Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Ichiban ❯ Naoko, A fairy tale and the stars ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: CCS is not owned by me but by the lovely ladies of CLAMP.

Naoko's Story...


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Author's NOTES: This is my (lame) attempt to write a Naoko story. Sorry if it may
sound OOC but Naoko is one of the least rounded supporting characters of CCS. I
mean everyone knows that Chiharu has this cute relationship with Takashi and Rika
has a relationship with Terada-sensei but how about dear Naoko-chan? She wasn't
even featured in the last volume of the Manga where everyone was there to help
out Sakura when she was heartbroken because Syaoran told her that he was going
back to Honk Kong. That wasn't right. She should at least get a nice ending, ne?
So for all those Naoko fans out there who also likes reading shoujo manga but at
the same time just loves UFOs and Ghost stories this is for you....

Just to let you know though, you do have to read Sakura's story first to get this one
^_^

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

~Ichiban~

"The Tomoeda school dance. Friday," Chiharu-chan read the poster aloud. "The
theme will be, 'Fairy Tales'. Dress up as a character who lived Happily Ever After."

The first school dance of the year. The one that starts my whole Jr.High career. 'It'll
be fun!' Chiharu-chan told me. And Tomoyo-chan and Sakura-chan thought so too.
And as the days went by and as it got closer to the dance, I was getting excited....
A dance. A dance was something I've never been to before. I always wondered what
it would feel like to dance with someone you like and someone who likes you back.
It would be so romantic. Just like the characters of my many shoujo manga.

But... but I don't think that will ever happen to me. You know, someone I like,
liking me back. That kind of thing is best left to the novels I read and the stories I
write. It's one of the reasons why I like horror stories and ghosts stories so much.
At least in those stories the characters don't make you feel lonely about not having
someone.

I think about that sometimes. It seems everyone has someone but me.
Chiharu-chan for example, has Yamazaki-kun. Rika-chan has someone special and
Sakura-chan will forever be with Li-kun no matter how far apart they are and
Tomoyo-chan? Well, I'm pretty sure Tomoyo-chan has someone special too. And
that leaves me. Yanagisawa Naoko. I am alone. I've been alone for awhile.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have someone special. Mizuki-sensei
once said that it's a wonderful feeling. Your heart flutters. Your stomach has
butterflies and there's always that warm feeling of something that makes you feel
all happy inside.

"Is something wrong?" I looked up to see Yamazaki-kun standing in front of my
desk with a worried crease on his forehead. "You look a little sad. You know, there
was a book that said that if you're sad, all you have to do is turn around and around
three times and laugh as loud as you can and then all the sad stuff will fall away.

"Yamazaki-kun, I don't think it's that easy."

He contemplated the thought for a moment but agreed with me. "I guess you're
right." he sighed. "But is there anything I can do?"

I shook my head. "It's nothing really. Thank-you for worrying though."

I don't think I'm sad. Not really, anyway. I just feel left out sometimes. Like I'm not
part of the crowd. I feel like that whenever I look at Chiharu-chan and
Yamazaki-kun and when I look at Rika-chan's pretty smile whenever she mentions
Terada-sensei and Sakura-chan's light blush whenever she secretly reads one of
Li-kun's letters that she hides in between the pages of her math book, so she can
read it instead of solving math problems.

I laid my head on my hand and wondered when it will be my turn. I wish it'll be
soon. It would be nice to talk to someone and laugh with someone about the latest
horror movie. I wonder if anyone is even interested in stuff like that other than me.

Last year, in sixth grade, I talked to Tsukada-kun a lot. He shared the same
interests as me and he was really nice. I never really thought of him as cute or
handsome. He was just there. He looked a lot like Yamazaki-kun to tell you the
truth. Except he has messy black hair and pretty eyes.

In English class, we got in trouble plenty of times because all we would do was
talked and never listened. I think the both of us gained some muscles carrying
those buckets out in the hall almost every week. Yamazaki-kun said that we were
perfect for each other because he said he never found anyone who got along so
well.

We both scoffed off Yamazaki-kun's comment though. I already knew that
Tsukada-kun liked someone else back then. And me? Well, I liked someone else and
too.

It's really not important who I liked. It was just a crush thing. It was nothing
special. But Tsukada-kun... he made me feel like smiling. I never felt my heart
pitter patter for him then, but now....

That year, my Oba-san moved away from Tomoeda and decided to live in the
Philippines. She asked me if I can help her move and because of that I had to leave
school a week earlier than everyone before it let out for summer vacation. I was
happy about that... although I couldn't do something with Chiharu-chan tachi for
the whole summer.

