©2003 By Julia and Tania
E-mail: ccs_fanz@juliaandtania.com
Cardcaptor Sakura: The Attractive Power
Episode 2

The alarm clock vibrated vigorously on top of the ledge above her bed as it rang loudly. Sakura squirmed in her covers, detesting the infuriating ringing tone of the alarm clock.

        She pulled the cover over her head, but the ringing still didn’t silence. Reluctantly, Sakura gradually made her way to the clock and turned it off.

        For a minute, she sat upright, just staring blankly at nothing in particular. Her head felt heavy as her eyes begged to remain shut.

        Maybe I’ll just close my eyes for a moment and then open them again, she thought.

        “Sakura?”

        Whose voice was that? She thought. I’m dreaming. Go back to sleep, she told herself.

        “Sakura!” Kero shouted to her. “Wake up!”

        Abruptly, Sakura opened her eyes. “What?! What?”

        She searched around her surroundings. It was Kero calling for her. “Ouch… that hurt,” she then mumbled. The sudden change in state of consciousness sent an array of pulsating jabs through her head. “Kero-chan…” she groaned.

        “Sorry, but you were sleeping sitting up—it was strange-looking,” he said rubbing his little dotted eyes, hovering in front of her face, having just woken up a minute ago. “What were you dreaming about?”

        Dazedly, she replied, “Well at first I was just tired so I slept some more. But then—” She changed her state to a more wistful display. “…then Syaoran-kun… Syaoran-kun, he was in my dreammmm…” She started to trail off into a garble of words, falling gently back into the headboard behind her. The toy version of herself which sat there was forced aside to make way for her Godzilla-of-a-hand. Stiffly, it toppled over onto her bed. The shadow which her arm cast upon grew larger and larger as it came closer and closer.

        Thump. The toy was throttled at its neck.

        Sakura began to take short, quick sniffs of air as to try and pick up an imaginary scent of Syaoran. “Lavendery-amber…” was what she described Syaoran’s scent.

        “Lavender…? Amber? I don’t smell any lavender or trees.” Kero tried to hook onto the delightful smell of the combination, but nothing. “Sakura, you’re acting mighty strange.” Kero moved closer to her, having trouble understanding her. He placed one of his cute small paws on her forehead. “Are you sick, Sakura? You do seem a little flushed, but your forehead feels cool.”

        Sakura ignored him, continuing in her daydream, her words still garbled.

        “Sakura—listen to me! Are you listening?!”

        Finally Sakura improved her speech, but her voice was still soft and the words still slurred together. “I’m listening. It’s just that… Syaoran-kun’s so…” Sakura's eyelids unconsciously closed.

        “S-s… Who…? What?!” Kero asked her, getting frustrated with her present state.

        “I’ve never noticed but, Syaoran-kun… he’s so tall, those warm brown eyes… The way his hair covers over his face, and his kawaii (cute) smile—soooooo…”

        Sakura’s head slid down into her pillow as her stretched out arms flaccidly slid by her side, taking the poor toy version of herself with her. She melted away as images of Syaoran ran through her mind.

        “What—that kid?” Kero asked.

        Suddenly she sat upright. “I wonder how Syaoran-kun is doing.”

        Shocked by her sudden change of demeanour, Kero searched the room for an answer for that sudden change. “So, all this time, all that senseless garble was about… that… BRAT?!”

        “It’s Syaoran!” she corrected him furiously.

        “Whatever his name is,” Kero said waving away the respect of addressing him properly. “I didn’t know you liked that boy—when did you start liking him?!”

        Sakura blushed and didn’t answer.

        “How could you like that boy? He’s so damn annoying, so arrogant. He’s a stupid—“

        “Kero-chan—” Sakura exclaimed, “He is not. He’s kind and caring… and kawaii (cute)!”

        Lazily, she reached for the alarm clock which had been sitting on the covers not too far from her. Sakura looked at it. With staggering speed considering her previous state, she pulled it closer to her eyes.

        “HOEEEE!” she exclaimed, “I’ve been asleep for twenty minutes already?!”

        Hastily, she ran to her wardrobe and took out her school uniform.

        “Well actually, five minutes you’ve been on about that kid. If you hadn’t been stuck in that dreamland of yours, you would have been ready by now.”

