"Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us." – Brigitte
Chapter 13
"Confined Feelings"
She had read not too long ago that many things could influence an athlete's career. Having a relationship was one of them. She wasn't too certain when it had started for him, but she knew quite well when it had started for her. The silence was soothing as she had arrived early in the morning to her office and reflected on everything that had transpired since that night. For a moment she had tasted passion behind his kiss, later she felt a regretful feeling and a restless night that was followed by a painful morning. His kiss had been her downfall that night and her words had been her undoing. She was conscious everything had been her fault but she had never expected it to hurt this way.
~ o ~
Sleepless… Once again the night had been restless for him. He hadn't been able to shut an eye at all after Sakura's answer. He sat down on his bed and putting his hands on his knees sighed. He got up and walked all the way to his door but didn't find the strength to open the door knob.
"Let me go. Going our separate ways is what's best for both of us Syaoran."
Let her go? How could she say that? Focus on his recuperation… how could she ask this of him when all he could think of was her? He reclined his forehead against the door and sighed again. He needed to think about this. Going after her right now would only push her away. He needed to find a way of turning her mind around. After that kiss two days ago there was no doubt in his mind… she still had feelings for him.
As a soccer player he was used to analyzing the plays to counterattack an opponent. In this case, he needed to find the drive behind her game play to be able to turn her game against her. He just needed to know what the real reason behind her decision was.
'Let her go…' He turned around and walked back to his bed. He lay back in his bed and thought about the morning after the kiss. Anger had never been a good companion to him and that morning had not been any different.
Two days ago…
She tossed and tossed around her bed without been able to sleep the entire night. That kiss had done it for her. His kisses had always been her weakness. He had laid his trap and she had easily fallen into it.
"You wouldn't have let me kiss you if you were still with him."
Her relationship with Jun had been the only thing holding him back from trying to go after her before. She had suspected this since the very first day she had seen him once again. All her steps had been falling into place till that kiss happened last night. Now, not only was he aware that she had broken up with Jun, but he also knew she still had feelings for him. She was certain he wouldn't stop going after her now. And to be perfectly honest, she wasn't too sure she would be able to keep him out for too long either. In fact, after last night's kiss she wasn't even sure she wanted to. Even his kisses were better than she remembered, how was she supposed to keep him focused now? How was SHE supposed to focus?
She got up from her bed and prepared to go to work. Although the sun wasn't out yet, today would be a good day to go early into her office. She needed to think. She agreed on checking up on him as usual before his morning rehab. It had already become a routine even if after last night their relationship could turn a little awkward.
As she walked through the hallway towards his room, she heard laughter coming from it. She slowly opened the door to find Katherine laughing at something he had just whispered to her ear. Anger rose to her mind as she confidently finished opening the door to reveal her presence. She first looked sternly at Katherine before turning her sight towards him. "What is she doing here?" she asked her obvious distaste for the woman evident in her tone.
"I'm his guest." She quickly replied in a flirty way before turning towards him. "Isn't that right Syaoran?"
He looked at her smiling as well while caressing her face. Then he turned to look at Sakura at the door and replied, "She is."
Sakura took a deep breath trying to control her anger. Without taking her sight away from Syaoran she asked, "Can I speak to you alone?" putting emphasis on the last word.
"That is such a disrespectful thing to say in front of a guest. Especially since I was directly invited by Syaoran himself." Katherine said while touching Syaoran's chest with her finger.
Sakura wanted to strangulate the woman. She looked away and walked towards the other side of the room before saying in a serious tone, "I won't ask again Xiaolang."
He stared at Sakura. The change in name was an obvious indication that her tolerance was bordering her limits. It was needless to say that she was pissed. He sighed as if it wasn't a big deal and turned towards Katherine, "can you give us a couple of minutes, doll?"
Katherine looked back at him surprised at his request but smiled once again in a flirty way and nodded replying, "I'll be counting the seconds."
He chuckled watching her getting out of his bed and walking towards the door.
Sakura hadn't missed anything that had just happened. She waited patiently for the woman to be out the door before closing it and looking back at Syaoran. "What the heck do you think you're doing?"
"What do you mean? Just because I injured my ankle doesn't mean I can't receive any visitors."
"I thought we had resolved your issues of being bored. Didn't we?"
"This has nothing to do with being bored. She wanted to know how I was and I wanted to have some company. What's so wrong about that?"
She scoffed. "Oh please, you're not that gullible. She's a freaking reporter!"
"She's a woman. I wanted to have some company. What's so wrong with that? As far as I know, last night this is what you wanted. This is me moving on just like you asked me to."
She took a deep breath realizing what he was doing before slowly nodding. "Do whatever you like." She turned around and walked out the door. She found the reporter happily waiting outside but didn't even spare her a second of her time. She kept walking till she was out the door and on her way to her office.
Syaoran got up from his bed and walked all the way to the door. He was expecting to find Katherine only but saw that she wasn't alone. Not anymore as his mother stood on the other side of the hallway.
Yelan walked all the way from the other side until she was in front of his room. The first thing she took notice of was his supposed friend before she looked at him. "Son! I didn't know we had visitors." She said as she looked at Katherine up and down before smiling.
Katherine smiled and chuckled while jumping ahead to introduce herself. "I'm Katherine, a friend of your son. It's very nice to meet you." She said while giving Yelan a little bow to show her respect.
"Oh! A pleasure indeed." Yelan sarcastically exclaimed as she raised a brow before looking at her son again.
Syaoran looked away knowing his mother probably saw right through him. He didn't need to see her face to know she didn't approve of Katherine at all. Her complete disapproval could be heard in her sarcastic voice as she uttered those words.
Yelan knowingly smiled seeing her son's behavior. "Your rehab trainer has arrived." She turned her sight to look at the girl once more and asked, "Katherine was it?" After Katherine nodded at her question, she faked a smile and said, "We are just about to have breakfast. I would like for you to join us while my son do his rehab."
