wonderland.4 M.I.A.

---

One peach.

Two peach.

Three peach.

Four… six…

…Ooh she lost count.

It wasn't until she was just about ready to spit the next peach out when the door had opened.

It wasn't until she was sure she would never eat another peach in her life when she heard:

"Sakura, I forgot to gi –"

…Oh how she wanted to dig herself a hole and hide in it when seeing that it was Kaname who had entered.

---

Honestly.

How would you have reacted if you were in Kaname's shoes? You take out one of the most simplest of beauties, have a splendid day, drop her off at the corner of her apartment complex and leave her there – and then half way home you remember you forgot to give her a gift that you had bought for that particular night and so you turn around to do so before the night ended.

…And you go there. You find the door unlocked. You open it.

And then you walk in to find your date handcuffed, ankle-bound and laying helplessly on a couch with some guy hovering over her and feeding her peaches AND cream.

…And not only that…

After a few moments of scrutinizing the scene…

It dawns on you that it wasn't just any guy, but the Li Syaoran. The infamous thief that all of Japan's police departments was on the look out for.

I mean… you'd freak out, too, wouldn't you?

You'd jump to the immediate conclusion that the thief had broken into Sakura's house, bound and cuffed her and started to sexually assault her – wouldn't you?

And you'd get the idea that if you hadn't come the second you did, much worse things would have taken place.

…So, now you're the hero in this situation, preparing to risk your life against Japan's most dangerous and infamous thief in order to save the damsel in distress.

Mwaha.

It's your moment of glory.

You get to kick ass AND get the girl.

Possibly even a kiss, too.

…Yeah right. But a guy can hope, can't he? And I'm sure you would, too, if you were in his place. I'm sure you'd have taken out your gun, clicked off the safety, and pointed it at the scoundrel's head. Yeah, holding a gun makes you feel powerful. You have the upper hand in the situation. You're the Oh Mega. HE answers to YOU. You got the power!

Aha. That's right. You're going to make him wish he was never born.

---

Kaname had his gun raised, eyes narrowed and all. Syaoran simply blinked.

Sakura was still rather keen on the idea of burrowing herself into a hole.

…But Kaname's here to save me!

Swoon.

There was a heavy cloud of silence though, and Sakura felt she would snap any moment if all she heard was the ticking of the clock. It seemed to be unbearably loud…

"…What's going on here?" Kaname demanded, thus shattering the silence much to Sakura's relief.

Syaoran raised an eyebrow, and then beamed. "I was feeding dear Sakura peaches."

Kaname simply snorted and pulled out his badge. "Well whatever you were doing, you're under arrest, Li Syaoran. You have the right to remain silent. Whatever you say can and will be used against you –"

"Blah, blah, blah." Syaoran made a face. "I know the drill. Sakura and I usually go over it regularly." He looked down at her with a mocking grin. "Don't we, Sa-kur-a?"

…Ooh how she hated when he emphasized each syllable of her name.

And when he smiled at her like that.

It made her want to sock him.

And knock his teeth out. But, well, let's face it: She wasn't in any position to do that.

Kaname growled, looking more angry and irritated by Syaoran's cool and seemingly uncaring demeanor.

---

Oh… and to make things more worse…

(Or more interesting, depending on your place in all of this) …

Guess who else just happens to walk in at the moment Kaname stalked right up to Syaoran with his gun raised, preparing to strike him with a blow to the head?

---

Sakura squeaked.

"Tomoyo? What're you doing here?"

The amethyst eyed woman blinked as the scene before her gradually unfolded in her mind. Kaname froze and Syaoran raised an eyebrow. His other went up as well when this woman suddenly whipped out a video camera and started recording, letting out a rather scary:

"Hohohoho!"

…He didn't know her and she already scared him.

Sakura groaned. "Toooomoyo-chaaan. This isn't the time for that!"

"Oh contraire, Sakura!" Tomoyo chirped all too merrily. "It's the perfect time!"

She heaved a distraught sigh.

She just wanted this to end!

Honestly! How can such a perfect evening turn into such a dreadful night? Maybe if she closed her eyes, clicked her heels, and wished she was anywhere but there, she'd end up in Kansas? Anywhere was better than where she was at right then and there…

Syaoran made a face at Kaname as he eyed the police captain with skeptical and unimpressed eyes.

