Chapter 24 Shaoran and Rika
Shaoran asked Rika out. He had been silent for a lot of months already. But no matter how he tried to think and rationalize the things that were happening, he couldn't make himself understand. He knew that it was time to confront Rika about it. He had to know. He had to know the truth. The pain he saw from Sakura, in her eyes, in her voice, in her entire being was real. He had been stupid for not seeing it get that far. But since it already did, he wanted to know how it came to be like that. He was told that Rika had slapped Sakura across the face hard and had called her a bitch.
It was hard to accept it. It was hard being told what Rika had really done to Sakura because Shaoran felt that it wasn't her. He hadn't known her to be like that. But how could he deny that fact when Shiho was backed up with Kenishiro, Ryu and Tomoyo? Why would they all lie? Since then, he had started to detach himself a little from Rika, to see the entire picture.
He still tried to be a good boy friend but he wasn't that open to her because of what had happened. He tried to listen more to what others were saying. It was frustrating in a way because people refused to talk about it. The people who really knew what was going on were tight lipped. Ryu, Eriol, and Tomoyo, backed up by Shiho and Kenishiro were determined to help keep the space in between them. Shaoran couldn't blame them. He would have doe the same in their situation. So he did his part by trying to keep away too. He didn't want to hurt her more.
He remembered the time when he had first found out that he had fallen in love with Rika. He didn't need to tell Sakura about it. He remembered that specific moment. He and Sakura were hanging together last November. It had been the first snow of the season, signaling the end of fall and the start of winter. They were drinking hot tea at his place. He was helping her with math. They were taking a break then.
Sakura looked at him and smiled. He remembered feeling confused all of a sudden. He joked her, "Don't do that or I might think that you've fallen in love with me."
Sakura laughed and replied, "Dream on, Shaoran. Besides, how can that happen when you're such a moron? How can I fall in love with someone who can't even admit that he already has fallen in love to his best friend huh? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You can't deny that fact from me. I know."
Shaoran almost choked on the sweet cake he had bitten off from. He pounded a little on his chest to help himself swallow. Sakura started laughing again.
"What are you talking about?" He then asked as he took a sip of tea.
Sakura gave him a 'yeah right' sort of look. She then elbowed him. "Come on. Admit it already. You're in love with Rika-san." Sakura then said.
Shaoran almost spat what he was drinking but stopped himself and swallowed hard. He looked at her. Sakura was looking at him quite amused.
"It's easier if you just admit it already, Shaoran. It's not like you're going to die from it or something. You'll find it easier to breathe." She said smiling at him.
"Where did you get that idea anyway?" Shaoran asked, trying to keep any trace of nervousness in check.
Sakura gave him another 'whatever' kind of look. She then leaned forward at him and looked at him in the eyes. Shaoran started blushing. When Sakura noticed she started laughing and leaned back. "Honestly it was a guess, well, more of a hunch actually. You're blushing face and actions gave it away just now." She started to say.
Shaoran realized that Sakura had pulled a fast one on him. He smirked. "Fine. I'll admit…I think I like her…satisfied?" Shaoran said.
"Like? Believe me Shaoran that's the understatement of the year." Sakura replied laughing.
"Alright! Alright…you don't have to rub it in." He answered, taking another sip at his tea.
Sakura smiled and asked, "When do you plan on telling her? It's not like she's going to find out if you're not going to tell her. I hate to break it to you but you are pretty much the stoic kind, the one who never betrays his emotions."
"Hey I resent that! If I'm so stoic, how come you know?"
"Ah maybe because I'm your best friend and we grew up together and I know you? Geez. Why do you think?" Sakura answered.
Shaoran smirked at that time. He knew that Sakura was as sharp as her brother. She just didn't know it or rather, she would not like to acknowledge it. He knew that as much as Touya had been gifted with a special ability, Sakura did as well. But unlike Touya, she was more covert about it. Even he, Shaoran, didn't know the full extent of it. He knew that Sakura had this ability of understanding people's inner thoughts and dreams better than anyone. She could easily empathize and understand what people are going through. He smirked with the idea that with just Sakura's smile, it seemed to make people around her at ease. It made them easily gravitate to her and trust her. He knew it was a little stupid for asking how she found out how he was feeling. The question he should have asked was how could she not know. Being his best friend contributed to that too.
"So plan on answering my question anytime soon? I've got to leave soon. I'm in charge of dinner today, you know." Sakura said as she checked her watch.
Shaoran looked at her and grinned. "Come on. Let's get going then. You haven't finished math and you're not going to get away from it that easily. Let's talk on the way and while you make dinner." Shaoran said as he gathered Sakura's notebook and books in one hand and offered the other to her. She sighed but took his hand as she allowed herself to be helped up.
