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Chapter Three: Is it Native American for “The Plush… Toy?”

The gym coach let everyone get dressed, since it was pretty obvious no one’s head would be in the game for the rest of the period. Everyone was still buzzing about the boy who must have been a little off the deep end. It seemed no one knew who he was.

Well, everyone except Tomoyo of course.

“That must have been Syaoran Li….” she said thoughtfully.

Sakura finished pulling her sweater over her head. “You know him?” Tomoyo seemed to know everything that happened at the school. It was a little eerie.

“Well… no, not at all!”

She nearly tripped over her denim pant leg. People sure were blunt here! She opened her mouth to ask a bit more, but Tomoyo continued.

“The teachers have been talking about him the last couple of weeks, just as they have been speaking of you as well. He must have just arrived today. I believe, if I am not mistaken, he’s transferring here temporarily because of family matters.”

“… How do you learn all of this?” Tomoyo’s knowledge was certainly impressive. Did she learn everything about Sakura before she moved as well…? She was nice and all, and Sakura thought she was a really good friend, but Tomoyo was—erm, special.

The end bell rang. Everyone grabbed their bags and stampeded out the gym doors. As soon as the cold air hit her skin, Sakura knew she’d have to go get some heavier clothes soon.

She waved goodbye to Tomoyo and some other people that randomly waved to her as she finally found her Chevy in the parking lot. She was just about to climb in when she saw who it was that had parked next to her.

“Oh, Syaoran!”

The brunette looked up. He had just been about to climb into a small dark green Ford somethingoranother. Hey, she was proud that she had even known it was a Ford (thank you, logos!). It took him a minute to recognize her. “… The girl who was almost hit by a volleyball, right?”

She mentally facepalmed. “R-Right… My name’s Sakura. I’m actually a lot better at sports than that, I promise. So, you’re new to Forks as well?”

“Yes. I am to take it you are also a new student?”

Wow. He talked like he was from a ‘50’s movie (Yes, she had watched some. They were a whole heck of a lot better than what was in the theaters now.). This guy really needed to loosen up a bit. “Mm-hm! Just started today, actually! Since we’re both new, how about you sit with Tomoyo and I at lunch tomorrow?”

“Well, I…”

“Great! I’ll see you tomorrow then, Syaoran!” She smiled happily and turned to get into her truck.

“Wait, Sakura, watch—”

“Ah—Mmf!” She forgot to step up to get in and instead fell and tripped over herself into the truck. Her face met the scratchy old seat cover, which was hard enough on her butt, let alone her mug. She stayed in that very awkward half-in-the-truck, half-out position for a few seconds, too frazzled and embarrassed to do anything else. Finally, though, she picked herself up and turned sheepishly back towards Syaoran.

He looked terrified. Wide eyes, panicky expression, mouth agape; the whole package. “A-Are you alright?!”

“… Yeah, I’m okay.” Time to make a quick exit! “Well, I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow then, Syaoran!” She clambered into the truck all the way, slammed the door shut, and sank in her seat as she drove out of the parking lot.



Touya was still at work when she pulled up in front of the house. She realized (perhaps a little too late) that Touya had never told her where a spare key was hidden. So she had to use her old school ID to um, creatively enter her new home. Have you ever noticed that people like cops never install security systems for their own homes? She’d have to have a talk with Touya about that later, since she’d be risking her own stuff now, too. Thankfully, though, she was able to get in safe and sound today (and hopefully no one else would).

The reception on the television was crappy and the Internet was somehow even worse (dial-up of all things!). She supposed she didn’t really have anything much to divert her attention away from her Trig homework. Yup, he had been the only teacher to give her homework on the first day. Ah well, she guessed it was better to have something to do. She’d definitely force Touya to get Dish Network or something halfway decent before long though—winter vacation was only a couple months away, and with no plans to speak of, she was definitely going to need some Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune to get her through the snowy days, since there was a fat chance she’d be stepping outside.

She’d actually gotten pretty far on her assignment before a distraction came: the phone. Sighing (only 6 more problems to go, darn it!), she picked up the receiver. “Hello?” Remembering that most people wouldn’t be expecting a female voice to answer, she added, “Kinomoto residence.”

“Oh, good, Sakura, it is the right number!”

Sakura’s face lit up. The phone was the one thing that was good quality, and her newfound friend was coming in loud and clear. “Tomoyo! Yup, you got it right. What’s up?”

“A couple of friends of mine are going on a picnic. I thought I would cordially invite you to join us, if something isn’t currently occupying your time. Are you available?”

Actually, a picnic sounded like a lot of fun. Even if it was a little chilly out, hanging around people was sure to warm her up. “That sounds great! I’ll meet you as soon as I figure out these last couple of Trig problems. You wouldn’t happen to know the answer to number sixty-seven off the top of your head, would you?”

“Answer choice: C, if I remember correctly,” Tomoyo replied helpfully.

“… You know I was kidding, right?” Tomoyo’s laugh rang out so loud that Sakura had to hold the receiver away from her ear.