"…Who the heck are you anyway?" the thief asked.

Kaname kept his cool considering the direct insult by his gaze and tone. "I am Captain Yamato Kaname, and you Li Syaoran are under arrest."

He rolled his eyes. "You've only said that about a million times already. Don't you think it's getting quite old, Captain?" He then looked at Sakura. "Was this the nut you were going out with earlier? Getting desperate, aren't we, dear Sakura?"

Kaname narrowed his eyes. He could tell that Syaoran was testing his patience through verbal insults, but he wouldn't blow that easily. Somehow he had to get the upper hand in this situation. But he was the one with the gun… just that with the way Syaoran was acting, it didn't feel as if he had the upper hand. Not only that, but this thief was notorious for slipping away with ease no matter what predicament he is in. Even though he wasn't necessarily in charge of hunting down Syaoran, he read Sakura's reports on each of her and her team's dispatches. After all, it was his duty to keep up with what his men (and women) were doing.

And so, being a man of much perceptiveness, Kaname continued to scrutinize their current situation. He had to do this right and without much error or else the infamous thief (a.k.a Syaoran) will slip away. And he couldn't have that considering the fact that he tried to and was most likely going to perform impure and immoral acts upon HIS Sakura!

He was going DOWN.

"We can do this the easy way," Kaname suggested calmly, holding his gun with one hand as he shrugged off his jacket, "…or we can do this the hard way."

"…The hard way sounds tempting," Syaoran started with a smile, watching Kaname roll up his sleeves. "But I'm feeling kind of lazy at the moment… Maybe a rain check?"

"I don't think so," Kaname growled, lunging at him.

Syaoran sighed and shook his head, murmuring: "They always wanna do it the difficult way…"

It was just a matter of seconds that he was up and intercepting Kaname's fist that was intentionally aimed at his face. He caught it in his hand before flipping the police cop over his shoulder and on to the ground, landing harshly on his back with a loud thud. All eyes were on cop and thief now (and video camera). Sakura watched impatiently and anxiously, whereas Tomoyo watched in curiosity and excitement to see what will happen next.

It was obvious her mind was up in the clouds, unable to be retrieved to land of rationality at the moment.

Sakura mentally shook her head at her best friend.

But the second Syaoran flipped Kaname over his shoulder and on to his back, everything seemed to still. Sakura looked from Syaoran and to Kaname. Kaname looked up at Syaoran intently. Tomoyo watched them both with suspension, her breath held. Syaoran…

His gaze lingered on the tattoo imprinted into the inner arm of Kaname. It was a barcode with NK019 imprinted into his skin. Tribal designs circled around the barcode, and around his arm, creating the shape of a phoenix bird. It had a single red eye.

His amber eyes narrowed as his head shot up, his gaze darting to the front door, and then to the window. Suspicion was etched clearly on his face, along with a seriousness and intentness Sakura swore she could never recall ever plastered on his face. Whenever she saw him, he either had a mocking smile and mirthful eyes, or taunting eyes and a flirtatious smile… that was it. That was all she thought Syaoran was capable of doing.

But here he was… in all seriousness… well, looking serious, of course.

What's going on…?

She looked at Kaname. His expression was unreadable. In a blink of an eye Kaname suddenly threw up his hand and raised the gun. Syaoran jumped over him just as a loud bang filled the air. The bullet, having intentionally been met for Syaoran at first, instead hit the light bulb, shattering it to pieces. It flickered before the light disappeared – leaving the apartment in a complete black-out. Her ears picked up the sounds of shuffling and moving about, and then a:

"…Thank god this camera has night vision."

Sakura mentally shook her head before straining her ears more. It was obvious they were fighting based on the punching noises she could hear. There was some more scrambling as a light thud resounded through the empty pitch black.

I need to know what's going on, Sakura concluded. She bent her legs up so her thighs were pressed to her chest before bringing her arms down from her back and around her legs, managing to bring her cuffed hands in front of her instead of behind her. Sure she was a cop, but they were trained to be able to get out of situations like these if ever such a situation were to arise… She untied the rope bounding her ankles together and swung her now free legs over the ledge of the couch.

