Chapter Text
You Belong With Me
[Loosely based off of the song by Taylor Swift]
hopee_sg
Syaoran Li groaned as he stirred and finally woke up. He rubbed his eyes and was about to put his head back down to continue his fun in dreamland, but the sounds of people around caused his head to shoot up and his eyes to go wide. He blinked his eyes, trying to remember where he was, and why there was so much ruckus and noise around him. But it hit him–he was at school.
He quietly groaned once more.
Syaoran was originally from Hong Kong, but had moved to Japan two years ago. It was something to do with the Li business opening a branch in Tomoeda. However, his mother had returned to Hong Kong a year after they settled; and since Syaoran was in the middle of a semester, he had to stay—eventually, Syaoran decided to stay in Tomoeda until he was finished with high school.
You would expect that Syaoran, coming from a rich background, would fit in perfectly at school. And for a moment, he did too.
Oh, how naive he was back then.
From the moment he joined Seijyo High, he immediately knew where he stood. He didn’t fit in. It didn’t help the fact that he was new, and barely understood Japanese. All these people were so different from those back home. For his first year of senior high, he was bullied and was desperately missing home.
Syaoran in his first year–tenth grade–had been laughed at and ridiculed. He concluded that it was probably due to the fact that he didn’t understand what they had been saying, which made him look stupider.
He hadn’t told anyone who he was. Sure, they speculated that Yelan Li’s teen son that moved with her to Tomoeda would be at the school, but Li was a popular last name. In fact, he knew many at this school with the surname, ‘Li’.
They hadn’t connected the dots yet, and it was probably due to the fact that he hadn’t joined the school until a few months later, just before the new term started—so the news of Yelan Li and her mystery son was old.
In his eleventh year, he tried.
Tried to make friends, and join clubs.
Yet due to his previous reputation, he still couldn’t fit in.
Although not everyone was that rude towards him, like Hiiragizawa Eriol. They first talked at the beginning of the school year and quickly found out they were cousins. After that, they were glued to the hip.
So Syaoran wasn’t completely a loner, sure. But before he met Eriol, he definitely thought he was.
Until he met a certain someone.
“Syaoran-kun!”
Speaking of the devil, Syaoran thought with a grin.
Sakura Kinomoto was in the same class as him for eleventh grade, which was last year. She was a bubbly person who was kind to everyone; including him.
That, and the fact that she was beautiful–with the added feature of her eyes being green;his favourite colour–he couldn’t help but fall for her. When he first realized this, he couldn’t speak to her for weeks; too embarrassed to say anything.
And when he had tried, he would just end up stuttering and making a fool out of himself.
So Syaoran was glad that he was now able to properly speak to her without looking foolish.
Sakura and Syaoran had become somewhat good classmates, and Syaoran had thanked the universe for giving him one thing he wanted…
Well…
Not really…
Just as Syaoran opened his mouth, he was interrupted by another presence.
His only problem.
Tanaka Hiro.
Sakura’s boyfriend.
And the captain of the soccer team–the team in which Syaoran had desired to join since he first came to Seijyo High.
“Li,” Hiro nodded, to which Syaoran merely inclined his head. And the girl who he was about to start up a conversation with was swept away by Hiro.
He sighed as he dropped his head back onto the desk.
Life hated him.
When Syaoran found out Sakura had a new boyfriend from Eriol, a mix of emotions rushed into him. He didn’t know how to feel. The fact it was Hiro had made him want to scream out and punch something.
He didn’t know why Sakura liked Hiro when she could like Syaoran.
At least if Sakura were his girlfriend, he wouldn’t cheat on her.
Hiro Tanaka hadn’t cheated on Sakura–yet.
He had a notorious reputation for dating girls only to break up with them because they had figured out he wasn’t as loyal as he promised. So to say Syaoran was worried was an understatement; he was terrified when that day would come.Yet he berated himself for thinking so selfishly; why should he wish misfortune to Sakura? If she were truly happy with him...
Then he'd end up breaking her heart.
But sometimes his mind told him it may never come. Syaoran would observe how Sakura and Hiro were when they were together, but it physically tore him apart to see them; to see his hands on her waist; his lips on hers; her hands on him.
His heart broke every time he saw them together; yet he foolishly still had hope that Sakura would one day realize that Hiro’s a douchebag.
