Ok peoples, as usual, please please review! Even just a one word review like, 'good', or 'sucked' would be appreciated.

Any questions about stuff in the story will be answered at the top of each chapter.

This is NOT an AU! This is a continuation of life for the entire CCS gang. I sorta made Tomoeda into a very rich community, but that's so Li has reasons to come back.

Hope you like it!

E/T, and S/S!

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura, or I'd have continued it by now!

The Side of Life People Never Get to See

Chapter 1: A Different Type of School Year

"Hi, Syaoran? Yes, it's me, Sakura. No, no nothing's wrong. I'm very sorry but I was wrong. I did have something planned for tomorrow evening. Tomoyo convinced me to model some of her debuting designs as an early birthday present. Of course I'll still be getting her something else, but… Anyway I'm really sorry. Mmhm. Yeah, she says she's too used to making wild designs for me that would look hideous on anyone else. Haha, that's what I told her. I know. Ok, I've gotta finish those preparations for our Fall Festival Project. Cool. Yeah, … tell Kero what? Mou…..That's so mean! Goodnight, Syaoran. Yes, maybe next week. Ok, bye!"

Sakura smiled as she hung up her pink phone and fell back onto her bed, laughing about Syaoran's reluctance to hang up the phone. They were talking almost every day on the phone now that he had convinced his parents to send him back to Tomoeda for junior year. Sakura smiled, thinking about how little they used to talk. They understood each other even better now than they had when they were little. Syaoran could even finish her sentences sometimes. The only people who knew Sakura well enough for that aside from him were Tomoyo and sometimes Touya.

She felt flattered that he had bothered to, or insisted that he, spend a lot of time with her the last week of the summer, when he flew in to Tomoeda to get settled for the year. He had regularly treated the 'entire gang' as Wei called them (yes Wei was here as his legal guardian), to dinners and lunches in his new apartment for a whole week.

That week was special to them; Rika, Takashi, Naoko, Tomoyo, Chiharu, Takashi, and even Kero on some days (when just the ones that knew about him were there). During their sophomore year the tightly knit group of friends had drifted apart, despite getting into the same high school.

'Hell,' Sakura thought now, remembering what it had been like, 'Even Chiharu and Takashi's relationship was almost nonexistent for a few months.'

Things had changed so much since their small elementary school. Syaoran had, knowingly or unknowingly, sewed the group together again, and repaired the rift that a year with almost no classes together and difficult coursework had caused.

Sakura betted it was knowingly. Syaoran didn't miss much anymore. Whatever 'special training', as Syaoran called it, that his family, or clan, had put him through over the past few years in his spare time and holidays had definitely paid off. Not that she hadn't liked Syaoran before, but he was definitely more… polished… now. His social skills, when he called them into use, could be stunning. He had obviously been trained in business, and was schooled to be ahead in every subject, especially math, which he excelled at. He was even Takashi's equal in math (A/N: remember in the series math is also Takashi's strong point…). Syaoran seemed so mature now. As Chiharu had mentioned just today, it was even rubbing off on Takashi, which in Chiharu's opinion was a good thing.

'And, of course he's obviously been keeping up with sports and physical training…' Sakura thought with a small smile. It was true. He looked really, really, really good. In her opinion (and she'd never say this out loud), the only word that did him justice was sexy.

'And he can still cook…' She remembered, recalling the sight of him in the apron she walked in on him wearing the first time she had come over for dinner. She was happy that his family had agreed to allow him to spend another year at school in Japan.

According to Syaoran, aside from the fact that his Japanese, which hadn't been accented since he spent a few years in Japan in elementary school, was beginning to slip, the other thing that won 'the elders' (and his mother) over was the school. Tomoeda's schools, which were some of the best outside of Tokyo, were well known for their academic excellence and outstanding teachers.

For which they could thank the rich Tokyo suburb that Sakura and Tomoyo lived in. Tomoeda, whose main attraction was its distance from Tokyo and its relaxed, clean and rich look, had the money to back up its image. Tomoeda was quite the center for businessmen or women that needed to be near to Tokyo, but still wanted to see their families and wanted their kids to grow up well. It was for people like Daidouji Sonomi, or Amamiya Nadeshiko's parents, who didn't want their children growing up in the city, but didn't want to isolate them from the world.

Sakura, in fact, could only live in rich suburb because of the money that her father's digs provided. Kinomoto Fujitaka was more famous than Sakura had realized when she was young. Many of the conferences he was always gone from home to attend were actually digs where his opinions and skills were needed. He was one of the leading world authorities in ancient eastern religions and beliefs.

