Troop Pegalion

by Adri Mars

[AU - Sequel to STUFFED ANIMAL] Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, Eriol, Yamazaki, and the rest of the Tomoeda gang, a.k.a. "Troop Pegalion," go through a series of challenges in the annual Tomoeda Summer Sports Camp. From town rivalries, the new lineup of The Cool Rascals, a series of some mix-ups and obstacles, a particular "guardian" gives a life-and-death mission for our five heroes.

4. All Strung Out (Part 1)

TROOP PEGALION

(a sequel to STUFFED ANIMAL)

by Adri Mars

CHAPTER 3: All Strung Out (Part 1)

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Card Captor Sakura © CLAMP/Kondansha. The plot and everything else that's going on in this fanfic are mine.

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I, your HUMBLE SERVANT, Tomoeda's guardian called KEROBEROS

Has chosen the most worthy five

Retrieve my master's true decree, the one called THE BOOK OF KEROBEROS

From the suspected mortal enemy,

They dwell in a place known as Nijibe

And their names, I declare:

The grounded pupil from the clan of scholars, SAKURA KINOMOTO

The heir of the royal potentate, SYAORAN LI

The youth of the most loyal vassal line, TAKASHI YAMAZAKI

The daughter of the noblest of nobility, TOMOYO DAIDOUJI

The uncanny likeness of my master, ERIOL HIIRAGIZAWA

All five soulfully vowed their loyalty and trust to my master, CLOW REED

For the eternal peace and prosperity of Tomoeda

Retrieve the BOOK OF KEROBEROS, they must

Or danger of the most unpredictability

Shall befall on our beloved home

#

MONDAY, 5:30 a.m. - Kinomoto Residence (Sakura's Room)

Sakura woke up earlier than the time fifteen minutes before the alarm even sounded off from her phone. Normally she was always a heavy sleeper and would not immediately wake up after the alarm sounded off, but this particular day was completely different. Her excitement couldn't be contained any longer after some seven hours of sleep, especially with the very bizarre event she, Syaoran, Tomoyo, Eriol, and Yamazaki recently experienced at the old oak tree of the night berry fields. The vision of the pint-sized version of their legendary guardian Keroberos still floated in her head, but rather than shaking in fear, she found herself smiling at the vision of the little entity.

Keroberos… Keroberos… little cutie kitty with wings Keroberos… Kero… Kero… Kero… -chan?

She felt a slight sting on her forehead that she almost mistaken it for a headache. When she placed a hand on her forehead, she realized the white patch on her forehead that Tomoyo replaced two days ago. The cut still stings, she though, meaning it still wasn't safe to remove her patch just yet. Still, she felt proud to herself. When she stared at herself on the mirror with a gentle finger on the patch of her forehead, she smiled to herself.

Syaoran says, this is my battle scar. It's a good reminder that I can give a good fight out there in the green. I am ready for Nijibe.

She reached for the desk lamp to provide the light she needed. The sky was still dark and a few of the summer stars were still visible outside. There was a slight chill coming from her open window, but she was glad that she had enough sleep for her to wake up with a smile on her face. She sat up from her bed and reached for her charging phone at her side table to see a few text messages sent to her in chronological order and decided to read them one by one.

FROM: Daidouji, Tomoyo

TO: Kinomoto, Sakura

SUBJECT: Good super-duper early morning!

I know, it's like… 3:30 a.m., but I just can't wait anymore, you know? I'm so excited for summer sports camp… and also the new adventures that we're going to be having as the brand-new Cool Rascals. I mean, singing to summon a powerful guardian like Keroberos? Ohohohoho~!

Anyway, Mom got you a smaller size of your camp hoodie, so when we're ready to go, I'll just give it to you, ne? Hope you wake up soon!

Sakura chuckled at her best friend, then read the next message:

FROM: Mihara, Chiharu

TO: Kinomoto, Sakura

SUBJECT: Monday morning's new release of Oshare Boys Magazine

I spent almost an entire night getting rid of all my Li Xiaolang stuff, then I realized that tomorrow, the latest new issue of Oshare Boys magazine will be in the newsstands. Darnit, wrong timing. I mean, I've seen the preview of the new cover and it has Li-kun on it. I know it's stupid and I promised Takashi that I would finally quit being a Li Xiaolang fangirl, but that particular magazine has a huge article feature about Li-kun about CBLW and just love and romance in general. I REALLY, REALLY WANT TO BUY IT AND READ IT, like OMG!

Takashi said that I should go ahead and buy it, he's okay with it, he said. But then, Li-kun himself may get annoyed because he's going to think that I'm being unfaithful to Takashi. Oh, what's a girl to do? Help me Sakura-chan!

"Oh, just buy the darn magazine already, Chiharu," Sakura laughed, shaking her head at the same time. The third message came next:

FROM: Yamazaki, Takashi

TO: Kinomoto, Sakura; Li, Xiaolang

SUBJECT: Forgive Chiharu

I don't want to knock on your door about this little issue since you're probably still sleeping, Syao-chan, so I'm texting you instead.

Chi-chan wants to buy the newest edition of the Oshare Boys magazine and I told her that she can go ahead and buy it. She said it's like the biggest issue or something because that issue's major feature is all about you, Syao-chan. Just forgive her if she does end up buying that magazine, I mean poor girl. You know?

Sakura continued on giggling at the situation. Taka sure is very caring and understanding, ne? Right then, she began to rub her chin, contemplating.

What if I buy that magazine? I'm interested now!

Next came the fourth message:

FROM: Kuroda, Mio

TO: Kinomoto, Sakura

SUBJECT: The Book of Keroberos?!

Have you heard? I just got a call from one of the library volunteers this late hour and I was about to head to bed. This is really bad! The Book of Keroberos is missing! I think the police will be arriving at your house early in the morning to talk to your father, since he's the chairman of the Tomoeda Historical Archives Society. I hope they find that book soon because I'm scared of the outcome that we have in winning the summer sports camp. I'm so nervous!

"Wow, so Keroberos was telling the truth about the original book being stolen… this is really bad…" Sakura led out a sigh. Three unopened messages remain.

FROM: Kuroda, Mio

TO: Kinomoto, Sakura

SUBJECT: Shulai Li… and Ai Aihara?!

I think Shulai and Ai Aihara are getting rather cozy with each other, and even after one day? Um… just an observation. Maybe be careful? Warn Li-senpai? I'm scared for Li-senpai and the whole paparazzi bit…

"Oh boy… not again… no more Mai Hirashiki please…" Sakura gritted her teeth nervously, thinking about the whole tabloids issues again after going through what they just had not too long ago.

Now, it was time for the second to the final message:

FROM: Oh, Yun Hwa

TO: Daidouji, Tomoyo; Li, Xiaolang; Yamazaki, Takashi; Kinomoto, Sakura; Hiiragizawa, Eriol

SUBJECT: MY vision of The Cool Rascals

Imagine this, guys. We got the very talented Takashi Yamazaki leading the hypnotic melodies of love… and then we have two beautiful pairs of couples teasing their fans with hints of love and romance for one another… accompanying these melodies of love with their beautiful blend of voices behind Yamazaki's alluring voice… you guys would be the most perfect vocal band the world has ever seen!

Seriously, if Syao and Eriol are planning to lay low on being TV and movie idols for music, I'd still be sticking to music in a way, but instead of the crazy world of K-Pop, I can be a serious manager for you guys. All six of us can seriously make beautiful music together.

You all ready for camp? Victory will be ours! Pegalions for the win!

"Hm, I wonder how Yun is going to pull that off? Promote me and Syaoran and Tomoyo and Eriol portraying as couples hinting that we're in love while at the same time supporting Taka's lead vocals?" Sakura began to wonder of Yun's plan on quitting his K-Pop idol life just to be the band's manager. That would be one interesting combination of an all-Tomoeda musical act.

At long last, the final unopened message:

FROM: Hiiragizawa, Eriol

TO: Daidouji, Tomoyo

CC: Kinomoto, Sakura; Li, Xiaolang; Yamazaki, Takashi

SUBJECT: Sing-along?!

Yes, it's a very, very late night, and I apologize for interrupting your beauty sleep, dear dear Tomoyo. I know this is a very small matter that I'm contemplating deeply. How is it that whenever one of us (five) begin to sing, and then somehow you just have the urge to sing along too like you already know the song from your heart? It has been a huge mystery for me, as I rarely sing, let alone freestyling the lyrics of a song I've never heard of before.

Is this one of those mysterious Tomoeda magic that everyone in this town has been fussing about here and there? As a non-Tomoeda native, do I also possess special hidden powers? Am I really Clow Reed as that Keroberos thing been saying to me last night? What kind of rubbish is that all about? I am going insane…

I swear, what happened hours ago was just a dream… a very, very bad dream that was so… so… real.

NOTE TO YAMAZAKI - how do you do it, my good man? I'd never imagine that I would be able to sing all freestyle like without even knowing the words or even how the song sounds like beforehand and yet… somehow… you leading the song and then me joining along and making the song sound so good… I swear, this town Tomoeda is enchantingly cursed, you hear me? Can I just call you Takashi instead? (Xiao will kill me if I start calling you "Taka-chan" too. He thinks "Taka-chan" is copyrighted to him. Authoritative, isn't he?)

"You're so silly, Eriol," Sakura laughed. She placed her phone down the bed and then turned to her beloved green stuffed animal named Chiirou, sitting upright at her desk. For the last few nights, Sakura had gotten used to sleeping in her bed without Chiirou in her arms, thanks to her one true love next door to her. Syaoran was right, she thought. Why was I still clinging onto Chiirou, cry when Chiirou is not there, when the real Chiirou is now in front of me?

There was one positive feature that Syaoran could do that Chiirou couldn't. When she cries, Syaoran's arms will always open for her. Still, even though she no longer sleeps with Chiirou, her habit of speaking to him like a real person still remained.

"Chiirou, today is first day of the summer sports camp. You're coming along too, you know, so you can have Ying Fa as your company, ne?" She hoped that Syaoran would bring his Ying Fa pink winged teddy bear that she gave him seven years ago. "I hope Syaoran wouldn't mind you coming along."

After speaking to Chiirou, she shifted her eyes right at a photo frame sitting right below Chiirou. A few months before, it was a childhood photo of herself and Syaoran, not too long before he moved back to Hong Kong with his family. Today, the photo was updated with the most current photo of themselves, with both of them wearing white and Syaoran standing behind her, arms wrapped around Sakura and chin rested on her shoulder, with Sakura's hands holding onto Syaoran's locked hands. Both were smiling happily.

She still blushed heavily on the couple photo and then kissed Syaoran's photo. She rushed to the restroom, but not without waking up her father, brother, and Kaho, who has been living with them in the house recently. She washed her face and gargled with minty mouthwash, then returned back to her room.

Just in time, her phone began to vibrate. She picked it up to see a new text message. She gave a wide grin when she saw Syaoran's name as the sender.

FROM: Li, Xiaolang

TO: Kinomoto, Sakura

SUBJECT: (no subject)

Good morning, sleepyhead! Open your window.

"Hoe? Syaoran!"

She dropped her phone on the bed and dashed to her window. The ever-blooming cherry tree still stood majestically between the two houses, and right through the blooms, she found her beloved's open window, with Syaoran, on his white tank top and forest green sweatpants, sitting on his window sill with his phone on hand.

He flashed his sincere killer smile when Sakura did not realize that her brown bob cut was uncombed and her short-sleeved laced pink pajama top slightly wrinkled and almost transparent, giving a slight teasing view of her from the amber-eyed idol's window.

"Good morning, Syaoran!" Sakura smiled happily. She didn't forget to fix her hair when she brought her hairbrush with her.

"Mmm," Syaoran led out a soft moan that would send anyone of the female population down their knees, with his amber eyes gazing at her almost see-through pajama top. "You look really… um… wow…" He was unaware that his cheeks were blushing quickly on the spot.

Sakura blushed and slowly combed her hair neatly. "Your eyes are fixated at… something…"

"What are you wearing, Ying Fa? Let me take a closer look." Without question, he began to climb out of his window and then right on the sturdy branches of the cherry blossom tree that bordered both their houses.

"Sy-Syaoran, wait… um…" Before she could speak, it was already too late. He was already there at her window sill seat, swept her in his arms in a slow, deep kiss.

Sakura surrendered herself to his kiss when she wrapped her arms around his neck. Once he released her, she gave a soft moan. "Mou… I'm a mess…"

"Heh," Syaoran smirked. He took her by the hand and led her to her bed. They sat on the edge of the bed, with Syaoran lying down comfortably on hers.

"Syaoran, what's… what's gotten into you?" She chuckled while blushing at the same time. "I mean… you're not usually… like this… when we see each other through our windows."

He led out a relaxing sigh. "Don't you understand what today is for me?"

That's right, she thought. Today was the first day of Syaoran living as a Tomoeda local boy and not as a busy teen idol on the set. "Today is the first day you get to live as Syaoran Li, ne?"

"That's right," he winked. "No more waking up by Wei's robotic voice… or anybody's voice… and then tell me I have to be up for the shoot or interview or… whatever showbiz-related. Starting today, I am Syaoran Li, one of them hot and dangerous Tomoeda local boys this region always talks about… and the hot and gorgeous boyfriend of Tomoeda local girl, Sakura Kinomoto."

"You're so conceited!" she giggled, as he reached for her again and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Mou… this is also the first time that we're in our bedrooms as a couple… I mean… when you first arrived… we were just strangers becoming friends… and then when we started dating, we were spending time in your Wolf's Lair… and then today…"

"Mm," he nodded in a deep moan. "I'm really excited for today!"

"You're not worried about those lovesick Wolfpups who will be invading the Troop Pegalion Campgrounds because of you?"

"Psh, we got Shulai hanging around with us. They'll chase him instead of me once they spot him."

"But then, Shulai is also a Tomoeda local boy too, you know? Well, according to the Book of Keroberos."

At that point, Syaoran suddenly fell silent. Sakura accidentally triggered the words she shouldn't be saying. She dropped her head and muttered, but instead, Syaoran leaned closer to her head.

"How's your scar?"

"It still stings, but it's a little better. Battle scar, remember?"

He gently brushed his lips on the white patch. "I'll make it go away, Sakura. It'll take days, but it will go away soon."

"But I thought that you see me being beautiful with this ugly patch on?"

He gave a chuckle. "You are beautiful. In fact, that ugly patch on your forehead makes you look a lot intimidating as a soccer player."

"Mou, don't flatter me."

"I'm kissing away that sting so you won't feel pain anymore."

Sakura smiled, closing her eyes. She let her boyfriend kiss her forehead again, just so he could get rid of that sting away.

"The police will be arriving at my house today to talk to Dad about…"

"Yeah. I know. But don't let this whole thing get into your head, especially that today is first day of summer sports camp."

"I know, and then there's…" Once again, she held her tongue and not mention about what happened last night with their disheveled guardian friend.

"We need to focus starting today. Once we settle down in the campgrounds, then we can start investigating during our free time… when we have free time I mean."

"Well, from what I can remember, Syaoran, we won't be able to see or talk to Keroberos until all five of us sing together."

Syaoran held his tongue to refrain himself from laughter. "Ah, love according to the Book of Keroberos, ain't it? Not only that we have to sing for him to appear, it has to be just the five of us and no one else around too."

"Mm."

"Alright, no more talk about the Book of Keroberos or anything Keroberos. It's almost six in the morning, and pretty soon, your folks and the police will be up and awake."

She smiled and then scooted closer to him, lies down next to him and resting her head on his shoulder. Although she still couldn't get the thoughts of Keroberos and the missing book out of her mind, she attempted to change the subject. No Book of Keroberos. It's just me and Syaoran alone now and this should be our time. Please get out of our heads, Keroberos!

She sat up and turned to her desk, where there is a small shelf with a few books and notebooks neatly shelved with a bookstand at the end. She then gazed at a certain pink notebook, which finally gave her an idea. Besides, Syaoran would be interested in this one, anyway.

"Ne, Syaoran. You must love Taka's songbook, ne? The entire day yesterday, you seem so obsessed with it."

Syaoran chortled. "He is a man of many talents, that Takashi Yamazaki. He makes all his invented crap so real, that's how much of a genius he is."

"He does, doesn't he?" Sakura gave a soft giggle.

"You and me… maybe Daidouji… are the only ones who knew that about him. He's just too shy or doesn't have that much high of a self-esteem to reveal it to everyone and he hides them by making believable crap up about the most random things he could think of."

"I have a songbook too, Syaoran."

"Oh?" Syaoran quickly sat up, as Sakura approached her desk. She reached for that tall pink notebook, then returned to her bed and handed it to him.

"I have more songbooks, by the way, but I'm a little embarrassed to show it to Tomoyo or Taka. Um… they're not as good as hers or Taka's, but I… I feel that you should know about them."

Syaoran concentrated on the notebook, with Sakura's name written at the bottom front cover. The first page was a dedication handwritten in her delicate-looking handwriting:

This is Songbook #15 by Sakura Kinomoto. I would like to dedicate this to (for the 15th time) my one and only Chiirou.

"'For the fifteenth time'?" Syaoran laughed. "So… all of the songbooks you wrote— all of them are dedicated to me?" His girlfriend's face quickly turned tomato red.

