Hi everyone! This is Chapter 2! I'm really happy that I got a lot of reviews for the first chapter! So I decided to hurry and update today for all who were anxious on seeing what was going to happen. Thanks everyone!

Chapter 2

The Guy Next Door

They stared at each other for ten seconds. Small drops of water fell from Syaoran's hair.

"KYAAAA!" screamed Sakura as she covered her eyes with the pajamas.

"AAHHHH!" yelled Syaoran, grabbing another towel to cover more of himself.

"Wh-What are you doing here?!" she cried.

"You kidnapped me!" he shouted.

"What the hell?!" she shrieked. "Why would I kidnap a jerk like you?!"

"Beats me, I'm the victim!" he snapped. "And don't call me a jerk!"

"Where's Nakuru-chan?" she exclaimed, peeking a bit to look around for her. "You didn't kill her, did you?!"

Syaoran looked surprised. "No…" he started.

Sakura stared at him with a puzzled expression. He looked horrified.

"Nakuru is not here," said a voice. Sakura looked around to see where it came from; she certainly knew it wasn't Syaoran, for his mouth didn't move.

Something moved behind her and Sakura spun around. It was the stuffed animal.

"What…?" she started.

"Nakuru is not here," it repeated.

For a moment, Sakura believed it was her imagination that was messing with her. A stuffed animal talking…?

It blinked at her.

"IT-IT TALKED?!" she cried, backing away.

"Kero, what the hell are you doing?!" said Syaoran sharply.

Sakura turned to Syaoran. He knew the stuffed animal can talk? And… how does he know its name?

"It looks like the spell reversed on you for today," said the stuffed animal. "Lucky you, Syaoran."

"Lucky?" exclaimed Syaoran. "She knows now!"

"Quit howling," snapped the stuffed animal. "She was going to find out eventually."

"But—" started Syaoran.

"YEEEEKKKKK!" screeched Sakura.

She grabbed as many towels and hairbrushes she can take, throwing them all at Kero and Syaoran, who tried their best to cover themselves.

"Ouch!" said Kero.

"Eh, stop—!" snapped Syaoran.

"THIS IS A DREAM RIGHT?" yelled Sakura, pinching herself everywhere. "THIS IS—WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?"

"Girl, come down—!"

"WAHHHHH!" said Sakura, grabbing a pillow and slamming it unto Kero's face. He flew across the room, totally stunned by her blow.

"Hey—!" said Syaoran, getting closer, shielding himself with his hand. "STOP!"

She ran towards the phone and dialed for the police

"H-Hello?" said Sakura quickly and out of breath. "Um, there's this guy who's naked and a stuffed toy that can talk—"

"STOP HER!" roared Kero, zooming at Sakura with his miniature wings.

"EYAAH!"

Syaoran tried tackling Sakura while Kero tried putting the phone back on the receiver. Sakura dodged Syaoran's hands from grabbing her, as she ran across the room.

"GO AWAY, YOU FREAK!" screamed Sakura as she grabbed another pillow.

"LISTEN, DON'T FREAK OUT—" started Syaoran as he grabbed the pillow that she was holding.

She ran to the bed and tried to get more pillows, but Syaoran ran to her and threw the pillows from her reach.

"AHHH!" cried Sakura. "I'M GOING TO GET RAPED!"

"YOU SICK FREAK, I'M NOT GOING TO—" started Syaoran.

He tried to grab the alarm clock she was holding from her, but instead, lost his balance and fell…

…on top of her…

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" they both yelled out.

POOF!

Sakura coughed a bit from the small smoke that came up. Kero looked bored.

"Aiya, it can't be helped," he sighed. "Are you guys done having fun now?"

"Ah…" said a familiar voice.

Sakura stared through the thick smoke that gradually cleared away.

Nakuru, half naked, looked around curiously and coughed a bit from the smoke as well.

"N-Nakuru-chan?" exclaimed Sakura.

"Oh, Sakura-chan!" said Nakuru brightly. "You have a really nice bath—"

"Cover yourself up, please!" cried Sakura as she tried to cover up Nakuru's top part of her body with a towel.

"Do you see now? Nakuru and Syaoran is the same person," said Kero slowly. "Hmm… well not the same, but they inhabit the same body."

"How…?" said Sakura. Nakuru started to wear the pajamas.

"Whenever Syaoran touches a woman, he turns into Nakuru," explained Kero. "If Nakuru touches a man, she will change into Syaoran."

Sakura gasped.

"Don't touch me ever again."

"Was that why… he said that?" she thought.

