Hello, Neighbor

Hello, everyone! This is my new story, "Hello, Neighbor!" This will be a major project that I will be working on followed by Promise (which is nearly ending). Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I think I said this quite a few times, but just in case: I don't own CCS or its anime. Man, I kind of wish I did though... WAHH (cries like a baby)!!!

Author's Note: Hi everyone! I'd like to try something different with this fanfiction. The Promise That I Made With You was a fanfiction based on POVs. This one will be on a third person point of view, but sometimes there are narrations made by Sakura based on her perspective (so I guess you can call it a mini POV). I think this way is better, since I was so used to POVs in Promise that I just couldn't let it go yet. They will be italicized so there won't be much confusion, but if you still don't get it, just keep reading and you'll eventually understand.

Chapter 1

The Little Stuffed Animal

Hi, my name is Kinomoto Sakura. I'm seventeen years old and a junior in Seijyu High School.

"Sakura, you're going to be late for school!" shouted a man who was in his mid twenties with short, black hair and an impatient face.

"I'm coming Touya, geez!" yelled the called girl's name as she ran down the stairs with her book bag swinging behind her. Touya quickly handed her a small bowl of rice and another bowl of soup as she sat down at the table.

"Get cracking," he snapped as he tossed her a pair of chopsticks.

"Alright, alright!" she snapped back as she started to shove the rice into her mouth.

They heard the front door open and another man about the same age as Touya walked into the kitchen.

"Hi Yukito-san!" choked Sakura, for she accidentally swallowed nearly all of the hot soup.

"Good morning Sakura," said Yukito smiling. "Didn't I tell you to drop the honorifics?"

"Oh yeah," said Sakura slowly.

"Yo," said Touya to Yukito as he took off his apron.

He looked at Sakura who was scrambling to get the dishes in the sink.

"I'll wash them," he said as she started to grab a sponge. "Hurry and go."

"Gah!" said Sakura as she tried to stuff her feet in her shoes.

I live with my older brother, Touya. Right now, my father, Fujitaka, is currently in America, teaching Japanese and Architecture at a university. My mother, Nadeshiko, died of tuberculosis ten years ago.

"Make sure you come home early," said Touya as he started the car. "I'm coming home from work early anyway."

"Okay, okay," said Sakura as she hitched up her bike. "Bye, Yukito! Bye, Jerk."

"Hmph," said Touya as Yukito beamed and went inside the car as well.

"Have fun at school Sakura!" Yukito called as the car sped away.

"Geh… I hate mornings," Sakura muttered. "Waking up early…"

She stared at the house next to her, which was more exquisite and larger than hers. Of course, it belonged to a very rich person.

She sighed and continued to ride along the sidewalk.

My neighbor is super rich; I heard she owned some sort of Fashion Company or something.

She began to ride her bike down the street and saw…

"A girl?" thought Sakura.

A young woman with long brown hair was sitting on a bench and was crying.

"H-hey…" said Sakura as she went to her. "Are you alright?"

She placed a hand on her shoulder. The girl looked up at her. She looked as though she was about the same age as Sakura and she had dark brown eyes.

"Um…" said Sakura.

"K-Kero… Kero-chan is gone…" she sobbed, her eyes filled with tears.

"Kero-chan?" thought Sakura. "Maybe he's a pet?"

"Um… what does he look like?" she said aloud.

"H-he's orange…" said the girl ("What the heck? Orange?!" thought Sakura) "And… he-he has a long fluffy tail… and small eyes…"

"Er…" said Sakura.

Her first impression was that it would be a dog or something… now it sounded like it was some sort of stuffed animal.

"Um… I need to get to school," said Sakura slowly. "But if I ever see him, I'll tell you right away!"

"Okay…!" said the girl as though Sakura had already found it. "Thank you so much!"

She smiled and waved as Sakura rode away.

"Whoa that was weird…" she thought. She heard the faint bell ring from the school.

"GAH I'M LATE!!"

She peddled as hard as she could and reached the school gates.

Hmm… that was new.

"This is the fifteenth time Kinomoto," said the principal, sighing, for he was at the gate.