        Sakura ignored him and went on in her way. She looked at her new outfit for her new school for a moment then suddenly got a nervous but excited feeling in the pit of her stomach. “I wonder what junior high’s going to be like... Hoe! I’m so nervous!” she expressed as she pulled a white shirt over.

        “Do you know which class you’re going to be in?” Kero asked.

        “No—we will find out after we first have our assembly.” She then moved to her mirror on the table top across her bed, combing her hair then tied it up with the usual hair tie—the one with the two red plastic spheres on one end.

        “You know, Sakura, why do you tie your hair up like that—I mean—you are in junior high now?” Kero said whilst heading to the TV area, turning both the TV and the game console on.

        Sakura halted in her actions, directed her defiant stare towards Kero. “What’s wrong with my hairstyle?”

        Realising a potentially fierce argument arising and not really in the mood to debate, Kero withdrew his comment, “I suppose it suits you. Anyway, you’re now in—what—seventh grade?”

        Returning her attention back to herself, she nodded with slight hesitance at the quick and almost smooth dismissal of the comment from Kero. “It’s going to be so scary. I hope Tomoyo-chan will be in the same class as me. That way, I’d have at least one person I know who I can talk to and ask for help. I really do hope she is...” she said as she moved away from the mirror to grab her school bag sitting beside her desk.

        “Nah, Sakura,” Kero disagreed, now having the game up and running. “You’ll make friends easily—no problem! Junior high’s going to be great for you.”

        Sakura smiled happily to Kero’s vote of confidence in her. “Thank you, Kero-chan.”

        She then stood up, making her way out the door. “I’m so going to be late! Hoeeeee. Anyway, I’m going downstairs now!”

        “Okay!” he answered then directed his attention entirely towards the game on the TV set at hand. “Have fun at your new school!”

        “Well thanks for the breakfast, Dad! You didn’t need to make it for me. It was my turn to cook.”

        “It’s alright, Sakura-san. It’s your first day of junior high; I thought I’d treat you to breakfast. Are you sure you don’t want anymore?” her dad replied.

        Sakura nodded, sharply. “Yes. I’m already late as it is! Thanks anyway, Dad.”

        “Okay then,” he said chuckling slightly. “Next time wake up earlier, huh, Sakura-san?”

        “Yeah,” she replied. Though, Sakura never really learns her lesson—not when it comes to waking up. “Okay, I’ll be going now! I’ll see you after school, okay, Dad?” she said as she speedily got up from the table and left for her new school.

        Sakura finally arrived outside the field where she would usually stand watching Touya and Yukito’s soccer games from behind the fence at this time during winter.

        In her new summer school uniform, she gripped her nervous fingers around the wire mesh fence that surrounded the enclosure. From this distance, she took an outsider’s perception of the environment for a moment before she made her way into the school.

        The feeling she received as she made her first steps through the gates of Seijyu High was overwhelming.

        “It’s not too much different from Tomoeda Elementary I suppose, but I can’t help to be impressed by it all.”

        Standing in the distance was a familiar figure, but Sakura couldn’t make out who it was with the streaking rays of the spring sun obstructing her vision. Her eyes squinted against the intensity as she lowered herself for a better view.

        “Sakura-chan!” a high-pitched voice called for her.

        “Tomoyo-chan!” Sakura shouted from across the vicinity, finally able to recognise the figure. “Good morning!”

        Tomoyo sprinted over to Sakura as she extended her hands to grab a hold of Sakura’s. “Isn’t this exciting?” she asked, but Tomoyo didn’t let her answer as she continued, “I brought my camera along too. This day will be called, ‘Sakura’s First Day of High School’.”

        “Tomoyo-chan…” Sakura embarrassingly said. Not even giving her a chance to do anything else, the camera was already rolling.

        “Cute!! Sakura-chan looks very smart in her new school uniform! The design suits Sakura-chan very well.” She then swiveled the camera around to her right for a moment before switching back the focus on Sakura. “Have you seen the guy’s uniform? It looks very nice too. I bet Li-kun would look very handsome in the uniform.”

        Through the camera lens, Tomoyo could see a sudden change of demeanour in Sakura. A ponderous Sakura stood immobile at the mention of the name.

        “Sakura-chan, are you okay?” Tomoyo inquired.

