Oddities in Oak Trees
-Seven-
Footsteps could be heard against the mush of the snow as Sakura Kinomoto ran eagerly towards the school gate. That day would be the school's ice sculpting festival, and everyone else was filled with excitement as well so she wasn't afraid to show her enthusiasm. While everyone other than her was anticipating the sculpting event, she was anticipating a boy's arrival. Her best friend trailed behind her. They both knew that there was a reason why Sakura was in the track and field team and Tomoyo could barely make it through their Physical Education classes.
"Sakura! Wait up! And please tell me who it is we're going to fetch! I'm getting out of breath!" Tomoto panted as she struggled to go through with her words.
Sakura halted as soon as she reached the school gate. Sure enough, the brown-haired boy was waiting there, looking dazedly at the snow. "Syaoran!" she waved her right hand up in the air to catch his attention.
He looked up as if snapping out of a reverie, his enchanting eyes of molten lava widening like he had just realized that he was of this world. "H-hi…"
"Have you been waiting long?"
"No, not at all. And the snow kept me company anyway." He grinned sheepishly.
Sakura neared him as Tomoyo lagged behind her, an expression of confusion on her delicate features. "He's the boy you invited?"
"Oh, yeah, Tomoyo meet Syaoran; Syaoran meet Tomoyo." The green-eyed lass introduced them to one another, oblivious to the shocked faces of the two.
"I think… we've met before." Syaoran mumbled, shaking Tomoyo's hand shyly.
"It's a good thing you're not bowing now." Tomoyo joked, her smile not faltering. He was still as entertaining as when she had first met him.
"Lookie, lookie! Sakura, who's your friend?" a girl with light brown hair up in pigtails asked, amused.
"Oh, Chiharu, meet Syaoran. He's the boy I met at the café I was talking about."
Syaoran glanced at Sakura's direction, surprised that he had been mentioned by her to her classmates before shifting his focus to her friend. "It's n-nice to meet you Chiharu." He was still not accustomed to talking to other people, but he would have to get used to it. Sakura proved to be quite the popular girl as they stopped every now and then when she would say hello to her friends as they went to her classroom.
"Who's that, Sakura?" another female classmate with darker brown hair asked. Her curly hair was placed high in a ponytail and her thick eyebrows shot up with curiosity upon seeing Syaoran. The other girls around her started to take an interest on the clumsy boy as well, and soon enough they surrounded the poor lad.
"M-my name's Li Syaoran."
"Lee? Like Bruce Lee?" One of the chubbier girls asked.
"Huh? Um… no, Li is spelled with an 'I' instead of…"
"You're cute! He's cute! Can we borrow him for a while, Sakura?" Another girl, this time thinner with a sharp nose and freckles, asked. She clearly took a liking to the brown-haired boy as she hauled him away from Sakura. The other girls followed suit, and before he knew it, he was whisked out of Sakura's reach.
Sakura Kinomoto blinked a few times. Sure, the lad she met at the café was cute, but she hadn't realized that he had much of an effect to the female population. A feeling started to make her frown slightly with it being so foreign. "Well, I'll just help with the… ice." She grumbled to a distracted Syaoran. He evidently wouldn't be able to hear her with his new acquaintances in tow.
Tomoyo looked at the scene before her, a little shocked at how oblivious her former client was. She smacked the side of her head with her right hand's palm before dragging a disorderedly-minded Syaoran to the corner of the classroom, paying no attention to the protests of the other girls. "What are you doing?"
Still lightheaded from the amount of attention he got, Syaoran staggered to face Tomoyo. "I was g-going to help but…"
"You do know that she really didn't invite you to 'help' right?"
"Wha…?"
The raven-haired lass sighed dramatically, the back of her left hand resting on her forehead as she did so. "Ah, young love." She then placed both hands on Syaoran's shoulders, making him flinch at the sudden contact. "You do know as well that you're not the only one interested in her, right?" she cocked her head towards the direction where Sakura was staying, her green-eyed friend talking to a significantly taller guy with large dark brown eyes and even darker ebon hair. The said guy moved closer to Sakura, making her appear uneasy as he did so.
