Hello peeps! An update!

I might not be able to update in the upcoming three weeks as I have my finals approaching...*boohoo* *wipes away a tear* but once they are over, I promise I will have juicy updates in store!

Reviews are really, really appreciated and flames are seriously NOT tolerated. If you don't like it, don't read it. But don't jam up the review box with useless stuff...it's annoying.

And to the Tomoyo fans out there, yeah she will enter the story physically but folks, she's in Milan right now...and it's not next door to Tokyo. Action and drama will pick up in the upcoming chapters so do stay tuned!

Happy reading! :)

Chapter 2: Class and Coffee

"Syaoran Li. A first year in the Advanced Business Course."

"Thank you, Li. I am Sakura Kinomoto, a first year in Contemporary Literature."

Syaoran grinned as he let her hand go; Sakura realized with a jerk that she had been holding it all this time.

"Literature eh? My cousin would be in your class then. Meiling Li. Though she could be a snob, she is a good girl when you get to know her. You owe me a favour right, after all I kinda saved you. So if you could, just pal up with her for the first week or so—she is terrified of new people."

"Sure, no probs." Sakura smiled in return.

"See you around, Kinomoto!"

She smiled as he bounded downstairs, liking his frank nature already; a perfect match for Eriol.

Suddenly, she realized that she was running late and continued her climb though at a slower pace. She was not interested in anymore almost-an-accident incidents.

Auditorium A6, where her orientation was held, reminded her of Tomoeda Town Hall where the occasional concerts were held—it consisted of a semi-circular stage with seats rising up in gradual steps. Almost three-fourths of the auditorium was full. Sakura wedged in silently through the door and quickly sat down at the first available seat—an aisle seat in the seventh row.

"…the curriculum would be a free-flowing one," the speaker—a tall handsome man with greying hair and rectangular specs clad in beige formals—continued.

"After all, we Literature students aren't bound by barriers like the guys from the Business and Science Division!"

A light laughter followed his words as he bowed and exited the stage. The anchor—a pretty young lady in dark blue blazer and skirt with a spotless white shirt smiled as she began to speak.

"Thank you Professor Terada for that upbeat speech and for those who couldn't join us at the beginning…"—Sakura winced slightly—"…the speaker was Professor Yamato Terada who heads the Under-Graduate Division in the Contemporary Literature Department. Moving on, Professor Kaho Mizuki would like to give the welcome address to all the first years. She would be acting as a faculty counsellor and also would be taking most of your initial lectures."

Kaho Mizuki was young—Sakura estimated that she would be around thirty. She had dark orangish-red hair upto her waist which hung in soft waves. Her cerulean eyes had a sparkly, witty gleam which gave off a very comfortable aura; a nice person to get along with.

"Welcome to CL folks! Nothing much to say now as you people would be listening to my lectures more than you would ever want but yes, congrats for making into one of the prestigious courses in the country. Amazing stuff comes with lot of baggage so I can assure you that coursework would seem initially tough for many. But as you settle down, there's no reason not to love your schedule. Granted that lectures would take up most of the daylight hours, you will have the weekends free for whatever you might like to do; that is, unless you are idiotic enough to leave your term-end projects until the penultimate day. Do join up with the various clubs that match your interests and live up your social life—because at the end of the day, you don't get to remain a college student throughout your life. So welcome again and have fun!"

A nice round of applause followed her exit and after some regular announcements by the anchor, they were instructed to head towards the Literature Department for "senior-junior" interaction.

Sakura followed the class towards the destination as she didn't know the way only to turn back as someone tapped her shoulder. It was a girl—slightly shorter than her having straight black hair up to her shoulders with a slight curl at the ends. Her light grey eyes had a frank friendly look which was mirrored in the small smile playing on her heart-shaped fair face. She was clad in light brown blazer and pants with black kitten heels.

She handed her a blue bound folder.

"You missed the orientation's start when they were handing out the starter kit. The senior who was distributing them told me to give it to you when you drop in." she said slightly breathlessly.

"Oh thanks!" Sakura exclaimed, taking the folder.

"Mention not. I am Ayume Tendo." She said, winking.

"Sakura Kinomoto."

Ayume held out her hand.

"Friends?"

Sakura shook it.

"Sure. Why not?"

Ayume turned out to be a fashion-obsessed motor-mouth, and soon Sakura realized that she just might be dealing with Tomoyo's lost fraternal twin as identical was out of question. Her parents ran the famous Tendo Fashion Centre which climbed up the fashion circuit in just two years with their clientele having the names of the rich and the famous. As they sat together in the classroom waiting for the session to begin, she chatted on non-stop about how a certain famous Hollywood actress had done a blooper during a fashion week by wearing a Tendo creation back-to-front.

