Last Update: January 4, 2015

Today sure seems to be the day for editing, doesn't it? This is the third in one day. Talk about productiveness. Or procrastination towards chapter 29. Just depends on your point of view.

Syaoran's POV

I wake up Tuesday morning to the sound of my alarm clock blaring next to me. Rolling onto my side, I open a single eye and look to see what time it is. Seven thirty, I read. Well, that can't be right. I don't get up for another hour.

Turning the alarm off, I close my eyes again. Then, less than a minute later, it hits me. The events of yesterday flood my mind.

That's right–I have to tutor Sakura this morning. And basically every other morning until who-knows-when.

As I push myself out of bed and into the shower, I make a mental note to ask Mr. Terada how long the torture is going to last.

Twenty minutes later, I'm putting on my shoes, about to walk out the door, when a voice calls from behind me, "Would you like to take the car today, Young Master?" I look over at Wei, shaking my head.

"No, not today," I tell him. He bows and sees me out.

I don't rush making my way to school; instead, I make an effort of walking slowly. I'm really not looking forward to spending an hour trying to talk to a girl who never wants to listen to me.

When I arrive, I find Sakura leaning against the front gate with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. As I head towards her, she looks up from her watch, fixes me with a glare and hisses, "You're late." She then proceeds to push herself off the wall and skate into the building.

Great. This is going to be so much fun. At least she's talking to me, though. That's a good place to start.

Inside, I switch out my shoes and head over Sakura's row. I find her still unstrapping her protective gear, so I lean against the lockers while waiting for her.

"So, where do you wanna do this? Library or classroom?"

Her head doesn't move as she says, "Doesn't matter to me." She shoves her things in the shoe locker and turns to me. "You're the teacher." The locker door slams shut. "You decide." With the wave of her hand she gestures for me to pass.

"Library it is."

Five minutes later, we're sitting across from each other in the library. "Got any preference as to where we get started?" She shrugs, and I nod. "No, of course you don't." To this she raises an eyebrow. Looks like I'll have to watch my tongue. "Math it is, then."

Personally, math is my favorite subject, but judging by the groan and look of disgust on Sakura's face, I can tell she doesn't share my view of it. There are just some things that never seem to change.

"Alright, for starters, I'll need to get an idea of where you stand. Do these problems."

I rest my cheek against my palm and watch her brows crease together as she stares down at the problems in complete and utter confusion. Slowly, she starts writing next to one of the problems, only to scribble it out and write something else. After jumping around from problem to problem, writing little things and scribbling them out, she finally scribbles extra hard on one and throws down the pencil.

"This is so stupid! Why do we have to do this, anyways?" She crosses her arms, leans back in her chair, and turns her attention out the window.

I mimic her actions, but instead of looking outside, I look directly at her. "Look, I don't wanna be here any more than you do, Kinomoto." She turns to look at me again. Good, that means she's listening. "But we're here now, so we may as well just get this over with."

I can see her trying to read me. A minute later, she finally uncrosses her arms with a sigh. "Alright, fine. I suppose you have a point. So, what's next?"

Wow. That was a lot easier that I thought it would be. I, too, unfold my arms and lean forward. Picking up the paper, I carefully examine her work. As I read over it, I have to run a hand through my hair. "This is going to be a lot harder than I thought," I mumble without realizing it. Crap! Definitely should not have said that.

"Excuse me?"

Oh, for crying out loud, can't we go more than thirty seconds without her getting mad at me for one reason or another?

Trying to distract her, I quickly say, "So, how's your arm?"

She blinks, clearly not expecting the question. I watch the anger in her eyes give way to confusion. "Huh? Oh, right." She glances at her arm. "It's fine. See?" Putting on a fake smile, she rolls her shoulder. "All better," she proclaims, her voice just a bit too high.

"Uh-huh. So, you went to the doctor then?" I already know the answer, but decide to ask anyways.

"No need. It's fine," she replies, only partly lying. It's true that she didn't go to the doctor, but by no means is it 'fine'.

"Right," I say, focusing back on the paper. "Well, it looks like we'll have to work on your math skills." Sakura groans and rolls her head back. "For starters, I think we should go over the basics. You need to have a strong foundation if you want to be able to do the more difficult problems."

