Chapter 10 Happy Birthday

Sakura got up early that morning. She seemed happy. She felt as it even if it was going to be a long day, she knew that she would be able to take it. She felt that nothing was going to make her feel really awful that day. It was her special day of the year. It was something that she really felt close to her mother the most.

As Sakura was dressing up, her phone started to ring. She checked it and saw that it registered Shaoran's name.

"Hey." Sakura answered.

"Finally you answered my call. Happy birthday." He said.

Sakura laughed a little and said, "Thanks. If I do say that letter of yours was a little chessy for your standards."

"Hey I was in the moment. Anyway, happy birthday. I'll see you around. I've got to go and pick up Rika."

"Yeah. Thanks, Shaoran." Sakura said as she hung up.

Messages started to pour in from her friends greeting her a happy birthday. It made her smile as she thanked them in reply. She got her bag and headed downstairs. Her father and brother were already in the kitchen. They looked up when they heard her come in.

"Happy birthday, Sakura." They said.

Sakura smiled at them warmly and thanked them. She then took her mother's picture and greeted her a good morning.

"Hey cool hair pin. Where'd you get it?" Touya said as he sat the breakfast plates down at the table.

Sakura went and got the glasses for the juice. She smiled at her brother and replied, "Shaoran gave it to me yesterday."

Touya smirked. As they sat down to eat, Touya said, "Hey, let's go to school together. Yukito and I are the university representatives."

"Really? Cool. Ok, 'nii-chan. I just hope you're not going to give me some headache today. Shiho and I are basically in charge since Yamaguchi-sensei wants all the senior officers to just think about their future for during the event." Touya smirked.

"Anyway, I'm sorry I can't come home early, Sakura. There is a seminar in the university and I have to be there. I'll tell you what. I'll treat you to lunch tomorrow. How does that sound?" Fujitaka said.

Sakura smiled and said, "That would be great, 'tou-chan. Actually I was hoping that today just runs smoothly and get to bed early. I want to catch up with some sleep since it's going to be another long week this coming week." Fujitaka smiled and nodded.

After breakfast, Fujitaka left and Touya and Sakura made their way to school. On the way, Yukito met up with them. "Happy birthday, Sakura." Yukito said as he gave her a warm hug.

"Thanks, Yukito-san. So, you and 'nii-chan are your university's representatives, huh? How come neither of you said anything?"

"Well you would have found out eventually so I told Yukito that he didn't have to tell you." Touya answered. Sakura shook her head.

When they got to school, Sakura saw that Shiho was already there. "Hey Shiho. Good morning." Sakura greeted as they walked towards her.

"Good morning, Sakura-sampai. Happy birthday." Shiho greeted as she walked towards them.

"Oh this is my brother, Touya and this is his best friend, Tsukishiro Yukito. They are also university representatives." Sakura introduced. Shiho bowed at them.

"'nii-chan, Yukito-san, your booth is the second one to the right. Call me if there is still something that you will need." Touya gave her a nod and Yukito smiled at her.

"Thanks, Sakura. Oh here." Yukito said as he handed her a small pink flower. Sakura smiled at him as Yukito turned and went over to the booth.

Sakura placed her bag down at the entrance booth and took out the folders for the attendance. "So it is true. You really are surrounded by handsome men." Shiho commented.

Sakura laughed. She then gave Shiho half of the folders and they started to get ready. "Nice hair piece." Shiho commented when she finally noticed that Sakura had worn a new hair pin. Sakura smiled as she handed Shiho a badge that read 'student council' on it.

Ryu and Kenishiro then joined them. "Hey guys. Happy birthday, Sakura." They said as Kenishiro gave her a bouquet of flowers, which was from all three of them. Sakura thanked them as she allowed them to sign in and handed them their badges. She then signed Ryu's name while Shiho cross signed Kenishiro's.

Ryu then took out a small parcel and handed it to Sakura. She was surprised that he got her something. "You shouldn't have troubled, Ryu-san." She said. He smiled at her. She opened it and was really taken by surprise when she saw that he had gotten her an angel necklace.

