Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Natsu ❯ Anger Problems ( Chapter 3 )

Sakura had a plan. She had come up with it in the restless hours between consciousness and sleep (since there was no way she was going to be able to sleep anyways) and decided to put it into action immediately to try and get her out of this sticky situation. The plan's name was `Operation Avoid Syaoran Like the Plague'.

What did you expect? She had come up with it when she was severely sleep-deprived so it wasn't going to be the equivalent to nuclear physics. The point was that she had a plan at all.

There was no way she was going to allow these kinds of things to continue. There were just too many negative aspects. For one, Tomoyo had just told her that she was interested in Syaoran and… and… he was her cousin! Yea! That's a good one. Besides, she wasn't even sure how she felt. Any reaction she had to him was probably just teenage hormones and she was not going to fall prey to them!

Sakura let out a very quiet sound of agony and pulled the covers over her head. Maybe she would suffocate and never have to deal with any of this ever again. Or she could just sleep all the time. That was actually the first part to Operation Avoid Syaoran Like the Plague; sleep late until somebody else (Mom, Dad, or Touya) were home so she wouldn't have to be alone with her sneaky, seducing step-cousin.

It was barely eight o'clock and she was already going crazy with restlessness. As much as she loved to sleep, she had never been able to sleep in because she loved being awake just as much. Lying in bed and staring at the ceiling was absolute torture.

No! Sakura thought to herself, determined. Being bored to death was better than having to face Syaoran.

Just as this particular thought was going through her head, Sakura heard the doorknob to her room twist open slowly and a soft thud noise as someone pushed her door open.

“Sakura, sweetie?” a distinctly female voice asked very quietly.

Sakura did her best impression of a just-been-woken-up-and-not-feeling-very-well moan.

“Are you okay?” Nadesico asked with concern evident in her voice.

“I'm not feeling very well,” Sakura uttered weakly.

“Oh, well I was just wondering why you weren't up yet. It's not like you. You just go right back to sleep if you're feeling sick. Your dad and Touya have already gone to work and I'm about to go out to run some errands. Will you be okay?”

“Yea,” Sakura practically sighed.

“Good. Syaoran is already awake if you need anything. I'll tell him to listen for you,” Nadesico said and made her way to the door.

“That's not necessary.” Sakura's voice was suddenly a lot less raspy and weak. “I wouldn't want to bother him.”

“Don't be ridiculous,” Nadesico disputed. “He won't mind at all, especially since you've both been getting along so well lately.”

Sakura made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat.

“You just go right back to sleep and don't worry about a thing,” And with that, Nadesico shut the door and was gone.

Great. Just freakin' fantastic. Now she was completely alone in the house with the one person she was trying to avoid. Oh well, maybe he would leave her alone if he thought she was sick. She would just have to lay there for five hours and pretend to be in agony so her cover wouldn't be blown.

Only five minutes after her mom's exit she heard her door creak open again. She hadn't expected him to check on her and inwardly groaned at the position she was in: lying on her stomach and snuggled up to a pillow, the covers tossed aside because of the summer heat. Sakura forced her body to relax and her breathing to be even so it would appear she was asleep. Even Syaoran wouldn't mess with a sleeping sick person.

It was quiet for what seemed like hours. In reality it had probably been a minute. What the hell was he doing? She got her answer a moment later.

Syaoran's hand connected to her right butt cheek in one swift and extremely painful movement.

“OW!” Sakura screamed and shot straight up. “What the hell was that for? Do I go around waking you up by slapping you on the ass?”

Syaoran just looked at her, smug. “Sick, huh?”

Sakura refused to miss a beat. “Sick of your face!”

“Here I was; getting up early so you wouldn't have to be alone in the mornings and then you think you can pull this?” Syaoran demanded.

Sakura primly stuck her nose in the air. “I never asked you to do that. What's wrong with me wanting a little extra shut-eye?”

“That's not what this is about and you know it.”

Sakura dropped her gaze and the room got very quiet. She could hear Syaoran breathing slightly harder than usual but she refused to look at him.

“Okay,” he said at last. “I see how it's going to be.”

And with that statement, he grabbed an unsuspecting Sakura and hauled her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“What is this?!” Sakura shrieked, and struggled with all her might. Syaoran didn't say anything, but carried her out of her room, down the stairs and out the back door. Sakura began to struggle harder when she realized what was about to happen. “Syaoran, don't you dare!”

Her warnings did no good and Syaoran tossed her into the pool without a second thought. Sakura came up, gasping for air and shocked from the cold of the morning water temperature. Pushing her hair out of her eyes, she met Syaoran's gaze and glared at him with as much intensity and pride as she could muster from her new indignity.