"But how did Nakuru-chan change into Li?" said Sakura. "I'm pretty sure I don't have any men in this house."

"Oh… well, he can turn back sometimes without touching a guy," said Kero lightly.

"Why's that?" said Sakura.

"I dunno…" said Kero slowly. He sighed. "Well enough explaining," he said. "I think you got what's going on."

"What are you then?" said Sakura to Kero.

"Nothing important," he replied.

Sakura had the feeling that she shouldn't ask anymore questions.

"Ooh, these are really comfy Sakura-chan," said Nakuru as she looked at herself with the pajamas on.

Sakura sighed. Syaoran would never act like that.

"Well anyways," said Kero. "I guess we can't go anywhere since it's still raining. Do you mind that we eat here? I'm hungry."

"Ooh, can we?" said Nakuru pleadingly.

"Eh…" said Sakura. "O… okay…"

"Yay! Let's eat ramen!" said Nakuru.

Something about Nakuru made Sakura's spirits lift high.

"Oh… okay!" said Sakura. They both smiled at each other as Kero looked at the ramen packs.

"I want two!" he said.

"Hey… were you the one who ate all my cookies?" asked Sakura sternly.

"Er… well… I was hungry…" said Kero nervously.

"Eh, well, ask next time okay?" said Sakura.

"Okay…" said Kero as he watched Nakuru take out four packs of ramen from the grocery bag.

"Ah! Hot!" cried Nakuru as she put the stale noodles in the boiling water. Sakura laughed as Kero scolded Nakuru.

"Nakuru-chan… acts totally opposite of Li…" thought Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, it smells really good doesn't it?" said Nakuru happily as she watched Kero put four eggs into the pot.

"Yeah…" said Sakura.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Itadakimasu!" said Kero as he began to eat the ramen. Sakura could hardly believe that something his size would eat so much.

"Kero-chan, you're such a pig!" said Nakuru smiling.

"Kero… that's your name right?" said Sakura.

Kero gave a huge swallow and said, "Actually, my name is Cerberus."

"No it's not, it's Kero-chan!" said Nakuru.

"Quiet you!" said Kero angrily as he hit Nakuru with his chopsticks.

"Well, since Li calls you Kero, I'll call you Kero-chan too," said Sakura as Nakuru rubbed her forehead painfully.

"Whatever," said Kero, then he continued eating his ramen.

I wonder if anyone knows besides me…

"Wow, that was really good!" said Nakuru as she and Sakura both placed their chopsticks down (Kero finished a long time ago).

"Eating ramen on rainy days makes it taste better," said Kero, eating a cookie.

"Yeah, I guess…" said Sakura. All this happened so fast, so she was still getting used to it.

"Sakura…" said Kero more sternly. "You have to keep this a secret okay? Don't tell anyone."

"I know, I won't tell," said Sakura. She first thought about telling Tomoyo, but she decided not to after what Kero said.

She looked outside. The rain had stopped.

"Well, thanks for the food," said Kero as Nakuru brought in the dry clothes. She changed into them and returned the pajamas to Sakura.

"Thank you so much, Sakura-chan," said Nakuru smiling. "We're counting on you, okay?"

"Er, right," said Sakura.

"Bye!" said Nakuru as she waved. Kero went inside the jacket pocket and Nakuru walked away.

Sakura slowly closed the door and sighed as she sat down on the couch.

"What a day…" she said.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Hey, Sakura-chan, you're up early," said Tomoyo.

"Oh… yeah I went to sleep early," said Sakura as they both started to walk up to the classroom.

"Oh?" said Tomoyo as she looked up.

"Hm?" said Sakura as she looked to where Tomoyo was looking at. She stared.

Syaoran walked up to them unintentionally and stared right back. They both jumped back at the sight at each other.

"Um…" started Tomoyo.

"You…" he whispered staring at Sakura.

"Yeek!" thought Sakura. Suddenly, he grabbed her arm (her uniform had long sleeves) and began to drag her away from Tomoyo.

"Hey, what are you—?" started Sakura.

"We need to talk," said Syaoran.

"S-Sakura-chan?" said Tomoyo, looking alarmed.

"Help me…" whispered Sakura to Tomoyo as Syaoran dragged her away.

"E-Eh?! S-Sakura-chan…!" said Tomoyo as a group of girls covered her from seeing where Sakura went.

Syaoran dragged Sakura into another empty classroom.

"Hmm… why does this look so familiar…?" thought Sakura.

"What happened?" said Syaoran. "Yesterday…"

"Oh, you mean when you were trying to rape me?" said Sakura casually.

