TMG Chapter Four

Sakura let out a muffled yawn as she attempted to cover her mouth and remove her glasses at the same time. Managing to stifle another one, she rubbed her eyes, well really her whole face quickly before placing her glasses back in their proper place. While she loved her contacts she had to admit that she loved her glasses even more, seeing as she could rub her eyes without worry of rubbing a contact out. Ah, the perils of not having perfect vision. She guessed she had her father to thank for that.

Refocusing, her gaze landed on the textbook in front of her on her kitchen table and she couldn't help the automatic frown. She hated math with a passion.

"Glaring like that isn't going to improve your face or your math skills."

Scratch that. She hated sarcastic people who volunteer services that aren't wanted, although they are actually needed.

Shifting her gaze (or glare, whatever) upward she locked eyes with the person she was starting to believe was harder to understand than all the math problems in the world combined. The smirk on the face before her was infuriating but like always as of late, her stomach began to twist itself into knots. Annoying, stupid, knots.

"You know, you can always just leave if you don't like my facial expressions. The door is right over there." She chucked a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the exit when laughter from her living room caught her attention.

"She's got you there, Syaoran!" Smirking, Sakura turned slightly in her seat. "The same goes for you Eriol. I'm not even sure why you're here!" The response that floated back should have been obvious to her but she couldn't help it. "I'm here of course because of the lovely Miss Daidouji. Duh." Sakura chuckled as her dear cousin tried her hardest to concentrate on the problem in front of her as well as probably willing her face back to it's normal color, not the tomato red it currently was.

"Okay, let's get back to work shall we? You asked for a study session right Saku-chan?"

As much as Sakura hated to admit it, her cousin had a point. They were now halfway through the semester and midterms were right around the corner. Currently, her grade wasn't the best. She needed any amount of help she could get if she was going to at least get a passing grade. Essays she could handle, but equations? They literally made her sick. Shifting her gaze over to her family member, she felt a pang of guilt.

Tomoyo was in rare form tonight. It was once in a blue moon that one would see her cousin as frazzled as she was now, but she had good reason. Besides the math exam that loomed over them, Tomoyo had to produce a fashion show for her midterm, and it happened to be tomorrow. A quick glance at the clock and Sakura came to a quick decision.

"'Moyo, why don't you head home?" Questioning violet eyes met hers and she shook her head. She knew what her cousin was going to say next if she didn't hurry up with her reasoning. "You're show is tomorrow and you already know all of this stuff. You look like you have a lot on your mind and I know it isn't about… equations." She finished her sentence by distastefully turning her gaze back to the book before her, trying to ignore the baritone chuckles that filtered in from the other side of the table. Shooting a glare in the direction of her other guest she turned back to find Tomoyo hesitant as always when it came to leaving before things were done. "Are you sure?"

Sakura nodded, giving a genuine smile. "I'm sure. You have other things that you need to take care of, and I know how important your project is to you. I'll be okay." Again, Tomoyo hesitated, her questioning eyes going back and forth between the academic material and her cousin. "Are you sure?"

"Don't worry about it Daidouji-san, I'll stay and help her."

Both women's heads whipped in the direction of the voice only to find Syaoran sitting there with the most innocent and honest face Sakura was sure he could muster and that she was sure was a fake. Before she could call his bluff, her cousin cut her off. "You'll really stay and help her?" The blatant hope and relief in her voice shut Sakura's mouth when Syaoran nodded in reply.

"Well, alright. I should really be going then considering I do have some last minute adjustments." She stood up and gathered her things, smirking at Sakura before she heading into the living room to tell her 'escort', as he called himself upon arriving on Sakura's doorstep, that she was heading home. Sakura chose to ignore that smirk. Instead she chose to lock eyes on another smirk next to her.

The man was planning something and it couldn't be good, she just knew it.

A couple of minutes later found Sakura standing at her door, waving goodbye to her cousin and potential boyfriend, according to Tomoyo that is. Reluctantly she headed back into her dining room slash kitchen area to find her self-proclaimed tutor sitting at the table absentmindedly flipping through some pages. Stopping a few feet away, she took the time to study him for a minute.

He was dressed in what has become a sort of uniform considering the change in weather. A simple white t-shirt adorned his frame with over-sized but obviously comfy navy blue sweatpants. His matching sweatshirt had been thrown aside upon his arrival as she had the heat turned on 'tropical mode' as he had so elegantly put it. As usual his hair was a chocolate-colored mess and it was obvious that he had been lounging around wherever it is he stays at before learning his best friend was over here.

She chuckled mentally when her gaze fell upon his feet. Instead of giving her enough time to find the house shoes her brother usually used when he visited, Syaoran insisted on cramming his feet into a pair of hers. The result was they barely covered anything and the pink color looked absolutely ridiculous on him.

