Disclaimer: The author does not own Card Captor Sakura or anything affiliated with it. She only has rights to the plot of the story and its AU characters.
Summary: Famous fashion designer and Daidouji Toy Company heiress, Daidouji Tomoyo, has just been dumped by her actor ex-boyfriend. What's worst, he called Tomoyo an emotional abuser in front of millions of Japanese people. To soften the blow to her reputation, Tomoyo's best friend, Kinomoto Sakura, hatched a plan for Tomoyo to appear in a new reality show "Are You The One?" and hoped that the former would make a great comeback out of it. All seemed fine at the beginning, but trouble ensues when Sakura catches Li Syaoran, the bachelor of the show's, attention instead. To make matters complicated, Sakura's resistance against his charms also deteriorate over the course of the show. Will she finally succumb to the passion that Li's kisses promise or will she stay true to her friend who has been with her since childhood?
Say That You Love Me
Chapter 1: Image is everything
"Tomoyo-chan, the mail's here!"
Twenty-three year old Kinomoto Sakura shut the front door of their townhouse with her foot while she continued to scan the stack of envelopes in her hands.
"Bills, bills, bills, TIME, coupons, trash, bills, VOGUE, bill, bills, ELLE, studio 24, bills, hey, wait a second –"
At the sight of one of the letters, Sakura gave out an extremely loud squeal of delight. "OH MY GOD! TOMOYO! TOMOYO-CHAN!!! IT'S HERE!!! AAAAAAAHHHHH! OH MY GOD! TOMOYO-CHAN!!!"
Hearing her best friend scream on top of her lungs, Daidouji Tomoyo ran outside of the bathroom wrapped only in a short purple towel and quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher attached to the wall. Skidding across the floor, she hurriedly went to her friend's rescue.
"WHERE'S THE FIRE? WHERE'S THE FIRE? WHERE IS IT? WHERE? WHERE? WHERE IS IT?" Her amethyst eyes darted around the hallway in alarm.
Sakura looked at her friend in confusion and raised her eyebrow at Tomoyo's half-naked and dripping appearance. "What are you talking about?"
Tomoyo glared at her friend when she realized there was no emergency at all and that Sakura's screaming had only caused an unnecessary interruption of her relaxing shower. Placing the fire extinguisher down by her foot, she muttered angry curses underneath her breath.
"I was in the middle of shampooing my hair when I heard you scream and I thought something bad had happened to you or that maybe you almost burned down the house! Again!" Tomoyo replied angrily.
The auburn haired woman blushed upon the reminder of her near death experience in the kitchen and pretended to remove the lint from her shirt to hide her embarrassment. In her defence, it was the cookbook's fault for instructing her to boil the eggs. How was she supposed to know that placing them in the microwave to heat it up faster would cause the eggs to explode? Or that you needed to add water in the rice cooker when cooking rice?
"Okay, okay… Okay already! You've made your point! Anyway, the letter from Studio 24 just arrived." Sakura whipped out the small white envelope from the pile and handed it over to her friend.
Tomoyo mumbled a word of thanks, as she anxiously looked at the letter in her trembling hands. The moment she had been waiting for has finally come… An answer to her prayers… A way to show the world the world what she was really made of… A time to get even…
"Well, go ahead! Hurry up and open it!" Sakura urged her.
"Right."
Nodding her head in agreement, Tomoyo tore the letter open and quickly read its contents. Though her moment of silence was nerve-wracking, Sakura waited patiently for her friend's news and watched her face for any indication of what the paper might have said. She literally jumped in surprise when Tomoyo gave out a loud shriek of happiness and began shaking her by the shoulders.
"AAAAAHHHH!!! SAKURA-CHAN, I GOT IN! I GOT IN! I GOT IN!!!"
It took a few seconds before Tomoyo's words registered in Sakura's head and when it finally did, she quickly pried the letter from her fingers and read the bold words herself.
"AAAAHHHHH!!!" Sakura screamed in confirmation and hugged her friend in excitement. "IT'S TRUE! YOU GOT IN! YOU GOT IN!!! YOU REALLY GOT IN! AAAAHHHHHH!"
