It had been two weeks since the race between Cherry and Meiling. Cherry had become even more famous than before. Among other things, her secretive and mysterious identity was like a big puzzle that everyone in Shinto region wanted to solve. She, the new number one female racer of Shinto was on the most wanted to-race list. On top of that, it seemed she had caught Li Syaoran – the Emperor's king attention as well.
Being a friend with the member of the Emperor had some advantage. Meiling was fairly talkative when it came to the topic of Cherry. She had said that Syaoran was interestedin Cherry. Not romantically of course. Still that didn't make her feel any better, especially not since they had recently become close. It would be harder for her to hide her 'Cherry personality' from him. He would eventually become suspicious of her when she acted giddy around cars.
That was also one of the reasons why she had used an alias. For one she hated being in the centre of attention. And two, she liked to remain in the background. Sadly, it'd seem that her plan had backfired. In stead she was in the spot light instead of the shadow. She wondered how people would react, especially her friends in particular if her identity was revealed. Would they accept her with open arms or hate her for her deception.
"Hello? Chiharu to Sakura." Chiharu waved her hand in front of the auburn hair girl but she got no respond.
"She's not with us,"
"Wonder what made her so…daze." Jia said.
"Maybe it's a certain amber eyes boy?" the five girls giggled.
Meiling got up from her chair and tip-toed behind Sakura. She hushed the girls from making any noises as she poked Sakura's waist.
"AHHH!" Sakura shrieked, jumping up from her chair. The girls burst out laughing. Sakura whirled around, glaring at the ruby eyes girl and then at everyone at the table and sat back down again.
"That was uncalled for!" she pouted.
"You weren't paying attention Sakura, so we needed to bring you back from wherever you were."
"Oh sorry," Sakura blushed.
"Never mind. So…what or who was it that you've been thinking about?" Rika teased.
"Could it be a certain amber eyes boy?" Chiharu added.
"By the name of…"
"Li Syaoran?" Meiling finished, smiling widely at the red face girl.
"That…I…anyway," Sakura changed the subject. "What about you and Eriol, Moyo? You still haven't told us anything from your date."
"Oh…"this time it was the amethyst eyes girl turned to blush. "It was nothing special. He took me to the cinema then we had lunch at the park. We talked for a few hours. Afterwards we went for a game of bowling and we had dinner and…he drove me home."
"Hmm…are you sure that was it? No kisses?" Meiling probed knowing her cousin's best friend well.
Tomoyo blushed. "Well, he kissed me good night but that was it. Really."
"Did he say when your next date is? No, actually, did he ask you to be hisgirlfriend?"
"I—ermm—yes." She replied softly.
"Ah ha. I knew it! Congratulations!" Meiling squealed. Sakura, Rika, Chiharu and Jia congratulated Tomoyo with big smile on their faces.
"Eriol is always quick with this kind of things, unlike my cousin. He still hasn't made his move yet." Meiling sighed looking at Sakura.
"What?" Sakura asked oblivious to what Meiling had implied.
"Nothing," Meiling shook her head as the other girls giggled.
An hour later, the topic of the conversation came back to Cherry. Sakura inwardly groan as she laid he head on the table.
"Yeah it's true. Syaoran really wanted to know who Cherry is. He said 'she intrigues him'. You know it's odd for him to be interested in a female racer as he hardly cares." Meiling said and she quickly added. "But you don't have to worry Sakura; he's not interested in her like that."
"Does this mean he wanted to race her?" Sakura quickly sat back up, listen intently for the answer.
"I honestly don't know. But I think he might. I mean she's the first girl – racing-wise that he's interested in but other than that…"
"Why not?" Sakura asked. "I mean you said she's good right? Why wouldn't he be interested in racing with her? If it was me…I would be."
"She is good but Syaoran is just…better." Sakura bit her lips from retorting.
"I'm not praising him or anything but it's the truth. Cherry might've beaten me but my skills are not match up to his. Although it would be awesome to watch the two races but personally I don't think she can win."
"Then why don't you tell him to challenge her and see if she can win?" Sakura said a bit too harshly. Meiling raised her brow in surprise at Sakura's tone but shrugged it off.
"Well, that's a good idea but no one knows how to contact her." Sakura inwardly smack herself.
"Why don't…you leave a note or something?" Sakura suggested. "She might see it and reply?"
"And where do you suppose I should leave a note? I have no clue about her so it's going to be hard to guess which place I should leave a note at."
"How about…here? Clow café is pretty popular and you never know she might come here."
"Hmm, I'll ask Syaoran about it."
"Great!" Sakura beamed.
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"No."