        Unexpectedly, images of Syaoran streamed into her mind. His name echoed continuously as each image was presented in her mind.

        She nodded just as the school bell rang to inform students class had began. “Yeah...”

        Swiftly coming out of her reverie, she ran towards the entrance of the school in acknowledgement of the bell. “Let’s go, Tomoyo-chan,” she called with a smile.

        “Tomoyo-chan, isn’t it great?!” Sakura whirled herself around on the spot, having just come out to the courtyard from the assembly hall.

        “It definitely is! We’re in the same class. It seems Rika-chan, Naoko-chan, Chiharu-chan, and Yamazaki-kun is also in our class too. It’s just like old times, huh, Sakura-chan?”

        Happily, she nodded sharply. “Yeah.”

        Suddenly interrupting, in the distance was a male figure dressed in phys-ed clothing. “Come over here everybody,” the male figure said, gesturing with his hand in the air as everyone scurried to his position conformingly.

        “He must be our guide for this session; wonder what we’re going to do,” Sakura asked Tomoyo.

        “Let’s find out; let’s go.” Tomoyo replied as she motioned Sakura towards the group.

        “Welcome everyone. I am Ito-sensei. Today is orientation day. You will be broken up into small groups where our senior leaders will be showing you around the school and will be taking you through activities to help you familiarise yourselves with each other and the school.”

        “Hai (Yes),” the new students understood.

        “Good.” He then looked to his right at a long line of senior students of the school. “I will assign each of you with one of the leaders. They will instruct and lead you through the day,” Ito-sensei carried on then started calling out names from a list.

        Sakura watched her peers move into their groups as they followed their assigned leaders. Most of her old classmates had already been assigned, only Tomoyo and two others hadn’t been assigned.

        “…Daidouji-san, and lastly Kinomoto-san, you will be with Nakamura-san,” Sakura heard Ito-sensei say.

        “We’re in the same group, Tomoyo-chan!” Sakura exclaimed.

        Her excitement was clearly evident as a young male oddly regarded her with a glance towards her direction when she turned to face away from the main crowd. Sakura grimaced in response.

        “Sakura-chan: is something wrong?” There was no reply as she continued forwarding her attention towards that young male who was now walking towards her and Tomoyo.

        “Hello. I’m Sato Yoshiro. I’m sorry if it seemed impolite of me to stare. I was searching for someone who would be kind enough to help me find my peer-support leader: you stood out from the crowd.”

        “Oh, is that so,” Sakura responded neutrally. “Who are you looking for?”

        “Nakamura-san. I’m in her group.”

        Tomoyo raised her brows at the convenience of the situation. Cheerfully she replied, “We’re in her group. We were about to head over to her now.”

        “That’s great!” a relieved Yoshiro replied.

        “We can walk over there together, Sato-kun,” Sakura invited. He nodded.

        All three walked casually, comfortable silence all around.

        “I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch your names,” Yoshiro said suddenly.

        Sakura answered. “Kinomoto Sakura and this is my friend, Daidouji Tomoyo.”

        “Kinomoto-san, Daidouji-san: it’s nice to meet you. It’s chaotic on the first day isn’t it? Everything’s so new. Quite frightening don’t you think?”

        “If we stick together, it’ll be easier.” Tomoyo’s optimism was reassuring.

        The newly acquainted group headed over to their peer-support leader, Nakamura-san. Elegantly dressed in her school uniform with her long brunette hair moving gently with this morning’s breeze, she stood tall above her surrounding group of students.

        “Okay, okay. Is everybody here?” Nakamura said more to herself than to the students. She started counting heads quietly. “Yes—we are all here. Good morning everyone—”

        “Good morning,” routinely the students replied.

        “Our first objective is to get you guys to familiarise yourselves with each other. So to do that, the seniors have organised a program of activities where you all get to work and interact with each other. These activities will involve pairing up with another classmate.”

        The students continued to sit attentively as their senior leader continued. “In your group of two, you will get to take part in a sort of scavenger hunt where you try to fulfill each task set out by working out problems and overcoming challenges together. There’s a prize at the end of this for all of you…”

        The students’ face lit up at the mention of a prize, but was let down as Nakamura told them what it was.

        “…The prize is that you all know that you’ve achieved something together and you’ve successfully learnt a little more about the person you were partnered up with.”

