Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura is property of CLAMP.

Sorry for the wait!

I'm glad that you guys liked the last chapter. The "first day of school" will be done… finally by this chapter. It was a long first day, wasn't it? xD

Enjoy!

------------

Inscribed in the Blade

------------

Chapter Six

------------

"Class," Yukito said, snapping out of his daze and returning to the rest of his students, some of whom were now looking at him strangely as well, especially the two black-rank boys in the front. "We will have a simple session of self practice. You may all spar or perform your katas on your own or with your partner. Kino-kun."

Sakura looked back up at her brother's childhood friend and fellow spy for the South. "Hai, Tsukishiro-sensei?" The world tumbled from her lips naturally, and the moment they spilled forth, she realized it was too late to grab them back. Yukito had not yet told her his name.

Both of them had visibly tensed, noticing her slip, but Yukito continued smoothly as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. It was a small mistake, with any luck, no one else had thought anything of it. "Who is your partner?" he asked.

"Li," she said shortly, grimacing. Another round with the muscle mass of death? She was tired enough already as it was.

Yukito seemed surprised but nodded. "Everyone else may begin practicing. Li-kun and Kino-kun may come over here with me. I want to see how much skill you have with a katana, Kino-kun."

Syaoran and Sakura both picked up their swords and walked over to where their instructor was while everyone else began dispersing around the room.

"I want to see how much you've improved, Kura-san," Yukito said, smiling at her as soon as the three of them were in their own separate part of the room. "I haven't seen you since you were just a little boy."

Sakura stared at him, not sure what he was planning, but she had no choice but to play along. Perhaps he was making up for her mistake earlier. "It's been a while, Yukito-san," she responded cheerfully. Syaoran said nothing, but simply drew his sword.

"You wanted to test his strength, yes?" his deep voice said clearly. "Then let's begin, Yukito-sensei."

Sakura wasted no time drawing her katana as Syaoran's own sword came swinging down at her without warning. She glared up at him as their two blades were still locked together in midair, him bearing down upon her. "Not much for fair play, are you, Li?" she snarled resentfully. "Is giving fair warning below you?"

He smirked at her as he pulled his sword back suddenly, and the two of them sprang apart. "The point of this fight is to see what level a fighter you are. Whether or not you are on guard is an important aspect of a warrior's training," Syaoran taunted, before adding. "I would not have attacked if I did not think you could handle it."

Sakura wasn't sure whether he had just insulted or complimented her, but she was too distracted to care. Her arm, shoulders and upper thighs were already aching from that brief moment of contact – he was strong.

"You know very well that we are in a proper dojo right now, Li-kun," Yukito said sternly, stepping between the two of them. "No matter what your intention, your actions were not above reproach."

Syaoran looked over at him, and to Sakura's great surprise, he bowed his head in assent. What was this? Even to the other masters the Li heir had shown only marginal respect. Sakura felt uneasy as she looked back and forth between the two men.

"Good," Yukito smiled at both of them. "Now let's start this properly. Both of you get into your ready positions, and I will start the spar. Neither of you need hold back, as I will intervene in this match as I see proper. Ready?"

Sakura found herself staring at her opponent's sword as they moved across from each other. Now that she noticed… Syaoran's sword really wasn't a katana at all. It was wider, and double-edged. There was no curve at the tip of the blade, and there was a strange looking talisman hanging at the end of the hilt. Some form of a Chinese sword, perhaps?

"Begin!"

Sakura decided to give him the first attack. She had no idea what kind of style Syaoran fought with, and if his sword skills were anything like his hand-to-hand fighting techniques, this match would not last long if she was careless.

His deep, brown eyes surveyed her for a moment, before a smirk appeared on his lips. With a jolt, Sakura saw that he was charging directly at her… fast! She'd never seen anyone move that quickly before. Within a second he was upon her, and their blades had locked together once again.