"I wasn't trying to rape you!" said Syaoran, annoyed. "I fell!"

"Well, you turned into Nakuru-chan, if that's what you wanted to know," said Sakura staring at him. "Wait… you don't remember?"

"What?" said Syaoran. "Of course not…"

"So when… so if you turn into Nakuru-chan, you don't remember a thing?" asked Sakura amazed.

"No…" said Syaoran.

"Were you… born like this?" she asked nervously.

"No…" he said. "It happened, a while ago…"

"Kero-chan said it was a spell," said Sakura. "Did you do some kind of hocus pocus thing or something?"

Syaoran stared glumly at Sakura as she made witchlike gestures with her hands.

"This isn't a spell… it's a curse," he said quietly.

"Eh…?" said Sakura. "How did you get it?"

"Well I—" started Syaoran.

Suddenly, the door banged open and a huge swarm of girls came out.

"LI-KUN!" they screamed as they started to crowd around them.

"Oh no, what if one of them touches him…?" thought Sakura as she felt some of the girls push her away.

"Hey—stop—!" started Syaoran as the girls crowded around him.

POOF!

"Ahh!" said Sakura. There was a blast of smoke and quite a few girls screamed.

"L-Li?!" said Sakura as she tried to see where he was. She saw Nakuru try to get herself away from the crowd.

"N-Nakuru-chan!" said Sakura and Nakuru turned to her, obviously scared.

"Where did Li-kun go?" said a girl. The smoke was clearing.

Without thinking, Sakura took off Nakuru's jacket and covered Nakuru's face.

"L-Li doesn't feel so good right now," she said quickly. "So um, he needs to—uh—get to the restroom!"

She and Nakuru ran together out of the class before the girls said anything.

"You okay?" said Sakura, still holding the jacket covering Nakuru.

"Sakura-chan, I'm so sorry," said Nakuru in a muffled voice. "I didn't know—"

"It's okay, let's go," said Sakura. They both ran to the girl's restroom.

"How did Li get away from all this?" said Sakura as she looked around to see if anyone was in the stalls.

"He was usually surrounded by his guy friends," Nakuru explained. "Or he just stayed away from the girls."

"Wait, you remember?" said Sakura, surprised.

"Yes…" said Nakuru. "I can't control what he does though. I can only watch."

"Oh…" said Sakura. "Okay, well, we either need to get you a girl's uniform… or… get you to touch a guy—"

POOF!

"WHOA!" said Sakura as Syaoran took out the jacket from his head.

"Damn it…" he said as Sakura cleared away the smoke with her hands.

He looked around himself.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed. "I'm in the girl's restroom!"

"Oh, um sorry," said Sakura. "I didn't know where else to take you."

"Ugh…" said Syaoran as both of them went out of the bathroom.

A couple of girls were going inside and stared at Syaoran as he came out.

"L-Li-kun?" they stammered in unison. "What are you doing…?"

"Oh…" said Sakura. But Syaoran turned away quickly from them and walked hurriedly outside.

The girls looked a little freaked. "Is it me, or did Li-kun act a little strange today?" said one girl.

"Maybe he's just like that…" said the other girl.

"He just stayed away from the girls."

"Hm, so I guess the girls just watch him from far away, without even meeting him…" thought Sakura. "Dang, he's like a freaking celebrity or something!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" said Tomoyo as she and Sakura walked out of the classroom.

"Yeah…" said Sakura, sighing. "Never been better…"

"What did Li want?" said Tomoyo.

"Oh… nothing," said Sakura. "He was just asking if—"

"Hey you," said a familiar voice. Sakura slowly turned around. It was Syaoran again. Sakura was surprised that he would even come back to her.

"Oh… uh hi," said Sakura. Tomoyo looked at Syaoran curiously.

"Want me to take you home?" he said slowly.

Sakura stared. Tomoyo did as well.

"Er—" started Sakura.

"Oh, was that what he was asking you?" said Tomoyo smiling. "Go on ahead Sakura-chan. I'll see you Monday!"

"Hey—wait!" said Sakura, but Syaoran grabbed her by the arm again and took her to his motorcycle.

"Hi, Sakura!" said Kero as he popped out of the book bag.

"Kero-chan!" said Sakura as Syaoran gave her a helmet.

"Wear this," said Syaoran. "And hold tight."

"I thought you said I shouldn't touch you anymore," said Sakura. "Doesn't that bother you?"

"Not really," said Syaoran as he put on his own helmet. "You already know anyway." Kero went back inside the bag.

