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CARDCAPTOR SAKURA

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©2003 Design by Julia and Tania Corner Productions. All content is copyrighted to their rightful owners. Cardcaptor Sakura is copyrighted to CLAMP and all its affiliates! No infringements is intended at all! Full Disclaimer.

Sakura and the Freak Storm

©2003 By Julia and Tania
E-mail: ccs_fanz@juliaandtania.com
Cardcaptor Sakura: The Attractive Power (Alternate)
Episode 8

Sakura wished things were different between her and Syaoran; wished that he would see her as more than just an old acquaintance. The fact that he didn’t care for her the way he used to, didn’t look at her with eyes that soothed her to her depths, and not calling her by her first name, reverting back to formalities of addressing her by her last, stung her like a swarm of angry bees.

        Since his return, it had been tough just trying to ignore the distance that was between them nowadays. Every time she saw him, all she wanted was to do what felt natural: to speak without holding back, act without thinking thrice, and to feel what she wanted to feel without having to worry about scaring Syaoran away, a mile in the opposite direction.

        It jabbed at her from the inside out; eating at her for needing to control every action, every emotion every time she was around him.

        But despite all that, Sakura found things to be looking more upbeat recently. As hard as it was to come to school to see him dismiss her like any other classmate, for the moment, it was enough just to see him everyday. For that, and on the advice Tomoyo had given to her not too long ago, she had woken up happy today.

        Like the many times this year, Sakura had arrived at school early this morning. At the sight of the leisure pace witnessed from the handful of students that occupied the hallways at the moment, she wasn’t just early—she was extremely early. It seemed she really had managed to ward off that old habit for the year so far.

        Sakura placed her roller-blades on the ground before reaching into her bag for her locker key and putting it to the padlock. “I wonder if Syaoran-kun’s at school yet.” She smiled to her thoughts, “Syaoran-kun probably is at school; he’s always early.” Then a tinge of sadness transpired through her expression, lingering for a moment before it disappeared, pleasantness returning.

        She carefully put away her roller-blades before she made her way to the school gates—the place her class was instructed to rendezvous for the science field trip to the nursery.

        As Sakura exited the building, she walked back out into the bright morning. In the distance, closer to her left, she could hear a lawn mower going. Even though it was low and monotonous—a sound that was more detested than appreciated—today it pleased her to hear it. Just the idea that it invoked: sunny day, relaxed mood, a Sunday where families enjoyed a nice picnic together at the park—the sound of the lawn mower calmed her.

        Then there was the light wind which blew, carrying the crisp scent of early morning dew and a hint of the flowers, trees, and grass all mixed in together. It was so refreshing that she couldn’t resist but to take a deep inhale of it, closing her eyes. For the short moment, she allowed herself to stay like that, releasing her mind from all thoughts, stress, and anything else that bothered her.

        Shortly after, her nose tingled; the scent in the air had changed slightly. She sniffed in the aroma once. Now there was a hint of fruit, kind of a sweet, citrus smell added to it. Sakura opened her eyes, sniffing around some more, wondering why she could smell… oranges.

        A rubbish bin was nearby, maybe it came from there.

        Blinking away to the concrete ground, she caught onto her long morning shadow. She found that there was another shadow that was imposing onto hers, all the while hearing footsteps from behind. Normally, Sakura would ignore shadows of fellow students, but she couldn’t dismiss this one as it moved across her own.

        An uncanny, yet familiar sensation grew within her as she pieced together the shape of the shadow, the sound of the footsteps, and the emotions of excitement, nervousness, anticipation—her instincts had told her it could only belong to one person.

        Syaoran.

        Sakura’s intuition had not failed her. Turning to her right, she saw her most important person walking a couple of feet away, passing her with an orange and peels in his hand.

        So that was where the orange scent had come from.

        Standing at the rubbish bin several metres from her, Syaoran peeled and tossed orange skin into the rubbish. Her eyes lay on him, mind lacking any commands; it wasn’t offering anything. But soon she found her legs gradually lift, her heart taking control yet again, guiding her to him.

        No matter how many times she approached him, she couldn’t control her nerves from tensing up, her heart from pumping, throat constricting, and the irrepressible bursts of that tingling sensation in result of her emotions. She clutched her hands that itched with desire as she continued in her way, stiff in her manner.

        “Sakura,” a voice of close proximity called from behind, interrupting her focus.

        “Hoe?” She looked around to search out the voice. Oh right—Kero, it was him. He had come along to the trip as well. Concerned about the aura and having not been familiarised with it, he thought his presence was necessary in the case of another unexpected entrance from the aura.

        Registering the voice, she turned to the guardian beast, inconspicuously positioned at the corner of her bag. “Can I have some of the food from your lunchbox? I’m still kind of hungry.”

        Dealing with this quickly, she agreed, not really giving it much thought; her mind was still on Syaoran. “Yeah, okay.” Then she remembered Kero’s large appetite. “Just try not to eat it all, or I won’t have anything to eat for lunch, okay?”

        “Thanks, Sakura!” then he was gone in a blink of an eye.

        Now back to Syaoran. Internally, she sighed in relief; he was still at the rubbish bin, peeling the remaining skin off the fruit.

        “Ohayou (Good morning), Syaoran-kun!” Her voice was cheerful, no hint of the nervousness she felt before, nor was it artificial. She stood closely by his side, leaning into him, waiting for his acknowledgement. Oddly, when she had actually approached him, everything had disappeared, feeling a sense of ease at the moment.

        Syaoran took a moment away from his task to look up, feeling someone enter into his personal space. “Ohayou,” he greeted neutrally. His attention remained with her a few seconds longer before returning to his orange again.

        “Syaoran-kun’s still having his breakfast?” she observed.

        “Yeah. Kind of.”

        No further conversation took place. Sakura could only wait.

        As she watched Syaoran close to finish with the peeling, she could hear all the ambient sounds amplify around her. Hearing the degree of clarity of the most subtle of sounds—the gentle rustling of the leaves, the ever so slight blow of the gentle wind, and even the swishing blades of the grass—told her the truth of the situation. It was dead.

        Moments passed. A sound of orange segments being split apart was heard.

