Agent08 Reporting for Duty!
Now… on with chapter eleven!
Casting Shadows
Truth Be Told
"K-Kaito-kun!" Sakura stammered, standing immediately as though the bed had caught fire. "W-what are you – w-why are you...?"
Kaito's eyes never left Syaoran, who was still sitting on the bed and staring right back at him with a blank expression. Not even when Sakura had put her arms around her fiancé in a welcoming embrace did he remove his powerful stare.
"I realized after I hung up on the phone with you earlier that I missed you too much," he explained, his voice still flat and eyes still ever glued upon Syaoran. "I couldn't find a decent flight to China that would get me to you soon enough, so I had a friend fly me from his private jet. I must have left only an hour or two after your own plane took off."
She couldn't believe that this was happening to her – her fiancé had just walked in on her in a terribly compromising situation with her ex-boyfriend. How was she going to make him believe that nothing had transpired when it certainly looked otherwise?
Smiling nervously, she brought her hands to his face and had to physically remove his gaze from the man on the bed.
"I'm glad you're here," she said gently.
With his hard stare now on her instead of Syaoran, she felt extremely uncomfortable.
"Are you?" he asked, a rough edge now colouring his voice.
She looked positively dismayed at his question. He had never spoken to her in such a tone before. "Of course I am," she said earnestly, leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Syaoran turned his head quickly the other way. Oh, the Fates had certainly dealt him a tough blow. He was about to kiss Sakura for the first time in ten years, and instead she kisses another man in front of him.
"Don't be silly. I missed you too, Kaito-kun. I'm happy you came. I was just... I – S-Syaoran-kun here was just… we were just…"
"Catching up," Syaoran finished for her solemnly, standing from the bed. He couldn't simply leave Sakura to think of an excuse all by herself – he was at fault for what almost happened, as well. "We were just catching up."
"Is that so," Kaito asked him with no upward inflection to his question and no real sound of curiosity in his tone.
"Yes," Syaoran answered, his voice even, hoping that Kaito would buy it. He held out his hand and waited for him to shake it, which he did. Both held the other hand with surprising tightness in their grip. To take the heat off of Sakura and to try to change subjects, Syaoran said, "Welcome to China."
Kaito did not answer. Instead he turned to Sakura, put both his hands in his pockets and told Sakura, "I didn't want to bother you on your…. school reunion," he said skeptically, "but I really did miss you. And I still don't want to be a bother. Do you think your friend Hiiragizawa could help me find a hotel? I'd stay at my own, obviously, but seeing as it's not built yet…"
"Nonsense," said Eriol, who appeared at the doorway, leaning against the frame. "You can stay here."
Both Sakura's and Syaoran's eyes widened at his offer of accommodations.
"No," Kaito protested, his voice friendlier now. "Please – I'd rather not impose or ruin your reunion—"
"Don't be ridiculous," Eriol interrupted, "you didn't even know me and you were ready to let me stay, free of charge, in your hotel in the most expensive suite. The very least I could do is give you a room in my own home."
Kaito smiled gratefully at him but turned to face Sakura. "Would that be all right with you?"
"O-of course," she answered, nodding and blinking, still surprised at Eriol's suggestion. "That – that would be perfectly all right with me."
Syaoran glared at Eriol, his jaw clenched tightly to keep himself from saying anything that would make everybody uncomfortable. Eriol returned his friend's glare with an imploring glance that pretty much said, "What else can I do?" His gaze then morphed into a more apologetic one, and with the next words that escaped his mouth, Syaoran soon understood why.
Returning his attention to Kaito, Eriol said, "There's more than enough space for you to have your own room, but if you like, you could share this room with Sakura-san."
Sakura began to chew on her bottom lip. Sharing a brief glance with his fiancée, Kaito shook his head slowly and kept a modest smile about his handsome face. To Syaoran's delight, he answered, "No, that's all right. Sakura and I, we… we don't share beds." Though, it appeared to him that she was perfectly comfortable sharing a bed with Syaoran.
"Oh," Eriol responded in small surprise. "All right then – why don't you follow me? I'll show you to your room."
"Thank you," Kaito answered appreciatively, picking up the suitcase he had dropped when he'd first entered Sakura's room.
"Is this all you have?" Eriol wondered aloud as they both exited from the room.
"Ah, well… yes," he answered sheepishly. "I was really eager to see Sakura… I didn't give a lot of thought to my packing."
"Well, no problem," Eriol told him. "You look about the same size as me. I don't mind lending you some clothes, if you need any."
"Oh," said Kaito sounding even more grateful, "that's very kind of you."
As they chatted the rest of the way to his guest bedroom, Sakura brought both of her hands to her head and began to shake. Noticing this, Syaoran approached her to take her by the shoulders, thinking it would calm her. She stepped back almost immediately from him and took to shaking her head, staring at him incredulously.
"He is furious with me," she nearly whimpered.
"No he's not," he answered her evenly, "he didn't even yell at you."
"I don't need him to raise his voice to know that he's angry with me!"
"Sakura, calm down," Syaoran told her, still wanting to take her by the shoulders and to rub soothing circles into her back, the way he did before when they were together. "You can just explain to him. Nothing… nothing even happened."
"No?" she asked, sounding sincerely confused.
He didn't know how to answer. "Sakura…"
She stopped him with a swift motion of both her hands, waving them at him in a desperate signal to stop talking. It was best that they did not speak of what nearly happened. She should have just agreed with him when he said nothing happened – because, technically, it was the truth. But she could not stop her mind from making images in her mind of what it would've been like had Kaito not interrupted them.
"I have to go," she said suddenly, turning around promptly to exit the room.
Syaoran opened his mouth to ask her where she was going, but she had already left. Anyway, there weren't a whole lot of places she could go. Either she was going to debrief with Tomoyo and Meiling, or try and explain herself to Kaito. Whichever of the two it was that she chose to do, he knew better than to be present at either.
Deciding to avoid Kaito at all costs, in case things got ugly between the two of them, he went downsstairs to sit and wait in the living room for whatever would happen next. He was hoping that as soon as they had returned from the restaurant that they'd be able to do some research on the spirit attempting to contact Clow, but more obstacles got in the way of that endeavor. Now he had to wait to make sure everything was all right between the girl he loved and her fiancé before he could do as he pleased.
Upon entering the living room, it was clear to see which choice Sakura had made between her friends and Kaito. Seeing the girls by themselves, biting their nails and literally sitting on the edge of their seats, it was obvious that she had chosen the latter – which made sense. She didn't have anything to say to her friends, but there was a hell of a lot of explaining she had to do with Kaito. Sighing, he took a seat on the sofa next to Meiling.
"Oh my gosh," Tomoyo started, not even waiting for his bum to reach the cushions. Immediately she began to describe what had happened when Kaito first arrived.
