Chapter 14 is here! First of all, sorry I'm late. Thankfully, I'm not going to be busy again any time soon, so it shouldn't happen again.
Before you start reading, I wanted to let everyone know that this chapter was inspired by a comment from Khiyo Gizele, one of my faithful readers. It was originally going to span over the entire weekend, but it was getting too long, and I didn't have time to finish writing it, so I decided to split it up into two. More about that after you've read the chapter.
Enjoy.
Sakura's POV
I wake up Saturday morning to the sound of banging. Very lazily, my head picks up off the pillow and glares at the bedroom door. "Shut up!" Two words and I feel like I've run a mile.
"I'm about to head out, so it's time for you to get up."
"Go away."
"No; get up."
"Ugh." Groaning, I swing one arm over the side of the bed. You've got this, Sakura. Very tactfully, I crawl forward on two arms until the rest of me slowly falls to the floor. There's a thump as my feet hit the wooden bed frame on the way down. Ow, much?
"What are you doing in there?"
"Getting up like you told me to." Stupid Touya. I have to crawl over to the door. Why is the doorknob so far away?
Before I can even attempt to reach up, the door swings open and Touya towers over me with an amused look. "Having some trouble there?"
"Remind me to hit you over the head when you get back from work."
"Whatever you say, little monster." He turns and walks down the hall before I can lung myself at is legs. Delaying the inevitable, I see. I'll get you sooner or later, Touya. Best be watching your back.
Ten minutes later, I'm downstairs, laying on the couch with my legs dangling over the end. Touya's footsteps and the sound of jingling keys makes me look up. "Alright, I'm about to head out."
"'Kay." I close my eyes again.
When I don't hear him move, I look again. Touya stands in the doorway looking down the hall at something. "So, you're going to stay here with him?" He must be looking at the door to the study. By the time I got home yesterday, Touya and dad had already been here for quite a while. Apparently as soon as they got back, dad locked himself in the study. He hasn't been out since; or at least not that I've seen.
"What else can I do? Mrs. Matsumoto told Chiharu and I that we're on mandatory leave until midterms are over.
Touya shakes his head. "Alright, just be sure to study." I nod. Sure, I'll try to study, but odds are I won't get much done. As he's about to leave, Touya swings his head back into the room and says, "By the way, you don't have to stay here. You can call up that tutor of yours if you want." I may have told him that my tutor was a girl. But, in my defense, if I hadn't, he never would have let me go in the first place. And if he knew it was Syaoran of all people... Well, that wouldn't roll over too well.
"Okay, Touya. I'll think about it."
Two hours later I'm on the phone dialing Syaoran's number. I tried to sit down and study by myself, but it didn't turn out too well. After missing most of yesterday's lesson, I figure now is as good of a time as any to make it up. Although, for all I know he might not be home. Even if he is, I doubt he'll want to spend the weekend tutoring me. Maybe I should just-
"Hello, Li residence." Too late. The voice on the other end doesn't belong to Syaoran, much to my relief; It's older and more raspy.
"H-hi, this is Sakura Kinomoto. Um, is Syaoran there?"
"Miss Kinomoto?" Wait a minute… That voice…
"Wei-san?" I'm grinning ear to ear.
"It's good to hear from you, young miss. After the young master brought you back to the house unconscious, I was terribly worried. Are you doing well?"
"Yes, I am; thank you for your concern."
"Of course. What was it you said about Syaoran-sama?"
"Oh, right. Is he there?"
"He is. Just got out of the shower, I believe." The thought of Syaoran coming out of a shower with nothing but a towel on turns my face bright red. "Would you like me to put him on?"
"Yes, please." No turning back now. You can do this, Sakura.
"Alright, it'll be just a moment." There's silence on the other end and I shift my weight uncomfortable while I wait.
"Hello?" Syaoran's voice makes me grab the counter for support. Damn it, I shouldn't have called. "Hello?" he repeats.
"Um, hi," I choke out. Clearly I can't do this.
"Sakura? Is that you?"
"Yeah," I say slowly, but nothing else.
"So, did you need something?"
"Er, yes... So, you know how yesterday we didn't really get to finish the lesson because I wasn't there for most of it?"
"Of course. You totally set us back. It was the last lesson."
"Yeah, sorry about that. Anyways, I, well, I'm not really doing anything right now, so- if you aren't busy- I was wondering if maybe-"
"You wanna finish the lesson today?"