Ryu took it from her and put it on her. "It's beautiful, thank you." Sakura said. He gave her a smile. Shiho and Kenishiro looked on and smiled. It was really happening. Kenishiro smirked as Shiho looked on dreamily and wished that that would also happen to her.

Touya and Yukito also saw that had happened. Touya kept a stoic face while he was preparing. Yukito smiled. "It seemed that Watanabe-kun is taken in on her." Yukito commented.

"Sure looks like it. I wonder if that's the reason why she hasn't been hanging around Li that much lately." Touya answered.

Yukito laughed. "You know it would be easier if you ask her or do you want me to ask her?"

Touya grinned. "No. I think I will just lay low this time and see what happens. If anything starts to get out of hand, that's when I'll start to get involved but not just yet."

Yukito grinned. "Even if you don't admit it, you really are protective when it comes to Sakura."

"She's my sister. What do you expect?"

"Yeah I know."

"You have always been protective of her in your own way." Touya pointed out.

Yukito then glanced back at Sakura. She was laughing with the others. He couldn't help but smile. He then replied, "Yeah. She knows that if anything happens, I will be there beside her right away even if she doesn't ask. I suppose I will be keeping my eye on the guys around her more carefully now. We don't want that precious flower crushed, do we?"

Touya grinned and sat down. "I had a feeling you just had to say that." He commented.

"Well when it comes to Sakura, it's natural for me to say those things. And don't come all clean with me because you are just as bad." Yukito answered.

"Like I'm going to admit that openly." Touya commented which made Yukito smirk.

But it seems that it wasn't only Touya and Yukito who saw Ryu's gesture. Shaoran had seen it too. He felt as if his heart was stabbed a little with what he saw. He knew what he had told Ryu and Sakura but it seems that he couldn't stop feeling it. As he and Rika walked towards the booth, manned by Sakura and Shiho, with Ryu and Kenishiro still hanging about to make sure that everything was in order, he just tried to act as normal as he could.

Shaoran smiled a little when he saw that Sakura was wearing the hair pin he had given her. "Happy birthday, Sakura. It looks good on you." He commented.

Sakura smiled and tried to hide her blush. "Thanks, Shaoran." Rika also greeted her a happy birthday as they signed in on the attendance which Sakura counter signed.

As university people arrived and prepared, seniors started to arrive too. Sakura and Shiho greeted them with a smile as Ryu and Kenishiro started to usher the seniors towards the booths that were ready.

Soon, the university fair was in full blast. When the morning's attendance period elapsed, Sakura and Shiho gathered all the folders. They then headed towards the Principal's office to give the folders and have him sign. The Principal had them leave the folders, only to have them get it back thirty minutes before lunch started.

"Isn't this a lousy way to celebrate your birthday?" Shiho suddenly asked as they were walking back.

Sakura looked at her and smiled. She turned to her and started to walk backwards. She then said, "Not really. I'm helping out others to find their path in life. That's pretty cool in my book. Besides, almost everyone I love is here today. I can't complain about that."

Shiho smiled and said, "Yeah but most of your loved ones are guys, great looking guys. Come on. It's just us girls here. When do you plan on going steady with Ryu-san?"

Sakura stopped walking and laughed a little. "Oh come on. It's not like he's officially courting me. He likes to joke around, ok. And besides, that's how Yukito-san and Shaoran treat me so it's not like I'm going to start to think anything about it."

"Maybe you should." Someone suddenly whispered in her ear which made her jump a few steps away. She turned and saw Ryu smirking at her.

"You could have warned me, Shiho. I thought you said that it's just us girls here. Unless this is not really Ryu-san but someone who's cross-dressing trying to impersonate Watanabe Ryu." Sakura said. Shiho started to laugh as Ryu grinned. "Geez. You scared me, Ryu-san." Sakura then said.

Ryu smiled and said, "I'm sorry. Anyway, I was looking for you guys."

