Chapter 11: Back in Japan
oh, it almost finished me, what with all my homework
my math teacher gave me this week {sob sob} but I
got the chapter done! oh yeah, this is all S+S fluff.
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I DONT OWN CARDCAPTORS
I DONT OWN THE CHARACTERS OF CARDCAPTORS
I DONT OWN THE STUFF IN CARDCAPTORS
HECK, I DONT EVEN OWN ANY PART OF CARDCAPTORS
DONT SUE ME, CLAMP OWNS CARDCAPTORS, I HAVE NO MONEY
we-ell, all the stuff I make up are mine, of course
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eighteen year-old Syaoran Li arrived back at the apartment.
He carried
his backpack, and his serious amber eyes were shining with excitement.
His small suitcase was set down beside him. 'Don't worry, Mom,
I'll BUY
clothes in Japan!' Syaoran had told his mom.' "I'm finally
back. I'm
finally back with my cherry blossom." he said quietly aloud.
He walked
into his old apartment. "Hello, Syaoran Li, we have been
waiting for
you," a nice, older woman said. "Hello, Mrs. Takhasi,"
Syaoran said,
bowing his head slightly. "Now, we had your old apartment
held for you.
However, there has been a change of plans. This arrived just
an hour ago.
It was express," the older woman said, handing an envelope
to Syaoran.
Syaoran curiously opened it.
Dearest brother,
We have decided to get you a dorm at the local college. You have
never
been sociable, and you need to live it up. Mrs. Takhasi was so
nice to
agree over the phone to have her daughter put you in a dorm.
All expenses
are paid, you are to pick the extracurriculars yourself. Among
them are
soccer, and sword-fighting, which Mei knows you'll enjoy. She
is dancing
around the room in happiness right now. Mother has agreed to
give you
some money to start it easy, you know, to buy clothes. If you
need more,
just write us, we have a bank account saved up just for you!
Mother has
been planning it for years. Enjoy yourself in college, don't
do anything
you'll regret, and remember to find your dearest cherry blossom
and say
hello to her for us!
Your loving sisters,
Mei Li
Mei-Lee Li
Mei-Fa Li
Mei-La Li
Syaoran looked up from the letter. "Okay, so where is
the college?" he
asked. "It's Tomoeda College, and I'll have a taxi take
you there," she
said. "But, I don't... you don't have... you see,"
Syaoran started to
protest. Mrs. Takhasi waved him off. "The taxi's already
here and paid
for by your mother and sisters. Go, it's not far, Syaoran. Goodbye!"
she
called cheerfully as she pushed him into the taxi. It zoomed
away towards
Tomoeda college.
Inside, he waved to the taxi driver and went to the reception
desk,
where a teenager about his age was typing away, her glasses on
top of the
computer. "Hello, are you Ami Takhasi?" Syaoran inquired.
Ami looked up.
"Oh, I was expecting you, Syaoran! Welcome back to Japan.
I'll take you
to your dorm. This one, the Waterfall Dorm, is for boys and girls
who
take sports, whether it's soccer or baseball or cheerleading
or
gymnastics. The dorms are all named after things in nature, such
as the
Snow dorm for the girls who take music, guests and permanent
students,
and the Oak Dorm, for guest and student boys who take music.
There are
many more, to make traveling around campus to classes easier
for them.
Guests and visitors come often for competitions and shows, so
we bunk
them with their fellow visitors in the same building as the students
so
they socialize better," Ami said clearly, leading him towards
the biggest
dorm around the quad. The quad had tall, bushy oak trees that
provided a
lot of shade and some flowers around it. Two-foot brick walls
surrounded
the single trees in a circle. It would be a nice place to relax,
winter
or summer, because there were comfortable looking benches right
next to
the tree.
"Why is the Waterfall Dorm the biggest?" Syaoran asked.
"A lot of
students take sports, and like I told you, boys AND girls live
here.
