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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 Class Trip

©2003 By Julia and Tania
E-mail: ccs_fanz@juliaandtania.com
Cardcaptor Sakura: The Attractive Power
Episode 4

A bustle of noise replaced the usually calm atmosphere which—more often than not—took residence upon the botanical gardens. Thirty or so young Seijyu High students packed the front entrance of the gardens as they chattered away. Meanwhile, the few supervising teachers made their final head counts and equipment checks.

        “Gather around, everyone! Gather around!” the class’ science teacher called on the students. “Remember that there will be others around, so be respectful towards other visitors and the plantations. Also be respectful to the environment—please pick up after yourselves.”

        “Hai,” the students complied in unison.

        “Have you all got pencil and paper?”

        “Hai, Okuda-sensei!”

        “Good, good. You all know what we’re here to do, right?” he asked. The students nodded assertively. “In case there are any of you who don’t know or may have forgotten,” he said patronisingly, “we’re here to observe and study the different species of plants here. Also, don’t forget to do a few sketches, alright?”

        “Hai.”

        “We will be having lunch at around 12:30pm at the garden’s lunch area, next to the main café. Alright then—now break up into your groups and start on your assignment.”

        “Hai,” Sakura responded with the rest of her classmates.

        The class excitedly dispersed themselves into smaller groups as Sakura stood a while longer, taking in her surroundings. “Wow, it’s so pretty here, isn’t it, Tomoyo-chan?!”

        Sakura expected the sweet voice of her best friend to reply at any moment, but any moment didn’t come. She pursed her lips, brows furrowed as the sharp movements of her head portrayed confusion: how odd—where was she?

        She looked left then she looked right like a detective. “Tomoyo-chan, Tomoyo-chan,” Sakura called repetitively. Then she spun herself around to meet a figure who was a few inches taller than her, standing uncomfortably close.

        For a moment, she stood immobile next to this figure, slowly processing the situation through her head. “You’re not Tomoyo-chan…” she said quietly to herself. Lips still pursed, she discreetly pointed to the features of this person in front of her. “Bluish eyes… almost like Tomoyo-chan’s—but not Tomoyo-chan’s; taller…; sandy hair…; and… male’s uniform?!?”

        “HOEEEEEEE!” Sakura jumped then fell as she rapidly retreated backwards on all fours, crawling like a spider. “S-s-sato-kun!” Why is it him who always startles me?

        “Kinomoto-san…?” Yoshiro queried, taken aback by her sudden reaction.

        “I thought, I thought…” Sakura pointed in the direction she thought to be where Yoshiro had stood. Then she pointed in the direction Yoshiro was standing currently. “And Tomoyo-chan: over here.”

        Yoshiro laughed his carefree chuckle as he extended a hand towards her. Sakura accepted the gesture. “I’m sorry for scaring you like that; it appears that I seem to be doing that to you a lot.”

        Now fully composed, she shook her head, “It’s okay—I suppose I was too absorbed by the scenery that I didn’t notice my surroundings.” Yoshiro smiled, releasing her hand gently from his grip.

        Suddenly, her eyes widened, gasping. Sakura snapped her head around to look behind her shoulders at her backpack. Not being able to assess if it was alright, she took it off her back and brought it to her chest.

        “Is everything alright?” Yoshiro asked in concern, afraid he had faulted her somehow.

        “Umm…” Sakura began as she lowered herself to place the backpack on the ground. She took a quick glance inside. The package was fine. She exhaled a sigh of relief.

        “Everything… Okay?” Yoshiro inquired again.

        She nodded. Sakura stood back up, clutching her backpack. “Yes, everything’s fine. Anyway, where’s Tomoyo-chan?”

        “She was standing on my left a moment ago…” he replied as the two searched for the location of their friend.

        In the distance—nearest the large gate separating the garden and entrance area—stood Tomoyo and her camera. She gave a wave as she approached the two, video camera on pause mode.

        “Sakura-chan!” smiling as she ran. “That was so cute, and I got it all on tape.”

        An imaginary sweat drop appeared on her right temple. “You… you brought your camera along?” she said, the corner of her lips twitching apprehensively.

        “Why wouldn’t I—if I hadn’t I wouldn’t have gotten you and Sato-kun in that cute scene just before. The botanical garden is a perfect place for cute moments of Sakura.”

        “Hoe?”

        Yoshiro laughed his characteristic chuckle again as he stood by listening to the two. “That camera there is sure a nice one, Daidouji-san.”

        Tomoyo nodded wholeheartedly, “Yeah, this is new. My mum got me this about two weeks ago. It’s so much better! It can take digital snapshots using a sixty four SD card; it has a 22x optical zoom, and video line in and out capabilities.”

        “You seem to know a lot about cameras—do you do a lot of film work, Daidouji-san?”

        All of a sudden, an energetic voice interjected, getting the attention of the three. “Are you kidding!” the voice of Chiharu came. “She has that camera on all the time; she’s like an expert on anything that involves a camera, and she practically can’t go anywhere without it.”

        “O-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho,” Tomoyo laughed with her right hand covering her mouth in professed shyness.

        “That’s Tomoyo-chan’s way of saying: ‘I’m not denying it; it’s totally true’,” Chiharu teased, giving a laugh afterwards.

