Chapter One

Encounters

As an unexpected surprise, I have come up with another fic haha. It really was unexpected, I was in the middle of my AP US History class when it came to me and I screamed. I've been on Writers Block, hehe, so this was great. I hope you like it so far. I'll post Chapter 2 sometime soon, if you guys like it enough.

-Korovee

Syaoran held out an open hand, smiling as he pulled Ryûo to his feet. Ryûo, on the other hand, did not look as pleased.

"How old are you again?"

"Sixteen."

"…And you've been here just one week, the week I wasn't here?"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure he's human Kurogane-sensei?" yelled Ryûo over his shoulder, posing himself for another round. He carefully balanced and grinned mischievously. "You better get ready kid, I'm not going easy on you again –"

A loud whap cut off the teen off, sending him into streams of curses and yelps. Kurogane snatched the wooden sword out of his hand, glaring down at his student in distaste. "If you were taking it easy on him, why did you try to mimic my Hama-Ryo-o-Jin?" He growled, clearly displeased.

Ryûo frowned, massaging the top of his head tenderly. "I was not…"he muttered stubbornly, watching as Kurogane handed his other student a bag of ice for his heavily bruised arm. "I was trying to do my family's style…"

"Your family style has a completely different stance moron." Kurogane threw him a pack of ice. "Don't try to pull a fast one on me."

The stubborn teen grinned all the same, catching the ice with ease. "Yea, Yea. Whatever."

"Thank you for the lesson Kurogane-sensei." Syaoran bowed, returning the borrowed sword. "I learned a lot today."

"It's nothing…" Suddenly, Kurogane whipped around and threw the wooden sword at his other student. Ryûo slipped to the ground, narrowly missing the scarily accurate throw. "WHAT THE HELL YOU CRAZY ASS TEACHER?!"

"WE HAVE CHANGING ROOMS YOU DUMB ASS, DON'T STRIP IN HERE!!"

"I WAS JUST GOING TO TAKE OFF MY SHIRT, GOD! YOU DO THIS TOO!!"

Syaoran laughed, catching both of their attentions again. "It is true though Kurogane-san. You do take off your shirt during or after practice in the dojo sometimes."

Ryûo smirked, continuing to tear his shirt off. "Told you. And you." He pointed at the brunette. "I like you."

He turned to his teacher, smiling like a fool. "Can we keep him?"

Kurogane frowned. "He's not a dog."

"Whatever. Syaoran, right?"

"Uh-huh?"

"You can call me Ryûo – but do you want to stay for dinner? I board at the dojo, and for rent I cook dinner and clean, but I don't mind it cooking for you! Come on, it'll be fun, you can even stay and we can stay up watching movies! We don't have school tomorrow too—"

Kurogane shoved the boy past the now open door. "Forget it, don't listen to this idiot. He can't cook for crap, and I'd rather not take another kid to the emergency room for food poisoning. They're starting to get annoying, what with wanting to send Health department agents to check out the dojo and see what the hell is going on here…"

"Once. Once, I gave you food poisoning, and I said I was sorry! It was an accident – Why did you still have those vegetables?!"

"It was your damn fault for not cooking them long enough – and what the hell kind of sauce did you use anyways?!"

"… I didn't use a sauce?"

Syaoran chuckled nervously, shaking his head. "Um, no thanks. My stuff is at home anyways and I have to work today. Thank you for the offer though."

"Well then, you should probably get home kid. It's late anyways," Kurogane muttered gruffly as he tossed Syaoran's stuff to the floor. "So get a move on."

Ryûo looked horrified. "Sensei, you're so rude…" he gasped, placing an arm around the other boy's shoulders. "Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?"

"I'll show you some damn manners boy if you don't shut the hell up…"

Ryûo grinned back, letting Syaoran go. "Don't worry." He said, helping the teen put on his backpack. "He's a lot nicer than this I swear. Plus if he swears at you, it means he likes you."

"Where the hell did you get that idea you moron?!"

"See? What did I tell ya?" He laughed heartily, waving Syaoran out the door. "See you soon then!"

As soon as the door shut, Ryûo turned to glare at his teacher, hands placed firmly on his hips. "You could be a lot nicer to him! I like this guy, and you always chase away all the people I like!"

"It's not my damn fault that they don't have the guts to stick it out like you do. Either that, or your just one crazy ass kid. I'm pretty sure it's that one too." Kurogane tossed the boy a broom. "You better not half ass your chores again, or you're sleeping with the bears in the mountains next time we go hiking. So if I find some crap stuffed under a floorboard one more time, you're outta here, got it?"

"Yeah, yea…" Ryûo blinked, holding up a jacket. "This isn't mine – Oh crap! Syaoran! You forgot your jacket!!"

Kurogane tugged him back from his bare shoulder. "Don't even bother kid, he's long gone by now. I've seen him walk and by now, he should be half way to work."

Ryûo frowned, glancing at the jacket in his hands worriedly. "But it's going to rain in a little…And hard too…I can still make it if I run—"

"Kid, when I said forget it, It wasn't a choice, it was an order. If he needed it this badly, he would've come back for it by now, alright?"

Ryûo huffed, muttering a few silent curses as he began to grudgingly sweep the wooden floors. "The only reason he probably didn't come back is cuz of the stupid teacher…"

"You really want to sleep out in the rain tonight, don't you?"

Sakura had to admit defeat here; she had completely no idea as of where she was. She had never been this far out of the city, her complications…Well, certain problems she had would never have allowed her this far away from home – but even now, there would have been no way she would even come to the southern-North end of Tsubasa. Anything past the top northern part of Tsubasa city was dangerous, over run with crime, gangs, etc. In a sense, those in North Tsubasa believed to be above the lower city, due to the better pay and jobs. This had proven deadly for the city…but that was beside the point. The point was she was lost, and being pursued for reasons she did not know.

Sakura tripped, falling face first into a pile of mud. She whimpered, doing a quick scan of her body, the most damage being her scrapped hands—but she had no time. She rose to her feet and kept running. She couldn't stop now, not now, even if her lungs felt ready to explode. They were gaining inches and feet on her now, and if they caught her, who knows what would happen. Her parents…

She skid to an unexpected stop, barely making a stop in front of the unsteady rusty rails that prevented people from falling into the Feather River. The river divided the city in half, but it had unpredictable currents, sometimes calm, others, raging. This was not one of its good days.

"HEY! I SEE HER!!"

By this time, Sakura was gasping for air, unable to keep a steady stream of air in her lungs. She swallowed nervously, backing up against the rail as she checked her surroundings – there was nowhere to run, and even if she did, there was no way to tell where she was going. The rail creaked and gave way. Too shocked to scream, Sakura could only watch in surprise as the barely visible faces disappeared from her view when dirty water obscured her vision. She surfaced, coughing and sputtering, and tried to swim for the edge, but the currents were too strong. Without another second wasted, she pulled further and further in, and before she realized it, she had left the boundaries of North Tsubasa and was traveling at high speeds to the south end.

If you like it Review/FAV/ALERT/ MAIL/ EAT COOKIES -- JUST LET ME KNOW SO I CAN DECIDE WHETHER TO PUT UP CHAPTER TWO

Korovee