"Right. Whatever you say, sensei." She rolls her eyes.

I look up from the paper. What did she just call me?

"What did you just call me?" I have to be sure. She looks up and meets my gaze. I can tell she's a little surprised by the look I'm giving her.

"You know, because you're telling me what to do like teachers do. I just thought-" I hold up my index finger and cut her off before she can finish.

"Don't ever call me that again."

She raises her eyebrows and looks away with a low whistle. "Well, okay then. We'll just leave it at Li."

That doesn't seem to make it much better, but I just look back down at the paper and proceed to tell her what she needs to do. The next half hour is spent with her trying to do problems and me having to explain how to do them step by step. Finally, right when I'm about to throw in the towel, I hear her call out to me.

"Hey, Li." I look up at her, eyebrows raised waiting for her to ask me something. "Can you look at this one?" She hands me her paper and points to the problem she just finished.

I really don't want to have to keep explaining this to her. Reluctant to do so, I reach out, take it from her and read over it, running a hand through my hair. When I reach the end, my hand freezes, and my eyes widen. I withdraw my hand from the unkempt locks of hair above my head and grasp the other end of the paper, rapidly rereading it. And then I read it a third time, just to make sure I'm not hallucinating.

"What? What's wrong?" Her voice is panicked, and she leans across the table to see the paper, nearly bumping foreheads with me. Instinctively, I pull back from the suddenly close proximity, staring wide-eyed up at her.

The hell-?

She looks up at me abruptly. "What did I do wrong?" I barely even hear her question. Her breath flutters against my skin, and her emerald eyes stare right back at me. Snap out of it, Syaoran!

"Nothing," I manage to choke out. Her eyes widen.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing," I repeat.

For a moment, she just stands there, staring at me as if trying to find some trace of evidence to suggest I'm lying to her–which I'm not. Finally–much to my relief–she pulls back and falls into her chair. Ever so slowly, a smile creeps onto her face, and she says, "Mr. Terada was sure right about one thing. You've got this teaching thing down to a tee."

Well that's nice to know, but that question was from the beginning of the year.

But who cares about that? This whole entire situation is giving me the chills! Why is she talking to me so casually? What–because I helped her get a single math problem right on her own, all of a sudden she doesn't hate me anymore? If I had know it was this simple, I would have given it a shot seven years ago!

Of course, seven years ago things were a lot more complicated.

The sound of the five minute warning bell wakes me from my trance. Even Sakura seems to snap out of a trance. I stand up, grab my books from the table, and shove them into my bag. "We should get to class," I tell her. She nods and grabs her things. I don't wait for her, but rather turn and walk away, slinging my bag over my shoulder in the process. I can hear Sakura following behind me, but I don't turn.

We walk in silence to the classroom, Sakura following close behind me the entire way. Even though it only makes sense, seeing how we're in the same class and all, it still feels strange.

By the time we reach the classroom, we still have a good two minutes to spare. When Mr. Terada walks in at the same time the bell rings and sees us in the back, I can see a smile creep its way onto his lips. At least he'll be in a good mood now. That's gotta count for something. Terada is never any fun when he's angry, but make him happy and the whole day starts looking a lot brighter.

Sakura's POV

Class is rather painless today, to be honest. I assume Mr. Terada must be in a good mood. Still, when the lunch bell rings, I'm relieved to say the least.

Turning to Tomoyo, I say, "Thank goodness. I didn't think I'd be able to last much longer. My stomach is trying to digest itself right now, I swear." She smiles back at me. "You got any apple slices today?"

"Of course! Do you want to eat here or the rooftop?"

I'm about to reply when Syaoran stands up behind me and speaks.

"Actually, Daidouji, if you don't mind, I need to borrow Kinomoto for a little while."

I look up at him to see he's looking down at Tomoyo, who's eyes dart from him to me in confusion. She gives me a questioning look, and I shrug to let her know I'm equally clueless. The action causes mild pain which I choose to ignore.

"What for, if you don't mind me asking?"

He gives her an understanding smile. "Not at all. I need to talk to her about tutoring stuff."

Tomoyo's eyes widen. "Oh, of course! She's all yours." Syaoran gives her an appreciative smile. What are you saying, Tomoyo? She turns to me. "I'll wait for you on the roof." With that, Tomoyo stands and exits the classroom.