"I admit that people never figured it out until much later and by that time, it was too late—but still…"she went on, much to Sakura's amusement.

The seniors marched into the room, looking around the class as if sizing them up; Sakura recognized one of them as the girl who was anchoring the orientation. She had shed the formals and was now clad in a much more relaxing hoodie and cargoes. She smiled around the class as she began to speak.

"Yo hello peeps. Shed your formalities coz we are here to really ingrain and educate you the best things to do these three years. The faculty will make your life a living hell but fear not, we present before you the 'FIVE TIP SURVIVAL GUIDE' to help you live life to its fullest even though shit might happen every day!"

Another senior, this time a fair haired boy who was taller than the rest came forward and began to continue.

"So without much ado, we begin the session.

Tip number one: Stay clear from the Business Course freaks. As far as their dim wit minds can observe, we are the laziest people on campus while they are stuck up in their classrooms to figure out endless ways to earn money. Why you ask? Coz max people in CL end up dating people from ABC—Advanced Business Course, get used to the acronyms—dunno why but we end up wasting time which could have been more productively spent on project completion partly and socializing mostly. CL and ABC have the freakiest timetables so if you wanna date, we beg you, don't pick an ABC!

Tip number two: Kaho Mizuki is a slave driver and she hates slackers. So never, never take a project under her supervision. If that ever happens, kiss your freedom goodbye.

Tip number three: The lake behind the cafeteria stinks after the rains so if you are feeling especially romantic in the showers, don't take your ladylove for a brief moment of passion there—coz your relationship will be over before you can say 'sorry'. Believe me, I have seen it happen.

Tip number four: Wednesday's cafeteria menu is the best while Monday's the worst. Don't ask why—we have tried deciphering this mystery but still haven't found the solution—yet. You guys are welcome to figure it out.

And finally the last tip: CL library is the cupid palace. You guys—please propose somewhere really innovative. We are sick and tired of hearing people pair up over there…kinda kills the mood."

Sakura couldn't help but grin after hearing the little speech. CL was really an upbeat department. There were around thirty people in her class—around twelve were girls. All of them were wearing identical grins on their faces as another senior resumed speaking about how the CL department was given freedom to wear anything labelled decent to college while the ABC were stuck to suits. There was a good natured rivalry between both the departments and she could feel the seniors' infectious energy energize her too.

After they finished talking, they began to call up for introductions—which left Sakura's knees shaking. She hated any form of public speaking or doing anything onstage. Ayume was a natural, already earning appreciative glances from the male population. Meiling Li, on the other hand, was defiant girl with long straight shiny black hair, dark ruby tinted amber eyes clad in a pink shirt and blood red vest and skirt. The name 'Li' resulted in a collective sharp intake of breath from the class—even Ayume stopped talking to watch her.

Sakura looked puzzled. Ayume observed her confusion before asking her.

"Seriously Sakura, you haven't heard of the Li's?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Yelan Li is the CEO of the Li Corp., one of the biggest names in retail and hospitality. Her husband, Yangtze Li, died in a plane crash some seventeen years ago so since then she is handling this entire company herself. She has one son, Syaoran Li and an adopted daughter who is also his cousin Meiling. I never thought she would be in our class. That's why I had this sense of familiarity when I saw her—the Li's are our regular clients."

Oh crap, she thought. That guy…on the stairs…

She turned red in mortification. That was plain embarrassing!

Eriol was bored. Stuck in his navy blue suit and the silk tie choking out his life—attempting to at any rate—he was glad when the orientation was over. There were sixty people in his class and by the looks of it, around forty of them were first class nerds. His eyes fell on a brown haired boy who mirrored his bored look. He had come to the auditorium as the orientation was drawing to an end…lucky guy.

As they filed out of the auditorium for lunch hour, he observed the boy going to the fountain and sit down on the steps. He followed him.

"Lucky man, you missed the orientation," he remarked in order to initiate the conversation.

"Orientations suck. After all, we have three long years to know each other," he sighed.

Eriol held out his hand.

"Eriol Hiiragizawa. Looks like we might have a lot in common."

"Syaoran Li. And looks like I found an ideal partner-in-crime." He said, his amber eyes gleaming as he shook it.

Eriol was stupefied to know that Li was the heir to million, perhaps a trillion dollar company. Syaoran was surprised to know that there were some people who didn't know that he was the heir to million, no a trillion dollar company.

After a moment of shared surprise, they burst out laughing.

"Now I understand why people are giving you strange looks," said Eriol, observing yet another girl give surreptitious glances to the heir.