"Oh." Katherine looked at Syaoran to see what she should say.
Seeing this, Yelan immediately stepped in before her son could say anything on the matter. "After all any friend of Syaoran knows he is very devoted to his playing. We women don't find any fun in watching a guy doing his rehab. Socializing and having breakfast at the table would be a lot more fun. Wouldn't you agree? Also, his sisters might want to know you as well. It's a rare occasion when my son brings someone into this house."
"Mother…" Syaoran warningly said to his mother.
"Oh, sweetie! Sorry but you do know it's true." Yelan looked at the girl again and said, "Now come! Everyone is already waiting at the table."
He watched as his mother took Katherine away before sighing and getting back to his room. She was really something else. He prepared himself to do his first rehab of the day.
~ o ~
Sakura started preparing her morning coffee as usual only this time it felt different than any other day. She hadn't been able to get that morning off her head. Jealousy was a feeling she thought she had left far away with her past and yet since that morning she still couldn't shake the feeling away. The thought of losing him revived the pain she felt that awful day seven years ago.
It wasn't just the way he was with her it was the feelings that warmed her heart whenever he was near. The calmness his words brought her, the smile that always appeared on her face after reading his words or even the warmness of listening to his voice. That feeling of belonging, of knowing this was right appeared every time she was near him. It was just perfect.
This was the reason she had wanted to run as far away from him as she could when they broke up. But fate always found a way of laughing in her face. Having to work with him only brought him once more into her life. And even as she had tried to keep him away, there was something that always pulled her back towards him. In the end, the more time she spent with him the weaker she felt.
She enjoyed the fresh smell of just brewed coffee before taking a sip of it and walking back to her desk. Her office had been the only solitude place that shared her fears. It had become the only place that could hide her hurt heart as she kept trying to fight him off.
'At least he was wearing a shirt that morning.' She thought. That was proof enough to her that nothing serious truly happened.
She opened her last drawer and took out a frame with a picture. The memory came back to her as if it was just happening in front of her eyes. Syaoran had invited her to a town festival. They had decided to go steady a couple of days before this event. This had been one of their first official dates as a couple.
It was one of the coldest winters that had ever transpired on Japan. The people that had organized this festival were able to get an ice rink in the middle of the park. She remembered the ice rink was full of people. It was the latest attraction and the one that brought most people out to the festival. Their friends tagged along with them on this night. They had decided to try the ice rink like everyone else. As she gave the first couple of steps on the rink she fell down. It kept happening repeatedly until finally Syaoran stopped laughing and tried to help her.
Tomoyo, who had been watching the entire thing, watched as Syaoran helped Sakura and took out her camera. In an instant, she was able to catch a natural moment between the two of them. Sakura had been laughing while looking at an amused Syaoran who in turn was trying to teach her how to not fall on the ice.
She kept watching the picture and sighed. When had everything started going downhill? Their relationship had been beautiful from the very beginning. Even with their ups and downs their relationship had been solid. She remembered the moment she landed in China not even his sister's believed her when she told them of the news.
~ o ~
From the moment he laid eyes on Yelan he knew she was not like the rest of the girls he had met. She always had something that kept him turning back towards her. There hadn't been a day in their lives where he could say he got bored of her. Life with her had been like a chessboard and her hand always enticed him to play her game. He always found something interesting in her conniving way of moving her pieces. It kept him entertained till the end where he would always figure out a way to turn the game to his favor. He chuckled as he kept hearing her ranting. Apparently his only son had brought home a girl.
"I'm telling you Xian, I didn't like that girl at all. I could smell her interest in money from thousands of miles away." She narrowed her eyes at the memory as she paced in front of her husband. "And the nerve of her to present herself in front of me as if she was something more with Syaoran. I'm telling you, I don't know what's wrong with this boy."
He chuckled at his wife's words. "We didn't raise a dumb kid love, let Syaoran handle this."
Yelan got a little bothered at her husband's lack of concern for their son. She stopped and looked at him. "Even Sakura left the house. I asked Wei and the girl arrived very early in the morning." She sighed. "Maybe I should have one of my friends introduce him to their daughters. I'm most certain that any of their daughters would be a better match than that girl."
"I don't think presenting him to other woman is the solution, love. I mean, from what I hear our son has many alternatives in that department." Xian said still amused with his wife's alternative to solving the problem.
"Anyone would be better than that girl Xian! I'm telling you! You didn't see what I had to put up with. You weren't even there at breakfast to hear her talk about herself. The nerve I tell you. Such egocentric presumed little girl."
Xian heard his wife. He raised his brow a little after hearing her. "I remember the time when you asked me for some space. Were you able to forget me?"
She didn't know why her husband asked that question but still she chuckled while confidently walking towards him. Putting her arms around his neck she smiled and said, "I still pity all the girls that tried to get you during that time you know..."
Xian smiled at her. "None of them would've been able to keep my interest in them."
Yelan smiled. "If I do remember correctly, there was some competition."
"Competition?" He scoffed and chuckled kissing her neck before saying to her ear, "Don't make me laugh love. The poor girls didn't stand a chance against you. For our son, is the same with Sakura."
She separated herself a little to be able to look at him. "Do you honestly think she won't ask him to stay? And respond honestly Xian… I know you are very fond of her."
Xian smiled at his wife. He kissed her softly before saying, "In my opinion, and this is of course speaking honestly as you want me to."
She playfully smacked his chest. "Don't mock me."
He chuckled while hugging her closer to him. "I think she wouldn't allow him to stay."
Yelan turned away for a second and analyzed his words before looking at him again and asking, "On what are you basing your opinion? Do you know something that I don't know? Has she spoken to you?"
He chuckled at his wife's insistence and shook his head. "She hasn't said anything but when I asked her to be on top of his recuperation she could've found many excuses to say no and I would have to oblige with her. What I asked is way out of what she professionally does for the company and yet she did it. My guess is she understands how much this means to him."