Three months ago, Tomoyo saw an advertisement on the newspaper saying that the popular Studio 24 needed twenty women to appear in a new hit reality dating show called "Are You The One?" At first, she looked at the public notice skeptically. After watching the recent dating shows on television, her opinions of it were quickly shattered. She always thought that the contestant seemed fake. Their dialogues sounded more like it came from a script rather than from each person's heart itself. As she looked at the ad in derision, she promised herself that she would never be caught dead in one of those shows even if someone were to pay her a million dollars.
However, one should know better than to tempt fate, for that same afternoon she received a phone call from her boyfriend that would quickly change her life forever.
"Moshi moshi." Tomoyo greeted.
"Konichiwa (Hello) Tomoyo. It's Jin." The voice from the other end replied.
"Jin!" she called out his name in delight. "I was just about to call you!"
"Oh…. Really?"
"Yes! Really!" Tomoyo said, rolling her eyes. "I have some good news! Ohhhh! I'm sure you'll be very happy when you hear it!"
"Hear what?" he asked.
"Oh! Well, you'll be thrilled to know that I've finished my wedding designs for the winter season. You know what this means, don't you? My schedule is free for next Saturday!!! Isn't that fantastic?! Isn't it?! I can come with you and your friends to Port Island and I can bring along Sakura to meet them too!"
After a few moments of silence, Jin finally answered, "That's… wonderful, Tomoyo."
Tomoyo was in such a happy mood that she missed the hint of disappointment on his tone.
"Isn't it? I just can't wait to get Sakura in some of the clothes that I've designed! It'll be a fantastic! A perfect fit!" she said excitedly.
"Tomoyo, I –"
"Plus, I've got this new camera that I want to try out. I'm sure I can get a lot of great shots of the scenery there. It's been a while since I've been to Port Island! It'll be a refreshing trip away from the city and all its noise!"
"Tomoyo please let me –"
"And oh, I'll bring along some snacks for the ride too! Would you like to make those cupcakes that I made for your birthday last year? Do you want me to make the chocolate ones or vanilla this time? Or maybe I should –"
Unable to take any more of Tomoyo's words, Jin finally cried out, "STOP TOMOYO! PLEASE STOP! I – I… I'm sorry but I'm not taking you with me."
Tomoyo looked at the phone confusion and then after rationally calculating his behaviour, she cheerfully told him that it was okay; she understood that men will always needs a guys' night out. "Perhaps I could use this coming weekend to catch up on some designs. Maybe work on some new ideas and –"
Jin let out a guilty sigh before interrupting her yet again.
"Tomoyo, I'm not just hanging out with the guys." He said leaving Tomoyo as puzzled as ever.
"I'm not following you," she said slowly. "But go on…"
"I'm really sorry Tomoyo. Really sorry…" He began. "But the reason why I'm not taking you with me is because I've already invited someone else."
Tomoyo took the phone of her ear and looked at it incredulously. "You're… WHAT?"
"You – you've been so busy for the past three weeks that I haven't, well, seen or heard from you." He stammered. "I thought that - that maybe you've forgotten about me or you weren't interested in me anymore… For Pete's sake, I left you so many text messages and e-mails, and you didn't answer any of them! I –"
"I was busy!" Tomoyo cried out in frustration. "You knew I had a pressing deadline for the December fashion show! Everything has to be at least twelve weeks ready before the seamstresses and I can actually work on the dresses! I was already behind as it is!"
Jin, however, ignored her and continued on with his rant.
"Seriously, Tomoyo! How long does it take for a person to write their boyfriend a simple reply?! To let them know that their girlfriend is at least alive! Damn it! I even called you at work and your secretary told me you weren't taking any personal calls!"
"Well, I wasn't!" she protested.
"What if it was an emergency Tomoyo? Would you have at least picked up the phone? Kami-sama (God), I really thought we were over! And, and… And then I saw you at the Ocean's Club having dinner with some guy a couple of weeks ago. Do you know how I felt watching you touch his arm and laughing at whatever he was saying?"
