Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Sakura Falls ❯ Jyuni ( Chapter 12 )

Sakura Falls

By: Sorano

Chapter Twelve

Disclaimer: CCS does not belong to me. It belongs to the extremely talented CLAMP. Please don't sue!

A/N: After a nice big bowl of cheery Jell-O, my writer's block is cured! I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter, minna!

Sakura stared glumly up at the ceiling. What have I gotten myself into now? She was in a small stuffy, grey room. The room was sparsely furnished; the biggest piece was the bed, which Sakura was laying on.

How the hell did I get here in the first place? What's going on? Hakki. That's right. A tall, alluring young man with raven-hair and soul-piercing amethyst eyes. Sakura had shared her soul with him in this room. That is, they met on the bus and then came to this tiny hotel to make love. She felt dirty. What the hell have I done to myself?

Now the other side of the bed was empty. Sakura did not have to wonder about her partner's wearabouts for long because the door soon crashed open, startling Sakura. Hakki crossed the floor and placed himself before her, hands resting on her bare thighs. "Mornin', babe," he leaned over and kissed her.

"Ohayo," Sakura replied, smiling up at him. It's kinda funny, she thought. I just met Hakki yesterday, I don't know a thing about him, but I'm already in love with him. He just makes me feel so good. So alive. He is so hot.

Hakki bent over and threw her clothes at her. "Get dressed. I only have this place until noon."

Sakura flushed and held her clothes up to her.

He smirked at her. "I saw ya naked all night, hon. Nothin' to be embarrassed about now."

Sakura turned away and changed into her clothes as quickly as she could, aware that Hakki was making good use of the view.

"You're very rude," Sakura told him as she pulled up her short denim skirt.

Hakki put his arm around her and walked her through the door. "It's how I make my livin', babe." They walked out of the door into the bright sunlight. Hakki didn't even bother to lock the door behind them. What was the point?

They were headed to a little café down the street when Hakki's cell phone rang. He cursed and put it up to his ear. "Nani?" he hissed, turning away from Sakura. "So what? Whatta ya expect me to do?"…."No!"..."Listen, you deal with it! No…I can't. Fine. Fine." Hideki slammed the phone shut and slid it in his pocket.

He grabbed Sakura forcefully and smacked her hard on the lips, and moved down along her body. "Look, chick, I gotta go now. Something important has come up. Maybe I'll see you around. Shit, the bus is here! Look, make some good with yourself, ok?"

"But…" she stuttered as the bus drove out of sight. "But, I thought you loved me. Hakki!" Filled with despair, she sat down on the curb and wrapped her arms around her thin body. "I love you, Hakki!"

"Iie, you don't," a voice behind her remarked.

"Hoe?" Sakura turned her head to see whom the speaker was.

It was a stocky brunnette, in torn jeans and a b/w stripped tank top, that slumped down next to her. "How would you know?" Sakura sniffed.

"Kid, you only met the guy last night. Sure you had fun, but get over it."

Sakura didn't understand. "I love Hakki-"

"You just think you do. You'll get another boy toy tomorrow."

"He didn't care about me?" Sakura whispered, eyes welling with despair. T

he girl gave a short, cruel laugh. "Sugar, that's the way the world works. Nobody cares about you. It's no big deal. You two had fun screwing each other, right? Hey, I bet you're new at this, ne?" The girl pulled Sakura to her feet. "Come on, let's go get something to eat. Sex takes a lot out of you. By the way, my name's Ryaria." She took a pen out of her pocket and grabbed Sakura's palm. She scribbled some numbers and grinned at the bewildered girl. "If you ever need someone to talk to," she explained, putting the pen away.

* * *

Syaoran was celebrating his new licence (and his new Mercedes- birthday present) by taking a cruise through around the outskirts of Tomoeda. He found these sparsely populated rural areas gave him a great opportunity to think, which is something he couldn't avoid doing. He thought of his poor cousin dying in the hospital and he thought most about his lovely girlfriend who had missing for a whole day now. He had called her house, wanting to talk to her, but Fujitaka had been awfully vague. He said Sakura was unavailable. Syaoran wouldn't buy that. Sakura was gone again.