Yelan slowly nodded before quickly kissing her husband once more. "I got to go. I need to speak with Xiefa about a couple of things. The rest of the teams are arriving this week, as you know."
He chuckled and nodded letting his wife go. He watched her walking out of his office and sighed putting his hands on his pockets. Looking at the closed door he already knew she would probably start looking for ways of getting rid of the poor girl Syaoran had brought home. The mere thought made him shake his head. When his wife wanted something, there was no one who could stop her.
~ o ~
"Ms. Kinomoto thank you for the confidence you have in us."
"No, thank you for always been responsible and following my exact instructions for delivery. I know sometimes my wishes come as customized as they could ever be yet you always find a way of pleasing me."
"As always, the pleasure is all ours. I hope in the future we can continue doing business with you."
She hung up the phone and looked up to see her assistant coming in with some lunch boxes on hand. "That was Mr. Oshi. The plates have been delivered for Friday's welcome dinner at the hotel. I need to go over and check them."
Suri nodded. "Well, not before you have lunch. Don't think I didn't notice that you didn't have any breakfast this morning."
Sakura raised her brow. "Have you been checking me like a mother?"
Suri chuckled. "No. But years of been your assistant have shown me that whenever you are here early in the morning a small plastic bag is always on your trash can whenever you have breakfast. This morning I didn't see one."
Sakura scoffed but looked at the boxes in her hands. "What did you get?"
"Mongolian Beef or Sesame Chicken? They both have brown rice so which one do you prefer today?" Suri asked ignoring Sakura's unpleasant look after finding out she had known about her not having breakfast.
"Mongolian Beef." Sakura answered.
Suri nodded while putting the small box on her coffee table.
Sakura got out of her desk and walked towards her couch. She sat down, picked the box, and started eating with her chopsticks. "This hasn't been my only day skipping breakfast, you know..."
"You're right! To be perfectly honest you've skipped breakfast for the last three days."
Sakura rolled her eyes at her assistant's accuracy. "I guess the question is, why the lunch today then?"
Suri smiled and waited to swallow before answering, "I wanted to thank you for your advice last time. It worked."
Sakura stopped eating and looked at her. "You spoke to Yue then?"
Suri happily nodded. "Well, not in person as his team won't allow him visitors until the end of the tournament. But, we talked on the phone and it so happens that he feels the same way. So, we are officially dating without having our first date yet."
Sakura smiled and nodded. "Good. I'm really happy for you. He's a good guy."
Suri blushed while smiling and looking away. "Thanks!" she said before continuing eating.
Sakura stared at her. She was really glad that her advice had helped her but seeing Suri as she talked about it made her think of him again. Suddenly she wasn't so hungry anymore. She slowly put her food down at the table.
"What's the matter? You can't be full already. You've barely eaten anything."
Sakura sighed and got up from the table. "It's the stress of Friday's event. Don't worry about it. After Friday my stomach will probably be back to normal but thanks for lunch."
Suri watched as her boss picked a folder from her desk and walked out of her office. In all her time working for Sakura, she had never seen her like this. Worriedly she looked at her side to Sakura's lunch box. If she had taken three bites out of it was a lot. Since she started working in this company, events came and go in a blink of an eye. Year after year they organized lots of events. Whether they were big or small, stress was always evident in their line of work. And yet, she had never seen Sakura not once letting stress affect her.
Sighing, Suri took her lunch box and closed it. She got up from the table and put it on her desk. Opening her first drawer, she took out a sticky notepad and wrote her a note.
Take it for dinner!
After finishing, she took the page out and placed it on top of the box. As she put everything back where she found it, she noticed her last drawer was a little opened. She pulled the drawer out a little more and found a small picture frame faced down. Curiously, she slowly picked it up, turned it around, and gasped!
~ o ~
"Round it up!" the coach screamed from the corner of the field.
The entire team started jogging towards their coach after hearing him calling it a day. It was one of their last practices before the beginning of the tournament and for the first time since Syaoran's injury Kyu could see some type of improvement. Syaoran's loss had been hard for all of them but especially to all the guys who grew up with him. From the very early years when they used to play for the junior national team Syaoran had become some sort of a leader to all of them. Changing their game strategy to implement one without him was harder to achieve than to just plan it.
"Good practice today guys. We're truly getting the plays well, I like that. Now, Tan has the scouting report on Portugal." He said while Tan started giving the reports to the guys. "They are a good rival so we need to study these reports as much as we can so we can execute the right plays when we play the match. Our last practice before facing Portugal is tomorrow night so please study these reports today so we can work on our plays tomorrow."
Eriol looked at the report once it reached his hands. It was all marked with notes here and there which made him look at Tan questionably and ask, "You did these?"
"Does it matter who did them? They are our notes. Work on them in your room before watching film." Tan replied still handing the reports to the rest of the guys.
"They look like Syaoran's notes with extra writings all over the place." Eriol kept looking at the sheet in his hands. They definitely looked like Syaoran's with a bunch of arrows and circles adorning what he guessed were the other team's most important plays.
Kyu received his paper and also noticed the difference. "You're right. These are Syaoran's."
Their coach nodded. "Syaoran helped with the scouting report."
Kyu smirked. "Helped? I'd say he did your job Tan."
"Enough!" their coach replied. "The important thing is that you study your opponent's plays and analyze their weakness when we watch film tonight. Now, you have half an hour to shower before we head over to the hotel." Suddenly his phone started ringing. "Starting now." He said before leaving the group to answer his phone.
Eriol walked besides Kyu and sighed. "I'm not sure half a day will be enough to analyze Syaoran's notes."
Kyu chuckled. "I know what you mean. There are more notes than blank spaces in the sheet."
They entered the locker room and put the scouting report away before getting a shower. After getting out, they both got dressed and went straight to the bus. They sat right next to each other and started going over the scouting report on their way to the hotel.
Kyu felt his phone vibrate and looked at the caller id. After finding out it was Meiling he simply ignored the call and kept going over the report.
