AN: Evening guys. New fic here, hoping it's going to be a good one! I'm back into writing now and looking for something to get my teeth into. And after reading myself through virtually every CCS fic, I thought I'd give it a whirl. R&R!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nor the song featured in the chapter. I just own the storyline. :)

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.

—Marcel Proust

Chapter One: Introductions

Daybreak.

Sun filtering softly through the skies of Tomoeda, passing through a cloud in a rain of glorious amber glaze, empowering the plants under the soft sky to open, exhale and inhale the soft air. The rain of the previous night, slowly warmed into dissipating back into the air as it lay upon the roads of the town, snaking through streets, next to buildings and between landmarks.

A soft flutter of breeze, the last breath of the night, escaping softly from above; issuing a movement on the trees of the parks. Plucking a leaf from its dependant tree, floating softly to the ground to lay, to rest, in hopes of being swept by an early morning worker, cleaning the streets.

Or perhaps, to the surface of the water of a pool, a vast expanse in which such an item causes a ripple effect- moving, consuming, over the surface. The surface of a pool in the grounds of a grand mansion, a mansion of such grandeur and riches that the leaf look out of place; dirty, soiling the serenity of the situation. Until, higher in the sky, upon a third floor, the shrill sound of a morning alarm, shouting into the morning that the day has begun for creatures now, that the night has been chased away.

"Ugh…" Sakura Kinomoto opened her eyes, the slight peek of sunlight of the early morn disturbing her fragile vision at such a time of day. Her eyes moved to the alarm clock disturbing her peaceful slumber, moving her to slam a forceful, yet porcelain fragile, fist to the top of it to negate the shrill noise that had dared remove her from her dream state.

Sakura stretched, pulling her auburn hair out of her eyes, emerald sparkles dulled by the early time. Swinging her legs off the bed, she pulled her body with her, stumbling to the shower.

Hot water, piercing to the skin, rolled down her back, steaming up the shower room and the mirror from the wall in the room. A sigh escaped her lips, gently welcoming the day in a more friendly way than five minutes previous.

Hopping out of the room several minutes later, a different scene was to be shown. Sakura Kinomoto, 17 years old, a face clad in a touch of light make up and long auburn hair that shone in the day light was finally ready for school. For this was her morning ritual, as five days out of seven she belonged to a school, to be taught and attempt to understand subjects that were not her strong point, such as mathematics. But it was her responsibility, to honour her family, that she excel in such.

She walked to the calendar on the wall, her eyes trained to the date she had crossed off two days previously.

The anniversary of her brother and her father's death.

A harrowing mix of emotions had overcome her at this time of year, every year since 7 years previously, when a young Sakura had been robbed of the joy of a functional family to grow up with, to share her stories with and grow old between.

Been robbed, of becoming an aunt, of meeting new family, of seeing the pride on her father's face the day she would announce marriage, of children, even, of graduation. All because of a car, in which, upon the particularly rainy March several years ago, had failed to stop; refused, in fact, to break, due to a fault in the production which lay unnoticed. The aquaplaning motion of the car had led to its careering in a 60kmp zone into a nearby lorry. And that had been the end of her almost functioning family.

Her mother? She had been dead long before, just after Sakura was born. When Nadeshiko was described by her brother and father, she had always remembered a look fall upon their faces, of serene contentment. All Sakura could imagine now, for her own sanity, was that this look of pure contentment was forever residing upon their faces with Nadeshiko, up in heaven.

Sighing, Sakura turned, opening the door in a twirl of school skirt fanning around her and long auburn locks with a slight curl at the bottom, closing it as fast as it opened as she exited.

The hallways were silent up here, framed pictures of family upon the corridors. This was her territory. Sakura had been left in the apt care of her housekeeper from when she was younger, Layla. Layla was an older woman, and had looked after her since she was younger, a friend of her mothers and of a particularly hen-pecking nature, with cursive wrinkles framing her face. She was not out for Sakura's money, in fact the woman had agreed to godmother Sakura many years ago, and took the oath seriously. She would, eventually, upon Sakura's eighteenth birthday, leave her side to travel the world with her long suffering husband, Jeffery, Sakura's gardener. Sakura did not mind; it was deserved. Layla had a heart of pure gold.

"Layla?" Sakura observed, walking into the breakfast room. Sun filtered through the decadent golden drape curtains onto the forefront of the table in front of her, dancing along the glass in front of her and winking, shimmering softly.

"Sakura dear, it's about time you came downstairs girl" A smile formed over the older woman's features, her portly frame and rounder belly wading into view.

