©2003 By Julia and Tania
E-mail: ccs_fanz@juliaandtania.com
Cardcaptor Sakura: The Attractive Power (Alternate)
Episode 5

A paper ball was airborne as it was projected across Sakura’s room. Not too far ahead of the ball’s path was Kero. He stood on watch as he predicted the interception point where the ball and his right foot were to meet…

        And whack! Up it went into the air again as Kero’s foot lifted the ball, forcing it to head in the direction of the rubbish bin he put in the centre of the room.

        “Yatta (I did it)!” Kero exclaimed as he watched the paper ball land in the extremely full bin. Then, shortly after, it rolled off the mountain of scrunched up paper to land on the ground next to the many already there. “Damn it! It rolled again.”

        Kero stood in front of the bin akimbo, annoyed at his goal shooting statistics. He should have predicted that would be the outcome though. For the last nine attempts, he failed because of the same problem: the bin was overloaded. He supposed what kept him going was the hope—the hope that he might succeed and beat the odds.

        Suddenly another one flew at him. Quickly he got into position, kicking it into the air before his eyes fixed themselves onto the path of the ball.

        It was up in the air now. The paper ball looked promising. Kero’s face lit up as he liked the position it was heading for: the centre of the pile. “It’s going to stay!” he said as he watched it land on top of the pile rather securely.

        He waited for a few seconds, not quick to judge. As soon as he made the conclusion that it wasn’t going to fall, Kero gasped with jubilation. “I did it, I did it, I did it; I bet you… you big mountain!” pointing to the bin as he gloated, chin held high, chest pushed outwards.

        Then, as soon as he said it, Kero felt a weight on his head. He looked to his side, “There goes another miss!” He then smiled, “Oh well, can’t win them all.”

        Upon making the decision to quit the game, he flew over to his mistress. Sitting at her desk was Sakura who was preoccupied with her own task—a task of her own which she found just as challenging as keeping the paper ball in the full bin.

        “Sakura,” Kero called as he took a seat beside her. “Haven’t you come up with something to say yet?”

        Taking some time off to answer Kero, Sakura leveraged her head with her elbow and right hand, where a depressed expression was present on her face. “No, Kero-chan.”

        “It’s easy Sakura. This is how you do it—just write: ‘Hello, how are you doing? Goodbye.’ See, simple! You didn’t even have to waste a piece of paper or time,” he replied smartly. Sakura sat there unresponsive; her brain rather numbed from overexertion of the task.

        Noticing Sakura’s weary state, Kero sighed. “I mean, how long have you been at it, Sakura?”

        “Not that long… I don’t think…”

        “Not that long? When did you start?” Kero turned to read the clock on the ledge above her bed. “You started just after eight thirty in the morning and now it’s almost ten—an hour and a half: no one spends that long on a letter.”

        Sakura looked at her wrist watch, doubting it had been that long. It read 9:45am. “Wow, I didn’t realise…”

        “Yeah, and take a look at your rubbish bin,” he said, guiding her to the bin with his head.

        Sakura straightened herself, peering in the direction. Her eyes widened, mouth slightly opened. “That’s all me?” Kero nodded.

        Returning to her previous posture, Sakura slouched again to lean on her elbow. “I don’t know what to say to him… I just…” She paused to pick up the birthday card Syaoran had sent to her, opening it to read the message again. “…I want it to be just right.”

        “Sakura,” Kero sighed with empathy. He moved closer to Sakura, sitting on top of her letter pad as he waited for Sakura’s eyes to look at him. “Why don’t you give it a rest; it’s not coming out the way you want it to be anyway.” Sakura shook her head in her cupped hand, recognising the fact. “Maybe you should leave it for a while and go back to it later.”

        “But Syaoran-kun spent time getting me this card and writing to me, so I want to write him back too.”

        Kero flew to higher ground, positioning himself on top of the school books on her desk. “You’ve already spent an hour and a half on it; you’ve already tried—don’t force yourself any further. Besides, you’ll probably regret what you write later anyway.” Sakura straightened her posture, brow furrowed. “All I’m saying is that you’re wasting your time. I know for sure that what you write now isn’t what you really want to say.”

        For a few moments, Sakura sat in her chair processing Kero’s reasoning. She stood up as she fixed her eyes on the wasted pieces of paper on the ground. “I suppose I should start cleaning up this place.”

        As she knelt down, picking up the discarded letters to Syaoran, Sakura’s face drooped as she opened one of them: only one line. She moved to the next scrunched up ball, two lines then the next one: back to one line.

        Feeling herself grow tired from the strain on her legs, she sat down, crossing them.

        “It used to be so easy for me just to talk to him, but now I can’t even write a sentence without correcting it over and over again. I wonder how he’s doing… Maybe it’d be better if I call him, but I’m…” Sakura’s heart began to beat rapidly at the thought.

        Suddenly a loud cry interrupted the sombre mood. “Oi, Sakura: how come you have so many chocolate bars in your bag? Can I have one, please?!” Sakura didn’t reply. “Oi, Sakura!”

        Kero waited as he slowly edged closer to the opening of the bag, chocolate bars at close range. He continued in the fashion until half of his body was in the bag. Giving Sakura less than a chance to refuse, he briefly gave one last glance towards Sakura’s direction before his entire body disappeared into it.