Her father, who graduated from college earlier than most, had made remarkable finds, sold them for a lot, and then invested well with the money he had still had saved when he left to teach. His investments, based solely on the only business advice Sonomi (Tomoyo's mother) had ever given him, which she had apparently supplied during an argument over stocks in class (she had dared him, the teacher, to take her advice), had a steady flow of money from his investments for Sakura and Touya's schooling by the time they hit high school, and for when he had needed to live in Tomoeda.

(That had been the condition Nadeshiko's parents had provided once they saw their daughter would hate them if they didn't allow her to marry young). The result, anyway, of Sakura living in this rich suburb was a great education, with excellent private high schools. Their public elementary school, which Sakura's entire group of friends had attended, was a fabulous school as well. Although they split for a few years of middle school, they all worked hard to stay in touch and make the grades to get into the only private high school in Tomoeda, which was one of the best in Tokyo (Tomoeda being technically a part of the city).

All of this made the small Tomoeda Academy one of the top five high schools in Japan, and definitely a worthy school for the successor of the high and mighty Li clan of China. Even so, Syaoran would be taking accelerated classes, continuing his training with Wei, practicing magic with Sakura, Kero, or Yue (a requirement which had come along with a contract for the three to sign, which established a certain amount of hours a week to practice), and play for the high school's varsity soccer team (one of the best in Japan).

On top of all that, Syaoran had told Sakura the other day during their magic practice that his mother had said something disturbing during their last call.

Li Yelan had said that the magic training, which was considered to be 'lacking in theory, mechanics, and style variation' (what that meant, Sakura couldn't begin to guess), would be accelerated in about a week for both Sakura and Syaoran. Sakura, Syaoran's mother had said, had been requested to join in the magic tutoring by whatever Magic Sensei the Li's were providing. But Syaoran had told her that the Elders were going to formally ask for her to join the lessons anyway. When Sakura had asked Li why, he had blushed, and Wei had said, "The Elders believe this is in the good interests of the clan."

When Sakura had looked at him in complete clueless bewilderment and asked if they knew the teacher, Syaoran had told her his mother was probably flying down a family member schooled in magical techniques. Most likely to be sure that they were actually testing their magical limits, but somehow, that hadn't been a comfort. But, either way, and despite Syaoran's weird family situations, Sakura was satisfied at the moment.

The only really upsetting part of the situation was the fact that Eriol wasn't there. Sakura and Tomoyo and apparently Takashi as well, remained in contact with him, but Eriol, who was a senior last year, graduating with all advanced courses, even though he was 17, said his situation was too steady to change. They were all sad that he couldn't make it, but they were hoping he would visit. The only thing he had told them was that he was taking a year off before beginning college, and he already had a job lined up. When Sakura asked him why he would take a year off from college to work rather than travel or just study magic, which seemed more to his taste, Eriol had simply told her that it was a job that, quote, '…interested me' end quote.

"Still as mysterious as ever, damn you." Sakura mumbled to herself, her mind shifting to thoughts about Eriol's ways of tricking people. She realized now that what you usually had to look for when speaking with him was what he didn't say or what he purposefully left out. "God, just speaking to him can be dangerous… It's like talking to Tomoyo when she wants something…" Sakura trailed off realizing how true that statement was.

They really were a lot alike, Eriol and Tomoyo. But Eriol had sounded much less reserved ever since his letters beginning about… ninth grade. And Tomoyo-chan was as reserved as ever. Not that she never had fun, she just was … overly polite sometimes. And while that was a central part of Tomoyo's personality, Sakura couldn't help but think that she needed a guy that was laid back to show her how to party a little more. One part of Tomoyo's quiet and polite façade was her 'no dancing' policy. Although that could be just because Tomoyo didn't like the guys, or how they danced with her. After that one dance as a freshman, Sakura couldn't blame her. The guy hadn't even been drunk. It was the only time Sakura had seen Tomoyo get violent. She had punched him in the face, giving him a black eye, after he refused to let her go and kept on grinding against her, just ten seconds before Takashi would have reached him.

Takashi, the only guy that was left in their group after Syaoran and Eriol had left, felt horrible about the whole ordeal. Sakura, when curious as to why he felt so bad, went to Chiharu. Chiharu told her that ever since 'Li' and 'Hiiragizawa' left, Takashi has felt as if it were his job to protect 'all the girls'. She said that Takashi felt he owed it to them.

Sakura shook her head fiercely. She had to get to work. And anyway all that was two years ago.

………………………..At the Daidouji Mansion!………………..