"I'm starting to think getting you an appointment with someone in mental health would actually be a benefit for you."

Her eyes shot upwards to land on Syaoran's amused features and she smirked. "Maybe you should also make one for yourself. You are, after all, walking around in pink slippers with Hello Kitty all over them." He glanced down before shrugging and stretching out in the chair. "What can I say? I make them look good." The look he gave her with his last comment sent her blood rushing to her face. Of course he knew he looked good in anything. Hell, he probably could make the matching robe look downright sexy, but she wasn't about to admit that! Instead, she shook her head as she made her way back to the table. "I think they make you look stupid." His only response was a smirk as they got back to work.

An hour and a half later, Sakura found that neither her nor Syaoran could ignore her stomach's loud protesting any longer. Sheepishly, she set her pencil down and looked in Syaoran's direction. "I'm hungry." He gave her a 'ya think?' look and placed his pen down, leaning back a bit as he surveyed her as she asked, "Well, what do you want to eat?"

The slightly shocked expression on his face irritated her a bit but she brushed it off. "I'm hungry and I know you are too. I know for a fact that grumble before this last one didn't come from my stomach." He smirked as she smiled in triumph. Shaking his head slightly he replied, "okay you got me. I am starving. What are we going to order?"

Shaking her head she rose from the table and made her way into the kitchen. "We aren't going to order anything. I'm going to cook." Opening up the fridge she started pulling out things she needed and spun around only to find a wary looking Syaoran leaning against her sink. She gave him a bored expression as she stated, "I promise you it'll be edible." He still didn't look convinced. "Look, I would like to cook you something in return for helping me out with math. And also for what you did at Eriol's party for me. Would you at least allow me to do this in return please?"

The genuine shock on his face was priceless but she held her smirk in. She was trying to be serious after all, and she really did want to repay him in some way. For the last month and a half since the party, she had to admit that he was being really nice to her. He would still tease her mercilessly but not as much as before. They were what you could consider friends now, and instead of dreading his visits, she found herself now looking forward to them. She had been a bit skeptical about it at first, seeing as he almost did a one-eighty on her, but she figured it couldn't hurt to return the favor with something as simple as a home-cooked meal. After all, she only ever saw him eat hospital and vending machine food so it was obvious he probably sucked in the kitchen.

He shifted away from the counter suddenly and she snapped back to reality. "Alight, but you don't have to repay me. I'll always be there to help you out and protect you from people like that." She gave him a questioning glance and the seriousness left his face after a moment. "Besides, we all know that I'm the only one who can make fun of you!" She smacked him with a bag of lettuce as he let out a deep-bellied laugh at her expense. She was sure her face was as red as the sauce in her other hand.

"Oh shut up!" He was still chuckling as she pushed some more ingredients into his hands. "You, smart-ass, have earned yourself salad duty for this meal."

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Syaoran had never felt happier in his life than he had at that moment, and honestly, it kind of freaked him out.

By nature, he was a loner, and had never really been one to get attached to people save for family. His mother had sworn that she had named him aptly as he was really living up to the whole 'lone wolf' thing. He was fine with being alone, but then again he wasn't really alone was he? There was of course Eriol, his butler Wei, and his quartet of sisters, so technically he wasn't alone. He was content when he was with them, and actually sought them out on a regular basis for advice as he often did with Eriol or to cure his occasional bout of homesickness with his mother.

Even though he was content, he could honestly say he had never been happy.

That is, until tonight's impromptu visit to Sakura's.

Groaning in satisfaction as he stretched out further on the couch, he adjusted himself to a much more comfortable position as he pat his wonderfully stuffed stomach he contemplated his last thought.

He had promised Eriol that he would get to know her better, to be more pleasant to her for the sake of Eriol getting in good with her cousin. After his party however, Syaoran couldn't keep the image of Sakura laughing and smiling before her happiness had been cut short by what that Haruko girl said. Having witnessed her finally smiling after seeing her frown for so long at work, his promise to Eriol was thrown out the window and he made a new one to not only himself but also to Sakura. He would make sure that smile stayed on her face. She was cuter that way after all. Speaking of cute…

His gaze shifted to the left and landed on her stretched out body on the other end of the couch and he allowed his eyes to roam over her form in an appreciative manner.

She was lying on her side dozing, one arm tucked under her head for support while the other was shoved in between her bent legs. Some of her auburn hair fell into her face, covering her eyes and keeping him from getting a good look at the long lashes he knew where there. She was now clad in a pair of rather baggy flannel pajama bottoms with a wife beater similar to his own on, the edges of a tattoo peaking out from underneath. He smiled as he studied the obvious outline of flower if the greens and pinks didn't give it away. Maybe one day he'll catch her wearing something that would show the whole piece, or maybe she'll show if he bugged her enough.