“Oh, and don’t worry about meeting us. We’ll pick you up.”

“Huh? Oh, no, it’s no trouble for me to drive and meet—”

“Everyone’s going in the same vehicle, so it’s really no bother,” Tomoyo cut in. “Just be ready in, say, about ten minutes.”

Sakura was feeling dizzy. Too much was happening too quickly for her taste. “U-Um, alright. Thank you so much for inviting me to…. Where did you say we’re going again?”

“I didn’t.”

“Oh.” That helped a bunch.

“… Oh, alright, I’ll spoil the surprise just for you Sakura. There’s no need to beg. We’re going to La Push.”



Before the ten minutes were up, Sakura had finished her assignment and cleaned up her space a bit. She did not need to be harped on by Touya when she got back. Suddenly remembering something, she grabbed a pen and a sticky note from the fridge and wrote a note to her brother. Not like he would really care, anyway, but it was always good to be safe.

Just as she finished drawing a face sticking its tongue out on the note, a horribly loud honk from a car horn made her jump. She grabbed the bag and jacket she had placed near the door and raced out—then stopped dead. This could not be real.

Tomoyo was waving at her, the upper-half of her body sticking out from a sunroof of an absurdly long stretch limo. She had changed into a very frilly purple dress with a large hat—she looked more like a cosplayer than someone going to a picnic. “Bonjour, Sakura! Are you ready for an amazing outdoor feast?”

In disbelief, she trudged towards the long black monster and slid in. There were about ten other people in the wrap-around bench seats, all whom Sakura recognized from lunch and her other periods. They were all smiles when she sat down, but Sakura was still too shocked and nervous. “A-Are you sure it’s alright to take a… a limo?”

Tomoyo’s brow furrowed. “Why, is it not enough? Mother had the nice limo….”

This wasn’t a nice limo? Tomoyo lived in a completely different world. Sakura grabbed Tomoyo’s hands and smiled. “No, that’s not what I meant at all. Tomoyo, this is all amazing!”

She beamed, her dark eyes glittering. “You really think so?”

“Mm-hm!”

“Sakura, you think this is amazing, wait until you see what she has planned for prom!” one of the girls next to her exclaimed. Tomoyo started laughing evilly.

“Ah, prom… yes, our junior/senior prom will be perfect this year. I have so much planned….” Her voice trailed off. She looked out the window, deep in thought, calculating every detail in her mind. She abruptly turned back to everyone. Nobody else seemed to notice the quick change in demeanor. Was that just something Tomoyo did…? “Sakura, you’ll be prom queen, I’m certain. I’ve already got your dress mapped out, including accessories and everything! Will you wear it come prom?”

Wait, how did she already have her dress designed? They’d just met each other! Either Tomoyo was psychic, or she was a really fast designer… or else she was lying. Well, it would be rude to decline such a generous offer. “Uh, sure! Of course I’ll wear it. But when did you—”

“Prom will certainly be the pivotal point of this year, what all of our trials will lead up to! The climax of our junior year!” Tomoyo struck a pose in the surprisingly roomy limo. Everyone else clapped, awed by their role model and friend. Sakura simply stared, wondering if Tomoyo really expected prom to be such an important event this year.

The rest of the ride was just as exciting, and luckily not as confusing. Actually, it was pretty normal, filled with normal and fun conversation any group of teenage girls would be found having. Within no time, it seemed, they arrived at their picnic spot.

“What’s this place called again? ‘The Plush’?” They all walked along the white shore. Sakura was sure the place was beautiful… in the summer. It was autumn, though, and the cloudy sky made the water a cool, uninviting steel gray.

The other girls laughed, but not in a mean way or anything. “Silly Sakura! You make it sound like it’s a plush toy,” one of them said. Sakura blushed. She really had thought that was the name… and she thought it was cute that it was like a toy. “Actually, it’s ‘La Push,’” the girl continued. “It’s the reservation for the Quileutes, the tribe native to here. They have some pretty interesting stories….”

Eventually they picked a place to set up. People had hardly started unpacking before Tomoyo found something wrong. “Drat, it would seem we forgot to bring the grill to cook the hot dogs. Oh, I know!” She turned on Sakura without missing a beat. “Sakura, why don’t you go gather us some firewood. All of it around here would be too wet to use… but the wood up there should be perfectly dry!” She pointed almost straight up—a large cliff loomed over them. Plus, you’ll be able to see all of the lovely foliage on your way!”

That… was high. “Are you sure it won’t take too long to get up there?” Sakura asked, trying to keep the hopefulness out of her voice.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure you have an amazing sense of direction. It’s really not that far of a walk; you’ll be perfectly fine!”

Without much of a choice, she finally agreed and set off into the woods. Well, Tomoyo was right about the foliage; it was beautiful. Things simply didn’t get this green in Arizona—it looked alien. And the trees were huge! She was surprised she could catch a glimpse of the sky at all.

