Rule Number Eighteen:
Good things come to those who bait.
Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught.
oOo
Step Two-Reel in Moby Dick.
"Please, Onii-chaaaaaaaan!" Sakura threw herself on her knees, and tightly clung onto her brother's waist, pleading like she had no dignity. Not that she cared. "Pleaseeeeee!"
The older man scowled and tried to shake her off. "Kaijuu, you're getting on my nerves."
"I won't stop whining until you agree!" she begged again. "Just this week. Pleaseee!"
Nakuru rolled her eyes and whacked her former husband on the head with her pink slipper. "Just loan her the damn car. It's too early in the morning for this, Touya."
"I'm not married to you anymore," he pouted childishly. "Hmph!"
"Kinomoto Touya..." Nakuru ground her teeth together and raised the slipper into the air with a menacing look in her eyes. "Don't make me shove this thing down your throat—loan her the damn car for the week to shut her up!"
Touya looked down at the pouting Sakura and crossed his arms together, still sulking like a little kid. He scoffed and said, "I refuse to help her get together with that... that... gaki."
Nakuru sighed exasperatedly and threw the slipper at his face. "Touya...!"
The man grumbled and reluctantly threw the keys over to Sakura. "If I find one scratch on Mercedes,"—he glared daggers at her—"I will castrate and slaughter the stupid brat."
"Don't you mean you'll kill me if anything happens to her?" Sakura asked.
"No. I mean I will hurt him," he said, "and then lock you up in a convent."
Sakura rolled her eyes and threw her arms around him, pecking him lightly on the cheek. "Thanks, 'nii-chan! Thanks, 'nee-chan!"
And with that said, she ran off happily; hardly being able to contain her excitement.
Step two, set into action.
zZz
Sakura stood outside Otaka-san's bakery with her face to the glass window. She didn't see anyone inside, so she assumed that Syaoran's grandmother was in the back or something. What was she doing there exactly?
It was very simple. His grandmother sold sweets, and Sakura's house just happened to be out of sweets; therefore, she was there to buy sweets. No house was complete without sweets, right? And while she was there, she might as well chummy up to his grandmother. It never hurt to be a suck up...
Where was her dignity and pride?
Let's just say that dignity and pride eloped with desperation and pity, leaving her with nothing but shamelessness.
Oh... the things she did for a man—well, Syaoran anyway...
A ding was heard when she opened the door.
"Otaka-san?" she called out quietly.
"Sakura!" the woman was delighted to see Sakura's face. "What can I get you, dear?"
"One chocolate and one red velvet cake, please."
"Sakura, I hope you don't think that I'm a nosy old woman, but did you and Syaoran have a fight?"
"W-what do you mean?"
"I haven't seen you two together for awhile now," the woman answered. "I came up to your apartment last week, but you weren't there. I don't see you with Syaoran on the workdays either. When I asked Syaoran, he said that you were taking time off work."
"Didn't he tell you that—" Sakura stopped abruptly and smiled to herself. Li Syaoran, you are not getting away this time...
"Didn't tell me what?"
"Ah, it's nothing..." she said and paid for the cakes. "Your sweets are really good. Can you teach me how to bake sometime?" she started on another subject.
"Any time you're willing to learn."
"Does today count as 'any time'?"
"What do you want to learn?"
Sakura smiled and sweetly said, "What is Syaoran's favorite cake?"
The elder woman laughed light-heartedly. "Let's go into the kitchen."
And Sakura set out to learn the trade of baking a cake.
Joy to the world—a cook was born!
Or not...
"Hoeeee!" Sakura shrieked when she saw the result of her chocolate cake. "It's as flat as me!"
She quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. Oops. That wasn't supposed to come out... at all.
"You followed my instructions, didn't you?" asked Otaka-san.
Sakura nodded. "I did everything."
"You remembered to put in the baking powder, right?"
"Baking...what? ... erm ... is that the thing in the blue box?"
"That's baking soda, honey."
She poked at the thing with her index finger. Yup. She was definitely bad at baking. She could cook, but she couldn't bake.
"Don't be discouraged, Sakura," the woman tried cheering her up. "Look on the bright side—now we have delicious brownies!"
"I suppose it's not a total loss," she said as took a piece of brownie. She immediately threw the thing away after the first bite. "Soooo sweet. I think I'm getting a toothache."
"How much sugar did you put in?"
"Three cups..."
"Obaa-san, are you in the kitchen!?"
Sakura quickly grabbed the plate of brownies and hid it behind her when she heard Meiling's voice. The black head came running into the kitchen like a hyper little child. Sakura gave an inward groan when she saw Syaoran entering the room after the other girl.
Don't get her wrong. She was happy to see his face, but she didn't want him to see her like that—after a failed attempt to make his favorite cake. Sakura prayed that his grandmother wouldn't say anything. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if he found out she'd made brownies by accident instead of a chocolate cake; not to mention that the brownies could give a person cavity with just one bite.
