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

Sensei, I Love You

Chapter 23

"You misunderstood!"

Syaoran's words kept replaying within her mind, giving her an annoying headache throughout the sleepless night. She didn't know what to believe anymore. The more she thought about it, the more confused she was and the more painful her headache became.

She finally got up from her bed when she heard Yukito's alarm to join him for breakfast before he set off for school. She knew she looked like a mess from the lack of sleep and knew that Yukito knew too from the worried look on his face.

"Didn't sleep well?"

Sakura nodded her head and attempted a smile but failed miserably. "I'll be all right. Don't worry about me."

"How can I not worry about you? You'll be alone when I go for work later. What if something happens to you and nobody knows?"

"I'll keep my cell phone with me at all times in case there is an emergency and I can contact you immediately," Sakura said, pouring a cup of coffee from the pot into Yukito's cup. "I'll be fine on my own, Yukito-san. You don't have to worry too much."

Yukito looked very hesitant about going to work despite Sakura's assurances. In the end, she had to threaten him that she would sneak out of the house and never come back if he didn't go to work just so that he could stay with her. He fled immediately.

The house was quiet after Yukito left. Having nothing on her agenda, she laid on the sofa for a quick nap, hoping to catch up on her sleep. She groaned in frustration when the doorbell rang a few minutes later, the loud buzz creating a new onslaught of headache. She trudged to the door, ready to snap at whoever who was ringing her doorbell at such an ungodly hour.

"Oh there she is!" A familiar voice sounded. "And she sure is looking good and cheerful."

Sakura frowned at a not-so-happy Hiiragizawa Eriol clad in black business suit. Great, another man she didn't want to see. "What can I do for you today, Hiiragizawa-san? Don't you have important meetings to attend?"

Eriol checked the time on his watch before he grinned at her. "Nope—it's too early to schedule any meetings."

"But not too early to disturb young girls, I see…"

He frowned and crossed his arms defensively. "I didn't come here to play around with you. I have an emergency on my hand and only you can help me with it."

"I doubt I can help any CEO given my education background," she replied, ready to close her door on him. He managed to grab hold of the door before it slammed shut.

"I'm not the CEO."

"Okay… acting CEO then," Sakura said, recalling his introduction when she first met him. "Seriously, I wonder how I can help you. You seem pretty good at handling things yourself."

"As I've said—emergency." Sakura raised her brow expectantly, waiting for him to continue. "It's about Syaoran."

Sakura blinked—she was not expecting this. She felt a surge of panic rise within her. "What about him?"

"You'll have to come with me to find out."

"Is this some kind of sick joke to get me out to talk to him, hear him out or whatever crap? If so, then I'm definitely not going."

"He didn't put me up to this if that is what you are asking me," Eriol explained. He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "I wouldn't come to you on my own accord if this isn't serious. Something weird is going on with him and I'm really concerned that he may do something unexpected."

"He was fine when I saw him yesterday," Sakura pointed out. "And he's acting like usual."

"Was he?"

Sakura gulped at his question, casting doubts within her mind. Was he? "I… I don't know… He seemed okay…"

"He's not himself when he came back to the office," Eriol said, shooting her an accusatory glance. "Something you said must have really got him bad."

It was Sakura's turn to cross her arms. "It's not my problem anymore. We are not… together." Eriol snorted loudly, earning himself a glare from Sakura. "Well, I'm telling you the truth. If Li-sensei has any problems that you cannot handle, you should stop by his house to grab the lady there. Perhaps she can solve his problem."

"The lady in his house?" Eriol repeated, looking surprised. "Meiling?"

Sakura waved a hand nonchalantly in the air. "I don't know what her name is. She definitely seems close to him. I think she can solve his problem—and yours too."

"Are you talking about this tall lady with dark hair and sharp ruby eyes?" He asked, pressing his fingers to the corners of his eyes.

"Yeah, that's her."

Eriol guffawed, stunning Sakura and making her take a step back as a precautionary measure. "I don't see anything funny here, Hiiragizawa-san. Perhaps you should make a trip to the doctor."

"Oh! This is golden! Syaoran would be over the moon if he hears of this!"

"What?" Irritated by his continuous laughter, she began to feel annoyed. "If there is nothing else, I'd like to go back to my sleep."

"You're jealous," Eriol stated, trying to hold back his laughter so that he could speak normally. "I can feel it."

Sakura rolled her eyes and tried not to blush. "I'm not jealous. I don't have a reason to be jealous."

"I don't care if you are jealous or not. You have to make this trip with me."

"Why do I have to go with you?" Sakura asked.

"All your questions will be answered if you come with me," Eriol promised. "I assure you again that I'm not here on Syaoran's request. It's sort of a selfish request on my part because it will make my life a lot better and easier if he is back to his usual self. So, please, just take it that you are helping me instead."

Sakura gave him a dubious look and he returned it with a puppy-eyed look. There was no other choice left for her—it's either she went with him or endure his continuous pleading and then go with him. "Give me a few minutes to change."

"Wonderful!" Eriol exclaimed. "I'll make it worth it for you to help me."

She hoped so, or she would have to come up with some ways to make his life miserable for wasting her time—and she won't care if he was an acting CEO or not.

xxx

"Can you please tell me again why we are camping out in your office's security room?" Sakura asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice as she glared at Eriol.

He shrugged and pointed at the numerous screens displayed in front of them. "Concentrate on the screen!"

"What exactly am I supposed to keep a look out for?"

"Someone tall, dangerous and handsome."

She made a face in response. "Who again?"

Eriol slid his gaze over to her briefly before returning to the screens. "Well, since I'm here then it's definitely not me."

"This is a waste of time!" Sakura muttered under her breath and leaned back against the swivel chair provided by the kind security guards on duty. "Aren't we disrupting their work?"

