Disclaimer: I do not own CCS.

Recap:

Syaoran stared at his mother, one eye brow raised.

"You, have brought a girl who hates me, into our house." He said simply.

"I," Yelan corrected, "have brought a young women, who hates all men. Into our house."

"Yes, well she obviously doesn't respect me." He slid into a chair across from his mother.

"It is a respect you will have to work to earn my son." She replied smiling.

"Why, would I want to earn respect from her?" He asked,

"You tell me." His mother replied. Syaoran stayed silent. He was not about to give her any inclination to but into his life…. Again. Finally he sighed.

"Who," he questioned, "exactly is she." Yelan smiled a mischievous smile at her son. The smile, made him want to shiver, made him want to sink into his seat and disappear, this, could not be good.

Chapter Three:

Yelan smiled at her only male child. "That my son was Kinomoto Sakura."

"Well I know that much already." Syaoran said impatiently. "but who is she. What does she have to do with me?"

"Patience, it will all be explained in time."

"So you don't know everything." He said.

"Kinomoto is the only girl in this entire country who will not willingly fall at your feet. You mean absolutely nothing to her. You are simply a nuisance. A thorn in her side if you will." Yelan explained. "She's a young woman who you will actually have to work to get. It will most likely take you most of your energy to make her swoon."

"Why would I want to?" Syaoran asked. Inside he was contemplating, creating plans to make this woman swoon. To make this man-hater fall for him.

"Because you can't resist a challenge and she is if nothing else a worthy opponent. And if I do say so, she'd make a brilliant prize as well." Her eyes gleamed with unspoken words.

"Are you meaning to tell me that you intend to make her my prize?" He inquired.

His mother nodded, "if you can somehow manage to win her over in the short two months that she is to stay with us. You may have her."

"Interesting." He commented. "very interesting."

"So do you accept the challenge?" Yelan's eyes gleamed deviously.

"Yes." Syaoran said, "yes, I think I do."

"Perfect" Yelan shook hands with her son, sealing the deal.

__

Sakura had begun to feel the anger and aggravation float out of her soul as she wondered the mansion. It really was beautiful, she couldn't imagine how someone could live in such a gorgeous place and not be contented. That boy, his eyes seemed bored. Devoid of the notion of what is most important in life. For Sakura what was most important in life was life itself, she wanted to live. Of course as the years went on it was become harder to keep that dream alive. Her father made a point of pushing her down as much as he could. The tended to push her mind out of her body when he decided to beat her. She would float off into a dreamland and return only when she was safely alone. She felt a peace when she was alone. When she was the most at peace is when she's in the rain by herself. Something about the rain sooths her.

She continued to walk through the isles, peaking in doors and observing the arts. She'd found so many breath taking paintings, sculptures and rooms. The rooms were so large she found herself smiling at the magnificence of it all. She'd never been anywhere so grand in her entire life. It felt refreshing and odd that she would end up in such a unique house so soon in life. Sixteen years old and already catching a glimpse at the kind of life she'd like. A nice house, with a beautiful garden; someone extravagant. Something people could admire. She couldn't help but think about how wonderful it would be to be seen as Sakura, and not Kinomoto's daughter. She was so much more than that. She just needed the world to see it too.

"Syaoran-sama, I understand she intrigues you –" Sakura was surprised to hear voices to close to her, she thought for sure she was alone.

"Intrigues me?" She recognized the stuck up attitude of Yelan's son. She was tempted to turn and walk away, but she was also curious to know who they were talking about.

"No, she fascinates me. Mother says our cute house guest isn't a fan of men. Well I plan to change that." He boasted. "Wei have you ever met a woman who denied me the right to call them by their first name?"

"No, but—"

"They're usually begging at my feet for me to call them by their god given names." He said. "Yet this girl turns around and walks away from me as if I'm nothing."

"But Syaoran-sama—" Wei tried to argue.

"She's my challenge and my prize, and I'm looking forward to winning." Syaoran smiled devilishly. Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. That stupid loathsome boy was trying to decide her fate. And to top it off he was trying to make it with him.

"But Syaoran-sama! She's a human being not an prize!" Wei protested. Sakura smiled at the old man, he was a man but at least he wasn't trying to decide what she should do with her life.

"You can't win her, that's preposterous. How would you like women to be saying such things about you?"

"They do." Syaoran pointed out. "Any ways Wei, she's just a girl you know like every other girl in the world. A prize, a possession. Now, where is she? She stormed out earlier and I never got to try my charms on her."

"I'm right here." Sakura announced. The anger was evident on her face. She stepped forwards "How dare you?!" Syaoran froze in his spot. She wasn't supposed to hear that, he was supposed to be acting like the good guy so that he could win her over. Now she automatically thought of his as a bad guy, worse than that she already hated him before all of this.

"You should be ashamed of yourself! I am not a prize to be won!" She stomped up to him. "How can you even assume that I would fall for any little tricks you have? This is why I hate men. They lie, cheat and bring you pain. They're good for nothing but their reproductive organs! And you, you are one of those men who are completely useless because though you have the sperm to have children you will never be suitable to have any!" She turned away from him.

"Oh come on honey," Syaoran said. Sakura's body turned quickly and flawlessly. Without a second thought or a hint of regret her closed fist smashed into his cheek.

"Don't ever address me as anything other than Kinomoto-san. Especially something as degrading as honey. I don't know what you were thinking, you can't win me. You can't even get a whiff." She turned on her heel and made her way towards the stairs.

