Chapter 19: Realization
"What's in it for us?" Drew pouted on the proposition presented to them while a red-head hovered beside him trying to read the paper his holding.
"Yeah, if we do this, what payment awaits for us?" Ivan circled the blue-eyed guitarist with gleaming interest.
Crossing her legs and leaning to her soon-to-be hired help, a certain cunning mastermind softly laughed. "Oh I know exactly what you want." She leaned backed and played with some of her loose strands. "I know for a fact that you're a huge fan of Busted Halo."
At this, Ivan and Drew beamed in anticipation on what's coming with this voraciously tempting proposal.
Tomoyo trying to prolong their wait; examined her nails one by one until she finished all ten before blurting out, "What would you say with a night with Ken and Yuki?"
"Seriously?" Drew asked in gaping eagerness as his friend stares blankly at Tomoyo and her cute blue-haired companion.
Tomoyo smiled in response, too engaged on holding in her laughter.
"The whole night, all by ourselves?" Drew clapped in exuberance as he saw the black-haired girl known as the cousin of one Touya Kinomoto.
At this point, Ivan snapped out of his trance due to the excessive clapping his best friend is making. He eyed the two suspiciously, "What about Touya? Why is he not part of the bargain?"
Eriol, who had stayed quiet for the whole meeting, blurt out in annoyance. "You seriously want "the grouch" to eat you alive, us included if he happens to know we involved his moody ass in this?"
Ivan and Drew shuddered in the memory of the first-hand experience of the notorious temper of the leader of the band. "N-never mind." Ivan stuttered in fear.
Drew on the other hand, shook his head to clear off the trauma and answered in behalf of his friend. "Fine, we're in." He didn't even bother to look for his friend's confirmation on it. "When will we start this?"
"Tomorrow night."
"Wait, that's when the session would–"
"Exactly."
"I can't wait."
"Me too. Me too."
Eriol perked up as he had a glimpsed of Tomoyo's devious face, for sneakiness is such a turn on.
Paper bags and plastic hearts
All are belongings in shopping carts
Its goodbye
But we got one more night
Let's get drunk and ride around
And make peace with an empty town
We can make it right
'Hmmm… I didn't imagine it right?' A confused girl camouflaged as her cousin drags a small branch in circles as she ponders on another bathroom incident. 'If it's a dream then… why would my lips still tingle from it? Never had a very realistic dream before...'
Tossing the branch to the side, she grabbed a stone and threw it to a nearby trash can. 'But why would he kiss me knowing I'm a boy. And not just any other boy, but the boy who's also the cousin of the girl he's obsessed with.'
'Maybe he really is gay?' Missing the can by an inch, she then grabbed another one to take another shot. This time the stone went in perfectly. She picked another one as to stop her hands from fidgeting too much. 'Then why would he desperately try to pursue the real me?'
'He's bisexual?' With that thought, she accidentally threw it with more force than she intends making the stone hit the side of the can and bounce back to her direction. 'Am I just an excuse to hide his true preference which is men?' Still in a trance, she never noticed this and took the deflected stone in the head. "Ouch." She glared at the tree as she blames it for the hit she took. "This is so confusing. The hell, I'm talking to myself again."
Throw it away
Forget yesterday
We'll make the great escape
"This way."
"You sure?" A huffing blonde asked his accomplice running beside him pointing to the left of the intersecting corridors a few feet away from them.
"Yeah."
"Okay, phone them and tell them they're on the way."
The red head nodded and quickly grabbed his phone and dial away.
"So how was it?"
"Everything's going according to plan."
"Good. Report back to me every ten minutes."
"Roger."
We won't hear a word they say
They don't know us anyway
Hidden near the girl's restroom, Tomoyo, Andy, Rika and Miyu crouches behind an oak tree with portable screen in front of them, watching what's happening in the restroom.
"It just hit me."
"Awww…" Four girls sighed in four different pitches.
"Are you recording this? Meilin would flip if she sees this." Miyu unabashedly and thoughtlessly asked.
