Hey guys! I know I haven't been updating a lot lately, writer's block seriously caught on me and it's not leaving! Hopefully this chapter would come out better than how I think it would.
Title: Invisible
Author: starrie.skies
Summary: Kinomoto Sakura was a normal 18 year old girl. Except for one thing, she could see things, things others couldn't. Li Syaoran was a normal 20 year old young man, except for one fact, no one could see him… no one but a normal 18 year old girl.
Pairings: Sakura/Syaoran, possible Tomoyo/Eriol
Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does, nor any of the characters except for a few.
Chapter 10: A visit
Syaoran sat by Sakura's side the whole night, not bothering to dematerialize when her father or Touya would come in. He would simply hide behind the door and like he expected, the brother and father were too worried about Sakura to notice an extra presence. And besides, that way, he would be a lot stronger if there was something or someone that wanted to hurt her.
Syaoran was never one to over protect unless it came down to his family or his company… well back when he was alive. Heck when he was still alive, he treated woman like how he thought of woman-not needed for society except to be presentable and to produce heirs for important fortune makers such as himself. He remembered how his mother would scold at him, scolding at him for being so closed, and so distant to everyone. He marvelled at the change that had happened ever since he had died… or ever since he had met Sakura.
Flash back
"Xiao Lang, you must stop being so closed." Yelen chided her son. Syaoran sat calmly at the dining room table. The mother and son were the only two on the table, Syaoran's sisters were out, and his father had died a couple years back, which was why Syaoran was chairman of Li Corp. anyway.
"Mother," Syaoran began patiently, he had many talks with his mother before, "there are many competition out there, if I were to show a slight weakness, our company will be attacked right that second. Father never showed any weakness and that is how Li Corp. became so huge."
"Your father was strong, that is true, but he did not close himself off. Xiao Lang you have had countless girlfriends, it's time you settle down. If anything you will need an heir to pass on the company." Yelen continued, trying to break through to her son, trying to break through his hard shell.
"I will mother, just give me some time." Syaoran said shortly, ending the conversation. He excused himself from the table, a maid coming to his empty place to collect his dish. Li Syaoran never hurried, and he definitely never worried about his company. He knew exactly the way to run it.
End of Flashback
"Were you here the whole time?" a deep voice said suddenly. Syaoran's head snapped up, the door opened, not noticing from remembering his memory. Touya stood by the door, his dark brown eyes looking directly at the ghost. For a second, Syaoran thought he was talking to someone else, but there wasn't anyone else in the room, and he would most certainly not ask his own sister.
"You can see me?" Syaoran asked cautiously, slowly standing up from his position beside Sakura's bed. Touya showed a small hint of a smile.
"Probably not as clearly as Sakura can see you, but I can sense you if that's what you mean." Touya said breezily, walking into his sister's room and coming up next to the bed, next to Syaoran. Syaoran continued to look at the older brother, still suspicious.
"I don't have the exact powers as Sakura does, I can sense supernatural feelings and stuff, but I can't do anything about it and unlike Sakura because my powers only go so far I don't give off… signals according to how Sakura would put it." Touya said, "So you don't have to be afraid, I won't hurt you, and you should know by now I would never hurt my sister."
"Oh." Syaoran said. The two males sat silently for a while in the dark room, both pair of eyes resting on the slumbering girl.
"You were there weren't you, at the accident, with her, and at the hospital, at the school, and at the kitchen when Otou-san and I were talking." Touya said, not looking at him. Syaoran nodded, "yea I could sense you…"
"You're not a… mediator?" Syaoran asked, Touya shook his head,
"No, but I always knew Okaa-san was one, or at least something like that. When I was a little boy I would always see my mother talking to herself, but sometimes I would hear words and it would seem like another person was in side the room with her, even though I couldn't see it." Touya explained, "My father doesn't know. At nights, I can hear Sakura sneaking out the house, probably doing… what ever a mediator would do."
"Sending ghosts to their next journey," Syaoran answered automatically. Touya smiled, looking up at the ghost,
"Yea, I suppose so. I always kind of figured Sakura would have these kind of powers, ironic though, considering she's deathly afraid of ghosts." Touya chuckled. Syaoran half smiled, his eyes still lingering on Sakura's form in the bed.
