Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ The Okugi Series ❯ “Life’s going to be pretty hectic now, isn’t it?” ( Chapter 1 )

“Hoe! Syaoran-kun is returning today!”

 

Sakura jumped out of bed at 6am and promptly began taking her uniform out of the closest. The new school term started today and it was going to be her last year in Seijou Junior High. She hurriedly put on her uniform, brushed her auburn hair (which now came between her shoulder and her elbow) and rushed about her room trying to find her school-bag.

 

“Where did it go? I knew I put it here somewhere…” she muttered to herself, looking under her bed.

 

The bottom drawer of her desk slid open. “Sakura-chan, what are you doing up so early?” Kero asked, sleepily.

 

“Kero-chan!” Sakura squealed. “I'm sorry, did I wake you?” She continued her hunt for the bag. “I'm going to be early for school today so I can make a good impression!”

 

“Hmm,” Kero replied, watching his Mistress run about in distress. “Say, Sakura? Didn't you leave your bag downstairs?”

 

“Hoee! I forgot!” Sakura cried, now tugging on her shoes. “There!” Standing up, she observed herself in the mirror. “How do I look, Kero-chan?”

 

Kero raised his eyebrow suspiciously. “Fine,” he said. After a moment of contemplation he asked, “Why are you concerned about how you look? You never have been before.”

 

Sakura sweatdropped. “Oh, no reason!” she lied.

 

Sakura turned around to observe her uniform from all angles. The Seijou Junior High uniform was very different from the one worn in Elementary school. The skirt was knee-length and grey, and the blouse was long-sleeved and white. A green and blue striped tie hung on the front of her blouse, and a green blazer was hanging behind her door. Grey tights and flat black shoes surrounded her bottom half, and her silky-smooth hair was tied up in a pony tail, with loose strands hanging down prettily.

 

“…Sakura?” Kero said. “You're going to be late if you stand and look at your reflection.”

 

“Oh!” Sakura grabbed her blazer and checked the room one last time for anything she might have forgotten when her eyes fell on a small blue-black bear by the pillow on her bed. She picked it up Syaoran-bear fondly and gazed at the beady black eyes. He's actually coming back…

 

“Sakura!” Kero shouted.

 

“I'm going!” she said as she finally ran from the room. Kero could hear her running noisily down the stairs. No wonder Touya-kun calls her `kaijou', he said to himself. He looked at the bear Sakura had handled and he flew over and floated in front of it. It was the first time he had really studied the bear close up, and, if he concentrated hard enough, he could sense a faint green aura surrounding it.

 

“I don't like this bear,” he stated.

 

**

 

Sakura left the house not long after she abandoned her room. Her father was already up and making breakfast when she made it downstairs and her brother was sitting at the table drinking coffee. He greeted her with the usual `morning kaijou', which Sakura, of course, scowled at. She hurriedly ate her breakfast, said her thanks and grabbed her schoolbag. She fastened her beloved roller skates on her feet and she left.

 

Sakura rolled gracefully along the side-walk, enjoying the cool morning breeze that was rushing past her. She didn't care what people thought of her roller skating to school; she enjoyed it. She skated past the spot where she used to wait for Yukito on school days. As she whisked past it, she turned around to watch the familiar spot disappear from view. Touya and Yukito would be starting college in mid-October. They were both going to a university in England; Touya to study Law, and Yukito to study Philosophy. Sakura would miss them both dearly, but they promised to come home for visits. She was concerned about what would happen if she needed Yue and Yukito was far away in England, but Kero had huffed and said that he could do a better job than that darn `snow bunny.'

 

Sakura arrived at the school early and after taking her roller blades off at her locker and put her shoes on, she went outside to watch the football team practice. They were training really hard to beat the other schools in the championships this year after being knocked out of the winning spot the year before.

 

She didn't know how long she stood watching the boys play, but by the time she looked at her watch she realized that homeroom would be starting in 15 minutes.

 

“Hoe! I better hurry!”

 

**

 

Syaoran walked through the tall gates of Seijou Junior High and took a turn to the left. Taking out a sheet of paper which he studied for a moment he sharply turned and walked to the right instead. Stopping abruptly, he listened intently. I could have sworn I heard someone giggling…

 

As he continued walking, Syaoran successfully found his locker and he inserted the combination which he had been given the previous day. When it didn't open after the combination was in, Syaoran pulled out the paper again and took another look at it. Satisfied that he did it right, he tried to open it again and failed. Noticing a small button in the middle of the lock, he pushed it and the locker door sprung open. He heard a faint shuffling behind him and he turned around. He studied the bushes in front of him through narrowed eyes and then turned back to his locker to put his school shoes on. When he closed the locker door, it immediately sprung open again. He shut it again but it didn't close. Getting impatient, he slammed the door shut and it stayed shut.

 

He stood still for a moment facing his locker. Without turning around he said, “I see you haven't changed one bit.”

 

He heard a rustle behind him, and Daidouji Tomoyo stepped out from behind the bushes, camcorder in hand. “I just couldn't resist recording Li-kun's first day to Seijou Junior High.”