The gesture didn't go unnoticed by Eriol who looked at Kyu before asking, "Aren't you going to take that?"
Kyu shook his head. "No. I'm studying Syaoran's report for the tournament. I'll call her later."
Eriol stared at him before going back to the report as well. In any other occasion he would've just not minded his answer and simply let it go but he could sense something more was going on here than what Kyu had told him. There were so many things going on that he wasn't even sure if what Kyu had said to him before could even be done. I mean, what man could ever have a girlfriend and be able to shutdown his feelings towards her completely and at the same time avoid the change to influence in his own life? "I thought you said you wouldn't let this affect you."
"Is not." He simply said without taking his eyes off the report.
Eriol sighed. Their first game was in two days and they had to be prepared. As they reached the hotel, Eriol waited for the rest of the guys to be out of the bus before reaching for his bag in the upper compartment. After putting it over his shoulder, he sternly looked at Kyu. "I'm only going to say this once. Talk to Meiling before Portugal's game."
Kyu sighed. "That's none of your business Eriol. Stay out of this."
Eriol got Kyu's bag from the compartment as well and handed it to him. "You're wrong. Perhaps before it wasn't my business but you made it my business the moment you lied to me. This is affecting you and we don't have the luxury of losing any more players. Not physically and much less mentally. We all need to be prepared if we want to win this tournament. So talk to her before the game and fix whatever you need to sort out."
Kyu sighed but nodded. "I'll call her after film."
"Kyu-"
"I will. Now let's go. I don't want to be late." Kyu said following Eriol out of the bus and into the hotel.
~ o ~
Syaoran walked inside the pool making small jumps after every two steps. His ankle had gotten a lot better by now. He was already walking normal and started doing weight training a little sooner than scheduled. Finally yesterday the doctor had authorized him to start jogging but with precautions. His rehab trainer was still monitoring everything he did especially with the weights per Sakura's instructions. But to him that wasn't enough.
Doing his last rep, he got out of the water and walked over to his trainer. "I want to jog."
"Syaoran, I already told you per the schedule you're not supposed to jog today. It's supposed to be tomorrow. You did weights today aside from pool training." His trainer tried to explain.
He was getting a little anxious by the minute. "What's a couple of hours sooner going to do? Nothing. Besides I feel fine."
"I can't allow you to do that. Your agent has agreed on following the schedule. The weights were authorized by your doctor for every other day and the jogging only the days you didn't do weights for now."
"Where's Sakura?" he asked his agent as he saw him walking towards them. He wanted to start training full already. He wanted to start running every day as he used to. He wanted to speed up his recovery since he thought he could do that.
Choi came back from outside the pool area and walked over to where the two of them were having this little quarrel. "I've tried contacting her for the fourth time and she's not answering her phone."
The trainer stepped in again and tried to find another solution to his request. "Perhaps if we tell your doctor you'll be taping your ankle so that at least you have protection when running…" the trainer started suggesting.
"I'm not taping my ankle just to jog." Syaoran stubbornly replied.
"Syaoran is just a matter of precaution." Choi added.
He quickly looked at Choi. "I said I will not tape my ankle just to jog."
"With all due respect, what are you intending to do then? You already know you can't over do your rehab." the rehab trainer dared to ask.
Syaoran's stare was enough to answer his question. He was beyond pissed by now. "Get Sakura on the phone."
"I just told you she's not answering."
"Then call my sister and get her on the phone!" he loudly and angrily snapped at his agent.
"There's no need." Sakura, who had just entered the pool room, calmly said. She had seen the entire scene in front of her before finally deciding to interfere. It was her first time seen him again since that morning but she had decided to set aside her personal feelings when it came to his rehab.
Seeing Sakura approaching, he quickly and directly said, "I want to run today."
She heard him but didn't mind as she walked over to his trainer. "Let me see today's chart."
His trainer sighed and nodded while handing her the clipboard. "I suggested that perhaps some protection might help with the work overload he wants to put on his ankle. He has put quite some pressure on it today because of the weights."
She kept inspecting the chart and his progress in silence.
"When have you heard of a soccer player needing to tape his ankle for a small jog?" Syaoran muttered from the side.
Sakura finished inspecting the chart before looking at Syaoran. "Are you done complaining?"
He simply stared at her before quietly turning his sight away.
Sakura nodded. "Suit up then."
"Ms Kinomoto, I must interfere with your decision. His schedule says-"
She interrupted his trainer before he could finish. "I'm aware of what it says. I just read it." She looked at Syaoran before saying, "You want to run? Fine, we'll run but on my terms."
He stared at her. The last time terms where placed by her the outcome hadn't been too good for him as he spent the next day in complete pain because of her little bet. "What are your terms?"
"We go on my pace. Whenever I say stop, you stop without complaining."
"Deal." He quickly said before walking inside the house to suit up for running.
"Ms. Kinomoto, we haven't been able to speak with the doctor about this." Choi said.
She sighed. "I already have. He said that as long as he feels comfortable in doing it and we don't notice any type of limping then is fine. But we do need to keep supervision with him at all times to make sure he won't over do it so I'll be running with him."
Choi stared at her before nodding. "Just to let you know, he's been growing impatient. I've never seen him like this before."
"It's because the tournament is around the corner. If his jogging goes well, he could probably start playing or at least practicing by next week."
"Well, that all depends on what his doctor says." The trainer said.
Sakura nodded. "True! The last call is his, but I have a hunch my prediction is not that far off. " She gave the chart back to his trainer. "We will run around his patio area. The concrete won't be any good for him so watch the clock and note anything that happens out of normal jogging."
His trainer nodded while walking with her and Choi towards the house.
"I'll go change and meet outside once I'm done." She said.
"Very well." Choi said. He opened the door for her and then walked in after her.
