Agent08 Reporting for Duty!

Now… on with chapter seven!

Casting Shadows

Mistaken Identity

Despite the impeccably smooth landing that the pilot was able to manoeuvre, the stomachs of both Syaoran and Sakura were not well. While they tried their best to mask the unease they both felt, it was almost unnecessary. As it turned out, they were both too concerned with hiding their own feelings to notice the other's.

As Syaoran took the luggage from the bins, once again declining help from either of the girls and flight attendants, he silently made his way through the first class isle and exited the plane. Nodding to the attendants that bade him goodbye; he looked over his shoulder to make sure that the two girls were not far behind.

"Thank you for flying with us," said a cheerful blonde said with a kind smile to both Sakura and Tomoyo. "We hope you enjoyed your flight."

"Thank you," they replied sincerely. As they stayed close behind Syaoran to follow him to wherever it was that he was leading them to, Tomoyo could not help but notice how on edge Sakura seemed to be. Just a few moments before, she was the most excited that she'd ever seen her in a very long time. But now, she wasn't quite sure what her best friend was feeling.

"Was it a bad flight?" Came Tomoyo's blunt inquiry. She knew that Sakura would understand why she was asking.

After a split second of hesitation, she stuttered whilst shaking her head, embarrassed, "N-no. It was a good flight. I'm sorry, please don't worry. I'm just anxious and I'm already missing home…"

Tomoyo raised her eyebrows. She took a mental note of how she had said, "missing home" rather than, "missing Kaito-kun" and inwardly told herself that maybe her plan of getting her two old friends back together again was working.

"Relax," Tomoyo insisted, patting her on the back. "We're going to have a great time. Trust me – the adventure has only begun!"

Inside, Sakura knew that Tomoyo was right. It would be a fantastic adventure that she would be embarking upon with her two best friends – like before. And it really had only just begun – in ways she had no idea.

xxxxxx

Glass doors slid aside and a gust of cold air welcomed the faces of Tomoyo, Syaoran and Sakura to rainy England. Umbrellas suddenly appeared on all sides of them as men dressed in black uniforms stared at Syaoran, apparently waiting for orders.

Sakura and Tomoyo stared in wonder. "Friends of yours, Li-kun?" asked Tomoyo, nudging her head towards the man in black nearest to her.

He ignored her and beckoned to the man holding the umbrella directly above his head to the sleek black car parked a little ways to their left. "Come with me and help with the luggage, please," he asked, already walking to the rear of the vehicle. Calling over his shoulder, he further instructed, "And please help the girls into the car."

The other man holding the larger umbrella over Sakura and Tomoyo nodded and offered Tomoyo, the girl he was nearest to, his arm. She took it with a smile and he held the car door open for them, after escorting them the whole way with the umbrella firmly over their heads, as if maintaining the dryness of their hair was his only purpose in life.

After sitting only a few minutes on their own inside the car, they were later joined by Syaoran. The two men who had come to their aid sat in the front in the driver and passenger seat and almost immediately raised the partition that separated them from the three foreigners sitting in the rear.

"Those are some servants you have," Tomoyo commented, though how she even had the nerve to tease was beyond Syaoran. As a child, she had "servants" just like those men, only female. Syaoran could remember them being present at several school events when they were still children.

"They're not my servants," Syaoran grunted.

Tomoyo snorted. "No?"

He sighed, annoyed. "I called them in specifically because I know you two can't speak very good English. They work for the car Japanese car company that I do close business with and this is just a favour."

"Whatever you say, Li-kun. Or maybe I should start calling you 'Your Highness'?" she asked, laughing at her own joke.

As lame as it was, Sakura joined in her laughter, and suddenly Syaoran felt that, as long as he could hear her emit a noise as adorable and melodic as that, she could laugh at his expense whenever she damn well pleased.

He ignored Tomoyo's remark and lowered the partition by an inch. "The Yoshida Tower, please," Syaoran said.

The man in the driver's seat did what appeared to be a salute in response to his "command", and as soon as the partition was lifted once more, Tomoyo and Sakura burst into another fit of giggles.

Syaoran rolled his eyes and prayed that he seemed more indifferent than embarrassed.

Soon the car was moving and they were on the way to drop their things off at Kaito's hotel, as he had insisted they should do. Syaoran was still feeling uneasy about it, mad at himself that he couldn't keep his vow to not stay there for as long as Kaito remained intimate with Sakura. But it wasn't as if he could decline the offer.

The man practically guilted him into agreeing to stay there – and even if he chose to sleep elsewhere, it would be showing Sakura his weakness. More than that, it would probably make her wonder why he didn't want to, leading to the most probable conclusion (if her denseness didn't deter her, of course). And he would do anything to prevent both of those things from happening.

After a few minutes of silence as they watched raindrops dribble down the window, Tomoyo pouted and said, "We can't even roll down the windows to site-see. It's raining too hard."

"You'll have plenty of opportunities to site-see," Syaoran said, wanting more to shut her up than to comfort her. But if he happened to do both, then he was glad. "I can set up a private, personal tour for you, if you like. You can choose what you want to see and the activities that you do."

Both girls squealed. "That would be great!" Sakura exclaimed, clapping her hands. "I would love that."

He nodded. "When you're settled and unpacked, you can name the day."

"Oh, Syaoran-kun," Sakura said, literally feeling like a spoiled brat. How much more were the men in her life going to provide her with nice things? "You could do that for us? Really?"

