Yay! It's the first chapter! This whole co-fic thing is so fun. Sakura is a bit OOC, but for a good cause! I assure you. And I, personally, do not know anything about how police forces work, so bear with me. And if you flame about it, which would be funny if you do, my reply would be that it is fictional and what I want is what I get!
C-Mage: You're so spoiled.
T. Anjel: That's what you think! But I know better.
C-Mage: Okay....
T. Anjel: Don't be giving me that look.
C-Mage: What look? ::looks innocently at T. Anjel::
T. Anjel: You look at me as if I were insane.
C-Mage: Don't deny it.
T. Anjel: Shush it, you.
C-Mage: You do know that you're just stalling everyone from reading this
glorious fic? ::shoves T. Anjel off of the page::
C-Mage's comments: She did forget to say that we don't own CCS, by the way. Which we don't. All flames will be appreciated so that I can laugh. ^.^ Have fun reading it!
Title: Hooded
By: Crystal Mage and Tiny Anjel
Summary: Sakura goes undercover at an all boys school to solve a murder
case. Syaoran attends the school along with his pestering friend Eriol.
Can't/won't say more. Mwahahaha.
Hooded- Chapter 1-
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She was a child. Small and frail. Her eyes were large and innocent, radiating only the purest thoughts. Her light auburn hair barely reached her shoulders. But there was that one day which had changed her life forever. That one moment which caused her grief and pain. She was back from kindergarten that day. In her hand was a picture of a colorful butterfly which she had colored with pride an hour ago.
"Okaa-chan!" the girl screamed happily into her house as she entered it.
There came no reply.
"Hoe?" The child, still gripping her work, scuttled about the house, looking for her mother who had always greeted the child with open arms at the door. The light bounce in her steps quickly vanished when she came upon the kitchen. Her innocence was stained with the picture of her mother. Dead. The scene was bloody and unforgiving. In Nadeshiko's hand there was a butcher's knife. She had tried to fend someone off. Blood stained the white tiles of the kitchen, overpowering the pure color.
The butterfly picture drifted out of the girl's hand, to no avail at flying away. "Okaa...OKAA?!" the girl cried out, slipping over the thick blood and kneeling by her mother's body. The cry for her mother never ceased. Her mother's blood covered the child from head to foot as she tried to shake her mother awake. She's so cold, the child thought. Okaa....why are you so cold....
Her brother arrived home thirty minutes after the child had. He saw his younger sister, crouching over their mother's body. He called the police. Tears had filled his eyes and threatened to pour. But he wouldn't let them fall. Not in front of Sakura. He called to her and struggled to drag the child away. She continuously cried out for her mother. Her eyes were puffy, and tears stained her cheeks. Touya wanted to cry with her. But he would not be weak to Sakura. She needed him more than ever now.
The police arrived and asked questions, none of which neither Touya nor Sakura could remember. Fujitaka was contacted, and he tried to keep as cool as possible. He worried most about his youngest child. The one who had looked up to her mother, and the one who had seen the grotesque image of her death. He knew deep in his heart that she would change drastically. He wished that she wouldn't.
The body and blood was cleared. Sakura was changed and was free of blood on her skin and clothes. Her small figure had managed to reach the kitchen after many hesitations. On the floor was her picture. The picture of the colorful butterfly stained with Nadeshiko's blood. "Okaa...," she whimpered and turned the picture over. On the opposite side of the smiling butterfly was a sloppily scrawled message reading, 'Happy birthday, Okaa-chan'.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Kinomoto! Kinomoto!" Fingers snapped impatiently in front of a dazed face.
"H...Hai!"
"Kinomoto," an old man said, rubbing his temples, "you have to stay focused!"
"Hai," Sakura replied, and listened to the kind, old man's lecture. After a minute of listening, Sakura allowed herself to daydream again. She immediately thought of how she had entered the police force just a few years ago.
She hadn't technically entered the police force. They said she was too young.