He wanted to see how she would get of this situation, Sakura realized. She was obviously smaller and had fewer muscles, and it would be impossible to disengage herself without some skill. What frightening ability, he was forcing her to show some of her hand with the first move.

If that's the way it was going to be, then she wanted to show him all of her talent… but that was impossible, with the current situation.

Clenching her teeth, Sakura deftly broke his hold on her by moving her sword so that the two hilts met with a jerk, and she slid out from under him, swiftly elbowing him in the gut. With anyone else, this maneuver ought to have disarmed her opponent, but Sakura had long discovered that her new partner was far from average.

She didn't bother waiting for an opening, but sprung to the side, distancing herself from him. The muscles in her arms were still ringing from the pressure he had placed on her. Syaoran had recovered quickly, just as Sakura had expected, but she knew he was more interested in seeing what she had to offer than defeating her quickly. It would only be proper for her to satisfy.

Sakura took a deep breath and lifted her katana so that the hilt was by her right ear, and the tip of the blade pointed straight at Syaoran.

"The first step," she stated clearly. The other boys had paused their own matches to turn and stare at theirs. Syaoran's confusion at her statement was evident by his frown, but his eyes never left her, waiting for her attack to begin.

Sakura sighed inwardly. She wanted so badly to challenge Syaoran with her full potential, but her own fighting style would reveal her almost immediately. But still, her father's technique was far from weak.

She swung her blade in an arc to her right… then brought it back around in front to slash diagonally down to the opposite end, only to mirror the motion on her left side, completely the X made in front of her. Then she brought the blade back up to its original position, parallel to the side of her face. This was the opening.

Immediately, Sakura ran at Syaoran, and began engaging him in a series of parries, cutting at him, all the while, with the same X she had made before. Just as she expected, Syaoran defended himself easily, but she was impressed anyways. Having been on the receiving end of her father's sword technique many, many times, it was really an accomplishment to successfully block the oncoming torrent of slashes and cuts – a succession that was quickly speeding up with every passing seconds.

Soon, both of their arms were blurs as Sakura began backing Syaoran up across the room. "So you can produce some force with those skinny arms of yours," he said, smirking at her. Sakura merely smiled and continued her attack.

She knew it couldn't last for long. Sakura simply wasn't suited to her father's style of fighting. Although the increase in speed added more power to her attack, her fundamental lack of pure strength and muscle created a fatal flaw in the technique's overall scheme. There was a reason she had adopted a style other than her father's.

"But it seems you have a bit more practicing to do, doesn't it?" Syaoran's deep voice said next to her ear. Sakura didn't even bother responding. What was to come next, she already knew from many, many years of experience.

All it took was one clean halt to her succession of attacks. Syaoran flattened the side of his blade against her katana's sharp edge. With her balance slightly broken with the sudden change of surface, he was able to throw her back, and following with the same stroke, pointed his sword to her nose.

Sakura shut her eyes and sighed. "Give," she mumbled miserably. Because she had practiced with her father so many times, her recovery time between breaks had become smaller, and she had been able to fend off many decent fighters even with this tiny flaw, but against better samurai like her father or Syaoran, this exposed weakness was too great to overcome. Her lack of strength made counterattack possible for a strong opponent, and made formidable defense impossible without some few moments of preparation. Usually, she would either roll away, or twist around her opponent to restart her attack, but against Syaoran the chances to do so were slim.

His dark brown eyes surveyed her, and a frown had appeared on his face. Was he disappointed with her performance?

The sound of clapping woke Sakura from her musings. Yukito walked over to the two of them, smile on his face. "Very well done both of you. That was a fine performance," he said cheerfully. "Kura-san, you have improved."

"Ahh… arigatou sensei," she said quietly, not meeting his eyes. For some reason, she felt dissatisfied – as if she had had the last bite of a delicious meal stolen from her. … was she getting hungry?

Around her, the other boys began mumbling again, and most of them returned to their own spars. Sakura looked up at Syaoran and forced a smile. "You really are good at everything, aren't you?" she said.

