Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Slave for a Week ❯ Day 3: Japanese Cinderella ( Chapter 4 )

-- Day 3 --

 

Japanese Cinderella

 

 

-- Sakura's POV --

 

Wednesday, 9:39 AM

 

 

Can you believe it!?

First, I have to sacrifice 10,080 minutes, or 168 hours, or 7 days, or in short, one whole week of my precious life as the Li Syaoran's personal slave.

And to add to the tricky predicament I'm in, the `mightiest' playboy-businessman of all Asia is supposed to be my one and only `master', who is going to be just the worst boss there is in this whole wide world.

My pride is simply in danger when I'm with him. Look—I am Kinomoto Sakura, and never is a slave. Now, ruining that reputation, he had ordered me to get him his clothes—including his underwear (which he could just get by himself!)—like his maid. He made me call up his friends for him and act as his girlfriend. He ordered me to manage his schedules as if I'm his human speaking notepad.

And the worst part of all, he even had the nerve to snuggle up to me when we're sleeping—pretending innocent—and treat me as if I'm his wife.

I'm really going to die if I longer stay around him.

With him, the number one of the most wanted bachelors alive, I'm in a very dangerous position of being mistaken as his -new- girlfriend. And I'm put into the extreme jeopardy of being killed by his million fans all around the globe if that actually happens… And of… of… oh, you know what.

Then now… then now!

"Sakura," I heard his extra-babyish pitch from behind me. I had crossed my arms in front of my chest and turned my back against him, but simply to no avail. His voice was menacingly forcing me to do what he wants me to do. I suddenly wanted to buy myself an earplug so I can't hear any of his childish pleads—which are in fact deafening me more to the advantage.

"Please? Pretty, pretty please?"

I sighed. My supposed-to-be master's expression was the same as Tomoyo's when she begged me to do this job. He was so much different from a calm and composed businessman, the always-cool one that had annoyed me for the first time we saw each other. I just wished, oh, I just wished that he wouldn't try to kneel down—down the marbled and fancy-carpeted floors of his extremely huge mansion—and act like a little beggar asking me for some change…

…for it simply wasn't some little change he was asking for!

It's my pride he's risking again!

"I don't want to," I began, with the same tone I used the time Tomoyo had begged me. "To be your secretary will be the worst job." Well, it's better than being a slave, though, I added silently.

So, there, another heavy burden placed upon my back like a cross, to carry on to Calvary by myself. If I needed Tomoyo, she's not here. Then oh, she was the one who personally nailed me to my cross in the first place, I almost forgot.

Did I do something wrong to be punished this much! Did I??? Did I??? Did I???

Tomoyo, oh Tomoyo! Why have you forsaken me!??

Where was she all this time?! Flirting with her boyfriends?? Flying to the other side of the world just to get her beloved hair styled up to the latest fashions? Having an appointment with her dermatologist for her facial treatment? Name it! And she never even dropped me a line, NEVER.

He started to pout when I frowned, my forehead crunched as ever. "Please? Just later this evening until the party's over! I've just fired my last secretary—"

"You fired her," I repeated, using my best sarcastic tone that I had mastered with Touya through the long centuries. I admit it was one good sarcastic tone to be proud of, at least. "Tough luck, Mr. Boss."

"But she was seducing me!" he argued back, competing with my mockery, and obviously, starting one of the same long arguments we had since we first met—and I warn you, beware of our long quarrels. Proceed at your own risk, please. "Who would want his secretary seducing him?" he added after I rolled my eyes.

I almost threw up. Was seducing him, huh?

"Why didn't you give in then?" I argued back.

"I'm not going to give in to someone who looks much like the old woman who sells apples to Snow White."

“No, that woman is actually the Queen, and she disguised herself so she can kill Snow White. Didn't you know that?”

“Whatever. She still looks 90 years old.”

"You're just being picky."

"Exactly."

"You've already got a hundred girlfriends. I bet they all look like Snow White."

"That's not true."

"Oh, yeah! Like I'm going to believe you, big fat liar!"

"Believe me, I only had nineteen."

"So you're saying that's not `a lot'?" My eyebrows shot up. I can't help it, sorry.

"I didn't say anything."