"If I asked you to tell me what happened at the accidents, and what her nightmares are really about, most chances are you won't tell me will you?" Touya said, standing up. Syaoran hook his head,
"Probably not." He said. Touya smiled sadly, moving to the door,
"Guess that's fair." He said, moving out of the room, "do me a favour, and protect her when she's out doing whatever. She's strong in powers, but she's still young, and she'll probably appreciate your help more than mine. Oh and I won't tell Otou-san about you Syaoran-san." Syaoran did a double take,
"How-"
"Sakura's clumsy, she may think she's speaking quietly, but a kaijuu can't speak quietly to save her life." Touya said before closing the door. Syaoran stared after the closed door, his mind still whirring from the information he just heard.
"Strange…" he thought.
The sun rose up high in the sky, indicating the time to be noon, and still Sakura had not woken up yet. She had been sleeping since last night from coming home from school after fainting. Fujitaka had increased his visits, increasingly worried about his daughter's coma state. Touya had came in once in a while too, though after the conversation, took no notice or knowledge of the young ghost by the corner. Other than that, no one had come in her room. Syaoran continued to stay by her side, occasionally looking out the window at the neighbourhood.
Surprisingly enough though, he found himself not as worried as last night, for one thing today was the first time in weeks Sakura had been able to sleep without having to wake up or be disturbed by her nightmares. Another plus side-and Syaoran thought it was weird he was able to feel it-Sakura felt a lot warmer, not in body temperature but aura wise, power wise. He felt it, and though it made him curious as to why he could feel it, he couldn't help it in his heart the relief he felt that she was getting better.
It was three in the afternoon when Sakura started to move, waking up. Opening her eyes, her ceiling stared blurrily back at her, and after a few moments of blinking, her room came into focus. Sakura sat up, her covers slipping off her, waking up from one of the best sleep she had in ages.
"Oohh my god what time is it?" she asked lazily, stretching her arms and body. Syaoran smirked,
"It's three in the afternoon." Syaoran said, floating cross legged in front of her.
"Oohh three… what?" Sakura exclaimed, jumping up, grabbing her alarm clock from her bed table. Indeed the hour hand was pointing to three and the minute hand now at one. "You're joking, are you serious I slept that long?" Sakura asked unbelievingly.
"You're a deep sleeper." Syaoran shrugged, "But you look a lot better so I guess that makes up for it."
"So who came while I took my well deserved nap?" Sakura asked, sticking out her tongue at him when he rolled his eyes and scoffed when she said nap.
"Let's see, your father, your brother, then your father, then your brother, then your father, then your brother, then your father, your father again, then your brother… did I forget anyone?" Syaoran mockingly made a thinking face, "Oh right, did I mention your father and your brother came too?" he said sarcastically, leaving out the conversation he had with Touya in between his listing.
"Oh I'm sure you got everyone." Sakura said sarcastically, getting out in her top and pants, rummaging through her closet to get some clothes. After getting out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, she turned to Syaoran, who was still floating in air. "I promise to scream if some unidentified ghost suddenly barges in when I'm in the middle of changing." Sakura said, before opening the door, waving her hand. Syaoran landed on the floor,
"Great, watch over her, and get kicked out in thanks."
"So, tell me what happened?" Syaoran asked once they were out of the house and by Penguin Park. Sakura sat on one of the swings, and gently pushed herself with the heels of her feet.
"I don't know, it felt so… weird, it was like I was trapped or something. Have you ever watched those animal channels, where they catch a bear with those horrible tranquilizers, then the next thing the bear knows they wake up in a cage?"
"Yea… I think…" Syaoran said slowly.
"It's like I just felt numb all of a sudden and it's like I can't move. That's exactly what happened when I stared into Ronin's eyes." Sakura explained.
"Ronin the new kid in your class," Syaoran asked, frowning.
"Yea, him, why?" she asked, surprised at his tone in voice when he said that.
"I don't like him." He said bluntly, "he's strange, I swear he looked at me when he first came." Syaoran said. Sakura nodded in agreement, remembering the day the new student had came up to her and sat next to her, she remembered his silver eyes peering past her shoulder as well.
"Sakura-chan!" a cry called out. Tomoyo was running towards them, her raven hair untied. "Oh thank god I was looking all over for you!" she said breathlessly, clutching her blue bag.
"Hey Tomoyo, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, seeing her friend frantically searching her bag for something.
"Remember the tape I made the first time I met Li-san, of you two fighting?" Tomoyo asked, taking out her video camera. That caught Syaoran's attention as well, and looking around the park to make sure no one was there, he materialized and through Sakura's connection, he appeared out of thin air in front of Tomoyo.
"Yea, I remember." He said, getting a surprised jump out of Tomoyo when she looked up.
