CHAPTER 3 IS REVISED!
IMPORTANT MESSAGE: When fanfiction sends the story alerts for The Contest to Find the Perfect Wife, it will say in the subject box FF New Chapter Ch. 12 of story, The Contest To Find the Perfect Wife, by Moonlight Petal. It's a long story but basically, everytime it says that Chapter 12 has been updated, it means that I have revised the next chapter.
This chapter is not yet revised so please don't read this chapter yet. Read Chapter 1's author's note if you have not already done so. Thank you!
Author's Note: School has been doing a lot to me. I have harder classes this year and I'm being challenged. I'm still trying to write but I barely even have enough time to check my email anymore. There was one day I spent until around midnight trying to finish homework. I don't know if it's because I became lazy and decided to put studying tests till the next day. The other day went better, I worked on homework up until 10:30. The final day I actually was able to finish around 10:00. Now let's just see how the rest of the school year goes. I know that it isn't an excuse but yeah…
I'm forcing myself to put back my homework and try to update this chapter.
Alright, congratulations to StarAngel02, Sakura-chan Master of the Clow, and TwinkleStar for either guessing it right, or knowing it right off the bat. (I'm talking about why she stuck the fork into her food.) If I missed your name above, sorry, and please let me know so I can give you credit. The rest of you will find out later on in the chapter.
And yes I know, a lot of you are waiting for Sakura to show her fighting abilities right? Well, rest assured, sometime during this story, it will happen. You didn't think I would let this story go without Sakura awing the readers with her fighting abilities did you? ; )
Remember to review and let me know what you think! Thanks a bunch for everyone who added me their favorites and added me their alerts! And of course, bunch of thanks for those who left a review and/or critique! BTW, I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing so if you have any critique or anything, tell me anytime. Feel free to be as harsh as you want. : )
Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura.
Special thanks to my beta, Alyssum! She's a great editor and she's been helping me out greatly. I also want to take this time to thanks those who have left me a PM and for those who I asked for some help. Thanks! Now off to the story!
Last Chapter:
They looked away and went back to eating their food as Sakura ran the fork in her hands over her food. She stuck in a few places and pulled it back out, satisfied with what she saw. When no one was watching her, she stuck her fork into her tea and pulled it back out. Finally, she began eating.
However, this action did not escape the watching eyes of Syaoran Li. He wasn't staring at her the whole time but he did see her walk in and he was curious about what was going on. "Why did she skip the tournament today? It seems unlike her. Did something happen?" He took another bite of his food. "What is she doing with her fork? Unless…"
End of Last Chapter
The emerald eyed girl blinked as she stared across the half empty room. "Uh… I thought that you guys said that the fighting contest wasn't that bad. Are you sure it wasn't violent? This is already the third day since that contest and yet no one is here eating," she remarked, her eyes curiously traveling across the room.
"No… it wasn't that bad at all," Hikari quietly mumbled, her eyes also trained on the room.
"Yeah, most of them were just threatening each other about this and that. Then they started clawing each other with their fingernails. Those were usually with the ones who were wearing all those frilly dresses to a fighting contest. The ones that actually work for a living actually did something more than stare around and cry when their dresses were tugged and stretched. No offense of course," said Sora. "It's just really…"
"..surprising that there are so many people absent and that most of them are from the noble side, the ones that really didn't hurt that bad," continued Miyu, knowing exactly what she meant.
Sora nodded. "I mean, there are people who did get hurt, but they are showing up anyways and the ones who barely got hurt are staying in bed. I don't mean any offense but it's just weird. Of course, not all the nobles were like that. Some of them actually fought pretty well."
"I don't think you can blame them though. They lived in luxury all their lives and didn't have to do anything to survive. It's really not their fault. You can't really expect them to fight overnight," Hikari pointed out. "Though I have to agree, I don't know why they are staying in bed with those little tiny scratches. There are others who have it a lot worse."