Years had past since Sakura had seen her mother, dead in the kitchen. The only thing Fujitaka or Touya would tell her was that the house was being robbed, and Nadeshiko had tried to stop them. The unbelievable death of her mother took its toll on Sakura. Her heart hardened. She matured quicker than any of her friends. No, Sakura didn't want to block people away from her, but she had to. She was afraid. No, terrified of getting close to anyone. Including her father and brother. She was afraid of losing them; she didn't want to. By fifth grade, Sakura had no friends and didn't want any. Her heart reached out and wanted to laugh with them and play with them, but her mind told her not to do it.
Touya had coped with the death better than Sakura or Fujitaka. He felt he had the responsibility of Nadeshiko on him. He knew Sakura was pushing him away. He had no heart to call her a 'kaijuu'. He would try once in awhile to bring a teasing smile to her face, but she wouldn't reply to his joke. She would just nod her head as if 'kaijuu' was her name.
Sakura, being Sakura, didn't want people to feel the pain she felt. The pain of loss. When she was thirteen Sakura had entered the police station, declaring sternly that she wanted to help. Most police officers laughed. Only two of them took her seriously. One had vaguely recognized her as the girl from the murder case years ago. His name was Tanoue Minoru. The other who took Sakura seriously from the start was a young woman by the name of Konishi Miyako. She gave the girl credit for bursting into the precinct and announcing that she wanted to work there, young as she was.
Minoru and Miyako gave Sakura small, odd jobs to do here and there. She was too young to go on a chase or to investigate murder scenes, but Sakura always managed to sneak a peak at papers with extreme cases and solve them with ease.
Touya and Fujitaka had not much of an agreement with Sakura's decision to hang about the police station, but let her do it. As long as she didn't get herself into any trouble, Sakura had been free from Touya's watchful stare.
Years had passed now, and Sakura was sixteen. Touya, Fujitaka, and Sakura moved after the murder to Kyoto where Sakura attended a public high school. Sakura made sure not to make close friends, yet not to make any enemies either.
"Kinomoto!"
"...."
"Kinomoto!"
"H...hai!" Sakura said loudly in reply, sitting up in her chair.
"Class is dismissed," said the old man from the front of the room.
Sakura had just noticed that the classroom was empty and that she had been dozing off for the whole period. "Ah...sumimasen!" Sakura said, apologizing for her behavior.
The teacher nodded in acceptance of the apology and dismissed her. Sakura grabbed her books in her arms and strode out of the room. School was over for the day, and Sakura stuffed her books in her backpack before leaving towards the police station. It was early spring, and the remaining winter's air stung her face. She was chilled and pink when she arrived at the police station. She received head nods and 'hello's' until she reached Minoru's desk.
Minoru was getting old and felt that he should retire. He looked up when he felt a small shadow hover over him.
"A new case, Minoru-san?"
"Not sure," Minoru replied to Sakura, who was quickly skimming the paper that he held in his hands.
"Minoru-san?!" someone called out from the other side of the building. "Call for you on line three."
Minoru picked up his phone and pressed the small button which was labeled '3'. "Moshi moshi," he greeted into the phone. After a pause, Minoru got up from his chair. He quickly reached up to get his jacket and swung it over his broad shoulders. "Cover my desk, Sakura-san," he said quickly. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, as Minoru put his hat on his head.
"My aunt's at the hospital. I think she has a stroke," Minoru replied and smiled grimly. "She's getting old. I never expected her to last this long."
Without waiting for a reply, Minoru left the station. Sakura watched his retreating back until it disappeared behind closed doors. When it did, she flopped onto Minoru's comfortable chair. Without a moment's hesitation, Sakura began reading the file on Minoru's desk. Who knew how long she had been reading and putting things together, because when she looked up from the papers, the moon was glowing peacefully out the window.
"Ah, Sakura-san. You're still here."
Sakura looked away from the window and saw Minoru at his desk, looking down at her. "Hai," she replied.
"Did you put anything together?" Minoru asked.
"Just a bit," Sakura said, showing him a few papers. "Two murders. One week apart and both killed in the same fashion."
"I think we already had that," Minoru said in a teasing voice.
Sakura nodded, but continued. "This one does the job and gets it done. Manages to leave no footprints and is obviously careful. I don't think she's going to kill the next one in the same style...."
"What makes you think it's a she and that she's going to kill again?" Minoru asked, interrupting.