"I know that it sounds a little strange, but I just figured-"
"Oh, no, not at all." There's rummaging on the other end. He sure agreed to that quickly. "Now we can finish up that review." There's a pause. "Do you want me to come over there, or-"
"No!" I say, a little too quickly. "I mean, it's just that Touya doesn't exactly know that you're the one tutoring me, so..."
"Oh, say no more. If not there, then do you want to come over here, or meet up somewhere."
"Actually, do you mind if I come over?" Before he gets the wrong idea, I say, "I spoke to Wei on the phone and, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to say hi."
"Sure, it's no trouble. When do you think you'll be coming? Do you want me to have Wei pick you up?"
"Nah, I can walk. Does an hour from now work?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, see you then." I quickly hang up before he can reply. That was way too stressful. Pressing my hand over my heart, I can feel it pounding against my ribcage. "Damn it," I curse. "Get a hold of yourself."
Syaoran's POV
When Wei came into my room and told me that I had a call, my first thought was that it was my mother checking in on me; so when Sakura's voice came through the other end, I more or less had a heart attack. Now she's coming over for tutoring. And it was her idea. I never would've thought this possible, but with Wei straightening up the house for her arrival, I can tell I must not have imagined the conversation.
I'm freaking out right now! Sakura is coming over to my apartment to study. Usually we work in the library which is a nice, neutral location. My house isn't a exactly a 'nice, neutral location'. Should've suggested the public library while I had the chance. Although, she wants to see Wei, so it's kind of unavoidable.
The sound of the doorbell nearly gives me a heart attack. "I've got it," I call to Wei.
The door swings open. On the other side, Sakura drops her hands from tugging at the bottom of her forest green blouse and looks up at me. Wow. It's been forever since I saw her in normal dat-to-day clothes. It's not that she doesn't look good in the school uniform, but the way her shirt brings out her eyes is absolutely hypnotizing.
"Hi," she says slowly. I bringing my gaze back up to meet hers.
"Yeah, hi." My body moves away from the door to let her through. "Come on in."
"Thanks." Inside, she puts a hand on the wall and takes her shoes off one at a time.
As we enter the main room, I ask, "So, what brought on the sudden urge to study?"
After glancing around, Sakura faces me. "Well, I felt a little bad about totally ditching you yesterday." Her face scrunches up as she says, "That, and my stomach keeps on sinking whenever I think about all the exams."
"Nerves getting to you?"
"A bit."
"Well then, we should probably get started. I'll go grab the books." I head off down the hall while Sakura takes a seat on the couch. Re-entering the living room, I say, "If you want we can start with math, since that's where you need the most work, or we could go over-"
"Miss Kinomoto?"
"Wei-san?" I look up in time to see Sakura jump up off the couch and throw herself at my butler who just entered the room. The poor old man nearly falls over from the force.
"S-Sakura?" What on earth has gotten into her? Sakura turns her head to the side and sticks her tongue out at me like a child. What the-
"It's nice to see you, young miss." The gray haired man chuckles.
"Nice to see you, too." She pulls back. "How have you been? Syao-kun hasn't been overworking you, has he?" I think I need to get my ears checked. Did she just call me, 'Syao-kun'? Shivers.
"What did you just call me?" I ask in disbelief.
Wei laughs at the joke. "Not at all, young miss."
"Good, but if he does, just let me know. I'll beat him up for ya." She says it with a goofy grin on her face; meanwhile, I just stand and gawk at her.
"You'll beat me up?" Did she forget that I'm a martial artist? The comment earns me a glare.
"I'll keep that in mind," Wei says with a smile. "Well, I'll let the two of you get to your studying then. Expect tea in a little bit." With that, Wei exits the room.
When he's out of earshot, I ask, "Did you just call me," my face scrunches up in disgust, "Syao-kun?"
An amused smile tugs at her lips as she walks over to me. I nearly jump out of my skin when she reaches up and puts her hand down on top of my head. "You bet I did, Syao-kun." Ugh. What the hell? Why is she talking to me like I'm a puppy? "Didn't I, Syao-kun?" Her hand roughly moves around on top of my head. "Didn't I?" She sounds out every syllable. I can feel my hair being tousled every which way. It's already hard enough to brush; why is she doing this to me? I glare at her with hunched shoulders and hands balled up in fists.
"What the hell, Sakura?"
She feigns a gasp and slaps the side of my head. Okay, now that was just rude. "Bad, Syao-kun," she fake scolds me. "Watch your mouth."
What? Is she for real? She's just as bad! "You're one to talk." Finally, unable to stand it anymore, I grab her wrist and pull it between us. "What in the world has gotten into you?"