He smirked to himself as he finally managed to pull his eyes away and focused on the object in his hand as he barely managed to suppress the chuckle that was rising in his throat. Loud, aggressive, foul-mouthed, tatted, and short in not only height but in temper, she had to be the complete opposite of any and every woman that he had ever dated. He should be appalled by her behavior, considering whom his mother was and how he was raised but the thing was…

He absolutely loved it.

The smirk turned into a smile as he turned her cellphone this way and that in his hand, thinking how big it had looked in her hands earlier when in reality it was because she had small hands before dialing his own phone number. He saved his number in her phone as well as hers in his, and then moved to set the phone back down on the coffee table when it started to vibrate in his hand. Brows meeting in confusion, he glanced at the clock on the wall before looking at the phone number on the screen above a picture of a not-so-ugly man.

Anger rushed through him and he refused to acknowledge that he could be actually feeling another, different, emotion. Instead, he focused on the first thought that pounded to the front of his head which was 'who the hell was this man and why was he calling her at eleven at night?'

Reluctantly however, he reached over and shook her slightly, trying to keep his face as impassive as possible as an emerald orb glared at him briefly before shifting down to the vibrating phone in his hand. A slight blush dusted her cheeks as she sat up and seemed to realize who it was on her couch before she took the phone out of his hand, their fingers brushing slightly. "Moshi moshi?"

The male voice that rumbled something back made Syaoran want to jump through the phone and strangle whoever it was.

Keeping his face frozen in indifference he leaned back and internally berated himself. Why was he getting upset about some guy calling her late at night? It wasn't like they were actually dating or anything. Hell he didn't know if she even considered him a friend! He had no right to sit her and act like a jealous… lover.

"Nii-chan? Can I call you back? I kind of have company over."

At that sentence, Syaoran stopped all thought process.

Brother?

The relief that rushed through him shocked him to his very core. He shouldn't be relieved that she was talking to her brother and not some boyfriend that Eriol had failed to mention.

It was time to go.

He stood and made his way to her dining room table, intent on retrieving his sweatshirt before making a mad dash to her door. He had to get out of there. She was bringing thoughts to his brain and feelings to his heart that he wasn't familiar with and needed to figure out, away from her. He had just finished pulling his sweatshirt over his head, messing up his chocolate locks even further when he noticed she had stopped talking and turned around to find her standing behind him with an unreadable expression on her face.

"You heading home?"

He nodded in response, not quite trusting his voice at the moment. She sighed and stretched her arms over her head, unconsciously giving him ample view of her chest in the white tank she had on. To stop his train of thought he fell back into teasing mode. "Well, I was, but if you're offering for me to stay…" He let the sentence drop off, wiggling his eyebrows up and down to add to the teasing effect. When she actually looked as if she were considering it he thought his heart was going to stop.

After a few seconds in which he thought he was going to die because his ticker had decided to malfunction, she smirked and pointed to the door as she had earlier. "No, you've been bumming here damn near all day. It's time you got out." He released a breath as he followed her laughing form towards the front of the apartment. He couldn't agree with her more. It was time he left before he did something stupid.

They reached the archway and he was about to jet through it when her voice stopped him.

"Uh, thanks, you know, for helping me and whatnot." He turned slightly to see her looking somewhere in his chest region instead of his face in embarrassment. He decided this was a good thing as a dopey smile decided to make its way to his lips. He tried to get a grip on it and answer her. Unfortunately for him, what came out wasn't what he had quite planned.

"You want a ride to work tomorrow?"

Her head shot up and he praised his ability to keep his eyes from widening into saucers. What the hell? How did 'you're welcome' turn into that on the way out of his mouth? The suspicious look she was giving him said that she was probably thinking the same thing. Desperately he tried to back pedal. "Well, I mean, I know you don't drive and its cold… besides, I don't work the weekends and I figure if I take you in I could also get you and you could ride with to Tomoyo's show since you know…"

Worst. Fucking. Do-over. Ever.

Mentally he slapped himself in the face as he watched her eyes widen while processing the gibberish that was pouring out of his mouth. How the hell had this woman managed to turn him into a flipping idiot? She was quite for a while before she scrunched her face up in apprehension and Syaoran braced himself for rejection. "Are you sure? You know I'm working first shift." Again he nodded, not wanting to risk saying anything else that was possibly blackmail material if Eriol ever found out. Surprisingly, she gave him a genuine smile in response. "Thanks… even though you're kinda starting to freak me out with all this kindness, I actually appreciate it. What time will you be here?"

He took a few steps out into the hallway and returned her smile. He knew there was no chance of him getting sleep with all the thoughts running through his head so he promptly replied "Five-thirty," before taking off towards the main exit.

The wide-eyed look she gave him was priceless.

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AN: And that's it for now… Let me know what you guys think! Should I continue this or let it go?