"Li-kun, I'm sorry! I tried to keep him downstairs so he wouldn't interrupt your conversation! But he was just too excited to see her!"
Syaoran's face was in his hands as he tried to wish away the last few weeks spent with Sakura. "It's all right, Daidouji."
"No, it isn't! You two must not have done a lot of talking – you were only up there for a little while. I wanted to buy you two as much time as possible – you know, to get everything out! I hope he didn't interrupt anything very serious…"
There was an obvious tone of curiosity in Tomoyo's voice. Clearly, both girls were simply dying to know what happened. Sighing heavily, Syaoran decided that he might as well let them know of what happened between him and Sakura. He had kept enough from the two of them, and if anyone would know what to do in his current situation after all that had occurred, it would be them.
"He came in as we were about to… to…" he muttered, his cheeks flaming pink. His face crumpled as he recalled how rudely he was deprived of such an intimate moment with Sakura. "To kiss."
Their eyes grew to the size of saucers.
"No," Meiling gasped in disbelief.
"He didn't!" Tomoyo also cried, equally dismayed.
"He did," Syaoran groaned.
At that moment, Eriol appeared with a sympathetic look about his face, taking a seat opposite Syaoran.
"What are you doing here?" Syaoran snarled, obviously unhappy with the man sitting across from him. "Shouldn't you be with your new best friend?"
Eriol's eyebrows rose. "You mean Yoshida-kun?" he asked, half scoffing and half laughing.
Opening his mouth, Syaoran used a tone of voice that was meant to mimic Eriol's – though it sounded more ridiculous than it did accurate. "Do you want to share a room with Sakura-san? Do you want to borrow my clothes? Do you want to run away and elope?"
Tomoyo and Meiling looked between the two men, confused. Eriol rolled his eyes and said to them, "He is embellishing."
"Only the last part!" Syaoran exclaimed, standing from his seat and doing the only thing he felt that he could do, which was to pace. "Are you trying to get on his good side for free lifetime service at his hotel, or something?"
"No," Eriol answered sincerely, "I'm just trying to be nice to the man. He did, after all, walk in as you were about to kiss his fiancée."
Syaoran stopped his pacing and turned to look at his friend seriously. "You saw that?"
"Of course I did," he answered, leaning back on the sofa and shaking his head. "Before I ducked out to give you three some privacy, I was right behind Yoshida-kun, trying to keep him from walking in on you two, in case you two were doing something inappropriate. Obviously I didn't succeed in that venture."
Syaoran frowned. Despite hating Kaito for being with the girl he loved – despite everything, he could not help but to feel guilty. He could only imagine being in his place. What if it were him who was engaged to Sakura, and the one to walk in on her as she nearly kissed another man? If Syaoran was being honest with himself, Kaito did not deserve that kind of betrayal from her. He was a really decent person and he hated to admit that to himself. What he and Sakura had been doing lately together was simply not fair to him, or Kaito,
"Nothing happened," he muttered, his amber eyes lowering to stare at his feet.
"No?" Eriol asked skeptically, almost in the exact same way Sakura had asked him.
"No!" Syaoran confirmed angrily, wanting to lunge at him. "Nothing happened, okay? Something almost did, but – but who's to say she wouldn't have turned her face at the last moment? It wasn't going to happen – Sakura is too good of a person. I know she wouldn't have let it get so far."
They kept their mouths shut after that – with the exception of Meiling, who said in a tone so quiet, it was though she were afraid to say it out loud, "But… she let it get far enough."
And everyone else, including Syaoran, knew she was right.
xxxxxx
Sakura sat by herself on the bed, this time in Kaito's guest bedroom, silent as she watched him empty what little things he had from his suitcase. Neither of them had spoken since she entered the room and closed the door behind her.
"How was your flight?" she asked quietly, peering up at him nervously.
"All right," he answered emotionlessly. "We experienced quite a bit of turbulence… I had my friend – Hitoshi-kun, you know him – fly me so I'd get to you as soon as possible."
"Oh," she said, feeling smaller than ever as he revealed more and more about his spontaneous plan to visit her.
He threw a shirt into one of the opened drawers and put his hands on his hips, staring at the floor beneath him. "I – I'm sorry for coming so suddenly. I know it's only been a few days since you left. It just felt weird having you away from me. Usually it's me that's away on business… I don't mean to come off clingy, or—"
"You don't come off like that at all," she assured him, hating herself all the more because he sounded so sincere and apologetic when it was herself that was in the wrong.
Kaito had stopped packing completely. He was quiet for a moment before continuing, "Maybe I should've left later – or maybe I shouldn't have come at all. I could've spared myself a rather odd… viewing."
Sakura stood instantly and took quick strides to her fiancé. She hugged him from behind and buried her face in his back before turning him around to face her. When he didn't resist the movement, she quickly thanked her lucky stars. She really did not want to have to spend the rest of their conversation speaking to his spine.
"Kaito-kun, please… please understand. We weren't doing anything. We were just talking…"
"Really, Sakura?" he asked, removing her hands from his waist but still holding onto them tightly, as if he couldn't bear to let her go. "It didn't look like you two were just talking."
"I know it looked bad, but you must understand – it isn't like that between Syaoran-kun and me!"
He sighed and shook his head slowly from side to side, his grip on her hands loosening. But she still held on for dear life.
"I'm not a jealous man, Sakura, and you know that. And it's not like I don't trust you. I do trust you. I also know Li-kun is a good man. It's not like I didn't trust him, either. But after seeing you with him like that just now… I don't know if I do still trust him."
"Of course you can trust him!" she appealed, bringing their joint hands upwards to her face, so she could rest her cheek against them. "If there is anyone besides Tomoyo-chan that you can trust me with – it's him." She paused for a moment to let those words sink in his mind. He did not appear to be changed. "He was telling the truth, Kaito-kun. All we were doing was catching up."
He inhaled slowly, running a hand through his dark, black hair and closing his beautiful, grey eyes. When he opened them again, the hard stare had disappeared completely. There within his eyes was a soft, loving gaze that bore down on her, making her feel both relieved and all the more guilty.
"I believe you," he said honestly, placing a tender kiss on her forehead and capturing her in a tight embrace.
Sakura nestled her head in his broad chest and said a smothered, "I love you."
She felt his chest rise and fall in staccato fashion as he chuckled. "I love you too."
She closed her eyes and allowed him to practically swallow her in his strong arms, praying to the heavens that she really would get swallowed, or at least be granted the ability to disappear, because how she was going to survive the rest of the trip with both Kaito and Syaoran living under the same roof, was completely beyond her.
xxxxxx
After kissing and making up, Kaito and Sakura descended the stairs together, holding hands and smiling. When they came into the living room to join the others, the majority of the party looked happy to see that they had worked things out. Even Syaoran was glad that Sakura was not in deep trouble, but it still irked him that they were holding hands.