"It's not there anymore." Tomoyo said, brushing off her startled face when she handed her camera over. Sakura looked up at Syaoran, before the two bent over, looking at the small screen. It was blank, the blue screen flashed before their eyes.
"What? How could that be? Tomoyo are you sure?" Sakura asked urgently, this wasn't good, if anyone saw… they were in huge trouble.
"I swear I didn't!" Tomoyo said fearfully.
"Wait, didn't you charm it so only Tomoyo or others with powers can see it?" Syaoran asked,
"I did, but after that… night, we already know there's some else here with powers, if it gets in their hands…" Sakura left the rest un-said.
"Maybe someone switched the tape didn't you say you left your blue bag in the classroom that day?" Syaoran suggested.
"It's the same one, I swear, I label all my tapes, and they're all from my mom's company, so they're unique, each of them, they all have different barcodes on them, it's the same on, I checked and everything!" Tomoyo pointed out.
"Wait, you guys look." Sakura said suddenly, drawing the two's attention. The small screen was no longer blue; instead, it had turned black, flickering before their eyes. Then suddenly, a flash of the man in black flashed before their eyes, a sharp blue light emitted from the screen. Suddenly Tomoyo fainted, falling on the soft green grass.
"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura gasped, momentarily leaving the screen. Syaoran had already lifted the fainted girl up, and leaned her against a nearby tree. A voice came from the video.
"I know your watching this…" a cold voice hissed out from the screen, there was no one on the screen, but it started show a slideshow of pictures of families, familiar faces blared out at Sakura, faces of ghosts she had helped in the past,
"I know you know who I am, who they are. I know where you live, what you do, I know who you are." At that point Sakura's breathing started to get shorter and shorter, her heart beating faster and faster from every word.
"You can get all the help you want, but even your ghost can't even help you. He can follow you around everywhere." Suddenly, a picture of Sakura in her classroom just a few weeks before showed up, she was talking to her friends, all her friends were present in the picture and an eerie faint outline was made visible, no doubt showing Syaoran's position, and as soon as her picture showed up, it disappeared beneath the fire that sprouted from underneath,
"I've already won."
And the video turned off. Shaking, Sakura placed the camera back onto the bench. She took the tape out, and threw it on the floor and with one step; she broke it, the film spilling out, the casing turned into a million pieces of plastic.
"What's happening…?" Tomoyo groaned by the tree. Sakura and Syaoran rushed over, kneeling down to Tomoyo's level. "Sakura, What are you doing here, um… who are you?" Tomoyo asked, her eyes landing on Syaoran. Sakura and Syaoran looked at one another, Sakura's mouth opened slightly in shock.
Tomoyo had forgotten about Sakura's powers, she had forgotten about Syaoran.
After escorting Tomoyo home-who still seemed to be slightly unstable and wobbly, but reassured Sakura that she would be fine in a few days-Sakura and Syaoran sat alone in Sakura's room, the past event in their mind.
"He knows who I am, where I live, more importantly, he knows my family, my friends." Sakura said in a distressed voice. "How can I do this if he's going to put my friends and family in danger?"
"Sakura we don't know that yet, for all we know, it could be a prank." Syaoran said sternly though he was uncertain.
"Syaoran, Tomoyo just got brainwashed, by one flash of light. She doesn't remember anything about me being a mediator, about you… what if this is only the beginning?" The two stayed silent, not knowing what to do. What if this was only the beginning?
"We know he's someone close to you… he won't be able to know who you are or know Tomoyo's your best friend without being someone that knows you." Syaoran said.
"I know what you're thinking, Ronin right?" Sakura asked. Syaoran nodded,
"I'm not 100 percent sure, but ever since he arrived, strange things are happening. I mean, before all you had to do was deal with ghosts right?" he asked.
"Right and that's not strange at all is it?" Sakura asked sarcastically, "I'm sorry I understand what you mean." She corrected herself. "Maybe… I don't know… maybe I am not strong enough to do this…"
"Sakura stop this we've talked about it already!" Syaoran said loudly, and then lowered his voice, remembering Touya and Fujitaka were still downstairs, "You were chosen so that means you are strong. If you just give up, then you're practically handing the victory over to him on a silver platter."
Sakura thought thoughtfully, looking around her room, as if trying to find some answers. Her eyes landed on the picture of her mother.
"Okaa-san was a mediator too." She commented.