        An imaginary tear drop fell on each of the students’ foreheads at the anti-climatic information.

        Sakura gave an awry laugh. “She’s funny…”

        “She’s right though. You can’t get a better prize than that. The possibility of gaining a new friend is the greatest prize anyone can get,” Tomoyo responded.

        Sakura nodded, agreeing with Tomoyo in every respect.

        “…Okay! Let’s get started. I have a hat,” Sakura heard Nakamura say. “I’m going to go around and give you each a small piece of paper. On that piece of paper there will be a number. Whoever has the same number as you he or she will be your partner.”

        Moving around the group—as each student took their turns in picking a number out of the hat—Nakamura came around to Sakura and her friends.

        “Pick your number everyone,” Nakamura said.

        Tomoyo reached into the hat, hoping she would end up with her best friend. Then Sakura took her turn.

        “What did you get?” Tomoyo asked Sakura.

        “Nine. What about you, Tomoyo-chan?”

        Tomoyo’s voice submerged into her disappointment. “I got two. I’m not with you Sakura-chan. I can’t film you if you’re not with me.”

        “Tomoyo-chan…” Sakura said, struggling to find a decent response.

        Interrupting the two, Yoshiro held a piece of paper in the air. “Looks like I’m with you Kinomoto-san.”

        Both Sakura and Tomoyo looked at the small strip of paper closely. Crudely written was a nine. “Oh wow, what a coincidence!” Sakura said, gazing back at her piece of paper.

        “Isn’t it? Or maybe it’s fate,” Yoshiro replied.

        “Fate?” Tomoyo questioned rhetorically.

        Yoshiro nodded. “Yeah, don’t you believe in coincidences, Daidouji-san?” he asked casually, “I don’t know… it’s just that I believe in this world, we are born for a special purpose and people are supposed to meet certain people.”

        “People are supposed to meet certain people,” Sakura repeated quietly to herself.

        “Yes—Kinomoto-san,” Yoshiro replied.

        Suddenly breaking the three’s conversation, Nakamura called to the group, “Who’s got number two? Suzuki-san over here is waiting for that person.”

        Tomoyo jumped up then turned to face Nakamura. “Hai. I’ve got number two. I’m coming.” Tomoyo turned her attention back to Sakura and Yoshiro. “Anyway, I better leave you two now. Good luck Sakura-chan, Sato-kun. Meet you back here for lunch.”

        “Okay, good luck to you too, Tomoyo-chan,” Sakura replied back.

        “It’s nice to meet you Daidouji-san. I’ll see you later,” Yoshiro shouted to a now distant Tomoyo.

        “That guy, he’s very good isn’t he?” Yukito said to Touya.

        Touya didn’t reply as he continued to watch the six-foot-one javelin thrower throw the long, metal pole like a professional, his lean physique allowing him to launch it with convincing power.

        “He’s quite the athlete, isn’t he—javelin, discus, shot put, high jump, sprinting, long distance—he’s in at least top three for all those events! That guy’s definitely going to be selected for this year’s athletic teams,” Yukito pointed out.

        Touya scrunched his face, his eyes falling to only slits, eye pupils pin-pointed to the six-foot-five athlete in front of him. “I don’t like that guy,” he voiced out with enmity as the subject made another impressive throw with the javelin—he had his pole land a few metres further than his previous.

        Yukito cheered along with the rest of the amazed crowd to the excellent effort from the athlete. Touya stood, still frowning. Yukito turned to face his friend then laughed. “You really don’t like that guy, do you Touya?”

        “No,” Touya replied hardheartedly. Though he had to admit his firm answer was mainly provoked by Yukito’s constant teasing this morning.

        Yukito laughed at him again. “Give him a chance. Is it because he’s better than you—is that why you don’t like that guy?”

        He didn’t reply. Yukito laughed harder at him for that response.

        With that, the voice of the marker resonated through the air, followed by a wave of acclaim spreading through the onlookers surrounding the field. The six-foot-five exchange student had just made yet another impressive throw—gaining another metre and a half.

        The athlete let a proud smile show through while a few nearby fellow athletes patted him on the shoulders. He acknowledged them all with poise as he headed for his sports bag.

