Chapter Five
Meet the Interrogation
Whoever you want to be,
Pretend to be,
You can't be that person
Every minute of your life
October 2019 – Tomoeda, Japan
'When is Meilin coming?' Eriol asked Syaoran, as he leaned comfortably back in the front seat.
'Tomorrow morning at four.' Syaoran suppressed a yawn, as he drove Eriol's car to his home. He had no idea why he that drove the damned car, but he seemed to do so, every time they entered the car, he took the driving seat. 'And Ryu?'
'Four? Wow, that's too early for me, you can get her yourself...' Eriol muttered as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the fresh air through the open window. 'Ryu couldn't get a whole free week, but he comes Friday, and stays for the weekend. We just have to make sure that Meilin hasn't left by then.'
'Hm, that's no problem. If I let her, Meilin would stay for the entire year.' Syaoran shortly looked in the mirror, and turned right. They were in his street, just a minute and he could get off, forcing Eriol to drive home himself. 'That reminds me, I need to befriend her with Sakura and Tomoyo. I'm sure you can get Tomoyo over, and make Tomoyo drag Sakura with her?'
Eriol grumbled. 'What, is Mei-mei worried about poor little Syao-kun?' The sarcastic tone couldn't be missed, and Syaoran knew why. Meilin had always had a weak spot for Syaoran, and after he lost all his friends, Meilin always told him who he could trust and who not. Eriol had always said that it was nonsense, and that you couldn't let someone else choose your friends.
'At least she cares.' Unlike someone else...
'I heard that!'
Syaoran sniggered as he pulled up at his house. He had no idea how, but he was certain that Eriol meant the last sentence, which he hadn't spoken out loud.
'Bring Meilin at four pm. I'll make sure the girls are there.' Eriol said as he climbed behind the steering wheel. 'Bye bye, Sya-o-ran.'
Syaoran shortly raised his hand, without responding to Eriol's stupid names for him. He walked up to his house as the car disappeared from sight. If he changed now, maybe he could still eat something before he had to leave for the company.
Every time he arrived there, all the people who worked under him where already starting to go home. If they thought the questions were urgent, some would stay a while longer to ask him needless things, which others could have answered as well.
He didn't feel like going there.
Everyone looked up to him, treating him with plain admiration and the respect they would normally show to a king. They called him Li-sama, and some even bowed at the sight of him. And the girls... that was the worst! They would follow him with their eyes everywhere he went, and they all tried to get his attention. Some would accidentally bump into him and others were bold enough to just simply invite him or themselves over for the night.
He had rejected them all, some with kind words, some with cold ones.
Some didn't seem to understand that and never stopped bothering him. One of them was his new, and useless, secretary. Mindy was her name, although he did his very best to pretend to forget it, every time she came to him.
Mindy was one of the strongest reasons why he didn't want to come here anymore. She boldly flirted with him, showing off her breast in way to tight and low shirts. She wore miniskirts, and didn't cross her legs when she sat down, and she thought only he could see.
The fact that she was absolutely gorgeous didn't help at all.
He didn't need a secretary for those few hours he needed to be at the company, so he desperately wanted her to get lost. If they couldn't transfer her, he just had to fire her.
After all, he was the heir, and that was just a tiny bit of his true power inside the Li-company. He could fire her anytime he wanted to. And he really wanted to do that now. So after he changed, he quickly ate something before heading off to work, preparing the lines in his head that would mean the end of his secretary.
The ten minute walk to his office ended too soon, but nevertheless, he stepped inside the building, ready for whatever his employees had in store for him.
It didn't take them long...
Someone ran by, stopped, turned and walked up with him, a dead serious expression on his face.
'Li-sama, do you have a moment, something terrible happened.' A tall blond guy, wearing a grey suite, asked him. Syaoran didn't recognize him, so he assumed that this guy didn't have a high position. He didn't stop walking as he turned his head shortly to Mr. Blond.
'What happened?' Syaoran asked, looking forward again.
'Well, something went wrong with the delivery of section B in the second quadrant of LiCo in Paris. It should have arrived there three days ago, but somehow we received it here. Mr. Fonderfay of England is throwing a fit!'
Syaoran sighed inwardly. Who wouldn't throw a fit if your order hadn't been followed out? And why did this Mr. Blond came to him with something like this? 'Who's in charge of the delivery section?' He asked calmly.
The guy thought for a short moment, a wondering look on his face, before answering. 'Mr. Jinh is, Li-sama.'
'And does he know about this?'
The answer came out stammering. 'N-Not yet, Li-sama. Eh... I was on my way to him, when I saw you. I-I thought you could solve this easier than Mr. Jinh could.'
Syaoran glared at the guy, wishing they wouldn't bother him with these things. This wasn't his job. He had employees to get rid of these problems. 'Well, how about you go to Mr. Jinh, and tell him what happened. It is his job to solve these problems, and if he can't, only then will he come to me for a different solution.
Mr. Blond nodded, a helpless look on his face, blaming himself for making a fool of himself in front of the great Li-sama. He gave a short bow, as to say sorry for his clumsiness and hurried off, on his way to Mr. Jinh.
When Syaoran finally came to his huge office, he noticed that his secretary hadn't arrived yet. He thanked god for that, until he remembered that he couldn't fire her if she wasn't here to hear it. He sighed and started on his daily work. In only a few minutes time, Tamaho Hoku entered the office, explaining why his secretary hadn't showed up. It seemed she went on a last minute vacation to the Bahamas, and had forgotten to tell in time that she wouldn't be able to work for an entire month. At his question if Li-sama wanted a temporary substitute, Syaoran told him a bit too harsh that such a thing wouldn't be necessary.
Syaoran sighed again as Hoku retreated. He worked silently for a while, until Mr. Jinh himself came to his office. 'Mr. Li, there seems to be a problem. It seemed that my assistant already told you the big lines, before coming to me – I'm sorry for that. I contacted Mr. Fonderfay, but he is really throwing a fit. It seems so that the cargo was extremely important for one of our biggest clients. The client, Miss Goodridge, threatens to sue us if the cargo doesn't arrive within 24 hours.'
Syaoran interrupted him for a moment. 'If we send it now, wouldn't it arrive within 20 hours time?'
Jinh nodded. 'It would, but the first plane that will leave for England, leaves at eight next morning, meaning it would arrive many hours too late.'
A sigh threatened to escape his lips again. Being sued wasn't something which he wanted at the moment. Jinh didn't use many words to say it, but it seemed that LiCo in Paris truly was at fault. And since that organization was one of his, he would rightfully be sued.
