CCS does not belong to me in anyway. I’m just using the characters in my story.
by Sakura aka Michelle
Sakura stared blankly at the whiteboard as Terada-sensei scribbled some words on it before he turned back to resume explaining the terms and how to use the words correctly. She yawned silently as she copied the words on the whiteboard absentmindedly.
I should not have gone to the midnight movies with Tomoyo-chan yesterday... If I had known that it was a horror movie... Sakura thought as she yawned again, trying to hide it with her hands. I hate horror movies! That is the reason I could not fall asleep!
As she was sitting at the corner at the back of the class, she could see whatever was going on to all her classmates. The tables were arranged two by two, forming 4 columns. The seat next to Sakura was empty and she was currently occupying the seat closest to the windows. Tomoyo, her best friend, was seated 2 seats on her right and Sakura believed that Tomoyo was the only one in the class who was listening to Terada-sensei attentively, with the exception of Rika Sasaki, who seemed to have a minor infatuation with him. Takashi Yamazaki was chatting endlessly, undoubtedly saying some silly lies, and Chiharu Mihara was trying her best to shut him up by kicking his leg to get his attention. Sakura smiled, this couple was always like that everyway.
She could not stand it anymore; she has no more energy to keep herself awake in class. Sakura laid her head on her table and sighed. I will just rest for five minutes and no more than five minutes. Five minutes...
A few minutes later, when Terada-sensei announced that he would give them a five minutes’ break, Tomoyo stretched herself and turned to find that Sakura was actually sleeping in class. She giggled and was tempted to tease her for being so terrified at the cinema but she let her sleep for a few more minutes and head for the restroom.
It was dark... so dark that Sakura had difficulty seeing what was in front of her. She stumbled a few times while wandering around aimlessly. It seemed like she was in some kind of a garden or a forest. I remembered I was at the classroom... How did I come here? It must be a dream!
She tripped over a stone and chided herself mentally for not being careful. Her left knee was bleeding and she was getting tired. All she wanted now was to have a soft bed to lie on, to sleep on and...
Howls of ferocious animals from the distance jerked Sakura back to her attention. “Wha- What was that?” She asked softly, even though she knew that no one would be able to answer her since she was all alone. Alone!? She remembered and started trembling in fear as a cold rush of wind swept over her. Where on earth am I?
She could sense that the animals were getting nearer and nearer and nearer to her but she made no move; she was too afraid to move. Unconsciously, her hand had gone to the necklace that she wore around her neck. Somehow, knowing that the necklace was still there gave her some comfort, hope and encouragements.
She stated to run, trusting her ability to sense her way through, to dodge any oncoming objects or any traps but no matter how hard she ran or how long she ran, she just could not find any exit!
Sakura had run about in a circle and came right back to where she was a few moments ago. Something gleamed bright red under the moonlight and Sakura took a step back in fright. She could recognize it anywhere. They belonged to a wolf. The object that was gleaming under the dark blue sky was actually a wolf's eye.
It was all too late; Sakura would not be able to make it to safety, not with the wolves within a distance of fifty metres in front of her. What should I do? Sakura thought, with tears gathering in her emerald eyes.
She clutched the necklace tightly, believing that it would give her some advice.
The necklace turned bright pink in her hands and bright flashes of light engulfed the whole area, blinding Sakura momentarily. She released her grip on it as if it was scorching hot and stared at it with wide eyes, not daring to breathe.
Her necklace extended to a long pink rod that floated in the air, with a bright yellow circle with some words and pictures swirling around on the ground. She hesitated for a moment before stepping into the circle. She almost yelped in fright when the circle on the ground stopped spinning and a strong gust of wind built up, beating and leashing out at her mercilessly. With sand blowing about her, she could not see properly and so, she had to grope for the mysterious wand that her necklace had turned into.