"Yoshida-kun," Eriol started, standing from the sofa, "I was wondering when you'd come down. We all just came from having lunch – but if you're hungry; I had my pantries re-stocked by some maids right before we got here. You can help yourself to anything. I can order in for you if you want, too."
Syaoran glared at him and did his best to hide his irritation before he found himself making any more comments about the pair of them eloping.
"Um, no, thank you, I'm not hungry right now," he answered, smiling happily at all of them, even Syaoran, though his grin lost some of its charm when his gaze landed upon him. "Actually… if it's all right with all of you, I was hoping I could steal Sakura away for a moment."
Syaoran's glare grew more potent. "Steal Sakura away", he said – but he should've said, "steal her more than I already have".
"Is it okay?" she asked quietly, in a voice sounding so guilty for wanting to leave them that it came off as adorable. "We wouldn't be going very far."
"Not far at all," Kaito expanded, "I actually just wanted to spend some time with her – maybe even show her the grounds where my hotel is being built."
"You guys can do without me, just for a little while, can't you?" she asked, mostly aiming this question to both Syaoran and Eriol. She knew that before the whole parking lot debacle, they were supposed to begin research on the issue they'd been putting off for forever. But she wasn't asking them to continue delaying the investigation – she was simply hoping that they could start without her so she could go out for an hour or two with Kaito, to make up for being such a terrible fiancée.
"Sure we can," Eriol answered, when the rest of her friends did nothing but stare in Syaoran's direction. "We won't be doing much here."
And then, suddenly, Syaoran suggested, "So why don't we all go?"
Meiling lifted her eyes to stare at him in surprise. "All of us? Go?"
"Yes," Syaoran answered, standing and making his way over to the coat rack. "Let's all go."
"But…" Tomoyo began in confusion, looking between all her friends to see if she was the only one that was taken aback by the new plan, "Li-kun, I thought we were supposed to start—"
"It can wait," he said abruptly, giving the two girls who still sat a summoning sort of look, to which they responded with immediate action. Eriol followed suit and grabbed his coat, none of them bothering to wait for Kaito to say that he was okay with them coming along. It was Tomoyo who at least had the decency to check if it was all right with him – although by the time she asked they had all already put on their coats.
"You don't mind; do you, Yoshida-kun?"
Although he looked rather startled by Syaoran's suggestion, he didn't appear perturbed at all. In fact, it looked as though as long as Sakura accompanied him on this outing, he couldn't have cared if they told him their entire graduating class was also coming along.
"No, not at all! I'd love to show all of you where the new Yoshida Tower will be put, anyway. I was due to check how the construction men were faring, so this visit can serve two purposes. I can give you all an exclusive tour!"
"Sounds like fun," said Sakura, both her arms hugging Kaito around the waist as they were the first to walk out the door. "Kaito-kun and I will go ahead in the first car, and you can follow behind, Eriol-kun. Would you mind very much if he drove your car? I promise he has a very steady hand."
Syaoran felt like retching.
"Not at all," said Eriol, tossing him the keys in a fluid pass across the foyer. "Show the way, Yoshida-kun."
They walked out together into the still hot, sunny weather; with the exception of Tomoyo who had run up to Sakura's room to assure Kero would be okay by himself. However, they all knew with Eriol's well-stocked refrigerator and pantries, his big screen TV and gaming system, that he would be perfectly all right on his own.
Having been settled in the car, Kaito and Sakura took off down the drive way and onto the road ahead of them, waiting patiently at the stop sign for their friends to catch up.
In the other car with Eriol driving and Syaoran sitting shotgun with the girls in the back, the air was tense. No one spoke, and while Syaoran glared at the car just a few feet ahead of them, the rest of the occupants stared at him in caution and worry. If they spoke, would he snap at them?
Meiling decided to test the waters. "Syaoran, I thought you wanted to get to work right away, after our lunch at the restaurant?"
"What," he muttered darkly, his eyes never leaving the car before them, "the rest of you can put it off but I can't?"
They all seemed to bite their lips in unison. He didn't snap – but he certainly didn't respond kindly, either.
"Syaoran," Eriol started, "maybe we should have let them go by themselves. We didn't have to go with them – there's still time to turn the car around. I could call Sakura-san on her phone and tell them we changed our minds."
Syaoran turned slowly to look first at Eriol, and then the rear-view mirror so the girls could see his face as he spoke. "It is obvious that even after what almost happened upstairs in her room – she still chose Yoshida. I know I've already said this, but – after this trip, she's going to get married and she will forget all about me. These next few days will be the last ones I spend with her – probably for another ten years."
His friends exchanged sad stares. He had in fact said almost those very same words to Eriol and Tomoyo, just the other day. And they knew the first time they'd heard those words, just as they knew it at that moment in the car with him, that Syaoran was right.
"I know I try to avoid her sometimes… but this time around, I'm going to try and be there as much as I can before… before leaving her – again."
They lapsed into a pensive silence after his sincere and truthful comment on his current situation. Finally Eriol clapped him once the shoulder, gripping his shoulder tightly.
"Fair enough, Syaoran."
"Yeah," chimed Tomoyo, trying to sound happy for his sake. "Whatever you want, Li-kun."
It was clear they had reached a conclusion for the issue at hand – and, they all just assumed that when they came back from this outing with Kaito and Sakura, that they would finally begin a more extensive look into Clow's background.
When at last Kaito parked the car on the side of the road where there was an empty lot, only a short drive had passed. Eriol did the same and parked just behind them. They all emerged from the cars and got into a group, Kaito and Sakura leading the pack with their hands still joined.
The empty lot, it appeared, was not as empty as it had first appeared. As they approached the grounds, the huge, gaping hole that was as wide as a football field was easier to spot. Down below and even all around the edge of the hole were construction men in hard hats with drills, and others operating bulldozers, backhoe loaders and other heavy machineries.
The noise was loud and almost impossible to talk over, but it was easy for all of them to shout.
"I know it's not much right now," yelled Kaito over the massive sound, "but we literally only began construction a month ago – right now, they're starting with the underground spa and parking lot."
"I'm sure it'll turn out great," shouted Tomoyo, her hands over her ears and a slight grimace on her face.
Suddenly, a man walked over to them, a clipboard in hand and gesturing wildly. He was in construction uniform, so obviously he was with the other workers. With one hand over his ear and the other waving at them, he bellowed, "You people can't be here right now!" he told them in Cantonese, "Can't you see, this is a construction zone!"
"Ah, yes!" Kaito said, apparently able to understand and respond in the other language. He spoke equally as loud, but not in anger, saying "A construction zone it is, indeed! My name is Yoshida Kaito – are you Kenta-san?"
The man who spoke to them removed his hard hat in respect and bowed to Kaito. "Yoshida-sama – do forgive me, I didn't realize it was you. I recognize your voice now from our phone conversations." He had switched to Japanese for Kaito's convenience, though just by hearing the hotel owner's surprisingly fluent Cantonese, it was clear he didn't have to.
