"Cup of Coffee" - Chapter One

By: dejectedxangel

Disclaimer: the talented people at CLAMP own Card Captor Sakura and all its characters. The band Garbage owns the song "Cup of Coffee".

Author's Note: Yes, I know, I know, another story when the other ones haven't been updated in ages --; I can't help it! Anywho, this takes place after Syaoran confesses to Meilin that he loves Sakura… or rather, that she tells him that he does, then leaves for Hong Kong again. I'm modifying the story a bit, so please bear with me --;

I'm not so sure about the names I'm using, but just so you know, I did some research online and this is what I got:

Haruko means First Born in Japanese.

Xing means Star in Chinese.

Genji and Jin both mean Golden in Chinese.

Sirata is the name of the school they're going to… I made it up while staring at a poster on my wall with a few bands on it and then spelling "Ataris" backwards. Hehehe!

Um.. yeah… on with the story! Remember, Read & Review folks!

The teacher walked into the oversized classroom, placing his suitcase on the cherry wood desk. Glancing up at the four desks in front of him, he tilted his head curiously, noticing the extra desk. Looking at the roster that lay next to his suitcase, he noticed an additional name added on with a ballpoint pen reading Meiling Li.

As soon as the clock struck 8 'o' clock, he cleared his throat to get the attention of the students. The three sat up straight, paying full respect to their teacher.

"Class, it seems we have a new student joining us. Why she hasn't arrived yet, I do not know. I'm going to go check with the office, so please prepare your homework from last night while I'm away." With that, the teacher walked out of the classroom, shutting the door gently behind him.

"A new student in the middle of the semester?" asked a girl with cherry red hair held back in a ponytail and hazel colored eyes. The girl next to her shrugged, her identical cherry read hair falling back from her shoulders some as it was hanging loose.

"Kind of weird… I wonder if it's a guy!" she said, giggling and closing her own pair of hazel eyes. The student next to them rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Girls…" he muttered, taking out a stack of papers and placing them on his desk neatly.

"Oh shut up!" both girls said before bursting in a fit of giggles. Just then the door opened and they all sat up straight again, folding their hands over their desk.

"Class, I'd like you to welcome Meiling Li."

As he stepped aside and a girl with jet black hair in two buns with some hair flowing back down came into view. Her ruby red eyes were cast down slightly as she entered the class, dressed in the school uniform of a black skirt, white blouse, black tie and black sweater. Her sweater was actually wrapped around her waist, partly covered by her bright red messenger bag. The red haired twins smiled at her warmly and nodded in acknowledgement at her, causing her to look up and give a small smile back. The boy next to them, she noted, hadn't even noticed her come in, his jet-black hair in bangs, covering his eyes as he stared down at the papers on his desk. The teacher took a seat at his own desk as Meiling stood next to his desk.

"Tell us about yourself, Ms. Li."

She took a deep breath.

"I'm from Hong Kong originally, but I moved to Japan for a while with my cousin and went to school there. Due to certain circumstances, I came back to Hong Kong. I never really attended school here since I studied with my cousin under the guidance of a tutor. Since he stayed in Japan, I decided to go to an actual school here in Hong Kong instead of going back to a tutor."

"Interesting. You may take a seat next to Haruko over there," he nodded towards the empty desk next to the boy. The boy looked up upon hearing his name, deep blue eyes meeting ruby. She took graceful steps as she walked over to the desk and took a seat, taking out supplies for the workday.

"Haruko Xing," he stated simply to the girl beside him and she glanced up, her ruby eyes lighting up slightly.

"Meiling Li."

Just then, the teacher asked everyone to open their math books to the previously assigned page to review the homework. Pulling out her new book from her messenger bag, Meiling copied the work as the teacher explained it on the board.

Lunchtime came at midday and the teacher released the students, leaving the classroom. Meiling was still copying down the last of the notes off the board when two girls came up to her.

"Hiya!" they said cheerfully, causing Meiling to look up after having copied the last of the notes.

"Uh… hey.." she said meekly, looking at both girls. Before she could ask the question..

"We're twins," they said at the same time.

"I'm Jin Xing and she's Genji Xing," said the twin with her hair held back. They both bowed and Meiling stood up, bowing as she stated her name again.

"Xing?" she asked, glancing from them to the boy that had taken out his lunch and placed it on the desk.

"Haruko's our cousin. We grew up together!" she said as she teasingly ruffled his hair. He glared at her, his blue eyes darkening slightly. For some reason Meiling felt relieved at hearing they were related, but as she realized that a voice in the back of her head asked her, 'Why are you so relieved?'

At that exact moment she glanced at Haruko to find his gaze fixed on her, a smirk on his lips. He immediately turned around, facing his food. The twins didn't seem to notice, however, and moved their desks with her and lunched together.

The clock struck four 'o' clock and the teacher once again released the students, only for home this time. Gathering her things, Meiling made her way to the door with Jin and Genji at either side of her. Not too far behind, Haruko followed them, his blue eyes glued on the back of Meiling's head. He listened to her every giggle as his cousins entertained her, noticing how her tone dropped when they asked her about Japan. As they exited the school, she told them her address and they smiled as they lived on the same street as she did.

As the girls giggled at something Jin had pointed out, Haruko cleared his throat, causing the three beautiful heads to turn around and look at him.

"So, Li, how'd you get into Sirata?"

"Call her Meiling, Haruko! She already said we could call her by her first name," said one of the twins, nudging Meiling and causing her to smile in the process.

"Well, my aunt enrolled me," Meiling started, her ruby eyes meeting his blue ones. He smirked and shook his head.

"Sirata is for the most elite of students, both socially and academically. My cousins and I have been there since we were small and Sirata hardly ever admits anyone in after a certain age, let alone in the middle of a semester. It's really strange that they'd let someone in." As he spoke, he approached her, standing merely a foot from her. Their eyes were locked, emotionless, but locked all the same. Their gaze broke when a loud smack came from his arm. Haruko looked at his cousin with a pained expression. Meiling couldn't help but smile as she turned to Genji.

"Stop being rude, Ruki!" she said, taking Meiling by the arm as her sister did the same and they kept walking. Haruko stood behind for a few moments, glaring at them for a moment, as the pain from the smack dulled almost instantly. He sighed and started walking again, his thoughts on the ruby-eyed girl walking between his cousins. In the few seconds their eyes had been locked, he'd noticed something in them that left him quite disturbed. He shook his head, deciding to investigate it later, and walked faster to catch up with his cousins.