Sakura stumbled around blindly, first hitting her calves against the coffee table, and then running into the arm of the couch. It was hard to remember what was where when she was mostly concentrating on the sounds – the sounds of Syaoran and Kaname struggling in a fight – and at the same time trying to find a spare key she kept around for unlocking handcuffs. She bumped lightly into a certain table and she threw out her hands to stop the lamp from falling. She sighed and set the lamp back straight before blindly reaching beneath the table and plucking away a key she had tapped beneath it.

Sakura laughed triumphantly to herself and unlocked the handcuffs.

…But by the time she did that, she could hear the window sill being pried open. There was some grunts, and growls of "Let go of me you moron," before a loud bang filled the air. She winced at the agonized gasp that met her ears, and then the sound of someone getting punched and falling to the ground echoed throughout the apartment. Time seemed to still once more.

Light came flooding into the quiet room from the hallway. It barely lit the living room, but it gave a sufficient amount to let everyone see what was going on. Droplets of blood were splattered at the foot of the opened window. The curtains billowed from the light breeze that came whispering through. Kaname was sitting on the ground, wiping away the blood from the corner of his lips. Tomoyo was lowering her video camera. Sakura was looking around at everyone, and her gazed turned to the window – noting smears of blood on the edges.

Syaoran wasn't there anymore.

---

It's been three days since the incident that took place at Sakura's apartment – three days since she cleaned out the blood prints and smears on her window and carpet; three days since she last saw Syaoran. The events of that night kept replaying over and over in her mind, more particularly the time when the light was shot by Kaname's gun, and she had to watch it all from Tomoyo's camera. Even though it was slightly blurry, the night vision let her see pretty much all that had happened. The two got into a brawl (something she concluded from the noises), and sometime around their fight Syaoran kicked Kaname's gun from his hand, but only to retrieve it again later.

Kaname shot Syaoran out of pure defense since they were in the fight. It was there that Sakura wasn't one hundred percent where Syaoran was shot, but by the looks of it, he was shot in his side since that's where his hands were clasped over. After that, Syaoran punched Kaname, knocking him to the ground, before escaping through the window.

And that was the last of him.

Maybe he bled to death somewhere? Or maybe he managed to find a nearby hospital so he could get his injury fixed and recover? It's not as if they would question his identity or his injury right away… And by the time they did, he'd just escape… Meh. What did it matter to her anyway? Let him bleed to death for all she cared…

Sakura sighed and dragged her legs over the ledge of the bed and sitting up. She craned her neck to the side, staring bleary eyed at her reflection in the full-length mirror leaning against her wall. Her hair was in disarray. Shadows had gathered beneath her eyes. She was wearing the same clothes from last night considering she came home from work later than usual. Her and her division had been trying to track down Syaoran since that following morning after the incident… but to no avail. He hadn't even showed his face in any latest robberies yet, but that's to be expected since Kaname did shoot him. She would have been more surprised to see him on his feet.

…So she called off the search last night, went home, crashed into bed, and went straight to sleep. Sakura sighed heavily and forced herself up.

Give it a week or two and he'll be back…

---

DOES THE INFAMOUS THIEF OF THE NIGHT HAVE COMPETITION?

That was the headline of the front page for that day's newspaper.

It's been two days since she called off the search. Sakura Kinomoto was sitting at an outside café, her best friend Tomoyo sitting across from her. She had the newspaper spread out, the headline having caught her attention earlier. She looked skeptical when reading it:

"FRIDAY MORNING – At exactly 1:29 AM, a burglar managed to break into Jared's, a second break-in after the infamous thief of the night managed to get in and make a successful getaway. The authorities, at first, figured the burglar of Wednesday to be Li Syaoran himself, but after looking through the security cameras, it was determined that the burglar wasn't Li, but instead a female culprit…"

Sakura's lips twitched into a frown as she stopped reading then and there and folded the newspaper up. Tomoyo raised an eyelid, glancing at Sakura over the brim of her cup as she took a sip from it. She scowled, gestured at the newspaper, and the amethyst eyed woman set her cup down to skim through the first page news. She blinked, murmuring: "Interesting…"

"She's probably Li's partner or something," Sakura grunted. "Since he's injured, he probably sent her off to do his dirty work." At this, she rolled her eyes.