        Yoshiro only smiled, oblivious to the degree of truth Chiharu had in her statement. “Oh okay. So what makes you take the camera with you all the time—what do you like filming?”

        “Cute things o-ho-ho-ho-ho,” she replied, taking little notice of Sakura’s embarrassment as Sakura tried to hide herself from this conversation.

        “Kinomoto-san,” Okuda-sensei approached, finding her the easiest to call upon. “Have you found your group yet?”

        “Hai—this is my group,” Sakura replied with alarm in her tone as her friends stopped their conversation upon the teacher’s presence.

        “Well…? Hurry, hurry—put a foot to it,” he said, giving them the push along then left.

        “Hai,” the group replied.

        “Shall we go?” Yoshiro asked the group.

        “You better!” the teacher interjected sternly yet with jest.

        Okuda-sensei had appeared out of nowhere—to their surprise. They thought he had left them to it already. Everyone could feel their hair spike with shock as they dwelled on this strange behaviour exhibited by their science teacher for a brief moment.

        “Hai!” the group finally replied.

        “That was weird,” Yoshiro said laughing as the group followed suit.

        “Shall we start everyone?” Sakura suggested.

        “Yeah, we better before Okuda-sensei does that again, huh?” Yoshiro added.

        “Yeah, let’s go,” Chiharu began then noticed Takashi wasn’t around. “Wait—Takashi…” She searched for his whereabouts.

        “Where is Yamazaki-kun?” Sakura asked.

        Spotting him in the distance near a group of laughing girls, Chiharu suddenly fumed with an uncontrollable urge to yell at him. “Takashi! Get your butt back over here. What are you doing over there?!?”

        Takashi had not heard. Chiharu began to frown; soon anger got the better of her, overtaking any bit of rationality left in her. “Are you deliberately ignoring me?!? They’re not laughing with you and your stupid stories, they’re laughing at you!

        “Chiharu-chan…” Tomoyo said, advising her to stop.

        She turned around to face Tomoyo. Chiharu sighed, feeling shame. “I know… I’ll apologise to him later. It’s just… sometimes some of his actions get me so angry. I can’t help it, and I suppose things come out before I realise it has… I’ll head over there and get him.”

        As Chiharu walked across to him, the friends watched with interest. “I hope Chiharu-chan is okay; she seemed so angry at him,” Sakura said.

        “I don’t think she’s really angry at him. I think she feels something else,” Tomoyo said.

        “What do you mean, Daidouji-san?” Yoshiro asked.

        “I’ve noticed in class and when we’re out with her and Yamazaki-kun that she only acts like that when she feels threatened by the attention Yamazaki-kun gets sometimes.”

        “But he’s always attracting attention with his stories,” Sakura said, ponderously.

        “You’re right, Sakura-chan, but Chiharu-chan isn’t seeing this attention as she once did; she’s seeing it as a different kind of attention now.”

        Yoshiro chuckled, understandingly. “I see.”

        Meanwhile, Sakura was still rather puzzled, scratching her head. “Hoe?”

        “Sakura-chan… Tomoyo-chan… Sato-kun: let’s go!” Chiharu shouted to them as she and Takashi approached the group. Everyone nodded.

        Finally making a start on their task, Sakura and Tomoyo led the group towards the entrance with Yoshiro, Chiharu, and Takashi following behind. The two at the front turned their heads slightly as an uncomfortable bickering between Chiharu and Takashi arose after a few seconds into their journey. Luckily for them all, Yoshiro stepped in and calmed the situation down.

        Tomoyo smiled, commending Yoshiro’s quick thinking. She turned back to face the front—as did Sakura who was also happy that Chiharu and Takashi were no longer fighting. While Tomoyo walked alongside Sakura, her actions caught her eye. Her friend was staring blankly towards the ground, hugging her backpack.

        “Sakura-chan…” Tomoyo called to her. She didn’t respond. Tomoyo tried again, now concerned. “Sakura-chan…”

        “What is it?”

        “Are you okay?”

        “Definitely!” she smiled widely. Apparently there was nothing wrong at all. Believing Sakura’s word, Tomoyo smiled happily.

        As the group casually walked, the leaves of a few trees which they had passed bore enough yellow leaves to look odd, but no notice was paid towards it—not even by the mistress of the Sakura cards.

 

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

 

        Sakura had decided to sit herself down at a comfortable distance from her subject. The tree which she had focused on sketching for the last twenty minutes wasn’t too hard—only several branches protruded from the skinny trunk, and a bushy amount of healthy leaves to take in ample sunlight covered its branches—but for her, it proved to be a challenge.

        She whined at the sight of her drawing, her back slouched in disappointment. “It doesn’t look like a tree—not this tree anyway. It looks more like a broccoli… except… my drawing has a long stalk. Come to think of it, it’s not even a broccoli!”

        Gazing hard at it, she tried desperately to see what was wrong with it and how to correct it. Sakura held her sketch in mid-air, comparing between it and the subject.