        “Sakura didn’t say no…”

        Helping himself to the chocolate, Kero began ruffling inside, rocking the bag back and forth at his movements. “Let’s eat… Hey Sakura, you really do have a lot!! Thanks for thinking of me!” he said absentmindedly, chucking one wrapper out the top after another. “I can’t believe the selection you have in here!”

        “I’ll call Syaoran-kun,” Sakura said, breaking out from a debate within her mind. She hastily moved to her desk before she thought better of it. “Alright, now where did I place the number?”

        Frantically she searched through the clutter that was apparent on her desk. Not finding that small piece of pink paper she remembered writing the number on, she rummaged through her drawers. Just as speedy in her actions, she lifted, poked, and flipped through the many things there.

        “It’s not anywhere. Where did I put it?” Sakura scratched her head in frustration, feeling her courage diminish as time continued to pass whilst looking for this piece of paper.

        Sakura had to find it and she knew that she would find it, but not if she didn’t calm herself down.

        Closing her eyes, she began to focus. Sakura struggled as she tried to visualise the last place she had sighted the piece of paper; it had been so long since she used it—in fact—she never needed to use it. Now that she needed to, she couldn’t find it.

        After a while in contemplation, she shook her head in defeat, not having recalled the place she placed it. She began to pace around the room, glancing at her surroundings, hoping it would jog her memory. Where could it be, where could it be—and what’s that crunching noise; where’s it coming from—never mind… Where could it be?

        Then, without even trying, a few digits entered her mind, bringing about a sequence of numbers as she thought. “I think that might be it!” Her lips frowned soon after. “But I’m not too sure…”

        Suddenly, as she stood at the front of the room, nearest the door, her head sharply jerked behind to a familiar feeling. For a few moments, she stood there, confused as to why she felt it beckon her.

        Slowly, she followed the feeling. It was coming from her top drawer.

        As she made her way there, she found it most strange. Why was the Sakura book calling for her? Did the cards sense something—did they sense danger? Then again, she didn’t sense urgency in the cards; it was more of a welcoming call.

        Sakura continued further in a steady pace. Arriving at her desk, she pulled open the drawer to pick up her magic book. She placed her palm on the cover with the intention of feeling its aura: it was warm.

        “Great. You’re alright,” she said with relief.

        Just to make sure, she looked inside, opening the cover. Sakura moved to pick them up. Again, everything was in place as she fanned the cards out, subconsciously making sure all fifty three of them were there.

        “Why did you call me?” she asked the cards rhetorically.

        Giving an internal shrug, she returned the deck back into the compartment of the book, but halted when she saw a small piece of paper. She soon realised that piece of paper at the bottom of the compartment was the piece of paper she had been searching so hard for before.

        Sakura picked it up then looked to the deck still in her grasp. “So this is why you called me.” Sakura smiled, “Arigatou (Thanks) for helping me find it,” she said before placing them back into their home.

        Having put back the book into the drawer, she grabbed her cell phone from the study desk as she made her way to her bed. Sakura sat down, cell phone in one hand, paper in the other. She stared at the cell phone then at the number; it turned out she had remembered it right. Now, the final step: call Syaoran-kun.

        It was as simple as pressing the keys on the cell phone, but her nerves incessantly drew her back every time she commanded herself to dial. Willfully pushing those nerves aside, she tried again as she took a deep inhale of air.

        “Okay… I can do it,” she told herself as she wore her determined expression. “I am going to do it.”

        Her index finger lowered to make contact with the keys on the cell phone when a drawn out gurgling sound erupted, breaking her actions. Sakura furrowed her brow, unable to determine what the noise was or its source.

        Thinking it had come from her, she patted her stomach area several times as if she was searching for a lost object. “Is it me? I don’t think I’m hungry…”

        Another sound erupted again: this time a grumble followed by a groan, “Hoe?”

        Sakura looked around her room, trying to pinpoint the noise then she realised that Kero wasn’t in the room. “Wasn’t Kero in the room just before? Where did he go?”

        Deciding to stand up, she scanned the room as she called, “Kero-chan, where are you? Is that you?” He groaned again before popping up from the bag with his mouth smothered in chocolate. Sakura dropped her jaw in astonishment. “Kero-chan! Are you alright?”

        “I… Yeah…” he barely replied. He fell back down into the bag. What soon followed was a snore.

        “Kero-chan?” Sakura ran to the backpack, worried that he might have hurt himself. “Are you okay?” she repeated, peering down into the bag.

        There was no reply from the lion. Kero was out like a light, and his body uncomfortably wedged between the school books surrounding him. “Doesn’t that hurt Kero-chan? How can you sleep like that?” Sakura said to herself.

        Smiling—finding Kero odd sometimes—she bent over to scoop the sleepy body into her palm, taking him to his bed. As she was about to make her way there, she heard a crunching noise underneath her soles—chocolate wrappers.

        “Kero-chan!” she screamed with as much restraint as she could; Sakura just didn’t understand how he could have eaten all six chocolate bars in one sitting.

