Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Roommates ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Kitty Neko: I'm a well-behaved author, I swear! I actually got this written in about a week. *Flashback of the last couple of days. Kitty Neko: (getting up from the computer and flexing her fingers) I'm tired, I think I'll take a little break and go to bed. Ongaku: (grabbing Kitty Neko by the upper arm) I think not! (Throws her back towards the computer) WRITE! Kitty Neko: WAAAH!

But hey, I finished. I hope you guys like it! Ja!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own these characters.

"Did you have a nice run?" Syaoran asked while he was tying his shoe.

The girl in question had to swallow a mouth full of water before she could answer. "It was ok, I guess. I'm not a very big fan of running but I felt restless and Tomoyo would have my head if she knew I didn't." Tomoyo had gone home to visit her mother for Thanksgiving.

Syaoran finished tying his shoe and stood up. "I need to go to the store to get bread. I take it you'll be in the shower?" Sakura nodded and set her glass on the table. "Then I probably won't be here when you get out. I need to go by the bank too. Would you mind starting the cleaning?"

"I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"No, but I know you like to think you do." They shared a small smile before going their separate ways.

Once she was in the bathroom, Sakura untied her shoes quickly and peeled off her socks. That accomplished, she removed her shirt. For a minute she stood there, staring at her reflection. Lately she had been wearing loose shirts to hide that her stomach was growing. No one had noticed yet.

She finished undressing and stepped into the shower. As the steamy water trickled down she thought about the events that were to come.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Syaoran's cousin is supposed to get here late tonight and dad and Touya will be here tomorrow. Boy, are they going to be surprised…

Sakura wrapped a towel around her midsection and dumped her dirty clothes in the hamper. She was going through her drawers when she realized something; she didn't have any loose shirts left. Frantically, she researched but to no avail. "Crap." She muttered and blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and racked her brain for a solution.

A mental picture of Syaoran flashed through her mind. "Of course!" Not wasting any time, the female college student went to her roommate's room. "Let's see," She tapped her trigger finger on her chin thoughtfully, "People usually put underwear in the first drawer, so there's no way that I'm opening that one…" Finally deciding on one, she pulled open the second drawer. She had to shuffle around a little bit but eventually she pulled out an oversized green shirt.

Just as she had pulled the shirt over her head, the doorbell rang. "Who?" Her voice trailed off. She sat on her heels and prayed that it wasn't Toji. It had been over a month since she had heard from him. The bell rang again. "C-coming!" She would have to face him sooner or later anyways.

Sakura took a deep breath before she swung the door open. It all came out in a big whoosh. Instead of Toji, a girl with ruby eyes and long black hair pulled into pigtails stood in the doorway. She was holding two suitcases, one in each hand, and clad in tennis shoes, blue jeans, and a dark blue jacket that was unzipped revealing a nice fitting red shirt. Sakura guessed that she was only a little bit older than herself.

At the sight of Sakura the raven-haired girl smiled and set one of the suitcases down so that she could stick her hand out. "Hi, I'm Meiling Li. You must be Sakura. Pleased to meet you."

Sakura grasped her hand she shook it firmly. She was really relieved that it wasn't Toji. "Yes I am. It's nice to meet you too. Please come in."

Meiling set her suitcases by the door and shut it. "Is my cousin here?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, he went to the store. He'll be back soon. Have a seat." She motioned to the sofa and took a seat herself. Meiling nodded and sat down.

"You're probably wondering why I'm early," Meiling snuggled into the sofa, getting more comfortable. When Sakura nodded she continued, "Well, I left the hotel earlier this morning than I thought I would because I couldn't sleep. I hope I'm not inconveniencing you."

"No, not at all. This gives me more time to get to know you. Syaoran never even told me that he had a cousin." At this, Meiling started choking. "Do you need something to drink?" Sakura asked, worried.

"No thanks," She rasped, "I just can't believe that he would never mention me. He's so mean!" She jumped off the sofa and punched her fist in the air.

"I could have told you that." Sakura said. Meiling laughed and sat back down. "Were you and Syaoran close?"

"Yes, we spent a lot of time together. I guess I can't really blame him for not mentioning me, mind you, I will." She smiled maliciously.

She was about to say something else, but at that moment, the door opened. Syaoran stood there, grocery bag in hand. "Meiling, you're here early. It's good to see you."

Meiling stood, hair swishing. She walked over to him and started beating him on the chest with her fists. "You big meanie! Sakura told me that you've never mentioned me before!"