"Sorry Layla, I took a bit longer in the shower this morning"

"Its fine dear, now eat, and leave for school"

A smile crept up her features as she took her seat, pancakes in front of her as she poured the orange juice into her glass. Eating, barely touching her plate, she moved to leave as soon as she was satisfied. At this time of year, she was never hungry.

"Goodbye Layla, I'm going shopping with Tomoyo tonight, I'll bring her around to say hello afterwards"

The door was closing, and a hopeful Sakura hurried toward the garage. Layla would usually have hurried back into the breakfast room to assure she'd eaten her fill, yet today she'd made it out of the door before it was possible. With a rueful smile, she clicked the door to the garage, musing over the possibility of Layla making a feast for her tonight so she could check her eating habits.

The lights flashed as the large garage opened, signalling the opening of a car in lot. Sakura had a love and hate relationship with vehicles. It was her family's death by such a machine, which caused her to hate them. She dare not go in one for almost two years after they had died, yet now, when she sat behind the wheel of one, she came alive. Although Sakura was not a dangerous driver, she was proficient enough to be able to allow herself to become one with the vehicle, the execution of various turns at speed when she felt in the mood. For behind the wheel, Sakura could take her mind off of the last few days, of her years of mourning, and become free.

The car twisted out of the electric gates, the soft roar of the engine filling the yard. A red Porsche Carerra, growling in the morning sun peeking through the sky, Sakura firmly behind the wheel, a black pair of sunglasses covering her eyes as she pulled down the street to her school.

"Tomoyo!"

"Sakura, over here!"

A girl with long, dark hair approached her, her smile hung upon her delicate features, a vision of pure beauty with amethyst eyes that stared into ones soul. Tomoyo was Sakura's best friend, a childhood companion grown into a lifelong partner- a support crutch for the hard times, and a partner in crime for the good ones.

She walked to greet her, a bear hug enveloping both as they finally met. Walking together, at the gate stood three of their other friends, Chiharu, Rika and Naoko. Perhaps one could comment they were plainer looking than the two strikingly beautiful girls that were Sakura and Tomoyo, perhaps one could say despite this, they looked beautiful in their own ways. Smiles adorned their faces as they greeted the girls.

"Are you guys ready for this weekend? I'm so excited!" Rika's voice squealed over the pleasantries, her eyes dancing merrily in the light.

"You guys don't need to make such a deal out of this you know!"

"Sakura, Sakura. It's not every day that all your friends will finally be eighteen. And we made a pact, so don't forget it!" Naoko's voice could be heard over Sakura's protest, a grin embellishing her features.

It was true; at the weekend, on April 1st, Sakura Kinomoto would turn eighteen years old. And ever since they reached the age of sixteen, a pact had occurred between the five girls that they would head out on Sakura's eighteenth birthday, together, to dance and to effectively party for the night. None had stepped out before in such a manner, Rika and Naoko having once attempted it but decidedly gone home after the first bar, a smattering of alcohol confusing their usually sober minds. This weekend, for all effects and purposes, was going to be big news for the girls. Sure, others in their year spoke of stories of clubbing and the wild parties that were on offer, yet none had experienced it first hand- for on Sakura's eighteenth, the bond of friendship between the girls would be on show for the world to see, the pact that they had made to venture into the adult life together, when all of them were able to.

After the morning arrived the afternoon, and eventually the knelling of the school bell announcing the end of the day.

"Hey Moyo, where are you? You're meant to be meeting me outside the auditorium right?"

Sakura sighed, slipping the phone back into her pocket on her top as she stood outside, waiting for her friend to be relieved from choir. A finals for the year was coming up, as the term ended soon, and therefore competition practice took precedent over some lessons for Tomoyo- not that it would have mattered, she was an A grade student without having to open a book.

"Sakuraaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Where have you been? I've been waiting like… Ten minutes!"

"Jeez, woman, I ran over with a song, calm down"

Sakura smiled, nudging her friend playfully as a grin broke out across both their faces.

"Come on, shopping time! I get to dress you in something fancy! And I don't mean dinner date fancy!" Tomoyo laughed with a wink, her arm looped through Sakura's as they walked the hall, heading to the car park.

"Must I always be incapable of picking out my own clothing…?" Sakura mumbled, her friend giving her another nudge in the ribs as Sakura unlocked the car. Climbing in, they set out to the mall, looking for something to wear.

The radio flicked on sometime in the journey, Sakura had not noticed due to her playful talk with Tomoyo. The lights hit a red, and she slowed, slowly mumbling words to the song playing as her ears picked up. Although Sakura was not particularly a fan of the music in the charts a lot of the time, incessant playing of it constantly by others allowed her to know the words.