"I can't believe you're going, Yanagisawa. Your aunt can't wait until next week to
move?" Tsukada-kun asked during English class. He laid his head on the table
looking at me with a somewhat disappointed look on his face.

"No. That's why she wants me to come so I can help her move. But I can't wait. I've
never been to another country before. It might be fun."

"But you don't even know how to speak the language."

"But I can always learn."

He sighed. "I guess so."

I looked at him. I wasn't expecting him to have the reaction he was having. It
almost seemed like he didn't want me to go. "Who would I talk to then, when
you're gone?" He asked sadly.

"You can always talke to Yamazaki-kun."

"Yeah.... but but it's not the same..."

I will always remember his exact words. Although Chiharu-chan tachi are my best
friends, what Tsukada-kun said was the nicest thing anyone ever said to me. He
would actually miss talking to me? To think about it now, I missed talking to him
too.

But that was then and it was the end. He was my friend but nothing more. By the
time we got to Jr. High, Tsukada-kun wasn't in my homeroom and so we didn't talk
anymore. Sometimes I would see him passing by my locker in the hallway and we
would say "Hi" and that was it.

I miss talking to him. He liked horror stories as much as I did and all things to do
with UFOs and aliens. Maybe there's something wrong with me. All of a sudden, I've
been thinking of Tsukada-kun a lot. Whenever I see him, my heart starts to pound
and I get nervous. What's wrong with me?

Tomoyo-chan giggled behind me when Tsukada-kun passed me in the hallway after
school.

I turned around to look at her. "What?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"
Tomoyo-chan can be so strange sometimes.

Tomoyo-chan giggled again. "Naoko-chan... Now I know what your fairy tale will
be." She smiled at me knowingly.

"W-what are you talking about?" I asked.

"You should ask him, Naoko-chan. He is a friend right? And I remembered you
would talk to him all the time last year." Tomoyo-chan looked at her watch then
and put a hand on her cheek. "Oh my, I'm late. I have to go." She waved good-bye
to me and ran the opposite direction of the hall.

I sighed. Tomoyo-chan is very observant. She's been that way since I met her. I
sighed again. Maybe Tomoyo-chan was right. Maybe I should go ask Tsukada-kun. I
wouldn't hurt right? If he says no, I guess it would be all right. And so I ran after
him. He wasn't so far ahead of me. I saw him walking towards the Penguin King
park.

The park was a place I used to play at when I was younger. It was always the best
place to talk and run around in. And every spring, the sakura trees that surrounded
it was always in full bloom and falling sakura was everywhere. Even though I live in
the opposite direction of the park, I sometimes go there just to look at the sakura.
Maybe that was why Tsukada-kun was there too.

I felt nervous. I never asked someone to a dance before. But there was no turning
back now. I was never one to turn back on anything anyway. So I took a deep
breath. "Tsu... Tsukada-kun..." I started to say. But I was too late. I don't think
they saw me. Or heard me.... So that was why he was the park...

"Kinomoto, will you go to the dance with me?" I heard Tsukada-kun ask.

I knew from before, that Tsukada-kun liked Sakura-chan a lot so I wasn't really
surprised when I saw them. Sakura-chan... She told him that she already has the
person she likes best so she turned him down gently. I turned away after that and
decided to walk home.

There was that lonely feeling inside me again. Do you know that feeling? That
feeling like someone is pulling and kicking and squeezing your heart out. Your chest
starts to hurt and you feel like you want to cry.

I'll admit that I like Tsukada-kun. I always wondered what would have happened if I
didn't go with my Oba-san last year. Would it be different? Would he have liked me
the same as I like him? Maybe it's me. I'm not exactly the beautiful one or the cute
one or the pretty one among my friends. I'm just Nao-chan. That's all. Sometimes,
I even wonder if I will end up like the ladies in some of my manga where they
would just wait forever for a boy to come their way and they all end up being old
and bitter. I don't think I ever want to be that way.

All I wanted then was just go to the dance to get rid of the loneliness I was feeling.
Yes, just go to the dance with Chiharu-chan and Yamazaki-kun and I'll be fine. "You
have to dress up as someone who lived happily ever after..." Chiharu-chan said
again. "Who will you be, Naoko-chan?"

I shrugged. "I don't know yet."

"You don't know yet? But it's only 2 days away."

"Yeah, I know..." I said, sounding glum. But I wasn't glum. Really I wasn't.

"Naoko-chan... Maybe you should be Cinderella. It would be perfect," Tomoyo-chan
piped up.