"I'm… obsessed… with you… Syaoran…" She found herself muttering her words with that whispering voice.

That did the future clan leader. He thought he finally had it under control. The Li Curse was about to get in full force very soon. But at the same time, he realized her dedication to him after they shared their first kiss and given their hearts to one another by the means of these Tomoeda stuffed animals.

According to the Book of Keroberos… dang it, stop thinking about the Book of Keroberos!

"It must have been really difficult for you… these seven years…" Syaoran whispered, with his fingers gently tracing her hand. He then wrapped an arm around her, then spoke to her in that same whisper. "I never wanted to leave Tomoeda those seven years ago. I don't know where to start. I rebelled against my parents when they announced about Hong Kong then."

"Oh Syaoran…"

"I even pleaded with them when my agitation did not go through them. I even offered to stay with Taka-chan and his family, have them adopt me as Taka-chan's brother, since both of us don't have any brothers ourselves except for each other. I didn't care if his parents worked for Li Enterprises right under my parents. I don't want Taka-chan to be my servant like the way his parents are looking up to my parents in the family business, I want him as my brother… my equal… my twin brother if you'd call it. You know what I'm saying? Hong Kong took my happiness away… the car accident, I lose my memories of you and Taka-chan and everything that Tomoeda stood for… "

Sakura returned the embrace and held him tight to her. "Syaoran, don't think about those seven years anymore. Those seven years that we've missed, they don't matter anymore. You're here… you're back… you've come back to me… and your heart still remained here in Tomoeda even when you had your amnesia all this time. I didn't want to jump into conclusions before… when you offered that you would portray the role of my missing little wolf for your character research for the movie… I mean… Li Xiaolang the hot teen idol wouldn't be doing this to some nobody girl like me if he never had any sort of feelings for me." She turned her eyes right at him. "I… I was even surprised myself… that you… without any memories of me… or Tomoeda… that you took interest in me, even though I'm some nobo—"

Syaoran quickly silenced her with another tender kiss. "Those beautiful green eyes of yours completely captured me… they captured Li Xiaolang the hot teen idol when you bumped into my arms while you were running away from that Saka… whatever the hell his name was. When I saw them for the first time when you looked right at me, and then hearing about your troubles… and everything else I've learned about you… somehow, this teen idol was thinking that he has to have you— all of you—- to himself." He fell silent, then he began to caress his fingers on Sakura's smooth skin. "I… have to have you to myself, Sakura. I don't care what the media or the showbiz industry say about me, as long as I have you."

"Oh Syaoran…"

He gave her a gentle smile. "So you see, Sakura, you're not the only one who's obsessed."

"Hoe…" She blushed even more with a smile on her face.

Syaoran went back to the notebook and began to read the first few pages. He wasn't just skimming, he was reading every single word written neatly on these notebook pages. On page five, he pointed to one particular song when he recognized the words.

"Hey… this was the song you used against me on that Mochiron game last month. Isn't it?"

Sakura leaned closer to read the page. "Yup. That's it. I memorize most of these to heart, you know." Right then, she sang the first two lyrics to refresh their memories of that legendary Mochiron game:

Chiirou, my darling, I love you

I hope you know it because it's true…

"Dammit, Sakura," Syaoran interrupted her singing. "Change the name to my name instead of that stuffed animal's name. I swear, it sounds like you're in love with the teddy bear more than me."

Sakura laughed. "Silly Syaoran… getting jealous of a teddy bear that you made… you're even jealous of Keroberos himself when I was about to mention about… you know…"

"Why on earth would I be jealous of some tidbit imaginary friend who claims himself as the great guardian Keroberos?" Sakura broke into laughter at Syaoran's silliness, in which the latter realized that he was working himself up over nothing. "Descendant of royalty my ass…"

When the laughter died, Sakura took the notebook, reached for a pencil, erased the Chiirou name and replaced it with a new name. Then, she sang it:

Syaoran, my darling, I love you

I hope you know it because it's true

I'll love you always so please don't be cruel

She paused for a bit when Syaoran signaled her to keep going. She followed his signal and continued.

I see you in the morning

I see you in the night

And you are mine forever

And that's a long, long time

Syaoran, my darling, oh how I love you

She stopped right then when Syaoran noticed that there were more lyrics after that. He remembered that these words were the only ones she sang during their Mochiron showdown and then he pointed at the second set of lyrics for her to sing.

"Are… are you sure?"

"I want to hear the rest."

"Um. Okay." She cleared her throat and continued singing the unsung words:

I saw you at the spotlight

Watched you all the time

You never even looked at me

Oh, I wish you were mine

Syaoran… Syaoran… my darling, I love you

The song was not finished, but she found her eyes gazing directly at the teen idol, who also gave her the same intense gaze at the same time. She then continued the song:

I love you…

They found each other drawn right to each other, closer and closer.

I… love… you…

Just as she found herself trailing, he drew her to him into a very passionate kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, as he pulled her closer to him. Before they knew, she was already lying down on her bed with him right above her.

He withdrew himself from her and whispered: "I'm sorry."

"Hm? What for?"

"You… wrote that song… when I still had amnesia, didn't you?" She nodded slowly. "The first set of your song… that was about me from seven years ago… the second set of your song… that was about me as teen idol Li Xiaolang who couldn't remember anything about you… and his life in Tomoeda… isn't it?"

"Th-that's right. And even though I was happy to see you, just… knowing that you can't remember anything back then really broke my heart… I know it's not your fault, but still—"

"I know… and I'm still sorry…"

"Even though you're teen idol Li Xiaolang then, I tried to deny that you and the Syaoran I love are two different people… I mean to say, I didn't want to believe it because it would really hurt so much… but I couldn't… I couldn't separate the two of you from each other when you're very much the same. I often wondered too how you felt for me when we first saw each other when you celebrities arrived here then."

"I know," he whispered, then buried his face over her shoulder, holding her tighter to him. "Now that I've recovered everything, it's all the more that I want to be with you… all the more that I want to stay here in my home, Tomoeda… all the more I want to get out from this idol status… I don't want to be in the movies anymore… if it means for the world to see me in showbiz while I do all I can to be with you all the time, it would be this…"

"This?"

"The Cool Rascals. You guys are my only ticket to disappearing from the teen acting scene… and slowly in the music scene together with you… and Taka-chan… and Daidouji too."

"Syaoran?"

"Fans can't focus solely on me or on Eriol anymore. With us being in a band with the rest of you, they would have to have their eyes set on all five of us. In that way, they won't see me as a solo teen idol anymore like they are now."

She closed her eyes and gently patted her boyfriend's back. "I'm not prepared to face the public yet with this band… I mean… I don't really plan on being a public figure, let alone a singer in a band…"

"I know, but if it would mean that I get to be with you every single day, this is it. Besides, it'll be alright. Me, Eriol, even Daidouji in some cases, are already familiar with the public. It's just you and Taka-chan would take some time to get used to being in the public."

"And what about us? I mean, us… being a couple? And the Wolfpups and…"

He slowly pushed himself to face her. "Did you read that message from Yun this morning?"

About his vision for The Cool Rascals? "Yes, I just read it not too long ago."

"I like his idea, actually."

"Hoe?" Sakura gasped, with Syaoran releasing her and lying back down on the bed next to her. "R-really?"

"Hm? Anything wrong?"

"Well, it's just that you'd usually have some kind of… disagreement with the stuff Yun would come up, you know? You've been like that with him since elementary."

Syaoran chortled. "Well, Oh Yun Hwa, for a pint-sized half-Korean K-pop idol, he talks too much like there's no tomorrow. Way too much. Sometimes he talks so much crap that's a lot more crappy than the crap Taka-chan makes up."

Sakura laughed in response. "Um… the last part was kind of hard to understand, but I think I know what you mean."

"For the first time, he actually made sense about his vision of The Cool Rascals. Taka-chan will be our middle man, and then we tease the fans with hints of us flirting with each other. We'd be flirting like crazy, Daidouji and Eriol would do the same. Fans are going to be really enticed and curious about our real status in real life."

"Hoe…"

"And with Taka-chan's literal lying skills, he can make up a lot of stories about us, he could even write songs that hints us, making the audience think that he's written them based on real life events, and, like your song about me earlier, it would be like us… declaring our love to each other through song, you know? There is no way in hell that fangirls are going to just focus on me and not towards you and the rest of the band. It would be like… 'The Cool Rascals: The J-Pop band who's mission is to tease.' I think it'd be a lot of fun."

Sakura flashed an enthusiastic smile and shrieked. "Waaai— that sounds so exciting! It'd be a brand-new adventure for us, ne?"

Syaoran then spotted Sakura's finger with the silver ring he gave her at the night of the festival a few days ago. At the same time, he gently rubbed the same silver ring worn on his finger. "Yes… a brand-new adventure for us."

"We'd be like… a whole new level of The Cool Rascals, ne? Tomoyo would be so excited!"

"Daidouji, no doubt she'd go for it. Eriol would definitely go for it. He has no choice. His jealousy with Taka-chan is becoming ridiculous sometimes."

Sakura giggled. "Eriol jealous of Taka?"

"Mainly because I pay more attention to Taka-chan than with Eriol ever since I recovered all my lost memories."

"He's so silly!"

"But then… Taka-chan… I don't know if he'd like the idea…"

"Hoe? But why? He loves The Cool Rascals, you know? He's one of the original founders like you and me, ne?"

"Well, it's not that I'm worried about what he'd say… it's about what Mihara would say."

"Oh… you're right." She then beamed with another realization. "Maybe Chiharu can be the new president of the original Cool Rascals fanclub, right?"

"From a Wolfpup fanclub president to a Cool Rascals fanclub president? Are you crazy, Sakura?"

"Well, you may never know. Besides, she'll have more perks being our fanclub president than she was being a Wolfpups president, ne? I mean the lead singer of the band is her boyfriend, you know?"

"True. Her perks of being a Wolfpups president was taken away by her doting boyfriend. At least, being the Cool Rascals fanclub president, it'd be her boyfriend she'd be swooning over." After the statement, he chuckled at that fact.

"Ne, so have you responded to Yun's text message about that yet?"

Syaoran shook his head. "It's better if we talk about it in person… later at camp."

"Mmhmm!"

They only had about ten minutes until six in the morning. Around that time, everyone else in both households would be waking up. Both knew that the last fifteen minutes count before Syaoran could climb back to his window through the bordering cherry blossom tree to get himself ready for camp. But before their morning ended, Syaoran reached for her hand, and held it tightly.

"We're going to win this, Sakura… not just the soccer, but… everything else. We're gonna win this year's summer sports camp."

Sakura turned her head towards her amber-eyed boyfriend. "You think so, Syaoran? I mean, for many of us, this will be the last summer sports camp. When we graduate, all of us would be so busy with getting ready for college. Oh, I'm going to miss summer sports camp."

"Then, we'll make this year's summer sports camp the most memorable sports camp ever."

"Hm… do you think this would be the best ever? How can we make that happen?"

"By winning, of course."

"Hoe, so cocky!" Sakura chuckled, giving a light smack on his shoulders. Syaoran laughed along with her.

"Well, by winning, and… you know…" He gave a gentle kiss on her cheek, and a few more going down. Just as things were about to get a little heated up, Sakura heard her phone vibrate. She reached for it at the side table, then blocked Syaoran's lips with her hand to prevent him from going a little further.

"Aww, but why, Sakura? I want to—"

"Shh." Sakura quickly read the text message on her screen:

Girls, I bought it! Today's issue of Oshare Boys Mag with Li-kun on the cover! - Chiharu

"Hoe, she's got it!" Sakura cheered, with Syaoran removing her hand out of the way.

"Got what?" Syaoran blinked.

"That magazine that has you on the cover! Um… Oshare Boys Magazine?"

"Huh. Did she now?"

"Yup. I'm curious about today's new issue of that magazine…"

Syaoran almost broke into loud laughter. "What? Why the hell would you want to buy that magazine?"

"Because it has you in it. I mean, you're the main feature… and I heard that the cover pic looks really hot— kyaaa!"

Quickly, he wrestled her down the bed, and once again, he was right above her. "Mihara can drool over the damn magazine, I don't care. But you, save your money for college or something. Why waste your money on an expensive magazine like that when you've got the real thing right in front of you for free?" He winked right at her, with his hands gently gripping her wrists.

"Hoe… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Sakura giggled, with Syaoran showing that signature snicker. "But… I really want to see… hot and gorgeous teen idol Li Xiaolang… you know?" She blushed right away. The innocent blushing once again attacked his inner defenses.

"Hm… the hot and gorgeous teen idol Li Xiaolang, huh?" He muttered with that same grin on his face. "Forget that Photoshop-edited shot. I can be a lot hotter than that cover pic without the Photoshop fakery."

"Hoe? Wh-what are you going to…"

"The soft lace of your pajama top is really enticing, you know?" He began to play with the lace of her pajama top with his fingers, but at the same time, he felt temptation in feeling the soft skin underneath the top.

"Syaoran…"

He smiled, then slowly removed his tank top, showing off his perfectly chiseled body, muscles, abs, the type of body he was known for among his daffy Wolfpups. She even admitted to herself that seeing him shirtless had become a huge weakness for her. Even though he was shirtless, she found herself completely trapped and captivated by his intense amber gaze towards her. She felt as if she was being undressed little by little by the look of his deep amber eyes right at her.

"No, Syaoran… that's not fair… you know how I feel when you don't have your shirt on…"

"But I am hotter and sexier than that dude in that magazine, you know?"

"Hoe…" She covered her face, with Syaoran leaning right at her.

"Aww, don't hide… I want to see your adorable, beautiful blushing face looking right at me." She slowly removed her hands and is now gazing her definitely hot and gorgeous boyfriend Syaoran Li.

"That's not fair…" Sakura cried. "What… what do you plan on doing…?"

"Let me explore… more of you…"

"E-explore… me?"

"Mm."

Sakura blushed even more, then Syaoran took her trembling lips in a deep kiss. Once again, she found herself surrendering to him and wrapped her arms around him. Few moments later, during their kiss, his free hand slowly crept underneath her pajama top, gently caressing her soft creamy skin. She led out a soft moan once she felt his warm fingers touching her.

"You smell really good, babe," he whispered with seduction on her ear. "Strawberries…"

"I… I took a shower last night before I went to bed, as always, you know? It was hard not to make my scar sting by not getting it wet though…"

"Mm, I'm hungry now." He snickered and then lowered his lips from hers and then down the chin, then slowly trailing down to her neck.

Oh my gosh… are we… are we… doing it… all the way? Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Sakura could hear her conscience calling out in anticipation. It's very early in the morning and her beloved little wolf is becoming a big bad wolf in this scenario. The more he kissed her down her shivering soft skin while tracing his fingers of his other hand underneath her pajama top, the more she unconsciously letting out her soft moans.

"Syaoran… Syao… ran…"

"I want to hear your beautiful voice…"

And just as things were about to get intensively hot, something else just had to end this safe and seductive moment right there. On the other hand, since Syaoran vowed that he would wait until Sakura turns eighteen next year, Keroberos agreed to it. A familiar call came through the door that led Syaoran to withdraw himself from her and drop himself to the floor.

"Sakura, are you alright? I thought I heard some noise there."

Oh no, it's Dad! Sakura muttered in surprise. She got up, fixed herself quickly, and then opened her door. "Good morning, Dad!"

Fujitaka, still in his PJs, slowly walked in to check up on his daughter. "You're up bright and early than usual. That's a surprise."

"Well… it's first day of camp, Dad." She smiled nervously, hoping her father would not suspect anything strange occurring in her room. "Of course, I have to wake up early."

Her archaeologist father returned the smile. "Yes, you're right. It is first day of camp. I'm glad that you're looking forward to it this year."

"I have to. It'll be my last year of summer sports camp. I'm surely going to miss it."

"Well, make it a good camp period, alright?" Sakura nodded in agreement. "Since you're up bright and early, can you help me make breakfast? We'll be having Belgian Waffles with fresh fruits and all the sweet good stuff."

Sakura cheered. "Mmmm, Belgian Waffles!"

"You're going to make the best Belgian Waffles ever, Sakura. After all, it's the favorite breakfast of your one and only true love…" Fujitaka shifted his head past his daughter and right towards the bed. "Isn't that right… Syaoran?"

"Daaaad!" Sakura shrieked in surprise, with her father's smile glowing as always. Her boyfriend slowly revealed himself hiding from the other side of her bed with a sheepish grin.

"Good morning, Dr. Kinomoto," Syaoran greeted with a slight nervous tone on his voice. He reached for his tank top and wore it back on.

"Belgian Waffles sound good to you, Syaoran?"

"Ah… I'd like that… very much, Sir."

"Besides, I was going to ask Sakura here if she can invite you along for breakfast," Fujitaka gave a chuckle. "I love how you're always doing your best in making yourself available for us, you know?" And all that the good archaeologist could do was to flash that famous smile.

"Um… h-how'd you know that… he's been here, Dad?" Sakura asked nervously.

Her father pointed towards the wide open window and the curtains. "Your window's way too open. You never leave that window that wide open unless you're expecting someone to climb through there, ne?" He turned towards Syaoran. "Forgive me for being too observant. I know your routine since you were little."

