Cherry: Whaaaaaaaaaa! I'm sorry about not updating! I'd forgotten all about this story! Don't hate me!!
Disclaimer: Bug off, I don't own CCS.
Chapter 9: A Night Out
Dinner was rather peaceful that evening. Sakura took Syaoran to a small, but nice sushi restaurant.
"What do you think?" Sakura asked as she watched Syaoran eat his dinner.
She had not touched much of her plate yet because she was waiting to see how Syaoran would react to it. It was the best sushi restaurant on the residential side of Tomoeda.
"It's probably the best sushi restaurant I've ever been too," he replied, taking another bite.
Sakura smiled. "Good, I'm glad you like it."
She grabbed her chopsticks again and started eating, every once in while dipping her sushi in a small bowl of brown liquid.
A waitress walked by and smiled seductively at Syaoran and Sakura's smile was replaced by a hard glare, but soon turned into a blank look.
"Why did I just do that?" she thought. "It's not like we're dating; like that would ever happen anyway."
When she said that in her mind, she sighed; never before had she ever so desperately wanted a boyfriend. "I thought I learned my lesson years ago…"
Syaoran looked at Sakura before looking at the waitress that was hovering around them. Her short blonde hair was curled out and her dark blue eyes held a lot of secrets; secrets he did not want to learn. He glared darkly at her and she quickly walked off. He turned back to Sakura and she was poking her food with her chopsticks.
"What the hell are you doing? You shouldn't feel this way about your partner," he thought.
But somewhere deep inside, he wished that she felt the same way, and that they could make it work.
"How about we head to that bar now?" Syaoran asked.
Sakura looked up at him and nodded; thankful for being able to get away. She left the tab on the table and they both got up and left.
The bar was not just any bar; this bar had its own parking lot with a gate that locked, with more than one kind of lock as well. It was to prevent a driver that was too intoxicated to drive from driving, they would be given a cab and their car would be locked up for the night. Drinking and driving was a big thing for them, the owner's daughter had died from a begin hit by a drunk driver, so he took it very personally.
Sakura and Syaoran sat down at the counter, the buzz of activity was deafening and the music was still louder. Sakura looked around; this was the same place that she had run through when she was in disguise.
"What can I get you to drink?" the bartender asked.
"Vodka and Coke," Sakura shouted over the noise.
"And you?" he asked turning to Syaoran.
"Same thing," Syaoran replied.
He nodded and reached for two glasses from the shelf behind him. He set the two glasses down on the counter and grabbed the vodka bottle and filled both of them half way, then looked up at the two and filled until they were three-quarters of the way full.
Sakura laughed and leaned on the counter, her right arm supporting most of her weight.
The bartender then reached for the coke nozzle and filled the rest of the glass with Coke.
Sakura and Syaoran reached for their glasses and both took a big swig. Sakura closed her eyes as she swallowed. God did it burn going down, but that did not stop her from taking another drink. Syaoran watched her with a raised eyebrow.
"We'll see how long she can hold her alcohol," he thought, taking another big drink of his own glass.
"Most people that come in here have a story," the bartender started. "Do you two have one?"
Sakura shook her head. "We just needed a little break from a rough day at work."
"Right," the bartender thought. "Where do you two work?"
"If I told you that," Sakura said laughing, "I would have to kill you."
A small smile played on Syaoran's lips as he stared into his cup. The golden brown liquid stared back at him.
It was not long before Sakura's better judgment was affected by the alcohol. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes sparkled happily from the alcohol running through her system.
"And the guy bumps into this little old lady," she rambled on to the bartender who had a rather amused look on his face.
Syaoran was trying to pay attention, but it was hard, his head was fuzzy from all the alcohol and the people around him seemed to blend into the next.
"He apologizes, but the old lady just whacks him with her cane and keeps walking. I'd never seen anything so hilarious in my life!" Sakura finished, gesturing wildly with her hand, emphasizing the contact between the man's knees and the cane.
Syaoran laughed as she almost fell off the stool and Sakura turned to him with wide eyes.
"You're laughing!" she exclaimed.
"You know," Syaoran started, trying to form a complete sentence in his head, "you really need to," he paused for a moment and frowned. "Aw fuck, I don't remember what I was going to say."
Sakura started laughing and someone sat down next to her.
"Hey there sweet-stuff, how's you take a ride home with me?" the man slurred.
Sakura turned to look at him with a hiccup. "Are you talking to me?"
Syaoran watched the man with narrow eyes while the bartender put the glass in his hand down.
"Yes," he slurred again, breathing into Sakura's face.
