DM: Thanks so much for you reviews, guys! This chapter is where things really get interesting. I'm hoping that this fic won't be too long so I'm going to get the ball rolling ASAP! Sorry for the lateness!

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, or anything else that I might reference (such as books, movies, clothing brands, etc.). Character names that you do not recognize are either people I know or characters of my own creation. This chapter is unbeta'd. Sorry.

How Should I Know?

Chapter Three

Ultimate

The Monday after Yukito and my first date, I woke up to the sound of rain and looked outside to see the street already flooded. I shifted under the covers, lying down to rub my eyes again.

Looks like I'll have to walk, I thought, not entirely saddened by the idea, Good thing I woke up so early.

Now that I was thinking about it, I wondered, why did I wake up so early? You see, I usually need help to wake up, and when I do, I'm barely on time. It's a problem I have. I frowned as I tried to remember my dream—it had involved Li kissing me. A hot, wet replay of our last one, though I tend to exaggerate.

"No wonder I woke up…"I grumbled, "Stupid nightmare."

I shrugged it off and began getting ready for school. My bunny shirt was in the wash, so I was forced to wear a plain white shirt to sleep. As I buttoned up my shirt I caught a glance of myself in the mirror. I was looking extremely flushed after such a… oh, I don't know, intense dream. I quickly grew embarrassed (though no one was around) and rushed to go downstairs.

Touya was waiting for me at the door, looking much more subdued than usual. He heaved a sigh as I grabbed an umbrella for each of us.

"Whoa, who died, Touya?" I asked, half smirking. He only ever got like this when he was having girl trouble, which happens more than you might think. I swear, his life would be so much easier if he was gay.

Oh, I'm sorry; I guess I shouldn't say that in a place like this, huh? My bad.

Anyway, back to my story. Thank you for listening so far.

"Shut up monster," he muttered half-heartedly under his breath. The sight of his dejected face kept me from my usual foot-stomping reply. Without saying anything else to me, he walked out the door, talking to himself about girls, pigtails and accidents.

We walked in a silence I was desperate to break. I asked him several questions about his classes and his teachers, but he gave me "yes or no" replies, even though none of them were "yes or no" questions. I sighed and resigned myself to the situation. This had to be the female Li's doing, I decided.

Finally Yukito came into view, holding his blue umbrella. I silently regretted bringing my own pink one (it's really cute—Tomoyo designed it with a pattern of cherry blossoms!)—sharing umbrellas was so romantic. Oh well, I figured, we'd have plenty of time for romantic stuff.

Of course, I was utterly wrong.

"I'm happy to see you too, Sakura," Yukito was saying to me. I gave him a puzzled look: I hadn't said anything.

He winked at me, and I realized that I must have had a really dreamy look on my face. I reached up to touch my face and realized it had smiled of its own accord. My cheeks burned with embarrassment as we walked to school, talking idly about nothing. I was mildly relieved to note that Touya treated Yukito much in the same way he had treated me, though Yukito did not seem very put off by it.

Touya looked more sullen than ever when Li and his cousin came into view, each holding yin-yang patterned umbrellas. My suspicions were confirmed.

"Sweetheart!" Li called to me, stepping ahead of his cousin. We were on campus now, and the two of them were walking to the main building from the dorms. Unfortunately, their road and ours merged to one, a painful daily occurrence for all those involved. Except maybe Li, that is.

I groaned at the thought of walking next to him. He fell in step with me anyway, whistling a happy tune. One glance at his pursed lips and the memory of my dream came flooding back. My face grew flushed and I looked away.

Touya and the Meiling girl were refusing to look at each other, walking on opposite sides of our little trio. Yukito, on my left, leaned forward and asked Li in a low voice, "What happened with them?"

Li raised an eyebrow, and whispered back, "Well apparently she and Kinomoto got into a fight, and she tried to punch him and missed…" he trailed off.