"I… I'm sorry about that, Dr. Kinomoto… it's just that…"

Fujitaka winked at his daughter's boyfriend. "Oh, you mustn't blame yourself, Syaoran. You are a man, after all."

"Dad?" Sakura shrieked and hid her face against her pillow.

Syaoran hid his face against the side of the bed from embarrassment. "Um… yes, Sir."

"By the way, a side fence gate located at the backyard just recently installed while you were away from home. I know you're afraid of fans crowding around in front of your house, but that backyard fence door was meant for you if you and Eriol-kun and any of your celebrity friends would like to hide here. How about you kids go ahead and change to your camp uniforms and I'll meet you two in the kitchen, alright?"

"Th-thanks, Dad…" Sakura blushed.

"Um… thank you very much, Dr. Kinomoto," Syaoran answered with a slight trembling voice.

"Very well. See you then." He closed the door and proceeded downstairs.

The two lovers led out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad it's only Dad… if it was Oniichan, the entire neighborhood would wake up…"

"Well, according to my sisters, your brother is the type who really knows how to make a scene in public without even trying." Syaoran stood up and headed for the window. "Well, let's go get changed. I'll enter through that backyard fence when I'm ready."

"Okay." The two gave each other quick kisses, as he climbed out through the window and cross the tree back to his window.

But just as he was about to climb out, both his and Sakura's phones vibrated at the same time. The two reached for their phones and received the same text message from the same sender.

FROM: Wang, Wei

TO: Li, Xiaolang; Hiiragizawa, Eriol; Li, Meiling; Minami, Umika; Oh, Yun Hwa

CC: Kinomoto, Sakura; Yamazaki, Takashi; Daidouji, Tomoyo; Mihara, Chiharu; Sasaki, Rika; Yanagisawa, Naoko; Li, Shulai

BCC: Tsukishiro, Yukito; Kinomoto, Touya; Mizuki, Kaho; Akizuki, Nakuru; Li, Fanren; Li, Shiefa; Li, Fuutie; Li, Feimei

SUBJECT: Hoshiten Avenue and Neighboring Streets Rally Point at 6:45 a.m.

I received word from my sources that the Wolfpup and Moonie girls will be arriving at the neighborhood at Hoshiten Avenue to take a glimpse of you celebrity idols at exactly 7:00 a.m. in front of the Li Residence and the Daidouji Residence. Miss Fanren Li strictly advised us to not let any of them see you, and thus we have a brand-new rally point location, where you (as Troop Pegalion campers) will be meeting: Corner of Okane Avenue and Shiromachi Drive, underneath the corner oak tree, two blocks East of Hoshiten Avenue (these fans will be arriving from the West side). There will be a Troop Pegalion flag on one of the bicycles, and the one with the flag should be leading the troop. I suggest that someone who is not an idol should be riding that bicycle.

There are different rally points per group of campers per neighborhood location. You will rendezvous with Yukito Tsukishiro, who was chosen to be your neighborhood troop leader on that particular corner. Everyone mentioned in this email must arrive before 6:45 a.m. and all of you must leave exactly at 6:45 a.m. You will be heading East and ride around the block to go the opposite direction from where these fanclubs will be arriving.

Bring your backpacks and leave them at the Kinomoto Residence, as we will be transporting them directly to the campgrounds. Wear your camper uniforms, which also includes your navy blue and gold cap. To Master Xiaolang and the other celebrity idols, it is suggested you wear sunglasses or anything else that would make yourselves inconspicuous to the public. We must arrive at camp before 8:00 a.m., but we must avoid all these distractions and have them cut off our path to our destination.

On the way, you will be meeting with another group of Troop Pegalion campers when you reach the corner of Kawai Street and Baragumi Drive. You will see Nakuru Akizuki as the leader of that neighborhood's campers. The flag bike leader of that area, if I can recall this correctly, would be the soccer team's goalkeeper, Kenichi Kuze. Together, you will form one group and will be traveling together on the way to the campgrounds by bicycle. When you reach Tomoeda Boulevard, you will rendezvous with the rest of the campers and all of you will make your way directly to the campgrounds.

In this way, no outsider would even recognize any one of the idols as all of you will be wearing the same exact uniform and that you will be assimilated with your fellow campers. All for one and one for all.

Any questions? Feel free to reply. - Wei

"Wow… those fangirls are coming? But why? They know it's first day of camp!" Sakura frowned.

"I guess Wei has a point when it comes to transportation," Syaoran said, placing his phone back in his pocket. "Those fangirls will be looking for a limo or some fancy car where I may be riding in it, but those riding bikes in general get ignored a lot. Good plan."

"So, I guess we'll be walking over there at the rally point, ne?"

"The rally point isn't really that far, so I got no problem walking there."

"Great! Me too!"

Syaoran smiled at Sakura's positivity and made his way through the window.

#

6:30 a.m. - Kinomoto Residence (Dining Room/Kitchen)

In about thirty minutes, Touya Kinomoto and his fiancee Kaho Mizuki will be waking up soon.

Syaoran arrived at around 6:20 a.m. through that new backyard fence door rather than the front entrance and knocked on the backyard glass door leading to the kitchen. Fujitaka opened the door for him, as he entered, along with his backpack and duffel bag for the camp. He appeared with his official camp uniform: white collared hooded shirt with navy blue and gold lines at the collars, a small pegalion logo on his left side and his name in romaji, Xiaolang, written on his right side, and navy blue mesh shorts that stretched slightly over his knees.

Sakura was wearing her pink apron over her camp uniform, with her name Sakura written on her right side in the same style as Syaoran's, which also include the navy blue mesh shorts that stretched slightly over her knees. She was just serving the Belgian Waffles at the table while Fujitaka continued on to finish the rest of the batter. For the future clan leader, normally his servants would diligently prepare his meal in the morning, but this time, he offered to help Sakura serve breakfast.

Once Fujitaka was finished with the entire batter, he served his own serving and then sat at the table along with the two teen lovers. Both Sakura and Syaoran watched Fujitaka as he pressed his palms together in a prayer.

"Thank you for the food that we're about to receive. Please bless us, especially my daughter Sakura and her beloved Syaoran, for success and victory throughout this year's summer sports camp. Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu!" Sakura and Syaoran repeated after Fujitaka. All three of them began their feast on their Belgian Waffles.

"Mou, we're not waiting for Oniichan and Kaho-neechan?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I'm wondering the same," Syaoran gave a soft whisper.

"They're both adults. They can take care of themselves," Fujitaka indicated. "I am glad that I get to see the both of you awake first this morning."

"Thank you, Dad. We're glad that it's you and not Oniichan who knocked on the door…" Sakura nervously laughed, with Syaoran lowering his head to hide his embarrassment.

"Oh, pay no attention to him. He's got way too many important things to worry about, ne?" Her father joined in the laughter. He then changed the subject. "Looks like you've waken up a brand-new person compared to yesterday, Syaoran. How have you been?"

Syaoran lifted his head and turned to his possible future father-in-law. "All things have been well for me, Doctor."

"Looking forward to camp, I see?"

"Absolutely, Sir!"

"Good," Fujitaka smiled. "Tomoeda misses you very much, you know."

"I miss Tomoeda too, Doctor."

"How are you coping, especially with your father and all?"

He nodded. "I'm just happy that he's able to speak again after that nasty stroke. I… I don't know what to do if anything worse happened than that."

"Have you two spoken about anything as of… oh… yesterday?"

Syaoran blinked. "Well… yes… but why?"

"I don't know if your father has mentioned, but… he plans on having a long vacation out of the country."

"Ah, you know about that, Doctor? He mentioned it, yes, but he didn't exactly tell me where he's going."

"He'll be accompanying me to Mongolia, actually."

Syaoran's eyes opened wide. "Mongolia, really? But aren't you… I mean, isn't your dig in the desert or something?"

"Well, it's at the Gobi, but your father insisted. I'll do what I can to take care of him and that he comes back home in one piece."

"I trust you with his life, Doctor, I know," Syaoran smiled.

"Did your mother say anything about it?"

Syaoran shrugged. "Haven't heard anything from her about the whole trip thing."

"Your father wants me to talk to her about it because apparently, your mother doesn't like the idea."

Syaoran gave a chuckle. "If it's you, Doctor, I'm sure my mom would listen."

"Do you think so?"

"Oh, I know so. She's looked up to you for the longest time ever since… ah…" He glanced right at Sakura, who has been listening to them. He turned back to Fujitaka. "Since… her best friend… chose you…"

"It's okay, Syaoran, you can mention my mom," Sakura smiled happily. "I'm really glad that you even thought of my mom still, Syaoran. She'd be really happy when you acknowledge her, you know?" She turned her glance towards the display on top of their fireplace, where she spotted a new portrait of the late Nadeshiko Kinomoto in another one of her stylish outfits. "I love you, Mom!"

Syaoran turned to Nadeshiko's portrait and bowed respectfully to her. "Good morning, Mrs. Kinomoto, and thank you for inviting me to your lovely home." He then turned right at his girlfriend. "I think about you everyday, Sakura, so I also think about your family too. The great archaeologist, your mom… even Touya-senpai too… and even Mizuki-senpai too…"

"Now now," Fujitaka joked, "why are you still calling my son senpai? He's getting married soon. You'll have to grow accustomed to calling him Oniichan, like Sakura, don't you think?"

"Er… your son would not like that, I'm afraid," Syaoran grinned.

"He'll get used to it."

The three went back to eating their bites for a bit when Fujitaka checked the clock on the wall. He quickly finished his waffles.

"Rena-chan will be here very soon. I better get ready," Fujitaka mentioned, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Rena-chan?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Rena-chan…" Syaoran murmured, then realized what he meant. "Wait… my sisters had a friend from middle school named Rena-chan… or was it back in elementary now?"

"Yes, that Rena-chan," Fujitaka smiled. "She used to be one of my students back in the university. History Analysis 101, I believe."

"I remember her," Syaoran smirked. "She used to be obsessed with Touya-senpai when they were in middle school. She always came to our house all the time, not to hang out with my sisters, but so she can get a glimpse of him."

"Hoe? This Rena-chan had a huge crush on Oniichan before?" Sakura giggled at the thought.

"Yes, that Rena-chan," Fujitaka repeated. "I caught her a few times writing secret love letters meant for my son during class before, but I never said anything."

"Mou… why is Rena-chan coming over to our house, Dad?"

Syaoran then realized also who this particular Rena-chan could be. Rena-chan… Detective Rena Okajima… she'll be here about the missing Book of Keroberos.

"It's regarding to… um… police business, dear. It's very, very important…"

"It's about the Book of Keroberos, isn't it?" Syaoran suddenly opened up. "Sakura and me… well… we… dreamed about it last night… about it… being missing."

Fujitaka's eyes opened wide. "Dreamed about it? H-how…?"

"Um…" Sakura gave a soft murmur. "Um… the great guardian Keroberos… came to us… and told us… that the original copy of the Book of Keroberos… is missing…"

The archaeologist stared at the two teenage lovers with some suspicion. "No one should know about this horrible incident… I'm shocked that the both of you even dreamed of it."

"Well," Sakura laughed nervously, "it… must be… that good ol' Tomoeda magic, Dad… you know?" Syaoran confirmed Sakura's answer with the same nervous smile on his face.

"Right…" Fujitaka raised an eyebrow at the two young lovers.

"I guess she'll be coming over to ask you questions… and give you details of what they found at the crime scene, Doctor?" Syaoran asked.

"Dad, I hope Rena-chan won't suspect you as the thief…"

"No, no, nothing like that, Sakura, don't worry. I was home all day with the dig team when it happened. The mayor came over last night while you were doing your band auditions."

Keroberos wasn't lying about the missing Book of Keroberos after all… Syaoran's inner voice spoke in his mind. "So then… how come this horrible incident wasn't reported in the news last night… or something?"

Fujitaka shook his head. "Like I mentioned before, no one is supposed to know of this incident. It may lower down the morale of the Troop Pegalion campers and then may use this unfortunate incident to Nijibe's advantages. We don't want that. We need to keep our head up and look forward, you understand?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Yes, Sir."

"Therefore, let's just keep this with just the three of us, alright?"

"But Dad, what about Oniichan? You know how he hates being out on the loop with things like these. We never keep secrets with each other."

Fujitaka paused for a bit to contemplate. "Don't worry about Touya. Let me handle him. You two just focus on camp, alright?"

"Alright, Dad. Will do."

"Will do, Sir."

The two teens proceeded in finishing their waffles when they heard the doorbell ringing from outside. Fujitaka stood up from the table.

"I'll get the door. That must be Rena-chan right now."

"I'll clean up, Dad!" Sakura stood up.

"I'll help you, Sakura," Syaoran followed.

Leaving the two teenagers at the dining table, Fujitaka proceeded to the door. When he opened, a young lady dressed in a light charcoal gray suit and pulled dark brown bun appeared before him. She still looks the same back in the university days, he thought to himself.

"Well, good morning, Rena-chan. Just in time."

"Good morning to you too, Dr. Kinomoto," 24-year-old Detective Rena Okajima of the Tomoeda Police greeted her former university professor. "It's been a long while. I'm sorry that I had to start your morning with a visit for police business."

"Come in, come in." Rena entered the door, with Fujitaka closing the door from behind. They proceeded at the living room, with Fujitaka offering her with the usual refreshments.

"Have you eaten breakfast yet? Coffee?"

"I just ate, Doctor. Thank you all the same."

"Alright then, I guess we should start."

When the interviewing and discussion began at the living room, the two teenagers cleaned up the dining table. Sakura was about to start washing the dishes when Syaoran gently grabbed her wrist.

"Maybe you should eavesdrop a little. I'll wash the dishes."

"Hoe? But Syaoran?"

"It's okay. I got this, ne?" He gave her a peck on the cheek, with Sakura smiling.

"You're so sweet. Thank you!"

He watched Sakura approach the dining table entrance, and making sure she was not spotted, began to listen in the living room.

"Doctor, what keys are these?"

Fujitaka handed to her a set of special keys from his pocket. "These are a set of keys specifically for the public library archives vault. They are all numbered, and the original Book of Keroberos' display window is 2578."

Rena took the keys and began to examine it. "Yes, you're right. It's 2578. At first I had my suspicions that the culprit may be a member of the public library staff or even a member of the Tomoeda Historical Archives Society such as yourself, but all of you have the same exact keys, with the book's display window number being 2578."

"Was there anything strange about the display window when you arrived there yesterday?"

"Yes. It looks like the keyhole has been tampered with. There were a few rough dents on the edges around the keyhole area, and if the suspect was indeed one of you guys, that person should've used the 2578 key and won't even bother breaking the glass."

Fujitaka shook his head. "That must be some really cheap glass being used then. Worthless indeed."

"Hm? Why do you say that, Doctor?"

"Because last week, with permission of the Mayor, the display windows and cases were being upgraded to have new unbreakable glass or something like that. New high quality, impossible to break. I wouldn't know much about chemistry since I am no chemist after all."

Rena reached for her pocket notebook and began to take notes. "Do you know exactly when the replacements began?"

"If I can remember correctly, I believe it was on a Wednesday morning, well, late morning, around between ten and eleven. I was there on a brief visit on that day, but I was with my dig team. We were doing some usual research on some artifacts that we received from our colleagues in Mongolia. I rarely visit the archives myself, but my daughter Sakura works as a volunteer there along with her new friend, Mio Kuroda."

The pretty detective's eyes opened wide. "Your daughter works as a volunteer at the public library archives?"

"Yes, but she and Mio Kuroda and all the other teenage volunteers there don't have keys to the vault itself, let alone the display cases. They need to have permission from the librarians to have them open for maintenance, you know?" Fujitaka took a break in between, then spoke again. "She's never asked me for the keys, let alone ask for anything else without valid reason. If she did ask me for the keys, I would have to go with her to the archives and that I would open the vault myself, rather than me handing my set of keys to her. It's not that I don't trust her, but it is for security, after all."

"Yesterday, I've interviewed many librarians who were present when this incident happened. I haven't interviewed anyone from the historical archives society yet. Because you're the chairman of the group, I chose to interview you first and maybe give me a few tips or more that would help me with this investigation. I hope you don't mind, but I may have to ask to interview your daughter and her friend too, Doctor."

"Today is not a good time, nor anytime these next two weeks is a good time, Rena-chan. She will be at camp along with Mio-chan and their friends."

Rena nodded. "I will be there at camp also, not quite for police business, but… I'm a volunteer there. My friends from next door to you recruited me."

Friends… she must mean the Li Sisters. Sakura's inner voice confirmed the fact inside her.

"I'm curious though. Were there any footprints or… just any sign of human presence of any kind?"

"Well, the reason why I got interested in your daughter being a volunteer because… there weren't any fingerprints found anywhere, but we did find loose hair strands on the floor. Forensics are already researching for its ID."

"I do hope you find the book and the ones responsible for this, but if you ask me, Rena-chan, the book should be found first before the culprit. The book being back in Tomoeda grounds is a lot more important at this point."

"I agree, Doctor."

"Many are skeptical all the time, but it's very important that the book must not leave the Tomoeda borders… or else."

Back at the dining table area, Sakura and Syaoran, who finished the dishes awhile ago, have been listening in to see if they got any clues for them to follow.