 

Rolling his eyes, he finally turned around to face her. “It's good to see you again, Daidouji-san.”

 

“And you, Li-kun,” Tomoyo replied, putting her camcorder safely in her schoolbag. Syaoran started to walk towards his homeroom class, and Tomoyo walked alongside him. “Are you nervous about seeing Sakura-chan?” she asked.

 

Syaoran smiled slightly at the familiarity of Tomoyo being able to read him like a book. “Yes,” he replied honestly. There was no point lying to Tomoyo.

 

“You left without Sakura-chan acknowledging her feelings for you, and so you never knew them yourself.” Syaoran stayed silent, so she continued. “Sakura-chan was never good at reading in to things like that, but she has changed.” She paused. “Do you still love her?”

 

Syaoran remained silent. Tomoyo smiled and said, “I thought so.”

 

They walked in silence for several minutes before Syaoran slowed down and looked about uncertainly. “Ahh…I have no idea where I'm going,” he admitted when he found himself in yet another unfamiliar corridor.

 

“What class are you in?” Tomoyo asked.

 

Syaoran retrieved his sheet of paper again and replied, “Class 3-1.”

 

“Oh! How fortunate! That's mine and Sakura-chan's class!” she said gleefully. “Come, it's this way.”

 

Tomoyo led them through a few more corridors and one flight of stairs before saying, “Our classroom is at the bottom of this corridor.”

 

Syaoran nodded and followed her, not feeling like saying much.

 

Tomoyo, noticing his hesistance, asked, “How do you think Sakura-chan will react to seeing you?”

 

Syaoran thought for a moment before answering. “I think that she'll be too nervous to say anything more than `welcome back.'” He paused. “I might even get a `hoe' thrown in if I'm lucky,” he added.

 

Tomoyo shook her head and said, “Sakura-chan will be very happy to see you, and she will not be afraid to express her happiness.”

 

Syaoran smiled slightly again, stopping outside the classroom door. “You want to bet on it? The winner gets the knowledge of knowing that they know Sakura the best”

 

Tomoyo's eyes gleamed mischievously, and, very un-Tomoyo like, she said, “Deal on.”

 

Syaoran slid open the door and stepped inside. It was a fairly full room and people where scattered in groups across it. This was all that Syaoran got to see before-

 

“Syaoran-kun!!”

 

Syaoran's view was blocked by a mass of auburn hair in his face. He stumbled back slightly as Sakura had thrown herself upon him and wrapped her arms around her neck.

 

“Hoe! I'm so glad to see you again!” she exclaimed.

 

After a moment Syaoran awkwardly patted her back. “Erm, I'm glad to see you too,” he said weakly.

 

Sakura released him just as the sensei walked in. “Ohayo class! Please take your seats now!” he called.

 

When Sakura was out of earshot, Tomoyo said to Syaoran, “I believe I won that bet.”

 

Syaoran shook his head, “No way, she practically screamed `hoe'; I can still hear it ringing in my ears.”

 

Tomoyo giggled. “Fine, then we both win.”

 

“Fine.”

 

Tomoyo took her usual seat beside Sakura, while Syaoran took the conveniently empty one behind her.

 

“Well, class,” the sensei begun, “welcome to your final year of Seijou Junior High! My name is Matsuo-sensei and I will be your homeroom teacher for this year. As you all know you will take your entrance exams for Seijou Senior next year-” the class groaned. “I know, but these things must be done. Now, before I take the register I'd like to mention that we have a new student in our midst this year. Li Syaoran has joined us from Hong Kong. Some of you may remember him from Elementary school.”

 

The class craned their necks to get a look at him, and some of his old friends, including Yamazaki Takashi, waved at him.

 

“Right,” Matsuo-sensei continued, “after the register is taken you will be given your timetables for this year. Your teachers will expect you to be attentive and alert in their classes. They will also expect you to be hard-working and respectful…”

 

Syaoran sank back in his chair, blocking out the teacher's voice as he resumed his old past-time of staring at the honey-haired girl in front of him.

 

**

 

“School is so hard already!”

 

Sakura, Tomoyo, Chiharu, Rika and Naoko sat on the grass in the warm September sun at lunch time. The morning had been very boring as all the teachers had given them similar speeches on what was to be expected of them. They had also decided to give them lots of work to do during class time, and this work was much harder than anything they'd ever had before.

 

“I do hope things will get easier,” Rika said, unpacking her lunch.

 

“We're only finding it hard because we haven't been to school in a while,” Chiharu said. “Were no used to working so much in a few hours. We'll get used to it a few days.”

 

“I hope so,” Sakura said. She already had enough trouble with math without needing it to be harder.

 

The girls talked about their holidays as they ate their lunch, and they began to relaxing after the taxing morning. On the other side of the lawn Takashi and Syaoran were leaning against the wall.

 

“How are things going with Mihara-san?” Syaoran asked.

 

“Fine,” Takashi replied, “we spent a lot of time together over the holidays and we've been getting along better. She doesn't throttle me as frequently these days,” he added.

 

Syaoran chuckled. Takashi raised an eyebrow. “That must be the first time in my life that I have heard you laugh, Li-kun.”