Not that he didn't have enough money to solve it when that happened, but it was a matter of honor, of reputation. All Li organizations together occupied an enormous part of the business world. A downfall of its reputation would give other organizations a chance to grow out of his grasp on the business world.
Normally, a delay of a delivery wasn't threatening at all, but this time, not only the cargo was important, but Miss Goodridge was a very powerful client. She could make it happen that such a small thing would be blown up to such a size, that the entire world would now about it. And that would surely damage the Li's carefully build reputation.
'Hm, I have a private plane that can leave within an hour. Make sure the cargo goes to the airport, at this location.' Syaoran gave Jinh a small card, with the location of his private planes and pressed a button on his desk, which would call for Tamaho Hoku. 'I'll personally make sure it would come in time at the right place.'
'Yes, Mr. Li. Do you mean that you will go to England now?'
Syaoran nodded as the door opened and Hoku entered his office.
'That's exactly what I'm implying. Hoku, I'll be leaving for two days to England. It seems that LiCo in Paris angered Mr. Fonderfay and Miss Goodridge. Could you please give me the personal information on Miss Goodridge, sent it to my mail. I'll call both of them myself within an hour.'
Jinh and Hoku left his office and Syaoran grabbed his Laptop and hurried home, to get some of his belongings. On his way, he called Eriol, but he didn't answer his phone. He decided to call Sakura instead.
'Hello, Sakura speaking.' Came the sleepy, yet rushed voice of Sakura. It was only 6 pm, but Sakura sounded like she was ready to go to bed. He heard shuffling on her side as if she did several things at the same time. He remembered suddenly that she had to be at work now.
'Sakura, it's Syaoran. Could you do me a favor?'
'Sure, but make it short please, I have to get to work again in three minutes.' Syaoran quickly explained it to her, as fast as possible, so he wouldn't ruin her entire break.
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October 2019 – Somewhere above the Ocean
Syaoran looked outside for a moment, as he wondered off in thoughts. He had just called Meilin, to inform her about the change of plans, and before that, he had spoken to Mr. Fonderfay and an agitated Miss Goodridge. Luckily for him, all seemed to go well.
He would arrive on time in England, Miss Goodridge would be pleased and not sue him, Mr. Fonderfay had calmed down, and they both had an online meeting with the director of LiCo Paris in one hour. Meilin would survive a few days without him, and it was Autumn Holiday on his school, so he wouldn't miss any classes.
He had probably enough time to do some work, before his meeting began. So he grabbed his laptop and started typing away.
After the meeting, at about eleven pm, he was ready to meditate for a while, when his phone rang. The display read: Creep mobile.
He took the phone without saying anything.
So Eriol spoke first…
'I heard you're on your way to England?'
'Hm.' Came his grumpy response.
'Could you do me a favor?'
'If it doesn't take too much of my time.' Syaoran retorted coldly.
'Well, I suppose you're going to London, right?' Eriol sounded a bit too suspicious for his own good.
'And Weymouth, the client lives there. Let me guess, you want me to go to your parents house.'
'Weymouth? That just happens to be right next to Dorchester, which is, by the way, right next to Abbotsbury. I guess… my parents do live there, don't they?'
'And what am I supposed to do there?' Syaoran asked, as he really wasn't in the mood to play along with these games at the moment.
'I was indeed thinking about something I left there. I tell my mother that you are coming sometime these next two days, and she'll get it ready for you to take it here.'
'Right… like I couldn't expect that one coming. How big is it?'
'I think you need to bring a truck with you.' Eriol's voice sounded amused, so Syaoran just didn't ask him what the cargo exactly was.
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October 2019 – Tomoeda, Japan – Autumn vacation
It was 03.55 am. Hardly anyone walked around at this time.
Sakura raced through the streets, on her way to the airport. It was still very dark, and because she took a shortcut, she could hardly see anything in the narrow alleys. She passed someone who was crazy enough to go for a walk with his dog at this time of the night.
'I'm late, I'm so getting late!' She muttered as she jumped over a fallen dustbin.
She quickened her pace and somehow got at the airport in the next five minutes, which would normally take her about fifteen minutes. But when she finally arrived at the right gate, she was still fifteen minutes late.
She breathed heavily as she searched for someone who fitted the description Syaoran gave. Black hair and ruby eyes, and if you're late, she wears the same scowl as I do…
And it was the scowl which she noticed first. A girl with indeed black hair, tied up in buns, and fierce ruby red eyes, tapped her foot on the floor, as she glared at one of the planes visible on the other side of the window.
Sakura mentally cursed Syaoran for getting her up way to early in the morning to go and fetch his cousin. She added an extra curse as the scowl on the ruby eyed girl deepened. Slowly Sakura neared the girl, trying to get her attention without aggravating her any further.
'Eh...' Sakura began as she stood as much as in front of the girl and the glare turned towards her. 'Are you by any chance Li Meilin?' She tried to sound friendly, and cringed when she heard her own voice sound more scared than friendly.
The glare softened as the girl nodded. 'Yes, I'm Li Meilin.'
Sakura bravely tried another smile as she extended her hand. 'I'm Kinomoto Sakura, nice to meet you.' Meilin shook her hand and Sakura continued. 'I'm sorry I'm so late. I'm not really one to get up early, and I realized to late that the bus won't go until seven am, and then I realized that my dad was away with the car, and my brother with his bike, so I had to skate all the way here. I'm very sorry!' Sakura managed to say all that in one breath, as she folded her hands pleadingly and bowed her head for forgiveness, her eyes closed.
As she heard a soft giggle, she opened one eye and meekly looked up. To her surprise, the glare had completely disappeared and in return a curious smile had taken place. 'It's okay, Kinomoto-san! It took awhile to get here myself, so I didn't wait any longer than two minutes, honestly!'
Sakura now opened two eyes and stood rigid once more. An honest smile was now too plastered on her face. 'That's a relief! But please call me Sakura. There is really no need to be formal in front of me.'
'Sure! Let's drop the formality. I already have enough of that in Hong Kong.' Meilin joked as she bent down to get her luggage. Before she could get both her bags, Sakura quickly picked the second bag up. Together they walked outside the airport.
'I guess we have to walk to my home, although it is quite far.' Sakura explained, as the busses still didn't ride until two and a half hours from now. 'I thought about going to Syaoran's place and drop your stuff there instead, but I really have no idea where he lives, so...'
Meilin stopped walking. 'Walk? Why not take a taxi? I mean, they do have those here in Japan, right?' Meilin asked, as a disapproving frown showed on her forehead.