She frowned. "Leave me alone," she replied and turned back to Syaoran.
But the man grabbed her left shoulder roughly and she let out a scream of pain, and before anyone blinked he was lying on the ground unconscious. Syaoran had Sakura safely behind him, his left hand making sure she stayed there and his right extended out in a fist where it had apparently come into contact with the man's face.
"Don't you ever fuckin' touch a lady who doesn't want to talk to you," he said, swaying slightly and dropping his slightly bloodied hand.
The bartender smirked, the man that was now lying on the ground had been causing a ruckus lately and he was rather glad that Syaoran had knocked him out.
"Miko! Call security and have them get this guy out of here, he'll probably need to go to the hospital for his broken nose," the bartender called to the man at the other end of the bar.
The other man nodded and went to the phone.
Syaoran turned back to Sakura. "You ok?" he asked.
Sakura nodded slowly at first before changing her mind and saying no. The pain was unbearable; the man had grabbed her right on the joint, where the bruise was the worst.
"I'll call you two a cab, just sit tight," the bartender said walking away.
Sakura's teeth were clenched as she tried to fight the pain.
Syaoran scrunched his eyes closed trying to clear his blurry vision, when he opened them again, the pain that was visible on Sakura's face made his heart hurt.
"You should come back to my place, it's closer than yours," he explained, not leaving any room for a discussion.
Sakura nodded, clutching her arm.
The bartender came back and told them that their cab was waiting for them outside. Syaoran thanked him and grabbed his and Sakura's coats and led her to the entrance.
----
Tomoyo sighed on her hospital bed. She was going insane staring at the white room all day long with no one there to entertain her; magazines and the television could only do that for so long.
"At least I'm going home tomorrow," she thought and looked at the purple cell phone sitting on the table next to her.
Eriol had been so kind when he replaced it for her as a means to keep in touch with Sakura while she was working, and it had proven to be useful when Sakura and Syaoran were in trouble.
She had liked Eriol for a long time, ever since she had started working with the FBI. He had been so nice to her the first day when she made a few mistakes while adjusting. He had said that everyone messed up the first time.
She smiled at she thought about Sakura's love life, or lack there of. She couldn't quite figure out why Sakura didn't find interest in many guys. At that she frowned. She had to get Sakura with someone, she just had to. Now that she had Eriol and would be spending time with him, she didn't want Sakura to feel neglected.
"Come to think of it," she said slowly, "I wonder if I could talk Kinomaka into letting me set her and her partner up. Though, I have yet to meet him."
A mischievous glint formed her eyes and a sly smile spread across her lips. If she got permission, she would have to pull out her video camera again. There was no way that she was going to not get it on tape.
She sighed again.
"It'll be tough though, with all the running around they will be doing on the case," she thought as her frown deepened.
----
By the time they reached Syaoran's apartment complex Sakura was delirious from the pain in her shoulder that had spread to almost her whole body. She would sway and stumble and cry out in pain. It took all of Syaoran's will power to get her up the steps and into the elevator.
Sakura's face was pale and tear stained as she gripped the rail with her right hand, trying to squeeze the pain away. She hiccupped, her breathing was getting shallower, and her body began to tremble. The door to the elevator opened and Syaoran took Sakura's right hand and pulled her too him. He easily lifted her up and carried her to his door at the end of the hallway.
Once inside his apartment he set her down on the couch and hurried to the refrigerator to get ice for her shoulder. He grabbed the green towel off of the stove and hurried back over to Sakura.
"We need to get you out of that shirt. If the bruise swells the shirt will only constrict it and make it hurt more," he explained.
Sakura vaguely nodded and attempted to start taking the shirt off herself. Syaoran's left hand grabbed her right hand and he pushed it away.
"Let me help you," he said and pulled the shirt up and off her right arm, then carefully moving to the left arm.
The white camisole practically glowed in the dark against Sakura's black and blue arm. Sakura caught a look at her arm and gagged, turning her head away.
Syaoran helped her get into a comfortable position on the couch with cushions behind her and then put the towel with the ice in it on her shoulder. She flinched at the sudden coldness and she bit her lower lip.
"I'll get you some pain medication," he said getting up again.
Sakura watched his blurry form walk back to the kitchen as the throbbing form her arm echoed in her head.
"Taichi would never have done this for me," she thought. "Syaoran doesn't have to take care of me… but he is. I don't deserve this."
Across town, Taichi was sitting in a dark room, his fingers slowly massaging his temples. He had heard about what happened to Sakura and her partner that day. He had never imagined that his father would not have trusted him when he said that he would take care of things. But he really couldn't blame him, in the past he had been unreliable, but not now, not since he joined the FBI.
