I am so sorry about making you wait for this chapter. After I finished nine, I began to write this when stuff at school distracted me. Then my Legal Drug fanfic attacked me, demanding my attention. But I finally got Ten online!

As always, my thanks are extended to all of the kind people reading my craziness in action; Wolf Puppy-chan's, Evern, Wings of Wind, Lorylily, Nekoru-chan of Fairy tail, Fushiawase, and GrossGirl18. Thank for your support =D

Apparently Sakura and Meiling are out of character, and I do apologize if this is so; I am writing for Sakura as how I read her from the Manga, and I have only seen, like, two episodes of the anime that had Meiling so I'm working with what I remember, and what I have read about her in other fanfics. BTB, who's Mary sue?

I hope you enjoy the chappie! Oh, a little bit of graphicness near the end, so you know.

Fascinating.

I have never been really slapped in anger before, much less slapped by two girls at the same time.

I shall never deny if asked whether I was looking forward to attended the school in Tomoeda, though the reasons I give shall depend on who is asking. I shall not deny that I was amazed that all the Lupine members had been placed into the same class for morning orientation. I shall not deny that when I found myself in the same classes as Taylor-san, I was ELATED! And even further, I shall not deny that watching Hime being able to send Kirai Arkam away with a single command was enthralling.

I shall however deny that I did something out of turn.

It is safe to assume, I believe, that Meiling-chan and Taylor-san did not approve of my cover story for them, even though when they returned from their little escapade the teacher did not question them.

But if I'm being honest, I probably could have thought of a better excuse than 'Time of the Month Troubles'. Meiling-chan's face was as red as her eyes, and Taylor-san was so distraught, she couldn't even bring herself to perform her solo piece.

A shame, for I hear she has a divine voice.

In any event, the rest of the classes until next free period were accompanied by a cold and bitter wind, seemingly emanating from the two girls and, despite my nature, I held my tongue from uttering another word. Even in free break, I was left to my own devices, my cousin and her friend not wishing to be in my company. They finally spoke to me again just before the bell signalled the end of the period; even then 'twas just to let me know where I had to go to get ready for P.E, the last class of the day that was mixed level.

As I changed into the white pants and black top that consisted of the schools physical education uniform, I tuned my ears into the conversations of those around me. Most were of meaningless trivialities that had occurred for the students throughout the day, a few were speaking of the new male members of the school, myself included, and a few rumours that had cropped up (the ones about Kirai Arkam were pretty amusing, though the guy who said that I'm a pimp found himself on the receiving end of a magically induced wedgie) and a few that spoke quite complimentarily of Meiling-chan. As I was tying my shoes, however, I caught a snippet of a conversation relating to the girls who surrounded Hime.

From what I could make out of the conversation, the four girls called themselves the squad and were always arranging some get-together. All were pretty highly looked upon, not just by the staff but by the students as well, who were admiring of the girls attitudes and personas. The same conversation told me that a rumour had begun that Morrison-san's family was in heavy debt to the Land-Sharks and so she was acting as a 'stress-reliever' for them. I saw the look on Yamazaki-kun's face when that particular comment was made, and decided to act before my friend could; another magic wedgie was applied, only this time it was a nuclear one.

Kirai had already changed and entered the gym, and as Syaoran, Yamazaki-kun and I entered; I could see Meiling-chan leaning against the wall, her arms crossed and her face murderous. Before anyone could ask her what was wrong (they would find out soon enough and I was bound to pay for it so I was in no hurry to let them know), the teachers arrived and started gathering the students. When everyone had gathered, Terada-sensei was introduced by the other staff members as the former P.E teacher's replacement. Terada-sensei said that because he wanted to get more of a feel for everyone's over all ability we were going outside to play a game of soccer.

The class was divided equally in half, and one side was put on the sidelines to watch the first game, play in the second. Only Syaoran and Hime were in that group; every other member of the Black Bouquet and the Lupine found themselves in the first game.

I myself, found my team members were mainly unknown students, Cross-san, Young-san and Yamazaki-kun. And unfortunately, we were also on the team that was against Meiling-chan and Taylor-san when they were particularly angry at me. Oh dear.

The game was over very quickly, and was a total defeat for the side I was playing.

As the two sides swapped, I saw Syaoran raise an eyebrow at me in question; Meiling-chan and Taylor-san had been adamant in hunting me down with the ball. But all I could do was to smile at him as he walked onto the field.