 

“People change,” he responded, looking over at Sakura.

 

Takashi opened one of his eyes slightly and followed Syaoran's eye-line. Smirking, he closed his eye and asked, “Did you change for her?”

 

Syaoran thought about this question for a moment. She's the one who changed me, he thought to himself. “So what are the teachers like in this school?” Syaoran asked.

 

“Some are okay,” Takashi replied, accepting the change of topic, “but there are some that you need to be careful around. The Math, Japanese and Geography teachers are alright, but the Science and History ones are probably the worst. Yamada-sensei particularly enjoys giving us essays to write for her.”

 

“Great,” Syaoran said sarcastically. “It's not that different than the schooling in Hong Kong.”

 

“What made you decide to come back to Tomoeda?” Takashi asked, genuinely interested.

 

“The need to escape my sisters,” Syaoran replied, “and Meilin's death threats.”

 

Takashi laughed.

 

**

 

The next two days went by in a blur for Sakura. The school work did not pile up on her, much to her surprise. Touya had gotten her worked up about the workload for no reason. She found she was even coping with the math work set for them and was even more surprised when she saw she was getting it right.

 

Even of there wasn't much work, there still wasn't enough time to get the chance to talk to Syaoran. She hadn't had a proper conversation with him since he had arrived. She could have talked to him in the mornings but she had slipped back into her habit of being almost late for school again.

 

On the fourth day, Sakura had arrived at homeroom one minute before the class bell rang and collapsed in her seat panting.

 

“Ohayo, Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo said to her exhausted friend.

 

“Ohayo,” Sakura responded when she caught her breath. Turning around in her seat she said, “Ohayo, Syaoran-kun.”

 

Syaoran looked up from where he was studying the desk. “Ohayo.”

 

Sakura was about to make conversation with him when Matsuo-sensei walked in to the room.

 

“Now class,” he called, “we have another new member joining us this year. Please welcome Kusatsu Taisho, who has transferred from further up north. I trust you all to be friendly to him and make him feel at home.”

 

“Hai!” the class replied.

 

“Kusatsu-san, you may come in,” Matsuo-sensei called out to the door.

 

The door slide open and the boy who walked in was one of those people who would stand out in a crowd. He was medium in height, fairly well built and had short, messy dark blonde hair. His eyes were the most unusual feature about him: they were a dark brown; so dark, in fact, that they could almost have been black. Kusatsu Taisho stood at the front of the room and bowed slightly to the class.

 

“Kusatsu-san, would you like to take that seat at the middle of the centre row?” the sensei said.

 

“Yes, sensei,” Taisho said. He spoke with a strange accent, Sakura noticed as he went to take the seat on the other side of Tomoyo. Sakura could tell that behind her, Syaoran was studying the new boy with caution, and she had no doubt that he would find something suspicious about him. Sakura almost giggled at the thought.

 

**

 

“What do you think of new student, Sakura-chan?” Tomoyo asked at break time that day.

 

“He looks very unusual,” Sakura replied. “But not in a bad way.”

 

“Yes, he is quite different, isn't he?”

 

Sakura and Tomoyo were walking around outside to pass the time until class started again.

 

“He is also quite attractive, ne, Sakura-chan?” Tomoyo asked her.

 

Sakura giggled. “Yes,” she said, “he is attractive in a handsome way.”

 

“I'm glad you think so,” came a strange accent from behind them. Sakura turned around and saw to her horror that Kusatsu Taisho had been right behind them while they were talking about him.

 

“Kusatsu-kun!” Sakura cried, feeling her cheeks redden from embarrassment. “I didn't know you were there!”

 

“Obviously,” he said, smiling at her. “I don't believe we've been introduced.”

 

“Daidouji Tomoyo,” Tomoyo said, bowing slightly.

 

“And I'm Kinomoto Sakura,” Sakura bowed too.

 

“Sakura…that's Japanese for `cherry blossom', isn't it?” Taisho asked, his brows furrowed in concentration for a moment before he broke in to a grin. “It suits you very well.”

 

“Hoe…” Sakura blushed.

 

“It's very nice to meet the both of you,” he said, bowing to them.

 

“Where are you from, Kusatsu-kun?” Tomoyo asked politely. “I have never heard such a peculiar accent from further up north.”

 

“Ah, well, I'm not originally from the north,” he replied honestly. “My family moved her a few years back. We used to live on the boarder between England and Scotland, and I managed to pick up a mixture of those two accents. It's quite unusual, isn't it?”

 

“It's unusual in an interesting way, if that makes any sense,” Sakura told him. “Your name is Japanese though,” she stated.

 

“My father has Japanese relatives, which explains his surname,” he explained, “and my mother liked the name `Taisho', and she told me that she wanted her first born son to be named that.”

 

“Do you have any siblings?” Tomoyo inquired.

 

“No,” he replied, almost sadly, “they decided that one child was enough. It gets very lonely sometimes.”

 

The bell signaling the end of break sounded across the grounds.

 

“I believe that is the start of P.E?” he asked. Tomoyo and Sakura nodded. “Well, I guess I'll see you later. Goodbye, Daidouji-san, Kinomoto-san!”

