Your Shadow
By: DEVILZ CHIK

Author's Notes:
I loved all of your reviews! I hope they will keep coming because it absolutely makes me happy! And as a gift to my lovely reviewers, here's the second chapter. Hopefully, you will like this chapter as much as you've loved the first one. By the way, Syaoran calls Touya "Kinomoto", ok?

Summary: Sakura and Syaoran are engaged in front of the whole school (just to send the girls away from Syaoran) but the truth is: Sakura is just his bodyguard - a very bad one, by the way.

Chapter 2: First Day
Syaoran's Point of View

April 2, 2006
11:24pm

Childish. But cute. The bar of chocolate was on the side table beside Kei's bed. I found myself smirking thinking of Kinomoto Sakura. Nothing like her brother when it comes to personality (no offense, Kinomoto) but definitely just like her brother when it comes to fighting.

Even though I did not see how she successfully knocked out someone twice her size, I pretty much know how tough she was.

"Why did Ken attack her again?" I asked Yuri.

"She looked really sneaky when she came out," he replied. "Ken was probably surprised and acted on instincts. I was about to attack her as well but she pointed a gun at me. And I could tell she was determined to shoot, sir."

"Her hands were not shaking," Kouta added. "She's from the same agency as us. She's the youngest -- off-duty during school days."

Kinomoto Sakura, an agent as well? She was at the same league as her brother… as each of my bodyguards? She was capable of killing someone? No, no… Someone like her should not be one of those people! But maybe, she was influenced so much by her brother.

That could not be it, though, because why would Kinomoto protect her if she could manage just as well as himself?

"Touya was definitely against his sister working as an agent, of course, being a protective brother that he is," Kouta was saying. "That's why being an agent is only her 'summer job'."

"Isn't she the only agent who goes to school?" Yuri asked then whistled. "She makes me feel old. I'm only 26."

"How old is she?" I asked, joining in.

"She just turned seventeen," Kouta replied. "You're even older than her, sir."

"Oh, shut it," I told them then stood up. "A mere 17-year-old knocked out old Ken and gave him a concussion." I trailed off thoughtfully. "Yuri, stay with Ken until he wakes up. Go back to the house as soon as he's ok to go."

Yuri nodded. Kouta and I went outside towards the car to go home. It would be four months later until I see Kinomoto Sakura again. And I didn't even know what was going to happen after that.

July 15, 2006
7:44pm

I made it a habit to visit Kinomoto everyday. As if the gods above forbid it, I never saw Sakura again. Maybe it was because I usually came in the evening. But it was summer. Oh yeah, she has a 'summer job'.

Secretly wondering where she could possibly be, I looked around the streets that I could see from Kinomoto's hospital room. The streetlights were lighting up the whole city and I knew that from the vastness of the city, the seventeen-year-old secret agent could be anywhere.

With one last look at Touya's unchanged condition, I decided to go out and that meant a whole security team with me since Kinomoto was still in the hospital.

It did not bother me at all like it used to – five men in black suits following me around the mall and an additional twenty or so men around the vicinity of the mall itself. Attention-grabber, I know, but somehow, I liked the attention.

Two girls came inside the Sports Shop we were in. While I was waiting for my shoes, I could not help but overhear their conversation.

"I'm so excited for our senior years!" the first girl said, browsing through the sweaters' rack.

"Hell yeah! And you know one good thing about us?" asked the second girl.

From the giggles of the first girl, she knew the answer but she still asked, "what?"

"We don't even need to go to college!" exclaimed the second girl. "I mean, we have secured jobs in our family's companies already! While everyone's freaking out about college applications, we'll be enjoying our last year in high school one-hundred percent!"

I didn't have the chance to listen more as the saleslady handed me my pair of shoes. I had no choice but to pay for them and leave the shop.

For the rest of the night, I was distracted, continuously thinking about high school. What would it be like? I was home-schooled all my life and maybe it would be nice to go to a real school.

Watching movies about different high school lives of teenagers was always enjoyable so maybe the real thing would be fun as well.

Besides, I would like to experience a real graduation ceremony (with the gown and the cap). And meet different friends and teachers.

"Immature," my mom said when I told her about my idea. "We both know that you are smarter than those students who go to school."

"I just want to know what it's like," I pressed on. "You can have me followed by bodyguards. I wouldn't care!"

"But son, do you really want to go to a school?" I nodded. I waited patiently as I watched my mom close her eyes to think. Finally, she sighed. "How can you make friends with bodyguards following you?"

I beamed at her.

"You will only have one bodyguard," she began. "Kinomoto Sakura," I jumped hearing the name. Suddenly, I didn't want to know where this was going. "She still goes to school – this means, yes, you will go to her school. No one shall know that she is your bodyguard. Don't do anything to ruin the poor girl in school, ok?"

I nodded dumbly. I didn't really know what she meant by her last statement and I, for a moment, repressed the memory of Sakura being my future bodyguard. So, nonetheless, I was happy.

I was going to school. At last.

July 16, 2006
4:56pm
Sakura's Point of View

I was still groaning while I was on my way to the hospital. Bodyguard of Li Syaoran. I may be as good as my brother in 'martial arts' but not as patient.

