Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in the last little while but I didn't wanna do it while the site was screwing up… In fact, the Document Manager STILL isn't letting me upload… it took me TWO DAYS of stuffing around before I figured that I could export older chapters into the DM and copy the new chapters into them… (sigh) But thankfully it worked!
This update is LARGELY due to the nagging of dancingwindforever for about… (thinks) an hour and a half the other night? I think…
Remember our deal, dancingwind…
Anyway, enjoy the chapter… I can't really think of anything else I need to say… I'm too tired at the moment… (yawns) And stressed… can't forget stressed…
Something of Yours
Chapter 5
Tell! No!
The next two weeks were a blur. Sakura tried her best to cope with adjusting. The news hadn't felt so real until the doctor confirmed it a week ago. The morning sickness struck as soon as she woke up in the morning, usually followed by dizziness and irritability. She had snapped at her father and Tomoyo more times than she could count.
It was getting harder and harder to hide from Syaoran's mother, who she now saw on a regular basis. It turned out that Nadeshiko and Yelan had grown up together in Tokyo, but Fujitaka had parted ways with Yelan shortly after Nadeshiko's death. She had a sneaking suspicion that Yelan knew abut her pregnancy, and was praying to God that she didn't mention it to Syaoran.
"Miss Kinomoto…" She heard the teacher from far off. "Miss Kinomoto. Kinomoto!" Sakura jumped awake with a start, blushing furiously. She'd fallen asleep in the middle of class. Though she would have liked to blame it on the fatigue she had been experiencing during the last few weeks because of her pregnancy, she had fallen asleep in this class – Chemistry – numerous times. Now she was in trouble, and it was only the first period of the first day back.
"I'm sorry, Sir." Sakura mumbled, picking up her pen and staring at the blackboard. The teacher sighed, knowing that there was nothing to be done now – she knew the drill. The second she put her head down to write, the door slammed open with a panting man in the frame. Sakura looked up and gasped.
In the doorway was Li Syaoran. The school nerd. Looking hot! He'd changed his appearance, all right. Sakura's face flushed an even more brilliant red as he sat down next to her – he was her assigned lab partner. She kept her head down and continued writing, ignoring him. The teacher sighed, writing out a tardy slip for Li. He didn't even bother to ask why he was late.
OoOoOoOoOoO
He was so damn pissed at his mother. She had gone behind his back, replacing all his baggy school clothes with ones his proper size. She had destroyed his glasses, meaning he had no choice but to wear the contacts she handed to him two seconds later.
She had refused to let him out of the house with his hair gelled down, so Syaoran had to have a shower to remove the sticky substance. She had insisted on running a small amount through his hair when she had seen the final product. The result was tamed, yet wild at the same time. Not to mention the extra shower had meant that he had to run to school and arrive late – resulting in the tardy slip the teacher had just placed on his desk.
He eyed Sakura from the corner of his eyes. She was blushing furiously and seemed to be having trouble breathing. He frowned to himself. She'd seen him numerous times in more revealing things than this, so why was she freaking out? Not that he cared.
He also happened to notice all the girls making calves eyes at him. He was disgusted that all it took to get their attention was a change in appearance.
"Excuse me, you're leaning on my book…" Sakura's meek little voice came from the side. His head snapped around to look at her. She was looking petrified of being in his presence. He slowly moved his elbow so she could move her book. "Thank you." She said quietly.
The class started up with its usual chatter, though today's gossip seemed to be about him. He had to swallow to keep the vomit down. These people made him sick.
OoOoOoOoOoO
"Have you told-"
"No. And I'm not going to tell him." Sakura cut across Tomoyo as she spoke. "Or anyone for that matter. We'll be out of here in nine weeks. I'll only be just starting to show then, so it doesn't really matter. I can move away and never come back. No one has to know. Especially him." She grimaced at the mention of her baby's father.
"He should know." Tomoyo sighed.
"You're only saying that because you think he's hot." Sakura rolled her eyes. Tomoyo flushed pink. "I told you he wasn't really that repulsive." She giggled. Tomoyo didn't find it very funny.
"Oh ha-ha." Tomoyo said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "You're very funny, Sakura."
"I know." Sakura faked an airy voice as she leant against the tree trunk, "Isn't it great?"
"Fantastic." Tomoyo sighed, sitting down on the grass, patting the spot next to her. Sakura slid down to join her on the grass, opening her lunchbox. "But seriously Sakura, how could he hide himself like that? Why?"
"No idea." Sakura shrugged. "But do we have to discuss him?"
"It's either him or the baby." Tomoyo shrugged. She read Sakura's answer on her face, and continued. "I mean, he's just so… hot!"
"You mentioned." Sakura sighed, eating a biscuit. "Trust me, Tomoyo, I know more than anyone. I also happen to know that he's the world's biggest bastard. Don't mess with him. He's going to eat those other girls alive. Let's just hope none of them go drinking with him."
"Is that how-?" Tomoyo didn't need to finish her question. Sakura knew what she was asking.
"Yeah." She sighed, feeling herself go off her food. "We got piss-drunk on tequila that his neighbour – a senile old man – had given him for his eighteenth birthday a few months ago that he just hadn't opened. I woke up the next morning in bed with him, which never happened before – because I had never stayed the night – naked and hung over. I puked up in the bathroom before going home. I never really thought about it. We'd always used protection before, so I assumed that one of us had remembered in the middle of our drunken stupor." She snorted. "I guess not."