"Hey, let's go sit down alright?" asked Sakura. "It's feels like we are being stared at, just standing at the entrance talking," she laughed. The others smiled and walked down to their table, ignoring Midori and Kotone who were also sitting at the same table as theirs.
For the last few days since that contest, the king had announced that he would let everyone off for a week. Though it was unnecessary, the choice he made also provided time for the royal family to sort out the results of the contests while giving plenty time for the contestants to rest. Everyone was allowed to explore the castle and come back to eat at anytime.
The servants, who had seen the four girls, pushed the cart over and started delivering the breakfast to them. One of them explained that for the rest of the four days, the king would have everyone spending 20 minutes with the prince.
The girls started eating and Sakura quickly stuck her fork into her food and tea, knowing that the silver utensils would tarnish upon contact with poison. Finally determining that everything was safe, she began filling her stomach.
During the process of this, worries filled her mind. Mysteries had still plagued her at night, making it terribly hard for her to even close her eyes. One particular thing that made her really scared was that she still had not gotten a reply from her family. They were not the ones to let a letter sit on the table, so what had happened? The very thought of having something tragic happening to them had sent cold shivers down her spine. She clenched her fork and smiled, talking to her friends again.
"How was the fighting contest like?" she asked, not knowing what else to say. "I know you said it wasn't violent but it's hard to imagine a fighting contest that is… not violent I guess. I mean it is a fighting contest after all," she shrugged.
The trio recalled their memories and suddenly started laughing uncontrollably. "I… I'm sorry," said Miyu between her fits of laughter. "It's just that some of the fighting duels were hilarious." She clutched her stomach as she laughed even harder.
"Honestly, you should have seen it!" Sora said between gasps of air. "I don't know if I can explain it but it was really funny."
Even Hikari couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey, who will be my opponent?" asked Sora, finally able to swallow her laughter after a while.
"I volunteer!" shouted Miyu joyfully, raising her hand. She got up from the table and walked to Sora's side, pretending to glare at her.
They both clenched their eyes shut and turned their heads to the side, mocking the others who had fought that way. They stared pawing each other like cats, slapping each other's hands.
The scene went on quite a while, getting laughter from Sakura and Hikari.
Sora hissed and Miyu meowed in a fierce way. They both looked at each and burst out in laughter at the scene that they made. The four girls all started laughing, earning a few curious glances. Midori and Kotone couldn't help but also feel the corner of their lips tilt up in a smile.
"I'm sorry, I can't explain it or act it out, but let me tell you," said Miyu as she sat down, "It was hilarious. It was laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe. You couldn't even hear me laugh because I was laughing so hard. My face was all red. I know it was rude of me to laugh but I honestly couldn't stop it."
The girls all continued eating, their animated chatter receiving laughter and smiles. They talked about this and that, about that and this. Random subjects filled the air between them.
Before they knew it, they all finished eating. A male servant suddenly came by, tapping Hikari on the shoulder. "Miss, are you Hikari Suzuki?"
"Yes."
"Please follow me. It is your turn to talk to the prince."
"I will see everyone later then," smiled Hikari.
They all smiled back and she walked away.
"I have to go to the bathroom. I'll see you guys later this afternoon alright?" asked Sora.
"See ya then," replied Miyu happily, energy still bouncing off of her.
Sakura smiled and waved. "See you later."
Miyu and Sakura talked for a while longer, leaving the table a few minutes later. Sakura had decided to find Kero and Yue again. Maybe this time she was allowed to get some practice in. Though she missed the fighting contest, she could always train with them right? Besides, she was aching for something to do. Her body felt so lazy and weak.
Walking down the hallways, she kept herself occupied by staring at all the beautiful decorations. Everything was perfect, from the small details on how each carpet was placed to the big details on how the design of the castle was like. And before she knew it, she had gotten to the big wooden doors again. She stopped walking and turned the doorknob, opening the door slowly while hoping that it was Kero and Yue. She would be pretty embarrassed if it wasn't them and if she had interrupted someone else.
"Sakura?" asked Kero.
