Chapter Five. Tomoyo
Disclaimer: I'm so awesome that I made up CCS. Yeah right. Haha. Well, I don't.
Sakura did not despise school. In fact, she liked it. The school, not the people in it. Well, there were a few teachers who were fond of her, but they didn't account for much.
She was wearing something nice today. A light blue polo and knee length shorts. Her mother fixed her up, saying something about making a new first impression in school.
First impression? Yeah, right.
Her hair wasn't in its usual messy untouched state. She brushed it up nicely, and then tied it in a ponytail. She seriously needed the haircut.
She dressed this way for two reasons. First, her mother. Second, Eriol. He told her at least six times to dress up nicely because it was his 'new' life in a new school, and she better not spoil his fun. He meant it as a joke, but she took it seriously. Two of her friends- err, well Syaoran was an acquaintance- and her cousin will be attending school as of today. She had to do this for them.
Discreet laughter greeted her as she entered the halls. She was alone because the two boys needed their schedules from the Principal's office. A few more stifled laughs were heard before she turned around.
It was Harumi Senina. She was the most vile and most vicious bully in school. She was the most popular student, of course. She looked at Sakura carefully for about 10 seconds.
"Congratulations, Kinomoto. You actually pass off as a real human being," she sneered. Sakura shook her head. No matter what she says, she ends up getting humiliated anyway.
Sakura walked down the hall, towards her classroom.
Tomoyo sighed as she trudged up the school steps. Yay, first day of school. She wasn't very enthusiastic about it, considering the fact that she missed her friends from Tokyo. You could easily tell that she was homesick.
She ran her index finger on the school map. Room 168. Hmm.
165, 166, 167... Aha, 168. She knocked gently on the door.
A man in a blue suit stepped out. She bowed. "Good morning, Sir. I'm the new student, Daidouji Tomoyo."
The teacher smiled. "Oh, good. You're just in time. I was about to introduce the other new students. Step in, come on."
New students? Tomoyo wondered who they were, but she hoped that they'd be good friends. She put on a cheerful smile and then walked in the classroom. She was met by two other boys. An amber eyed guy with chocolate brown hair, and a guy with midnight blue eyes and dark hair that gave off the impression that it was blue.
Woah, she was in for a big surprise.
Ever since he stepped in the room, Syaoran knew that something was off. He would be classmates with Sakura and Eriol, which made him feel a bit more comfortable but there was a nagging feeling that made him wonder what was so different.
The three had agreed that Sakura and Syaoran would pick Eriol up from his house.
"Why do you want to use my car again?" Syaoran asked Sakura jokingly.
"Because! Your car is pretty and I don't want to walk to school." She grimaced. Syaoran laughed as Eriol got in the back seat.
"We're kinda early, don't you think?" Eriol grumbled. It was pretty obvious that he lacked sleep. His head was nodding off to the side. Sakura stifled a giggle.
"Looks like someone was excited for school." Syaoran smirked. He shifted gears and then off they went.
"I was sleep deprived! And, yeah. Excitement. Whatever." He fell asleep again.
Sakura folded her hands on her lap. She'd grown quite accustomed to the two boys. She wasn't exactly friends with Syaoran yet, but they were coming along fine.
"So, my car is pretty huh?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Shut up."
The Sakura in the car was completely different from the Sakura sitting in the classroom. This Sakura was foreign to him. Her hands were clenched on the desk, and her head was bent down. Her hair covered her eyes, and her body was rigid and tense.
He was used to her being cheerful and happy and carefree. To be honest, Syaoran expected her to be one of the popular kids, if not the most. She never really talked about school, but he thought it was because it was summer.
He stared at her figure, making the other students wonder. She didn't look up once.
Eriol wondered who the new girl was. She was exceptionally pretty, and her violet eyes caught his attention first. She was captivating. And to think that they were going to be classmates! He smiled at his silly thought. The girl glanced at him and then looked out the window.
He raised his eyebrows but made no move. The teacher in the blue suit cleared his throat. The entire class grew silent.
"Class, we have three new students today. I hope that you will all accept them and befriend them," he turned to the three, "Please introduce yourselves."
"I'm Li Syaoran." After that, Syaoran walked to the side. Interested and dreamy eyes followed him. He grew tense.
Eriol stepped forward. "Hello everyone. My name is Hiiragizawa Eriol. Pleased to be here." He did what Syaoran did, and again, the eyes followed him.
At last, it was the girl's turn. She fussed over the hem of her blouse before she walked over to the front. "Good morning. I am Daidouji Tomoyo, and I came from Tokyo. I hope we can be friends."
She went over to where the other two boys were. Harumi Senina chuckled to herself. New members for her little group. Perfect.
Mr. Terada nodded and then showed them where to sit. "Li would be behind Kinomoto. Hiiragizawa, next to Li. Daidouji, in front of Hiiragizawa. Are we clear?"
The three nodded vehemently and proceeded to their seats.
Quiet whispers filled the room. Kinomoto? With the hot new kids? Has the world come to an end? Poor Li, Hiiragizawa and Daidouji.
After the second period, everyone broke up for recess. The four remained in the room.
Slowly, Sakura lifted her head. She had been unusually quiet throughout the first two subjects. "Hello, Daidouji-san." She bowed politely to Tomoyo.
Tomoyo's eyes widened, and then she laughed. "You can call me Tomoyo, Sakura. We are cousins after all."
Eriol smiled. "So, you're the Tomoyo girl Mrs. Kinomoto was talking about? Interesting."
Tomoyo raised her eyebrows. "What is interesting about that?"
Syaoran rolled his eyes. "Our parents were like, best friends or something. I don't know."
Sakura nodded but stayed quiet. Tomoyo grew concerned. She didn't expect her cousin to be the shy type. "Why don't you all come over to my house later? We can hang out or something."
Syaoran shrugged. "Fine."
Eriol smiled wistfully. "I'm sure I could go."
Sakura hesitated for a while and then sighed in defeat. "I'll be there."
Much to Sakura's surprise, the day was uneventful. A few laughs and stares here and there, but no humiliation. She sighed in relief. She hoped that she wouldn't bring the others' popularity down. She hated being the cause of something bad.
In the end, Syaoran drove all of them to Tomoyo's house. While Tomoyo was instructing him on how to actually get there, Sakura was staring out the window, and Eriol was singing along to the music in the radio.
"Well, here we are!" Tomoyo said. Eriol looked up from the window. It was huge. He glanced at Sakura and saw her eyes almost pop out of their sockets.
"Surprised, are we Sakura?" The girl turned red in embarrassment and then laughed.
"I've never been in a house so big!"
That afternoon, the four of them grew closer. Tomoyo and Sakura were best friends in an instant, chatting away happily while the boys played video games.
"What do you think of Sakura?" Eriol asked Syaoran. It was a weird question, but Eriol was just really curious.
Syaoran pursed his lips. "I don't know. She seems nice. She helps me around doing house chores, but she seems distant. Does she tell you secrets?"
Eriol shook his head. "It even took her a while to be comfortable around me. Whenever I said something, she used to expect them to be negative. But she's a genuinely nice person, I grant you that."
Syaoran nodded, resuming the video game. Why did Sakura keep a barrier around herself? Why was she so distant to people?
Syaoran resolved to find out himself.
A/N: Well, this was updated faster than usual. Hehe. Please review, you know what to do. ;)