"She can't be suspecting… me, or Mio-chan…?" Sakura showed her worry. "Hoe…"

"You're with me and everyone else at the camp meeting the entire day, so there's no way that it could be you or even Kuroda," Syaoran assured her. "I'll vouch for the both of you if that happens, Sakura. Besides, if it were you or Kuroda who have stolen it, Keroberos wouldn't have chosen you to be one of the people to find the book in the first place."

"You're right, Syaoran." Sakura led out a sigh of relief. "But why would I want the original book when I've got a copy of our own here at home? If it's misplaced, I could just ask to borrow yours or Tomoyo's or… anyone else's. Who would anyone want to steal the original book when the copies given are exactly the same thing? There has to be a reason for it, you know? I mean, for what it's worth, it could be an outsider who may have stolen the book."

"Could be anything, Sakura. Money? Recognition? Revenge? Or… something else, maybe?"

The two teens began to contemplate for the reasons why the book may be stolen. But for some unknown reason, both are on the same wavelength of thinking, and were leaning more towards the something else portion of Syaoran's earlier statement.

"Looks like we will have to have another appointment with Keroberos tonight," Syaoran whispered.

"Tonight? How are we able to summon Keroberos when we're in camp and have curfew? It has to be only the five of us, ne?"

"Hm… maybe after soccer practice, where everyone is tearing down? We can make up some excuse or something that we need to work on a few tricks here and there. Since Daidouji isn't part of any of the sports teams, she'll be there with her handy camcorder. I think we can do it that way."

"I hope we'd be able to get ourselves alone and then summon Keroberos without anyone knowing, Syaoran."

"Yeah, I hope so too."

When they go back to their eavesdropping, they both hear a knock on the glass door at the back. The two turned to see the boys from next door, namely Eriol, Yamazaki, Shulai, and somewhat of the unexpected named Yun appear in their camp uniforms and their Pegalion caps. Syaoran proceeded to open the door and let them in.

"Sakura, who's knocking?" Fujitaka called out from the living room.

"It's the boys from next door, Dad!" Sakura answered. "Taka, Eriol, Yun, and Shulai."

"Well, that's nice, dear. There's still more Belgian Waffles if they haven't eaten breakfast yet."

"R-really? Thanks so much, Dr. K!" Yun cheered with excitement while Syaoran ended up serving his boys with the waffles and Sakura serving them coffee later on. When they began to feast on their breakfast, the pint-sized idol made his first statement.

"So, this is the first time I've been to your house, Kinomoto," Yun smiled. "You got a nice and cozy place here. Not too big, not too small. Can you imagine living in a house as cozy as this, Syao?"

Syaoran took a seat at the other end of the table, relaxing himself on the seat. "As a matter of fact, Yun, yes, I can see myself living in a house as cozy as this."

"Wouldn't you suffocate since this house is too damn small, Xiaolang?" Shulai asked curiously. "I mean, you're not exactly the type of guy who would live in a small dinky house like this, you know?"

Sakura was about to respond to the look-alike's remark when Syaoran beat to her first. "Maybe you would suffocate for saying something stupid like that, Shulai."

"Oh by the way, these Belgian Waffles are really good," Shulai changed the tone, enjoying his waffle. "You made it, Kinomoto?"

"My dad did. Well, me and my dad."

Before Shulai was about to say another statement, he could feel his future clan leader cousin staring right at him. Sure, it can be fun messing around with the more dominating cousin Li Xiaolang, but when it comes to Sakura, he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

"It's… really good."

"Thank you, Shulai," Sakura grinned, even though she knew that Shulai wouldn't be able to speak his own opinion in front of Syaoran. Right then, she felt her phone vibrating in a certain pattern. "That must be Tomoyo. I'll be back, okay?" Sakura stepped out of the kitchen and right outside the backyard area, leaving the boys at the dining table alone.

"Well then, guess what!" And once again, Yun began to open his mouth again. He began to chat and blabber about his excitement over the camp's first day, with Shulai the only one paying attention to him.

Meanwhile, Syaoran and Eriol began to communicate by hand signals and distinctive charades that seemed to be only made for the two of them. Yamazaki, who was sitting at the corner table close to the living room, out of curiosity, peeked to see the scenario between the man of the house and the young police detective. He gave a soft gasp and leaned back to his seat, then gazed right at the rest of the boys. He reached for his phone to text both Syaoran and Eriol in silence.

TAKASHI: Guys, isn't that Rena Okajima, the one at the living room? You know, that police detective who arrested Mai Hirashiki the other day? What's she doing here at the Kinomoto House?

Both Syaoran and Eriol felt the vibrations of their phones and then opened Yamazaki's text. Syaoran responded to him first. The conversation began in silence between the three.

SYAORAN: Yep. She's here about the missing Book of Keroberos. That Keroberos stuffed animal thing last night wasn't kidding.

ERIOL: Were there any clues about the incident?

SYAORAN: She might interview Sakura and Kuroda about the incident, since both of them work as volunteers at the public library archives. Dammit, seriously, this is wrong timing, and it's camp!

TAKASHI: She's gonna question Kinomoto and Kuroda? Both of them were with us yesterday. The missing book's got nothing to do with them!

ERIOL: Hm, maybe the other volunteers they work with? I'm pretty sure she'll be asking all the volunteers who work at the archives department. We may never know.

SYAORAN: I still think it's an outsider… or a local spying for the culprit.

TAKASHI: Someone from Nijibe, maybe?

ERIOL: Oh dear cousin Xiao, I know and understand that the overwhelming Li spirit can really make you forget your humanity sometimes, but for goodness sakes, why are we blaming the rival town for this internal problem?

TAKASHI: Well, you may never know. We'll never know. And it's the summer sports camp against them— 2 weeks of grueling survival and competition against Nijibe. Hell, if it were me, it might as well be them. Right?

SYAORAN: Eriol, have you forgotten what Keroberos said last night? He didn't just call Nijibe a rival town, he called Nijibe the "mortal enemy." For all we know, Nijibe's probably looking at us as being their "mortal enemy" too.

ERIOL: Even if it were Nijibe, it'll be very difficult for us to get some sort of evidence that they're behind the theft, and of course, the motive behind the incident— other than Nijibe abhorring our guts.

SYAORAN: Agreed, Eriol. We need some kind of… network… some internal network… no way in hell we're just gonna thread in enemy territory during camp, you know?

TAKASHI: I thought during camp, at least from what I heard, there'll be a few days where you, as idols, promise to visit the neighboring towns to greet the locals, which also includes Nijibe? Mainly you and Minami, right Syao-chan?

SYAORAN: It'll be a public event, and it's only for a few hours, so there's no way that Minami and I would be able to snoop around enemy territory with us trying to look cute to the fans over there.

ERIOL: Dear Takashi, surely you must know someone in our beautiful town who would be able to be our… key informants. In our own circle of chummy chaps, you are the most local among all five of us lads. Xiao here is a local homecoming boy. His doppelganger knows very much nothing about Tomoeda. Dear Yun just couldn't keep his mouth shut. Don't even ask about me. Any clue now?

TAKASHI: Hmm… well… I could ask around… my relatives who work at the post office… my uncle who works at the electronics shop… erm, when I have time, I'll find someone.

"Hey guys, the girls are here!" Sakura called out right at them from outside, once she opened the door. The text messaging between the three are over.

Behind Sakura are Tomoyo, Meiling, Chiharu, Rika, and Naoko, along with their backpacks and duffel bags, just as Wei instructed them on their email. The teens greeted one another, as Sakura invited them for Belgian Waffles.

At the same time, Kaho came downstairs, all ready with her camp counselor uniform of navy blue with gold and white stripes on the sleeves, with her first name on it. She greeted the teens and also served them with the Belgian Waffles.

"Where's Oniichan?" Sakura asked curiously. "Man, I'm surprised I woke up earlier than he did. It's usually the other way around, you know?"

Kaho smiled and turned to the stairs. "He's too busy debating to himself on how he's going to style his hair. My god, we're camping, for goodness sakes. And here they say girls take way too long to get ready."

"Right, good. Everyone's here on time." Just as the sort conversation was about to start, the subject of the talk finally arrived. Like Kaho, he also appeared in the same camp counselor uniform, with hair remaining the same as always. With a frustrated look on his face, decided to give up.

"About time, Oniichan," Sakura grinned. "Can't decide on your hair?"

"Shut up, squirt," Touya glared at his younger sister, with Sakura sticking her tongue at him. "Right, at least all of us are here."

Kaho handed the last Belgian Waffle to her fiance. "You've got the last one of your dad's Belgian Waffles, hun."

"Oh, thanks." Touya took his seat and began to feast on his waffle. "You all got your stuff ready to go here?"

"Everything's all ready, Oniichan," Sakura nodded. "So, after we clean up, we proceed to the rally point, right?"

Touya stood up quickly and began to count the campers present at the house, making sure that the campers representing Hoshiten Drive and its neighboring streets were present. Right then, he realized that one person was missing.

"Hm… wait… isn't what's-her-name supposed to be with you idols or something?" Touya scratched his head.

"Oh, you mean Umika Minami?" Meiling answered. "She just sent me earlier this morning. Although she lives not too far from this neighborhood, she decided to meet with the Kawai Street-Baragumi Drive campers because her boyfriend is there."

"Of course…" Touya muttered. "Then again, Yuki and Akizuki are apart, so I don't see any reason why anyone would rather be with their boyfriend or girlfriend or something…"

"On the other hand," Syaoran joined in, "it could be a strategic move too. Aside from me having dead-obsessed fangirls tailing me, she too has dead-obsessed fanboys tailing her too. It'd be a lot smarter if the leading man and the leading lady of the movie are apart from each other and then just proceed with the plan."

For the first time, much to anyone's surprise, Touya did not show any hostility towards Syaoran to this day. "Good point."

While everyone began to make their own noises from chatting and eating, Fujitaka appeared with the police detective following him from behind. Oh yes, this morning, the Kinomoto Household has never been more overpopulated than it is today.

"Everyone, attention please!" Fujitaka waved at those at the dining table. Sakura hushed everyone and all eyes were right at the university professor. "The good Detective Rena Okajima is here with us and is on police business. But also, she's also a camp counselor for Troop Pegalion, so she'll be there with you as well. I just want to introduce her to you campers so that you can all be familiar with each—"

"Oh my god!" From out of the blue, the very stern and cool Detective Rena Okajima squealed like a teenage girl once she spotted two particular males at the table. "I… I have never dreamed that this day would come… to see my two favorite crushes right in front of my eyes!"

"Um… Detective…?" Fujitaka blinked in confusion once he saw the transformation of the very calculating detective into teenage fangirl mode. "Are… are you alright?"

Touya immediately showed fear in his eyes, as he stood up and began to back away. "You… you can't be serious…"

Rena invited herself through the kitchen and then caught Touya in her arms, cuddling him like a stuffed animal. "Oh, how I still love you, Touya Kinomoto, even though you're engaged! You'll always be forever in my heart—"

"Dammit, get off me, Okajima! I don't care if you're some straight-laced detective, you're still the most deranged chick I've ever met in my life!" Touya struggled to push himself away from the daffy detective. Kaho being amused at the scene was not helping either. "Kaho, aren't you gonna do something with this neurotic here?!"

"Oh I don't know, I find it hilarious," Kaho smirked, slowly sipping on her cup of coffee.

"You're not helping, Kaho! Why?" Touya looked like he was about to burst into tears, but his beloved fiancee continued enjoying her coffee with a grin on her face.

Touya, lucky for him, wasn't the only one fearing this sudden transformation from Police Detective Rena Okajima to her former self, high school student Rena Okajima, notoriously known as the crazy fangirl obsessing with handsome boys and boys who seem to resemble her collection of her favorite stuffed toys. While Touya represented the handsome boy, the boy representing the stuffed toy was also present in the same location.

"Good lord, are you alright, Xiao?" Eriol showed his concern at his now cowering future clan leader cousin, hiding right behind Yamazaki. "What on earth has happened here?"

Yamazaki turned his head towards Syaoran, hiding his face against his back. "Let me guess, Syao-chan… you just recovered another piece of your missing memories of Tomoeda, didn't you?"

"I… rather not… remember… her…"

"I'm even surprised you even remembered her name at all, Syao-chan."

"That's not the point, Taka-chan, and you know it!"

While Sakura observed the poor detective's obsession with her brother and her boyfriend fearing for his life, she too remembered who the old Rena Okajima was to her. She then moved right next to Syaoran to comfort her boyfriend.

"Ne, Syaoran… didn't Okajima-senpai used to call you Syao-boo?"

"Sakura, please… don't… don't mention that stupid name… I get nightmares about her every time I hear that damn name!"

Eriol scooted himself closer to the three and whispered. "Pray tell, Takashi, Sakura-chan… what's the connection of that… unfortunate detective… to our beloved Li Xiaolang?"

"You really want to know, Eriol?" Yamazaki asked curiously.

"He doesn't have to know, Taka-chan," Syaoran muttered.

"Oh, that's just being unfair, Xiao. Takashi here knows everything about you, and yet I, your beloved cousin, remain the ignorant one? How cruel…"

Syaoran slowly turned his glare right at Eriol, knowing that Yamazaki would have to eventually reveal that one little piece of memory he would rather not recover. But before he was able to explain another memory lost, the obsessed fangirl-minded police detective quickly snapped her head, aiming right towards the teens where Syaoran was hiding behind his best friend.

… or so he thought.

"Syao-boo! Awww… my sweet little pookie-wookie cuddly teddy bear… is all grown up to be a handsome young man! Oh, how I missed you!"

"Get away from me…" Syaoran muttered in silence. "You don't see me, you crazy-ass retar—"

"What the— you mean me?" Syaoran's eyes opened wide in shock to hear that someone else responded behind him. He turned to see a panicking Shulai dropping his fork onto his plate. "Yo, lady, you got the wrong guy, I'm—"

"Syao-boo-boo!"

"No… no… noooo!" Shulai quickly stood up and ran off outside the backyard, with fangirl Rena Okajima running after him. With Yun running out to support his look-alike friend, the rest of the teens were left bewildered with what had just happened.

"Oh boy…" Fujitaka sighed. "I guess there are… a few things that… hasn't changed…"

"What… what just happened?" Syaoran cleared his throat as he lifted his head from Yamazaki's back.

"She ran after Shulai," Yamazaki muttered.

"Well yeah I could see that, but… what the hell just happened? She was all business-like serious police detective and then when she saw me and Kinomoto-senpai here, she just… she's just like an on and off switch!"

Touya, who had been hanging onto the laughing Kaho, lifted his head and glanced at Syaoran. "This is all your fault, you little brat!"

"Excuse me—?" Syaoran raised an eyebrow at the older Kinomoto.

"Oniichan, what'd Syaoran do this time?" Sakura frowned, defending her boyfriend from her stressed out brother.

"Your crazy-ass sisters are best friends with that… that crazy-ass… weirdo! Of all the good-looking guys we've got floating around Tomoeda, why me of all people, dammit? Yuki's really nice and cute, why can't she go for him? Sometimes I envy that guy for having an easier teenage life than I did. Damn him…"

"Everybody loves Yukito Tsukishiro, after all," Kaho still continued to refrain herself from laughing.

"It's not my fault I got crazy-ass sisters," Syaoran spoke in a low tone. "Hell, I even think that all four of them are crazy ass weirdos myself…"

"Aww, but that's not a nice way to speak of your beautiful sisters, Syaoran," Sakura smiled, patting her boyfriend on the shoulder, then she turned her eyes towards Touya. "But guys, we should all have to really get along with each other on the duration of the summer camp. I mean, we're all on the same side, ne?"

"I agree with Sakura, Touya," Kaho seconded the emotion. "Especially with a town like Nijibe, we can't afford to waste time dealing with stupid things like this when we've got a summer sports camp to win."

"Right," Touya sighed. "Alright, when you guys are ready, let's clean up and head off to the rally point."

#

Li Residence (sometime in October, 10 years ago)

I'm all strung out on you, baby

All strung out on you, baby

All strung out on you, baby

Oh, maybe, maybe someday you'll love me too,

Maybe, Maybe I don't know what to do…

"Taka-chan, I swear, when you sing, it gets rid of all the ugly rain and the gray skies away, you know?"

"I can't wait till you finish your first-ever song, Taka!"

"And maybe we can all sing it together in a band or something! It'd be so cool, Yamazaki! We're gonna be an awesome band one day!"

"We just need to have a good name that no one could ever forget, ne?"

"How about Taka-chan and the… erm…"

"You give me too much credit, Syao-chan."

"Because you're the man? I mean, seriously, who comes up with the words 'all strung up on you' at age eight?"

"We're Tomoedans, Syao-chan. We're smarter than the average kid, you know?"

"I think it's the pure magic of the Book of Keroberos that's doing this to us! We Tomoedans, love is our super power! Any average person who will look at a Tomoedan will fall in love instantly… maybe like you and Sakura, ne?"

"Hoe?"

"You really can't stop talking about that book, don't you, Daidouji? And why are you tying me and Sakura like that, huh?"

"Ohohohohohoho~! Well then, here we are. I gotta go to my choral practice, so maybe I'll stop by, okay? And Yamazaki, finish that darn song! Then we can sing it all beautifully and then sing it in front of people and then we'll become famous!"