Recognizing the voice, she opened the door widely. "Kero!"
Her golden haired cousin smiled upon seeing her. "Hey!"
Sakura stepped in all the way, hearing the door shut behind her. "I didn't get to see you last time."
Yue had stepped into her view with a white towel draped across the back of his neck. A few strands of his hair were matted to his face. "I know. We were helping out with the contest. Though… I didn't see you show up," he trailed off.
"Ah yeah. Two reasons really. One because of what Touya had ordered me to do and the other because…" Her eyes widened as she saw someone move out of the corner of her eyes. No way… It was the prince. How much had he heard?
"Prince Li… I'm sorry for not greeting you earlier. I didn't see you…" she rambled, worried that he would start asking all these questions. How could she have been so careless? Now how was she supposed to cover up her tracks?
Her mind told her that something was wrong. "Wait… This isn't right. Something is wrong with this situation. What is it? Something is out of place… Come on, think. What is out of place? Wait, I don't think … He shouldn't be here." Realization shone brightly upon her as she figured it all out. "Weren't… you supposed to be with Hikari though?" she asked slowly, her mind thinking everything through.
He just furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"I… I just thought that you were supposed to be spending twenty minutes with her right now. One of the servants here told her that she was supposed to see you."
He shook his head. "Nope."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know. I probably just made a mistake and heard wrong or something." But she hadn't. She hadn't made a mistake or heard wrong. Miyu and Sora heard too. What was happening?
The door suddenly opened again. "Prince?" asked a servant who peeked his head in. "Ah, there you are. We are having you spend 20 minutes with each girl right now. The king told me you know which room you are supposed to be in.
He felt his heart thump with fury as he took in a deep breath while trying to cool down his burning emotions. His body filled with frustration making his body tense up even more. It was bad enough that his parents were using a contest to determine his wife, now he had to spend time with every one of them.
Without another word, he stormed out of the room, the servant following meekly behind him.
"Wow, he looked mad," blinked Sakura.
"He's mad at this whole thing," said Yue bluntly as he walked across the room to grab a sword. He titled it up into the air, watching the sunlight from the window bounce off the sword.
"I kind of feel sorry for him," said Kero, stretching. He sighed. "I mean, I wouldn't be happy either if I was told that suddenly I would be married to some unknown girl who won a contest. You can't blame him. He doesn't know who the girl is, what happened in her past, he won't know anything about the woman until the day after he marries her. He won't even be able to fall in love before he marries. And… What if something goes wrong with all of it? He has a lot of stress put on him. The contest is just making it worse."
Yue smirked and thrust the sword out in front of him in one graceful move. "Mention anything about him falling in love to him and he'll beat you up without another word. In any case, I challenge you to sword fighting, Kero," said Yue, changing the subject.
Kero stuck out his tongue, raising his pointer finger to pull down the skin beneath his right eye. "Bleh."
Yue's left eyebrow twitched as he neared Kero. "And what do you mean by that?
"Uh… Have I ever told you how nice you look in that… Um… Shirt?" asked Kero, faking fright.
"Oh really? I recall that this morning someone was saying that it was "butt ugly"."
"Who was that someone?"
"His name was Kero."
"Oh, what a coincidence! That person who said your outfit was "butt ugly" had the same name as me!" said Kero, his eyes widened in pretended shock.
"In fact, the person was you."
"Really? What a bigger coincidence right?" Kero vigorously nodded his head.
"Kero," said Sakura, an innocent smile on her face. "I think you had better run."
Kero looked at Yue and back at Sakura. His eyes moved quickly back and forth at the two. "Why not? It looks like I got him mad. Too da loo! I'll see you next time Sakura!"
He raced out the door, right past Sakura. Yue followed in quick steps behind him. Sakura shook her head and laughed at her two cousins and the show that they put on.
