Chapter 15 The Ring
After coming back, the next weekend, the student council met up at Ryu's apartment to discuss the upcoming foundation day celebration. Sakura had asked Eriol to come along so that they would be able to fully discuss everything, especially since he was about to give his big secret away. Sakura and Eriol would be running late as Eriol had some rehearsals for his latest gig and Sakura had figure cheer practice since sports day was approaching as well as the interschool sports competitions for summer.
Ryu, Kenishiro and Shiho were there trying to discuss what it was that they needed to get done. All over the table, papers and papers were sprawled. They still had some filing and documentation to do about the leadership trainings as well as the university fair. It was really hard trying to get organized when they still had a lot of things to get straight all at the same time.
"Can I just say that I'm totally, totally overwhelmed with the amount of papers here. I can't believe that we have to do this much when we did everything accordingly one at a time." Shiho commented as she leaned on the table on her elbows.
Ryu grinned and so did Kenishiro. They continued checking and re-checking the papers and stacking them according to the topic it was about. Pretty soon, they had at least three piles. "It seems that the student council just doesn't run out of things to do. Better get used to it Shiho. I'm sure you'll be doing this until you graduate." Kenishiro commented.
"What?" Shiho exclaimed.
Ryu laughed and said, "With how things are going, you will be re-elected but I'm betting that you will be the next vice president. Don't worry. It will work out." Shiho sighed.
Kenishiro couldn't help but laugh. "Once Ryu and I graduate, we are turning all the responsibilities to you and Sakura. I'm pretty sure that you guys will be elected to student council again unless you guys don't want to run for office again." Kenishiro said.
"I'm sure Sakura-sempai is going to be a great president next year but I'm really, really thinking of not running. If it means this much work…hmmm…I will have to think about it." Shiho commented.
"Well you still have a few months to think about it but I'm still going to nominate you for vice president." Ryu said.
"Ditto. That goes the same for Sakura. She was last year's secretary you know. She was pretty much the same as you but she didn't complain. Even if it was her brother, Touya, who was the president, she really didn't complain. Tsukishiro Yukito was the treasurer." Kenishiro explained.
"Really? So you mean Kinomoto-san was the president, Ryu-san the vice, Sakura-sempai the secretary and Tsukishiro-san the treasurer? Wow! Talk about a power house combination." Shiho commented.
Ryu and Kenishiro couldn't help but laugh. "I wouldn't call it a 'power house'. It was unusual actually and rather amusing in a way. Kinomoto-san is very receptive and very sharp so he anticipates things that would eventually happen. So he would designate stuff even before it was actually needed so the flow of things last year was very smooth but a lot harder work than it is now." Ryu commented.
"But we didn't really mind. It was understandable because we celebrated the 100th year anniversary of the school so it was really big. Though Kinomoto-san would always tease Sakura and would assign her a lot of things because she was the secretary. Sakura would smirk at him and take on the challenge. It wasn't like Kinomoto-san didn't do anything, but he made it seem that it was supposed to be Sakura's work. Eventually he would take some of the load, actually most of it, from Sakura. We all did. Everyone worked together and would take the initiative of taking over when they saw that the other was fully loaded already." Ryu continued on to say.
"To tell you the truth, when this school year started and the power had been passed to all of us, the three of us felt that it would be really hard to compare to the student council's performance of the previous year but we just figured that we will just do our best and take it from there." Kenishiro then said.
Shiho listened to them attentively. It was the first time that she had heard stories about the previous year's student council. It was something the peeked her interest a bit. It sort of took her mind of the things at hand.
But before long, a knock came at the door. Ryu got up and opened it. It was Sakura. They walked in and Sakura said, "Sorry it took me so long. How are you guys doing?"
As she and Ryu sat, Shiho replied, "Well we've finished putting them into piles. We have to organize each pile before we can finally move on to the foundation day celebration." Sakura nodded.
"How was practice?" Kenishiro then asked.
Sakura smiled as she took a pile. "Well it's good though we still have a lot of things to work out. It's a new, more dangerous routine. I guess coach just wanted to see how far we can go. But I say that it's pretty good." She answered.
"Dangerous huh?" Kenishiro said.
Sakura nodded. "You'll see during sports day." She said.
"Oh yeah. Eriol called me up. He said that he'll be here in about an hour and a half." Sakura said.
"Eriol. Hiiragizawa Eriol. Why is he going to be here again?" Shiho asked.