"Looking for us? Or looking for Sakura-sempai?" Shiho stated. Sakura hit her in the arm.

"Hey." Sakura said. Ryu gave a smirk.

"Well anyway, you shouldn't be working, remember? You should be checking out the universities. Now go, go. We're right behind you." Sakura said as she ushered Ryu to go.

"Ok, ok. I just came to tell you two that class advisers are here. They are starting with the rounds as well." Ryu said.

"Ok. Now go before you get into trouble." Sakura said. Ryu went outside following orders as Sakura and Shiho followed him.

"Boy you can order tough guys like around easily can you?" Shiho commented.

"No. He just knows that he really is going to be in trouble if he doesn't get back there. Maybe not with me but he will have to take it up with Yamaguchi-sensei." Sakura answered. Shiho smiled as they started with their rounds before heading back to the entrance booth.

Shaoran saw that Sakura, Shiho and Ryu had left the building together. She seemed high spirited. He wasn't really paying attention. Then the university representative asked him, "What course would you want to take up in college?"

Shaoran turned back. The man was waiting for his answer. He glanced at Sakura through the corner of his eye and he answered, "Law. I want to take up law and be a practicing lawyer."

Rika heard it and looked at him quite surprised. "Law? Since when did you want to be a lawyer? I thought you wanted to be a businessman?" She asked when they were a few steps away from the booth.

Shaoran stopped walking and grinned. He then turned to her. He said, "It had been my childhood dream. I've wanted to be a lawyer for as long as I could remember. I just thought about taking business management because of a whim." Rika seemed speechless. She hadn't known that part of him.

Come to think of it, Shaoran never voluntarily shared with her personal information like that. He never really told her about his childhood dreams or aspirations. He had been quiet lately. He hadn't been himself in her eyes. She reasoned that maybe it was because she had hurt him badly when she broke up with him, just like Sakura had told her once. Perhaps he was still recovering from it. Rika figured that maybe Shaoran just needed time. They had to take it slow. She could understand that.

But Rika couldn't help but feel jealous of Sakura. He would tell her things and talk about them openly that he just couldn't with her. Rika couldn't help feel this longing to just be in the same ground as Sakura in Shaoran's life. She knew that he loved her or else he wouldn't have courted her or accepted her back in her life. But somehow she still felt that she needed to prove that her place in his life. It was hard. But Rika was determined to overcome it. She wasn't going to give up easily. She really did love Shaoran.

At lunch, after all the ceremonies for the first part of the day were over and the attendance sheets were handed over to the class advisers, Sakura felt a set of hands covering her eyes. She started feeling them and slowly removed it. She turned around and saw Yukito. He was smiling down at her.

"Come on. Touya and I have a surprise for you." He said. Sakura smiled and stood up. But then Yukito covered her eyes again.

"Oh come on Yukito-san. Do you really have to cover my eyes like this?" Sakura said.

She heard him laugh and say, "Yes. Come on. Don't be a kill joy. Just trust me ok. Don't worry I won't let you fall."

"I know that. It's just weird. I can understand if it was coming from you but 'nii-chan? He usually doesn't go for this sort of thing." Sakura said. She heard him laugh again.

Yukito then motioned Shiho, Ryu and Kenishiro to follow them. They looked at each other before following. Sakura then felt that they stopped. "Ok. We're about to descend some steps." Yukito said.

Sakura's guard seemed to heighten. "Ok. What do I do?" She said.

Yukito covered her eyes with one hand and took Sakura's hand in the other. "We're going to go slow. I've got you don't worry." Yukito said. Sakura smiled. She trusted him fully. The others could see that. They slowly descended.

After walking down the flight of stairs, Yukito then started to lead her through what seemed to be a sloped field. She had an idea where he had brought her…their usual place of lunch when he and Touya were still studying there. Yukito then motioned the others to go ahead to where Touya was. He had finished setting up the picnic. They just followed.