She suddenly sighed and walked across the room toward the weapon rack, tracing her hand over one of the handles. She picked up the sword, wielding it in her right hand, feeling the weight and seeing the light reflect off of it. She raised her left hand, her pointer finger and her middle finger side by side. Her other fingers were held down with her thumb. It was like she was holding a peace sign, or bunny ears, just that the two fingers sticking up were touching. She ran her two fingers up the blade, feeling how sharp it was.
The memory of the dagger she picked up flew through her mind. And that reminded of her of home. Memories and worries filled through her head again, making her lose focus on what her left hand was doing. Only the pain that she felt brought her attention back to where she was. Taking a look at her fingers, she saw blood trickling down slowly. It seemed that she had accidentally swiped her fingers down the sharp blade on accident. Sighing, she wiped the blood off the blade with her clean fingers to stop anyone from suspecting anything. She headed down to the infirmary, careful with the wound, thinking about how ironic it was that how she always managed to get hurt in one way or the other.
Walking into the infirmary, she saw that there were a few people in there. A nurse dressed in a white outfit came up to her.
"Hi, did you need any help with anything?" she asked kindly.
"Ah… I accidentally cut myself on something. It's nothing bad. I was just wondering if I could use the disinfectant down here and some of the other things to tend to the wound. Can I?'
"Of course. Would you like me to help you?"
"No, it's alright. I know what to use. Thank you, though."
"No problem. I'll be helping the others so if there is anything that you need me to do, feel free to get me," replied the nurse, surprised that woman did not need assistance.
"Alright," smiled Sakura. She glanced at her hand. There was a clean cloth in the training room for accidents and she had wrapped a small one around her fingers so that she wouldn't get the blood on the carpet or anywhere else. She grabbed the needed supplies and sat down, nursing her wound. While doing this, she couldn't but help overhear another person in the room.
"OUCH! Stop it. Can't you be any gentler? If you can't, I'm going to go to my daddy and he's going to tell the king to fire you. And when I'm the queen, I'm going to punish you and… OW!" a woman whined. "I told you to be careful. I don't want a scar left on my skin!"
Sakura felt pity for the person who had to serve the girl. She quickly finished, wrapping a small bandage cloth around her middle finger, and another around her pointer finger. It was hard working with just her right hand, but she managed. Quite often, she had gotten hurt working in the restaurant. By now, she was used to it. It was funny how working in such a place had helped her out so much.
"I told you to treat my wound better! It better not leave a scar or else you will be in big trouble," huffed the girl as she stormed outside. Sakura just merely ignored the woman and put everything away neatly. She walked out the door and into the hallway, not knowing what to do. She was just wandering aimlessly when she heard a girl crying around the corner.
"Hey, are you alright?" she asked upon seeing a brunette crouched on the floor, crying. The woman looked up, her brown eyes shimmering with tears.
"No… I'm not alright," she said between sobs, covering her eyes with one of her hands. In any normal case, she would have jumped up in embarrassment and ran away from being caught in such a venerable state by a complete stranger. But… her body felt so weak, so numb, and so stiff. She doubted she would be able to move even if the royal family came by… To her, it felt the world was ending, sending shockwaves of pain into her body. The girl dropped her hand and it fell uselessly to the floor, her eyes staring up at the ceiling motionlessly, her body trembling.
Worried, Sakura sat down onto the floor, next to the young woman. "What's wrong?" she asked, her eyes nervously searching the woman's face. She felt a really quick shock of pain fly through own heart as she saw the distressed woman in next to her.
The woman cried, using the heel of her palm to wipe away her flowing tears. However, it did not seem to help any since even more tears streamed down. She sniffed in deeply. "Nothing really," the girl replied, not knowing how she was going to explain everything and spill her life out to a stranger. No doubt she was one of the contestants…
Sakura frowned at the pain the woman was going through. "I'm… Sakura Kinomoto," she mumbled, not knowing how to comfort her.
"Chiharu," she managed to croak out unconsciously, her body shaking with silent sobs.
"Chiharu… Can I call you that?" asked Sakura softly, careful not to talk too loud.