He shrugged, feeling uneasy. Yes, he was able to do a lot of things for a lot of people – it was one of the perks of being as rich as him, and as connected to certain people like he was. But the way she was fawning over his kindness – it was very similar to the way she had thanked Kaito for providing them with free, five-star hotel hospitality while they stayed in England – and it was much too similar for his liking.

He did not want her to think, for one second, that he was anything like Kaito. Sure, he was a devastatingly outstanding gentleman that loved her and treated her like a queen, so to be compared to him would be a compliment for any man. But not for Syaoran. He hoped that, if it ever happened that Sakura chose him over Kaito, that it would be because of how they were different – and not similar.

"Well, only if it is something you two would like. Guided tours can sometimes be boring. You guys think about it and if you still want to, I'll make sure to call the right people."

Tomoyo fell back against her seat blissfully. "You're right. We have a whole seven days to think about what we want to do while we're here."

"Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said, her voice disapproving. "We can't spend the whole time enjoying ourselves. We have an issue to resolve, remember?"

Syaoran shook his head. "Don't worry about that."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Hoe?"

"You two don't have to do anything. You can relax, unwind, visit the sites. I can handle the work. It's my problem, after all."

Sakura was frowning. "But…"

There was a tap at the window before the door was opened wide. They heard an umbrella being opened outside as a man offered his arm to Tomoyo.

"We're here," said the driver with a pleasant smile.

Tomoyo glanced quickly to her two friends, an intrigued smile on her face. A disagreement, she felt, was on its way. And disagreements, especially between Syaoran and Sakura, were always interesting.

They were helped inside, one man for each of them to hold an umbrella over their head. Soon they were inside, and Syaoran was taking a quick look of his surroundings. He was surprised to find the Tower very similar to the Yoshida Tower back in Japan. So similar, in fact, that there were Japanese employees everywhere. He wanted to roll his eyes. Of course, the upstanding, Japanese business man and hotel owner would think to give his hotel jobs to his fellow country men and women first. How much kinder could Kaito get, really?

A bellhop was already outside, loading their things out of the car and onto a trolley. They were unsure of what to do next, since Kaito had only told them that his staff was informed of their arrival and accomodations. They were given no instructions by Kaito of what to say or do once they arrived, so Syaoran had no choice but to approach the brunette behind the receptionist desk, who awaited him readily, quickly fixing the hair around her face and giving her best smile.

"Excuse me," he said, not knowing where to start. "Are you the hotel manager around here?"

She smiled flirtatiously and blinked her heavy lashes at him. "I am indeed – how can I help you, sir?"

Maybe, if he mentioned Sakura, the owner's fiancée, she would know what to do and give them their penthouse key cards. "I'm with Kinomoto Sakura – over there," he said, nodding in her direction. Sakura was waiting with Tomoyo near the entrance, who was supervising the transfer of their luggage like her life depended on it. She waved and smiled upon noticing that she was being pointed at.

"We were told we'd be staying in the penthouse suite?" he asked, when the girl gave no reply. "Perhaps you could… um, show your guests to the—?"

Referencing a clipboard she had in her possession briefly, her eyes widened upon seeing something scribbled on the paper. Suddenly the girl snapped to attention, realizing what Syaoran was saying, and blushed furiously. "O-oh! Of course, you are with Kinomoto-san and her guest! My apologies, sir. Please excuse my customer service. I had no idea. If you follow me…" she said, clearly flustered over flirting with a personal guest of her boss.

Syaoran stared at her, one eyebrow lifted, as she walked stiffly to the elevator. He called the two girls over who were checking to make sure that their luggage was not too badly drenched. They quickly tipped the bellhops and ushered themselves into the elevator in front of Syaoran and the lady who was showing them to their rooms.

Before stepping out of the elevator the brunette asked, "Would you still like to be given the tour, sir?"

For some reason, she had only asked Syaoran, and not the entire party. Ignoring that, Syaoran considered her query instead of lingering on why she hadn't also asked the girls. He probably could have told her to get lost, especially since it would not be his first time staying in a Yoshida Tower penthouse suite. The structure would probably also be frighteningly similar to the Japan penthouse suite, he himself did not need any kind of tour, whatsoever. But he figured he might as well let the lady do her job rather than make her feel useless like he did to the flight attendants on the plane ride in. The girls might have appreciated being shown around, anyway.

"Why not?" he answered as they arrived on the penthouse floor.

She nodded and took the lead almost immediately. Smiling back at them briefly once they arrived at the door, she swiped they key card through the slot and allowed them all entry, spreading her arms as if to say "voila".

"This is the first floor of the penthouse suite," said the woman, walking further into the sitting area. "The entire floor is all for you to enjoy."

Tomoyo, realizing that it was her that was being spoken to, widened her eyes. "What? This level is… mine? All mine?"

She had never set foot farther than the lobby in the Yoshida Tower in Japan, so she was rather impressed. It was a gorgeous layout, extremely spacious and well decorated. But it wasn't that that surprised Tomoyo. No, like Syaoran, she was very used to getting the best of the best. But she had thought that she would be sharing a floor with Sakura, and not having one for herself.

The brunette looked at Syaoran, as if waiting for him to say something. His eyes shifted uncomfortably. How was he supposed to know how to respond to Tomoyo's question? She was the one showing them around.

When he gave no reply, she laughed nervously and quickly referred to the notes on the clipboard that she had been carrying with her. "Yes, I'm – I'm sure! Now, if you follow me to the next floor…"

She left the room in a rush, as if wanting to escape her embarrassment. But why should she have been embarrassed? The three of them weren't too sure. They all exchanged strange looks amongst each other before entering the in-suite elevator, where they'd be taken further upwards. Syaoran, though confused because his other penthouse in Japan was only two floors, went along with the woman thinking perhaps the two structures weren't so similar after all, and that the tower in England had a penthouse with three floors – one for each of them.

