Valkyrie85: Thank you all for your suggestions and comments you made in the reviews. They really helped me a lot and in this chapter, I've included some of scenes that some of you wanted to read about. I just can't express how grateful I am for all of your support! I'm happy to announce that in the last chapter, the number of received reviews past the highest record! I am really happy ;D! Thanks, everyone! As promised, this chapter is uploaded on time, within the 1-2 week range. I hope you will like this chapter and will review afterwards, thanks! ENJOY!

Chapter 8


Sakura froze. She watched Syaoran's perfect lips descend upon her own. Before they landed, she shut her eyes and fearfully anticipated the contact because she knew that if she struggled, the press would become suspicious.

His hands cupped her face tightly, as if he were preventing her from escaping.

She waited, just like everyone else in the room, but the kiss never came. When she began to hear the voice level increase in the room again, she opened her eyes only to be blinded by cameras that flashed furiously.

But, she didn't understand why the press was so excited when the kiss clearly didn't happen.

Ten seconds later after she came to the realization that he had faked the kiss by using his hands to cover up their mouths, Syaoran softly broke away from her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders protectively and began to pull her with him to the exit door, through the sea of paparazzi and cameramen, who were unintentionally blocking out their path.

"What do Mister and Misses Li say about this relationship?"

"Have you met her family?"

"How long do you think this relationship will last?"

The room was in complete chaos. Syaoran's personal security guards pushed through the crowd and safely escorted Syaoran and Sakura to the door.

Hikari and another of Syaoran's bodyguard waited impatiently on the other side of it once they left the conference room. "Hurry!"

She led them back to Syaoran's dressing room and ordered, "You two stay in here while I go take care of the rest."

The door closed.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" he asked, actually sounding a bit worried when he noticed her sitting frozen like a statue on the sofa, her face slightly paler than usual.

It was the first time that he'd called her by her name.

Syaoran kneeled in front of her and stared into her eyes. She returned the gaze and nodded. Ironically, she didn't stiffen at their close distance. Instead, she felt her muscles loosening up.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all that. It must have been too overwhelming," he apologized, voice soothing. He ran his hand down her hair, acting like an absolutely different Syaoran as the one Sakura used to know.

She shook her head. "Thank you for not doing it."

The gratefulness in her voice hinted him on what she'd meant. Somehow, he felt a little hurt by it. "I would never force you into something you don't want," he told her truthfully.

Sakura looked at him in surprise and then broke down into a smile. It was the first real smile that she'd ever given him.

The smile reminded him of the Sakura back when they were in high school, when things between them wasn't so complicated.

The door knob turned. Hikari walked in, alone, and came to an abrupt halt at seeing Syaoran and Sakura's position.

Syaoran quickly got up from the floor and stuffed his hands inside his pockets. "Everything okay, now?"

"Yes. We managed to get them out of the conference room, but they're still waiting outside of the main entrance. A lot of your fans are outside protesting too," Hikari said to Syaoran. She then turned to Sakura and smiled.

"Sakura, honey. You did a very good job out there."

At her compliment, Sakura blushed. This was the first time Sakura met Hikari, and she already developed deep respect for her because she thought it was brave of Hikari to raise a child on her own while facing many obstacles that could come along the way in her life.

"Thank you," Sakura replied softly.

"We have to stay here a bit until the press is cleared up outside. Meanwhile, Syaoran come with me. I have some things to discuss with you."

Syaoran followed Hikari out of the room, leaving Sakura all by herself.

The two of them entered another dressing room a few doors down. It was designed the same way as his, but just smaller.

Syaoran leaned against the wall casually and waited for Hikari to speak.

"Just what were you thinking back there! Don't you know that if you threaten them, they will use all kinds of ways to get you back?" Hikari said sharply with a frown, much to Syaoran's prediction.

"They didn't bring that up," Syaoran replied, unaffected by Hikari's tone of voice.

Hikari sighed loudly. "You have to understand this one simple concept, Syaoran. In this business, celebrities do not mess with the paparazzi."

"It's not like you to discipline me when we're outside," Syaoran spoke his mind curiously and received a sidelong glance from her.

"And it's not like you to make a reckless move." Hikari continued after studying him.

