Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Card Captor Sakura characters… everything else is mine.
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Long 9 Months
Chapter 5: New Arrivals
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“You never seem to pick up the phone anytime I call, why is that I suppose?” Her mother’s voice started recording on the automatic recorder. “Maybe it’s because it’s around 2 a.m. in your time,” she rationalized as the sound of a ticking clock could be heard in the background.
“Anyway, I called to tell you that Meiling has transferred to your school. The girl has gotten into her head to go ‘visit’ with you for your last year of high school.” The disapproval tone of her voice didn’t leave her personal thoughts on the matter unclear.
“She’ll be there in a few days after I get everything settled out from her return from Hong Kong.” The message continued as she gave a few details and other family news before finishing the call.
“I can’t believe that bastard,” Meiling slipped into her native language, the obscenities pouring out of her mouth as she tried to remember how to work the new cell phone that she had been given by her aunt.
Her fight had some delays, amounting to finally arriving at the airport three hours later than what was originally thought. She had been worried about the waiting that Syaoran and her friends had to endure for her arrival, unable to use her phone since she had packed it on the bag she had checked in.
There she had been, worried about her friends and here she was, completely alone in an unfamiliar airport. The words escaped her.
It could be said that Meiling was not a very understanding or patient young woman. She was most likely to fly off the handle than to rationalize the situation and give the appropriate response to a problem.
All she wanted to do at the moment was to shout at the person who truly deserved it. Just where the hell was her cousin?
“Do you need some help?” the deep rumble ushered all other voices to the background. Meiling looked up from the phone toward the speaking figure. It took her quite a bit to go from his shirt lapels to his eyes.
Before her stood a guy around her age, comfortably dressed in a stripped t-shirt and loose fitting jeans. He had a traveling bag thrown over his shoulder, his hand holding it as he looked down toward her.
Meiling blushed, recalling what a spectacle she must present as she grumbled lowly toward her phone. Her eyes absorbed each of his features. He seemed to be doing the same thing, his eyes crinkled in thought.
He was at least 5’11”, comparing to her normal height. She barely cleared 5’5” on her best days. Thank the gods for heels.
He had dark blue almost midnight hair. He possessed much accentuated eyebrows and sideburns. He possessed an abundant amount of hair that was several inches long. The long strands fell over the sides, part of them obscuring his forehead as they pushed forward over his skull.
They led toward his eyes. They were light blue, shinning with the light reflected from the crystal ceiling that filtered the sun’s own rays. (If you still can’t picture him, I’m basing him on Ryo from Ronin Warriors/Samurai Troopers.)
“I’m a little lost,” Meiling sweat-dropped as she felt the much accented English she was uttering. It was going to take her some time to get her thoughts back to thinking and processing in the language.
Her stomach growled as she recalled she hadn’t eaten anything before the flight. Flying and food did not mix so well with her. “And I guess a little hungry.” She stepped back as she let the other airport patrons go on their way.
“Is this the first time you’ve been to this city?” The young man asked, his hand leading her toward the main lobby.
“No, I lived here around three years ago.” Meiling felt relieved for the human contact. “I’ve just never been in this airport.”
“You seem familiar to me for some reason. I just can’t place that specific style,” Ryo muttered to himself as he raked his brains for the elusive image that didn’t present itself.
“We might have gone to the same middle school,” Meiling rolled her traveling case behind her as she fell into step beside him. “I haven’t changed much; I’ve only grown a few inches in the past few years.”
“That must be it.” Ryo let the matter rest, something still nagging at the back of his mind.
“My cousin is picking me up in a couple of minutes,” Ryo lead her to a seat that faced the main entrance. “We could wait together for our rides.” Ryo suggested, setting his carryon bag by her big traveling bag. It seemed to be full for a good stay.
“I’m Ryo,” he introduced himself, extending his hand. Meiling responded in kind, shaking his hand, “I’m Meiling.”
“Nice to meet you,” the silence that filled their companionship wasn’t uncomfortable. They studied one another, trying to discern any clue as to their personal information without asking.
“My cousin was supposed to pick me up,” Meiling was furiously pressing the buttons to the menu of her phone, trying to remember where she was supposed to look for the numbers that had been saved into its memory.
“He either forgot, or got tired of waiting for my flight.” She scowled into the small mobile phone before deciphering where she was supposed to go. “The least he could have done is left me a message,” she was sure that her aunt had left the number to her cell phone on the message she had left a week before.
“I’m sure that if you know the address of where you’re going you could let us take you to your destination.”