I watched his smile turn evil, and, strangely enough, it brought a smile to my face, too. He was kind of cute like that—he looked like a mischievous little boy. Then I remembered who this was standing in front of me and shook my head slightly to clear it of that stupid idea.

Little boy? I thought, turning away, Puh-lease.

"So they ended up snogging, right, Li?" Yukito asked, with a little chuckle under his breath.

The three of us continued to walk in an amiable sort of silence, with Touya and Meiling glaring off in opposite directions and stomping their feet much more loudly than was absolutely necessary. I was kind of surprised that Yukito didn't feel more hostility towards Li, and also strangely disappointed. Walking between them, I couldn't help but glance back and forth. They were really quite different. Yukito is tall bordering on gangly, and fair in every sense of the word. Li is a little stockier, yet at the same time a little more graceful…

Once Yukito went with Touya to the senior area, Li grabbed my arm and asked, in his most sugary-sweet voice, "How was your first date with snowy bunny boy?"

He's teasing me, I thought, though the intensity of his gaze was indicating otherwise.

"Oh it was so romantic. He was such a gentleman," I breathed, remembering how we went for a long walk in the park and how, just at the very end, he'd planted a quick peck on my cheek. I put a hand up and tried to touch where he'd kissed me, but then I realized I'd forgotten the exact location. All I could remember was Li's kiss, and my fingers instead landed on my lips.

Syaoran mimed vomiting. My eyes narrowed.

"And how was your date with Tomoyo?" I countered, "Does she see through you yet?"

I had actually heard all about their date right after it happened, and to my dismay, Tomoyo had had a great time.

"See through me?" Li pretended to look hurt. I smirked.

"Doesn't she see that you're just messing around?" We had made it to the shoe lockers, and I bent down to remove my outdoor shoes, glad for the excuse to break eye contact.

"Look Kinomoto, we're dating casually—it's not like she expects something from me," he replied, shrugging. He walked off to join his friends, who were gathered around some kind of magazine (the contents of which would make everyone in this building blush).

I stood, watching him. The offhand way he said that made me very angry, mostly because Tomoyo had spent all of Sunday gushing to me about how much she liked the little punk. He didn't deserve someone as great as Tomoyo!

I realized then and there that I had to make Tomoyo dump him.

But how?

I walked over to Tomoyo, who was opening her shoe locker, blissfully unaware of Li's evil nature.

"Morning, Sakura—oh, what's this?" she had begun to call to me, but then looked down in surprise.

A letter tied to a rose fell out of her locker. Great, now she has another secret admirer, I remember thinking, but I bit back the twinge of envy. We're friends, and that's that.

"Oh amethyst-eyed beauty, you are the love of my life. My only wish is that you acknowledge my existence," she read aloud to me from the letter.

I couldn't help it—I laughed. The letters were getting more and more ridiculous as time went on, it seemed. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw light flash off someone's glasses. I turned to look at the interloper as Tomoyo got out her books, but all I saw was the back of his blue-haired head. Hmm… I puzzled to myself.

All throughout class I kept looking over my shoulder at the blue-haired guy, who sat two rows behind us. I had a feeling it was he who left the rose and letter in Tomoyo's locker, but I couldn't be sure. He didn't notice my looking, but stared straight ahead, occasionally glancing at Tomoyo. His eyes were a bright blue and he was almost as pale as Tomoyo, and I knew him by sight, but couldn't recall his name.

"Hey Babe, it's rude to stare," a sly voice whispered in my ear.

"Oh you're a really expert on etiquette, Li," I whispered back without turning to him.

"For your information, O Wise One, I—" he began in reply, but the teacher cut him off:

"—Li, is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

"I—er—no, sir!" Li feigned an apologetic expression. He was in college and he still had problems with disrupting classes. I decided that he was definitely not right for Tomoyo.

"This is the last time you will interrupt my class, Li. You will do detention with me during lunch," the teacher announced, unable to keep the smirk off his face.