How do they expect me to concentrate on school with a job to do?

There was a reason why being an agent was my summer job only!

The pressure was definitely on me!

When I reached the hallway of Touya's room, I saw two men in black suits outside. I checked my watch – five o' clock sharp. Whoa, Li out of his mansion in the middle of the afternoon? This was a first.

I waved at the guy as I recognized him as Yuri – the guy I pointed a gun at. And the other guy was Ken. I immediately bowed in apology, remembering our last meeting… almost four months ago.

"I'm really sorry for what happened," I said timidly.

"It's ok," he replied, smiling. "I loved the chocolate."

I smiled back then waved at them again s I entered the room.

When Li turned to me, he looked surprised as if he had just seen a ghost.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, noticing that he was really pale.

He nodded and turned away. I chose to ignore his strange behavior and just walked towards Touya's bed. I settled myself on my usual chair. The sun seemed not to want to set down yet at this time. It was absolutely the summer season.

Somehow, my eyes landed on Li. Then I noticed something different about him.

"That's your real hair, right?" I asked him. His hair color was chestnut brown and I still doubted if it was his real hair or not because who could have a really messy hair like that?

My question made him smile. He unconsciously tried to fix his hair. "Yeah," he replied. "The disguise was useless anyway, right?"

"For me, yeah," I smirked. "So… I guess you're my future classmate, huh?"

"Yeah…" he trailed off.

"I think you should know that I mostly baby-sit," he was looking at me as if it was not a big deal but for me, it was! "And I'm even bad at it! So I don't know how I can manage baby-sitting you!"

He glared at me for a moment, probably offended that I regarded watching him as baby-sitting. But then, he chuckled afterwards. "This is coming from a girl who knocked out one of my bodyguards?"

"That doesn't count!" I snapped. "You can't keep using that against me! I acted instinctively during the situation! I can't possibly study and watch your every move in school! And what do you expect me to tell my friends about you?"

I groaned yet once again, getting more frustrated than ever. "Why do you have to go to school in the first place?"

He was about to answer but I did not let him. It was rhetorical. "Everyone will know that you're Li Syaoran! The Li Syaoran! And I can't be discreet while watching you… or maybe I can. But what will they still think--"

He shushed me suddenly, stopping my babbling.

"Look," he said quite calmly. "Hopefully, it will be ok." 'Ok!' That's all he had to say! 'Ok!' "Just do what you do normally and I'll try not to get into your way. I'll adjust easily (hopefully). Besides, threats have died down – that's why I'm here now, not at night, by the way."

I just nodded, speechless.

Yeah, maybe it would be ok. The agency did not require me to send in reports every month, which makes this new assignment of mine really great. They would need to know if I was doing my job properly or not (unless Syaoran gets kidnapped). In addition to that, there is security in school. And it is pretty tight.

Sighing to myself, yeah, everything would be alright.

August 7, 2006
7:20am
Syaoran's Point of View

After a lot of thinking, this would be really great! Not only would I going to school, hopefully, I would also uncover the mysteries surrounding Kinomoto Sakura.

Well, forgive me but Kinomoto just made me so intrigued about his sister over the previous years. There was absolutely something special about her.

Ken and Yuri were hesitant to drop me off at school. And I thought I saw them frown when I got out of the car.

What I didn't hear from them was:

"Little rich kid in high school?"

"I can just see Touya's scowl with Mr. Li being with his sister…"

Following the direction on the walls, I successfully made my way to the guidance office to get my schedule, my locker number and a few textbooks.

According to the guidance counselor, I had time to go to my locker. So clutching the strap of my shoulder bag, I went my way to the senior locker hallway.

I had to admit that the school was huge – larger than I had imagined. It was an elite school so that means sons and daughters of big-time CEOs and diplomats go here.

There were different posters on the bulletin boards already. Sports and fine arts were pretty popular along with service learning activities.

What does Sakura do? Sports? Music? Volunteer work?

I shook my head, erasing the thoughts away.

Stop. Thinking. About. Her.

Oh wow, just as I said that to myself, I saw a certain auburn head girl standing beside my locker, with a few people.

When she saw me, her smile disappeared. I was not sure why. Was my presence really bothering her? Her friends noticed her face drop so she forced her smile back.

Quietly as I could, I walked closer to my locker after she moved slightly away from it. Before I could even turn the knob for the second number, the first bell rang.

I heard Sakura saying goodbye to her friends. The crowd of students slowly dispersed as well and I was surprised that Sakura stayed behind.

"Hey," she greeted. "So… you made it!" she said chirpily, and I knew that she was trying to make it easier for me. Not that she needed to do that.

Finally opening my locker, I put all my textbooks inside. I assumed I would not need them for my first day.

"And you opened your locker!" she said enthusiastically. "Good job!" she gave me a pat on the back then I realized she was mocking me!

I gave her a fierce look and slammed my locker shut.

She winced at the loud sound and I smirked. "So… who's your homeroom teacher?" she asked me.

I gave her my schedule as we started walking towards the classrooms. She gasped as she finished comparing our schedules.

