THE J WORD

SUMMARY: Denial isn't just a river in Egypt. Watch our little wolf turn green with envy.
GENRE: Romance/General
RATING: K/ T (minor swear words here and there)
DISCLAIMER: I don't own CCS. Excuse me while I face a corner and cry my eyes out.

It was a warm summer's day. The sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing their happy tune, the grass was green, the students were smiling –

No, wait. There's someone who isn't smiling. In fact, he's doing the total opposite.

"Syaoran. Syaoran. Earth to Syaoran Li!"

Growling, Syaoran snapped out of his trance and glared hard at his so-called best friend, Eriol. They were sitting beside the soccer field, watching their teammates pass the ball to each other, occasionally – accidentally – the balls bouncing off their heads and passing out.

Not passing out, butdamn, it had to hurt.

Syaoran managed to growl out a, "What?" before returning his gaze – glare, more like – to a certain person on the field.

"What is up with you?" Eriol asked, eyebrows raised. "Does this have anything to do with –"

"No!"

"You don't even –"

"It has nothing to do with Sakura!"

Leaning backwards with his arms supporting him, Eriol chuckled. "I was about to ask you about that B plus you got on your math test this morning, since you looked like you were about to cry, but …"

"It wasn't a B! It was an A that was scribbled backwards," Syaoran shot out, glaring at him once more. "And it has nothing, I repeat, nothing to do with Sakura!"

Eriol followed his gaze to the other end of the field. "If it's turned backwards, wouldn't it been more like a 'V'?" He grinned when he took in what Syaoran was looking at. "Wow. So it's all about that exchange student, isn't it?"

The comment made Syaoran even more agitated, his amber eyes snapping furiously. "I meant … I meant… argh! How many times do I have to tell you? He," he literally spat out the word, "has nothing to do with this!"

"'This'? What's 'this', then?"

"This… this…"

Eriol rolled his eyes. Apparently, the person sitting beside him as going to deny it.

It, as in … THE J WORD.

GASP!

And honestly, Eriol couldn't blame him for being so. Looking over at the goalposts, Sakura was chatting to that… that guy. If Tomoyo ever did that… he didn't want to think about it. Just the thought made him shiver physically.

Which didn't go unnoticed by Syaoran, who asked, "Are you cold?"

"Huh?"

"You were shivering."

"Wha? Oh – yeah, it's getting cold."

Syaoran frowned, if possible, more deeply, but decided to shrug it off and continue glowering at the sight before him. The weather was steaming hot, just sitting their made Eriol and Syaoran sweat buckets.

So what was Eriol coming down with?

… never mind.

Syaoran let out a growl as he saw the exchange student pull out something from her hair. Sakura blushed and said something to him that Syaoran could not decipher, probably because a) he was too busy being angry b) being 'THE J WORD' c) swearing – I mean, sweating d) thinking irrational thoughts and e) thinking about the B plus he got in math.

"You know," Eriol commented, breaking the silence, "you're turning red from all the heat, and at the same time you're green with envy – that's not a good sign for your health."

"So?" Syaoran snapped back, clenching his fists.

"Sooooo… you look like a Christmas elf!" Eriol guffawed at his stupid joke, tears rolling down his face, clutching his stomach in laughter. "Oh hahahahahaha! Hahaha… ha… ha… ahem. The point is," he said, getting serious again, "don't you think you should … I don't know, calm down?"

"…"

Poking Syaoran's arm, Eriol glanced at him nervously. "Uh… you know… I…"

"CALM DOWN?"

"Syaor –"

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN?"

"Honestly, you're going to get a he –"

"ASKING ME TO CALM DOWN IS LIKE ASKING SAKURA TO STOP FLIRTING WITH THAT – THAT GUY!"

"Aha."

"WHAT'RE YOU AHA-ING FOR, MORON?"

Eriol decided to ignore his remark and stood up, eyes twinkling mischievously. "You're jealous."

Gawking stupidly at him, Syaoran stood up as well, coming eye to eye with his best friend. Or torturer. Whichever. "Don't say that word in my presence!"