        “It’s the leaves… I suppose I did rush them too much,” she said chuckling at the ball on top of the trunk which she defined as the leafy part of the tree. “Maybe it will do…” she tried convincing herself. Then she remembered Okuda-sensei say something…


REPLAY MODE…

        “We will be studying a bit about the significance of their varying leaf sizes, so do a sketch of the leaf and the entire tree. I know that not all of you are artists, but please do make an effort to make the sketches as close to the real thing as possible in terms of its proportions.”

END REPLAY MODE…


        “I already have a detailed sketch of the leaf on its own—it should do… the shape is… not… too bad...”

        Who was she kidding? She just said to herself it looked like a broccoli. Sakura sighed; the picture needed to be re-sketched.

        Slowly and reluctantly she searched for her eraser, but she couldn’t find it anywhere nearby. “It must still be in my pencil case.”

        She looked over to her right, and next to her leg was the pencil case she was looking for. Once she had a good rummaging through her pencil case, and not finding the eraser there, she proceeded to her backpack.

        She tried the front and side compartments, but it wasn’t there either. “Why is it when I really need it, it’s not there?! I can’t hand this into the teacher. What will people think of this? Where are you, where are you, where are you…?” she said repeatedly, calling for the eraser.

        Trying the last place of her bag, she unzipped the main compartment and began to feel her way around her bag. While she did, her eyes were drawn towards the package again. It came in a recyclable yellow paper packaging, medium in size.

        Ever since she received the package before school, she wanted to open it, but she was running late to school again. But now she had the time; she could choose to open it now. Sakura thought about it for a long while as she continuously stared at it.

        No. She won’t open it. She’ll wait a little longer.

        Upon making the decision, she returned to the hunt for the runaway eraser. After a period of searching, she finally found it. “Phew!” she said as she began correcting her drawing.


        Yoshiro, who was several metres from Sakura and the rest of his group, was very much finished with the sketching of his tree. He stared at his picture for a little longer as he evaluated his efforts. Yoshiro nodded with satisfaction then sighed in relief; the task of constantly staring at that tree and his drawing was getting wearisome—not to mention very straining for the back and neck.

        Fatigued, he fell back onto the lush, green grass beneath him. He stretched his body as he expressed pleasure with an audible exhale. “This feels good; this is much better.” Yoshiro stretched some more, feeling every tense muscle in his body relax while he used his hands to support his head. “I like it here—I really like it here.”

        He stayed like that, head off to the side, watching the rest of his peers do their sketches. As he watched, a gentle breeze blew across him, making the drawing pad which he left on his chest to flutter against the wind. His eyes widened. “My sketch: better put this in my bag before it flies away.”

        Slowly he got up, grabbing the pad and backpack as he rose to an upright position. Once he had made sure the pad was safely inside, he zipped his bag. Then he wondered if his group was finished; he had finished—what about them?

        Making up his mind to head over to see the others, he swung his backpack over his shoulders then made his way to the closest person to him: Sakura.

        “How’s it going Kinomoto-san?” he asked as he invited himself to sit beside her.

        She turned to the direction of the voice and looked up. “Sato-kun: hi—actually I had quite a bit of trouble at the beginning, but now…” She held the sketch in front of him. “What do you think of it?”

        “It’s not bad. It resembles it.”

        “Thanks—but I’m not finished. I think it needs a little more work, but this pencil is giving me trouble,” she said, showing the problem with her pink pencil for a moment then continued in fiddling with it, “the lead just keeps retracting.”

        Yoshiro smiled. Not saying a word, he took his backpack off his back and unzipped it to take out his pencil case. “Here,” he said as he handed her a metallic-blue mechanical pencil.

        “Hoe?” She looked at the pencil.

        “You’re having trouble with the pencil right?” Sakura nodded. “You can use this one, use mine,” he offered.

        “Thanks, Sato-kun!” Sakura took the pencil as she gazed at it with admiration. “It must be very expensive; it’s a very pretty pencil!”

        He nodded firmly. “Yeah—it’s my favourite pencil. It’s the one I use all the time.”

        “In that case, I’ll make sure I take very good care of it until I return it to you!”

        Yoshiro shook his head. “No need. You can keep it.”

        “Hoe—but it’s your favourite…” Sakura said, totally baffled by his generous gesture.

        “I know, but you can keep it. You can just treat it as if I were giving it to you as a belated birthday gift—April first, right?”

        “No, I can’t possibly keep it…“ Then she realised something, inclining her head off at an angle. “How did you know when my birthday was?”

        “I have my ways…” he replied mischievously. Sakura’s brow furrowed, confused. “Okay, okay. Daidouji-san told me what she got for your birthday a few weeks back… I asked.”

        “Well thanks so much Sato-kun!” she said, accepting it graciously. “When’s your birthday, Sato-kun? I want to get you something in return when it comes—or has it passed?”

        “No, it hasn’t passed. It’s not necessary for you to get me anything. I’ll keep that a secret.”

        “But—“

        “Anyway, how far are you to finishing?” He smiled, interrupting Sakura before she finished her sentence.

        Sakura frowned as she accepted that he wasn’t going to tell her. Reluctantly, she skipped the subject to answer him. “Just a while longer—a few more details and I’ll be done.”

        Yoshiro nodded. “It’s almost lunchtime so I’ll head back to the lunch area and save our group a table.”

        “That’s a good idea. We’ll meet up later then,” she said, watching Yoshiro leave.