Syaoran had to look up–just to see her once more, and his stomach did a swooping sensation when he saw Hiro kiss Sakura’s cheek right then and there, and his chest felt hollow with what should’ve been his emotions. Syaoran clutched his chest as his breathing started to get shallow.
“Hey—”
Syaoran dropped his head back on the desk at the sound of Eriol’s voice.
Eriol patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry dude, you’ll find another girl.”
Eriol’s advice at times could be a little better, yet sometimes he did have words of wisdom inside of him. But this was not one of those times. Eriol just would not get it. He had never dated anyone, never been in love, while the person Syaoran loves is in love with someone else—or so he’s pretty sure.
“You don’t get it, Eriol. She’s not just some girl I can get over. How can I get over the only girl I’ve ever loved?” His voice cracked a little at the end, and he cursed himself for showing this weakness–especially in front of Eriol. But he knew Eriol wouldn’t bring it up, which he was immensely grateful for.
“Err, sorry about that, but I don’t have time to listen–the lunch period is going to end soon and you’ve been sleeping! So, as a great friend like myself, I decided to buy you lunch. You’re welcome!”
Eriol couldn’t see Syaoran’s face at the moment since it was on the desk, but Syaoran had a small smile of gratitude towards his friend.
Perhaps his life isn’t as bad as it seems.
Syaoran cursed as he went outside to throw the trash. It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to it; he merely hated the prospect of taking it out the bin.
He sighed as he contemplated whether or not to head out to buy some groceries, and quickly decided to go.
Syaoran shoved his hands into his pockets as the wind tousled his hair. On the way to the store there was King Penguin Park, and his eyes looked at it with nostalgia. Although he didn’t grow up in Tomoeda, the park reminded him of his nonexistent childhood. As the heir of the Li Empire, he had to study nonstop for the business in order to inherit it in the future. So he was glad to have moved to Tomoeda; even for a little while.
Something compelled him to take a short walk around the park. He took long strides but abruptly stopped when he heard something. There weren’t any children in the park as it was late, so he tried to be as quiet as he could.
Then, he heard it again.
Was that–?
Syaoran walked quickly to the nearest bench, and what he saw surprised him immensely. From the moment he heard the sound again, he knew someone was crying. However, what he didn’t know was that the person who was crying was the girl he couldn’t get off his mind.
Kinomoto Sakura.
Wait a minute.
Sakura was crying?
Syaoran swallowed thickly, unable to avert his eyes from the scene displayed in front of him. Seeing tears roll down her cheeks pierced him in a way he didn’t think was possible—he felt like he couldn’t breathe.
He didn’t know if it was right to go to her but something compelled him to.
She didn’t seem to realize him as he stopped right in front of her, and he found the courage to speak to her.
Syaoran cleared his throat, “Kinomoto-san? Are you okay?”
Although she had told him countless times to call her Sakura, he had begun a habit of calling her by her surname and most of the time forgot to say her actual name.
Sakura looked up, her beautiful emerald eyes that once held a sparkle in it vanished; and instead they looked red and empty. Syaoran swallowed as he couldn't breathe again.
Sakura’s eyes widened as she opened her mouth and closed it multiple times; as if he was the last person she expected to see.
He wasn’t wearing his reading glasses; so he hoped his appearance didn’t differ too much to be unrecognizable. It would have been ironic–the one time he could speak to her without acting like a fool and she didn’t know who he was.
She quickly wiped her tears and looked to the floor. Syaoran opened his mouth to say something but immediately got cut off.
“Syaoran-kun! What a surprise to see you here, are you on a walk?” She asked so suddenly. He felt a sense of relief that she was able to recognize him,
It pained Syaoran to know she was hurting but didn’t want to let him know; he saw right through her fake smile.
He sighed as he sat on the bench next to her, not really knowing what to say next.
After a few minutes of silence, Sakura was the one who finally cracked.
“I must look stupid to you, don’t I?”
His head immediately snapped to look at her as she continued.
“It’s obvious that you can see through whatever I just did moments ago; you even saw me crying…it’s just..” She sighed.
“Kinomoto-san, you can always talk to me if you’re feeling low.”
Sakura stared at him in shock before she seemed to be thinking something.
“Hiro-kun has been acting really strange lately, and I called him to know what was going on but…he just yelled at me and told me that I was wasting my time..”