“Oh yes,” Meiling felt gratitude pour from every pore in her body. She had just met the guy, but she was sure that she would be in no danger of getting kidnapped or any such nonsense.
She knew enough techniques of defense that would serve her in any situation. The person who would probably get a taste of it would be her inconsiderate cousin.
“Hey Ryo,” Meiling looked up from her phone toward the advancing figure. She seemed to be of their age, glasses perched over the crown of her hair. She seemed to be in no hurry to get to their side.
“Hey Chavela,” Ryo stood from his seat, reaching for his cousin and placing a kiss over her cheek. Both cousins stood almost breast to breast, Ryo only having around an inch of height over his cousin. And then his wavy hair let the appearance of an even bigger disparity reign.
“How was the flight?” Chavela asked with her attention concentrated on him.
“Lagging, as always.” Ryo turned sideways, letting Meiling into his cousin’s line of vision. “This is Meiling.”
“You picked up a girl?” She ribbed him, a wink passing over her eyes as she smiled warmly toward Meiling.
“No,” Ryo reached to her unraveled hair with his hand, rubbing furiously against the top. Meiling stood from her seat as the cousin’s continued with their familiar teasing.
“Nice to meet you,” Chavela responded as she introduced herself. “Are you waiting for your ride?”
“I don’t think my ride will be coming any time soon,” Meiling responded, her brows knitted together as she reached for one of the pockets in her huge traveling case. She had written down the address she was supposed to live in the next year, her own memory faulty.
“I’ll probably have to take a cab to my destination, and then strangle my cousin for his lapse in memory.”
“I can probably find it,” Chavela took her by the hand, their group walking toward the door. Ryo took the strap of Meiling’s bag and rolled it behind the two conversing girls.
“I don’t want to be any trouble,” Meiling protested, not wanting to intrude on someone’s schedule for her own mishaps.
“It won’t be any,” they walked toward the intersection that led to the parking garage next to the airport. “I’m one of the few people in this city that actually knows most of its streets and nooks.”
“Chavela loves to drive,” Ryo explained as he stepped beside them. “She spends most of her free time going around the city in her car through all the different neighborhoods.”
“You can tell me an address, and I can with great probability tell you where it’s located in the city.” Chavela boasted, leading her toward the space her compact car was located.
“If you’re sure it’s not a bother,” Meiling told her the address she had written down. Chavela laughed, waiting for Ryo to set their bags inside car.
“That’s one of the streets I drive through every day,” she explained. She entered the driver’s side, motioning for Meiling to slide into the passenger’s seat. Ryo slid onto the backseat.
“Most of my friends live around that area too,” Chavela read the number, her brows knitting together. It seemed familiar, but she didn’t know the addresses that she frequented. Like most people, she remembered the street, or the way to get to a place, but not the address itself.
“You might know my cousins,” Meiling turned to Chavela, remembering some of the outlines of the street she had lived more than 4 years before. “What school do you go to?”
“We all go to the same regional school,” Ryo answered, letting Chavela deal with the driving without disturbing it. “Chavela moved here only a few months ago, but I’ve lived in this city since I was born.”
“How nice,” Meiling tried to remember all of the places she had gone to school in her lifetime and couldn’t phantom a number. “My parents move a lot throughout the year, so I’m either taught by private tutors, or just have a short three month stay at the school around my area.”
“Is that why you moved to this area?” Chavela inquired as she exited the expressway on the exit that led to their very close community.
“No. I just returned from Hong Kong. I was there for more than two years.” Meiling looked to the streets that they passed; her eyes and mind taking in every aspect of her new home for the following year.
“I haven’t seen my cousins for more than three years, so I decided to transfer to their school. After we finish high school we’re all going to go our separate ways in the world, so I want to enjoy the time we have left together.”
“That’s a nice sentiment,” Chavela grinned as she turned the street toward their destination. “Most of the kids we know can’t wait to graduate and leave their families.” She spoke as if by private experience. “It might have something to do with the fact that we’ve been surrounded by the same people and same places all of our lives.”
“I can understand that,” Meiling tried to remember what the house looked like. She had remembered small details of the street when she had seen the recent photo that they had taken of the house.
“See which side of the street has even numbers,” Chavela kept to the intersection, lowering the speed of the car to not miss their destination.
“It’s to your right.”
“Good,” reading the last number of the house they passed, Chavela remembered that Syaoran’s place was only three houses down. According to the last number, it coincided with the house.