Miraculously, the wind stopped. The wolves had all been frightened away by the bright lights. Her legs wobbled dangerously and she sagged onto her knees and closed her eyes to absorb everything in. When she opened her eyes, her heart had gone into her throat.
She came face to face with a huge lion with big wings that were spread out from its back.
Sakura screamed, as loudly as she could and her own screams of pure terror jolted her back into reality.
“Sakura?” Tomoyo called out worriedly. “Are you all right?”
“Yes…” Sakura breathed out and that was when she noticed that the whole class was gathering behind Tomoyo and looking at her, including Terada-sensei who has a disapproving look on his face.
“Sleeping in class is prohibited, Kinomoto-san,” he reminded her. “As for your punishment, you are to proceed to the school library after school hours to help the librarian.”
As much as Sakura wanted to protest, she knew it would not do her any good seeing the current situation. It was she herself who was at fault and she would take up all the punishments. “Yes, Terada-sensei...”
Terada-sensei sighed loudly and told Sakura earnestly, “This has been happen frequently this week. Didn’t you have enough sleep everyday, Kinomoto-san?”
“I guess not...” Sakura admitted sheepishly and hung her head down. She had hoped to reach home earlier to rest to make up for the loss of sleep.
Just then, the school bell rang, and Terada-sensei straightened up and announced to the class, “ That’s it for today! Kinomoto-san, be sure to report to the library later for detention.”
(A/n: Going to the library for detention? Never heard of that before… *laughs*)
“Yes, sir...” Sakura sighed. This is going to be a long day…
Tomoyo still had that worried looked on her face when she asked, “Are you alright? It has been a long time since you fell asleep in class… What happened?”
“I’m perfectly alright, Tomoyo-chan,” Sakura replied earnestly. “Just a little tired and that’s all. Thanks for your concern.”
“Do you need my help at the library?” Tomoyo asked hurriedly, seeing that Sakura was making her exit.
“I’ll be just fine,” Sakura said without looking back and chuckled. “You have forgotten that you are going shopping with your mother.”
“Oh!” Tomoyo gasped and smiled sheepishly. “I totally forgot about that! Thanks for reminding me, Sakura-chan, and good luck with your detention then!”
“Would you mind helping me to collect these books on the list at the bookstore?” The librarian asked her. “This bookstore is just two streets across our school and it is pretty easy to locate. The school already ordered and paid for these books so you just have to present this receipt to the person there. Be back as soon as possible as the library is closing in an hour’s time.”
“Yes madam. Is there anything else?” Sakura asked before making her leave. Easy task for me! Lucky me!
“Nope, that’s all,” the librarian replied. “Be careful on your way then.”
The walk to the bookstore was a peaceful one, considering that there was no one else on the streets besides Sakura herself. That’s odd… Why isn’t there anyone on the streets? This is one of the busiest streets in Tomoeda!
Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her and she stopped walking but when she turned around, there wasn’t anyone at all. Strange… I thought I felt someone behind me… Or was it my imagination?
She continued walking, although it was at a much faster pace this time and she turned to look back several times to make sure that no one was following her. Then, she heard the snapping of a twig behind her and she turned around instantaneously to find the culprit. There stood a young man dressed up in a black formal suit with a blue tie and black sunglasses. Sakura’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of the gentleman, who was currently holding out something to her.
“I believe this is yours,” the stranger said and showed her object he had found on the ground.
Sakura stepped forward and gasped aloud upon seeing her precious necklace in his hands. “Thanks so much! You don’t know how much this means to me!” She stopped when the man reached out and help her put on her necklace. Gasping at their closeness, Sakura did nothing except to stare at the man, even though their contact was just mere seconds but it was enough to make her heart skip a beat. He smells nice… Sakura thought dreamily but jerked back to reality when she caught him staring at her. “Th-Thanks for your help,” Sakura blushed, and then remembered of her duty. “I need to go now. Thanks again.”