Besides, it's better if teammates are in the same building, it's
easier
to get to know each other that way because you can't leave your
dorm at
night. Safety policy," Ami said, and Syaoran nodded. "What
if the
students take sports AND music?" Syaoran asked. "Not
to be a bother to
you or anything," Syaoran quickly added. "Not a problem!
I'm here to
answer your questions. If they play a lot of extracurriculars,
then they
get to choose. After all, if the kid had all their classes with
their
musical friends, they obviously shouldn't bunk with them because
then
they would have almost no time except for practices and games
to get to
know the sports team. But it is usually their choice, we try
to mix the
classes around," Ami explained. Syaoran nodded, and they
stepped inside
the air-conditioned building. "Classes started a month ago,
so you're a
bit late, but I'm sure you can catch up. The registration desk
is right
over there, you sign up for all extracurriculars there, as well
as
receiving your schedule and dorm number. If you ever have any
questions,
remember you can always come to my office, or better yet, talk
to the
other students here! Ja!" Ami cheerfully waved, and went
back towards her
office.
Syaoran stepped up to the registration desk. "Hello-o,"
the girl there
said. She fluttered her eyelashes casually, and twirled her hair
around
her finger. "My name is Syaoran Li, I just moved here from
Hong Kong. I
believe my family has registered me in the school already, so
all I need
to do is get my schedule and sign up for extras," Syaoran
bluntly said,
his voice cold. The girl looked at him, eyes half-closed, gazing
at him
piercingly. Syaoran could tell that this girl was going to hit
on him.
'Well, the only girl I want is Sakura,' Syaoran thought in defiance.
The
registration girl printed out the information, and she typed
in and
signed Syaoran up for three extracurriculars: soccer, basketball,
and
sword-fighting (fencing, we'll call it from now on). "Remember,
you can
always quit if you absolutely have to, Li-san, you know, if you
need time
to, like, go out," the girl said, standing up slowly. She
was in a VERY
short skirt. Syaoran, deliberately not noticing, turned around
and headed
for his dorm, suitcase in tow. "Sorry, miss, but I am not
interested,"
Syaoran said, and walked towards his dorm. The girl scowled and
sat down,
obviously understanding the clear message.
A week later, Syaoran had become the star of the basketball,
soccer, and
fencing teams. His skill attracted a lot of girls, but Syaoran
just
couldn't seem to find Sakura. His practices never conflicted,
for Ami and
her assistants knew that some people signed up for a lot of sports,
so
each sport was on a different day of each week. But he still
couldn't
find Sakura, something that bothered him an awful lot. Of course,
his
roommate, Justin Kimayato, was a lot of help, pointing out the
fields and
buildings and classrooms. Justin was in five of his classes,
but not in
his math class, because after a day Syaoran had been transferred
to the
advanced math. Syaoran was all settled in, comfortable with his
roommate,
who had a good taste in colors (greens of all shades) and who
was also on
the basketball team. 'Now, everything's fine... except for all
those
girls hanging around me... and I still have to find Sakura. Too
bad I'm
to proud to ask Justin about THIS. He'll tease me until I stop
the sun
from coming up,' Syaoran thought grimly.
The next day, Syaoran sat, bored, in math class, his last
class of the
day. His teacher was someone named Ms. Fuyato. The bell rang.
"You are
all dismissed. Syaoran, please come see me after your soccer
practice
today," she said pleasantly, and left. Everyone walked out,
and Syaoran
met up with Justin in the hallway. "You have soccer practice
today,
right?" he asked Syaoran. Syaoran nodded. "Wanna shoot
some hoops
afterwards?" he asked. "Sorry, Ms. Fuyato asked to
see me after practice.
See you later, Justin," Syaoran waved, and jogged through
the hallways to
the boys locker room.
Right when he stepped onto the field, a whole flock of girls
ran up to
him, surrounding him. Syaoran gritted his teeth, walking stiffly
through
him. The coach clapped his hands, and surprise (this guy had
to quit
elementary school teaching to do this) Mr. Terada was the coach.