"Yeah, Sakura and Taka-chan will be in my place for the time being. Good luck in your choral practice."

"Ohohohoho~ have fun, you three!"

The fall season just kicked in and the rain decided to pour itself with all its might as the three children in soccer uniform walked their way back home, umbrellas and everything. They waved at seven-year-old Tomoyo Daidouji, who skipped her way to the house across the street. In the meantime, eight-year-old Syaoran Li lead his fellow soccer teammates, eight-year-old Takashi Yamazaki and seven-year-old Sakura Kinomoto, right to his house, still wearing their Tomoeda Elementary white with navy blue and red striped soccer team jerseys and carrying their duffel bags. Yamazaki's parents will be late from work again, Sakura's father was still at the university teaching general history classes in the afternoon and her older brother Touya was still back in his middle school for his own soccer practice. Around this time, three of his older sisters should be at home. One of his quadruplet sisters, namely Fanren Li, was still back in middle school with Touya and Yukito for their soccer practice.

Normally, Syaoran would ride in the family limousine driven by the family butler, Wei Wang, but because of soccer practice after school, he decided to walk his two friends home, since they were neighbors. For the time being, until the parents arrive home, Syaoran invited Sakura and Yamazaki to their house.

"Hey Syao-chan, where are your crazy-ass Touya Kinomoto and Yukito Tsukishiro-obsessed sisters?" Yamazaki joked with his usual grin, which also made Syaoran chuckle.

"Shh, don't say that, Taka-chan!"

"You guys are so mean!" Sakura shook her head, while two boys began to chuckle. "So messed up, really. Sure, the quadruplets have some… quirks… but they're really nice and pretty, you know? Sometimes I envy of their beauty… and Tomoyo's beauty… it sucks being average."

"But you're beautiful the way you are, Sakura," Syaoran whispered softly to himself.

"Hoe?" Sakura blinked, wondering if she did hear Syaoran saying the word beautiful. Meanwhile, Yamazaki stared at his two friends, with Syaoran noticing right away.

"Not a word, Taka-chan!"

"I didn't say anything, Syao-chan!"

"Anyway," Sakura changed the subject. "I wish Tomoyo is here with us. But thanks for inviting us to your place for the afternoon, Syaoran."

"Yeah, thanks a lot, Taka-chan!" Yamazaki grinned. "Seriously, I don't wanna brag and all but me and Kinomoto are so blessed to have the son of Tomoeda's most powerful family be closet friends with us."

Syaoran shrugged with a smile on his face as they approached the door. "You guys are the coolest. The others are suck-ups."

"Not everyone, Syaoran," Sakura laughed.

"Yeah, whatever." Syaoran reached for the keys to his house and began to unlock it.

The grand wooden door slowly opened, as the three soccer players entered, removing their shoes quickly.

"Tadaima!" Syaoran called out to announce his presence. There was no response from anyone in the family. His parents were obviously at work in their corporate office in Sendai. He already knew Wei and Fanren would be coming home late, but his other three sisters?

"Huh. No one's home? This is creepy."

"Mou, where's Wei-san?" Sakura asked curiously. "Doesn't he normally answer the door?"

"Yeah, but he went to the groceries or something, so he's not here."

Sakura and Yamazaki sat at the silk living room couch, with Syaoran placing his duffel bag by the door. "You guys want anything? Sweets, cookies…"

"You have any honey milk tea? It's gotten cold outside," Sakura requested.

"Same," Yamazaki said.

"Alright, I'll make some—"

"Wait up, Syao-chan!" Yamazaki stood up, with Sakura following from behind. "We'll help you out."

The three friends worked together to make their hot honey milk tea, one for each. The autumn chill was beginning to seep in through the mighty doors of Li Residence, and Sakura was known to be slightly sensitive to the cold. They sat at the dining table and began to sip their honey milk tea with a large bowl of rice crackers, along with the chatting with each other about soccer and their upcoming match against their rival, Nijibe Elementary, in two days.

"It's gonna be our first game against Nijibe with us being team captains, Syao-chan," Yamazaki began.

"You excited, Taka-chan?" Syaoran asked curiously, lifting his eyes right at his best friend.

"Maybe… well, I'm more nervous than excited. I mean…" Yamazaki led out a sigh. "We've been in the soccer team for over a year now, and even way before we existed, Tomoeda Elementary hasn't won any games against Nijibe since your sister's and Kinomoto's and Yuki-senpai's time, you know?"

"Yeah… the original Tomoeda's Kinomoto-Li Power Pair times," Sakura added. "Oniichan and Fanren-neechan and even Yuki-niichan were so awesome as a power trio, you know? Ever since they graduated elementary and moved on to middle school, we really sucked. We even sucked last year too when we first joined."

Syaoran munched on some rice crackers. "Our co-captains from last year sucked, that's why. They lacked real leadership, they lacked coordination, and just because they were team captains, they think they're the star players or something. I got really annoyed with them."

"But then they're older than us by two years," Sakura added. "We can't help but to look up to them, even though we really sucked. Even Oniichan thinks we really sucked because of them. Always wanting us to pass the ball to them, even though the others got plenty of opportunities of open shots, you know?"

"Exactly!" Syaoran exclaimed. "They want to score goals even though none of them are strikers! Like what the hell, you know?"

"We're kids, Syao-chan," Yamazaki sighed. "And we're stupid."

"Not as stupid as those dumbass duos!" Sakura giggled at Syaoran's statement.

"Mou, and what's worse, they don't like us," Sakura frowned. "Especially you, Syaoran."

"They're just jealous of Syao-chan, that's why, Kinomoto. Not only that he's the richest kid in all of Tomoeda, he's also the crown prince of the Kingdom of Hong Kong too!"

"Shut up already with the stupid prince thing, Taka-chan! We all know that's bull," Syaoran laughed.

"But it's true that they are jealous of you though, Syao-chan."

"Dunno. Oh well, they're not first stringers anymore. We got rid of the problem for this year, finally."

"Yup!" The three simultaneously took their sips of their hot honey tea, then Yamazaki changed the tone of the subject.

"I heard from the older kids and some peeps my folks got to know that the coach for the Nijibe Elementary team was really brutal. Their team's like us too. They have two co-captains and one star player, they go by the names of Seiichi Nekoi, Yuiichiro Saotome, and Asagiri... forgot his first name. Gotta remember those names."

Syaoran sipped on his honey milk tea. "Yep, heard about them too, especially that Asagiri guy. Deadliest striker that team has got."

"Shuuei Asagiri, that's his name," Sakura said, munching on some rice crackers. "He's the mayor's son, you know?"

"Is he?" Syaoran showed interest in the latter.

"My dad met him… well not quite met him personally, but they had that small towns historical convention or something like that months ago held in Nijibe, he made his speech, and he was there. Dad's senior colleague was friends with the mayor and told my dad that Shuuei Asagiri plays for the Nijibe Elementary soccer team, and that he's their co-captain and their star player. A striker, you know?"

"Syao-chan, sounds like Asagiri's gonna be your match. I mean, man, he started off the same time as us, he's the same age, and he already made star status on their team. You know what that means, Syao-chan?"

"I haven't played against him, so I really can't know how good he really is or not. I mean, we had a bunch of attention-grabbing hogs for our teammates last year, you know? But I've seen him play on the sidelines. He is one good dodger."

"I'm a little nervous now too," Sakura murmured softly. "All three of us may have to go one-on-one against that Asagiri guy too… and he's taller than me. I mean, I was second string last year, so I never really got to play against him."

"But you're really fast at dribbling, Sakura," Syaoran gave her a cheer up. "Asagiri may be fast, but he hasn't faced you yet. He may be in for a surprise."

Sakura smiled. "Really, Syaoran?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Syaoran returned the smile. "Guess all of us will have to do our best defending our territory when we're out there, ne?"

"Relax, guys," Yamazaki smiled. "That new kid who joined the team last month, the one replacing that incompetent Yuto Takeda… Kenichi-something?"

"Kenichi Kuze, Taka?" Sakura answered.

"Yeah, him. He looks like a soccer noob, but did you notice during practice earlier, we all had a hard time shooting the ball against him? He's the Wall of Tomoeda, dude! Asagiri already made a fool of our last goalkeeper, but I wanna see how he's going to be with Kuze in front of the goal, you know?"

"Yup, we've got a really good lineup, Syaoran, with new players with secret soccer powers, you know? Like Taka said, Kuze-kun is one of them."

"Yup. That kid's got style, man," Yamazaki continued to praise their new goalkeeper.

"Kuze… his last name sounds familiar…" Syaoran rubbed his chin. "Wait… is he from one of the Tomeoda Elite? His family, I mean?"

"The Kuze Family? Yeah, I think they're like the third or fourth richest family in Tomoeda," Yamazaki said. "I heard from around that Kuze's mom has been really ill, so that's why he hasn't really been joining any school clubs since he started kindergarten. This year is his first year joining a school club by joining the soccer team."

"I could ask my parents or something," Syaoran said. "I mean, the rich families are part of the Tomoeda Elite Sponsors Society, so I'm sure my parents know the Kuzes."

"Right. I can't wait for our first game against Nijibe!" Sakura exclaimed happily. "I mean… I don't know why, but I think… I feel like… we're gonna win."

"Doesn't matter if we win or lose on this weekend's game against Nijibe, guys," Syaoran answered. "It may not be the game this weekend, but for sure, one of these days, we are going to beat them. And when we are about to beat them, we are going to beat them— hard."

"I'm pumped up already after you made that declaration, Syao-chan!" Yamazaki pumped up his fists. "Let's go Tomoeda Elementary Tomahawks!"

"Tomoeda Tomahawks!" The three friends gave each other fist bumps.

Syaoran stood up, cleaning up the empty cups for his guests. "Hey, Taka-chan, I can borrow Shiefa's guitar so you can finally finish that song you were writing."

"Hey, that's a good idea, Syaoran!" Sakura cheered.

"I'll be back." Syaoran dashed upstairs to get his sister's acoustic guitar.

"Oi, it's not as easy as you think, guys," Yamazaki frowned. "I only got that stupid chorus. I don't even know how I'm gonna write the verses."

"Well, that's why we're here, me and Syaoran," Sakura continued with her encouragement. "Maybe it'd be like… 'All Strung Out,' lyrics by Takashi Yamazaki, Syaoran Li, and Sakura Kinomoto, and if Tomoyo has ideas, we'll add Tomoyo Daidouji in it too! And then, music by Takashi Yamazaki. Ne? Ne?"

"You guys are gonna help me? Really?" Sakura nodded. "That'd be really cool! Thanks, guys!"

Syaoran arrived with a dark pink guitar case. The faint smell of certain unidentified chemicals coming from the guitar case made them identified that this was a brand-new guitar.

"Ne, Syaoran, I didn't know that Shiefa-neechan, plays the guitar?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Her? Nah. She only bought the guitar so she can show off and make people think she actually plays the guitar." He opened the case and then the deep caramel-colored finished acoustic guitar was brought up, along with one of its picks. He handed the guitar over to Yamazaki. "All yours."

Yamazaki reached for the guitar and then began to play its strings as a warm-up. "Damn Syao-chan, your family sure has expensive tastes with… I dunno, everything! I mean, this is a Martin OM-45! You know how much this thing costs? It'd cost me all my arms and legs, that's how much!"

"Huh, didn't know about that. Well, I don't care what she says. The guitar's yours for the day."

"Dang, this is so awesome! Me… with a Martin OM-45!" He reached for a notebook in his backpack, as well as his pencil case. The first page of this new light blue notebook were the words that he was singing earlier while they were walking home. He began playing the first few notes of the chord, then sang that same chorus from earlier. Once he reached the end, he stopped.

"Obviously, there's something missing, Taka," Sakura said. "I thought you and Chiharu-chan are… you know…"

"We are, but… um… how do I say this? It's… it's hard to come up with something really good for a love song with me just looking at her, you know?"

"That don't make sense, Taka-chan," Syaoran crossed his arms. "What kind of a guy are you who doesn't look at his girlfriend for inspiration for love songs, let alone love poetry?"

"Well… poetry is easy, but with songs… er…" Yamazaki began scratching his head. "Um… I need to look at something else for inspiration…"

"Something else? You mean like a romance movie? Or a romance novel?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Er… like Syao-chan's secret, for example." Quickly, just realizing it, Yamazaki covered his mouth.

"Hoe?" Sakura blinked, with Syaoran shooting a glare at his best friend. "Secret? You have a secret, Syaoran?"

Syaoran shook his head. "It's… it's a guy thing! You wouldn't understand…"

"Well, you can pretend that I'm a guy and then I'll understand." Sakura gave a reply that a naivete would most likely answer.

The amber-eyed master of the house sighed. "When the right time comes, I'll tell you."

"Hoe? Really? Promise?"

He gave her a faint smile. "I promise." And just before things continue, he snapped his head at Yamazaki. "Not a word, Yamazaki!"

"I haven't said anything, Syao-chan…" The tall boy led out a sigh.

"Anyway, I need to go to the restroom. You guys can go ahead and start. Be right back."

The two watched Syaoran made his way at another chamber of his palatial mansion, leaving his two guests alone at the living room.

Yamazaki looked down at his notebook and then positioned the guitar to his most comfortable spot. Just as he was about to play his chords again, Sakura cleared her throat.

"Huh? What's up, Kinomoto?"

"Um…" Sakura lowered her head, with cheeks covered with strawberry blushes. "S-since… since Syaoran told you a secret… can I tell you a secret too?"

Yamazaki blinked. "Sure thing. You know I'm good at lying, ne?"

Sakura giggled. "Okay then. Please don't tell anyone, especially Syaoran."

"Eh? Why not?"

"He won't tell me the secret that he told you, so this is revenge." Yamazaki gave a soft chuckle.

"Alright, fine. Whatcha wanna tell me?"

"Um…" she gulped nervously, with her right hand trembling with so much nerve shaking inside of her. "It's… it's about Syaoran."

"I'm listening."

"It's just… I… I… I… lo… lo…"

"Don't finish."

"Hoe?" At that point, Yamazaki filled in the blanks for her.

"You're in love with Syao-chan?"

"Shh…" Sakura hushed, then lowered her voice in a whisper. "S-since… since the first time I've met him…"

"When we were in kindergarten? That long?" Sakura nodded. "Well then… now that changes things."

"Please don't tell anyone… especially Syaoran… I haven't even told Tomoyo yet!"

"Knowing Daidouji, she'll eventually figure out and then she'll have that weird laugh of hers when she does figure it out."

Sakura gulped, imagining her best friend and that signature laugh that would send chills down anyone's spines. "You're right about that."

"Right about what?" The two became startled at the voice of their friend who just arrived from the restroom.

"Um… about Tomoyo and that funny laugh of hers," Sakura quickly reverted to her cool self.

"I thought we're gonna finish that song and you're talking about Daidouji's laugh? What?" Syaoran proceeded to sit back at his spot, next to Yamazaki and across from Sakura. "You haven't come up with anything yet, haven't you?"

Just as Sakura was about to speak, Yamazaki began playing a simple chord and then new words came from his mouth:

I just can't get enough of you, baby

There just ain't enough of you to go around

Just when I'm needing you baby

You ain't nowhere to be found

Baby, it's getting me down because

I'm all strung out on you, baby

All strung out on you, baby

All strung out on you, baby

Oh, maybe, maybe someday you'll love me too,

Maybe, Maybe I don't know what to do

Baby, baby, I'm all strung out on you…

He stopped right at that point and simply grinned at the two would-be lovebirds. Sakura and Syaoran showed bewilderment at what just happened with their aspiring songwriter friend, so much that neither of the two were able to answer him with words.

That was beautiful… Syaoran's voice spoke in his mind.

So beautiful… Sakura's voice spoke in her mind.

Thank you for sharing me your secrets, you two… Yamazaki's voice spoke in his mind.

Ah, young love. Indeed.

#

An excerpt from this month's issue of OSHARE BOYS MAGAZINE (OBM) featuring Li Xiaolang (LX)

On our final section of our full-length interview with Li Xiaolang-san, we will be talking about his plans during his time in showbiz. Is a potential music career be in his future? Let's see what he says!

OBM: Now that we're talking about the future, about your outlook of this first-ever teen romance movie that you will be doing, Li-san, what would you say the outcome of your career regardless if the movie comes out a success or a flop?

LX: That really depends on what people think. A movie project is a movie project. My past movies have been successful, but I can't say about this one, because this is something that I've never done before, so it's very hard to say. I've always played the sensible hero who's an expert in martial arts or some kind of an ancient warrior, but portraying a local small town boy in love with his childhood best friend is, let's say, nerve-racking.

OBM: Lately we have heard that CBLW is heavily based on your real life. Has it helped you redefine yourself from your own perspective?

LX: A lot. To this date, I have found a new definition of myself from my own perspective.

OBM: And how did you feel about this new definition of yourself?

LX: I'm very happy, actually. I feel a lot more content, a lot more me, so to speak.

OBM: We have also taken note that you have other interests related to your career that doesn't involve the movies. Is it modeling? Hosting in variety shows? Interested in acting in TV dramas, perhaps?