~ o ~
She suit up and tied her tennis shoes. Since she hadn't been able to have her small jog in the morning, it was nice she could at least do a little exercise in the afternoon. After putting her hair up in a pony tail, she walked towards the window. Memories of them running in the past together came back to her.
An hour marked the running clock which indicated that it was finally the moment to stop. Out of breath, she stopped and started walking at her boyfriend's side. "You know, if you keep this up I may be able to play with you on the soccer team."
"Aw come on, is that complain I hear?" he chuckled.
"I ran with you fifteen more minutes than I usually do. I think I deserve the right to complain at least a bit."
He smiled at her before putting his hand over her shoulder.
"Ew, back off. You're all sweaty." She said while taking his hand off of her.
He smirked. "So are you and you don't hear me complaining."
She chuckled. "I have the right to complain. I am a girl."
"That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard you come up with."
She laughed.
They had made it a routine to come to the city park together and jog every other day. As they turned their next corner they came up with the rest area. It had a little gazebo with benches around and an area with lockers where they usually left their stuff locked in while they exercise around the park. It was one difference this city park had compared to other parks around Japan.
Syaoran walked towards their locker and opened it. He took out his water bottle and drank a sip of it before sharing it with Sakura who in turn the first thing she grabbed was a towel.
She dried herself before taking the water bottle offered by her boyfriend.
Syaoran watched her before grabbing his towel as well. "You know, in just a couple of months we'll be off to university. Isn't that crazy?"
She chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it is. I hope we can still have our days like these."
"I don't see why not. Have you thought about Japan University?" he asked.
She looked at him and tried not to make a big deal about it. "I haven't even chosen any universities yet Syaoran."
"I'm sure you haven't but do you at least have it as an alternative?"
They had this conversation a couple of months ago when he had expressed how much he would like to play soccer in that university. The university's athletic program had been something that had drawn his attention and kept it above all others. Totally the complete opposite of what it had been for her. JU had never inspired any kind of motivation for her especially since their business program had never been one of the best. But not wanting to hurt his feelings about this she just replied, "I don't know yet."
"We could get an apartment."
She smiled at his way of trying to convince her. "We would still be here. Wouldn't you like to play outside of Japan? I don't know maybe even another country."
He shook his head and sighed. "I'm not asking you to choose yet. I know in the end the decision is yours but can you at least consider it?"
She smiled at him and put her hands around his neck. She gave him a quick kiss. "Fine. I'll consider it."
He chuckled. "I thought you were repulsed with me being sweaty."
"By all means you're right." She said smirking as she started pouring the cold water from the small container through his back.
He immediately got out of her hold and looked at her. "Sakura! It's cold!"
"Are you complaining?" she innocently asked.
He smirked. "You'll pay for that!" he said before launching himself to catch her while she laughed and ran away from him.
It had been months before they started falling apart. One of the last good moments she had spent with him before breaking up. She took a last glance at the mirror before walking downstairs to the patio. When she reached her destination, she found that he was already waiting for her along with his trainer and agent at his side. She walked towards them and looked at the trainer. "Ready?"
His trainer nodded.
"Aren't you going to tell me how much are we jogging?" Syaoran asked her.
"What difference does it make? You stop when I stop, remember?"
He narrowed his eyes at her but didn't say anything. In moments like these it was better not to cross her especially after allowing him to jog. He couldn't even believe he had been able to convince her with this.
"Start!" his trainer said.
They both started jogging. She could notice he had started in a faster pace than her, as she thought he would, but backed down a little to stay at her side.
"You usually jog faster than this." He said.
She smirked. "Not today. I'm a little more tired than usual."
He scoffed. "I can go faster. Really, is not hurting me that much. You don't have to slow down because of me. I promise you I can keep up."
"I can assure you, your ankle is not what's keeping me from running faster. Today I feel like running at this pace."
He sighed but kept jogging at her pace. It was obvious he hated it but still kept going. Something was always better than nothing even if he found the pace to be almost walking according to him. "Is it because of the other morning then? Fine, I'm sorry for hurting you."
She scoffed. "Who said anything about hurting? But you were right. Whatever you do is your business. I was wrong for trying to interfere with your personal life."
Her words made him feel angrier than he was but he refused to let her stubbornness get the best of him. Instead, he kept running and decided not to say anything else on the matter. After giving a couple of rounds to the huge patio, she finally stopped. They were far off from his house but she decided they could walk all the way there instead of running back.
As agreed, he stopped next to her. "We can do more than thirty minutes."
She sternly looked at him. "I thought we agreed on you not complaining."
He narrowed his eyes at her response as he watched her stretch in front of him. "I need to add someone for Friday's dinner. Do I need to give you her name?"
Sakura sighed and ignored him while she finished stretching. She knew what he was doing. He wanted to get her angry but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. "You're going back to the hotel tomorrow. You're doctor already approved of it. It's not an entire release but you'll be able to start training with your teammates at least in the gym. As far as practicing with the ball, the doctor still hasn't agreed on it and your coach is aware of that as well."
He stared at her surprised at the news. He truly had thought the doctor wouldn't allow him to go back till probably the end of next week. This was probably the best news he had received in the whole week. He started smiling a little until something struck him… this also meant he wouldn't see her anymore in the mornings again. "Sakura-"
"As far as the list goes, your coach has the instructions for the dinner including the list of allowed guests. You can give the name to him or you could always give it to your sister. She's the one in charge of that area." She smirked before walking back towards the house.
He looked at her walking away and regretfully sighed. He knew he shouldn't have asked that stupid question.
~ o ~
Just as Kyu had said to Eriol, he reached his room after watching film and took his phone out. He looked at her name. They had been talking on the phone since she had left but he could feel the distance between them was getting bigger with each passing day. None of them wanted to bring the subject out but Eriol had been right. He needed to sort this out. Even as he tried for it not to affect him there was no way he could fully commit to the team while still having this on his mind. He took a deep breath before dialing her number.
"Hey babe!"