"I—I'm sorry!" said Sakura as she bowed. "You see… there was this girl crying—"

"If I catch you again, you're going straight to detention young lady," he said sternly. "I'm only letting you go this time because you only missed by a minute."

"Oh okay," said Sakura. "Thank you!" She ran into the school and quietly slipped into her seat as the teacher came in.

"Sakura-chan, late again as always," said her friend Chiharu. "What happened this time?"

"Well—" started Sakura.

"Are you alright?" said her other friend Naoko.

"Eh—" said Sakura.

"She's fine," said Tomoyo. She smiled at Sakura. "Did you have trouble sleeping?"

"Um—" said Sakura.

"Oh, teacher's here," said Rika.

Sakura sighed as Terada Yoshiyuki came into the classroom.

"Good morning class," said the teacher. "Did you all do your homework?"

"Yes, Terada-sensei," said the class.

Sakura gulped. "Oh, no I forgot," she thought.

"Kinomoto!" said Terada suddenly. "What is the answer for question one?"

"Wah…" thought Sakura as she stared at her empty notebook.

Man, I sometimes hate school…

"Ooh, he was pretty rough on you," said Tomoyo as Sakura slumped on her bike and took out a box of juice.

The bell had rung and the students started walked out of the school gates, walking, riding, and taking the bus home.

"Yeah…" said Sakura. "Man, I forgot… since I helped Touya with the packing last night."

"When is he leaving?" asked Tomoyo.

"Tomorrow," Sakura replied. "With Yukito."

"Does that mean you're going to live by yourself?" Tomoyo asked amazed. "Since your brother and his friend are going to where your dad is." Sakura nodded.

"But… that's okay," she said. "I can pretty much take care of myself. And it's only for a bit."

"Sakura-chan," said Tomoyo. "If you ever need any help, ask me okay?"

"Of course," said Sakura. "I've known you for what… seven years… of course I'm going to ask you for help!"

She heard of some of the girls squealing and crying out.

"Hm?" she said. "What's going on?"

They both turned around and saw a huge group of girls crowding someone.

"Oh…" she said dully as she turned around and continued sip her juice.

"Li-kun! Li-kuuuuuuunnnnnn!" cried the girls.

Li Syaoran is known to be really good looking and smart, so he's really popular. Stupid as it is, he's basically called the Prince of the school since he's so rich. I can't believe they'd actually call him a prince; they're freaking freaks if you ask me. He's only a junior and he's that popular. I can't believe it.

Tomoyo smiled and Sakura looked ahead of the road.

Then she stared and gasped.

An orange colored stuffed animal was stuck on a tree branch.

"Hey Tomoyo-chan, do you see that?" she said.

"Is that a stuffed animal?" said Tomoyo.

"Crap, there's this girl that's been looking for it," said Sakura. "Let's go get it."

"Be careful Sakura-chan," warned Tomoyo as they both approached the tree.

"Don't worry Tomoyo-chan," said Sakura as she started to climb it.

"Hey, it's a pretty cute doll," thought Sakura as she grabbed the stuffed animal.

"Sakura-chan, the branch!" yelled Tomoyo.

"Wha—" Sakura started before she heard a branch snap. Tomoyo cried out as Sakura lost her balance and fell…

…into something soft and warm.

"Eh?" she said, opening her eyes.

She was staring at a pair of dark brown eyes.

"Li-kun!" Sakura heard a group of girls cry out. He suddenly dropped Sakura to the ground who fell on her butt.

"Ow!" said Sakura. Syaoran looked sternly at her and without another word, turned and went to his motorcycle. The girls circled around him until he wore his helmet and sped off. Then the girls gave disappointed sighs and started to walk home.

"S-Sakura-chan, are you alright?" said Tomoyo.

A couple of girls came to me.

"Li-kun saved you didn't he?" said one girl.

"I guess…" said Sakura as she stood up.

"He's so cool," chorused the girls dreamily.

"If you say so…" said Sakura irritably as she walked to her bike. Tomoyo giggled.

Even though a guy is popular, doesn't mean he's a nice guy. Hmph… jerk.

Sakura rode to where she met the girl, and sure enough, she was still sitting on the bench, looking gloomier than ever.

"Hey!" said Sakura as she went to her. The girl looked up at her, and stared.