LX: Music, actually.

OBM: Ah, music! I think we are quite enthralled with your plans in getting in the music industry. As a soloist, perhaps?

LX: Maybe as a duo with my cousin, Eriol Hiiragizawa… or maybe with other idols interested in music.

OBM: Earlier this year, you and your cousin Eriol Hiiragizawa had a special song performance for the Valentine's special episode of SUPER MUSIC FEST with a song that we've never even heard of. We even have a video of it too, and the staff and I just couldn't stop replaying it because it's such a beautiful song and you and Eriol sound so beautiful in harmonious duet. We all thought that yes, you two should get into music. There's a lot of duos who are really popular in J-Pop nowadays, so why not?

LX: It's a short song, and no one's heard of it, mainly because it is, work in progress.

OBM: So, it's you and Hiiragizawa-kun who wrote the song?

LX: I would be lying to my fans and everyone else if I did say that he and I wrote the song.

OBM: So, someone else wrote this song?

LX: Yes. It's a song that I've heard of, and for some strange reason, I knew the words to heart, back in my past here in Tomoeda. Maybe another missing memory recovered?

OBM: So, maybe it's a song written by someone you're friends with in the past here in Tomoeda?

LX: I would say so. I'll eventually remember it when I hear that song again. I just sang it out from nowhere a week before that special Valentine's Episode of the SUPER MUSIC FEST show, and it was in front of Eriol and Meiling Li also. Eriol wanted to learn the song, so I taught it to him. Meiling fell in love with the song and insisted that I sing to her for that episode. Keep in mind though, we were still together at that time.

OBM: Yes, of course. It's unfortunate about your breakup, but we can't really fight fate, ne? The reason why I'm elaborating on your song performance because many of your Wolfpups and Hiiragizawa-kun's Moonies are very curious about that song. Plenty of them did a lot of internet searching, and there was absolutely no information about that song.

LX: Well, the song was not finished. Eriol and I just improvised it and made it sound like a complete song by repeating the same verses twice, you know? But I can assure you, that song was not finished.

OBM: If you can remember, why is the song incomplete?

LX: (pause) I guess it's because my family and I moved back to Hong Kong before the song was finished. I don't even know if that song was finished or not.

OBM: How unfortunate. Maybe it was a special girl in your life who wrote this song?

LX: (pause) No… no way. Not a girl. I think it was a guy… no… there were three of them. Two girls and a guy… but it was mostly a guy.

OBM: A guy, huh? I know I'm asking too much, but about that song again, the original arrangement, was it meant for a soloist?

LX: Let me think. (pause) No, not a soloist.

OBM: A harmonious duet like you did with Eriol?

LX: No. It was for a group… I think, more than three people. I'm guessing four… or five. No. It's for a five-member band.

OBM: Like that lately talked-about band that will be featured in the CBLW movie, what was their name again? The Awesome Rascals?

LX: The Cool Rascals. Yes, a five-member band like them.

OBM: Well then! If it means for the fans to have that song in their playlist, then you and Eriol must find three more members to form your vocal group, sing that song, and I'm pretty sure, you will have one of the most popular, most classic songs the world will ever hear, and of course, you, Eriol, and whoever the other three may be, would be the most popular band in the industry!

LX: Who knows, maybe. That all depends on what people think.

OBM: What was the name of the song again? Something about getting sprung up?

LX: "All Strung Out."

OBM: Ah, so that's the name of the song! I have to admit, the song was quite haunting and hypnotic, and somehow, I can imagine that a five-member band would be performing this and then sound a lot more beautiful, haunting, hypnotic. I really can't wait for the official release of that single, Li-san!

LX: (laughs) I need to have permission from the songwriter for me and Eriol, possibly, to record that song ourselves, first.

OBM: Well, we hope you remember the mysterious songwriter… or songwriters… behind that song, Li-san.

LX: Eventually, I will. Right now, I'm just unsure how I'm going to approach the locals regarding the song. But when I get my answers, I'll be sure to give everyone an update.

OBM: We are so excited with what's to come in the near future for you, Li-san! CBLW, and then a potential music career with your cousin Eriol Hiiragizawa. How exciting is that? Please, keep in touch with us!

LX: I will. Thank you very much.

#

7:15 - 7:30 a.m. - The residential streets of Tomoeda

The campers located at Hoshiten Drive and its neighboring streets arrived at their second checkpoint, where they meet the second group of campers waiting for them. In the beginning, many of the campers found that there weren't enough bikes for everyone, but Yukito explained that each bike has a back seat, in which the campers will have to ride in pairs. For the sake of Touya's overprotective mode, Sakura and Tomoyo paired up, with Sakura being the one on the pedal. Syaoran and Yamazaki paired up next with Syaoran being the one on the pedal, in the same fashion with the two girls. Eriol and Yun came next, Chiharu and Rika, Meiling and Naoko paired up last. Shulai got lucky enough to ride with Yukito's back seat, leaving the couple Touya and Kaho riding together. The entire unit wore their navy blue and gold caps and sunglasses, even though the sunglasses part were meant for the teen idols present. Yukito changed the instruction by having the entire troop wear the exact same thing.

The sun was very bright and the humidity was ridiculously high. Japan's famous summer heat wave is on the rise.

When they arrived at the second checkpoint, Yukito was greeted by his fiancee with a gentle kiss, as the campers assimilated with the second group. The four camp counselors began their quick chatting while the campers decided to change partners on their bicycles. Sakura and Syaoran partnered up, with Syaoran on the pedal. Next came Eriol and Tomoyo, with Eriol on the pedal. Third, Yamazaki and Chiharu, with Yamazaki on the pedal. The rest resumed with their chosen partners, but the surprise came when Shulai and teen idol journalist Ai Aihara partnered up together.

"Whoa, you… and him?" Syaoran gave a chuckle.

"Why? Got a problem, Xiaolang?" Shulai growled, with Ai Aihara chuckling.

"Your cousin really is something, Xiaolang-kun," Ai laughed. "Although I have to admit, I still can't tell the difference between the two of you."

Sakura grinned. "You two look really cute together!" Even though she blurted out those words, her mind was thinking of something else.

What about Mio-chan?

"Aw, you flatter us too much," Ai laughed.

"Ne, speaking of that…" Meiling, now sitting on Kenichi Kuze's back seat, looked around the rest of the campers. "There's one missing."

Kuze began looking around and did notice one person missing. "Ah, right… Meiling, hold on a second, okay?"

He got off his bicycle with Meiling keeping it upright. He walked at the back of the group to find his future stepsister speaking to a group of little children, lead by an older boy who looked like he was in the middle school ages. From behind, Sakura and Syaoran followed Kuze.

"Mio-chan's missing, ne?" Sakura mentioned the missing camper from the roster.

"She's over there," Kuze used his eyes to point out towards Mio. She and Syaoran turned their gazes right at the group, observing them.

The first thing the couple noticed with the scenario was a big change in Mio. Yesterday, she had shoulder-length jet-black hair like Meiling Li. Today, her hair trimmed to a very short bob, much shorter than Sakura's own bob. She also had straight-cut fringes and still wore that same white headband. Sakura thought that she stood out among the Amber Emerald girls because of her modesty, but with her hair trimmed, she stood out even more.

"Is that… Kuroda?" Syaoran's eyes widened in shock. "Is it just me or did she…"

Sakura nodded. "She's moving on, Syaoran. It's what Tomoeda girls do when they're finally over their exes. They have a new do on the next day, new look, new approach in life, you know?"

Syaoran scratched his head. "But Daidouji broke up with that Bunchin dude and she still looks the same."

"Before you guys arrived here in Tomoeda, Tomoyo used to straighten her hair a lot, and her hair was a lot longer, past her rear, you know? After they broke up, she trimmed her hair just above her waist and she stopped straightening her hair and let her natural curls out."

"Eh, whatever, Daidouji still looks the same to me, even back in childhood."

"You're so hilarious, Syaoran," Sakura laughed. After noticing Mio's new look, they now observe the others in the same scene.

There were seven of them altogether, including the older boy standing and chatting in front of Mio. Two of the children looked familiar to Sakura. The others must be from other parts of Tomoeda. All of them wore some kind of a uniform, white with navy blue and red trims on their collared shirts and navy blue shorts.

"It's Kyo-kun and Maya-chan," Sakura chuckled. "I used to babysit them once in awhile. They're such a cute couple!"

"They're a couple, Kinomoto?" Kuze blinked in surprise.

"Yup. They're always together… kind of reminds me of… me and Syaoran. Ne?"

Syaoran chuckled at the statement. "Sure thing. They're both cute… not as cute as you and me though."

"So conceited!" Sakura laughed, while Syaoran gave a smirk. Kuze tried to keep his cool by refraining himself from laughing along.

Syaoran recognized the uniforms the kids were currently wearing. "Tomoeda Junior Ecologists Club…"

"Hoe? What is it, Syaoran?"

"They're wearing the Tomoeda Junior Ecologists Club. We used to be in that club, remember, Sakura?"

"Hoe? You're right! I remember wearing those same uniforms before! But… what's Mio-chan doing with a group of junior ecologists?"

"Their troop leader is her younger brother," Kuze answered right away. "Gai-kun."

Sakura observed the young man with Mio carefully. He was of average height with a slight athletic build in which he could still pass on as an overgrown elementary school boy but has grown a few inches taller than his older sister. He wore a pair of glasses and a buzz cut that wasn't too obvious in the naked eye. He didn't exactly land on the typical hot guy from Tomoeda category, but still has modest physical attributes. To Syaoran, he could feel that this boy is both a scholar and an athlete. He just wasn't sure what type of athlete he may be.

"Hoe… so that's Gai-kun. Mio-chan told us a bit about him at the festival before. He looks like one of those simple nerdy kids."

"He looks like a well-rounded guy, Sakura," Syaoran whispered. "Yeah, he may look like those typical smart kids, but he has an athletic build too."

"Really? You think he plays sports?"

"I think he does. Let's find out."

The couple was about to approach them, with Kuze calling out to them first. "Hey… um… if they say anything… tell me, okay?"

Syaoran turned to Kuze. "You just take care of Meiling. I'm sure your sis— erm, almost stepsister, will let you know."

"Thanks anyway, Li."

The couple proceeded to approach the group, in which one of the kids gasped to see the appearance of their favorite hero idol in the flesh. "Wah— no way! It's Li Xiaolang, and he's approaching this way!"

"It's Li Xiaolang!" The kids simultaneously exclaimed, interrupting the conversation of the two siblings. Right then, the kids ran to Syaoran with sparkles in their eyes.

Syaoran was so used to seeing a horde of fangirls running after him, but with these modest group of kids, about the ages of seven till eleven, it was a whole different feeling. He greeted the kids with hi-fives and fist bumps. There were only two girls in the group, which was a lot easier for Syaoran to handle.

"I… I can't believe it…" Kyo, one of the kids Sakura used to babysit before, spoke his first words, gazing in a hero worship. "Li Xiaolang… senpai… is here…"

"In the flesh," Syaoran smiled. He spotted Sakura smiling at him and approached the Kuroda Siblings on her own. "So, I see you're part of the Junior Ecologists Club."

"Eh? You know about the Tomoeda Junior Ecologists Club?" Another one of the boys gasped with surprise. "But… our club is not really popular… how could you know?"

"I used to be a member of it, along with your Sakura-neechan… and my best friend and her best friend too."

"Really? So you love the forests and Tomoedan wildlife and… well, just wildlife in general?"

"That's why I came back here, not just for you guys, but for our wildlife and our natural environment, you know." Syaoran fibbed on a few portions of his reasoning, but either way, the junior ecologists were happy.

One of the two girls, Maya, stood next to Kyo, and stared right at Syaoran. "Li-senpai, is it true?"

"Hm? What's your name?"

"I'm Maya, Kyo-kun's girlfriend." Kyo blushed lightly, while the rest of the kids grinned.

"Alright, Maya-chan, what are you asking about?"

"About Sakura-neechan. She's a really sweet girl, you know? And she's lonely. We haven't seen her for awhile, but today, it looks like she's very happy now. She was really sad because the boy she loved from long time ago is no longer here in Tomoeda. Don't you think she's pretty and deserves a really good boyfriend to make her happy?"

"No, no, that shouldn't be the question," the second girl, Kazane, joined in the conversation. "What she meant was, do you think that she would be a good girlfriend to you, Li-senpai?"

"Oi, girls, Li-senpai's not interested in them!" Kyo warned the two girls.

"That's okay," Syaoran smiled. "Your name?"

"I'm Kazane," the second girl with short boyish black hair with a ribbon headband introduced herself.

"I'm Kyo," the boy answered. "The other three guys there are Haruto-kun, Takeru-kun, and Itsuki-kun." The other three greeted, but showed some shyness towards their idol.

"And our unit leader over there is Gai-nii. He's really cool and smart… and he plays soccer! He played at the Juniors summer sports camp last month. He's so cool!" Kyo pointed towards the thirteen-year-old teen who is now introducing himself to Sakura.

So, he is a soccer player. I knew he was an athlete… some sort of athlete anyway.

"Good to meet you all. You can call me Syaoran."

"Waah! Syaoran-senpai!"

"Can we call you Syaoran-nii instead?" Maya asked curiously.

"If you want," Syaoran smiled.

"In that way, you and Sakura-neechan really match! You look really cute together!"

Syaoran held his tongue to refrain himself from laughter. Are these kids the junior version of the Amber Emeralds or something?

"Right. About Sakura-neechan," Maya continued on with the subject. "Don't you think she's pretty? I mean, would you see yourself as her boyfriend, Syaoran-nii?"

The idol blushed, but then again, this wide-eyed girl is very observant. "I'll tell you guys a secret. Huddle up." The kids got closer to him and he whispered. "I came back home here in Tomoeda, so I can be with your Sakura-neechan."

"Eeehhh?!" The kids gasped in shock. Itsuki, the shortest of the boys, joined in.

"So, my cousin wasn't lying! That's exactly what he said about you when I asked him weeks ago. He said that you didn't come back home to steal his girlfriend, but so you can be Sakura-neechan's boyfriend! Unbelievable!"

The amber-eyed teen idol raised an eyebrow at the boy Itsuki. "Your cousin?"

"Yup. He even claimed that you guys are best friends too. I think he's lying, he likes to show off a lot."

"Yeah?" Syaoran grinned. "Who is this cousin of yours?"

"I'm Itsuki Yamazaki, Syaoran-senpai."

Yamazaki? Don't tell me… "Yamazaki… are you related to…"

"Takashi Yamazaki is my lying cousin, if that's what you're wondering, Syaoran-senpai."

Smart ass… Syaoran chuckled, realizing something at the same time. I probably left for Hong Kong already when this kid was born. Of course, makes sense I didn't know about him.

"Takashi Yamazaki? Then I think you and I will be really good friends then!"

Itsuki's wide eyes widened even more. "R-really? You think so?"

"I know Taka-chan. We're like brothers, you know?"

"You call him 'Taka-chan'? You mean he's not lying? You guys are really the best of friends?"

"Yup. Sure, he lies a lot, but he's a really good guy, you know?" The somewhat stout Itsuki responded with a huge grin on his face. "So, be good to him, as he is with you, okay?"

Itsuki nodded. "I believe you, Syaoran-senpai. And yes, I will!"

Right then, the outspoken of the boys, the one named Kyo, stepped forward. "Ne, Syaoran-senpai, we want to help you and Sakura-neechan and the entire Troop Pegalion to win the very first Tomoeda vs. Nijibe summer sports camp! I mean, sure, it's for high school students, so we can't really participate, but we really, really wanna help you win!"

"You know, Kyo-kun, just cheering us on is more than enough for you to support us."

"There are spies here in Tomoeda, Syaoran-senpai. It's true! We've seen them! They may think our area is right smack in the middle of nowhere, but the trees, the animals, and the air have eyes and ears!"

Syaoran felt taken aback. "Wait a minute, you guys, be careful with what you're saying. And what I'm thinking that you kids are thinking… it's very dangerous, you know?"

The taller boy with the name Haruto, spoke. "You see Gai-nii over there? He wants revenge against Nijibe, especially with that that loser guy did to break poor Mio-neechan's heart. But we don't want Mio-neechan to quit the summer sports camp just because she's in danger—"

"What? Danger?" Syaoran turned to check on Sakura, with a somewhat distressed Mio and a stern-faced Gai, having their own conversation there. He turned to the kids. "Tell you what. You go greet the rest of the campers and wish them well. I'll talk to them, okay?"

"Ne, Syaoran-niichan," the short-haired girl Kazane said. "You know Kuroda Mio-nee, right?"

"She's one of the team managers of the soccer team, of course I know her."

"So you know her problem, ne? She won't show it, she's like any other Tomoedan when it comes to really messed up problems. They always keep their cool."

Like me, obviously. I like to keep cool whenever I'm having problems, Syaoran thought to himself. Me, Yamazaki, most of the Tomoedans I've met.

Meanwhile, Sakura found herself involved in a bit of a sibling argument. It wasn't so much of an argument, per se, but it was more of a younger brother concerned about his older sister and the sister doing a typical Tomoedan teenager's trait: keeping things cool.