 

“Bye, Kusatsu-kun!” They waved at his retreating back.

 

“We better hurry, Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo said, gently pulling her friends arm in the direction of the girls changing room. “We don't want to be late.”

 

**

 

At lunch time, Sakura sat underneath the cherry blossom tree alone. Rika, Chiharu and Naoko were all trying out for the volleyball team, and Tomoyo was auditioning for the school choir. Sakura herself had signed up for cheerleading tryouts, but they weren't being held until after school.

 

“Can I join you?” a familiar voice asked.

 

Sakura looked up from where she sat and saw Syaoran standing above her.

 

“Syaoran-kun!” she said. “Of course you can.”

 

Syaoran sat down beside her and leaned against the tree. They sat in silence for a moment before Syaoran said, “This spot seems familiar.”

 

Sakura smiled, glad that he had noticed. “It is,” she told him. “There,” she pointed to another cherry blossom tree on the other side of the fence to her left, “is where you confronted me about the Clow Cards.”

 

Syaoran winced slightly at the memory. “Oh.”

 

“It seems like so long ago, doesn't it?” she asked. Syaoran nodded. “I can't believe that it's been almost six years since Clow Cards escaped and we had to capture them.” She paused to look up at the clock tower which stood tall amongst the school buildings. “Remember when you got hit in the face with that football?” she said, smiling.

 

Syaoran smiled along with her. “It's not easy repeating the same day three times. You try to remember to hit a ball while having an important conversation.” His smile turned in to a grin. “At least I didn't bring the wrong books for the next day.”

 

“Hoe,” Sakura pouted, “I was so confused after the Time that I didn't know what day it was!”

 

Syaoran chuckled at her. The sound was so unfamiliar to her that she started a little. “I've never heard you laugh before,” she said to him.

 

“Yeah, so I've been told,” he said. “Everyone seems to think that I can't laugh.”

 

“It's just so unusual,” Sakura said. “When we knew you in Elementary, you hardly talked to anyone and you rarely smiled. But I like this change in you, Syaoran,” she continued. “It makes you more approachable.”

 

Syaoran huffed uncharacteristically. “Have I not always been approachable?” he asked.

 

“No,” Sakura replied, leaning her head back against the tree and smiling. “The scowling kind of drove people away.” She turned her head to look at him and, instead of the scowl she was expecting to now see, there was a soft smile in its place. He looks so at peace, she told herself. Sakura observed Syaoran for the first time since his arrival. His brown hair had grown slightly, but it was still as messy as ever. His face had become more shaped and somehow his facial features altogether seemed softened. His discarded blazer allowed Sakura to see his well toned arms beneath the short sleeved shirt and Sakura's eyes back up to his face. She found herself staring at his soft brown eyes. She quickly looked away and felt a faint pink hue creep in to her cheeks.

 

“Sakura,” he suddenly asked, “can you hear the bell from all the way back here.”

 

“I'm not sure,” she said, frowning. “I haven't been this far out at all since term began.”

 

Syaoran raised his right arm to look at his watch. “Shit!” he exclaimed. “We're already 5 minutes late for class!” he said, grabbing his blazer and standing up.

 

“Don't swear, and hoee!” Sakura exclaimed. She accepted Syaoran's extended hand and he pulled her to her feet. Without either of them noticing, the held on to each others hand until they reached the science classroom, where they prepared themselves for a scolding.

 

**

 

“Sakura-chan, are the cheerleader tryouts after school today?” Tomoyo asked as they packed their bags at the end of homeroom.

 

“Hai!” Sakura replied, swinging her bag over her shoulder. “I'm kind of nervous.”

 

“You don't need to be,” Tomoyo said. “You were in the gymnastics team for the past two years and you were amazing. You'll do well in the tryouts.”

 

“Thanks,” Sakura mumbled, embarrassed.

 

“Did I hear correct, Kinomoto-san?” Taisho had approached the girls while they were talking. “You are trying out for the cheerleading team?”

 

“Hai, but I don't know if I'll do well enough to get in,” she told him.

 

“Don't worry your self,” he said. “If you take a deep breath and relax, I'm sure you'll do brilliantly.”

 

Sakura smiled at him. “Thank-you, Kusatsu-kun!”

 

“Anytime,” he told her, smiling back. “I must be off; I've got basketball tryouts now,” he said as he turned to leave.

 

“Good luck!” Sakura called after him. Turning around she noticed the empty desk behind hers. “Tomoyo-chan? Did you see where Syaoran-kun went to after homeroom?”

 

“He left in quite a hurry,” Tomoyo replied. “Maybe he had some important work to do.”

 

“Maybe,” Sakura said as they walked out the door.

 

Tomoyo bid farewell to Sakura as they went their separate ways. Sakura walked towards the gym and upon entering it, she saw that there was actually not that many people there for the tryouts.

 

“All right people listen up!” called one of the girls in Sakura's year. “These tryouts are to test your skill of flexibility, co-ordination and how good your teamwork is. First of all, we need you to change in to your P.E. uniforms so that you don't feel too constricted in those school shirts. Meet back here in 10 minutes!”