"Does he like her?"
"Why don't you go ask?" Tomoyo questioned rhetorically, never expecting Syaoran to do so. Her surprise can only be imagined as the odd boy did go towards the taller male, prodding him at the back to get his attention.
"What do you want?" he was visibly not pleased with Syaoran nudging him.
"Do you like Sakura?" The brown-haired boy asked innocently, his eyes never leaving the other one's pair. The one he asked had an identification card with the name 'Mori Miyazaki' printed on it pinned lopsidedly on his uniform.
The one named Mori raised an eyebrow at him. "What's it to you?"
"Sakura doesn't look very comfortable near you, so please take a few steps back."
"That's not up to you to decide now, is it?" Mori placed an arm around Sakura's shoulders. "She doesn't look very uncomfortable to me. And who do you think you are, anyway? You're not even from around here."
"Actually, I am very much uncomfortable." Sakura said, getting the attention of both boys. "I'd appreciate it if you stop touching me," she continued, pushing away Mori.
Said guy looked embarrassed for a while before he did what he was told and then faced Syaoran threateningly. "Are you even her boyfriend?"
"No."
"Then what the hell are you trying to pull off?"
"I'm not trying to pull off anything. I just asked you to back off a little since Sakura obviously doesn't want your hands touching her." Syaoran was getting more frustrated at the moment. He hated trouble, but the guy was asking for it. Mori Miyazaki then shoves him, the force enough to make Syaoran take a few steps back.
"Are you provoking me? I really don't want to fight." He thanked the high heavens that he wasn't stuttering for he was quite nervous at the moment.
Mori pushed him again. "What are you going to do now, huh?"
"Nothing."
That did it. An infuriated Mori punches him in the face, making him fall down to the floor of the classroom. A motivated Syaoran instinctively kicks him in the family jewels as he got closer, making him wince in pain.
"That was my balls, you idiot!"
"You think I don't know that?"
"Come here, you stupid little…"
"Stop it this instant." An elderly woman wearing a white coat came in the room, a worried Chiharu close behind. She had luckily called the school nurse as soon as Mori started to shove Syaoran around. "Follow me."
The two did as they were told, the other (taller) one significantly limping.
A just attended-to Li Syaoran bowed fervently to the school nurse, hands placed rigidly on either side. "I would like to apologize for what happened earlier."
The nurse grumbled back to let him know that she heard him before leaving the clinic, her hands carrying a few folders with her as she did so. "Be sure to not cause any more trouble, young man. I'll be right back."
He then stares at the wall clock placed up on the wall before him. It read thirty minutes past five. He had been there for a good hour. There would be a lot of explaining to do to his mother tonight. He then shifted his gaze towards the crack below the wall clock.
He started to imagine a galaxy where a virgin aptly named 'Purity' had just passed a law on a planet to do her bidding. Every time one of her minions would disobey her, she would crack their skulls open with her heart-shaped axe. When she decides to spare one of her minions because he was very cunning and handsome, her people protested. They were just about to have her exiled when Syaoran heard a soft knock on the office's door.
"Hello." It was Sakura.
She cautiously went into the room, a concerned look on her face. "How are you doing?"
Syaoran looked up to the ceiling as if deep in thought. "Well, I could do better."
She sat beside him, making him stiffen in the process of doing so. "That's true." She examined the small cut above his eyebrow, where he had been hit. And then she reached out to gently touch the bruise below the scar. He noticeably stiffened even more as he felt her fingers graze through his bruise. "I wish he hadn't done that." And then she smiled at him, making all sense seem lost.
"I p-probably look s-silly with this bruise." He tried with great difficulty not to stare at her.
She pouted at what he said. "I don't think so. You're still handsome as it is."
Startled, he looks at her again. "How can you say that? You're too beautiful to even hand out compliments…"
Sakura Kinomoto blinks at the statement, her face reddening. "Umm… thanks…" She then laughs nervously, afraid that the redness on her face would worsen if she didn't let out a sound.