        Sakura continued in her path to Kero’s home in the bottom drawer while he wriggled and groaned—detesting the wind he felt passing his body. Sakura shook her head, “No wonder you’re so sick.”

        Having finally taken care of Kero, Sakura sat herself down heavily, resting for a moment. As expected, not too long after she had decided to pick up her cell phone again, she felt her heart constrict and her palms perspire.

        Just dial already, she told herself.

        She was getting through; there was a dial tone. Anticipating the moment someone picked up, Sakura felt herself get more and more lightheaded as she nervously waited.

        Sakura felt so dizzy, but she had gotten this far; if she let go now, she wouldn’t know when she’d build up the courage to call him again.

        You’ll get to talk to him… you’ll get to hear his voice.

        Telling herself that had not help; she continued to feel dizzy. This is only Syaoran-kun—nothing to be nervous about.

        Making sure she wouldn’t faint from the rush of blood running through her body, she hung her head between her legs as she leaned herself against the side of the wall as the third dial tone passed.

        “Hello, this is the Li residence,” a male voice greeted through the phone.

        Sakura straightened up, clutching her phone tightly with both hands. “H-hello? Umm… this is Kinomoto Sakura—“

        “Oh Kinomoto-san,” greeted the male voice.

        “Is this Wei-san?” she asked politely.

        “Hai (Yes). It’s been a while hasn’t it? How is school?” Wei said, switching to the Japanese dialect.

        Forgetting her nerves for a moment, Sakura relaxed, releasing a hand from the cell phone. “I’m in junior high now. I’m really enjoying it.”

        “That’s good, that’s good to hear. So Kinomoto-san, who are you looking for?”

        The question—back went up the hand, gripping the cell phone like before. “Umm… yes, I’m looking for Li Syaoran. Is he there?”

        A somewhat inaudible sigh was expressed from the man. Nevertheless, Sakura caught it as she pressed her ear closer against the receiver.

        “I’m sorry, but you just missed Syaoran-sama. He went out with Meiling-sama shortly before you called.”

        “Sou desu ne (Oh really)?” she replied, trying to show as little disappointment in her tone. “In that case…”

        “Syaoran-sama should be back in an hour if you like to call back, then.” Absorbed in her disappointment, Sakura didn’t reply for a while.

        “No, it’s alright… Can you give him a message?” bouncing back.

        “Hai…”

        “Can you please tell Syaoran-kun that I called and thank him for the birthday card? Also, would you please tell Meiling-chan: thanks for the birthday gift?”

        “I will do that for you as soon as they come home.”

        “Thank you, Wei-san. Goodbye.”

        Not waiting for his response, she clicked off. The shortest of aches existed within her before it disappeared, leaving her to feel nothing—a feeling she was all too used to. It was just easy for her to feel nothing—to forget than to dwell on it.

        Falling back, she sought solace on her soft bed and pillow. She closed her eyes, feeling everything dissolve away, giving in to the fatigue she didn’t know existed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

        “Good afternoon, Kaijuu (Monster)!” Touya teased Sakura as she came down the stairs.

        Sakura’s apathetic form shot up in response, believing that her brother was telling the truth. Quickly she looked at her watch, checking the time; could she really have slept that long to be afternoon?

        She furrowed her brows; Onii-chan (Brother) was having her on. “It is not afternoon!”

        Touya shrugged it off as he disappeared behind the fridge door for a moment before reappearing with a bowl of prepared vegetables. “Your laundry is on the couch.”

        Sakura directed her attention towards the lounge area. Sitting on the couch closest to the entrance to the lounge was a basket with her clothes neatly folded. She walked over to it, dawdling in her steps in thought.

        Curiously, she stared at the basket of clothes. “Onii-chan, did you fold my clothes for me?”

        Touya barely gave a grunt in acknowledgement. “Why don’t you take them up to your room?”

        “Thanks, Onii-chan!” she said just as her dad entered into the kitchen, dressed in an apron. “Ohayou (Good morning) Otou-san!”

        “Ohayou Sakura-san,” Fujitaka replied cheerfully.

        Sunday, being the one day her father was home, she wanted to enjoy this rare occasion with him. So, not wasting a minute further, she speedily ran upstairs to return her clothes to her room.

        Footsteps echoed through the house as Sakura’s feet stamped against the wooden floor, softening as she made it to her room. A faint click sounded, followed by a short silence before the door slammed, footsteps resuming once more.

        “What are you doing, Dad?” Sakura asked, jumping into the kitchen area.

        “I’m preparing lunch. Would you like to help?”

        She smiled, “Sure! What do you want me to do?” she asked then she scanned around curiously.

        “Sakura-san: are you looking for your brother?” Fujitaka asked as he walked behind her to a nearby drawer.

        Sakura nodded. “Where did he go?”

        “He went out to do a bit of shopping for me.”

        Accepting the response, she moved near her father who was at the preparation bench. “What do you need help with, Dad?”

        “Yes Sakura-san, umm…” Fujitaka looked around to see what he wanted done. Finding that there was a bowl of eggs sitting on the bench, he replied, “Could you please go over to the bench and whisk the egg whites I’ve prepared when you’ve put on your apron?”

