Your Shadow
By: DEVILZ CHIK
Author's Notes:
The glitch that had scared me to death. I was not getting any review alerts so I thought no one reviewed my latest chapter. I love you guys for reviewing! And I'm dealing with my little sister; I'm letting her do her homework first. The chapter's title, by the way, is only temporary. If you have suggestions, feel free to include it in your review.
On with the next chapter now! You know the drill, review in the end!
Disclaimer:
I don't own CCS.
Chapter 4: Last Hit
Syaoran's Point of View
August 7, 2006
2:46pm
As soon as her hand left my face, she was fuming in anger. I could pretty much tell now that she was red from anger. Who wouldn't? Just look at her. My bodyguards, Ken and Yuri, were out of the car almost immediately, curious what was happening.
I was too scared to talk. For every second that passed by, her glare was starting to look a lot like her brother's.
"I was nice to you all day," she said through her gritted teeth. "And this is how you repay me – you just ruined my entire high school life, Mr. Li. I thought you were different, but I guess, you are just some rich, spoiled brat! I wonder how my brother put up with the likes of you!"
I tried to defend myself but it was no use.
"It was only your first day and you already caused trouble! I wouldn't have minded it so much if it wasn't me you're troubling, but it is!" she kept shouting. The students were starting to approach the school gates and sooner, they would be hearing this commotion.
She growled, stomping her feet on the ground with frustration and finally, attempted to kick my side but Ken and Yuri were quick to stop her leg from even hitting me.
"Kinomoto, I don't think you should be doing that," Yuri told her.
She glared at the two of them, probably for interrupting but was smart enough to listen to him.
She huffed furiously. "I don't ever want to see you again!" she said dismissively and walked away. Before she could walk very far, she stopped and looked back at us. "Don't you dare follow me!"
Ken and Yuri turned to me and they both had disappointed faces. "Mr. Li, what did you do to her?"
Hesitating, I replied, "I told this random girl who was bugging me that I was engaged to Sakura so that she'll leave me alone."
Ken shook his head in disapproval. "I'm sorry, sir," he said. "But I would have done the same thing if I were her."
Yuri and I looked at him queerly, wondering as to why he would understand a teenage girl.
"I dealt with my little sister most of the time when I was in college," he began explaining. "Her reputation was really important and any one in high school would not have wanted the whole school knowing that he or she is engaged unless of course, he or she is currently in a steady relationship. But hey, Kinomoto and you – you are just mere acquaintances."
"It was a bad move, sir," Yuri added. Yes, I could see that.
I nodded, but not clearly understanding exactly why Sakura laughed a while ago. What was funny?
I knew I would have gotten badly injured if Sakura really did kick me. I also knew that I would not have stopped her from hurting me physically although I was very much aware that I could.
Don't ask me the reason why – that, I do not know.
I went inside the car since I did not want to converse with any of the students who were waiting for their cars near the school gates.
"Where are we off to?" Yuri asked, seating on the driver's seat. Ken settled on the front seat while I stayed at the back.
"Hospital," I replied. "Let's visit Kinomoto."
Remembering that Sakura was on her way there and that she told us not to follow her, I said, "drive slowly."
Sakura's Point of View
3:14pm
I was tired already and I was just almost halfway to the hospital. Hhmm, maybe it was because I was stomping my feet so much. Grrr, I am just so effin' pissed right now!
He thought he could just say what he wants? And I barely know him! There is no way we can pull anything off in front of the school. As much as I would like to actually forgive him for what he has done, there is just no way because it was a bad move!
In the first place, couldn't he think of a way other than that to get rid of Haiku?
Hopeless.
Cursing myself yet again, I tried to think how much trouble I was in now. Yuri-san and Ken-san probably informed the agency about my behavior a while ago towards Li.
Hopefully, they would understand and take my side. Who would not have been so furious? He was way out of line.
And, what would Onii-chan say to all of this!
After ten more minutes of walking, I finally reached the hospital and went up to Touya's room. There was no one inside so I assumed that Li would not be visiting. After all, I did say not to follow me.