"I guess…" Tomoyo looked down the yard and spotted something that made her eyebrows crease. "He's watching you. Do you think he knows?" Sakura followed Tomoyo's eyes to find that Li was staring at her. As soon as she turned to face him, the stare became a scowl as he looked away. Sakura shivered.
"How could he? I've only told you and Dad." Sakura sighed. "And Dad doesn't even know who the father is. He wouldn't know unless you told anyone."
"I didn't, I swear."
"Well then he doesn't know."
OoOoOoOoOoOHe watched as Sakura and Tomoyo discussed something. He had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach when he looked at Sakura. A sense of impending doom. A weight that was going to be dropped on his shoulders at any time now.
But what?
Syaoran was incredibly perceptive for a man. He could often pick up on small things that others could not – such as the way Sakura kept holding onto her abdomen, or looking at what he assumed to be her feet. He read the look of fear and disbelief that shined in her eyes for the world to see. Something was happening.
Again; not that he cared.
He was perplexed. For someone who hated the woman, he spent an awful lot of time staring at her. He scowled at himself as she turned around, spotting him. He turned his head and looked elsewhere.
"I need a life." He massaged his temples. He cast his eyes around the playground to see students from all grades doing various things. Sitting around and chatting, playing tonsil-hockey with boyfriends or girlfriends, and playing a sport seemed to be the top three choices.
"Heads!" A random student yelled out. Syaoran whipped around to see a soccer ball flying at him at waist height. Syaoran rolled his eyes. Using the skills he learnt in all of his martial arts classes as a child, his foot made contact with the ball and stopped it, before he sent it flying straight back. The guys on the soccer field whooped, impressed.
"Come play, man!" One of the guys yelled from the field. Syaoran shook his head. "Aww, c'mon! We need another attacker!" Syaoran shook his head again. "Was that just a fluke, man?" Syaoran growled.
"No, it most certainly was not!" He yelled back.
"Prove it!"
"Fine, where do you want me?" He sighed. Guess he just found something to do after all.
OoOoOoOoOoO"I'm so glad today is over…" Sakura sighed, sinking into Tomoyo's bed. "If I had to spend one more hour on campus, I woulda…"
"Fallen asleep." Tomoyo flopped down next to her. "I know the feeling."
"No you don't. Not the one I'm feeling." Tomoyo was speechless. Sakura sighed. "I'm sorry."
"No, no. It's ok." Tomoyo waved it off, "You're right." She brightened a bit. "You want some popcorn while we study?" Sakura nodded.
"Sure, thanks." She said, grabbing their book-bags and followed Tomoyo down the stairs. She set up at the dining table as Tomoyo put the popcorn in the microwave to 'pop'. Sakura's stomach turned at the scent wafting through the kitchen and into the dining room.
"Are you ok?" Tomoyo asked, seeing Sakura screw up her nose and place a hand over her mouth. Sakura shook her head.
"I think I'm gonna puke!" Sakura exclaimed, rushing towards the nearest bathroom. Tomoyo followed worriedly.
"What set it off?" She asked, holding Sakura's hair back as her face disappeared into the toilet bowl.
"The smell." Sakura said weakly. "No popcorn. Please." She was shaking. Tomoyo sighed.
"Ok, no popcorn."
"I'm sorry Tomoyo." Sakura said a few minutes later, slumping at the table with a drink in her hand. "But the doctor says its normal for certain smells to make me sick. I can't be around my dad now because of his aftershave. So he's had to stop wearing it, and I feel really bad, cause it was my Mom's favourite smell." She sighed, "I'm causing everyone trouble."
"It's no problem." Tomoyo waved her off as she was doing his homework. "It's not like any of this is your fault. But you know, you should really tell-"
"Li?" Sakura cut across miserably. "I've already told you that I'm not gonna. You've been bugging me all day about it. My answer is still the same. No."
"Look, Sakura…" Tomoyo sighed, setting aside her homework, "I don't like Li. I don't like the situation you're in. I don't like the idea that my best friend is going to be struggling with a baby on her own in a matter of only about seven months. I don't like that Li is the father of your baby, but that's beside the point! The point is that he is biologically connected to that baby, and he has a right to know!"
"I know." Sakura's eyes began to grow watery. "I know, but I'm scared."
"Of what?"
"That he'll reject me." Sakura buried her face in her hands. "I mean, not as a partner, cause I don't want him anymore." Her mind, meanwhile, was screaming 'liar!' as she said this. "But I'm afraid that he'll deny the baby; and then what? I'm on my own anyway and the baby gets to grow up asking where its daddy is. What do I say? 'Oh, sorry Kiddo, but your dad rejected you before you were born'?" She demanded. Tomoyo, for once, was silent. "That's what I thought." Sakura huffed. "I'm leaving."
She grabbed her textbook and book-bag, and walked out the front door. Tomoyo watched her walk up the footpath with a scowl.
"You're only gonna end up hurting yourself or the baby, Sakura…" She sighed. "I hope you realise that soon. The longer you wait, the harder it's gonna be to hide… and I don't think Li will appreciate hearing through rumours and the look of your stomach in a few weeks…"
Can't think of anything else I need to say, except to beg you to review… again, dancingwind… I remind you of our deal…
REVIEW!