Syaoran wanted to strangle the bastard as soon as his name was mentioned. Syaoran knew where this was going; Hiro had already begun his infamous cheating, and it hurt Syaoran to know that someone as pure, kind, and beautiful as Sakura was getting hurt. Hiro has a gem, but he couldn’t see its value.
Of course, if it was Syaoran who was with her instead of Hiro, he would do anything in his power to never see her cry—as it pained him too much.
Sakura continued.
“I-I know it’s stupid for crying about this but—”
She got interrupted when Syaoran stood in front of her with a handkerchief in his hand. Sakura stared at it then at him; not being able to process what was happening but as soon as she did, she slowly grabbed the handkerchief.
Syaoran watched as Sakura’s hand brushed against his and immediately felt his hand begin to tingle.
Sakura wiped her tears with the handkerchief and sighed. She suddenly turned to him, “thank you, Syaoran-kun” she said as she smiled ever so slightly at him.
Many may have thought that the sight of someone who just cried smiling was offputting, but to him–she was the prettiest he had ever seen her. To him, she was a star that outshone everything else in space–she was special, one of a kind. And he wanted to be hers. He wanted to see more of her dazzling smiles, wanted to comfort her on days she felt like she didn’t shine as bright.
Syaoran gave a curt nod as they stayed at the bench for a few more minutes; basking in each other's presence. Until Sakura’s hand came into his field of vision–she had the handkerchief with her, and he looked at her with his brows furrowed.
“Kinomoto-san, you can keep it; no need to return it to me,” He said with a slight smile on his face–trying to ease any worries she may have.
“But don’t you need it–”
Before he could stop himself, Syaoran put a finger to her lips. As daring and bold the move may have been; inside his heart was pounding wildly and he was sure she could hear it.
“I told you not to worry about it. Here,” He took his hands and curled hers against the handkerchief and brought her hand closer to her. “I’ll walk you home, it’s pretty late and it could be dangerous.”
Sakura seemed to contemplate it before she gave a small smile.
They both walked in silence, the only noise being the sound of the wind outside. Sakura walked ahead while Syaoran tailed behind. None of them minded the silence; Syaoran had a lot on his mind and he was sure Sakura had a lot too.
Sakura abruptly stopped in front of a yellow house, and Syaoran assumed it to be her house. She turned around but before she could say anything Syaoran built up the courage to speak first.
“Kinomoto-san…I just want to let you know that it’s okay to be sad sometimes, and it’s better to let it out instead of bottling it all up; you have a lot of people who love you and don’t want to see you suffer. You can talk to any of them…” he paused before he said the next few words.
“…or you can talk to me as well. I’ll always be there to listen to you and never judge.”
Syaoran was looking down at the ground at the end of his sentence; he was a little afraid to look up—afraid of her reaction.
Curiosity took hold of him and he looked at her surprised expression.
“Thank you so much, Syaoran-kun…you’re so kind..” she looked away.
“I’ve always wanted to get to know you better…you know being from Hong Kong and all that, but you are always so serious and with Eriol-kun all the time so I…” Syaoran felt his heart beating again as she seemed to be thinking something before turning her head towards him.
“Why don’t we exchange numbers?”
W-what?
Sakura started fiddling with her thumbs—an expression Syaoran found adorable—as she started to explain.
“Well…it’s because…like I said earlier I want to be a better friend to you and…hoeeee this is so hard!” She giggled at the end.
Syaoran came out of his shock as he gave her a smile, “alright, Kinomoto-san, here’s my phone.” He handed her his phone unlocked without a care in the world.
He watched as she furrowed her brows and bit her lip as she typed her number in, and smiled after. She put his phone in her hand and handed it back to him.
However, before Syaoran could take it, she swiftly moved her arm.
“You’ll only get it back if you start calling me by my name. SA-KU-RA!” She said, emphasizing her name in syllables.
Syaoran shook his head before laughing, “you better keep your promise, Kinomoto!”
Sakura pouted, “Syaoran-kunnn!” She whined.
Syaoran laughed again, “sorry, Sakura,” he whispered.
Sakura gave him a dazzling smile before handing his phone back to him, “I’ll see you tomorrow; and thank you so much Syaoran-kun!”
She walked up to her front door and went inside.
Syaoran wished he could spend more time with her; the little moment they shared made him feel lighter—happier. If this was how he felt with her, then he should be around her all the time.
Friends.