"But why not? I think it's a good idea!" Meiling crossed her arms and slumped down on the couch.
"Because I'm not interested," Syaoran replied and sat himself across from her.
"But you said 'she intrigues me'. Doesn't that say something?"
He sighed. "Even so, that doesn't mean I want to race her. Yes, she intrigues me but that only because she's a mystery. Considering she pops out of no where and became the number one racer. Wouldn't you be interest to know who this person is and she had come from?"
"Right but still…"
"Okay I admit her skills are pretty good but that's all I can say."
"You shouldn't be underestimating her Syaoran. After all, she did beat me. Andit was you and Eriol that taught me driving techniques. Anyway, you've seen only one race from her against me; you shouldn't be judging her." Meiling stated.
"True," he shrugged. "But that doesn't mean I want to race her."
"Fine, fine, I get you. Sakura's gonna be disappointed."
Syaoran's eyebrow rose. "Really? Why?"
She shrugged. "Well, she seems so excited when I said I'll talk to you concerning Cherry."
"Strange. She doesn't look that type that likes to race. She looks too innocent to be in the racing business."
"Ah but looks can be deceiving dear cousin. Besides I think she's pretty good with cars." Syaoran looked at her skeptically. "Seriously, she knows things about 'em. I was surprised myself since I don't know much about it. And I'm a racer."
"Interesting," Syaoran said thoughtfully.
"Say, what if Sakura does race, what would you do then?"
"…I dunno."
The two sat in silent, contemplating on their previous conversations.
Was it possible that Sakura was indeed a racer? Her knowledge about cars was astounding. Even though she said that her brother had taught her. But if she wasn't into cars herself, she wouldn't know so much about it. Her understanding about cars rivaled Syaoran and Eriol, it was shocking. Imagine Sakura was really a racer in disguise…Meiling shook her head. She needed to stop her imagination from running too wild.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." A voice called out from the doorway.
"No, we were just thinking…"
"Now that's a surprise," the voice teased.
Meiling threw a cushion but it was caught before hitting the target. "Shut up Eriol. You're opinion is not welcome."
He chuckled before sat himself on the couch next to Syaoran.
"What's with the laptop?"
"Come here," Eriol patted an empty seat next to him. Meiling rolled her eyes.
"I'm not a dog you know."
"Really? I'd have thought otherwise," he grinned.
Meiling narrowed her yes. "Being a bitch and all, you know." She punched his arm, hard.
"God woman, that hurts!" He rubbed his now, bruised arm.
"Good, it was meant to."
Syaoran shook his head. Children these days. "So what was it that you want to tell us?"
"Ah that." He opened his laptop. "See I was just browsing through some stuff—"
"You mean chatting with girls. I should tell Moyo about this." Meiling interrupted.
"—and I just happened to check on the Shinto's racing site." He continued on ignoring Meiling's input. "It appears that it was that time of the year."
Syaoran and Meiling looked at him in confusion.
"I'm not in the mood for one of your riddle Eriol." Syaoran said.
"You're never in the mood for anything!" he pouted.
Meiling giggled. "That sounds naughty. Is there something I should know?" She wriggled her brow suggestively.
The two boys looked at each and quickly separating themselves as far as they could.
"Oh god Mei! What the hell were you thinking?"
"The thing is, she wasn't thinking." Syaoran shuddered. "Let me make this clear. I. Like. boys." Eriol nodded vigorously.
"What do you know, I learn new things today." She grinned.
"Don't. Just don't even go there Mei." Syaoran glared at his cousin.
"Okay, that was disturbing. Must forget. Delete from mind. Delete. DELETE!" Eriol muttered. "Argh, nasty image. Nasty!" He shook his head violently. "So anyway, as I was saying, the Shinto's racing site."
"What about it?" Meiling asked, swallowing down her laughter. Teasing her cousin and Eriol was quite enjoyable! She must remember to pass along their rather funconversation to her girlfriends.
"It's the yearly Shinto region racing event. It's happening in less than a month."
"OH MY GOD! IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE!" Meiling jumped up in delight.
"Is it like every year?" Syaoran asked.
"No not this year. I think the committees are promoting inter-region relationship or something. You see this year, Tuen Mun is included in our event too."
"What?"
Syaoran looked thoughtful. "In short, we have more competitors."
"Yes, that sums it up."
"We don't know much about them do we? I've heard that several of them are really skillful. Is that true Syaoran?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I've seen some of them race when I visited there. They are good…extremely good."
"Well, the good thing is…it's 500 to 100. We have a higher chance to win. Thank goodness for smart committees. Wouldn't want them to win the Shinto's cup now would we."
"How many per team?" Syaoran asked.