Sakura shrugged. "Just the style of how she kills tells me the killer's a female, and I could tell that there's a pattern going on. Both boys were in an all boys school in Tokyo and were on the soccer team. They were both generally good-looking and pretty popular in the school. She's doing this for some cause; not for money, though...."
Sakura was cut off again by the sound of the phone ringing.
"Moshi moshi?" Minoru said into the phone. His face stayed impassive throughout the whole phone call. Sakura stared intently at Minoru, wanting to know who was on the other line. Minoru said nothing to Sakura's eager face and set down the phone five minutes later.
"Who was it?" Sakura asked, knowing it was someone or something important from the look of Minoru's face.
"Tokyo's all boys school," Minoru said with raised eyebrows. "They want someone to keep watch of the school."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "They don't need to watch the school, they just need to watch certain boys. Maybe the soccer team or the most popular ones."
Minoru scratched his chin thoughtfully. "This may be an undercover case," he thought out loud. "We'll probably get more information from them, too. They barely said anything to us cops," Minoru said, chuckling. He quickly gestured for Sakura to get out of his seat. She did so, and leaned against his desk as he began to make phone calls.
"Who's going to go undercover?" Sakura asked. She motioned to the working, full-grown men and women. "Surely one of them will disguise themselves as a fifteen year-old and attend a high school?"
"Someone will go as a teacher...," Minoru replied and resumed his conversation with the principal of the school.
"Who's willing to talk to teachers about their life?" Sakura asked, rolling her eyes. "Send me," she stated simply.
Minoru stared at her as if she had just grown a couple more heads. "You? You're a girl."
"It's called going 'undercover', ne?" Sakura said, a small smirk surfacing on her face.
Minoru thought for a split second, then quickly shook his head. "No...no...you can't...."
"Why not?!" Sakura argued, making sure to add a slight whine in her voice. "I'll be fine! Please! I've been here for three years and I do nothing! I only went on one chase! I'll solve it before anyone else gets killed! I won't let anyone else get killed!"
Minoru didn't stop shaking his head. He didn't want Sakura to be put in any danger. He had promised it to Fujitaka. "You weren't supposed to go on that chase in the first place," Minoru said with a raised eyebrow. He was getting good at that. "Look, Sakura-san.... It's too dangerous for you."
"I'd rather risk my life than have another boy killed," Sakura said with a stern voice. "I don't want another family to lose their child. They don't deserve it." Sakura bit her lower lip, averting her mind from her mother's dead image.
"I don't know how you do it," Minoru said, shaking his head slightly in exhaustion and surrender. "I'm going to have one of our men go with you as a teacher. Just a precaution."
Sakura let her rarely-seen smile shine through. "Arigato, Minoru-san."
"Why don't I go?"
Sakura turned around to see Miyako. "Miyako-san!" Sakura said.
"I'll go with Sakura-san," Miyako said to Minoru. Minoru sighed. He felt like this was more of a game than a real crime.
Sakura gave Miyako a small grin. Miyako was young, in her mid- to late-twenties. She had her soft, black hair tied in a tight ponytail, freeing her sharp, coal-black eyes from any distractions of her view.
Minoru looked up from his desk at Sakura. "You do know that you're going to explain this to Fujitaka-san?"
Sakura nodded in assurance. She quirked an eyebrow. "You do know that you've been putting the principal on hold for the past five minutes now?"
"Ah!" Minoru quickly apologized into the phone and briefly explained how Sakura and Miyako were going to go undercover for them.
"You better head off for home, Sakura-san," Miyako said. "It's late."
Sakura nodded and headed out of the police station.
"Matte!" Minoru called from his desk.
Sakura turned around. "Hai?"
"You're leaving for Tokyo tomorrow. I reserved train tickets for you and Miyako-san. You'll have an apartment room waiting for you there near the school," Minoru explained quickly. "We need you to both there as soon as possible. Come to the station at twelve sharp."
Sakura nodded in acknowledgment and greeted everyone good-bye.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Nani?!"
Sakura stared straight into Touya's eyes and averted them to Fujitaka's. "Please...," Sakura begged, her eyes pleading.
