Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Love your Enemy ❯ Chapter 3- Rain ( Chapter 3 )

Love your Enemy

Chapter 3

By: CherrySakuraGirl

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to Clamp

Konnichiwa! A new chappie is finally up! Yay! Thank you for the reviews, and sorry for taking so long!

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Someone was holding her hand. Someone kind, someone she'd known for a long time. She believed in him. Yet, he was leaving her, laughing with friends she didn't know.

She was alone.

***************************************************************** ******Coughing, Sakura tried to get up from bed. The covers imprisoned her like rocks against her side.

So heavy…she felt hot and cold at the same time

She looked in the mirror. Her eyes were feverish.

No…I have to go to school! I can't be sick. There's a history test today, and my perfect attendance record…

Then she remembered yesterday.

Heroshi's cruel face, his hot breath against her cheek. His rough hands, cold eyes.

She couldn't stop the tears that flowed down her face. The bruises. How would she hide them? Her face flamed at the thought of everyone knowing. They would think she was a pushover, weak and pathetic.

Stop it! she ridiculed herself This is just self-pity… it'll go away if I be strong.

Determined, she faced the mirror and grabbed the foundation. She applied the concealer to her face, hoping that it would cover the black-and-blue marks. Turning towards the closet, Sakura picked out the ugliest long-sleeve cardigan, and the longest skirt she could find. Deft fingers tied auburn hair into a frosty bun. An old pair of glasses went on her face to hide the marks around her eyes.

She had to study. It was her only escape.

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As soon as she stepped outside, a blast of cold wind smacked her in the face. She wrapped the cardigan tighter around her shoulders, but it was so thin that the air blew straight through. Shivering, Sakura trudged to school.

When did it get so cold?

The sky above was a suspicious blue, bordering on black. That could only mean…

//CRACK//

A bright shaft of light shattered across the sky as rain pelted down. Soon, Sakura was drenched from head to toe. Mentally, she cursed herself for not bringing a jacket.

Her legs ached from yesterday, and each step she took brought out a new stab of pain. The pound of makeup she wore to cover the bruises was streaking down, and her clothes were heavy with water. Her hair fell out of its bun, streaming in thick clumps down her back.

It was dark, and she could barely see ahead.

//CRACK//

"Ahhhh!!" Sakura screamed. A storm…

Across the road, she saw a thistle of trees. Grabbing her backpack, she ran to the shelter. The rain fought her face, intermingling with sweet tears. Everything…Heroshi, the dream, and now the storm…

Stop crying! She ordered herself.

What's the point? she wondered. No one cares…onii-chan and otou-san are too busy, and I don't want to bother Tomoyo-chan…

Inside, her heart was numb. She closed her eyes. Everything was whirling, like a merry-go-round…

I'll just rest my eyes for a few moments…Her eyes drooped, and her head tilted to the side.

Just a little nap…it can't hurt…

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"Did you think I would be fooled that easily?" crowed Heroshi. Mockingly, he had her pinned to the ground, his rough hands pressing against her wrist. "You can run fast, but I will always catch you."

"NO!" Sakura shook her head violently," You're not real! GO AWAY!"

Laughing, he pinched her. "Did that hurt?" he taunted.

She yelped. "Just my imagination, just my imagination," she chanted.

Suddenly, he frowned. "What's wrong with you? You're no fun anymore."

He shrugged. Reaching down, he grabbed something, hard and metallic. The bar.

"What a pity," he ridiculed,"such a lovely face..."

High above, he brought it down.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

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"Sakura, Sakura. Wake up!" said a deep voice," It's just a nightmare!" Coughing, Sakura felt her shoulders shake, and her eyes flew open.

"Here. Drink this," came a husky voice.

Her hands fumbled for the cup, brushing warm hands in the process. The coca was hot, soothing as it flowed down her throat…

Then she looked up. Concerned amber eyes, messy brown hair…

Coughing, Sakura choked on the liquid. "Syaoran!" Sakura gaped," What are you doing here?"

"This is my car," he said ruefully.

"Oh." Now fully awake, Sakura realized she was in a car, moving down the road.

"H-h-ow did I get here?" asked Sakura. Wide-eyed, she clutched the cup, appreciating the warmth emanating from it.

Syaoran glanced at her, brown eyes hard as steel.

"What the hell were you doing?" he demanded quietly. "It's raining outside, and you're wearing an outfit without a jacket. You're smarter than that. Stupid."

"I-I -d-didn't know it would rain," protested Sakura.

"Well, use your head. You could have gotten sick, or worse. If I hadn't been there, someone could have abducted you."

"No one would do that."

"Some people would," Syaoran shot back," Plus, you could have gotten pneumonia."

"I'm sorry," Sakura said softly. " How did you find me?"