Sakura rummaged through her bag and took out the plushie.

"Is this Kero-chan?" she asked.

The girl looked like she was going to die from happiness.

"THANK YOU!" she cried as she hugged Sakura.

"Gah! N-No problem…" said Sakura as the girl released her grip on her.

The girl grabbed the plushie and sobbed again. "I thought I lost him!" she said.

"Well, I'm happy for you," said Sakura as she smiled. "Is that one of a kind? I never saw that before."

"Um… yes he is," said the girl as she wiped her eyes. "He's extremely important to me. Thank you!"

Sakura smiled again. She couldn't help but feel… happy, but at the same time, confused. Why is she referring the doll as a he?

"What's your name?" said the girl.

"Oh… Kinomoto Sakura," said Sakura. The girl stared at her.

"Um…" said Sakura. "Is there something wrong?"

"No!" said the girl. "My name is… Akizuki Nakuru!"

They smiled at each other.

"Well… I gotta go," said Sakura. "See you later."

"Bye bye!" said Nakuru as she waved and saw Sakura ride away.

"She was cute, wasn't she?" said Nakuru.

"Whatever…" said a voice.

As you heard, my brother and his friend are going to meet my father in America, and they're all going to return here in a few months. Which means…

"I'm home," said Sakura as she opened the door.

"You're late squirt," said Touya as he approached her, sweating a bit.

"Sorry… I was helping someone find something," she said.

"Well, whatever," he said. "C'mon, bring that bag over here."

He pointed to a large black bag and pointed it to the living room. He was in the middle of carrying a huge, stuffed brown bag to the car. There was some stuff along the floor, ready to be packed.

"Oh okay…" said Sakura as she casually looked out of the window.

She saw a young man with short brown hair walking by her house…

…carrying a small orange plushie with beady eyes…

"Oh my…" thought Sakura.

"T-TOUYA, I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!" she cried as she began to wear her sneakers.

"Wait, what are you—?" started Touya, but she had already ran out of the house.

She ran to the guy who was walking and screamed, "HEY YOU!"

The guy turned around puzzled, clutching the orange stuffed animal. She couldn't see his face for a moment, but that didn't matter.

"It's extremely important to me."

"RAWR!" cried Sakura as she tackled him to the ground.

The guy gave a huge, "OOF!" and they both fell to the ground, with Sakura on top of him.

"Hey you! What do you think you're doing!" screamed Sakura as she tried to stand up. "You thief…?"

She stared. It was Li Syaoran.

"Get off of me!" he yelled as he pushed her off. "And I'm not a thief!"

Sakura snapped out of her stare.

"You stole this!" she said as she held the plushie that was unmistakably Nakuru's.

"No I didn't!" he said, quite irritated. "I didn't steal it!"

"Yes you did! From a girl right?!" she said. "Spill it, you rotten thief!"

Syaoran gave her a second stare and said slowly, "Look girl, it's none of your business okay? Give it back to me."

"I'm not giving it back to a thief!" said Sakura angrily.

"Will you give me the damn doll?!" he yelled. "Give it back, please!"

"NO!" snapped Sakura as Syaoran nearly blew away from her rage. "I'm returning it to its rightful owner!"

She stomped away, plushie on hand, to her house.

"Sakura, what happened?" said Yuktio as he came to her when she entered the house.

"Nothing… nothing…" said Sakura, her breath heaving. "Just holding this for a friend…"

She wondered if the guy would come after her… but he didn't.

"Hmph, freaking bastard," she thought. "How dare he steal from a person?! I can't believe he'd stoop that low as to stealing. And I thought he was rich."

Then she trembled a bit. What if he went after her at school?

"C'mon, Sakura," said Touya. "I need these all packed by tomorrow!"

"Okay, okay," she said as she placed the plushie on the kitchen table and started to help Touya put away stuff in the bag.

…I'm going to live by myself for a while.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Touya finally placed the last bag into the car. The sunny Sunday morning got Sakura wide awake.

"See you later Sakura…" said Yukito as he patted her head. She smiled as he went inside the car.

She stared at Touya who sighed and looked at her face for a moment. Yukito quietly waited for him in the car.

"Be careful squirt," he said as he ruffled her hair.