He shook his head in amusement; after two years of being classmates, they were finally getting somewhere! Now, he just needed to get her out of the trenches with that no good of a boyfriend of hers.
“Dude, that chick was so gorgeous and–”
“I get it, Eriol,” Syaoran let out an exasperated sigh as he rolled his eyes before laughing at his best friend. Eriol had gone out the night prior with some of his family members and had supposedly seen a beautiful girl.
Eriol opened his mouth to say something but his eyes went wide. Syaoran frowned and noticed he was looking at something behind him, so Syaoran decided to turn around and immediately felt his heart giving those ‘lub-dub’ sounds.
“Syaoran-kun!” The green-eyed goddess ran towards him with something in her hands.
“Hi, Sakura.” Syaoran said as he raised an eyebrow. Sure, she had told him that she wanted to be better friends, but this was new. He wasn’t expecting her to walk up to him.
Although in the past she would wave and say hello, she never actually walked up to him.
“Ano..I just wanted to say…” she looked down and suddenly her eyes landed on Eriol. “Oh, hi, Eriol-kun!” Sakura said as she nervously giggled. Syaoran looked at her and realized her face was getting a little red, he acted before he thought and moved closer to her–worry etched onto his frown.
“Are you okay, Sakura? You seem a bit red, you don’t have a fever, do you?”
“Hoeee!! It’s nothing, Syaoran-kun! I just wanted to thank you for last night, so I baked some cookies and well it was late at night so I fell asleep when baking them and–”
Syaoran stared at her and suddenly nothing else in the world mattered to him–everyone and everything disappeared. She sparkled and shone with every word she spoke, every action she did, and the movements of her face. She was everything he ever wanted.
He smiled at her as he watched over her with a deep tenderness in his eyes.
“–well you know what happened after that, so I…hoe! Sorry, Syaoran-kun–looks like I babbled off again…anyways here!” She handed him a container quickly and slowly walked away with her head down.
Syaoran grabbed the container and opened it, seeing that there were, in fact, cookies she baked for him. A deep warmth bloomed in his chest as he suddenly felt giddy. He wanted to run after her but it was like his legs couldn’t move.
In a moment of braveness, he opted for his mouth.
“Thank you, Sakura! I’m sure these will be delicious!” He yelled out.
He watched as she tripped and almost fell as soon as he opened his mouth, and as soon as she was back on both feet, she ran. Syaoran was confused. Did he do or say something wrong?
“You didn’t tell me about this, dear cousin. I wonder what happened…?”
Syaoran jumped at the sound of his best-friend’s voice. Gods, he almost forgot Eriol was there! Perhaps that was why she was like that–probably embarrassed.
He cleared his throat before he replied, “well, I was going to…”
“Xiao-Lang Li, you will tell me everything now!”
How in the world did I end up in this position?
It was simple, really. But Syaoran still couldn’t fathom it.
For a History group project, their teacher picked the groups. And Syaoran wished he didn’t.
His group consisted of four people, two boys and two girls. Fate would have it that Syaoran had Sakura in his group.
Fate, on that particular day, decided to be cruel to him.
His Sakura was in a group with his buffoon cousin. He clenched his teeth wishing it were him.
Syaoran was in a group with Tomoyo Daidouji; someone he knows is Sakura’s best friend. Not only that, but he was also in a group with a girl that oddly reminded him of his other cousin Meiling. So what was wrong with it?
“So, who’s gonna do what?”
Syaoran tried hard not to glare at the person who spoke.
It was none other than Hiro Tanaka.
All this idiot did was ask about the roles.
“Tanaka-san, we already stated what each person will do. So–”
Hiro cut Tomoyo off with a wave of his hand, “oh, I know. I just need less work because you know, being the captain of the soccer club and all,”
Syaoran fought the urge to roll his eyes and he could tell his members were thinking the same thing.
What a conceited jerk.
The minutes passed by, and Syaoran didn’t think he could take it anymore so he excused himself and went out in the hallways. He shoved his hands in his pockets and started roaming around for a bit.
“Li-kun,”
He stopped in his tracks as he turned around and inclined his head.
“Daidouji”
“Li-kun, I understand your hatred towards Tanaka-san—”
“What I feel for him is more than hatred, Daidouji! Even you knew who he was before he and Sakura started dating, why didn’t you tell her about the type of guy he is?!”
Tomoyo stopped when she realized Syaoran had basically exploded every thought he had.