As I began counting my blessings that I had about two more hours until Meiling-chan and Taylor-san hunted me down and skewered me with something blunt, I found myself gazing at Taylor-san, though she was ignoring me. While the boys wore pants, the girls of Tomoeda wore shorts for their P.E uniform and DAMN but I was enjoying the sight. Taylor-san had legs that just wouldn't end, and I had previously thought that she had an attractive rear, but the sight of it in close fitting shorts? I am so glad I'm a teenager; I'm allowed to be horny as long as I don't act on my impulses.

A shrill whistle brought my attention from a derriere to die for to the field of play, where the second game was about to begin. I realized that everyone around me had started cheering, though the only thing being yelled was 'WIN.' Looking to where the black and maroon ball was travelling, I saw Syaoran was in control, speeding down the field and quite literally leaving the slackers in the dust. As he approached the goal, the cheering stopped, every member of the audience sharply taking in breath, in anticipation of I couldn't imagine what.

Then Hime stole the ball.

The little Alpha was shocked that someone had managed to get the ball from him, and even more shocked that it was Hime who did it, that he froze for a few moments, unsure of hw to react, before he quickly began running back down the field, determined to retrieve what he lost. The audience had released it's breath as a colossal cheer, shouts of 'KICK IT TO WIN!', 'SMASH IT' and 'DON'T LOSE THAT BALL, GIRL!' ringing through the air. Hime however was passing the ball from herself to her team mates, them passing back, so the ball was never with one member for very long. Syaoran would manage to steal the ball back at one point before Hime swooped in removed it from his control.

The entire game stayed in this deadlock for the entire remainder of class, before Terada-sensei blew the whistle, indicating a draw. Syaoran looked pissed that not a single point had been scored for his team, whilst also looking infinitely pleased that the other team hadn't managed a point either. He even bowed in respect for a good game. I was seriously starting to be concerned for the little Alpha's mental health.

Before I could ascertain the cause for his unusual behaviour, Syaoran was literally swept off his feet by the class, full of admirers. Hime had also been pulled from the ground onto the shoulders of her fans, though curiously not, I noted, the squad. A quick perusal showed the squad hanging back from the rest of the group, and Meiling-chan was with them, although she appeared more strained in doing so from the rest of the girls.

The girls were most definitely watching over Hime, so it wasn't as if they were actually disloyal to the girl, the situation was looking more like they were guarding against something. An enemy that I hadn't seen. As a chill unrelated to the cold danced up the length of my spine, my senses kicked in to overdrive, scanning everything nearby for the origin of malice was taunting anyone of magic.

A quick glance at Syaoran showed he was well aware of it, though he was having trouble concentrating on it's location with how much he was being jostled. Yamazaki-kun was trying to find it too, though with so many people in a single class, he couldn't pin anything significant down.

I didn't even bother seeing if Terada-sensei had a hold; He had low level magic and was already over-whelmed by the amount of students he was going to be teaching, he would b e able to focus on magic at all right now.

I found myself calmly and quietly joining the squad and Meiling-chan. Under normal circumstances I would never dream of doing what I was about to, but the Lupine members were at a distinct disadvantage, and if I was to be able to protect myself, let alone the Little Alpha, I was willing to make sacrifices.

As I joined Taylor-san's side, I saw that my earlier transgression was going to be forgotten, meaning that this was clearly a situation where all concentration and strength was to be directed on the task at hand. I would get to live a few more hours.

"Wherever that pulse is coming from, it is being disrupted by the flow of the students' natural energies." Taylor-san spoke ridiculously calmly given the imminent threat the magic created. If I finished this day alive, I would ask her how she managed.

"As long as Hime is out in the open, that thing is a threat to everyone! Not just members of the double B." Morrison-san spoke with more urgency, but she too was rather relaxed about the whole situation if she were willing to address the Black Bouquet by its rather adorable nickname. In fact, aside from Meiling-chan, all the squad seemed perfectly at ease; as though the threat was something they could handle easily.

I didn't find myself doubting it.

I motioned for Yamazaki-kun to join us, which he did as quickly as he could. After telling what he was feeling (which sadly was nothing the squad wasn't already aware of) the girls told us what they knew.

"From what I was able to sense before all the class scattered, it is a male magic aura, and it is deadly, but not unmanageable." Young-san spoke first, and I got the impression that she was in possession of a strong sensory web. With so many people around her though, the web was being overloaded and she had lost her target.

