Demigod Witch 96: Thank you soooo much for pointing that out! It's been a REALLY long time since I last followed CCS.

And thank you so much to everyone who bothered to post a review!~ My internet is being dodgy and I'm scared that it'll crash before I finish typing, so I will definitely thank everybody properly later!


'Amamiya-san.' That's what he had called her. Not Saku-chan, not Sakura, not even Kinomoto, but Amamiya-san. As though the Sakura Kinomoto he had known only a few years ago had ceased to exist altogether. As though her heart had evaporated into the silence of the years that separated their intimacy as partners, friends, companions, and the possibility of something more.

But that had been long ago. She had tried, she really had. But letter after unanswered letter had made her resolve waver; had made her disheartened and doubtful that thing that had never quite become anything substantial. To Syaoran Li, Sakura Kinomoto had undoubtedly disappeared the day he'd returned to Hong Kong and the Li Clan, a world so unapproachable by a small town Japanese girl that he may as well have been a figment of her imagination.

"Sakura!" sang Tomoyo cheerfully, "Have you finished dressing?"

"Did you fall asleep in the change rooms, or catch your hair on the zipper?" teased Meiling.

Snapped out of her reverie, Sakura quickly tugged the tight-fitting pink dress over her head, her arms feeling through the layers of muslin and tulle to no effect until finally she felt her arm slip through a hole and –

"Itai!"

Both Meiling and Tomoyo exchanged looks of bemused resignation as Sakura opened the door, teary eyed, head tilted and dress falling awkwardly on her frame. With skilful fingers, Tomoyo undid the knot of Sakura's pretty auburn hair that had attached itself to the cuff of the dress's 3/4 sleeves and stepped back, staring her friend up and down with a critical eye.

"She needs a nice watch to match her outfit," remarked Meiling, arms crossed as she frowned, trying to assess precisely what was missing.

"No, it's the dress. The designer should've gone for a sweetheart neckline over the polo. It would've made it much cuter and shown off the model's figure to greater advantage."

Meiling nodded in agreement and Sakura couldn't help but be amused at Tomoyo's choice of words. Model? The stress of trying to simultaneously study and run her new line was finally beginning to show. A sudden despairing exclamation from Tomoyo almost made Sakura's heart stop.

"What is it?" asked a frantic Meiling.

"We have to leave now or we'll be late for Touya-san and Yukito-san… But there are still so many outfits I want Saku-chan to try…"

Sakura didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Patting her friend on the shoulder, she left comforting Tomoyo up to Meiling as she changed back into the outfit her Sensei had chosen for her. As she did, she couldn't help but wonder what her brother must be feeling, seeing her in an annoyingly constraining corporate dress.

"Giving a pigeon the tails of a peacock won't make it look any more like the beautiful peacock. In fact, it'll look even more foolish as a pigeon who's stupid enough to try to look like a peacock, kaijuu."

"Onii-san!" fumed Sakura and suddenly Touya's indifferent expression contorted into one of pain as he keeled over, trying very hard not to cry out.

"Who taught you how to punch like that, kaiiju?"

"Onii-"

Before the next blow could be dealt, Yukito had swiftly come between the two and offered Sakura some of their new tea blossoms.

"Tea blossoms?" inquired Sakura curiously, her attention wholly diverted from the brother who had angered her only moments ago.

Yukito nodded and presented Sakura a glass of tea in a tall glass cup. Sakura gasped in delight as the strange flower bud sitting at the bottom of her drink slowly began to unfurl to reveal a string of flowers. Laughing, she clapped delightedly at the display, giddy as a six year old. Yukito set down glasses before Tomoyo and Meiling, who responded in a manner more graceful that any Sakura could ever consciously consider.

"And this is the Amamiya heir," remarked Touya with a raised eyebrow, lounged casually in his seat across from his sister's, where there was no threat of being physically abused.

Sakura stuck her tongue out childishly in response. As if he would've been any better!

