"But Sakura!" Kero exclaimed. "What happened last night?"

"I'm sorry, Kero," Sakura began to apologize hastily, gathering her books together, "but I'm going to be late for my first day of class!" Then, as he went to leave her bedroom, she added, "but I promise when I get back I'll tell you all about it!"

"But Sakura!" Kero protested, but Sakura was already out the door.

Sakura hustled down the stairs and into the kitchen, her breakfast already laid out for her. She sat down and ate in a moment's time, and was up again, heading toward the door as the phone began to ring.

After a moment, Sakura's father called out to her from the hall, "Sakura!"

"Yes?" she called back, putting on her left shoe.

"You have a phone call," he replied. "From Hong Kong."

Sakura gasped, then hastily kicked off her shoes and ran into the hall, excitedly taking the phone from her father. "Thanks!" she said with a smile and her father warmly smiled back before leaving her with to her phone call. Anxiously, Sakura asked into the phone, "Hello?"

"Hello, Sakura; it's Shaolan," the familiar voice of Shaolan came to her and Sakura nearly let out a squeal, grinning wildly.

"Hi!" she exclaimed. "How are you?"

"I am good," he replied. "I'm sorry to call so early, but I wanted to wish you good luck on your first day of high school."

"Thanks! Good luck to you, too!"

"I…uh…" Shaolan hesitated, lowering his head as he stood in the hall of his own home in Hong Kong.

Sakura blinked curiously and frowned. "Shaolan?"

"I've missed you," he finally said, blushing slightly, and Sakura smiled.

"I've missed you, too," she answered back.

Easing up, Shaolan then asked, "Did you get my letter?"

"Oh, yes!" she replied eagerly. "I was glad to hear from you. I wrote back, too; you should get it soon."

"All right." Shaolan paused for a moment. Then, he began to ask, "Sakura, I wanted to ask you-about last night-"

"Shaolan! We're going to be late for school!" Meiling's voice called out before Shaolan could finish, however, and Shaolan turned his head to see that Meiling had just entered his house, new school uniform on and books in hand. "Hmm?" She blinked a few times, spotting him on the phone, and then suddenly grinned.

"Shaolan?" Sakura asked, wondering why Shaolan had stopped mid-sentence.

However, before Shaolan had a chance to answer, Meiling had already grabbed the phone from him, nearly knocking hom over in the process. She exclaimed excitedly into the receiver, "Kinomoto-san!"

Sakura blinked, a bit puzzled. "Meiling-chan?"

"Hi! How are you?"

Smiling, her confusion now leaving her, Sakura replied, "Oh, hi, Meiling-chan! I am good; how are you?"

"I'm good…"

Shaolan grumbled a bit as Meiling began chatting away to Sakura about her vacation and such. He then began, "Meiling, I was-"

'Oh, Daidouji-san?" Meiling interrupted, still engrossed in her conversation with Sakura. "Yes, she told me about Senmatsu-kun! What about him?" There was a pause. "Really? On a date? Last night? Did she talk to you about it yet?" Shaolan let out a sigh and leaned against the wall in slight annoyance as Meiling listened to Sakura attentively. "Well, you have to ask her about it today! And then call me later! Or maybe I'll email Daidouji-san about it…but I wonder what this Senmatsu-kun is like anyway…hmm?" She paused and listened. She then looked at her watch and said, "Wow, it is getting late…uh-huh…okay…I'll tell him…" She looked up from the phone and to Shaolan. "Kinomoto-san says she loves you."

Shaolan immediately stood up straight, face bright red, and stammered in a mumble, "I…uh…tell her I love her, too," before lowering his head in embarrassment.

Meiling laughed and smiled, turning her attention back to the phone. "Shaolan says he loves you, too." She then cuffed her hand around her mouth and the receiver and whispered, "You should see him; he's blushing. It's so cute!"

"Meiling!" Shaolan scolded, hearing her and face turning even redder.

But Meiling just laughed and said to Sakura, "Bye, Kinomot-san! Hope to talk to you soon!"

"Bye, Meiling-chan," Sakura said with a smile, hanging up the phone. She then looked at her watch, panic spreading across her face, and she cried, "Hoe!" before rushing off to school.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo greeted her friend as she waited for Sakura to catch up with her on that early April morning.

"Good morning, Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura replied with a grin when she reached her. "I though I was going to be late!"

"How are you, Sakura-chan?"

"I'm good. How about you?"

"I'm fine. Are you excited about starting high school, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura smiled with an energetic nod. "Yes, very!"

Tomoyo smiled herself and replied, "Me, too."

The two girls started off again, Tomoyo walking and Sakura slowly skating by her side, when Sakura asked, "So, Tomoyo-chan, how did things go with Senmatsu-kun last night?"

"Oh, it was very enjoyable," Tomoyo said pleasantly. "Sen-Sen was the perfect gentleman."

"That's good," Sakura replied. Then, hesitating, Sakura asked, "Did he confess his true feelings to you?"

Tomoyo just smiled and chuckled softly, but said nothing on the matter, and Sakura frowned because of it, letting out a sigh. Changing the subject suddenly, Tomoyo said, "Oh, Sakura-chan! Did I tell you? I just finished my latest costume for you yesterday!" She clasped her hands together and became starry-eyed. "I just can't wait to film you in it!"

Sakura blushed and gave her a bashful smile. "Well, I suppose I'll just use the Create Card again…" she answered, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Thank you so much, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo exclaimed, stopping and taking her friend by the hand. "I really appreciate it!"