        “Hai,” Sakura happily obliged, moving off to the aprons before heading to the eggs.

        “Thank you Sakura-san,” he said while he headed over to the oven to check on the muffins inside. “Oh these look like they’re done.” Fujitaka took out a skewer from the kitchen drawers. “But just to make sure: check.”

        Sakura stopped whisking the eggs momentarily to glance over at her father. “How do you do that?”

        “First you take a skewer like this one here,” he demonstrated. Sakura walked over to stand next to him, watching attentively. “…then prick one of the muffins in the centre.” Sakura nodded in comprehension. “If it comes back out clean then you know the muffins are cooked!”

        “I remember doing that in cooking class, but except with cakes.”

        Fujitaka smiled, “Right. Do you want to test a couple more muffins?”

        “Okay!” Sakura said cheerfully. She took the skewer from her dad’s hold to start poking one muffin… two muffins… three muffins—not before long, all twelve muffins had a hole in the centre.

        Fujitaka—who had left Sakura—returned to see what his daughter had done. He chuckled to himself, “At least they all match, huh?” Then he prepared to move the muffins onto the cooling racks.

        “Hoe…” the embarrassment present on Sakura’s face. She giggled, heading back towards the preparation bench. “Otou-san, I’ll go back to doing the egg whites,” she informed.

        “Hai,” he said, smiling.

        Standing still for an instant, Fujitaka quietly watched his daughter from the bench, studying her body language. Sakura had grown up to be such a well-rounded person: she was talented, she was able to take care of herself, and she was always so well-behaved.

        Staring at her furthermore as she stood over at the bench beating the eggs, he noticed how content she appeared at the moment—another thing he noticed she was always being. Fujitaka left his muffins for the moment to cool. “Sakura-san…” he called.

        She faced him with the expected cheery smile she always wore for him, “Hai, Otou-san?”

        “Are you doing alright these days?”

        “Hai, Otou-san.”

        Fujitaka looked at her with worry; she replied with such speed and so simply. He persisted further. “What about school, Sakura-san?”

        “I love it! I’ve met a lot of new friends—oh Sato-kun, he’s a new friend of Tomoyo-chan and mine; he’s very nice. We met him on the first day of Seijyu High.”

        “Oh is that right? You should invite Sato-kun and your friends over for dinner someday.”

        “Hai!”

        A negligible silence fell as Fujitaka moved over to Sakura to check on her progress on the egg whites. Gently, he took the hand-eggbeater from Sakura’s grip as he lifted then dipped it into the bowl. Soft peaks formed, but it wasn’t firm enough.

        Fujitaka continue to beat the whites, taking over from Sakura as she stood next to him, watching diligently. He turned to her, whilst beating, “Sakura-san, your brother’s been worried about you—is there anything you want to talk about?”

        “Hoe?” surprised by her father’s sudden change of conversation. Fujitaka maintained his gaze on her puzzled one as he gave the whisking of the egg whites a rest. He kept quiet as he gave her time to think about his question.

        Several short moments passed; each waiting for the other to reveal their thoughts, but neither did. Sakura stood perplexed in her place as she stared at her feet, wondering what her father was looking for. Fujitaka on the other hand, continued to wait, not wanting to rush or interrupt Sakura’s chain of thoughts.

        Concluding that Sakura wasn’t going to speak up anytime soon, Fujitaka thought to initiate the conversation again. “I’m not at home very much so I miss out on a lot of the happenings in the house. Your brother tells me that you haven’t been yourself lately.”

        Quick to defend herself, Sakura shook her head as she tried to convince her dad the opposite. “I’m okay, really, Otou-san!”

        She was coping; it wasn’t far from the truth.

        “What about Li-kun?”

        Sakura’s eyes widened. So that was what Touya was talking to her dad about. All this time, she thought it might have been something else—maybe something to do with handling school and magic for example. Now that she knew what it was about, a slight blush appeared on her cheeks.

        Afraid that her father would notice this slight change of colour, she bowed her head slightly. Locks of hair fell over her face, concealing her discomfort on the subject matter. As soon as she felt herself cool down, Sakura uncomfortably returned her gaze to her father.

        “Umm…” she began, but stopped, struggling to settle on what to say—that Syaoran was her most important person and she lost him to magic?

        “This Li-kun…” Fujitaka began, looking up trying to recall the face. “I’ve met him before haven’t I?”

        Deciding that the egg whites were pretty much done, Fujitaka pushed it aside then moved around the kitchen, getting utensils and bowls to prepare the cake mixture.

        “Hai,” Sakura replied, nodding firmly before moving off to follow her father close by. She continued, “…at the lecture you gave at Tomoeda a few years back.”

        “Ah yes, I remember—he was very fascinated in my findings. I was very happy to see such a student.” He smiled at the enthusiasm the boy contained that day. The passion and excitement Li exhibited towards new discoveries and knowledge would get him very far in his profession.

        Sakura’s face features softened as she smiled inwardly at her father’s words; Syaoran was one of a kind.

        “He has returned to Hong Kong hasn’t he? How is he doing?” he inquired as he paused at the kitchen bench. There, he studied Sakura’s facial expression. He saw a slight downcast, but was quickly brought back up as she answered his question.