A soft sigh escaped his mouth. What did he think would happen if he joined his father in his "little business?" That he would love him? That he would gain respect from his father? Did he think that his father could take pride in him for taking over? It was an absurd desire that he had, it was almost impossible for his father to love him; he didn't even love his mother. Every night that he didn't come home on time, or didn't come home at all for that matter, he was with another woman, but he didn't have the heart to tell his mother what his father was doing. She was already ill and frail, the news would probably take what little was left of her life
"Why can't I just have a normal family?" he whispered softly.
His mind immediately brought up a picture of Sakura, and he sighed again. He couldn't have her, she wouldn't accept him if she found out what he really was and what his father was doing. She would despise him, and he wouldn't be able to deal with that.
He pushed himself up from the soft leather chair and walked to the window and pushed the blinds open. The light from the moon filled the window and stared out at the city through the leaves of the trees.
"They will never have to deal with the things I deal with," he said softly.
"Taichi," a soft voice called behind him.
He turned quickly. "Mother, you should be in bed resting," he said and went to her.
"I know, but I couldn't sleep. When I went to your room you weren't there, so I came to find you," she said, resting her pale hand on his shoulder.
"Mother please, let me take you back to bed. The doctor said the only way you will get better is if you get lots of rest," Taichi explained.
She nodded and let him lead her back to the stairs.
Syaoran stared at Sakura's sleeping form on his couch from the dinning room table, frowning slightly. He didn't understand what it was that he was feelings, there were so many emotions flowing through his body that he didn't know what to do.
A soft beeping came from her jacket pocket and she stirred slightly, flinching before falling back asleep again.
Syaoran walked over and pulled out her cell phone. Looking at the screen there was a name: Tomoyo. He glanced at Sakura's sleeping for and then flipped the phone open.
"Hello?"
"I think I may have the wrong number," Tomoyo's voice said.
"No, Daidouji, Sakura is asleep right now on my couch," Syaoran replied staring at Sakura with his head tilted slightly.
"Is she alright?" Tomoyo asked, panic evident in her voice.
"As alright as one possibly could be when someone grabs a bruised shoulder," he replied, kneeling next to the couch and pushing some hair that had fallen into Sakura's face away.
Tomoyo sighed on the other end of the phone. "Is her shoulder looking any better?"
His face flushed and he pulled his hand back. "N-no. If anything it's getting worse. She shouldn't be out in the field working with it. But I promised her that I wouldn't tell anyone about it."
"How did you find out?" she asked.
"She told me," he replied, walking back to the table to sit down.
Tomoyo was sitting up straight on her hospital bed. Sakura had told him, willingly. A sly smile crept across her face. Her plan my not be as hard as she originally thought.
"I think I should be the one to tell Mr. Kinomaka about her shoulder. I'll see what he has to say about it," she said softly
"Won't she be mad?" Syaoran's voice asked.
"Yes, but at this point, I'd rather her be mad at me than have her get any more hurt," Tomoyo replied.
Syaoran nodded his head, she had a point. After what happened at the bar Sakura was going to be in a lot of pain the next day, not only with her shoulder, but also with her hangover.
"Daidouji," Syaoran started. His eyes were back on Sakura's form on his couch.
"Yes?" Tomoyo asked.
"Never mind, it's not important," he replied after hesitating for a moment. Any information about Sakura he was going to get straight from her.
"Alright. Well, I should be going; I'm not really supposed to be on the phone here anyway. Can you tell Sakura that I'll be at home tomorrow when she comes back? Eriol is going to take me home."
"I don't think Sakura is going to want to go anywhere tomorrow," Syaoran said softly.
"Why?" Tomoyo asked.
"Well, on top of her shoulder, she kind of had a lot to drink. We went to the bar after Kinomaka gave us the rest of the day off," Syaoran replied.
"Then I'll stop by tomorrow to check on her," Tomoyo said.
"Alright, we'll see you tomorrow," Syaoran agreed, rubbing his left temple. His hangover was already starting.
Syaoran set Sakura's phone down on the table and took and step towards the hallway, and with that step came a wave of nausea and a dizzy spell. He leaned against the chair in front of him to steady himself and he slowly dropped to his knees on the soft floor; the pain was getting unbearable. He curled up on the floor a few feet from the couch and fell into unconsciousness.
Uh… yeah… this chapter has been done for some time now… I just never got around to uploading it. I'm very sorry! bows over and over again I have no idea when the next chapter will be up… I don't really have any time write now to write. Stupid school. sigh I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Please review.