        Placed in front of Sakura’s eyes was half of his orange. She tilted her head upwards to read the gesture. He had offered her a part of his fruit. Sakura smiled widely in acceptance. “Arigatou (Thanks), Syaoran-kun.”

        As she reached for the half, her fingertips lightly grazed his palm. The heat that came from his hand teased her senses as she felt sparks fly upon contact. She trembled momentarily. Not wanting Syaoran to see this discomposure, Sakura quickly took hold of the orange and snapped her hand back in retreat.

        She smiled at him, feeling warm around her cheeks. Apparently, Syaoran hadn’t noticed as he turned away, casually making a start for the bus that was to arrive at the front gate.

        Grinning happily to herself, Sakura cupped the orange in her hand, elevating it to her face. Syaoran darted an eye of curiosity. She continued to admire the orange that Syaoran had peeled for her before she ripped a segment and took a bite from it.

        Her expression brightened upon tasting the sweet juice. Syaoran had chosen a good orange. She put the rest of the segment into her mouth, chewing on it.

        Unexpectedly, a giggle of delight erupted from Sakura.

        Showing curiosity once again, Syaoran turned in her direction. His brow furrowed, unable to find what had caused her to giggle—maybe it was something in her mind that caused her to do so.

        “What is it?” he decided to ask.

        Sakura turned to him, meeting his gaze. “I’m just happy.” He cocked his head to one side, still puzzled. Sakura elaborated. “I’m happy because I’m walking next to Syaoran-kun. And because the orange that Syaoran-kun gave to me is so sweet.”

        It was an answer that Syaoran couldn’t quite grasp onto: how could she be that content because of those two reasons that she mentioned? Those were such little things—but only if he knew how much they really meant, and how ‘not-so-little’ they were to Sakura.

        He shrugged it off, nodding simply.

        Expecting nothing less and nothing more from him, Sakura smiled in response. Her gaze remained on him for a short while longer before she returned to her orange just as Syaoran had.

        They continued to walk in silence; and with each passing second Sakura could hear her own mind repeat his name many times in each thought of random Syaoran-related topics. All of them were trapped in her mind, unable to be expressed, thinking they were inappropriate to be spoken aloud. The only thing she could do was to observe and admire him within.

        “Syaoran-kun,” she began again. Sakura edged her body slightly closer to him, “are you looking forward to today’s field trip to the nursery?”

        He turned to face her, his breakfast amidst being finished, “Yeah.”

        Sakura delayed a blink, eyelids slowly dropping to a close before opening again: what was it about those eyes?

        “Me too,” bouncing back from the moment of weakness, “Okuda-sensei said we’ll be doing some planting and tours around some of the gardens they have there.”

        Once again, Syaoran nodded, “Uh.”

        “I’m so glad that Okuda-sensei allowed Syaoran-kun to join our group,” she continued. “It’s our first field trip together in a long while, huh Syaoran-kun?” Sakura gave a smile. “The last field trip we went together was all the way back in Tomoeda Elementary…” Syaoran nodded.

        A train of thoughts suddenly developed from her own mention of the past. It had been quite a while since the last field trip. From her recollection, the last field trip was the one where they visited the ski lodge up in the mountains.

        Throughout the time of Syaoran’s absence, she had a lot of time to fill during quiet nights in her room. Each of those nights, she fell asleep to the replaying of many moments between Syaoran and herself—ones that were clear as glass and ones that were hazy as a winter’s fog. But having gone through them, thought about them countless number of times, those moments she didn’t quite understand back then hit her like a ton of bricks now.

        This moment at the ski trip was one of them. When she had asked if Syaoran had given the bear he had made for his most important person, who that person was, he had said no and struggled to answer the second question. At first, she had mistaken that as a reluctance to let her in on his business, but now, she realised why he had found it so difficult to express it.

        It was her. Everything was her; because of her; and for her.

        “…It was so nice up on the ski fields; the snow that we saw on the porch was very pretty, wasn’t it Syaoran-kun?” Sakura continued.

        “Uh (Yeah), the snow was very beautiful.”

        Sakura turned to smile, glad that he had thought the same. “Does it snow a lot in Hong Kong?”

        He shook his head. “No—Hong Kong’s location makes the climate very much warm all year round; so it rarely snows.”

        “Wow. Syaoran-kun knows a lot of things…” Sakura nodded her head, enlightened by the fact, cheer in her intonation. “…so that’s how it is.” Sakura lifted her head to see a bus come to a halt. “Oh the bus is here, Syaoran-kun.”

        Parked directly in front of the gate, a group of students converged in to gather around the entrance of the vehicle. Amongst them, Sakura spotted two of her teammates.

        “There’s Tomoyo-chan and Sato-kun. They’re already here.” Syaoran nodded in acknowledgement.

        Tomoyo, who was standing at the back of the group, caught sight of her two friends making their way towards her. She waved to the approaching pair; Sakura waved back. Her eyes became curious as she saw her and Syaoran walk at a distance closer than normal. She wondered if something good had come to pass from the display. For Sakura’s happiness, she hoped something good did.

        “Ohayou, Sakura-chan, Li-kun!” Tomoyo greeted upon their arrival.

        “Kinomoto-san, Li-kun, good morning,” Yoshiro followed.

        “Ohayou!” Sakura returned to the both.

        “Ohayou.” Syaoran took his position to form the rest of the circle, between Sakura and Yoshiro.

        “What time did you get here? I didn’t see you when I came into school,” Sakura asked.

        “I’m not too sure, but quite early, and Sato-kun came a few minutes after me.”

        Yoshiro glanced up at the sky before returning his attention to the group again. “Today’s such a nice day to spend outside, huh? I don’t even think there’s even a cloud nearby.” Everyone examined the observation, heads tilting towards the sky.

        “You’re right, Sato-kun,” Tomoyo confirmed. “What a nice shade of blue the sky is today.” In agreement again, the group nodded.

        A couple of glances were spread between Sakura and Syaoran before Tomoyo began again. “How is Sakura-chan and Li-kun today?”

        “Good,” Sakura said, answering for herself.

        “Uh,” Syaoran casually agreed.

        Tomoyo grinned widely. “Well that’s great. Anyway, I want to sit on the bus with Sato-kun today. Do you mind, Sakura-chan?”

        Shaking her head, she replied, “No, I don’t mind, Tomoyo-chan.”