A smitten Syaoran slowly nears himself towards Sakura, never minding the pain of his bruise anymore as he reached out to gently hug her. "I'm sorry about what happened…"
She froze at her position, hands playing with each other on her lap. "I-it's not your fault. I-it's M-Mori's, anyway." It was her turn to stutter. She felt like she could melt at any moment. He was like quicksand as he drew her in, sweeping her thoughts away.
"S-sorry…" he immediately releases her upon realizing what he had just done, intertwining his hands at his back to refrain himself from touching her again. "I hadn't realized…"
"Ahem!"
They looked up to see an exasperated elderly school nurse.
Perhaps it was time to go home.
They both chuckled awkwardly.
Sakura took his hand as they exited the school nurse's territory, blushing even more as she did the act. He tightens his hold on hers. She decided she liked it.
It was a new memory he could cherish.
Syaoran had come home to an empty house, which he was grateful for. His mother had gone to attend to some important business and she'd be away for a few days. That gave him enough time to heal his bruise and not have to explain anything to her.
"Ah!"
Ah. He had forgotten to call Sakura to tell her good night. He looked at the clock nearest to him. It was fifteen minutes past ten. He hoped she was still up, but decided to message her instead of calling just to be sure that he wasn't disturbing her.
Now, Li Syaoran hated text messaging people. He found them too petty and hard to do, what, with his clumsiness. "Have a good night's sleep," he whispered to himself as he typed out the words. Should he put in a few smileys? He didn't know, so what he did was choose the icons that he found were cute enough to send to her. Those smileys proved to be quite a lot, totalling eleven with notable ones of a baby giraffe's head suckling onto a pacifier, a crescent moon whistling, and a monkey's face glaring at the screen. He didn't mind. 'Cute deserved cute' was his logic behind it.
As he was about to study for a test the following day, he was surprised to see a message from none other than Sakura Kinomoto. "Thank you. I like the baby giraffe icon the most. You have a good night's sleep too."
"No smiley?" he muttered to himself. Perhaps people didn't use that much smileys? He really was behind the trend. He was lost in thought once again before he heard his mobile beep, signalling that he had another text message. "I had fun today. Sorry about Mori."
He tried suppressing a giggle as he typed out clumsily: "Can I csll ui?" there were many typos, but he didn't know how to correct them, so he just sent it to her.
She must have understood because she replied a short "yes". He was happy to see a smiley face with the message.
"Bang, bang!" He acted like he was able to shoot imaginary bull's eyes as he quickly dialled her phone number. He already knew it by heart since he stared at it long enough the first time he tried calling her.
A few rings could be heard until she finally answered her mobile. "Hi Syaoran!"
"Hello… it's a bit ch-chilly, isn't i-it?" He stuttered his way through the question. He was horrible at speaking when he was nervous.
"It is. I hope it doesn't get colder than it already is."
"Y-yes…"
"Tomoyo said earlier that there might be a snowstorm in the coming weeks. I hope that isn't true."
"T-Tomoyo's well-informed a-about the weather, huh? Ha, ha…" He smacked himself mentally. What he said wasn't funny at all so he wondered why he had to laugh. She was probably wondering too. "Sorry f-for laughing."
"I don't mind."
"Th-thanks." Syaoran closed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath. Relax. He was still so anxious around her; he couldn't help but keep on stammering.
"You're welcome."
"Um… there's…" he started.
"Yes?"
"I'd like…"
"Hmm?"
"If it's not too much to ask," he bit his lip. It's now or never, silly beaver! But then he put down his phone. He was too tense, please understand!
He quickly dialled her number again, though. "Sorry, I panicked."
She laughed shortly. "It's okay. What were you trying to say earlier?"
He took another deep breath. "Sakura Kinomoto…"
"Yes?"
"Sakura Kinomoto…"
"…Yes?"
"Sakura Kinomoto, please go out with me!"
There was a short pause before she said a "Yes."
Li Syaoran waited for what she would say next, thinking that her 'yes' was another goading from her for him to continue. "W-was that a 'yes'?"