"W-Wh-What? What are you talking about?! Oh God! Jin, that man is my mother's client! He works for Mitsukoshi and I've been meeting with him to promote mother's latest action figures! By God, I was -"
Jin shook his head from the other line and cut her off abruptly.
"It doesn't matter anymore Tomoyo."
"Doesn't matter?! The hell, it doesn't!" Tomoyo exclaimed.
"Nothing can change what has happened. I thought you've moved on and - and so have I." He said.
I thought you've moved on and so have I.
I thought you've moved on and so have I.
Moved on…
And so have I…
These words ran through Tomoyo's head making her world spin off course. It can't be! Surely he didn't mean what she thought he did.
"I've met someone else." He paused to take a deep breath. "Actually, you know who she is… You met her last month. Remember Nakamura Chiaki?"
Tomoyo swallowed hard.
"Oh God. I think I'm going to be sick."
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"Tadaima (I'm home)!" Sakura's tired voice echoed through the dark hallway.
Hearing no response, she quickly took off her shoes and went to search for her friend, Tomoyo. She had just come home after spending a very long day at work, and she had been half-hoping for at least an uplifting welcome to ease her mood. At the age of twenty-three, Sakura Kinomoto had already reached her limits. Though she recently graduated from Tokyo University with a degree in biology and chemistry, she was still unable to apply what she has learned in the real world. Her mother died when she was very young and her father was diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago. It was indeed unfortunate for her to be an only child, for she both had to take care of her sick otou-san (dad) and also the financial burdens of their remaining family. Such events caused Sakura to mature quickly. By the time she got out of high school, she was already working two part-time jobs to make ends meet. She continued to work those same jobs while attending university. However, instead of improving their situation, her continuous efforts are being sucked out by her father's increasing medical bills.
'Nani (What)? That's weird. Tomoyo-chan should be home by now as well.' Sakura thought, confused. 'Kami-sama, is she ditching me again to go out with Jin-san? She bloody well not! She's on kitchen duty tonight! She knows that I can't cook!"
"OI, TOMOYO-CHAN!!! WHERE ARE YOU?" Sakura called out, while poking her head into the kitchen. Seeing nobody there, she continued to look for her friend.
'Honestly, where on earth is she? She promised to make dinner tonight!' Sakura sighed. 'And I was looking forward to a well-cooked meal for a change.'
"I guess it's another quiet night with instant noodles," she grumbled.
She was about to flip on the lights in the living room but quickly drew her hand away when she heard a soft gurgling sound by the corner.
'Someone's in the house! Someone broke into the house! Oh my God, oh my God… A burglar's inside! What am I going to do? And of all nights, Tomoyo's not here.' Sakura gulped in fear. 'W-wait! What if the he's got Tomoyo? What if… What if the maniac did something bad to her? What if she's hurt and bleeding?'
Sakura shook off the mental image of her helpless friend and quietly grabbed an umbrella resting on the wall. 'I knew I should've taken those self-defense lessons that they were offering in school! Kami-sama, please let me live! If you do, I promise that I will never ever ever punch the pervert next door for always trying to take pictures underneath my skirt! I will even give up my obsession of chewing gum! Just please let me live.'
Trembling in fear, Sakura slowly counted to three in her head before letting out a loud yell and charging into the dark room. As she was about to strike the stranger with her umbrella, the person raised their head up and revealed their self as none other than…
"Tomoyo!" Sakura called out in shock.
In return, her friend's eyes began to well up and she let out another strangled sob. Startled by her discomfort, Sakura knelt down and gently took Tomoyo's hand.
"What happened?" Sakura asked directly.
Tomoyo sniffed loudly and just shook her head, unwilling to confide in her.
"'Moyo, what's wrong?" Sakura tried again. "You've got to tell me what happened so I can help you."
"J-J-Jin! He… He dumped me." Tomoyo sobbed. "The bastard d-dumped me…"
"I'm so sorry, 'Moyo." Sakura pulled her in a sympathetic hug, which only caused the latter to cry eyen harder.
"What's worst is that he… hic… he… hic… he left m-m-me for another g-girl."