“Oh my, I was not expecting this from you Li-kun..”
Syaoran opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.
“Yes, I knew about it. And I warned Sakura-chan when she told me she started to feel something towards him…but she was just so happy when he finally asked her out. I could never be the one to strip her from her happiness.”
Syaoran scowled, “happiness my ass. You seriously don’t see how much he’s going to hurt her?—”
“I’m sure she will have you to lean on, won’t she?”
Syaoran stopped in his tracks as his eyes widened and he turned to her.
“W-what…”
Tomoyo gave him a soft smile, “she has a lot of people who will worry about her, so I know she’s going to pretend to be okay. Lately she’s been doing that around me too, but you, Li-kun, have gotten her to open up.”
He was about to ask her how she knew but quickly deduced that Sakura must have told her. Syaoran opened and closed his mouth like a blobfish;unable to utter any coherent words. Before he knew it, Tomoyo left him standing there.
Syaoran processed everything that they had talked about and let out a sigh as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and decided to head back.
While on the way back his phone rang. Confused as to why anyone would call him—especially during school—he took it out. Syaoran frowned as he couldn’t recognize the number and decided to leave it for later in the day.
As soon as he entered the classroom, his eyes immediately searched for the girl who has been on his mind a lot the past few days, and instantly spotted her laughing with her group members.
He tenderly watched her as he made his way back to his own group, and had to mentally prepare himself to speak with Hiro.
“Hey, Li-kun, have you tried out for any sports?”
Syaoran jumped when the other girl suddenly directed a question towards him.
The truth was, back in Hong Kong he was exceptional at athletics and had earned medals from games. However, he had found it hard to join any clubs in Japan.
Syaoran really enjoyed soccer, and as of right now he could not handle the soccer team’s captain without wanting to beat him up—so he didn’t bother trying out.
Adding onto that, the soccer team was full of people who had made fun of him at first; coming in the middle of the semester and all.
So he answered her, “no, but I would like to try.”
Perhaps if the situation had been different, he would have tried out for the soccer team; and most likely have made it in.
Syaoran observed the container in which Sakura had baked him cookies in; he wasn’t sure what compelled her to bake them specifically for him as he merely comforted her when she was sad–something that he thought was a common thing to do.
“Are you going to eat those?” Eriol asked from beside him.
Syaoran sighed, “I–”
“Because if you’re not you can always pass them to me!–”
Syaoran shoved him by the shoulder as a playful tease. “Of course you would suggest that!” He then sighed again before contemplating something. Syaoran had never been given handmade things before–especially food. Most of the time, the gifts he did get were clothing or trips to restaurants, so he was worried.
What if she went all this way to bake him cookies and he didn’t like them?
Or what if—
“Dude, just open the damn container!” Eriol took the container into his own hands and forcefully opened the lid. He quickly picked up a cookie and shoved it into Syaoran’s mouth, leaving him in shock.
Syaoran swatted Eriol’s hand and using the same hand he took the cookie out of his mouth. The flavours burst into his mouth as he tasted the sweet chewiness of the cookie.
As soon as his mouth tasted the chocolate chip, he knew he needed more. However, he was not going to give Eriol the satisfaction of seeing him desperate for a container of cookies; so he finished the one he was holding and closed the container which had three left.
Syaoran feigned nonchalance as he noticed Eriol waiting for some type of reaction.
“So how were they?”
Syaoran shrugged and bit back a smile as he turned around.
He wanted to eat whatever she made.
“They were…”
He didn’t know how to describe them; perhaps he was doing too much, but he adored Sakura.
However, before he could reply, he got a notification on his phone and his blood ran cold.
Mother
Contact me immediately.
Yelan Li, current head of the Li business, was never the type to message anybody—including her own son. She only made calls, so a message from her usually meant something serious was happening.
“Uh, Eriol…I’ll call you later.”
Syaoran left without letting Eriol reply, anticipation and fear bubbling up inside him; what could be wrong?
He was sure nothing was going on with the business—
The Elders.
The Elders were a group of talented people who would oversee everything in the company. Although Yelan was the head, The Elders would always come before her.
The Li family wasn’t just a big company; they were a part of the most prominent and influential family in all of China. The media called them “the richest of the rich”, other news outlets said that they were basically like the royal family of China.