Touya had not been showing any progress. All his vital organs were stable but his brain was not showing any differences. He seemed to be in a dream-like state for almost five months now. Is that even normal?
I held his hand – the thing I do whenever I come here.
Sighing, I said, "Onii-chan, I thought I was the sleepyhead. Look at you; you've been asleep for more than five months." I paused. "You're missing a lot of things. And I miss you. Dad and I miss you."
Speaking of Dad, noticing the fresh flowers on the bedside table of Touya, he had been here. I stood up then walked to the door, hoping to see if my dad was just talking to Touya's doctor.
And indeed, he was. I turned to the hallway where the doctor's office was and saw my dad having a very deep conversation with the doctor. The doctor noticed me outside so my dad turned to look at me as well.
His look was really grave. The doctor excused himself when I entered the room.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked, before he could leave the room.
"I'll leave your father to tell you," he replied simply. "Take care now."
He closed the door shut and I looked at my father, waiting for an explanation. "Dad, what's wrong?" I asked once again. "You look so serious."
"Sakura, honey," he said softly, beckoning me to take a seat across from him. "I need to make a very hard decision soon – actually, we need to make the decision." My dad was avoiding my eyes and I could tell that this was bad.
"The doctor just told me that other than Touya's organs functioning very well, there is only a slight chance that he will wake up," he continued.
After that, maybe my ears self-destructed or maybe it went on standby mode because I could not hear anything that my father was saying anymore. I could see his lips moving but I could not really tell what he was saying but somehow, I understood where this was going.
"…let him go."
"No!" I snapped. My dad did not look so surprised so I assumed that he was expecting that. "Dad, you can't do that! How can you even think of letting go Touya? He's just asleep. He will wake up."
"But sweetheart, the doctors said that–"
"I don't care what they said," I was now standing up and my heartbeat was increasing. "We should not give up on Touya, Dad."
There was a moment of silence between us. My dad was frowning and I could tell that he was having a hard time as well. Why is life being such a bitch to me today?
"Sakura, just think about it, okay?" he said softly with tired eyes.
I shook my head in great disapproval. "I'm not even going to think about it! I'm never going to agree to this! Dad, please don't do it."
It came out as a plea, maybe it was. I am never letting go of Touya. He will wake up.
Tears were starting to well up in my eyes. I could not even bear thinking of how my life would be if Touya would not be there at all.
I love my onii-chan. I love him so much that I don't want to lose him. Not like this.
Touya would want us to be strong with this kind of situation so I would be strong.
I sniffed as my first batch of tears started to fall. "C'mon, dad. You never gave up on me. Don't give up on him, too."
My father looked at me helplessly and at that moment, I could not look at him any longer. I ran out of the room; my tears were now freely falling, no longer bound to my will.
They just kept on falling.
All I could think about was to get away from Dad for the meantime. Maybe I should runaway and send him to a guilt trip. I was still crying and maybe I just passed by Touya's room but all of a sudden, someone behind me grabbed my wrist, stopping me from running.
I looked back to see who it was and when I saw the person, maybe my anger level reached to its limit and I brought my free hand up in the air to slap him.
But he stopped my hand midair.
"I'm not going to let you slap me again," he commented cockily, proud of himself from stopping me to hit him.
I growled in frustration (yet once again) and struggled to get my hands free from his grasp. I wanted to get away from him as much as possible. He could not see me like this.
All pathetic and weak.
My tears were threatening to fall uncontrollably, making me more desperate to run away as I tried harder to make him release me.
"Can you please let me go?" It sounded like I was begging and in an instant, his grip softened around my wrists but he did not let go.
Maybe he just noticed my teary eyes because his face had a shocked expression when our eyes met. Finally, he released my hands but instead of running (as I originally planned), my feet were glued to the floor.
Ok, why was I not moving?
Timidly, he asked, "What happened?"
I hesitated to tell him what was wrong. I mean, what could he do? And besides, don't I currently hate this guy?
"None of your business," I spat out. At that moment, I slightly admired myself for still having the ability to be mean while my heart was slowly breaking into pieces with the thought of Touya not waking up.