Sakura entered the store, the bells that was hung on the entrance jingled when she pushed the door open. Although it was bright outside in the late afternoon, the store was pitch black but the sign that hung on the door said “open” and Sakura wondered why there was no one in sight and she asked aloud, “Is anyone in? I came to collect some orders my school has made…”
Sakura stepped into the store, the door closing automatically with a soft creak, and looked around, only to see shelves of books. “Hello?” She waited silently for a few moments, hoping that someone would answer her but to no avail.
She heard a splash and only then did she realize that she had stepped onto what seemed like a puddle of water on the floor. The natural reaction was to take back her step and she did that only to find it impossible to do so. In fact, both her feet were trapped by this sticky substance. Exasperated, she tried to jerk both her feet up with force, only to find out that she was sinking into the ground and she hurriedly stopped what she was doing. “What is going on here?” She asked aloud and ended off with a scream when she saw a hooded figure appearing out of nowhere in front of her.
“Give… Give me the book…” A creepy voice sounded in the room, sending chills down Sakura’s spine. It took her a few seconds to realize that the voice belonged to the hooded figure in front of her.
“What book?” Sakura asked desperately, feeling herself sinking deeper into the ground. “I don’t have any book!”
“Give me the book,” the fellow continued, as if he had not heard what her reply was.
“I don’t have it!” Sakura shouted and let out a loud gasp of surprise when she sank knee-deep into the ground. “What are you going to do to me?”
“Chosen one will have to perish no matter what,” the hooded figure said as it was slowly disappearing. “The book will be ours! And the world will be destroyed! Then, we will rule the world!”
“Wait!” Sakura shouted but he was gone. “What am I going to do now?”
Sakura closed her eyes and thought hard, for she could not possibly be able to think otherwise. If I were to try to move, I will sink even faster but if I don’t move, I will still sink in the end! What have I gotten myself into this time?
She looked up when she heard a bang on the door and she thought she heard it wrongly. Someone to rescue me? Sakura waited hopefully for another commotion and her hopes were answered. The door to the store flung open and a beam of sunlight came filling the store. “Please help me!” Sakura managed to croak out when she was done trying to figure out the person in the light.
“Oh it’s you…” the person drawled out and stepped forward, allowing Sakura to identify him as the man who helped to pick up her necklace earlier. “Why are you doing in the ground?”
Sakura sweat dropped and smiled sheepishly. “I do not know how to explain it to you but this thing is like a quicksand… Can you lend me a helping hand instead of laughing at me there?”
Reaching into his back pocket, the man drew out a small orange-colored rectangular piece of paper and chanted something in a low voice that Sakura had to strain her ears to hear what he said. She squeaked when bright ‘lightning’ flashed around her out of nowhere in the room. “Stay still if you don’t want to be struck by the lightning!”
“Where did these come from?” Sakura asked as she watched dumbly as the man reached out to pull her out of the frozen ground. “Magic?”
“Bingo! How did you know that?” He sounded amazed and Sakura knew he was teasing her.
Sakura missed a step and landed squarely into the arms of the man in front of her. “Sorry! I…” She started shivering for no reason and she could not stop it and she found herself unable to move away.
“Hey…” the man soothed, as if knowing the reason for her sudden distress, and put a comforting hand on her back. “Everything is over. It’s fine now. You don’t have to be afraid.”
“I know… but it’s just that… Just that… I would have died here without knowing the reason… It’s kind of… scary…”
“They are after you for a reason, Sakura… and by the way, my name is Li Syaoran,” he said with a tinge of smile on his face.
Sakura moved away from him and stared at him with wide eyes, “How did you know my name?”
Syaoran’s head jerked up when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs from above and he alerted Sakura, “We have to go out now; someone is coming down. We’ll talk at your house.”
Sakura nodded her head as she asked, “But how did you know my name?”
“I was sent to protect you. I’ll give you the details later, when everyone is at your house. Come on,” Syaoran urged and Sakura followed suit.