        “Thanks, Sakura-chan.” She turned her attention to Syaoran. “Li-kun won’t mind accompanying Sakura-chan, will you?” Her tone was sweet, but she supported a firm gaze into Syaoran’s eyes that was demanding in nature. Not a second later, she washed it over with an innocent smile.

        Slightly taking aback by Tomoyo, a jerk of his head was seen. She was really good; whatever he found suspicious left without a trace.

        “Whatever you like,” he replied, dismissively.

        Satisfied, Tomoyo nodded. “Thanks Li-kun, Sakura-chan.”

        The countryside felt serene. Now far away from the suburban scenery of Tomoeda and the densely populated Tokyo, rural farmlands replaced it. It was open, green, and people were few. Paddocks of vegetation and rice fields existed here instead of concrete roads; grand forest mountains overlooked them instead of high rise buildings; and situated on the land were a small, close community of houses—although, at hind-sight, there were many, many houses, a lot more than one would expect in the countryside.

        Inside the Seijyu bus, a quiet atmosphere took place. The class of 7-1 had been on the road for over an hour now, currently travelling through the community. Fortunately for the already restless students, the trip was not going to take too much longer as they were not more than fifteen minutes or so away from the nursery.

        For the meantime, as they anticipated their arrival, some students spent the remaining time quietly chatting away, while the more weary ones took the more relaxing approach in watching the scenery pass them by.

        Naoko and her friends opted to do the former.

        “Do you notice something different between Sakura-chan and Li-kun?” Through the narrow gap between the windows and the seats, Naoko took a second look towards Sakura a few seats ahead of her. Sakura’s head was inclined towards the window, her hand and elbow supporting the posture. “When Li-kun came to the Nadesico Flower Festival last year, weren’t Sakura-chan and Li-kun together?”

        Rika, who took a seat next to Naoko, rose slightly to peer over heads in front to the pair. Her expression sagged, eyes filled with sadness. “Hai… They seem to act a little strange around each other, different from the way they did last year.”

        Chiharu popped through the back of their seats, laying her hands over the top. “Are you guys talking about Sakura-chan and Li-kun?” They both nodded. Chiharu then took her turn to peer at the topic of conversation. “They’re so quiet…” She returned to the group.

        “Yeah…” the friends chimed—all having conforming expressions of concern.

        “Did you notice that Li-kun’s gone back to calling Sakura-chan Kinomoto?”

        “Maybe Li-kun likes the sound of Kinomoto better.” Takashi had all of a sudden appeared beside Chiharu, pushing her aside slightly. The girls raised an eyebrow in surprise; he grinned, seeing nothing wrong with his response.

        Chiharu shook her head, “I don’t think so… they were so close before. Now they don’t hang around each other as much.”

        Naoko nodded agreeing, noticing the fact also, “I wonder what happened between Sakura-chan and Li-kun.”

        Watching the scenery through the window next to hers, Sakura admired the peaceful view. Her eyes swept back and forth between properties, focusing on details here and there before it stopped.

        Directly in front of her was Syaoran’s face, staring inertly towards the front of the bus. It was easy; it was easy staring at his reflection. She could watch him, and he would stay there. She could speak to him about everything that was on her mind, and he would still be there. The only thing she wished his reflection would do was to respond.

        The scenery through the window bent around the corner, replaced by a long row of tall trees ahead. The bus had entered into a property’s driveway before it made another turn into its visitor’s parking lot. Sakura’s head jerked up to her left, following the action of Syaoran’s reflection. Then a screech was heard from the application of the breaks before the bus came to a gradual stop.

        Standing up from his seat at the front, on the driver’s side, Okuda-sensei gathered the students’ attention. “Alright, students, we’re here at the nursery. Our tour guides should be waiting for us outside soon, so get your gear and start filing out and wait there.”

        “Hai,” the students complied.

        “Alright, let’s get some fresh air then; start heading out.”

        The group gathered outside the nursery’s courtyard as instructed by their science teacher. Several metres ahead of them stood two large green painted buildings. The larger of the two, on the right, had a few characters on a white sign: Education Centre, while the other one was designated as the nursery’s Office and Reception. Each building were surrounded by an arrangement of vibrant flowers and shrubbery, obviously selected and planted, adding greater visitor hospitality. To the right of the building was a wonderfully designed pond where, today, ducks occupied. Lining the perimeter of the estate were more greenery and—what looked like—a long glasshouse followed by a couple more that could just be seen behind the two main buildings.

        “That was such a long trip!” Sakura stretched her arms to its most outstretched position, releasing all the tension in her muscles through it.

        “Yeah it was, wasn’t it?” Yoshiro expressed, coming up to stand slightly behind her. He rolled his head, hanging it backwards for a couple of seconds before returning it to its upright position. “Fresh air is good.”

        “Yes. Hmm, this place is charming.” Tomoyo gazed around her surroundings with great interest. She turned behind to Syaoran who was approaching the group. “Don’t you think so, Li-kun?”

        He came to stand behind Sakura then looked around at the scenery Tomoyo had commended. “Uh,” he replied.

        “Okuda-sensei still hasn’t returned yet,” Sakura observed, looking towards the Office and Reception entrance for the jet-black-haired male teacher.

        “Something must be holding up the tour guides,” Yoshiro offered.

        “Hai,” she said, nodding casually. Suddenly, two people in the distance seen chatting caught her attention.

        On the left was a male of tall stature with dark hair wearing an apron; standing next to him was a shorter guy, light-coloured hair, also wearing an apron. Upon hearing the laugh of the shorter guy echo to her ears, immediately, Sakura knew who those familiar faces belonged to.

        “Yukito-san, Onii-chan (Brother)!” she called to them. Yukito waved energetically at her, wide smile on his lips, while Touya acknowledged her with his eyes.

        “Are Tsukishiro-kun and your brother working here today?” Tomoyo queried.

        Sakura turned to face her, just as puzzled by their presence. “I don’t know. My brother didn’t say anything about it to me this morning.”

        “Good morning, Sakura-chan,” Yukito greeted, finally reaching the group. He turned to address the others. “Good morning.” The group bowed their heads.

        “Good morning, Yukito-san.” She turned to her brother. “Onii-chan, you didn’t tell me you’d be here today.”

