Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Sakura Falls ❯ Jyushi ( Chapter 14 )

Sakura Falls

By: Sorano

Chapter Fourteen

Disclaimer: CCS does not belong to me. It belongs to CLAMP and Kodansha and maybe some other people. Happy?

Sakura went to America, just like she always knew she would. It was very different from Japan in some ways, and at the same time, disappointingly the same. Being in another country with all her friends-new and old-should've been the highlight of her high school life but somehow she couldn't bring herself to enjoy it.

She had to get up early on Friday morning, about five o'clock, because it takes a long time to get there. Syaoran picked her up at her house and they drove to the school were a bus was waiting to take them to the airport.

Sakura's new friends weren't on the trip so she was able to sit in peace with Chiharu, Naoko, Rika, Yamazaki, Tomoyo and Syaoran. They laughed and talked and teased each other and it painfully felt like ages since they had last been that way. Sakura pretended to smile but on the inside nuasea was welling up.

They boarded the plane and paired up for seats. Sakura and Syaoran sat together. Sakura begged to have the window sit because she had never flown before but really she wanted to press her face against the cool glass. The plane was much too hot and stuffy.

"Daijobu, Sakura-chan?" Rika leaned her seat to get a better view of her friend who was turning a pale shade of green.

"Hai."

Sakura spent most of the flight staring out the window and gave no more than occasional mono-syllable answers to her friends. She fell asleep and Syaoran had to shake her hard before she realized the stewardess was there with the food.

"Ara, lunch! I'm starved!"

"Sakura-chan, airplane food is gross. I don't think you should eat any of it."

"Lasagne today!" the stewardess announced and plunked two indentical trays down in front of Sakura and Syaoran. "And what would you like to drink?"

"Coke, please."

"Diet Pepsi, please," Sakura stressed.

Everyone made faces and just drank their sodas, but Sakura dug right in. "Sakura-chan, I thought you didn't like lasagne?" Syaoran asked, looking a little concerned.

"Hoe?Ara, eeto, I do now." When Sakura had finished her lasagne, she ate her peanuts and a large chocolate bar.

I don't feel very good, she thought when she was done. What am I doing? I'll get fat! And I feel so sick! Her stomach lurched and she groped in the seat before her for the barf bag.

"Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked with wide eyes. Syaoran, though he was grossed out, put an arm around Sakura as she was sick, holding her long hair away from her mouth.

Feeling horrible, the painful puking finally subsided and Sakura set the bag down. Smiling weakly at her friends, she said, "I don't feel very well."

"Is it air sickness?" Naoko asked.

Sakura shook her head. "I don't think so."

"You know," Yamazaki started. "Thousands of years ago, people with airsi-"

"Not now, Yamazaki-kun!" Chiharu cut him off with a bonk on the head.

"I'm going to the washroom," Sakura pushed her way though the narrow aisle to the tiny bathroom. Even through the cracked mirror, she could tell she looked horrible. Dark circles rimmed her eyes and her pale face was a little green. "What's wrong with me?" she asked aloud. Feeling her forehead, she determined she didn't have a temperature. "It's not the flu. It's just my stomach."

Sakura felt a little queasy for the rest of the trip, but by the time they landed in New York City, she felt pretty good. Except for short little spells every now and then, the rest of the day went fine. Every morning she woke up with a stomache ache, but it always went away by noon.

The trip was great. They went all over the country, visiting all the sites. Though they all liked America, most of them had to admit they liked Japan better. There was something so crude about America. Tomoyo had her camcorder out and her camera and Sakura thought it was amazing she didn't crash into anything with those in front of her face the whole time.

Sakura bought lots of little souvenirs for her friends who didn't come, her family, and herself. For Kero she bought a huge chocolate bar coated in smarties. She got a cute little handbag for Miyuko, some funky earrings for Admie, and a little flag for the other girls. She had a tough time picking something out for her father and Touya, but eventually did find the right thing. And she bought something for herself in almost every store she went to.

Sakura and her friends had to laugh when they went into an anime store at the mall. It was funny to see their favorite mangas written in English. It just didn't look right. And the Sailor Moon dolls were so ugly. Chiharu, giggling, pointed out a fan book that listed the characters for an anime. "Why did they change the names?" Tomoyo asked. "What kind of name is 'Madison?'"

"The Americans screwed all this up a bit," Rika said, "but it's nice people like part of our culture so much!"

"Yep, we're pretty popular."

As they were leaving, a strange yellow stuffed animal that looked an awful lot like Kero-chan caught Sakura's eye and she couldn't help but buy it.

"I can't wait to see Kero's reaction when you show him that," Tomoyo giggled in a hushed voice so the other girls wouldn't hear.

A week later they headed home, all of their American money used up. Sakura threw up again, this time on a stewardess. "What's wrong with you, Sakura-chan?" Syaoran asked, feeling Sakura's forehead.

"I don't know."

"She must've had to many McFlurries in the airport," Rika suggested.

Syaoran looked at Sakura suspiciously and it was as if he could read her mind. He was thinking just what she was dreading most.

* * *

Kero loved the chocolate Sakura bought him. He devoured it all in a minute, except for one tiny piece, which he offered to her. Sakura was lying on her bed, stomach upset again.

"Iie, arigato, Kero-chan."

"Daijoubu?"

"Hai, I'm fine."

Kero shrugged and popped the last piece into that huge mouth of his.

He went searching through her backpack to see if she brought anymore sweets and discovered the plushie toy. "And just what is this?" Sakura giggled.