"You always make it about me when it's about you. Just tell her already. Buy some flowers and tell her." Sakura said as they left his house.
"Easier said than done. By the way, it seems that you are getting rid of me right away. Do you think it's that easy?" Shaoran answered.
Sakura started laughing and replied, "If you feel like I'm getting rid of you, that's your problem not mine. And if I wanted to get rid of you, do you really think I'd go to such lengths to push you to another girl? I don't think so. I'd rather walk away. That's more dignifying."
"Dignifying? Whatever. Some best friend you turned out to be, wanting to get rid of me…the shame of it." Shaoran teased back.
Sakura started laughing again as he started laughing along with her. How would he have known that months later Sakura would just do that? She would just walk away from him so that he would be free.
Shaoran could remember that when he and Rika first got together, it was Sakura who was the happiest for them. Everything seemed so different then. Everyone seemed so happy. He could remember how Sakura helped him confess to Rika. She had coached him on what to do. He never felt that stupid because he never courted anyone before and it was a new experience to him.
During that time until when Rika broke up with him, Sakura was really supportive on both of them. She was really friendly towards Rika. She laid back a little from him so that they could work things out. Sakura gave them space but not the distance she went to this time around. Basically, Shaoran knew that Sakura was there for the both of them without fail. He didn't know what went wrong this time since things changed drastically and Sakura was the one who was hurt the most.
Shaoran's mind then drifted off to when he and Rika broke up. He hadn't told Sakura that one too. But just by looking at him, she knew and understood that it was a hard time for him. She hadn't said anything. She allowed him to be the first one to talk about it instead of prying. She did everything she could think of to cheer him up. Not once did she fail in being supportive towards him. The next thing he knew after that was that Rika came back to him to give it another shot while Sakura started to drift away, farther than she had ever been since they were kids and separated for a while.
After many nights of thinking it over and over again, Shaoran finally decided that it was time to set things straight. It was time that he initiate the truth. His methods hadn't been working so he knew he needed to shift gears before it was too late. He would not fail now. He would not waver from his goal. He had to know. That was all there was to it. He simply had to know…to understand. That was it.
Shaoran lead Rika to the park. They walked over to bridge that overlooked the river that flowed through the park. It was past the height of a summer's day. It wasn't too warm nor was it cold. It was only four in the afternoon anyway. Shaoran was determined to have a talk with her. He needed the truth badly. It wasn't like him to let everything slip up and not do anything about it. Sakura had been there for him through thick and thin and had been the greatest best friend she could be for him. It was time that he returned the favor. She was hurting because of him. It was time to set things straight.
"Today was a beautiful day wasn't it, Shaoran?" Rika suddenly said, bringing Shaoran's thoughts back to reality. He nodded. Rika was looking at him with a concerned expression. "Is there something wrong, Shaoran?" Rika couldn't help but ask. She had noticed that Shaoran seemed very distant lately. He refused to say anything about it.
Shaoran was inclined to lie to her and tell her that everything was fine. But he wasn't going to go down that path. He had already resigned himself in finding the truth. It started there. "Rika…what do you have against Sakura?" He asked.
Rika seemed dumbfounded and completely taken off guard by his sudden question. "W-what? What are you talking about?" Rika replied. Shaoran didn't look at her as he leaned on the bridge. He took a deep breath.
"Come on, Rika. We both know that you understood what I asked." Shaoran answered her.
Rika didn't answer right away. "Why? Why is it Shaoran that you seem to care about her more than you care about me?" She said.
"Is that what you think, Rika? You're jealous of her? Is that it? Sakura has been my best friend even before we started school. I cannot simply forget her and not care when I do." Shaoran answered.
"And what about me, Shaoran? Have you heard? Guys at school are even betting that you two will kick it off. They bet that you will still win, sweep her off her feet even if you have a girl friend, me. Ryu and Eriol are already in that mix and you still manage to be part of it. How do you think that makes me feel?" Rika said. She wasn't about to hide the way she felt anymore now that it was in the open.
"For crying out loud, Rika, Sakura is my best friend. What has she done to you? Rumors? That's it? I fell for you because I believed that you have a much deeper and wiser personality than that. You dumped me, fine. You decided to give it another try, fine. You listen to rumors and now you slap Sakura across the face point blank and call her a bitch. She has done nothing but be supportive of us and you repay her by doing that to her…all because of rumors…sometimes I wonder if you are still the Rika I fell in love with." Shaoran exclaimed.
He had gone through it over in his head many times. He was careful to choose his words but still at that moment, he blurted it out in its raw form. He wasn't even thinking. He was speaking his mind. It was about time to do that anyway.
Rika was taken aback. Shaoran's words pierced through her. It was a big slap back to reality. He was right. Even she didn't know who the person who was walking, talking and looking like Rika when she looked at herself in front of the mirror.