"Cinderella... You would be a beautiful Cinderella," said Sakura-chan. She gave me
one of her trademark Sakura-chan smiles but seemed to me that something was
wrong behind that smile of hers.

"Who will you be dressed as, Sakura-chan?" I asked.

Her smile faded then and she looked away. "Ummm... I... I don't think I'm going."
She bowed to us. "Ummm... ummm... I'm sorry. I have to get going. Otousan is
probably wondering where I am."

"Ahh... I think it must be about Li-kun," Chiharu-chan said as we all looked after
Sakura-chan's running form.

"I'm pretty sure it is. She must really miss him," I said.

You know, I may like horror stories and UFOs and aliens, but I am a hopeless
romantic. I guess that's what reading so much shoujo manga can do to you. Lately
I've been thinking about many things.... I wonder if someday, I'll meet someone
that will like me... I wonder if there is a fairy tale out there for me. Someday, I wish
it will happen. To live "happily ever after" would be... would be great. But I do know
that some stories don't end so happily.

Tsukada-kun may not like me and it may take awhile for me to find my most
important person but I guess I can wait. I hope it won't be too long. Onegai... Don't
make it too long.

I went to the dance with Chiharu-chan and Yamazaki-kun. Yamazaki-kun... I still
can't believe he agreed to dress up as Snow White. "It's not funny," he said. "Just
because I lost."

I was Cinderella after all. Everyone was there and everyone danced with everyone
else. And as they danced, I decided to go outside for awhile and watch the
stars.Tomoeda Jr. High has this large backyard. As large and spacey as a soccer
field put together with a baseball field. I like it there especially at night when you
can look up and see the pretty night sky and the stars that are scattered all over
the horizon. I thought I saw a shooting star.... I'm hardly ever that lucky though.
So just looking up at them was good enough for me.

So maybe I have to wait a little longer to find the one that I love most. But I guess
I can live with it. Someday, if I keep my heart open, I'll surely find that person and
hopefully that person will love me the best too. "It would be so romantic," I said
aloud with a happy sigh. Ahh... just thinking about it is wonderful.

"What would be so romantic, Yanagisawa?"

I turned around. Tsukada-kun was watching me curiously and I felt my face getting
warmer. "Ahhhh.... it's nothing. I was just thinking."

He stood beside me then and looked up at the stars. "So why aren't you dancing
inside?"

"I think I'll just watch the stars for awhile." I gave him a small smile.

"Aa..." he said.

"Why aren't you dancing?" I asked.

It took awhile for him to answer. "I just realized that dancing with a friend is a lot
different than dancing with someone that you care about the most.... It's nice
dancing with a friend but dancing with the one you like is even better. Onee-chan
used to tell me that."

"But isn't Sakura-chan the one you like the most?"

"I thought I did for the longest time... It took me until tonight to realize that I was
wrong." He smiled at me and continued. "We haven't talked for a long time,
Yanagisawa. Have you written any stories lately?"

"I did. But you probably don't want to read it."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not a horror story. It's... It's too sappy I think."

He smiled again. "Anything you write, Yanagisawa, I'll read. Even if it is sappy as
you say it is.... What is it about anyway?"

"It's nothing really. It just about this girl who is looking for that special someone
but so far she can't find him."

"But in the end, she does find him eventually right?"

"I don't know yet..."

"Well, I hope so. Everyone should have someone that they care about the most..."

We stayed outside for what seemed like an eternity. Well, at least that's what
Yamazaki-kun said. But to me, it didn't feel like that at all. I wanted to be there all
night just talking to Tsukada-kun. It was just like old times again.

I don't really know if it is Tsukada-kun is the one I like the most yet. I am just his
friend after all... Yet, something about him always makes me feel happy. For some
people like Chiharu-chan and Sakura-chan it's easy. From the very start, it seemed
they always had a Prince. But for some people like me, I guess it will take awhile
for anything to happen.

Love is unpredictable sometimes. That's what Mizuki-sensei said too. You never
know when it will happen.

Maybe I'll write a story one day about how unpredictable love is and how if it ever
happens it's a wonderful feeling... Your heart flutters, your stomach has butterflies
and you feel all happy inside. I think... I think I feel that way when I am with
Tsukada-kun now.

The End....

AN NOTES:

So who will be next? Hmmm....

How did Yamazaki-kun end up dressing as Snow White anyway?
Where was Tomoyo going when she said she was going to be late?
Where the heck is Rika-chan?
And What about Syaoran's take on it?
And Mizuki-sensei saying that love is unpredictable? Do you think she's right???