        “No,” he replied simply. His expression turned smug. “I don’t need to let the little monster know everything do I?”

        Sakura pursed her lips, brows knitting together in anger, glaring at him: why did he always have to add that bit in? Dismissing it soon after, she reverted to her more cheerful expression. “Are you working here today, Yukito-san?”

        “Hai, Sakura-chan. Your brother told me he was working here today and they needed an extra hand, so I offered. It sounded like fun.”

        “Doesn’t Yukito-san have classes today?”

        “No, got pretty much the next two days free—lucky for me, huh?” Sakura grinned widely; Yukito was always so cheerful. Seeing and talking to him always cheered her up.

        “So your class is here as part of your plant-life module,” Yukito stated.

        “Yes. Okuda-sensei decided that we end this off with a field trip…”

        As Sakura continued to talk with Yukito, on the side, Touya moved his attention to Syaoran. His facial features creased to a frown; it was just one of those natural reactions whenever he saw the boy.

        Syaoran didn’t look or act any different to him. Apart from being a little taller, a little older, he was pretty much the same guy—a guy who cared a little too much for Sakura for his liking. It was for that reason he disliked the kid.

        Touya continued to frown, glaring even harder at him, knowing that he was the cause behind Sakura’s sombre mood. This was the exact reason why he had to hate any guy that had an interest in Sakura. He was always afraid that Sakura would get hurt, and at the moment, this guy was hurting her. Even as he watched her smile and chat happily to Yuki now, he could see a part of Sakura was missing. And this was all because the kid had given his heart to her then snatched it right back.

        But soon his expression softened a touch. Yes, in normal circumstances, he’d kill the guy for hurting her like that, but how could he think that when the reason to why it had resulted this way was because the kid wanted Sakura’s heart to be safe? In actual fact, he had protected Sakura—for him, for his father, her friends—he had protected everyone.

        So, Touya could only stand in his spot and watch the kid with confused eyes as conflicted sentiments flowed inside of him. There the kid stood, observing his immediate surroundings, knowing nothing.

 

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

 

        “The structures in front of you, we call them our production houses. These hold plants that are still growing. We cultivate them until they are ready to be shifted to our sales houses (which we just passed by at the front earlier this morning) for retailing.”

        Sakura swept her eyes across the rows of metal-framed-dome constructions, which housed the seedlings the female tour guide spoke of. Inside the production house she had laid focus on, a tunnel of perennials lined the outer perimeter, while an isle was kept clear between them—a walkway for workers. Sakura moved her focus to the other houses; they were also similarly arranged, with only the plants being the difference.

        “It’s important that we keep them all watered, and we have special automated systems to do such a task. But the staff is always needed to check for any dry spots. This is done daily to ensure that our plants are always healthy.”

        Momentarily, the tour guide paused before turning to Okuda-sensei. The two engaged in a quiet conversation with one another, the tour guide’s hand gesturing towards the production houses, sweeping her hand between them. Okuda-sensei followed, his hand mimicking her actions, lightly stamping indicatively to each of them in acknowledgement. A few more words were exchanged from the male teacher before a firm nod was seen.

        Okuda-sensei laid his attention back on the students: “Alright class,” he began, “You now have some time to explore around the production houses; look at the various types of plants they have there.” His tone became low and serious. “And please be very careful not to disturb any of the plants—look, but please do not touch. Understood, students?”

        “Hai,” the students replied in unison.

        “Okay then. You’ll be heading into the production houses in groups of seven or eight with one of the kind staff here, so…” Okuda-sensei took out his register, scanning over the groups listed. “Yamazaki-kun’s group and Suzuki-san’s group: please head over to house one.”

        As instructed, the mentioned groups stepped up to the first guide that was standing next to their teacher. Following their guide, they were led to the leftmost house.

        “Miyamae-san’s group and Iwasaki-kun’s group,” Okuda-sensei carried on, “the second house please; Kinomoto-san’s group and Uchiyama-kun’s: next one to that…”

        “I guess that’s us,” Tomoyo said upon the call. “Ikimashou (Shall we go)?”

        “Hai,” Sakura nodded. She turned to her other teammates, “Let’s go—right, Syaoran-kun, Sato-kun?”

        “Hai,” the two more or less replied with.

        Both groups arrived to meet up with a young man in his mid-twenties, wearing a green apron over his t-shirt and blue jeans. “Hello students, I’m Ishikawa Kanaye. How are you all today?”

        “Good,” the students replied uniformly.

        “That’s great. Let’s head into the house then, everyone!”

        Inside the third production house, two rows of plants situated against the walls. Popping up amongst a carpet of green were flowers of various shapes and colours—pink, white, red to name a few. Although most of the flowers were small in size, still in the early stages of their growth, they provided a break in the green.

        Shuffling along the narrow path, Sakura moved to the next set of seedlings. These next flowers bloomed in a buttery yellow, their shape very much like the sun. She smiled at the cheerfulness of the colour and the flowers that proudly flaunted its cuteness at her.

        “Those are grand aren’t they?” The male tour guide came in to stand beside Sakura, peering over her head to the flowers. Sakura looked up towards her guide, Ishikawa then she nodded. “They’re called Fukujukai. These flowers are very intelligent.”

        Curious to how it could be so, she turned further to meet the tall man’s gaze for the answer. “Hoe? Intelligent?”

        “Yes, on a sunny day they bloom, but when they sense it is cold or it is a cloudy day, they close their flowers. They really don’t like the cold it looks like.”

        “Wow!” She looked at them once more, smiling widely. They really were happy flowers; they didn’t like gloomy days. The tour guide smiled before leaving her to observe the rest of the perennials on her own once again.

        Hearing the interesting fact, and seeing how the Fukujukai flowers gave her such a content feeling, she wanted to share it with someone—namely Syaoran. She took her gaze away from the flowers to search for him. Memory and instincts told her to look left. And quite right too as she spotted him off in the distance, all the way on the other side of the tunnel-like interior, studying a few plants.

        Sakura pursed her lips, wondering if she should fetch him over just for the purpose of sharing what she found a delight. Syaoran, being the one to like interesting facts, she knew that this one would intrigue him very much and wouldn’t mind being dragged over to hear about it. So, giving no further thought, she began to head over to him, excitement in her steps, when, Tomoyo called to her.

