(scurries away from the pitchforks and torches and digs a hideyhole)
Chapter 19
Eavesdropping's Benefits
Tomoyo and Eriol sat under the cool shades of one of the largest Sakura Trees in the campus, shielding themselves from the harsh glare of the sun. It was a sunny day and the lucky students were currently enjoying 2 hours of free time because the Chemistry professor had a gastrointestinal problem.
Unfortunately, the two weren't enjoying themselves anymore than the caterpillar squashed by a 180 pound man.
"Eriol, we have got to do something about our two dunderheaded friends," Tomoyo said, sighing and putting her arms around her knees."
He lied down on the cool grass beside her and replied, "Indeed. If I hear one more self-deprecating remark or an 'ah, fuck it' from my near-to-being-castrated descendant, I may have to kill myself."
"Our guest is not doing any better. She's got these huge black bags the size of cartwheels under her eyes. Eggy nearly had a heart attack when he saw her 2 days ago."
"Why must love be so blind?" he asked dramatically, rolling his eyes.
"Stop acting so melodramatic. Have you talked to Li yet?" she asked curiously.
"He's hardly on a state to have conversation. I still can't believe it when he told us what happened. He screwed it up, frankly," Eriol said gloomily, watching all thoughts of having 20 nieces to train in the art of pranking and making-Li-age-thirty-years go poof.
"I still can't believe he didn't hear her coming back there. I mean, for all those lessons where he had detect an enemy 20 feet away, you'd think he would."
"He's in pretty bad shape, though. I pulled a trick out of Sakura's book and exchanged his lunch with—no, not cat food—but dog food AND cat food once, and he still ate it."
"He DID?" Tomoyo gaped. "He didn't kill you or anything?"
"Nope. Let's see, he hardly sleeps, he trains like a maniac, he eats cat food and says it tastes like chicken, he eats dog food and says it tastes like corned beef, he hardly talks to us, he avoids Sakura like the bloody plague and he even forgot to be mean to Miyu! Miyu, for god's sakes," he exclaimed disbelievingly. "You realize it's more serious that we thought?"
"Absolutely," she agreed. Then, as if remembering something, she snapped her fingers. "Did you know he's gotten a fourth of his plan of revenge on her family already?" she asked in a small voice.
"Really?" Eriol asked, interested. "What did he do?"
"I read on the newspaper earlier today that Chien was being mobbed by the IRS, who claims that the family hasn't been paying their taxes right for the past five years."
"Li did all that?"
She nodded. "I was really apprehensive at first, since he could get caught. He replied by saying that he didn't really do anything anyway and I quote, 'they've been avoiding taxes for the past 3 years, I only upped the period of time to give them hell. They'll have a hard time getting the IRS off their backs, mind you."
"And that was only a fourth of his plans?" Eriol said disbelievingly. Seeing her nod, he whistled and closed his eyes. "He's really smitten, isn't he?"
"Yep," Tomoyo smirked. "I honestly thought I'd never see the day."
Her companion laughed. "You know what they say right? About the Li Family?"
Intrigued, she looked at him as he opened one eye. "What?"
"When Li men love, it's for life."
She chuckled, standing up. Brushing dirt from her legs, she motioned for him to follow. "Come on, we need to work on that seatwork Ms. Mizuki asked us to do."
It really was a huge stroke of luck that just as they rounded the corner and disappeared, a cracking sound echoed followed by a screech as a branch from the Sakura tree fell,
and with it their stunned, auburn-haired guest.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
I cursed loudly when my butt landed hard on the ground. Spitting out the leaves I managed to bite when I screeched, I promptly sat up and looked around to see if they were still there. I sighed in frustration. That was a whole new revelation I did not want to know. Sheesh, who knew my idea of sleeping up a tree with the same name as I would be another cause of having another week of sleepless nights?
Obviously, not me.
Then I had an idea.
Pulling my Bio notebook from my backpack and opening it, I hurriedly turned it to a blank page, ignoring the huge bold letters of 'QUIZ TOMORROW. STUDY!' at the front, and began to write.
Top 10 Reasons why I should never develop feelings for You-Know-Who (no, not Voldemort. That's absolutely sick.)