Touya had automatically disagreed to having Sakura go to Tokyo on police business. Fujitaka, on the other hand, quickly pondered the idea. She hadn't opened up to anyone here, and she certainly was being non-Sakura-ish. Maybe this experience will open herself up to people. Just maybe. Who knows? Fujitaka was going to take the chance. "Have a safe trip," he said, with a small smile. "But make sure to call frequently."
Sakura smiled, and gave her father and brother a hug. "Arigato gozaimasu."
Fujitaka only stared solemnly at his daughter, solely being able to pray that his daughter's heart would soften, and that she would break out of this paranoia.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You've already been enrolled in the school as Sonogi Karaku," Miyako informed Sakura as they entered the neat apartment, complete with furniture and miscellaneous objects.
Sakura dropped her suitcase heavily on the floor and stretched out her muscles. She observed the room with a critical eye, only half listening to what Miyako was saying.
"No one knows that you're undercover at the school besides me, you, and the principal. He agreed to keep his mouth shut."
Sakura nodded in reply.
"You start school tomorrow," Miyako said and handed Sakura a package which had lain neatly in front of the apartment door. "Books."
Sakura sighed and took the books into her arms. "I guess we're starting immediately," she mumbled.
Miyako grinned. "We never waste a minute."
Sakura dragged her suitcase into a comfortable room with two four-poster beds. She plopped onto one of the pink covered beds, exhausted from the day's trip. Sleep overwhelmed her in a matter of seconds.
"No time to lose," Miyako said cheerily, waking Sakura up. "Time for you to dress as men do."
Sakura couldn't complain for more sleep, since she was the one who wanted to do the job in the first place. "I'll do what I can, and you tell me if I look like a guy," Sakura said, and ushered Miyako out of their room. She shut the door behind the female officer and opened up the closet. She smirked. They had done her the privilege of setting down the school uniform, and some casual male clothing. Wonderful, Sakura thought, making a face.
She slipped out of her long-sleeved shirt and unclasped her bra. She wasn't as fully developed as all the other girls in her class, and she had no shame. She easily banded her breasts down with some large tape, which seemed to have been laid down just for her on her desk. Making sure that she looked flat enough, Sakura slipped on the school uniform, which included a pair of long, black pants. It was nothing out of the ordinary, and the shirt was a black button-down with a crisp, white tie.
A knock sounded on the other side of the door. "Sakura? Can I come in?"
"Hai," Sakura answered simply. Miyako entered, and smiled.
"Or should I say , Karaku-kun?" Miyako teased. "I'm going to cut your hair. Hope you don't mind."
Sakura shook her head and seated herself down on a chair while Miyako drew out a pair of scissors. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut through the whole ordeal. The sound of the snipping of scissors was deafening to her ears.
"Done!" Miyako said proudly and set a portable mirror in front of Sakura's face. "Not bad!"
Sakura gave a weak smile. No, it wasn't that bad. Sakura's hair just brushed by her ears, and her bangs remained hanging over her eyes. She certainly looked like a very feminine man.
"You look great, Karaku-kun," Miyako said assuringly. "You could actually pass as a male." Miyako quickly glanced at her watch. "We'd better hurry. School starts in about twenty minutes."
"Then what's the rush?" Sakura mumbled, but followed Miyako out the door with her bag anyway. Sakura had noticed that Miyako was dressed in a crisp suit, looking like a professor of some kind.
They had to only walk about a block to reach the school. Both undercover 'agents' quickly ushered themselves to the principal's office, where he got Miyako into one classroom, and Sakura following a teacher to another.
"Now, don't be scared, Sonogi," the teacher said, smiling gaily. He was young, but Sakura noticed he was ignorant.
"Don't worry, I'm not," Sakura said and followed the teacher into the classroom.
"Class!" the teacher, called Mekura-sensei, yelled above the noise of the boys. The boys quickly settled down into their seats, and gave their attention to the teacher. "We have a new student today. His name is Sonogi Karaku. Be kind to him. Take a seat, Sonogi," Mekura-sensei ordered.
And thus began the first day of school and work
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
C-Mage: She's insane. Really, she is. Doing that to poor Sakura. Comments, criticisms, and flames all welcome. ^_^;;; The next part should be out soon!