Tomoyo laughed before placing her finger against her chin thoughtfully.

"I don't know… if they were partners, she'd have shown her face by now."

Sakura sighed and took a long jug of her drink. "Yeah… Well, I doubt that girl's gonna be much trouble. It didn't seem like she was able to break through the vault quick enough before authorities showed up…"

"…But she did get away," Tomoyo pointed out.

"I know, I know…" Sakura waved a hand dismissively. "Ah well. It's not my part of the division that has to handle her."

Tomoyo grinned. "And with Li missing in action for a few days, your work load's gotten lighter, ne?"

She smiled somewhat sardonically. "Yes. These past two nights were the best nights of sleep I've gotten in a while."

Tomoyo laughed. "I bet you miss him though."

Sakura looked at her as if she suddenly sprouted an extra head. "Are you mad! I'm glad he's gone."

"Aww, but don't you miss your little romantic rendezvous in the night?" Her voice was playful, teasing, but playful.

"…Tomoyo, dear, you jump to conclusions," Sakura huffed, standing up. They were done with their drinks.

Tomoyo smiled and linked arms with her best friend. The two girls left the café and wandered down the streets. It was crowded, as it normally was during that time and on a weekend, too. They were doing their usual weekend-shopping, their time to hang out and catch up on things since they were normally too busy during weekdays because of work. Tomoyo dragged Sakura into one of the first clothing stores she saw and in an instant started holding up shirt after shirt against her, seeing how it looked, and if it was "good enough" for "her Sakura."

"Hoe… Tomoyo-chan…" Sakura mumbled, before clearing her throat and striking up conversation. "So how're you and Eriol?"

She flashed Sakura a grin as she rummaged around a rack of skirts. "Great, as usual. He took me out a few nights ago to eat at some fancy restaurant. I asked him what the occasion was, and he said it was simply to celebrate my beauty."

At this, both girls laughed.

Typical Eriol.

"Has he popped the question yet?" Sakura asked curiously, leaning against the rack, opposite of Tomoyo. Her grin only widened when noticing the light blush cross its way on her pale cheeks.

"No…"

"If he does, do you know what you're going to say?"

Tomoyo smiled secretively and pressed her index finger to her lips. "…Of course."

They laughed. Tomoyo propelled Sakura to the nearest dressing room, shoved a handful of clothes into her hands before pushing her into a vacant stall. "Try those on!"

First outfit Sakura came out in was a yellow dress with orange flower patterns sewed from her right shoulder strap, across her chest and down to the left side area. It was a cute summer dress that reached to her thighs. After getting a disapproval from Tomoyo, she went back in to change to something else.

"So what about you and Kaname?" Tomoyo asked, waiting patiently for Sakura to come out with the second outfit.

This time Sakura came out wearing a pink tank top. A black one was beneath it, except it was longer and hand thicker straps. She wore black flared pants that reached to her calves.

"…Well, Kaname and I have been eating lunch together these past few days…" Sakura said, turning side to side so Tomoyo could inspect the outfit more thoroughly.

Tomoyo shook her head, and Sakura went back into the fitting room, calling out from there: "…He's really sweet, Tomoyo-chan. Like, after that incident at the apartment… that next morning he gave me this bracelet that he was meaning to give me when we went to Délire. And we're going out to breakfast tomorrow, and then dinner on Tuesday."

She pulled back the curtains to show herself. This time she was clad in a white skirt that bellowed out around her thighs, a black button-up shirt, and a white tie with thin black stripes. Tomoyo grinned, nodding in approval.

"Simple… yet effective. That will do."

"…Tomoyo has it ever occurred to you that maybe I would like to pick out my own clothes…?" Sakura asked slowly.

She blinked. "…Whatever do you mean, Sakura?"

"…"

It really didn't look as if Tomoyo could possibly comprehend the idea of her buying her own clothes without the approval of her. Sakura shook her head and went back in to the dressing room to change into her own clothes.