Sakura smiled and looked at Ryu. "Well, you'll find out when he gets here." Ryu said.
Sakura nodded. "It's just a huge favor was asked of him for the foundation day. He still hadn't formally replied yet so it's better if we wait for him to say something." Sakura then said.
"Ok. Ok." Shiho replied.
"Hey you guys hungry? Me, I'm really hungry. I'm going out to get us something to eat. What do you guys want?" Kenishiro said.
"Anything goes." Sakura said as she handed him some money. Ryu gave some money too.
"Come on Shiho. There's this restaurant at the corner. Let's buy something to eat. Among all of us, you're the pickiest so you have to come." Kenishiro said as he got up.
"Hey I resent that!" Shiho commented as she stood too.
"Here is some money for Eriol. I'm sure he'll be hungry." Sakura said.
"No it's ok. I've got it covered." Kenishiro said. Sakura nodded. Kenishiro and Shiho then headed out to buy something to eat.
With just the two of them left, it didn't feel as awkward as one could have expected. They continued to sort through a pile. "I think this goes first than that one." Sakura said as she handed a paper over to Ryu who was already sorting a couple into the file. He got it but then there was a knock at the door. They looked at each other.
Ryu got up and said, "Those two would never get us something to eat if they continue forgetting stuff like they use to when those two start teasing each other."
Sakura laughed. "Hey give them a break. Kenishiro might not look like it but he has a crazy personality just like Shiho. Shiho's just a little impressionable among all of us so he likes teasing her the most because he can get away with it." Sakura replied. Ryu just grinned.
Ryu opened the door and was surprised to not see Kenishiro and Shiho but a woman with an infant daughter. "'Ne-chan?" Ryu said.
She smiled and entered the apartment. Sakura got up and bowed to greet the woman. "Oh hello. I'm sorry I didn't know that Ryu had a date." She said.
"Oh no, no. I'm Sakura. I'm just a friend and also his vice president. I'm not his girl friend." Sakura said.
"Oh so you're Sakura. Hi. I'm Megumi, Ryu's older sister." She said. Sakura told her that it was nice to meet her. "Anyway, I have to leave Natsumi with you, Ryu. Shin needs some help right away. I have no one to leave her. I hope you don't mind? Right. Ok thanks." Megumi said as she quickly dashed out the door.
"Hey 'ne-chan! 'Ne-chan!" Ryu said but it was too late. He looked at his niece in his arms. Sakura smiled and went over.
"I'll carry the baby and you prepare her bed near us so that you won't have trouble watching over her." Sakura said.
Ryu handed the sleeping child to Sakura as he quickly prepared a comfortable bed on the tatami floor near the table they were using. "Your niece is so cute, Ryu. She looks a lot like your sister." Sakura commented.
Ryu smirked and said, "Yeah well I hope that's the only thing that she inherits from 'ne-chan."
Sakura laughed as she knelt beside the bed and slowly placed the baby down. "How old is she?" Sakura then asked.
"Natsumi's six months, going on seven in a couple of days." Ryu answered.
Sakura smiled. "It certainly looks like that she's here with you a lot." Sakura then commented.
Ryu grinned. "Yeah well 'ne-chan and Shin 'nii-chan are always into this fast pace thing because of work. Let's just say that 'ne-chan likes delegating tasks and that includes me in the picture." Ryu answered which made Sakura laugh.
They then started to work again. But it seemed that Natsumi started crying. Ryu quickly went over to her. He thought that maybe she wanted milk so he quickly got her bag and started to look for a milk bottle. It looked like her sister hadn't mixed milk yet so he had to do it. He was a little on his feet trying to accomplish everything really fast because the baby continued crying.
Sakura smiled and then made her way to the baby. She tied her hair and then gently carried her and played with her a little. Natsumi instantly stopped crying.
"Well I'll be…" Ryu commented as he knelt beside Sakura carrying the milk bottle in his hand.
Sakura then repositioned Natsumi and asked Ryu for the bottle. She then started to feed the infant. "She's still a little sleepy. I'm sure she'll fall asleep right away this way." Sakura said gently.
"You're a natural, Sakura." Ryu commented.
Sakura laughed a little. "I used to baby sit a neighbor's kid. They moved to a different city now so I don't do baby sitting jobs anymore. The baby was younger than Natsumi. I started baby sitting him when he was just four months old up until he was two before they moved. He's going to turn three in a couple of months." She said.
