Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

Sensei, I Love You

Chapter 15

Sakura blinked at the sunlight shining on her face and squinted in response as she slowly came awake. She groaned at the unwelcomed disturbance and rolled further into the shadows, grateful for a few more moments of sleep.

When a quiet knock sounded on her door, she knew her sleeping time has finally come to an end. With another soft groan, she dragged herself off the bed to answer her door. She blinked at the young maid standing just outside her door.

"Um… Good morning?" Sakura greeted uncertainly and wondered why the maid was knocking on her door. Perhaps she was informing her that breakfast was ready. When the maid just continued to stare at her, she got a little self-conscious since she was still in her pajamas and her hair was in a big mess. "Can I help you?"

That seemed to wake the maid from whatever trance she was in. She hurried bowed in apology. "Good morning, Kinomoto-sama! We're here to help you get ready for the day."

"We? Get ready for the day?" Sakura asked, confused. Was this what Tomoyo did every day?

The maid bobbed her head and gestured to her right, which was obscured from Sakura since she was still standing in the room. She popped her head into the corridor and her eyes widened at the number of staff that were lined up neatly out there. "Why are they here?"

"To help you get dressed, of course!" The maid said proudly as if she was given a grand task. "We are to make sure that Kinomoto-sama look really pretty today."

Sakura shook her head and smiled her thanks. "I'll be fine on my own. Thanks for your offer though."

The maid looked crestfallen immediately upon her words. Sakura felt a little bad for declining the maid's offer. "Um… Will you do my hair later? I'll just pop into the bath and be out in a little while." The maid literally beamed at her as she opened the door wider for the entourage to step in.

"Take your time, Kinomoto-sama," the maid said. "We'll wait for you."

"Um… Thanks… I guess," Sakura replied, sounding a little awkward.

Sakura suffered through the tugs on her hair and pats on her face after her quick shower. The maid looked pleased with her arrangements as Sakura took a step back and faced the mirror. Even though she was still wearing the same school uniform, she looked somehow different.

"Kinomoto-sama is pretty," the maid, whose name Sakura had learnt was Rin, commented with a dreamy sigh. When Sakura turned back to look at her, she blushed and bowed her head.

"Thanks Rin," Sakura said as she straightened from the dressing table. "You have a way with the make-up. It looks natural on me."

Rin shook her head vehemently. "It's not my skills! It's all because Kinomoto-sama is pretty!"

"Thank you," Sakura said again.

Rin's face turned even redder. "If Kinomoto-sama is ready, Rin will bring you down for breakfast. Daidouji-sama should be there."

Sakura grabbed her bag, which she had packed the night before, and followed Rin down to the dining room. On the way there, she fished out her cell phone from her bag and was dismayed to find that the battery was flat. She'd have to ask Tomoyo to direct her to a power point so that she could charge her phone.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo squealed in delight when she spotted Sakura at the entrance to the dining room. She flew towards Sakura and pulled her to the table excitedly, showing her the breakfast spread. "I hope it's to your liking!"

"These look really delicious!" Sakura exclaimed and eyed the pancakes with interest, ignoring the rest of the items.

"Wait till you taste it!" Tomoyo urged Sakura into a chair before taking the seat opposite hers. "Well, dig in!"

They were halfway into their breakfast when Rin burst into the dining room looking frantic. She bowed at the both of them as she neared the table before rushing over to Tomoyo's side and whispering into her ear. Sakura's curiosity was piqued when Tomoyo's brow shot up in surprise.

"Did he say who he was?" Tomoyo asked Rin, her tone serious.

Rin shook her head. "He was very agitated when we spotted him at the gates. He refuses to go away even after we have dispatched our security guards over."

Tomoyo frowned and turned to look at Sakura apologetically. "Sakura-chan, I'm afraid I have to leave you alone for a while to attend to this. I'll be back as soon as I can. If you need anything, just ask any of the staff here and they'll be glad to help you."

Sakura nodded. "Don't be too long or we'll be late for school."

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Tomoyo promised as she pushed away from the table.

Tomoyo followed Rin out of the room, leaving Sakura with her breakfast. When she finished her plate of pancakes, she leaned back and patted her stuffed stomach with a blissful smile. It was delicious but somehow it wasn't as tasty as those that Syaoran made. Thinking about Syaoran reminded her of the scandal that was spreading within the school. If she didn't break down in front of him, they wouldn't be caught and this ugly thing wouldn't happen. Sakura felt responsible for whatever that was happening at the moment. She reaffirmed that it was a wise decision on her part to leave Syaoran's home before it turned even uglier.

Once her breakfast was done, she fished out her phone again and found an unused power socket in the corner of the dining room. She debated for a moment if she should use it but since there wasn't anyone around, she figured that it wouldn't hurt to plug the charger in for a few minutes just to check if anyone at the cosplay café tried to contact her while her phone's battery died. She heaved a sigh of relief when her phone turned on. So it was really just a flat battery and not a serious problem with her phone.