When she's gone, Syaoran turns to me and lets his smile fade away into a serious face. "Follow me."

"Excuse me?"

He walks to the door and turns when I don't follow. " Are you coming?"

I cross my arms and lean back. "Why should I?" I challenge. I can't believe Tomoyo would entrust me to him! She knows I don't like him.

A scowl appears on his face as he walks back over to me, reaches out and grabs my upper right arm. His touch is gentle, but I still wince and bite my lip. He lets go almost immediately. "That's why. Now get up, you're coming with me."

Damn him and his stupid observation skills. "I told you it was fine."

His eyes narrow. "Yeah, and clearly that was a lie."

I glare up at him. We have a staring contest for a minute, but in the end, I forfeit and rise to my feet. He's not going to leave me alone until he I follow him, anyways. May as well get this over with. I slip past him and lead the way to the door. He goes out first, and I follow close behind.

Walking down the halls, I can't help commenting, "You sure played Tomoyo back there." He just shrugs. "Why did you lie to her?"

"Did you tell her about what happened yesterday?"

"No," I say slowly.

He nods. "Exactly. I wasn't about to be the one to tell her and have her start worrying. If you wanted her to know, she already would."

I think about it. "I suppose." After a moment, I can't help asking, "How did you know, anyways?"

He smirks. "Well, you aren't exactly the best at hiding it." He glances over his shoulder at me. "Not to mention that you've always been too stubborn for your own good."

I freeze. Sensing that I've stopped, he turns his body ninety degrees and looks back at me. "Don't talk like you know me, Li."

At this, he raises an eyebrow. "Oh, but don't I?"

I glower at him. "No. You don't."

For a moment, he doesn't say anything–simply looks me up and down before stoping to watch my face. Finally, he speaks. "No. You're right, Kinomoto; I don't know you." He pauses. "Don't know why I ever thought otherwise." He turns and continues walking like nothing happened.

We walk the rest of the way to the nurse's office in silence. When we arrive, Syaoran slides the door open and gestures for me to go in first. I comply, walking through the doorway ahead of him.

Inside, I'm surprised to find two familiar faces already there. One of them is, of course, the school nurse, Ms. Mizuki. The other, however, is the face of the kind and gentle Sasaki Rika. Rika in the same class as Syaoran and I, but I don't know much about her. She moved to Tomoeda around five years ago, and transferred into Tomoeda's junior high school. We've been in the same class since she first arrived, but we've never really spoken much. Sometimes she acknowledges me in the halls or says good morning to me, but that's about it. I'm also pretty sure that she's friends with Chiharu. Even Tomoyo hangs out with her after school sometimes.

"Sakura-chan. Li-kun." Rika smiles brightly when she sees us.

When Rika and I first met, she insisted that I refer to her by her first name, so I told her she could call me Sakura if she wanted. She's called me 'Sakura-chan' ever since.

I smile back. By the looks of it, Rita and Ms. Mizuki were just in the middle of a conversation. "Sorry to interrupt. Should we wait outside?"

Rika stands up from the stool across from Ms. Mizuki. "No, I should get going anyways." She turns to Ms. Mizuki. "Thank you for listening to me, Mizuki-sensei." She moves to the door again, and Syaoran steps out of the way. "It was nice seeing you Sakura-chan; Li-kun." A moment later she's vanished from the doorway.

With Rika gone, Ms. Mizuki turns her attention to Syaoran and I. "Kinomoto. Li. What brings the two of you to see me today?" She pauses to look between the two of us. "And at the same time. I never would have expected to see the two of you walk in here together."

Ms. Mizuki used to be our long-term substitute for math back in elementary school, which is how she knows us now. I had actually gone to her a few times to talk before my mother's death, and then one last time afterwards. She's an amazing listener, so a lot of the students go to her to talk. Some even say she should become the school's guidance councilor instead, because she's so good with all the students. She also knew Syaoran and I before our friendship ended, which explains her comment.

"Yeah," I say, throwing a sideways glance at Syaoran. "That makes two of us."