But hey, what do you know? Li did not buy it at all.
"I think it's my business because my so-called fiancé was running down the corridor, crying," he used that cocky tone again, which made me angrier.
Instinctively, I tried to slap him but he caught my hand again. "I am not your fiancé!" I shouted.
Many heads turned our direction and I could see that he regretted what he said previously.
"Look," finally, a serious tone coming from him. "I'm sorry, alright. I don't know how I'm going to repay you but please – I need your help. Besides, it's slightly your fault--"
"My fault?" I said, thinking that maybe he had lost his mind. "How is it my fault?"
"You weren't there!" he pointed out and I was not even done with my question yet. I opened my mouth to knock some sense into him but he did not let me. "You're my bodyguard. You shouldn't have let me walk around school alone. If you had been there, those girls would not have approached me!"
Immature reasoning! Despite everything that was going inside my head, I managed to let out a soft laugh.
Syaoran's Point of View
4:04pm
Argh, yet again, she was laughing and I don't know why! Maybe Kinomoto had mentioned to me once that his sister was insane. I must have not been listening to him because I can certainly confirm that she is!
So I was on my way to Kinomoto's room after the very slow ride to this place and then a certain auburn head girl caught my attention. She was obviously oblivious to her surroundings since she ignored me when she passed by me.
Acting on impulse and because I wanted to apologize to her quickly, I grabbed her hand but I didn't realize that she would mind as her hand came flying up in the air to slap me. I stopped her, though, since I never wanted to be slapped by her again. I wouldn't mind if she wasn't strong but she was.
I didn't really mean to imprison her hands. It was just that – I was admiring how her eyes could sparkle like that so beautifully then I became conscious of the fact that she had been crying!
I scratched my head in confusion as I watched her laugh. After a while, she was laughing-slash-sobbing and she was mumbling words I could not understand.
It was time to set my issues aside and deal with what was bothering her.
"Why are you crying?" I asked softly.
"Dad told me…" she said then sniffed. "The doctors said… They said that… Touya has only little chance of waking up. And Dad… Dad's thinking of letting him go."
My heart started beating faster than ever. Suddenly, my chest felt very heavy and if this was how I feel (and I'm merely the boss of Touya), just imagine what she was feeling!
"But he won't right?" I managed to say but she gave me a look that was saying otherwise.
"He's considering it," she replied angrily. "That's why Touya needs to wake up…" she trailed off.
After that, she fainted.
So I was quick enough to catch her before she hit the ground. Fortunately too, I was strong enough to carry her to the emergency room and get some help.
They carried her inside a room to examine her and I was more anxious than ever.
First of all, about Kinomoto's condition. He should not die. Not like this. Second of all, Sakura – it must have been stressful for her today and I was 40 percent at fault. Third of all, the fake engagement I mentioned to Haiku. Lastly, Sakura's dad was approaching me right now.
He didn't say a word when he saw me. He didn't even glance at my direction. He went straight inside the room where they were keeping Sakura.
I had only seen Mr. Kinomoto a couple of times before and from the last time that I saw him (which was almost eight months ago), he sure does look a lot older now.
Maybe this was not the year for the Kinomoto family and I actually feel bad about all of this.
The 40 percent would be going up now to 45 percent because if I had not hired Kinomoto as my bodyguard, they would not be put in this kind of situation. They would just a normal family, unrelated and unconnected with the threat-prone Li family.
After a few minutes, Mr. Kinomoto went out of the room with the doctor. They talked for a while then the doctor left to go back to his office.
"Mr. Li," Mr. Kinomoto greeted, finally acknowledging my presence. He let out his hand and I shook it politely.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Kinomoto," I said. "I'm terribly sorry for everything that's happened –"
He waved his hand to dismiss everything that I was going to say next. "I'm assuming that Sakura told you about what we just talked about?"
I nodded. "Is she ok now, by the way?" I asked, concerned about her condition.
"Yes, she's fine," he replied tiredly. "She was just too tired."