He didn't respond to her question, but simply raised his sword again. "One more round."

Sakura looked over at Yukito, and he nodded. "I've already seen what level you fight at, the two of you make rather suitable partners," he laughed. "I'll just leave you two then. Keep on sparring while I walk around the other pairs. Have fun, Kura-san, Li-kun."

As the instructor left, her gaze returned to the smirk on Syaoran's face, and she grimaced. Another long, long lesson.

----------

Sakura sank into the large furo with a tired sigh. The hot, murky water from the bath salts left her muscles feeling so good. How long had it been since she last enjoyed a bath this much? She looked around the wooden bathhouse cheerfully. There were some advantages to staying in a dojo with Syaoran after all. According to Eriol there was a large bathhouse near the dorms, but the majority of it was made up of a public bath. There were private stalls, but apparently the lines waiting for them were rather long.

"Lalala…" Sakura lifted her legs out of the water and curled her toes happily. The furo here was large and comfortable, and most importantly, very, very private. Only she and Syaoran had access to it after all. Perhaps it had been a reward for keeping up with him all day in such strenuous activities, but he had actually shown her where the bath was and had even offered to let her use it first. This was like heaven… the warm, soothing feeling made her feel comfortable and it reminded her of her own bath at home.

Humming a tune her mother had taught her as a child, Sakura cheerfully rubbed more wash solutions into her milky skin. It seemed that what sunlight she had been soaking in during her trip to the north simply didn't want to stay in her skin. Sakura wondered if it would be weird if she never developed a decent tan…

But the Academy was certainly full of such strange people. From Eriol's enigmatic smile… to Syaoran's terrifying strength… even Yamazaki's strange stories were a new experience for her. It seemed amazing that so many different people could gather in one place – not to mention Yukito-san! She'd long gotten over her childhood crush, but she was so, so happy to see a friendly and familiar face.

The rest of the teachers had been rather intimidating, Terada-sensei had been kind, but Yue-sensei was simply in a category of his own. And the workload they had each day… would she be able to handle all of it? The students in the Academy were obviously talented and well trained. The pace they moved at was probably unthinkable at any other school.

Sakura lifted her hands out of the water and stared at the scratches on them absentmindedly. Things were going to get tougher from here on out, but there was no way she could give up. Emerald eyes darkened, and unconsciously, her hand tightened into a fist, her nails digging into her palm. She still had to kill him… and find what had happened to Touya.

Some muffled noises from outside the bathroom door made her sit up straight, her hands pressed to her chest. She had been inside for almost half an hour already… even though Yukito had let their class out early, she'd stayed back to talk to him and explain her circumstances. If she didn't get out soon, Syaoran wouldn't get a chance to wash properly before dinner. Plus, boys were supposed to take fast baths weren't they? It would probably be strange if she stayed there any longer.

Sakura stood up, her hands still grasped firmly to her chest. There was plenty of steam in the room, and she had a hard time seeing. Where had she put her washcloth?

Just as she reached to grab the fallen piece of fabric, Sakura felt a cold wave of air hit her body. Immediately, she looked over to the bath entrance in fear. Someone… someone must have opened the door. But her emerald eyes saw only a shut shoji door, and lots and lots of steam. Had… it just been her imagination? No, that was impossible. She definitely felt a cool blast of air hit her wet skin, but why hadn't she heard the door open? Perhaps there was an open vent somewhere in the room and she simply hadn't noticed before?

Now wasn't the time to consider such things! Quickly drying her body and pulling a clean set of clothes on, Sakura rushed out of the bathhouse. Syaoran was waiting for her outside, a serious expression on his face. For one moment she was terrified he was going to demand why she, a female, was at the Academy… but all he said was, "You take far too long. This is the last time I let you use the furo first."

To Sakura's great relief, he merely glared at her before stepping inside and shutting the door. She stared at the shut door for a few seconds before running as fast as her tired legs could take her to her room.