 

Everyone headed towards the changing rooms talking excitedly on the way. Sakura looked around and found that not one person she knew was doing the tryouts. Hoe! she thought, I'm going to be on my own!

 

**

 

Sakura sat on the swings in King Penguin park after the tryouts. Luckily, she had been one of the few who had made it to the team. One of the girls in the team had known about her gymnasts abilities, and had told the other members. Being a gymnast apparently what they were looking for, so Sakura and two others who had been good in athletics made it through the tryouts.

 

Swinging gently, Sakura kicked at the soil beneath her feet. Her school bag lay in front of her, alongside her P.E. kit (her school uniform was inside it; she had kept her P.E. uniform on). She was wearing her P.E. shirt, white shoes and ankle socks, and a green skirt which came to just above her knees. She had tied her hair back for the tryouts, and it now hung loosely at her shoulders.

 

Swinging a little higher, Sakura let her mind wander. Life had been very quiet since she had transformed the cards and Eriol had returned to England. For four years nothing had happened. Kero had told her that the trouble was over, but Sakura didn't think so. The peaceful life she had lived for the past four years had been more unnerving than the threat of strange forces about her. It's too quiet, she told herself, and someday, the quiet will break.

 

Sakura jumped of the swing and landed gently on her feet. She was just about to bend down to pick up her bag when an unnatural wind surrounded her. Straightening up, she spun around. The wind had stopped as soon as she had felt it. She turned her back again and the wind returned. This time the wind was ice cold and Sakura felt a strong, unknown presence surrounding her. Checking to make sure no one was around, she took her key out from around her neck and, instead of holding it in front of her like she used to do, she put her arm behind her back. Her Star Circle surrounded her and, seconds later, the staff appeared in her hand. Sakura silently thanked Kero for teaching her to release the staff without speaking out loud. It really made things quicker.

 

The strange wind hit her again and almost knocked her over. This time when she turned around, she saw the wind was actually black. It was hardly wind at all; it was more like black mist. The mist changed direction and headed back towards Sakura. She skillfully dodged it and watched as it turned around and again came towards her.

 

“Fly!” Sakura cried out as she hit the card. The snow-white wings appeared on her back and she soared in to the air. When she was high enough, she looked down and saw the mist rise upwards so fast that Sakura had just enough time to move out of the way. She flew around trying to shake the strange mist off but it was intent on following her. Sakura accidentally made a wrong move and the mist seemed to enclose around her, binding her. She struggled against it and it binded her even tighter. Then without warning, it made a plummet for the ground. Sakura was struggling frantically at this point and, at the last moment, she broke free. She tried to land evenly on the ground, but instead she toppled and fell, hard. Fly returned and Sakura groaned at the hard impact. The mist rushed past her again and Sakura looked from the ground.

 

The mist had come before her and started to swirl around like it was caught in a whirlpool. To Sakura's surprise and horror, and figure started to form in the midst of the swirling mist. First there were four paws, then four legs, a body, a tail and finally a head. The mist disappeared and Sakura lay shocked on the ground.

 

There, before her, stood a large, majestic black tiger. Silver stripes ran across its body, and its eyes were a strange golden-yellow colour that glowed.

 

The beast opened its mouth and roared menacingly at her. Sakura broke out of her shock and quickly stood up. The tiger lunged for her the moment she got on her feet and Sakura was almost sliced by the sharp, black claws. It rapidly turned about and made another attack for her.

 

“Jump!” Sakura shouted and she leaped out of the way before it could get to her. She landed in a tree where she thought she would have at least a few seconds to think of a plan. The cold breeze rushed past her again and she gasped when she turned around and found herself staring right into the face of the beast. Sakura hastily jumped down from the tree but upon landing, she found the beast in front of her yet again.

 

“Windy!” she called. Windy soared out of the card and made a beeline for the tiger. The tiger was too quick and it evaded Windy by turning into the mist and flying away. Windy returned and while Sakura was picking up her next choice of card, a sharp, slicing pain shot through her midriff. Falling backwards onto the ground, she saw the tiger standing above her, its claws out on one of its black paws. Sakura didn't trust herself to look down, but she was sure that she was bleeding. Throwing her next card in to the air, she shouted, “Firey!”

 

This time the tiger didn't have time to move before it found itself encased in a howling fire. The beast roared in pain and Sakura took this chance to jump away from it. Firey did not hold out long before the beast overcame it, and Firey was forced to return. Sakura leaped up to the top bar of the swing set and wobbled slightly as she tried to find her footing. As soon as she was steady, the tiger had appeared in front of her again, and it slowly stalked towards her across the bar.

 

Think, she told herself, there must be something you can do! Running away from it obviously isn't going to help!

 

She reached the end of the bar and skillfully turned and leaped away. This time she landed on top of the King Penguin slide. Spinning around, she expected to see the tiger again, but there was nothing. She scanned the dimly lit park for any sign of the dark mist, but she could not see it.

 

“Where is it?” she said. “It's still here; I can feel its presence…”

 

The cold wind came so suddenly and so strongly that Sakura did not expect it. She stumbled backwards slightly and found herself toppling from the very top of the slide.

