Project CCS Part 1: Love and Marriage

            The school bell rang at Tomoeda Elementary School.  Everyone stood up as they saw Terada-sensei enter the room.  He signaled all of them to sit.  "Today, class, I'm going to explain a very large project: your marriage project."  The class began to groan and whisper.  He continued.  "The groups are one boy and one girl playing a couple.  There will be two parts.  The first part is the marriage.  You will be in charge of recording your preparations and expenses for the wedding as well as your expenses for other things, like the honeymoon and such."

Meiling raised her hand.  "Terada-sensei?  Will we pick the partner?" She glanced over to Syaoran Li, who looked away.

"Actually," Terada-sensei pointed to a plastic bowl sitting on his desk.  "Partners will be determined by the husband drawing names.  Now boys, come up to the front and make a line.  Pick a name and don't tell anyone yet."  All the boys in the class did what they were told.  Some boys made disgusted faces while others jumped for joy.  Syaoran pulled one out and blushed a fierce red.

All the boys returned to their seats when they were done.  "Now," Terada-sensei said, "You have to go to your partner or in this case, 'fiancée' when I say so.  Afterwards, you both will draw your occupations and wages.  In 2 weeks, your record of marriage expenses are due and then we can hold a 'mock marriages.'"

He pulled out two baseball caps filled with bits of paper.  "You may now head to your partner and I will pass out your jobs."

            Sakura looked up and saw Tomoyo sitting next to Sano, one of the most popular boys in the class.  She noticed Meiling was sitting next to Kintaro, who's had a big crush on her.  She wasn't too happy about it.  Sakura looked behind her.  Syaoran still sat there.  "Syaoran-kun, what are you still doing here?"

            "I...I'm already sitting next to my partner," he responded and showed her the piece of paper.  It had the name "Kinomoto Sakura" on it.

            "Oh wow!" Sakura commented.  She seemed not to notice his blushing cheeks.  "I would never have guessed that we would be paired up!  This will be great!"

            Terada-sensei approached them.  "All right you two.  The red cap is for the girls and the blue is for the boys."

            After Sakura and Syaoran picked their papers, they looked at it.  "Mine says 'teacher'," Sakura said.  " 'Teacher (subject depends on your personal choice).'"

            "Yah, mine says that too," said Syaoran.

            "Cool!  How about we say we're a married couple at the same school?" Sakura suggested.

            "Yah, that'd be cool," he agreed.

            After that, Terada-sensei went to each couple and wrote down their information.

3

            "I'm a music teacher!" Sakura exclaimed.  It was lunchtime and everyone was talking about the project.  "Syaoran wanted to be a soccer coach, so Terada-sensei gave him the position of PE instructor and the coach thing."

            "I got a fashion designer and Sano got an actor," Tomoyo cooed.  She looked at Meiling.  "What about you, Meiling?"

            Meiling took a big bite of her sandwich. "I work at a ramen shop and Kintaro works at a big computer company."

            "Well, Takashi owns an advertising agency while I'm a video store clerk!" Chiharu complained.  "This is awful!" She turned to her remaining friends.  "What do you girls have?"

            "I'm a nurse and Hoji is a pro-baseball player," Naoko answered.

            "I'm a secretary for Aoshi's music company," Rika said.

            Meiling and Chiharu sighed in despair.  "Dangit..." they said together.

            "I wished I was paired up with Syaoran..." Meiling muttered.

            Tomoyo whispered to Sakura.  "Hey, that means Li-kun will be paying visits to your house."

            Sakura blushed slightly.  "Yah, I guess so."  She has had a crush on Syaoran LI for a while now.  She doesn't really know when it started but she knew she definitely liked him for than as a friend.

3

            The weekend came and Sakura was very, very nervous.  Syaoran would be coming over about the project.  She spent the past two hours finding an outfit with Kero's comments between her running around. 

            "Hey monster! Your...friend's here," Touya called from the bottom of the staircase. 

            "Coming!" Sakura called.  "Kero-chan, have you seen my pink headband?"

            "What?" Kero's eyes were glued to the videogame.  "The one with the pink cherry blossom on the side?"

            "Yah! Yah! Where is it?" She exclaimed. 

            "Dunno."

            She groaned in frustration.  That headband matched perfectly with her pink pleated jumper.  "Now what do I do with my hair?"

            "Just leave it," Kero smugly suggested. "It's only the kid."