The girl just merely nodded, sniffling as her heart suddenly gave a large thump when her worries pulled her back into a large dark abyss.
"It's a pretty name," said Sakura suddenly, still not knowing how to help. She was always at a loss of words on how to cheer up someone crying. At these times she knew what she should say, just that she didn't know how to put it in words.
Chiharu did not know how to reply. She just let out another sob, feeling her heart pounding tightly against her chest. It hurt so much and yet she couldn't do anything about it.
"Chiharu… Can you tell me what happened?"
Chiharu pondered for a second, still wondering on whether or not she could just blurt her problems out onto the stranger. Sure, the girl… Sakura, seemed innocent enough and she didn't seem to be a royal or anything… She didn't seem like someone who would intentionally hurt her somehow. But she felt so uncomfortable blurting something out to a person she never met before.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," said Sakura quickly, seeing the rushed emotions on Chiharu's face. "It's just that I thought you would feel better if you let it out."
Chiharu continued crying. Maybe telling someone and letting it out wouldn't be such a bad idea… But… How could she explain all that had happened to her? Images and flashes flew through her mind. And slowly, the pain started building up again. Why was she so weak? She kept crying, not knowing whether or not to feel anger toward her weakness or pity toward herself. Her sobs went on, Sakura just waiting for her to calm down a bit.
She finally spoke, ignoring any other choice. Who cared that she was spilling all her secrets out to a complete stranger? Her heart was in pain and her whole body was shaking… What would telling another person do to make it any worse? Maybe the person sitting next to her was right. Maybe she would feel better telling someone. And with the enormous pain in her heart, she would try anything to numb it just for a while.
"My mom is sick and my dad and my brother are all working really hard. They don't get enough sleep or eat enough and I'm afraid what's going to happen to them. I…" she sobbed, her tears falling down furiously. She swallowed, trying to talk. "I just don't know what I can do. The castle job pays enough but my mom's medical fees are so… high priced. I'm scared that I'm going to lose her. She's raised me since I was a child and I just can't imagine the future without her there to guide me. My dad and my brother are always rushing to work everyday, I'm afraid that they are going to faint someday…" She paused, trying to compose herself again. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall, the tears still running feverishly down the sides of her cheeks. "I'm just afraid that something might happen to my family and that I might lose them. I'm scared… I hate this feeling but I'm really scared," she repeated, her voice cracking.
She sniffled, trying to talk, just spilling her heart out and not knowing if she repeated anything or said anything that didn't make sense. "I'm afraid of being the only one left. My dad and my brother's health doesn't seem so good either, and it's beginning to make me so worried everyday. And then one day my father had told me that he made a deal with his old friend. It was an arranged marriage. Apparently, my father's friend had become rich and his son was at a marriageable age. They said that he was 2 years older than me, which makes him 21. I never met him nor talked to him, but everyone keeps saying that I will be happy in my future if I marry him. I accepted it. What else could I have done? I don't want my family getting so weak." she whispered. "My family was depending on me and I couldn't let them down. It's just…" She trailed off, crying harder than ever.
"I feel so useless this way," she continued. "Like I can't hold onto anything… Like I'm alone in the world. I just miss all the fun times my family had together. They are all sick and running around and suddenly I'll be living in a complete life without them. And my family can't pay the medical fees yet until after I get married. It's just so difficult, marrying someone you don't know in such a short time… for money nonetheless."
Sakura patted her back. "Is it that you are afraid of the future? Of what's going to happen to you? Are you afraid of the emotional pain that might come?"
She nodded her head, all worries of spilling her life out to a stranger lost. She was now feeling just a tiny, tiny bit better talking to someone else. Maybe… Just maybe talking to the girl next to her would help her sort out her mind a tiny bit? Chiharu continued, trying to control her wavering voice.