Syaoran had dropped the bag and grabbed onto Meiling's wrists. "That's not true! When I first moved in I told her that I had a cousin. Besides, you haven't called in a long time, so it's your fault too!"

She seemed to calm down a bit and he let go. She hit him one last time for good measure. Sakura could tell that she was really going to like this girl.

Syaoran turned his attention to Sakura. "As for you, you big mouth I-" He stopped, noticing something, "Hey! That's my shirt!"

Sakura looked down at her clothes. "Oh yea. I forgot to do my laundry and I needed a shirt." A sly grin appeared on her face. "I didn't know that you wore whitie tighties."

His face flushed. "My mom got me those, I don't ever wear them!"

Sakura's eyes widened and she burst into laughter. "I was just kidding! I didn't go through your underwear drawer!"

"Why you-"

Meiling was watching this whole exchange with some morbid fascination. She chuckled and waved her hand in front of her face. "Stop your flirting."

"WE'RE NOT FLIRTING!"

*****

"I hope this is ok." Sakura said, putting the bowl of spaghetti on the table.

"It's fine." Meiling grabbed the serving fork and put a big heap of it on her plate. Syaoran and Sakura did the same.

"So what do you do for a living?" Sakura asked after five minutes of silence.

"Oh, that's right! I forgot to tell you! I'm an obstetrician." Sakura just barely saved herself from choking. She had to giggle a little inside, the irony… "As a matter of fact, I'm going to moving here. That's another reason I came for this visit." Definitely ironic.

"I should have known," Syaoran scoffed, "I knew you wouldn't come to see me again. I'm just your cousin."

"You know me so well." She grinned, "I came to meet Sakura too." Syaoran `humphed.'

The rest of dinner went on without incident and Sakura soon found herself setting the sofa up for Meiling. "Thanks for letting me sleep here." Meiling said again, grabbing the other end of the blanket to help. "I was just going to stay at a hotel but this is much better."

"No problem."

Sakura went to her room to change into pajamas and Meiling went into Syaoran's room since Syaoran was taking a shower. When Sakura came out, Meiling was sitting on her makeshift bed and taking her hair down. When it wasn't pulled up, the midnight black locks went down to her waist. "You're hair's pretty." Sakura commented, "It reminds me of my best friend Tomoyo's except that yours is darker."

"Thank you." Meiling picked up a brush and began to run it through her hair slowly. To Sakura, she looked a little sad.

"Is something wrong?"

"Huh?" Meiling snapped out of her daze and focused on the green-eyed girl. "Oh. I was just thinking. I didn't realize how much I missed Syaoran until I saw him today. You're pretty lucky that you get to live with him."

"I guess." Sakura sat down next to her. "We argue a lot but he's still nice to me."

She nodded and started brushing her hair again. "That's not all I was thinking about." Sakura waited for her to continue. "There's more to why I'm moving here besides just getting a good job. I…" She swallowed thickly, "I was dating this guy and I found out that he was seeing some girl behind my back. I couldn't stand to see him every day and since he lived next door…" A tear slid down her cheek and she hastily wiped it away. "I thought I loved him."

Sakura wrapped her arm around her for support. Even though she had barely met this girl, she felt like an old friend. "You know, not too long ago, I had a fiancé." Meiling looked up at her, teary eyed, "We had a big argument and he called it off." She chuckled a little bit even though her eyes were starting to sting, "He doesn't know it, but I flushed the ring down the toilet." Meiling snickered. "I'm not usually this open with people I barely know."

"Me either," The tears were already drying, "I just feel like I can trust you."

"Me too. Friends?"

"Friends."

*****

Sakura opened her eyes wearily and blinked at the clock. 11:00. Her eyes widened and she jumped out of bed. She should have been cooking the turkey by now. Her family would be here at 12:00.

As soon as she opened her bedroom door her nostrils were invaded with the smell of cooking turkey. She inhaled deeply. The sight that greeted her when she walked into the kitchen was of Meiling sitting on a chair swinging her legs while she peeled potatoes and Syaoran checking the turkey in the oven. As soon as she was spotted, Meiling waved for her to come closer, "You're finally up!" It was then that Syaoran noticed that she was standing there.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because you looked like you really needed the sleep." Meiling answered. "Don't worry, Syaoran makes a good turkey, your family won't be poisoned."

"Thanks." He said wryly.

"You're welcome."

The only male in the room turned his attention back to Sakura. He eyed her up and down before saying, "You should probably get dressed and brush your hair."

"Right… umm… I don't have anything to wear."