            She looked at herself into he mirror.  She picked up the clip that Yukito-san bought her in Hong Kong: a purple clip with a cherry blossom and a pink tassel hanging off it.  She shook her head and put it down.  She settled with putting a simple red clip to the side of her hair.  "Stay in here, ok, Kero-chan?" she ran down the hall and down the stairs.  She found Touya and Syaoran in the living room, across from each other, glaring.

            "Onii-chan!" Sakura exclaimed. She approached Syaoran and pulled him away.

            "What? I didn't do anything," Touya tisked.

            Sakura took Syaoran to the dining room.  "Sorry about him..."

            "It's okay," Syaoran put his folder and notebook down.  "He doesn't scare me."  He pulled off his zip-down green cardigan, revealing his white shirt underneath.  He pulled out a pen from his blue jean pocket.  "So..." he pulled out all these pamphlets from his folder.  "Wei and I went looking for good apartments yesterday.  We can't afford a condo, okay?" Syaoran warned.

            Sakura smiled. "That's fine.  As for our wedding, Tomoyo-chan is willing to make our wedding outfits for free, even though I insist on paying for something.  So she would only let me pay for the bridesmaids and the ushers...," she noticed Syaoran was looking at her.  She began to blush. "Yes?"

            He shook his head.  "Nothing.  Um...what about a wedding hall?"

            "I thought we could save more money by using my house instead."

            "Good idea." Syaoran took out another pamphlet.  "Now...what about...the, um, honeymoon?  Where do you want to go?"

            "What can we afford?"

            Syaoran looked around.  He spotted her calculator behind a bowl of candy on the table.  "Can I borrow—," he reached for it.

            "Sure," she reached to hand it to him. 

            At the same instant as her hand touched the calculator, his hand landed on hers.  Their eyes met and their cheeks created a bright pink.  They stared into each other's eyes, speechless.

            "Hey Squirt!"

            Immediately, they retreated their hands and slammed them in their laps.  Touya stalked in.  "I'm going to the store, ok?  I'll be back...soon," as he said his last word, he gave a glare to Syaoran.  As they heard the door close, Sakura and Syaoran sighed in relief.

            "So..." Syaoran grabbed the calculator and pressed in a few digits.  "Where do you want to go?" he asked.

            "I dunno.  Maybe Hokkaido or Hong Kong," Sakura suggested. 

            Syaoran made a face.  "I'd rather not.  Having my honeymoon in the same city my family lives in is not a good idea."  He looked over to her because he heard a string on giggles coming out of her.  "What?" he asked.

            "You're really being serious," Sakura explained.  "You're sounding as if we are really planning our honeymoon."

            Syaoran sat back, trying to push away his blush.  "Uh...well, this project is seriously big with a serious grade." He set his eyes on her, smiling, as she continued to laugh.  Her smile always relaxed his heart.

            Sakura walked over to the nearby bookshelf and pulled out a foldout world map.  She laid it out on the table.  "All those tropical places seem nice...Cancun, Tahiti, Fiji, Jamaica..."

            "Hawaii is really nice too," Syaoran suggested.

            "Yah!  That would be great!" Sakura exclaimed.  "Which island?"

            "How about the Big Island?" Syaoran pointed to the largest island in the Hawaiian string. "There's not a lot of people there and there's a lot of sites to see."

            "Ooh!  Let's go there!" Sakura smiled brightly. "I wish this was all real!"

            He shrugged.  "You never know.  You might go to Hawaii someday."

            At her house, they typed up what they decided for wedding expenses: chapel, clothes, wedding coordinator, decorations and other sorts. 

            It was well in the afternoon by the time they were done.  "I'll go later to find prices on one room apartments and I'll go to a travel agency for that Hawaii stuff," Syaoran said as he slipped his shoes on at the front door.

            "Ok," Sakura opened the door.  "I'll finish the wedding calculations.  See you tomorrow," she waved as he walked out the door.  He waved back and walked away.

            She closed the front door, a large smile curled on her face.  She sped up the stairs and ran into her room.  She flopped on her bed, picked up her pink cell phone and dialed up Tomoyo.  "Tomoyo-chan, today went so well!"

            "Really?" came Tomoyo's voice.

            "Uh-huh," Sakura nodded her head.  "Syaoran and I are going to Hawaii!"

            Tomoyo let out a giggle.  "By the way you're talking, it sounds like you two are really going."