---

A week and a half passed by…

---

Sakura laughed at a joke Kaname had whispered into her ear. They were walking down the streets of Tokyo. Street lights changed from green, red, and yellow. Advertisements lit to life. Street signs glared neon colors. Night had settled upon Japan, and people smiled at Sakura and Kaname as they walked, his arm draped around her shoulder, she playfully shoving him away at times whenever he tried to kiss her…

She was wearing the white skirt, black shirt and white and black tie Tomoyo had picked out for her a week or so ago.

They were smiling at each other as they stopped at the end of the side walk, waiting for the signal that they could walk. He kissed her cheek, and she blushed lightly.

---

Two weeks gone and went.

---

They were eating lunch at an outside restaurant. The sun was bright, and Sakura's smile seemed to radiate the brightest that afternoon. She took a sip of her drink, before pulling the straw out with a mischievous glint in her eye. Kaname didn't notice. He seemed more concentrated on his food. Her finger was pressed to the other end of the straw before she took aim, removed her finger, and spat out whatever contents of drink was in there. It splattered on Kaname's face.

She burst out laughing at his expression. At first he simply blinked, more startled than anything else, and then a playful scowl etched across his face. He threw the first thing he reached for: a single fry. It bounced off of Sakura's forehead.

The two stared at each other, blinked, and then burst out laughing.

After their laughter subsided, Kaname leaned across the table and gave her a peck on the nose. She smiled.

---

Five weeks…

---

They went out to dinner, and Kaname walked her home again. They reached the less crowded parts of the city where more homes and apartment complexes were found. The stars were clearer here, albeit not as clear if one was out in a more country area. Their hands were clasped, and they were talking in hushed murmurs, thoughtful of the people sleeping and snuggled up in their warm beds. They were talking about this and that, about things they saw, memories they recalled… they compared certain events in their life that happened during childhood. They talked about their families, their friends, past relationships… and previous ones.

Sakura was about to step down from the curb of the sidewalk in order to cross the street, but Kaname stopped and pulled her around. She blinked, and barely had time to decipher the fact that Kaname's lips were suddenly pressed against hers. It wasn't a peck, nor a chaste kiss… but a lingering kiss that made Sakura wrap her arms around Kaname's neck and draw him closer.

---

…still no sign of Syaoran.

---

A month and a half passed, and Sakura continued on with her life, barely sparing Syaoran a single thought. At first all she could think about was where the thief had disappeared off to… but the more time she spent with Kaname, the more Syaoran seemed to be a distant memory. She came to work smiling every morning and always in a pleasant mood. She got decent nights of sleep. She felt refreshed. She felt alive. She even gave her older brother a call the other day just to see what he was up to – something she rarely did, so of course he was surprised when she called…

…But she felt great, to say the least! Never better! Nothing could possibly rain on her parade. All she could think about was Kaname anyway. He really was and is the sweetest guy she ever met. He was charming in every way, handsome in every way, perfect in every way... There possibly could be no other guy like him in all of Tokyo. And to think! He asked her out! She was going out with him!

Sakura laughed lightly as she hugged herself tight, leaning back in her chair before spinning around in it. Thank god she had her own office or else she knew people would be looking at her oddly… Speaking of which, she looked up to find Takashi standing in front of her opened door, holding a box while staring at her curiously – or at least his eyebrows were raised curiously.

"…"

Takashi simply shook his head and kept on walking.

Sakura didn't move for a few seconds, but as soon as he left, she shot up and closed her door. A sigh flew from her lips. She leaned against the door and let her head fall back against it so she was looking at the fan spinning around and hanging from her ceiling. A smile lit her face once more as Kaname came treading into her mind.

She was reminiscing on every single date they've gone on so far and mentally counting off how many times they have gone out already… But she lost count so she gave up on that and simply decided to just think about what they actually did. Sure, she's gone out with guys, but none of them had ever made her feel this happy; this alive. It all seemed too good to be true…

She shifted around a bit so she was leaning on her shoulder and staring out the window. The blinds were down, but twisted open so light seeped through the gaps. The lights weren't on in her office. She preferred them off since this was the time she liked to think and be alone, and having the light off made it easier to do that. The window was open, so a light breeze trailed in, causing the blinds to bang gently against the sill. The engines of cars roared from outside, passerby's chattering lifted through the air; the usual busy bustling of afternoon weekdays…

And all she could do was smile dumbly to herself as she seemed completely unaware of it all…

…The phone rang.