Syaoran shook his head. "It's not reckless. I'm just saying the truth. They should know what their limits are."

Hikari forced a desperate sigh. "You would never have done these kinds of things before, Syaoran. Wake up! You cannot fall for Sakura!"

The old smirk returned to his face at her protest. "You must be tired, Hikari, for saying this kind of thing—"

"Even if Eriol thinks it's okay if your relationship with her becomes real, I don't agree," she interrupted. "It will ruin all that you've accomplished up until this day."

Syaoran stared at the floor for a very long time, considering her words. She was right. Up until this day, he had worked so hard, harder than anyone else, to have the fame that he had today. After university in Hong Kong, he immediately escaped his destiny of becoming the next CEO in his family's company, and came to Japan to start off his career.

He thought it was easy at first, but once he began to work in this industry, he realized how dark and dangerous it was. People in the entertainment industry either slept their way up or strategically worked their way up, which was often done behind closed doors. But there were some exceptions that climbed their way up the latter without doing any of those things, and Syaoran was one of them.

This was one of the reasons why while other stars fell and rose, he always remained stable on his path, under the guidance of Eriol and Hikari.

And of course, nothing in this world can be taken without paying a price. He sacrificed a lot of things along the way.

Syaoran understood Hikari's words. She was only trying to protect him. "Okay. I will be more careful from now on," he said.

Hikari nodded approvingly. Then, her phone began to ring.

"Eriol," she said and paused.

"Yes, I was just talking to him about it."

"Yes….Okay. Are you sure that's a good choice?"

"Okay, then. I'll go announce that right away."

She put her phone away and looked at Syaoran. "Eriol and Tomoyo both agreed that right now is the best opportunity to announce your partnership with Daidouji Inc. Since the press is still outside waiting, I will go and announce it."

"Okay. I'll see you in a bit," Syaoran replied and both of them exited the room.

He walked back to his dressing room while Hikari hurried off to the front of the hotel.

"I'm not going back and you will not come here!" He heard Sakura speaking angrily into the phone. Her back was facing the door so she didn't know that he had walked in.

"He doesn't know anything about me! No one here does, except for Tomoyo and Aunty Sonomi!"

She paused and listened to the other side speaking. Syaoran quietly walked to the sofa and started flipping through a fashion magazine.

"If I don't know you're in Hong Kong doing business with them, how is he supposed to know?"

Pause.

"No! You're being unreasonable here—"

Pause. Sakura's voice was rising every single time she spoke. Syaoran had never seen her so angry before.

"He doesn't care about those things. That's why he's in Japan—"

Pause.

"I am not a child anymore, okay? You are being overly-protective and unreasonable. If both grandma and grandpa are okay with this, then you should be too."

Pause.

"Don't you understand the consequences if you come?" she asked with desperation. "If you come, everyone will know about our relationship. You will mess up everything, all of mom and dad's hard work. You will mess up my future."

Syaoran stopped in the middle of flipping the magazine when he heard what she'd just said. He stared at Sakura's back curiously.

Sakura sighed. "Please, brother. I can't go back, yet. I have to help Tomoyo."

Then, the room fell into silence for the longest time.

In an appreciative tone, she answered, "Thank you, Tou—"

She took the phone away from her ear and looked at its screen. Her brother, Kinomoto Touya, had just hung up on her, but she wasn't affected by it because he had agreed to let her stay in Japan.

She noticed her fist slowly loosening up. Until then, she didn't even realize how frightened she was when she was talking to her brother and how much she wanted to stay in Japan. She didn't think she had a chance at winning the argument.

She released a sigh of relief at her victory, but when she turned around, all the happiness shattered.

Sitting on the sofa not far away was Syaoran, interestedly engaged in a fashion magazine.

She nervously tightened her hold on her cell phone but calmly collected herself before she spoke, "Have you been here for long?"

Syaoran looked at her and then returned to the magazine. "No. I just came in and saw this really interesting magazine on the table. Giorgio Armani's got a great collection this season."

To Sakura, Syaoran didn't seem like he heard anything from her phone conversation. He looked too interested in the magazine to even pay any attention to her.

"I didn't hear you coming in. Where's Hikari?" Sakura asked. She walked back to the counter and grabbed her handbag, dismissing her suspicions.