        As he passed Touya and Yukito to get to his bag, he kindly acknowledged them. Touya—to be polite despite his dislike of him at the beginning—smiled.

        “Thank you everyone for participating in the trials today,” the coach announced. “You all did very well and I congratulate you all for making it to these trials. The final teams will be announced in a week or so. So keep your eyes peeled at the notice boards to see if you made it—best of luck to you all.”

        “I think we all know someone who certainly will be representing in a lot of our athletic teams this year,” Touya heard a voice in the distance say.

        “Let’s go, Yuki,” Touya suggested. He began heading back, heading to the changing rooms as he trailed the path of the star athlete.

        “Yeah, okay,” Yukito complied.

        Sakura walked prudently as she clung to Yoshiro’s arm, listening to his instructions—having been blindfolded. They were onto their last activity in the orientation course.

        “This way, Kinomoto-san,” Yoshiro guided. “We’re approaching an unleveled part of the ground. Tread carefully okay? It’s coming up in a few steps.” Sakura panicked slightly, taking extreme caution, taking only pin steps. “Don’t worry, Kinomoto-san. Just follow closely. It’s just got a few branches lying on the ground.”

        Sakura felt the ground out with her feet. It wasn’t as easy as sensing a Clow card—that, she was accustomed to—but finding her way without her sight was something she wasn’t; there was no magical aura coming from the branches.

        She repeatedly slid her feet back and forth to feel if she was near any branches. It was not that she didn’t believe in Yoshiro, that he couldn’t guide her through this—it was just that the trust wasn’t there yet.

        He laughed at her discretion. Ironically his next reply was, “Trust me. I’m not going to let you fall over anything.”

        Sakura nodded, taking courage. Not long after he said that, her right foot rolled over a rather large branch.

        “Hoeeeeeeee!” she screamed.

        Quickly, Yoshiro reacted. He turned around, took a huge stride backwards to stand behind Sakura, breaking her fall.

        “Sorry I didn’t warn you about that! Are you alright?” Yoshiro asked, rattled. He quickly took her blindfold off.

        “Thanks, Sato-kun,” she said, breath a little uneven from the alarm. “I’m okay.”

        “Good. I’d blame myself if you were hurt,” he said with sincerity.

        “You shouldn’t,” she advised.

        He smiled on the surface, but inside, he felt terrible for letting her down like that. “Shall we continue then?” he said, unsure if she would trust him to guide her through the rest after what just happened. “We are almost at the end of this course.”

        Sakura nodded. “Sure! Can you help me put this on?”

        Yoshiro motioned to help Sakura put the blindfold back, surprised by her willingness. She didn’t at all show any signs of hesitation in trusting him again.

        “Sato-kun,” Sakura spoke.

        “Yes?” he said as he tied the black material at the back of her head.

        “Lunch is after this, would you like to join Tomoyo-chan and me for lunch?”

        “Sure, thanks.” Sakura was certainly a kind person. “There you go, all tied up.”

        “Good. Then let’s go, Sato-kun!” Sakura said with enthusiasm as she wrapped both her hands around his right arm—firmly. Yoshiro nodded with a smile.

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

        Lunch time had settled upon the day. As Tomoyo had arranged, Sakura met her back at the fields for lunch. They were joined by Rika, Naoko, Chiharu, Takashi, and Yoshiro under a tree to have lunch.

        “Glad that was over,” Rika said to her friends. “That last task with the blindfold was hard.” The group nodded in agreement. “I never really knew how tough it is not having my sight. Luckily though, I had a very good partner who was very good at giving instructions. I only had a slight problem at the beginning, but after I loosened up and trusted my partner, I was fine.”

        “Definitely,” Chiharu agreed then turned to Yoshiro, “So do you have any brothers or sisters, Sato-kun?”

        “No, it’s just me. It’d be nice to have a brother or sister though,” Yoshiro replied.

        “I don’t know, Sato-kun… My brother’s always teasing me. As much as I love Oniichan, he sometimes annoys the hell out of me, not to mention embarrasses me,” Sakura said.

        “Well, I do hear that stuff does happen a lot. But I think it’d be fun to have someone to argue with every so often.”

        “Really?” a not so persuaded Sakura said—somewhat confused. “Having someone to argue with is good?”

        “Arguing—I guess it’s not a good thing, but when you’re an only child, it kind of gets lonely.”

