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Through Another Day

Written by: Shadow

Chapter 8

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Syaoran sighed as he made his way to the doorstep of the Kinomoto residence. He had a bag slung over his shoulder, and was dressed in fairly nice clothing. He didn't want to come off as a bad person at his first time at Sakura's house.

Taking a breath, he knocked on the door. The scuffling of feet could be heard from inside as someone came to answer his call. Patiently, Syaoran waited, until finally, the door creaked open, revealing a tall teenager, probably about nineteen years old.

Immediately, the guy standing in front of Syaoran gave him a bad look, "You!"

"What?" Syaoran asked, raising an eyebrow. What was wrong with this guy?

"You're the kid who beat our soccer team last year! I knew Sakura said she was having a friend over, but you? If you lay one finger on my sister, I'll--"

"Toya!" Sakura called. "Be quiet. It's just Syaoran!"

Syaoran let out a sigh of relief. Sakura's older brother was a jerk, just like Sakura had claimed. He would have to be careful of him, especially since he was planning on coming back more often…. A lot more often….

"Hi," Syaoran muttered, looking ahead of Toya, but not making a move to go inside.

"Hello," Sakura said cheerfully. "I got your message from earlier."

"Yeah," Syaoran replied, staring up at Toya with a small glare. He was uncomfortable being stared at like he was a target. "Can we talk?" Syaoran asked, getting back to business.

Sakura's smile was wiped away at the tone in Syaoran's voice. Something was definitely not okay with him still. She had hoped that everything was all forgiven since she sent out Sander, but it didn't seem like it was going to happen so easily.

"Sure," Sakura finally replied. "Let me get my shoes on and we can walk."

Syaoran nodded, going over exactly what he wanted to discuss. He wanted to be blunt and say that she shouldn't be releasing the spirits so lightly, because she could die, but at the same time, he wanted to respect Sander's wish to not say anything about their conversation.

"The book…slowly sucks the life out of the user. Every time Sakura releases a Spirit, her life drains away….it's a slow death."

"Damn it," Syaoran muttered under his breath. Soon enough, Sakura was at the door, and happily ran out. She sure didn't look like she was suffering a painful death….

"Lay one finger on her…" Toya said as Syaoran turned to follow Sakura.

"Or what? No way you could beat me. I'm a black belt in two different martial arts."

"We'll see about that brat," Toya said smugly. "I'm an experienced martial artist myself."

Syaoran raised an eyebrow at that, "I see."

That was all he said as he made his way out of the Kinomoto residence. He quickly caught up to Sakura with long strides, and together they started to walk towards the park, as if in mutual agreement as to where they would go. For awhile, the air was filled with a heavy silence, where Syaoran went over what he was going to say to Sakura, and Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably.

"So?" Sakura finally asked, breaking the heavy silence.

Syaoran let out a sigh. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier okay?" Immediately, Syaoran mentally slapped himself. Why was he apologizing. It was Sakura that was snooping in his business!

Sakura looked as surprised as Syaoran felt from saying that. Surely, she'd want some kind of explanation.

"If I hadn't acted like a total ass, maybe you wouldn't have done any of that stuff. I mean… we're… friends," Syaoran said, unsure of the last part of his sentence. Were they friends? He'd hardly call their relationship a friendship.

Regardless, Syaoran let it slide as Sakura spoke up. "Well…that was unexpected."

"Yeah, no kidding," Syaoran thought to himself.

"But I should really be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have snooped around like that, even if you were an asshole-- I mean…heh…" she trailed off nervously, looking at Syaoran apologetically. Syaoran crossed his arms and snorted in mock anger. He had been called many worse things than an asshole. Besides, he was the one that acknowledged it anyway.

"But if it makes you feel better, I was never left alone. I would have killed to have some solitary time like you did," Sakura said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, you wouldn't have," Syaoran muttered darkly. "There's more to it than just that."

"Oh," was all Sakura could reply. Apparently, Syaoran wasn't quite ready to forgive her completely.

"There's…one other thing," Syaoran said, getting ready to reveal some of what he knew. "I noticed that every time you use the book, you become so drained you pass out. This has happened without fail every time we catch a spirit, and you should be getting better with magic, not worse. So, what is it you aren't telling me about this book?"

Sakura cringed visibly.

"Bingo," Syaoran said. There was no way for her to get around it now.

The pair finally arrived at the park, and immediately made their way over to the swings. It was twilight, and the sky was slowly creeping into a dark blue color. Syaoran and Sakura made themselves comfortable on the swings, and Sakura used her feet to rock back and forth just a bit. Syaoran waited patiently for her to give him the answer he already knew.

"The book," Sakura said solemnly. "It's cursed."