"That's what you literally mean!"

"You're just jealous."

"No."

"Yes."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"If I would be jealous, it's never going to be of any of your past, present, or future girlfriends."

"Aww, don't worry, you're going to be my girlfriend soon, babe."

"So you're telling me that I'm going to be your number 20??"

"Don't you want to be?"

"In your dreams."

"I can do it in reality."

The seductiveness in his voice sent shudders down my spine. "You can't.'

"Want a demo?"

"No, thank you."

"Aaaww, honey, don't be shy!"

"Aww. Call your personal maid and show me the demo with her. She'd be ecstatic."

"Tsk tsk tsk. You have to work on your memory, sweetheart. I don't have any personal maids. But I do have a personal slave…." He brushed his knuckles against my cheek, which made me shiver more. "Oh, you're shivering. Are you cold? Let me warm you up then."

I blushed. "I'm not cold."

"Go make yourself comfortable in our bed. I'll be right in after you."

"What if I don't want to?"

"I'll make you."

"You can't."

"And why is that?"

"I'll have to kill you first."

"I say you can't."

"Give me three reasons why not."

"First. You'll kill the *ahem* cutest guy you've ever seen in your life."

"Oh, I so always wanted to," I remarked. "I would be so happy to kill you, my lord."

Li smirked again. "Secondly, if I'm dead, you won't ever have the chance to kiss the cutest guy you've ever seen in your life."

With such arrogant words, I narrowed my eyes on him. "I'd never want to kiss you, jerk."

"And lastly…" I suddenly saw an evil, such an evil sparkle in his eyes that I want to run away and hide. It was such an unpleasant feeling just to see those eyes sparkle. "If I'm dead… how can the cutest guy you've ever seen in your life pleasure you?"

That's it.

Game over.

You'll certainly be dead, Li Syaoran.

I gritted my teeth, in attempt to control at least some anger. "Those are invalid reasons."

"How? I enumerated three sure reasons."

"Aren't you ever at loss of words?"

"Why? Are you?"

"If you're leading up to annoying me badly so you can have me as your secretary—"

"I'm leading up to I badly want to kiss you."

Silence.

"Yuck. A kiss from you?" I growled after thinking of what exact words to say.

His expression suddenly changed from goofy to serious.

Then from serious to goofy again.

"Eh-heh-heh… just kidding."

Hoe?

Hoee???

Did I hear that right?

The Li Syaoran joking about kissing!

Wow, that's a great improvement!

"But if you want to…"

NOT.

"I don't. Okay, okay. Let's stop this nonsense. I don't want to be your secretary, you fired your former, I have nothing to do with this, and I'm out of here." I smiled sweetly, and then turned around to make a dash towards the bedroom door.

"Okay," Li suddenly sighed and held my arm. My eyebrows raised themselves up. "I did dismiss her. But I have to have someone introduced as my secretary this business party." He looked at his wristwatch. "And I have to have her signed with Meiling in her office in ten minutes or I wouldn't make it to her 10 o'clock deadline. Please?" the heir of the Li was now again begging his brains out now.

Then in one second, his eyes lit up with a mischievous glint. "Or… you're fine to be presented to the president of the largest oil conglomerate and the head manager of one of the largest TV companies in Hong Kong as my `slave'."

If there's such thing as a modern Japanese Cinderella, I could audition as a real-life `girl covered with cinders'. And I could even get Li and his naughty little aunt to be my stepsiblings. It would be a big hit in the theaters, unquestionably.

"That's worse, you moron," I angrily grumbled in a reply. "I'm sure there's no any effect to the people attending if you don't bring any secretaries. Waste of my time."

As if the plot's rapidly reversed, Li gave me such a puckish grin my palms started to nervously sweat with the feeling that he has yet another nasty plan on me. "You don't want to be my secretary. You don't want to be my slave either. I'll just have you introduced as my girlfriend then. That's better," he said.

Piece of crap, I don't want to be his girlfriend either, whether only in a business party or in real life!

I shot him an `I'm annoyed now, ever-so-annoyed' kind of glare, but he never, ever flinched. "Any other choices?"

"Unfortunately… there're none." Li beamed victoriously at me, and I was the one who recoiled.

