Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP, not me!

Sensei, I Love You

Chapter 5

Sakura poked her head into the house and listened for any hint of activity. She blinked at the gloomy interior, waited for any signals and was satisfied that the house remained eerily quiet before giving the door a gentle shove so that she could step in. She paused inside the doorway, glancing around the place worriedly, suddenly wondering if anyone was upstairs because she needed to go up to her former room—it would really be bad if she encountered anyone up there. Besides, Tanaka and the rest of the family could be back any moment and she would be caught. She had to be quick and leave the house before that could happen.

Closing the door behind her and hoping that she could hear the lock should anyone return early, she hurried up the stairs to her miserable former room on the second floor of the house. The knob turned easily and she released a huge sigh when she found the door unlocked. This made her task even easier. She slipped into the room and found that everything was left where it was before all her items were ruthlessly thrown out of the house. However, one thing was missing. Her photograph was not there.

Thinking that Tanaka must have hidden it somewhere in the house, she sneaked out of her former room and was about to step into Tanaka's room, which was just a few paces away from hers, when she heard the unmistakable click of the lock on the front door before it swung open with a loud bang. A string of muffled curses could be heard and Sakura's face paled when she recognized the owner of the voice—it was Rui, Tanaka's creepy son. Without giving it any further thought, Sakura hurriedly hid inside her former room.

There was nothing she could do while trapped in the room. She couldn't very well just skip outside and waved hello to Rui before making a mad dash for the door. No—there won't be enough time for her to make a clean escape. He would catch up with her easily since it will definitely take her some time to fumble with the locks on the door. Her next best alternative was the sole window in the room. She padded across the small room and peered down from the open window. It was a long drop from where she was to the soft thatch of grass below and she hesitated from jumping out. What if she broke a hand or leg from the fall? It was so not worth it, not when she didn't manage to get what she wanted.

She bit her lips and retreated back into the middle of the room. Footsteps pounded up the stairs causing Sakura's heart to lurch up to her throat. Was she found? How? Her mind was jumbled up by the many questions that she randomly thrown around and it was difficult to think clearly. She almost wept with relief that Rui had shut himself in his own room. That would give her some time to think and plan.

"What should I do? What should I do?" Sakura whispered to herself as she paced in the room. She needed to get out of the house before anyone caught her. She could handle Tanaka's sweet wife but Tanaka was a tough case and when Rui was thrown into the equation, things could get sticky. She was lucky to escape unscathed from her previous encounters with him alone but she wouldn't be so sure if it were to happen again. Her only hope was for Rui to remain in his room so she could make her escape.

Rui's room was just right next to where she currently was. She climbed onto the small bed in the corner of the room and pressed her ear against the wall to try to listen to what was going on in his room. She waited a few seconds and frowned when she heard nothing. She presumed that he was taking a nap. Great timing! She was about to turn the knob when Rui's door flung open and crashed loudly against the wall. She flinched away from the door as cold sweat poured down from her forehead—her escape was thwarted.

She heard a soft thud behind her and she jumped in fright. There was nothing behind her when she turned around. She wondered if she had imagined the sound because of her anxiety. The answer was revealed a scant second later when a small piece of rock flew through the open window and landed on the floor with another soft thud. She raised a brow in confusion. Another rock landed in the room and prompted her to peer out of the window in curiosity.

"Li-sensei?" Sakura murmured in surprise and managed to dodge another stray rock. She glared at him and he smiled back at her sheepishly. How did he know where she was?

"Did you miss me?" he shouted from below and Sakura's mouth literally dropped open in shock.

"Shut up!" Sakura hissed back, her eyes darting to the door worriedly. If Syaoran knew that she was here, he must have known that she had sneaked inside. Why did he have to attract attention? If she ever got caught there and manage to escape, she would make sure Syaoran would suffer terribly for it and she won't go easy on him just because he was her teacher.

"Come on! Tell me!"

"Can you shut up?" Sakura shouted down at him before running to the door to lock it. She didn't dare to lock it earlier for fear of being found out. Since Syaoran had already attracted enough attention, it would be impossible to hide. At least she could delay the inevitable.

"Hey!" Syaoran sounded a little impatient. When she didn't answer immediately, he shouted, "Muffin!"

"What?" Sakura picked up the stones that he threw into the room and hurled them back at him. He ducked and laughed at her actions. The sound of the doorknob turning alerted her to the fact that she was discovered. Rui pounded on the door when it didn't open. She praised herself for her quick thinking to lock the door before answering Syaoran, who was still creating a ruckus below. "I can't believe you are such an idiot."

"You wound me with your words, muffin," he replied with a grin. He lifted both of his hands in her direction. "Jump."

"Jump?" Sakura asked, not believing her ears. "You want me to jump from here?"

"Don't you trust me?"

"As a matter of a fact, I don't," Sakura answered immediately. She glanced over her back when the pounding on the door intensified. Biting her lips, she made a decision and lifted her legs out of the window and sat on the windowsill, bracing herself using the frames. "But unfortunately, you gave me no choice."

"Then jump. Trust me."