 

“HOE!!” she cried as gravity pulled her to the ground.

 

Sakura was stopped inches from the ground by another magically wind, but this one was warm and familiar. There was another presence…

 

“Sakura!”

 

She looked up and to her relief she saw Syaoran running towards her. She stood up, wincing slightly as she did so.

 

“Syaoran-kun!” she said, as soon as he had reached her. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I was walking home when I felt a strange force,” he said, panting slightly (He must have run, Sakura thought), “and then I felt you using your magic. What is it? What's wrong?”

 

Sakura opened her mouth to explain, but instead she shouted, “Watch out!” and she quickly pushed herself and Syaoran over. The black tiger leapt high above their heads and landing a distance away from. Sakura, lying on top of Syaoran said, “That's what's wrong.” She pushed herself on to her feet and Syaoran followed suit.

 

“That's the dark force?” he asked, his sword ready in his hand.

 

“Do you see any other strange creatures trying to attack us?” she retorted, holding her staff in front of her.

 

“Don't get picky with me.”

 

“I'm not.”

 

“Good.”

 

“Good.”

 

“So what do we do?”

 

“I was kind of hoping you would know,” Sakura said, as she and Syaoran backed away from the advancing tiger.

 

Syaoran rolled his eyes. “Okay, let's think,” he said, carefully watching the beast. “It's a dark force.”

 

“Thanks, I already noticed that.”

 

“And it doesn't seem to like us.”

 

“Really? I thought we were getting along so well,” Sakura said, edgily.

 

“When did you become so sarcastic?” Syaoran asked her, a little amazed at this new side of Sakura.

 

“About the same time when you started pointingout the obvious,” Sakura replied.

 

“Have you tried sealing it?” Syaoran asked, ignoring her comment.

 

Sakura stole a quick glance at him before setting her eyes back on the now growling tiger. “I didn't think of that,” she replied honestly, “but would it work?”

 

“You're the Card Mistress,” Syaoran told her, “if there's anyone in the world who can seal a force, it's you.”

 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

 

“You're welcome,” Syaoran said. “What does this thing not like?”

 

“It seemed to hate Firey,” Sakura said.

 

“Right.” Syaoran took out his ofuda and prepared to call on the fire. “When I call out the fire, you'll need to seal it quickly.”

 

“Okay,” Sakura said, determined. “Hoee! Wait! I don't know the sealing spell!”

 

Syaoran smiled. That was the Sakura he knew; the determined girl one second and then the panicked girl the next. He didn't like the serious, sarcastic side to her; it kind of scared him.

 

“You're the Card Mistress,” he repeated to her, and he could feel Sakura roll her eyes. “You can just make up a new spell. Don't worry it'll come to you. Ready?”

 

“No.”

 

“Tough.” Syaoran called on the fire just in time; the tiger had taken it's leap but before it could reach them, it had been caught in a cage of powerful fire.

 

“Now, Sakura!”

 

Sakura concentrated hard and called out the first words that came to her. “By the Power of the Stars, I, Sakura, command you to resign to a new form of contract!” She didn't know the type of card, and calling it a `dark card' didn't feel right. “Return!” she called. She knew the spell wouldn't be as strong without knowing the card's name, so she channeled all her powers to concentrate on sealing the force.

 

The tiger gave one last roar before it dissolved in to the mist again and came together to form a card at the tip of Sakura's staff. The pink Sakura Card sealed and floated in to her hand. She watched it as a picture of a black tiger appeared on its front and the words, `The Tiger' appeared along the bottom.

 

Sakura sighed from relief and then swayed dangerously.

 

“Whoa!” Syaoran said as he stood before her and steadied her by the shoulders. “Sakura? Sakura! What's wrong?”

 

The pain suddenly sliced through her stomach again and she doubled over. Her knees hit the ground and she wrapped her arms around her aching midriff. Syaoran kneeled down in front of her, still holding onto her shoulders.

 

“It's okay,” Sakura gasped as the pain shot through her. “It's just a scratch.”

 

Syaoran gently pulled her arms away from her waist, and was shocked to see them covered in blood. His eyes immediately shot to her waist, and he was horrified to see the bottom of her shirt soaked with blood.

 

“You call that `just a scratch'?” Syaoran asked as he tried to get a look at the cut, but Sakura wouldn't let him. “What happened?”

 

“The tiger,” she gasped out, “caught me off guard.” Her eyes wandered over to her bloodied arms. She felt her head go light. “Oh,” she said before passing out.

 

“Hey!” Syaoran caught her and carefully set her on the ground. He took a look at her pale face and felt her pulse. She was fine, but she had lost a lot of blood. Knowing that if he took her back to her own house, he would be confronted by awkward questions from Touya and possibly a beating.

 

Sighing, Syaoran gently scooped Sakura up in his arms, gathered their bags skillfully with his hand, and started to walk towards his apartment.

