Fly True (Syaoran/Sakura)

[storypaint]

Comm: wtf27
Words: 2871
Title: Fly True
Author: rhap_chan
Fandom: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles
Pairing: Syaoran/Sakura
Rating: G
Warnings: None.
Author's Note: Written for wtf27 prompt #7: high school AU.

Disclaimer: Tsubasa belongs to CLAMP. All fanfiction archived here is a derivative of canon material that is not my property. I do not profit from these writings. The opinions and actions expressed in these stories are not necessarily the views and beliefs of the original author or me.

Excerpt: Mokona said that the feather was somewhere in the school. It had boinked quite loudly, in fact, and Kurogane jumped several feet in the air. He was uneasy, he said, because nothing was trying to kill him yet. Fai had told him not to worry about it, but about three minutes later Kurogane saved him from being crushed under the crosstown bus.

What might have been, Sakura thought, standing in front of the class as the teacher introduced her and Syaoran. She wanted to reach out and take his hand-- he seemed bothered by this whole thing-- but they couldn't do that. They were in school, and Clow Academy frowned on physical contact. And pets as well, the headmistress had said, frowning down at Mokona, and Sakura had laughed nervously, claimed it to be a stuffed animal, and let go of Syaoran's hand.

Mokona said that the feather was somewhere in the school. It had boinked quite loudly, in fact, and Kurogane jumped several feet in the air. He was uneasy, he said, because nothing was trying to kill him yet. Fai had told him not to worry about it, but about three minutes later Kurogane saved him from being crushed under the crosstown bus.

Enrolling Syaoran and Sakura in school was more difficult than it should have been. They were supposed to have things like birth certificates, apparently. Finally Fai told an elaborate story about the tragic loss of their parents and all of their information. Fai and Kurogane were their last living relatives. (The headmistress had looked them up and down twice, especially after Fai put his hand on Kurogane's shoulder in a too familiar way, but she didn't comment. Technically, you couldn't deny children an education because of their... relatives...)

"A new start for them!" Fai insisted, and eventually the two of them were ushered off to class. As the door shut, Syaoran heard the men inquire into available positions at the school, but he figured that he was probably on his own about this one.

The Tomoyo of this world was looking in their direction, with little hearts in her eyes, and Syaoran knew what was coming... He sighed, but didn't protest, when she wanted to drag Sakura off at break to talk. Syaoran himself found a shady place under a tree and sat down. Mokona sat on his stomach. He warned it not to attract attention, but asked it to try and pinpoint the feather. It wasn't having much luck, and after a while, Syaoran just closed his eyes and dozed a little. They'd left their last world in the middle of the night before last, after a pitched battle, but when they'd arrived here it was eight in the morning. It was a bit disorienting.

When the bell rang Syaoran started awake and made his way back to the school. Someone waved at him from the distance, where they were mowing the lawn. It was hard to tell, but Syaoran caught a flash of bright-blonde hair, and judging by the lanky form, it was Fai. He was good at all sorts of strange things, Syaoran thought. But at least they had back-up now.

And in fact, P.E. was right after lunch, and there was Kurogane, blowing a whistle and looking irritated. Sakura gasped in surprise.

"Kurogane-san? I didn't know they would let you teach!"

"There was a sudden vacancy in the position after the gym teacher disappeared this morning," Kurogane said, flashing a white tooth.

Syaoran looked up at his mentor. Surely he hadn't--

"Apparently she ran off with the gardener," Kurogane said. "We had to promise not to do the same."

Sakura laughed, and Kurogane's face was decidedly neutral, but Syaoran decided it would be better not to provide the ninja, especially after they spent P.E. period doing a pull-up test and Kurogane beat them all ("Even the school record," the girls were whispering, "and he's a teacher!").

Though Sakura and Syaoran kept a close eye on Mokona, it didn't boink again until they were leaving school and passed by the Archery Club match. Mokona insisted quite loudly that they determine who was holding their feather. Sakura thought about the large amount of math homework she had due tomorrow and agreed with Mokona. The sooner they could leave, the better.

The boy Mokona pointed at was the shortest one on the team, a dark-haired boy with glasses and a winning smile. When Sakura inquired sweetly of a bystander, she was informed that he was Hiiragizawa Eriol, and that she shouldn't let his size fool her-- he was the best archer on the team.

They had a name now. They stayed until the end of the match, and Kurogane and Fai came to watch too, but when everything was over and people were milling about, they lost track of Eriol in the crowd. Disheartened, the crew headed home.

*

The next day entirely by accident Sakura bumped into Eriol in the hallway. Gallantly, he offered a hand to help her up, and his touch lingered a little longer than Syaoran thought appropriate. He was considering a glare, especially since Sakura was blushing and making silly small talk.

"It is a beautiful time of year," Eriol agreed suavely. "All the beautiful flowers you are named for will fall soon, though."

Sakura giggled. Syaoran cut in. "Found anything else strange that fell from the sky?" he asked, with the subtlety of a brick.

Eriol considered. "No, I don't believe so. Does it generally rain frogs where you're from, perhaps?"