"And this is for you," she said, smiling too wide for her own good when they arrived on the second floor.

"Oh," Sakura said, looking between herself and Syaoran. "For… which of us?" she asked politely.

The brunette's smile was starting to falter. "For – for you, of course," she said. She was staring at Syaoran and Sakura.

Sakura laughed, despite the confusion in her head. "I'm sorry – who?"

"The floor is for you," she said again, this time with less confidence. "For you two of course! This is the floor, after all, with the master bedroom big enough for the two of you to share!"

She was still staring at Syaoran and Sakura.

Tomoyo snorted, unable to help herself. "Oh, this is gold…"

"N-no," Sakura stuttered, blushing furiously and shaking her head frantically. "There must be some mistake, we can't be – this floor can't be – not for the two of us—"

"But it is," the woman insisted, looking to Syaoran for help. "Isn't it?"

"How am I supposed to know?" he asked, irritated by the mix-up. The last thing he wanted was to be accidentally assigned to share a floor with the girl he was trying to stay away from. It was embarrassing for him in more ways than one.

"H-how could you not know?" the brunette almost shrieked.

"Aren't you the one in charge?" Syaoran asked her.

The brunette looked about ready to cry. "Yoshida-san, if this is a practical joke that you play on your new hires, I really don't understand!"

And then, suddenly, they all understood. It was just Syaoran's luck, and Syaoran's luck only, that would get him mistaken for Yoshida Kaito.

He held his hands up to his face and tried to massage his scalp. He suddenly had a very bad headache.

"H-hoe! No, no – this is not – he is not – we're not…" Sakura tried to explain. "He and I are…"

For some reason, Sakura couldn't get it out of her mouth. When she tried to say, "he isn't my fiancé" or, "we're not together" and "he and I are just friends", she seemed to get all tongue-tied. Luckily, she didn't have to put up with the weird tongue twisters for much longer, because the brunette had come to the realization all on her own.

"Oh – you're not – you're not her fiancé Yoshida-san?"

His face still in his hands, Syaoran shook his head. "No," he moaned. "I'm not."

And this time, the brunette really did start to cry. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm brand new here at the hotel! This is my first real task as hotel manager and I – I've never met Yoshida-san in the flesh! I got the notice that his fiancée would be coming here, I thought he was coming with her! And then you said you were with her, I confused you with—"

Tomoyo, still amused by the entire situation but feeling pity for the newbie, immediately went to her side and Sakura to her other. "It's all right, really. It's fine – it's not a big deal," Sakura said softly, patting her back. "It was an honest mistake. It could've happened to anyone."

"Please," the brunette begged, "please don't tell him. He'll fire me!"

Sakura laughed at this. "Kaito-kun would never do such a thing. Trust me; if he knew about this, he would laugh about it! But don't worry – if you would really prefer that he didn't know about the mix-up, then he doesn't have to."

"R-really?" she whimpered, wiping her eyes. "He w-wouldn't f-f-fire me?"

"No! He would never fire someone for something as trivial as this," she said reassuringly. "Here, why don't you give us our key cards? We can find everything else ourselves – really. You should go collect yourself – take a soothing breath."

She shook her head. "Oh – no, I… I couldn't. I'm so sorry, I'm showing such poor guest service right now, please, allow me to…"

"It's fine," Syaoran suddenly said, tired and uncomfortable with the tears, and still incredibly irritated for being mistaken as Kaito. "We'll be all right from here. We won't trouble you any further."

"A-are you… quite sure?"

"Very sure," he answered, already dismissing her.

She seemed resigned, like there was nothing else she could do. "All right then, I suppose…" from out of her pocket she handed Syaoran his own key card, and gave the girls their own. "I hope everything will be to your liking," she said.

"It will be just fine. Thank you so much for your help," Tomoyo said, smiling widely and sincerely meaning it. Not only had she given her an entire floor to stay in with Sakura where she could monitor her clothing for the trip, but also a good laugh with the mistaken identities. She felt like giving her a large tip.

She left, wiping her eyes but no longer fussing over getting fired. Sakura was determined not to let Kaito know of the misunderstanding, even though she was more than positive that he would get a laugh out of it. It was more for her benefit that she didn't tell him – to avoid feeling awkward, but more than that, guilt over not revealing to him who Syaoran was to her – her first love.

In any case, it was no fault of the brunette's for getting the two confused. Not that they were very much alike in facial features. But they were both tall with broad shoulders and had similar taste in hairstyles and clothes. But those were not the similarities Sakura found between them. In fact, as Sakura thought more about it, she was finding the similarities more in their manners and in their kindness. It was Kaito's quiet generosity and big heart that attracted her to him in the first place, because she found it to be so like Syaoran's…

"Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said, snapping her fingers. "Let's get settled on the first floor, shall we? The luggage is already on its way."

She shook her head to escape her reverie, and looked at Syaoran. He was staring back at her, no expression in his eyes or face. "H-hoe, oh, right…"

Tomoyo shuffled her out, determined to get both of them into a change of clothes, unpacked, and somewhat settled before doing anything else. Syaoran watched them go until they disappeared into the elevator. As soon as they were gone, he immediately went to his room and closed the door behind him, only so that he could lean against it and rub his temples in circular motions. He knew having them there with him was a bad idea. But there was nothing he could do about it now – except for spend as little time with them as possible.

xxxxxx

The luggage arrived shortly after the two girls did in their suite. Without another word, they began to take out their things, first their toiletries which they set up in the large bathroom by the two separate sinks, and then their clothes which they placed in the drawers and closets. It was quiet for the most part, neither of them having any real urge to bring up the misunderstanding from earlier with the other. That was, until Kero awoke from his nap.