1. We belong to 2 different worlds. To those who are a bit addled in the brain, confounded, or just plain moronic, it means that he's sodden rich while I'm freaking poor.
2. He annoys me to the brink of insanity. Heck, he derives pleasure from seeing me pranked! Now, I don't think it's hard to imagine when I say that he'll probably toss me in a pigpen instead of a bed on our wedding night, if that's even possible.
3. He has messy hair. I hate it. There's this especially irritating strand that keeps falling on his right eye, making me resist the strong urge to tuck it—erm, swipe it behind his ear… or if I'm feeling particularly vindictive and/or stressed, it makes me want to shave him bald.
4. He is an arrogant egoistic no-good sadist. A parrot with a Jimmy Neutron head, both from being too smart and having a head either full or air or eeevviilll.
5. He is obviously a leader from the baboons from hell. Yes, he's part-baboon, part-parrot and part-turnip. No, not human. No human would make me write a list as pathetic as this.
6. If I will end up with him, I will be in close proximity with the Fat Brothers, who I have discovered (to my utter horror) are his mother's rather close friends. God help them if they come near me with a beauty product while I'm slicing my wedding cake.
7. He is too handsome for his own good. That did not come from me, mind you (cough). It's a pathetic opinion of practically ¾ of the female student body. I don't like it if girls drool over my (nonexistent and never-to-happen) boyfriend. So screw me, I'm a jealous prat.
8. In connection to that, even some guys dig him as well.
9. He is 6 freaking inches taller than me. I am Mini Me to his Yao Ming. It's absolutely appalling. What can I do if I'm angry at him? Oh, I guess I can just kick him in the shins or something, but seriously, that's hardly up to my usual creative standards.
And the number one reason why I should never EVER fall for The Parrot?
10. I might not be good enough for him.
I bit my lip and stared at the list—a pathetic one, mind you—I made, squinting my eyes and scratching my head. I must've looked quite spectacular, a girl that fell from a tree with bits of twig and leaves stuck on her hair, which was in disarray, her uniform soiled and rumpled, writing haphazardly on a notebook.
Feeling two eyes staring at me, I looked up and recognized that girl who made that cutting remark about me not in league with her standards, staring at me with her friend. Superficial little ferret. "Don't you know it's rude to stare?" I snapped rudely, a vein throbbing at my temple. She harrumphed and scurried away, dragging her unfortunate companion with her.
Okay, back to the issue, I reread the list I wrote 2 seconds after nearly pulverizing my rear from the impact when I fell from the tree. Now, you see the reasons why I can't, won't and shouldn't fall for Li? It's mucho magnifico, if I do say so myself. It's absolutely logical—
I'm getting a migraine.
"AARRGGGHHH!" I screamed, tearing the paper into hundreds of itsy bitsy pieces. I really want to do something violent. Can't life be less complicated? I came in this stupid country with the expectations of hating my host and her son, being the usual female athlete on the field, getting topnotch marks all the while causing mayhem and ignoring anyone, would-be friend or would-be foe. I thought I'd go about pranking and pissing off the many prissy cheerleaders and rich kids who are all a vermin to society with their haughty attitudes and sports cars. I expected everything would be the same…
I didn't expect actually making friends and not being sent to principal's office and without a terror teacher in sight, which is a bloody miracle. I never expected I'd be treated pretty much ok, with the exception of resident bitch queen Miyu and a few other idiots. I never thought I won't be alone.
Most especially, I never thought I'd have Li falling for me, either.
Getting to the point, I don't know what to feel after hearing him say…er… those things. Maybe I don't really want to feel anything, or maybe I'm just a coward, not wanting to acknowledge the fact that maybe I feel the same way too. What would I know? I spent half my life being told to be as emotionless as a doll and obedient as a lap dog I don't even think I'm capable of feeling anymore.
Or maybe I'm just afraid to be hurt.
I was in a brooding mood when I heard the unmistakable bark of a dog. It wasn't a surprise, really. Pets were allowed on campus, provided they don't poo in any place with human habitation. I heard the bark again, followed by a voice that made my blood freeze.