As soon as she was inside, she collapsed on her futon, her heart pounding loudly. Was it simply a coincidence that Syaoran had been outside waiting for her? Had he… had he seen? Had he opened the door?

"But…" But it hadn't seemed like he had found out about her identity. And if he had been outside the entire time, then no one else could have gone inside either. There was a small room to change in before the actual room with the furo… perhaps he had simply opened the first door and had realized that she was still inside? Maybe that was where the cod wind had come from.

Sakura's fingers shook as she picked up a comb and ran it through her long auburn tresses. All she could do was watch Syaoran carefully and see if he treated her any differently. She was perfectly certain sure that he would have simply turned her in if he had realized she was a girl.

"I wonder what time it is right now?" she asked into the silence of her room.

It was not until her hair had dried and heart calmed down that Sakura walked out of the dojo. After a few minutes of absentminded wandering, Sakura realized that something seemed off. She had been sure the main hall had been just beyond the third dojo… oh dear.

A feeling of dread sunk down her spine. Was she lost? The sun was quickly setting, and even though she had spent most of the day running between classes, she'd always had Eriol with her then. Why, why was her terrible sense of direction kicking in now?

"Eriol?" she called out nervously. It couldn't hurt to try, right? Sakura looked frantically around. None of the buildings looked familiar in the dark… a sudden thought made her smother a whimper begging to rise from her throat. And what if, what if…

But there couldn't be any ghosts here right? Those were just scary stories Touya had told her to frighten her as a kid, right? There was no reason for her to be scared of ghosts now. She was older, wiser, and what more, she had more pressing difficulties to worry about! Ghosts were nothing compared to traveling alone into the North and impersonating a boy to enter the Academy. Nope, nothing to be scared of at all.

Then she saw it. A sudden reflection of light coming from behind her, but when she turned around, it was dark again.

"G-Ghost-san?" she whimpered. Slowly Sakura turned back around to walk in the opposite direction. If nothing else, she wanted to get as far away from the ghost…. No, ghosts don't exist, ghosts don't exist…

BANG!

Sakura jumped high into the air, screaming, "Ghost!!!" She crouched down on the ground, her hands covering her head. How had she gotten herself into this situation? She should have just left with Syaoran when he finished his bath!

She remained in that position for several long minutes before her stomach growled loudly. Sakura mumbled a string of incoherent curses. She was torn between remaining there, crouching on the ground in fear, or getting up and finding the dinner hall. After all that exercise during the day, she was starving!

"Ah… I want to eat yakisoba…" Sakura mumbled. She was so hungry she could almost taste the delicious, fried noodles in the air. Sakura sniffed sadly… Huh? Now that she thought about it, she could almost really, really smell yakisoba.

Sakura stood up quickly. She could actually smell dinner!

------------

"Ne… where's the new boy, Kino?" Kikumaru asked while munching on his fish. "We're already half way through dinner, he's going to miss the main course if he doesn't hurry. Hey Eriol, you don't suppose he's lost do you?"

The sapphire-eyed boy frowned. "He might be," Eriol said slowly. "Perhaps it'd be best if I went out to go look for him. The Academy can often prove to be quite a maze even for people who've stayed here their entire lives."

"Don't bother going, Eriol," Syaoran said suddenly, startling the others. They all stared at him as he continued to eat. They waited for a few long moments before he finally said. "That idiot, Kino, is probably so hungry right now that his nose will lead him here. It won't be long now."

"Ano… and what if he doesn't manage to find the main hall, Li?" Yamazaki asked, laughing. "I certainly wouldn't want to miss dinner if I had a day like his."

Just that moment, the main door of the hall opened and they looked up to see a very relieved Sakura standing in the doorway.

"Oi!! Kino!! Over here!" Andou called loudly over the din. "We were wondering if you'd gone and died after a day of sparring with Li! Get over here." They all laughed good-naturedly.