Great.

Just so great.

Might as well ask Tomoyo to prepare me a fancy gravestone, with `Kinomoto Sakura, died as a slave for Mr. Li Syaoran. Her last words were, "I don't want to be your girlfriend'.

Too bad I just don't want to be dead meat yet, when it includes a `Li' in the cause.

Then If I'm going to be courageous Cinderella, in that case, I might as well immediately find my charming prince at the ball.

My lips tugged into a slight smile.

Right?

 

-- Third PersonPOV --

 

10:06 AM

 

 

"You're Xiaolang's WHAT!"

Sakura nervously laughed. I'm doomed. Goodbye, Kinomoto Sakura, you've led such a wonderful life until that pest came in. She thought, her legs feeling like jelly, wanting to drop down the carpeted floors of Li Corporation's head manager's office. Swirls formed in front of her eyes with the loud, high-pitched, female voice booming straight into her poor ears and destroying her eardrums.

That was such an awful first meeting.

"Hey, calm down, Meiling," Syaoran chuckled, handing the ruby-eyed woman some office papers. "She's not my wife, you know!"

Li Meiling, with her raven hair up in a tight, formal bun, frowned at Sakura, then flashed a worse scowl at Syaoran. "Idiot, I know she's not, but she's your slave! What does that mean!? Now you tell me to calm down?! How the hell can I??"

"What's the matter with her being my slave?" Syaoran reasoned, emphasizing the word `slave', prolonging his pronunciation of `a' to make it sound ever so seductive. To make things worse for his hired poor thing, he placed his arms around her shoulder in a split second, and pulled her towards him, so near that Sakura felt temperature rising to boiling point. "Right, babe?"

"Get… that… off me!" Sakura yelled. It was such a powerful hand that seems to be glued properly into place—to her frustration.

"What?" He placed a hand cupped over his ear and grinned goofily. "I can't hear you!" he sang.

"I said get that off!"

"Tsk tsk. Sorry, but I'm your master, and you can't order me around!"

Sakura grimaced. He keeps on repeating again and again that he's my master! I know that! "So?" she spat in an angry reply.

Syaoran only shrugged and pretended as innocuous.

"I said take your arm off!"

"Manners, manners!"

Sakura cringed, but composed herself right away. "If you could only take your arm off my shoulders, my lord, I would certainly appreciate it."

Meiling, who was witnessing the oh-so-habituated, usual argument progress, was stunned, and close to exploding laughter. That was how a pathetic little kitten, in the name of Kinomoto Sakura, endeavored to fight the cruel fox, a.k.a. Li Syaoran. Mixed emotions, she remained silent, her arms crossed.

Oh, she remained silent… but only for a single second.

"XIAOLANG! Take your arm OFF! RIGHT NOW!"

"Meiling, even you?" He made innocent puppy dog eyes. Such irresistible blinks of his eyes.

"YES, EVEN ME! What's your arm," she pointed to Syaoran's oh-so-innocent arms, "doing on her waist?" Meiling's ruby-colored eyes, a shade pretty much like Mei Xin's, glowered at Syaoran, whose arm was casually around Sakura's waist, as if it's in a natural habitat. Moreover she gritted her teeth with certain irritation when Syaoran wrapped another on his slave's waist, embracing her from the back. He didn't even budge his hand with the threat, which made Sakura's temper measure weigh off the scale. Veins popped out from her neck, anime-style. Her hand was getting ready to attack. And so was Meiling's.

"You won't take them off?" Meiling almost shrieked.

"You won't take them off?" Sakura repeated after her, in the same fuming tone but louder, trying to tear apart the glued arms from her hips.

"Excuse me, this is MY office, and public display of affection or what we call `flirting' is definitely NOT allowed here!"

"Why do you care, Meiling?" Syaoran asked, a naughty grin playing in his lips. "And Sakura, sweetheart, you'll soon be used to this. You'll be my girlfriend soon all right."

"Who the hell said I'll be?!"

"You let me undress you the other night—our first night together…"

Meiling's temper reached its limit when she heard the words `girlfriend' and `our first night'. "Y-you! Kinomoto! How dare you—!"