"Hello
Mr. Terada," Syaoran said, and ran over to his friends,
who were
stretching. "Alright, class, today we'll work on only one
side of the
field because the cheerleaders need the other side. If I see
that your
attention strays, you'll have to run extra laps! This scrimmage
will
focus on foot technique and strategy! Okay, start the game in
teams A and
B!" he called to them. They began a rough scrimmage, and
as Mr. Terada
said, the small field forced them to focus on their footwork
and
strategy. "Alright, guys, subs in!" Mr. Terada yelled,
and the subs went
in for some players. Syaoran got to rest after he had run back
and forth
the small field, scoring several goals. "Good job, Syaoran"
"Nice pass!"
"We ruled!" Syaoran's teammates told him, slapping
him on the back. They
all watched the cheerleaders doing one of their routines.
Syaoran's teammates pointed out most of the girls for him, since
he was
relatively new. "See that girl to the right? Her name is
Julianna. She's
good at twists and footwork. And her, to the front, that's Sally,
she's
okay at everything, but there aren't any weak points or strong
points
except she's bad at being the jumper, but she's excellent at
throwing.
And there, in the back center, is Miyako. She's the best at,
well, I
think footwork too." Slowly, they pointed out everyone on
the team.
Syaoran watched all of them start a new routine. "That's
their newest
routine, it's a combination of all kinds of music, and it looks
awesome,"
one of Syaoran's teammates said. Syaoran kept watching. "Who's
that girl
who just went through that crazy combination of footwork and
then flipped
into the air?" Syaoran asked, pointing to a pretty girl
with
shoulder-length brown hair. All the guys sighed. "That's
Sakura Kinomoto
(okay, i DID change it back to Japanese, sorta...) . She's the
best at
EVERYTHING. Everyone likes her, and everyone is friends with
her, but
she's still single. She's in the cheerleading and gymnastics
team, along
with flute. She started in the first year of high school, and
found she
was really good at it, and she plays the most romantic songs
on it.
Sakura always wears this bracelet, it has these tiny golden stars
inside
pink circles with even tinier white wings outside of those on
a silver
chain," a guy on the other team, and one of Syaoran's best
friends,
Jonathan Mindelan, said. He was born in England, but had moved
to Japan
when he was four to go to school (sounds a bit like Corey, huh?).
"She is
really amazing," Jon continued, "because she learns
things in a snap and
is so friendly with everyone. That's her best friend, over there
in the
bleachers, Tomoyo Daidoji (okay, okay, so I changed it back to
Japanese.
it can't be THAT bad). Tomoyo is in the choir, she has this great
singing
voice. She always video records Sakura. Her boyfriend is Eriol
Hirogaziwa
(is dat how u spell it??)."
Syaoran stared at Tomoyo. She looked a lot the same, with her
video
camera in hand, smiling at Sakura. He stood up and ran over to
the coach
and talked to him for a moment. Mr. Terada glanced over at Tomoyo
and
smiled, nodding. Syaoran laughed and ran back to the bench. "What
did you
ask him?" Jon asked. "If I can skip about 30 seconds
of the game. I need
to talk to - to an old friend," Syaoran finally said. He
ran over to
Tomoyo even thought there was only about thirty seconds until
he had to
be back on the field. "Tomoyo!! Tomoyo!!" Syaoran shouted,
waving. Tomoyo
almost dropped her camera, and looked at Syaoran, recognition
coming in.
"Syaoran! Hey, you're back!" she cried, jumping down
from the bleachers.
She smiled, turning her camera on and leaving it on the bleachers.
"It's
great to BE back. I miss ol' Tomoeda. Besides, I promised Sakura.
Listen,
I'll see you around, but don't tell Sakura I'm back yet. I want
to tell
her myself," Syaoran hurriedly said, and suddenly Mr. Terada
blew the
whistle, signaling the time to for Syaoran to play. Syaoran glanced
back,
then patted Tomoyo's shoulder. Tomoyo's grinned. "Okay.