He looked nonchalantly out the window, hoping she wouldn't notice his concern. "I was just passing by."

"Oh."

A red stoplight. Syaoran braked, and he peered at Sakura . She looked awful. Foundation was running down her face, her eyes were a dark red, and it looked like she was going to cry.

His heart broke to see her like this. She looked lonely and sad, without a friend in the world…

"Listen Sakura. I'm really sorry I snapped at you."

"No, it's ok," Sakura squeaked, her throat closing up. She hated this feeling, of being helpless, unable to control her emotions.

"No it's not. You're crying," Syaoran pressed.

Somehow, his hand found its way on top of hers. Shocked, she yanked her hand out of his grasp.

"Syaoran, stop it!" Sakura screamed. "I know your plan, and it's not working. What is it, be nice to nerds week? A silly bet?"

Suddenly, he had her face his hands. He was staring at her, those mystical amber eyes drowning the emerald. Eyes full of trust, sincerity... She felt lost in his eyes.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" It was the way he said it, softly, gently. Like she could trust him, and he would never tell. And she wanted, so badly, to tell someone. The dreams…

She blurted it out.

"He beat me, ok! Are you happy now!?" Sakura yelled.

Silence.

Syaoran gawked at her, not believing his ears. Yet, it made sense. Awful, terrible sense. The bruises yesterday…there was only one logical answer. Yet, he desperately wished it was something else… but it wasn't. She was crying, looking as if it were all her fault. Who would do such a thing to her?

"Who," prompted Syaoran slowly.

"H-… I can't tell you," hissed Sakura.

"I see." Syaoran looked at her, amber eyes deadly serious. "What he did is wrong. Disgusting and sick. It's not your fault Sakura."

She said nothing.

"You blame yourself, don't you?" Syaoran observed.

"If I had been more careful… then it wouldn't have happened"

Syaoran glared at her. "When I find the person who did this to you…

"I don't approve of violence,'' Sakura whispered softly.

Syaoran turned to face her. "When a guy beats a girl, he deserves it. What kind of damned person hurts innocent girls?" Syaoran demanded, angry.

"Just… please Syaoran. Promise me you won't hurt him. And…please don't tell anyone." Sakura pleaded.

Syaoran didn't answer. But his hands clutched the steering wheel tightly, so that his knuckles were a startling white.

Finally, Syaoran began softly," Remember in 5th grade?"

Silence.

"A bully was harassing you, and you came to me. You were really upset, and I didn't like to see you cry. Do you remember what I said?"

Silence.

"I said no matter what, I will always be there to protect you."

Sakura smiled sadly. "And then you beat him up, and he had a bloody nose for a week. And you got called to the principal's office." She glanced at him, from the corner of her eye. He looked the same, since when they were children, friends, and then enemies. Yet, he was so different…

"You remembered?"

"Yes."

"Syaoran..," Sakura paused," why are you still being nice to me? That was so long ago, back where we were close friends…"

"Because... you're Sakura. When he saw her surprised face, he added lightly, "Plus, any respectable guy would do the same."

"Syaoran…I don't remember why…we stopped being friends."

"It's okay. We're friends now," he said, his voice strangely serious.

The car pulled to the school, and Syaoran parked in the student lot.

Unexpectedly, he pulled Sakura into his arms. She was so cold. He rested his chin on her shoulder, and whispered," Thank you for telling me. I swear that I'll help you, no matter what. You deserve it."

Sakura was startled. So warm…she knew she could trust him. "'Th-thank you Syaoran. You have no idea what this means to me," she choked.

He pulled away, dark eyes looking deep into her soul. He saw fear, sadness, and some courage. Hopefully it was enough.

"Listen, Sakura…" he looked away," just…take care of yourself… ok? If anything bad happened to you, who would I argue with?" he said teasingly.

He helped Sakura out of the car, and he noticed the limp she walked with. But Sakura took pains to hide it, so he pretended not to notice.

"Here Sakura." Syaoran took off his letter jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "This will keep you warm."

"Thank you Syaoran, but I don't need it," protested Sakura, surprised at the gesture.

Syaoran glared at her. "Yes, you do. It's raining, and you're soaked. Don't be stupid."

"O-o-okay…but what about you?"

"I don't need one."

As they neared Tomoeda High School…

"Ohhhhhh! Look, it's Syaoran-kun!" exclaimed a swarm of girls.

"Who's that girl he's with?" asserted a girl with jet-black hair.

"Isn't she the one who skipped a grade? What's her name… Kyrana?

"Don't worry. Syaoran doesn't like her. She's too much of a dork," snickered a snide girl with blond hair. "I heard all she does is study."