He groaned as he realized it was probably a call from The Elders; they had kept pressuring him to start learning to take over the family business, and to settle down with a fiancée.
Syaoran had declined—he was in high school! Why couldn’t he live like a normal teen boy? Why couldn’t choose who he wanted to marry? Why did he not have any say in his future?!
Although he knew that one day he had to take over the business and get an arranged marriage, he wanted to experience freedom for the first time. Which is another reason why he decided to stay here in Tomoeda; far, far, away from them.
He had reached his apartment and opened the door; he hurried to place the container with cookies on the counter and immediately sat on his couch, dialing his mother’s number.
“Xiao-Lang,” Her voice called out first.
“Mother,” he replied back. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
His mother lightly laughed on the call but quickly cleared her throat. “It’s the Elders again. You know how they are, but Xiao-Lang, they are serious this time.”
Syaoran rolled his eyes, “what are they saying now? That I’m—”
“You are coming back to China right after you graduate. They already booked the tickets.”
She paused.
“The day you come back you have an arranged meeting with the board of directors and with your new fiancée.”
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
And he released all his fury.
“What do you mean?” He roared out; his fingers clenched the phone so tightly, for a second he thought it might crack.
Syaoran didn’t hear a response and he took a minute to calm down—well, tried to—before he reiterated his question.
“What do you mean that I cannot even–"
His mother interrupted him, “Xiao-Lang, calm down.”
Calm? Could Syaoran truly be calm at this moment? He had known they would coerce him back to Hong Kong, back to whatever desires they had for him, but he wasn't expecting it now. He had expected it right after he started his university, and he had it all planned in his head: they'd find out he didn't go back to Hong Kong after graduation, and they'd figure out what university he would be attending, and they'd force him to come back. It didn't matter how they would get him to come back, it just mattered that he was there.
Syaoran was speechless, because truly, they just couldn’t let this go, could they?
He scoffed, “so I don’t even get any freedom on which university to go to? Or to—”
“I’m sorry, Xiao-Lang. I tried to convince them, I even suggested for your cousin to take over the business, but they wouldn’t allow it.”
Syaoran wanted to scream in rage, he wanted to throw a tantrum like he used to do before he was in the clutches of the damn elders. He wanted to turn back time; to right when he moved to Tomoeda so he could have experienced what it truly was like to be a normal boy.
Or to be born as someone else, not under the influence and power of those wretches.
“Xiao-Lang, I’ll do everything in my power to stop them, I won’t let you be unhappy.” She hung up.
Syaoran was quiet, thoughts swirling in his mind, all of them leading to one thought:
He had to let go of any and every attachment here immediately before he was forced to leave.
Syaoran didn’t have many attachments in Tomoeda. Perhaps he could say he didn’t have any at all; but he knew there were two.
Eriol—his best friend and confidant.
And…
Sakura, the girl of his dreams.
He had decided it would be much easier to get rid of Sakura first, since he already knew from the beginning that she was unattainable.
And that would have been easy.
Only if she hadn’t messaged him early that morning.
He cursed himself for giving his number to her; now he wasn’t sure he even wanted to let go of her.
Sakura
Hi Syaoran-kun!!
hoeee I’m sorry if I had woken you up :(
I wanted to ask if you liked the cookies I baked for you! This was my first time letting someone other than Otou-san and Onii-chan eat my baking…so I want to know if there was anything I could do to improve!
Syaoran groaned as he put his head down; he reread the message over and over again, and each time he had butterflies in his stomach.
How the heck could he let go of her when the mere notification of her text made him excited?
He had finished the cookies all in one day; they were extremely delicious.
However he still had the container, and as an excuse to go see her, he decided to give it back at her house when he was supposedly taking a ‘walk’ with the container in his hands.
Syaoran was a fool, but he was a fool hopelessly in love.
He whistled as he happily walked to her house; today he was going to see Sakura!
But Syaoran reminded himself; after today, he would no longer interact with Kinomoto Sakura.
Although the thought of not speaking to her made his chest physically ache, he knew he couldn’t stand up to the elders for a second time—he was almost disowned the first.
Before he knew it, he made it to the cozy, yellow house. His palms started to sweat as he stood in front of the door, contemplating whether or not this was a good idea…
However, the door swung open before he had time to turn around. Syaoran Li was face to face with Sakura Kinomoto, who looked like she was about to leave.
He fell back a little as she looked at him in what he presumed to be shock.