"Wait, Meiling! He's lying!" Sakura raised her hands to shield herself. "It's not that!"

Meiling's hand was a second away from slapping hard onto her face, but Syaoran's hand pulled it away. He looked at her as fiercely as one can.

"Game over, dear aunt. You better work on your temper. She's my secretary for the party, and I just came her to your office so that you can list her. Sakura's not your Cinderella stepsister, nor the Snow White you always envied because she's much more beautiful that you."

Meiling growled, but never said a word.

"Do you have any problem with that?"

She never replied.

"Then let's go, Sakura." He removed his remaining hand from her waist, and took her hand instead, pulling her towards the door.

Sakura looked down while she walked past the one who tried to hurt her. And never looked onto Li Meiling's eyes ever again.

 

"Why is she so mad at me?"

Syaoran sighed. His expression wasn't any different from his usual arrogance, but it was a little noticeable that he wasn't just alright with his aunt's attitude earlier. "You can expect that dialogue when she meets a girl—any girl I bring here in the office."

"But I'm not your girlfriend," Sakura mumbled, remembering the slap attempt. She sighed, too.

"Sometimes, she's just jealous."

"Jealous? Meiling?"

He laughed. "Can't believe it? She'd been trailing behind me all the time since we're practically wearing diapers."

"But!! She's your aunt!!"

"I know. She's always the same as Mei Xin—uh," Syaoran paused. "Speaking of the devil…"

He forced a small smile when Mei Xin trotted steadily to him. So forced that he looked so hideous and comical with such a strange smile plastered nonchalantly on his face, hiding the obvious `I don't like the feel of this' looks.

It was mandatory, that is, to smile in front of someone who is in the upper branches of the family tree of the Li, especially in front of some `aunt' who, if you didn't, would start bawling, wailing, and howling—well, you get the picture. He managed an artificial one, fortunately.

"Xiaolang… I wanna go to the partyyy…" Mei Xin whined and stomped her foot, her cute face now exhibiting a large pout. "I will go with you, riiight?"

Syaoran's smile instantly vanished in one poof!.

"Mei Xin—"

"I wanna go with Xiaolaaang!" she threw her arms to him and punched childishly on his arms.

Syaoran forced another smile again. "We can go out some other time, as you asked for earlier… but now I can't agree to that one."

"Whyyyy?"

"Errr… No children are allowed… R-right, Sakura?" He turned to the auburn-haired girl who was jadedly leaning now against the wall, waiting for such an argument (arguments ever since the morning) to finish. Syaoran winked an eye. "Right? Right? Right?"

Sakura's always-brave appearance faded as she sweatdropped, anime-style. She faked an innocent look and eyed Syaoran—who was still winking and signaling to her. Oh, knowing what it means to have a little girl to look after at the party rather enjoying it (and well, finding her "prince charming"), there's got to be something Sakura should do.

"Uh… uhm… yeah, no children are allowed, it's for business, Mei Xin—"

"Xiaolaaang! Saku is going too!"

Syaoran nodded and apprehensively laughed. "Eh-heh-heh… I asked her."

"Hey, I promise your cough nephew would be available the next day, after the party. As his secretary, I promise I'll secure his schedules so you two could spend time together. Okay?" Sakura assured the little aunt, making up an excuse and hiding her nervousness. Although Mei Xin had attempted to make up the other day at the amusement park, the thought of all the strangling, pinching, embarrassing—bullying, made her so uneasy all the more.

"It's still unfaaair… why can Saku go with Xiaolang but I caan't?"

Ugh. Then what's the teddy bear for! Sakura's mind disappointedly groaned. "Don't worry, you'll soon come with him, too, when you become a grown up…"

Wooops… Wrong turn.

"Wheeen! It'll be years!" Mei Xin wailed so loudly that Syaoran even has to stop her from wailing too loud, or they'll both be in trouble. Huge trouble. Her arms flew at her sides, and Sakura even has to back up to prevent being hit by the humongous arm-flyswatter.

"Heey, heey! We better escape… she's throwing a `t' again!" Syaoran whispered onto Sakura's ear.

"I'M NOT THROWING A TANTRUM!"