"Hey! Sorry I was studying the scouting report." He said walking towards the window trying not to be nervous when talking to her but failing miserably at it.
"Oh! Portugal, right? Are they a hard team?"
He smiled. "In a World Cup, all teams are good."
She chuckled. "Well, maybe the question is if we are better than they are?"
"We'll see. How was your shoot?"
"It was okay I guess. I… I didn't like it but the photographer said it was great."
Silenced followed her sentence before he finally sighed and said, "We need to talk Meiling."
"I thought we were talking." She sarcastically answered.
"About marriage."
Another silent moment came but this time she was the one that broke it. "I don't want to talk about this over the phone."
"We need to talk about this before my game and you're not coming back until opening ceremony. So the phone will have to do."
"You said you weren't mad."
"I'm not mad Meiling."
"You sound mad."
He sighed. "I'm not mad. I'm just a little disappointed or bummed. I mean, I know we haven't talked about this but have you even thought about it? Has it crossed your mind?"
"I wasn't sure you were been serious Kyu."
"I asked you several times and received the same answer every time. Have you at least thought about it?"
"Honestly, not till you asked in the car."
He painfully shook his head and softly asked her, "Can you even see us married in the future Meiling?"
She hesitated a little before replying. "I love you Kyu and I can see a future with you but marriage is something that brings many new responsibilities that I'm not sure I'm prepared for."
"Other responsibilities?" he sighed. "You mean having a family?"
"Yes! Among other things." She quickly said.
"For me marriage happens between two people who love each other despite their faults. That even with different opinions they can't see themselves living without each other and want to build new memories as one."
"Have we not been doing that? People don't need a title to do that Kyu."
He could sense her irritation with every word she said. "I'm not looking for a title Meiling." He sighed. "We have been together for many years. Even after breaking up we've always land back with each other. So forgive me for saying this but I'm not sure why you think marriage would be bad for us."
"I'm not saying is bad for us I'm only saying that I haven't considered it. I don't understand why do you want to change when we're doing just fine as we are."
He took a deep breath to calm himself down before answering her. "I want more."
"You want more?"
"Yes, I want more. I don't care if I'm being selfish right now at least I'm being honest. The last time in the car you told me we hadn't discuss it. We have now. When the tournament ends I will ask you again Meiling and this time I hope you have considered it."
He heard a click at the other end of the phone. Without looking at his phone he carelessly threw it in the bed before stretching his neck. These fights with Meiling took their toll on him. He knew she would hang up. The moment he had decided to push her he knew she would. He knew her that well which only proved his point earlier.
~ o ~
The next morning, Sakura looked at her iPad and marked another thing done in the hotel. Without a doubt today would probably be her most stressful day as she had sent her team early in the morning to start preparing the hotel's ballroom area for tomorrow's event.
"Kira, make sure all tablecloths are the same height from the floor up." She said to one of her employees before looking at a guy behind her who was up in a stair putting the long red curtains. "Tai move it a little bit more to the right." The guy nodded and did as she requested.
"Ms. Kinomoto the glasses have just arrived."
'Perfect! Just in time!' she thought before nodding and quickly walking out of the ballroom towards the entrance. Today's agenda made her feel a little anxious. One would think that coordinating many events in the past would eventually prepare you for the ones you'd be doing in the future but in her case she could say the entire opposite. For some reason she felt really nervous about tomorrow's event. A feeling she hadn't experienced before.
She was usually confident whenever she planned an event but for some reason this one was different. She felt as if it wasn't enough. 'What the heck is wrong with me?' She shook her head and looked at the entrance doors. Suri was already taking care of it.
"Sakura!"
She looked at her side where her name had been called from and found a smiling Feimei approaching her.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Sakura nodded. "Yeah. What are you doing here? Don't you have a project you need to take care of?"
Feimei chuckled and innocently answered, "Well I came to see if you needed any help."
Sakura curiously looked at her and was about to ask her about her little offer until she traced her eyes to find Xiun eating at the hotel's restaurant. She scoffed and sarcastically asked, "Help?"
Feimei sheepishly smiled at her. "Oh come on! You know otherwise I won't be able to see him."
"If your father finds you here he would think another thing."
"Like what?" she asked.
"Like you taking an interest in the family business for once."
Feimei chuckled. "I doubt it. I stand firm with what I said of wanting my own independent business in the future. I'm sure my father will respect that."
Sakura smirked.
"Oh! I didn't know my brother was coming back today." Feimei exclaimed as she watched Syaoran entering through the hotel doors.
Sakura looked at the door as well. Suddenly she felt more nervous than she already was. She had never agreed with the doctor's decision on letting him go back to his team but the doctor had assured her that he would be fine. He was carrying his sports bag when he spotted her and stopped. He stared at her for a couple of seconds until his teammates started getting up from their table to greet him. Smiling, he greeted some of them back with several weird handshakes and others with semi hugs. She watched the entire scene with fondness knowing he was very well received after everything he had been through.
She felt happy to see him back with his teammates. Almost too happy until suddenly she watched a figure appeared from the corner of the restaurant.
"Oh, is that girl again."
"Again?" Sakura asked Feimei. Her eyes never left Syaoran as she watched him hug Katherine as well.
Feimei scoffed and smirked. "Mother found her outside of Syaoran's room one day. Needless to say it wasn't a happy morning. I'm quite surprised to find her still lurking around my brother at all. I would've thought one morning talking with my mother would be enough."
Sakura heard her friend but decided that it was enough. She turned around and walked back towards the ballroom area once more.
Feimei turned her face to watch Sakura walking away curiously before looking back at the restaurant. Her brother had taken Katherine's hands off from his neck but it was too late. Sakura had already left.
~ o ~
Syaoran started greeting his teammates. He was happy to finally be back.
"Hey man! About time!" Mark greeted giving him a hug.
"Finally!" Kyu said smiling while doing a secret handshake.
"Syaoran!"