"Yeah… Pain… It's not something new, but this degree of pain is. I've never had my heart hurt so badly. It's just so… I don't know how to explain it but I hate it. And about my future… I'll be handing it over to some guy I don't even know. I'll be marrying him… But I don't know how much I'll have to go through. Will I love him? Will he love me? How will his family treat me? How will I treat his family? Will I be going through more pain? Will I be separated from my family? What is he like? Literally, I'm handing my life over to him. How I live the rest of my life… It's going to be all controlled by him. And I'm really worried about that." She opened her mouth, about to say more her when, surprisingly, she found her voice unable to come out. Her mind was completely jumbled with everything going on, all her questions, and all her worries. A big pressure was upon her and she actually felt an imaginary weight settling on her mind. She couldn't speak because she couldn't form the words for everything going on, because she didn't want to continue to bring the memories and worries back.
"Here, I'm lending my shoulder for you to cry on okay?" offered Sakura, knowing that Chiharu could no longer say anything else more. She understood.
Without another word, the girl placed her forehead on Sakura's shoulder, crying it all out. At the moment, she felt so jumbled that she didn't know what to do, or say. Though many more things were on her mind… She had to admit that she felt so much better knowing that someone else had heard it out. It was funny… How just talking and letting someone know could cheer herself up just a little bit. However, her heart was still burdened, but no doubt she would feel better if she cried it all out. And so, her sobs echoed through the air. It was a wonder how no one had heard. Sakura just sat there, her own feelings bothering her. They were pushed aside though, for the girl sitting next to her who was even more upset.
Minutes and minutes passed before the girl had finally calmed down.
"Thank you," she whispered, lifting her head up. If she could she would cry the whole day. "Thank you so much. I just really needed someone there to talk to. I guess crying it out helped. My mind is a bit clearer. I guess… I guess that I didn't feel so lonely with you talking to me. It made me feel a little safer, knowing that I'm not the only one in the world. Thank you," she said again. "Though it still bothers me so much that my family is never, ever going to be the same again."
"No, they will be the same. They'll always be the same loving parents and brother, no matter what. Chiharu, they love you and no doubt they know what they are doing. They know that you will like your life with him, that's why they chose him. Your father would never let something bad happen to you. Besides, think about the good things. Your mom is going to be better, you brother and father are going to live more comfortable lives and you'll have a chance at love and everything." Sakura looked down into her lap. "Sorry, I didn't do much to help you out. I'm not that good at comforting people. I'm usually at a loss of what to say when I see someone cry."
The woman shook her head. "No, you helped me out a lot. You're right. My father would never let something bad happen to me. You helped my mind clear up. Thank you."
"If you need anyone to talk to, feel free to find me. By the way, do you know who you are getting married to?"
"Umm… Takashi Yamazaki."
Sakura smiled. "Everything will be okay, definitely. I don't know what to say but don't lose hope okay?"
"Okay. Thank you. I'll… I'll see you next time alright?" she asked.
Sakura nodded and smiled, standing up.
"You've helped me out a lot. I'm not kidding… Really. Thank you… I admit I'm still really upset but I do feel better. Um… Bye."
"Bye," replied Sakura giving her a warm smile, hoping that it would cheer the girl up just a bit more.
The girl walked away, her emotions clearing up a bit. She had decided that she would ask her dad to arrange a meeting between her and her… future husband. Sakura had given her hope. Maybe everything would be alright. She wiped the last batch of her tears away and decided to do something instead of crying around. After all, what would crying do?
Meanwhile, Sakura had just started roaming the hallways again, somehow bumping into Hikari along the way.
"Sakura," greeted Hikari. "I'm surprised to see you here."
Sakura smiled. "Ah, I'm just randomly roaming the hallways. How about you?"
"Same here. Oh did you know? The servant made a mistake and called me at the wrong time. The prince didn't come until a while after."
"Really?" she asked as a small piece of the confusing puzzle placed itself in the right place. However, even though that piece was "supposedly" in the correct place, the others were still scattered around for her to find and fix. When would her life every calm down? "That's why I thought I saw the prince and I thought that he was supposed to be with you…"
"Yeah. I had to wait for a while," she smiled. "I'm heading…"
"I'm sorry, Sakura Kinomoto right?" interrupted a man behind her.
