Title : Rivalry

Author : Lain in the Wired

Chapter Four : New Family

Sakura opened the bathroom door slowly and looked out into Tomoyo's room silently. Tomoyo was staring into the mirror on the dresser brushing through her hair. Sakura reached up and touched her own hair tentatively. Tomoyo turned around when Sakura opened the door wider and smiled.

"Let's see, this hair won't do," Tomoyo joked as she motioned Sakura to come to her. Sakura sat in between Tomoyo's legs as she sat on the bed with the brush in hand. Each tug of the brush brought new tears to Sakura's eyes. Her head was still delicate, but she didn't want to appear weak. She sniffed lightly and Tomoyo stopped brushing for a moment.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" she asked worriedly. Sakura nodded slowly, the jarring movement still bringing pain to her head.

"Yah, I just hurt my head last night when I met Syaoran. It's nothing though," Sakura assured. Tomoyo returned to brushing, but was more gentle as she attacked the new tangles in Sakura's mid-length hair.

"I do love your hair," Tomoyo said enthusiastically after a few minutes. "It's not very private school-like. Not like Midori at all."

"I don't fit in there," Sakura confessed. "The others on the cheerleading squad look up to me as a figure they could never be. A rebel. The other girls at school think that I'm a bad example. That I should just follow the rules and do as I'm told. And who knows what the hell the guys think?" Sakura added, laughing. Tomoyo giggled lightly as well.

"Why do you even go there? You seem much more suited for a school like Seikei; like a public school-type," Tomoyo commented. Sakura looked up at her thoughtfully.

"I've always wanted to go to a public school. It seems so much more fun. There's no need to impress anybody that you don't want to. No expectations from parents and students. I would love not to be so scrutinized. But my mother just wants a perfect daughter. I'm the only one she could have before my father died and she seems to have ended up wanting to live through me," Sakura said. "I don't know anymore. I want to be my own person, but she's the only family I have left."

"I know what you mean," Tomoyo said sadly. "My father died when I was very young as well. I never really knew him. I used to live with my mother in Hong Kong, along with the rest of the Li-clan, but then we were all sent here. I've actually had an arranged marriage to Eriol since birth," she said smiling. Sakura smiled a sad smile.

"I have an arranged marriage as well. I can't stand him, though. He's such a stupid prick. But he has money, and my mother is obsessed with money."

"Uh, Sakura, would you mind if I was a bit prying?" Tomoyo said sheepishly.

"Of course not. How ever would we become friends if I didn't let you in on my dirty little secrets?" Sakura said laughing. Tomoyo laughed along with her.

"I guess we couldn't. But I was wondering what you thought of Eriol's dear cousin?" she said slyly. Sakura blushed.

"You mean, Syaoran? What do I think of Syaoran?" Tomoyo nodded. "Well, other than the fact that he nabbed me, he seems to be very nice. And very protective and loving, as well. I'm glad to see that he cares so much for his family. Why do you ask?"

"No reason really. Just thought I would see what an outsider's point of view on my icy relative would be," Tomoyo laughed. Sakura blushed again.

"Icy? Syaoran doesn't seem icy at all. He has a very beautiful smile," she said dreamily. Tomoyo's laughing faded almost instantly. Syaoran smiled for this girl? There definitely must be something special about her.

"All finished!" Tomoyo said as she tied a white ribbon around the end of the braid that she had just put Sakura's hair in during their conversation. Sakura smiled up at her beautifully. Tomoyo smiled back and stood up, turning also to help Sakura to her feet. "We should get back to the den before the boys decide to do something rash," Tomoyo giggled. Sakura laughed as well and followed Tomoyo as she led the way back to where they had left the guys.

As they neared the room laughter grew louder in their ears and they exchanged glances. They entered the den to the sight of Eriol, Meiling, and another man on the floor with Syaoran and a beautiful girl with two pony-tails on each side of her head on the couch. Tomoyo smiled widely as she also plopped on the floor next to her fiancé, and Sakura made her way across the room to the open seat on the couch that she had occupied earlier. Syaoran's face fell as she didn't sit next to him so he scooted closer to her, instead. The girl next to him noted his move with a glare.

"Hey," Syaoran whispered in Sakura's ear. Sakura smiled at him in response, but one eye was set on the new girl who continued to glare in her direction. Syaoran looked over his shoulder in the direction of Sakura's gaze. He chuckled lightly to himself. "Don't worry about Chiharu. She's not used to having guests over unless she, herself, invites them. Her boyfriend Takashi is down there playing with Eriol and the girls," he informed Sakura. Her eyes moved down to the four teens on the floor and then up to the TV screen that their eyes were trained on. They were playing a racing game and Meiling was in the lead. Sakura laughed softly and Syaoran's face broke into a smirk hearing her beautiful laughter.