"She went to announce my new contract with Daidouji Inc."

Sakura stopped. "That's kind of sudden."

"Yeah, Eriol and Daidouji called and said they thought it was a good opportunity to have them announced together. It will cause a huge commotion and be a great way of advertising."

Sakura shook her head. "The people in this industry are so dangerous and manipulative."

"Don't forget, your friend contributed as well," Syaoran replied with smirk.


After Hikari returned to the dressing room, she said the press was cleared up and they could leave. Syaoran insisted on taking Sakura home personally even though it was broad daylight outside, for fear of her getting attacked by his fans or paparazzi.

"You aren't skilled enough to handle those situations yet," he said while he drove behind the wheel.

The car moved slowly down the downtown road, which was heavily congested due to rush hour. On the sidewalks were filled with pedestrians.

"Does your brother ever come back to visit your grandparents?" he asked casually while he waited for the line of cars to move forward. The mentioning of Touya set Sakura up on full alert. It made her cautious again.

"That's kind of random."

"I just thought that since your grandma is so loveable, a grandson from far away would visit often, or maybe make a few phone calls every week," he replied.

Sakura's shield went down. She believed he didn't hear the conversation from his reply. "He visits them once a year and calls them often."

"And what about you? How come you don't come back with him every year?" Sakura was a little surprised that he still remembered this was her first time back in Japan ever since the car crash.

"I…had to study," she murmured uncomfortably.

He noticed her discomfort and turned to quickly look at her. "Seven years ago, you were only in grade 9. You mustn't have been that busy."

She sighed. "I didn't want to come back."

Syaoran didn't press on and just waited quietly. The car was beginning to move at normal speed.

"After losing my memories, I didn't want to face them. The more they sympathised me, the more pressure I felt. Being around them always made me feel like a replacement of the old Sakura. And having no memories made me feel like I was an empty human-shaped shell."

At hearing Sakura's exact words of her feelings, it reminded him of what her grandfather had told him back in Yokohama.

"You were fine when we were in Yokohama."

"I try my best to not think of things that way anymore, but it just comes back to me sometimes."

"And what about your dad. Does he visit?" he asked and made a left turn, heading up the hill to Tomoyo's neighbourhood.

Sakura hesitated. "He's…a manager at a bank. He's pretty busy and never has the time to visit."

Syaoran nodded impressively. "You've got a very hardworking dad."

When the car came to a halt in front of the empty gates, he added, "I guess your aunt's security guards have already driven the reporters away. But it's better if you keep your eyes out constantly."

"Okay. Thank you," she replied, about to open the car door.

"No goodbye kiss?" he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. The old Syaoran was back.

"Goodbye," she said, ignoring his comment. On the way walking into the mansion, she mentally slapped her head for telling Syaoran those things. Why did she do it, anyways?

Syaoran watched her safely enter before punching a few numbers into his phone.

"Daniel," he began professionally in English, "please send me a copy of the information you collected from 7 years ago about Kinomoto Sakura."


"You're reading a book."

Eriol walked into Syaoran's dressing room, with newspapers in his hand, stunned at seeing his best friend engaged in a thick book.

"Just like what any human being would do," Syaoran replied, putting the book aside.

Eriol sat down across from him with a smile. "The Li Syaoran I know only reads scripts during his free time."

"You make me sound like I have no life."

Eriol grabbed the book with both of his hands and read the title out loud, "The Study of Amnesia." He looked at Syaoran with eyebrows rose.

"I found this book really interesting, so I bought it," Syaoran admitted truthfully.

Eriol smirked. "If it's that interesting, lend it to me after you're done with it."

"Yea. If you want. I have a question to ask you. The book says there are ways that people who've lost their memory can practice in order to get their memory back. Do you think these methods are credible?"

Eriol shrugged. "I've only seen these done in dramas. In real life, I don't think they're that possible."

"Oh." Syaoran's expression faltered a little.

"Why do you ask?" Even though Eriol already knew why, he still wanted to hear from his mouth.

Syaoran casually took the book back from Eriol and replied, "Just curious." Then, he looked at the newspaper beside Eriol and asked, "Is there something you have to tell me about?"