        As Sakura watched him leave, passing some trees and foliage around the area, she saw something strange. Tracking his path were leaves changing, transforming its normally green hue to yellows and oranges.

        Sakura blinked then shrugged it off, rubbing her eyes—the constant eye contact with the sun as she sketched must have influenced her vision. Hearing her stomach protest for fuel, she quickly got back on task.

 

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

 

        Having spent the entire morning observing, researching, and sketching trees, the entire group consisting of Sakura, Tomoyo, Chiharu, Takashi, and Yoshiro had finally finished the first part of their task. Everyone had returned to the lunch area—all but Sakura and Tomoyo who were making their way back there now.

        “Thanks for waiting, Tomoyo-chan,” Sakura cheerfully said.

        “No problem, Sakura-chan,” she replied, her attention seemingly placed elsewhere.

        Sakura studied her friend curiously as she walked alongside her. For some reason, Tomoyo was especially interested towards her surroundings; her eyes were constantly sweeping the area.

        “Tomoyo-chan: what are you looking for?” Sakura decided to ask finally.

        Tomoyo turned to face her, and replying simply she said, “I’m just looking for a nice shot I could take a picture of.”

        “Oh that’s nice Tomoyo-chan. This place does have a lot of nice settings; it shouldn’t be hard to find one.”

        “Yeah—I think it’d be perfect for a painting.”

        “You’re thinking of doing a painting?” Sakura asked.

        Tomoyo nodded. “Do you think you could hold onto this while I take some pictures?” she asked her as she handed Sakura her sketch pad upon spotting a picture-perfect scenery—actually a few of them.

        “Sure Tomoyo-chan,” Sakura said, obligingly. “So are you painting for a reason?”

        “Yup—I’m doing one for Hiiragizawa-kun.”

        “Eriol-kun—I haven’t written to him in a while…” Sakura began to think about the strange incidents that have been occurring in the past few weeks. At the thought, Sakura’s mood fell. “I really should write to him…” Sakura said.

        “I’ll mention you said ‘hi’ in my next e-mail and tell him that you’re doing well, okay?” Tomoyo said as she darted around here and there taking shots, unaware of Sakura’s change of demeanour.

        “Thanks, Tomoyo-chan!” she replied, quickly returning from her troubled thoughts.

        “I was catching up with him through e-mail and I mentioned to him about going on this field trip. Then he said that he missed seeing Japan and its beautiful environment...”

        “So you offered to paint it for him,” Sakura jumped in with her presumption.

        “Actually: no,” she said as the camera made a snapshot sound.

        “Hoe?”

        A curl to the lip could be seen from behind the camera as Tomoyo operated it. “I was going to just send photos of this outing, but then I thought he might like a water-colour painting as well.”

        “Oh I know he will love it, Tomoyo-chan!” she exclaimed with enthusiasm, hands brought together against her chin. Then she dropped them back down by her side as she continued. “So when are you thinking of sending it to him?”

        “The water-colour painting will take a while between choir, school work, and making your dresses—”

        “Hoe—my dress?” surprised by Tomoyo’s last comment.

        “You said things were happening again, so I took the initiative to start on new battle costumes! You never know when the next one’s going to appear… Oooh I can’t wait until you try on my new designs!”

        Sakura sighed. “Tomoyo-chan…”

        It was ironic really. As happy as Sakura was to bring Tomoyo happiness—by giving her another chance to start making battle costumes for her again—she knew it meant trouble was looming for her. Having Tomoyo back in production was like giving her the confirmation that there was no doubt that something unpleasant was to befall the world again. She shouldn’t be the least bit happy, but—she was… at least for the part about her best friend anyway.

        Tomoyo took a short break from filming as she directed her attention to Sakura. “My latest one isn’t for your upcoming battles though. I actually made it so you can pose in a photo for me.”

        “Hoe? Umm… pose for a photo…?”

        “Yes!” Tomoyo ran towards her, cupping Sakura’s hand in hers, pleading, “Please, can you do it?”

        Hesitantly, she agreed. “What do you need me to do, Tomoyo-chan…?”

        “Do you have time after school?”

        Sakura pondered for a while. She was on dinner duty… but she could probably swap days with Onii-chan… I really hope he doesn’t make me do some of his chores as well… she thought. “Yeah I do, but I’ll have to call my brother and dad to tell them that I’ll be at your place.”

        “Great!” Tomoyo cried in a pitch that almost deafened Sakura. “I wanted to send Hiiragizawa-kun, as well as, Meiling-chan and Li-kun a photo of us—they’ll be able to see how much we’ve grown.”

        “Oh—that’s a great idea!”

        “Yeah and I’ll invite Sato-kun too. That way they can meet our new friend as well.” Sakura nodded with approval. “Anyway, I think I’ve taken enough, let’s head back.”

        “Yeah, I’m getting extremely hungry!”

 

        The afternoon sun was set at the pinnacle of its daily course as lunchtime finally made its way in on the day. The students and the public alike enjoyed the perfect spring day as they packed the small lunch area. Not so much enjoying the day though, were the gardens’ residents.