Deep inside there's a fire

'Cause I'm no longer looking at a reflection that I admire

I paint a picture of a fighter But that someone looking back at me says I'm a liar

If I should die before I wake

The least that I could ever say

I made mistakes but held on to my faith
'Cause when I look in a mirror, I don't even recognize myself

I've got the heart of a winner

But looking back at me is someone else
No regrets, no regrets

No point in crying over yesterday, ay
No regrets, no regrets'

Cause we ain't even seen the best of days

Her voice mumbled slowly over the lyrics, considering in her subconscious of the regrets she had. Of her family, over her life and the things she wished to do in her future. Sighing, she continued, until the radio was cut short.

"We interrupt this broadcast with the traffic announcement for the 27th of April, 4.10pm. Following yet another gang related incident, upper 75th street will be closed once again for the remainder of the afternoon. Will all traffic considering this route please divert following the signs that will be in place shortly. For those who have previously travelled this route in such circumstances, the diversion will remain the same."

"Again? How many times is that in the past month? Things are getting bad round here Saku, it's not safe anymore." Tomoyo's voice drowned out the rest of the reporter's voice, her eyes creased and her forehead wrinkled into a soft frown.

"I know, it's all about these gangs fighting. Someone at school told me they heard gunshots near our side of town the other week, maybe its hearsay, but streets are getting shut off to it all the time. The newspapers are having frenzy- well that's what Layla says anyway."

Sakura was right, of course, as was Layla. Lately, the bustling town of Tomoeda had turned into a gang paradise. Sure, there had been gangs before, and there would be gangs in the future, but none were as violent and so far thrust into the forefront of the news as these few incidents that had been filling paper stands and consuming news stations for the past months. The streets were no longer safe in parts of town at night, people were being found dead, decapitated, and adorned with gang tattoos. One person would turn up dead with one emblem, another the next day with an opposite one. It was like a constant fight for revenge, or so the news said. It would obviously, run much deeper.

"How about this one?" Tomoyo turned to Sakura, perhaps the fiftieth dress she had shown Sakura, who wasn't having much interest in the conversation.

Every girl, no matter whom they were upon the planet, adores the feel of new, shiny clothes and a wardrobe full of niceties. However, after being shown the fiftieth dress that looked more like something provocative for sleeping in, Sakura was all ready to run for the hills from Tomoyo and that evil glint in her eye. Every time she found one dress, she would then rally to the next rail, to the next shop, in case she was to miss the perfect dress.

"Whatever, I'm giving up. The towels in, just get me something and I'll like it or lump it."

"Oh Saku, it's not every day you turn 18 you know! It's a big landmark! And we're meant to be going out, it's special, you have to look nice!"

"I suppose Tomoyo, I suppose".

A sigh escaped her friends lips as she furiously looked round in case she had missed something else, but giving up she moved from Sakura to the till, leaving her friend in thought.

The radio announcement was still fresh in her mind, was it even safe to be going out this weekend? Would the streets be full of gangs on a weekend? Perhaps it was silly to venture out into the streets when most clubs would surely be owned by such gangs, their seedy underground world exposed and ready taking girls like them. She sighed, turning to Tomoyo and smiling as her affectionate aura and glee resonated over her. She couldn't tell them not to go, for all she knew it would be safe. And with that, Saturday would soon roll around.

"You know, we can't face any more news like this. Things are getting sloppy around here. Daylight? The streets are closed off, when they get back here you send them in here, and they answer to me. Don't even talk to them about it, I don't want them thinking up some half-hearted excuse. I want to see them for myself; I don't want them to make people feel sorry for them."

"They'll have done it for a reason you know, we aren't like that. You taught them everything we know. And what we all know is that things are getting out of hand. It isn't being sloppy, it's fighting for survival, you can't expect them to stand there and die, and that wouldn't make them who they are. Who you taught them to be."

"Must you always be an insufferable, holier-than-thou know it all?"

"If you must know, yes, my dear cousin."

A grin broke over a man's features, his chiselled appearance and navy hair mocking the other in front of him. His cousin, his rough and steely cousin, with a heart of pure ice and a glare to match. He loved to wind him up, to 'get his goat', so to speak. Yet, he knew inside, that he would always listen to his "insufferable holier-than-thou approach."

"Get out Eriol, we have planning to do. Whilst you're at it, we're heading their way this weekend. And they aren't going to know it."

He winked, moving out of the room without a word as the other speaker moved to sit in a chair in the room, amber eyes flashing as he looked out onto the landscape in front of him. Sighing, a hand through chestnut hair, his eyes moved to the gate to the home, a car, beaten at the sides and missing two wing mirrors moved into the yard.

Explanations were about to be given.