He yawned, unzipping himself out of Sakura's duffel bag side pocket. He let out a yawn.

"Someone's finally up," Tomoyo commented wryly. "I thought you might have decided to take another thousand year-long nap."

He half-smiled in her direction and fluttered upwards and towards the window to enjoy the view – not that there was much of it to see, considering the heavy rain that obstructed his vision. "Too bad about the weather. Not much to do today."

"I wouldn't say so," Tomoyo disagreed as she folded a sweater. "There's still plenty to do. We can have dinner in the hotel restaurant. Maybe spend an hour or two at the spa, get a nap in or maybe even sleep early so we can adjust to British time. What do you say, Sakura-chan? The day is still young!"

Sakura turned her head an inch. "Hoe? O-oh, yeah, you're right. Lots to do."

Tomoyo stopped folding and leaned forward across the bed. Sakura's back was turned to her as she folded, (or patted repeatedly in a distracted fashion), the same shirt a dozen times. "Something on your mind, Sakura-chan?" she asked curiously, not even trying to hide the prying in her voice.

"Sakura?" Kero also asked when she gave no answer. "Are you queasy from the flight or something?"

She inhaled suddenly and blinked rapidly. She grinned at them both and shook her head. "Oh, no, I'm fine – I'm fine," she insisted, when they both gave her knowing looks. "I think I'll go check on Syaoran-kun and see how he's doing with his unpacking," she announced. "Maybe he needs help. There's two of us and only one of him."

"I doubt he packed as much," Tomoyo muttered to herself as Sakura exited without another word, "I swear, all that man wears is a pressed suit. I don't care how expensive or finely tailored they are – it's mundane."

Sakura made no response, having not really heard what Tomoyo said. She was much too absorbed in her own thoughts to her anyone else's. And even though she knew Syaoran, the man who practically lived out of a suitcase, probably didn't need any help unpacking, she just had to go and see him.

The trip had begun on a really weird, uncomfortable note for the both of them – and she wasn't just talking about the suite confusion. She had been feeling strange since before they boarded the plane more than eleven hours ago and she knew he must've been feeling the same way. It was only right that they talk things out – for the sake of the trip and the purpose of their being in England in the first place.

She arrived at his room and knocked lightly on the door.

A short sigh was heard. "If that's anymore luggage, it's not mine, it belongs to the girls," he called out.

She cringed. "I-It's me," she called back.

There was some shuffling on the other side of the door. When it opened he was pulling on his jacket, staring at her in wonder. "Oh – h-hi," he said. "What are you doing up here?"

She shook her head, feeling embarrassed even though there was no real reason that she should have been feeling that way. "I… I was just wondering if you needed any help unpacking."

He shook his head. "Oh – no, it's fine," he said simply, then hastily added, "but thank you for offering."

She smiled. "Oh, no problem. Could I… come in?"

He hesitated for a moment. Slowly he said, "O-oh… well… okay, sure."

He let her inside and she saw that he had not finished unpacking at all. He had really only gotten out a few things – and it appeared as though he didn't care to do the rest of it for a while. In fact, it seemed as though he were getting ready to go out.

"Are you – are you going somewhere?" she asked, after a short inspection of her surroundings.

He nodded. "Yeah, I was just going to slip out quickly. I was going to be back in a little while."

Sakura smiled. "Oh, well, where are you going? Tomoyo-chan and I could come along and we could—"

"No, that's not necessary. You two should stay here and unwind. It was a long flight. It would be better if I went by myself, anyway."

"To where?" she asked curiously, her head tilted to one side.

When she asked so endearingly like that, it was hard for him to lie to her. But still – he had to.

"Nowhere in particular… I just have to run a quick errand. There's really no need to come along…"

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," he insisted.

She bit her lip and seemed to be thinking. He stared at her in this contemplative state, wondering how in blazes every single mood of hers could be so damn cute.

"I'd really like to get out of the hotel, though. I spend enough time at Yoshida Towers like this one. I know Tomoyo-chan would want to come along too, and we wouldn't have to worry about Kero-chan. He would probably like to stay by himself and order some movies on the TV. Would we be bothering you if we came along?"

He felt like groaning – partly because he just wanted to escape her, and mostly because he wanted to scream, No, it wouldn't bother me! Come with me, spend this entire trip with me because I've been away from you for too long and I have to spend as much time with you as possible before you spend the rest of your live with another man.

"Well… I suppose it wouldn't be too big a bother…"

She grinned and clapped her hands happily. "Really, Syaoran-kun? You don't mind?"

He half shrugged. He couldn't very well say that he did mind, could he?

"Great! I'll go tell Tomoyo-chan. Where should I say we are going?"

He sighed. There was really no point in hiding the truth of his "errand" from her any more, not if she was just going to find out anyway by coming with him. If only he could cancel his actual plans and pretend his real chore was to buy groceries or something of that sort. But he was already expected at Eriol's house, having just confirmed his meeting with him minutes before her arrival at his door.

Cutting straight to the chase, he answered, "Hiiragizawa's."

She stared at him for a moment, her green eyes narrowing slightly, but not enough to make her look suspicious – just innocently curious. "You were going to Eriol-kun's?"

He nodded, averting his gaze to the floor. "Yeah."

"To ask him about what's been following you around and hurting you in your dreams?"

