She is
by
Sakura-chan Master of the Clow
Track 06: Dress Up
Disclaimer: I do not own any original characters from CardCaptor Sakura. They belong to the beautiful members of CLAMP. I also don't own any of the songs or lyrics referenced in this fanfiction. All belongs to the brilliant writer, composer, singer-songwriter, poet, and artist that is SHINee's Jonghyun and all those who helped create the album. However, the storyline for this fanfiction is all mine–inspired by the album "She is" itself, of course–so please no copyright.
~🎵º✨✨✨✨✨º🎵~
After our trip, Sakura and I got busier and busier. Not only with school and keeping up with covers for our channel, but also Eriol and Daidouji-san surprised us by announcing their wedding date finally—naming Sakura and I the Maid of Honor and Best Man in the process. Let me tell you, the title isn't just for show, we've been helping plan even the most intricate of details. They could have hired a wedding planner but they decided to DIY it. Why?
"This is good practice for when you and Sakura-chan plan your wedding." Is what Daidouji-san told me one day, she and Eriol with the same knowing, impudent smile to boot.
Fair…I guess.
Sakura must have told her what happened on our trip, as I told Eriol. When she pulled me aside to ask for details I ended up telling her I plan to properly propose to Sakura. While looking for wedding rings, Daidouji and Eriol would point discreetly to some that would make a nice engagement ring for Sakura whenever she wasn't looking. I appreciate their enthusiasm, but we were there for them.
After months, I find myself with a day off. No work, classes are done, no covers to film, no wedding meetings or planning; a day completely free. I wonder if Sakura is also free. Daidouji-san has been whisking her away whenever she can on Maid of Honor duties or something. I don't doubt Daidouji is hinting things here and there to Sakura, who thankfully is oblivious to that sort of thing. No matter how obvious I was, she never knew I liked her until I finally confessed.
The smell of pancakes pulls me out of my bed and towards the kitchen. Sakura is happily humming to herself as she flips a pancake. I sneak behind her and she yelps as I wrap my arms around her in a back hug.
"S-Syaoran-kun, good morning."
"Morning, babe," I murmur as I kiss her temple. "You're making breakfast today."
Sakura's cheeks tint pink and nods. "We haven't had much time to ourselves lately. But you've been doing everything around the house on top of everything else. I wanted to do something for you instead."
"You're sweet," I say, "but you're busier than I am. I don't mind handling things around here. Still," I give her another kiss. "Thank you. Your pancakes are the best. I can't wait."
"Um…Syaoran-kun?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you…gonna stay like this until I'm done."
"I'd like to." I grin. "But if you're uncomfortable, I can set up the table."
"It's not that I'm uncomfortable but…that'd be a great help."
"All right."
I slide my arms away. Sakura grabs hold of my arm before I completely let go. I turn to her, curious. Before I can ask if something is wrong, she cups my cheek, bringing it down enough to place a light kiss on my lips, and goes back to attending to the stove as if nothing happened.
I can feel myself blush.
Seriously, she does things that always throw my heart into a frenzy. I certainly wasn't expecting that.
It takes me a moment to catch myself. Though her back is towards me, I see her ears are pink; she's not the only one flustered. I pat her head and begin making myself useful. Not long after I finish, Sakura brings the breakfast she prepared out.
"Itadakimasu," we say at the same time and dig in.
As usual, it's delicious. It's been a while since I had her cooking. I look towards Sakura to see her eying me with expectant eyes. I smile.
"It's amazing. Thank you."
Sakura visibly relaxes. "I'm glad."
"So, anything planned today? Are you and Daidouji-san going somewhere?" I ask.
"Not today," Sakura answers. "It seems Tomoyo-chan and Eriol-kun taking a day for themselves today."
"Is that so?" So we're both free. I grin. "We should do the same," I suggest.
"Eh?"
"It's been a while since we've gone on a date; let's take this opportunity since we're both free. Let's get dressed up and go out. We can go shopping or something."
Sakura is wide-eyed as she looks at me, mouth half-open in mid-bite. "You…want to go shopping?"