"Won't you get into trouble if you remain here for too long, Meiling?" asked Yukito with a concerned frown.

Meiling shrugged, "I've been ordered to keep a close watch so that my cousin and Sakura do not meet. Whether this is achieved by tailing Syaoran or befriending Sakura is of no consequence to the Li Elders."

Sakura turned to stare at Meiling in absolute astonishment. "Why?" she asked, bewildered.

Everybody but Touya stared curiously at her. Did she honestly not know? Had she not been notified? For a moment, they reflected that they had never thought to tell her because it was assumed that they were not the appropriate party to disclose the information, as well known as it was. Then all eyes turned to stare accusingly at Touya, who shrugged nonchalantly and uncomfortably diverted his gaze elsewhere.

Rolling her eyes, Tomoyo gently took her second cousin's hands into her own, "Sakura, the Amamiya family and the Li family have been at odds for centuries, as warriors, business competitors and every other way imaginable. Haven't you read it in the newspapers?"

It suddenly occurred to Sakura that she had indeed, but those names had meant almost nothing to her. Syaoran was Syaoran, Sakura was Sakura. The names "Li" and "Amamiya" held no significance in her life. Or so she had thought.

"But there's nothing between us anymore," she forced herself to openly acknowledge, resulting in cautious side glances and some clenched fists.

"Precautions," Meiling replied flippantly as Touya and Yukito simultaneously moved from their seats. Sakura, however, was so engrossed in this depressing realisation that she barely noticed, until –

"Happy birthday!"

Astonished to the point of tears, Sakura could barely speak as these people, so dear to her, apologised simultaneously in a crazy jumble of voices that formed almost no coherent sense to the poor girl. All she could do was choke out laughter as teardrop after teardrop fell from her shining emerald eyes.


"Why so moody, my cute little descendent?" teased Eriol, his blue hair swaying gently in the wind.

"Get out of my room," snapped Syaoran, leaning heavily against the railing of the balcony connected to his bedroom, not even bothering to glance away from staring vacantly at the moon that was steadily disappearing behind grey clouds.

"But I'm not in your room," the other boy pointed out smugly from his seated position atop the roof of the Li palace.

And it was, indeed, like an oriental palace, what with its glazed ceramic tiled roof in a brilliant fiery red, its corners sporting figurines of dragons and phoenixes. Almost a village in and of itself, the grounds consisted of multiple buildings, the most extravagant, however, being that of the main house with its excessively large staircase leading up to the entrance of the building. Not to mention the gardens, well tended and in full blossom all throughout the year at the front, but a shroud of dark wilderness behind the main area.

Syaoran's residence, however, had been moved, at his request, from the main building to a smaller building closer to the forest that he had grown up with. There he was away from the hustle and bustle of the main living headquarters and free to do as he pleased.

Well, as free as the heir of the Li clan could possibly be.

"Leave," repeated Syaoran, deadpanned.

"Still crying over the fact that your cute little cherry blossom is now a part of the Li clan's biggest rival household?"

Syaoran gave no response. There was none to give. Both families being wielders of magic as well as being of a long ancient lineage of power and wealth, it was inevitable that they would be at odds with one another. That Syaoran had failed to capture the Clow cards and even assisted Sakura with transforming them into the Sakura cards had already brought about dishonour as far as the elders were concerned. After that he had been ordered to return to the main household and removed from the friends he had made.

Or, in the words of the elders, "away from the manipulative dark arts of that witch child".

And his position as heir was in jeopardy. It wasn't necessarily because he truly desired the power that came with being the head of the Li Clan; rather, he had promised. He had promised his father that he would become a man worthy of being the head of the Li Clan, someone who would be able to protect his family and those he cared deeply about. It was the last promise he ever made to his father.

"She's not mine," he finally replied, rising to his full height and flexing his arms casually.