"What do you mean?" Playing innocent, I see.
"I mean last week you were still calling me Li, and now you're giving me a pet name." And treating me like one.
"Syao-kun has always been your nickname," she states as if I should already know this.
"What... No it hasn't!"
"Yes it has. I just never called you it to your face because you would've freaked out. Kinda like you're doing right now." Ugh; this girl. "And don't get me wrong, you're still Li, but if you can call me Sakura to my face, then I can refer to you as Syao-kun when talking to Wei-san." If I had a free hand, I would slap the front of my face with the palm of my hand.
Suddenly, there's a tug as Sakura pulls her arm away from me. "Do me a favor; let go."
"Happy to oblige." I uncurl my fingers from her wrist.
"Good, now let's get started, shall we?" She reaches out and takes the books from my arm before I can object.
"Wonderful," I mumble sarcastically. "Off to work with the princess of mood swings."
"You say something?"
"Who: me? Of course not." If there's one thing I learned from growing up in a house with five women, it's not to comment on their behavior; no matter how crazy it may seem.
Sakura falls back onto the couch and drops the books onto the table at the exact same time. Staring at the pile of books in dread, she says, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."
"It was your's to begin with."
"I know. It seemed good a the time, but now- not so much."
I sit down next to her. "It'll be good practice." Out of the corner of my eye I can see her fidgeting, so I look at her and ask, "What?"
"It's just- Do you mind?" Mind what? She leans slightly away and watches me uncomfortably. What is she doing?
"No." It comes out as more of a question rather than a statement.
"Then would you move, please?" I look down. There's a good six inches between us. What's she so uptight about?
"No." I sigh in irritation and grab her arm when she tries to move. She doesn't make another attempt to relocate, but I can see the look of longing she casts upon the empty space beside her. "I don't bite."
"I know, but..."
"But nothing. Let's get to work."
The second I close the book, Sakura jumps up. "Well, this has been productive, but I think it's time we call it a day."
She's been anxious to 'call it a day' ever since I sat down next to her on the couch. I almost felt a little bad about keeping her there. She was clearly uncomfortable, since every time I would lean to close to her, she would stiffen up. It kind of bothered me. Am I really that bad to be around? It was her idea to do this.
"If we're done, then I'll walk you home."
"What?" She spins around. "Why?"
Geez, no need to seem so horrified. "We've been at it for hours. It's getting late and the sun is going down. If you don't mind, I'd rather you not walk home alone."
"Oh. Um, alright."
"Great." I stand up and glance over my shoulder at the kitchen. "Give me a minute; okay?" Sakura nods, and I slip past the couch and down the hall into the kitchen.
"Wei." The gray-haired man turns around. "I'm going to walk Sakura home, so I'll be gone for a little bit."
"Now? Would she like to stay for dinner?"
"I don't think so. She seems to be in a bit of a hurry."
"I see," Wei says, sounding disappointed. It's nice how well the two of them get along. Although, it makes me seem like the bad guy that they haven't been able to speak for the past seven years. But I'm always the bad guy when it comes to just about anything Sakura related. "Do you know if she'll be back again tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?" The thought hadn't even occurred to me. "Wasn't planning on it. Why?"
"It's just nice to see Sakura-sama again after all of this time. She's grown into quite the beautiful young lady, hasn't she?" He gives me one of those looks, but I simply roll my eyes.
"Yes, she has." A fact that I'm all too aware of. "And something tells me that getting to see her isn't the only thing on your mind."
Wei chuckles. "You're right as usual, Syaoran-sama. It's not just me who enjoys having her around." Oh great, here we go. "You've changed ever since this tutoring started. It used to be nearly impossible to get you to smile, but just the other day, you came back home smiling brighter than I've seen you smile in years." He must be talking about the day that Sakura agreed to give me a second chance. I came home and Wei looked at me as though he was seeing an alien species land on Earth.
"I think you're exaggerating just a bit there."
"Am I?" For an old man, he sure can be cunning. "I've seen that bear you keep on your desk." Darn it. Do I need to hide that or something? "You never did stop loving her, did you?"
At his words, my heart jumps, and I quickly look down the hall to make sure Sakura is nowhere in sight. "For crying out loud, Wei; she's still in the house, you know."
Lightheartedly, he says, "Forgive me, Syaoran-sama. It's hard to miss, though. Your face brightens whenever she's in the room. Ah, to be young and in love."
"You make it sound like I'm some lovesick teenage girl."
