Sensei, I Love You

Chapter 6

Sakura sat on the swivel chair with her head on the writing desk as she stared at her family picture in front of her. Damn it! Why did the guy have to be so sweet? It was bad enough that he had bribed the picture out of Tanaka’s hands. Why did he have to buy a freaking sweet looking photo frame for her? The thought of it made her heart swell again and she felt the sting of tears on her eyes. No one had done something like this for her ever since her family died in the car crash. It was a peculiar feeling that was somehow reawakened by Syaoran.

She buried her head into her hands and let out a groan of frustration. She thought she kept these feelings tucked away safely into the recess, so that she won’t be reminded of the fact that there was no one else on Earth who would care about her.

“Damn him!” she muttered softly. It was already way past midnight and it seemed that she won’t be getting any sleep since she was plagued with thoughts of her own family. With another curse, she pushed herself off the chair and trotted down to the kitchen with the intention of getting something to drink.

She was surprised to find that the lights in the living room were still on. Shouldn’t Syaoran be sleeping? She tip-toed down the stairs, not wanting Syaoran to know that she was still awake. She came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs and took in the scene before her—Syaoran was sitting on the by the coffee table on the carpeted floor, busying typing and clicking away on his laptop. He had his headphones on and Sakura presumed he was gaming. “Typical guy,” she whispered. With a nonchalant shrug, she ignored him and proceeded to the kitchen to make a warm drink for herself.

She rummaged his kitchen and only managed to find hot chocolate so she made that for herself. She also made another drink for Syaoran since he was still up. She might as well stay up with him since she had nothing to do. He didn’t notice her presence until she placed the mug beside his laptop. She smiled when he jerked back in surprise, obviously not expecting her. He slid his headphones down to his neck immediately and looked up at her inquiringly. “Aren’t you sleeping?”

Sakura pointed to the steaming mug in her hand. “Obviously not,” she replied and proceeded to sit down beside him on the carpet. “What are you doing? Gaming?”

Syaoran snorted. “Those are for kids. I’m working.”

“Working? It’s already so late.”

Syaoran shrugged and took a sip of his drink. He let out a contented sigh and carefully placed the mug back on the coffee table. “I need this for tomorrow’s lesson. You don’t think I actually teach whatever crap that I have thought out of thin air in lesson, do you?”

Sakura flushed crimson and tried to hide her face behind the mug in her hands. Syaoran’s eyes narrowed at her. “Um… Not really…”

“What kind of answer is that?” Syaoran asked and resumed his typing. He seemed to be creating some English passage and listening to some reference at the same time. Sakura leaned over to have a better look as she was curious. Syaoran did not object and just let her watch as she sipped her drink. “So, why are you still up?”

“I can’t sleep,” Sakura admitted with a sigh.

“Because?”

“I don’t know. I just can’t sleep,” Sakura replied, not wanting to tell him the truth about what was keeping her awake. She didn’t want to spill her deepest thoughts to anyone; she didn’t want to be comfortable to anyone, not when they could be taken away from her brutally.

“Well, it seems that I won’t be sleeping any time soon,” Syaoran remarked, sending her a grin. “You are most welcome to join me, of course. I don’t mind a company as long as you don’t interrupt what I’m doing.”