Sakura grinned sarcastically at Syaoran. "You're lucky. You have a suuuper-intelligent aunt."

"You call that lucky?" he shot back at her. "Okay. I'll give you a promise, my cough cough favorite aunt. We would go on a date together the day after tomorrow. Is it okay?" he announced, and all Sakura could do was stare out in shock, her eyes almost bulging out from its sockets.

Who in the world would attempt to go to a date with his aunt, the five-year old?

Plus, that aunt is going to be the strongest, craziest, creepiest, and most impossible aunt in the world!

Hmm... Li Syaoran?

Hah.

"Oh… sniff… Okay…"

"That's my aunt."

 

6:25 PM

 

 

Syaoran laughed his heart out.

Sakura bit her lower lip with uncertain insecurity.

With different expressions, they stared into a sheet of bond paper plastered securely onto Syaoran's room's wall. `Cancel the party' was written in bold, bright red ink, all in capital letters, as if angrily wanting to cancel the party—and Syaoran being the first to know the intentions.

Sakura shuddered.

Syaoran had laughed again, removing the paper and trashing it on the wastebasket near the door. "Don't tell me you're gonna believe that! Maybe just some kind of prank from someone who desperately wants the party tonight to be called off because he didn't have any date."

"Haha. Funny."

"It might be true, ya know."

"Might. But far from possible. The party's optional. You told me." But it was perfectly compulsory for me. How cruel!

He sighed, adjusting his necktie. "Nonetheless, the party's going to start even if he wants it or not. In a few minutes, the living room will be filled with the guests."

"Yeah, yeah. And in a few minutes, I'll be all known as your secretary. How… how… nauseating!" Sakura made a face and straightened her pink tube dress. "And I look absolutely ridiculous!"

"Don't you think I look so too? We're being forced to wear these preposterous formals that make me itch!"

"Oh, but I think it's better than long sleeves, black coat, jeans, and rubber shoes, like the other day, don't you think?"

 

7:35 PM

 

 

Now, Sakura laughed her heart out.

And now, Syaoran bit his lower lip with uncertain insecurity.

"This is wrong," he muttered under his breath.

"Now that's some kind of a funny prank." Sakura shrugged.

"Okay. It's been funny at the start. That unknown sent me notes—inside my room, my dresser, even in my bathroom! But who the hell would know even my confidential cell phone number and tell me that there's something bad going to happen to you if I don't cancel the party!"

"That's absurd," she reasoned. "Why would I be harmed or even killed for just a sustained party?"

Syaoran sighed. "Beats me." He turned his phone off and resumed on shaking the different visitors' hands and smiling his best at every female who had smiled at him. The party's just about to start, and when it came to the crucial minute, someone called on his phone and told him the warning.

"Anyways, it's not a guy," he whispered to Sakura after a lot of tiring handshakes from a lot of VIPs. "It's a girl. She changed her voice to a lower tone. But it's obvious she's a she."

"That makes it more difficult for her to kill me," Sakura grinned confidently, as if she had a trump card over the unknown suspect. Her expression made her look like she's sure that she'll win.

"And why?"

"She's going to be no much braver than I."

"How?"

"Why are you being so concerned? You're really impossible."

There was a short pause.

Syaoran grinned. "Beats me."

 

-- Syaoran'sPOV --

 

Yeah, why am I being so concerned about her?

If you could only see her ever so determined look, then you wouldn't be worried at all—be it a vampire, a serial killer, a kidnapper, a murderer, or only a girl who was jealous of her.

I snickered to myself.

And there's no such thing as a serial killer targeting just a `secretary', would there be? There are a lot of bigwigs here, worth trillions and has billions and billions of cash, but not a secretary! It's completely out of human knowledge why someone would want my secretary, or my slave, be harmed because of a stupid party, as Sakura had said. If there's someone who could be targeted, it's supposed to be me, right?

The thing is, I don't know.

All I know is that I suspect just one person.

Meiling.

I had appointed Sakura as my secretary so she won't get to harsh with her. As expected, though, she already got harsh the moment she heard that Sakura was my slave. Too harsh that I might suspect that she was the one who plotted all of this nonsense.

So if there's someone who's angry with Sakura with all her life, it's supposed to be her.