Syaoran jabbed his finger at her laundry basket near the door. It was full of clean folded clothes. "Meiling and I had some extra time so we went to the dry cleaners. You sure do wait to the last minute to do anything."

"After years of living with me you should know that. Thanks." Sakura picked up the basket and went to her room to put it away. After sorting through it, she decided on a blue shirt.

All cleaned up and ready to go, Sakura returned to the kitchen to help Meiling peel the potatoes. Meiling flicked her hair back (it was down today) and handed Sakura a potato and a knife. Sakura was well into her second potato when the doorbell rang.

Excited, she rushed to answer it. Her dad and brother both smiled down on her when she opened the door. When Sakura hugged them, she was careful not to press her belly against them. They had finished their greetings by the time that Meiling and Syaoran walked into view.

Syaoran and Touya acknowledged each other with indifference. Touya didn't like the fact that someone who wasn't related to them was living with his sister and Syaoran just didn't like him much. It was Sakura's father who said hi to Meiling first.

"Hello, I'm Fujitaka Kinomoto, Sakura's dad, and you are?" He stuck his hand out and Meiling shook it.

"I'm Meiling Li, Syaoran's cousin."

"I'm Touya Kinomoto." Touya added as an afterthought.

"Pleased to meet you." Meiling answered politely.

While the two cousins went into the kitchen to finish making the meal, Sakura made her dad and brother comfortable. "Where are you guys staying?"

"At a hotel not too far from here. It's pretty nice." Fujitaka smiled at his daughter and looked around the apartment. "The apartment is different from the last time I saw it. It's nice."

"Thanks." Sakura tried hard not to think about what she was going to have to do after the meal. It wasn't long before the table was set and they were fixing their plates.

Sakura took a bite of turkey and couldn't help but shut her eyes to savor the taste. It was delicious! She opened her eyes and looked around the table to see if anyone had seen. Syaoran smirked in her direction.

"This turkey is great!" Fujitaka complimented. They all nodded in agreement, even Touya.

"So Sakura, how have you been since… Toji?" Touya asked cautiously.

"I've been ok." This would probably be the best time to tell them, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Before long, they had finished the main course and were moving on to dessert.

Sakura placed the pie on the table and grinned widely at the reaction. "This looks great, you've come a long way." Sakura frowned and kicked Touya. Flippantly, she grabbed a knife and started slicing up the chocolate pie. This time, it was Syaoran's turn to acknowledge that it tasted good.

"Oh yea!" Sakura said and got out of her seat, "Does everybody want coffee?" When they nodded, she got out four coffee cups and set them on the table, filled to the brim.

"Aren't you going to get any for yourself?" Meiling asked, curious.

"No," Syaoran answered for her, "She hates coffee."

The group of five lapsed into friendly conversation while they sipped their coffee and ate the pie. After a while, Sakura fell silent and was only half-listening to them. This didn't go unnoticed.

"Sakura, honey, is there something you want to tell us?" Sakura's dad inquired.

"Um…" She needed to tell them. It wasn't really right to keep it from them. They were her family and friends. It was now or never. She took a deep breath, "Actually there is. I'm pregnant."

There was a clatter of forks on the table and after that, silence. She fidgeted nervously under their gazes. It was Meiling who broke the silence when she clamped Syaoran hard on the back, "Syaoran, you rascal!"

Touya fixed Syaoran with a look that even the bravest of men would have to cower at, "I didn't do anything!" Syaoran sputtered out. He looked at Sakura for backup.

"It's not Syaoran's." She said quietly. All attention was back on her. "Um, Toji…" Realization dawned on everyone.

"Why that son of a…"

"I'll kill him!"

Syaoran and Touya burst out at the same time (the first one being from Syaoran). Fujitaka ignored all of this and placed his hand comfortingly on his daughter's shoulder, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine, Tomoyo's been helping me through this." She smiled up at him genuinely, "Really."

"How come you didn't tell us earlier?"

"I wanted to tell you in person. It just didn't seem right over the phone." Hello dad! How are you? Oh yea! By the way, I'm pregnant. Sakura laughed internally at her inside joke but now probably wasn't the best time.

"Well, I think that it's going to be a beautiful baby. Hey, I can be your obstetrician! Yay!" Silently, they all thanked Meiling for breaking the silence once again.

*****

Syaoran tucked Meiling snugly into his bed. Not too long ago she had passed out on the sofa. It was about ten o'clock and Sakura's family had already gone back to their hotel.

He turned so that he was facing Sakura, "I'll sleep on the couch tonight. I just didn't feel like going to sleep yet."

"Me either."

Together they went back to the living room and sat down. "So…"

"So… how far along are you?"