Too relieved to retort, Sakura simply sunk onto the zabuton next to Eriol's. "I'm so HUNGRY!!" she groaned before immediately seizing the bowl a servant had placed in front of her and shoving mouthfuls of noodles down her throat rapidly.

"We still have gentleman's class after this, Kino," Andou grinned. "Don't eat too quickly or you'll have an upset stomach. The manners master doesn't take kindly to the phrase 'I need to take a dump'."

Somehow, Sakura managed to spit out the words "Shut it", in between mouthfuls, and they all laughed again. Syaoran alone out of all of them did not even crack a smile. Instead, he merely observed her quietly, a frown on his face, as if thinking something over very seriously.

As it turned out, it had been a good thing she'd eaten as fast as she could. The gong rang not ten minutes later, and Sakura left the hall, her stomach perfectly satisfied. She would have been very happy if it were not for her fear of reentering the darkness outside where ghosts might be lurking. If Eriol noticed that she stuck a bit closer to him than before, he refrained from commenting.

Sakura felt much better as she stumbled into the light-filled room. To her surprise, this place was neither a dojo nor a classroom, but instead a spacious and fancy reception room, with zabutons lined up in two rows down the length of the room and a single cushion at the head of the lines. When she shot Eriol a confused look, he laughed out loud. "This is the gentleman's class Kura-san, of course we would have to take our lessons in an appropriate setting," he explained.

"Oh, I see," she said. "Then, is there assigned seating in this class?"

The others looked slightly surprised. "Kino… seating is by rank of course. Not only for the students of this Academy, but that's the standard procedure for almost all formal occasions," a raven-haired Kudou added. "But as the new student, you'll probably be placed in a seat of honor and treated as a guest until you receive your rank, but it'd be most polite to seat yourself at the end to begin with."

"I'm just not used to non-female seating – ah! I mean, seating without females present, of course," Sakura corrected quickly, her eyes swerving to Syaoran's stoic expression. When he obviously didn't have any intention of paying her words any attention, she looked away. Perhaps the cool wind at the bath had been due to the vents after all.

Eriol merely smiled at her small blunder and gestured toward the last zabuton.

When they had all taken their seats, Sakura was not surprised to find Syaoran and Eriol sitting facing each other on opposite sides at the front of the lines of seats. From there on, everyone sat according to the color of his wristband rank. A tall, handsome man strode into the room and took his seat at the front zabuton. Sakura's first impression of him was that he seemed to walk as if on air. His footsteps made no sounds, and there was barely any rustling of fabric as he sat gracefully down in front of them.

When the man she assumed to be their instructor turned to smile at her, Sakura instantly felt an inexplicable cold chill shiver down her spine. What was going on?

"Please, Kino-kun. As you are our new student, you must have a special seat seeing as today is your own special day. If you will please excuse me, I have taken the liberty of reviewing your personal information a few moments ago, and I think its extraordinary that your first day here happens to coincide with your birthday," The teacher clapped his hands grandly, and immediately a servant came, holding a zabuton in his hands, and laid the cushion down to the instructor's right. "If you would please," he said smoothly, motioning to the new seat next to him.

Careful to stand as neatly as possible, Sakura held her breath as she made her way across the room and next to the teacher. She remembered to make a proper bow to him before taking her seat. "You do me too much honor, sensei," she mumbled respectfully. Somehow, being so near this man was putting her on her guard. Sakura remembered the warning her father had once given her as a child.

"A handsome face and pretty manners are all very well and pleasant, but the more cunning the enemy the more formidable the façade."

This person definitely had a handsome face and pretty manners, but still she wasn't charmed.

"Very good," he said, nodding at her formalities. "You may address me as Li-sensei. Now, let us begin class. As you have probably already heard from your peers, the purpose of this class is to teach our students how to behave in formal occasions. This includes not only manner fitting of noblemen our rank, but also diplomatic etiquette."

Sakura stared wordlessly at him. The moment he had mentioned his surname, she had immediately looked over at Syaoran. Were they, perhaps, related? But when Li-sensei finished speaking, the class became silent, and Sakura became aware that everyone was looking at her. Had she missed something?