"Syaoran, who is your friend?" the other girl asked with a glare. As the race finished Takashi turned to hear his answer as well. Tomoyo and Meiling shared a secret smile.

"Chiharu, Takashi, meet Sakura. Sakura, this is Chiharu and Takashi," pointing to each teen respectively. Sakura nodded at them with a large smile adorning her face. Takashi smiled back and Chiharu glanced at Tomoyo and Meiling on the floor. They nodded slightly and gave her a grin, and Chiharu turned back to Sakura.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura. Meiling, have you invited her to come with us tonight?" Chiharu asked, turning her attention once more to the girls on the floor. Meiling sat up a little straighter and looked back at Chiharu.

"No, I actually hadn't had the chance yet. Sakura," she said, turning in her direction, "would you like to accompany us to a party tonight?"

Sakura's face fell slightly. "I would have to ask," she said softly. Meiling's eyes softened as well. This girl was obviously at the will of her mother, whether she wanted to be or not.

"Oh, please tell your mother that you are at a study group! I would greatly enjoy your company," Tomoyo said urgently. Sakura's smile returned as a small lift at the corners of her mouth.

"Alright, I shall tell her that. But what will I wear? I have no clothes of my own here."

Tomoyo's eyes brightened and she clasped her hands together making Meiling and Chiharu sigh loudly. "You don't even have to worry about that!" Tomoyo said excitedly. "I will take you shopping and we will find you the perfect outfit and all the guys there will be dying for you!"

Everyone laughed at Tomoyo's childishness but Meiling saw a flash of jealousy cross her cousin's face. What was making him act this way? The girl had already had that much influence on his motives? Meiling could not figure him out at all. Her mind was blocked to him and his face had shielded his emotions since childhood. There was no way she was going to make out exactly how he felt unless he told her straight out. And she knew that wouldn't happen in a million years. So she turned her attention back to Tomoyo who was busy talking aloud at what kind of outfit Sakura would look best in.

"Well if you want her to be ready any time soon we must go now and start picking stuff out," Meiling said, bossily. Tomoyo jumped to her feet automatically and grabbed the handles on her purse. Meiling, Chiharu, and Sakura stood up as well as Tomoyo lent down to give Eriol a kiss. "We'll be at the mall, then. Syaoran, call if you need anything. We'll be back in time to get ready for the party then we can all go, alright?" Meiling said and everyone nodded in agreement.

Tomoyo held her hand out to Sakura and she took it as Chiharu and Meiling led the way to a garage. Sakura's breath caught in her throat as she gazed at all of the high-powered luxury cars in her view. "Whoa," she whispered. "Are these all yours?"

Meiling and Tomoyo exchanged glances. "They all belong to Syaoran," Meiling answered, walking to a red Mazda RX-8. Sakura's jaw dropped. Chiharu got into the passenger's seat of Meiling's car. Tomoyo gripped Sakura's hand again and guided her to a dark blue-purple Audi TT.

"I'll follow you," Tomoyo said to Meiling before getting in and shutting the door. Sakura looked over at her and noticed how concentrated she was becoming in order to drive, and looked back out her side window. Sakura remembered the previous night with Syaoran and wondered if it happened often. With the ferocity Tomoyo put behind each gear shift, Sakura supposed it happened often enough.

Then her mind traveled to her conversation with Syaoran earlier. Was that the gang he had fought? Were those the people that his friends died because of?

"Tomoyo, were you in the fight where Syaoran got his scar from?" Sakura asked quietly, not knowing if it was a subject readily discussed. Tomoyo tensed and Sakura guessed that it wasn't. "You don't have to…" Sakura began to say before Tomoyo cut her off.

"There are many things that all of us regret. Syaoran mainly. But we did what we had to do in order to defend what we thought was right. We still defend it. We died defending it and we will still die defending it. We all feel regret for what we have done, but our hearts still believe in our actions and support them fully," she answered. Not a direct answer, but Sakura didn't want to pry; at least not too deep.

"I understand what it's like to be forced to do something, to think a certain way. I understand the heartache behind it," Sakura said in a whisper so soft Tomoyo wasn't sure if she had heard the small girl correctly. Then Sakura turned to face Tomoyo full on with tears glistening in her eyes. "Let me join you. Let me help you," she said with a determined gaze on her face.

Tomoyo glanced at her then back to the road and Meiling's car in front of them. She looked like she was pondering it for a moment before glancing back at Sakura again.

"Alright," Tomoyo answered. Sakura looked out the front window again. "I'll talk to everyone tonight. Syaoran will not be pleased, you know," she added.

"But he will understand," Sakura responded to thin air. Tomoyo looked at her. Maybe there was a strength in this tiny girl; a determination. A determination they could use to end it all.