            Sakura giggled too.  "He did the same thing.  I first suggested going to Hong Kong but he said he didn't want to have his honeymoon where his family is. He was sounding so serious about it..."

            "Hmm...maybe it's a sign," Tomoyo teased.

            "Tomoyo-chan, really! Stop that!" But Sakura was still laughing at the idea.

            "SA-KU-RA!" came a groaning voice.

            Sakura turned around and saw Kero was on the floor, completely pancaked and fidgeting.  "Oh my-! Sorry, Kero-chan!" She picked Kero up and placed it on her pillow. 

            "What happened?" Tomoyo asked.

            "I think I ran over him..." Sakura guessed.  Both girls giggled.  Sakura was the first to break.  "By the way, how did today go for you?"

            "Sano came after his practice."

            "Practice?"

            "The local children's theater is doing Cinderella and he's in it.  As soon as he arrived, he headed for my couch and fell asleep."

            "Oh...well, maybe he was really tired."

            "Yah, you're right," Tomoyo changed subject back to Syaoran. "You know what?"

            "What?"

            "I think this project is practice for you and Syaoran.  You know, in a few years, you'll probably plan a wedding--."

            "Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura turned a bright pink.  She continued to giggle madly as Kero rolled his eyes.

3

            At school, they were given time to work in class.  Syaoran brought brochures on Hawaii for Sakura to see.  "Wow...the beaches are so pretty..." she marveled at the pictures of white sand and crystal blue water. 

            "Class! I have an announcement!" Terada-sensei got the class' attention.  "To my right is a small shelf.  Each couple has their own name on it, like Mr. and Mrs. Sota.  Here, you have to pick up important documents, such as pay checks and other information you need.  It will be filled after school every Monday for the remainder of this project."

            "Oh! That's today, isn't it?" Sakura turned to Syaoran.  "Can you pick up our envelopes?  I have to go straight to cheerleading practice." Syaoran nodded.

3

            Sakura came out of the shower, her hair wrapped in a towel.  She trotted down the stairs in her pink shorts and white shirt.  To her surprise, she saw her father at the door, letting Syaoran enter.  "Syaoran-kun!" she exclaimed.  "What are you doing here?" she approached him.

            "I was just inviting Li to dinner," Fujitaka said.

"Sorry Kinomoto-san.  I just came for a quick visit." Syaoran turned to Sakura. "We have a pay cut.  Both of us," Syaoran informed.

She was taken back by the news.  "What?"

Fujitaka left the two at the door.

"A pay cut? Why?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"Terada-sensei had this with our checks," he handed Sakura's paycheck to her and a slip of paper.

Dear Kinomoto-san,

     Due to circumstances beyond our control, there will be a slight deduction of salary for the next few weeks.  Please be patient until all matters are resolved.

Sincerely,

Tomoeda School Board

"How will this affect our expenses? I already turned in the wedding records."

"I know," Syaoran nodded. "But Terada-sensei is going to explain more tomorrow and the final expenses are due later."

Sakura sighed.  "Ok, I guess we'll figure it out later."

"Ok." Syaoran turned around and walked away.

Sakura closed the door behind her and sulked into the dining room.  "What happened to you?" Touya asked.

She flopped down on her chair next to him. "Syaoran and I got a pay cut and we have to stay within our budget or our grade will go down."

"All right!" Touya said as he watched Fujitaka bring out a small grill.  "We're having oden!"

"Onii-chan! I need help!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Well...why don't you cut down on the amount of guests.  That will cut down on your catering," Touya suggested.

"And to be sure, keep your decorations to a minimal; that should help your budget," her father added.  "You can have a nice yet simple wedding,"

By now, Sakura was jotting this all down on paper.  She sighed.  "Someday, when I really get married, I hope this doesn't happen."

"You mean 'if," Touya said, teasingly. "You gotta find a sucker who wants to marry you first."

"Onii-chan!"

3

The school bell rang.  "Uh...Li and Kinomoto...May I see you at my desk, please?"

Sakura just walked in class when she heard him.  She and Syaoran headed up to Terada-sensei. "Yes?"

"I have a question about your expense reports," Terada-sensei explained.  "Because of your pay-cuts, you had to reduce some things.  On Li's, there was alterations on the honeymoon while on Kinomoto's, it was on the wedding."

Sakura and Syaoran exchanged looks. "You did that?" they said in unison.