"He… what?!"
"It's that w-woman… N-Nakamura Ch-Chiaki… That p-p-pretty host from Studio 24 who Jin and I m-met at the international, hic, fashion banquet last m-month… I – I knew something w-was going on between those two. At the p-party, Jin k-kept looking at her and she even, hic, went up and introduce her-herself t-to us. What kind of g-girl introduces herself without, hic, a – a common acquaintance?! Hello?! It's not a bar!"
"That jerk! I can't believe he would do this to you!" Sakura said in outrage.
"'Kura, what am I going to d-do? This is going to be all over the, hic, the news for sure. J-Jin's a famous actor! I'm a-an established d-designer and, hic, and the daughter of a w-well known businesswoman! N-Nakamura Chiaki is, hic, an entertainment icon! The press… The press will n-never let it down."
Sakura burned in anger as she listened to Tomoyo's words and rocked her friend back and forth to calm her down.
"This… This is going t-to ruin me, 'Kura." Tomoyo cried desperately. "M-Most of the clothes I d-design portray beauty and r-romance. If I c-can't even, hic, have that in my l-life, what good am I as a d-designer? The media… They're going t-to call me a fraud w-when they see the wedding designs for the w-winter season. I – I… I'm not married. I'm not engaged. And… And, I've j-just been, hic, dumped by m-my famous now ex-boyfriend. W-Women will think it's b-bad luck to w-wear my b-bridal gowns. M-Men will, hic, follow w-what they're women b-believes."
"Don't say that 'Moyo! People love you! I'm sure they'll still buy your clothes even with what has happened!" Sakura reassured her.
"You d-don't understand 'Kura! In this b-business, image is, hic, e-everything! N-Now that my image is r-ruined, the glamour that, hic, that my designs promise… They're g-gone too… It's all gone… All gone… Gone…" Tomoyo let loose another batch of loud tears.
Sakura patted her friend gently on the back. "It's going to be ok, 'Moyo. We'll think of something. I promise you, we'll find a way to control the damage."
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Tomoyo woke up the next day with tired eyes and a harsh migraine. Truth to be told, she wanted to stay curled up in bed forever so that she would never have to face the world. Unfortunately, the calls of her grumbling stomach were harder to resist and she forced herself out of bed to make herself a meal. As she made her way to the kitchen, she was surprised to find Sakura sitting comfortably on the couch, watching television.
"What are you doing here?" she asked her friend. "You're supposed to be at work."
"Yuki, you know, my manager at the salon… She let me have the day off. She said it's a slow day and they have enough people as it is. And I'm not scheduled to work at your mom's office so I'm completely free." Sakura replied before stuffing her mouth with a handful of Cheetos. "By the way, I bought some breakfast from McDonalds. Sorry, I only got sausage and egg mcmuffins. My bank account is running low again this time of the month with all those credit card bills and dad's hospital receipts."
"That's fine." Tomoyo said while grabbing one of the breakfast sandwiches. "And you do know that I can always lend you money if you ever run short."
"No thanks. It's all good; I can scrape by."
"Well, the offer's there if you need it." Tomoyo told her before biting into the mcmuffin.
A moment of companionable silence passed between the two, with Sakura surfing through the channels with the remote control and Tomoyo quietly eating her breakfast. Every now and then, Sakura would glance at her best friend in worry and wonder how she was feeling. Tomoyo noticed this of course but pretended not to so as to avoid any questions she might have about Jin. When Tomoyo got up to throw away the wrapper of her finished sandwich, Sakura finally got enough nerve to broach the sensitive subject of what had happened yesterday.
"'Moyo, about J-"
"Do we have any mail today?" Tomoyo cut her off, knowing what Sakura wanted to talk about.
"Nope. None. Anyways, -" Sakura tried again but was cut off once more.
"Oh really? Well then, what are those over there?" Tomoyo pointed to a stack of letters sitting beside Sakura.