"Gai-kun," Sakura proceeded during their conversation. "You shouldn't worry so much about your sister. I mean, some people say that she and I are alike, but unlike me, she's able to keep her cool like nothing happened. And she'll be fine. I'm not afraid of the Nijibe team, and so is she."

The younger Kuroda tightened his fist. "You don't understand, Sakura-senpai, I don't care if her ex-boyfriend was playing pranks on her this morning when she got that phone call, but any action regarding that should be against the rules. There shouldn't be any intimidation games with each other if this was going to be a fair rivalry for this year's summer camp."

"We haven't done this kind of summer camp ever, Gai-kun, so I'm pretty sure the rules and regulations aren't quite as tight as it should be."

"That's what I mean!" Once again, Gai turned to his sister. "Mio-nee, please, before it's too late, just… just back out of the team. I'm sure Kenichi-nii would understand, you know?"

"No way!" Mio growled at her younger brother. "I've just broken up with Kisagari two days ago and now this? If you say you're supporting me, then asking me to quit the soccer team as team manager isn't supporting me at all. You know me forever, Gai-kun, I'm not like every single Tomoeda girl in here. I'm not going to belittle myself and have people feel sorry for me. In fact, I do not want anyone to feel sorry for me. If he thinks Nijibe has the upper hand, then being team manager is one way that I'm going to prove him wrong!"

"And again, Mio-nee," Gai frowned in disappointment, "I know you want to tough this all out, but obviously that Kisaragi bastard is still harassing you with that phone call this morning. You should've changed your phone number or something! Maybe you should just not come to the camp and—"

"And what, Gai?" Mio shouted. "That jerk is still threatening me that I should back out of the soccer team as team manager. You, of all people, are doing the same thing as him. You're no different than he is!"

"But Mio-nee—"

"What's going on here?" A fourth voice interrupted the commotion. Sakura gasped to see her boyfriend present right in front of their eyes.

Quickly, Mio gasped and bowed as low as she can. "I… I'm so sorry, Li-senpai, I don't mean to hold off the wait—"

"Just stand up straight, Kuroda, go show yourself to the rest of the camp before Coach Yukito gets furious."

"R-right!" Mio quickly ran to the rest of the camp, leaving the couple alone with the younger Kuroda.

While Mio gave her apologetic bow earlier, her brother reacted the same way as his junior ecologists in his group. Starstruck and in awe, he found himself without a word to speak at his presence. It looks as if a legend had just appeared before his eyes. He was tempted to bend down and bow to him, but all he could mutter from his lips were:

"Li… Xiao… lang… n-no way…"

"Way." Syaoran snickered.

"You're my favorite actor… and martial artist… and an overall human being…" The idol could only chuckle at the reply, then changed the subject.

"So, you're the famous Gai Kuroda."

Gai quickly shook his head. "I'm worthless for you to say I'm famous, Li-senpai—"

"Stand up straight, Kuroda-kun. I'm just another local boy like yourself, you know."

Sakura felt slight guilt within her. "S-sorry Syaoran, I'm not really good at breaking up fights and—"

"It's fine, Sakura," Syaoran smiled, then turned back to the older junior ecologist. "I understand that today is also the first day of the Junior Ecologists Forest Camp, right?"

Gai stood up straight and faced his hero. "I… I guess it's my fault that… I'm holding my sister back from the team that you— and Sakura-senpai— play for. I mean… she must be a very valuable asset to the team."

"She is," Sakura smiled. "I mean, Kaho-neechan is also a team manager too, but your sister knows the guys a lot more than she does. She's there for the more adult guidance, Mio-chan is there to uplift the spirits of the players. Ne, Syaoran?"

Syaoran nodded. "A very valuable member of the team. She doesn't just give us refreshments or provide First Aid, but she's a really good tactician too. When the coaches get stuck at something, she'd always put her input in the plays they try to create."

Gai led out a sigh. "And I'm not giving her enough credit. I thought… I thought my older stepbrother was just patronizing her whenever he tried to convince me that the ever-powerful Tomoeda High School soccer team needs her."

"You mean Kuze?" Syaoran asked curiously. "He's not patronizing her nor you. Look, we know about your family situation, about your mother getting married to Kuze's father very soon. You're from an average family, the Kuzes are one of the Tomoeda Elite. I know what you may be thinking, but from what I have seen, Kuze is just like you, you know?"

"Me? Like how?"

"He looks out for her, just like how you look out for her, like a real brother, you know? You're younger than her, but he's older than her. Best of both worlds from both sides, you know? You should be lucky and blessed."

"Blessed?"

"I'm the only guy in my family, Kuroda-kun, so I envy you."

THE Li Xiaolang envies me? I… I guess he's got a point… Gai's inner voice spoke. "Li-senpai, I—"

"You can call me Syaoran if you like… Gai-kun."

"Al… alright." Gai nodded. "Syaoran-senpai… I know this is really petty to mention this and I know I'm holding up the wait, but… that Kisaragi won't leave Mio-nee alone. He left messages on her phone last night and then he had the nerve to call her on her phone this morning too! I'm just scared that he might do something to her…"

Syaoran snickered. "We're talking about the same Kisaragi, right? Striker from the Nijibe team?"

"The same, but if you ask me, that other dude Asagiri… Shuuei Asagiri… is much more of a star than he is. I'd keep an eye on him and their playmaker, Goro Nakadoi. If you and Sakura-senpai here are today's Kinomoto-Li Power Pair, those two are their version of you guys."

"Hoe?" Sakura gasped, covering her mouth. "I… I don't think I've heard of that guy before… Goro Nakadoi…"

"Same," Syaoran nodded. "New guy?"

Gai began to turn his head around, then got closer to the couple. "Goro Nakadoi is sorta like you, Syaoran-senpai. He was born in Nijibe, moved out to Tokyo because his family business got expanded, and then just recently around last year, his family moved back to Nijibe. I don't know what kind of person that Nakadoi may be like, but I'd watch out for him. He may go after you and Sakura-senpai out in the field."

"Mou, we need to tell Kuze and the rest of the team about this new guy, Syaoran," Sakura whispered.

"Wait…" Syaoran rubbed his chin. "How'd you know all of this when you know the stupid law around this area?"

"You mean, about Tomoedans not allowed in Nijibe unless invited?" Gai snickered in return. "We're junior ecologists, Syaoran-senpai, remember? We skulk around the forests all the time, so much that we pretty much memorize the paths and signs that would lead us to all the other neighboring towns. We may not be allowed to go through the entrance arch of Nijibe, but who says we can't get there through the forest? Those Nijibe wimps are so concerned about their looks that they're terrified of all them mosquito bites living in the forests, you know? They don't even know how to use a bug repellant on their skin. It's pathetic."

Syaoran immediately realized something. He texted Yamazaki earlier to ask around to see if there would be anyone who would be willing to be their internal network, just like how rumor states that the Nijibe campers have sent their own spies to scout around the Tomoeda Camp. It looks like he may have found his new internal network.

"Gai-kun," Syaoran gave that same snicker. "I heard that you want to give your full support for the Troop Pegalion soccer team, right?"

"More than anything, Syaoran-senpai. I want to see those Nijibe snobs eat Tomoeda grass… and I want to see Kisaragi humiliated once more. I guess Mio-nee's power punch had no effect on him."

"Never mind just cheering us on, Gai-kun. You and your junior ecologists, from this day, you will be working in secret for me and the Troop Pegalion soccer team. What do you say?"

The junior ecologist kids arrived and joined Gai, standing right next to him. Sakura herself found herself even more confused than ever in this situation. Gai offered his hand, as he and Syaoran began to shake hands.

"You got yourself your team of spies, Syaoran-senpai."

"Hoe? Team of spies?" Sakura blinked.

"We'll talk again when we see each other at the Tomoeda Camp Hall later today, Gai-kun."

"Yes, Sir." Gai and the rest of the junior ecologists saluted and parted their ways to the other direction.

Sakura followed Syaoran from behind while they make their way back to the camper bike squad. "Syaoran, don't you think that's dangerous? I mean, they're just little kids and…"

"Shh," Syaoran hushed her. "I have a feeling that these Nijibe spies are either fake fangirls of mine or Eriol's, because Tomoeda can easily tell who's from Nijibe and who isn't when it comes to guys. No one will suspect little kids having fun in the summer being spies themselves."

"Mou, I hope you know what you're doing, Syaoran."

"I'll talk to Yuki-senpai about it later." He slipped his hand on hers and held tight, as they both reached for their bike, with Sakura on the back seat. "Besides, they want to play spy games with us? Then let's play."

Yamazaki and Chiharu were chatting when they both found the golden couple arriving at their bicycle. "Oi, where'd you two gone to?"

"Good news, Taka-chan," Syaoran smirked. "You won't have to ask around for our potential internal network anymore."

"What are you talking about, Syao-chan?"

"Not only that we would have to make you a star of the camp, Taka-chan, but we'll make Kuroda… Mio-chan that is… a star too."

"Erm… I don't get it, Syao-chan."

"You'll see. Just wait."

#

Nijibe Grand Hall (Troop Centaurs Meeting Checkpoint) - around the same time

One of the camper girls on the elegantly-formed Troop Centaur Camp dashed inside the lobby of an all-purpose hall resembling one of those intricate old-world European buildings. The Centaur campers wore crimson and gold, with their troop logo resembling a half-man, half-horse, armed with a bow and arrow. Though the design of their uniforms appeared similar to that of the Tomoeda Troop Pegalion uniforms, save the colors, the material they used was that of some expensive fabric designed for sports.

The girl, wearing black pigtails not resembling that of Chiharu's, appeared to her group of friends with an excited smile on her face. On her hand was her new copy of this month's edition of Oshare Boys Magazine featuring Li Xiaolang on the cover. She expressed her excitement when she flashed the cover right at them.

"Eeee! He's getting hotter and hotter every day!" One of the girls gleefully shrieked. "My gosh, I can't wait for camp to start! We're gonna be like… face to face with the Tomoeda Troop Pegasuses… um… troop! And he's going to be there!"

"Like, yeah," another one of the girls joined in. "Not to mention the new— and hotter— leading girl of the movie, Umika Minami. Oh my gosh, she and Li Xiaolang look sooo much better together than that Mai Hirashiki bitch. Like who the heck is she anyways?"

"Yeah," another one said. "She deserved the humiliation she got back at that little festival at Tomoeda a few days ago. How dare she try to ruin poor Li Xiaolang's happiness with his new love… how dare she!"

"Um, what new love, Momo-chan?" another one of the girls laughed. "It's all a rumor! I mean, what the heck, they're in that small-bit town Tomoeda anyways, like he's going to actually find some pretty girl to fall in love with, are you guys kidding me!"

The girl in the magazine crossed her arms right after she handed the magazine to one of them. "Tomoeda may be poorer than ours, but they have a good number of rich families over there that supports them, you know? The Li Family and the Daidouji Family are the most popular families in that town though." She gave out a deep sigh. "I swear though, Li Xiaolang doesn't fit with Tomoeda, I mean look at him! Does he look like a Tomoeda loser like most of them? No way!"

"Well then," the girl named Momoko answered with confidence. "Nijibe is a bit distant from Tomoeda, but it can't be that far. Time will come that he and the cast would be coming to visit us, have a special celebration, and who knows, if the rumors are true, maybe he would ditch that mystery girl and go for one of us."

The group of girls squealed loudly when they were interrupted by a somewhat strict male voice coming from them.

"Hey, what are you girls laughing about, huh?"

The girls gasped and turned their heads behind. A group of teenage boys around their age appeared, with one of them a familiar face among the Tomoeda folks. Co-captain Sojiro Kisaragi walked up to them with a displeased expression on his face.

"What the heck's wrong with you now, Kisaragi?" The girl originally showed the magazine to her friends made her demand, placing her hands on the waist.

"I can't believe you girls are still squealing over the enemy!" Sojiro pointed at the magazine.

"But it's Li Xiaolang! I mean, we've got some of the celebrities from the movie cast in our troop, and Li Xiaolang and Umika Minami and Eriol Hiiragizawa and Meiling Li are the same, representing Tomoeda, what the heck is wrong with you?"

"Are you chicks stupid or what?" Sojiro continued to yell out at them. "Sure, it's that hotshot idol Li Xiaolang that any girl would be squealing over, but get it through your heads. They're not forced to join the Tomoeda troop for this year's summer sports camp, they chose to join their troop. Li Xiaolang and Umika Minami may be two of Japan's hottest idols now, but the fact still remains that both of them are raised in Tomoeda. They're Tomoeda locals, for crying out loud, which means, they're both enemies!"

"You're just jealous because you got humiliated in front of everybody else two days ago by that loser ex-girlfriend of yours!" One of those same girls stuck her tongue at him. "And in the process, Nozomi Fujii even dumped you when she saw the Li Xiaolang in the flesh at that festival too!"

"And then she gets dumped by Li Xiaolang himself after that Tomoeda girl punched the lights out of him too. That's just humiliating," another girl led out a sigh. "To me, that's like Tomoeda picking a fight on us Nijibeans, you know?"

"Exactly!" Sojiro exclaimed. "It's as we all way— if one messes with one of us, one messes with the entire team! That girl… I don't even want to mention her name… messed with all of Nijibe, which is why we need to win this year's summer sports camp, especially in soccer! And I think, we are going to win in soccer. I mean, Li Xiaolang, Eriol Hiiragizawa, I bet you they haven't played soccer in so many years now because they're so busy with their showbiz careers, no way they're going to go all out against us!"

From behind, another voice interrupted the group with his own opinion. "There you go again, Kisaragi. Li Xiaolang is the future heir of the powerful Li Clan of China. If you're wondering what makes Tomoeda survive this long, even though they're less wealthy than us, it's because of him and his family. Triple that also with the Daidouji Clan and the Kuze Clan."

The entire group turned to see another Nijibe camper boy, standing at one corner, and obviously not from the same group of guys Sojiro Kisaragi came with. He leaned against a post with his arms crossed and that slight smirk on his face.

"Shuuei Asagiri… senpai…" a few of the girls murmured his name. A fellow soccer player and a familiar name to many Tomoeda soccer veterans, he opened his eyes and glanced right at his teammate.

"What would you know, Asagiri? You know what I said is right!" Sojiro called out.

"Oh, whoops," Shuuei chuckled. "I forgot. You joined the soccer team in middle school, so you never really had a chance to play against Li Xiaolang because he moved out of the country that time. Whoops indeed."

"We've talked about our plans every single day during practice and you're only telling me about this crap now?"

"Yes, we have good strategies to trap Tomoeda in our zone, Kisaragi, but I never said that their players are amateurs. You really need to pay attention to school sports history, man."

"What's that supposed to mean? Just because you're the mayor's son, doesn't mean you can just waltz around thinking that you're the man!"

Shuuei laughed. "You never learn, do you? Here, let me give you all a little bit of a sports history lesson." He cleared his throat as he approached the group.

"Before we all existed in this world, there was a powerful combination pair of players known in the early Tomoeda Elementary School soccer team, known as the Kinomoto-Li Power Pair. To be more specific, Touya Kinomoto, the team's lead striker, and Fanren Li, the first female member of the Tomoeda soccer team of any level, as their playmaker. Those two are inseparable out there in the field, and when they ruled Tomoeda school soccer, they kept beating every single team around, which included us. They kept going until middle school and high school, but by the time they graduated elementary school, Tomoeda became a weak team and we began beating them for about three or so years… until another Kinomoto-Li Power Pair suddenly emerged from Tomoeda Elementary, and then history repeated itself all over again."

"Another Kinomoto-Li Power Pair?" One of the boys gasped. "Are they related to the first pair?"

"Naturally," Shuuei said. "This second power pair are the younger siblings of Touya Kinomoto and Fanren Li. They go by the names of Sakura Kinomoto and Li Xiaolang. With Fanren Li being the first female member of the Tomoeda Elementary soccer team, that also made Sakura Kinomoto the second female member of that same team. But it's not just them that dominated us and regional school soccer, you know. They had a better lineup along with them— two more names to add to the power pair. They go by the names of Takashi Yamazaki, their team captain, and their new replacement goalkeeper, Kenichi Kuze.

"And before you ask which one of them will be their heart player, Kisaragi, they don't have one. If we want to beat Tomoeda, we have to beat all of their players. They work well together, dude. Very well."

Just as Sojiro was about to react with his open mouth, another male voice spoke to join in. "Asagiri, you're giving Tomoeda too much credit."

Those present turned to where the voice was coming from and spotted another star player in their team. "It's Goro Nakadoi!"

Shuuei looked up to see his partner standing across from him. "Not giving them any credit. Just stating the obvious facts."

"Please," Goro gave a chuckle. "The only facts that we all know about Tomoeda is that they're a bunch of simpletons when it comes to their quirky ass traditions, they're simpletons when it comes to treating strangers with so much sugary kindness, and that anything that is simple to them is elegant. Their music, their academics, and their sports, for example."

A female shrill laugher interrupted. Another familiar presence appeared before them. While Tomoeda has Tomoyo as the town princess, Nijibe has seventeen-year-old Nagisa Sakakihara, daughter of a prominent oil industrialist and a stage actress. She stood tall, at around 5'6", with long dark brown wavy hair that almost resembled that of Tomoyo's, and eyes as red as Meiling's rose red eyes. Many of the Nijibe boys pined for her attention, but like many other prominently rich girls, she was also hard to get.