If there's someone who could know my number, where I usually go, where I usually look at, to put all the notes, it's supposed to be her.

But she's just an aunt, who can't even take it that I'm her nephew and kept on showing off to me. It's simply unreasonable. She's never an option for me as a woman I'll love for the rest of my life. She's my grandfather's daughter, and that means no.

But whoever she is, she's sure persistent. A ton of messages of the threat to Sakura, and a lot of really annoying calls.

Whoever she is, she's pretty angry with her.

"Hey."

I quickly turned around and found Eriol behind me, holding a glass of wine in his hand. He was wearing a long-sleeved navy blue polo shirt, which I bet he didn't like so much too, and was grinning like a huge freak.

"Yo," I replied. "And can you just explain why are you grinning like that?"

He really was something. Eriol know everything about me. Even what I think or what I am into. I can clearly distinguish that mischievous look he had—that he was expecting some explanation why I was staring blankly at the empty space in front of me.

He laughed, taking the seat next to me. "You're alone. Where's your secretary?"

"I fired her. I got Sakura to be it."

"Then Sakura dumped you?"

"Nope. She's just in the ladies' room. How could she have dumped me, the cutest guy she has ever seen in her life?" I chuckled.

"Seems like you two have made progress. But you haven't even kissed her yet, am I right?"

I sank down, pitiably. How could he have ever known that?!

"You look pathetic," he said, as if he read what's all on my mind and answered my question. "It looks like you've been worrying about her."

Bingo.

"I'm not," I retorted, covering up any traces of worry he might detect on me. I wasn't drinking, nor was I fidgeting around and worriedly searching for any traces of my lost secretary who just went to the restroom. I wasn't showing any hints that I was worried about her, in the first place. But I guess somehow, something has leaked out of me, stupidly.

"Oh, is that right," he rolled his eyes. "You're a complete loser."

"Yeah, yeah, call me that again."

Eriol laughed. "And I bet you two still haven't done anything—you know what."

Mentally slapping myself, I sighed. I've had my reputation for years, and this is the first time that that ever happened. I was pulling back on kissing her. And there's something terribly wrong with me. Ever since she stepped into my life… three days ago.

"Yeah. Since she's got no big chest, no womanly curves, a childish face—"

"Maybe you already had too much alcohol. Man, she's called `hot'!"

Too much alcohol? Is he nuts! I don't drink. Well, just a little sometimes. And I'm a good boy. I'm a playboy, but I'm basically a good boy.

"But you seem to know a lot about her, huh?" Eriol added.

I grinned at him.

"Oh, I completely forgot to tell you," he suddenly said. "I saw Sakura walking out of the bathroom an hour ago, and she told me to let you know that she'll be waiting for you at the garden outside."

As if everything's back to normal again, and my brain functioned as normally once more, I thought… Yeah, she was gone for a pretty long time… Why haven't I noticed it! Okay, I had always been bored and out of my mind in every boring business party I attended, but this is the first time I actually lost track of time.

"Got it. Thanks, bud."

"Hmm? I wonder why you two are going to meet outside…?"

I beamed at him. "Maybe she finally comes to her mind that I am, really, the cutest guy she's ever seen in her life."

 

Syaoran never expected that what he said earlier would ever come true. It was perfect. A full moon, a soft wind, a peaceful surrounding, the lush greenery of the garden… just so perfect.

"Didn't you hear me? I said 'kiss me'!"

"Are you serious? You want me to kiss you?"

There was a long pause.

"You've been late for an hour, and I need you to do it—or I'd die," Sakura muttered breathlessly. "Believe me, if you don't, I'll be dead before you know it."

If this is what you call `heaven', then I want to die now, Syaoran thought to himself. His slave's arms, as he had long desired to, were now wrapped around his neck, and he could almost feel her heartbeat with the nearness of their bodies.

"No regrets…?" His soft whisper trailed off to thin air, as Sakura closed her eyes. He closed his own and held her waist, slowly closing the gap between his lips and hers.

Every second seemed like an hour has passed for him to enjoy.

He just wished no one would ever interrupt his happiest night…

Then Sakura broke away from him.

"Finally, there you are!"