Sakura looked at the direction to which her friend was pointing and cursed herself when she realized that she forgot to hide the letters. Smiling sheepishly, she handed Tomoyo her mail. She decided to let the subject of Jin drop when she sensed her friend's reluctance to talk. Scanning through the pile, Tomoyo realized that most of them were junk mail and threw them out with no hesitation. Since she didn't want to go to work in the first place, Tomoyo decided to play hooky and plopped onto the couch like her friend.
"Any good shows?" Tomoyo asked.
"None." Sakura handed the remote control over to Tomoyo. "Here, why don't you try surfing? You might have better luck than I do."
Tomoyo flipped through the channels and finally rested on the entertainment network. What came on next, however, didn't surprise her but it did make her blood boil.
"This Just In: famous actor Sato Jin has ended his two year relationship with Daidouji Toy Company heiress and fashion designer, Daidouji Tomoyo. This morning, Mr. Sato's manager announced that the couple decided to move on in separate ways. Mr. Sato is now officially dating Studio 24's talk show host Nakamura Chiaki. When asked about his feelings on the matter, Mr. Sato gave us this comment:
'It's too soon to say anything but I just want to say that I'm glad to have Chiaki by my side. At least she notices me in her life. I just wish that Tomoyo could be happy for me.' Jin said.
What he meant by those last statements are certainly open to speculation. Could it be that their breakup was not a mutual agreement? Is it possible that the seemingly perfect Ms. Daidouji was dumped for a much younger woman? Did Ms. Daidouji emotionally abuse Mr. Sato in their relationship?"
"That bastard!" Sakura yelled out in anger. "That two-timing low-life! How could he say that about you? Hasn't he been in this business long enough to know the repercussions of what he said?"
"He does know." Tomoyo said calmly. "He said that to make himself look like the victim. He knew that if the public found out that I was dumped for another woman, they would view him as a cold-hearted bastard. The girls will especially hate him for hurting the toy land princess, and they will begin to stop watching his movies. To avoid that any of that, I had to be made as the bad guy."
"That is really twisted!" Sakura said.
"No, that's show business." Tomoyo told her. "Anyway, I don't want to talk about this anymore. Let's just watch the show, ok?"
"Fine." Sakura sighed.
"In other news, Studio 24 has announced the new bachelor for their upcoming show, 'Are You The One?' According to the producers of the show, Li Syaoran, famous CEO of Li Corporation was chosen as the star of the new reality show. Mr. Li, who ranked number one as the sexiest man alive by Asia! magazine last year was recently connected to a scandal involving supermodel Tanaka Miyu. Two weeks ago, Ms. Tanaka was spotted to be coming in the Sheraton hotel together with Mr. Li who seemed to be holding her. Earlier that night, the two were seen in a passionate embrace at the corporate event held by Mr. Li himself. Ms. Tanaka who is married to entrepreneur, Tanaka Jirou of Akira Ltd, refused to comment on the matter."
"Li Syaoran again?" Sakura looked at the television incredulously. "Kami-sama, I'm sick of always seeing his face on TV, the papers, and magazines! Can't the press hound someone else?"
"What, someone like me?" Tomoyo raised her eyebrow.
Sakura looked at her friend nervously. "You know, I didn't mean that."
"Relax, Kura. I'm just pulling your leg." Tomoyo said, while grabbing a Cheeto. "Besides, I don't really believe any of those pictures that the tabloids took of Li and Miyu."
"You don't?" Sakura glanced at her questioningly. "But they looked real suspicious to me. Anyway, if you look at Li's playboy history with women and Miyu's dating habits before settling down, I'm pretty sure those two are having an affair. Poor Tanaka-san."
Tomoyo sighed. "I talked to Miyu a couple of days ago at the photo shoot. She said nothing happened."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "She always gives that same excuse after every scandal. I don't know what you see in that girl but she's promiscuous as hell."
"That's mean 'Kura," said Tomoyo. "Why are you so biased against her? Could it be that you're still mad at Miyu for what happened in our second year at university?"
"Oh, please! That was such a long time ago." Sakura denied but bitterly added, "It's not like I still care about Miyu stealing that guy away from me even though he was such a sweetheart in my biology class!"
