Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

Sensei, I Love You

Chapter 12

Sakura was cornered in the changing room by all her female colleagues. They grinned at her and somehow, they scared the crap out of Sakura with their queer behavior. "Good morning?" she squeaked out her greeting and tried to put some distance between them.

"Who's that guy?"

"Is that guy your boyfriend?"

"Husband?"

"Wait! I can't really hear when all of you talk at the same time!" Sakura interrupted before they could spew any more questions. Everyone ceased their chattering immediately and Sakura could feel a sense of peacefulness spread over them. It was only for a moment because they started throwing her questions again when she tried to leave the changing room. "Do I really have to answer your questions?"

"Of course!" Yui exclaimed. She looked at the small little group before nodding at Sakura. "As your colleagues, we have the right to know. Why do we have the right? That's because we care about you, a lot!"

Sakura paused. Something that Yui said had struck a chord in her heart. It has been so long since someone actually cared about her. It took her one long year to get used to being alone without much talking. One year of struggling to cope with work and school. One year of loneliness. That barrier crumbled into pieces the moment Syaoran came knocking. It was a little discomforting when people showed her concern.

"Um… Well… Let's just say that he isn't for me."

"Why?" Rika, her demure colleague with short chocolate curls, asked. Sakura could see that she was totally curious about her situation. "Why did you say that? You didn't see how he was into you? He hardly gave us any notice while he was here yesterday. It's kind of sad, you know?"

"What? He was totally checking all of you out!" Sakura exclaimed, surprised that they didn't catch his gaze on them.

Rika shook her head gravely. "No. There were so many of us at work yesterday and he seemed to be only looking at you. Are you sure he isn't your boyfriend?"

"He's not. I swear," Sakura said, raising her right hand up with a solemn vow that had her colleagues doubling over in laughter. "What?"

"I can't believe this," Yui muttered through her tears. "I really pity that guy. He's all over you and here you are thinking that he isn't for you."

"That's right! Perhaps the next time he comes here, I should leave some gravy on my face and see what he'll do," Rikia added, causing Sakura's face to turn crimson.

"All of you are so mean! Stop teasing me!" Sakura covered her face and made a dash out of the changing room and almost collided with Junko.

"Careful there," she said, steadying Sakura before frowning slightly at the gathering inside the changing room. "Well, the first customer is here so get working. Kinomoto-san, you might want to take the first order."

"Yes Junko-san!" Sakura replied before rushing to the casher to grab the order chit and skidded to a halt at the sole customer's table. Her eyes widened when familiar amber eyes glinted back at her. "Sensei!"

Syaoran shot out a hand and covered her mouth immediately. Sakura sucked in a breath in shock and her body went rigid. His gaze darted around anxiously as he slowly removed his hand. "You have to stop that if you don't want people to know about our relationship."

"What what relationship is that precisely?" Sakura asked, tapping her pen against the thick pad of order chit. Syaoran was grinning at her. Was her blush that obvious?

He shrugged. "Well, you are my student and just for that reason alone I should report you to the school but I didn't. It's just so complicated. Then, do I have to mention that you are living with me now? That's going to be the talk of the whole country if they find out. Last but not least, you like me. That's a taboo. So does that answer your question?"

Sakura's mouth was forming an "O" shape at the moment as she stared at Syaoran in surprise at his words. "I have a question though…"

"Ask away," Syaoran said, nodding at her. "I've got plenty of time."

"Why did you… yesterday… you know…"

"What? Lick you?"

Sakura blanched. "Ew… Can you use a better word for that?"

"What do you want me to say?" he asked. "Or better still, do you want me to show you again?"

"No!" Sakura exclaimed, rearing back defensively in case he really dared to try that on her. "No way! You can't do it again!"

"Why not?"

Sakura prayed for patience. "And you just listed down all the possible bad things that could happen if we were found out."

"Well, it's still a secret right? So don't worry too much about it. It's a secret and it will remain a secret."

Someone cleared her throat at the cashier and Sakura did not have to be reminded twice to get the customer's order. "So, what would you like to have?"

"What do you have for breakfast here?"

"Scrambled eggs, toasts and freshly brewed coffee. Those are the main items for the morning. You can also order sandwiches if you like."

Syaoran frowned at the menu in his hands. "Hmm… This is bad… The menu is kind of… lacking."

"Lacking? In what way?"

"It doesn't have you in it," he replied seriously, still browsing through the menu.

Sakura could hear giggling in the kitchen. Since there weren't much people around in the morning, the café was extremely quiet to the point where normal conversation at the front of the café could be heard clearly from the kitchen area. Sakura refrained from groaning when she realized that her colleagues had overhead them. They were bound to tease her about it when they were all alone later.

"Li-sensei," Sakura started and hesitated when he frowned at the use of his title. She ignored him. "I feel that we should maintain a respectable distance."

"I don't see the need to do that," he insisted. "We have done nothing wrong."

"We have done nothing wrong yet. That doesn't mean that what we are doing is correct. You're my teacher and I'm your student. We can't go any further than that. We mustn't."