"Mr. Kinomoto," I said. "Not to be rude or anything but… Sakura is really upset about what you plan to do with your son. Maybe it's going to be easier if you just wait a little longer for him to wake up."
He sighed and closed his eyes.
"Mr. Li," he said. "I should let you know that I'm not going to decide this for myself. Sakura is included in this and all of Touya's friends, including you. If everyone wants to wait, then I shall wait as well. You have to know too that the thing that I respect the most is my children's decisions."
I was actually moved by what he said. Sigh, what parents do for their children. I chose not to reply and he gave me a small smile after an awkward silence between us.
"I'm sure you want to see her," he said, still smiling. "Go ahead. I'll go to Touya's room."
With that, he left me and I went inside Sakura's room.
The room was dimly lit, suiting her sleeping form. She looked very peaceful and I did not dare to disturb her. I could not help walking closer to her and sitting by the side of her bed.
I was pretty disappointed seeing her with closed eyes because I really wanted to take a look at those amazing eyes once again.
I smirked. Who could have thought that this same girl on this bed have managed to slap the all-known Syaoran Li?
Sooner or later, this girl would be the one who could bring me down.
Sakura's Point of View
August 8, 2006
7:17am
I woke up in the hospital room last night around 11 in the evening. I found my Dad sleeping on the couch in my room so I stood up to wake him up.
Strangely, we managed to have a decent conversation. He did not make me change my decision about letting Touya go. And soon enough, he agreed to wait a little longer for my brother.
He would come around.
He always does.
I sat on the floor and leaned against the wall across the lockers. My friends were peculiarly not here yet in school and I had not seen any sign of Li.
Dad mentioned to me how he helped me out when I fainted. Right now, I was not feeling any need to say thank you to him because it was slightly his fault why it happened.
That guy was getting on my nerves!
Just before I could diss him inside my head more, Tomoyo was running towards me. Why was she running? What was so urgent early in the morning?
I did not bother to stand up as she settled down beside me. I waited for her to catch her breath and then immediately hugged her when she was not panting anymore.
"I missed you!" I told her and she smiled at me. "I did not see you at all yesterday! And lots of things happened yesterday!"
She arched one eyebrow at me and I returned the same look to her. "You should have called me!" Tomoyo pointed out.
"I would have if I wasn't in the hospital all night," I revealed.
She frowned at this. "I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "Are you ok now?"
"Yes," I assured her. "I was just a little tired yesterday."
"Yes, yesterday seems to be such an important day," she trailed off. I waited for her to continue. "And to think, I got the news from a very unusual source!" Crap, I know where this was going. Before I could counteract what she was going to say…
"You're effin' engaged to Li Syaoran!" she screamed.
I covered my face in shame as people started to huddle around us, asking questions and all that. I groaned and looked at Tomoyo for help but she had no intentions of getting rid of these people.
"Yes, people," she was saying. "Li Syaoran is engaged to my best friend so back off, you hear?"
The people then started to file away from us and I looked incredibly impressed at my best friend on how she did that.
Before she could boast herself, though, we became aware why the people dispersed.
Li Syaoran just entered the lockers hallway and he was now being… attacked by giddy high school girls.
I stood up and waited a few more minutes before getting him out of the crowd.
Preview of Chapter 5:
Sakura displays how bad of a bodyguard she was.
…
Touya wakes up.
Author's Notes:
Hehe, I'm evil. Sorry for updating so late and sorry if this chapter was sort of disappointing. I did have a hard time writing this. If you want to see my first draft of this chapter, tell me in your review so I can email it to you. And well, just PM me to let me know what you think about it. I'm telling you – it's really different than this one. So maybe if I can get feedbacks from two or three people, I would really be grateful for it. Don't forget, you can make sugggestions for this chapter's title!
And from now on, I will reply to all my reviewers (those who are not anonymous, of course)! I'm sorry if I haven't done that in the past but let me assure you that every review that you give me is very much appreciated and noted.
Don't forget to send me a review! Thanks!
End of Chapter 4
xxx DEVILZ CHIK