Syaoran's only response was to smirk and walk back in the house.

“Son of a…” Sakura finished that sentence with a few choice adjectives and topped it off with a very unkind noun. Still muttering, she dragged herself out of the pool and into the cold breeze. Shivers shot through her body, but she stomped back in after him, completely uncaring that she was tracking water in everywhere.

“Hey, don't you walk away from me!” Sakura yelled as soon as she could see him. Syaoran stopped, but didn't turn around. “What did you think you were doing? What gives you any right?” Still, there was no response. Fueled by anger of all sorts, Sakura stomped the remaining steps up to him, grabbed him by the shoulder, and spun him around so she could look into his face. It was blank.

“How come whenever I want to sleep in I get thrown in the pool? Huh? Is it a sin for me to want to enjoy my summer vacation lavishly?” Sakura shouted the lies out of sheer rage.

“You don't like sleeping in,” Syaoran said softly, his expression not changing in the slightest.

“Oh, so now you think you know me?” Sakura's voice was starting to get shrill and she was shivering like a madwoman.

Syaoran's eyebrows shifted slightly into a scowl. “No. But I know you better than you think I do. I can tell when you're lying and you're lying right now.”

“Oh really?” Sakura asked, her fury fueling the momentum she needed to keep going. “I think you're full of it.”

“I'm not,” Syaoran said simply. “You're avoiding me.”

“I-“ Sakura hadn't been expecting him to say it bluntly like that. He usually just avoided subjects like these. “I'm not-“

“Stop lying!” Syaoran yelled, louder than she had thought possible, and catching her completely off-guard. She started to take a step backwards but somehow she had ended up with her back to a wall. Syaoran took a step closer.

“Why would I want to avoid you?” Sakura asked, hoping that he couldn't hear the slight waver in her voice. She jumped sky high when he smashed his forearms on either side of her face and bent his face closer to her.

“Just stop,” he said softly, his breath tickling her lips. She had never felt that she was much smaller than him, but at this proximity with him towering over her it was impossible to miss. Her heart rate increased tenfold and she could only breathe out of her mouth. This caused their breath to mingle, hot and moist. Syaoran let out a deep puff of air and his body relaxed considerably. His forehead came to rest on her chin so that he was facing downwards.

“I know I keep scaring you by doing these kinds of things,” Syaoran murmured. “But I can't help it. You're driving me crazy.”

Sakura inhaled sharply and Syaoran moaned deep in his throat. “Stop that,” he commanded.

“Stop what?” Sakura asked, her voice weak and she berated herself inwardly over it. “Breathing?”

Syaoran chuckled slightly and his hot breath burned a hole on her throat, making her inhale sharply again. Syaoran gently raised his head so they were looking eye-to-eye and Sakura froze at the heat she saw there. He leaned forward slightly and she was so sure he was going to kiss her, and she wasn't sure if she would mind or not, but instead he dragged his cheek across her own so that his lips were right by her ear. “You're wearing a soaking wet white shirt, no bra, and you're obviously cold.”

Sakura felt herself blush right down to the tips of her toes. She had been so enraged earlier that she hadn't even noticed.

“Let's do something about that cold, shall we?” Syaoran whispered and before Sakura's brain had any time to process that thought, his lips were on hers and those particular brain waves went right out the window.

His mouth was hot and wet and she had never felt anything so good in her life. Without thinking, she parted her lips to allow him better access as he stroked the inside of her mouth. Just when it was getting difficult to breathe, he broke the kiss and she gasped for air, her chest rising and falling dramatically. She could have told him to stop but she didn't. Syaoran made a trail of fiery kisses down her neck and suckled at the hollow of her throat. It was then that Sakura became aware of Syaoran's hands, picking at the bottom edge of her soaked t-shirt and creeping up her stomach. Sakura clenched her eyes shut tighter as his warm hand grabbed her cool breast, squeezing gently. Her breath hitched in her throat when his thumb rolled over her already hard nipple.

“Syao-“ Sakura started to say, but was quieted by Syaoran covering her mouth with his own again. Without moving his left hand from her breast, he hitched her left leg up so it was wrapped around his waist and ground into her slightly. Sakura moaned in his mouth and arched her back on instinct. Taking this as his cue, Syaoran let go of her breast momentarily to cup her butt cheek - the same butt cheek he had smacked to wake her up.

Sakura's thoughts flooded back to her in an instant, with all the reasons that this was wrong and she shoved Syaoran away from her with as much strength as she could muster.

Syaoran's eyes were still dark with heat but his face showed confusion and even a little bit of fear. His clothes were wet from where he'd been pressed against her. “Sakura?” he took a step forward.