"Sakura, what are you doing here?" Meiling seemed to be asking the question for her cousin.
"...learning how to bake..." She answered quietly, ignoring the amused look on Syaoran's face.
"Bake what?" Meiling really needed to learn when to stop asking questions.
"Stuff."
"Like what?" Syaoran asked, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice. "What's that behind you?"
Sakura panicked. "N-Nothing... it's nothing!"
"Brownies—I love brownies!" Meiling exclaimed happily, jumping at Sakura. "I want a brownie!"
Meiling grabbed the plate before Sakura could say anything. "Syaoran, do you want to try the brownies that Sakura made out of loooove?"
The man shrugged and took a piece.
Sakura gulped. It was over.
"My God—you can kill somebody with this!" Meiling cried out.
"Okay, Meiling. Let's go outside."
Sakura was slightly grateful when Otaka-san decided to drag the younger girl out of the room, but she wasn't as pleased to be left in the room alone with Syaoran. She felt embarrassed. Normally, this would be one of the times in which Syaoran would make some sort of comments to make her feel better and she would flush like a tomato. Normally—when he was wooing her and not the other way around. But at that moment, she was wooing him so things were much different.
"You don't have to eat it," she said when she noticed that he was finishing the brownie he started with. "I was just thinking of throwing it away."
"Don't waste good food." He took the plate of brownies and walked out of the kitchen, leaving a smiling Sakura to think about the hidden message behind his words.
Sakura walked back out to the front, finding Syaoran standing by the counter as if he was waiting for her. She gave him a small smile as she went to stand beside him, pretending to look at some of the cakes on display.
"Do you like them?" she asked.
"Try a little less sugar next time," he answered.
Sakura turned to look at him, surprised. "There's going to be a next time?"
He shrugged. "Why don't you tell me?"
He shoved his hands into his pockets and started to walk away. "W-wait!" Sakura called out. "Why are you doing this...?"
"Doing what?"
"One moment, it seems like you're giving me the go to woo you," she said. "And the next... you're like distant towards me. What do you really want, Syaoran?"
He turned around and smiled at her. "What do you want, Sakura?"
You, she answered in her mind.
"A date," she said instead. "I want a date."
"Are you asking me or telling me?"
"What if I'm asking you?"
"Then I will say no."
"And if I'm telling you?"
He smirked. "I don't like people telling me what to do," he said and walked out of the shop.
Sakura groaned in frustration and followed after him.
"Wait up!" She called out to him before he reached his car. "I will get my date." She looked into his eyes and said with determination.
"Neither asking or telling do, so what are you planning?"
He had a point.
He was going to say 'no' if she asked him, and telling him to was of no use. There had to be another way... and there was. But it was a little daring and risky.
"Give me your keys," she said.
"Why?"
She grabbed the keys out of his hand and opened his car door. She left it open and turned to say to him, "Move far away from the car... okay?"
"Why?"
Sakura smiled. "Just watch."
She walked back to her own car—well, technically, it was Touya's car. She started the car and waited for oncoming cars to be clear before pulling out of her parking space. Once she put the car into drive, she stepped on the gas—heading straight for Syaoran's car door. When Syaoran realized what she was doing, it was too late; his door was flying eight feet through the air, hitting a parked car on the other side of the road.
Yup. Kinomoto Sakura was definitely a responsible driver.
They will never give me a car now... she groaned inwardly.
The bigger problem being her brother.
Syaoran tapped on her window and asked, "What the hell was that for?"
Sakura smiled sweetly. "I'm getting a date with you."
"By damaging my car?"
"Well, you're not going to drive with one door missing—it's illegal," she continued. "Therefore, you will need a ride, considering you have a job and all. Your friends can't help you because they're at work, I don't see Meiling having a car, Yue definitely won't loan you his car, and you can't take a taxi around all day—looks like I'm your ride. Also, considering how expensive gases are lately, I think it's only polite of you to thank me for helping you out by agreeing to have dinner with me tonight."
He stared at her with an open mouth. "Unbelievable," he groaned.
Sakura giggled. "So, do I have a date?"
"Is this how you normally get dates?" He sighed. "I can see why you were single until 21."
Sakura frowned. "All you had to say was 'no'. Fine, take a taxi around then."
"I didn't say 'no'," he said. "But I want the wheels... I don't trust you behind wheels any more."
Step two, check.
Sakura unbuckled her seat belt and climbed over to the passenger seat. "For your information, I am a very coordinated driver."
Syaoran rolled his eyes and got into car. "Then explain to me, Miss Coordinated Driver of The Year, how did my car door end up smashing into the windshield of another car?"
"Technically, this is your fault. If you'd just say yes earlier, then none of this would've happened. And now you have to pay for the mechanic."