Eriol scoffed before turning towards Sakura's direction. "Here's a suggestion: How about you go over there and pull her away?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"She'll –"

"She'll what?"

"…"

"Syaoran," Eriol sighed, crossing his arms. "Spit it out."

"I can't!"

"And why is that?"

Syaoran blushed furiously, eyes blinking heatedly. "She'll think I'm… I'm… oh damn, why does this have to be so HARD?"

"Let's play a game."

"Okay."

Wow, that was a quick change of topic.

Eriol smiled slyly before saying, "Let's play fill in the blanks."

"Okay."

"Let me fill in the blank you left… blank."

"… okay."

"Remind me what it was again?"

"Um."

"Oh right, that's it!"

"…"

"'She'll think I'm blank."

Syaoran blinked at him, slowly realizing what this was all about. "Eriol –"

"Before you say anything," Eriol cut in, holding a hand up, "let me remind you that the winner of this game will get plane tickets around the world."

"Really?"

He ignored him. "Now, I'm giving you a chance to admit it to yourse – I mean, win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"Okay…"

"She'll think I'm…? Fill in the blank."

"Hot?"

"No."

"Sexy?"

"Not really."

"The most handsomest guy in the whole entire world, maybe in the universe?"

"…no."

"I give up."

"Jealous."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Syaoran gasped in horror, clutching Eriol's shoulders and shaking them hard. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not jealous!"

"Mmhmm. Right," Eriol's head wobbled back and forth, but he managed to keep his mind straight… unlike SOME people.

"I mean – it's impossible! Insane! Exagerrated! NOT POSSIBLE!"

"…isn't that the same thing as impossible?"

Syaoran started to clench and unclench his fists for two reasons: Eriol. The other reason: Sakura seemed to be having fun with the new kid, who was now teaching her how to kick the soccer ball properly.

Eriol glanced over his shoulder to see what Syaoran was looking at this time. Well, no one needs to even look to guess what it was.

"Look," Eriol sighed, crossing his arms, "if you wanna set things straight, go to her. Drag her away."

"Yeah, and how?"

Now Eriol was starting to lose his patience. How? He's her freaking boyfriend!

"You're her freaking boyfriend!"

"So?"

SO?

"So," Eriol growled out, grabbing his friend by the shoulders and shoving him toward Sakura's direction, "get out there and get her away from him!"

"How?"

Where's a wall or locker nearby when you need one? Eriol thought miserably. I really need to slam my forehead against something… NOW.

"Sometimes, I think you'd play a good Dory."

"Excuse me?"

Eriol shrugged at Syaoran's questioning glare. "You know, Dory from Finding Nemo. The forgettable one with amnesia. The blue one with the yellow stripes," he rambled on. "You know that scene with the sharks? 'Hi. My name is Dory. And I don't think I've –'"

"You make him sound like a Swedish flag," Syaoran snorted, and poked Eriol in the chest. "Are you telling me I need to see a shrink?"

"The Swedish flag doesn't have any stripes, it's got a cross. And uh," Eriol squirmed, "yeah, you do."

"I'm not even going to ask," Syaoran mumbled, sitting back down, propping his arms behind him. Unfortunately for him, this gave him a front-row view of his girlfriend and that… that… EXCHANGE STUDENT.

Eriol rolled his eyes and threw up his arms helplessly before setting himself down beside his best friend and looking at the scene. "You're having a pretty bad day, aren't you?"

"Me? Bad day? No way," Syaoran scoffed. "I'm having the day of my life! I mean, a weird-looking A on my test, my best friend harassing me, and my girlfriend –"

"Yes?" Eriol prompted. "I'd question you about this 'best friend harassing you,' thing, but I'm more curious about the last sentence," he smirked. "Continue…"

"Nothing!" Syaoran nearly yelled out, clamping his palm over Eriol's mouth to keep him quiet, "Nothing at all! Now stop bothering me!"

Eriol struggled to pull off his hand and breathed in deeply as he finally managed to do so. "Damn," he breathed heavily, "your hand reeks!"