"You're making me choose between you and my best friend. But it seems that it was already decided for me. You drove Sakura away from me by making her take all the pain by herself." Shaoran continued to say but then mellowed down a bit. He realized that he was no longer thinking of what he was saying and it might just be a little too harsh.
But then he continued on to say in a much calmer voice, "Sakura and I grew up together. It's not something that we can simply forget and walk away from. We knew that eventually the other would fall in love. It didn't matter because we knew that no matter what happened, the other would be supportive no matter what and still be the best friend, not drive a wedge in between the relationship and cause trouble. Sakura knows better than to listen to rumors and that is why she continues to walk her path even if it hurts. I know her. It was never her intention to break us apart. But you listen to rumors and you try to break us up. What happened that was so bad that made you this way?"
Rika was about to answer when Shaoran's phone began to ring. Shaoran was inclined to ignore it but somehow he felt that there was something wrong. He picked it up and was surprised when he realized that it was Wei calling. He said, "Master Shaoran! I think Sakura-chan is in trouble!"
Shaoran's expression became filled with concern and panic. "What? What happened to Sakura?" He quickly asked.
"You said that Sakura-chan had started an internship at the French embassy last month. The embassy is in a standoff now and as I've heard in the news there are hostages. I've tried calling Sakura-chan's phone to see if she is alright but she isn't answering." Wei said.
Shaoran quickly hung up the phone and told Rika, "Sakura's in trouble. I might not be able to help much but I will be there to give her support at least. I still am having a hard time believing that you did that because of stupid rumors." He then started to run towards the French embassy.
Rika watched in go. She started tearing up. She then said as she watched him disappear, "Why can't you see that she really is in love with you? I'm losing you because you are starting to fall for her…is it wrong to fight for the one you love?" She started crying as she turned around and started walking the other direction.
Shaoran ran. He could feel his frustrations with Rika and all the things that were happening overwhelm him. Rumors. Their problem, his and Rika's, started because she started to listen to rumors. He could bring himself to understand how she could do that. He could seem to comprehend how she turned out so different from the girl he fell in love with. Now Sakura was in trouble. He had to be there. He knew that he wouldn't be much of anything when he gets there but he wanted to be sure that she will be alright. She had already gotten into so much pain already. She didn't need this one too.
When he got there, he saw that there were already a lot of police cars, police and media people everywhere. Bystanders were there too. He then heard someone call out his name. He turned and saw Tomoyo. He could tell that she was really worried. She was with Shiho. He quickly approached them.
"What happened? Is Sakura in there?" He asked. Both of them nodded. Shaoran looked on to the French embassy as helpless as they other two.
Soon, they were joined by Ryu, Kenishiro, Touya, Yukito and Fujitaka. None of them could do anything. They waited there as the police started to negotiate. During the course of the standoff, they all heard a gunshot from the inside. Their insides turned. They were thinking the worst but then forced themselves not to.
Touya and Fujitaka were the most devastated. They all had it bad. Everyone was on their toes and hoping for the best.
After some time, they heard the man shout that he was coming out and that everyone should stay back. They were both relieved and horrified to see that he was using Sakura as his human shield. They watched in horror as every second unfolded. The man pointed the gun at Sakura's head. They knew that Sakura was really terrified but was just acting all strong. The man had ordered her to start walking and get the bags that were left there at front. They heard Sakura shout to everyone to stay back as the man continued to aim the gun at her.
She walked slowly as tears started to roll down from her eyes. They all knew that it was taking every ounce of her strength she had not to run or break down. They could only watch in great anticipation and agony. When Sakura got the bags and started to head back, they wanted her to stop. It was already so near that she would have been safe but she chose to go back and follow the man. It crossed their minds that maybe she was doing that not for her but for those who were inside. But still they were frantic and wished that she had just run towards the police officers instead.
Sakura walked back and then stopped. The man said some things to her. The next thing they knew was that she was removing the contents of the bag in front of the man. One by one she took out the things inside. Then when the man saw the syringe, he seemed to have lost it. He hit her hard on the head with the butt of the gun. Sakura fell on the ground and looked up to see that the man was aiming at her and was ready to shoot. Then, a gunshot pierced the tense environment around the embassy.
(to be continued…)
Hehe been a hell week at school…one exam after the other…one case study after the other…requirements have their deadlines…hmmm…not to mention graveyard shifts at the hospital…hehe ^_^ Well anyway, this chapter was a long time coming already. I just had to do this chapter. Anyway, thanks to those who read this far and special thanks to those who sent in their reviews. They are greatly appreciated. I do hope that you continue reading with me. Please do send in your reviews. Thanks.
Michiko