Sakura hesitated a bit. 'Sure... we have those, but...' Sakura stopped mid sentence, not sure how to explain to her that she hardly had any money at all. Every penny that she earned from work, she spent on her study. Taxis were expensive, and she really couldn't miss that money. Meilin seemed to be as rich as Syaoran, and somehow that made her nervous about her own lack of money. Not to mention that she still wore her skates.
'But?' Meilin asked as she really couldn't figure out what Sakura meant. When she saw Sakura's red face, she thought she understood. 'You're scared of taxis?'
Sakura's head snapped up. 'Huh? What, no! It's just that... I don't have enough money to pay the taxi...!' She took a deep breath, as she saw Meilin's shocked face from her small outburst. 'But you can take one, of course. I'll give you my address, so you can find it. I'll just skate home very fast, so you don't have to wait there all too long. Or I give you the keys, so you can get inside.' Sakura babbled on, trying to find the right solution to this small problem.
'Sakura, stop it! It's okay, I'll pay the taxi, and you're coming with me!' Meilin shouted in between her babbles. They were just lucky they were on the airport, and no one woke up from their shouts.
Sakura looked at her strangely. 'No, I can't let you do that. No way.'
'Why not? I have enough to let you ride that car for ten years. And if it bothers you that much, I'm sure Syaoran will pay me back if I asked. He is just ten times as filthy rich as I am.' Meilin tried to reason.
'What? Absolutely not! I'm sure he can spend his money out on things more useful.' It shocked her that Meilin said that. She just became friends with Syaoran, and taking his money would almost certainly break that fragile bond they had.
'Alright... Why not accept this ride, as a thank you for picking me up, instead of Syaoran?' Meilin asked sweetly. It made her actually quite happy that Sakura had rejected that she or Syaoran paid for the taxi. She came, after all, only here to check upon this specific girl, and not wanting to take money from her friends only gave her extra credits.
Sakura thought for a moment. 'I guess... I guess that will be okay. But only this one ride.'
It took them after this only half an hour to get to the small "Kinomoto-residence", where they sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of hot chocolate. By this time, it was still only five o'clock in the morning, but they decided they would stay awake, instead of sleeping for a few more hours.
They started asking each other questions, to get to know each other a bit better.
'Alright, I know another one. How come you speak Japanese so well, if you're Chinese?' Sakura asked over her second hot chocolate.
Meilin snorted. 'That's easy. I had different languages to learn from my home school teacher. I can speak fluently Japanese, English, Taiwanese and French. And Chinese of course. I used to learn together with Syaoran, but I had to stop, because I couldn't handle that many languages.'
Sakura looked at her, question marks hanging in the air, which made Meilin laugh. 'He can also speak fluently Australian, German, Austrian, Swedish, Norwegian, every Asian language and... some others. '
'What?' Her eyes grew twice as large when she heard that. 'No way, that isn't humanly possible!' Her hands almost dropped the chocolate cup, and she carefully put it down. 'I can only speak Japanese, English and a little bit Chinese...' Her face fell at the thought of how little she actually knew.
Meilin laughed her head off at the sight of her new found friend, so it took a while before the next sentence came out. 'Okay, I was a bit exaggerating. He knows all the basics of those languages, Swedish and Norwegian are hardest for him, but the rest... well, I think he is just really good with all those different languages. Okay next question!' Meilin said as she put her hand to her chin to think about another one. 'Ah, that we skipped this one! Do you have a boyfriend? Someone you like?'
Sakura tensed at this one. Geez Meilin! I deliberately skipped that question! She swallowed before answering. 'No boyfriend, no one I like that way.' She obviously thought a short answer would do.
'Ever had a boyfriend?' Meilin continued.
'No, you?'
'Ah, you're not getting away with it that easily. It seems to me, that you are hiding something from me!'
Sakura turned bright red at that, and Meilin looked at her intently, wanting to know the rest. 'W-what are you talking about? I really don't like anyone, never had!'
Meilin put on her big eyes. 'You're bi?'
'W-what? Of course not! I'm just...' She took a deep breath and looked away as she got out the last word. '... scared.'
Meilin sat upright, her face showed curiosity. 'What for?'
'I don't know exactly... it's just...' She sighed as she laid her head on the table, besides her now empty cup of hot chocolate. 'Tomoyo always tried to set me up with someone – she is my best friend, by the way – and all those boys do seem to like me, but... I always turn them down, or let's say, eh, I play dense and pretend not to see that they like me, and in the end just run away.'
'But why?'
'I don't know.'
'Yes, you do.'
'No I don't.'
'Just tell me.'
'It's not important.'
'So there is something!'
'Does it matter?'
'Why do you run away?'
'Because...!'
Meilin didn't say anything for a moment. It was strange actually. Here she was, in a house so small she wouldn't want to call it a house, with a girl she hardly knew, for just two hours, and she asked about her deepest feelings.
But somehow, it seemed normal to do. Not because of her mission, but something else. At the first sight of Sakura, she already liked her. She had that kind of... radiation. It just totally felt like she really was a kind, innocent girl, who wouldn't harm anyone in the world.
'Because...' Sakura's voice began drop down slowly.
Meilin still waited patiently for her answer.
'I'm afraid... it's all a fake.' Her hands turned into fists, as she told Meilin.
'What do you mean?' Meilin asked gently, wondering if it were okay to ask her this. She could only hope she didn't bring up nasty memories. She knew very well what memories could do to you.
'It's a fake... How can they say they like me, when they have only see me walking by? How can they say they love me, when they only talked to me once! It's a fake!' Sakura cursed her voice, which showed that she was very emotional about this indeed. It gave away, that this was an important matter after all. Not that she gave the entire reason for being afraid...
She shrugged it off, relaxed her muscles, sat upright again, and showed Meilin her normal cheerful smile. 'So do you have anyone special?'
Meilin answered her normally, but deep inside she still wondered if that cheerful smile was real, or a fake one. She had seen with her own eyes, that just a few seconds ago, Sakura was actually really close to crying, and now she went all happy again. Why is she hiding it? For how long is she hiding it already?
'I don't have a boyfriend at the moment. Did have one about four years ago, but that only lasted for half a year – he cheated on me with a niece of mine. And now... Well I do like someone, to be honest, but it's only one-sided. His name is Ryu and he is a friend and business partner of Syaoran. But all he really does is flirting away with all the other girls. I guess...' She shrugged. 'It doesn't really matter. As soon as he settles down, I find myself someone else who I can love, and who loves me equally back. And if that won't happen, I can always marry someone important for the family, to tie the bonds, or something like that.'