And Mei-ling…He was worried about Mei-ling, too. She was getting worse. The doctors said that there's a 99% chance that she'll die. Mei-ling…She can't die! We grew up together! We had plans! Frustrated with the two girls he cared most about, Syaoran slammed his foot down on the accelerator and zoomed off down the highway.

He was driving nowhere, letting his emotions steer, not his mind. He was driving along a river now. It was beautiful, the sun sparkling on the water, the trees along the road trying to block his view. Pink petals lay strewn over the road, like in ancient rituals. They were cherry trees…Sakura-chan would've loved this road.

And soon he was driving out of this exclusive scenic road and into a small, dirty town. This wasn't the kind of place he liked to stop in; these places were no good. But there was a diner and Syaoran hadn't had breakfast that morning.

He parked his car next to the small diner and looked at it with distaste. It was a drab yellow building with only two small windows. There were no other vehicles in the small parking lot, and he assumed no one came here often. The owners probably couldn't afford its upkeep.

Across the street was another rundown building. This one was slightly larger and brick. Syaoran tried to make out the words on the sign. "Sa-something-en toel?" Must be a motel. Syaoran soon forgot his surroundings when his stomach growled again.

The inside of the diner was a little better. There was twenty or so small round checkered tables and Syaoran chose the one in the farthest corner. A waitress came and took his order, which consisted of a large cheeseburger, large fry, and a large coke. Though he didn't usually gorge on fast food like this, driving made him famished.

While he waited for his meal, he had nothing to do but look around him. Stare or be lost in his thoughts and he didn't want to think right now. There weren't many other people in the diner. Just an elderly couple, a tough looking biker guy, and two teenage girls.

Since Syaoran had loved Sakura so long he had forced himself to reserve all his attention onto her but now he couldn't help but stare at the two girls. They were very pretty, and much more interesting than counting the ceiling tiles. And their conversation was very intriguing.

Syaoran had fairly good hearing, so it wasn't difficult for him to make out what they were talking about. Apparently, the chunky one had a very strong opinion on boys and what they were for. He found himself blushing at his described 'uses' and unable to turn away. It seemed the smaller, dark-haired one had just gotten dumped or something and disagreed with her friend.

"Demo Ryaria, he told me he loved me," the dark hair girl protested.

"Girl, you were stoned. Get over it. Speakin' of that shit, do you have anything on ya?"

The other girl reached into her purse and out a small bottle. "Five bucks," she said to 'Ryaria'.

"Aww, come on. We're friends."

The dark girl shook her head. "That's cheap compared to what I usually pay for this stuff."

Okay, so now they're talking about drugs. Syaoran listened with interest. He knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, but they really shouldn't talk so loudly. The waitress came out from behind the counter with Syaoran's food and he licked his lips in anticipation.

The waitress was walking rather clumsily on her heeled shoes and bumped into the girl's table. Syaoran winced as his food almost landed on the girls' heads. The bottle of drugs flew out of the girl's hand and spilt over the wood floor, covering the space between Syaoran's and their table. " I'm so sorry! I'm such a klutz!" the waitress cried. "

It's alright," the small, honey-haired girl assured and bent down on all fours to retrieve the tiny pills that were so very important to her. She dug anxiously through the tiny cracks and managed to collect most of the drug.

The ditzy waitress, poor girl probably wasn't much older than himself, plunked the food down in front of Syaoran, obsuecuring his nosy vision for a moment. When she moved away, Syaoran found himself staring straight into the girl's beautiful jade eyes. "Sakura-chan?" he choked out.

* * *

Ten minutes later Syaoran was back in his car but he wasn't alone. Back in the diner, Sakura had thrown her arms around him and they kissed right in front of everybody. For a few minutes, all he could do was hold her. She seemed so frail now, and he was afraid she was going to cry. Sakura had that annoying habit of starting to cry for no and any reason.

Syaoran had coerced her into coming back with him and because he didn't want to scare her away he didn't yell at her until the doors were safely locked. "What the hell were you doing out here, Sakura? You're grounded."