"Will – you – just – shut – up – for – just – one – second – and – a – half?"

"Not until you stop acting like an ostrich and admit IT."

Syaoran raised his eyebrows. "Ostrich?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Eriol glanced back at the goal posts. "They stick their head in a hole in the ground whenever there's any trouble. Meaning," he added, as if Syaoran were dense, "you are the ostrich, Sakura and that guy is the trouble, and I am the hole."

"You? Hole? Excuse me?"

"Don't ask," Eriol muttered, patting his shoulder before giving him a push towards the end of the field. "Now go!"

"Go where?"

Eriol growled, pushing him forward. "Don't try to act more stupid than you already are, GO!"

"Uh, actually," Syaoran mumbled, taking a few steps back, "I'm more concerned about my messy-looking-A, so why don't I go and take care of that before I –"

Eriol let out a yell.

Wincing, Syaoran said, "Look, I know you're just trying to help and I appreciate it and everything –"

"STOP STEPPING ON MY FEET YOU IDIOT!"

"Wha –? Oh," Syaoran giggled nervously and stepped away. "Ehehehe, sorry about that…"

You read that right.Giggle.

OH LORD, WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?

"God. People can turn even more stupider when they're jealous," Eriol mumbled. He sat back down on the ground, took off his shoe and started rubbing it.

"I'm not – WHOA."

"What? What is it?"

Syaoran took a few steps back – AWAY from Eriol this time, pinching his nose. "Your – your SHOE!" he coughed, gagging. "When was the last time you washed your socks?"

"Hmm," Eriol frowned, thinking deeply. "Well there was that soccer game about … I don't know, two, three months ago? My washing machine broke down that day. I called the company and sent him my washing machine for fixig and it STILL ISN'T BACK YET. So I had to use my neighbours," he babbled on, "and she's this cranky but nice old lady who looks about two hundred years old, and she's got this rule that I can't throw my socks into her washing machine 'cause she thinks the reason my washing machine was broken and I guess she didn't want me to ruin her precious equally old washing machine to break down from ONE PAIR OF SOCKS so yeah, I – hey. HEY YOU. ARE YOU LISTENING?"

Syaoran was gazing at the field once more – still far FAAAAR away from Eriol and his socks – and frowning. It doesn't take a retard to figure out what was wrong.

"SYAORAN," Eriol growled out loudly, "SYAORAN LI. Yeah, you with the B!"

But even this tactic couldn't distract Syaoran. Suddenly, as if his mind was finally – FINALLY! – made up, he straightened his posture and with a determined look on his face, he clenched his fists and said, "I'm going."

Eriol perked up, standing up alongside his best friend. "That's the spirit!" he exclaimed, slapping him on the back, which made Syaoran yelp in pain.

"You wimp," he glared at him behind his glasses. "You think you can just march over there and – and – reclaim Sakura with a body as weak as yours? ARE YOU A MAN OR NOT? STAND UP!" he barked, and Syaoran merely looked at him weirdly.

"First of all, I'm already standing up, and yes, I happen to be a man," Syaoran started, sneering, "second, yes, I think I can just 'go over there and reclaim Sakura', 'cause guess what, newsflash, SAKURA'S MY GIRLFRIEND, and last of all … I WAKE UP AT FOUR IN THE MORNING EVERYDAY – except for Sunday, when I get to sleep in until five – TO TRAIN, UNLIKE YOU WHO WAKES UP AT FIVE THIRTY, AND YOU DARE TO SAY I HAVE A WEAK BODY?"

"Five thirty is the same as four!" Eriol shot back, crossing his arms.

"It's a whole ONE HOUR difference!"

"SO?"

Syaoran growled, "Do you know how much time you've slept more than me in one week? TEN HOURS AND A HALF! Do you know what I could DO in ten hours and a half?"

Attempting to make himself look more menacing, Eriol stood on his tiptoes and pretended to tower over Syaoran. "AT LEAST I DON'T CUDDLE WITH STUFFED ANIMALS WHEN I'M SLEEPING!"