Syaoran waved off his observation with his hand, glad to find someone not awed by his "Li" baggage. Come to think of it, that girl in the morning too hadn't recognized him. Maybe he wasn't as popular as much as he thought. What was her name now….

"Come to think of it Eriol…is it ok if I call you Eriol? Coz Hiragiizawa is kinda long," he said.

"No probs. In fact, I spent my middle and junior high years in England so it is quite common for me to get referred by my first name—I prefer it that way. Hiiragizawa sounds way too stiff." Eriol replied.

"Then call me Syaoran," he winked.

"I met this girl in the morning—like she was dashing up like a lost rabbit and would have almost fallen off the stairs if I hadn't caught her in the nick of time. Surprisingly, even she didn't recognize me. I don't remember her name…maybe like Saruko…"

"Sakura Kinomoto?" Eriol supplied helpfully.

"Yeah!" Syaoran exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.

"How did you know?" he added, slightly astonished.

"I know her. Actually, we both are from Tomoeda—we along with my girlfriend are diaper buddies." Eriol added, smirking at Sakura's infamous clumsiness.

"So that is how it is…she seemed a pretty nice girl. One of the quiet, loyal types." Said Syaoran thoughtfully, rewinding his memory to the conversation they had on the stairs.

"Quiet? I dunno—I mean, you should hear her when she fights with her brother or is late…though I can vouch for the fact that she is extremely loyal." Said Eriol, smiling.

"In fact, we are having coffee after college today…at Café Lazza across the street. Care to join us?" he added.

Syaoran nodded in assent. He wanted to meet Sakura Kinomoto again.

It was lunch hour and Sakura noticed that Meiling Li was alone on her table—her ruby tinted amber eyes gave off an angry glare which acted as a pretty effective deterrent to prospective acquaintances. She motioned Ayume to follow her after getting the lunch tray to make a bee line for Meiling. Ayume realized what she was planning to do and readily followed her.

"Hi! Is this seat taken?" Sakura asked brightly.

Meiling lifted her head from the food tray, her eyes smouldering.

"Sit if you want—I don't own the place." She replied gruffly.

"Thanks…umm, Meiling Li is it?" she said, sitting next to her as Ayume sat on the opposite seat. Meiling looked slightly surprised at her doubtful voice—no one she had met till date had remained so calm and so…so utterly normal after hearing her last name. The Li's were one of the top ten in the world's richest list…perhaps in the top five. All grovelled at her feet…entranced by her bank balance. But this girl…

"I am Sakura Kinomoto, by the way. I am from Tomoeda so I really didn't know about this entire Li thing until an hour or so ago. In fact, it was Ayume Tendo here who told me about you."

Meiling lifted her eyes to the girl sitting opposite her.

"I recognized you," she said softly.

"You are the one who fits up my dresses in the Tendo Fashion House."

Ayume grinned.

"See, I told you Sakura, Meiling-san would recognize me," she replied, chowing down her tofu stir-fry.

"I met your cousin in the morning," Sakura continued, glad to see that glare dimming slightly.

"He kind of saved me from a trip to the hospital."

"You met Syao-kun?" she asked.

Sakura nodded.

"Syaoran looks out too much for me—he knows how I hate it. He must have told you guys to mingle up with me, right?"

Sakura nodded, this time a bit sheepishly.

"But it's not only that—I would have made friends with you anyway. I don't like people having lunch alone."

Meiling gave a slow grin.

"I hated people because the only reason they wanted to get friendly was to obtain exclusive access and flaunt the 'I-am-going-out-with-a-Li-so-I-am-the-king-of-the-world' crap. But you guys don't seem like that."

Ayume gave a light laugh.

"Primarily, here it's you who needs to stay friendly with me so that you can get exclusive access to the Autumn line before it goes on the runway!"

Meiling stared at her before bursting out in laughter, followed by the other two.

"Man, Ayume…you have a nerve to dare and affront one of your biggest clients!" she said, still laughing.

Sakura couldn't help but grin—she missed Tomoyo but maybe, she might have just found two friends who were idiotic madcaps on the same level.

Perhaps.

"Hey girls. I am supposed to meet Eriol for coffee at Café Lazza after college today. He texted me to say that Li-kun is also coming. Wanna join?"

"I am in…it's not like I have anything more interesting to do," said Ayume while Meiling nodded in agreement. She was curious to meet the guy whom Syaoran befriended, knowing that the amber-eyed boy rarely made friends that easily.

"So the coffee meet is on!"

Next up : Chapter Three: Cafe Lazza and Little Kero: "A tiny little Lab pup is all I need..."