T.Anjel: Don't worry!! Ack~! ::Attempts at dodging flying vegetables and anything else that was of near the reader's reach:: It's all for the romance!! Literally! She'll be back to normal! I swear! But I'm not gonna be able to give it all away, so just bear with me for the while.
C-Mage: You're so spoiled.
T. Anjel: That's what you think! But I know better.
C-Mage: Okay....
T. Anjel: Don't be giving me that look.
C-Mage: What look? ::looks innocently at T. Anjel::
T. Anjel: You look at me as if I were insane.
C-Mage: Don't deny it.
T. Anjel: Shush it, you.
C-Mage: You do know that you're just stalling everyone from reading this
glorious fic? ::shoves T. Anjel off of the page::
C-Mage's comments: She did forget to say that we don't own CCS, by the way. Which we don't. All flames will be appreciated so that I can laugh. ^.^ Have fun reading it!
Title: Hooded
By: Crystal Mage and Tiny Anjel
Summary: Sakura goes undercover at an all boys school to solve a murder
case. Syaoran attends the school along with his pestering friend Eriol.
Can't/won't say more. Mwahahaha.
Hooded- Chapter 1-
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She was a child. Small and frail. Her eyes were large and innocent, radiating only the purest thoughts. Her light auburn hair barely reached her shoulders. But there was that one day which had changed her life forever. That one moment which caused her grief and pain. She was back from kindergarten that day. In her hand was a picture of a colorful butterfly which she had colored with pride an hour ago.
"Okaa-chan!" the girl screamed happily into her house as she entered it.
There came no reply.
"Hoe?" The child, still gripping her work, scuttled about the house, looking for her mother who had always greeted the child with open arms at the door. The light bounce in her steps quickly vanished when she came upon the kitchen. Her innocence was stained with the picture of her mother. Dead. The scene was bloody and unforgiving. In Nadeshiko's hand there was a butcher's knife. She had tried to fend someone off. Blood stained the white tiles of the kitchen, overpowering the pure color.
The butterfly picture drifted out of the girl's hand, to no avail at flying away. "Okaa...OKAA?!" the girl cried out, slipping over the thick blood and kneeling by her mother's body. The cry for her mother never ceased. Her mother's blood covered the child from head to foot as she tried to shake her mother awake. She's so cold, the child thought. Okaa....why are you so cold....
Her brother arrived home thirty minutes after the child had. He saw his younger sister, crouching over their mother's body. He called the police. Tears had filled his eyes and threatened to pour. But he wouldn't let them fall. Not in front of Sakura. He called to her and struggled to drag the child away. She continuously cried out for her mother. Her eyes were puffy, and tears stained her cheeks. Touya wanted to cry with her. But he would not be weak to Sakura. She needed him more than ever now.
The police arrived and asked questions, none of which neither Touya nor Sakura could remember. Fujitaka was contacted, and he tried to keep as cool as possible. He worried most about his youngest child. The one who had looked up to her mother, and the one who had seen the grotesque image of her death. He knew deep in his heart that she would change drastically. He wished that she wouldn't.
The body and blood was cleared. Sakura was changed and was free of blood on her skin and clothes. Her small figure had managed to reach the kitchen after many hesitations. On the floor was her picture. The picture of the colorful butterfly stained with Nadeshiko's blood. "Okaa...," she whimpered and turned the picture over. On the opposite side of the smiling butterfly was a sloppily scrawled message reading, 'Happy birthday, Okaa-chan'.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Kinomoto! Kinomoto!" Fingers snapped impatiently in front of a dazed face.
"H...Hai!"
"Kinomoto," an old man said, rubbing his temples, "you have to stay focused!"
"Hai," Sakura replied, and listened to the kind, old man's lecture. After a minute of listening, Sakura allowed herself to daydream again. She immediately thought of how she had entered the police force just a few years ago.
She hadn't technically entered the police force. They said she was too young.
Years had past since Sakura had seen her mother, dead in the kitchen. The only thing Fujitaka or Touya would tell her was that the house was being robbed, and Nadeshiko had tried to stop them. The unbelievable death of her mother took its toll on Sakura. Her heart hardened. She matured quicker than any of her friends. No, Sakura didn't want to block people away from her, but she had to. She was afraid. No, terrified of getting close to anyone. Including her father and brother. She was afraid of losing them; she didn't want to. By fifth grade, Sakura had no friends and didn't want any. Her heart reached out and wanted to laugh with them and play with them, but her mind told her not to do it.