"I think you still care." Tomoyo sweatdropped when Sakura glared at her. "You know, 'Kura, that guy wasn't dating you in the first place. And technically, you never even talked to him while we were in university."
"We talked!" Sakura said but Tomoyo only gave her a pointed look. "Once. When he dropped his pencil in class, I gave it back to him and he said 'thank you.' My gosh, Tomoyo, he had such a nice voice!"
Tomoyo shook her head. "Sometimes 'Kura, I wonder how we ever became friends."
"Beats me." Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "Anyway, I wonder why Li decided to take part in that show. I mean, he could be with any girl in this day and age! Why be in some silly love contest?"
"I thought you weren't interested in Li."
"I'm not. I'm just curious. Maybe, Li really likes all that attention. Imagine having dozens of girls fawn over you. Must be every man's dream." Sakura said sarcastically.
"Well, in any event, that show's bound to be good for him. Being romantic with so many girls… It might just clear up his playboy image." Tomoyo stated.
Upon hearing what her friend said, Sakura looked at Tomoyo and an idea suddenly sparked in her head.
"Good for the image, huh?"
"That's right. No matter how rakish he may be, the producers will always portray him as a Prince Charming to all single women out there. If not, their ratings will suffer. By the way, Sakura, why do you like you've just won a hundred million yen?" Tomoyo asked when she saw the former grinning maniacally.
"Tomoyo," Sakura began. "I've just thought of the perfect plan! The show's looking for twenty eligible ladies, right?"
"Yes, a flyer came in yesterday about it. But wha–"
"'Moyo! This is perfect! We're getting you on that show!" Sakura told her.
"WHAT?!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "Wait a second! Huh? That's ridiculous! Wha…. I… I thought you disapprove of Li! Why would you want me to join that show and fawn over him?"
"Tomoyo, you said it yourself! The show would be good for Li's reputation, right? If it can help his image, it should work out for your advantage too!"
"I – I…"
"The show starts in mid-December; probably a week after your fashion show. If you're worried about the whole Jin scandal, this would be the perfect way to salvage your pride."
"But… How? I –" Tomoyo tried to cut in but Sakura simply ignored her.
"Think about it! You said that people will no longer appeal to your designs because you don't have the beauty and romance that your clothes promise, right? You said that if you weren't in an intimate relationship, people would think that it's bad luck for them to wear your wedding attires… That whatever's you think is wrong with you might be passed onto them… You also said that in the entertainment world, image is everything!"
"Yes, but…"
"So, if you don't have the right image right now, why don't you do something about it? If you're missing romance, search for it! Show the entire world that you're not a love-fraud in the fashion business… That you're willing to look for love and fight for love in front of millions of people… Tomoyo, this is you're chance! Fight for your reputation!"
"I don't know. I –"
"Besides, Nakamura Chiaki also works at Studio 24. If people see that you can be in the same place as her, they'll disregard the comment Jin made about you being unhappy for them!" Sakura reasoned. "And Jin also works there! You can show that bastard that you're ready to get over him by searching for the right one somewhere else."
Tomoyo sighed as she took in her friend's words. A part of her knew Sakura's plan was outrageous. There were too many factors to consider… Too many elements that would cause such an unreliable plan to fail even before it would begin. For Pete's sake, this wasn't even a well thought out proposal! It might have been just a passing thought! And another thing, who's to say that she would actually be chosen as one of the show's candidates? Or that she would even win! The chances of that happening were very slim, right?
But, on the other hand…
Her image was at stake! Her reputation took a nosedive when Jin's manager announced to the public that the star was no longer with her and it became even worst when Jin called her out on being an emotional abuser. Things needed to be turned around and what better way to fight in show business than to do it in show business at the same time? Her missing element was love. She needed it and the show was promising exactly that! Besides, Li Syaoran was a very handsome and successful man. In fact, he's the type of guy every girl would wish to marry except Sakura, who for some reason finds his libertine attitude despicable.
Holding her hands up in defeat, Tomoyo decided,
"Ok, fine. You got me! I'll fill up an application form and bring it to the studio tomorrow."
End of Chapter 1