He simply chuckles again. "I mean it in the best of ways."
"I know you do, Wei." I glance back to the entrance to the kitchen. "She's still waiting for me, so I should probably go. I'll be back in a bit." With a wave, I head back into the living room.
My eyes automatically search the room for Sakura's green shirt. They find her admiring one of the paintings on the wall. I'm about to speak when something stops me in my tracks. Whether it's the intense look of interest on her face, or the realization of how beautiful she looks while observing it, I don't know for sure. All I know for sure is that I can't look away.
I don't know how much time has passed when Sakura realizes that I'm in the room. She just suddenly blinks and turns to me. "Oh, I didn't hear you." She glances back at the painting one last time before walking up to me. "Are you ready?" I know what she's saying, but I can't seem to form a response. My silence earns me a concerned look from Sakura.
"Li?" Her eyes are so green.
"Li." I would stare into them forever if she'd let me.
"Li." Her voice drags on out the 'i' sound. The way her lips part shows her bright white teeth.
"Li!" It's adorable when she gets that annoyed little pout on her face.
"Syaoran!" It's like a smack to the face. I abruptly pull back from the fingers that just snapped in front of my face.
"What?" Sakura watches me with troubled eyes.
"You totally just spaced out. Are you okay?"
Talk about embarrassing. "Yeah. Sorry about that; I'm fine." Fine and trying to shrug off the fact that I just got lost in her presence. "Let's get going, then."
Sakura's POV
Achoo! "Stupid autumn," I grumble.
"You cold?" Next to me, Syaoran leans over to see my face.
"N-no. Not at all." Lies. I'm full of lies. Before he can say anything, I ask, "So, will I get to see Wei again? If he ever drove you to school, I'd get to say hi, but he doesn't."
"He offers, but I always turn him down."
"What?" I stare at him in disbelief. "Why?"
"I prefer walking. It's good excursive." Damn physically fit rich kids. If he weren't standing right next to me, I'd be mocking him right now. "Actually, now that you've mentioned it, I wanted to ask you..." He pauses, so I give him a nod of encouragement. Just spit it out. "Do you want to come over again tomorrow?"
"Huh?"
"You know; to study. Exams are Monday, and we're probably both going to be studying anyways. Why not just do it at the same time?"
Because the more time I spend with you, the more I can feel myself losing myself again. Can't say that, so I decide to go with, "Won't I just be in your way?"
"Not at all. Teaching you is also really good practice for me." Of course it is.
"Um, alright then," I reluctantly agree. "When should I come over, then?"
"Whenever. I usually get up and train at six." Six? Like, six in the morning? What's wrong with him? "Then I eat and shower. Usually I finish with all of that around eight, so pretty much any time after that. Do you have a preference?"
"No. Not really." I don't even wake up until eight. "Is nine alright, then?"
"Yeah. Do you want to walk again, or should I send Wei this time?"
"I can walk. Besides, I'd prefer to be as on the down low as possible. No offense."
"None taken."
Out of nowhere, the breeze picks up, sending shivers down my spine. Achoo! Great. Yet another sneeze.
"That's the second time since we left." Why is he counting? "Here." Syaoran pulls off his jacket and hands it to me. "Put this on. It's not much, but it's better than nothing."
I almost object, but then change my mind, taking the jacket form his arms. "Thank you." I pull it on. The jacket is a bit large, but in a good way. When I bring my arms to my sides, the sleeves go down and stop just above my fingertips. Feeling bold, I shrug my arms even farther into the jacket, and swing so that the sleeves of the jacket hit Syaoran in the arm.
When I do it, Syaoran looks, sees what I'm up to and cracks a smile. "What are you doing?" He chuckles.
"Attacking you with your very own jacket." I don't know, to be honest. The only thing I do know is that this is fun. Being with Syaoran and not having a care in the world. I feel like a kid again; which is perhaps the most terrifying part of all this, because my time with him is almost up. I built walls around myself specifically so that this wouldn't happen. How does he do this? Why does he have to make me feel so happy whenever I'm around him. It isn't fair... But for some reason, I couldn't care less.
This one was fun to write. Took a while, but worth it in my opinion.
So, in regards to the second part of this a.k.a. the second part of S&S's study weekend, since it's meant to be with this, and I updated this late, I've decided to post next chapter early. By early, I mean I'll be posting it sometime Wednesday. Most likely late afternoon. It's still a work in progress, but it has a lot more character development and all that other boring stuff made fun.
Again, sorry that this was late. Hope to see you all Wednesday.