Just don't take
too long, I'm her roommate. I wouldn't be able to keep this quiet
for
her," she said, giggling. Syaoran waved and sprinted toward
the field.
Madison watched after him, and then picked up the video camera
and
started recording Sakura again.
To his dismay, when soccer practice ended, the cheerleaders were
all
gone. 'Oh well, I have to meet with Ms. Fuyato anyway,' Syaoran
thought,
disappointed. He quickly dressed into his regular clothes and
put on his
shades. He walked through the hallways and upstairs through the
classroom
building. All the classes were indoors. "Hello Ms. Fuyato,"
he said,
walking in. "Shades, Mr. Li," she reminded him. "OH,
right. I forgot
again," he said sheepishly and took them off. "Would
you like to tutor
someone in math? I have a list of people here, and I have gotten
older
students or students in the advanced class to tutor them for
free. They
get community service hours for doing this, one hour a day,"
she said.
"Alright," Syaoran agreed. "Okay then, come back
here Monday. You have
fencing practice, but only for half an hour, so come after that."
"Sure
thing, Ms. Fuyato." Syaoran said, and went back to his room.
Later that night, Syaoran sat down outside the Waterfall Dorm
on a
bench. Inside, since it was Friday, the guys and girls were having
parties and stuff. He didn't feel like having fun. 'Not tonight,
anyway,'
Syaoran thought gloomily in the light of the moon. Suddenly,
the door to
the dorm opened, and a pretty girl in a backless light-pink dress
came
out. Her hair was shoulder length, but it was too dark to see
anything.
The door opened again, and a guy came out. "Oh, come on,
Sakura," he
drawled. "Admit it, you're in love with me, and you definitely
belong
with me," the guy said, walking up to her. The girl, Sakura,
drew away.
"No, I do NOT love you. I belong with someone else,"
she said sharply.
"Is it that Li kid that went back to Hong Kong eight years
ago?" the guy
snorted. "He's probably already into someone else. He's
probably
forgotten you, beautiful," the guy taunted. Syaoran's hands
clenched into
fists.
Sakura rushed out of the dorm, leaving Tom behind. Obviously,
he liked
her but he definitely wasn't subtle about it. 'I'm waiting for
Syaoran,
forever,' Sakura thought, straightening her light pink dress.
"I'm not in
love with you," she said sharply at him once she was outside.
"Right.
He's never coming back," he taunted her. "Syaoran would
never break his
promise, Tom," Sakura replied, starting to walk. Tom immediately
rushed
after her and grabbed her wrist. "Hey, leave me alone!!"
Sakura shouted.
Tom grabbed Sakura's other wrist, and pushed her against the
brick dorm.
"Admit it. You know it's true. Syaoran Li will never come
back, and he
doesn't love you. I love you, and you know that you love me back,"
he
said, leaning closer to her. Sakura leaned back against the wall.
"I
don't! I - no, let go of me!!" she said, terrified. Immediately
she was
yanked forward, and Tom let go of her wrists.
"Leave her alone," said a male voice. Tom got up from
the ground and
glared at the stranger. "Want to make something of it?"
he said, raising
his fists. "No," the guy said. "Well then, let
me get back to my
girlfriend," Tom said, starting to turn towards Sakura,
who backed away.
The guy punched Tom. Sakura couldn't quite see his face, but
somehow, in
a way, he seemed familiar... "Hey! You want a fight, then
you've got
one!!" Tom yelled, furious. In the moonlight, Sakura could
see that
football-player Tom was a much larger opponent than the stranger.
But,
somehow, he tripped Tom over in seconds. Sakura gasped in surprise.
Humiliated, Tom left and stormed inside the Waterfall Dorm. Sakura
turned
to the stranger. "Who are you?" she asked. The student
of Tomoeda College
looked up, and his face was no longer in shadows, but bathed
in
moonlight. His serious amber eyes looked at Sakura like someone
from long
ago, someone very familiar.
"Why, it can't be," Sakura whispered, walking forward,
reaching her hand
towards the young man's face to brush away a strand of hair.