Eriol looked at his newspapers, and nodded. "Yes, just came to tell you the public's reaction to your new relationship. The results were pretty impressive. Even though the press conference was announced at the last minute, lots of people tuned in and watched it live on TV. The numbers are even higher watching online. There was large web traffic last night all across Japan, causing it to shut off for half an hour."

He shook his head and smiled proudly. "Only you can cause such a commotion, Li Syaoran."

"Some of your fans expressed outrage and hatred towards your new 'it' girl. But for the majority, they accepted Sakura and wished that the two of you would have a happy ending. Sakura's amazing. She's captured the hearts of almost all of your fans because they like the fact that she's different from your other tabloid female leads."

"Everything is going as planned, but now Sakura has to face the other female celebrities who have interest in me," Syaoran said arrogantly.

Eriol's smile widened as he held up the newspaper for Syaoran to see. "It was pretty outrageous."

On the front cover was the picture of Syaoran fake-kissing Sakura. Just like he thought by reading the title, the public bought into it. Playboy Ready to Commit? It seems like it!

"It reads," Eriol said, "The famous playboy, Li Syaoran, who has the most appearance on any tabloid magazine cover with a different girl each time is finally ready to settle down? This question has been circulating around the country and the World Wide Web ever since Li held a conference yesterday, announcing his relationship with Kinomoto Sakura. So, is he ready to commit? We think so! From our insiders on Li Syaoran's new film set, he told us that Li discreetly asked the director for a two-day break. Everyone on set was extremely curious about this because they, and almost everyone in this country, knew Li was a very serious and responsible person at work who never took a day off, even if he was extremely sick. As it turned out, Li took a 2-day off so he could visit his girlfriend's grandparents in Yokohama with his girlfriend, who had already left for Yokohama that morning. Sources in Yokohama told us that they saw Li and Kinomoto leaving her grandparents' residence the morning before the press conference. It was assumed that the two of them drove back to Tokyo together and then held the conference later in the afternoon. From the break to the conference, there is already enough proof that Li and his new girlfriend are already at a very developed stage in their relationship, and Li is treating the girl differently than the other girls he had dated. The fact that he signed the contract with Daidouji Inc., a small fashion company owned by Kinomoto's best friend, also provides evident that he is serious towards this relationship. As a huge star, he would have never signed with a small company, but now he has, all because of the opportunity to collaborate with his girlfriend. No matter what happens, we look forward to their collaboration at Daidouji Inc's first fashion show at the end of this month and we hope to see the two of them live happily ever after, like our modern fairytale's prince and princess."

Syaoran was very satisfied with the report, especially since it was published in Ochos which was a very influential and nationally well-known newspaper company. So, it was guaranteed that everywhere in the country today, people would get the message.

"All thanks to you, Eriol. If you hadn't told me to take the break and bring Sakura back from Yokohama myself, things wouldn't have gone so well," he thanked his best friend.

On the day when Eriol went to visit Syaoran and told him Sakura's whereabouts, he told him to use the chance to further promote his committed image, including going to Yokohama to pick up Sakura and host the press conference.

Syaoran was impressed by Eriol's planning, but he completely misunderstood Eriol's intentions. "Don't get me wrong. I was trying to save Sakura's impression on you."

Syaoran smirked. "Yea, yea, boss. Everyone knows how smart you are at these things. You don't need to be modest."

Eriol rolled his eyes. Obviously, Syaoran knew his true intention, but he just wasn't admitting it.

Even though Eriol acknowledged Syaoran's reason, he left it unsaid. He smiled approvingly and said, "Fumioko already told me that you have no scenes tomorrow morning, so we're meeting Tomoyo and Sakura at the company to discuss the working schedule for the upcoming fashion show."


Valkyrie85: OKAY! Now you get to know a little bit more about Sakura's family background and her feelings towards her amnesia (Touya is the same as usual, always so protective and unreasonable ; p ). Is Syaoran becoming suspicious? Why? In the review, tell me what you think about Sakura's family background. Or, you could tell me what you would like to see in the upcoming fashion show! Or, just simply your comments on the story.

I really enjoyed reading your reviews from last chapter. I hope to read more about your thoughts on the story. Remember to review! They motivate me to keep on writing!

Anyways, you could always check my blog to see any updates on the story. . If the link doesn't work here, go to my profile page and click on homepage.