Kaito laughed and shook the man's hand, straightening him as he did so. "No need to apologize, Kenta-san. This is our first meeting, and we've only spoken over conference calls, after all. Tell me, how has everyone been faring? Hopefully the hot weather here hasn't been affecting you all too much?"
"Not at all, not at all, Yoshida-sama," said the man named Kenta. "We are making great progress. We should be done by the deadline you gave us. Would you like a walk-through of all the projects we've begun since four weeks ago?"
"Absolutely," he answered enthusiastically, joining the man but stretching out his arm so he wasn't quite yet separated from Sakura yet. "Sweetheart," he said to her first, then addressed the rest of the group, "this should only take a short while. I'll make him go through it quickly. Why don't the rest of you explore, in the mean time? I'll be able to find you."
"Sure," they agreed without hesitation, walking off on their own to view what other work was being done to the land.
Sakura watched Kaito retreat from their group, waiting until they were more or less alone before doing anything. As soon as she was sure that he wouldn't be looking back at them, she spun on her heel and looked searchingly into her surroundings, as if she were sniffing out a specific scent. Eriol and Syaoran appeared to be doing the same thing, an intense, focused expression upon all three of their faces.
Kaito didn't know it, and neither did Tomoyo or Meiling for that matter, but the moment they set foot on the lot, a strange feeling had come over all three of them. If Kero were with them, he certainly would've felt the sensation as well.
Without having to voice it to one another, they began their search. Hurriedly they walked in the direction where they felt the aura or whatever it was the strongest, and did not stop to allow the other two girls to catch up, for fear that if they slowed down, they'd lose the sensation. Tomoyo and Meiling jogged after their three friends, wondering what on earth had compelled them to walk in such a hurry in a completely random direction.
"Guys," panted Meiling, who was not suited for such an activity in her three-inch high heels, "where are we going?"
"Yeah," wondered Tomoyo, more tired than the others. She never was the really athletic type. "What is going on?"
Sakura's eyes were focused and determined, and it brought Syaoran back to the days when they were capturing and transforming cards together. But the happy memory didn't keep him so happy for much longer – the farther they walked, the thicker the sensation became.
"It's getting stronger," Sakura gasped as the aura gripped at her body, making every last movement that she made heavier and slower. It was apparently doing the same for the boys, who were also becoming just as sluggish.
"We can't… stop," breathed Syaoran, as he took longer strides to get to the core of the sensation. They had gotten deeper into the construction site, losing sight of the workers and Kaito as well. "We're almost… there…"
They had practically run the circumference of the hole and were led practically to the other end, while everyone else was either down below in the center, or on the other side of it. When they had finally seemed to reach the point of origin, where the aura pulsed and throbbed deep vibrations for only magical beings to feel, they stopped to catch their breath.
"What is this place?" Sakura asked, half in fear and half in wonder. There was a short flight of steps to the side, which Syaoran descended first, to make sure the area was safe. The particular area of the site that they were in was untouched, other than the fact that it had obviously been bulldozed. The construction workers were only working on the other end – which they were grateful for, because this magical ground was not somewhere they needed them to be around.
When Eriol and Syaoran had helped the girls down, they spotted a layer of bricks, laid out in a wide circle. They approached it slowly and leaned in to peer inside. They realized then that it wasn't just a circle; it was a well – a well that they could not see the bottom of, because it was far too dark inside to make out anything.
"It's coming from in here," said Eriol, coming closer to it. "The aura is so powerful I swear I could faint…"
"You're telling me," agreed Sakura, who did not look at all well. Her eyes were drooping and she was swaying slightly from force of the sensation. Though Syaoran didn't feel so great either, he immediately went to her and supported her, coming from her right side and steadying her by placing his palm on the small of her back.
"Breathe," he instructed her. "Just breathe, Sakura... don't close your eyes."
The colour around Eriol's cheeks was beginning to match the shade of his blue hair. He took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead. "Syaoran, whatever is down here, it's weighing heavily on us. We have to find out what's in that well… damn it, if only Keroberos was here with us. Maybe he would be able to fly down."
"I can fly down," offered Sakura, though she was obviously not in any kind of state to be walking, let alone flying. "Let me summon the Fly Card… no one's looking – I could—"
"No," protested Syaoran as the power of the aura weakened him as well. "You will do no such thing."
Tomoyo and Meiling looked between each other helplessly. Going to Eriol and imitating Syaoran's actions by taking Eriol's arm and supporting half of his weight, Tomoyo suggested in a scared voice, "We should go. We have to re-visit this later. One magical issue at a time, you guys!"
"She's right," Meiling said, leading the way back up the stairs, away from the well. "We have to leave – and quickly, before Yoshida-kun—"
"Sakura?" they heard from above. Kaito was looking down on them, the confusion evident in his voice and in his face as he stared overhead. "When I said to explore, I didn't think you guys would travel this far," he joked, bounding down the steps with no problem at all and smiling at them – until he realized the strange, sick look that Eriol, Syaoran and Sakura had in their faces and bodies.
"Kaito-kun…" Sakura moaned, looking like her legs would give at any moment.
"Oh my God – Sakura," he said, alarmed. He approached her swiftly and noticed how Syaoran was holding her so protectively. Giving him an expressionless stare, he took his fiancé from him and held her in his own capable arms. Anyway, he was better able to keep her upright. Syaoran looked just as bad as the other two and he had to worry about keeping himself straight before he could worry over Sakura.
"We should go," Meiling said again, trying to distract Kaito from the bizarre sight before him.
"What's the matter?" Kaito asked Sakura, completely unaware of the others around him. The only thing he was conscious of at the moment was the fact that his fiancée looked terribly ill, and her legs were frighteningly weak. "Sakura – sweetheart, what happened? Sweetheart, don't close your eyes…"
"We have to get her out of here," Syaoran grated, trying to maintain composure so he could be sure of Sakura's safety.
"I know that," said Kaito, irritated by his stating of the obvious, and – well, the events of earlier that day. They looked at one another stormily for a moment before Kaito picked Sakura up in his arms, not waiting another moment to get her back into the car. Thankfully the others present at the construction site didn't think too much of such a strange sight. For all they knew, Sakura was just asleep in his arms, and the two men walking with them were just too lazy to walk any faster.
By the time they got back to the cars, Sakura was not looking any better. Eriol and Syaoran were somewhat recovered, but Sakura was still deeply affected, though they were much, much farther from the well.
"I have to get her to a hospital," Kaito said, panicked and taking off his coat to cover her with. Tiny beads of sweat were beginning to form on her forehead. "Daidouji-san – will you ride with us?"
"I will," said Syaoran.
Kaito turned to him, not looking pleased with the suggestion. "I asked Daidouji-san."