Sakura stared at her with a sad smile. She found it courageous of her that she could talk about it so calmly, although it could be seen that she really had trouble with this. Her eyes had that wet glint in them, and her smile was real, but a bit sad. 'You really love him, don't you?' She asked gently, just as Meilin had done a couple of moments ago for her.
A tear dripped slowly from the corner of her eye, but she kept smiling. 'Who knows?' Was all she said about it. 'Alright! Next question: what's your favorite color?'
'Pink.'
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October 2019 – Weymouth, England – Autumn vacation
She waited for him in the lounge, tall, thin and serious. Her grey hair was braided rather strangely above her thin face. She looked fragile, like she could collapse anytime soon, to never wake up again. At least, that was his first expression.
When he got closer, he could see that her mouth was set in a thin, rather grim line. The wrinkles around her eyes were deep, but her grey eyes stood serious, stern, and a little bit expecting. 'Miss Goodridge, I presume?' He said, in English, in his business voice, his glare pushed off to the side, showing his business face. Serious, thoughtful, and something that could only be called the Li-look, because only his mother, sisters, formerly his father, and some other relatives had this look.
Miss Goodridge nodded, and extended a white, wrinkled hand. 'Mr. Li himself, I presume?'
Syaoran nodded as he shook her hand. In spite of his expatiations, she had a strong hold. She showed him where to sit with a wave of her hand. A maiden came is with flowered thee cups, and a flowered thee pot. Miss Goodridge only began talking after the servant had retreated.
'I find it very honorable of you, Mr. Li, to come all the way here yourself. To be honest, I had only expected the ordered cargo, and I wasn't even sure of that.' She had a very English accent, even more than Mr. Fonderfay, as he had witnessed this morning. But she surprised him even more with her truthful way of speaking. Despite her stern look, she seemed to have an open mind and heart. 'Could you tell me please what exactly went wrong? Because it seems rather unbelievable, that a package from Paris to London, ended up in Japan. Tomoeda I believed it was?'
Syaoran left the teacup for what it was, until the formal business talk was over. He nodded at her question before speaking, looking her directly into the eyes. He decided to be as straight forward as she had been just a moment ago.
'To be honest, we still think it is rather unbelievable that it ended up in Tomoeda. Mr. Fonderfay had a thought about it though...'
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October 2019 – Tomoeda, Japan – Autumn vacation
'You had to work this morning? Did you cancel it because of me?' Meilin asked unbelievingly. Sakura had just told her that she had two jobs, the supermarket in the evening, except for the weekends, and cleaning offices, on Saturday, and sometimes Sunday. The last job seemed to think a day beforehand whether she had to work or not, and what time they choose her to work this time.
'Well, of course I did. I couldn't possibly pick you up from the airport, only to leave you standing hear alone.' Sakura retorted. She was actually glad to have a day without work, but the money she earned with it, was rather important to her and her future.
'But you could have said to Syaoran that you had to work, he would have found another solution for me.' He probably could have, and she had no idea why Syaoran had asked Sakura to pick her up.
Sakura looked at her, wondering to tell or not to tell. Apparently, she decided to tell. 'Actually, I couldn't say no. I didn't tell him it came inconvenient, because he sounded a bit worried and stressful, it seemed he really needed my help. Then who am I to not lend him my hand?' Sakura turned around to get the pillow sheet and put it around the pillow. They were, at the moment, readying Meilin's bed, because Syaoran wouldn't get back before tomorrow morning at least. 'Besides, I only befriended Syaoran last week. I wouldn't have let him down if he weren't a friend, but I can't possibly let him down now he is one. I value friends as much as my family.'
Her sentence hung in the air, and Meilin quietly finished the bed. It was already two pm and in the last ten hours, she got to know Sakura quite well. She seemed to be an open, rather emotional type, friendly towards probably everyone, and rather compassionate. But at the same short period of time, she discovered that Sakura also hid a lot of her emotions, or rather memories. It had become clear to her, that something happened in the past, which she hadn't gotten over yet. And it had become very clear, that Sakura probably would do anything for others, that she valued others more than herself. A lot more...
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October 2019 – Abbotsbury, England – Autumn vacation
The old English mansion was covered under a huge ivy, which made it seem like something cut out of a fairytale. The neatly moaned grass field was decorated with a few old statues and a fountain.
It wasn't the first time he came at this place. In his past, he often got here with Eriol and his former friends. Mr. and Mrs. Hiiragizawa had thought him a lot about the English language here, as well as playing the piano and violin.
As he neared the front door, he saw Mrs. Hiiragizawa opening it. Her slightly wrinkled face smiled kindly at him, as she opened her arms wide, to give him a hug. He walked closely and took her into his arms, as he returned the hug.
'Syaoran, dear, it is so good to see you again. How long has it been, three years? You look even more handsome than last time!' She said as she held his shoulders at arm length.
'It is good to see you to, Sophia, you haven't changed at all.' Syaoran said as he gave her one of his rare smiles. Although Sophia was just a few years older than his own mother, he had always seen her as some sort of favorite grandmother. She always had those delicious homemade cookies, and he didn't know anyone who cooked better than her – not even his private cook at home.
Sophia let him to the backyard, where tea was already served. 'I was so delighted when my son called that you were going to stop by.' She babbled on. 'My husband already placed it in the hall, so you can take it with you without extra trouble. You are going to stay for a cup of tea, right dear?'
Syaoran nodded, and made a mental note to himself that he needed to come here more often. Maybe stay for a week or more...
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October 2019 – Tomoeda, Japan – Autumn vacation
Eriol hugged Meilin, as Sakura finished introducing her to Tomoyo. They had just arrived at Tomoyo's mansion, brought in by Tomoyo's limousine. It seemed to him, that Sakura and Meilin seemed rather close, although they had just met this morning. He wondered what they had been doing all these hours. 'So nice of you to drop by.'
Meilin tightened her hug, trying to suffocate him for saying that. As she released him, they went to the living room, and they started playing games. Card games mostly. It took them the entire evening, as the girls got to know each other a bit better.
He found it rather boring.
I wish Syaoran was here... he admitted to himself. Since his friend lived here, he had enjoyed himself more than in the past years. Sure, he had his friends here as well, but no one could compete with Syaoran, he was just is very best friend.
And anyway, the fun wouldn't really start until Friday, when Ryu is supposed to arrive.
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October 2019 – Somewhere above the Ocean – Autumn vacation
Syaoran yawned as he made himself comfortable on the soft seats in his private airplane. It was eight pm, and he still had twelve more hours to fly back to Tomoeda airport, where after he had to go to his office, before getting home.