"Yes, that was a yes." She giggled again, giddiness making her feel like she could burst out in song any time soon. She was able to control it, thankfully. "Good night."
"Good night!"
"Oh, and Syaoran?"
"Yes?!"
"… Nothing. I'll see you soon."
"What to do now…" he mumbled to himself, whistling a happy tune afterwards. The awareness that Sakura held his hand for the first time made him giddy all over again. "Milkin' the cereal… heh, heh, heh… cereal killer." Yes, cereal killer. It was a bad quip, but he evidently didn't care. Not only did he have the house to himself and could eat cereal for dinner, he also gets to be with Sakura the whole afternoon for their date! When the date would be, he didn't know. But that was fine; the suspense kept him on his toes.
Just when he was about to take his first bite of the sugary treat, the doorbell rang. He answered it, only to find Takashi beaming at him.
"Yellow!"
"Yellow?"
"Hello!" he invited himself into the boy's house, looking around him impressively. "This house of yours never fails to astound me, man. Everything's just so big! Even the jars are big!" He was referring to the large vases Syaoran's mother liked to collect from China. "It's like I ate some of them mushrooms from Alice in Wonderland to make me tiny!"
"Didn't the mushrooms make her bigger?"
"Whatever, dude. Trippy's trippy all the way around." Takashi rotated his wrist as he stuck out a finger, making it appear like he was drawing imaginary circles in the air.
"Now you sound like a hippie from the seventies."
"I can never choose my accent. Anyway, I've done some thinking."
"About?" Syaoran slumped into a chair in the living room, his cereal in the kitchen long forgotten. It was soggy by then anyway so he didn't bother to eat it anymore.
"About those bullying issues of yours." Takashi made himself comfortable as he sat on one of the sofas in the area.
"I thought you'd know by now that that doesn't bother me anymore."
"Well, it bothers me!" The slant-eyed boy proclaimed, getting up from his seat.
"Sit down, you're bothering me." Syaoran mumbled loud enough for his friend to hear. Takashi did as he was told.
"I'm telling you, being a good buddy of yours, it's not right that they keep on doing all those things to you. It just ain't right!"
"The last time we tried to confront the class, the bullying just got worse so I'm not doing that again."
"Well, that's what I thought! But, I talked to Eriol for a second time and he said he can help us for a good price."
"My mom won't be around for a few days so I won't have the money to pay him."
"Whoever said that you're going to pay him? Leave it to me!"
There was a short silence between the two as Syaoran furrowed his eyebrows with displeasure. "Takashi, you're having enough problems with money as it is, what, with all your online 'dates' and such."
"Think of it as a Christmas gift!"
"That wouldn't be something I'd want!" Syaoran sat straight in his chair, slightly bending forward while wrapping his arms around his legs after a time. "I'd like it more if you were happily dating someone you actually like, not those girls you find online."
Takashi frowned at the sentence, his playful disposition gone for the moment. "I'd want that too, you know. But who could ever take a liking someone to like me?"
"Lots of girls!"
"I'm not you." His strange accent seemed to disappear at the statement. "I'm not good-looking. Aside from that, I'm not very smart and…"
"Do you think all girls are that superficial?" Syaoran stood up from his position, angrily aiming his glare towards his friend. "You're a great guy, Takashi. Don't settle for someone you know you'd never like."
They then stared at each other's eyes. That was before they started laughing out loud.
"Man, that was some serious girly talk!" Takashi panted in between gasps of glee. "I better go before you kick my balls into oblivion like that Mori dude's."
"Yeah, you'd better!" Syaoran waved goodbye to the slant-eyed boy as they got to the door. Despite the chuckles, they both knew that what they discussed was serious. But then again, boys will be boys. "Don't let the snow slow you down on the way home!" Takashi lived nearby, so he preferred to walk home whenever he went to Syaoran's place.
"Gotcha!" Takashi saluted his pal, his jokingly happy nature back to normal as he ambled away.
A/N: Review, please? :D