"It's true,
Sakura. I've come back to you," Syaoran said, grasping her
hand firmly
and pressing his lips to hers. "It is you! It is, Syaoran!
It really is
you!" Sakura yelled in delight, wrapping her arms around
his neck. "I've
missed you so much, but I knew you wouldn't break our promise,"
Sakura
whispered, hugging Syaoran tightly. "Let's go inside and
tell Tomoyo,"
Sakura said, looking up at Syaoran, who grinned. "She already
knows. I
met up with her during your cheerleading practice," he said
as they
walked inside the dorm. Sakura blushed, looking down. "You
saw me, out
there?" she asked him as they walked down the hall. "Yeah...
I'm on the
soccer team," he told her. Sakura knocked on a door. "Tomoyo?
It's me,
Sakura," she shouted.
The door opened and Tomoyo looked out. "Oh, Sakura! Syaoran!
I knew you
guys would get back together since Syaoran is back," she
said, smiling
wickedly. "Now I can videotape you guys all I want!!"
she said giddily.
"Come on in," she said, opening the door wider. Eriol
was on the floor,
his and Tomoyo's stuff spread out around him. "Welcome back,
Syaoran, to
this nice mess," he said. Sakura grinned happily, leading
Syaoran in.
'This is definitely a dream come true,' Sakura thought, sitting
down on
her bed. 'Cheerleading and gymnastics is going great, I have
all these
great friends, and Syaoran is back,' she thought as Syaoran sat
down next
to her. A shiver of excitement went through her as Syaoran pulled
Sakura
close in a hug. 'Life is perfect,' she thought, hugging him back
tightly.
sunday...
Syaoran laid back on the grass, breathing hard. Jon sat down
next to
him. "That was - fun, wa- wasn't it?" he said, panting.
Tetsuo tried to
sit down but he fell over onto his stomach. "Tired... about,
to- uh,
water please, Coach," Tetsuo croaked out, and Mr. Terada
handed out a
bottle of icey cold water to everyone. "Drink up, the game
is Tuesday,
remember," he said. Syaoran relished the cool feeling rushing
down his
throat. Tom hung back from all the others, practically growling.
He was
still angry about Friday night.
"Syaoran! That was great!!" a nice voice called to
him across the field.
Sakura ran into his arms, making him fall down. Her two-piece
practice
cheerleading outfit was a cherry blossom pink, and the top was
sleeveless. Her hair was swept back in a ponytail. "Umph.
I am very
tired, Sakura," Syaoran gasped, drinking some more water.
"Oh, sorry,"
she said, getting up. All the other cheerleaders were just getting
to the
soccer field. "Hey Sakura! Let's show these guys what we
can do," Miyako
said, waving her over. "Oh, okay!" Sakura said happily,
and tapped
Syaoran on the arm before running to the other girls. Madison
stood at
the edge of the field, then ran over to where Syaoran was. "They've
been
practicing really hard, this new routine. It looks great,"
Madison said,
pressing the play button on the boom box. Very upbeat music started,
and
the girls went throught their routine flawlessly.
Syaoran noticed that Sakura did the most daring things, using
her
knowledge of gymnastics along with a few others to really speed
up the
movement in the routine and make it seem very... challenging
but at the
same time, graceful. Most of the guys were sitting or standing,
sipping
their water. At the end, they all clapped loudly, cheering, whooping,
and
whistling. All the other girls waved, then started walking off,
but
Sakura quickly walked over to Syaoran and grabbed the boom box.
"Come on,
let's go to your room. I have to study," she said. Madison
smiled. "I
have to go to the library, you two have fun!" she said cheerfully
skipping off in the opposite direction. Syaoran turned red, but
led
Sakura to his room. Jon clapped Syaoran on the back. "Don't
study TOO
much," he whispered as Syaoran passed by. If it was even
possible,
Syaoran turned even more red.
monday...