The day really tired him out. He already saw most of his acquaintances here in England, in only this short period of time. Sure, it was a real pleasure to see Sophia again, but he couldn't really enjoy the rest of the meetings. Mr. Fonderfay got agitated too easy, got angry with everyone, and he always tried to hide that from him.
On the London airport, he "walked" into one of his admirers: a high school girl with dark curls and round lips, covered in lipstick. He couldn't even remember her name, honestly, but she tried to claim him all for himself, saying they used to be such good friends. He probably had met her on one of his holidays here, together with Eriol.
When he arrived at LiCo, he met another pushy secretary, or actually two of them. He decided right then and there, that if he ever needed a secretary, he would take an old hag, or a man. It should be forbidden for girls that age to be a secretary.
But he was kind of used to these things, though. After all, none of them ever succeeded in luring him to their bed, and he was quite proud of that.
He yawned again, as he opened his laptop. It was only eight pm, so he should work some, before getting some sleep, although he was already very tired.
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October 2019 – Tomoeda, Japan – Autumn vacation
Meilin rolled over, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Sakura already slept soundly, her head buried under the sheets, a few strands of hair were all that she could see of her.
She sighed as she turned again. It was already two in the morning, and still she couldn't find any sleep. There was so much going around in her mind, that it seemed impossible to ignore it.
Most of her thoughts regarded Sakura. Although she had come here to help Syaoran, she was also very determined to help Sakura. She needed to find out about her past, about what was bothering her so much, about what she hid from the rest, and why she did that.
She thought about talking this over with Syaoran, but that would probably only worry him for nothing. Tomoyo was a better option. She hardly knew the girl, but it was obvious that she cared very much for Sakura and her wellbeing. And maybe, just maybe, she also knew what bothered Sakura.
Her phone gave a short beep, and she picked it up. The display read: 1 message received. She clicked it and read:
Mei, I'll be home at 10 am.
See you there.
Syaoran
She sighed and set her alarm at nine in the morning. Sakura would have to cope with not getting time to sleep over. She sent Eriol a text message to pick her up at a quarter to ten, so they could all go together to Syaoran. She was glad that she could already tell Syaoran what her opinion was about Sakura. That would surely help him.
Although...
Sakura did mention that they had become friends. Was that her opinion, or did Syaoran know about this?
While she pended over her thoughts, she finally fell in a restless sleep.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
The next morning, Sakura awoke by the sound of Meilin's cell phone. She stirred under her sheets as she wondered what time it was. Slowly, her head peaked out above the sheets, looking at her alarm clock: 09.00 am.
She yawned a couple of times, looking at Meilin with sleepy eyes, who already got out of bed, and in her clothes.
'Why did you set the alarm?' She asked still sleepily, rubbing her eyes with one hand.
Meilin didn't turn towards her as she fastened her bra, and put on a red sleeveless shirt. 'Because we are meeting Syaoran at his home. He sent me a text message last night.'
'This early? Couldn't he let me get some sleep?' Sakura sounded a bit agitated, although very sleepily, which made it sound rather cute.
'You're not really a morning person, are you?' Meilin retorted, not answering her question.
'Hm...' Sakura yawned again as she slowly reached the ground with one leg. As it stood on the floor, her other leg slowly followed. 'How are we getting there? I don't know where he lives.'
'Eriol will pick us up, he knows where it is.' Meilin turned around now, fully dressed, and got ready to go to the bedroom before Sakura would. 'Oh, and he is here in forty minutes, so you better hurry if you still want to eat something before we go.'
Sakura shrieked, and Meilin quickly flew in the small bathroom. She ran through her room, getting her possessions, and then impatiently waited for Meilin to get out of the bathroom.
In forty minutes, they were both ready to go... without having any breakfast. Because her father and brother were both gone this week, the daily shores where for her to do, and every time she wanted to start breakfast, she reminded something more important. Like: feeding Kero and Yue, her two goldfishes. Or actually, only Kero was gold, with a white spot. Yue was white, with a black spot. And when she got there to feed them, she saw they desperately needed to be cleaned, and that alone took her twenty minutes.
Meilin remembered to get her belongings together, because after tonight, she would be sleeping at Syaoran's house, of course. She raced through the house, in search of everything she had carelessly put down somewhere.
So when Eriol arrived, with Tomoyo next to him, they still hadn't had any time for breakfast. They all got in the car and drove towards Syaoran's home.
'Sakura-chan! I'm starting my driving lessons again! Isn't that great? Eriol applied for me a few days ago, and they called this morning that I can start this evening.'
'That's great, Tomoyo-chan! That's really wonderful to hear!' Sakura exclaimed, as she explained to Meilin that Tomoyo had to stop her lessons because of her trip to America.
At ten minutes past ten, Eriol pulled up at a parking lot and got out. 'Well, he lives here somewhere. I always drop him off here, but I must admit that I don't exactly know where he lives.'
Tomoyo and Meilin sweat dropped, as Sakura recognized her old neighborhood. She walked towards her old house to relive some old memories, as the others argued with Eriol because of his stupidity. At that moment, Syaoran walked out off the door of her old home, towards the mailbox at the street.
Sakura gaped at him, then at her house, and at him again. Syaoran looked up, saw her standing there, gaping, and raised a brow. She noticed immediately that he hadn't put on his glare yet. 'What?' He asked, not knowing anything else to say under her stare.
Eriol popped up besides the staring Sakura, as Meilin and Tomoyo still talked besides the car. 'You live here?' He asked, pointing and looking at small family house with the yellow walls.
'Yes...' Syaoran said simply, wondering why they were staring at the house. Was something wrong with it? '...why?'
'I-I...' Was all Sakura said, so Eriol finished for her.
'This is Sakura-chan's old home. She used to live here a few months ago, dude.'
Syaoran glared at him for the "dude" thing, but didn't have time to say anything, because suddenly Meilin jumped upon him, throwing him to the ground with a tight hug. 'Xiao-Lang!' She screamed, as she tightened her hug.
'Li Meilin, you're killing me!' He managed to get these words out, although it sounded hoarse.
Meilin shot upright, and glared at him. She raised her fist up in the air. 'Are those your welcome words?' She asked bitterly. The fist came down in his stomach before he could answer. He groaned and pushed her off. While she fell on the ground he stood up, glaring down on her.
Within a second, Meilin stood up as well, and attacked him again. Syaoran blocked. Soon after, they fought in the backyard of Sakura's former home.