He was speechless.

"I've had enough of your jokes, Mei Xin."

 

"Can you believe this little girl actually fell in love with her nephew?" Sakura turned her gaze to the raven-haired girl who was sleeping peacefully on her lap. She began to stroke Mei Xin's long hair with a small smile.

Syaoran grinned all-so-foolishly that he ruined the peaceful moment. "Maybe I was just too cute and too handsome that my two aunts fell for me, huh?"

"Whatever," she shot back in a reply. "I'm not in the mood to argue, you know. If we don't stop all these long fights, I would soon be at loss for words. I don't have a good vocabulary."

"Hmm? Why? Suddenly you're out of words. What happened to you? And you seem exhausted," he commented. He lied down on the soft grass and gazed up the black sky.

Sakura sighed. "You would think I'm the most embarrassing person in the party. She sneaked in the room and made her first move by tripping me with her foot sticking out from under one of the buffet tables. Worst, I landed facedown in front of the VIPs."

Syaoran laughed.

"Then after I just recovered and made a new guy friend, she sneaked—again—under the table we're sitting at and kicked my foot—which made so surprised that I screamed so loud and spilled the juice that I was holding on his brand new shirt. Made a bad impression," she continued narrating with a sigh.

"That's payback since you tried to sneak up on me."

She stuck her tongue out. "That's supposed to be your fault. You didn't even realize that I'm gone. So many things had happened while you sit there alone, lost in your thoughts."

"Fine. Then?"

"Then, I thought that maybe she's the one who sent the notes and all the stuff—considering that all the bad things have happened to me. So I thought of this plan—"

"That you'd pretend that I'm kissing you so she'll show up?"

"Bull's eye. I'd really die if she doesn't stop. Who knows what her next murder/embarrassment move will be?"

Syaoran frowned childishly. "And I thought you're finally giving in to me."

"Never!" Sakura laughed. "And you looked so silly. As if you've never kissed anyone before. You pucker your lips like an idiot."

He eased a glare. "As if you've kissed anyone before."

"None of your business."

"You act as if you mastered kissing. Want to try it now?"

Sakura giggled. "No, thank you. Maybe you'd like to try it with Meiling. I bet she'll die for your kiss."

"In your dreams."

"Hey, that's my line!"

"Wait, seriously." Syaoran turned to somewhat `serious mode' and looked far away. "Meiling even helped Mei Xin get into this. She prepared everything to be needed by her. I think they're both not taking to you…"

"I know," Sakura muttered. "As if I'm Cinderella and they're my evil stepsisters. They've made me live a day of pure hell."

"But you got through it," Syaoran added in a whisper. "Do you forgive?"

"Hmm… I think so. She said sorry, and she's just a child. Yeah."

"Ever heard of a modern day Cinderella?"

His words made her remember what she'd thought earlier that day.

"Maybe. Mei Xin's a modern day evil stepsister. She's the worst kid I've ever met. She humiliated me in front of a whole building of people."

"Weren't she just jealous because Cinderella got to be with the Prince in the end, not her?"

Sakura laughed. "Prince who? You? Don't kid me. I'll still be searching for my real Prince Charming. Your aunt ruined my time with my potential Prince Charming earlier."

"Haven't you met the real one yet? Maybe he's just beside you or something…" Syaoran trailed off, beaming at her.

"I'm sure he's not. No way. I'd better be back to being Cinderella the maid covered with cinders again, rather than marrying a prince whose name was Li Syaoran."

"But if you ask me, I've already found my Japanese Cinderella." He stared right onto Sakura's eyes.

She sighed hopelessly. "Or your Japanese Cinderella-slave."

"I didn't say that!"

"It's what you mean!"

"Not really."

"You really don't know when to stop!"

"Teach me how."

"I'd better not."

"Then teach me how to kiss."

"Dream on!"

"Don't you want to finally kiss your Prince Charming?"

"I want to, but it's not you, sorry."

"Then don't you want to kiss the cutest guy you've ever met in your life?"

"You've said that a million times, and I never want to."

"Then… uh…"

"Finally the Li Syaoran lost words! Gotta record this moment!"

…And they lived happily ever after.

…Or so we think.