        Plant life and trees looked like they were living through the autumn season, while small patches of grass looked like it had already lived through a drought in summer rather than its current season. More and more were changing as each minute passed; and without even a single individual realising its serious condition, at the end of the day, the beautiful garden would be lifeless.

        Sakura joined her friends at a table Yoshiro had promised to save for her and Tomoyo. Carefully placing her bag underneath the table, she sat down with her friends Chiharu, Rika, Naoko, Takashi, and Yoshiro. Beside her, Tomoyo moved in to take her seat.

        “Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan: you’re finally here. Did you have a problem on the way here?” Rika—who was sitting opposite Sakura—asked.

        “Sorry,” Tomoyo apologised, “I wanted to take a few photos of the garden.”

        “And I took a little longer to finish my sketch,” Sakura added.

        “It’s alright. We were just wondering,” Chiharu relieved.

        Sakura smiled. “Itadakimasu (thanks for the meal/let’s eat).” Without further ado, she took out her lunchbox from her bag, opened it, and began to chow down.

        Her friends chuckled at her eagerness. “Sakura-chan: you sure are starving aren’t you?” Naoko commented.

        Sakura halted quickly, blushing furiously as short stints of laughter transpired through the embarrassment she felt. With her mouth stuffed to the full, she slowly nodded.

        “Well, since Kinomoto-san already started, we better too. Itadakimasu,” Yoshiro said.

        “Itadakimasu!” chimed in everyone.

        Finally on her way to satisfying her stomach, Sakura slowed down. She swallowed the rice she had in her mouth before she spoke. “Rika-chan, Naoko-chan: you guys did flowers, right? How did your sketches go? They must be much harder to draw.”

        Rika swallowed before she began. “Yeah… I don’t know… I did find drawing the petals quite hard.”

        Next to Rika, Naoko nodded. “I struggled with pretty much the entire sketch! It’s not as easy as drawing ghosts,” she said, chuckling.

        “G-g-ghost?!” Sakura choked at the mention of the word, coughing harshly.

        “Sakura-chan!” Tomoyo called in concern.

        “Kinomoto-san, are you alright, are you alright?” Yoshiro quickly turned to help her out, patting her on the back.

        Sakura swallowed her food, nodding, finally under control. “Yeah… I’m fine.” Then she looked around. “Does anyone have water?”

        Tomoyo reached into her bag, taking out a flask. She poured the liquid into the cup that came with it and handed it to Sakura quickly. “There you go, Sakura-chan.”

        She accepted the water and quickly took a few sips. As she felt the food go down, she sighed in relief. “Thanks!”

        “Sorry about that, Sakura-chan. I didn’t mean to do that to you,” Naoko apologised sincerely.

        “You don’t like ghosts do you?” Yoshiro asked.

        There goes that word again. At the mention, Sakura jerked sharply towards Tomoyo, in turn making Tomoyo knock over the opened flask. A pool of water flowed across the table, soaking the food that was on it.

        “Sorry!” Sakura apologised to everyone who had their lunch soaked. “I’ll get some napkins.”

        “No I’ll go get them since I was the one who caused you to do that. Besides, I was going to get up and get a drink anyway. I’m as thirsty as those dry leaves on the trees.”

        “Hoe?” she said slightly baffled. She looked towards the direction he was looking at. I suppose some of the leaves on that tree in front of us do look a little dry, she thought. Dismissing it, she stood up. “No, Sato-kun, I’ll get them.”

        He nodded as he stood up as well. “Does anyone know where the drinking fountains are?”

        “I think I saw a few drinking fountains near some trees that I passed earlier,” Rika pointed at an angle to her left. “Just keep walking straight; you’ll see them.”

        “Thanks. I’ll be back soon,” Yoshiro said to the group as they all nodded.

        “I’ll be back soon too with some napkins,” Sakura said as she made her way towards the café just a short walking distance from the outdoor lunch area.


        A tall man stood behind the counter as he frothed the milk with the steam wand of the coffee machine. Sakura stood patiently in front of the counter as she waited for the man to turn around. She felt that, at any moment, he was going to turn, but he didn’t. He just began making another cup of coffee—going rather slowly this time.

        “Umm… excuse me, sir.” Sakura waited for the server to respond. He didn’t. “Excuse me,” she called to him again, but only to be ignored once more. “Do you have any napkins?” she persisted.

        “Can you not see it’s on the other end, next to the cash register?” he answered rudely.

        Sakura jumped in shock. “Hoe?”

        “…Kaijuu (Monster)!”

        That sounded familiar. “Onii-chan!” she shouted. She should’ve guessed: a man that could be that rude to her had to be her brother. “You knew it was me all that time?!” she huffed.

        Touya turned around with a smirk. “You wanted napkins…?” Touya leaned his weight onto the table as he lazily pointed to a spot Sakura couldn’t see from her position. “There.”

        Sakura moved over a foot to her right, searching for them, but couldn’t find them. Her brother sighed then moved over to where he pointed then lifted up the newspaper which lay on top of the napkins. Sakura gave him a glare: how was she supposed to know it was under all that?

        She walked over to it and grabbed a few napkins from the container, still glaring at Touya. “What are you doing here anyway—aren’t you supposed to be at your lectures?”

        “Nope—I had the day off.”

        “Touya, are those coffees done?” a voice came from behind the counter.