        “Meiling-chan, Syaoran-kun’s cousin, told me he is doing well,” Sakura began excitedly. “Syaoran-kun is training a lot these days. I suppose it’s so that he can keep his martial arts skills in top form…” she paused ever so slightly in her speech. “His form’s flawless!” she added unnecessarily.

        “Is that right...?”

        Sakura nodded firmly. “He also studies a lot. Meiling-chan also told me that Syaoran-kun is getting very good grades for all his subjects especially in maths…” Fujitaka smiled with curiosity as he continued to listen to Sakura. “She told me that he’s one of the top mathematicians in his school and was entered to represent the school in a national mathematics competition! I wish I was good at maths like he is!” Sakura finished her rambling.

        “Are you having problems with your maths?” he asked off-topic as he finished preparing the cake mixture. He then put it in the oven as he turned his head to face her to say, “Maybe you should ask your brother to help you out; and you can always ask me.”

        “Thanks, but… I’m not really having too much trouble—I just take a while to do some of the questions sometimes, but Tomoyo-chan and Sato-kun are always there to help me when I need it.”

        Fujitaka nodded, “Good, that’s good to hear, Sakura-san. You have to thank them for me for helping my daughter out so much.”

        “Hai!” she said with a smile.

        “Well, the cake mixture is finished. Thank you Sakura-san for helping.” Sakura smiled as Fujitaka set the timer.

        Fujitaka moved to stand next to some clothe hangers. He untied his apron. Having hung his apron on the hook, he moved to get Sakura and himself a cup of juice before sitting down.

        “Li-kun’s a very close friend of yours isn’t he, Sakura-san?” Fujitaka carried on their previous conversation after Sakura took her seat.

        Sakura took a sip of orange juice before replying simply, “Hai.”

        He nodded, but not to Sakura’s response—rather to his own thoughts. “Then never let that change, right Sakura-san?” he said, concluding with a pleasant smile.

        “Hoe?” She thought for a moment, curious. Dismissing the thought, she nodded.

        The quiet atmosphere was broken as a turn of the knob at the front door was heard.

        “That must be your brother,” Fujitaka announced. Getting up, he moved to greet him. “Touya-kun…” Sakura heard him say then a break in his speech took place, “Oh, Yukito-kun: good morning!!”

        Yukito bowed, “Ohayou!” his voice traveling through the walls to Sakura’s ears.

        Her ears perked up as she heard the all too familiar voice respond. She leapt up from her seat and ran to say her hellos. “Ohayou, Yukito-san: what are you doing here? Did you run into Onii-chan in the street?”

        “Hai, Sakura-chan,” he said with a nod. “And how are you doing, Sakura-chan?”

        “Good,” she replied. “I’ve been helping Dad do a bit of baking today.”

        “Is that right, Sakura-chan! I must try some of that then when we have our picnic.”

        “Hai!” she said, giggling at the predictability. “But, what picnic?”

        Fujitaka stepped in to answer her question, “Yes, I forgot to mention that. How would you like to picnic for lunch today?”

        She pressed both of her hands together, showing her approval, eyes full of delight. “Great!”

        Then she moved to think about Kero. He definitely would’ve loved to come especially when there was cake around, but she couldn’t bring him. With her father around, Kero would most likely need to stay hidden and that would be too tough for her. Besides, he probably had too many chocolates to move.

        “Nah, he wouldn’t mind this one time,” Sakura said aloud.

        “What was that, Sakura-san?” her father asked.

        Did I say that aloud—hoe… She shook her head. “Nothing… nothing, Otou-san!!” she said sheepishly.

        “Well, here you go, Dad.” Touya moved to the kitchen, emptying the plastic bag he was carrying.

        “Thank you for getting the paper plates and cups, Touya-kun. Once this cake is finished, we’ll be heading off,” he informed more to Sakura than to the rest.

        “Okay!” Sakura answered as she grabbed Yukito by the hand, directing him to the couch in the lounge. “Sit here, Yukito-san! I’ll get you something to drink.”

        “Arigatou Sakura-chan.”

        Sakura walked off, passing Touya who was standing at the entrance connecting the hallway and the lounge. “Kaijuu is always so civil to Yuki. Why doesn’t she get me a drink too?” he said, amplifying the last part loud enough for Sakura to hear.

        Sakura ignored him as she addressed Yukito, “Is orange juice okay, Yukito-san?”

        Yukito chuckled at the brother-sister banter—or lack of. “Hai,” he replied.

        “Whatever…” He dismissed it, waving it off. “Anyway, I better take the trash out.”

        “Do you need any help, Touya?” offered Yukito.

        Touya shook his head, smiling. “No, it’s alright. You can sit here. Kaijuu will probably clobber me if I got you to do it.”

        “Okay,” chuckling once more.

        Facing in the direction of the kitchen, he called to Sakura, “Hey Kaijuu, is there any disgusting monster litter I need to empty from your room?”

        Sakura huffed loudly from the kitchen. “No there isn’t and there is!”

        With a little smirk, Touya retorted, “Which one is it?!”