        “Hi, Sakura-chan, did you find something interesting?” Tomoyo asked, noticing the bounce in her mood—something she was very happy to see.

        She spun around, pivoting on one foot to face Tomoyo. She pointed to the flowers. “Tomoyo-chan, don’t you think these are cute?”

        Tomoyo examined them closely before replying, “Hai, Sakura-chan.”

        “Ishikawa-san said that they only open on sunny days and close when it’s cold and cloudy. Isn’t that amazing?”

        “Really?” Tomoyo asked. Sakura nodded then returned to the flowers, face right up close against them. “That is amazing!”

        “Did you find any nice flowers that you liked?” Sakura had taken her gaze away from the flowers to give her attention to Tomoyo now.

        “All the flowers are just as beautiful as each other.” Sakura smiled at Tomoyo; it was so like her best friend to regard everything with equal appreciation.

        The two friends set off down the long, narrow path again, casually glancing at the plants as they passed them before turning into a block to gaze at the plants there. Tomoyo’s lips curved upwards as she felt the positive aura that emitted from Sakura presently. Though she would never admit it to her face, the doleful mood that Sakura had been shrouded in for the past year was emotionally overwhelming for her.

        Desperately, she used the powers that a best friend had to alleviate Sakura’s pain, but she found the succour that she once was able to offer thin as time continued to move forward; the words of comfort becoming redundant, no longer effective medicine.

        But now, from recent observations, it seemed that the one who was causing the pain was the only one that could begin to set her back on track to healing.

        “I’m glad you’re happier, Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo expressed in a soft voice.

        Sakura turned and smiled, looking into Tomoyo’s eyes, “Hai." She paused to take hold of Tomoyo’s hands. “Thank you for always being there for me, Tomoyo-chan.”

        “Of course.”

        She smiled at the simplistic yet meaningful response. “I really am so lucky to have Tomoyo-chan as my friend. I hope when Tomoyo-chan is in need, I can do the same.”

        “Arigatou, Sakura-chan.” Sakura smiled once again.

        Showing appreciation for their friendship, Sakura let her words linger in the air for a moment before she moved onto another subject. “Oh—I was going to show Syaoran-kun those flowers back there…” Sakura freed Tomoyo’s hands from her clutch, eyes moving around in her search for him once more. She spotted him around the same area that she had not too long ago. “There he is… Shall we go get Syaoran-kun, Tomoyo-chan?”

        “Sure.” Tomoyo followed Sakura, turning back into the main path down the middle of the production house. “Sakura-chan, you turned up at the gate together with Li-kun today,” she began again, “did you meet up with him on your way to school?”

        “Iie (No),” Sakura said, shaking her head, “we met up at school.”

        “Oh okay.” A glance was paid to the flowers adjacent her before she returned her attention to Sakura again. “How was it?” Tomoyo asked casually.

        A grin spread across her expression, brightening. Sakura turned to face her friend. “It was great.”

        “Oh really, Sakura-chan?” Her expression had followed Sakura’s example, anticipation in her tone. Maybe there was something to the display this morning; something did happen during Sakura’s meeting with Li-kun. “What happened?”

        Sakura noticed Tomoyo was worked up over nothing; she shook her head, attempting to set the mood back down to the correct level. “It wasn’t anything really, we just talked.”

        “But Sakura-chan and Li-kun were walking so close together this morning…”

        Had she really walked that close to Syaoran-kun? She was aware that she had moved closer to him; it was her intention, but Tomoyo made it sound like she was on his arm.

        “We were just walking. But Syaoran-kun…” Another smile surfaced, remembering the pleasure she felt during that kind act from him, “he…” There was slight indecision to continue as her mind told her that it wasn’t anything big. Embarrassment began to creep up on her, hearing what she hesitated to say aloud sound small and insignificant in her mind.

        “Li-kun, what…?” Tomoyo pushed her on.

        “…Syaoran-kun did share half of his orange with me,” finally completing her sentence.

        “Sakura-chan said it wasn’t anything—it is something!” Tomoyo cried, expressive of how wrong she was. Tomoyo stopped in her path—her turn to take hold of her friend’s hands. “This is a great development for Sakura-chan and Li-kun.”

        “So, Tomoyo-chan thinks so, huh?” Her voice came out soft, emotions kept in tact, not wanting to indulge too much in Tomoyo’s excitement.

        “Of course!” was her answer.

        Sakura’s lips twitched at the corner, wanting to join her friend’s optimism, but couldn’t shake off that little thought at the back of her mind that was telling her it was nothing. “Hai,” she said, deciding to accept it for now.

        “Hai (Yes)! Now, let’s go show those flowers to Li-kun—right, Sakura-chan?!” Tomoyo continued, lively eyes looking at Sakura’s, smiling widely.

        Standing in place, Sakura locked onto Tomoyo’s cheerful display. Not before long, she, too, found herself assume her friend’s expression. “Hai (Okay)!”

 

        Potting plants was the last activity before lunchtime. After the tours, the students had spent some time in the Education Centre watching some videos and listening to talks on the basics of planting. Now, the students were outside, putting their learning to practice.

        Set up in an open area at the rear of the nursery, was a makeshift supply stand just for today’s young visitors. A row of nursery staff stood behind a long wooden bench, in charge of various equipment and resources required for the practical—potting mix, containers, planting tools, watering cans, and plant cuttings—were all available to the students here; water was to be obtained from a close-by tap in the area.

        Situated several metres to the left of the supply area, amongst the other students, was Sakura’s group, busy in their task. The group had been given a polystyrene tray of soil and four containers to be filled and planted. Sakura had the task of creating a deep hole in the soil for the cuttings; Syaoran and Yoshiro had the jobs of scooping and filling up the pots; and Tomoyo, the job of leveling it out.

        “Are you guys doing okay here?” Ishikawa moved to crouch down, situating himself between Sakura and Tomoyo.

        “Hai,” the four replied. Ishikawa nodded, continuing to watch the process.

        From his position he watched Syaoran and Yoshiro carefully take turns in filling the empty containers. Soil was scooped into them before those were passed onto Tomoyo. She took hold of each of them, placing them on a white tray before levelling them out. And, one by one, those went to its last stop at Sakura’s.