Then a knock came at from the door. Ryu opened the door quickly so that it won't disturb Natsumi who was falling asleep. "Ok we leave you two for awhile and you manage to have a baby when we come back. What have you two been doing while we were gone?" Shiho teased. Sakura shook her head.
"She's my niece, Morimoto. We're baby sitting while working until my sister comes back." Ryu said.
Shiho laughed as Kenishiro smirked. Eriol was already there too. "Hey Eriol. You're early." Sakura said. Eriol smiled at her.
They fixed the papers off the table so that they could eat while Sakura finally got the baby to sleep and laid her back down. "We got you curry. Is that ok?" Kenishiro said as he handed her a bento box.
"Yeah sure thanks. I haven't had curry in a while." Sakura said.
"Ok so who do I own money to for lunch?" Eriol said.
"No it's ok. The student council covers that." Kenishiro answered. Sakura and Ryu knew that Kenishiro had figured it out already.
Eriol said, "Are you sure?"
Kenishiro grinned and gave him a nod. "Hey! How come I have a feeling that I'm the only one who doesn't know what Hiiragizawa-san is here?" Shiho commented.
They looked at each other and hid their smiles. Eriol smiled and said, "If I tell you, promise you won't scream? You'll wake the baby up."
"I promise."
"Well, I am Hiiragizawa Eriol but I also go by the name Shinzo Mizuhara. I've been invited to have a concert in school for the foundation day celebration."
Shiho seemed dumbfounded. She was about to scream but Kenishiro and Ryu covered her mouth before she could scream.
Sakura couldn't help but laugh as Eriol too started laughing. They let Shiho go. "We just had to make sure that you didn't scream." Kenishiro said.
Shiho pouted. "Really? You're Shinzo Mizuhara…ok…now I'm speechless…" She said.
"That's a new one. Shiho Morimoto speechless…I should have had that down on tape." Kenishiro commented.
Shiho pouted again as they laughed and ate. They fixed up and started working again. They talked and planned about the foundation day celebration.
"So, this will be the proposed schedule for the entire celebration. You guys have concerns? Hiiragizawa-san?" Ryu said.
"No. I think it's ok. I'm fine with it." Eriol answered.
"I wonder if Yamaguchi-sensei will still find something to change in that?" Shiho commented.
"Well if he does, well we have no other choice." Sakura replied.
"I'm nervous actually with the foundation day. Each class is going to do something different right? I wonder if ours will be a booth or something?" Shiho said.
"Oh shoot I forgot. We are going to approve all those things too…I hope Tomoyo and the others don't think of something really hard and weird." Sakura commented.
"Why? Is there something we should be concerned about?" Eriol asked innocently. He was intrigued. It was going to be his first foundation day celebration at that school and he knew that it was going to be an experience that he wouldn't so easily forget.
"Yeah, Sakura-sempai. Why are you so all worked up with it? Is it really that bad?" Shiho asked. Ryu and Kenishiro exchanged glances and laughed.
"What?" Shiho and Eriol asked. Sakura's face sank a little bit.
"Last year Daidouji, Mihara and Yanagisawa convinced the entire class of I-A to do a fashion show. One of their models is sitting with us right now." Ryu said as Sakura blushed.
"Don't even remind me of that. Do you have any idea how I psyched myself up for that?" She said. They all laughed.
"Well anyway, it was a success so you don't have to be so edgy when it comes to it. Even your brother and Tsukishiro-san were really pleased with it and seemed amused." Kenishiro said.
Sakura turned to him and replied, "Ok Yukito-san I can understand because he's really supportive but my brother…even if he's all supportive…he just had to rub it in for a couple of weeks at home…he kept on telling me that he was waiting the whole time for me to trip or something…'nii-chan is such a pain…I think the only reason he watched is because 'tou-chan asked him to film it, which makes it all a little bit worse." The others laughed.
"I don't think it will be that bad this year. It would be interesting though to find out what we are going to do." Eriol said. Sakura smiled at him.
"Either way, I'm sure that it will work out. Your class always works something out." Ryu said.
Sakura gave out a sigh. She had a bad feeling about it but it was no use arguing it at the moment. She had to take their word for it in the meantime. They continued to work and converse about stuff.
On the way home, Ryu told Sakura, "Listen, you know that the basket ball team is going to go to Kyoto for a competition. I will fix all the files that you and Shiho will need. You two will be in charge while Kenishiro and I will be gone for the game."