He laughed. "Oh, no—you're paying for the mechanic."
Sakura frowned again.
That was not good at all. She still had Touya's tab to take care of; she couldn't take care of another one. Maybe... maybe she should start thinking about the consequences before actually doing something. That actually sounded like a very good idea.
Sakura stroked the car gently. "I'm sorry for hurting you again, Mercedes, but why do you have to cost so freaking much to fix up? You're drilling a hole through my bank account!"
"Are you... talking to the car?"
"Syaoran, meet Mercedes. Mercedes, meet Syaoran."
"You named a Mercedes-Benz...Mercedes? Pretty original," he snorted.
"Touya's car," she corrected. "And does my brother look like the original type to you?"
"He's not going to be happy about the dent."
"Well... when I begged him for the car this morning, he said if anything happens to her then he's going to castrate and slaughter you."
Syaoran slammed onto the brake. He started hyperventilating. "What were you thinking!?" Sakura shrugged. "I have a feeling that your brother just adores me," he said with all the sarcasm in the world.
"We'll just take her to an auto shop and fix her up."
zZz
After spending about five hours at the auto shop, Mercedes was good as new like nothing happened to her. Sakura carefully drove home after dropping Syaoran at his place so they could get ready for their supposedly 'date' that she had to went through a lot of trouble to set up—and she meant a lot of trouble. She was going to kill if anything went wrong that night. K-I-L-L. KILL!
"Kaijuu!" She heard her brother shouted while she was trying to get ready for her date. "You are so dead!"
Sakura screamed when he suddenly bolted into her bedroom. "GET OUT! I'm wearing my bra!"
He rolled his eyes. "Please. I changed your diapers," he commented dryly. "Besides... I've seen better."
"Get out! Get out! GET OUT!!!" She slammed the door with a bang and locked it up.
"Don't think this is over!" He yelled from the other side of the door, banging and kicking. "I smell another man inside Mercedes. I'm going to find the bastard that touched her!"
Sakura groaned.
Oh, Kami-sama.
Mercedes... that traitor. To think that Sakura was good to the piece of scrap.
zZz
"Well... doesn't this just seem lovely," Syaoran remarked sarcastically when Sakura showed up at his apartment with a bouquet of flowers. "Flowers?"
"Isn't this what you do when you pick someone up on a date?"
"Oh, right. And I'm suppose to say something like 'Oh my gosh, that is so beautiful! You shouldn't have!' ... right?"
Sakura giggled. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah. Are we using your brother's car?" he asked as he closed the door behind him.
"No," she answered. "If I come home tonight with Mercedes smelling like man, Touya is going to tear my head off."
"Your brother can tell scents?"
"Apparently. Now he's on the hunt for the bastard that touched her this afternoon."
Syaoran cocked an eyebrow. "So... now I'm a bastard?"
"You always were and always will be." He grunted at her answer. Sakura smiled and added, "Just kidding."
"So whose car are we using?" he asked.
"Yukito-san was kind enough to loan me his car for the week," she said.
"Oh," was all he said as they got into the elevator.
Neither said anything until they got to the car. Syaoran took the liberty of driving since it was kind of awkward to let Sakura drive in a dress. Sakura rested her head against the window, running topics through her mind. She couldn't come up with anything, and she didn't want to start the night off with an awkward conversation either. She could suddenly picture Koji in front of her, telling her what a horrible student she was.
Sorry, sensei, I failed you...
Even when they were in the restaurant, they didn't say anything to each other. Sakura wanted to break the silence, but she was afraid she'd say something really stupid. Like really stupid.
"What's your relation with him?"
She snapped out of her thoughts hearing Syaoran's voice. "Who?" she asked.
"The guy from the other day..." He was holding tightly onto his knife and fork. If he'd cut the steak any harder, he probably would've broken the whole plate.
Sakura giggled. "Are you jealous, Syaoran?"
He snorted. "Just answer me."
"Yukito is a friend of Nakuru and Touya. He is like a second brother to me." She looked at him quietly. "He is happily married with two adorable daughters."
"Oh..."
"Want to play a game?" she asked.
"A game?"
"Twenty questions."
Syaoran groaned. "I hate that game."
"It'll be fun," she smiled. "Okay... I go first."
"Why do you get to go first?"
"Because I'm the lady." She rolled her eyes. Wooing him was such a pain in the ass. "Do you want to go first?"
"I don't want to decline a lady," he flashed her a really, really cute smile—too cute. "What's your favorite flower?"
"Cherry blossom," Sakura answered. "Yours?"
"Peony."
"Why?"
"Is that a question?"
"Is that a question as well?"
"You've just wasted two questions." He grinned. "I have 18 left, and you have 17."
Let's make these questions count... Sakura thought.
"Were you jealous, Syaoran?" she asked.