A woman loudly called from the corner. When he turned around, he suddenly found himself in the arms of Katherine who had jumped to him quickly when she saw him. "I'm so glad you're back! You didn't tell me you were already released."
He quickly got her hands off his neck and looked towards the corner to watch Sakura's retreating back walking away. His little sister still stood on the hallway. She threw him a look before walking away towards where Sakura was heading. He tried to calm down while letting Katherine's hands go and telling her, "Katherine, I'm sorry but I'm with my teammates now. We won't be able to see each other until after the tournament."
Katherine looked at him hopefully and smiled. "What about tomorrow night? We are still going together right?"
"If he's not taking you, I can!" one of his teammates loudly said.
She chuckled but kept looking at Syaoran.
"I'll text you." He simply said before walking towards his coach's table.
His coach stood up with a smile on his face. "Welcome back!" he said as he hugged Syaoran as well. Tan didn't greet him so eagerly instead he just nodded before giving him his room key. He simply took the key and looked at his coach again. "I'm going to take my stuff up then."
His coach nodded. "Suit up too. We leave in fifteen minutes."
Syaoran nodded before picking his stuff and walking towards the elevator. He hit the tenth floor and waited for the doors to close before hitting his head back softly with the elevator wall. Why the heck had he let Katherine hug him?
~ o ~
Xiefa left her car at the valet and walked quickly to the hotel ballroom. She couldn't believe what she had just read. It was just preposterous to even think something like this could've happened. "Where's Sakura?" she asked to one of the guys setting up the tables for tonight.
"Ms. Kinomoto is backstage." He quickly replied a little frightened after seeing her face.
"Thank you." She said before going back to find her friend. She walked around the black curtains to find her friend coordinating the sound for tonight's event. "Sakura." She called more loudly than she truly intended.
Sakura turned to see her friend walking towards her.
When Xiefa reached her, she faked a smile and looked at the audio guy. "Please excuse us for a minute." She waited for the guy to leave before turning towards her friend and handing her a piece of paper. "Can you please explain to me why that woman is on the list?"
Sakura looked at the list and saw that he truly had put her in as a guest. "A wild guess, she'll be your brother's companion for the night."
"I thought you had cleared this up with him."
"Clear what up Xiefa? If he wants to invite her to the dinner he has every right to do so like every other player tomorrow night."
"Except he truly is not just like every other player, he's my brother. And if I am not mistaken, which I can assure you I am 99.9% sure that I'm not, he's not even fond of this girl. So, why would he be bringing someone like that to a special dinner like the one he has tomorrow night? Mmm… my mind started throwing ideas on my head but it didn't took long to figure out it was because of you. So, what did you do?"
"I don't need to give you any explanations Xiefa. If he wants to take the girl then let him do so. If you don't like his decision then take it up with him."
Xiefa stared at her friend and narrowed her eyes. "What's wrong with you? You don't look good."
Sakura quickly dismissed her while handing back the list to her. "I'm fine."
Xiefa took the papers back but didn't back down. "You look pale, almost sick."
Sakura sighed. "Xiefa, if you don't mind I have a lot of work before tomorrow. Do you need anything else?"
Her response only confirmed Xiefa's suspicion. "Something happened between you two."
Sakura sighed and looked away. "Are you done?"
"Not quite. I will only say this once to you Sakura because we have come a long way since you got here. You are my friend but he is my brother and I don't want to see either of you getting hurt again. So you better think well and finish up deciding what you really want."
Sakura sternly looked at her before hearing a chuckle coming from the side. She watched as Xian appeared from the corner of the room with his hands on his pockets and a smile on his face.
"I like how this place is looking." He said as he walked towards them.
Sakura calmed down after seeing Xian walking towards them. The whole talk about Syaoran had already become tiring to her ears. "It's not even half way done."
"Knowing you, I have nothing to fear. Is everything in yet?"
She shook her head. "We're still missing the centerpieces for the tables. Most of the food has arrived and the decorations as well."
He nodded as he reached them. "Good. When are the rest of the things arriving?"
"They're scheduled to arrive tonight. There's no need to worry. Everything is right on schedule."
He smiled. "Does right on schedule allow you time to buy a dress?"
She stared at him. While Xiefa had always been very open with her thoughts just like her mother, her father was the complete opposite. He never let his thoughts be known out in the open bluntly. Instead, he would always say the necessary words to have things turn out the way he wanted. Something she had completely learned from him and was yet to master.
"I'm not planning on coming."
"What?" Xiefa asked.
Xian smirked a little before giving her the news. "I took the liberty of buying you a dress. Don't worry, Feimei went with me and tried it on to make sure it will fit you. I hope you like it. I left it in your office and again took the liberty of giving Suri instructions of getting it a couple of hours before the event."
Sakura was pissed. She should have known the moment he stepped out of the corner of the room was to ask something of her. "I think it should be my choice whether I want to attend the event or not."
"I have some investors I want you to meet. They are very excited to finally be meeting you as they have heard a lot about you."
Investors…? Of course. The sneaky business man always had some sort of excuse to cover his real intentions. "Must we meet at the event?"
"I promise you it won't take long. Just a couple of drinks, dinner, and then afterwards if you wish to leave you're more than welcome to."
Xiefa smiled. "Father, should I get a room for Sakura as well then? Just in case she needs to prepare herself here…"
Xian looked at his daughter. "There's no need. I'm sure Sakura will not want to stay here." He said before calmly turning around and walking away satisfied. From the moment he had met Sakura he had known she was a workaholic just like him. Even if she didn't wanted to attend the event she would never pass up a chance of meeting new investors. A perk he knew way too well about her and one he could always use.
~ o ~
Eriol took his shoes off and got comfortable after reaching his room. Syaoran had left him saying he needed to walk. Probably a little anxious about the tournament he thought before he heard a knock on his door. Knowing perfectly well who the person was, he happily went and opened it.
"Babe!" he said before kissing her and getting her inside the room.
She happily smiled after the kiss. "Hey love! How was practice?"