"10, while the rest is for free-racers."
"Not bad."
Syaoran nodded. "We need a meeting. Eriol, send the messages to the team."
"Aye."
Meiling stood up.
"And where are you off to?"
"Need to call Moyo. I don't think she knows about it yet."
"Be a dear and tell her I miss her will you." Eriol gave her a puppy eyes.
She rolled her eyes. "If I can remember it," and left the room.
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It was 20 minutes after the phone call. Meiling was currently sitting on the floor in Tomoyo's bedroom sipping her coke. Chiharu was sitting on her left and Tomoyo on her right. Sakura was next to Tomoyo and Jia was next to her. Rika came out from the bathroom and plopped herself on the empty spot. The 6 six girls were sitting in a circle-like position with snacks and drinks in the center.
"So the Shinto's racing event is here." Tomoyo said.
"Yup," Meiling confirmed and bit into her choc-chip biscuit. "But I don't know the whole detail. After the small talk with Eriol and Syaoran, I called you and here I am."
"I see. Let me get my laptop and we'll read about it." Tomoyo got up and went to her study table. She picked up her laptop and brought it back to the circle.
While Tomoyo was setting up, Sakura asked. "What racing event?"
"Every year, the Shinto region has a racing event where all the racers, with or without team, can enter and the winner will receive a trophy and some prizes. Unfortunately, there wasn't one last year due to some funding problem."
"Sounds like fun," Sakura said enthusiastically.
"It is. I love this event best. It's better than the usual racing comps."
"Alright let see here," Tomoyo said as she browsed through the page. "It said here that there are 500 spaces for Shinto people and 100 for Tuen Mun."
"Oh, that's new." Chiharu said.
"Yeah, this is the first time." Rika agreed.
"Mhmm. Eriol said they're promoting inter-region crap."
"It should be more fun, shouldn't it?" Sakura asked.
"I guess so. But that means there are tougher competitors. Tuen Mun has some awesome drivers."
"Yup, yup." Jia nodded.
"But that's what makes the race more thrilling. I mean you have to try your hardest to win." Sakura said. The girls were looking at her in surprise. "Right?" she added nervously, drinking her orange juice.
Meiling shook her head slightly and smiled. "You amaze me with all the things you know Sakura. It sounds as if you race." Sakura choked on her drink.
"Are you alright?" Rika asked.
"Y-Yeah. The juice went down the wrong tube. Nothing to worry about."
"Back to the event," Tomoyo continued on. "Each team is allowed to register up to 10 people, while the rest is for free-racers. And 100 spots for Tuen Mun people. Fair enough."
"When's the registering day? Moyo, we need to have a meeting."
"Yes we do," Tomoyo agreed. "As for the registering…it's in about a week time. Hmm, let's see the rules." She clicked through several pages before she found the right one.
"There'll be a time race to cut down to 100 people; that'd take around a week at the most. And then those 100 plus the 50 from Tuen Mun will be mixed and match for the next race, which is a tag race. The final 50 will again have a time race. Then the 10 qualifiers will have a drag race to determine the winner."
"Good lord, that sounds like a lot of hard work." Jia commented.
"Yeah,"
"How long is the event?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Usually a day or 2; depending on the weather and what's not. That's for the qualifiers. Not many people wanted to attend the elimination period. Nothing exciting really." Meiling explained.
"Ah I see. I wonder how the process works…"
"It's simple," Tomoyo started. "Once you've registered, you'll be given a certain number. That number is your ID for the event. If nothing has changed from the previous years; on the day of your race before you begin, you'll be given your ID number sticker for your car.
"The names of all contestants are listed on the site. Those who've lost will have their name crossed. I think this will be how we'll be matched. Random."
"Interesting. What about prizes?"
"Good question!"
"Let see…prizes…prizes…ah ha. The winner will be given a trophy, a bouquet, 1000, their name listed on the site until next year and…" Tomoyo paused. "A mysterious price...I wonder what it is. Anyway, in second and third place, you'll get a smaller bouquet with 500 and 250, respectively."
"Gosh, I could definitely use that money." Chiharu commented. The girls nodded in agreement.
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It was around 11pm when Sakura got home. She went up to her room, showered and dressed in her PJ. After finishing combing her hair, she laid down on her bed. She processed all the information she was told earlier in her mind.
Sakura would definitely enter the event for sure. A bonus to that, she might even be lucky to race Syaoran, if lady luck was on her side. And furthermore, she would see Lei again. She was certain that Lei would enter and win all the way to the final round. With a smile on her face, she drifted off into a dream world.
For the next few weeks, she'd be extremely busy.
X
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