        Everyone nodded in comprehension. Sakura definitely understood the burden of loneliness after her ordeal with the Clow cards and what could have been if she hadn’t captured Emptiness.

        Sakura nodded once more before she continued onto another topic. “I think I heard Nakamura-san tell one of our classmates that our activity is getting to know our class, so we all will be together after lunch.”

        “I can’t wait! For now, let’s eat!” Chiharu enthused. Everyone nodded and began to scoff down their lunches.

        The gym’s spacious men’s changing room was empty when Touya and Yukito entered into the room. There was a row of grey lockers lined up back-to-back against each other in the middle of the room, dividing the room into two; in front of those, were a couple of cushioned benches where they stretched out from one end of the room to the other.

        Touya sat down on one of the benches, wiping his forehead with his t-shirt as he did so, while Yukito opened his temporary locker to get his valuables out of it. He then sat down and pulled out a towel out of his sports bag to wipe the sweat off his forehead and palms.

        “Looks like winter is definitely over—although it’s only spring,” he said to Touya. Changing the subject he added, “That trial was quite grueling compared to the trial from the previous year, wasn’t it?”

        “Yeah.” Touya knew exactly why—that guy, the exchange student, he’s the one who has upped the anti—but he wasn’t going to admit it aloud.

        He took his bottle of water out, flicked the top off of it and forcefully squeezed the water out, splashing the water all over his face to cool down the perspiration on his face. Then he took his towel from his bag and smothered it over his face to dry off.

        “Better,” Touya added then took an ample sip of water to relieve his dry throat.

        Yukito looked at a refreshed Touya for a moment before he spoke. “Anyway, how’s Sakura-chan doing these days? I haven’t seen your sister for quite a while.”

        “Well apart from acting like a monster most of the time, and asking a whole lot of questions about Seijyu, she is doing fine.”

        “Oh that’s right—she’s just started junior high today right?”

        “Yup,” Touya simply replied.

        “She can now concentrate on her studies now that her task is completed.”

        With that comment from his friend, Touya mumbled words under his breath, angered by a sudden thought. Her studies, he knew, was going to be one of the things she was going to concentrate on, but not the main thing—this was second. It was second to someone by the name of ‘that boy’ he disliked so much. “She’s always thinking about That Boy now. Why does she like That Boy so much anyway?” he expressed.

        “Li Syaoran’s a good person, Touya. You know that yourself, too—as much as you hate to admit it.”

        “He’s distracting Sakura,” was all Touya could retort with. “These days she’s always staring off into oblivion. She’s always looking so… so… so—“

        “Maybe you’re just reading too much into it, Touya. She could be thinking about the cards or her studies, or something else.”

        “I know when she’s thinking about that brat!” Touya huffed.

        “Why do you dislike him so much?” he asked fully knowing why, nevertheless continued, “Li-kun has been around Sakura for a while now and he has helped her out a lot; he hasn’t hurt Sakura and I don’t think he’ll ever do anything that was purposefully set out to hurt her. Your little sister’s growing up. Sakura-chan can fend for herself and make her own decisions; if she can’t, you’re always around right beside her, right Touya?”

        Touya didn’t reply, only wearing a ponderous expression as he carried on cleansing himself with his towel. Yuki was right. Sakura has more than proven her abilities to care for herself. He knew the day was coming near where she would be taken away from him; she was at the age now, but he couldn’t help becoming more and more protective of her, protective of her happiness and welfare.

        Accepting defeat, Touya packed up his bag, putting his sports gear and towel back into his bag. Just as he was about to leave, a locker door slam reverberated throughout the changing room. The noise had caught his attention, and he followed it.

        Standing tall nearest the exit was the latest star athlete—the six-foot-five exchange student. Touya watched him for a moment. As he gazed his way, the exchange student caught Touya’s eye then began to head towards him.

        “You are Kinomoto Touya,” he said, addressing him with a friendly face then faced Yukito. “And you are Tsukishiro Yukito.”

        “Yeah,” Touya answered for himself and Yukito, whom were now standing up.

        “Both of you were pretty good out there,” the exchange student carried on. He then added, “Kinomoto-kun: you are quite good at long distance running—does it run in the family?”