Syaoran ignores me. "Kinomoto needs to have her right arm checked out." Before she can ask, he adds, "She ran into the wall outside the school yesterday while on rollerblades. Took a pretty nasty fall."

Ms. Mizuki raises her eyebrows. "Oh, I see. Well, Ms. Kinomoto, please take a seat." I follow her instructions. "Now, I'm going to need you to unbutton your blouse for me. Li, will you please wait outside for a little while?" Syaoran nods and walks out of the room, shooting me a warning look before he leaves. I don't know why, though. It's not like I'm going to try to escape now that we're already here.

When I'm one hundred percent sure that Syaoran's outside, I begin unbuttoning my shirt. When I'm finished pulling it off, I'm left with just my cami on. I suppose it could be worse. I turn so my right shoulder is facing Ms. Mizuki and wait for her to examine it.

After she looks over it, she wheels her chair back to her desk and grabs out some bandages. "Luckily for you nothing seems to be out of place, but I still want to bandage it up. The bruise, at least, is as bad as it's going to get. It could take a week or two to get better, though. Try to let your arm rest until then." She says all this while bandaging my arm. When she's done, she tells me to put my blouse back on. Once I finish buttoning and she's put away the bandages, Ms. Mizuki opens the door to let Syaoran back in.

When he walks in, he has his hands shoved in his pockets. "So, will she live?" He's got that smirk again.

Ms. Mizuki just laughs. "I think so." She glances down at me and then looks back at Syaoran. "Just do me a favor and don't let her go running into any more walls, would you?"

Syaoran chuckles. "I'll see what I can do." I look at him like he's crazy. Seriously?

Ms. Mizuki smiles and looks over to me. "You're good to go, Ms. Kinomoto. Be more careful from now on." I nod and stand up.

"I will," I say, following Syaoran to the door. "Thank you," I call out as we leave.

Syaoran's POV

We're on our way back to the classroom to pick up our lunch when Sakura suddenly speaks. "Just so we're clear, Li, I have no intention of spending any more time with you than I have to." Her tone is harsh.

"Really?" I roll my eyes. "I never would have guessed."

"I just wanted to make myself perfectly clear."

Well, you don't need to outright say it to me. Your attitude alone basically screams it. "You don't need to tell me." I look down at her. "I'm perfectly aware of how much you hate me."

She frowns and looks over at me confused. "Why does everyone think that? Just because I don't like you doesn't mean I hate you."

"Oh. My mistake," I say sarcastically. "You just avoid me at all costs, and when that fails, you act like I'm some jerk who's rude to you every time we talk, which is pretty much never."

"Oh, please! Don't act like you're all innocent, Li."

Alright, now she's just looking to pick a fight.

At that moment, we reach the classroom, and I turn to face her head-on. "You really wanna do this right now?" I raise both my eyebrows and give her a dead serious look. She stares at me for a while, but doesn't say anything. "I didn't think so."

I can see in her eyes that she wants to retaliate. Still, she must know somewhere deep down that if she does, it could lead to her finally acknowledge the past, so she visibly sets her jaw and stays silent. There's a moment of silence before I finally turn and enter the classroom. I don't look at her as I grab my things and exit the room.

Sakura's POV

I make sure that Syaoran is all the way down the hall before I leave to meet Tomoyo. When I open the door to the roof, I'm surprised to find that Tomoyo isn't alone. Sitting beside her is none other than Rika Sasaki, who I just saw leave the nurse's office not ten minutes ago.

"Sakura," Tomoyo calls out in an 'angry' voice. Tomoyo's 'angry' voice is really her scolding voice. If she's using it, then that means I must have done something to make her mad. "What is this I hear about you and Li-kun going to see Ms. Mizuki? What happened? Did you get hurt and not tell me about it? And how come Li-kun was there?"

I should've seen this coming.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. Tomoyo mentioned that she was waiting for you, so I just figured she already knew."

I shake my head. "It's fine, Rika-chan," I tell her, smiling reassuringly. "I should have told Tomoyo, anyways."

"That's right, so explain yourself." Tomoyo crosses her arms, but I can see the worried look in her eyes. I almost feel a little bad for not telling her sooner, but, like Syaoran said, I didn't want her to worry. Looks like I only made it worse, though.