Syaoran shook his head and stomped away, feeling suspicious about the boy. Sakura let him walk her to the classroom door.

*

That night they did their math together so Syaoran could check Sakura's answers. He was going over them carefully and marking her mistakes when he felt the need to talk to her.

"Sakura-hime?"

"Hmm?" the princess answered, looking up from her biology homework.

"This Eriol character. I'm not sure it's such a good idea to hang around with him," Syaoran said. A blush rose to his cheeks and his eyes fastened firmly on her homework.

"Oh, but we have to find the feather, Syaoran-kun!" Sakura said logically. Defeated, Syaoran agreed.

"In any case, he seems like a nice guy. A good archer, to be sure," she mused out loud.

"I could be better," Syaoran muttered, but Sakura had turned back to her homework.

*

The next day, Eriol met Sakura and Syaoran at the corner and walked with them to school. Fai and Kurogane had to arrive earlier, since they were staff, but Fai looked at Eriol with a knowing grin.

"The plot thickens!" he said to Kurogane, who just grunted. Being a P.E. teacher was pretty dull and he was ready to move on to something more challenging.

"What does that mean?" Mokona asked from its perch on Fai's head, and Fai explained, though the Headmistress came around the corner at the point that Fai was muttering about the "birds and the bees," and Kurogane snatched Mokona by the ears and held it behind his back.

"What do you have there, Mr. Puppy?" the headmistress asked, and Kurogane spared a glare at Fai before answering casually, "Just this old stuffed animal I found. Think it belongs to Sakura Reed."

The headmistress sniffed. "That ratty old thing? She had it the first day and I told her pets weren't allowed at school. Let me have it-- I'll get rid of it."

Since Mokona was flailing with anger behind Kurogane's back and certainly not in the mood to be gotten rid of, Fai interrupted her theatrically.

"Oh, but you can't!" he said. "It's the only thing Sakura has left of her parents! It would devastate her, absolutely devastate her, to lose this adorable stuffed animal."

He pulled Mokona away from Kurogane and patted it on the head. Of course it behaved better for him. Kurogane stalked away, and Fai promised to deliver the toy and make Sakura keep it at home.

"Are you sure that the blue-haired boy has the feather?" he asked, and Mokona nodded fiercely. Fai laughed a little. "Figures it would be him."

"Why?" Kurogane asked.

"Old magic, old magic," Fai said, and nothing more. His grin annoyed Kurogane, who stalked off to the gym.

*

Eriol began to hang around with Sakura and Syaoran during breaks. This delighted Sakura.

"He's a friendly guy, and we have to find the feather somehow!" she said to Syaoran. Glumly Syaoran nodded.

Every unsubtle inquiry Syaoran had tried came up short. He was about ready to ask if Eriol had found a magical feather that granted wishes or something. He couldn't take this much longer.

"Are you coming to the archery match this afternoon?" Eriol asked during lunch about a week after their arrival. "We're going against Seijyuu. It should be a good match."

"Wonderful idea!" Sakura said. Something in Syaoran welled up and somehow escaped his iron control.

"I shoot arrows too," he said defiantly.

"Really?" Eriol said, lifting an eyebrow. Syaoran could sense his polite disbelief. It infuriated Syaoran.

"Syaoran-kun?" Sakura said, but her words were ignored when Syaoran rose to his feet and slid unconsciously into a combatant's pose.

"Yes, really," he insisted. Eriol stood without worry, in the easy manner that Fai had, all of the power tucked away.

"Would you like to shoot a bit before the match? We don't start until four," Eriol said innocently. That was where the power was, in his words, and Syaoran immediately regretted his impulse.

"Sure," Syaoran said gruffly, turning away and walking back up to the school. Eriol escorted Sakura back to class.

*

During math class Syaoran shut his eyes and tried to picture an archer holding a bow. It hadn't worked the same in Clow Country as it did here, but he got a vague impression of the proper stance. He knew he had the strength to pull the bow, but he was in trouble when he got to the aiming part.

Because bowmen always closed their left eye to aim, and Syaoran couldn't do that.

He groaned inwardly and hit his head on the desk. The teacher scolded him for not paying attention.

*

When Syaoran and Sakura arrived at the practice area after school, they found Eriol in uniform, calmly putting arrows into the board one after another. He set the bow down and waved cheerfully at them.

"There's hakama on the bench there for you. I tried to estimate your size. And a bow, of course, but I figured you would want to adjust that yourself."

Syaoran nodded glumly and disappeared into the locker room. At least they had already been to a world where they wore these. He would be dressed properly when he embarrassed himself in front of Sakura. He wasn't sure what had gotten into him really. He guessed it was because he'd never had a rival for her affection, even before this journey. It had always been him and Sakura, the only two children in the palace.

Finally he slipped on the gloves and joined Eriol on the pitch. Calmly the boy shut one eye, focused, and the target made a thunk noise as the arrow drove into it. It was very close to center.

