The sunny boy in Cardcaptor Sakura

Chapter 670 IF Path - I'm Sorry
Under the cover of night, the Ferris wheel slowly turned, and snow-like sparks drifted down, making the night sky look like a cascading galaxy.

Xia Yu's expression was blank, his eyes now filled with pure, immense, and even somewhat bewildered shock.

"I...I said, I like you..."

Sakura repeated the sentence softly, pressing her hands to her chest, her pupils trembling slightly, and a shy blush creeping up her cheeks.

"..."

quiet--

The silence made the originally shy Sakura realize something was wrong, and her heart sank slowly.

Xia Yu's reaction was even more blank than the worst-case scenario she had anticipated. There was no surprise, no shyness, not even the slightest fluctuation; only naked, undisguised astonishment.

Looking into those eyes that seemed to say "How could this be?", a wave of immense disappointment washed over Sakura, and the courage that had sustained her vanished, leaving only a chilling emptiness.

She could feel her cheeks burning and her eyes starting to heat up uncontrollably.

Why? Why is this the reaction?

Sakura lowered her head, not daring to look Xia Yu in the eye. Her fingers were tightly intertwined, and she said in a trembling voice, "I..."

She wanted to say something more, or explain something, but her throat felt like it was blocked by something. The next second, tears finally broke free and fell in large drops.

"Ugh, why are you crying..."

She tried desperately to hold back, but her shoulders trembled slightly uncontrollably. The twinkling stars outside the window reflected fragmented light, illuminating Sakura's sobbing profile.

The soft sobs finally brought Xia Yu back to his senses. He suddenly realized that his silence and shock seemed to have hurt Xiaoying, and he immediately felt at a loss.

"Don't, don't cry."

He instinctively wanted to reach out and wipe away Sakura's tears, but froze in place because of Sakura's words.

You like me? How is that possible? How could you possibly like me?
"Sorry……"

Noticing Xia Yu's distress, Xiao Ying sniffed, her voice muffled, and forced a smile onto her face, but the tears she couldn't stop made the smile look rather pitiful.

"Did it scare you?"

"No, I should have thought of that, I should have known..."

Xia Yu shook his head. Fragments of his time with Xiao Ying flashed through his chaotic mind. Only then did he realize that in addition to gratitude, there was a hint of something else in Xiao Ying's eyes when she looked at him.

The kindness he took for granted between friends was now given a completely new and chilling meaning by the word "like".

A butterfly called the Time Traveler flapped its wings, and the resulting breeze drastically altered the trajectory of the future.

He knew perfectly well that this was possible, yet he still recklessly flapped his wings. Therefore, this moment of chance is an absolute inevitability.

The moment he came into this world, the so-called destiny—the fate that Sakura and Syaoran were destined to be together—was already broken by him.

The cause he recklessly left behind has finally borne fruit at this moment.

On the other side, seeing Xia Yu looking as if he had figured something out, Xiao Ying, who was crying, was stunned for a moment, and a glimmer of hope rose from the bottom of her heart.

But Xia Yu's subsequent words shattered that glimmer of hope.

"I'm sorry, I can't reciprocate your feelings."

Even though this answer was expected, Sakura still felt a pang in her heart. Suppressing her sobs, she replied, "It's okay. I should be the one apologizing for troubling you."

Xia Yu did not respond. Seeing this, Xiao Ying tried to tug at the corners of her mouth, trying to force a "it's okay" smile, but in the end, she could not make the smile appear.

After a moment of silence, she couldn't help but ask, "Can you tell me why I can't respond? Is it because you already have someone you like?"

"No, that's not the reason."

Is it because you don't like me?

No, I like you very much.

"Then why!?"

Hearing Xia Yu's answer, Xiao Ying was slightly excited. After realizing that she might have been a bit rude, she suppressed her excitement and couldn't help but ask again.

"Can you tell me why? Why can't you reciprocate my feelings? Xia, you said you liked me too!"

"..."

Silence remained. Seeing that Xia Yu was silent, Xiao Ying could no longer suppress her emotions. She got up and went to Xia Yu, placing her hands on his shoulders to make him look at her.

"Xia, you trust me so much, but why can't you trust me at this moment? I... I want to know, why can't you reciprocate my feelings?"

"If you don't like me, I'll accept that, but... why can't you reciprocate my feelings when you clearly like me?"

"..."

Xia Yu silently looked up and gazed into Xiao Ying's eyes. The emotions flowing in her eyes at that moment caused a slight crack to appear in his otherwise silent heart.

Finally, he spoke up: "My liking for you is a simple liking, just like when you watch a cartoon you really like, you also like the characters in the cartoon, right?"

"Eh?"

Hearing Xia Yu's analogy, Xiaoying was taken aback and subconsciously asked, "What does that mean?" "I'm not actually from this world. I come from another world, and in my world, your story is just an animated film..."