"I got the male aura too, though I couldn't feel its intensity." Cross-san intervened to explain what she had picked up. "I got the feeling that I had come across that aura before, though it must have been when the user was at a much weaker level, because it is the sort of power you don't tend to forget."

These girls were good. While Yamazaki-kun and I had barely anything, and Meiling-chan was excused from the forefront, two of the members were able to collectively determine a great deal about the threat before them.

"I can't be sure until I get a better feel of it, but I think I saw a pulse as brown. That indicates that the user has contradictory sight of themselves right?" Morrison-san was able to see the magics colour? Even if it were only for a single pulse, the colour a magic takes is incredibly hard to see.

"It fits with what I sensed. It was mainly in the earthen attribute, and those who are fall into the earth's powers often can't have a clear self image as they change who they are just as often as Mother Nature." Taylor-san spoke of the ancient principles of magic as though they were commonplace instead of the ways of old that they were.

"Since the magic user is earthen, it would make sense that all the nearby trees are full of birds not wanting to risk being hurt right?"

Meiling-chan may not have been able to use magic, but she makes up for it with physical strength and great understanding of a situation. From the five elements –Fire. Water. Earth. Wood. Metal. – wood existed at the expense of earth, so earthen magic users are rarely able to damage wood magic users or any quantity of wood in their surroundings. Meiling-chan had noted that the birds were flocking to the safest place in the even of a confrontation.

"Do any of you girls possess wood magics?"

Syaoran's voice made us all jump; he had managed to ditch his fans and join us, leaving Hime to the swarm. When he glanced at me, my thoughts must have been showing on my face because his next comment stopped that train of thought.

"She is the one who told me to come here. As much as I hate to admit it, we are in over our heads, and the Black Bouquet has the better chance of getting out of whatever the hell is going on."

The squad looked over to Hime and saw that she was looking at them too. After a few moments, their leader gave a firm nod of the head and returned her attention to the crowd surrounding her. Taylor-san directed her attention to the little Alpha.

"None of us here has a wood attribute, though Chelsea-chan has fire, Nikki-chan and Rita-chan have water, and I hold sway over metal, so we should be able to work with what we have. What are you gentlemen bringing to the party?"

"I also have the metal attribute, and Eli-kun here has the water attribute too. Syaoran-kun has a mix of fire and earth."

Normally, Syaoran and I would have hit Yamazaki for just spilling his guts like that, but the magic aura was increasing, though still remaining untraceable.

I have been training in martial arts and magic for as long as I can remember and likely before I could. Though my martial arts were not of the level one would expect for near thirteen years training, I had always excelled in the magical arts. Being under the influence of water, my magic trended towards healing and fortune telling, past, present and future, though my powers in telling failed should I be attempting to read a person stronger than myself.

The squad was obviously thinking over everything we had in our arsenal. I realised that Hime's magic hadn't been mentioned, though seeing as she was playing distraction to the students she was unlikely to be engaged in the following battle.

Taylor-san began giving us orders, directions for us to focus our searches on; if we each focused on a certain area instead of a wide spread search, we were unlikely to overlook the target. If/when we found the user; we were to spike our magical aura to its highest peak for a few seconds. The others would noticed and spike their auras in turn.

It was the cat arch method. Make yourself seem bigger and more dangerous then you were. We were going to do one of two things. 1) scare the user away, at least for now, by making it seem like we were far more powerful then him. 2) we were going to provoke him into coming out into the open to attack us, and we would hopefully make it out alive.

Number two looked more likely to happen sadly.

We all stretched our sensory webs as far as we could in the directions Taylor-san gave us. Meiling-chan, though unable to use magic, actually had the ability of sensory webs, though its usefulness varied with her moods. Right now, it was one of the stronger webs we had at our disposal.

We quickly found the user, hiding on the roof of the gym.

Our auras rose sharply, before retracting to near nothingness. For a few seconds, everything seemed to stop. The magic of the unknown user flared, showing that he acknowledged us, before it disappeared, fading with the breeze that rose. Yamazaki-kun braced himself against his knees as the pressure left his chest, and he began to take deep, steadying breaths.

"In all my time surrounded by magic users, I have never felt anything so filled with malice."

I could understand Yamazaki-kun's plight. When we had spiked our auras, Terada-sensei had quickly looked in our direction before beginning to walk over, and ended up stumbling when the other user flared in response. He had written it off to worried students that he had simply tripped, and that for a P.E teacher he could be rather clumsy, before the bell went and he dismissed us all.