Sakura sucked in a huge gulp of air to steady herself. She jerked her gaze away from Syaoran when she heard a loud slam on the other side of the door. It seemed to her that Rui was making an attempt to break into the room using brute strength. "Wait till I get my hands on whoever you are!" she heard him mutter angrily. It won't take long before he burst into the room. Sakura had to make her jump immediately.

"Make sure you catch me or I'll make sure you regret it for the rest of your life," Sakura shouted down at him and pushed herself off the windowsill.

"What? Are you going to haunt me if I don't?" Syaoran teased.

"Not funny!" Sakura was close to screaming. Her heart was thudding painfully within her chest at the thought of making the impossible jump. "On the count of three..." she whispered to herself, closing her eyes to give her courage. "Three... Two..." A loud crash sounded in the room, followed by the angry bellow of Rui as Sakura shouted and jumped off at the same time, "One!"

Her eyes remained tightly shut as she plummeted as the force of gravity pulled her down. If she were to open her eyes, she would witness the sight of the ground coming closer to her. It would be a scary experience. Despite closing her eyes, she could still feel the wind rushing against her face as the ground loomed close.

She felt hands closing around her before she felt the impact of her body slamming into Syaoran's. Her eyes shot open in surprise as Syaoran stumbled backwards from her weight and both went sprawling onto the ground. For a few moments, Sakura lay on top of Syaoran as the wind was knocked out from her, totally stunned. Emerald eyes stared into clear amber eyes as she tried to even her breathing.

"See? There's nothing to worry about," Syaoran murmured. They were so close that Sakura could look directly into his eyes. His hands closed on her waist as he carefully shifted her off him. He helped her up before waving cheerfully to the small window on the second floor. Sakura didn't dare to look up. Rui would definitely recognize her if she did so and she didn't want to risk that in the event that he couldn't recognize her from her voice.

Sakura accepted his hand and he pulled her to her feet before the two of them hurried out of the house before Rui came bearing down on them. They were breathless by the time they reached Syaoran's house. Both of them tumbled through the doorway, landing on the ground inelegantly as they tried to regain their breath. A giggle erupted from Sakura before she could stop it. It grew into a fits of giggles a few seconds later when she recalled their crazy journey back. To be honest, she found that it was actually quite exciting and fun. She caught the amused look Syaoran sent her. "What?"

"You should laugh more often. You look really pretty that way," Syaoran grinned.

Sakura sucked in a breath. Was he... flirting with her? Was her teacher really flirting with her? This was crazy! "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Aww... muffin is shy!" Syaoran exclaimed and laughed when Sakura smacked him on his arm. "And she's showing me her love."

Sakura rolled her eyes and couldn't stop the blush that was blossoming on her cheeks. "You're crazy!"

Syaoran chuckled and stared at the ceiling. "That's right," he admitted. "I think I'm going crazy."

"By the way, what were you doing there?"

"Tanaka's place? I was following you."

Sakura snorted. "Stalker."

"I wasn't stalking you!" Syaoran protested. "I was trying to pull my naughty student back for her remedial class."

"Didn't I tell you I don't need it?" Sakura asked and frowned at him. Remedial class was a waste of time if she could catch up with the rest of her classmates. "I understand your class perfectly."

"Someone's confident."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm just telling you the truth. I wouldn't want the two of us to be wasting precious time over worthless things."

"Teaching you is my pleasure."

"I shall make sure you don't derive pleasure from that." Sakura scowled at him and his glib tongue. "Sweet talker."

"Be glad that you are the only recipient."

Sakura sat up and looked at him in surprise. "Me? Oh please, there must be some girls who are pinning for you out there somewhere."

Syaoran arched a brow at her suggestively. "Are you saying that I'm attractive?"

"W-what?" Sakura sputtered, taken aback by the sudden change in topic. "When did I ever say that?"

"You didn't say it but you implied it. So, am I attractive?"

Sakura considered his question for a moment and decided to take the safest approach. "You are my teacher, Li-sensei. We shouldn't have this talk. In fact, I shouldn't even be here. Once I get a job and save up sufficient money for my next rent, I'll be moving out from here. Or perhaps I could just stay at one of my classmates' place for a while."

"Why?"

"What why? Why are you asking me that? You should know the reason! You are my teacher and teachers don't live with their students!"

"How do you know that? Do you have any other teacher friends?"

"I can't be bothered with you," Sakura said and went back to her room, locking the door behind her. She had only taken a few steps into her room when a knock sounded on her door. She gave an impatient sigh and stalked back to her door and flung it open, ready to shoot snide remarks at Syaoran for irritating her. To her surprise, no one was at the door. Instead, a small parcel lay on the floor, wrapped in brightly coloured paper. What was her teacher up to? She tore the wrapping paper away and almost wept with relief when she found that it was her family photograph. Moreover, the photograph was framed in a beautiful photo frame which he bought.

Thank you, Li-sensei!

To be continued

Turns out that I didn't have much time to write after all! Been out of the house for the past few days despite being away from work. I did manage to squeeze whatever little time I have to write a little and to edit chapter 5 before I post it. So, hope you enjoy reading the chapter!

In addition, thank you for the 45 reviews, 9 favs and 23 alerts! Thank you for reading Sensei, I Love You. These mean so much to me! Thank you! *bows*