"Hey Syaoran-kun!" they chorused as he neared them. They all melted at the sight of his gaze. He was so perfect…The rain had made his hair wet, and it hung disheveled upon his head. Like one of those hotties in the movies…His eyes were so dreamy…

Then their eyes roved to the slender girl standing next to him. She was looking down, and the heavy jacket hung like a wizard's robe on her small frame. Reluctantly, they admitted she would be pretty if she didn't wear such tacky clothes…

"Excuse me Kyrana. I think that's Syaoran's jacket you're wearing," spoke the gorgeous girl with blond hair, named Seiyaku. Her words were polite enough, but there was an unmistakable edge of malice.

"It's Sakura," Syaoran corrected quickly.

"Excuse me, Syaoran-kun?" asked the girl, her tone sugary sweet.

"Her name is Sakura, not Kyrana."

"Oh. Sorry." the girl glared at Sakura.

"…Well, arigato for the ride. This is yours.'' Sakura handed him the jacket. "Thank you."

"Hey, no problem. And Sakura," she turned around to face him," I promise. And I won't tell."

She smiled, a smile that brought out the sun on a dark day. A smile of the single moon, its light brighter than the millions of stars.

"Thank you."

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Calculus. First period of the day.

Her head hurt. The world was coming in and out of focus. Everything was hazy…I'll just put my head down for a moment…

"Miss Kinomoto! Kindly come back to class!" the sensei rapped.

"W-what?'' started Sakura groggily. So tired…

"Sakura! Wake up!" someone hissed from behind. She whirled around, to see Crystal, one of her few friends, look at her worriedly.

"Oh! Arigato sensei. It won't happen again!" Sakura apologized.

"We-ll! I hope not! Our top student falling asleep!" the sensei tittered.

The teacher droned on. Instead of paying attention like she usually would, Sakura found herself drifting in and out of consciousness. One moment, her eyes would be open, and in another, she would lose track of time.

"Please solve this problem," the sensei ordered.

With difficulty, Sakura struggled to write the problem from the board to the piece of paper. The chalkboard was suddenly so far away…and she couldn't focus on the numbers. She felt off balance, like standing up side down on her head.

"Crystal, what's the question?" she slurred, turning around. The words bounced off her tongue distantly.

"Solve xsquaredplustwoxpluseleven,"her friend answered, giving her a strange look.

"Huh?" Sakura said, confused. It sounded like the words ran together. What was two plus eleven?

Strange…her ears weren't working properly. She felt herself lean sideways.

"Sakura, are you ok?" someone asked.

Someone screamed, and Sakura fell to the ground. Blackness.

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OOOOOOOOHhhhhhhhhh….what happened to Sakura? Fun part in the next chappie!

Yay! Sorry for not updating sooner, but I was kinda busy. I'll try to get the next chappie out sooner. Until then, please review! Good, bad, ghastly terrible? As always, reviews are a huge motivation for me, and they make me feel all happy inside!

Ja ne!

A/N: Diva, thanx for the review. To address what you said about skipping grades being impossible, it really isn't. For example, I'm the biggest idiot in the world, and I'm taking APUSH, which is a class a year ahead, and Alg. 2, which is a year ahead, and I'm taking AP Bio next year, which is at least college freshman level, and the english class I'm taking is advanced, and French 4 is a year ahead, so in a way, I'm already "skipping a grade." Really, all that you have to do to "skip a grade" is take AP or IB classes…it's for college credit. Trust me, I know these things ^_^ in fact, I have some friends (I'm in high school) who are taking a math class two years ahead, and there's a 10 year old sophomore in my class, and an eighth grader taking Calculus, which is INSANE, but very feasible. (Calculus is an advanced senior math class, really meant for college freshman) When I graduate high school, I'll probably have enough credit to "skip" my freshman year of college and go directly to sophomore. So *takes a deep breath* skipping a grade is VERY possible…hey, a 10 year old in my class skipped like 10 grades!!! and the dude in my math class is like 11, compared to me (I'm 15).

So yea, there's my justification for "skipping grades"…plus, the fact that there's no power like adrenaline and fear…it can give your strength when you need it. Sakura was scared and afraid of Hiroshi (it can be spelled either Hiroshi or Heroshi…Hiroshi is a mountain…you know, Mt. Hiroshi the volcano ^.^) so she really concentrated on it. You know…. the whole if you put your mind to something, you can achieve anything. As for Touya being oblivious, you'll see…if not in the next chapter, the one after that. Thanx for the review and pointing those things out; it gave me a chance to clear that up. Bye!

(I don't think I'm being very consistent in spelling Hiroshi…I suspect that sometimes I'm spellling it "hiroshi" and sometimes "heroshi'' … from now on, it'll be spelled Heroshi. I'll go back and change it for chapters one and two later.)

Please review and tell me what you think ^_^