Lunch
Syaoran stared hard at the retreating form of Tomoyo.
She did this on purpose. What do I do now?
He chanced at look at Sakura who was losing a battle with her noodles. God, she was so cute. Well, he would talk to her. It couldn't be that hard, right?
"Syaoran-kun?"
"Huh?"
He was abrubtly shaken out of his thoughts, and realized that he was
still staring at her. She didn't seem like she noticed, though. She
was looking out over the field, a thoughful expression on her face.
"Do you like Kakeru-kun?"
Syaoran's heart sank.
Sakura was really glad to have Syaoran around, even though she still felt a little embarrased. She was more comfortable about it now, but she was still really aware of the difference in him... he felt different...or maybe she did. But she could always talk to him, and Kakeru's introduction this morning had really bothered her. She was almost certain there was no magic involved, but if there was, Syaoran would know.
"Do you like Kakeru-kun?" she asked.
"I...don't..I don't really know him."
The tone in his voice made her look at him. "But, you don't like him anyway, do you?" She asked.
When he didn't answer, she went on. "Did he transfer here while I was gone? I don't remember having seen him before."
"Yes."
His voice was so quiet she almost didn't hear him.
"Syaoran-kun, are you alright?" She laid her hand on his arm and tried to look into his face.
Abrubtly, he pulled away from her and stood up.
"I don't feel very well." He began walking back toward the building.
"Syaoran! Wait!" she called after him. When he didn't stop, Sakura dropped back to the grass and stared at the cloth. Why was he upset with her? What had she done? Why wouldn't he talk to her anymore? He hadn't written her back very often while she was gone, but he had written, and he hadn't seemed angry then. It must have been something since she came back....
Sakura was startled to see that there were tears in her eyes.
Why...? Well, this is just silly, she thought. What did she have to cry about? She would just find Syaoran later and ask him what she had done, and apologize, and that would be the end of it. She hoped.
Syaoran couldn't believe his ears. Well, it wasn't really that unusual. He had listened to this converstation before. Only, now, he couldn't listen to Sakura talk about another guy. Not anymore. She would just have to talk to Tomoyo. Maybe...maybe he couldn't even be her friend anymore. If she couldn't be his....
And then she touched him. It was as if the weight of her hand on his arm was a firey brand, and he jumped away from her. But, even as he felt her hand fall away, he wanted to snatch it back...he wanted...well, he wanted her. But, she wanted...he felt sick.
He turned away and tried not to run back to the building. And when she called to him, he didn't hear her.
When Tomoyo returned to the yard, she was dismayed to see only one figure sitting where she had left two. This was going to be more difficult than she thought. It was so obvious to her that Syaoran loved Sakura. Why couldn't he tell her? She thought about how long it took him to admit it the first time. Maybe he just needed more time.
Actually, both of them were acting different since Sakura got back,
so Tomoyo knew that her suspicions were right. Even if Sakura didn't
realize it herself yet, somewhere she knew that Syaoran was the only one
for her. It explained everything. Why it had been fairly easy
for Sakura to get over Yukito, and adjust to his relationship with Touya....why
she had never gotten serious about any of the other guys who liked her....why
she had hardly dated at all...why she blushed when she saw Syaoran now.
The time away made her miss him, and allowed her to see him differently
when she came back. Nothing had changed. Sakura was just realizing
that. Tomoyo knew that if left alone, it was pretty likely that Sakura
and Syaoran would eventually get together on their own. But Tomoyo
didn't want to take any risks.
"Oh, Tomoyo...where did you go?" Sakura asked absently. She was still trying to figure out what she might have done to make Syaoran act so agitated whenever she was around. He hadn't even really seemed happy to see her when she came back. He just looked away or stared at her, and wouldn't talk to her. She just didn't understand! And she was faintly surprised to find how much his behavior hurt her. It was more than just because he was her friend...
"Sakura-chan, what's wrong? Where's Li-kun?"
"He had to leave. He said he wasn't feeling well..."
"Are you ok?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah! Of course I am!" Sakura tried to smile at Tomoyo, but she could see that her friend wasn't really buying it. She knew that Tomoyo wouldn't push the issue though. She would just wait until Sakura felt like talking about it...which she didn't...not right now.
Tomoyo decided to just let it drop. It wouldn't do any good to
force Sakura to tell her about it. She was pretty sure she knew what
happened anyway. Li-kun's courage failed him, and he couldn't talk
to Sakura about how he felt. Sakura is upset because he won't talk
to her. Maybe Syaoran needed better atmosphere, something more romantic.
In that case, she would just provide him with the perfect opportunity.