She blinked at the numbers of missed calls she received and took a look at the unfamiliar number reflected on her screen. "The cosplay café? Couldn't be. Junko-san always calls me using her cell phone." There were also messages. Sakura opened up one and gasped. Muffin, where are you? Call me when you see my message. Only one person would call her muffin. "Li-sensei?"

"Now I understand why you wouldn't reply to my messages," a voice behind her said, making her jump. She whirled around to face an irritated Syaoran and a wide eyed Tomoyo.

"Li-sensei! Sakura exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Syaoran strolled into the room and plucked the cell phone from Sakura's hands to examine the small device. "Flat battery huh?" he commented dryly before placing it back on the tabletop. "So, why are you here?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the suspicious looks that Tomoyo was throwing at them. "Isn't that the same question that I asked you just a few seconds ago?"

Cocking an eyebrow, Syaoran folded his arms on his chest and glared down at Sakura. "Why did you run away?"

"Well... About that..." Sakura trailed off, then cleared her throat when she realized that she was out of words. "Um... I actually wanted to let you know but... Somehow I forgot."

"You forgot?" Syaoran almost shouted in disbelief. "How could you forget such things? You made me so worried for the whole night!"

"You don't have to," Sakura said, totally pissed. Why was he so angry with her? "It's none of your business anyway."

"What?" Syaoran asked, narrowing his eyes at her. "What did you say?"

"I said," Sakura started, then paused to take in a huge breath. "It's none of your business!"

"Um... Sakura-chan, Li-sensei, what's going on?" Tomoyo asked softly, interrupting their banter. Sakura cast an apologetic look towards her best friend before glaring up at her homeroom teacher. "Li-sensei, you came just to look for Sakura-chan?"

"Yea," he replied, ruffling his messy hair. He eyed Tomoyo warily. "Can we trust you?"

Tomoyo blinked. "I guess so."

"Wait, Li-sensei!" Sakura interjected, realizing what he was about to do. Tomoyo would definitely be angry when she heard everything from Syaoran instead of her.

"What is it?" Tomoyo asked, ignoring Sakura's sudden outburst.

"That is to say... She's living with me."

Sakura groaned and slapped a hand against her face in dismay as she watched Tomoyo's face turned a shade paler. "She's what?" Tomoyo gasped, her eyes darting between Syaoran and Sakura. She shook her head in disbelief. "And you never told me about this?" she asked Sakura accusingly

Sakura winced in response. How was she going to salvage the situation without tarnishing Syaoran's reputation. "Well, it was only for a few days..."

Syaoran snorted. "More like a month."

"Sensei!" Sakura protested and glared at her teacher. "Can you not make the situation even worse than it is now?"

"You were staying with him for a month and you didn't even mention it to me?" Tomoyo asked, sounding hurt. "I'm your best friend!"

"Tomoyo-chan, I can explain," Sakura said. "This is not what it seems."

"What? Am I to assume that Li-sensei is lying?"

Sakura gritted her teeth in frustration. "No. He isn't lying."

"Then?"

"Tomoyo-chan..." Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at Tomoyo pleadingly. "I was kicked out of the house and he just happened to take me in until I am able to find a place to stay."

Tomoyo didn't reply but a few moments later she let out a gasp. "So the scandal is true?"

"No!" Syaoran and Sakura exclaimed simultaneously.

Tomoyo drew back, confused. "Then? So Sakura-chan is the student in that picture on the noticeboard, right?"

"Yes." Sakura let out a sigh. "And it's kind of my fault."

"No it isn't," Syaoran protested. "The only one at fault is me."

Sakura's heart sank at his words. So he did regret liking her already? It took only one picture to make him realize his mistake. So what then? Was he going to stay away from her like how she wanted him to initially?

"I don't know what to think of this," Tomoyo admitted. Her frown told Sakura that she wasn't taking the news very well. "On one hand, I'm happy for Sakura-chan because Li-sensei seems like a nice person. On the other hand, well... your relationship is going to be tough since it's actually a taboo..."

"We aren't a couple, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said, looking away from Syaoran. She found it difficult to look at him in the eye when she said that. How she wished they were a couple and that they were just two normal people who could just fall in love without any troubles. "Li-sensei is just taking care of one of his students. That's all."

Tomoyo shook her head slowly, smiling ruefully. "With the way that he looks at you? I doubt so."

Syaoran had the audacity to blush at Tomoyo's words. He faked a cough and turned his head to the side so that Sakura wouldn't be able to see it. That caused Tomoyo to giggle. "He's just fooling around," Sakura said and her cheeks turned slightly pink. "Besides, there's really nothing going on between us. You'll have to take my word on it."

"Sure, whatever you say but that doesn't explain why he's here in my house and looking for you like a crazed man."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You'll never let it go, will you?"

"About things that concern you?" Tomoyo asked, tilting her head slightly to her side. "Nope. Not ever."

To be continued

This is right in the middle of the whole story. Chapter 15! Wow! How time flies right? This is a good thing and there's a bad thing too-I'm still at Chapter 24. *laughs* Feeling a little demotivated but I'm still progressing albeit at a slower pace. Send me some love? *puppy eyes*

P.S. Do you know Sensei, I Love You is also available on Wattpad? You can now read it on your mobile devices!