Frantically, I dived behind a bush beside the tree, hearing the voice that I can pick out from a crowd of thousands.
And a second after I settled in my hiding place, Li Xiao-Lang and Kero came into view.
Oh, bugger.
OoOo
Great.
Abso-fucking-lutely great.
During those times when I would envision myself finally confessing my…uhm… feelings for My Other Half, I always see myself doing something cheesy like doing it kneeling on one leg with a background of the setting sun in Hawaii or the mesmerizing sight of meteor showers or, since said Other Half likes sports, I would take her to a ballgame, run over to the middle of the field and confess. I never EVER imagined a situation wherein
a. She would hear it by overhearing my first ever deranged and utterly humiliating rant about how I do not want to confess my undying love even though I want to but I can't because I cannot bear to have my pride stomped on by means of her rejection.
b. it happened in a meditation room, the only background not being shooting stars or setting suns, but statues including Buddha, who looks uncannily like Eggy, except he has longer ears and smaller boo—ah crap.
c. it happened with me not kneeling on one leg, but with my back facing her, then with me gaping like a goldfish.
d. it happened in front of my mother. My mother.
Also, due to either my oversized male ego or maybe my 'ability' to see in the (evil) future, I have always imagined My Other Half to say yes, perhaps shed a tear or two then kiss me.
Cupid hates me.
Gloomily, I plopped on the grass and lied back down on the grass, staring up at the pink blossoms of the Sakura tree absently. I heard Kero barking like mad beside me so, in a not-so-rare-anymore moment of insanity, I told him, "you know, I bet dogs have it better than humans do."
He just stared like saying, "of course we do."
"Yeah. All you have to worry about is food, a home to either destroy or inhabit, water and a place for bowel movement. None of this feelings stuff that has me converted into a chronic insomniac for the past days," I continued gloomily, twirling a twig between my thumb and index finger.
"Actually," I said sadly. "I really don't understand. I mean, she's hardly a gem on the looks department, at least when compared to the girls the stupid elders shoved up my face. Heck, her boobs and butt can't even compare!"
Through my wallows in self-loathing I thought I heard a deep growl. I promptly ignored it, thinking it was Kero.
Then I suddenly grabbed the dog and ruffled his fur. "Yes, Kero, she can't, but in spite of all that, I fell for her hard. I've spent the nights wondering why, exactly. Maybe it's because she's not like the rest of them," I mused, ignoring Kero's pleas… or barks to let him out so he can probably murder the pigeons or something. "She's not shallow and a far cry from the superficial flakes I meet. She's one of a kind, you know."
Then the dog, for once, barked once as if agreeing with me. I continued morosely, "and the problem with someone being one of a kind is that they're hard to have. Good thing she's ugly."
I hardly heard the snarl from behind.
I groaned and whacked myself in the head. "Who the hell am I kidding? She's too freaking attractive for her own good."
The snarling stopped after that.
Even Kero seemed to become docile. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I've screwed up. It's all the stupid bird's fault," I groused. "And no, you can't eat it, it's still a living thing, you dog."
Then, I said the one thing that I never thought would be the wisest, most useful thing I've said in all my 18 years of life.
"It's pretty damned funny that after getting almost everything I want, I can't have the one I need the most."
OoOoOoO
20 minutes later, I watched as he finally got up and stretched. "Come on, Kero," I heard him say quietly. "The pigeons need to live for at least 5 more years." With that, he walked away.
I silently stood up and brushed the twigs and leaves and soil on my head. Straightening, I stared blankly at his retreating back. Then, my gaze sidled back to the torn pieces of paper clutched tight by my hands.
I suddenly knew what I had to do.
OoOoOooO
"Okay, class," the AP English teacher, "I hope you still remember who your partners were when I asked you write a fic?" hearing the murmur of assents, he continued, an evil grin lighting his face and making the students worry. "Good, cause today, we'll be writing another story! Remember to use grammatically correct sentences and correct paragraph formation or I will personally have your butt removed from this classroom, am I making myself clear? No questions? Good, time starts now!"
There was noise and the students tried to find their respective partners. The two main characters, however, needn't move anymore. They were seatmates.