That was right. She'd never been his. Even after everything… He hadn't heard a word from her after he'd left Japan, but he had no right to blame her. He knew it. It was entirely his fault. He was the one, after all, who had broken her heart by leaving her behind. He didn't have the right to hope that she would chase after him.

But he'd always hoped, and now she was finally here. Or rather, Sakura Amamiya had arrived. Sakura Kinomoto, the girl he might've loved, was the only person in the world he could never be with if he hoped to fulfil his promise to his father. The Li Clan would never accept an Amamiya into the family. And so Sakura Kinomoto was lost to him forever.

"But of course," purred Eriol, "She is the symbol of the Amamiya family's defiance. The greatest magic wielder of her time – not even the Li clan, the descendants of Clow himself, can readily call themselves superior."

Syaoran anticipated, and smoothly dodged, the three very fine needles that now lay, embedded into the floorboards he had been standing upon only moments ago. Swinging himself up onto the roof swiftly, his heavy kick landed on, and obliterated, the tiles that Eriol had been sitting on. The blue haired mage pulled out his staff from seemingly out of nowhere and aimed a blow to the back of Syaoran's knees during the tiniest fraction of a second that Syaoran left an opening to regain his balance.

The staff made contact, but only with the metal scabbard that Syaoran had lodged between the tiles of the roof, throwing another kick at Eriol, which the mage blocked with the opposite end of his staff. Both boys stepped away, standing upright, weapons again nowhere to be found. Moonlight illuminated their emotionless expressions, the wind pulling at their hair and loose button-up shirts. The broken tiles under Syaoran's bare feet were sharp and jabbed uncomfortably into his soles, but did not pierce through his rough skin. Eriol, wearing traditional cotton shoes, fared little better, but both boys displayed no signs of discomfort or pain.

"Wei's going to have a really hard time mending the roof again if you keep this up," snapped one very harassed-sounding Meiling as she tapped her foot impatiently, arms crossed, glaring up at her cousin.

Eriol smirked, "Seems like you have more than enough to deal with tonight, my darling relative," he drawled before disappearing into the dark.

Syaoran glowered at the retreating back before, sighing in resignation, dropped easily onto the railing of his balcony and walked inside.

"Go away, Meiling. Not tonight."

As if that would be enough to convince her to leave. Before he had even reached his bedroom door, sounds of wood and rice paper crumbling under the force of his cousin's kick against his sliding doors alerted him to her temper for the evening. Especially as she knew very well that there wasn't even a lock on those doors.

Yes, tonight would be a very long night.


Sakura Kinomoto had always been her mother's daughter, though she herself had never been aware of it, and Nadeshiko Kinomoto had been one of the most celebrated models of her time. At 15, Sakura was already 5'5" and still growing, much to her dismay. Her Sensei had already embarrassed her repeatedly before an entourage of clothing designers by reprimanding her for wearing clothing that was clearly too large, too loose, too unfashionable. In the few days she'd been under her Sensei's tutelage, her recently hunched shoulders had been straightened out again, revealing, to her discomfort, that she was no longer a child.

She had awkwardly acknowledged to herself that she definitely wasn't ugly, if the occasional confessions during middle high were anything to go by. Still, she hadn't anticipated this.

When Amamiya Sakura and Daidoji Tomoyo stepped out of their limousine, they paused as three boys magically appeared before them and rolled out a red carpet, bowing deeply before them before stepping aside.

"In honour of our Princesses," they chorused, bowing again before motioning that they should walk onwards. Amused, Tomoyo glided through the gates first, followed by a significantly more awkward, but subsequently much more adorable, Sakura, who hesitantly thanked them as she passed.

"Is it just me, or did something happen across the weekend?" asked Meiling as she entered their classroom, casually loosening her joints as though she'd recently caused certain unsuspecting people a lot of damage.

"Most likely, but I don't think I'll ever get bored of filing Sakura blush every time someone calls her Sakura-hime!" exclaimed Tomoyo gleefully, taping even now the blush that was spreading across her cousin's face.