"I need an answer from you by lunchtime or it will be considered late."

Sakura's mouth dropped.  She and Syaoran walked back to their seats.  "Why'd you make the cut on the honeymoon?" she asked.

"Well, there wasn't much in the wedding so if I cut that, we might as well not have guests," Syaoran explained. "We can save a lot more money if we go to Hokkaido instead of Hawaii."

"That's not true," Sakura said. "I cut down the wedding decorations and some guests...that helped us save a little money."

"Probably not as much as the honeymoon!"

"It's enough though!"

By now, the whole class was watching them fight. 

"You should have asked me first!  If you did, we wouldn't have to worry about turning it in late."

Sakura couldn't believe her ears.  "What are you talking about? You didn't talk with me either!"

"Alright, class, let's start." Terada-sensei stood up and began to take role.  Syaoran flopped in his chair and growled.

3

Sakura and Tomoyo sat on the lawn at school.  "Gee, I never expected everyone to watch us fight."

"Yah.  I mean, you two haven't done that in a long time." Tomoyo sighed.  "You know, a lot of people wish Terada-sensei allowed divorces because it's really hard trying to work out a marriage.  It's like Rika; she is having trouble with just getting Aoshi not to shoot her ideas down the drain.  I think Terada-sensei is trying to teach us teamwork so maybe you should talk with..." Tomoyo looked behind Sakura's shoulder. 

"Huh?" Sakura looked back to see Syaoran behind her.

"We need to talk," he said simply.  They entered the building, towards the classroom.  "We have to give him an answer."

"We're going to Hokkaido," Sakura answered.

Syaoran froze.  "Why did you decide on that..?"

"Well, Tomoyo-chan and I just calculated it and we would have saved about ¥ 50,000 if we altered the honeymoon." Sakura looked at him. "Plus, we can always use that money to start saving." She smiled.  "Besides, Hokkaido's nice during this time of year."

"Are you sure you want to?" Syaoran asked. 

Without answering, Sakura opened the door to the classroom.  "Terada-sensei," Sakura said. "We made a decision."

"And that it?"

"We're going to use Li Syaoran's plan," she answered.

"All right," Terada-sensei pulled out a sheet from his notebook, wrote a few things down and stuck it in Sakura's portfolio.  "If this happens again, I won't give you your second chance.  Make sure everything is together."

Sakura and Syaoran nodded in agreement.  They walked out of the room.  "Wow, thank goodness," Sakura started down the hall until she realized that Syaoran wasn't beside her.  He stood near the closed door.  "What's wrong Syaoran?"

He looked down.  "Sakura...I'm sorry.  I should have talked with you."

She shook her head. "Don't worry, I did the same thing; I'm sor--."

"It's just that..." he interrupted. "I figured that the wedding is really, really important but as for the honeymoon...when it comes down to it, as long as I'm with my wife, it doesn't matter where I go.  Just as long as she's with me."

Sakura's eyes began to mist, toughed by his sweet words and sincerity. "Let's never fight again.  And if we have a problem, let's talk it out, ok?" she held out her pinky.

Syaoran hooked his pinky with hers. A slight blush crawled on his face. "Ok."

Zoom.

Five girls piled behind a corner of the hall.  Chiharu whispered in Tomoyo's ear, "Are you getting all this?"

"Every moment," she giggled.

While Meiling gritted her teeth, Naoko, Rika, Chiharu and Tomoyo watched the two.  "I think those crazy kids are going to make it," Naoko smiled.

3

Each girl had a flower in their hand while each boy had a plastic ring in their pocket.  After the vows, each groom would slip the ring onto their bride's finger.  After all the weddings took place, there was a large "reception" for all, and then lunch break right after.

3

"I think Li-kun was blushing when he was saying his vows," Tomoyo was rewinding her video camera.

"You're making that up!" Sakura giggled, although secretly, she hoped.

They walked and passed by a baby-clothing store.  They gave each other looks and smiled.  "Let's go get a head start." Tomoyo smiled.

Sakura nodded. "Ok."

End of part 1

(Note: I'll have the second part done as soon as possible. Now, as for me being from America, I don't think I converted the yen very well.  It's supposed to be roughly around $600-$700...one of those...and I used a western wedding style because I don't know much about traditional Japanese weddings.  Something about drinking sake or tea 3 times...I'm not sure so sorry about that! Card Captor Sakura is created by CLAMP, blah blah blah.)