"Oh ok."
"Meet me at Tomoeda station at 7. Our train leaves at 7:15."
Sakura gave him a nod and headed home. She still had a lot of homework to do before then.
When Sakura reached home, she was surprised to see Touya was already there before her. She freshened up and had an early supper with Touya. Sakura had told him that she would be going out before 7 to meet Ryu at the train station to get the student council's agenda while Ryu and Kenishiro were away.
But as they were doing their assignments, Sakura had fallen asleep, resting her head at the coffee table while she was sitting at the floor. Touya happened to glance at her and was surprised to see that she had fallen asleep. He grinned and shook his head. He knew that she was tired. She had been doing a lot of activities lately and hadn't even slowed down. He then turned back to his books when the doorbell rang. He got up to answer it. He wondered who it could be. It wouldn't have been their father because he would have had a key and would have entered the house.
Touya opened it and was surprised to see Shaoran there. "Hey. Is Sakura home?" He asked.
"Yeah. She's asleep though. She fell asleep while doing her homework. Come in." Touya said.
Shaoran entered and waited for Touya as he closed the door and led the way to the living room. Shaoran then saw that Sakura had indeed fallen asleep while she was doing math. He looked at her.
"Hey I wanted to thank you for watching out for Sakura in that cave. She told me what happened. It's a good thing you know kendo, man, or you two would have been really hurt." Touya suddenly said.
"It was nothing but the experience really scared her though she seems fine now and even at school. No one seems to asks us about the incident which I think is good." Shaoran replied. Touya nodded.
Suddenly Sakura's phone rang. It woke her up with a start. She started looking for her phone under her books. She got it. It was Eriol. She then glanced at her watch as she realized that she had fallen asleep. Her eyes flew wide open when her watch registered 6:55. She wasn't even sure what Eriol was saying anymore.
She said, "Eriol, I'm sorry. Can I call you back? I'm running late. I need to run."
"Sure. I'll call you back later. Bye." Eriol said and hang up.
Sakura quickly got up and realized that Shaoran was there. She bowed and quickly made her way to the door. She put on her rubber shoes as fast as she could. "Why didn't you wake me up, 'nii-chan? I told you I need to meet Ryu. I need to get the file for the student council while he and Kenishiro are away." Sakura said. Touya didn't even had time to answer as she quickly dashed out the door.
"Don't worry. I'll follow her and make sure that she doesn't get into any trouble." Shaoran said as he ran after Sakura.
Shaoran caught up with Sakura while she was trying to dial Ryu's number. "Hey Ryu. I'm sorry I fell asleep. I'll make it. I'll be there in about 10 minutes." Sakura said.
Ryu seemed to understand as he told her to be careful and not allow herself to get into danger trying to get there.
"You didn't have to come along, you know." Sakura finally told Shaoran.
"I know but who's going to keep you out of trouble?" He replied. Sakura shook her head.
At the platform, Sakura arrived and headed straight to Ryu and Kenishiro. Shaoran laid back. Sakura was trying hard to catch her breath. Ryu smiled at her. He then handed her the file. "We've gone through the things before so it would be easy for you and Shiho to follow this. If you still find any problem, call me right away." Ryu said. Sakura gave him a nod as she accepted the file.
Ryu suddenly kissed her. She was taken by surprise. But no one was more surprised than Shaoran. He felt this pang of pain inside his chest. Ryu then whispered, "If there is a ring, a ring where guys have to prove to you that he loves you, my hat is inside."
Sakura looked at him and said, "Just do your best, alright?"
Ryu then smirked, "Don't worry I don't intend to lose when it comes to you."
"Ha! You wish I meant that! I mean the game. You should do your best." Sakura said as he started to push Ryu towards the train. "Get on before it leaves without you two. Just do your best on the game you guys." Sakura said.
Kenishiro and Ryu grinned as they stood there and the door closed. Sakura was surprised that other members of the basketball team were looking at her. Oh no.. she thought. She knew they had seen. She bowed at them trying to hide her blushing face.
She then turned as saw Shaoran looking at her. At first, she froze in place but then started to walk towards him, towards the staircase they had used to get there.
(to be continued…)
Hmmm…no comment. Hehe. Things just needed to start moving. Sometimes you just don't know that value of someone until you lose the person. Anyway, thanks to those who reviewed until this chapter and those who read. Thanks so much. Please do continue to send in what you think. Thanks.
Michiko