Nagisa Sakakihara seemed to have many secrets, among them, her ideal man. Nijibe is predominantly a town for the rich and famous, and have plenty of sons of the wealthy elite, but she doesn't seem to be interested in any of them. She does, however, have a penchant on teasing or even talking down on them.

"Obviously, Nakadoi-kun, you have never been in Tomoeda, haven't you? You stuck-up soccer boys just love to cross that little town's borders and do what you can to intimidate the enemy soccer team, and yet you all come home completely defeated,"

"What are you talking about, Sakakihara-san? Who would anyone want to go to that shanty little town anyway?"

"Even just to take a glimpse of the very hot and sexy Li Xiaolang, his ex-girlfriend Meiling Li, or even the award-winning teen actress, Umika Minami? Like Asagiri-kun said, you shouldn't be estimating that little town. After all, they've defeated you guys several times, and even for a mere game of soccer."

She went on and crossed to the center, where all eyes immediately turned to her. "And for us, the majority of the female population, you are speaking ill of the little town where Li Xiaolang lived almost half of his life, you know? These girls here do care about winning against Tomoeda, but they don't really care if you guys win or not."

Shuuei slightly chuckled. "These girls here would rather see Li Xiaolang and Eriol Hiiragizawa in action out in the field than even cheering for our team. I don't really care either way." He stood straight from his leaning and stretched his arms. "I look forward to have a very good game of soccer, especially when I face Li Xiaolang one on one out there on the field this Friday."

Goro shook his head. "They don't have one star player, especially when there's four names familiar in that team… plus we don't know how Hiiragiawa plays too. I heard that he's a top player back in England, and we all know how good the English are."

Just as the conversation was about to continue, they hear one of their camp counselors call out for them. It was time for them to head to their main checkpoint for the opening ceremony, where they will be facing their opponents, Tomoeda Troop Pegalion, right on the same location.

"Alright guys, let's go!" Shuuei called out. They all made their way at the exit of their grand hall, leaving him and his teammate as the last two people present.

"I don't get you, Asagiri. If you couldn't care less who wins in this rivalry, why are you still playing soccer for Nijibe, anyway? I mean, you're our mayor's son, for crying out loud! You should be lifting our spirits up for this camp, not discourage us!" Goro showed his concern.

Shuuei turned his head at him. "Because I'm tired of it all. I joined because I love soccer and I love my home town. I'm just sick of the dirty tactics that our team and all the other teams always use just to win. And I'm right about the Tomoeda team, anyway."

Goro looked down. "Okay… um… I admit, some of our methods are a little… controversial, but you know about this town's history and that other town's history, you know what I'm saying?"

The star striker looked outside the door. "I also joined because I want to face Li Xiaolang again, after seven years of not seeing him on the field playing on the opposing team. Yes, I have the reputation and the prestige as a solid young striker, but all of that disappeared when he appeared on the Tomoeda team back at elementary school. Does that answer your question?"

Goro patted his friend on the shoulder. "I… I don't like how things are handled here either, but come on. Think, Asagiri, think! This is Tomoeda we're talking about! Never mind if idols like Li Xiaolang and Eriol Hiiragizawa, both highly experienced with soccer, are in their team, and that they're always well-loved by the majority of the female population including Nijibe, but forget them— they're still with the enemy, you hear what I'm saying? They may be a little poorer than us in pretty much everything, but they're the only ones who can equally match our superiority with… everything."

"So?"

"And another thing… the Tomoeda team manager really did Kisaragi in front of everyone at that little festival of his. I mean, seriously, no one has ever come up to Kisaragi like that before, let alone a girl like that team manager. Kisaragi wants his revenge on her, which is why he's adamant in winning our soccer match, not so we can get bragging points, but to also get his revenge on her in return."

"Kisaragi is an idiot like most of the guys in our team, how humiliating. As for me, I just want to have a good, clean, fair game."

The two boys proceeded to join the rest of their campers.

#

The main streets of Tomoeda - around the same time

The crowd at the sidewalks of the central square of Tomoeda waved their pegalion-themed flags and banners right when each group of campers on bikes cheered, applauded, and for those who were lucky to be present, learned an unofficial song that some may call the Troop Pegalion Hymn. The camp meeting yesterday was one of the most organized, if not somewhat out of the ordinary, town meetings that Tomoeda has ever seen, and even though many are not participating in the camp present, they were there for their support and to keep themselves up to date with Tomoeda's summer of fun.

Meanwhile, Ai Aihara, with her mic and a hidden headset on her right ear, began performing her duties as the Tomoeda correspondent while riding behind Shulai on their bike. These group of bikers were accompanied by a pick-up truck with the camera crew, filming the scene exclusively live on the Shonen-Shoujo Idol News. Like the rest of the campers and the spectators meeting them on the way, they repeatedly sung the "Unofficial Troop Pegalion Hymn" while Ai Aihara began speaking on the mic and facing the camera to her side.

"Thank you very much, Koide-san, Ando-san! To all the viewers out there, thank you for tuning in this very special exclusive edition of Shounen-Shoujo Idol News: Small Towns Showdown. I'm Ai Aihara, reporting to you live here in Tomoeda, and I am here along with a portion of the Tomoeda campers known as Troop Pegalion. Being that this is news about our favorite hot idols of today, not only that I will be covering the Tomoeda side of this happy and competitive summer sports camp, but I will be shadowing along our idols, Li Xiaolang, Umika Minami, Eriol Hiiragizawa, and Meiling Li, and all the activities that they do during these grueling two weeks! The summer sun out here is sweltering hot as always, and knowing all that, Troop Pegalion did the right thing in cooling themselves by heading to their meeting checkpoint on bicycles! In addition to the bikes, they also have their own unofficial troopers song. Let's go ahead and listen to it!"

She signaled the campers behind her and then began to sing:

Let's ride a bike and head for the dunes

Plenty of space and plenty of thrills

Gonna make a trail to the forest side

Hang on tight and we're gonna ride

Pegalions, ride our way to victory

Pegalions, go! Pegalions, go!

The campers and the spectators cheered loudly for their pride, with many spectators from behind attempted to chase them, just to be in front of the camera. The camera returned back to Ai.

"Tomoeda is very known around these neck of the woods as the most creative town. Whatever that's popular existing out there, they always find ways to make these same things better. This town isn't just known for their all-powerful soccer team—" The soccer players screamed with pride right at the camera, while their girlfriends hushed them to not interrupt Ai's narrative. She laughed and continued while speaking on the wireless phone via her headset to the hosts at the station. "— and yes, absolutely, they are very spirited, Koide-san! They area also known for their love of music and the positive messages behind them! You'll see what I mean when the second week of the camp begins."

"Aihara-san, where are you exactly? How are you able to view the campers on bike moving like that?" A middle-aged male voice from Ai's headset spoke.

"Oh, Koide-san, I'm also riding on a bike too, on the back seat! Because Ando-san appeared on camera with a Nijibe camper's uniform on, I too am appearing with the Tomoeda camper's uniform on too."

"Oh my, who is your mysterious handsome bike rider in front of you? I can't help staring at him, even if it's the back!" One of the older female voice spoke through her headset.

"Hello there, Nanami-san! The idols have decided that they would ride on bikes with a local, therefore, I'm doing the same thing, primarily for the experience." She turned her head and ready to place the mic on her biker. "A quick glance towards the camera, introduce yourself to the world quickly please!"

Shulai turned to the camera, exposing his face to the camera, which made the hosts on the station gasp with surprise.

"Is that Li Xiaolang riding the bike for you?"

"The viewers want to ask your name," Ai smiled, placing the mic on Shulai.

"Um… Li." Shulai gave his brief answer.

"But you are not Li Xiaolang-san, is that correct?"

Shulai shook his head and just smiled. "I am just one of the very many Lis living here in Tomoeda."

"What's your relation to Li Xiaolang-san then?"

Rather than answering the question directly, Shulai decided to play along. "Well, they can come over here to Tomoeda and find out for themselves, don't you think?"

Ai almost chuckled, with one of the female hosts spoke. "A typical Li, don't you think? Li Xiaolang-san himself is mysterious, and yet this… uncanny look-alike is the same as well. Are you sure he is not Li Xiaolang, Ai-chan?"

"Well then," Ai laughed at the camera. "Shall we focus now on the real Li Xiaolang, please?"

The camera shifted right behind Shulai's and Ai's bike. Just behind them are Syaoran and Sakura in one bike, Eriol and Tomoyo on another bike, and right between them are Yamazaki and a sleeping Chiharu with her face buried on his back, riding together at the same time.

"And here we are, folks! The real Li Xiaolang, his hot cousin Eriol Hiiragizawa, and a few of their childhood friends born and raised in Tomoeda. How are you guys doing?"

Already equipped with the headset, the two idol cousins greeted with a slight bow on their heads. Ai continued on with the interview. "So, now the hosts back at the studio are very confused between you and the sweet boy I'm riding with. He introduced himself as a Li after all and refused to release his first name."

Syaoran shifted his head towards Shulai, who was currently not paying attention at this point, then answered. "That's my cousin Shulai… well mine's and Eriol's and Meiling's cousin… one year younger than us. He's erm… well… he's a Li. That's all you have to know."

"Wow, I'm pretty sure that here in Tomoeda, everyone can tell which one of you guys is which. Is that true, Xiaolang-san?"

Quickly, Sakura, Tomoyo, Yamazaki, and Chiharu nodded. "Oh, it's pretty easy to tell them apart, you know? This is Tomoeda, a town small enough for everyone to know each other," Yamazaki answered for the locals surrounding them.

"Hey, you look familiar! We've met each other sometime last month, ne?"

Yamazaki gave the camera a thumbs up. "Yup. We're The Cool Rascals, one of the very few fine bands of Tomoeda. There's me, and then there's these two girls sitting behind Syao— Li-kun and Hiiragizawa-kun. That's us!"

"Good to see you three again!" Ai smiled. "So, as you local youth of Tomoeda who I assume have grown up along with Li Xiaolang here, how did you guys feel to have your childhood friend back home?"

"Very happy!" Sakura answered, peering from behind Syaoran's shoulder. "All of us— all of us campers that you see now— we all grew up with…" She froze for a bit, wondering how she would address Syaoran. She decided to be on the safe side. "… Li-kun, that is, Xiao… lang… kun… for six years… and we missed out seven years later… and we're happy that he found his way back home."

"Hello there! Although I already know you, those who just tuned in may probably wondering who on earth this lucky girl is, riding with Li Xiaolang on a bike on the way to camp! Maybe introduce yourself?"

"Kinomoto… Sakura. I'm Xiaolang-kun's… childhood friend. We met back in kindergarten. Me, Takashi Yamazaki here, and this rich girl behind Hiiragizawa-kun, Tomoyo Daidouji, we all sat on the same table during kindergarten, and ever since then, we were inseparable!"

"Well then, the world, I'm sure, is happy to meet you, Kinomoto-san! And let's hear it from the future heiress of the world-famous Daidouji Couture herself, Miss Tomoyo Daidouji! Well now, you look very well… equipped!"

Tomoyo placed her camcorder down and winked at the professional camera. "Hello there! I'm pretty sure the fans out there may be surprised that the daughter of the world-famous fashion designer Sonomi Daidouji grew up with Li Xiaolang here, ne?"

"Well then, being the 'princess of Tomoeda,' how do you feel about all these hot teen idols here on Tomoeda, being part of the Tomoeda Troop Pegalion camp, you know, everything? We have been curious with your own thoughts about all this, you know?"

The indigo-haired princess then flashed a grin. "Very overwhelming… for many people. But to me, it's destiny."

"Destiny? How so?"

"Our history has been very special, very memorable. It's kind of like… poor girl Cinderella being swept away by her very own Prince Charming. Tomoeda is really known for that… lots of Prince Charmings here and lots of Cinderellas here, you know? Well… I'm one of the few exceptions, but I still yearn for my own Prince Charming. That sort of thing."

Ai gave a perplexed look at Tomoyo Daidouji. "O… kay… well, I can see that you are chosen to ride along Eriol Hiiragizawa's bike. Well, you could've ridden the bike with Li Xiaolang too… or any one of the very many fine young hot guys in your town, ne?"

The thought gave Tomoyo and idea, gently nudging Eriol on the back. "Well, if it makes you wonder, the boys get to choose the girls they want to ride with them. Both the idol cousins and a few of the guys here did ask me, but I chose Hiiragizawa-kun, so Li-kun won't have to be shy in asking Sakura-chan to be the girl of his bike! Hohohoho~!"

"Hoe?" Sakura gasped, turning her eyes right at her best friend.

"What the— Daidouji?" Syaoran growled in shock. Sure, both he and Sakura do plan on revealing their true relationship with each other to the world, that is, the world outside Tomoeda, but today was not the right time.

"But it's true!" Eriol decided to back the princess up. "You see, one thing I've learned about Tomoeda since I arrived here last month. The atmosphere and the charm of this town and its people really does get to you. I'm very sure that you already felt it when you first came here."

Ai laughed. "Maybe you're right. It must be that good ol' Tomoeda charm!"

"Ah!" Sakura exclaimed, pointing forward. "I could see the arch leading to the Tomoeda Camp Hall!"

"Well then," Ai spoke to the camera, "for the time being, we'll be signing off. We need to get prepared for the opening ceremony! As Ando-san said in her Nijibe segment, the opening ceremony will take place at the open fields not too far from the camp hall. We'll keep in touch again!"

"And cut!" The camera man gave a thumbs up, with Ai sighing in relief, placing the mic down.

With only a few feet away from the entrance, most of the Tomoeda residents, and some different types of fanclubs scattered here and there, greeted with cheers, applauses, and waves from the navy blue and gold Troop Pegalion flags and banners. When the campers passed through the arch, they parked their bikes at the designated bike parking area.

Finally. The senior teens of Tomoeda, aged sixteen to eighteen, were about to partake in the first-ever summer sports camp with a revived rivalry with the town closest to them by distance, Nijibe. Syaoran, Eriol, Meiling, and Umika all sighed out in relief that they succeeded in biking their way through the streets without getting bombarded by fanatics here and there. Ai turned to the teens with her own message.

"I need to head off to the opening ceremony booth right now. I'll catch up with you guys later, alright?"

"Thanks for everything, dear Ai-chan," Eriol winked at her.

"Not a problem," Ai winked in return. "And by the way, Li-kun, I was tempted earlier."

Syaoran stared at the teen reporter. "Tempted… about what?"

"You and Sakura-chan, of course!" She gave a wide grin, with Sakura hushing her down.

"Um… no one knows about us… yet… well… not yet… anyway… please?"

"I know, I know," Ai laughed, "but you know, we can give our fans a little bit of a reality show treat with this year's summer sports camp. It's nationally televised, all cameras would obviously directed at Li-kun, Eriol-kun, Meiling-chan, and Umika-chan these next two weeks, which also means, some of you locals closest to them will also be on the camera. We can tease the public about you two, ne? Besides, I think Oh Yun Hwa-kun had a really great idea!"

Syaoran gritted his teeth, then snapped his head round to find Yun and Naoko talking while they park their bicycle. He called out right at him.

"Oh Yun Hwa! Get your ass back here right now!"

Yun slowly turned to see a furious Syaoran right at him. "What, Syao?"

"You told Ai Aihara your plan on promoting…" Before he was going to continue, he realized that his teen reporter friend may not know about him and Eriol being the two new members of The Cool Rascals yet and decided not to continue.

"Yes, Syao?" Yun blinked right at him, scratching his head.

"Never mind."

---

A/N: I know, it took me awhile to finish this chapter, but I finally did it.

Songs used: "All Strung Out" by Nino Tempo & April Stevens (this brother-sister duo sings really beautiful melodies. Sure, they may be oldies (1960s), but definitely goodies. I recommend listening to this song on YouTube if you're curious); "Ridin' Trails" by The Hondells (with the lyrics slightly altered to match the theme).

On the first scene, where Sakura sings a song from her songbook to Syaoran, if you don't remember, re-read Chapter 18: Pajama Party (Part 3) of Stuffed Animal.

At long last, they are finally at camp! Next chapter, of course, will be about, you know, camp. I really look forward to writing more chapters about their days at summer sports camp. New characters already emerged, it's going to be fun, hopefully.

On the other news, did you guys know that CLAMP will be releasing a brand-new CCS sequel manga as part of their 20th Anniversary Celebration? The first few chapters will be released on the Nakayoshi magazine in Japan this June 2016. It won't be long now, but hopefully we'll have the English translation of the sequel manga eventually, don't you think? I think Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle already had enough exposure. I'm glad CLAMP is going back to the basics once again. ^_^

I also opened an account at the new fanfic site, A3O (archiveofourown-dot-org). Since I can't link anything here, just look me up: Adri Mars. I will be re-uploading Stuffed Animal there that is also being edited too for inconsistencies, discrepancies, and the obvious grammar/spelling. Once I'm done, I'll be re-uploading the new edits back here.

Thank you DeadlySilentAnimeLover and Feiryn89 for the short nods. I'm quite surprised that I'm not getting the fast responses/reviews as I used to, but I'm patient.

Until next time! - Adri Mars