"I know." Syaoran said too quickly, Touya's conversation with him popping up, "I mean you've got to inherit from someone haven't you? Obviously your father isn't one." He covers up quickly. Sakura shrugged,
"I guess, but maybe it's time to… seek a like mind." She carefully put, standing up and moving to her table. She took her keys from her table, and searched for something, until she pulled out a tiny, gold key. It was oddly shaped, like the ones you see in old times. She bent down to the lowers drawer of her table, and unlocked it, taking out a soft pink velvet pouch. Opening it, she placed a hand in it, and took out silver coloured sand.
"What do you mean…? Sakura what is that?" Syaoran said quickly. He watched as Sakura drew a circle around them with the sand, it glowed when the circle was complete, surrounding him and Sakura.
"We're visiting my mother." Sakura said shortly, before placing her hand on top of the pile of sand that connected the circle. She murmured softly, her body glowed in a pink light, before making the circle glow even brighter.
"What?" he shouted. Suddenly a swirl of wind surrounded them, and as if being sucked into a tornado, they were turning round and round and round. Syaoran lost his sense of direction, his mind starting to hurt from going around in circles until suddenly everything stopped. Everything was silent, they weren't moving, but they weren't in Sakura's room any longer.
"Sakura?" a gentle voice carried to them. It was then Syaoran realized he had closed his eyes. Opening them, he saw Sakura had already stood up, and they were standing in nothing but pure white.
"Okaa-san," Sakura cried immediately hugging her mother, "I haven't seen you for a long time." Nadeshiko Kinomoto smiled gently, returning her hug,
"Yes, it has been a long time Sakura-chan, who is this young gentleman you have here with you?" she asked, looking at Syaoran who was standing straight,
"My name is Li Syaoran." Syaoran said politely, bowing in respect. Nadeshiko smiled,
"It's nice to meet you Li-san." She greeted, "I'm Nadeshiko Kinomoto, Sakura's mother."
"Okaa-san, Syaoran is a ghost too," Sakura said, Nadeshiko nodded,
"Yes, I remember, the one you met at school ne?" Nadeshiko asked. Sakura nodded, and Syaoran remembered now too. The day he had first met Sakura, that seemed so long ago. It was also the day he decided to stick with her, of course the exorcism he encountered with her helped his decision a lot as well.
"Hai, ano, there's another problem now." Sakura said uncomfortably, "You see there's this guy now, we don't know who he is, but he's after me, and the other ghosts, he made Tomoyo's memory of my powers and of meeting Syaoran disappear."
"I think that's why Sakura took us here to see you, Kinomoto-san." Syaoran said politely. Sakura nodded, and suddenly, she stumbled a bit, almost falling down if it wasn't for Syaoran who caught her just in time. Both Nadeshiko and Syaoran looked at her worriedly,
"Sakura," Syaoran said quietly, helping her up. Sakura smiled, indicating that she was fine. Nadeshiko looked from her daughter, to the young man holding her up. Could it possibly be that it was he Sakura was waiting for? Their connection seemed strong, and Nadeshiko could sense it, nothing was holding Syaoran down, yet he remained here, he stayed and according to Sakura, his death was nothing but an accident.
"There are no accidents in the world, accidents are only stepping stones to fate." Nadeshiko had learned that long ago.
"Sakura, Li-san," Nadeshiko said, making the two look at them, "Sakura your energy are getting lower so I will be quick, there is nothing I can tell you about this mysterious figure, only he is someone close to you. Stay close to one another, that I cannot stress enough. You must make sure to stay close, never separate; this person is closer than you think." Nadeshiko warned them. Then she went closer to Sakura, whispering behind her ears,
"Sakura-chan, my darling, Syaoran-san is not the ordinary ghosts you use to bump into." Nadeshiko whispered, "Every mediator meets a ghost they were destined to help, Syaoran-san may be the one." And she moved back. Sakura looked back at her mother in shock, she was fading away… or rather they were fading away.
"It's time you return, Sakura-chan. Li-san it has been a pleasure to meet you, I hope I will meet you again soon. Please, remember," Nadeshiko said sternly, "you two must stay close to one another. Sakura remember what I said, it will be important." And with that, Nadeshiko faded away from their sight and once again, they were swirling round and round and round, caught in the wind current until everything stopped.
It was silent, nothing was moving.
Syaoran's amber eyes caught Sakura's emerald ones.
There wasn't a single sound.
A/N: Another chapter done! Yay! I hope you guys liked it, little twist in adding Sakura's mom back into this. I wonder what she meant… hmm… Oh by the way, if you forgot about the Tomoyo missing her camera, reference in chapter 4 –grin- now be nice and press the little button )