Xia Yu spoke in a deep voice, without hiding anything, telling the girl in front of him why he liked Xiaoying and about his background.

The Ferris wheel kept turning, and when their cabin rose into the sky for the third time, Xia Yu's story came to an end, and Xiao Ying fell silent upon hearing the truth.

After a long silence, she forced a smile and said, "So... is this why you can't reciprocate my feelings, Xia? Is it because I'm like a character in an animated film to you that you can't reciprocate my feelings?"

As she spoke, she suddenly looked intently at Xia Yu, her eyes still red, but her gaze unusually serious: "But I'm not a character from an animated film. I can cry, I can feel pain, I can... I can have my heart pounding like it's going to explode because of something you say."

"You said in the story you saw, I would end up with Li, but things are different now, because you're here, so..."

Her gaze met Xia Yu's eyes, which held disappointment, stubbornness, and a faint but firm light: "So please don't use the ending of an anime to decide who I should like now!"

Faced with Sakura's firm stance, Xia Yu, who had been silent all along, suddenly shook his head: "I have never thought that way. To me, you are no longer virtual characters, but real people."

"But it is precisely because you are real to me that I am even less able to reciprocate your affection."

"why?"

Sakura, who had been determined to express her true feelings, was stunned once again by Xia Yu's answer.

"Because of age."

"Age? Why age? Is there a problem with age?"

"Yes, but the problem isn't with you, it's with me."

Xia Yu took a deep breath and completely opened his heart to the girl in front of him, revealing the true reason why he couldn't reciprocate her feelings.

“I… I don’t actually look as young as I do now. I’m an adult, more than ten years older than you.”

"The age difference is the biggest problem. Do you think an adult can like a minor?"

"I……"

At this moment, Xiaoying didn't know how to answer. She wanted to say yes, but she clearly knew that this was not the answer Xia Yu wanted.

"I don't think so."

Xia Yu gave his answer, saying in a deep voice, "No matter how you try to embellish or cover it up, this kind of liking is absolutely wrong, and that's why I can't accept you."

"I don't want to lie to you, and I can't lie to myself, which is why I can't respond to you."

"..."

"Perhaps for you, liking is simply liking."

Xia Yu braced himself on the seat with both hands and looked up at the cockpit window. The starlight that had been like snow outside the window had disappeared, leaving only the calm night sky.

"But for me, liking someone isn't just a simple word; it also represents a heavy responsibility, especially since you haven't grown up yet."

"I've grown up..."

"No, you didn't."

Xia Yu shook his head, his tone firm and leaving no room for refusal: "Xiaoying, you're still a student. Your life has just begun. What you call 'liking' might just be the stirrings of adolescence, a delusion fueled by the current atmosphere..."

"how about you?"

Sakura suddenly interrupted him, her voice cracking with urgency: "You say you like me, but isn't that liking real? Or is it that your liking for me has always just been a liking for an anime character?"

The questions, each word distinct and veiled, caused Xia Yu to instinctively avert his gaze, unable to meet Xiao Ying's eyes.

Yes, does he like Sakura? Of course he does. When he entered this world as "Xia Yu," he was no longer just a spectator watching from behind a screen. His initial attraction to Sakura, mixed with the filter of anime, had long since settled into a genuine concern for this real girl through their daily interactions.

This concern doesn't exist because of the "setting," but it's heavy because of the "reality."

But precisely because it was real, he couldn't easily take on this affection while Sakura was still immature. In the end, he rationally said, "I can't respond to this immature affection, so... I'm sorry."

Once this final, resolute decision was clearly made, Sakura finally stopped speaking. Seeing this, Xia Yu also responded with silence, and the two of them quietly waited for the cockpit to return to the ground.

"Xia..."

Suddenly, Sakura spoke again, this time her voice was calmer than before: "Age is just a number to me, and liking someone is not measured by age. If you push me away because of this number, that would be the real mistake."

Before Xia Yu could answer again, she sniffed and tried to make her voice sound calm as she said, "I know what you're worried about—age, the future… but these aren't things you need to worry about alone."

Just then, the Ferris wheel cabin reached the bottom, and the door clicked open, letting in the evening breeze carrying the noise of the amusement park and dispersing the stagnant air inside.

Sakura's voice also reached Xia Yu's ears on the night breeze.

"So, don't use your adult status to push me away. I won't make you respond to me right now, but..."

She stood up, walked to the cabin door, and as she stepped out, she turned her head and smiled slightly.

"I'll show you that my feelings aren't just a passing fancy. When I'm truly 'grown up,' then... you can answer me again, okay?"

His calm words carried an unprecedented firmness. Xia Yu silently watched Xiao Ying's departing figure. Her figure did not show the dejection he had imagined; instead, it carried a kind of courage that went forward without hesitation.

(End of this chapter)