        Sakura’s legs whipped into the lounge to face her brother, orange juice in hand, “Yes… There… Is…” she said, gritting her teeth. Her brother was emptying her trash after all.

        “I knew it,” Touya said smugly, eyes closed, chin raised. “I will go clear it then.”

        Sakura—still annoyed at the fact that even at this day and age Touya still called her by that nickname—mumbled an, “Arigatou.”

        “Here, Yukito-san,” Sakura offered the juice to him, changing her tone as Touya made his way upstairs.

        Going around the house, clearing the rubbish basket in each room, Touya made his last stop at Sakura’s room. He placed his rather large rubbish bag on the ground in the hallway before he entered her room.

        Touya’s eyes widened as they were drawn to her desktop. Scattered messily on it were books, pens, and pad paper—they were all stacked on top of one another and was somehow able to hold its stability.

        Across the room, in the corner of his left eye, he could see that the laundry he had folded for her lay on her bed. She hadn’t placed that in her wardrobe either. Nothing was in its organised form.

        He sighed heavily. Dismissing the messy state of the room, he dropped his eyes to find the rubbish basket in the centre of the room—also not in its usual place next to her study desk. “The monster’s everywhere,” he said quietly to himself.

        Having approached the rubbish basket, he knelt down to pick it up; all the while noticing how extremely full it was—full of scrunched up paper. Carefully, he took it out of the room, trying to fence in the paper from falling out.

        “Damn—I’ll pick those up later,” he cursed as a few defeated his wall. “Why the hell was she using up so much paper?”

        Once the basket was emptied, he cleaned the room up of the remaining scrunched up paper. As Touya cleared the floor, he noticed that there was one more he had missed—a piece of wrinkled paper lying flat on the ground. He groaned at that last bit of paper, thinking he was done picking them all up.

        Bending over once more, Touya scooped it up exasperatedly. As he picked it up, once again, something on the piece of paper caught his attention. Without intention, he saw the opening line of the letter.

        “The kid again,” he answered to his previous question.

        Debating with his thoughts whether or not to read on further, Touya stood on the spot, maintaining a curious stare at the letter. Being a brother, he thought like one, but could he bring himself to read it? It wasn’t like he didn’t know what was probably written on that letter, but there was a temptation like any normal loving brother to just read it.

        He held the letter in his hand, having not decided what he wanted to do. Touya began to walk around the room, noticing a few of the chocolate wrappers lying under her bag and the hem of the blanket.

        That Sakura, she’s still thinking about him. It’s not like I didn’t think she wouldn’t be but… and to waste all that paper like that—she must really... Dare he say it?

        Touya shook it off; he wasn’t going to think like that. Picking up the wrapper, he prepared to leave her room. As he left, he also decided not to read the letter.

        Finishing the task, Touya made his way downstairs. “Hey Kaijuu!” he called from the staircase, “Everything in the rubbish basket: you don’t want it right?”

        Still sitting with Yukito, she looked up at her brother who had made his way under the door frame of the lounge. “Why would I want something I’ve already thrown?” What was Onii-chan implying?

        “Just asking,” he said, stretching out his speech, making his way outside afterwards.

        As soon as Touya left the house, the phone rang. “I wonder who it could be,” Sakura said to herself. Yukito shrugged, gesturing her to go find out.

        “Hello, Kinomoto residence,” she answered, followed by, “Oh Tomoyo-chan. How are you?”

        “I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my house and see my painting,” Tomoyo asked whilst painting.

        “Oh Tomoyo-chan, I really want to, but my family’s going out on a picnic in about five minutes…” The briefest of a pause took place before Sakura came up with an idea, “Would you like to come? How about you join us—I’m sure dad wouldn’t mind.”

        “Okay. I should get out anyway.”

        “Great!” Sakura answered Tomoyo just as her father passed by. “Hold on a minute, I’ll just tell Dad.”

        Covering the receiver, she turned to her Dad. “Otou-san, I’ve invited Tomoyo-chan to join us today—is it alright for her to come, too?”

        “Hai,” he replied. “Oh, I haven’t seen Sonomi-kun for a while, why don’t you ask Tomoyo-san if her mother would like to join us too, Sakura-san?”

        “Hai!” Sakura turned her attention back to the phone, “Dad says it’s alright. He was wondering if your mother wanted to join us too.”

        “She won’t be able to make it; Mother is in Tokyo city today.”

        “Oh okay, I’ll tell Dad then. See you around in ten minutes, Tomoyo-chan?” Sakura waited for her reply before she ended the conversation. “Okay, bye.”

        “Dad, Tomoyo-chan’s mother can’t make it. Tomoyo-chan said that she was in Tokyo city today,” Sakura informed her dad, having moved into the kitchen where her father was.

        “Oh that is a shame; another time, huh?” Fujitaka said. Sakura nodded.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

        The family and friends had chosen to have their picnic at Penguin King Park. Laid out on the picnic blanket were many dishes full of sweet and savoury foods and drinks. Being a rather warm day today, they decided to sit underneath a large tree, shading them from this afternoon’s sun.

        “Thank you so much for coming, Tomoyo-chan!” Sakura exclaimed as she ate one of the muffins her dad made.

        “Hai!” Tomoyo said smiling after she finished chewing on her sandwich.