"A little over two months."

"You do realize that I'm going to have to kill Toji, right?" He flashed his teeth at her and punched his fist in the palm of his hand. She laughed gaily.

"Yes, I think that by the time you, Touya, and Tomoyo get threw with him he's going to be mulch."

"Not to mention Eriol." She nodded and leaned back: rubbing her belly. "You know, I did realize that something was wrong with you but I wasn't sure what. It was pretty obvious. I'm dumb."

"Yeah." Sakura readily agreed.

"Hey, that's not very nice." He pushed her lightly.

"And just where exactly did you get this whole Sakura-is-nice thing?" She pushed back.

"Humph."

When he didn't say anything else, she began absently rubbing her stomach again. His eyes followed her movement. It took a while before she noticed, "What? Do you want something?"

"Actually," he reached up and scratched his head, "Since you're over two months, your stomach's grown, right?" When she nodded, he continued, "This is embarrassing but, can I see?"

His question caught her by surprise but nevertheless she agreed. Slowly, she raised her shirt so that her belly was showing. "It's not really that big yet."

She almost jumped sky high when he placed his hand on it. He was quiet for a few minutes just standing there with his hand on her stomach before he straightened and looked her in the eye, "Toji has no idea what he's missing."

*****

"I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer, but I've got to get back to work." Sakura embraced her father tightly. "I'll call you soon, and I'm sure your brother will too."

Touya had a sour look on his face, "I wish I had more time. I feel like staying here and beating the, uh… crap out of someone. Give him an I.O.U. for my next visit."

"I will." Sakura watched gloomily as they got into their cars and drove away before going back into her apartment. For the moment, it was empty because Meiling had gone apartment shopping and dragged Syaoran with her.

She had just sat down when she heard the sounds of a key in the door and Meiling's happy chatter. Syaoran looked tired when he opened the door. No doubt that he was.

"Hi!" Meiling greeted, throwing her hands up in the air. She sure was full of energy… poor Syaoran. "We found the perfect one bedroom apartment for me and I can move in, in a couple of weeks! Hey, are you hungry?" she was changing the subject so quickly that Sakura found it hard to keep up.

"Um, yea."

"Great! Grab a jacket, let's go out to eat." Not seeing how she had any choice, Sakura obliged.

While Meiling was in the bathroom she turned to Syaoran to ask him a question, "She sure is lively today."

"Yea, I think she's just overexcited from the house shopping."

"Probably."

The toilet flushed and Meiling came out, "Well, what are you waiting for, come on!"

They all piled into Meiling's green KIA with Meiling in the driver's seat. "Since I'm paying, where's the closest Subway?" She twisted in her seat so that she could look at Sakura.

"Keep going straight for a couple of blocks and make a right, you'll see it."

The subway was pretty deserted and the group soon found themselves sipping their drinks and munching on their chips. Sakura had gotten a meatball sub on Parmesan oregano, Meiling got a turkey sub (also on parmesan oregano) with black olives and pickles, and Syaoran had a club sandwich with everything on it.

"You already have a job here, right?" Meiling had to swallow a bite before she could answer Sakura.

"Yes, I already have everything planned out. I'm going home tomorrow to tie up some loose ends and pack and I'll be back here in two weeks."

"You'll get to meet Tomoyo when you come back, and Eriol."

"Um hum, and I'll also get to be Sakura's obstetrician. Will you guys help me move in?" Sakura and Syaoran both agreed. "Good. Syaoran will do all the heavy work (Sakura obviously can't) and Sakura and I will sit around and watch."

"I don't agree to that."

"Who said you have a say?" Sakura licked off some of the sauce that was on her lips.

"You're such a messy eater."

"So? Wanna fight?"

"With you? No."

"Children, children," Meiling interrupted, "Let's be civil, at least for a while."

"I will, if he will." Sakura muttered. Syaoran kicked her lightly under the table.

"And no footsy either."

"Shut up Meiling."

Sakura unintentionally started to block out Syaoran and Meiling's voices.

The past two months seemed like forever, but at the same time, they whizzed by. A lot had happened and she knew that her life was changed for good, but not in a bad way. Who knew? This could be the best thing that was ever going to happen to her. Either way, she was in for an interesting future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kitty Neko: You know, at first, I was thinking about leaving it at a cliff hanger when she tells them that she's pregnant but then I realized that I value my life more than that! (Plus there wasn't enough written) I'll be working on chapter 7 ASAP.

Oh yeah, If you want to email me, my address is kittyneko@tenchiclub.com