"Who do you think I am? This isn't my first time honey. I'm a professional." Tomoyo replied harshly, obviously offended by the question.
Andy lightly elbowed and reprimanded her best friend from her blabbering. "Will you just shut up I can barely hear them?"
"Fine. Fine" Tomoyo huffed in annoyance.
"What rumors?"
"You can't hold your own liquor." Syaoran leaned on the sink beside her as he stares into space recalling something he heard earlier. "I heard someone discussing your low tolerance on alcohol and plotting to get you drunk to have their way with you."
"What?"
"And the scary part is I didn't hear it from the girls."
Sakura shuddered, clumsily walk to a nearby wall and slumped as a normal drunk would be. "Hey are you okay?"
"Yeah, just need to rest my eyes for a bit."
"Is she that good of an actress?" Rika mused.
Tomoyo smirked. "Hardly, she's not even a good liar until now."
"I guess it comes out when you really need to." Miyu shrugged.
"OH MY GOD!" "WHAT THE?" "SHIT!" "WAAA!" The four girls hysterically squealed, screamed, yelled, and shrieked as to what they just witnessed.
Rika asked in utter confusion, "Did he just?"
"Yes" Miyu automatically answered.
"But he just kissed—" Rika blurted out as she still can't make up her mind if she's hallucinating or not.
"I know." Tomoyo responded as Miyu just nodded and Andy still on a dazed.
"OH Shit!"
Watch it burn
Let it die
Cause we are finally free tonight
Again, finding himself arguing with his conscience, Syaoran stamps his way into the forest. Grasping nature's calming effects as the late afternoon breeze washes over his perplexing disposition.
You kissed him.
'I know.'
Truly, utterly kiss him on the lips, man!
'I know.'
The "I'm not gay mantras" not going to work this time.
'I know.'
You know agreeing with me, won't make me disappear.
'Just shut the hell up!'
Fine, only this once; as you're finally agreeing with me.
'I guess I have to accept this.' Syaoran sighs inaudibly. 'I'm attracted to him. I can't deny it anymore.'
Arriving in a fork of the dirt path, Syaoran then decided to take the old path to the rumored location of the lake. 'That kiss meant something.' He continues his trek until his feet reaches the shallow water of the shoreline.
He gazes at the view that the lake projects and finds the needed comfort of serenity it offers. 'Eventually, I have to face him and tell him what I feel about him.'
'But how?' He ponders, as he attempts to skip a stone on the flat surface. A couple of tries and failing both, he slumps to the ground and threw another one in contempt. 'To hell with it!'
Finally finding resolve on the course of action his going to take, Syaoran starts his search for his new fixation.
'But what would he say? Would he shove me away? Be disgusted and avoid me like a plague? Karma could really bite you in the ass.'
Tonight will change our lives
It's so good to be by your side
After making a fool out of herself again and gaining a bump with it, Sakura started walking to the agreed meeting place. She then again, started to brood over on a conversation she had with Syaoran the other night.
"Who's Kyu?"
"What?" Sakura gasped taken aback by his sudden inquisition. Kyu, her crush since the sixth grade. Etc etc
"He seems to know Kura a lot."
"He's just a friend."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." Sakura sadly confirmed. 'Wish it was something more though.'
Sakura darted on a worn out path as she tries to compare the two guys she's confused with. 'I've known Kyu for ten years now while I just got to know Syao for a few days.'
'Kyu's the epitome of the ideal guy of any girls dream: smart but down to earth, filthy rich but simple, charming yet humble, talented but modest, mischievous but thoughtful.' Sakura smiled at the thought of Kyu, a dear friend. And guess, will always be just a friend.
She shrugged as she quickens her pace. And her thoughts drifted to a certain amber-eyed boy. 'Syaoran's intelligent though sarcastic, filthy rich but oblivious, good looking but opportunistic, talented but very competitive, spirited yet vindictive.' Sakura eyed again the orange sky as the sun begins to set, trying again to find the answers she's been looking for. 'But who does he really like? Me as Sakura or the current me as Ikki?'