"Tomo-chan!" insisted Sakura, pouting, "Don't make fun of me!"

"It's entirely your fault, Tomoyo, for tailoring our uniforms too well. Now we'll never get rid of those fanboys," grumbled Meiling, throwing another dirty at the window and sending a group of juniors scampering away for their lives.

Tomoyo smiled diffidently, showing no signs of guilt or regret. She could already see the beginnings of a crowd outside their dorm room again. There had been some negative consequences to her actions, perhaps, but it was clear that one Syaoran Li couldn't keep his eyes off her dear little cousin as a result. After all, it certainly wouldn't hurt to remind him that her dear little cousin wasn't as little as she used to be and that she wouldn't stay a little girl forever.

Now that Sakura's uniform actually fit her, nobody could help but notice her slim waist, her slender limbs and –ahem – how well endowed she was becoming. To Sakura, however, her uniform still fell uncomfortably on her frame. She would much rather be in her sneakers than her Mary Janes, and she'd definitely prefer a pair of cargo pants over this silly high waisted skirt.

Catching one boy by the arm, Syaoran raised an eyebrow at the camera the boy held protectively against his chest, noticing his friend hurry away with multiple copies of photos, including candid shots of Sakura, Meiling and Tomoyo. Struggling very hard to retain his composure, he glowered at the poor boy.

"Leave," he hissed coldly and, shoving the boy out of his way, took his seat behind Sakura's assigned chair.

As Mr Zhang walked into the room, he couldn't help but sigh a little. He had laughed when his good friend, Terada Sensei, had spoken of the difficulties of having Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li in his classroom. It was, after all, impossible that a public school could be half as difficult to control in comparison to a school designed solely for rich students, and yet, he was realising precisely how difficult it would be, having such popular students in his class.

"Jiang Tong xue, what exactly are you doing hiding under my desk?" he asked of the student who sheepishly crawled out and ran back to his appropriate dorm.

"Miss Amamiya, if you will please take your seat instead of sitting on Miss Li's desk, we may begin."

Sakura apologised quickly before slipping into her seat and pulling out her notebook. If she wanted to fulfil her side of the bargain and keep Touya from his arranged marriage, she'd have to pay attention in math to become one of the top ten students in the most prestigious international school in Hong Kong.

"Are you experiencing some difficulty, Miss Amamiya?" asked a smooth male voice that made Sakura almost jump out of her chair, only to face the cheerful face of a senior she had never seen before.

"I'm not very good at math," she admitted with an embarrassed smile.

"In which case, might I…"

"Trouble you with the request that you leave? I will assist Miss Amamiya should she need any help, rest assured," came a grim voice and stoic expression.

The senior raised an eyebrow and would have commented on the impudence of the boy's tone towards his seniors, but he was a Li and it was not worth the trouble.

"As you wish, Li," he replied flippantly and left the classroom.

"Syaoran!" exclaimed Sakura, surprised as the childhood friend who had ignored her for a week suddenly pulled up a chair beside her.

"Don't trust people so easily, Sakura," he growled, "You're an Amamiya now." She didn't miss the exhaustion or the conflict that was splashed across his face.

"Which question?"

Sakura stared at him, dumbfounded. He'd ignored her for a week after finally seeing her in three years, and that was the only thing he could think to say to her? She wanted to stand up and slap him across the face, yell at him and storm out the door. How dare he think that he could just stop by in her life every now and then when it suited him? Did he have any idea how many questions she had, how much she wanted to know?

And yet, despite all her anger, all her disappointment, all her despair, she couldn't bring herself to throw away this one single moment in time to which she had waited so long to return.

"This one," she mumbled, pointing at the question and nodding quietly in turn as Syaoran methodically explained the correct response, just as he'd always done, all those years ago.


Excuse the second chapter that seems almost like a filler =x Promise it'll get better once I've finished establishing the backstory!

Love from ~ s2. Winteresque ;;Because dreams are the melodies your heart sings as you sleep