Syaoran quickly flipped his sword so that Gary couldn't knock
his sword
away, and caught it, dodging away from his blade. Then, quickly
battling
back, he hit time after time, not allowing Gary to attack. Finally,
Syaoran swept Gary's sword out of his hand and out of his reach
behind
him. Gary fell backwards, and Syaoran pointed his practice sword
at his
throat. Gary gasped, tired and sweating. "I keep forgetting
how damned
FAST you are," he said, accepting Syaoran's offer of helping
him get up.
Syaoran put down his blade and handed Gary's to him. "Good
job though.
That trick you did almost got me," Syaoran said, bowing.
Sensei Myles
smiled, patting Syaoran's shoulder. "That was very good.
At the fencing
match on Wednesday, if you do this well, we'll go on to the national
tournament. Congrats," he said, and everyone got up and
bowed to Myles.
"Get up, have a good day," Sensei said, and he left.
Everyone else left,
and Syaoran headed for Ms. Fuyako's classroom.
As he neared it, he heard speech. "But I'm certain I don't
need it, Ms.
Fuyako. I'm doing fine in math," a girl protested. "You
call failing
'fine'?" Ms. Fuyako asked pointedly. Syaoran stepped inside,
just as the
girl, blushing, said, "But I've only been falling behind
on my work, it
has nothing to do with my understanding of things," she
protested. The
young girl glanced at Syaoran, then looked at the ground, cheeks
pink.
Ms. Fuyako smiled warmly. "Hello Syaoran, we've been expecting
you. This
is Mina, she's from China. I think she needs help with her math,
judging
from her last test," Ms. Fuyako explained. Syaoran nodded,
and Mina
glanced at him. Her hair was in a low bun at the nape of her
neck, the
ribbons trailing from it. Her brown bangs were swept to one side,
but a
few strands had escaped. To Syaoran, seeing the girl's outfit
was like
seeing Hong Kong again. Mina wore silky white flares, with regular
tennis
shoes. Her shirt was made of blue Chinese embroidered cotton,
with a
tiger in the front. Syaoran recognized the work of his sister,
Mei.
"Do you come from Hong Kong, Mina?" Syaoran asked in
a kind voice. She
looked into his eyes, and nodded. "I'm the mayor's fourth
niece. I came
to Japan to study in this college," she said softly. Syaoran
tried to
smile, but remained serious. "That shirt... did you buy
it from the Li
family?" he asked. Mina snapped her head up. "How did
you know?" she
asked wondrously. Syaoran smiled cockily. "I'm Syaoran Li.
I believe you
bought it from a seamstress named Mei Li," he said, shifting
his books to
his other hand. "Well, yes. It is an honor to meet you.
Your sisters say
you are a most awesomely skilled man with a sword," she
said, blushing.
Ms. Fuyako got up. "Alright, here's your schedule. Alternating
Mondays,
then Wednesdays, then Saturdays, and then Sunday, and back again.
Basically, once a week. I created this schedule around your sports
practices and games, Syaoran, so you don't have to worry about
rescheduling unless there is a change of plans. You will always
be
tutoring Mina in the library, which will be empty on these days
except
for other tutors. That's all you need to know, Syaoran, Mina,
and
Syaoran, Sakura told me to tell you to meet her at the park,"
Ms. Fuyako
said, quickly gathering her things. Syaoran looked up, and thought
he
could see a flash of disappointment in Mina's eyes, but he quickly
darted
out the door, eager to see Sakura again.
Sakura fell onto the ground, laughing. Syaoran laced his fingers
through
hers, kissing her neck. "Stop, Syaoran," she said,
trying to push him
away. "Oh, you don't want me to stop, you're just saying
that," Syaoran
said, kissing her lips. He held her like that for almost a minute,
and
when he broke the kiss, Sakura just stared lovingly into his
eyes. "I
hate it when you do that. You make me feel like I can't breath,"
she
gasped, short of breath. Syaoran just pulled her up, hugging
her tightly.
"I don't regret coming back, because I get to be with you
again," Syaoran
murmured softly in her ear. Sakura just sighed. "You and
me, forever,"
she whispered. |