Sakura kept her eyes low. She didn't have the energy to fight. "Me 'n 'touchan had a fight and I kinda took off." Sakura couldn't admit to her boyfriend that she cheated on him and prayed he wouldn't bring up the drugs.

Luck was not with Sakura today. "And what about those pills, Sakura-chan? Have you turned into a junkie on me, too?"

"Gomen nasai, Syaoran-kun."

"Damn, Sakura-chan. I just don't want you to get hurt. I love you and I don't like what you've been doing. Do you know how many times I had to watch you get hurt over the past six years. I want to die every time you're in pain."

Sakura buried her face in her boyfriend's chest. "Don't be mad at me. It's not a big deal. I'm still me."

Syaoran gently pushed her aside. "Not while I'm driving, Sakura-chan." He sighed. He didn't know what to do, what to think. He loved Sakura and didn't want to lose her, but he couldn't stand the way she was acting.

"Let's forget about, okay?" Syaoran gave in. "Let's all just be happy again. The trip is next week and that's when your grounding ends, right?"

Sakura nodded. "Un, but I'll probably be grounded for the rest of my life after what I did. Ara, Syaoran I ran away! Otousan will kill me!"

"Do you really think that, Sakura-chan? I hope you think more of your father than that."

* * *

They were both right to some extent. When Sakura walked into her home later that day, her dad ran up and hugged her. Not the reaction Sakura had expected. He spoke to her calmly, never once yelled or swore. He explained how much he loved her and that he wanted her to be happy. Sakura tried to explain that wanted to live her own life.

"Let's erase the past few months, okaykoishii?" Fujitaka asked. "You can go on your trip and I won't ground you more. But I won't take any more of this nonsense, okay?"

Sakura kissed her head on the forehead. "Okay,'touchan."

"And the police called." Sakura's heart lurched at this. Was she in trouble? "You're to start your community service on Monday."

Sakura produced a blank expression. "Community service?"

"Shoplifting, remember?"

Sakura flushed and nodded. "But the tr-"

"Hai. I told them about your trip and they agreed to let you start on Friday, when you get back."

"Arigato, 'touchan!"

"Now, go wash up and help your Oniisan get supper ready."

"Okiee!" Sakura bounced up and ran to the kitchen.

Touya had seen the whole thing, and couldn't help but wonder at Sakura's huge mood swings. Teenage girls are weird…

* * *

The family enjoyed an unusually peaceful dinner. It was nice, like old times, not to have any fighting. Sakura chatted on about her school's dance, and how she was going to be accepted onto the cheerleading squad, while Touya complained about how difficult his classes were and how all the girls reminded him of either Kaho or Nakuru.

After supper, Sakura brought Kero up a piece of the chocolate cake they had for dessert. "Sakura-chan! You're back!" The little creature flew at her and wrapped his tiny little arms around her waist. "Where did you go? Why did you just take off? I was worried. Usually you tell me when you run away."

Sakura just smiled and held out the cake to him. Kero's eyes went wide and tore into the poor, defenseless cake. "Thanks, Sakura-chan! Oishii!" This kept Kero busy for several minutes, and soon he would forget about her disappearance.

The phone rang and Sakura instinctively reached for it the one by her bed. Kero popped his head out of the treat long enough to shake his head and say, "nuhunh." Sakura sighed and turned on her music. She turned up the volume as loud as it would go and reached for a manga that was lying by her bed.

About ten minutes later someone banged on the door. "Okay! Okay!" Sakura yelled, reaching for the volume control. "I'll turn it down,Otousan." She turned down the music; hand still on the dial planning to turn it back up once her father had left.

Still the knocking continued. She sighed impatiently and opened the door. Her Fujitaka and Touya both stood there, looking grim faced. "Otousan? Onnichan? Nani? What is it? I turned down the music."

"May we come in?"

"Of course." Sakura couldn't even begin to guess what the problem was but her the expression on their faces made her feel sick inside. She allowed them to sit her on the bed, one on either side of her.

Fujitaka took Sakura's small hand in his own shaky one. "Sakura-chan, that was the hospital that just called. We told them to inform us if Mei-ling's condition changed. Sakura-chan…Mei-ling is dead."