Li groaned. I turned and gave him a triumphant grin. However, I quickly regretted it as he began pulling my hair in reply. Brat.

At lunchtime I approached Mr. Blue, Tomoyo's secret admirer. He was sitting by himself in a secluded corner of the cafeteria. It was still raining heavily outside, and I was thankful that Li was in detention so I could work undisturbed. I left Tomoyo with our small group of friends, claiming I needed to do my brother a favor.

"Kinomoto Sakura, nice to meet you," I said, extending my hand. No "hello;" I had no time to waste.

"Hiiragizawa Eriol," he replied coolly, unperturbed by my lack of decorum.

"Listen," I said, sitting down across from him on the empty table, "I know you were the one who put the letter in Tomoyo's locker."

Hiiragizawa just shrugged noncommittally and began unwrapping a chocolate egg.

"I know that she's going out with Li," he said when he'd finished, "He's an ok guy and she's happy."

"No he is not an ok guy. Tomoyo is taking their relationship a lot more seriously than he is and I'm afraid she might get hurt." I made sure that my expression was extremely serious as I said all of this. I hoped to instill in him a fighting spirit so that he'd help me with my plan.

Hiiragizawa took a bite of his chocolate egg and chewed thoughtfully. It was hollow and a small plastic egg was inside. His unhurried manner was kind of irritating, but at the same time he reminded me a lot of Tomoyo. I knew she'd like him immediately.

"What is that?" I asked; my curiosity got the better of me as I looked at the candy egg. He didn't look like he'd be answering replying to my first statement soon anyway.

"Kinder surprise. My grandparents send them to me from England," he said shortly, the quickest answer I'd received yet.

He removed and opened the plastic egg and began to assemble an airplane from the pieces inside. I shook my head. He clearly wasn't much of a talker when he was in the zone like that.

"Anyway, I have a proposition for you," I began tentatively.

"Go on, I'm listening," he said, clearly eager to be alone with his airplane.

"Become friends with Tomoyo and be there for her, and maybe when Li drops the bomb on her she won't feel so bad. Give her advice that will sabotage their relationship and help her get over him," I said quickly. Almost all of it was purely nice, except maybe the sabotage part. But desperate times call for desperate measures. I had to make her see the truth.

"As much as I would love a chance to get close to her," he answered, placing stickers on the winds, "Why can't you be there to advise her against Li?"

He was smart.

"Because I hate him and she knows it," I said flatly, "She'll never believe me. And besides, I'm hoping that she will fall in love with someone else and forget about him."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," he said, setting the toy down on the desk. He hadn't really looked at me since our introduction, but now he finally made eye contact.

"Says the guy playing with a plastic airplane," I snapped.

"Hey, I never said it wouldn't work," he replied. He smiled and his glasses flashed in a way I found dangerous. He stuck out a hand.

"Partners?" he asked. I was a little surprised that he was going along with it, but I took his hand nonetheless.

"Partners. Let the Ultimate Plan begin."

We shook hands, and I left to go join Yukito, who was waving at me from my brother's usual table. Once again, I thanked God that Li had detention that lunch period. I thank him for other stuff, too, just so you know.

"What were you talking to that guy about, Sakura?" he asked me, giving me a hug.

"Oh, nothing important," I said, snuggling closer to him.

Meiling was there (oddly), and she and Touya were attempting to discuss the weirdness of rain this early in the year without making eye contact. I only smiled. This was probably Yukito's doing.

"Hey Sakura, I'd like to show you something," he said suddenly, tugging on my arm lightly.

I followed Yukito to a secluded place in the hall and squealed delightedly as he pressed me against the wall. He leaned in and kissed me and…

And that was it. Just two lips on two lips.

Shouldn't we be moving more or something? I thought, remembering my kiss with Syaoran, Maybe using our tongues?