"And whether she is going with you or not, I am still coming with you to the hospital."
"She doesn't need a hospital," Eriol interjected, coming between the two men before they could start an argument at the most inappropriate time. "She needs to come back to the house with all of us."
"No," protested Kaito, his face astonished by such a foolish suggestion, "can't you see she's ill? We need a doctor to—"
"Trust me," Eriol implored. "It's not a doctor she needs. She will be treated much better back at my house."
Kaito stared at him for quite a while before looking at the faces of Tomoyo, Meiling, and lastly Syaoran. They all seemed to agree with Eriol's words – and he certainly trusted him more than he did Syaoran at the moment. So with a swift nod, he got into the driver's seat. Syaoran joined Sakura in the back and Meiling went to the other car so as to drive Tomoyo, who cared for Eriol in the back.
It was a tense car ride back to the house. Syaoran and Kaito did not speak once to each other. They both said encouraging words to Sakura, however, who must have been hallucinating. They could hear her saying inaudible things, murmuring strange, imperceptible words that made no sense whatsoever. Anyway, it didn't matter what issues Syaoran had with Kaito, or vice versa. The only thing that mattered to the both of them at the moment was making sure that Sakura was all right.
Finally they entered the driveway. Kaito parked as close as he could to the door to ensure that the distance between the car and a warm bed was as short as it could be. Syaoran watched as he carried her out of the car and into the house with the key Eriol had given him before they left the construction site. He had never felt more useless in his whole entire life.
He bounded in after them, following hot on Kaito's heels as he practically moved at warp speed to get to her guest bedroom. He laid her down gently on the bed and moved her bangs from her forehead, looking down at her with incredibly worried and panicked eyes. Syaoran stood off to the side, unsure of how he could do the same as Kaito without imposing, or intruding.
After a short while, Eriol and Tomoyo stepped inside and Eriol looked to be feeling much better – as did Syaoran. Taking Kaito by the shoulders, Eriol said to him, "Yoshida-kun, you can trust me. I promise you, you can. But you have to leave the room."
"What?" he asked disbelievingly. "Why?"
"Just trust me, all right? I am highly educated in medicine. I'll know what treatment she needs."
"I don't care," Kaito nearly screamed. "Listen, Hiiragizawa-kun, you're a good guy – but you aren't making any sense to me. I can't just leave my fiancée when she's—"
"Yoshida-kun," interjected Meiling, "you would be wise to listen to Eriol-kun. He'll take good care of Sakura-san. Please – trust us."
He looked helplessly around the room, again taking the time to look at everyone to see their opinion on the situation. He first glanced at Eriol, then Tomoyo, to Meiling, to Syaoran, who was leaning against a wall, looking extremely pained. And not because he was feeling ill anymore.
"Fine," he said, sounding so resigned it was a surprise to them all. "Take care of her."
Although he was under the impression that it was Eriol that would be taking care of her, he had addressed the instruction to Syaoran.
Meiling took his arm and hurried him out of the room to keep him company elsewhere. Finally Syaoran was free to approach Sakura and show all the concern he had for her, without having to worry about Kaito's reaction. He brushed her bangs aside once more from her forehead and cupped the side of her face.
"Sakura," he said, his voice a strangled, dry croak, "can you hear me? Are you all right?"
She moaned incoherently and trembled slightly.
"Kero-chan!" cried Tomoyo, "Come out now!"
The tiny yellow beast zoomed out of his hiding place behind a cushion and flew to Sakura's side, feeling her forehead and looking worried.
"Keroberos," Syaoran panted, "we don't – we don't know what happened… Hiiragizawa and I – we were with Sakura and we just – the power from the well—"
"I know," he answered solemnly, appearing to be in a deep, meditative mood. "Tomoyo called ahead and explained what happened. I don't know what it could've been, kid, I'm just as lost as the rest of you… but, what's troubling me is why she's still ill, when you and Hiiragizawa are almost all better?"
"I don't know," he moaned, holding her hand and squeezing. "I don't know… Keroberos, what should we do? We have to make her better!"
"Relax, kid," sighed Kero, looking none too happy about the situation, either. "There isn't anything we can do but wait. This is a magical fever. Whatever it was in that well… it found her and stuck to her, more than it stuck to you or Hiiragizawa. The only thing that can cure a fever like this one is a significant distance between the cause – the cause, being the well."
"Are we far enough?" he asked, ready to book a flight in the next hour if she needed to be even farther away from the well.
"Yes, you're far enough," Kero answered him as Eriol and Tomoyo listened on. "The fever is already starting to fall away – can't you see?"
Her trembling was much less now, and she wasn't mumbling disjointed words. The sweat was almost disappeared from her forehead as well. But none of these signs were enough to assure Syaoran that she was all right. Not until she was sitting up in bed, giggling and "hoe"-ing would he be fully convinced that she was okay.
As if reading his mind, Kero said, "Don't worry, kid. She'll be back to normal before the end of the night."
This seemed to relieve him somewhat. He relaxed his shoulders but still held ever tightly onto her hand, unsure if he could find it in himself to let go. He put their joint hands to his forehead and closed his eyes, praying and hoping that she would return to normal sooner rather than later.
With his eyes still closed, Syaoran asked, "And Hiiragizawa?" he asked, "Will he be all right?"
"Yes," said Tomoyo, sounding just as curious but more worried, "will he be okay? He said back at the well that he could have fainted…"
"Eriol is strong," Kero assured her, flying over to her and patting her head. "He looks perfectly fine to me."
Tomoyo seemed to release a bundle of pent-up anxiety through a single, shaky breath. "Thank goodness," she sighed.
"And Syaoran?" Eriol asked, after sharing an affectionate glance with Tomoyo. "Will he be all right?"
"I'm fine," he grunted, already forgetting the fact that he was sick as well. He was given a skeptical look by all three of his companions, for they were sure that he was putting aside his own well-being so they'd all be able to focus on Sakura. "Really," he insisted, truthfully feeling a whole lot better than when he was at the construction site.
They seemed to believe him after taking a closer look into his face. The colour had already returned to his cheeks and he wasn't shaking or sweating – certainly a good sign.
"What should we tell Yoshida-kun?" Tomoyo asked nervously.
"I'll think of something," volunteered Eriol, standing quickly and walking over to the door. "I'll go keep him some company downstairs with Meiling."
"But he thinks you're taking care of Sakura," Syaoran reminded him.
Eriol gave him a quick glance. "I think he knows I'm not the person that is caring for her."
"I'm staying with Sakura-chan," said Tomoyo chimed, taking a seat on the window sill and leaning her head against the glass. "I can't go downstairs and lie to Yoshida-kun anymore. I'm exhausted."
Syaoran bit his lip. There were some secrets that Tomoyo was more than happy to keep for Sakura – like the fact that she was a mistress to a magical deck of cards, and that she is still, after all these years, terrified of ghosts. But the secret she was keeping from Kaito about Syaoran – that one was definitely not something she enjoyed keeping to herself. It complicated things – not just for her, but for everybody.