He nodded once more. "Yeah."

She was quiet again, this time longer. She folded her arms over her chest and crossed the room to the window so she could stare outside before turning on him, her eyes filled with confusion and, to Syaoran's misfortune, hurt as well.

"Why didn't you say so, Syaoran-kun?"

"I…" he began, trying to think of a legitimate excuse for leaving her out of this particularly important venture of the trip, "I just didn't want to bother you. This is my problem, not anyone else's. I'm already burdening Yoshida by staying here free of charge – and now you and Daidouji by taking you away from your homes to go on this ridiculous hunt with me for answers we may not even get…"

He mentally applauded himself. It seemed like a valid enough explanation to him – he hoped it would seem as such to Sakura as well, but considering his luck the last few days, it probably wouldn't. Not right away, anyway.

"Are you sure that's why?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran's back went rigid as a board upon hearing her question. Damn – was she onto him? Had she suddenly realized that he was only trying to keep away from her, because he couldn't bear the torture? Because he couldn't look at her without his heart breaking? Maybe she had and his cover of indifference was blown.

Before he could answer or even begin to think of a response that would throw her off his trail, Sakura instead continued.

"Because it seems to me like you just… don't want me here."

He stared at her. "W – what?"

"Is that… is that not the case? Because in the car and just now, it's like you've been trying to get rid of me… I don't know what it is I've done to hurt you, Syaoran-kun, but I'm sorry. Really, I am. If it has anything to do with me not telling Kaito-kun about you… I'll tell him, I swear I will. If it means that much to you, to have him know about – us – before…"

Syaoran inwardly relished in the sound of the words escaping Sakura's mouth. Hearing her say that there was an "us" between himself and her was sweet music to his ears. Sometimes he just wanted to hear her acknowledge it, just so he could be sure that their entire relationship hadn't just been some ridiculous fantasy.

Shaking his head he interrupted, "No – Sakura, stop. This has… nothing to do with that."

She seemed to grow sadder, which certainly was not his intention. Suddenly he was panicked all over again.

"Then why have you been acting so strangely?" she asked desperately, and then continued to ramble, "Did I do something wrong? Is it because I brought Kero-chan along? I didn't know he would bother you so much, I already swore he would behave himself… please tell me what I can make right, I just can't stand to have you moody like this, you know it always upsets me—"

"Sakura… Sakura, stop," he said frantically, both hands out in front of him, trying to calm her down, because even when she was angry she was beautiful, and he wasn't sure if he could take much more of her adorable frenzy. "Take a breath."

"All… all right," Sakura agreed, realizing just how out of hand she had begun to act. She did as she was instructed by Syaoran and took not one, but several breaths.

"Everything is fine," he told her, surprising himself by taking her by the shoulders and making sure they were no longer tensed. "Really. I'll stop with the moodiness. You don't have to worry anymore."

"R-really?" she stuttered, her eyes becoming bright, and to see them as they usually were, so full of hope and light, it was almost worth it to lie to her.

He wasn't sure if he could actually guarantee her an awkward-free, non-moody trip from there on out. He was too proud and far too jealous to go along with whatever she wanted. If he could just make her believe this one time that it could be a pleasant trip for them all, and just escape whenever he could manage without making it too obvious what he was doing, then he would lie to her.

"Yes. I… I never meant for my behaviour to bother you. I guess I forgot just how much my moodiness bothered you," he said, half-smiling because that, at least, was the truth. "I just thought that…" he thought quickly of an excuse, and blurted, "maybe Yoshida wouldn't be comfortable letting you travel with me. He hardly knows me, after all. I thought maybe he didn't trust me fully to take care of someone so… important to him…" his eyes grew dim as he finished.

Sakura smiled at him, her eyes sad and understanding. "Oh, Syaoran-kun – why didn't you say so? It's not like that at all – Kaito-kun admires and respects you – he knows you'll take good care of me."

"He does?" Syaoran asked with no real tone of questioning in his thick voice.

"Of course, Syaoran-kun. He may not know about… well, our history, but I filled him in on enough for him to trust you with me."

His ears perked at the mention of their history, and how she had "filled him in".

"How much, exactly, did you let him know?" he asked curiously, and just to hide the prying in his voice quickly added, "Just so that I know when to keep my mouth shut about… certain things."

Once more facing his large window, Sakura wondered where to start. And while she thought, Syaoran moved forward with every intention of leaning against the window frame opposite her – but instead found himself just a few paces away from her, his hands in his pocket, watching her intently.

"Well, I told him that we were friends since grade school," she offered, which did not really do much to satisfy Syaoran's curiosity, considering Tomoyo had already mentioned that to him on their first meeting.

"And…?" he gently coaxed, still trying to make it seem as though he were asking for the sake of the conversation.

"And that you, along with Tomoyo-chan, were my best friends all throughout high school."

"Ah," Syaoran answered curtly. "I see."

He should have known that she would only mention those basic bits of information and nothing more. Without the reference to their previous romantic relationship or their adventures (and misadventures) as preteens capturing and transforming cards, everything else between them was a bore. Sighing, he moved to straighten and exit from the room.

"I told him about Meiling-chan, too," she further stated, smiling up at him.

Halted, Syaoran slowly returned to his position by the window. "Oh?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "How could I leave her out? We had so much fun together, and she did so much for us! I mean, without her, we might have never gotten together at the end of that summ—"

She broke off suddenly, realizing what exactly she was saying about their courtship. Apparently it was okay for them to mention the existence of their history and even make reference to an "us", but not okay to delve into too much detail about it.