Syaoran's face turned in to an exact replica of a tomato, except without the leaves and … well, the shape. "SAKURA GAVE IT TO ME!" he shouted back, "I treasure everything someone I love gives me, unlike you, who says you've thrown away that purple cat Tomoyo gave you."

Shuffling, Eriol suddenly went rigid with tense. "Well uh – you see – I – "

Syaoran smirked. "You … cuddle with a … cat?"

"It's a LION! A FEMALE lion!"

"Sure. Whatever," Syaoran drawled, turning away from the crimson-faced Eriol. "Now if you don't mind, I have more important business to tend to."

Eriol snorted loudly.

"If I were a stranger and I was passing by," Syaoran snarled, "I'd think you were a pig. Snorting, smelly… ugh. Hmmm. I should call you Pigriol."

"I –"

"NO!" Syaoran held up his hand, silencing Pigriol. "I've made up my mind, and there is no way you're going to be able to distract me. I'm going."

And so Syaoran left a stuttering Eriol behind, only to hear him yell, "I SHOUD'VE NEVER HELPED YOU!" He narrowed his amber-eyes and continued as if he never heard the comment. Now was the time to get serious, concentrate hard, and get ready to hit the bastard – when needed. No, if.

That's right. If.

Wait a minute, Syaoran stopped abruptly in his tracks. Where the hell are they?

Syaoran blinked again and again, yet the scene before him stood the same: no Sakura or Mr. I'm-So-Sexy-Exchange-Student. Irrational and random thoughts began to pop into his mind three at a time – where the hell were they? Did Sakura run off with him? Did he propose? Did Sakura accept? Where are they going for their honeymoon? He better not take her to where I'm planning to take her, Syaoran growled mentally at the thought. Were they – HAVING SEX IN THE CAFETERIA?

Okay, Syaoran chided himself, keep calm. Sakura probably just took him away and – and beat him into a bloody pulp! Yeah, that's it! After all those moves I've shown her, there's no way in hell Mr. I-Think-I'm-So-Cool-Cause-I'm-An-Exchange-Student can get away! Ha! Ha-ha! Ahahahahahahahahaha!

"Syaoran?"

Damn.

"Syaoran," Sakura's concerned voice seemed to come from so far away, "are you alright? Your right eyebrow's twitching and you're biting your lip … and your nostrils are flaring. You look like a rhino."

"I – Sakura?"

Emerald eyes narrowed, Sakura put her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow at him. "What's with you? Now you look like a rhino caught with a porn magazine."

"Wh – what are you doing here?" Syaoran blinked down at her, the sun beating down against their faces. Is this an illusion? Didn't she just run off/marry/elope/go on a honeymoon/have sex with Mr. I'm – OH FORGET IT.

"I happen to go to school here," Sakura said slowly, hiding a giggle. "What's wrong, Rhino?"

"Where's that … that GUY?" Syaoran sputtered out the last word like a mouthful of worms.

"Who?" Sakura stared at him blankly before it dawned on her. "Oh, you mean Pierre! Yeah, he's that new French exchange student."

Somehow, this information didn't make Syaoran any happier. "Yes. And?"

"And," she continued, looking suspiciously at him, "I was talking to him over there –"

"Yes I noticed," Syaoran growled out, clenching and unclenching his teeth. "You two seemed to have the time of your life."

Sakura simply stood there, now looking at him as if he was a certain recently discovered creature on display in a museum. Then, she smirked. "My, my, Syaoran," she giggled, leaning closer to him so that their faces were mere inches away from each others', "if I don't know any better, I'd say you're jealous."

"Wh – who? What the hell are you talking about?" Syaoran barked out a fake laugh. "I've never been jealous in m'life!"

"Oh, well then," Sakura playfully sauntered away slowly, "guess I can go and ah – have another little chat with Pierre, then?"

Syaoran knew she was testing him, so he did what any other guy would do: stubbornly go against her wishes. "Go ahead. See if I care!"