Terada-sensei was not going to like that he hadn't noticed a magic user.

We had all changed and were waiting out at the front gate for Wei to pick us up. Yelan-sama had called Syaoran about the power spike, and Syaoran had informed her of what was going on. She had insisted that Wei pick them up so she had some piece of mind.

The members of the Black Bouquet were waiting with us as well. From what I understood, the squad had planned a visit to Taylor-san's house, and Hime was going to be escorted back to her home. From the snippets I heard of the conversation the girls were having with Meiling-chan, Hime had been picked up and dropped off since our first run in.

"Who's picking you up today? Is it Fai-san? Or maybe Kurogane-san? We all know you adore him."

Morrison-san was attempting to Hime, but the princess only heard the words, not their intent. She gave a gentle smile, nothing more than a smooth curve of her lips, before she spoke.

"Well, Kurogane-san and Fai-san have an engagement today, so they can't. It was going to be Tori but he was called by the Matriarch to take care of some important matter. After that, Kudo-san and Himura-san were going to do it, but then Kakei-san had an emergency in the pharmacy, and Saiga-san is out of town, so they needed to take care of that instead.

Hikaru-chan volunteered, but then Uma-chan and Fuu-chan accidentally got involved with the Land-sharks, and they take priority. Nokoru-kun, Suoh-kun and Akira-kun all have student council duty today so they weren't available. Julian is currently following up with someone so he couldn't come. Kero-chan has his monthly meet at the raceway, so I couldn't bother him..."

Hime apparently had a lot of people willing to look after her. I vaguely recognised some of the names, though I would not be able to tell you from when or where. I also didn't fail to notice Syaoran twitch at every new name mentioned.

"So it is probably going to be ..."

"Hime-chan!"

Hime was suddenly cut off and every one looked towards the voice.

"Watanuki-kun!"

Hime ran to the young man. He was quite a bit taller than her, and looked very slender for a man. He had black hair that was kinda long and slightly messed, making it look as though he had just woken. He was dressed in a rather elaborate kimono, a black silk affair with gold and blue phoenix feathers scattered over the fabric, the bright colours echoing his mismatched eyes. When Hime reached him, the man called Watanuki drew her into a hug which she easily reciprocated. I saw Syaoran clench his fist, though from what cause was hard to see, as his face remained impassive.

"Watanuki-kun, is it alright for you to leave the store?"

Hime looked at him with concern reflecting through her eyes, though the man before her just smiled gently, the smirk looking akin to a cat's grin.

"You have nothing to worry about Hime-chan. I am well safe."

Watanuki pointed across the street, to a young man with a rather muscular physique. The other man was wearing a nice suit. Though he looked quite plain in contrast to Watanuki. The man had golden eyes and short black hair, and truth be told, he looked half asleep. When Hime looked in his direction though his gazed snapped to meet hers and I could feel from his aura that the man was an exorcist of the highest degree. A smile played around his lips and he raised a hand in respect. Hime's smile widened and her cheerful voice carried across the street just as her legs carried her, Watanuki following behind.

"Doumeki-kun!"

She gave this gentleman a hug too, a final wave to her friends before she departed. Meiling-chan watched her for a while before turning to Taylor-san.

"Is Hime-sama safe with them? She looked happy so I didn't say anything, but she's safe right?"

Taylor-san let out a delicate little laugh, which had me stunned, before answering that Hime would be safe with anyone she chose to walk with.

"Hime doesn't even realize it, but she can naturally tell if someone is good or bad, and refuses to go near bad people. And anybody with their eyes open can see that she is perfection, so they will definitely take care of her. Watanuki-san is a good friend of hers, and Doumeki-san has Watanuki-san's total trust.

Though he doesn't look it, Watanuki-san is actually really old, his body was frozen in time, though his mind continued to grow. He was best friends with Doumeki-san's great-grandfather, and watched as the family grew up. Doumeki-san is really protective of Watanuki-san too, because Watanuki-san practically raised him."

Meiling-chan seemed happy with that and Yamazaki-kun looked like the cat that ate the canary with all the information he was getting. After that, Meiling-chan started asking questions about the town, the hang out spots, and other things I couldn't be bothered to listen to. Wei arrived a few minutes later, as well as a black limo that the squad entered and we drove off to our respective locations.

There was much to do.

I find myself wanting to scream. I am usually the picture of composure, in control of my emotions and my reactions to whatever is thrown at me.

