensing his eyes on her, even when she did not look up to see him doing so. "He's in the front of the classroom, so of course his eyes glanced to the back of the class, just like it does with the entire classroom," she said sheepishly.

Tomoyo giggled, shaking her head. "You're in denial," she said with a sly smile on her face.

"Tomoyo," she whined.

"Alright, alright. You're the one who has to go home to him," she said, walking with her out of the classroom.

Sakura was sure to keep her eyes straight ahead, not wanting to glance in his direction. "It's not like that," she said under her breath once they passed said man, and out of the classroom.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"He works a lot. All the time, really. Yesterday was rare, and before we went on that trip, it was very rare that me or Xing were able to see him. He works more than average," Sakura explained quietly.

Tomoyo looked thoughtful for a moment as if she were thinking about it before a slight frown tugged at her lips. "Mother's always worked a lot as well," she said before smiling. "But, I understand why, so I don't feel upset about it."

Sakura thought about the absence of the woman whenever she came around. "You're right," she said.

Tomoyo shrugged. "I could wait until your ride gets here," she said, suddenly changing the subject.

"You don't have to," Sakura said as they both stood at the gate.

"I want to," she said, smiling kindly.

"Alright, that's fine with me," Sakura gave in, smiling at her a little.

Her phone buzzed in the bag on her shoulder, alerting her that she had a notification. With scrunched brows, she took it out, looking at the screen. 'We need to talk. Come to my office.'

Sakura stared at the text for at least a minute, trying to figure out what they needed to talk about.

"What is it? You look troubled," Tomoyo said, sounding concerned.

Sakura looked at her and smiled to reassure her that she did not need to worry. "It's nothing. Syaoran just wants to talk to me," she said.

"Talk to you, or suck face again?" Tomoyo asked teasingly with a grin on her face.

Sakura swatted her arm softly before placing her phone back in her bag. "Stop it. That is not what he's trying to do," she said, feeling her heart beat fast at the thought of it.

He had been hesitant to do it lately, so she knew he would not dare try to do anything like that at school with her.

"I want details!" Tomoyo said, walking over to her car that was parked in front of the school, waiting for her.

"Shh!" Sakura said teasingly, playfully glaring at her. She heard her best friend's mischievous laughter as she closed the car door behind her.

Shaking her head with a smile on her face, Sakura headed towards the school building again to go to Syaoran's office. Before she could even make it to his office, she saw him walking in the middle of the hall with his briefcase in hand. She stopped walking, surprised that he was not in his office.

He stopped walking, staring at her with that cold look in his eyes, making all the blood rush to her hands as she tightened her hold on her bag. "Uh…" she said quietly after he did not say anything.

He walked closer to her, making her heart flutter in anticipation. "I thought you were standing me up," he said quietly.

"I was with Tomoyo…"

He looked around the hall for any students, as if he were trying to make sure no one was around. Before she could reason, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the nearest classroom, sliding the classroom door shut behind them.

She looked at him with wide-eyes, surprised that he had just dragged her into a classroom. "Umm…" she started nervously.

"Sakura," he called softly, back into the mood of the caring and gentleman that she was starting to appreciate.

She pulled her arm back from his gentle grip, wanting to get rid of the weird feeling that stirred in her belly. "What do we need to talk about?" she asked softly.

He sighed. "I'm not…ashamed of you, okay?" he said awkwardly, making her feel a little relieved.

"Then, why don't you want anyone to know about it?" she asked, giving him another chance to explain himself to her. She was trying to give him another chance to express himself properly, though she did not know why.

"Because, I know the outcome of it all…" he said. "And, I want to keep you…from all of that."

She looked up at him, hearing him whisper the last part. She certainly did not expect him to say that, of all things. "I…"

"Despite how much Masamoto was a pain in the ass, he…said very few right things." She could hear how much he struggled to say that, but felt relieved that he made the effort to.

"And, have you apologized to him?" she asked, remembering how upset she had been with him about yesterday's events. She knew she had been pushing it by telling him to apologize, but thinking about the distress a loved one may be in had hurt her.