"Hey…!" she said. She noticed that he didn't remove his hand from her head.

He suddenly wrapped his free arm around her and gave her a tight hug.

"Take care… Sakura," he said softly. "We'll be back soon."

She smiled at him, and he grinned. Then she saw him go in the car as well and started the engine.

She waved as the car sped away and slowly sighed.

"I guess I'm all alone for a few months…" she muttered.

She went inside the house and stared at the kitchen table. The stuffed animal was…

"What the—?" she said. "It's gone!"

She frantically searched throughout the kitchen, but there was no sign of it.

"Great…" she thought. "I lost—"

"Kero-chan!" cried a voice.

It sounded strangely familiar.

She spun around and saw Nakuru running around, calling for Kero.

"A-Akizuki!" said Sakura as she opened the door.

"OH!" said Nakuru, showing the familiar stream of tears of her face. "I lost Kero-chan, AGAIN!"

"Oh… er…" said Sakura. "I… er… saw it."

"You did?" exclaimed Nakuru. "WHERE?"

"Er… it's inside my house somewhere," said Sakura. "I can't find it. You can come in to help me look for it."

"Oh—okay!" said Nakuru wiping her tears again. "Thank you!"

She went inside and we both started to look in the living room.

"So… how did you lose it?" asked Sakura.

"This… um… really mean person came and hit me," said Nakuru sadly. "And then stole Kero away!"

Sakura thought about Syaoran. "Man… and he said he didn't steal…" she muttered.

"A he?" said Nakuru blankly.

"Yeah… why?" said Sakura slowly.

"Oh… nothing," she said.

Sakura stared at her.

"Where is your kitchen?" Nakuru asked quickly.

"Um… over here…" she said pointing. They both walked to the table.

"I placed him here… and now he's gone," Sakura explained. "I hope my brother didn't take it."

"Oh… he didn't," said Nakuru.

"Eh? How do you know?" said Sakura.

"Just a feeling," said Nakuru quickly as she opened a cookie jar

"What the…" said Sakura. The orange plushie was sitting on top of a small amount of cookies inside the jar.

"Did Touya put this here?" said Sakura. "And… almost all the cookies are gone!"

"Oh… I'm so sorry…" said Nakuru. "To give you so much trouble to find Kero…"

"Oh, it's okay," said Sakura. "I know how much he's precious to you."

"Thank you," said Nakuru. "Kinomoto-san, may I call you Sakura-chan?"

"Er… okay," said Sakura Nakuru gave her a wide smile. "You can call me Nakuru-chan okay?" she said. "Let's be friends!"

Sakura felt Nakuru grab her hand and slowly shook it, with the other hand firmly grabbing Kero.

"Make sure you don't lose it," said Sakura slowly. She felt something weird about the stuffed animal.

"Don't worry, I won't!" said Nakuru. "Thank you!"

Sakura smiled again. Something about her made her feel… floaty.

"I'll see you later!" said Nakuru as she walked out of the house.

"Bye…!" said Sakura, and she closed the door.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"You beat up Li Syaoran?" said Chiharu amazed.

"No… I just—" started Sakura.

"She was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Tomoyo casually.

"Yeah, that must've been it, right Sakura-chan?" said Rika calmly.

"Yeah…" Sakura said slowly.

The school bell rang for lunch.

"Alright, class dismissed," said Ms. Mizuki Kaho.

The students rushed out of the class to get their lunches. Kaho slowly went to Sakura and smiled at her.

"Good job, Sakura," she said. "I heard from Touya that you're going to live by yourself for some time. If you need anything, I'm here to help, alright?"

"Okay, Mizuki-sensei," said Sakura.

Kaho smiled once more and left the room to get her lunch as well.

"Mizuki-sensei really likes you Sakura-chan," said Tomoyo as she unpacked her box lunch.

"Yeah, she and Touya knew each other for some time," said Sakura. "I got to know her through him."

Nobody knows this, but Mizuki-sensei and Touya used to date a long time ago. Something happened though… I think it was because of her work that made them break up. But they still continued to be friends and every once in a while Mizuki-sensei gives me food and clothes. If I were bored or alone in the house, I usually visit Mizuki-sensei's house to hang out with her since she doesn't live that far away from me. She's a pretty fun person to hang out with.