Though Kirai Arkam knows how to break my mould.

Yelan-sama has sent him to the hospital wing again, though he'll be up by tomorrow, the story being a small relapse.

As soon as we were home, he started off on a rant about how he was going to kill all of the Black Bouquet members at the school, how he was going to rip their heads off and 'claim' them while their bodies were still warm, before ripping them to shreds. I wanted to scream bloody murder, and act upon my cries. I wanted to destroy every fibre of the piece of slime before me, and a glance sent to the others, including Yue-san, Ashura-san and Yasha-sama, showed that they wanted to as well.

Syaoran was shaking slightly, and briefly, I thought of Meiling-chan and Taylor-san's conversation about Syaoran and Hime and how true it was. But when Arkam began to describe in horrific detail how he would tie the girls up and make them watch as he 'did the deed' to each of them, all I wanted to do was plant my fist in his smug little face so hard that to get my hand out we'd have to cut his face apart.

Yelan-sama sadly deprived me of this as she herself sent Arkam to kiss the floor.

Once we were rid of him and had calmed down somewhat, we told Yelan-sama how the girls of the Black Bouquet were the ones with the situation in hand. She at first suggested that it was a ploy, but we had all felt the malice; you can't fake malice in magic.

Magic rejects what is false to its owner. If a person is born under the light spectrum of the elements, the arts of the dark spectrum are unobtainable to them, their body

wouldn't be able to contain both sides. A person who is twisted in their heart is forever unable to hide the stench of evil from their magical aura.

The user at the school had wanted to spill blood. The girls had known what was needed to prevent it. And Hime had kept the other students distracted from the goings on so that no-ones cover would be blown. Meiling-chan was all too happy to begin explaining about Hime in excruciating detail.

Yelan-sama didn't seem all too happy with this news.

"That girl is truly a mystery factor. Her actions speak of a leader, but from what Meiling-chan is saying, I get the impression that Hime is in fact a mere pawn in some ones pocket. Yes she is well protected, and is obeyed, but I get the feeling that she is the puppet, dancing on her strings. I would need to meet her before I could say for sure."

I had thought of the possibility that Hime was a lackey, from what I saw of the girl, she was most definitely in control, but Yelan-sama could see what I couldn't due to experience in the field. How confusing.

"I was right about Hime-sama having magic though!" every one started listening to Meiling-chan "I can't tell what attribute it's from, but she lies in the neutral section of magic. Hime uses her magic as a cleanser. Her magic is able to pour itself into a person's soul, and determine where they stand. Remember how Madi-chan said that Hime can just tell if a person is good or bad? That is Hime's magic at work!"

Meiling-chan had been doing her research even when becoming friends with Hime and Taylor-san. After a quick dinner I couldn't taste, I retreated to my room, trying to forget Arkam's words and focusing on Meiling-chan's.

Neutral magic, or Soul Magic as it was usually called, was quite rare as it meant a perfect blending between the elements. Syaoran was almost neutral but he had a slightly heavier influence of fire. He fell on the light side of the spectrum, but he was damned close to the neutral zone.

I thought on all the names Hime had mentioned today. Were they all members of the Black Bouquet? Were they all male or were there a few girls she mentioned? How many had magic?

I knew Watanuki had magic; his aura was practically swimming around him, all but inviting him to be noticed. That was probably why Hime had been concerned; that sort of aura attracts unwanted attentions. The man Doumeki however had no aura at all; it was like it was being erased by something, and when Watanuki and Hime drew close to him their aura's vanished as well. Was that why he had Watanuki's trust? Because he erased the aura that drew superfluous attractions?

My thoughts began linking and forming connections, until I reached a circle in my mind that led me nowhere and told me nothing I didn't already know.

With a headache beginning to rise, I turned off my light and began to descend into sleep. Again I thought of Arkam's words, and how much I had wanted to pound him. I thought of Taylor-san and all the girls.

Slime such as Kirai Arkam could never be allowed to touch such purity. I knew that I would do everything in my power to stop it, and I also knew that Syaoran and Yamazaki-kun would protect the girls as well.

But, did we have the right to want the girls for ourselves?

Yay! End of chappie!

I hope you enjoyed, and once again, I am sorry for the long wait. I will do my best to have the next chapter up soon, but I have kinda reached the place where I skipped over how to get from this point to the next thing I have planned so if the next chapter doesn't come for a while, I am very sorry (Bows head in apologies)

Review?

Toodles and Love

Oky Verlo