        “Hai (Here you are), Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo said, handing the last container to her.

        “Arigatou.” Again, careful not to put her teammates’ work to vain, she cautiously pierced a hole in the last container of soil.

        “Alright,” Ishikawa said, pleased by their organised process, “now you’re ready for the cuttings. You know where to get them, right?—just next to the watering cans.”

        “Hai!” the group acknowledged.

        “Good job guys.” A thumbs up was given to the group before he left, moving onto the other students.

        Yoshiro took his gardening gloves off, following the others before brushing his hands against each other, ridding the uncomfortable granules of soil lodged in his hands. Finding his hands feel sticky, he, without even a thought, wiped it on his school trousers.

        “Sato-kun, use this,” Tomoyo said in haste. She handed him a cloth that was supplied to the group.

        “Thank you, Daidouji-san, but I’m okay.”

        “I was finished with the cloth anyway—”

        Yoshiro shook his head, smiling, “It’s okay. My hands are clean now. Thanks.” Then he turned to address the rest of the group. “So now we just need the cuttings, right?”

        “I’ll get them.” A female and male voice superimposed each other: Sakura and Syaoran had offered in unison. The two snapped their gaze towards one another.

        “Sakura-chan and Li-kun are still so much alike,” Tomoyo teased. Like before, but slower, the two turned, switching their attention to her. Tomoyo giggled once again before she resolved the minor problem. “Why don’t Sakura-chan and Li-kun go together? Sato-kun and I can stay here and clean up.” Both Sakura and Syaoran looked to each other. In agreement, they nodded. Tomoyo smiled as she observed her two friends head towards the supply area.

        “Hmm… have Kinomoto-san and Li-kun known each other for very long, Daidouji-san?” suddenly Yoshiro asked.

        Tomoyo turned to Yoshiro who wore a look of curiosity. “Hai, they’ve been very good friends for quite a long time now.”

        Yoshiro nodded to the reply. “Really?—Kinomoto-san and Li-kun seem uncomfortable around each other…”

        Tomoyo began to clean the area up, starting off with the white tray that she had used to catch excess soil with. Carefully, she poured the soil back into the polystyrene container as she continued their conversation. “Sakura-chan and Li-kun are still very good friends, but both of them had quite a destiny to fulfill and a few unexpected things happened between the two,” she answered as generally as she could.

        Yoshiro’s cast remained fixed towards Tomoyo’s, contemplative. “Magic…” he concluded, “…has something to do with their relationship?” He was intrigued—his voice low and quiet.

        “Hai…”

        Sakura and Syaoran stepped forward a couple of steps as another group left with their cuttings. Fourth from the line, Sakura watched a classmate at the front of the line being handed four cuttings, labels, and instructions by two staff members who manned this section of the practical—her brother and Yukito. She giggled as Yukito forwarded her a wink.

        “Syaoran-kun,” she called, returning her attention back to him. His neutral expression faced her. “I haven’t seen Wei-san for so long, how is he doing?”

        “He’s doing okay, but he’s very busy these days.”

        “Really?”

        “Uh,” Syaoran said. The queue advanced; he moved with its flow, as did Sakura. “Wei has a lot of obligations back home—“

        Sakura inclined her head in confusion. “Hoe? Wei-san’s not with Syaoran-kun?”

        “No, Wei wasn’t able to come with me.”

        Confusion transformed into concern. “Syaoran-kun came to Japan alone?”

        She had no idea Syaoran was living by himself. In her house, the chores were split between her and Onii-chan—she also had her father to do the adult things, yet still she found her share of the chores a handful sometimes. Syaoran, he was effectively taking care of her load, Onii-chan’s load, and even her father’s—how was he to cope with all that and school? Then there was the whole idea of him coming home to an empty apartment…

        “Uh,” he said, simply replying.

        Sakura’s face lunged at him slightly, “Then Syaoran-kun must have a lot of things to look after—does Syaoran-kun need any help?”

        His brow twitched before his expression returned to neutrality. “No. It’s okay.” Reluctantly, Sakura nodded, pulling back.

        The queue advanced once more; Sakura and Syaoran moved forward.

        “Hi Kinomoto-san, Li-kun.” Their classmate, Miyamae Sayuri had approached them, having just gathered her group’s set of cuttings.

        “Oh, hi Miyamae-chan,” Sakura returned; Syaoran nodded. “How’s your group going?”

        “We’re having fun.” Sakura smiled and nodded. “Anyway, I better get back to my group. I’ll talk to you both later.”

        “Hai,” Sakura replied, cheer in her tone.

        Sayuri then turned to Syaoran, staring for a couple of seconds. “I’ll see you later, Li-kun.” He nodded, and off she went, ending her brief stopover.

        “Sakura-chan, Li-kun,” Yukito greeted them as the student in front of the two left. They approached the bench. Already in hand, Yukito handed Sakura a small, crudely ripped sheet. “Here you are; your labels for your pots.”

        “Arigatou (Thanks), Yukito-san.”

        A medium-sized tray was situated by Touya’s side. From that, Touya picked out four cuttings and laid it on another smaller tray. “These are your cuttings. The instructions are underneath them,” he said routinely, then handed it to Syaoran who stood on Sakura’s left.

        “Arigatou.” Syaoran took the tray from Touya’s grasp; no customary glare exchanging between the two.

        “Enjoy,” Yukito wished.

        “Hai, arigatou! See you later, Yukito-san, Onii-chan.” Sakura said happily.

        “Later, Kaijuu (Monster),” casually Touya replied. Sakura frowned momentarily before dismissing it to head back to the group with Syaoran.

 

        Compared to the place Sakura and her friends had chosen to situate themselves previously, this place was much more bearable. The air was still warm, but it felt much cooler; this spot under the tree was definitely a better choice to sit for lunch. Unlike the other location, the tree here was densely packed with leaves—a perfect roof to shelter them from the sweltering temperature generated by this afternoon’s sun.

        “This looks like a nice place,” Sakura expressed.

        Tomoyo agreed. “Hai, shall we have lunch here, then?”

        “Hai,” Sakura replied. She took off her backpack, feeling a refreshing coolness across her back. Her three friends (Tomoyo, Syaoran and Yoshiro) followed, taking their seats as Sakura did herself.