"As long as you are happy, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said with a smile.

"Yes, I am," Tomoyo answered. "Nothing makes me more happier than filming you in my costumes! Oh, how cute you will look!" She became starry-eyed again at the thought as the two proceeded toward the school again. "And it's a good thing, too, that I brought it with me this morning; you can try it on right after school!"

Sakura tried her best to smile, although embarrassment still filled her face. However, she soon frowned regretfully. "Oh, wait. I'm sorry, Tomoyo-chan, but I can't right after school today.

"Hmm?" Tomoyo asked, frowning now as her hope left her eyes.

"I promised Yukito-san and Onni-chan that I would visit them at their new apartment."

"Oh, okay, then," Tomoyo said with a smile, trying desperately to hide her disappointment.

Sakura frowned, feeling a bit guilty, and lowered her head. Then, suddenly she perked up and excitedly exclaimed with a grin, "Hey, I know! Why don't you come with me to see Onni-chan and Yukito-san?" she offered. "Then, afterwards, we can go back to my house and I'll try on the costume for you."

Tomoyo's face lit up. "All right, Sakura-chan!" Both girls smiled and laughed, and then continued on toward Seijou High School.

Meiling and Shaolan walked alongside each other while they walked to school as they had always done since they were little.

"I'm so excited; aren't you?" Meiling was saying. "Our first day of high school!" She went to say more, but stopped suddenly, noticing the bandage wrapped around Shaolan's hand. "Hey, Shaolan; what happened to your hand?"

"Huh?" he looked down at it and frowned a bit. "I cut it practicing last night."

"Oh," Meiling said. After a pause of contemplation, she folded her arms and scolded, "Well, you should be more careful, Shaolan! A sword is a very dangerous weapon! Say if you cut off your finger or something?" Shaolan gave a shrug, eyes still set on his hand. "Shaolan!" she exclaimed in frustration, but the calmed down a bit, growing curious again and inquired, "But how come you cut yourself? You never cut yourself when you're practicing."

Shaolan looked up at her for a moment. Then he sighed and glanced away. "I got distracted," he answered curtly.

"Oh…" Meiling trailed off slightly and placed a finger to her chin. "Well, I suppose it's easy to get distracted when you don't have any reason to focus. I mean, it has been a few years since you actually needed to use your sword or your magic." She frowned and then added. "I've gotten that way with my martial arts, too, I think…"

Shaolan looked down at his hand again with a somber look in his eyes, but then asked Meiling, "So how'd your date go last night?"

"Oh, don't even get me started on that!" she exclaimed in aggravation. "Ying or Jing or whatever his name is was a complete jerk!"

"Oh…?"

"First, he asks me all those redundant questions and then he starts going on and on about this mountain trip he took and then about some girl; it was so boring! And he held his spoon all wrong! I mean, if you saw the way he held his spoon, you would have been like, 'who holds their spoon like that?'"

"That's interesting…" Shaolan trailed off, only half-listening.

"And, worst of all, halfway through the dinner, I hear this song-one that he CLAIMS he didn't hear-"

"Song?" Shaolan questioned, raising suspicious eyes to her.

"Yeah, song," Meiling repeated nonchalantly and continued on with the story. "Anyway, I hear this song and it kind of put me in this daze…I don't know, but, anyway, the next thing I know the song stops and I'm just standing their like an idiot and he's just staring up at me as if I am an idiot; it was so embarrassing!"

"But, Meiling, what was the song-"

"An-mei! Myung! Hi!" Meiling cut him off, spotting two of her friends up ahead and giving them both a big grin and an even bigger wave.

The two girls smiled and waved back, calling, "Hi, Meiling!"

"Wait! Meiling!" Shaolan tried to stop her, reaching out a hand to her, but it was too late; Meiling had already excitedly ran up ahead with a cheery grin and had started up conversation with the two girls.

And all Shaolan could do was drop his hand to the side and let out a sigh.

After school, before Sakura and Tomoyo left to see Yukito and Touya, Senichi came running toward them, calling, "Daidouji-san!"

Tomoyo turned around and smiled when she saw Senichi. "Good afternoon, Sen-Sen."

"Good afternoon, Senmatsu-Kun," Sakura also greeted him with a polite bow

"Oh, hi, Kinomoto-san," he said with a smile and a small wave before turning his attention back to Tomoyo. "Um…Daidouji-san…I…uh…I…"

"Yes, Sen-Sen?"

Senichi's face turned red. "I…uh…wanted to know if you wanted to…uh…do something, now? That is, if you're not busy…"

Tomoyo frowned. "I'm sorry, Sen-Sen, but I have already made plans with Sakura-chan."

"Oh…" Senichi lowered his head in disappointment, but Tomoyo smiled and took his hand. Senichi looked up in surprised.

"But we'll do something tomorrow. I promise."

Senichi now smiled. "All right, Daidouji-san! I'll see you tomorrow then!" He then started off, giving them a big wave as he left. "Good-bye, Daidouji-san! Good-bye, Kinomoto-san!"

"Good-bye, Senmatsu-kun!" Sakura called and waved back.

"Good-bye, Sen-Sen!" Tomoyo replied, waving as well. He was then out of sight. "He's very sweet, isn't he?"

Sakura nodded vigorously. "Yes!"

Tomoyo smiled. "Shall we go then to see your brother and Tsukishiro-san, Sakura-chan?" Sakura nodded excitedly again and the two girls were then off.