Sakura turned around and saw a servant, nodding her head once in confirmation.
"Please follow me. It's your turn to talk to the prince."
And that is how she found herself sitting in another extravagant room a few minutes later, staring at the cup of tea placed before her.
A minute had passed and the room was still silent, save the sounds of him sipping tea. The silence felt uncomfortable. It was not the kind where they couldn't find anything to talk about. Rather, it was the kind where they did have something to talk about, but no way to voice it. She stared at the teacup in front of her, watching as the steam traveled up into the air. Finally, she lifted her hands from her lap and wrapped her fingers around the cup, taking a small sip of the tea.
It traveled down her throat where it made its way downward to her stomach. She felt a tingly warm feeling from where the liquid came into contact with the insides of her body.
There was no way to test for poison but she assumed it would be safe. She and the prince were both sharing the tea poured from the same teapot and she doubted that whoever was out to get her would ever poison the tea the prince would drink. Besides, it seemed like he had no side affects as of yet. Even if something did happen, there wasn't anything important happening that day. Though she did not know her enemy very well, she knew that there was no way that her enemy would put a fatal poison into her system… at least so soon. And if her assumptions were right…
"What happened to your hand?" asked the prince suddenly, his voice indifferent. With every other meeting, he would always stare at someone else besides the woman in front of him. But in this case, with the silence and the curiosity tugging at him, he had accidentally let his eyes wander to her for a moment and saw her spaced out look. She was staring ahead at nothing and when she brought the teacup to her lips, he saw the bandage wrapped around her fingers.
Sakura blinked as he asked the question. She looked down at her hands that were still wrapped around the warm cup and lifted her left hand up to take a better look at it.
"Oh, I had hurt myself in the training room… Not that I know how to fight of course," she added. "It's just that I was leaning against the weapon rack and I somehow managed to cut myself on a blade. I'm clumsy aren't I?" she laughed, hoping that he wouldn't ask about what she had said earlier.
But it was too late. It seemed that he had still remembered what she had said previously that day. "Who's Touya?" he asked, not a hint of curiosity showing in his voice… Though he had to admit, he was curious.
"My brother." Well, at least he had the patience to ask her a few questions. It didn't mean that his cold demeanor had lightened up much though. He was still cold and unfeeling… Save the fact that he actually spoke a few words to her now without her starting the conversation.
He sat there with a few more questions bothering him. He didn't want to say anything more to her. He didn't want to talk. On the other hand, his brain was filled to the rim with questions, questions, and more questions. Though his mind told him not to say anything more, his mouth went off on its own.
"What were the two reasons?"
Though he had put in the least amount of words as possible, making it hard to understand, she knew that he had meant to ask about what she had said that morning to Kero and Yue… About why she didn't show up for the fighting contest.
"Well, the first reason is what Touya ordered me to do. He had told me not to overwork myself and not to enter in any fighting activities or anything that would push me too far… The reason why he said that connects to the second reason. My body… It's kind of weak. I can do a lot of stuff but at times my body stops functioning on me. Every once in a while I get really tired and faint. I've went to the doctor and she had told me that she couldn't figure out why."
Sakura paused, trying to think of what to say. "She says that there is nothing wrong that she can find that, just that I tend to get more tired than others. She says I lack a lot of nutrition and that I need to take care of my body better. I think she also mentioned something about sleep. I… I don't get a lot of it with working and all that." Sakura paused again, thinking that it would sound more truthful if she pretended to think about her life.
"I thought I would be fine if I ignored what my brother said and went ahead to enter the fighting contest. I had been getting a lot more sleep, and I've been eating a lot more after all. But, coincidentally, I fainted that day. My mind was hazy and everything. I don't know what happened but it seems as if I walked in a storage closet without knowing."