To test my theory, I slid my tongue out and licked his lips, like I had seen in the movies, to try and initiate something. He pulled back, surprised, and laughed.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

My face probably went as red as a tomato. I'd never been so embarrassed in front of him. Maybe I knew less about kissing than I thought.

"Uh…n-nothing…" I replied meekly. Clearly Li gave strange, inhuman kisses, I decided. That would be like him.

He gave me a hug and we walked back to lunch. Despite the fact that I could blame Li for everything, I was still so confused. I hadn't felt anything with that kiss. No fireworks at all.

But when Li kissed me it was like fire…I couldn't help thinking.

I shook my head. Maybe things would get better. I excused myself and went over to where Tomoyo was sitting in our group of girls, desperately needing to consult with someone.

"Hey Tomoyo, can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Sure, Sakura. What's up?" She got up and walked a little ways away from the table with me.

"What's it like when Li kisses you?" I asked, staring at the floor.

"Oh he's a great kisser! He knows how to use his tongue and—" she gushed, but I interrupted her:

"Ok ok, I just wanted to know if he used his tongue." I sighed.

Tomoyo laughed. I suddenly heard myself and realized how ridiculous I'd sounded.

"Why? Doesn't Yukito?" She looked incredulous.

"No…" I blushed.

"Maybe he feels awkward, since you're his friend's sister. Do you still like him, Sakura?" she asked seriously.

"What? Yea! Of course I do!" I protested. Right?

"I don't know… I think for you the getting is always more important than the having, at least when it comes to Yukito," she said. I felt a little irritated.

Suddenly she was acting so wise about love, when I still knew next to nothing.

"Really deep, Tomoyo," I countered, "But I like him a lot."

Tomoyo raised her eyebrows as if to say 'suuuure', but I just ignored her. It was time for class, anyway.

"Hey guys, since it's raining, we've been given permission to play Ultimate Frisbee in the gym!" Li exclaimed as class ended for the day.

The majority of the class cheered, but I wasn't so keen on the idea. Last year Tomoyo and I had played a game of Ultimate, but it wasn't that great of an experience. The boys always got so violent and tried to tackle people to the ground.

"Come on, Sakura, let's go!" Tomoyo pleaded. I could tell she just wanted to be with Li and it made me want to throttle him.

I was put on the opposite team as Li. Great. Wonderful. The Frisbee was tossed and the game already turned violent as several people tried to trip Li as he took his two steps (you're only allowed two steps before you have to throw the Frisbee) only to be tackled by members of Li's team.

He threw it high, and I jumped and intercepted it. I'm pretty athletic, you know. I laughed at the angry look on his face but it quickly dissolved into a whimper of fear as Li came running at me. In slow motion, I felt his arms wrap around my waist (poor tackling technique; you should really go for the knees) as his head and shoulders collided with my chest and stomach. In some way I don't know, he cushioned my fall so that I felt barely any pain.

He was gazing into my eyes from on top of me.

My heart stopped. All I could see were his eyes. All I could feel was the heat of his body…of a certain part of his body pressing against her thigh. I shuddered, realizing what it was.

Slowly his face crept closer to mine, though I could have been imagining it, but then…

"That's got to be the biggest foul in the history of Ultimate, Li," someone said. I looked up.

"Yea dude, she's just a girl," another guy interjected. Everyone was gathered around us in a little circle.

Li quickly got off me, and I had dropped the Frisbee when I fell. Tomoyo pushed through and helped me to my feet.

"Aw Syao, try and be nice to Sakura, ok?" she called sweetly.

I suddenly felt relieved that Tomoyo wasn't angry and that she was on my side. Li's face was bright red, whether from exertion or embarrassment I couldn't tell. For the rest of the game Li stayed as far away from me as possible.

By the way, Tomoyo never brought me along to play Ultimate Frisbee again.

DM: Well now, Sakura's cooked up an evil little plan to save Tomoyo from Syaoran! Review please, and tell me what you think! I also hope you got that Sakura is narrating this story to someone in particular…more hints next time.