"I think we're all exhausted," Syaoran said, pulling up a chair and placing it next to Sakura's bed. Before sitting he turned to Eriol, asking, "If you'd rather not go down there and – I don't know, wait until you're feeling less… less…"
"I'm fine, same as you," Eriol promised. "Besides, someone's got to give Yoshida an excuse."
Syaoran felt terribly at fault, although he couldn't possibly be the one to blame for the three of them getting sick. It just seemed as though, had Kaito not walked in on him and Sakura earlier as they were about to kiss, the whole situation would feel less tense and complicated.
"I could tell him, you know," Syaoran suggested, still wanting to make things right for himself, instead of having his friends to do it.
"Do you really think that's best?" Eriol answered. He put his hand on the knob and opened the door, stepping out but stopping before he was completely out of the room. "Anyway, I know you'd rather be up here with Sakura-san."
Syaoran dropped his eyes to Sakura's sleeping body. "Thanks."
Eriol gave him a small, understanding, sympathetic smile and exited.
The door shut, sealing them all inside the suddenly stuffy room. Syaoran looked about him somewhat nervously, feeling as though Kero and Tomoyo were passing judgement on him. But they were not. Tomoyo was still staring out the window, looking as though she had a lot of things on her mind, and Kero was sitting with his eyes closed on the table across the room, looking just as pensive.
"Daidouji?" he asked softly, after pausing a moment to think of the words he wanted to say. She moved her forehead from the window and stared at him, a mixture of exhaustion and sadness in her eyes. "Is this… all of this, my fault?"
Her expression grew cloudy with confusion. "No, Li-kun. Of course not."
"Then… why does it feel like it is?"
Tomoyo stood and crossed the room, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Li-kun, none of this is your fault. You're the reason that Sakura was even able to get back to the house in one piece. If you didn't suggest that we all go to the construction site together, Sakura-chan would've been there all alone with Yoshida-kun, ready to collapse, and he wouldn't know what to do or who to tell. You're the reason we were all there and able to help out."
"Yeah, but…" he reluctantly agreed, feeling only somewhat comforted by her words. "Doesn't this feel like a mess to you? Now, suddenly, we're dealing with two magical issues, I had to go and complicate things for Sakura when we almost kiss, and to add to all of that, I've had all of you lying to Yoshida."
"Li-kun, stop it," Tomoyo said strictly, before he spiralled into a tangent. "There are now two magical forces messing with the three of you – again, that isn't your fault. And… yeah, I guess the whole history between you and Sakura-chan messes all of this up even more, but… hey, what can we do? We all know that it's not our place to let him know about you two. That's up to Sakura-chan – if she decides she wants to let him know."
"Would things be better if… if she told him the truth?"
Tomoyo sighed. "I don't know."
Syaoran turned back to Sakura, unable to keep the worry and anxiety from his eyes. No indeed, neither he or Tomoyo were sure if telling Kaito the truth would be best – and he was positive that Eriol, Meiling, and even Kero would have given him the same answer. But there was simply no denying that it was what needed to be done.
xxxxxx
A dark shadow fell upon Eriol's estate. Night had fallen some hours ago but Syaoran had not yet moved from his seat next to Sakura's bed, nor had Kaito been up to see her. Nothing had been done to resolve either magical issue that they faced. No research had been done on the spirit trying to contact Clow, nor could Kero think of what could have possibly caused their magical fevers. It had proven to be a terribly unproductive day.
Asleep in his chair with his head on Sakura's bed, Syaoran woke feeling terribly groggy. He hadn't showered, or moved into a comfortable position since lying his head down on the bed for just a short nap – a nap that had turned into a few hours.
When he raised his head to check his watch for the time, he noticed with some surprise that Sakura was sitting up in bed, staring at him with a small smile. He straightened up quickly, stretching and blinking to get the sleep out of his eyes.
"Hi," she said, looking concerned. "Have you been here the whole time?"
He nodded slowly at her. "I – I wanted to make sure you were all right."
"Well, I am," she said, and it definitely sounded like it. Her voice was firm, her skin was only its usual pale instead of extremely pale, and it was obvious that she was strong enough to get into a sitting position. He was finally able to stop worrying.
"Long day, huh?" she asked with an ironic smile on her face. Had it really only been a day? All that had happened to them since arriving in China could fit the span of one week – but the events of the day had crashed down upon all of them, one after the other. First, running into Jia, nearly kissing Sakura, getting visited by Kaito and sensing yet another magical force? One per day would have suited Syaoran just fine.
"Yeah," he winced, as he thought of all that had happened. "Long day… um, where did Daidouji and Keroberos go?" he asked.
"Tomoyo-chan went down to eat dinner almost an hour ago. She and Kero-chan left after I woke up. After he saw that I was better, he wanted to get something to eat, too. We didn't want to wake you."
"Oh," he said, surprised that he slept so heavily that he didn't even stir when Sakura woke up, or when they'd had those conversations about leaving for dinner. "You're not hungry?"
"No, not really," she said. "But Tomoyo-chan said she would bring us something up after she snuck something in to Kero-chan, but I told her she could finish her dinner first before bringing something to us. She looked like she was starved."
He didn't respond with words, only nodded his head once more to show that he understood.
They were silent for another short while before Sakura asked, "What happened at the well, Syaoran-kun? Why did we get so sick?"
"I don't know, Sakura," he sighed, his head buzzing with a headache at the thought of the well and because of the long nap he took. "Keroberos doesn't know either, and if he doesn't know, I doubt Yue-san would."
"This is a mess," she groaned, reminding Syaoran of the conversation he had with Tomoyo right before he fell asleep. He pressed his lips into a thin line before giving in to the desire to chew on them again. He looked away and inhaled slowly, trying to gather enough nerve to bring up what he really wanted to talk to her about.
Noticing his suddenly uneasy behavior, Sakura's head tilted in wonder. "What's the matter?" she asked. He didn't answer right away, which only made her feel uneasy. "Syaoran-kun," she prompted. "What is it?"
He ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Listen, Sakura… I – I've been thinking. We've been keeping a really big secret from Yoshida – a secret that any fiancé should know about, especially if it concerned his soon-to-be wife and an old boyfriend…"
"Syaoran-kun," Sakura interrupted, the moment she caught wind of where the conversation was going. "Are you… suggesting that I tell him about – us – before?"
He looked at her earnestly. She would know his answer to that just by the look in his serious amber eyes.
Her own eyes narrowed in confusion as she tried to process his suggestion through her head. She swallowed the sudden knot that appeared in her throat and asked softly, "And… how long have you been thinking about this?"