Touya had coped with the death better than Sakura or Fujitaka. He felt he had the responsibility of Nadeshiko on him. He knew Sakura was pushing him away. He had no heart to call her a 'kaijuu'. He would try once in awhile to bring a teasing smile to her face, but she wouldn't reply to his joke. She would just nod her head as if 'kaijuu' was her name.
Sakura, being Sakura, didn't want people to feel the pain she felt. The pain of loss. When she was thirteen Sakura had entered the police station, declaring sternly that she wanted to help. Most police officers laughed. Only two of them took her seriously. One had vaguely recognized her as the girl from the murder case years ago. His name was Tanoue Minoru. The other who took Sakura seriously from the start was a young woman by the name of Konishi Miyako. She gave the girl credit for bursting into the precinct and announcing that she wanted to work there, young as she was.
Minoru and Miyako gave Sakura small, odd jobs to do here and there. She was too young to go on a chase or to investigate murder scenes, but Sakura always managed to sneak a peak at papers with extreme cases and solve them with ease.
Touya and Fujitaka had not much of an agreement with Sakura's decision to hang about the police station, but let her do it. As long as she didn't get herself into any trouble, Sakura had been free from Touya's watchful stare.
Years had passed now, and Sakura was sixteen. Touya, Fujitaka, and Sakura moved after the murder to Kyoto where Sakura attended a public high school. Sakura made sure not to make close friends, yet not to make any enemies either.
"Kinomoto!"
"...."
"Kinomoto!"
"H...hai!" Sakura said loudly in reply, sitting up in her chair.
"Class is dismissed," said the old man from the front of the room.
Sakura had just noticed that the classroom was empty and that she had been dozing off for the whole period. "Ah...sumimasen!" Sakura said, apologizing for her behavior.
The teacher nodded in acceptance of the apology and dismissed her. Sakura grabbed her books in her arms and strode out of the room. School was over for the day, and Sakura stuffed her books in her backpack before leaving towards the police station. It was early spring, and the remaining winter's air stung her face. She was chilled and pink when she arrived at the police station. She received head nods and 'hello's' until she reached Minoru's desk.
Minoru was getting old and felt that he should retire. He looked up when he felt a small shadow hover over him.
"A new case, Minoru-san?"
"Not sure," Minoru replied to Sakura, who was quickly skimming the paper that he held in his hands.
"Minoru-san?!" someone called out from the other side of the building. "Call for you on line three."
Minoru picked up his phone and pressed the small button which was labeled '3'. "Moshi moshi," he greeted into the phone. After a pause, Minoru got up from his chair. He quickly reached up to get his jacket and swung it over his broad shoulders. "Cover my desk, Sakura-san," he said quickly. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, as Minoru put his hat on his head.
"My aunt's at the hospital. I think she has a stroke," Minoru replied and smiled grimly. "She's getting old. I never expected her to last this long."
Without waiting for a reply, Minoru left the station. Sakura watched his retreating back until it disappeared behind closed doors. When it did, she flopped onto Minoru's comfortable chair. Without a moment's hesitation, Sakura began reading the file on Minoru's desk. Who knew how long she had been reading and putting things together, because when she looked up from the papers, the moon was glowing peacefully out the window.
"Ah, Sakura-san. You're still here."
Sakura looked away from the window and saw Minoru at his desk, looking down at her. "Hai," she replied.
"Did you put anything together?" Minoru asked.
"Just a bit," Sakura said, showing him a few papers. "Two murders. One week apart and both killed in the same fashion."
"I think we already had that," Minoru said in a teasing voice.
Sakura nodded, but continued. "This one does the job and gets it done. Manages to leave no footprints and is obviously careful. I don't think she's going to kill the next one in the same style...."
"What makes you think it's a she and that she's going to kill again?" Minoru asked, interrupting.
Sakura shrugged. "Just the style of how she kills tells me the killer's a female, and I could tell that there's a pattern going on. Both boys were in an all boys school in Tokyo and were on the soccer team. They were both generally good-looking and pretty popular in the school. She's doing this for some cause; not for money, though...."