Sakura still stared, but now not only at the house, but also at the fighting cousins. She opened her mouth to say something, but Eriol interrupted. 'Don't worry, that's Meilin's way to say she misses him.' Tomoyo joined Sakura in staring at the scene. 'You see, they used to spar with each other every day for training. But because of studies and such, they don't have time for that anymore.'
He was right. If you looked carefully, you could see a glint of happiness in Syaoran's eyes, and Meilin was smiling thoroughly. Also, it showed very visibly that Syaoran was a way better fighter than his cousin. As Eriol let them inside, Syaoran and Meilin continued their fight.
Sakura was a bit shocked of the state of her old house. Everything changed. The furniture was black, and looked pretty expensive, the walls were painted in bright white, instead of the soft crème it used to be and without any paintings. The floor had changed from wooly carpet, to expensive wood.
In the kitchen, she couldn't help herself, and looked in the drawers and cabinets. Everything was different. The forks and spoons had changed places, while the cups could be found in the cabinet were the plates used to lie.
The entire change looked better, neater, but less homely.
Sakura sighed, as she looked at the stairs that led to her old bedroom. Would she take a look?
She saw Eriol walking towards the living room, and Tomoyo nodded at her, allowing her to take a look. She wouldn't say anything.
Slowly, she took the steps, getting more nervous with every second. As she reached her room, her hand wavered above the doorknob. Instead of opening it, she went to the bathroom. It looked pretty much the same as always, just a different set of towels and less cosmetics.
Touya's room had changed into an empty room, with trees painted on the walls. A CD-player stood in a corner. It seemed like a useless room.
Her father's room obviously became Syaoran's bedroom now, and she quickly closed the door. He probably wouldn't like it if she sneaked around in his private room.
At last, she stood in front of her own room again, her hand once more wavering above the doorknob.
Syaoran silently climbed the stairs, and reaching the first floor, he saw Sakura standing there, wavering. He decided not to say anything yet.
Sakura didn't hear him coming upstairs, and slowly lowered her hand down onto the doorknob. It lay there for a whole minute and she still didn't open the door.
Syaoran moved closer, reached over her arm, laid his hand on top of hers, and opened the door for her. Sakura looked up at him, frightened, like being caught on sneaking in his house. 'I'm sor...'
'Take a look if you want. It might not be so bad.' He interrupted her, taking his hand off of hers, and pushing the door further open.
What she saw quite amazed her. Her room had hardly changed from the way she left it. The walls were still painted in a light pink, and the floor had still the same carpet. A different bed stood on the exact same spot her own bed used to stand, and the same with the wardrobe and the desk.
'W-why didn't you change this room?' She asked as she slowly entered the room and looked around her. She would have thought that pink wasn't exactly Syaoran's color.
He shrugged with his shoulders and leaned in the doorpost. 'Didn't feel like changing it. It's the guest room now, and I think Meilin and my mother might like it this way.'
Sakura walked to the window to look outside. The backyard hadn't changed at all. Somehow she got the urge to thank Syaoran for not changing this room, but she knew that was absurd, he hadn't known she used to live here. Tears began to fill her eyes, and she leaned with her head against the window, eyes closed, so Syaoran wouldn't notice.
He did notice though, and was about to ask her what was wrong, when Tomoyo appeared beside him, pushing him gently out of the room. 'I'll take care of this, if you don't mind.' She said softly, and when he stood in the hallway, she closed the door on him.
Tomoyo walked towards Sakura, and put her arm around her. Sakura turned around and started crying on her shoulder. She cried silently, and Tomoyo knew exactly what made Sakura so sad.
She was homesick. To her old home, that is.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
'Is she alright?' Meilin asked as Syaoran got downstairs.
'I don't know, Tomoyo kicked me out.' A frown had replaced his glare.
Eriol sniggered at this, knowing his Tomoyo all too well. 'Tomoyo has it all under control, don't worry about it. She probably is just a bit nostalgic from seeing her old home, turned into something else, that's all.'
'Why not make something to eat, while we wait for them to come down? Sakura and I haven't had breakfast yet.' Meilin opted as she walked towards the kitchen.
Syaoran nodded and followed her, as Eriol muttered something about being too lazy and went to the garden to relax in one of the garden chairs.
Syaoran showed Meilin where everything stood and they started to make a feast for the guests.
'How was the flight?' Syaoran asked, while he chopped some vegetables with skilled hands.
Chop, chop, chop...
'As usual.' Meilin answered as she laid the table. 'But Sakura picked me up, and she was apologizing over and over again, because she was too late. It was really funny, so I cheered up quite a lot.'
'How late was she?' He asked worriedly.
'About ten minutes, but that was okay, I was late myself, I couldn't find my luggage...'
They were quiet for a while and the only thing to be heard was the chopping.
'You know...' Meilin started, hesitating. '...I think she will be... a great friend.'
'You figured that out so soon?' He asked, without looking at her.
'Hm...' was her answer. They were quiet for a while again, as they continued with their cooking skills. Or actually, only Syaoran had cooking skills, so he cooked, and Meilin followed his orders for other things, which she couldn't mess up.
'She is very special. She was able to befriend me within a few minutes. It seems as if I know her for a long time, although I hardly know anything about her. I would be wonderful if you two became close friends, just like you, me, Eriol and R...' Meilin bit her lips, turned away, and didn't finish her sentence.
Syaoran walked up to her and laid his hand on top of her head in a comforting way. 'Even if he doesn't love you, he will always be your friend, and you know that. Don't tell me I have to remind you of that.'
She gave a small laugh, and shortly hugged her cousin. 'That would be in contradiction, wouldn't it?'
'Would it ever.'
They heard the door upstairs, and footsteps coming down. They were probably hungry, so he hurried up with the last hand of their breakfast.
'Syaoran?'
'Hm?'
'I missed you.'
'I know. I missed you to...' Syaoran responded. The last food was set on the table and Eriol came to the living room. '...Mei-Mei.'
A vein popped up on her forehead, but at that moment, Sakura and Tomoyo entered. 'Wow! That looks delicious! Did you two make that?' Sakura exclaimed. It didn't show that she had cried at all, and she seemed as cheerful as always.
Meilin nodded enthusiastically, forgetting to be mad at Syaoran. 'Yes, we did! Does it look appetizing?'
Sakura and Tomoyo nodded, but Eriol looked skeptically. 'It does look good... Did you really make that Meilin?'
Meilin's face fell. 'No...' She muttered, defeated. 'Syaoran did, I only set the table.'
'Oh, good.'