        “Hai, but Kaijuu over here is distracting me,” Touya replied. Sakura glared at him again—who was he to tell a total stranger that?

        “Arigatou (Thank you), Touya,” the voice said as he neared the counter.

        “Yukito-san!” Sakura called to him as he revealed himself from a room behind the counter, surprised.

        “Oh, Sakura-chan: how are you? What are you doing here?”

        She smiled, as always, happy to see him. “I’m good. Oh, our class is here to study the plants and trees the botanical gardens have here.”

        “How is that going?”

        “It’s great. It’s pretty here… I managed to do a sketch of a tree too. I’ll show them to you later!” Yukito nodded. “Anyway, I better get back to my friends.”

        Sakura began heading out of the café, but then remembered she needed to tell Onii-chan about this evening. “Onii-chan, I’ll be at Tomoyo-chan’s house after school. Do you think…” she paused, eyes avoiding his—afraid of what it will cost her to swap days with him. “Do you think… you could…?”

        “Yes…?” Touya said, playing dumb.

        “Do you think we could swap dinner duty days?”

        “Sure.”

        “Really?!” That was too easy…

        Touya held up three fingers, “Three chores.”

        …Not. She nodded, reluctantly, head drooped. At least he was much more lenient this time. Onii-chan usually made her do five.

        “Huh?” Yukito, surprised by Sakura’s sudden departure, quickly wished her well as she left. “See ya, Sakura-chan. Enjoy the rest of your field trip!” Yukito shouted.

        Yukito—she forgot about him. I mustn’t let him see me leave unhappily because… Yukito-san is Yukito-san. “See you later, Yukito-san!” she shouted to him cheerfully. Then she muttered, gritting her teeth, “See you later, Onii-chan.”

        Touya smiled. “Don’t be late home, Kaijuu!”

        As he expected her next reaction to be a grumble and followed by: I’m not a kaijuu, he was mistaken. Instead, Sakura stood still, mannequin-like. Only the tilt of her head betrayed the look.

        “Sakura: are you okay?” Touya asked, his expression displaying concern. She didn’t reply. He exchanged a glance with Yukito before they were forced to run after her as she hastily exited the café.

        How strange… They were all dying—trees, flowers, grass—all plant life were dying. I don’t understand; what’s happening? Sakura thought as she watched with incredible awe like the rest of the onlookers.

        In a few seconds, and as far as she could see, the vibrant green pigment which was present not too long ago soon disappeared as a sickening yellow overtook the leaves and grass in a quick sweeping motion. Flowers which stood proud in the sunlight eventually surrendered to whatever had taken away their life force as the flower crumpled before it dropped to the ground.

        “Sakura, are you—Oh my god,” Touya said, arriving onto the scene. “What is this?” his voice barely above a whisper.

        Yukito stood behind Touya, staring at the spectacle, just as amazed.

        Could it be—was it magic? It had to be… Sakura thought, arriving to a conclusion.

        A moment later, the detection of a strange aura—but not new to Sakura—quelled all other possibilities. Finally having her suspicions confirmed, Sakura’s attention was directed towards the people; they were watching all of this.

        “Sakura-chan,” Yukito said with exigency.

        “Yukito-san,” she replied as she turned to face him, surprised. Yukito was standing next to her, but through his intense stare, she could see Yue through them. He was desperately urging her to allow him to emerge to the surface.

        Getting the message, Sakura decided it was time for action, “Oh Key with the power of the stars: show me your true form. I, Sakura, command you under our contract: Release!”

        The small key which lay flat on her palm during her incantation, extended into the Sakura sealing staff. Having reached its final stage of transformation, she gripped the rod as she threw a Sakura card into the air. She made contact between the staff and the card, commanding, “Sleep!”

        Upon the order, everyone fell to sleep including Touya who was slowly descending off to the side. “Touya,” Yukito said in his soft voice. Quickly, Yukito moved to catch him then laid him on the ground before he transformed to his true form.

        Sakura kept her attention at the front, granting only a brief eye to the back. After her brother was safe, she returned her gaze to the dying plants ahead as Yue joined her.

        “I’m sensing magic,” Yue expressed.

        Sakura nodded—her facial cast in distress. “I have to do something. If I don’t, it’ll continue then everything will die.”

        “Your magic is enough to stop it,” Yue reminded her.

        “Right,” Sakura said. But what should she use? “Shield,” she finally decided, “Surround the gardens.”

        Both Sakura and Yue watched Shield obey the command as it encompassed the whole of the botanical gardens. But even Shield couldn’t stop this unknown source of magic from consuming the plants which had already been affected before the card’s activation.

        “The plants are still dying,” observed Sakura in dismay.

        Yue nodded. He spread his wings as he took flight, taking a bird’s-eye perspective of the situation. “Nowhere else is being targeted; only plant life residing in the botanical gardens are dying.”

        “There must be a way to save them… There must be a way to stop them from dying…” she thought aloud.

        “Shield is slowing down the magic,” he reported from above. “If you activate Time, you’ll be able to temporarily stop it.”

        “It’ll give me more time to think,” Sakura said more to herself than to Yue. Without hesitation, she threw the card in mid-air, summoning its power, “Time!”