"We have the exact same schedule!" she said. "And my locker's beside yours. It's alphabetical order."

"Why do I have the feeling that my mom arranged for all of this?" I thought out loud.

She shrugged and said, "Maybe because your mom did plan all of this."

Sakura stopped in front of a room, opened a door and walked in. She beckoned me to follow her and I reluctantly did. Many of the students in the class knew her… almost all of them greeted her a 'good morning'.

She was pretty popular.

I was not really sure where to sit so I took the empty chair behind her. Soon afterwards, the teacher came in as the final bell rang.

"Everyone, settle down," the teacher commanded then the whole class became silent. "First of all, welcome back to school but I believe that we have a new student."

All of the students in the class started murmuring about the "new student". I simply observed how quickly they became bumblebees. Some of them even turned towards me and pointed.

Maybe they were too distracted greeting Sakura this morning that they didn't notice me.

"Hmm," the teacher stalked on, looking at his attendance sheet. "According to this, Li Syaoran is our new student."

Yet again, everyone gasped and started whispering to each other.

Oh, this was hell.

"Mr. Li Syaoran?" the teacher called out, scanning the room.

Sakura looked back at me and had a questioning look on her face that said 'why-aren't-you-doing-anything?'

I raised my hand then the teacher noticed me. "Well, Mr. Li, why don't you tell us more about yourself?"

The class suddenly became quiet and was all staring at me intently. I slowly stood up and for once in my life, I was unsure of what to say.

This was what they call first day blues, I guess.

"Hi, I'm Li Syaoran," I started, actually sounding very confident. "I'm 18. I like playing soccer and I also enjoy math…"

As soon as I was done, everyone clapped but I knew that they very much know about my name.

Lunchtime soon came around. Sakura and I walked to our lockers together to drop me off some binders and some books that were given to us by earlier teachers. Nothing had come out wrongly so far. Everything was going perfectly smooth.

"So… you want to come eat lunch with us?" Sakura offered.

"I'd love to since you're the only one here that I know," I answered.

"Oh c'mon, you seem to be bonding pretty well with Hikaru in English a while ago," she said.

I simply rolled my eyes. "I don't think the guy wants me to eat lunch with him," I replied. "Anyway, I have to go to the guidance office. Do you think I'm in trouble already?"

She smiled. "Naaah," she assured me. "She probably just wants to know how you're doing. Well, if you're done talking to her, you can look for us in the canteen. We're always near the clock. Don't worry, the clock is big – you won't miss us."

I nodded then we went on our separate ways.

Before really going my own way, I looked back at Sakura's retreating back and just turned away from her when I could no longer see her. I was watching her like an idiot.

Like a lovesick puppy.

I need to get a grip.

Sakura was right. The guidance counselor just asked me how my day was so far. Argh, I wasted ten minutes of lunch for that. Sorry, I was starving.

And I wanted to see Sakura.

No, that's not true!

When I got out of the guidance office, on the other hand, the hallway was unbelievably full of girls. Maybe they all need to talk to the guidance counselor but their stares at me were telling me otherwise.

I pretended to not notice them and walked to the canteen as fast as I could. The hurried footsteps behind me, though, proved that I was not doing a great job. They were following me!

Soon enough, a girl caught up with me. She stopped me by pulling my bag. I grabbed it back from her but I stayed rooted at my place. These girls needed some good shouting.

"Li Syaoran, right?" she asked, fluttering her eyes disgustingly. I nodded. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure if you promise to leave me alone," I replied rudely. First impressions? Whatever, I don't care what impression I'm giving right now but these girls were actually ruder than me!

She huffed at my last remark. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Do you want me as your girlfriend?"

How thick can this girl be!

"Of course not! I hardly know you!"

"You can't say no!" she whined and I just rolled my eyes.

"I think I just did," I said then walked away.

The other girls walked away seeing how mean I was but this certain red head girl was persistent.

"You can only say no to me if you're engaged! My family happens to be a strong family like yours!"

Though I knew that there was no family in Japan as strong as ours (no offense, of course), I decided to ride along with her craziness.

An idea came to me. At that time, I didn't know how dead I was going to be. I didn't think of the consequences that might occur hereafter.

"As a matter of fact, I am engaged," I stated plainly.

"To who?" she shrieked.

"To Kinomoto Sakura."

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, my mom's own words came ringing inside my head. Don't do anything to ruin the poor girl in school, ok?

Crap, I think I just did.

Preview of Chapter 3:
Sakura's point of view of Syaoran's first day of school – conversation with her friends in the canteen while Syaoran was still in the guidance office.
…
Syaoran tells her about the engagement.
Author's Notes:
This was pretty long because I really loved all of your reviews! I know that I pretty much dragged it along but hey, more details about the two, the better, right? Are you all wondering how Sakura will react? Well, please review! Your comments will really make me happy and I promise to update soon. Your reviews serve as my fuel for typing up the next chapter! Thanks for reading!

For the reviewer who asked me how long this would be, I'm not really sure at the moment but probably, 15-16 chapters.

End of Chapter 2

xxx DEVILZ CHIK