She looked down at her hands, unsure of where to go from there. Syaoran, equally as uncomfortable and uncertain as she was, didn't know what else to say. However, there was one thing that he was just dying to know, and if he didn't ask now, he wasn't sure if he would ever get the opportunity, or the confidence, to bring it up again.

"Daidouji tells me that… that you haven't told Yoshida anything about your magic."

Sakura smiled nervously, but Syaoran was sure that he could detect some sadness as well. "H-hoe… oh, Tomoyo-chan told you about that?"

He shrugged and suddenly felt worried that perhaps Tomoyo was not at liberty to say anything about it to him, and that maybe he had gotten her into trouble with Sakura. "Well – I asked her about it."

Sakura returned the shrug and moved her gaze from his face to the floor. "It's okay. I don't mind that she mentioned it. Actually, I'm glad she did. I don't want him finding out from anyone other than me."

"And…" Syaoran hesitated, wondering if he was overstepping his boundaries as the ex-boyfriend by asking too many questions about the current fiancé. "When are you going to tell him?"

She put a hand to her temple, squeezing her eyes shut and scrunching her nose up in that terribly gorgeous way that he adored. She sighed. "I – I don't know, Syaoran-kun. Soon, I suppose. Maybe we should get going—"

"You suppose?" he echoed with some surprise, unable to stop himself. "Sakura, it's a wonder you haven't already let him know after two years of dating."

Immediately after saying what had been on his mind since the moment Tomoyo told him about it, he wanted to slap himself. Magic was the last, precious thing he shared with Sakura that Kaito was purposefully being kept away from – so why was he complaining?

"I know," Sakura practically wailed, shaking her head slightly, her eyes still shut and nose scrunched. "I just… I never got around to telling him. It was too big of a secret, I was afraid of how he would react, I – I've been stupid to let it go this far without telling him the truth, I know—"

"Sakura," he said, stopping her. Slowly he looked up to meet her anxious, emerald eyes so that she might see how serious and selfless he was being, if only just a glimpse. "If you love him, you need to tell him," he told her, his voice a shadow of its usual confident, firm tone. "Your magic is one of the biggest parts of your life. You should be with… with a man who knows about it, who you can share it with without worrying what he thinks about it… with a man who you can be honest with."

After an agonizing pause, Sakura said, "You're… you're right." She looked away from him for a moment and carefully returned her gaze to his intense amber stare. "I – I'm sorry, by the way."

He looked confused. "For what?"

"Just… for that mistake, earlier," she said, waving her arms about her as if to bring the memory of it back. "With the hotel manager and us and her thinking you were my fiancé…"

He shook his head at the apology. "That wasn't your fault. I told her we were together."

"Y-you did?" she asked, sounding both alarmed and surprised.

"Well – I only meant that we were all supposed to be given the penthouse suite, not that we were…"

"Oh," she said suddenly, smiling wanly. "Of course that was what you meant. Sorry, I…"

From outside his door they heard the elevator opening and Tomoyo's loud, rambunctious voice echoing through the whole floor.

"Sakura-chan! Li-kun! Where are you guys? I'm tired of unpacking! Let's do something fun! Hello? Am I talking to myself here? Come out, come out wherever you—"

The bedroom door swung open, revealing a curious Tomoyo who had immediately laid eyes upon her two friends standing by the window, just a few inches away from each other, staring carefully at one another. They were, however, torn away from the other's gaze at once upon Tomoyo's entrance.

"Sorry," she apologized, not sounding the least bit apologetic. In fact, she sounded pleased with herself. "Was I interrupting…?"

Sakura smiled brightly, apparently not perturbed by the disruption. If anything, she looked grateful. Abruptly she stood and took Tomoyo's hand, leading her out of Syaoran's room. "No, not at all. Come on, let's go get our coats. Syaoran-kun's going to take us to see Eriol-kun."

"Now?" Tomoyo asked, following her back to the elevator. "So soon?"

Syaoran who had stood and was following them so that he might join them on the first floor answered, "I don't waste time. Anyway, Hiiragizawa is anxious to see us."

"You told him we were coming, then?" Tomoyo wondered as they all filled the elevator and began descending.

Syaoran bit his lip. He hadn't really told him that Sakura and Tomoyo had accompanied him on the journey, more like warned him. But that did not bother Eriol in the slightest – in fact, he seemed just as happy as the girls that they would all be together again like the old days. He was all too eager to hang up the phone and await a visit by all three of them.

"I told him you two were making the trip with me. He thinks I'm coming alone, though. I guess this will just be a pleasant surprise," he answered.

Tomoyo clapped her hands, "Oh, I love surprises!"

They exited and dispersed among the first floor, Syaoran heading to the lounge area so that he could wait for the girls to get their things.

"Kero-chan!" Sakura called. "Come out here, please?" He fluttered out of the girls' shared bedroom looking irritated.

"What?" he asked. "You made me pause the movie!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and took her coat as well as Tomoyo's from off the couch which they had earlier tossed them on. "We're going out to see Eriol-kun. I know you might want to come to see Suppie-chan, but—"

"Oh, can I come? Can I come? Can I come please?"

Eyes shut to ward off the migraine that Kero was sure to give him, Syaoran answered firmly, "No."

Kero looked simply devastated. "B-but – w-why? You're not the boss of me, gaki, you can't—"

"He's out of the country with Ruby Moon. It's just Hiiragizawa at the house. Now do you still want to come?"

Kero frowned looking more annoyed than before. "Just that four-eyed reincarnation of my master? Oh, forget it. He's no fun. Go ahead and leave me here. You guys always try to exclude me. You never want my company. Hmph!"