“You’re Syaoran’s cousin?”
“Yeah,” Meiling rolled the window down as they entered the driveway. Chavela parked the car behind a very dark brown Malibu.
“That’s Sakura’s car,” Ryo commented as they all got out from the vehicle. He reached for the large valise in the trunk and rolled it toward Meiling’s standing figure. She seemed to be immersed in the views the house provided.
“She drove him to school this morning.” Chavela moved her glasses from her eyes toward their usual stay atop of her head. “We had to pick up our schedules and books.”
She touched Meiling over her shoulder, awakening her from her reverie. “They should be home right now.”
“I wonder if that’s they reason he didn’t pick me up from the airport.”
“Probably. Although, he didn’t say anything about his cousin transferring to our school this morning. We all got together this morning as we went to our classrooms and he didn’t pick up any other school books than his own.”
“Something must be going on,” Meiling rationalized as she reached for one of her pockets. She took out a key ring with numerous keys jingling.
“You seem to be prepared.” Ryo commented as he set the bag by the doorframe.
“My aunt gave me copies of all the house keys she still had of the place.”
The door opened, light filtering inside as the door was swung open. Meiling entered, offering refreshments to her new acquaintances.
Chavela kind of lead the way, already knowing where the kitchen was situated. “I’ll leave your bag by the staircase.” Ryo promptly followed.
Meiling found herself in the middle of a very intimate/family scene.
Sakura stood by the oven, heating the coils as Syaoran brought containers from the fridge. They were standing front to front, her hands around his neck as he playfully nipped her nose.
Ryo cleared his throat, Chavela snickering. They had seen the couple in such embraces so many times that this was a natural occurrence to them.
Syaoran turned to the new sound, surprise clearly coating his face.
“Meiling?” He seemed frozen before happiness poured from his stance. He walked to her quickly, enveloping her in a very brotherly hug.
“What are you doing here?” He asked as soon as he set her down. He observed her thoroughly, trying to discern any of the changes that she might have gone through the last few years.
“I transferred to your school.” She told him, wondering why he was asking the obvious.
“When? I didn’t even know you’d come back from Hong Kong.”
“Are you serious?” Meiling asked disbelieving. “I know your mother called you over a week ago and left you a message with the details.”
“I never got it.”
The cousins continued the conversation, Sakura motioning for the other spectators to sit around the table as she brought out a couple of soft drinks from the fridge.
“How’s your sister doing?” Sakura asked Ryo as she glanced back at the low key heated discussion the cousins were having.
“Glowing with happiness. The engagement is official and the date has been set.”
“Your family must be deliriously happy.”
“You can say that again,” Chavela interrupted, setting her drink on the table. “Our family’s going to be connected to one of the most influential people in this country.” She winked at Sakura while she nudged her cousin. “You’re standing before the future son-in-law of one of the youngest senators this country has ever had.”
“She’s been announcing that all over yonder since Clara started dating her fiancé.”
“I just have a big mouth,” she responded, a jesting smile present on her face.
“I’m so sorry,” Meiling sounded a bit distraught as she approached the table. “I got so caught up in Syaoran’s impending death,” she sent a look of pure retribution before turning back to the other occupants. “That I forgot everything else.”
“No worries.” Chavela stood from her seat, Ryo following quickly. It was time to go home. There were other things they needed to do for the day.
“We’ll see you tomorrow for Tomoyo’s birthday party,” Chavela and Ryo said their goodbyes, followed to the door by the other occupants.
Meiling stood over the doorframe, waving toward her new acquaintances while Syaoran placed himself behind Sakura, his arms wrapped around her neck from behind.
“I’m going to be the shield, aren’t I?” Sakura asked, the obvious apparent when she felt his lips settle on the back of her head.
“Yep, you’re going to be the protection honey.”
“I don’t think it’s going to work.” she warned as Meiling closed the front door and the thud resonated throughout the very silent house.
Syaoran cowered further when she turned to phase them. Sakura held back a laugh as he tried to conform his shape to her own, as if to disappear.
Meiling‘s only reaction was to walk forward to the standing couple. “Just what the hell is going on here?”
This is a short chapter compared to the others, but I don’t think I needed to include anything else. Next chapter should be up shortly, hopefully...
Chapter 6 : New Developments
Sakura and Meiling have a talk about their common factor, Syaoran. While he in turn confesses to Eriol of a little problem he’s been having lately. How will Eriol react to his best friend’s position and the effect his little bombshell is having on his sanity?
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