That remark earned him a stomp on the head from a shocked Tomoyo. 'Eriol...!'
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
The five of them spent a lot of time together that holiday, and they got to know each other a lot better. Meilin slept at Syaoran's house, but Sakura, Tomoyo and Eriol could be found there just as often.
On Thursday, Meilin gathered enough courage to ask Tomoyo about Sakura's past. At that moment, Eriol and Syaoran were shopping for dinner. That might take awhile, because everybody was staying over for dinner again, and Syaoran never cooked something so simple. She had told them to take their time, because she had to "do" something. They got the hint, and promised to be very slowly, which only resulted in them leaving the house a lot later than planned.
But when she asked Tomoyo, she responded by saying they should ask Sakura herself, because she promised not to say anything. So they went upstairs, were Sakura could be found in her old room, currently Meilin's room. She tried some of Tomoyo's creations, as Tomoyo had ordered her to do.
Not that she seemed to mind, because they caught her on spinning around in a green summer dress, humming a cheerful song.
They entered, and Sakura stopped spinning at the sight of their serious faces. 'What's wrong?'
Before Meilin could answer, Tomoyo grabbed her camcorder. 'Please spin around again, Sakura-chan. That dress looks so wonderful on you!'
Sakura had to laugh and spun around another time, as Meilin bumped Tomoyo's head, meaning to tell her to stop playing games.
'Right, right...' Tomoyo muttered, rubbing her painful head. 'Meilin wanted to know about your past, so I told her to ask you, because I promised not to tell.'
'You could have brought that a bit more subtle.' Meilin muttered as she saw the smile disappearing from Sakura's face.
'Not really, this is the way to let her talk, trust me on this one, I know her for a very long time.' Tomoyo muttered back.
'Only four years, Tomoyo.' Sakura responded dryly, as she obviously could hear the two muttering. She got inside the bathroom to change, and when she came back, she sat down on the chair by the window, facing outside. Tomoyo and Meilin sat on the bed, waiting for Sakura to start.
'Why do you want to know?' Sakura asked, instead of spilling her story.
'Well...' Meilin searched for an answer, but couldn't really find one. Why did she want to know so badly? It was okay for people to have secrets, right?
Sakura didn't wait for an answer though. 'Promise me you won't tell anyone? Not even Syaoran and Eriol?'
'Cross my heart.' Meilin answered honestly. Tomoyo fiddled her thumbs nervously, but didn't say anything.
'Or does Eriol already know, Tomoyo?' Sakura's voice was quiet and calm, but it seemed to reach every corner of the room.
'Sorry...! He guessed it, but worse than reality, so I had to correct him. He knows since the beginning.' Tomoyo apologized with pleading eyes. She never meant to spill her secret.
But Sakura didn't say anything about it anymore and continued to look outside. 'My first year on this school... wasn't very pleasant, to say at the least. I still don't know when it started...
I had a crush on someone, and he seemed to like me to. He was the most popular student from the school, in his last year, and I guess every girl had a crush on him. Maybe that was the entire problem. But somehow, he had set his eyes on me, and me only. I was thrilled, because he might be my very first boyfriend.
There was a girl back then, also in her last year on that school, who had a crush on him since she first got on this school. When she realized he liked me, she made up plans to get rid of me. I was bullied an entire year by her and her friends, all because of him.
First I endured it, because I thought, if he says he wants to be with me, she'll eventually stop. But he never spoke a word in my defense. He pretended he didn't know what went on. He asked me out a couple of times, but it always ended with that girl getting there, and sending me away. It happened right in front of his eyes, and yet, he never did anything against it.
When he kept asking me out, she got angrier. She asked her brother to...to...' A tear dropped down her cheek, but she didn't move a muscle, and kept staring outside.
'... to fancy me. I refused, of course... I still had my eyes on that other guy, and somehow I thought he still liked me. I mean, he did ask me out, every time again. The brother became pushier every day.
I told my crush what happened, but he shrugged it off as my imagination. I still didn't figure it out by then. I guess... I was completely blind.
The brother became impatient with me and his sister, who said not to go too far. He lured me out one night with... with a fake note of my crush. He said he wanted to meet me, when that girl couldn't come in between.
I was thrilled, I thought he was lured by her, and he wanted to apologize. But when I got there...
It was her brother, and there was really no one around who could bother us.
He... he...' More tears spilled now, and her entire body shook with held back tears. She could only whisper her last words. 'He raped me.' Her body folded double, as she let the tears go, shaking with every sob. Yet, she still cried without sound.
Tomoyo ran to the chair and took her in her arms, while Meilin stared into nothingness, tears running freely over her cheeks.
But the story hadn't ended yet. 'My brother found us, and b-beat him up, n-nearly killed him. That's w-why he is so overprotective of me, because h-he couldn't prevent it back then.
M-my crush never spoke to me again, and when the year ended, I never saw him again. I heard a year later, that he had married... that girl, and divorced her after four months. He has remarried her within the next year, and so on. He has divorced her five times already, and remarried every time.
A-and that... while he knows she had sent her brother to me... He knows!'
Sakura stood up, out of Tomoyo's soothing embrace and grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be a poor candle, and smashed it against the wall. She ranted some nasty words, before she broke down completely, and sank to her knees, sobbing loudly, muttering incomprehensible sentences.
Both Tomoyo and Meilin embraced her now, to sooth her, and to prevent any more candles from being killed. They sat there for a long time, until she stopped crying, and slowly got up to wash her face.
When she finished, she appeared in the doorpost again. 'Tell the boys I'm sorry that I can't eat here, because of work or something like that. I'm going home.' And with that, she disappeared downstairs.
Tomoyo and Meilin looked at each other and quickly followed her to the front door. At the moment she walked in the hallway, the door opened and Eriol and Syaoran entered. Sakura slipped through the door and disappeared, without saying anything. The boys turned to look at her, only to see her running down the street.
'What was that about?' Eriol asked, as he entered the house with the shopping bags. They saw the worried looks and teary faces and a frown appeared on theirs.
Meilin opened her mouth a few times before she muttered. 'I-It's my fault, I asked he about her p...' She couldn't say anything further, because Tomoyo covered her mouth with her hands.
'Meilin, we promised not to say!' She whispered fiercely in her ear.
Eriol heard though, and somehow immediately knew what it was about. 'You WHAT?' He looked frantically at the door, as if expecting Sakura to appear there because he wanted so. 'No, no, NO! And she's going home alone!?'