Masamoto's past had been rather dark, but she knew him to be an innocent man. She had even met the woman who accused him of assaulting her. The woman had admitted that she had been angry about their breakup and wanted to hurt him. She had ruined Masamoto's life, but only decided that she could not live with herself for lying after years passed.

Masamoto had done a lot for Sakura, so she wanted to do what she could to help him too, even if it meant receiving an apology from the man standing in front of her.

"I…will set up a meeting to talk with him," Syaoran said, looking away from her.

Sakura decided to leave it alone by giving a nod. She would let him handle it, but that did not mean that she would not keep out of finding out if he did.

"But, like I was saying…I don't think you understand how bad it could ruin your name, and my family's name. There's a lot expected of me, and if I…" He sighed. "I choose to be excellent in everything I do and if this gets out…that excellence may not be shown. And, I don't want to bring you into this by ruining your name too because it can get really ugly. I don't want that for you, and I don't want Xing to be dragged into this either, so…I think it would be best to keep quiet about the whole arrangement," he explained.

"Okay," she said quietly.

"Do you understand where I'm coming from now? Why you can't tell Daidouji or anyone about this?" he asked.

She nodded slowly. "Yes, sir."

He walked closer to her, making her move back unconsciously. When his hands moved up to her face, she was sure her cheeks could burst into flames at any minute, feeling his fingertips caress them. "I do appreciate your help, and don't want you to think that I'm taking it for granted," he said gently. It was surprising to hear the sincerity in his tone.

She kept quiet, feeling her eyes drift down to his full lips. "O-okay," she said, absentmindedly.

"Sakura," he called.

She automatically looked up at him, eyes widening when she saw him staring at something on her face. "I want…" He stopped, letting his fingers slide down her face slowly, lighting her skin on fire.

She knew she did not imagine it this time; his entire face was almost the color of a tomato. "I know I mentioned that…what I do is unacceptable, but…I want to kiss you right now…"

She opened her mouth slightly, but nothing came out. She was at a loss for words. Tomoyo had been right, after all.

How does she know everything?

"H-here?" she stuttered after collecting her thoughts. "C-couldn't anyone walk in right now?" she asked, despite her lack of effort to pull away, showing.

She searched within herself and found that she did not want him to stop, even though he should have. He had been the one who said that no one could find out about this—them—specifically, but now…

He did not seem to care that anyone could walk in. She looked in his eyes, seeing excitement in them at her statement. She wondered if that had excited him. Here was another mixed signal given; did he want her or not? Was this really wrong to him or not?

That weird, familiar tug was at the pit of her stomach, almost telling her that, this excited her too, even though she was scared near to death about being caught in such a compromising position with him.

"No one will," he said huskily, pushing her gently until her back hit against the wall by the door.

She looked at the door, making sure she did not see a shadow walking past it before her eyes looked up into his lusty eyes. "Okay," she said timidly, heart trying to trust him, despite her mind telling her not to.

He leaned down, getting ready to close the gap between their lips before he stopped, only centimeters from her. Her eyes opened, not even aware that she had them closed, only to see a small smile on his lips. "Do you trust me?" he asked softly.

The longer she stared in his eyes, the more she felt she could trust him, as weird as it sounded to her. She did, though. She trusted him. "Yes," she said, after being silent for a while.

He let out a silent sigh of relief before he leaned further down and whispered against her lips, "I'm going to kiss you then," and closed the gap between their lips.

She smiled against his lips, feeling them caress hers gently. Wanting to feel his body against hers, she felt her confidence rise as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. She felt relieved that he took the hint and pushed his body into hers, pressing her into the wall, as he deepened the kiss. In the back of her throat, she could hear a soft sound emit as she kissed him back, just as deep.

The tightening ache between her legs increased when she finally felt his tongue snake across her lips, asking for entrance. She knew she should not have given it to him, but found it nearly impossible to deny him. Testing his limits, she bit his lower lip lightly instead, hoping he would allow her to lead and explore his mouth this time.