"She's pretty cool for a teacher," said Naoko.

"Yeah…" Sakura started.

"Hey you," said a voice. They all looked up and Sakura gulped.

It was Li Syaoran… again.

Naoko and Chiharu stared and slightly blushed. Tomoyo and Rika stared as well, but instead of blushing, had mildly surprised expressions on their faces.

"Hu… yeah?" said Sakura, her voice trembling a bit.

"Wh-Why am I scared?" she thought. "He should be scared of me!"

"I need to talk to you," he said slowly. "Come with me."

"Er… okay…" she said.

There was a huge group of girls waiting for him, but Syaoran waved his hand and his friends came to block them.

They went inside an empty classroom. Sakura gulped again. Syaoran stared intently at her.

"So…" he said.

"Er…" said Sakura.

Sakura's mind was racing. She couldn't think of what to say. Was he going to beat her up in revenge of what she did to him?

"Do you know?" he said suddenly.

"Wh-what?" said Sakura blankly.

He took a few steps closer to her, so that Sakura could see the pupils in his eyes.

"H-Hey what are you…?" started Sakura until his face was only a few inches away from hers.

He leaned in further and whispered to her ear.

"Answer me."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" said Sakura. Syaoran drew away from her, his expression solid and unreadable.

"So you don't…" he muttered.

"I… guess?" said Sakura staring.

"Fine…" he said.

"Why did you steal from Nakuru-chan?" she blurted. He nearly glared at her.

"You're still onto me for that aren't you?" he scoffed. "I didn't steal."

"But..." she started.

"Fine, believe what you want," he said. "Girls are always like that."

Sakura wanted to punch him, but a voice in the back of her head warned her not to.

He started to walk out of the class. Then he tilted his head slightly so he could see her.

"By the way," he said. "Don't touch me ever again."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"What a fucking jerk," muttered Sakura as she waited at the signal. She had just finished grocery shopping and was heading home.

Sakura held her umbrella up higher as the rain got thicker.

She began to cross when she heard a sneeze. Sakura turned around and stared.

"N-Nakuru-chan," she said. Nakuru smiled and sneezed again. She was wearing a huge coat and jeans.

"Y-You're soaked!" said Sakura.

"Oh… yes, I forgot to bring an umbrella," said Nakuru. "I'm a little cold…"

"Nakuru-chan where do you live?" said Sakura as she tried to cover both of them up with the umbrella.

"Pretty far…" said Nakuru.

"Er, hey," said Sakura. "Take a bath at my house okay? I'm living by myself for a while, so it's okay. When the rain stops, you can go home."

"Thank you…!" said Nakuru.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Here you go," said Sakura as she handed Nakuru two towels.

"Thank you," said Nakuru as she wiped her wet face.

"You can take a bath downstairs, I'll use my parent's bathroom," said Sakura. "And you can use these."

She also handed Nakuru a set of pajamas.

"You can wear these while your clothes dry," she explained.

"Oh… thank you so much," said Nakuru as she took her bag and tower to the bathroom.

"Er… no problem," said Sakura. "I'll see you later."

She went upstairs and heard Nakuru starting the bathtub downstairs and walked to parent's bathroom.

She took off her clothes and turned on the faucet.

"She's really nice I guess…" she thought. "Better than that stupid Li Syaoran."

When she was done washing she went downstairs and saw that the downstairs bathroom lights were still on.

"Eh? Nakuru-chan you're still washing?" said Sakura.

There was no answer.

Life at times is known to be strange...

Sakura, puzzled, saw that the pajamas were outside of the bathroom door. She took it and went inside (There are two doors in the bathroom).

"At least Nakuru is a girl," she thought. "That way this wouldn't be so embarrassing…"

"Nakuru-chan?" she called. "I have your pajamas."

But for this… it's quite ridiculous.

The door opened before she reached the doorknob. Lots of steam gushed out of the door and a tall figure came out. She stared at the figure and the pajamas she held dropped to the floor.

Li Syaoran, covered by a towel, stared right back at her.

To be continued…

Whoa, what the hell is going on? Until next time! Please review!