“Hoe? Syaoran-kun is everything alright?”
Come on, Xiao-Lang, reply!
Syaoran cleared his throat, “I, um…well…”
He was at a loss for words and he silently cursed himself for it. He was doing just fine days before, talking to her.
“Sakura, th…thank you for the cookies you baked, they were delicious. I just wanted to return the container. I washed it before I arrived, but if you want–”
Syaoran’s sentence was interrupted by a melodious sound. He looked at Sakura and his breath caught in his throat. The light from the sun shone from behind him, giving her an angelic look as her eyes were closed and she was laughing.
He couldn’t help it and his lips unconsciously curled upwards. She was beautiful.
“Syaoran-kun, why don’t you come inside? I was just about to throw the trash out before we ate, and Otou-san made extras!”
Syaoran’s eyes snapped open. Did he hear her correctly? Syaoran only came to return the container, he wasn’t ready to meet her family yet. Suddenly, unease crept into his body; what if they didn’t like him? What if they told her not to hang around him anymore? That would hurt him right in his heart.
He quickly shook his head and berated himself. This was Sakura he was talking about. The Sakura who had shown him kindness, showed the world kindness. She was surely raised by good people.
He gave a sigh before he looked at her again. He weighed both options carefully. He had never been to a cordial family dinner–the ones at the Li mansion always ended up in arguments, or nobody ever talked. Perhaps this was his chance to experience what a normal family would look like.
“I don’t want to be a burden to you, Sakura–”
“Nonsense! Come inside!”
Before he could even react, Sakura took hold of his hand and dragged him inside. “Otou-san! Please welcome my friend, Syaoran-kun, while I go and throw the trash out!” She yelled back before she headed out the front door.
Syaoran froze at her words. He was going to meet her dad…without her! He could hear the sound of footsteps thudding towards him, and he started to feel chills. He started to scold himself in his head.
Come on, Xiao-Lang! He can’t be worse than the elders!
Syaoran turned around and saw a taller man with some graying hair. His lips were curled in a gentle smile as he pushed his glasses up a bit.
“Are you Sakura-san’s friend?” He asked in a gentle tone.
Syaoran nodded, “ye…yes, I am. My name is Li Xiao-Lang, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He bowed; just because he was nervous did not mean that he forgot his manners.
“Oh, Li-kun, please, you don’t have to be too formal! I’m Kinomoto Fujitaka, and I am Sakura-san’s dad. I believe you will join us for lunch, won’t you? Touya-san, Sakura’s older brother, told me last minute he’d stay over at his friend's house for lunch so I have extras. Don’t be shy.
Although Kinomoto Fujitaka had given Syaoran the kindest greeting he’d possibly ever heard in his life, Syaoran was still a little terrified to say the wrong thing or do something that would ruin Fujitaka’s perception of him.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Kinomoto-san.” Not being able to help it, Syaoran once again bowed to show respect for him.
Fujitaka led Syaoran to the table inside to eat, he placed the container into the sink as they waited for one more person. Sakura joined minutes later with a smile on her face. Fujitaka had made a simple vegetable stir-fry, and Syaoran was eager to try it; he deduced that since Sakura herself was a great cook, she’d inherited it from one of her parents.
They all murmured an “itadakimasu” before they all dived into the food.
As soon as he took one bite of the stir-fry, he swore he was in heaven right then. Syaoran was never short on food; and he used to always have professional chefs cooking his family delicious meals when he used to live in Hong Kong.
Despite all those meals he had, he felt none of it could compare to the simple meal he had in front of him. Perhaps it was because of the people around him.
The atmosphere was lighthearted and warm, with Fujitaka and Sakura asking Syaoran questions as they ate. It was pleasant, and so different from what Syaoran was used to. He felt…content. Content to be able to have experienced this once in his life.
“Li-kun, what do you want to do after high school? Sakura-san still hasn’t decided yet.”
Sakura pouted, “Otou-san!”
Syaoran thought about it. What did he want to do? He was always under the impression that the Elders would take care of it, and he always knew he would end up working under his family’s company.
But if he were to seriously ask himself, what would we want to do? If he were a regular teenage boy who wasn’t the heir of a multi-millionaire company.
“Archaeology.” The word came out of his mouth faster than he could even process it. They both looked at him in surprise.