        “Are you enjoying yourself, Tomoyo-san?” Fujitaka asked.

        “Very much; the food is very good,” Tomoyo replied politely, bowing her head.

        “I’m glad. Tomoyo-san: how’s your mother; your mother’s not working herself too hard is she?” Fujitaka questioned again.

        “No—mother is the same as usual; she’s doing well.”

        “Good. Well, eat up, okay? There’s plenty of food left.”

        “Hai—arigatou,” Tomoyo replied then she turned to Sakura, leaning into her ear, “So where’s Kero-chan?”

        “He’s asleep—”

        “Kero-chan missed out this picnic to sleep?” in a disbelieving tone. “There’s even your Dad’s cake!”

        Sakura giggled. “Yeah, but I didn’t tell him that.” Tomoyo looked at her in shock. “Nah don’t worry, he had a lot of chocolates before—he probably can’t pack anymore into himself anyway.”

        “This is Kero-chan you’re talking about, Sakura-chan…”

        Tomoyo was right; Kero could fit more. “Oh no, he’ll be so angry with me when he goes downstairs and smells the aroma and find that there’s no cake in the fridge…” Sakura fretted slightly. Her eyes scrolled from corner to corner, wondering what she’d tell him.

        Panicking—although she didn’t know why—she looked over at Touya’s direction, where the cake was. Why did the cake have to be near Onii-chan?

        Touya was sitting next to the cake, but luckily he was talking to Yukito. It was a good time for Sakura to try and get that last piece of cake. Silently, she extended her hand towards the cake, trying not to catch Touya’s attention.

        “Kaijuu, what are you doing?” Touya suddenly said, pinpointing just his eyes at her hands.

        Damn. I couldn’t escape from him. Innocently, Sakura replied, “I’m getting that piece of cake.”

        “That’s my piece,” he said in a low voice.

        Sakura grinned. She pointed to it. “But that’s an extra piece…”

        “So…?”

        “But… but…” she stammered, her hands still reaching for the cake.

        “Touya-kun,” Fujitaka interjected. “Are you teasing Sakura-san again? Why don’t you let your sister have that piece this time? She did help make it.”

        He didn’t really want it anyway. He huffed, just to put on a show as Sakura grinned happily, taking it freely from Touya’s watchful eye.

        “That was close, wasn’t it, Sakura-chan?” Tomoyo joked. “But you know what Sakura-chan? You could have gotten me to get it for you. It might have been easier.”

        She blinked a couple of times. Tomoyo was the guest after all; her brother would have let her have that last piece. Oh well, at least she got it in the end—the harder way though.

        Putting it on a napkin, she then placed it in an empty container she found lying around before sitting it next to Tomoyo’s handbag. “Do you think you could look after that for me?”

        Willing, Tomoyo replied, “Hai.”

        “Thank you, Tomoyo-chan. Anyway, are you finished? Do you want to take a walk; my legs are getting cramped from sitting in this position for so long.”

        “Hai.”

        “Let’s go?” Tomoyo nodded. Sakura then turned to her dad, “Dad: is it alright if Tomoyo-chan and I take a walk in the park?”

        “Go ahead—enjoy yourselves!”

        “Hai!”

        “I can’t believe you finished your painting so soon,” Sakura said as she and Tomoyo casually walked towards the swings.

        “Me, too—I can’t believe it either. So, I’ll be able to send the painting to Hiiragizawa-kun next week,” Tomoyo replied.

        “If I don’t get to see it before you send it, you have to take a picture of it.”

        Tomoyo nodded, “Hai.”

        The sound of the wind was heard as the topic of conversation became dry. Walking alongside each other, neither Sakura nor Tomoyo thought to continue, undisturbed by the silence.

        Finally deciding that the patch of silence existed for a little too long, Tomoyo spoke up, “Sakura-chan, what are you thinking?”

        “He’s a nice guy isn’t he?” Sakura said, underneath her breath, almost to herself.

        “Who is—Hiiragizawa-kun?” Tomoyo replied as she looked at Sakura curiously.

        From her sagging posture, Sakura snapped her head up. “Hoe? Eriol-kun?”

        “Weren’t you talking about Hiiragizawa-kun?” Tomoyo asked, feeling a tiny bit small at the moment.

        “No, but Eriol-kun is very nice too!”

        “Hai, but if you’re not talking about Hiiragizawa-kun, you must be talking about Li-kun.” Tomoyo inwardly slapped her forehead; obviously it would have been Li-kun.

        “But Tomoyo-chan…” Sakura cocked her head. “Why do you mention Eriol-kun?”

        Genuinely, she shook her head, “I don’t know; I just thought since we were talking about the painting, I thought you were referring to Hiiragizawa-kun.”

        “Oh okay…” Sakura said, forgetting about her thoughts altogether.

        “So, you were thinking about Li-kun?” pushing Sakura back into what she was talking about.

        Sakura nodded, “Hai. I was just thinking how nice Syaoran-kun was when we were capturing the Clow cards and especially when we were changing them into Sakura cards.”

        “Hai—he really cared about you, Sakura-chan.”