Tomoyo's eyes grew large and nodded dumbly. Syaoran in the meanwhile, had no idea what all this was about, except that it seemed to be serious. 'What...?' He began, but was interrupted by Eriol. 'I'll go after her. You tell Syaoran what happened, we can't hide this.' He searched frantically for his car keys in his pockets, while they lay on the small table beside him.
'But we promised!' Tomoyo reasoned. 'We can't tell anybody. She even told me things I never knew of!'
Syaoran had grabbed the car keys and pushed the frantic people in the living room. 'Why don't you calm down for a moment and I'll go looking for her. I've no idea what this is about, but if you promised not to tell, then don't.' With that he turned around and disappeared outside, taking the car to find Sakura.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Sakura ran home blindly. Why did she tell everything? Why, in god's name, did she relive everything? She hadn't been ready to do that, she didn't want to think about it, so why did she willingly tell Meilin and Tomoyo?
She knew why. When they entered, she had seen the serious, curious, but above all worried faces of her two friends. She didn't want them to worry, but neither did she want to tell a lie...
... So she told them.
And it hurt her. A lot. Those memories...
She remembered the pain from that night. She had spent the night in the hospital after that and had nightmares for weeks. She skipped school for a month, and he never came by, not even once. Her brother didn't leave her side for that entire month, and always stayed very protective of her.
But the moment itself... when that stupid man tore off her clothes and... and...
She couldn't even finish her thought, even that was too painful. She didn't want to recall that. Never again!
A car honked, and she realized she was in the middle of a street, and the cars nearly hit her while passing by. She jumped to the side, eyes wide. What am I doing?
Another car stopped besides her. 'Get in, I'll drive you home, before you kill yourself in the middle of the road.'
She recognized the voice, and looked at the owner. 'S-Syaoran-kun?'
He pointed at the seat. 'Come on, get in, the traffic is waiting.'
She got in, sat beside him, and fastened her seatbelt. It took her awhile before she had the courage to ask: 'Why are you here?' They were driving away from the city crowd, and turned a corner, getting on the way to her home.
Syaoran sighed and looked worried at her for a moment. 'To pick you up, of course.' He answered and rested his head on his left hand, steering with his right hand. It was silent for a moment, and Syaoran realized she wasn't going to talk about what had happened at his home. 'The girls are really worried about you, and so is Eriol. You should think about that, before you run away, they only want to help you.'
Sakura gave him a glare. 'So they told you, didn't they?' She spit the words out at him. 'And that is all you have to say!? Let me out of the car, please. I'll walk home.' The car didn't slow down, so she screamed at him. 'Let me out, you bastard! LET ME OUT!'
A deep glare appeared at Syaoran's face. 'I let you out in a minute.' He growled. He was pissed right now. What had he done wrong? Had he been wrong about Sakura? Was she someone else underneath that innocent face? Did he befriend the wrong person again?
He knew he was exaggerating at the moment. Something had happened while he and Eriol were away, which made her act like this, but still... He didn't want to past to repeat itself. What if this is the real Sakura? He gritted his teeth at the thought. Sakura still yelled at him from the passenger seat.
He turned the last corner and pulled up at her house. 'Stop yelling and get out of the car.' He growled at her, and she opened the door and got out. 'They didn't tell me anything, I hoped you would, but I guess I was wrong about that.'
He closed her door and drove backwards out of her small driveway, unto the street, and sped away, not wanting to stay there any longer for the moment. He would only speak to her once she had calmed down again.
Sakura stood in front of her own house, his last words repeating itself in her head. Tears streamed down her face again. 'What have I done?' She whispered to the wind. Did I just lose a friend? Does he hate me now? Why wouldn't he... What did I scream for at him?
Syaoran... I'm sorry...
She ran inside and grabbed the phone and quickly dialed Tomoyo's number. She tapped her foot impatiently, while the phone connected.
'Sakura-chan, is that you?' Tomoyo's voice sounded really worried. 'Are you home safely?'
'Y-yes, I'm fine Tomoyo-chan. Don't worry about it.'
'Did Syaoran find you?'
'Yes, he did, he brought me home, but...'
'But...?'
'I only yelled at him, and now he is angry at me. I think he hates me now, and I don't want that...!'
'Of course he doesn't hate you! He'll realize his mistake and make it up to you, you'll see!' Tomoyo really sounded convincing, although she had no idea what had happened.
'It's not his fault... I was at fault, I misunderstood him... and now he probably hates me!' Sakura swallowed before continuing. 'Could you do me a favor, Tomoyo-chan?'
'I'll do anything, you know that.'
'Please tell Syaoran about... about what I told you... Please?'
'Sure... if I have your permission...'
'Thank you, Tomoyo-chan...' I can't possibly tell all that another time.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
'So that's why she doesn't want a boyfriend.' Meilin said, staring to the wall. She sat on the couch in the living room, together with Tomoyo and Eriol, Syaoran hadn't come back yet. She felt really guilty of her stupid curiosity to Sakura's past, and regretted the fact that she asked her to tell: she had hurt Sakura, although they just became friends.
'And why her brother is so overprotective of her.' Eriol muttered, worry present in his voice. 'I hope Syaoran finds her...'
They all sighed and became silent. Later, Tomoyo's phone rang, and seeing Sakura's home number, she picked up. She talked for a while, before hanging up. 'Sakura is fine, Syaoran brought her home. She asked me to tell Syaoran what she told us, so I guess you can listen to, Eriol.'
'Erm...' Meilin muttered. 'I think you are not telling us something.'
Tomoyo colored a bit, and nodded sheepishly. 'Yeah, I am, I guess.' She locked her phone and put it back in her purse. 'She and Syaoran had an argument. I don't know what happened, but Sakura says it is her fault, and that she yelled at Syaoran, and he became angry. Something like that...'
'I don't think that's a big deal. Sakura is easily angered when she is like this, and Syaoran, well, he's easily angered too.' Eriol said.
Meilin nodded. 'Sakura isn't the only one with a rotten past... although Syaoran's past is completely different.'
Eriol gave her a warning look, and Tomoyo looked curious at her. 'What happened?' Tomoyo asked her.
'It is just like this with Sakura, Tomoyo dear, we don't talk about it, unless he says we can.'
'But you know about Sakura too!' Tomoyo pleaded.
When Syaoran eventually came home, he wore a deep scowl, and looked slightly angry. Before he could say or do anything, Tomoyo spoke to him. 'Sakura says she's sorry, she didn't mean to yell at you and she asked us to tell you what had happened.' It all came out at once, and before Syaoran could say anything, or react at all, he was pushed in the living room and sat down at his comfy chair.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
To be Continued