Syaoran had always been interested in the past; more specifically, the evidence that came along with it. He had constantly wistfully dreamed of one day travelling to study some ancient ruins and draw his own conclusions from it. It was what he always wanted to do as a child. However, even as a kid he knew it would never work out; he was expected to run the business after he turned of age.
“Oh, Syaoran-kun, that’s great! Otou-san is a world-renowned archaeologist!” Sakura said proudly, nudging her dad.
Syaoran looked at him in surprise, but suddenly felt foolish. Fujitaka Kinomoto. Of course he has heard of him before; he used to be the biggest inspiration for Syaoran when he was a kid.
Fujitaka and Syaoran then engaged in a passionate conversation on the topic of Archaeology itself while Sakura volunteered to wash the dishes. They were both so into the conversation that they hadn’t realized someone’s phone was ringing.
Fujitaka checked his phone and gave an apologetic smile, “Sorry, Li-kun, I have to take this.” He turned to where Sakura was behind him, finishing up the last dishes.
“Sakura, please entertain Li-kun while I take this. It’s going to be a while so I don’t want him to get bored.” And he was gone.
Syaoran had never felt such exhilaration in his life, ever. He was afraid to tell anyone, even his sisters, that he was passionate about this topic. He was sure he would be laughed at and mocked for wanting to pursue this idyllic dream.
He could still feel his blood pumping, and he had to admit that he was grateful Sakura had invited him over. However, it was getting quite late and he had stuff–homework from the Elders–to do.
While Sakura was still finishing, he went into the living room and sat on the sofa. Syaoran looked around to find a photo of a beautiful woman with the same eyes as Sakura. However, her hair was almost a black colour. He deducted this to be her mother.
“That’s Okaa-san. She died when I was just three years old.” Sakura said, oblivious to the fact that she had scared Syaoran when she noticed that his gaze lingered on the photo of her mother.
He looked at her, and before he was about to reply, she continued.
“But Otou-san has done fine with raising me and Onii-chan, you know? We never felt like we had less of anything because he always made up for it.” She gave a wistful smile.
“I’m sorry.” Syaoran said.
He knew what it was like to lose a parent and not know anything about him. His own father died when he was a mere infant. Oftentimes, Syaoran missed him. But how could you miss someone you never knew? Perhaps his heart ached from the absence of a paternal figure from his life. Yet that led him to another dead-ending question: how would his heart know what it was like to have a father? Why would it ache for something that was never there?
“Don’t worry, it’s not your fault–”
She had moved to sit on the sofa with him, but ended up bumping into a vase that held wilting roses. Just as it was about to fall, Syaoran caught it masterfully. He took a look at the roses, and almost frowned.
Were these for her?
As if she knew what he was thinking, she replied.
“Hiro-kun gave those to me a while ago. I haven’t been taking proper care of them so they started to wilt…” as always, the mention of her boyfriend brought a sharp pain to his chest. The rascal was hurting Sakura and he couldn’t do anything about it.
However…
“But Sakura, your favourite flowers aren’t roses, they’re cherry blossoms, like your name suggests…” Syaoran murmured, as if it were only for himself and hadn’t expected her to listen to him.
A year ago, they had done presentations in English class where they had to present their favourite object or item, but it had to be in English. He remembered how Sakura had been one of the first people to go, and he remembered how she spoke with a sparkle in her eye. How she had said she loved cherry blossoms not because of her name, but because her mother loved them and named them after her. She didn’t mention the death of her mom.
“Hoeee…you still remember that?” She gave a nervous giggle.
Syaoran frowned as he set the vase down on a small desk beside him. He was getting too attached, and he told himself he needed to stop right now; there were alarms ringing in his mind, telling him that if he continued to see her and talk to her like this, he would live a life longing to be by her side.
“I’m very sorry, but I have to go now. There are a lot of things I need to do back home,” Syaoran abruptly got up and Sakura followed suit to see him out. His mind was heavy and it was weighing on a lot of things that could happen.
Once they made it to the door he bowed to her. “Thank you, Sakura, for inviting me over. Please, tell your dad that I enjoyed the meal; it was unlike anything I ever tasted. I had a pleasant time.”
Sakura smiled. “No problem, Syaoran-kun! You can always come back to our home!”
Home. He thought.
For once in his life, Syaoran had finally felt what ‘home’ was supposed to feel like; warm, welcoming, idyllic.
Beautiful.
END OF PART ONE.