"I see," Syaoran replied.

"It…kills the owner little by little every time they use a spirit," she continued when she saw Syaoran wasn't going to back off at just that. Sakura tried to resist the urge to cry, but was failing miserably. She started to sniffle a bit.

Syaoran watched Sakura, quickly becoming worried. He was horrible at dealing with crying girls. He wanted to help Sakura and try to find a solution, not make her cry!

"Hey, its okay," Syaoran said.

"No, its not!" Sakura yelled, cutting off Syaoran completely. "Do you know what its like knowing you're going to die? Like everyday could easily be your last?"

Syaoran looked away but muttered, "Yeah, I actually do."

Sakura stopped sniffing for a moment, to look at Syaoran. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Okay," Sakura replied, staring at Syaoran for a few more moments before she started to break down again.

"I'm scared Syaoran," Sakura said. "I don't want to die."

Syaoran kept his head turned from Sakura but replied, "I know. It's okay. You'll be fine. You'll make it through another day."

"B-but," Sakura stuttered.

"Say it. Say you'll go through another day. It will help you," Syaoran demanded, turning to face Sakura. His glare was so intense, Sakura almost flinched back.

"I'll make it through another day," she said quietly.

Syaoran let out an uncharacteristic smile, "Good."

It was quiet after that, and the two teens sat and watched the last of the sun's rays dip behind the trees in the distance. Soon, stars started to grace the sky, giving the night a hazy glow.

Neither Syaoran or Sakura looked at each other, content to avoid any more conversation….or, at least Syaoran was.

Sakura broke the silence by getting up off her swing, causing the chains to rattle. She walked in front of Syaoran, causing him to look up at her. He expectantly waited for her to say something.

"Syaoran," she started, bending down and moving her arms in to embrace the teen. "Thanks. You're a good friend, even if you don't know it."

Syaoran immediately felt heat run to his face. He sat there, completely frozen and embarrassed for a few moments, until finally, coherent thoughts returned to him, and he managed to spit out a "Y-yeah…no problem."

Sakura let go, and jumped up, letting out a small laugh and smiling at him. "I should go," she said. "It's getting kinda late, and my brother is probably fuming right now."

"Yeah," Syaoran said. "I'll walk you home."

"Oh, you don't have to," Sakura said. "I know my way back."

"But it's on my way," Syaoran insisted.

"But your house is…" Sakura trailed off. "Okay then…. Its in the other direction."

The two of them walked out of the park at a brisk pace, hoping to make it back to Sakura's house in good timing.

"Oh," Sakura spoke up. "I almost forgot. Did you enjoy hanging out with Sander?"

A small smile crept its way onto Syaoran's face, "Yeah. Thank you for that…but don't do it again on my behalf. I don't want you to…you know…."

He didn't need to say more than that, because Sakura nodded, however, what did confuse Syaoran was that she was still smiling.

"How can you still be smiling?" Syaoran asked aloud, too curious to keep it in his mind.

"I'm glad I made you happy," she replied. "You don't smile enough."

Syaoran looked away, going a bit red. What was with this girl?

"Oh, by the way. I'll go," Syaoran muttered.

"Huh?"

"To the carnival. I'll go with you," Syaoran said, going even redder.

"Oh! Really? That's awesome! Should we meet there? Or at my house?"

"Your house," Syaoran replied.

"Okay!"

Finally, the two teens made it back to Sakura's house. Sakura walked up to her door and knocked on it. She hummed a happy little tune as she waited for her brother to open the door.

"Can I use your bathroom before I go?" Syaoran asked.

"Of course," Sakura replied as the door opened. Without waiting, Syaoran trudged into the house passed Toya, leaving her older brother fuming with anger.

"It's upstairs next to my room!" Sakura called.

Syaoran made his way up the stairs quickly. Finally, he was at his destination, which didn't happen to be the bathroom.

Syaoran walked into Sakura's room, careful to not make much noise.

"Hey Syaoran!" a voice called. Syaoran smiled. It was Sander from inside the book which lay open on Sakura's desk.

"Hey buddy," he whispered. "You're coming to my house tonight."

"Oh boy! Are we gonna play fetch?" the pup asked excitedly.

"Only if you stay quiet until we get there," Syaoran replied as he closed the book and stashed it in his bag.

"Perfect. Now I can figure out this curse."

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A/N: Uhh, don't kill me for taking so long XD. Oh, and happy new year!

What's Syaoran's plan? Dun dun duuunnn!

Also, to answer a few questions, when I said 'Syaoran cared' in the last chapter, I meant he cared about her as a friend, or about her well being in general. That's a lot more than he can say for anyone else he knows.

So yes, PLEASE make the start of my year awesome and review. LOL.