"Stupid brain! I'm getting ahead of myself!"
But we'll cry
We won't give up the fight
"Where the hell did he go?" Syaoran mused loudly. "I swear I saw him go through here." He sprints to his left as he figured it was the direction that Ikki went to. Running for five minutes, he then admitted defeat until he heard some rustling to his right, a few feet away from him.
"Are you sure you're not followed?"
"Of course I am. What do you think I am a four year old who doesn't know if she's being followed or not?"
"Uh yeah?"
"Really?"
"Shut up!"
"That voice sounds familiar." Syaoran started to follow the voices he heard.
We'll scream loud at the top of our lungs
And they'll think it's just cause we're young
And we'll feel so alive
Syaoran then found two familiar voices and had the shock of his life. He almost fainted as he saw two Ikkis talking with each other.
'Twins.'
Really? That's the best you can come up with?
'Bu-but, i-it ca-n't be?'
Dude, f $#ng open your eyes.
Shrugging away his own thoughts, he then focused on the conversation taking place.
"Finally!" Sakura who still in her disguise hugged his look alike cousin. "You jerk, what took you so long?"
"The traffic?"
"The hell. What traffic?" Sakura glared at her cousin. "You've got to be kidding me? A traffic for the whole day?" Sakura threw a sucker punch at the idiot she decided to call disgustingly-ugly-butt headed-cousin. She just decided on that a few minutes ago on her trek. "You ass, you should've been here yesterday. You're a day late."
"Hey I said five days, didn't I?"
"Yeah five days, this is my sixth day Einstein, been here since day one."
"Yeah but at the orientation you replaced Andy not me. So you've become me since day two so technically its only five days you have to be me and not six."
"Ass."
Ikki just smirked.
Throw it away
Forget yesterday
We'll make the great escape
We won't hear a word they say
They don't know us anyway
Watch it burn
Let it die
Cause we are finally free tonight
Too many questions popped in, that in any minute now would cause an explosion and give him permanent brain damage.
'Ikki has a twin?'
'When did that happen?"
'I thought he was an only child?' Syaoran started pacing in contemplation. 'Wait, we never talk about any sibling at all.'
'He never told me he has one?'
'Shit, what if he has not only got a twin but…' Syaoran paled considerably. 'What if they were triplets or quadruplets or more?'
'How the hell would I know which once is which?'
'Wait, replaced? Why would he need a replacement? Ikki's not Ikki but his brother?'
Again, try shutting up and listen you moron.
"Thanks Kura! I really owe you this one!" One of the Ikkis beamed while the one sigh in frustration. "It's nothing."
"NO it's not! I owe you big time. You've posed for me for five days." The taller Ikki hug the shorter one. "Just tell me anything and I'll do it for you!
"There's no need," the shorter one shrugged. "We're family after all."
All of the wasted time
The hours that were left behind
The answers that we'll never find
They don't mean a thing tonight
Then one of the Ikkis took out her disguise piece by piece, starting with the wig. "This outfit is hot and this wig makes me really itchy.'
"OH so that's why you're cringing every five minutes. I thought you've developed some kind of mild epilepsy by glimpsing on too much naked male chests eh?' Ikki slyly wink at his younger cousin.
Sakura roughly shouldered her cousin in total exasperation. "Shut up! You totally owed me big time."
"I know Sakura." Ikki muttered seriously, that made Sakura stop fidgeting with her disguise for awhile as she never heard her cousin call her by her name. He always calls her squirt, cuz or some other nickname he could come up with but never her name.
Meanwhile a few feet away, a certain amber-eyed boy steps back from the shock; accidentally, stepping on a stray twig snapping it in two.
"What's that?" Sakura jerked at the noise, looking around as she tries to locate the source.
Ikki just calmly scans the area and shrugged nonchalantly. "Must be an old branch falling."
Throw it away
Forget yesterday
We'll make the great escape
We won't hear a word they say
They don't know us anyway
After what he discovered just a few seconds ago, he continually and unconsciously back away until he reached a clearing near the railing surrounding the compound.