Maybe… Li can be more than he seems.

"Thanks…" said Sakura as she handed Syaoran back his helmet. They arrived at her house.

Syaoran stared at the house next to hers. There was a huge truck parked outside.

"I didn't know you lived here…" he said, looking back at her house.

"Oh?" said Sakura. "Don't you live far from here?"

"…"

"…?"

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow I guess," said Syaoran finally.

"Oh, you mean Monday?" said Sakura.

Syaoran didn't reply and drove off.

"He must feel awkward since I know his secret now…" thought Sakura. She shrugged and went inside the house.

There was a telephone call.

"Hello?" said Sakura.

"Hey Sakura, how are you doing?" said Touya.

"Oh Touya! You made a safe trip," said Sakura. "I'm doing okay."

"Okay that's good," said Touya. "Dad can't come to the phone right now, but he'll call later okay? I'll talk to you later."

"Oh okay," said Sakura.

Click.

She placed the phone down and went upstairs to her bedroom.

She sighed and lied on the bed.

"Even though last night turned out weird…" she thought. "I didn't feel lonely at all… like I am now…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Mmph?" moaned Sakura as she slowly got up from bed. "Oh yeah… I gotta go buy… soba…"

She got up, and dressed up to go out. When she walked outside, she heard a door open and close. She turned to see the house next to her and yelled out.

"L-LI?!" she cried. He was wearing a brown shirt with white jeans.

"Hey, be quiet," he said as he walked down his house's steps to get a newspaper. "My mom is still sleeping."

"Wha?! You live here too?!" she said. "I thought Nakuru-chan said that you lived far away."

He scratched his head and said, "I used to, but I'm living with my mom for a while."

"He was the rich woman's son?" she thought.

"Did you live with your dad or something?" she said aloud as they both sat down on the steps.

"No, I lived by myself," he replied.

"He had his own house?!" she thought.

"Oh… how wonderful…" she said weakly. "Well, I guess you're my new neighbor now…"

"I guess," said Syaoran.

"Why are you living with your mom anyway?" said Sakura.

"She's getting ill," said Syaoran. "I'm taking care of her."

"Oh… I hope she's okay," she said. Syaoran stared at her.

"Wah! Was it something I said?" thought Sakura.

"Mind your own business," he said finally as he stood up and walked back to his house.

"Hmph," said Sakura.

And maybe he's not.

Sakura returned home and found a letter in her mailbox.

"Hm?" she said as she opened it. She gaped and stared wide-eyed at the letter. It was from her school.

To the parents of Kinomoto Sakura:

We would like to inform you that the school year's payments for the school year, involving Sakura-san's uniform, locker space, books, and classes have not been paid yet. If you do not pay at the end of Saturday, your child will not be able to attend school. The price has been placed at the bottom at this letter. Please contact the school principal for further questions.

Sakura looked at the list of things that weren't paid yet and down to the total of: 115,364 yen. (A/N: This is equivalent to 1,000 US dollars)

"WHAT THE HELL?!" shrieked Sakura. She ran upstairs and dialed Touya's cell phone.

"I'm not here right now. Please leave a message."

Sakura slammed the receiver down. "Stupid Touya!" she cried. "I don't have that kind of money! Why the hell did he forget?!"

My life… just got from strange to bad.

"One hundred thousand yen?!" said Rika. "That's a lot!"

"I know…" said Sakura as she slammed her face on the table.

"You have to pay it by yourself too…" said Tomoyo sadly. "I can help you if you want."

"No… it's okay," said Sakura. "I don't want to be a burden to you."

"Oh…" said Chiharu. "Poor Sakura-chan. But, didn't your brother pay for it?"

"Obviously he didn't," said Sakura dully. "I guess he forgot since he was so busy packing and stuff…"

Sakura looked up and saw Syaoran sitting with some friends and partially surrounded by girls.

Then something clicked inside her brain.

"I could ask Li for money, since he's really rich," she thought. "Plus he owes me since I'm keeping his secret!"

"I got it!" she said aloud.

"Eh?" said her friends in unison.

This is what happens when strange and bad things mix together.

"H-Hey Li!" called Sakura as she saw Syaoran was wearing his helmet. The bell had rung for the end of the day, and almost everyone had left.

"What?" he said as he looked at her.

"I need to ask you a BIG favor!" she said.

"No," said Syaoran shortly as he went on his motorcycle.

"Hey c'mon!" said Sakura. "I'm keeping your secret!"