Yukito then removed his hand from her eyes. The sun blinded her for a while. But when her vision cleared, she was surprised with what Yukito and Touya had prepared for her. Touya was grinning at her as he stepped forward and gave her a hug. "Happy birthday, imouto-chan. You said you wanted a quiet celebration so here you are." Touya said.

"Thanks, 'nii-chan, Yukito-san, everybody. Wow. I certainly didn't expect this."

"But I have to ask…who are you and what did you do to my annoying big brother?" Sakura said as she took Touya's hand as he led her to the picnic area.

Touya smirked and replied, "Well imouto-chan, you get one day of niceness from me and the rest of the year you will still be the monster sister that I have."

Sakura started to laugh. "Good. I was worried there for a minute maybe I'm in an alternate universe or something." Touya smirked as Yukito started to laugh.

"They are always like this. I hope you don't mind what we've prepared." Yukito told the others.

"No. Actually we were going to ask you if this is really ok. I mean…" Shiho started. Ryu and Kenishiro seemed to agree with her.

Yukito smiled at them and said, "Don't worry. It's fine. Besides, we can't finish all of these ourselves." They smiled as they started eating.

Pictures were taken as they talked and laughed. Everybody seemed to get along and high spirited. Then Touya brought out a small cake and lighted the candle. It was a blue, white and pink cake, Sakura's favorite colors. He had baked it the night before for her.

"Oh wow…is this what you were doing last night?" Sakura said.

Touya smirked and said, "Yeah well I didn't have anything better to do and it's hard to go to cake shops and look for a cake with your favorite colors in it." Sakura laughed.

"Thanks, 'nii-chan. You're the best."

"Naturally."

Sakura closed her eyes and made her wish. 'I wish that all things would go back to the way they were…simple. I want to be able to hang with Shaoran again and talk to him about things. I want things to be right again.' She then blew out the candle. Pictures were taken again as they shared the cake.

After a while, they all started to clean up. They quickly threw the things that they had used and fixed the others neatly before Touya placed it all back in a knap sack. After things were settled, he gave Sakura a nod that told her that it was alright for her to leave. She then gave a nod to Shiho and they both started to run towards the Principal's office to get the folders back.

The four men watched them go before they started to head back. "Watanabe-san, Sakura's heart is fragile even in that strong character that she possesses. She thinks that I don't hear her but I do. I hear her cry herself to sleep some nights. Now I don't know what really is going on or what is making her cry like that but don't go and start toying with her emotions. She cares about other people's feelings that sometimes it is too much and she forgets to leave some for herself. She would usually cry alone and never show it to other people. What people see is her smile that's it. That's my sister for you." Touya decided to say.

"Don't worry, Kinomoto-san. It is not my intention to hurt her but rather to protect her and that is why I'm doing this." Ryu answered.

Kenishiro seemed shocked that Ryu would actually tell Touya that. Yukito and Touya didn't seem unfazed. "For a split second, I saw this hint of pain in her eyes one day. I don't know the full extent of that pain or what it is about but I've seen it. I have my suspicions though I am still not sure. I only want to protect her from that. She doesn't deserve that." Ryu continued on to say.

Touya seemed intrigued because it meant that there was indeed something going on that Sakura isn't telling anybody. Perhaps it was what she was telling him and Yukito back then at the coffee shop…something about the hardest thing that she would ever have to do. He was still thinking of what it was about but he couldn't go deeper into it now. It wasn't the time and the place. He looked at Yukito. He seemed to be sharing the same thought as him. He gave him a nod.

(to be continued…)

Before anything else, RIKA IN THIS FIC IS NOT THE RIKA SASAKI, SAKURA'S FRIEND IN THE ORIGINAL MANGA/ ANIME. SHE IS VERY DIFFERENT, TRUST ME. Anyway, I can't believe the hits this fic has been having. I'm really honored. I just hope that I knew more on what you guys think. Anyway, there are still a lot more things to happen, a few more twists and turns happening. I hope you stick around with me until the end. Thanks for reading and reviewing up to this chapter. Please continue to review. Thanks.

Michiko