 

**

 

Getting home had not been easy for Syaoran. He didn't want to know how it would look if people saw him carrying a passed-out girl with blood on her shirt. He therefore avoided any streets he knew to be crowded with people, and he had successfully made to the bottom of the block of apartments. He paused inside the door of the lounge to check that no one was inside, and he quickly walked across it and ascended the stairs. When he reached the fourth floor, he awkwardly got his key out and opened the door. Chucking the bags down and shutting the door behind him, he sighed in relief. He took a look at Sakura and was relieved to find that a bit of colour had returned to her cheeks.

 

He carried her into the spare bedroom and set her carefully down on the bed. Sakura mumbled incoherently as she started to slowly regain consciousness. Syaoran stared at the blood-soaked shirt she was wearing, and he could now distinctly make out several tears in the material. Carefully, very carefully, he lifted the bottom of her shirt up slightly and, across her stomach were four long, mildly deep cuts. The cuts seemed to still be slowly bleeding, and her stomach was covered in fresh and dry blood. Syaoran quickly hurried out of the room and into the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit and some wet towels. Pausing by the bathroom door, he eyed a small bottle containing a green substance. Picking it up, he eyed the label and then carried it out of the room with him.

 

When he got back to the spare room, he placed a wet towel across Sakura's forehead. Her eyelids opened slowly, and her emerald green eyes beneath searched out her surroundings.

 

“Wh- where…?” she mumbled.

 

“It's alright,” Syaoran told her softly. “You're in my apartment. I need to treat your wounds so they don't get infected.” Sakura made to sit up but Syaoran gently but firmly pushed her back. “No,” he stated. “You'll only pass out again if you look.”

 

Sakura relented and Syaoran, sure that she wouldn't attempt to get up again, took another wet towel and began cleaning around the cuts. Sakura gasped in pain and Syaoran mumbled apologies. He took a small bit of wet cloth and used it to remove the blood which had gotten on her arms. When he finished, he took out a bottle of antiseptic and another towel.

 

“Um,” he began, “this is going to sting. A lot.”

 

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Sakura said, her speech coming back to her.

 

“So what were you doing in the park, anyway?” Syaoran asked her as he began to apply the liquid.

 

Sakura gasped again and grabbed the bed sheet tightly with both hands. “I was coming home from cheerleading tryouts and I decided to wander through the park first.”

 

“How did the tryouts go?” he asked.

 

“I made the team.”

 

“Congratulations.”

 

“Thanks,” Sakura gasped as the antiseptic stung at her. “Anyway, I decided to sit on the swings for a while, and that's when the force appeared.” She paused as Syaoran continued to clean her wounds. “What were you doing so late at school?”

 

“Soccer tryouts,” he told her.

 

“Is there any point on asking if you made the team or not?” she asked smiling slightly. She knew that Syaoran was excellent at soccer and that the team could do with a person with his skill.

 

“I got in, if that's what you mean,” he said, also smiling. They remained in silence for a few minutes while Syaoran finished with the antiseptic. He picked up the bottle with the green substance in it. “I'm going to put a stronger healing ointment on the cuts,” he told her.

 

“What is it,” she asked.

 

“It's an herbal remedy that Wei taught me,” Syaoran explained, opening the bottle and dabbing some of the ointment on to a dry cloth. “It takes away the pain and helps to speed up the healing process.” He applied the ointment to the cuts and, to Sakura's surprise, it did not sting. In fact, it created a pleasant cooling sensation around her midriff.

 

Syaoran set the ointment to one side a picked up a set of bandages. “Uh, Sakura?” he asked awkwardly. “Could you sit up a moment? I need to bandage up your waist.”

 

Sakura nodded and as she moved to sit up, she found that she could not feel any pain in her stomach. That ointment really worked! As Syaoran wrapped the bandage around her waist Sakura found it hard to sit still. Every time Syaoran's hand gently brushed against her ticklish side she squirmed and giggled, while Syaoran gently scolded her and told her to sit still.

 

When he had finally tied off the bandage, he gently poked her side and said, “All done.”

 

Sakura giggled again. She sobered up and caught Syaoran's wrist as he started packing up the first aid kit. He looked up in to her eyes and Sakura briskly leaned forwards and planted a soft, short kiss on his cheek. “Thank you,” she said.

 

Syaoran felt himself blush as he replied, “You're welcome.” He looked at her ruined shirt and said, “Do you want something else to wear?”

 

Sakura shook her head. “It's okay; I have my school blouse.” She looked around the room. “Where is my bag anyway?”

 

“It's out in the hall; I'll go get it for you.” Syaoran left and returned moment later with Sakura's P.E. kit in hand. He left the room as she changed in to her school shirt. She stepped out in to the hall.

 

“I should really get home,” she said as she moved to pick up her schoolbag.

 

“I'll walk you there,” Syaoran said, offering to take her bags.

 

“No, it's okay, you've helped me enough,” Sakura argued. “I'll be fine.”

 

“After what happened this afternoon?” Syaoran asked. “No way, I'm not letting you walk home in the dark when you've been injured.”

 

Sakura pouted. “I can look after myself,” she stated.

 

“I know, but I don't want you getting hurt any more.” Syaoran managed to prize the bags out of her hands and into his own. “Come on,” he said.

 

Sakura huffed but followed him out of the apartment all the same.