He stopped eating to look at her briefly and then returning to his dinner. "Yes," he answered quietly. "Did you make the brownies for me?"
"It was supposed to be a cake."
"What happened?"
Sakura smiled. "You've just wasted a question. I used baking soda instead of baking powder."
"Figures," he snorted. "Your turn."
"Did you like them?"
He nodded.
"It's your turn."
"...what you said the other day... did you...." he trailed off quietly. "...mean it?"
"Every word of it." She smiled. "We each have 15 left."
"This is taking forever," he grunted. "Can we stop?"
"No, and you just wasted one. Boxers or briefs?"
Syaoran choked on his dinner. "W-what?"
"Do you wear boxers or briefs?"
"You're asking this over dinner?!"
"What's wrong with it?"
"It's something no one wants to discuss while eating. How would you like it if I ask you panties or G-strings?" he said. "Besides... you should know what I wear," he added quietly, a blush creeping onto his cheeks.
"Care to remind me though?"
"You are evil."
She giggled. "Okay, no more silly questions. Syaoran, why do you like me? Taguchi-san said that you came back to look for me... why? Why do you like someone for eighteen years when you don't know anything about the person?"
"That counts as three questions," he said. "I was just a little kid when we met. I guess it started out as puppy love and then it just brewed into something else when I met you. You probably don't know this, but when your mother passed away and you started crying, I was standing nearby. You were crying, yet you didn't understand that your mother wasn't coming back."
"Then what?"
"Believe it or not, you're the first person that had ever talked to me. I just felt a connection with you... I guess in my mind I sort of claimed you to be my first girlfriend."
"When you asked me to your girlfriend, is it because you really liked me or is it because of what happened eighteen years ago?"
"Which one do you prefer?" he asked. "I like you either way."
"Do you hate me for lying to you?"
"No... I told myself that I could forget you. I couldn't move on, no matter how hard I convinced myself I could. The times that we bumped into each other, you don't know how hard it was for me to control myself." He continued. "I was watching you at Eriol's party. I was always watching you when you are unaware of my presence. I kept asking myself whether you've moved on or not. Did you miss me? Did you think about me? Did I mean anything to you? And then Taguchi came to talk to me. He told me you called off the engagement. I was happy. I was really happy, but I also felt disgusted with myself. Disgusted that I was happy at my friend's situation."
"He wanted to call off the engagement ever since he'd known about it," Sakura said. "You're not to blame for our engagement. Yes, I missed you. Yes, I thought about you every day. And yes, you meant a lot to me—you still do."
"What happened between us, Sakura?"
She was quiet. "I don't know... Maybe this was meant to happen so that we can figure things out between us."
"Maybe..."
"Syaoran, our relationship meant something to me," Sakura said. "You made me feel things I've never felt before. I don't want to lose you as much as you don't want to lose me. I'm scared, too... scared of the future."
"Where do you see us in the future?"
"I will not lie to you again—I honestly do not know. Where do you see us?"
"I know where I want us to be, but life just doesn't go your way... does it?" He finished the last of his wine. "Since you have to drive home, it's getting late. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah. Want me to drive us back? You drank quite a few."
"I'll be fine."
"You sure?"
He nodded. "Let's call it a night."
zZz
They walked back to his apartment, neither wanted to move. They just stood outside his apartment, gazing into space and occasionally stealing a glimpse at the other person. Sakura felt her heart pounding for some unknown reason. She wondered if he felt the same thing as well.
"Will you be moving back here?" he asked.
"Yeah," she answered quietly.
"Hm."
And more silence.
"Syaoran, do you forgive me?"
"A long time ago, Sakura—I forgave you a long time ago. There's nothing more to forgive."
Sakura took in a deep breath.
Question 20...
"Can we start over from the beginning, Syaoran?"
"No." He said, not even thinking about the question for a second. He just said it, like he was sure in the answer. "I don't want to start over..."
"Oh..."
Sakura sadly looked at the floor.
She guessed... if he made his decision, then she could only respect him by accepting the answer.
"Thank you for tonight, Syaoran." She forced up a smile, though she wasn't looking at him directly. "I had fun. It was really nice sitting down and talking to you again. I really missed it. I better go home before my Onii-chan sends out a search party for me."
She pushed herself lightly off the wall and started to walk away. A strong hand pulled her back abruptly, and she found herself resting against Syaoran's chest, his head buried in her neck. She could feel her hairs standing up just feeling his breath against her skin.
He slid his arms around her protectively and said, "It's rude to leave when we haven't finished our game."
"Syaoran..." Sakura said quietly, finding it hard to speak with their position like that. "You said..."
"Question 19..." he ignored what she was saying. "Will you stay with me for awhile?"
She nodded.
"And the last question," he continued. "You cannot lie. Do you love me?"
Sakura felt her heart beating faster.
"Yes..."
"That's all I need to know..."
He opened the door and led Sakura inside.