        Sakura’s mind eased as she found that everything came to a halt, leaving her mind in peace to think of a way of reversing the damage.

        Once her magic had controlled the situation, Yue returned to stand behind Sakura, arms folded at the front as he gave an opportunity for his mistress to find a solution. She stood there, concentrating on her surroundings, desperately trying to realise a way to rescue the situation as she scanned the area.

        Nothing—nothing was any help.

        Time was running out—literally. Her magic was thinning especially with the use of three cards. Feeling herself weakening, she willed herself to come up with something more quickly. Then she remembered: Sato-kun had said he was thirsty, as thirsty as those dry leaves—maybe that’s what they needed.

        Quickly she went into action, calling back Time. As she got ready to call for her next Sakura card, she rocked from side to side ever so slightly. “I can feel my magic depleting… Please work. Rain: shower those plants with your rain!” she commanded, slightly out of breath.

        The rather small, but the cuter of the cards rose to the sky, high above the horizon. As deceiving as its appearance was, the Rain exerted a mighty volume of water in its cloud, giving the much needed irrigation to the plants.

        Slowly, but definitely, the plants began to revive, regaining their natural, healthy pigmentation. The botanical gardens had returned.

        “Phew. I did it!” Sakura said, relieved. Suddenly her head snapped upwards. “The aura: it comes in and out.”

        “Yes. I felt it. It’s gone now,” Yue confirmed.

        “Who is it?” Yue didn’t respond, clueless himself. “Why is this hap—“

        Sakura was descending towards the ground. Concerned, Yue extended his long arms to catch his mistress. “Call back the cards; they’re draining your powers!”

        She agreed. As tired as she was, she waited for Yue to transform back to his false form before calling her cards back.

        The moment the last Sakura card, Sleep returned, everyone began to regain consciousness to be greeted with a wet ground and water saturated clothes. They moaned as they got up, staring up at the clear blue sky; there wasn’t a cloud in sight and no sprinklers nearby—how could they fall asleep and get wet?

        Sakura watched everyone wring their loose clothing, trying to rid as much water as they could. “Mina-san gomen ne (Sorry everyone),” she said, quietly apologising as she too wrung the water out of her clothes.

 

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

 

        Not one student on the bus could sit still as they tried to bear the unpleasant feeling of wet clothes clinging to their skin. They shuffled uncontrollably as they tried to find a position which was the least irritating to them, all the while discussing about the field trip’s abrupt end.

        “I can’t believe my sketches are all ruined,” Sakura heard one of her classmates say to her friend. Sakura’s head drooped, feeling the guilt.

        “Mine too,” the friend replied.

        “What happened to your glasses, Naoko-chan?” entered Chiharu’s voice.

        “I don’t know how, but it was lying on the table when I woke up, shattered; I guess I broke them when I was asleep…” Naoko replied, confusion in her tone.

        “Sato-kun: sorry,” Rika apologised as she pulled her wet sleeves away from him.

        Yoshiro smiled. “Don’t worry, Sasaki-san. Are you cold?”

        “Just slightly, but I’m okay. I’m just wet,” she said with a smile. Then she looked at him with curiosity. “You’re so lucky you managed to stay dry, Sato-kun.”

        Sakura straightened her back, peering over the top of heads over to the front of the bus. Rika’s comment held truth; he wasn’t wet.

        “Yeah, I must’ve had luck on my side,” Yoshiro replied.

        She sunk back into her seat in thought. How odd…

        “I decided to head inside to get a drink when I realised the water was not going to come out of the fountains,” Yoshiro finished off.

        I suppose that makes sense. Sakura thought, falling back into her seat, but without feeling unease. Just before lunch, she and Tomoyo were talking about needing battle costumes: it seemed that Tomoyo’s forecast was right after all. Although, those battle costumes would never be used because… she was never aware of them until it was too late; they just appear all of a sudden.

        “Are you okay, Sakura-chan?” Tomoyo’s voice interjected her thoughts. Sakura nodded, showing anything but conviction in it. Tomoyo’s face softened. “It’ll be okay.”

        “I hope so…” was all Sakura replied with. I wish Syaoran was here…

        “The package,” Sakura suddenly said.

        “What?” Tomoyo said, not understanding what she was talking about.

        Suddenly changing her mood, Sakura smiled widely as she reached into her bag. “This morning I received a package…” She paused for a moment as she got it out then placed her backpack back onto the ground. Sakura felt around the package. She sighed in relief. “It didn’t get wet. It’s still dry.”

        “That’s good. Lucky you placed your backpack under the table, huh?”

        She nodded with cheer. “This was sent from Hong Kong—“

        “Is it from who I think it is?” Tomoyo grinned in a teasing way.

        “Yup—it is and it’s from Meiling-chan too.”

        Tomoyo noticed that Sakura was staring at it, not making a move to see what was inside. She encouraged her to open it, “Go ahead, Sakura-chan. I’m sure you’ve been wondering all day.”

        “Right!”

        Restraining herself from tearing it apart, she patiently opened the mouth of the package. Once she had, she emptied the contents one by one. Tomoyo smiled at Sakura’s delight.

        The first one she took was Meiling’s gift. “This one’s from Meiling-chan,” she informed Tomoyo. “Wow! This is so beautiful,” Sakura said as she opened a red box full of Chinese hair pins and accessories.