"I have bad news. Syaoran came back this morning."
Tomoyo looked at him startled. "Well baby I would think those are good news no? I mean, you were telling me how the team wasn't the same without him and all."
"Well, I wasn't thinking about the team when I said that." He hugged her and kissed her forehead before saying, "I was thinking about us. And how you won't be able to sleep with me at night anymore until the tournament is over."
She chuckled and looked at him. "You could always sneak into my room. I wouldn't mind."
He smirked. "I have the king of sneaking in and out of rooms for a roommate. Additional to that he's also a Nazi when it comes to training. I shouldn't even bother mentioning that this is the World Cup tournament the one we're playing."
"Is that you're way of saying sneaking into my room is a bad idea?"
"Not just a bad idea babe… impossible would be more like it."
She chuckled. "Oh, I almost forgot. I got the pictures from the professional photographer." She walked towards her bag and took a small pouch full of pictures. "Do you want to sit down and look through them to decide?"
Eriol simply nodded. They had decided to give a small frame with a cute message as a memorable thing to all their guests on their wedding. Since for Tomoyo taking pictures was something she enjoyed they thought this to be the perfect gift on their wedding. He walked towards the couch and sat next to her putting his arm around her shoulder while she started showing him the pictures.
"What do you think about this one?"
"Mmm, is nice."
She narrowed her eyes and looked at him. "Don't tell me is nice like that time at the cabin. I want you to be honest Eriol."
He smiled at her. "I'm been honest babe. I promise."
She went back to passing the pictures. "And this one?"
"No. Not that one."
She nodded and went for the other one as they stayed the rest of the afternoon looking at pictures and choosing the one they wanted for the memorable piece on their wedding.
~ o ~
The moment he stepped back into the hotel, he quickly let his things in his room and left. As always he was rooming with Eriol who had been curious to know where he was going but he just brushed him off by telling him he just needed to walk. It wasn't a lie, indeed he needed to walk but he was walking with a set destination. Being the night before the opening dinner he knew Sakura had to be somewhere inside the hotel still.
Arriving at the lobby, he watched as some men were taking some trays over to the back of the restaurant. Others were carrying boxes over to the ballroom salon where the dinner was taking place. He took a deep breath before finally deciding to follow the people walking towards the room. Opening the door, he looked around but couldn't find her. He stopped one of the guys on his way out. "Can you tell me where I can find Ms. Kinomoto?"
"You're Li Syaoran! Oh sir, it's a pleasure to meet you." The guy excitedly responded. "Oh, may I take a picture with you? It's so good that you were able to recover so quickly. Will you be able to play on Sunday?"
Syaoran smiled politely and took a picture with the guy. "We'll see if I can. Do you know where Ms. Kinomoto is by any chance?"
The guy quickly nodded. "Ah yes, yes. She should be in the kitchen right now. Wow… I can't believe I got to take a picture with you. I'll be sending this one to all of my friends. They'll envy me for sure." He smirked.
Syaoran nodded and left the man writing in his phone before going towards the kitchen. As he approached the kitchen, he heard her voice from the outside.
"This makes the last one of these. Now, on to the plates."
He heard the sound of boxes been dragged around the floor before he leaned on the door with his arms crossed as he looked at Suri placing a box on a table.
Suri opened the first box and took a plate out. "Well, the engraving came out nice." She said before looking up and gasping. "Syaoran!"
Sakura turned to watch him leaning against the door frame.
"Can we talk?" He said while looking at her.
She sighed. "I don't have time. I still have a lot of things to finish before tomorrow. So if you don't mind I will ask you to leave."
He knew it wouldn't be easy but decided to ask Suri instead, "Suri could you give us a minute?"
Suri looked at Syaoran before looking at Sakura. The tension in the room made her guess that something had obviously happened between these two probably during Syaoran's recovery. She was in between something she knew quite well she didn't wanted to be involved with. Especially knowing how Sakura was with her work life. She carefully asked, "Sakura? Not to say much but I think the faster you talk to him the sooner we can get back to working…?"
Sakura sighed but nodded before looking back at Syaoran. "You have a minute."
Syaoran waited until Suri was out of the room to say, "I'm sorry about what you saw that morning."
She looked away still furious about touching that subject but controlling herself in front of him. "I understood the first time you said in your room that I had no business in your personal life. We talked about this already. If that is all, you can leave."
He sighed. "I don't want her."
"She sure wants you." She quickly replied.
"And I want you. So, where does this leads us?" he answered with the same quickness she did before.
She sighed and looked away. "Respect my decision Syaoran."
"Which one? The one that comes out of your lips or the one I felt when we kissed?"
The firmness in which he said those words made her look back at him. He was always so demanding when he had his mind set. A sudden nervousness went through her body. She needed to finish this now. The longer she kept this conversation going, the more dangerous and confident he would get. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold him back for much longer the way this "minute talk" was going. "I need to get back to work. I don't have time for this now."
He took a step forward which made her took a step back and away from him. Her movement made him narrowed his eyes at her. "Come with me to tomorrow's dinner."
She stared at him. Hearing about the dinner once more reminded her of her little conversation with Xiefa this afternoon. "I'm surprised you even dare to ask. I already saw you're bringing her and I myself I'm pretty sure I'm not caught up to be anyone's chaperon."
He smirked at her confidently as he took another step forward to be in front of her. "Then come with me as my date. The one that holds the list is my sister. I'm sure she wouldn't have problems changing her name to yours."
She stood her ground defiantly. "Clearly if you invited her is because you must have wanted her there at your side."
He didn't stop his confident approach towards her until he was right in front of her. Arrogantly he smiled as he looked directly into her eyes. "You're not intimidated by her. I know you better than that. So what's truly holding you back?"
Authors Note: Whoa! It feels like forever since I haven't updated this story. As always, I thank you for all your reviews. They're really encouraging and helps keep me going on. I hope you like this chapter as well.