"Okay."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

But unlike any other guy, Syaoran was waaaaay possessive and didn't like to share his girlfriend with anyone else. So he ran after her – took only two or three steps, but whatever – and grabbed her arms before squeezing her hard in his arms. It wasn't until Sakura started to step on his feet HARD did he realize that she couldn't breathe – so he let her go.

Not completely, though.

Syaoran glared at Sakura's mock innocent face before poking her nose like an elevator button.

"Listen here," he bit out, though not in an ominous way, "you go ahead and flirt with that Pee-Here, or any other guys, maybe Poo-There or Go-Potty or whatever, I will – I will –"

"You'll what?" Sakura beamed up at him, secretly enjoying this. It was so much more different than watching Touya.

"…"

Still grinning, Sakura patted his shoulders. "You know, I'm not blind," she started, and gestured to the side of the field where Eriol was STILL rubbing his feet, "I can tell what you and your best buddy were talking about. It doesn't even take an idiot to guess."

Blushing with embarrassment, Syaoran prompted, "And…?"

Sakura pulled his face closer, her breath tickling his lips. "I had sex with Pee-Here in the cafeteria."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?"

Sakura laughed gleefully, then shook her head at his naiveté. "Syaoran, you've got a lot to learn about the difference between sarcasm and reality," she chided, pulling his face close to hers once more, brushing her lips against his. "Are you really that naïve?"

"I – so – wait –" Syaoran pulled back a bit, a confused expression on his face. "What were you doing with Pee-Here then?"

"You know Aiko?" Sakura asked, pointing to someone behind his back. "Pee-Here – I mean, Pierre has this hugest crush on her, aaaaand … "

"… you were… "

Sakura tugged his ear. "Are you just playing with me, or are you seriously THAT dense?"

"You mean," Syaoran goggled at her, "you were playing matchmaker?"

Somebody, give the winner a prize. He's finally caught on!

"Yes, you dimwit," Sakura tugged his ear again, harder this time. "God you're slow on the uptake."

"What did you say?" Syaoran narrowed his eyes at her, and easily lifted her up. "Repeat it," he smirked at her and her struggling form. "Say it, and I'll let you down."

"I – " Sakura considered kicking him where it hurt, but thought better and tried another tactic. "I – I love you?" she fluttered her eyelashes at him, giving him a million-dollar smile.

"That's better," Syaoran growled before settling her down and giving her a kiss that made her toes curl.

"Hate to break up the party here," a voice came out of nowhere, "but some people – someone like ME – have actual problems that haven't been solved yet. Care to help out?"

Sakura broke the kiss and turned to the intruder, half-angry and half-giddy. "Sure, what – oh,, ew. EW."

"Eriol," Syaoran gagged, turning himself and Sakura away from the socks he was waving before their faces, "do us a favor and dump those in a garbage can. I doubt anyone or anything can save those … those things."

Eriol sighed heavily, a bit dramatically. "Ah well. I guess you've got a lot of other things to worry about than me. You know, what with soccer practice, Sakura and that exchange student, your B plus –"

"IT'S AN A! AN A, ALRIGHT?"

"Whatever you say," Eriol rolled his eyes at Syaoran. "Say, Sakura. What did you think about that exchange student? On a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest. How hot was he?"

"You," Syaoran grumbled, "were born on this planet to torture me, aren't you?" And with that, he walked away, still mumbling underneath his breath.

Eriol grinned at Sakura. "So, how does it feel?"

She didn't even need to ask him what he was talking about. "He," she smiled, "is the best guy ever. He's my green-faced rhino." Seeing Eriol's confused face, she added quickly, "don't ask," before jogging up with Syaoran, hugging his waist.

"Damn," Eriol mumbled, "all I can say is, Sakura better watch out. Syaoran gets jealous way too easily."

"I HEARD THAT! AND DON'T SAY THAT J WORD EVER AGAIN!"

A/N: Uhhhh. I really don't know what to say.

CMB is … eh. I can't think of an ending. Writer's block. So I came up with this instead. I've got a wide range of ideas I want to work with, especially one-shots. Full stories take too much time, something I don't have. XP

Review please. Constructive criticism and comments to boost my ego, kthx.

bunniPOP