        Touya regarded the exchange student with curiosity. “My father was quite a good runner in his younger days,” he replied finally.

        “What’s your name? You are an exchange student from China right?” Yukito asked.

        The exchange student smiled, “Chen Shaojian. Yeah—from China.” He made a slight movement, indicating he was about to leave. “Anyway, I better start going. Nice meeting you, Kinomoto-kun, Tsukishiro-kun. See you around—hopefully on the athletic teams, right?” he said cheerfully.

        “Right,” Yukito laughed. “See you around Chen-kun.”

        Touya only nodded, acknowledging his departure. “Let’s get going, Yuki,” he said once Shaojian was out of sight, “We’ll stop short and get something to cool us down before we head home.” Yukito nodded then followed Touya out of the changing room.

        “Are you sure you can’t stay longer, Naoko-chan?” Sakura asked from her seat across the table.

        Rising from her seat at the local ice-cream parlour, Naoko replied, “No, I can’t stay. I need to get home to help mum with a few things. It was great to see you all again. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

        “Bye, Naoko-chan/Yanagisawa-san,” her friends called.

        “Hey guys, it looks like there’s a sign-up for cheerleading trials next week. Are any of you thinking of joining?” Sakura asked her friends shortly after Naoko’s departure.

        “Well, I would sign up for cheerleading—it’s a challenging sport—but I don’t think I’d fit into one of those cute short outfits you girls wear. But did you know that cheerleading used to be a man’s sport?” Takashi began.

        “Really?” Sakura queried with interest.

        “Oh no, there he goes again…” Chiharu mumbled underneath her breath. Sakura expressed a puzzled look.

        “It’s true! Back in the old days, cheerleading squads mainly consisted of guys. But when the war came, girls had to take over,” Takashi continued with his eyes opened. “Of course girls were part of it too—” His eyes then closed. “…so that the squad could be attractive to both genders. You know, you got to have girls there or else no guys will watch the sport and no guys would play because there would be no girls to impress. So that’s why cheerleading became a girls sport and the reason to why the skirts got shorter; to keep the guys interested in playing the games.”

        “All lies!” Chiharu said as she rolled her eyes.

        “It sounded alright at the beginning,” Sakura said.

        “It’s always like that isn’t it? But they’re all lies.” Chiharu repeated. “Here,” she said, holding a glass of drink with straw near Takashi. “Put that story into this,” shoving the drink into him. He began to suck the straw quite rhythmically, creating a whistling sound as he did so.

        “Anyway, I don’t know yet. I might,” Chiharu answered Sakura’s initial question.

        “What about you, Rika-chan?” Sakura then asked.

        “I heard about it—I’m not too sure actually,” Rika replied. “I’m worried about how hard school might get, as well as my piano lessons; I might not have time.”

        Sakura nodded understandingly.

        “Are you thinking of signing up?” Rika asked.

        “Yeah, I think it’d be fun to be part of the high school’s cheerleading team.”

        “Really—so you’ve decided to sign up?” an ecstatic Tomoyo asked.

        “I think so,” she replied resolutely. “Tomoyo-chan, how about you join—“

        Suddenly an overly excited scream came, interrupting her. Sakura could feel the hairs on her scalp spike up from the loud shrill of Tomoyo’s voice. It was so loud, she almost fell backwards.

        “Great! I will be able to film another part to Sakura-chan at Seijyu High. This is going to be great!”

        Sakura blushed slightly. “Oh, Tomoyo-chan,” she’ll never fully understand the kick Tomoyo gets from filming her. Personally, she didn’t think she was that interesting—not interesting enough to focus all of her time filming her anyway.

        “Hey does anyone want an ice-cream?” Sakura said, changing the subject. “I got some extra money from my brother today for no reason, so I’m shouting.”

        “Are you sure?” Rika asked.

        “Yeah—so what would you guys like?”

        “Umm… I’ll have a strawberry ice-cream,” replied Rika.

        “Vanilla for me,” Chiharu replied.

        “What about you Yamazaki-kun?”

        “Blue ice-cream, please.”

        “Blue?” Sakura asked, trying to recall a blue coloured ice-cream.

        “Yes, thanks.”

        “Ahh… okay, I’ll try my best. If I can’t, I’ll get you black-current ice-cream or something resembling blue ice-cream, okay?”