        “It really has turned out to be such a hot day, hasn’t it?” Yoshiro loosened his tie, sliding it down several centimetres to let the skin around the area breathe.

        “Yeah,” Sakura replied, “this morning was really warm inside my room.”

        “Mine too—I suppose that’s why it turned out so hot today.”

        Sakura nodded before leaving the conversation as Tomoyo replied to his comment, heading to her bag. She unzipped her bag in concern. Kero was still inside; she wondered how he was doing. The last time she had checked on him was back when she was inside the Education Centre an hour or so ago. She was sticky and perspiring out in the open air; Kero, she thought, must have been suffocating.

        Quickly, she peered inside. Sprawled out like a starfish, a ragged and dazed Kero laid on top of her lunchbox, her drinking flask on top of him. Sakura gasped at the sight. Had she flattened him—or, had she baked him? Whatever it was, Kero was on his last legs with only his tail twitching ever so faintly—the only sign of his vitality.

        She motioned to take the flask off of him, setting it to a corner of the bag. It was still full and heavy. Sakura then realised it must have been this that knocked him out. Taking the bag onto her lap, she stuck her hand back in, lightly tapping Kero’s cheek for his consciousness.

        “Is everything okay?” Tomoyo asked.

        Answering the call, Sakura turned to see her friend stare curiously at her actions. She could also sense Yoshiro and Syaoran’s attention directed towards her; she supposed she had been at her bag for quite a long time.

        “No, there’s no problem.” Sakura demonstrated the fact by returning the backpack by her side.

        “Okay then,” accepting the answer. “Shall we start lunch then?”

        Sakura nodded firmly, “Hai,” then dug in her bag for her lunchbox and thermal flask, checking on Kero once more as she did. Finding that his eyes had returned to its normal beady look—signs of him recovering—Sakura gave a sigh of relief before zipping it close. Returning to the group, Sakura pressed her hands together along with her friends, head bowing.

        “Itadakimasu (Let’s eat, thanks for the food),” she said in grace.

        Feeling her stomach feel hollow and in need of refuelling, Sakura thought about all the food that was awaiting her: the origiri (rice balls), soba (noodles), the sweet pastries and snacks, and the one thing she had saved all day for lunch.

        Sakura had woken up to her father cooking in the kitchen this morning. When she came downstairs, she was greeted with a heavenly aroma of freshly home-baked muffins. This muffin she had in her lunchbox, it wasn’t the fact that it was a chocolate and apricot muffin, nor was it because of its scrumptiously moist texture that she was looking forward to so much, but because it was a rare sight to see her father at home on a weekday, in the morning, baking.

        A wide smile adorned her lips as she lifted the lid, expecting a packed lunchbox—minus a bit here and there that Kero may have eaten of course. But when she finally caught sight of the inside, she should have anticipated otherwise.

        “Hoe?!” Sakura exclaimed.

        Square pieces of paper and empty packets piled on top of each other, left behind without the goods. Scattered, were stray grains of rice which were once a part of the origiri, unappetisingly stuck to the floor of her lunchbox. Then Sakura scrunched her nose, detesting the stench from the oxidised apple core that lay sandwiched between empty packets.

        Yoshiro leaned in to hover over the lunchbox, bewildered. “What happened to your lunch, Kinomoto-san?”

        Syaoran’s eyes were to his left, on Sakura’s bag; one guess to what had happened to her lunch.

        Struggling to explain it, Sakura stifled a laugh, searching for something to skip the subject with. Her mind clicked: the litter in her lunchbox.

        “Umm… I-I-I’ll just throw these in the rubbish bin.”

        Piece by piece, Sakura gathered the litter. As she cleared her lunchbox, it was not until now that she had noticed there was one thing left in it which Kero had yet to touch:

        “I can’t believe Kero-chan didn’t eat the muffin my father baked this morning.” She smiled at the sight as she got up to head for a close-by rubbish bin. “I’ll be right back,” Sakura informed her friends.

        Several metres into her journey, Sakura halted in her tracks. She frowned before looking up towards the sky: where had that wind come from? The wind had passed now, but a moment ago she felt the briefest second of a gust of wind blow across her cheeks. It was not a warm wind—she could understand had a warm wind blown on a hot day like this, but a cold wind?

        Standing in place, her eyes curiously surveyed above for any signs to explain the unnatural temperature of the wind.

        Nothing.

        She sought her friends for answers, wondering if they had noticed it. And from their casual manner, it looked like they hadn’t; Tomoyo and Yoshiro were chatting together in between bites of their lunch; Syaoran, he didn’t seem to look concerned about anything either as he directed his attention to the conversation between her friends, taking up the role of a listener.

        Becoming more suspicious, Sakura continued to place her focus on Syaoran. Very soon, his senses caught onto her gaze. He motioned to turn in her direction, but was cut short as he diverted towards the sky. Milliseconds separating between the two, Sakura, in the same speed tracked his actions, snapping towards the same direction Syaoran had been alerted to.

        “The aura…” Sakura thought aloud. Then her lips depressed, brows arching, “It’s not there anymore—”

        Just as she had said that, flashes of intense light pulsated in and out. Her eyes closed shut as the optic nerves screamed in detest of the sudden influx of light. Ensuing not far behind the flashes, were claps of thunder, its earsplitting crack booming in a frightening assault to her eardrums. In natural reaction, she clamped her ears shut with her hands, needing to block the explosive noise, immediately dropping herself to the ground, crouching.

        The noise of the thunder receded. Sakura looked up. To her surprise, in a matter of seconds in which all of this had happened in, an overcast layer of thick, louring clouds took residence across the once blue skies, terrifyingly low in its altitude. She snapped her attention to her left to catch the remaining blue wane under the blanket, soon disappearing under the dark cloud’s mastery.

        This place was getting gloomy; the Fukujukai flowers definitely would have closed themselves by now.

        Sakura blinked; rain water had begun to fall, sparse and gentle in its descent. Then, without even enough time for her to feel the second drop, rain came down in a pummeling torrent. Quickly, she shielded herself, arm placed over her brow.

        She stood up, needing to find her friends, “Tomoyo-chan! …Sato-kun!” Sakura shouted in concern. “…Syaoran-kun!”