At this, she saw a flicker of emotion pass through his eyes again. It was just like the other time. It was unidentifiable and so quick that she barely caught it. This time, she thought she was just imagining it, just like the other time it had happened. Maybe it was because she was so curious about what emotion it was and whether or not it was just a fragment of her thoughts last time, that she had somehow tricked her mind thinking that she had saw the emotion again. Yes, it was confusing but it seemed more logical that actually seeing him with emotion… other than anger that is… Which reminded her of a question. Why was he so cold and unemotional?
"Then I fainted and missed the contest," she continued. "My friends found me later on. But anyways, I have a question too. It seems like I answered your question in enough detail," she smiled, still pondering whether or not to ask. "So… Why are you so cold and unemotional?"
He stared at her. The way she asked the question had seemed innocent enough. He had heard this same question quite a few times from different people though. His sisters often asked him when they were frustrated or upset with him and he had heard this from many other people, namely the women that he was forced to go on a "date" with.
Sakura stared worriedly at him. Perhaps she had gone too far and invaded too much of his privacy? Sure, he asked her a few questions but they weren't really… Okay maybe they were a tiny bit personal but she couldn't blame him for asking. This question that she asked him… Maybe it went a little too far and brought up bad memories? She shook her head in frustration with herself. It would have been better if she had kept her mouth shut.
He sat still, considering the question. Unlike the other times he had been asked that, he actually thought of answering the question since she answered his in so much detail. He felt that it was unfair, having her tell him so much when he didn't even tell her a simple thing.
"I'm sorry, I don't think I should have asked that question," said Sakura quickly.
"No… There's no reason I'm cold. I was just raised this way I guess." He shrugged nonchalantly honestly not knowing how to explain it himself. It was just him, how could he explain it when he didn't even know that answer all that well?
"Ah…" she paused, not exactly understanding what me meant. "I… Umm… I don't think I understand."
Maybe he should have ignored the question. That way he wouldn't have to say so much. But now that he said something, it only seemed right to finish and explain what he meant. He let out a breath of air. "I've been raised strictly so that I would be the perfect king in the future. I've been trained like this and I guess that's why I am "cold" as everyone puts it. Really, I see no difference. I've just have seen more than people actually have and been through situations that most don't go through. And now, I'm suddenly called "cold and unemotional" by everyone. This has always been me so I don't know why everyone is making a big deal about it."
He wondered if the explanation was simple enough for her to understand. Though Syaoran didn't appreciate telling her about himself, surprisingly he didn't feel as bothered as he would have. Not that he was becoming any closer to her by doing this. He looked across at her.
She pondered his answer for a while, thinking it over. It did make sense actually.
Another question came rising out of her throat without her consent. "Umm… You seem to have a very deep dislike for anyone female, not including your family of course," spoke Sakura suddenly, still staring at her teacup. She had drunk half of it and it had cooled.
"Hnn…" he replied again.
She shut her mouth, knowing that she was probably going too far. For him to share anything with her was an improvement, she didn't want him to become all cold to her again.
"Umm… Favorite color?" she asked.
He raised his eyebrow.
"Ahh…"
Meanwhile Tomoyo and Yelan were both walking down the hallways, chatting.
"Do you think you made a mistake with the contest placements?" asked Tomoyo looking at Yelan as they both stopped walking to talk. "It's just surprising that she's in first place."
"Did you think it would be the other girl, Sakura was it?"
"No, after she didn't show up at the fighting contest, I knew that she wouldn't be in first place anymore. It's just surprising that Hikari Suzuki is in first place. Are you sure someone didn't mess with the copy?"
"It could be. I'll be looking over everything again. I also think that it's inaccurate. I thought that the other girl would have been in first place."
"Yeah, that's what I thought too," replied Tomoyo.
"Come with me, we'll go check over everything again," said Yelan.
"Alright then."
Author's Note: I know that this may have not been the best chapter. When I read it, I found some of the dialogues to be somewhat "cliché". I don't know if you guys thought the same as me. I really want to thank everyone for being so patient with me. : )
And thanks to those who reviewed last chapter! Your reviews mean so much to me!
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