"I'm fine." Syaoran replied, hiding the note of strain in his voice well by pretending to look at an odd calendar.
Kurogane was unconvinced, but he did not question Syaoran any further. "Whatever." he said, his new favorite term he had picked up two worlds before, "Let's get a move on. That cat's got to be around here somewhere."
"We'll find it." Fai said, speaking of the cat that had through some odd chance or another managed to catch the feather under its collar and before anyone could reach it, took off down the street. "It's a tabby, right?"
"uh huh," Syaoran said nonchalantly, distracted by the hand on his back, which went unnoticed by the two men thanks to the large bulky clothing provided by this world, something the locals called a 'hoodie'. "Sakura..." he breathed, unable to believe that she was doing this to him. In public, no less.
"What?" Sakura asked, her voice level and calm. There was a complete innocence in her features, an almost childlike look of purity.
"What...what are you doing?" He said, as her hand moved from his back to the side of his abdomen, sending a cold tingling feeling to where her fingers lazily strolled across.
She still looked as placid as before, expect now with a small crinkle of amusement at the corner of her lips."Hm? Doing what?" Taking her hand from underneath his clothes, she gave him another smile over her shoulder as she walked ahead of him. "Come on, Syaoran, we should keep up with Fai-chan and Kuro-san."
Syaoran was unsure what she meant by that. She had been doing this lately, coming close to him, just long enough for his mind to begin to whirl its own images, and than she would move away and act like nothing happened. It was a coy game that he wasn't sure what the rules were, but she was winning.
"Yeah. Sure." He caught up with her, and together they walked the four steps to the rest of their group.
She looked at him from the corner of her eye and gave him another smile when he returned her gaze. Syaoran felt his breath begin to labor, though he hadn't done any strenuous work that day. Though he didn't know the rules, he knew the game well enough to have his heart beat a little faster.
It had been a while since they had last kissed. What was it, three, four worlds before? Between the dimensions, it was hard to find any place with an amount of privacy without Kurogane or Fai or Mokona floating around so close by, let alone carry this on flirtatious courting without their knowing.
Today Sakura seemed quite determined to find a place. Well, it was better her than him. Given the way she made his mind turn into that of a normal hormonal male, it was unlikely he would have been able to convince Kurogane, let alone Fai, any reason for his absence. As with other matters of their relationship, it was best left up to her.
"Syaoran, what do you think of love?" Sakura asked, the crinkle becoming more pronounced.
However, she did take a certain amount of joy of putting him in uncomfortable positions, the ones where he knew the real question, yet could not say so for the ears of the adults were so close by. Up ahead, he noticed Fai nudge Kurogane.
If things had been going his way, which they weren't, he would have avoided the question by quickly pressing her up against whatever was available (the last time it was a tree) and kissing her. Given how afterwards she would have a sort of drunken smile on her face and say nothing, Syaoran assumed this was the correct move.
"Er..." he shrugged, "There's all kinds of love, I guess."
She nodded slowly, as though she was mulling over the answer. "Have you ever kissed a girl, Syaoran?"
Now she was just being cruel, putting the image in his head so quickly. His eyes flicked over to Fai and Kurogane, still in hearing distance.
"No..." he said. "I haven't."
Her smile widened, and now there was a spark in her eyes. "Oh, that's a shame. You really should. There's no time like the present!"
He kept his mouth closed, hoping she would understand the implications behind this move.
She did, but she paid him no heed. Instead, she continued her game with increasing vigor. "I think it would be nice. Kissing, I mean. If there was ever any more than that," she looked at him suggestively, "...well, that would be fun. Don't you think so?"
He swallowed air."Er...yes..."
"Like down the neck. Or maybe by the collar. Then there's always the chest..."
Syaoran tripped over his feet but regained his posture quickly.
"It doesn't really matter where, I assume. After all, people kiss in public all the time, don't they? And besides," she paused, "it's kinda of thrilling, in a way."
Syaoran wasn't sure how much more of her teasing he could handle. Already she had moved close enough to him that her words had died down in volume enough for only him to hear.
"Nothing outrageous, really," she continued, "Just something fun. Maybe. I heard that is a good spot. Some maids told me once, I think. Do you want to know what else they said?"
Syaoran wanted to groan. "No," he whispered, hopping that she would give him some hiatus in this game of hers. "No, I really don't."
"Well I'll tell you anyways. There are a hundred places under someone's clothes that would be fun to try, they said." She quoted innocently. The mental images conjured up by the last part of her statement made his eyes widen. She continued to smile at him, enjoying the effect she had produced. Reaching up with her hand and cupping his ear, she whispered, "I agree."
"Oh god,"
"What's a matter, Syaoran?" She wasn't even trying to mask the joy in her voice. "You're awfully red all of the sudden."
She was the devil herself. Fair and pretty, but damn cruel.
This was fun to write. I don't know what made me think of this, but I wanted to write something were Sakura knew what she was doing to Syaoran, as I think she does, regardless of how clueless she seems. Sakura has a devilish side, I'm sure, that she doesn't simply keep to Touya. After all, why waste such a good thing purely on your brother?