"I thought perhaps we'd make this more interesting," Eriol said to Syaoran. Sakura was watching their dialogue from the side of the field, avidly curious, but she couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

"What do you mean?" Syaoran asked, his body tense.

"I think I may have found the thing that you were looking for. That's what you two want so you can leave this world, isn't it?"

"Huh?" Syaoran said, gaping.

"There's a trace of otherness about you," Eriol said. "My father is a great magician, and he's taught me how to read these sorts of things."

He smiled his usual disarming smile, but Syaoran was angry now.

"Sakura needs that feather," he growled, "or she'll die."

"Well, we can't let the young lady die, can we?" Eriol replied. "Beat me in this contest and I will give you the feather. Otherwise... my price is a kiss from the lovely maiden."

Without a word, Syaoran turned, lifted the bow, and fired an arrow which swished past the edge of the target. Eriol nodded.

"You've never done this before," he said, and it was a statement, not a question, so Syaoran nodded and shut his bad eye, trying to focus.

Without warning, Eriol's arms encircled him from behind. Syaoran went stiff and didn't kick backwards, as much as he wanted to.

"Hold it like this," Eriol said, his voice tickling Syaoran's ear intimately as the boy adjusted his position. "And pull like this, and here..."

Eriol's hands were certain and Syaoran's arrow thunked into the target this time.

"If you focus and don't let your anger get the best of you, you will do fine," Eriol said, and let Syaoran go. Syaoran shut his eyes and attempted to focus. It was like Kurogane taught him-- the proper focus was everything in a fight. Angry people couldn't think well, and though he wanted to be angry at Eriol, rescuing Sakura's feather was more important now.

Eriol stepped over and picked up his own bow. After a moment his arrow hit inwards of Syaoran's by about two inches. It was clear to any observer who was the superior here, and observers were beginning to gather, whispering about their top archer and the new kid (especially the ones who saw Eriol's little lesson). Even the P.E. teacher and the janitor were inclined to watch, until the headmistress came by and scolded the janitor back to his duties.

Syaoran glanced over at the sidelines before firing again and Sakura smiled at him. "Go, Syaoran-kun! Go, Hiiragizawa-kun!"

>"Please, do call me Eriol-kun!" the blue-haired boy said kindly, and she nodded. Syaoran looked away from her distraction again and fired another arrow, trying to remember how it felt to do it properly, but that was all mixed in with the feeling of Eriol's arms around him and that made it difficult to concentrate. His arm buckled wrongly as he fired and the arrow embedded itself in the very top edge of the dartboard. Calmly Eriol fired near the center.

"First bullseye wins," Eriol said to his competitor. Syaoran looked at the number of arrows he had left. Eleven chances or a kiss. He had to get better quickly.

He watched Eriol as he lifted the bow and fired again, trying to drink in any little tricks the boy seemed to have. Then he lifted the bow and tried again. The arrow didn't seem to fly as it ought. Syaoran wished he had better depth perception. He tried again and again, and his arrows crept slowly toward the target, as he learned, but Eriol was very precise with his and any observer could see that he would hit the bullseye soon.

Syaoran shut both his eyes, and then just the right. It was just as dark, of course. He breathed twice, slowly, focusing. Eriol wasn't here. It was just him and the target.

He opened his eyes and fired, and somehow, some way, his arrow flew true and embedded itself in the center of the target. A moment later Eriol's struck half an inch away. It was clear who the winner was.

Eriol turned to Syaoran and bowed gallantly. "It seems you have the best of me," he said. "I will have to return this to the lady."

He pulled the feather from his pocket and handed it to Syaoran. Its warmth was comforting in Syaoran's hand, and he tucked it in his own pocket for safekeeping.

"You could be very great if only you could see through your right eye," Eriol said. "I'm impressed."

"Thank you," Syaoran said quietly, not quite ready to forgive Eriol for the goading, but perhaps willing to set it aside for the moment. Eriol shook Syaoran's hand and then the both of them strode over to Sakura at the sidelines.

"Thank you for lending me your young man," Eriol said to her, smiling. "He was worthy competition."

He knelt and kissed her hand. Sakura blushed fiercely and Syaoran began to reconsider their truce, but Eriol then waved and said, "I have to get back, we're starting soon."

He walked back to the pitch, where they were calling out the matches. Syaoran left Sakura long enough to change, making sure to transfer the feather to his new pocket. When he emerged, the large crowd had drifted away, except for a few die-hard Eriol fans who were now looking at Syaoran with a calculating glance. He tried to ignore it.

Defiantly, Syaoran took Sakura's hand, and when they left the school and emerged onto the street, he presented her with her feather. Breathlessly she began to tell him of her new memories, speaking quickly as though she thought she was going to lose it again, and he listened to every word.

When they all arrived at the place they were staying, Mokona pulled them into another world, a world of gambling and prohibited alcohol (which meant it took Fai only slightly longer than usual to find a bottle). Sakura didn't drink much. She went to bed that night with a smile on her lips. Syaoran watched to make sure she was sleeping easily. Then he looked out of the window up at the moon, thinking of their last world.

What might have been, he thought at last, simply, and then he went to bed.