        “They’ll look so nice on you. You must wear them this evening!”

        “Sure, Tomoyo-chan,” smiling as she said it. “That way Meiling-chan will know I got her gift when we send the photos to her!”

        There was also another one from Meiling which was wrapped in red paper. She opened it to reveal a letter set and pen. On top of that was a letter with her name on it. Quietly, she sat on the bus as she read the letter. It read:


To my good friend, Kinomoto Sakura,

Happy birthday, Sakura-san! From now on I’m going to address you this way since we have known each other for so long. I hope you don’t mind.

Anyway, I’m sorry I couldn’t get it to you before your birthday. It wasn’t actually my fault though! You see, Syaoran was late with his gift and he told me that he wanted to send it along with mine. That way, it’ll arrive at the same time. So that’s why mine was late—so sorry about that.

But Syaoran has a reason too. He’s been working really hard for your gift. He started working for your gift before it was even near your birthday, so don’t be angry at him for being late with your gift, Sakura-san.

Oh I just remembered I have to tell you off for something. Why don’t you write more often?!


        “Hoe?” Sakura said, reacting to Meiling’s telling off. Then she went back to reading the letter.


But I forgive you because you couldn’t find a pen or paper, right? But, me being me, I’ve solved that problem for you! I’ve sent you a letter set along with my other gift (the hair pieces—aren’t they beautiful?) so that you have no excuse not to write to me more. I’m a great friend aren’t I?

Hope you are doing well. Jya (Later), Sakura-san!


From,

Meiling

P.S. Say ‘hi’ to Tomoyo-chan and all our classmates for me and Syaoran, okay?


        After reading Meiling’s letter, Sakura chuckled quietly to herself at the thoughtfulness of her friend. Then she turned to Tomoyo. “Meiling-chan said ‘hi’, Tomoyo-chan,” Sakura said to her friend. Tomoyo smiled.

        Respecting the privacy of the letter, she didn’t proceed to ask about it any further. Then she noticed the other gift which she hadn’t gotten to on her lap. She knew this last one was from Syaoran, and knowing it, she knew Sakura probably preferred that she left her to it to open it in private. In light of that, Tomoyo shifted her attention to the front of the bus.

        This was the gift she had been waiting for. Sakura couldn’t believe she had ever doubted him for forgetting her birthday. Kero was right: Syaoran did have a reason; and if she took away all the insecurity she felt because he was so far away, she, too, knew he would never intentionally let her down.

        Removing the thistle-coloured wrapping paper from the gift, she pulled out a photo frame. “Oh wow, Tomoyo-chan…” Tomoyo turned around as she heard Sakura call her name. She looked at Sakura’s gift, smiling happily for her. “It’s a picture of us. Remember Tomoyo-chan? You took this after Onii-chan and Yukito-san’s film festival.”

        She nodded. “You were so cute and Li-kun looked so dressed up—I had to take it.”

        “I wonder how he got it—did you help Syaoran-kun with this, Tomoyo-chan?”

        Tomoyo shook her head. “No, I didn’t, but I usually send a lot of photos to Meiling-chan—he may have gotten it from her.”

        Sakura acknowledged Tomoyo before she turned back to the photo frame. She found a letter enclosed with the gift on her lap. Placing the photo frame down carefully, she picked the letter and began to read it.


Sakura,

Sorry for being late with your birthday gift. I’ve been quite busy with school work and Wei has been training me quite hard for the past few months, so I’m sorry for not writing to you as often as I’d like to, or visiting during the holidays. I hope you’re not angry with me.

If you haven’t already found it, look on the back of the photo frame. Meiling helped me pick this out for you.

Happy birthday, Sakura


Love,

Syaoran


        As instructed by Syaoran, she picked up the photo frame and turned it around. There it was: the gift Syaoran was talking about.

        Taped to the backing was a small, red fabric envelope decorated with elaborate Chinese patterns. She opened the flap then unzipped it to reach in and pulled out a green jade silver anklet. Sakura gasped at the beauty of the piece.

        She had never received anything so pretty. Dangling off from the silver chain was a few small jade stones set in sterling silver in the shape of a fan. Tied to the anklet was a small tag. She moved to it, wondering if it stated the price—it looked so elegant, it had to be expensive. It didn’t as she flipped around to see a handwritten message: Always with you.

        Syaoran-kun… she thought. It was just the right words at the right time—how did he know?

        She could feel tears build in the tear ducts, full of happiness, but she pushed them back, not wanting to make a scene of herself. Sakura motioned for the photo frame, picking it up again.

        Looking longingly at the photo, she ran her thumb through Syaoran’s image. A smile tugged on her lips as she remembered their days together.

        Their days together…

        If only she knew who Syaoran was—what he meant to her now then—she would have acknowledged his presence more than she had previously. He was there with her through everything, yet, a lot of it was taken for granted because of the same reason—she didn’t know who Syaoran was to her; because she loved someone else. What she’d do for those times now when he was always there… close to her… with her…

        Come back soon… she thought, clutching the anklet close to her heart.

 

 

To be continued in episode 5: “Sakura's Relaxing Sunday”.