Double Standard
26 year old Syaoran Li is a strange young man. He's handsome, witty and mysterious. Sakura Kinomoto has no chance in the world at figuring him out. But when he's assigned to be the talented young singer's bodyguard, it raises several red flags. What is his story? AU/OOC
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS. I do, however, take credit for the plot line.
A/N: Aloha folks! This is the first fan fiction that I have ever had the guts to post here. I've been reading fanfics on ever since I was in the 6th grade. I'm now 23 years old and over the years, I've continued to read several CCS fanfics. I've fallen in love with the various stories and attempted to make several stories of my own. They were always unfinished and just so difficult for me to continue… However, I'm here now and I plan to see this story through to the end! Between work and taking care of my son, I'll do my very best to update as often as possible so please feel free to leave me some reviews! Flames are definitely welcome but try to be courteous, as it's literally my first shot at this. Constructive criticism will make for a better story. On a super side note, I'm from Hawaii! So don't mind if I make a few references to Hawaii because I've never lived anywhere else. Okay, let's do this!
Chapter One: Her name was Ayame.
A whimper was heard in the darkness. The young girl felt that her hands and feet were bound. She tried to open her mouth to call for help but she realized that someone had put duct tape on her. She began to squirm, her eyes attempting to see. Anything, anything! Any form of light in the darkness. The ropes that bound her were far too strong and she felt tears run down her cheeks.
'Am I going to die here?'
All too suddenly, she had to squeeze her eyes shut as a door opened, exposing her to harsh fluorescent lights. Before she had a chance to open her eyes again, she felt herself being hoisted up roughly. She started to scream but to no avail. The duct tape muffled her cries. She had no idea where they were headed and the tears that streamed down her cheeks did nothing to help her current predicament.
The hands that held her were starting to make her arms ache and she choked back a sob as they started walking down a series of hallways. They climbed a set of stairs and stopped at a large white door with Chinese symbols adorning it. One of the men reached out to turn the doorknob and the first thing she saw was that it was a dimly lit room. They flew her to the ground and she lay there in a crumpled heap for a few moments until she heard a familiar voice.
"Hello Ayame." He said.
The girl, identified as Ayame, looked up at the man that the voice belonged to and her eyes widened.
He was sitting in a fancy leather chair with his elbows on the armrests and his fingers interlaced. He looked down at her and she realized that the men earlier had thrown her at the foot of his chair. His shoes were close enough that if he had lifted just one foot, he could easily smash her face in. Her body shook with terror at just the mere thought of this. Above him was a single lamp light that illuminated his lean physique. Her eyes widened and she felt her blood turn cold.
'So. This is what it comes down to.' She thought bitterly.
He suddenly snapped his fingers and Ayame heard footsteps coming towards her. She struggled to get away but once again, she felt rough hands grab her arms. This time, however, she felt a searing pain race across her face as the duct tape was ripped from her lips. The sound alone made her cringe as she felt her flesh burn. They ripped it off as though they were ripping a piece of paper and her mouth muscles ached with pain. The men released her and Ayame felt fresh tears start to build up once more.
"Ah, is that better Ayame?" the man asked politely, earning a scowl from Ayame.
"Wh-why are you doing this?!" she cried, her voice raspy and raw. The man merely chuckled at her. He reached up to push his bangs out of his face when Ayame noticed something that made her blood run cold again; he was wearing leather gloves. This meant that if he had killed her, here and now, there would be no fingerprints. No way to trace him back to her murder. It would seem that he had really thought this out. She scowled at him. He would see no fear in her eyes. She would definitely go down fighting.
"If you really must know, Ayame, then I will tell you." The man said, his voice still kind. She hated this man so much. How deranged must he be to allow her to be kidnapped, bound and tossed around like a rag doll but attempt to be civil towards her? He stood off his chair and grabbed her face none too gently. He wore a playful smile on his lips but as she looked into his eyes, she could clearly see that they were filled with malice. What had she done to make him so angry with her? What could be so bad that it was costing her her life? His face was so close now that she felt his warm breath on her cheeks. She tried her best not to tremble.
He grabbed a lock of her dark tresses and tucked it behind her ear. Amber eyes met sky blue ones.
"You and your family will pay for what they've done." He said. His hold on her chin grew tighter and she yelped in surprise.
"What did we ever do to you?!" she shot back at him.
"You. Ruined. My. Life." He enunciated each word dangerously. It was soft enough to sound like a whisper but she heard each word and felt them threaten her very being. His voice was so cold… so full of hatred. It made her cringe. What had they done to this man that led him to such deceit and betrayal? She had trusted him with her very life that he himself had sworn to protect! A joke, obviously, in his eyes…
"Akito… Please… Please let me go. I'll give you whatever you want… Money, diamonds, anything… just please, let me go…" Ayame whispered softly, tears streaming down her face.
She expected him to get angry at her, to throw her across the floor or physically harm her in some sort of way. She did not, however, expect him to laugh. It wasn't a playful laugh but one filled with mirth.
"Akito sure as hell isn't my name, little girl." He spat. He laughed again when he saw her eyes widen. She felt sick to her stomach. They had done background checks on this man over and over again. His name was Akito Miyamoto! How had he made a fake life for himself and passed all of their tests?! The background checks were so thorough! How could they not have seen any sort of flaw?!
"My name," he continued. "is Xiao Lang Li. You pitiful people may know me as Syaoran. Syaoran Li."
Ayame felt her heart skip a beat.
She was as good as dead.
Whatever her family had done, they had no idea who they were really up against.
The following day, the newspapers would show her photo with the headline as,
"Princess Ayame still missing!"
Little did they know, their 'Princess' Ayame was as good as dead.
A/N: Okay, so it got a little heavy. BUT! It's not what you think! Get ready for some interesting plot twists. I'm a VERY big believer in happily ever after so please don't think this story will continue to be so dark. It just needed to be paved this way so you guys could see the changes in the characters personalities. Anyway! Please leave a review if you can and I'll see you guys soon! (;
Signing out,
dreeeamtails