I walk over to her and sit down. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier, Tomoyo. Truth is that yesterday, on my way out of school, I kind of ran into the brick wall surrounding the school, so when Syaoran came in and said he needed to talk to me about tutoring, it was really just because he wanted to drag me off see to the nurse."

Tomoyo looks worried, and then frowns. "Okay, but how did Li-kun know about it?"

"Oh, well..." I scratch my cheek. "This is really embarrassing, but the reason I ran into the wall was because I was avoiding a full-on collision with him." Tomoyo blinks, wide eyed. "He told me to go to the doctor, but I kind of ignored him."

"Sakura!"

"I know, I know, but even Ms. Mizuki said it's not that bad," I claim, giving her a reassuring smile. Tomoyo simply sighs.

"I give up. You'll never listen to me, anyways. I'll be sure to thank Li-kun later."

My jaw drops. "What? Why?"

Tomoyo brings up her index finger. "Because as much as you hate-" She catches my glare. "Excuse me. Dislike him," I nod in approval and she continues, "he still helped you, and since I'm your best friend, I would like to personally thank him for that."

"You're too nice," I tell her, rolling my eyes.

"Maybe so, but I think that's a good thing."

Of course you do, I want to say.

I turn to Rika. "Sorry you have to hear us bickering. We aren't always like this."

Rika shakes her head. "I think it shows how close you two are. But if you don't mind me asking, Sakura-chan, why do you refer to Li-kun by his given name here, when you call him Li to his face?"

Tomoyo giggles. "Oh, you better watch out, Rika-chan. Sakura hates talking about anything Li-related." I wave her off.

Rika looks surprised. "Oh, I'm sorry. You don't have to answer; I was just wondering."

"It's fine, Rika-chan." I smile sadly. "Syaoran and I have a complicated relationship." Tomoyo rolls her eyes as if saying that it's so much more than just that. "We were friends back in elementary school."

Rika's eyes widen. "Really? What happened?"

Memories dance across my mind, and I bite my bottom lip. "I don't really like to talk about it." Rika nods to show she understands. "I never really stopped thinking of him as Syaoran, but I call him Li to his face because I don't want to give him the wrong idea, I guess. I've never really thought much of it. It just seems like the right thing to do."

It's true, but there's more to it than just that. I was also afraid that if I kept calling him Syaoran, I would start to let him back in. And that was the last thing I wanted. Last thing that I want, even now.

"Oh. I had no idea. You and Li-kun just seem so..." She doesn't finish her sentence. "But I can see why now. It's always hard being near someone who used to be your friend."

I can't help but smile. "You've had the same problem, Rika-chan?"

She shrugs. "Hasn't everyone?"

Yeah, I guess she's right. I never would have imagined that Rika would be able to understand. She seems so kind and positive, like everything in her life is perfect. Still, in the end, everyone has at least one person who they were close to at one point, then something happens to separate them. Those select few who haven't don't understand the pain of losing a friend, and looking into Rika's eyes now, I can see that she understands. She has that sad look of nostalgia in her eyes that I know all too well.

I decide not to press her for details, especially when she was so considerate towards my feelings. I simply say, "Yes. I never thought of it that way, but you have a point."

The rest of lunch is spent with us talking about classes and the cold weather that has started to blow in with the Autumn breeze. Even though I engage in the conversation, my mind is elsewhere. It explores a possibility that I never thought about until now. The possibility that I could allow someone else besides just Tomoyo into my heart. I begin to wonder what it would be like to call Rika my friend. At one point or another, a completely different thought altogether crosses my mind. I have to stop and ask myself: Do I want to call Rika my friend?

The question haunts me the entire day. Even at work, my mind is somewhere else. The realization happens on my way home from work that night. I'm just walking down the street when I happen to look into an ice cream parlor across the street from me, and what I see makes me pause mid-stride. It's a group of girls, not much younger than myself, all sitting around a circular table, eating ice cream and laughing together. It's as I watch them that I realize the answer.

Yes. I want to be able to call Rika my friend. I want that life. I want to be able to go out with friends and talk and laugh and have a good time.

So what's stoping me?

Nothing, I realize. Nothing but myself and my own fear. So I make a promise to myself. I will make Rika Sasaki my friend, even if it takes me the rest of my senior year.