"Not long," he admitted somewhat reluctantly. She would think he hadn't really given it much thought, when really the topic didn't need too much consideration. He knew it, she knew it – the whole world probably knew it, too: Yoshida needed to be told the truth.
Sakura did not speak, as if carefully choosing what she would say next. Her narrowed eyes lost their hard expression as she looked down at her hands. "I've thought about telling him the truth too, Syaoran-kun. Really, I have. Maybe I should've done it sooner… but to tell him about us – from before – now? After what we – what we almost… what he almost saw," she uneasily rephrased, swallowing again to create moisture in her dry mouth. "It would look really, really bad, Syaoran-kun. Kaito-kun would be so hurt."
"I know that a lot of people stand to get hurt if you tell him the truth," Syaoran said empathetically, though there was no hiding from the heat in her words and now, her gaze, as she looked up at him. "I'm not even sure if it's the right thing to do, but it just isn't fair that we—"
"You want to talk about fair now?" she asked almost incredulously, her voice still soft but sounding more emotional. "Do you know what would happen if I told him about our past? My engagement would be completely ruined!"
Syaoran's lips were squished once more into a tight line. The idea that he might call off his engagement to Sakura was actually only a fifty/fifty chance. Sakura, of course, would only think of the worst case scenario in the event that she told him the truth – but she was she blind? Kaito was terribly, indubitably and undoubtedly in love with her. He had forgiven her everything she had ever done – perhaps he would forgive her for this as well. Maybe not so quickly, but still, maybe he would.
In his train of thought, he hadn't noticed Sakura's eyes go from soft, to narrowed yet again. The way she was looking at him didn't seem accusatory, but when he realized that she was staring at him, he found that her emerald eyes seemed sceptical… hurt, almost.
"Is that… is that what you want?" she asked, whisper-soft.
"What?" he asked in return, confused.
"For my engagement to be ruined – is that why you want me to tell him? Because you don't want me to be his fiancée anymore?"
The thought had never even crossed his mind. It was true – he had wanted the engagement to be called off ever since he learned of it – but not in this way. If ever their engagement was to be canceled, he had wanted it to be because Sakura would somehow fall back in love with him, not because of Kaito learning the truth about her first love.
"No," he told her, sounding upset. Though she had not accused him of that as an ulterior motive, he still could not help but to feel hurt that she might suspect him of doing so. "That's not why I want you to tell him at all. I've already told you. It isn't fair that he doesn't know. How would you feel, if he kept something like this from you?"
Sakura could feel the insult in his voice. She sighed – he had a more than valid point, and she knew she was wrong to even think that he'd make her tell him so that the engagement would be ruined. "Hoe… I'm – I'm sorry, Syaoran-kun."
He didn't answer her. He still felt incredibly slighted.
Syaoran had leaned back in his chair and was looking the other way, in the opposite direction. His intentions for wanting Kaito to know the truth were completely pure – and the fact that Sakura believed otherwise was both upsetting and confusing. Why would she think that her canceled engagement be something that he wanted? Did she know? Did she fight through her denseness and come to the realization that the kiss they'd almost shared wasn't just a silly fluke – did she realize that Syaoran did in fact still love her?
Syaoran had no time to ask her any of these things – mostly because he didn't have enough courage to ask or even know how to bring it up – but also because Sakura had once more continued to speak.
"Syaoran-kun, I – I know now that you're only trying to be fair to Kaito-kun. But… I still don't think that I should tell him about—"
"About what?" Kaito asked.
Sakura sat up straighter in bed, her knees lifting as though she were about to rise from the mattress. Syaoran flinched at his voice, surprised that they were once more caught off guard and interrupted by her fiancé in yet another serious moment. He certainly had a knack for appearing when people were just talking about him that day.
When they looked at him, Kaito was still dressed in the clothes that he first came to China with, a tray of food in his left hand. From behind him the door was swinging slightly, after he opened it strongly, but still gently enough to not make a noise. Apparently he had not bothered with a knock.
"Kaito-kun," Sakura breathed, "You – you startled me."
"I'm sorry," he apologized, staring at his fiancée sincerely. His gaze then found Syaoran, and he couldn't help but to look between the two of them, confused – but not quite accusatorily.
None of them spoke for a brief pause that somehow felt to them like a year or two. Syaoran knew that making a quick exit was the best option for him, but how could he do so without being obvious? Subtlety simply wasn't in his deck of cards at the moment.
Finally, Kaito spoke again – but not with the words that Sakura was hoping for. "What did you not want to tell me, Sakura?" His voice was curious and somewhat worried, as though whatever it was something had something to do with her health, or her well-being – not anything that would be about him or his feelings.
Her eyes shifted from him to Syaoran. Was there any escaping this? Yes, there was. But the only escape involved lying to her soon-to-be husband – and Sakura was exhausted from all the lying. Maybe the Fates, or the universe, or divine forces had put her in this position for a reason – perhaps it really was time that she came clean.
"Kaito-kun, why don't you sit down?" she asked, her voice still soft as a feather, but nervous this time.
Syaoran waited only a heartbeat to stand from the chair he was still seated in. "Here," he offered, moving quickly. By the looks of it, it was literally the moment of truth – and it was probably best if he wasn't around for it. "You can have my seat."
Kaito put a firm hand on his shoulder, before Syaoran could take another step closer to the door. "No," he insisted, his voice tight. "Why don't you stay? Stay, while Sakura tells me whatever it is that she wants to know."
Sakura looked absolutely panicked. Why on earth would Kaito ask him to stay? The conversation she wanted to have with him was certainly not one that needed an audience – especially not in the form of Syaoran!
"No, really," Syaoran said, "I'll go. You two can talk."
"Stay," Kaito all but demanded, his face now tight, just like his voice.
Another moment passed when none of them knew what to say. Was there really any point to protesting anymore? For some reason, Syaoran was told to stay – not asked, but told. Not even Sakura could contest the finality in Kaito's voice.
They were interrupted by a more cheerful voice – that of Tomoyo's as she bounded down the hallway, her chirpy self already talking at the speed of light before she got her foot through the door.
"Li-kun! Sorry to keep you waiting, we're re-heating your dinner! Kaito-kun should have already brought up Sakura-chan's—"
She stopped short as soon as she felt the exceedingly distraught tension in the room. She blinked her amethyst eyes slowly, wanting nothing more than to make a backwards exit, out of the room. What on earth had she just walked in on?
"Is – is everything all right?" she asked, concerned. Everyone looked as though they'd just been run over by the emotion truck.
No one answered her – in fact, her question went completely ignored as Kaito pressed, "Tell me, Sakura. What do you want me to know?" The tray of food wasn't in his possession anymore. Without anyone noticing, he had put it on a table, and his arms were now at his sides, hanging like dead weights.
More silence followed. Syaoran and Tomoyo wanted more than anything to desert the guest bedroom that they would forever remember as the Truth and Tension Room, but both of them seemed to be frozen. Syaoran couldn't possibly leave after being told to stay in such a manner – and Tomoyo just couldn't find it in her legs to move.