"Must you say it out loud? Look, your manager is already swooning," he commented, peering at the counter behind Sakura. "Seriously, you think I want to date my own student? My friend has been teasing me about it for months and urging me to go with my instinct. My instinct tells me to press for it and I will do so. I don't give a damn about what other people thinks."

Sakura winced at Syaoran's use of blasphemy. It was rare for him to curse. "It isn't appropriate…"

"What do you think about me?" Syaoran asked her earnestly. "Tell me."

"I'm sorry. I'm currently working and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to deal with personal issues. What would you like to have?"

Syaoran chuckled, turning his attention back to his menu. "Don't think you are off the bait, muffin. I'll pester you all day long for your answer. Mark my words. And toast and coffee for me please?"

Sakura scribbled down his order before bowing and retreating to the kitchen where she passed the order chit to the chef. "Don't ask me anything," Sakura warned her colleagues as she squeezed through the human gate by the kitchen. "Just don't say anything."

The waitresses lined up neatly at the counter as they surveyed the entire café to spot any customers who would require their services. Otherwise, they would wait for new customers to enter the café so that they can attend to them. Yui nudged Sakura's side with an elbow, causing Sakura to wince in pain when she jabbed a little too hard. "He's still there and it's almost evening," she commented.

Sakura's gaze reluctantly strayed to Syaoran's form at the far end of the café where he was sipping another steaming cup of coffee—she lost count of the number of drinks he had drank—and reading a book which he had brought along. "Just leave him be."

"Aw… Is he going to wait until you knock off? That's so sweet of him…" Yui murmured with a blissful sigh. "You are so lucky!"

"I already told you that there's nothing going on between us."

Yui snorted and rolled her eyes. "Oh please… From the way you steal glances at him whenever you think we are not looking? I think not!"

"What? I didn't!"

Arching an eyebrow at her denial, Yui began clucking her tongue. "You can lie to me but you can't lie to yourself. Do you really want to be strangers with that wonderful guy? Really?"

Remaining silent was the best course of action that seemed to stop Yui's non-stop chattering. Sakura couldn't help herself and took another quick peek at Syaoran again. Her eyes widened in surprise when he was looking straight at her and—damn—that guy was grinning at her as if knowing the reason for staring at him. Sakura schooled her expression into a frown and turned her head away.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get Syaoran's words out of her mind. Did that man really want to date his own student? For goodness sake, he has already allowed her into his house without requiring her to pay rent. Was the man a saint or what? Sakura wondered what he was playing at.

"Oh! He has signaled for our services!" Rika remarked, shoving Sakura out of the line and shooing her towards Syaoran. "Go attend to your boyfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!" she hissed back before squaring her shoulders and marching towards Syaoran's table. "What do you want?" she asked curtly. Junko would have her head if she knew that she was actually using this tone to talk with the customer.

Syaoran seemed amused by her words and that was strange because she only shot a four-word question at him. "I want a girlfriend, muffin. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Oh. That was definitely a very direct question that grabbed the attention of everyone nearby. Customers looked at her expectantly, as if they were eager to hear what her answer would be. Her face was burning from being put in the limelight and she felt like kicking Syaoran for making her feel this way. "Would you like to refill your coffee?" she asked, trying to steer away from the question.

"Ah… That would be great although what I really want is your answer. So what is it going to be?"

Sakura considered her options. To be honest, it was just so easy to say yes to him since she was already so drawn to him. However, when she thought about their prospects together, she was disheartened. Syaoran must have noticed her change in expression because he looked a little worried.

"I'll bring you some more coffee. Please excuse me," she said and quickly stepped away. She was stopped abruptly when she felt a restraining hand grabbed hers. "Release me."

"And let you run away? I highly doubt that. Answer me seriously, muffin. Tell me what you feel."

"In private?" Sakura squeaked, darting anxious glances around her.

"I'll hold you to that," Syaoran said. He jerked Sakura towards him forcefully, causing her to lose her balance as she tumbled onto his lap with a surprised gasp. He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before she could react and catcalls echoed throughout the room from the male guests. "Looks like some of them agree with my choice."

"Sensei! I'm still your student!" Sakura whispered, pinching his arm to get him to release her. "Don't you care about your job?"

"I don't."

"Then what about me? You want me to be kicked out of school?"

That did the trick and she was released immediately. "Well… I guess I kind of forgot about that," he admitted sheepishly.

"That's why I can't say yes," Sakura said and went to retrieve the promised coffee refill.

To be continued

That concludes chapter 12! Anyone irritated with the way Sakura keeps denying? I wasn't thinking much when I wrote that and after I edited the chapter, then I come to realize it's everywhere. *laughs* I'll have to do a overall re-write after my draft is all done. I'm currently stuck at Chapter 24 though. Give me a month or two and the whole draft will be complete and I'll move on to a new fic! Lots of ideas coming in but I'm sticking to Sensei, I Love You at the moment. Focus! :D

Happy Lunar New Year everyone!