That does seem out of character for me. But as Daidouji-san has been busy with wedding planning, Sakura and I have been recycling past outfits for our covers—tweaking, mixing and matching them to fit whatever cover we're filming. Due to conflicting schedules, we haven't filmed together in a while as well. I've only seen Sakura dress up through a screen and I've had the urge to see her all dressed up in person.
"Don't misunderstand, I'm just in a good mood today. I want to see you dress up only for me."
"Dressed up?" Sakura looks down at her outfit, still in her pajamas that consist of a white t-shirt and pink shorts. I take her hand in mind.
"You don't have to go overboard, you're pretty whatever you wear."
"Then, is there a special occasion today?"
"No, but unlike other days, today I just…feel so nice. It's weird. Maybe I caught Daidouji-san's bug of wanting to see you in different outfits."
Sakura laughs. "All right. Let's finish breakfast first and then we can head out."
"Since you cooked, I'll wash the dishes, okay?"
Sakura smiles. "Deal."
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After I finish getting ready I knock on Sakura's door to check on her. Calls me to come in from the other side.
"Hey, you ready to go…?" Before I can finish, I notice Sakura is still in her PJs, clothes spread out on her bed. "I guess not," I muse.
"Sorry, it's been a while since we've gone shopping, I'm not sure what to wear. I might just be overthinking all this.
"Want me to help?"
"Hoe?"
"Why not try different outfits and I'll tell you what looks good?" I say, taking a seat on the edge of her bed, freeing up some space from the clothes piled on. "Show me, how you gonna dress up today?"
"O-okay." Sakura takes a handful of clothes and disappears into her walk-in closet, looking rather…flustered? It's just clothes though.
A few minutes later, Sakura opens the door, she's wearing a large, baggy shirt long enough to reach mid-thigh, shorts barely peeking through is the only indicator that yes, she does have something underneath, and a baseball-style cap we bought in a concert we went to. Overall she looks cute but…
"I don't like that. Something else."
"All right," Sakura says and closes the closet door.
I take that moment to catch myself. She looked way too damn cute in that. I lied, of course I liked it, but it seemed very casual—more of something to wear around the house or if we were going running. I'd rather she dress up more since we're going shopping.
The door opens revealing Sakura wearing tight leather pants, a gray shirt, and a black leather jacket. Needless to say, she looks badass, but it's also very hot outside—36 degrees celsius to be exact—she'll burn up to a crisp if she goes out wearing that.
"How about something lighter?" I suggest.
Sakura laughs. "Yeah, you might be right."
It continues like that for a couple more outfit changes. Don't get me wrong, she looks good in every single one, but nothing was popping out at me. It got to the point that with one look from me, she already knew which ones I liked, were a maybe, or not today. And if I'm being honest here, I just had fun watching her try on different outfits for me. Finally, we settle on a couple outfit. Me, I was already wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with red and yellow print. Sakura ended up with jeans that flared open from just above her knee when she walked, a red crop-top, and the same beige baseball cap from before. We bought matching ones so before we leave I gram mine to join her. Sakura locks eyes with me, notices the cap, and her face beams with happiness; in turn, making me glow up. We lock up and are on our way to the shopping district.
Once we arrive I notice Sakura is looking around looking more and more disheartened at every glance.
"What is it?" I ask.
A small pout forms her lips. "Everyone here looks so fashionable."
I take a look around, and I can't help but agree with her. "Yeah, you're right. I guess this means we're rightfully in the shopping district, huh?" Sakura looks more dejected rather than smiling. "Hey, don't be ambiguous. It doesn't go with your look today."
"What look is that?"
"Gorgeous."
Sakura playfully slaps my arm. "Be serious."
"I am," I say with a laugh. "I can't help myself. It's because you're pretty whatever you wear."
"Then why'd it take you forever to settle on this outfit for me?"
I smile "I was merely being selfish, then."
"Selfish how?" Sakura tilts her head to the side, the way she does is so cute, enough to make me flustered. She has no clue how even her smallest gesture can affect me so much.