        “Thanks, Kinomoto-san!” Yamazaki replied.

        “And for you Tomoyo-chan, I’ll get vanilla with chocolate chips.”

        Sakura knew her too well. “Thanks, Sakura-chan!!” Tomoyo replied, gratefully.

        Sakura smiled. “Okay, I’ll be back in a few!!”

        As she walked, she thought about how great the day had gone. She was in such a good mood, she thought about Kero. “Hmm… I think I’ll get Kero-chan something at the parlour for being so supportive in the morning too. Maybe he’d like a packet of candy. Yup, that’s what I’ll buy.”

        Standing across from the group, underneath a nearby tree, Yoshiro watched a delighted Sakura twirl around a few times, admiring the scenery. “Kinomoto,” he said her name aloud. He continued to watch her curiously as she came to a halt at the ice-cream parlour.

        “Afternoon, sir,” Sakura said to the server at the counter.

        “Good afternoon, young lady. What would you like today?”

        “One of my friends would like blue ice-cream. Do you have blue ice-cream?” she asked politely.

        The man looked down at the row of ice-creams in his freezer cabinet to see if anything resembled a blue ice-cream. “I’m sorry, no. It looks like I only have rainbow. Would your friend mind rainbow ice-cream?”

        “I think he’ll like it. Sure. And four more ice-creams: one vanilla ice-cream, one strawberry, and two vanilla with chocolate chip ice-creams please.” She almost forgot. “…Oh—and a packet of those lollies,” she pointed to a pink packet hanging on the wall on the left.

        “Sure. Please wait a moment.” He smiled then went to grab a scoop and cones as Sakura waited.

        Sakura turned around. Two passer-bys caught her attention in the distance. A couple was walking closely, enjoying the magnificent sunshine that had occupied this afternoon, together. They were so happy. That reminded her of someone she knew.

        “Syaoran-kun…”

        Amidst her thoughts, she felt a brief breeze blow by her. It was cold and it brought her out of her thoughts. Without even knowing, Yoshiro had appeared in front of her from nowhere. She jerked back sharply.

        Quickly Yoshiro pulled her into him, almost hugging her to prevent her from falling into the counter. “Sorry if I scared you. I didn’t mean to.”

        “No, I was just…”

        “Something on your mind? By the looks of it you were pretty deep in thought. I hope it wasn’t anything unpleasant.”

        “No not at all.”

        “Oh, that’s good. So, are you here buying ice-cream?”

        “Yeah, Tomoyo-chan, Chiharu-chan, Rika-chan, Yamazaki-kun, and I decided to have some ice-cream together after school.”

        “Here you are,” Sakura heard the server behind the counter say. He placed the ice-creams on the ice-cream holder and the packet of candy on the counter. “That’ll be 675 yens thank you.” Sakura handed the money to him. “Thank you very much. Enjoy those ice-creams.”

        “Thank you very much!”

        “It looks like you’ve got a lot of ice-creams there. Would you like some help carrying them over?” Yoshiro offered.

        “Yeah, that’ll be great. Thanks, Sato-kun.”

        Both of them took the ice-creams and candy as they began to walk back to the table. Sakura realised she hadn’t offered him any ice-cream. “Oh I’m sorry I forgot to offer you an ice-cream. Would you like one? I can go back later to get it for you.”

        “Oh no, no you don’t have to. It’s okay.”

        Sakura smiled. “Then would you like to join us for a while before heading home?”

        “I’d love to but I have some things to take care of. Thanks though.”

        They continued walking for a short while before they reached their table. “Here you go guys!” Sakura said to her friends as she and Yoshiro began handing out the ice-creams in her hand.

        “Hi, Sato-kun—would you like to join us?” Rika asked what Sakura had asked a moment ago.

        “No thanks it’s okay—I was just in the neighbourhood and I saw Kinomoto-san here needing some help. I better get going. I’ll see you all at school tomorrow. Enjoy those ice-creams.”

        “Thanks, Sato-kun for helping,” Sakura thanked.

        As Yoshiro left towards a tree across from the table, strangely Sakura felt some sort of presence. It was ever so slight and brief. Sharply, she jerked her head towards the presence. It felt odd then it disappeared.

To be continued in episode 3: “Sakura and The New Force”.