Title: An Endless Affair

Part 2: A New Rival for Syaoran

A vision of an enchanting girl, whose auburn hair was covered by a simple arrangement of cherry-blossoms leaned closer to him. Her hair became curtains as it swept his vision into the darkness. Sakura. Sakura. "Sakura!"

He woke up with a start. He glanced at the clock. It was 7 already! He was late. He jumped out of his rumpled bed and hurriedly threw some clothes from his suitcase on, and brushed his hair. He finished dressing as he ran out the door. He managed to flag down a taxi.

But as he rode in the yellow car, walking would be slightly slower, he thought dismally. He scowled. It was nearly 7:30 when he finally arrived at Sakura's home. He composed himself. He had just knocked on the door when he realized he had forgotten Sakura's present.

"DAMMIT!" He cursed fiercely, just as Touya opened the door.

"Not only does The Brat come late, The Brat also curses," Touya remarked with amusement.

"I'm fine, thanks," Syaoran said as he scowls once more.

Touya steps aside to let him enter as he chuckles at Syaoran's grumbled words. Syaoran stalks into the room and nearly runs right into a smiling Sakura. He stops and glances down at Sakura, who entwines her fingers into his right hand. It caused him to blush a deep red as he smiles a like a child that has just found a new toy.

Sakura says excitedly, "I thought it might be you, Syaoran-chan. How are you? I'm sorry I couldn't be here, but Miko really needed my help. You know I would have been there, if I could."

Syaoran smiled indulgently through his blush, "That's okay if you really needed to help Miko." He then thought, Who the hell is Miko?

Sakura affectionately hugs him and he returns the hug as she pulls him into the dining room. She lets go of his hand to sit in the empty chair between a black-haired boy and Tomoyo. He found the only seat that was left was next to Yukito. Yukito had the next best seat, he sat directly across from Sakura. Syaoran immediately realized who was missing from the head of the table and turned to look at Sakura with the question on his face.

Sakura answered, "Dad's at a meeting or else he'd be here!"

Syaoran nodded. But he was wondering who the black-haired boy was. He didn't have to contemplate very long because Sakura introduced them right away," Syaoran-chan, this is Miko-chan."

Miko greeted him courteously, but Syaoran saw that warmth and friendliness never reached his eyes as he responded, "Pleased to meet you, Miko-chan."

Yukito pushed the awkward situation away by asking, "Is there anymore food?"

Everyone looked at the bottomless pit before Sakura gasped and ran into the kitchen and brought out a nicely roasted chicken, "This is the last dish."

Yukito looked disappointed as Touya teased him, "Shouldn't you let someone else eat, too?

Yukito spared him a doe-like innocent, brown eye glance as he said with a mouth full of chicken, "Um. Yah, wah."

Sakura laughed and shook her head at Yukito. She waited until he was done chewing down his food before she asked, "What did you say, Yukito-chan?"

"Yeah, what did Snow Bunny say," clammered Kero, who flew into the room.

All eyes turned to Kero then back to Yukito, who gulped down another biteful before saying, "Uh. Yeah, wait until I'm full and I'll let the other's have some."

Touya groaned, "Then you'll be the only one full!"

Yukito licked his lips and ignored Touya, "What's for dessert?"

"Ice cream," Sakura said with a smile on her lips. Her smile brightened as she added, "I have enough for one Snow Bunny and one mighty Wolf."

She blushed at the same time as Syaoran, who saw the pained look on Miko before it was hidden by a smile of fake amusement. Tomoyo took the good nature of everybody and asked, "Now. I have a fashion show coming up. I could use a few models."

Everyone groaned. As she explained who she would need, "Now Miko is perfect for a tuxedo I was planning to debut, along with Touya. Yukito would be a darling in a sailor outfit. Syaoran would be perfect in a princess dress."

She was interrupted by a choking Syaoran and a laughing Miko. She glared at both of them and continued, "And of course. Sakura will wear all my other creations."

Sakura protested, "All? Others? How about Yukito-chan wearing some. He'd look like a girl with a wig."

Yukito tousled her hair affectionately, "No, I'm a Snow Bunny. You're the girl, Sakura-chan. By the way," glancing down at his empty bowl of ice cream, "Can I have some more?"

Sakura shook her head, but took the bowl and filled it to the brim even though it was his third bowl.

The discussion was up to discourage Tomoyo from using them as models. Touya and Syaoran managed to argue themselves out as Yukito said, "I'll do it. Sounds like fun."

Touya shot him a, 'You'll be sorry, Yuki' look.

Miko gave a mild argument before conceding, "I give up."

Tomoyo glowed, "Great 3 models. Better than I thought I would do!"

Sakura groaned. Yukito shot a confused look at Touya. Miko sighed.

* * * * *

"What kind of name is Miko?" said a disgruntled Syaoran to himself.

He looked at himself in the mirror. He wasn't vain. He hardly paid attention to his appearance as long as he was clearned and clothed. But now he did. It was all because of Sakura's Miko. Sakura's Miko. He was jealous. He found the feeling bizarre to say the least. It was very uncomfortable, too.

He stared at his feature and found everything lacking to Miko's dark good looks. He not only was shorter than Miko, he was also lacking Miko's more muscular tone. He shrugged. If Sakura wanted Miko he would do nothing to stop the blooming *new* relationship, not matter how much it hurt. He just wanted Sakura to be happy. That would be enough.

Anyways, he though sadly, I wasn't much competition against Yukito-san, so how can I threaten Miko-chan?

He shook his head and buried his rumpled chestnut head into his pillow. It didn't matter if he could have Sakura. It matter that she was happy. The voice in his mind contradicted him, "It does matter, Syaoran-chan."

He agreed as he fell asleep. His last thought was Miko was competition. He liked or loved, he conceded, Sakura in a way more than a friend. Or he wouldn't have had the pained look when Sakura had blushed when she called him a wolf. And he would have been more friendly, more warm to their introduction. How would he measure up to Miko's perfection? Syaoran was depressed as he fell into a deep sleep.

Written June 28-29, 2000

Notes: 1. Miko looks like a younger version of Touya. Technically he's not that much older than the couple. He's older than Sakura by exactly a month. =)
2. Email me @ holly_yih@hotmail.com for C+C! ^_^