        Reaching the swings, they sat down: Tomoyo on the right; Sakura closest to the frame on the left. “Why didn’t I notice?”

        “It is usually that way,” Tomoyo replied simply with comforting words.

        “Yeah…” Sakura replied for the sake of replying. “I wish… I just wish I noticed. So I could’ve…“

        …So she could’ve had what she didn’t know she had been searching for all along: Love. With the loss of her mother at a young age and the lack of her father’s presence in her life, she didn’t feel it very often; a hole lived within her heart. Unknowingly, she had been searching for someone to repair it; and Syaoran was the one to do it.

        Swinging on the swings, kicking bits of dirt around, she fell into contemplation once again, leaving Tomoyo to stare after her as she trailed off.

        Seconds passed as she descended deeper into her thoughts then Tomoyo popped into her head amidst the thoughts of her and Syaoran. Immediately, she broke herself out of them. “I’m sorry, Tomoyo-chan! I’m always putting my problems on you—sorry.”

        “It’s okay Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo replied with sincerity, adding nothing more.

        Sakura looked to her best friend, “You really are a great friend. Thanks for listening to me.”

        “No problem, Sakura-chan!”

        Sakura smiled. “Hey, Tomoyo-chan…” she said, springing back into a more cheerful tone, having thought of something. “What are you doing after this?”

        “After the picnic—not much. Why, Sakura-chan?”

        “Well, I’m not doing much either, so I thought maybe I could see your painting after this?”

        More than happy to oblige, Tomoyo replied, “I would love that!”

        Firmly, Sakura nodded. “I can’t wait to see how much it’ll resemble the photo you took at the—“

        All of a sudden Sakura stopped in mid-sentence. Tomoyo began to worry. “Sakura-chan: what is it?”

        Sakura didn’t reply as all actions of hers stopped for the briefest of seconds. She sat still, trying to search out the feeling she felt not too long ago—but where was it?

        “Sakura-chan?” Tomoyo called to her once more, thinking Sakura hadn’t heard her. “Is everything okay?”

        “Hai,” she barely replied. “I… I sensed something,” she said, continuing to scan the area. “It was here, but I can’t feel it anymore.” Tomoyo sat there quietly, letting her friend concentrate.

        It was definitely gone; either that or maybe what she sensed before was a mistake. Despite that, Sakura continued in trying to isolate the weak aura.

        Useless; nothing was there. She turned to Tomoyo, slowly shaking her head, “The aura’s gone. I can’t—“

        The aura appeared again. This time, she located it in the direction of a densely packed group of trees. “Tomoyo-chan: wait here, please!” she said with haste.

        “Hai,” she complied.

        Running as if life depended on it, she whipped past the playground, the children, and the people playing in the park. This aura had been tracking her for the last few weeks and damn it if she wasn’t going find out whom it belonged to; the aura was so close—if only the aura could appear again and stay longer.

        Having made it to the pack of trees, Sakura was forced to slow down and come to a stop, unable to find anything at the end of her search. Standing at the perimeter of the outlying plantation of trees, she began to scan again, seeing if she could find a curious figure nearby.

        Where are you; who are you? Sakura thought to herself.

        Each step was taken with caution as Sakura went deeper into the group of trees. Keeping herself calm and focused, Sakura eliminated all distracting sounds and feelings. She walked several metres into the plantation, snapping twigs that lay underneath her shoes at every step she took.

        A short period of time passed and she was still very much alone. She took a few more steps before her rhythmic snapping sounds were broken as an extra snap quickly followed.

        “What was that?” she muttered to herself. Sakura sharply turned to her right. A young male figure stood a few metres ahead, his back facing her. Sakura’s heart pounded at the thought of discovering the identity of this figure.

        For a short while, looking pass the trunk of a tree in the distance, she stood there in anticipation. Deciding it was not safe to be so visible, she discretely scurried to a nearby tree, leaning her body against it.

        Palms laid flat against the trunk, she inclined her head to the right as she spied on the unidentified young male: the hair… the clothes… the height… it reminds me of someone.

        Her eyes widened, realising who it was. “It’s Sato-kun,” she quietly said, partly relieved she didn’t have to deal with it at the moment. “It’s only him. I’ll go and say hi to him.”

        Just as she prepared herself to call for him with her right hand raised, half way to a wave, she stopped. Her smile and cheerful mood washed off to be replaced with bewilderment.

        Sato-kun? She thought, feeling not so relieved now.

        He had in his possession an object of some sort and it emitted a faint glow—almost invisible, but no aura. Sakura continued to stare in awe as she watched him hold out his palm whilst the object hovered over it.

        Sakura hung her head in disbelief, eyes on a point on the ground not too far in front of her. How could this be? Sato-kun—no way!

        Even though she saw it with her own eyes, she still couldn’t bring herself to believe it, but there he was standing ahead of—

        “Where did he go?” Sakura said. Erratically, she spun in all directions, trying to find him. He was nowhere.

        Sakura stared into the distance at the cheerful world around her; but her world, it seemed so chaotic at the moment. Nothing around her was clear anymore; everything was just moving too fast.

        “Sato-kun…? Masaka (No way)…”

To be continued in episode 6: “Sakura’s Hazy Encounter”.