Sakura was cut off again by the sound of the phone ringing.
"Moshi moshi?" Minoru said into the phone. His face stayed impassive throughout the whole phone call. Sakura stared intently at Minoru, wanting to know who was on the other line. Minoru said nothing to Sakura's eager face and set down the phone five minutes later.
"Who was it?" Sakura asked, knowing it was someone or something important from the look of Minoru's face.
"Tokyo's all boys school," Minoru said with raised eyebrows. "They want someone to keep watch of the school."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "They don't need to watch the school, they just need to watch certain boys. Maybe the soccer team or the most popular ones."
Minoru scratched his chin thoughtfully. "This may be an undercover case," he thought out loud. "We'll probably get more information from them, too. They barely said anything to us cops," Minoru said, chuckling. He quickly gestured for Sakura to get out of his seat. She did so, and leaned against his desk as he began to make phone calls.
"Who's going to go undercover?" Sakura asked. She motioned to the working, full-grown men and women. "Surely one of them will disguise themselves as a fifteen year-old and attend a high school?"
"Someone will go as a teacher...," Minoru replied and resumed his conversation with the principal of the school.
"Who's willing to talk to teachers about their life?" Sakura asked, rolling her eyes. "Send me," she stated simply.
Minoru stared at her as if she had just grown a couple more heads. "You? You're a girl."
"It's called going 'undercover', ne?" Sakura said, a small smirk surfacing on her face.
Minoru thought for a split second, then quickly shook his head. "No...no...you can't...."
"Why not?!" Sakura argued, making sure to add a slight whine in her voice. "I'll be fine! Please! I've been here for three years and I do nothing! I only went on one chase! I'll solve it before anyone else gets killed! I won't let anyone else get killed!"
Minoru didn't stop shaking his head. He didn't want Sakura to be put in any danger. He had promised it to Fujitaka. "You weren't supposed to go on that chase in the first place," Minoru said with a raised eyebrow. He was getting good at that. "Look, Sakura-san.... It's too dangerous for you."
"I'd rather risk my life than have another boy killed," Sakura said with a stern voice. "I don't want another family to lose their child. They don't deserve it." Sakura bit her lower lip, averting her mind from her mother's dead image.
"I don't know how you do it," Minoru said, shaking his head slightly in exhaustion and surrender. "I'm going to have one of our men go with you as a teacher. Just a precaution."
Sakura let her rarely-seen smile shine through. "Arigato, Minoru-san."
"Why don't I go?"
Sakura turned around to see Miyako. "Miyako-san!" Sakura said.
"I'll go with Sakura-san," Miyako said to Minoru. Minoru sighed. He felt like this was more of a game than a real crime.
Sakura gave Miyako a small grin. Miyako was young, in her mid- to late-twenties. She had her soft, black hair tied in a tight ponytail, freeing her sharp, coal-black eyes from any distractions of her view.
Minoru looked up from his desk at Sakura. "You do know that you're going to explain this to Fujitaka-san?"
Sakura nodded in assurance. She quirked an eyebrow. "You do know that you've been putting the principal on hold for the past five minutes now?"
"Ah!" Minoru quickly apologized into the phone and briefly explained how Sakura and Miyako were going to go undercover for them.
"You better head off for home, Sakura-san," Miyako said. "It's late."
Sakura nodded and headed out of the police station.
"Matte!" Minoru called from his desk.
Sakura turned around. "Hai?"
"You're leaving for Tokyo tomorrow. I reserved train tickets for you and Miyako-san. You'll have an apartment room waiting for you there near the school," Minoru explained quickly. "We need you to both there as soon as possible. Come to the station at twelve sharp."
Sakura nodded in acknowledgment and greeted everyone good-bye.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Nani?!"
Sakura stared straight into Touya's eyes and averted them to Fujitaka's. "Please...," Sakura begged, her eyes pleading.
Touya had automatically disagreed to having Sakura go to Tokyo on police business. Fujitaka, on the other hand, quickly pondered the idea. She hadn't opened up to anyone here, and she certainly was being non-Sakura-ish. Maybe this experience will open herself up to people. Just maybe. Who knows? Fujitaka was going to take the chance. "Have a safe trip," he said, with a small smile. "But make sure to call frequently."