To her surprise, his mouth opened eagerly as if it were waiting for this, and her tongue immediately slipped past his parted lips, finding his tongue with hers. She attacked his tongue, battling for dominance like he had last time. She let her hands slide down to his shoulders, grabbing his shirt, wrinkling the material as her tongue battled his.

She had not expected kissing to feel this good. She could not believe she had been missing out on this. Or, maybe, it was because it was Syaoran…

She gasped, feeling his hands drop to her waist over her plaid skirt, pulling her body against his before his lips broke apart from hers. They stared at each other for a moment before he leaned down again, attacking her lips vigorously as if he had to kiss her to breathe. He did not even give her a chance to respond before his lips left hers again, moving further down her face. She found it hard to catch her own breath when his lips began placing kisses down her jaw to her neck, causing an unfamiliar sound to escape her mouth uncontrollably. His lips left feather kisses on her neck before his tongue snaked across it.

"Syaoran," Her ears registered her voice whimper, as she pulled him closer.

For a moment, she wondered why she was not pushing him away, but closer. As soon as his lips closed around her neck, they disappeared, a loud noise, scaring them both. Syaoran was away from her in no time, talking into his phone casually.

She swallowed, moving away from the wall a little as she took silent deep breaths, hoping to get her panting under control. She looked in his direction, seeing him appear as though nothing had ever happened between them seconds ago. She leaned down on trembling legs, picking her bag up from the floor that she had dropped during their make-out session.

She listened to Syaoran wrap up the conversation before he turned back to her with a cold look in his eyes, causing her body to freeze. As if he noticed it was her, they softened immediately, and he moved over to where she was; still glued to the wall. She looked down, feeling shy and embarrassed all of a sudden.

A hand lifted her chin, making her look at him. "I have to go…" he said gently. "Kenta should be outside waiting for you." She nodded mutely, not able to find her voice. "I'll be getting home late tonight, so I won't get to see either of you…" he said quietly, sounding a little guilty.

She could not help but feel like he felt guilty because of what she had said to him yesterday. She nodded again. "Okay," she said softly.

"I'll make it up to Xing this weekend. And…" She looked at him, face still flushed. "I really do hope that you will still come with us. I mean, Xing would really want you to…"

She smiled a little. "Of course."

He leaned down and kissed her lips softly one last time before he pulled away. "I'll see you in the morning," he said, and then left the classroom.

She released a loud breath, finally able to breathe properly. She wished she could stop her heart from beating so fast right now. It almost hurt.

As if the gods knew it would not, a buzz in her bag went off, snapping her out of her daze. She reached into her bag, grabbing out her phone to check it.

'Hey, cherry blossom. You have any time to spare?'

Sakura smiled at the nickname, knowing only one person who referred to her as that name. He was more of a safe zone than Syaoran could ever be, she reasoned as her heart calmed down and warmed instead.

'How does the park sound today? I may have to bring my nephew with me,' she sent the text. She knew she had nothing to worry about with him.


A/N: Since some of you were so demanding in the reviews, I decided to go ahead and release this chapter instead of holding off until I finished Doctor Satyromaniac(almost done, though!) chapter haha. Fanfiction was acting glitchy by not posting the reviews you guys posted so I couldn't respond, but know that I did read and appreciate them through email! They just showed up late last night, so I'll try to get to answering them soon :). I actually had another 2,000 word scene in this chapter, but decided to just put it in the next chapter so this one wouldn't be so long, but at least some of the next chapter is done, right? Next chapter is the one where I'm changing a lot from the original, not this one haha. I thought this one was the next :P.

On another note, what'd you guys think of this chapter? Why'd Sakura feel some type of way about Syaoran being "ashamed" of her, as she put it? Who's Sakura trying to meet up with and bring Xing, her "nephew", along with her? What could this "friend" want? Is he an enemy or friend?

Hopefully, we will all find out soon! I promise I'll try to get another update out this coming week, but there's no guarantees. I had 7 assignments/midterms due this past week, so I barely had time to edit this chapter. This upcoming week doesn't seem very promising either, but I'll definitely try my best to find some time for you guys :).

Ja ne!