'Sa-sakura a-and I-ikki… Wa- what?' He shook his head trying to convince himself that maybe what he saw was just an illusion of some sort, that he's mind is trying to conjure to save face from his sudden change of gender preference. 'It's either that or there's two Ikkis.'
Oh c'mon, you're smarter than that!
He's getting used to talking to his mind to the point that it didn't freak him out anymore. 'But she's the same… I kissed him... no… her… I'm not GAY!'
Good for you, Einstein!
Syaoran giddy from relief whooped in the air pumping his fist as high as he could. In a good mood, he started trekking his way back to where Sakura is.
'But… Oh Shit!' He stopped on his tracks as he remembers something crucial. 'He… she knows that I… and yet she… The hell…'
He punched the nearest thing in his reach, unfortunately for him it was a Sakura tree. Subsequently, Sakura petals rain down on him. He then notice what tree he had put his frustration on. Being reminded by her, he spar with the tree for almost five minutes until he was out of breath. Blinded by rage and oblivious to everything else, he didn't even noticed the blood that oozed out on his right cheek from a splinter of bark cut through it. 'Damn it!'
Throw it away
Forget yesterday
We'll make the great escape
We won't hear a word they say
They don't know us anyway
"I never thought we'll pull it through. Thanks cuz!" Ikki then tries to ruffle her short auburn hair as she put some distance between them to avoid the onslaught.
"The hell you are." Sakura sized up his cousin for the nth time and reply in sarcasm, "Thanks, isn't enough for the shit you put me through."
"Whoa! What happened to the little innocent squirt I used to know?" Ikki bewilderedly shook Sakura violently as if the reputed naïve cousin of his would come back. "I never heard you cussed this much."
Sakura shrugged. "Sorry, it's the stress of pretending to be you and the pressure those sicko band mates of yours, except Ren of course, put me through."
"Andy and Tomo really gave you a hard time didn't they?" Ikki sighed. "Those two really won't stop interfering with anything to do with you. They're that fond of you cuz."
Sakura quietly kicked some leaves at her feet as she tries not to drift off their conversation. She lately looses focus easily and thinks of Syaoran most of the time. She can no longer control how she frequently thinks of him.
"I'm really sorry squirt for putting you thru all this. I promise I'll make it up to you."
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Sakura sigh in utter annoyance of repeating herself. "There's no need, even though you're extremely disgustingly, ugly and butt headed, you're still family."
"No, really, I'll find some way to get back at you."
Throw it away
Forget yesterday
We'll make the great escape
We won't hear a word they say
Walking aimlessly, Syaoran still finds himself a few paces away from Ikki/Sakura's last known direction though not as stealthily as he did before. He made a bunch of crunching noises stepping in a lot of twigs and dried leaves around.
"What was that?" Sakura asked as she again looks around for the source of the noise but found nothing.
Ikki stayed still as he tried to listen as if waiting for some more noises. "Don't worry about it; it might be just a bear looking for some honey or something."
"A bear? Here?" Sakura shudders as her eyes darted from left to right anticipating the direction the bear would come from.
"Relax squirt. I'm just kidding. Might just be a bunny hopping around."
They don't know us anyway
Watch it burn
Let it die
Cause we are finally free tonight
"Who's playing?" Ikki casually asks.
Sakura tried to listen intently to distinguish which band is currently on stage. "I think its Scattered-Ashes from one of those preppy schools in Tokyo."
"This song fits our situation like a glove." Ikki draped his arm on his favorite cousin's shoulder as they saunter into the "concert grounds."
Sakura sighed in her cousins' arms, "Yeah, finally free tonight!"
And with that, the last phrase he heard spout out from "the girl of his dreams" Syaoran walks away.
- to be continued -
A/N: I'm really sorry for the very very delayed update. Words that were bold and italicized are lyrics to the song, "The Great Escape" by Boys Like Girls
June 1, 2011 bangag_pa
June 23, 2013 updated