Syaorna felt like snorting. He was certainly right about that.

Sakura went to his side and Tomoyo to his other, and they petted him for forgiveness. "We'll bring you back something sweet and let you order as much movies as you want."

He still was not appeased.

"I also brought that hand-held video game you like so much," Sakura offered, hoping that would help some. "And you can raid the fridge…"

Slowly he broke out into a smile. "Thanks you guys! You're the best!" And with narrowed eyes he leaned out of the girls' strokes of his back and glared at Syaoran. "Except you, obviously."

"Of course," Syaoran muttered, highly annoyed. "Can we go now?"

"I think I'll just use the rest room before we head out," Tomoyo announced. "You can get the car ready downstairs if you want, Li-kun."

He nodded wordlessly and left to do as she suggested, not waiting for Sakura, making her wonder if she had just imagined the words they had exchanged just a few minutes prior.

Frowning she took a seat in the lounge as Tomoyo did her business. With Kero disappearing into their bedroom once more to resume the movie he was watching, she was left alone to ponder the words that Syaoran had so wisely told her only moments before. It was nothing that Tomoyo had not already said to her after her months, and now years of dating Kaito. But hearing it come from Syaoran felt like something else entirely to her.

He had seemed so earnest and honest about the whole situation. How brave of him, she thought, that he could insist on her sharing that part of her life with Kaito without feeling jealousy… but why should he feel jealous, she sighed. As she always reminded herself, he was the one to call things off between them.

And yet, there he was once again in her life, stirring within her feelings she'd thought that she'd put behind her long ago. Why, oh why was it his face that formed in her mind when he was describing the type of man she should be with? A man who knew about her magic, a man who she could share it with, a man who she could be honest with… so far, Kaito didn't fit the soul mate criteria.

When Tomoyo exited the rest room, her head was already in her hands.

"Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said worriedly, "what's wrong?"

She smiled and did her best to mask her confused and contrasting emotions but with no avail. "Nothing. Let's head down to the lobby, ne?"

"You can tell me, Sakura-chan. Did Li-kun say something?"

"No, nothing," she insisted, the smile still plastered on her face while waving her hands about to dismiss the conversation. She did not want Tomoyo to feel as though Syaoran was to blame for her inanity. "I had a little… traveler's headache. It's gone now, though. Let's hurry; Syaoran-kun is waiting for us."

She led the way out of the penthouse and into the elevator. Arriving in the lobby where the brunette woman tried to hide her face in embarrassment, a doorman told them Syaoran was already waiting inside the car. They joined him in silence until they realized that he was sitting in the driver's seat with his hands on the wheel.

"Where are your friends?" Tomoyo asked in wonder.

"I got rid of them," Syaoran told them both as Sakura slid into the passenger's seat and Tomoyo into the back. "Who knows how long we'll be at Hiiragizawa's. The driver would have to wait hours. Anyway, there's no telling what we'll get ourselves into while we're here – we might be dealing with some magic. It's best not to have anyone else there besides the four of us."

"Good thinking," Tomoyo said, giving her approval, which Syaoran did not need. And he showed her so by shrugging in response.

"Seatbelts," he ordered, just before setting off into the road.

The girls buckled themselves in promptly and soon they were off on their first venture of the trip.

"Is Mizuki-san there with Eriol-kun as well?" Sakura asked excitedly, the thought of spending time with old friends enough to make her forget about her complicated situation, if only for just a little while.

Syaoran shrugged once more. "He didn't mention."

"I guess we'll find out," said Tomoyo as she tried to get a view from outside the car window. "This rain is really starting to get on my nerves… next time, can we go somewhere sunny?"

Syaoran grunted. If only there would be a next time.

Sakura giggled at Tomoyo's question and adjusted the settings of the radio. With any luck she would find a decent station and be too distracted by the music to notice Syaoran sweating in his expensive suit. The fact that she still had such an effect on him was, in his mind, simply pathetic on his part.

Sooner than they had realized they were in Eriol's ridiculously large driveway, which was nothing compared to the mansion of a home that he lived in. As usual, Sakura was the only one of the three to stare up at the structure beneath the umbrella, amazed by its size and sophisticated appearance. Eriol really must have been doing well.

Syaoran held the large umbrella above all their heads, standing behind the girls as they approached the front door. They rang the doorbell which they heard, resonating like church bells inside the home and soon they were greeted with the kind, gray eyes behind square glasses that they were all so familiar with.

"Eriol-kun!" Sakura bubbled, throwing her arms around him in a friendly hug, annoying Syaoran immensely. She released him so that Tomoyo could give him a similar embrace, however theirs seemed to last just a heartbeat longer than his with her. From behind them Syaoran gave a curt nod to which Eriol returned with a gentle smile.

"I'm so glad to see all of you," he said happily, looking ever the same, just slightly more handsome than he already was back in the fifth grade. His blue hair remained in the same style and his height matched Syaoran's evenly. He gave all three of them welcoming stares, finally ending with Tomoyo, who he continued to stare at for a little while longer.

"Ditto!" Sakura exclaimed, stepping inside as Eriol made way for their entrance, taking off her shoes on the dry rug and inserting her cold feet into the warm slippers they were all given. "It's been such a long time!"

"Too long," Eriol agreed, leading the way to the wonderfully decorated parlour. They all took a seat around the warm fire that blazed quietly in the hearth and all gladly warmed their toes and fingers. "I'm glad we could see each other again." He began pouring the tea and passing the cups and offering the biscuits he had prepared.