"There's nothing much going on at this time."

"So you do know that it's very early." She stifled a yawn and then suppressed a gasp when Eriol suddenly pulled her forward and pointed excitedly at a screen.

"There's your target!"

Sakura squinted at a few screens, unsure which was the one that Eriol was referring too, until she saw a familiar figure in one of the small screen. "Um… Is that… Li-sensei?"

"Of course!"

"And why are we spying on Li-sensei?"

"Just giving you a heads up before I put you in there."

Sakura's eyes widened. "And you said you're not doing it for him?"

"It's not for him," Eriol insisted. "Things are going to get interesting in a few moments. Look at this screen—we've got a surprise guest!"

Out of pure curiosity, Sakura peered at the screen Eriol was pointing at to see who it was. She wasn't surprised to see that it was the lady at Syaoran's house. "So, she comes here as well to visit him? Didn't she see him at home earlier?"

"Apparently not," Eriol replied and stood up. "Come on, we've got a show to watch."

"Where are we going? I thought you brought me here to spy on him?"

"We can't hear anything from here," Eriol explained. "Shall we camp outside his office?"

"If we get caught, I'm going to blame it on you."

"We won't."

There was a shouting match going on within the closed door of the CEO's office and every word could be heard clearly from where Eriol and Sakura were hiding just outside the door. There wasn't any need for a secretary since Syaoran was always away so they didn't have to worry about getting caught by anyone else.

"You can't possibly like someone like her!" The woman—Meiling—shouted, her high pitch voice piercing through her ears and causing Sakura to wince in discomfort. "She's not even in your league!"

"Pray, tell me—what exactly is in my league then? You?"

"Don't be disgusting, Syaoran. I'm hardly a candidate for that!"

Sakura gasped in surprise at her words. She looked wide-eyed at Eriol for his confirmation but he just shrugged and signaled her to be quiet and listen.

"So why did you lead her to believe that you are my…"

"Well, I have to protect my cousin from fortune hunters. Plus, I can't help but feel disappointed at you being reduced to a normal teacher. You are made for greater things, Syaoran. Aunt Yelan is depending on you to bring the company to greater heights. You do know that and yet you threw away your company just to be with her?"

"I'm just helping her," Syaoran replied coolly. "Can't I help my friend's sister?"

"That Kinomoto Touya is hardly your friend and we all know that."

"He knows onii-chan?" Sakura whispered to Eriol and was shushed by him in return. She sighed and continued to eavesdrop.

"You don't understand."

"You're right—I don't!" she screamed at him angrily. "I won't let her ruin you or the company."

"I don't wish to argue with you anymore. Please leave before I get really angry."

"Don't think that this is the last time we are talking about this," Meiling spat.

Sensing that she was about to exit the office, Eriol hurriedly dragged Sakura away from the door and pushed her under the secretary's table, which was just five feet away. Once done, he stood in front of the table and leaned against it casually.

"You!" Meiling sneered when she saw Eriol. "You have the audacity to be here after allowing Syaoran to fool around outside."

"He was doing some serious work," Eriol stated. "And it is important to him so I didn't want to stop him."

"Teaching some young kids is hardly any important work for the CEO of the company and you know that. Unless… you want to take over the company…"

"My loyalty lies with the Li," Eriol said seriously. "As always."

"Then that's one good news for today," she replied. "Make sure you keep a proper eye on him from now onwards. Don't let him go back to teaching anymore; it's a waste of his talents."

"It's his life. Let him decide what he wants to do."

"You are always going against me!" Meiling stomped her feet, the sound softened by the carpeted floor. "I can't be bothered with you."

Sakura waited for a few seconds before popping her head out from under the table cautiously. "Is she gone?" she whispered, feeling a little anxious.

"Sorry about this." Eriol helped her to her feet and brushed the dirt off from the knees of her jeans.

She intercepted him immediately, blushing furiously and was suddenly thankful that she opted for jeans and not skirt. "I can do this myself."

"Sure," he replied off-handedly, not affected by their contact. "Let's go greet the big boss."

"I'm not sure I should be in there right now."

"You're stalling the inevitable," Eriol reminded. When she didn't move, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her with him, ignoring her protests until they reached the closed door. He signaled her to be quiet and she obeyed immediately. He grinned at her before opening the door without bothering to knock.

"You're rude as always, Eriol," Syaoran remarked wryly the moment they entered. He was in his chair but since he was facing the window behind the desk, he didn't see that Sakura was there with Eriol as well. "I take it you heard our big exchange."

Eriol chuckled. "As expected whenever Meiling is around."

"I screwed up big time, didn't I?"

"With?"

"With Sakura," he replied after a pause and then sighed again. "She won't even let me explain to her why I acted that way at the house and she won't even pick up my calls until now."

"You didn't try again?"

Sakura could see that he was rubbing his temples as if he had a pounding headache like she had earlier. "It's no use. She won't pick up." To prove his point, he dug out his phone and punched in some numbers then swirled around to face them, still focusing on the display of his phone as he dialed her numbers.

Sakura did a double take at Syaoran's appearance. Dark circles were under his eye and his unkempt looks told her that he didn't have a good rest as well. He looked somewhat different from his usual style in school. She jumped when her phone rang loudly and cursed inwardly when she remembered she didn't switch her phone to silent. It was pure luck that her phone didn't go off while they hid outside the office.

Syaoran's head snapped up when he heard the melodic ringtone and his eyes widened at the sight before him. Eriol merely grunted and walked out of the door, leaving the two of them alone.

Sakura was suddenly unsure of how to proceed from here onwards.

Before she could decide on what she wanted to tell him, he was off his chair and pulling her into his embrace.

To be continued

One more chapter to update! I'll see if I have time to do the editing today. Was the mystery around Meiling answered? :D