Briiing, briiiing phone rings

"Moshi moshi?" Tomoyo Daidouji said, picking up her room's personal phone line and setting her notepad and pen down next to her.

"Ah! Hiirigizawa-kun! Oh, I'm fine, but this is such a sudden call. Are you ok?" She asked, wondering why he had decided to call for the first time in a year. It wasn't even close to anyone's birthday or any holidays.

"Nani!" She exclaimed, "Teaching MAGIC? To who? When will you be here? TOMORROW?"

"Well, do you have anywhere to stay? Not yet? Well then you do now. You can have one of our spare bedrooms. What about the house you used to own? Ah, that's right, you've sold it. What time will your plane get in? Mmhm, and your gate number is? Ok, then I'll be there to pick you up tomorrow. Oh… are Spinel Sun and Nakuru coming as well? Oh, suppi-chan wouldn't mind acting like a toy? Great then! Oh, you don't need to worry about it. I'm sure you'll find an appropriate apartment soon."

"Oh, and Hiirigizawa-kun? Nice try, but you still haven't told me who you are teaching. Is it part of some temple program or something. Who hired you?"

There was silence in Tomoyo's room.

"NANI?" Tomoyo squealed, "Oh, you have got to help me get them together then! This is perfect! Oh, hohohohohohohohoho!" Laughing like a maniac she cleared her voice, and then said quite calmly, "Ah, and Hiirigizawa? I will be able to video tape these practices, right?"

There came another pause.

"So you can't permit that but no one would notice if I didn't tell anyone? And you're pretending you never heard me ask? Why thank you Mr. Hiirigizawa, I'm sure we'll be getting along quite nicely. I may even allow you the use of a two spare bathrooms now. One for Akizuki-san and one for you. Yes, this has been a pleasant call hasn't it? Oh, well yes I suppose I had assumed that something like this would be taking place. Once you didn't immediately rush to college. Yes. Yes, well some people have mentioned… oh it wasn't that observant of me. Nani?"

There were a few staff members listening outside of Tomoyo's door by now, after hearing the quiet girl raise her voice and go insane with laughter twice now. Normally, unless she was talking to Sakura about a party, the girl was very quiet.

"Another surprise, you say? As well as a secret you're sure I haven't guessed? Is that a challenge, Hiirigizawa-kun? … Yes well, we'll see. That's a shockingly forward question Hiir- nani? Eriol-kun, then. As I was saying, forward as that question was, I'll still dignify it with an answer. However, that reply must be, a true lady never shares. I'll see you tomorrow. And I'm sure I'll figure out your 'secret'. And I'll get back at you for that comment as well. You'll just have to come with another what? Oh, secret. Well, I have to go call Sakura now, it's about a festival. Oh, no of course I won't tell her. Yes, yes, and I'm sure you're quite aware that I can keep a secret. Hai, even from Li. Yes, I am aware he's not as gullible as he used to be. You're lecturing, Eriol-kun. Hai. I'll see you tomorrow then. Ja ne!"

Hanging up the phone, Tomoyo leaned back onto her bed, hearing all of the staff members scatter away from her door. Smiling, she stretched lazily, feeling happy. She'd have to check with her mother, but she was sure Eriol could stay with them. Testing his name out, "Eriol-kun", and finding it sounded fairly natural to call him by his name after their few years of long-lettered correspondence, she sat up, satisfied.

"Now," she murmered, "To call Sakura and give her all of the ideas she hasn't come up with for this festival, seeing as how she's probably been talking to and thinking about Syaoran…"

Tomoyo picked up her notepad with scribbles of ideas for the festival again, and looked for her pencil, which had rolled while she was talking. Reaching for it and staring at her list of ideas, trying to figure out which one to tell Sakura about, she began some aimless doodling.

A boy with glasses, and a vague sort of smile began to appear next in the picture. Hitting upon a new idea, she began to write rapidly. Her class still needed an idea for a presentation in the Fall festival coming up. She and Sakura had offered to come up with one, and since skits were her class's theme they had been brainstorming ideas for two days now, phoning back and forth and scribbling horrible ideas down. They were trying to do an original skit, and something people didn't think of as a normal fairytale. But this one might just pass off to the school as original.

After all, the idea of a Magician being reincarnated and creating guardians at the age of seven wasn't really in any of the traditional fairytales. And Eriol had told her that both Akizuki and Suppi had been created in the fall. If they told the story of the cards, and shortened it to events the people in Tomoeda would remember, it would seem very clever. Everyone would think they were so funny for incorporating real events in their skit.

Not to mention all of the people who knew the truth would love it!

10th grade was definitely going to be a new kind of school year.