She blinked and looked up startled; turning her gaze to the phone perched at the corner of her desk. She stared at it as it rang. It persistently rang. Sakura sighed and crossed over, prying the phone off the receiver and bringing it to her ear.

"Tokyo Police. Kinomoto Sakura speaking, how can I help you?"

There was no response.

"…Hello?"

Still no response.

Sakura frowned. "If you don't say anything I'm going to ha –"

"Help…"

She froze. "…Who is this?"

She could hear static, and the same voice say, albeit in a strained whisper: "Help me…"

And then they were cut off by a dial tone.

Sakura pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. She looked at the Caller ID. The number was blocked, as was the caller name. And the phone call was too short to possibly trace it, that and she'd need to have the other person still on the phone in order to do that…

…But all she could do was stare at the phone. Never had she ever received such a chilling call before…

She slammed the phone back on to the receiver and slumped down in her chair, her gaze still glued on the phone, as if expecting it to ring again any second now.

"…It was probably a prank call," she whispered to herself, closing her eyes. But if it was, whoever was on the other end was a good actor…

She almost jumped out of her seat then and there when someone came barging into her room. Chiharu blinked when noticing Sakura's surprised face. The auburn haired woman settled back down when realizing it was just Chiharu.

"…What's got you all jumpy?" Chiharu asked skeptically, walking in and crossing over to her desk.

Sakura shook her head. "Eh… it's nothing…"

Chiharu eyed Sakura before shrugging and tossing a folded piece of the latest newspaper on to her desk. "Read that."

Sakura glanced at the front page wearily and unfolded it.

"M.I.A?" – Read the front headline.

She raised an eyebrow curiously and continued to read.

"LI SYAORAN – M.I.A.? It's been well over a month since the infamous thief of the night has made his last appearance with his last robbery at Jared's. There's been no spotting of the thief, nor any signs of him. The only latest robberies that have been going on is from the new female culprit that showed up around the time Li had stopped showing his face. Some authorities believe that the two are partners since the female culprit showed up around the time Li disappeared.

But why would he just suddenly vanish now? The thief that has been terrorizing the police for ages just suddenly decided to pack up his bags and give up his career? It seems an absurd idea. He left without a single trace. No one knows where Li Syaoran is, or if he's ever going to come around again. Is he really M.I.A?

…But things have gotten more calm around Tokyo ever since he left…"

Blah… blah… blah.

Sakura set the newspaper back down and looked at it.

"Do you think he'll come back?" Chiharu asked Sakura.

She shrugged. "I don't doubt he won't come back…"

Chiharu nodded, before heading back to the door. "Need to go do some more paperwork…" She shut the door, leaving Sakura alone in her office to look over the newspaper.

She hadn't thought much about Syaoran until now… now that she read this article.

It's been far too long since he last showed up; a much longer break than usual. Sometimes he'd disappear for a week or two, the least being a few days… but never for over a month.

It just didn't seem very… Syaoran-like.

And even if she hated to admit it, she kind of missed the adrenaline rush she'd receive when chasing him down…

Sakura leaned back in her chair to watch the ceiling fan spin around.

He really is M.I.A.

To be continued.

Fire Temptress: Aha… Please don't kill me (for the late update, and the contents of this chapter). At least I updated, right…?

-crickets chirp-

…

…Right?

-stares at angry mob of readers and waves hands defensively- Sorry! And I know this chapter wasn't exciting… but that's coming. And you'll find out what happened to Syaoran…soon. –toothy grin-

AND THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE REVIEWS. THEY MEAN SO MUCH. –hugs all the reviewers and readers- …And I know this chapter isn't as funny as any of the others… but spare me. I'm not hyper at the moment. –dot eyed- I usually work on this when I'm hyper… but I wanted to work on this so I wouldn't stall on updates any longer. O.o That and school's quite the slave driver… -glares-

…So have mercy and leave a review! –leaves a trail of cookies towards the review button-

-FT