Sakura felt a panic seize her and she looked up at him nervously. "Hai, Li-sensei," she murmured, chancing a guess at what she was supposed to do. This seemed to satisfy her newest teacher, and he went back to addressing the entire class.

"Today we will continue our lesson on the proper way to address different types of opponents. However, I have a surprise for you starting next week that I'm sure you will all enjoy," he said, smiling his grand smile. "Now, does anyone know how one ought to address an enemy of equal or higher rank?"

His dark brown eyes surveyed the room patiently until someone raised their hand. Sakura nearly stood up in surprise as she realized why those wooden, brown eyes had put her so off balance. They were the same eyes as Syaoran's… and those belonging to the scar-faced man. But there was no scar on his face.

"Yes, Yamazaki-kun?" he asked. Sakura thought that even his voice moved with incredible flourish. He was extremely polite and seemingly kind, yet she had felt safer when standing next to Syaoran, someone who had thrashed her from morning to evening.

The dark-haired boy answered cheerfully, "One must address him according to the title his own people address him, out of respect." Sakura looked around the room, observing the other students' reactions. No one else seemed as uneasy as she felt… perhaps she was simply tired?

"Very well said, Yamazaki-kun," he said. "Although a more unrefined enemy might attempt to mock you by disregarding formalities, you must never lower your own standards to meet his or hers."

The lesson continued for a while on the same topic, and Sakura found herself only half paying attention. Although the customs taught here were slightly different than those of the South, Sakura's father had trained her in every formal decorum she would ever need, whether she was at home greeting neighbors or exchanging in diplomatic relations with Northerners. She had, of course, learned them from a girl's point of view though.

Li-sensei's lesson had ended rather uneventfully, and as the students left the room, Sakura had a thoughtful frown on her face. She stole over to where Eriol was and whispered a question that had bothered her the entire lesson.

"Ne Eriol, is the teacher related to Li?" she asked quietly.

Eriol nodded gravely. "He is Syaoran's older brother, Li Dairan," he told her in a hushed tone. After a moment's pause he continued. "The two do not get along very well, so it'd be best if you didn't mention Dairan to Syaoran."

"They don't get along well?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Ah, it is more like Syaoran dislikes his brother…" Eriol struggled to find the best words to explain. "Disapproves of him, actually. They are rather different, don't you think?"

Her emerald eyes glanced over to where Syaoran's back was facing them, several paces ahead. "Yes, they're not similar at all."

That night when she went to bed, Sakura dreamt of three identical pairs of dark brown eyes. Two of them had closed in on her with malicious intent, and she had heard two indistinct voices she would later in the morning decide belonged to the scar-faced man and Syaoran's brother, Dairan. But the third pair of eyes had swept in before the other two could hurt her and had protected her.

Unlike the two other eyes, the voice coming from the last pair was clear, and she recognized it right away. The last pair of eyes had belonged to Li Syaoran.

------------

Tsuzuku…

------------

Haha. How was it? I know that this was a LONG first day of school… maybe I'll go back and condense it some other time, but I really wanted all of you to get a good picture of the life Sakura is going to live at the Academy. How did I do?

Please review! Oh, and just a reminder, anonymous reviews are now allowed on my stories… sorry about that!

Dairan – maybe you've noticed, but the "ran" part of this new (self-invented) character's name is similar to Syaoran. Syaoran's name translates to Xiaolang in Chinese, which means, "little wolf". Therefore, Dairan's name translates to Dalang in Chinese, which would mean "big wolf" or "top wolf". That's where I came up with his name! I know, a bit unoriginal, isn't it?

A/N: Just as a side note, the name Yelan translates to Yelang in Chinese, which is the most correct way to say "wolf". Just thought you might like to know.

zabuton – seat cushion Japanese people use to kneel on

ano – um

oi – hey!

ne - hey…

furo – bath

hai – yes

arigatou – thank you