"Kero-chan, when Tomoyo comes over, do that again okay? She wants to catch it on tape."

Kero scowled. "Is this supposed to be me?"

"I don't know. I saw it in 'Otakus R Us' and I just had to buy it. Quite a resemblance, huh?"

"Masaka! I'm way cuter than that…that…nuiguriumi!"

"I like it," Sakura said and closed her eyes.

"Eeto, I don't!"

"It doesn't matter what you think, Kero-chan…" Sakura mumbled and drifted into sleep.

* * *

"Aww, thanks Sakura-chan!" Miyuko and Admie threw their arms around Sakura on Monday morning when she gave them their presents. The other girls waved their little flags around, giggling. "I wanted to America too," Miyuko muttered. "But the principal said my GPA is too low," she made a face and everyone laughed.

As cool as Sakura's new friends were, bit by bit she was starting to like them less. What happened that afternoon was the last straw. Miyuko convinced Sakura try some smack with them, it was a new thing for everyone, and they got really high. They wondered about stupidly downtown for an hour or so before they got bored. They felt like they were superheroes, on top of the world, they had so much energy, and all they could do was laugh at traffic.

Sakia heard a soft 'mew' behind her and slowly turned around to see a tiny grey kitten creep behind a garbage can. "Hey minna!" she yelled. "I found a new plaything!" T

he girls gathered around the terrified cat and laughed. Miyuko grabbed it's tail and held it over their heads. The little creature scratched at them and hissed, but this didn't bother them. Admie licked one scratch along her arm and smiled.

"What are you going to do with it?" Sakura asked, not really able to think, just mumbling out words in a dim curiosity.

Miyuko grinned. "What do you think we should do, Sakura-chan? You can pick if you like."

If Sakura had been thinking straight, she would never have gone along with this. Sweet Sakura would never be cruel to an animal. Unfourtunly she was being controlled by drugs right now, and the good in her had no say in the matter. A grin slowly slid on her face and she whispered her plan to her friends.

They brought the cat into the worse part of the city, where it would be easiest. "Start a fire," Admie ordered Sakura.

Sakura giggled and pulled out the Fiery card. She commanded it to start a fire on a couple of bricks lying nearby.

The other girls were too out of it to really notice what Sakura had done. "Cool!" They said and forgot about it.

A few hours later, the dead cat was ripped in shreds, bloody and torn. The girls took a sadistic amusement in this and howled with laughter as they strapped the little body to a pole. Admie stuck the pole upright in the blazing fire and they burned the cat. A horrible stench filled the air as its fur dripped off it in little puddles. When the body began to turn to ash, Sakia ripped a paw off it and nibbled. "Not bad!" In turn, each girl took a bite, Sakura too.

The girl's left to wreck havoc on some other poor, unsuspecting victim. And when they came back down, they didn't really remember or even care what they had done on their trip. But Sakura knew. It broke her hurt to realize what she'd done. What's wrong with me? I tortured and eat a cat! Feeling sick, she told the girls she was going home. Yet, she visited Seiji and bought some new drugs from him on her way home.

* * *

After school, Sakura was supposed to start her community service. It's funny. The day Tomoyo and I were caught shoplifting seems so long ago. I've changed so much since then. Sakura was told she was supposed to help out at the animal shelter, cleaning cages, feeding the animals, walking, etc. "Not exactly how I wanted to spend all my free time," Sakura grumbled.

Once again she brought out her old pink roller blades, relishing in the fact they still fit her. She brought her runners in a bag and changed when she got there. Opening the screen door of the little brick building, she was greeted to loud barking, chirping, and scratching. Already annoyed with this job, she searched for her boss.

A plump middle-aged woman introduced herself as Mizuno Yuimino. "Mizuno-sama to you."

Sakura could tell Mizuno-san didn't like her very much. I guess juvenile delinquents aren't very nice to work with. She must get tired of people like me who don't want to be here. Mizuno-san put her right to work, cleaning the dog pens. Sakura made a face and got out the pooper-scooper thingy.

She normally liked animals, but by the end of the day she couldn't wait to get away. "My boss is from hell, the animals gave me a headache, and the work is disgusting," Sakura later told Tomoyo on the phone. Tomoyo clucked sympathetically but Sakura knew she was holding back a grin. "You're so lucky, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura complained. "You're mother gets you out of everything!"

"That's not true, Sakura-chan." Sakura couldn't help but think Tomoyo sounded a little sad.

* * *

Fujitaka had taken a day off to accomplish some work at home. He had a complex lecture to plan that he needed silence for. After spending hours typing madly away at his computer he decided to take a break and start on some spring cleaning. As her passed by his desk, he caught his wife's smiling face. He picked up the photo and brushed his hand over it tenderly. "Oh, Nadeshiko. How I wish you were here. Your daughter is growing up to be as beautiful as you are, but I'm worried about her. If you were here, Sakura would be okay. I know it."

He set the photo down and started to vacuum. When he was doing his daughter's room, he noticed a strange odour. "Nani? One of Sakura's perfumes?" But it didn't smell like perfume. It sort of smelt like chlorine, though he didn't know where that idea came from. "Has Sakura been swimming?" Curiously, without any respect for Sakura's private property, he opened the drawer where the smell came from.

He sniffed. It wasn't a bad smell; it was almost nice, though it made him a little dizzy. He poked through Sakura's little toys and papers until he came across a small brown bottle. He peered at the label, trying to figure out what it was. "Oh, my God…"