"It's about him, isn't it?" Kaito seethed, as he bore down on Sakura. No one needed to ask who this "him" was that he was referring to. "Tell me I'm wrong, Sakura. You want me to tell me something about you and him. Don't you?"
Sakura looked ready to cry. All she had to do was let out a wail and she would be full out bawling – but she did her best to keep her eyes dry. They were wet, no doubt, but this was a conversation she needed to have without the theatrics. She needed to stay calm and rational – for both her sake and everyone else's.
"Kaito-kun, please listen to me," she implored, crawling out from under the blankets and reaching out to him beseechingly. "You have to understand – we never—"
"You've been cheating on me," he accused, his voice so wounded it hurt everyone else in the room to hear it. "You've been cheating on me, haven't you?" It was almost as though there was no question about it. He seemed so sure of it that there was almost no convincing him of otherwise.
"No!" Sakura exclaimed immediately, shaking her head at him. And for the most part, she was telling the truth. She hadn't done anything with Syaoran – physically. "I haven't done anything with him! Nothing! What you walked in on this afternoon – we didn't do it, we haven't done that in ten years!"
Kaito stopped, his grey eyes confused. "What are you talking about?"
Sakura took in a deep breath as she readied herself for what she hoped would be the best explanation in her life.
"Ten years ago – when we were just teenagers – kids… Syaoran-kun and I, we – we were… we used to be…"
Like before, she couldn't find it in herself to finish the sentence. Why couldn't she just say that she and Syaoran weren't together anymore?
"We used to date," Syaoran explained for her, as he had gotten used to doing whenever they got into this sort of mix up. He wanted to smack himself over the head with a mallot – saying that they "used to date" sounded so ridiculously juvenile. They were all nearly in their thirties! But how else could he explain such a thing to Kaito? To really say that they had been seriously dating and considering marriage at eighteen would only make matters worse.
Kaito turned on him viciously; the confused stare was replaced with anger and mistrust. "You usedto date," he ground out, matching Syaoran's height heatedly because he unfortunately could not tower over a man that was the same height as him. "For how long?"
The question was addressed to Syaoran. He sighed. "I – I don't know… a few years."
"Don't lie to me, you arrogant bastard!" Kaito yelled, causing Tomoyo to flinch. "You know exactly how long. Tell me – how long."
Syaoran glared at him. "Ever since we were twelve years old. Is that what you wanted to hear? That me and your fiancée were childhood sweethearts and then a serious couple up until we were eighteen years old? Who gives a damn how long we were together before? That was in the past. She's with you now and that's all that should matter to you."
Kaito turned on his heel and put his hands to either side of his head, as if not wanting to hear any excuses. The fact of the matter was that Sakura – and Eriol and Tomoyo, he suspected – had all lied to him about Sakura's first love. They had all lied to him about a man that he should have very well known about, which he simply did not deserve. Sakura had always known about his own past relationships, few as they might have been.
"I knew it," he fumed as he paced the room. "I knew it!" He then turned to Sakura, who had one hand over her mouth, as if she wanted to stifle the cries that she so desperately wanted to release. "Do you think so low of me, Sakura? Do you think I'm stupid enough to not see what's right in front of me? I always suspected that there might have been something between you two – but I pushed it aside, told myself that you would never, ever lie to me about anything. That if there was anything going on, you loved me enough to let me know."
"And I do!" she cried, on the verge of completely losing it. "I do love you enough to tell you – that's why I'm telling you now!"
"Now!" he bellowed, sounding almost hysterical. "Now of all times! When you're on a so-called class reunion with your first love, after I walk in on you two about to kiss, after I overhear a conversation with him persuading you to tell me the truth!"
"I'm sorry," she apologized, though it came off as more of a plead than an apology. "I'm sorry, Kaito-kun. I'm awful, I know it. You're right – you're absolutely right, I had no—"
Eriol entered suddenly, with Meiling in tow. He looked about them all with a crease in his forehead. "Hey!" he said, in a voice that sounded as though he were reprimanding them. It was almost as if he knew exactly what they were fighting about and was preparing himself to break up a scuffle. "What on earth is going on up here? We heard yelling from downstairs—"
"I can't deal with this," Kaito said abruptly, dismissing Sakura's apology with a weak motion of his hand. "I can't even be in the same room with you – with any of you people."
He turned to walk out of the room, but something compelled Syaoran to try and make him stay – to try and make him understand. "Yoshida, wait."
"Get out of my way, Li." Everyone noticed how he had so conveniently dropped the "-kun" suffix that he usually accompanied his last name with.
"Yoshida, you have to listen to her. She never wanted to hurt you. That's why she wanted to keep me from you!"
"Shut up!I don't have to listen to anythingyou have to say, you lying, cheating bastard!" Kaito roared, shoving him harshly and alarming Eriol enough to come between the two men. Obviously Kaito had run out of patience.
"Stay with her – talk to her!" Syaoran entreated, dodging Eriol and ignoring the fact that he had just been shoved. In a normal world, he would have been so angry that he would've dealt a shove right back, but in the topsy-turvy world he had just entered, he knew violence wouldn't work on Kaito – and apparently words wouldn't, either.
Kaito propelled him out of the way as he stormed towards the door in raging bull fashion. From behind him, crouching after almost having fallen over, Syaoran was also breathing hard, but only because he, too, had lost his patience.
"You're pathetic," he yelled after him. "Pathetic! You don't deserve her!"
Kaito stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around slowly and met Syaoran's heated glare with a possibly more potent one. And then, suddenly, he had him by the shoulder, and he was rearing his arm back to land a firm punch across Syaoran's face – which he was successful in doing.
Syaoran tumbled backwards at the force of the punch as the girls screamed at shock from the unexpected hit. Eriol was already holding Syaoran back in case he decided to retaliate, but there was really no need. Syaoran wasn't about to start a brawl with him where ladies were present, nor was he about to fight back when he knew full well that the hit was completely warranted.
Kaito gave him one last glare, only this time it seemed both sad and angry. He turned around one, final time and left the room at a slow, steady pace, knowing that no one would attempt to follow him – not even Sakura. But it was not before he left that he said scathingly to Syaoran, "Neither do you."
xxx.
Author Notes: Well there you have it – the cookie has crumbled! The cat's out of the bag! The beans are spilt! And other phrases equivalent to "the truth is told"!
Sorry for taking so long to update. I am trying as hard as I can to finish this story, but that is getting more and more difficult to do. Work is getting busier and busier, school is starting next week, and I am also heading out of town for a couple of days. But never fear – this story will be finished! Mark my words!
Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter – if you have a little bit more time to spare, a tiny little review is very much appreciated!
Until next time, friends!
Signing off,
Agent08 – My life as a secret agent xD