"Wei." She called, "Can I borrow you for a moment?" Wei hurried to the young woman's side and together they ascended the stairs without a second glance towards the moronic boy who stood in the middle of the lobby holding his fastly swelling face.

--

"Thank you Wei." Her voice echoed through the large room. "I would have never found the room on my own."

Wei bowed, "It was my pleasure Ms. Kinomoto." Sakura gave a small stubborn smile, she felt she should be polite to the old man, because he was elderly. But he was still a man and she didn't want him around any longer than necessary.

" Ms. Kinomoto." Wei called softly from the doorway. There was something wise and comforting about his voice. Sakura just found herself unable to harbor the same anger and hate she felt towards every other man to this particular man.

"Yes?" Sakura answered.

"I caution you to be careful around Syaoran-sama. He's never felt love, he doesn't understand why you are so different from the other girls that fall at his feet. He wants you to fall in love with him, just so he can prove that he can make anyone fall for him. He's a stupendous actor. I don't want to see you hurt, please" His eyes overflowed with concern "be careful." Sakura looked at the butler with surprised eyes. Never had a man shown worry for her. Never had a man tried to protect her, even in the most trivial ways.

"I understand." She said finally. Wei nodded. As he reached for the doorknob and opened the door Sakura found herself fighting with her thoughts.

"Wei." She hollered softly, "thank you." She elderly man just smiled gently and bowed his head. She watched the door close before letting out a deep breath. Immediately she began to unpack. She didn't want to have to worry about where things were later on. She laid out her pajama's, a pair of loose baggy track pants and a large T-shirt she'd managed to sneak into her bag after her dad finished checking over her clothing. She hid her diary under the pillow reminding herself to find a better hiding place for it in the future. Sakura looked at herself briefly before deciding a nice hot shower would be favourable right now. She could feel the knots in her shoulders, stress from coming into a house she knew had men in it.

--

The soft material of the cotton towel felt good on her skin, she'd never felt anything quite so silky. Sakura walked into her temporary bedroom intending to put on her pajamas and crawl into bed. Instead she was confronted with an uninvited guest.

"Cotton looks good on you." He said slyly.

"Really? That bruise looks good on you." She retorted. His eyes narrowed for a moment before he remembered his composure and put a sweet smile on his face.

"I wanted to apologize for my behaviour earlier." He announced. "It was wrong of me to teat you as such and I am deeply embarrassed and shamed that I did so."

"In front of me." She added. He bit the inside of his cheek to calm himself down.

"At all." He corrected. Sakura put her weight on her right leg.

"Look Li-san, I'm not falling for your little sherades. I've made myself perfectly clear. I don't want anything to do with you. I'm here as a guest of your mother. As for you, I don't care about you at all." Sakura turned her head towards the door. "Leave."

"Is that anyway to speak to your host?" Syaoran asked.

"No, but it is a good way to speak to a pest." She replied. "Now leave, I'd like to go to bed."

"Fine." Syaoran spat. "But you will fall for me. You can count on it."

"Good night." Sakura said forcibly. Syaoran glared at her one more time before slamming the door shut. Quickly Sakura locked the door. She sighed to herself, men as for as she was concerned could rot in hell. She calmed herself by taking deep slow breaths and got ready for bed. She pulled out her Diary and began to write.

Dear Diary,

I'm feeling confused. I know I hate men, but the old man here… Yelan's butler is very kind to me. I wonder if he's trying to get my guard down to help the bastard [ Li Syaoran] get to me easier. I refuse to let that happen. But Wei-san is such a gentle, soft spoken man. He defended me when he doesn't even know me. Li-san on the other hand is just the kind of man I hate. He actually had the audacity to assume that he could make me fall for him! What kind of person does he think I am? I'm never going to fall for him. I'm not going to be writing in this Diary a month from now saying. "Oh no, I think I've fallen for him". It's not going to happen. On a brighter note, Yelan is kind. And I'm away from Dad. He can't abuse me for a little while. I'm a little worried about when I go back home and I'm not engaged to Li-san as Father's plan is. I'm afraid he may actually kill me if I disappoint him this time. But I can't date Li-san let alone marry him. That'd be torture in itself. I don't want any part of this scheme yet somehow I'm in the middle of it. I hate being a pawn Diary. I don't want to be used anymore. I don't want to be beat anymore. You'll love me forever though wont you Diary? You're my only friend. I'd better get some sleep, I can't write anymore. If I cry everyone will notice my red eyes in the morning and I wouldn't be able to explain it. They might send me home and then Dad will surely kill me. I don't want to think about it anymore tonight.

Goodnight Diary.

Sakura.

She closed her Diary and hid it under her pillow before falling into her pillow and falling deeply asleep. Terrified of what tomorrow will bring and afraid of what the future might hold. She allowed herself to let go of her worries whilst she flew off into a world where she was happy, where everything was perfect. Where everything… was just … a dream.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Look, I'm back! I really wanted to revise this story. I never liked the first version, it's kind of sad and it's written so badly. So I wanted to re-do it with a bunch of new stuff and hopefully it's written better. Thanks everyone who reads this and thank you to the reviewers. I know I'm TERRIBLE at updating, god I'm so lazy. I'll try to be better.

Anyways, all you old readers you know the drill. For all you new readers this is the deal. You read, and you review… but only if you want to. I always hated it when people said. "YOU HAVE TO REVIEW OR I'M NOT UPDATING!" .. I hated that. In fact, I usually stop reading when I see that (unless it's really good). So please, do me a favour. Only review if you want to. People give the best reviews when they WANT to review and not when their forced to.

Thanks everyone.

Jiade-103