Li resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose and curse the professor to oblivion. Taking a deep breath he turned to the left and faced the girl he obviously had been avoiding for the past week. To dismay, Sakura seemed as uncomfortable as him.
God, he never thought he'd miss her voice calling him 'parrot'.
"So…" he cleared his throat.
"So…" she said as well, refusing to make eye contact.
He immediately berated himself for his slip-up again. Where were the witty remarks and smart retorts? Had his mistake cost him her friendship as well? Would they treat each other like this for the rest of her stay? Or will she leave earlier? Goddamn it all!
"We—I guess we should start," he said uncomfortably, picking up a pen and a paper as they both sat down on the floor.
She quickly nodded. For the next hour, they squashed any personal feelings and focused on the task their sadistic teacher assigned. Their responses were mechanical and succinct, no compliment, jibe or smirks exchanged. The teacher even had to rub his glasses and poke himself in the eye to make sure that this was not a dream.
10 minutes before the bell, they straightened. "I guess that's about it. What do you think?" Li asked her, refusing to look at her and instead focusing on their work,…which was already finished.
There was silence at first, and he started to think that maybe she now meant to ignore him… or maybe tell him to sod off. He waited, sensing her hesitate and taking a deep breath. The words she said jolted him out of his thoughts.
"It sucks like hell."
His head shot up, watching as her face started heating up. He looked on in astonishment as she tore it in to strips and grabbed a new sheet and placed it on the floor. "I know—I know of a better one," she insisted adamantly.
"Well, if you insist, I guess," he told her, frowning. "I'll write and you dictate."
She nodded and took another deep breath, making him worry that she was going to be sick. "There was once a girl named Sakura Kinomoto (his hand shook, making the writing swerve)," she started in a flat voice. "She grew up trying to impress her rich father, wanting him to show her how much he loved her and for her half-brother to accept her. She tried everything, but never even received a single compliment, but rather a berating of how she should improve and fare better next time."
He subconsciously imagined many imaginative ways of punishing Jake and Tomas Chien.
"It went on for more than half her life, then… then something happened," she continued, her voice shaking slightly. "Something that made her naïve little mind finally able to register that, with the exception of her mother, her family was nothing but a family of bitches and bastards rolling around in gold."
"Sak—Kinomoto, what are you…?"
She ignored him and plowed on. "Her parents' divorced, and two years later, her mother thought it would be best for her daughter to stay with a friend of hers temporarily while she sorted out the trouble her ex-husband caused. Sakura Kinomoto was brought into a new house… and a new world. She met great friends like Eriol and Tomoyo, two people who've been skirting around a relationship for a century, a few irritating cheerleaders and two nutcrazed middle-aged twins enough to drive her to insanity," she paused. "But it was her host's son that caught her attention."
My hand stopped and my eyes snapped back to her face. What the hell is happening?
She was sharpening a pencil, but he could clearly the tip was so sharp already and the length was already reduced to half its size. "The two… well, she didn't like him at first, but things… happened. Sakura Kinomoto didn't know how it happened, but they ended up being friends. They had a great time wreaking havoc in both the school and the mansion… then one day, returning home after buying a dove in the park, she overheard him say he lov—liked her."
He inhaled sharply and felt himself going beet red. "I am so sorry if that's been bothering you, Kinomoto. I wasn't think—"
"The story's not yet finished," she said quietly, the look on her face silencing him. "After that, she started becoming confused. She was afraid, actually," she laughed bitterly at that point. "Of what, I have no idea, maybe she afraid to be hurt, or to step into an unknown territory that destroyed relationships and shattered hearts. Then, she overheard… some things… that made her think. It made her think that maybe she was being a bit stupid, and stupid she was definitely not. It made her think that he really was one of a kind."
He was staring at her now, his mouth open. His heart, which seemed to have gone autopilot for the last few days and was now battery-dead, suddenly shriveled back to life, as stupid as that seems.