Syaoran felt like grunting once more. Was he the only one that was not taking this trip as the school reunion they were all faking it to be? This was business. If he let it become anything other than that, he was in serious danger of falling even more in love with Sakura than he already was. And that, he knew, would just not do anyone any good.

"About the issue I've been having," Syaoran began, hoping they wouldn't have to take a stroll down memory lane. "We tried—"

"Really, Syaoran, that can wait. Why don't we catch up?" Eriol interrupted, his eyes still on Tomoyo.

"Yeah!" the girls chimed, as if he was the one that was ruining the plans. "We have all the time in the world to talk about that. How have you been, Eriol-kun?" Sakura asked, leaning in eagerly. "How is everything? And where is Mizuki-san?" she asked, having a look around the room to see if she was present.

Eriol smiled. "Kaho and I have stopped seeing each other," he admitted.

Sakura's hand flew to her mouth in embarrassment. "Oh, Eriol-kun! I'm sorry! I had no idea, please forgive me for bringing it up, I'm such a dolt—"

He frowned and shook his head. "You are no such thing, Sakura-san. There was no way you would have known that we decided to go our separate ways. It's really all right. We separated on more than amicable terms, anyway."

"I'm so happy to hear that," said Tomoyo. Her three friends turned to give her strange stares. "I mean – it's good to hear that you two parted on good terms – not that… not that I'm happy to hear that you two are no longer together. I didn't mean that at all."

Eriol laughed, apparently finding the statement sincerely funny. "I know what you meant, Tomoyo, it's fine, really. Is it… all right, that I call you Tomoyo?" he asked, realizing that he had not included the "-san" suffix that he usually did with her.

She nodded. "Of course, Eriol-kun. We're good enough friends for you to not include any suffix at the end of my name anymore."

"Really," he answered, seeming pleased. "Then… I'd like for you to do the same for me."

Syaoran and Sakura looked between their two friends, confused.

"O-oh… well, sure… I mean, if you wouldn't mind…" Tomoyo responded, and – was that a pink hue that was appearing in her cheeks, or were Syaoran and Sakura imagining things?

There was a short silence which followed as Eriol and Tomoyo stared at one another.

"Hoe…?"

Eriol seemed to snap out of his reverie at Sakura's quiet expel of breath. "Tell me, Sakura-san, how are things with you? And you, Syaoran?"

"Everything's been just fine," Sakura told him, "we're very happy at home." She was, of course, referring to herself and Tomoyo because, who else could she mean?

"I imagine you two would be," he said, eyeing her left hand. "I guess it was only a matter of time before you two got engaged."

The engagement ring around Sakura's finger suddenly seemed to burn red hot. She flinched at his words and cringed, realizing that he of course would not have known about her break up with Syaoran all those years ago. How could two people in one day mistake Syaoran for her fiancé? It really must have been a very off afternoon.

"N-no, I… Syaoran-kun and I are just… we aren't…"

Just like earlier before, she could not bring herself to deny that she and Syaoran were not a couple. It was up to Syaoran once more to clear up the confusion, which he was both glad and unhappy to do.

"We're not together anymore either," he said quietly.

Inwardly he wondered whether he should've been happy about this particular mistake, or just irritated. First the hotel manager and now Eriol… maybe the universe really was trying to torment him, he supposed.

"You're… not?" Eriol asked, clearly bewildered. Was it really that hard to believe? With the disapproving look he was being given by Tomoyo, apparently it was. "But – why? I mean – God, I'm sorry. How stupid of me. Um – you're new fiancé – is he…?" He actually had no idea what to ask about this new beau of Sakura's, but he just had to switch topics somehow.

"His name is Yoshida Kaito," Sakura announced.

Eriol looked further confused. "You… you don't mean the Yoshida Kaito? The owner of the…"

"Yoshida Towers? Yup, the very one," Syaoran finished for him, squeezing his cup of tea harder than he meant to.

Sakura was smiling proudly. Despite all the strange emotions she had been feeling since the start of their journey, she still could not help feeling pride over being with someone as amazing and accomplished as Kaito.

"Oh, well…" Eriol began unsurely. "That's wonderful. I… offer you my congratulations," he finished with some hesitation.

"Thanks, Eriol-kun. You're invited to the wedding, of course."

"Oh, I… I wouldn't miss it for the world, Sakura-san."

If only Syaoran could say the same thing.

"Why don't you guys tell me about Keroberos and Yukito-san? How are they both?" Eriol questioned hurriedly, attempting to lift the awkward tension that had suddenly blanketed them all. To his delight it worked out as he had hoped, and soon Sakura was going on about how Yukito was enjoying the world while he was away on digs with Touya all the time, and how Kero was still as gluttonous as ever.

Erio listened attentively as he always did, but was also aware of the other things in the room, such as the unusual quietness in Syaoran and the sad stare that Tomoyo had in her eyes when Sakura switched topics to her upcoming nuptial with Kaito. A lot had changed since the three of them parted ways all those years ago, it seemed. And it was only after a few minutes of being with them again that Eriol was sure that things were not as they should be, and he would have to change that – soon.

xxx.

Author Notes: Yay, Eriol, Tomoyo, Syaoran and Sakura! I love writing about these four!

Some of you were wondering whether or not KahoxEriol would be canon in this story… well, if you read thoroughly, you got your answer! Also, sincere apologies to those who waited a while for this chapter to be posted. I have been super busy with work and school. Wah!

As always, if you liked/disliked the chapter, please take the time to leave me a review! Hearing from you guys is one of the best parts of my week!

I hope everyone is enjoying July!

Signing off,
Agent08 – My life as a secret agent xD