It turned out Tomoyo was right about another thing: the walk really wasn’t that long. Or maybe Sakura just had a bad sense of time; but she could see a clearing up ahead and once again hear the crashing of the waves after what seemed like only a few minutes. She decided that she had to be far enough up, and the bark seemed dry, so she started searching for all the firewood she could carry. She had almost gathered enough when she heard something that made her jump and almost drop all of the firewood: a male voice fading out, and then a splash.

It had come from the clearing. Edging out to get a better look into the clearing, she saw a boy probably around Fai’s age. He was just standing there, which would have been perfectly normal—if he wasn’t standing on the very edge of the cliff (with his shirt off…?). Horrified, she shouted without thinking, “Don’t jump!”

The boy nearly fell over in surprise, which made Sakura yelp and cover her eyes, this time actually dropping all of the wood. When she didn’t hear the suspected and sickening splash of his body hitting the water, she peeked through her fingers. He was still there (thank God!), but he didn’t look… as grateful as she had expected. On the contrary, he looked, er, pissed.

“Oi! What the hell were you thinking, shouting like that?!” he yelled in a gruff voice. Now that he was facing towards her, she saw that yet again a person in Forks had peculiar eyes. This time they were a dark red. He was extremely tan and looked like a Native American (which… she supposed would make sense since she was on a reservation…) with jet black spiky hair to pull it all together.

“You were about to fall of the cliff!” Sakura informed. He just stared at her. Maybe he was sleepwalking and didn’t realize what he was doing…? That would explain the shirtless thing, since it was near freezing. “I’m sorry I shouted and almost made you fall, but I was afraid you were going to get killed!”

He grunted and crossed his arms. “Idiot, I wasn’t going to ‘fall’ off the cliff. I was going to jump.”

Her stomach turned. “But… that’s a horrible thing to do! Even if you’re upset, I’m sure that things will get better! There are many wonderful things that make life so great, and people would miss you, and—”

“Shut up already,” he snapped.

The words cut into her like a knife. What had she done that was so wrong?

“I wasn’t going to commit suicide,” he continued. His eyes were closed and he sounded extremely annoyed. “Cliff-jumping is a recreational activity around here, got it? It’s perfectly safe if you can do it right.”

“… Oh.” Well, how was she supposed to have known? He didn’t have to be cruel about it. “Okay, well…” She quickly gathered all of the wood she had dropped without looking at him. “I’m sorry about all of this. I’ll, uh, see you around. Maybe next time you’ll have a shirt on.”

She didn’t wait to find out his response to that pleasant comment. She turned on her heel and power-walked down the hill through the trees. By the time she made it back down to her group, she had a queasy feeling in her gut. Maybe that was a low blow.…

She completely forgot about it, however, when she saw a nice bright flame from a gaudy red grill in the middle of all her friends. Tomoyo was the first to notice Sakura standing there stupidly with an armful of branches. “Oh, Sakura, isn’t it wonderful! My mother sent the grill to us when she saw we had forgotten it! Did you enjoy the scenery on your stroll?”

Defeated, Sakura dropped all the branches she had gathered and joined their circle. She decided she needed to vent about the mean shirtless boy, since that and her frustrations about the firewood were welling up inside her. “The woods were beautiful, but I saw some boys jumping off the edge of the cliff into the water. Is that normal?”

“Oh, yes, that’s perfectly normal for the guys around here!” one of the girls said; she really had to start paying attention to names. “In order to escape the bitter secrets and duties of the Quileute tribe, the young men often use cliff-jumping as a form of recreation.”

“And do they normally not have shirts?” She could understand that they didn’t want to get their clothes all wet, but they were wearing jeans (which were not the best things to swim in) and there hadn’t been any sign of the shirts that they (if they were normal sane people) would have worn down.

“Of course not!” another girl snapped, scaring the bajeezus out of Sakura. “If they did, then…”

“Then we wouldn’t be able to gaze at Kurogane’s glorious eight-pack!” all of the girls answered in unison. Only Tomoyo didn’t join in, but she was laughing quietly to herself.

…

Sakura’s face burnt up. They were so intense and… scary. “W-who’s Kurogane…?” she asked warily.

A girl leapt up, her eyes filled with admiration. “The son of the head of the Quileutes, and the strongest of them in generations!”

“A total hottie with red eyes that reflect the hidden passion in his heart!” another added, also jumping up dramatically.

“A fierce warrior with a tragic and mysterious past!”

“The definition of a guy with a ‘bad streak’ that makes all the girls swoon!”

Everyone waited for Tomoyo to add something to the description. She smiled. “A cranky little puppy that refuses anger management classes.”

Shocked by their sudden outbursts, Sakura waited to hear more about this apparent mega-hottie Kurogane. To her surprise, the other half of the girls was completely quiet. Actually, they all looked pretty annoyed and disgusted with their friends. Did they not think the same about this Kurogane person?

Wait. What everyone had said started to register with her. Red eyes and anger management classes…?

Poop.