She seemed to falter for a bit, but then got that determined glint in her eyes that Li knew so well. "She was sure that the heir was waiting for any reaction on her part, she knew he was already converted to a chronic insomniac because of that. Well, when Li Xiao-Lang, heir of the Li clan and a spectacularly amazing prat, made that screwed up confession of how much he…well.. loved Sakura Kinomoto, erm… well… oh crap…"
He nearly had a heart attack when she made eye contact. Her eyes, green orbs that were almost always guarded, were open for him to see. The turbulent emotions swirling in the depths were enough to make him hold his breath. His heartbeat tripled in speed.
"… Sakura Kinomto would like apologize for her stupidity and to say that that she feels the same way, too."
They stared at each other for a long moment, then, Li's mouth slowly turned upward in a very happy smirk, although a smile was in his eyes. "Can you ask Sakura Kinomoto if she really means that?"
"Yes, she does," Sakura answered, a rare smile gracing her features, making Li's heart stop and a light feeling spread on his chest.
Still not breaking eye contact, he said, grinning. "Then would you ask her if she would like to meet me at the rooftop so we can have a nice long talk…?"
Her smile widened even more. "She says she's love too."
Maybe Life wasn't such a bitch after all.
ooOoOooO
Top 10 reasons why I should've realized I'd fall for the stupid parrot anyway.
1. He's been my constant companion eversince I stepped in their house. Tomoyo and Eriol does, too, but seriously, those dense prats don't realize they need to matchmake themselves, skirting around a relationship for the past 10 years.
2. He is the only teenager who can rile me up enough to blow up half this godforsaken universe if I were superwoman.
3. He is as stubborn as a mule. Like me, now that I've thought about it. I bet we would have blown each other's heads off on more than one argument if the Tomoyo hadn't threatened to make us eat nothing but greens for the next 2 weeks.
4. He is, much to my utter dismay, intelligent, or if perhaps reading that is too nauseating, he has a brain and a half more than any other male I've met and actually uses it. It's really amusing and irritating at the same time, because we constantly compete for the number one slot.
5. We both hate Miyu Okinawa. If that isn't reason for me to fall for him then I don't know what is.
6. He makes me smile. No, seriously. He just did, actually. Smile, not laugh, though (haven't done that in years. Huhn.). I don't know why of all people he was the one to succeed. Maybe the dove had something to do with it… or maybe parrots are just mind-controlling aliens. I wouldn't be surprised. I bet that parrot in the petshop was asking me telephatically to make bird stew out of him. It should thank it's feathers I ran out of cash.
7. He was the once who "saved" me –oh, sod off—from being trapped in that locker room. I still cannot forget that incident/ I mean, what kind of nuthole would use TITANIUM walls for the girls' locker room? Is the school's male population really that perverted?
Wait, don't answer. I honestly don't want to know.
8. He's one of the few who can actually hold my interest long enough to have conversation. He can even debate with me about a topic as useless as the color of Eggy's long gone hair.
9. In a way, I guess he's sweet. Admit it, you know perfectly well he is.
And mi ultimo reason:
10. He accepted me for who I am.
I whistled a happy tune as I walked out of the campus. Everything was going so smoothly I even gave Miyu and heart attack when I shot her a quick smile. It was especially nice since the students were going spare, wondering what I, the resident Mayhem Maker of the Country, am planning.
Who cares?
Life's good. I'm making everyone go crazy, my English teacher gave me detention and accused me of planning something because I was too docile, Eriol and Tomoyo are finally going to give me a break with regard to their matchmaking and, after that exhilarating talk with Li, I found that Eggy's the best Hitler-like teacher in all the land and I would likely find his stiff manner humorous instead of irritating.
What could possible go wrong?
I should've been on guard then, despite being deliriously happy, because 5 seconds after saying that Murphy's Law kicked in. there was a sharp pain on my shoulder and quickly spread to other parts of my body, making me cry out. Before darkness claimed me, I saw a pair of green eyes.
Than everything, once again, became black.
a/n: sorry for the extremely late updating, but, as I said in HS, my school's being a sadist! Please ignore any typographical errors or whatever you call ems cause I seriously don't have time to update (curses my homeworks). Review please! (thank you for the ones who did on the previous chapter!)
Later and Lotsa Love,
CalCarrie