Syaoran sighed. "Do you see why I'm keeping this curse a secret?" he said. "People like you take advantage of me."

"I-I'm not…!" said Sakura. "And I'm sure Nakuru-chan would hear me out if I asked her to…"

"Fine, what do you want?" said Syaoran.

"Er…" said Sakura. She couldn't say it…

She was now thinking about what Syaoran had just said.

"People like you take advantage of me."

"Eh…" said Sakura.

"Well?" said Syaoran impatiently.

"Er, can I… have a ride?" she said. "I can't use my bike anymore… since it broke…"

Syaoran looked at her for a moment.

"Okay," he said. "Here."

He gave her a helmet. She held onto his stomach as he drove to her house.

"Er… thanks," she said when they reached to her house. He parked his motorcycle through his house gate.

"See you later," said Syaoran. He looked at her and saw that her face had a sad expression.

"What's wrong?" he said.

"Oh… it-it's nothing," said Sakura as she smiled at him. "I'll see you later, okay?"

She went inside her house.

"What's her problem?" said Syaoran.

"You're so stupid," said Kero, who came out of his jacket pocket.

"Shut up," said Syaoran as he went inside his house.

Sakura sighed and sat on the couch, holding a cushion.

"If I ask him… I'm just like everyone else that Li thinks I am…" she thought. "And… he's right. It's like blackmailing him…"

She sighed again and closed her eyes.

"What do I do…?" she thought.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Syaoran went to class and placed his book bag on his desk.

"Hey Li," said Yamazaki Takashi. "I hope you didn't get raided by the girls again."

"Eh, they're all annoying as usual," said Syaoran.

"Don't hate them," said Takashi. "They just like you."

Syaoran snorted.

"Sakura-chan didn't come to school today," said a girl. Syaoran turned to see who it was; it was Chiharu. She was talking to Naoko.

"Oh, is she sick?" said Naoko.

"I dunno," said Chiharu. "I'm worried."

Syaoran stared at his bag.

"She was… acting a little weird…" he thought. "But… why should I care?"

"Oh no, I bet she's getting stressed out because of the money," said Naoko. "How can you pay that much by yourself?"

"Money…?" he thought.

"Maybe she's looking for a job…" said Chiharu.

"Hmm…" he thought.

After school, avoiding the crowd of girls, he went straight home. He knocked into Sakura's door.

"Syaoran, are you worried about her?" said Kero.

"No," said Syaoran. "I'm just going to ask her something."

The door opened, and Sakura came out. She looked tired than usual.

"Oh, Li?" she said mildly. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?" said Syaoran.

"Oh… sure," said Sakura.

He came inside and sat on the living room couch as Sakura brought tea and cake.

"Ooh!" said Kero as he took a plate and placed a slice himself.

"Don't eat it all Kero-chan," she said.

"Don't worry…" said Kero, though he looked a little sad.

Syaoran watched Sakura make three cups of tea.

"Kinomoto, why weren't you at school today?" he said.

"Oh… er…" said Sakura. "I didn't feel so good…"

"Are you in some sort of trouble?" said Syaoran. He noticed that there was a small pile of advertisements on the floor.

"Eh—" started Sakura.

"Syaoran was worried about you," said Kero.

"I was NOT!" said Syaoran angrily as Kero rolled his eyes. "I'm just asking!"

Kero continued to eat his cake as Syaoran cleared his throat.

"I heard you need money," he continued.

"EH—?" said Sakura. "How do you—?"

"How much?" he interrupted.

"About one hundred and fifteen thousand yen…" said Sakura slowly.

Syaoran paused a bit. "What is it for?" he asked.

"School payments…" said Sakura.

"Where are the rest of your family?" said Kero.

"They're in America right now," said Sakura.

"I see…" said Syaoran. He hesitated, and then said, "I'll give you money. That's what you wanted to ask me before, right?"

Sakura stared at him.

"Do you want money or not?" said Syaoran impatiently again.

"Oh, yes I do," said Sakura. "But… I'll feel bad…"

"Why?" said Syaoran.

"Because… you said you didn't want people taking advantage of you…" said Sakura.

"But this isn't taking advantage," he said.

"Huh?" said Sakura.

"You have to do a favor for me too," said Syaoran. "If you want me to give you the money…"

"F-Favor?" said Sakura.

"Yeah," said Syaoran. He paused a bit again. Then said, "Pretend to be my girlfriend for a while, and I'll give you the money."

"WHAT?" cried Sakura.

To be continued…

Whoa, what does Syaoran want? Until next time! Please review!