“NO!” She shrieked, hysterical. “Stay away from me! This is wrong! I-” Her voice caught in her throat. “I can't do this!” And with that parting statement, she turned and fled up the stairs and into her room. Syaoran's loud, thunderous footsteps were right behind her and she barely managed to lock the door in time.

“Sakura!” he pounded on the door. “Open this door right now! We have to talk about this!”

“No!” Sakura said, her voice determined.

The banging stopped, as if Syaoran had slumped over in defeat. “Why is this so wrong?” he asked her quietly.

“We're cousins!” Sakura blatantly pointed out.

“Not by blood!” Syaoran argued, some of the strength coming into his voice.

“There are other reasons too!” Sakura argued right back.

“Like what?” Syaoran asked. Like Tomoyo, Sakura thought but didn't say a word. “So you're not going to answer me, is that it?”

The tears began to well up in her eyes, so she decided not to say anything else, lest he catch on that she was crying. There was no way she could do that to Tomoyo. And it wasn't just Tomoyo, what would their family think? Sakura wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her face there.

“You're not talking to me anymore?” Syaoran asked blandly. “Fine,” he muttered and then was gone.

Only when Sakura was positive that he was far away from her door would she allow herself a nice big sob, and the tears to flow freely.

So much for Operation Avoid Syaoran Like the Plague.

<<<<<>>>>>

 

Sakura remained in her room until the rest of her family was home, and then some. When she came out, she rinsed her face with cold water to try and get rid of some of the puffiness, but to no avail. Oh well. She went down to dinner anyways.

The whole family was already at the table and they all looked up at her entrance, with the exception of Syaoran, who kept right on eating.

“Oh my God!” Nadesico said, getting out of her chair. “Are you okay? You look like you were punched in the face.”

“Ha ha,” Sakura muttered, her voice extremely scratchy from all the crying she'd done. “I think I'm just having a really bad allergy attack.” All she really wanted to do was fall into her mother's comforting arms and blurt out the whole story, but this was one thing that she didn't think she could tell her.

“Oh, okay.” Nadesico moved toward their medicine cabinet. She didn't seem completely convinced but she didn't pry. “Why don't you take an Actifed? It'll help.”

Sakura thought about it for a second and was about to say no, when she remembered that Actifed would help her sleep, and agreed. After taking the pill from her mother she was going to sit down, but froze in her tracks - the only available seat was between Touya and Syaoran. Hoping that her pause hadn't caught anyone's attention, she continued on her journey. If she refused to sit by Syaoran they would be suspicious and that wouldn't be good. She would just have to swallow her pride and be mature.

“If you ask me,” Touya grumbled as she took her seat, “it looks like you've been crying.” Nadesico shot her son a scathing look that he ignored.

Sakura forced a snort out of her nose. “That's ridiculous. What would I have to be upset about?”

Touya frowned slightly and took a sip of his water. “I don't know,” he said slowly, clearly implying that he didn't believe her and was going to find out. His gaze shifted to Syaoran.

“So what have you been doing today, you little shit?” Touya directed toward their cousin. Both parents at the table scowled and looked like they were going to say something, but Syaoran beat them to it.

“Me?” he asked simply, finally looking up. “Not a whole lot.”

Touya's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to say more, but was cut off by his father. “That's enough Touya. You're being ridiculous. Syaoran hasn't done anything to deserve being talked to like that.”

Touya nodded respectfully but Sakura heard him mutter under his breath. “We'll see about that.”

Great, just another thing to add to her list of troubles. If Touya ever found out what went on between her and Syaoran, the earth would just explode. That's it. Game over. She would just have to make sure that didn't happen.

Needless to say, it was a very long dinner.

<<<<<>>>>>

 

Sakura hadn't had a very enjoyable meal. Touya had been sending anger waves through her all night to Syaoran who looked completely untroubled and unconcerned. What Sakura couldn't understand was why Touya was so sure Syaoran had done anything. He must have had a sixth sense or something.

The tiny Actifed had taken its toll so Sakura was on her way back to her bed when a hand shot out from the shadows of the hall and latched onto her upper arm. Sakura gasped softly and Syaoran pulled her so that, once again, their breath was mingling. There was darkness in his eyes, but it was different from the darkness that had been there in the morning. They stood like that for a few seconds in the shadows with only a soft glow coming from her bedroom, before he wet his lips and prepared to speak.

“I'm not going to give up that easily,” was all he said and bent to plant a small kiss on the corner of her mouth. And with that, he released her and turned away. Sakura watched him walk away and prayed that the pill was going to be enough to let her sleep after that.