        Just as Sakura was about to head towards them, an entrance of a violent wind blew at her, thrusting her backwards. In a desperate attempt to hold her ground, Sakura heaved her body forward, bending down low. Regaining some sort of control over her actions, she began to proceed ahead once more, but she lost her footing instants later when the wind’s strength came at her again.

        “SAKURA!

        Kero was able to call for his mistress, but that was all he could do; he had his own problems to contend with. Tumbling like a ball inside a raffle barrel, he was flung up and down, left and right, round and round, hitting into walls and flying objects inside the bag. He wasn’t certain what exactly was going on outside; all he knew was that he was wet, and by the sound of things, a storm was in progress. Kero continued to roll, unable to stop himself from doing ungraceful cartwheels in mid-air, unable to gather command of the situation.

        Finally standing upright and obtaining balance—though still battling against the wind—Sakura turned to peer over her right arm. And that was when she was met with another problem. The overhanging locks of hair kept on getting in her way.

        With her free hand, she flicked them away but only to have the rain water weigh them back down, obstructing her vision each time she tried. Losing patience, she brushed them aside forcefully, sweeping it away with the arm shielding her eyes; they could paste somewhere else—anywhere else as long as it was out of her way!

        Sakura strode forward, and with only the short skirt and school blouse on, she felt a stinging sensation every time rampant leaves, twigs, and whatever else made contact with her cold flesh; every part of her body had numbed. Nevertheless, she carried on, ignoring every sting, every ache, and—what probably hampered her the most—the gnawing feeling in her incredibly empty stomach that deprived her of the energy she needed.

        She looked up, receiving a spray of water to her eyes, distorting the scene in front of her. She blinked her eyes repetitively, squeezing out the water before sending an arm across. Her vision cleared to see Tomoyo being protected by Yoshiro near the tree they had been sitting under for lunch, steady in their ground. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief—

        But where was Syaoran? She swept her eyes further right to see no one beyond that angle but her bag scudding along the ground. She swept to her left, and there he was, resisting the elements, staggering towards her. Her eyes then widened as she locked onto a fuzzy image resembling a branch that looked unforgiving, coming from the left.

        “Syaoran-kun: duck—AHH!”

        Without hesitation, he acted instantly upon the warning. Syaoran dropped to his hands and knees, escaping the hefty branch. He lifted his head up, watching it in awe as it flew off to land a short distance ahead. He definitely had not seen (let alone sensed) the thing’s approach. If it had not been for Sakura’s call—let’s just say he would not be thinking about the effects of the branch right now. For that, he was grateful she had seen it and warned him.

        He sighed in relief. Safe again, Syaoran leveraged himself up, heading towards Sakura once more. He drove ahead, against the wind that threatened to topple him, that tried to bully him off course with its force, but never succeeding. As he continued to push hard, he noticed he was making more ground than Sakura was, decreasing the couple metres that was between them faster than she. But a likely reason could have been that she was moving against a headwind, compared to a slight tailwind he was receiving.

        “Kinomoto,” Syaoran called loudly over the wind, finally making to her position. He extended an arm around her shoulder, gesturing her to do the same.

        “Syaoran-kun: thanks.” He nodded. “The aura’s here.”

        “Uh. It’s behind this storm.”

        Finally able to, Sakura looked around the area. Everything was on an angle; leaves were stripped off from the trees, whirling wildly in the air; beneath them, the carpet of green grass had turned to slush, feeling the water begin to seep into her shoes. She turned to look at her shoulders; Syaoran’s hand was covered with dirt, dripping muddy water down her arm.

        “Try using your magic to stop all of this,” Syaoran said.

        Sakura turned her attention back to Syaoran, “Hai.”

        She stared at him, finding his presence encouraging as she thought of a way to defeat it all. She could try using a combination of Firey and Windy to break up the clouds, even off the air temperature—maybe the storm would subside somewhat.

        Settling, she gripped tightly onto her key, holding it out, flat on her palm. “Oh Key with the power of the s—“

        Sakura’s eyes flipped open, broken by the absence of the strong winds, the rain… the cold. She looked up to see the clouds withdraw, dissipating to reveal the clear blue skies again within seconds; and the aura…

        “I don’t sense the aura.” Syaoran had completed her thoughts, eyes looking towards the sky.

        “Hai... It’s strange…”

        “Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo’s distant voice entered. Sakura peered to her right to see her and Yoshiro, running towards her, both drenched and dishevelled, “are you okay?!”

        Sakura took hold of Tomoyo’s hands that reached for hers. “Hai, I’m okay, Tomoyo-chan. Are you and Sato-kun okay?” her voice full of concern.

        “Hai,” Tomoyo replied.

        “Was it the aura?” Yoshiro asked—weariness apparent in his tone. Sakura nodded. “I couldn’t sense it, but the storm…” He looked up at the now perfect scene above him, all the while, feeling the warmth that enveloped him as the sun beamed its rays onto his cold body. “…it just came out of nowhere to not have been supernatural.”

        “Hai.” The aura had appeared and left like it always had. Again, she was left baffled by his entrance, his purpose. She turned to Syaoran, wondering about his thoughts on the matter, but to find him strangely transfixed to the sky, concentrated, “Syaoran-kun, are you okay?”

        He turned towards her. “I thought I had something…” Syaoran shook his head, thoughts not connecting. “…Never mind.” Sakura stayed staring for several more seconds, curious before accepting his answer with a nod.

        “Sakura-chan: you’re hurt!” Tomoyo said all of a sudden.

        Surprised to what she was referring to, Sakura turned to Tomoyo, following her movements. Tomoyo had placed her hand on her right cheek. As she did so, she felt a sting. Sakura hissed in response.

        Syaoran walked in, joining the group as he examined the graze from a distance behind Tomoyo.

        “I’m fine Tomoyo-chan, it’s only a scratch. Don’t worry, I’m okay…” Sakura said as Tomoyo continued to fuss over her.

        “When did this happen, Sakura-chan?”

        She shook her head, politely insisting that Tomoyo stop. “It’s nothing really… I’m okay, Tomoyo-chan... It doesn’t hurt…”

To be continued in episode 9: “Sakura's Paralysing Evening”.