"Before going out and having others look your way, I had the urge to pretend I'm special, for you to treat me special and different from others by having a mini fashion show for my eyes only. Before, I could see why Daidouji-san loves to dress you up, but now I feel I understand it."
"You are special to me though," Sakura says, rather crestfallen. As if making up her mind, her eyes snap up to meet mine. "Let's have lots of fun today and find all kinds of outfits for us!"
Before I could answer, she drags me into the first store. Sakura this time happily tried on any outfit and style she liked, asking my opinion on them; and she had me model some outfits for her. We went to many different clothing stores, taking our time to find pieces and outfits that could work for future covers, and even found some great couple outfits. We even did a challenge to ourselves to pick an outfit for the other. It could be Daidouji-san's influence from all these years, but I must say, both our chosen outfits look pretty good. By that time it's lunch and we rent out a locker to put our bags in before heading out to find somewhere nearby to eat.
We walk aimlessly looking for a good place to eat. When I hear Sakura perk up. She turns to me and says, "You hear that?"
I listen in but I don't hear anything out of the ordinary. "Hear what?"
"That song, come on, this way."
She pulls me along towards a central area of the district. There's a large water fountain in the center of the plaza. As we get closer, I hear a familiar song, or at least the chorus of it. The first thing we see is a huge number of people in a sort of semi-circle in the middle of it are a good number of them dancing along. The chorus ends when we arrive and they disperse. Almost immediately a countdown begins and another chorus song starts playing, once more people jump in the middle and dance along.
"It's a K-pop random dance play!" Sakura exclaims. "How fun!"
"Wanna join them?"
"Eh? But I don't want to interrupt. We can just watch them from here…"
Even before she finishes her sentence, one girl who was dancing suddenly stops and points at us.
"It's Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun!"
The music stops and everyone whips their heads to us. The first thing running through my mind at that moment was, Oh, wow. We got recognized on the street. The second thing was to check on Sakura who looks surprised, happy, nervous, and awkward all at the same time. The crowd forms around us instead and the ones who had their phones pointed at the performance are zoomed in on us instead. I can feel Sakura shrink into herself and I squeeze her hand gently, a gesture so small but enough to convey that I'm here for her.
"It's them!"
"Look, they're holding hands. They really are a couple."
"They look even better in person."
"I love your covers. Please dance with us."
"Yes, please!"
Similar comments are made all around us, we're not sure who's talking. A girl who I assume was controlling the book box music makes her way to the front and greets us warmly.
"I can't believe it's really you two! As you can see everyone here loves your channel."
"Thank you," I say.
"Myself and a group of friends started our own dance cover group and channel because of you. One of the things we post is impromptu Random Dance Plays. All it takes is one other person to join and suddenly all those who know and love it join along. It helps spread the joy of K-pop too!"
"That's amazing," Sakura says. She's starting to feel more comfortable.
"We're in the middle of filming one now but would you please join us? It'd mean the world to us if you did."
Sakura takes a look around and asks. "Is it okay? We didn't mean to interrupt."
"Nonsense! Anyone is welcome to join, as long as you know the song. That's why we do it in public like this."
"Well, how about it?" I ask. I know she would like to but is hesitant in bigger crowds. We've only ever danced in front of a camera after all. The most we've danced in front of people is when Sakura had a choreography job.
"I…" Sakura looks at me. I respond with an encouraging smile. Whatever she decides I will support her. "We'd love to."
The crowd cheers. It takes only a moment for them to reassemble themselves into the previous half circle. The countdown begins once more.
"Relax and stay close to me," I say softly. Sakura smiles and nods, putting a hand on my shoulder.
We end up staying until the very end, never once leaving the center. I guess we knew more songs than I thought. The crowd thanks us and we stay and talk with them before dispersing. I suggest we go back to the locker we left our bags in to change into a fresh pair of clothes. Sakura agrees.
"That was so much fun," Sakura exclaims.
"It was," I agree. "Hey, Sakura?"
"Hmm?"
"How are you gonna dress up today now?"
Chapter updated: May 24, 2022