"Chiharu?" Both Sakura and Yamazaki exclaimed.
"You know each other?" They said again at the same time.
Sakura was laughing but a certain brunette wasn't amused at all. 'Am I a teenager? Why do I feel this annoyed?' Syaoran downed his whiskey and signaled for another one.
"Hey guys, these ladies are my friends! The one who knew Yamazaki-san is Mihara Chiharu, the long-haired brunette is Yanagisawa Naoko, the shorter-haired brunette is Sasaki Rika, and the violet-haired beauty is my cousin and best friend, Daidouji Tomoyo. Everyone, this is Yamazaki Takashi, Hiragizawa Eriol, and Li Syaoran. Well, I just met them all today." Sakura happily introduced them. She did not notice the surprise look on her friends faces when she said Li's name. He is after all, the famous young billionaire. Did their friend not know this? They looked at each other and knew they're all thinking of the same thing. Syaoran noticed this and shrugged his shoulders slightly at them and pressed a finger on his lips when Sakura has her back at him. The girls nodded lightly and took their seats as they started warming up to the guys.
"So, when and where did you meet Li, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked.
"At Koko's this afternoon. I skipped work and headed out there to hang out. Good thing Koko was there. He made me lunch then he told me to just bum outside the porch until I needed to leave around 6:30. The place was full, what, with it being a Friday and college kids started arriving. So Koko told Li to join me in my table around 4 and that's when we started talking."
"Oh so Koko was there! Did you invite him here too?" Rika asked.
"Yea I did! I hope they can make it though! He said he'll try to bring the others too."
Syaoran was listening to this and couldn't help but ask, "Is Koko your boyfriend?" He tried to make his voice sound emotionless. Eriol smirked at him and hid this from others with his whiskey glass.
"No. He's not. He is one of my close friends and he owns all the Koko's Burger Joints anywhere. And all his joints have a pink table located in a very special place, different from the other. You do know what that means huh?" Sakura nudged Syaoran's left side. He laughed and said "It means you've been very much spoiled by this Koko man. I wonder why he would do that though. You look like a brat."
"And why am I a brat?"
"Because you were drinking hard liquor in a very innocent place. The only alcohol that place serves is canned, bottled, and draft beer and you thought those weren't good enough. You just needed" he made his fingers do an air quote on the word 'needed'"to have a huge flask filled with what I may assume as Jack Daniels."
Sakura laughed. She was slapping his arm while laughing and her friends also laughed while watching the two. They looked at one another and thought 'For her to be laughing today of all days, we owe Li a lot.'
"So, another round?" Eriol asked.
The girls got another round of drinks: Lime Margarita for Chiharu, Sangria for Naoko, Singaporean Sling for Rika, a smooth Whiskey for Tomoyo, and -
"I'll have a whiskey on the rocks with lime." Sakura said.
Syaoran raised his eyebrow at this.
"You've had a lot of drinks already you know, since you've been here earlier than your friends. Even earlier than me. Damn, you've been drinking since who knows when. Are you sure you can still handle it?"
"Back off, Li." Sakura coldly answered.
The table became silent.
Sakura stood up and said "I need to go to the ladies' room. Excuse me."
The girls, except Tomoyo, excused themselves and followed Sakura.
"What the hell was that about?" Li was too shocked to even get angry. He just got shot down by a girl, in front of people he barely knew.
"She's just going through a rough time. Please do not take it to heart. And even if I know you said those things out of concern for her, it just came off differently to her." Tomoyo answered him softly, trying to get the idea across to Li without stepping on a mine bomb.
"So, I pissed her off by showing a bit off concern?" Syaoran angrily spat back at Tomoyo.
"Hey man, don't get angry at her." Eriol said.
Syaoran took a deep breath and exhaled. He downed his whiskey and took another deep breath to calm himself. "You are right Eriol. I apologize Tomoyo. I'll talk to Sakura too. I don't know her circumstances and I probably came off as an ass without meaning to. Excuse me." He stood up and took a cigar and went off to the balcony. He needed to compose himself before apologizing to that girl. Why must he be this bothered by her?