Sakura smiled, and gave her father and brother a hug. "Arigato gozaimasu."
Fujitaka only stared solemnly at his daughter, solely being able to pray that his daughter's heart would soften, and that she would break out of this paranoia.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You've already been enrolled in the school as Sonogi Karaku," Miyako informed Sakura as they entered the neat apartment, complete with furniture and miscellaneous objects.
Sakura dropped her suitcase heavily on the floor and stretched out her muscles. She observed the room with a critical eye, only half listening to what Miyako was saying.
"No one knows that you're undercover at the school besides me, you, and the principal. He agreed to keep his mouth shut."
Sakura nodded in reply.
"You start school tomorrow," Miyako said and handed Sakura a package which had lain neatly in front of the apartment door. "Books."
Sakura sighed and took the books into her arms. "I guess we're starting immediately," she mumbled.
Miyako grinned. "We never waste a minute."
Sakura dragged her suitcase into a comfortable room with two four-poster beds. She plopped onto one of the pink covered beds, exhausted from the day's trip. Sleep overwhelmed her in a matter of seconds.
"No time to lose," Miyako said cheerily, waking Sakura up. "Time for you to dress as men do."
Sakura couldn't complain for more sleep, since she was the one who wanted to do the job in the first place. "I'll do what I can, and you tell me if I look like a guy," Sakura said, and ushered Miyako out of their room. She shut the door behind the female officer and opened up the closet. She smirked. They had done her the privilege of setting down the school uniform, and some casual male clothing. Wonderful, Sakura thought, making a face.
She slipped out of her long-sleeved shirt and unclasped her bra. She wasn't as fully developed as all the other girls in her class, and she had no shame. She easily banded her breasts down with some large tape, which seemed to have been laid down just for her on her desk. Making sure that she looked flat enough, Sakura slipped on the school uniform, which included a pair of long, black pants. It was nothing out of the ordinary, and the shirt was a black button-down with a crisp, white tie.
A knock sounded on the other side of the door. "Sakura? Can I come in?"
"Hai," Sakura answered simply. Miyako entered, and smiled.
"Or should I say , Karaku-kun?" Miyako teased. "I'm going to cut your hair. Hope you don't mind."
Sakura shook her head and seated herself down on a chair while Miyako drew out a pair of scissors. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut through the whole ordeal. The sound of the snipping of scissors was deafening to her ears.
"Done!" Miyako said proudly and set a portable mirror in front of Sakura's face. "Not bad!"
Sakura gave a weak smile. No, it wasn't that bad. Sakura's hair just brushed by her ears, and her bangs remained hanging over her eyes. She certainly looked like a very feminine man.
"You look great, Karaku-kun," Miyako said assuringly. "You could actually pass as a male." Miyako quickly glanced at her watch. "We'd better hurry. School starts in about twenty minutes."
"Then what's the rush?" Sakura mumbled, but followed Miyako out the door with her bag anyway. Sakura had noticed that Miyako was dressed in a crisp suit, looking like a professor of some kind.
They had to only walk about a block to reach the school. Both undercover 'agents' quickly ushered themselves to the principal's office, where he got Miyako into one classroom, and Sakura following a teacher to another.
"Now, don't be scared, Sonogi," the teacher said, smiling gaily. He was young, but Sakura noticed he was ignorant.
"Don't worry, I'm not," Sakura said and followed the teacher into the classroom.
"Class!" the teacher, called Mekura-sensei, yelled above the noise of the boys. The boys quickly settled down into their seats, and gave their attention to the teacher. "We have a new student today. His name is Sonogi Karaku. Be kind to him. Take a seat, Sonogi," Mekura-sensei ordered.
And thus began the first day of school and work
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
C-Mage: She's insane. Really, she is. Doing that to poor Sakura. Comments, criticisms, and flames all welcome. ^_^;;; The next part should be out soon!
T.Anjel: Don't worry!! Ack~! ::Attempts at dodging flying vegetables and anything else that was of near the reader's reach:: It's all for the romance!! Literally! She'll be back to normal! I swear! But I'm not gonna be able to give it all away, so just bear with me for the while.