 

**

 

The next day at school, Sakura told Tomoyo all about the new card she had capture the previous day. Tomoyo was worried when Sakura told her that she had been injured but brightened up when she was told that Syaoran had helped her dear Sakura-chan. Tomoyo then went starry-eyed as she said, “This means that I'll have another chance to record Sakura-chan as she fights the new forces!”

 

Sakura sweatdropped as she watched her friend mentally plan out outfits for her to wear.

 

At lunch time, Sakura left her friends and went in search of Syaoran. She couldn't spot him in the playground and he wasn't on the grassy area. Then Sakura tried something she had never done before. She closed her eyes and focused on Syaoran's aura. She felt a soft green aura to her right, and, when she opened her eyes, she smiled as she saw the direction from which the aura was coming from. She walked around to the far end of the school and headed straight for the cherry blossom tree. There was no one sitting at the bottom of it, and Sakura looked up.

 

Syaoran was sitting on one of the branches halfway up the tree. “I felt your aura reaching out to me,” he told her, not taking his eyes off the cloud he was staring at. “So much pink isn't good for me.” He looked down at her and smiled. “Do you want me to…”

 

He watched Sakura easily climb up the tree and rested beside him on the branch he resided on.

 

“…come down?” he finished, staring amazed at Sakura. “When did you learn to do that?”

 

“Gymnastics comes in handy every once in a while,” she said. “I wanted to thank you again for last night.”

 

“Did your brother say anything when you got home?” Syaoran asked her.

 

“No,” Sakura sighed in relief, “he wanted to know why I was so late, so I just told him that I had hung back to talk to some friends.”

 

“And the stuffed animal?”

 

“I told Kero-chan about the force,” Sakura said. “He took a look at the card and he couldn't identify it any better than we could. He just said that we need to be on our guard and to expect-”

 

“-the unexpected,” Syaoran finished off. “Life's going to be pretty hectic now, isn't it?”

 

“Yes,” Sakura said, gazing at the clouds. “With a new force out there, things are definitely going to change.” They sat in silence for a moment before Sakura asked, “Syaoran-kun? Do you remember when we were eleven, and you said that I could call you when I needed help?”

 

“Yes,” said Syaoran, thinking back at the memory:

 

Sakura was watching Syaoran glare at Eriol behind him, and was wondering what was wrong with him. His glaring was starting to freak her out!

 

They walked along in silence for a few minutes.

 

“Did anything strange happen that night?” Syaoran asked, turning his head towards Sakura.

 

She shook her head.

 

Syaoran regarded her for a long moment and looked into her eyes. “If something happens…” he began.

 

Sakura continued to watch him.

 

“…don't go running off by yourself. Let me know,” he told her. Then he broke their eye contact and looked down at the ground. “Y-you're a little on the risky side, so…”

 

Sakura nodded and smiled. “Sure!”…

 

“I'm going to need all the help I can get to seal these new forces,” Sakura continued, “and from what we saw last night, they're very strong.”

 

Syaoran nodded.

 

“…and I was wondering,” Sakura said, steadily, “if your offer still stands.”

 

Syaoran looked at her, and she turned her head to look him in the eyes. After a second of silence he said, “Of course it does.”

 

Sakura smiled at him, and held out her pinky finger on her right hand. “Promise?” she asked.

 

Syaoran held out his own pinky finger and connected it with hers. “Promise,” he said. His eyes danced with amusement.

 

A very faint ringing sound reached their ears in the silence that surrounded them. They looked at each other.

 

“Oh no/shit!” Sakura and Syaoran exclaimed together.

 

Syaoran jumped down from the tree as Sakura scolded him.

 

“Don't swear!”

 

“I can't help it,” he retorted, standing below the branch, ready to help Sakura descend.

 

“Yes you can and you will!” she told him as she slid off the branch and into his arms.

 

“You can tell me off later, but right now we're going to be late for science; again!” Syaoran put Sakura down and grabbed her hand. Together they ran towards the school building, arguing as they went.

 

A shadowed figure behind the bushes listened to their playful bickering as they rushed to class. The figure smirked and walked away. “It will take more than a promise to help you this time,” it said as it disappeared in to the shadows.

 

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Ooo, a creepy figure in the shadows! It's very cliché, I must admit. How did you like the first chapter? I really didn't expect it to be this long, considering the planning for it was very short. Although it did take me 3 days to write it; and by that I mean I wrote it in unequal amounts of the three days. I wrote most of it today ^_^ . I would have finished it in a shorter amount of time, but I got distracted at the start because a spider decided to slide down the wall. I promptly ran out of the room at that point. And Word decided to crash on me halfway through this, but thankfully it recovered the work. If it didn't, there would have been hell to pay.

 

Chances are I won't post this first chapter until I've completed all the chapters in this season (there will be two seasons adjoining onto each other), so when you read these end comments, remember they were written in the past *ooooooooooooo*

 

Please send your comments to me via email. My address is elmo.doodle@yahoo.co.uk . Comments are gladly received, and if you have any questions please feel free to email me and ask!

 

elmo-doodle xxx

 

8th August 2007