A/N: Yes I am already working on yet another update — I really want to get working on this story and catch it up a bit to where it is supposed to be so that is my current project. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed, so far it's all been signed reviews so I've replied to each review individually that way. Anyway, R&R and here is the next chapter. Also, for the record, I don't know if we ever see the Elder's of the Clan at all in the series or how they act, but they'll be rather secretive and aggressive for my portrayal of them. Also, I have NO IDEA what his sisters names are, they'll probably play a bigger part later on but one of them will briefly be mentioned here, so I won't mention any names at the moment.

Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP.

Secrets Can Be Deadly

EilayAdnayVolieay

Chapter Twenty: Meeting With The Elders

"Mother, can I talk to you outside for a moment please?" Syaoran asked firmly. His mother nodded — she would not object to his request. She smiled apologetically at Sakura before closing the door and stepping out into the hall with her son. Syaoran turned to face her, angry. "What the hell do you mean, the Elder's want to talk to Sakura?" Syaoran demanded. Yelan seemed amused at his outburst.

"Now Syaoran I was under the impression you didn't like Miss. Kinomoto, why are you calling her by her first name suddenly?" Syaoran glared at her and crossed his arms.

"Answer the question."

Yelan sighed and leaned against the wall for support suddenly. Finally, she turned to Syaoran.

"I don't know, Syaoran. They... they knew." She replied suddenly, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Knew what?" Syaoran asked, no longer shouting. His mother seemed so weak suddenly, so... was it fear in her eyes, or something else? Yelan didn't answer his question for awhile, closing her eyes, and Syaoran felt guilty as he realized just how old his mother was getting.

"They knew she'd hear the sobbing, Syaoran. They knew. And they let you believe you were insane — I don't know what's going on, but they want to talk to her. I think it might have something to do with that, but I just don't know. I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything more, I've already said too much. Just show Sakura where she needs to go, and do not eavesdrop."

Syaoran stopped suddenly in the halls he had been walking through after remembering what his mother had said to him when he had walked out into the halls with her to talk.

"Syaoran, why do they want to talk to me?" Sakura asked again — so that was what she had said that he hadn't heard. He turned to her, and looked away quickly.

"I don't really know, Sakura. Come on, let's just get you there and get it over and done with. I can't believe they'd be calling you there, don't they realize we have a —"

"Mission?" Came a voice from in front of them, and a figure emerged from the shadows. Syaoran narrowed his eyes — he knew that Sakura had no idea who was standing in front of them, but he definitely did — it was one of the Elder's.

"What do you want with Sakura?" Syaoran asked coolly. The Elder said nothing, but instead pointed at Sakura.

"You, come with me. This is far enough now, Master Li." The Elder replied over his shoulder. Syaoran glared.

"I'm not leav—"

"You will do as you are asked to and you will remember your place! You are not Leader of this Clan yet." Syaoran stopped and looked at Sakura, who nodded to show that she was okay with going on her own from that point on. Syaoran didn't like it — he didn't trust the Elders of his Clan, he never had, and this just didn't seem right somehow to him. There was something going on, there had to be. What did they have up their sleeves?

"Sakura!" Syaoran called out suddenly, and his partner turned around.

"What?" She asked him, stopping.

"Give me whatever you have on you that you found — I'll look over everything until you get back." Syaoran saw the Elder stop moving, and frowned. For whatever reason, something he had said had bothered the older man. He didn't care — he was going to try to keep going on with the mission, even if Sakura had to go with the Elders. Sakura ran up to him and handed him the file and the ring she believed to be her mother's.

"Syaoran," She whispered, clearly not wanting to be overheard. "Go in my room at my house — don't look at me that way, if I'm telling you to do it you aren't invading on my privacy! — go in there, and look for my pictures. Look for ones of my mother and see if you can see her with this ring. We'll have to go talk to my Grandparents anyway, regardless, but they might not like the topic of the last conversation they officially had with my mom — and if we can avoid it at all, I'd like to. Please," She added, before turning around and catching up with the Elder that was impatiently waiting several feet ahead.

Go through her stuff... I don't care what she says, it still feels weird. I can't... I can't do that. I'd have to transport again, and mother... she's already furious. But... we can't afford to lose time by flying there. And we never got to officially investigate when that intruder came in and tried to take Sakura's blood. Okay, so I'll do it. But I won't be happy about it. Syaoran decided finally. And the first thing he'd do before going there, would be to tell his mother — so she couldn't freak out at him for leaving unexpectedly. Again.

—

The Elder that was acting as her guide stopped in front of large wooden doors and threw them open, before motioning for Sakura to go on ahead. She looked around the room carefully — whether it was something that was necessary or not, it was a habit she had never quite gotten rid of, to examine her surroundings. She had even tried to visually memorize how to get here, should she ever need to when Syaoran wasn't around to take her there.

"Sit down," a voice replied, and Sakura jumped. There didn't appear to be anyone in the room, but there was a seat set out for her, so she sat on it.

"What do you want?" She asked suddenly, but she felt the tension in the room get worse.

"You do not ask the questions!" Three voices shouted at once, and the lights went out. Sakura tried very hard not to cry out in surprise. "We ask the questions, Sakura Kinomoto, and you will answer them. Why is your mother haunting the future leader of the Li Clan?" They asked first, and Sakura was confused a moment. Future Leader of the...? Oh! Syaoran!

"Syaoran?" Sakura asked, and she heard them murmuring at what she had said. "I... I don't know. How do you know it's my moth—"

"I thought we just said that you do not ask the questions!?" They shouted again, and Sakura muttered a brief apology. "Do not lie — why is she haunting him?" The first Elder asked again.

"I told you — I don't know!" Sakura replied, finally raising her voice.

"Insolence!" The Elders shouted, and though she couldn't see, Sakura could feel someone throw her off the seat she had been sitting on. "You will not lie to us, we know when you are lying —"

"If you know so damn much, figure it out yourself!" Sakura shouted finally, moving away. Though she was a good spy, one thing she had never really gotten accustomed to was fighting in the dark unexpectedly like this, but she could tell they were surrounding her. For what exactly, she didn't know. It didn't matter. She was concerned, and worried , regardless.

"You will not speak to us that way, Sakura Kinomoto," A low voice came. "We know much more than you realize — and so do you."

—

Syaoran opened his eyes and realized he hadn't exactly arrived right into Sakura's bedroom — he was in the living room. Where Sakura's older brother Touya, was now glaring at him dangerously.

"What the hell are you doing in my house? And how the hell did you get there?" Touya demanded, getting up. Syaoran held up his hands.

"Back up! I'm not here for this — Sakura wanted me to get her photos. Of... of your mother." A sudden thought came to him — Touya was at least 7 years older than Sakura. Would he remember more about what had happened when their mother had disappeared.

"Of our mom? But... why?" Touya was still glaring at him, but his voice had softened slightly. Syaoran decided it was safe to relax his stance.

"We... we found this at the school we were at. This ring. Do... do you recognize it?" Syaoran asked, pulling it out of his pocket and handing it to Touya. Touya looked at it carefully, turning it over in his hands, and his gaze softened.

"Mom's ring," he replied quietly. "No doubt in my mind. Where... where did you say you found this?" Touya asked.

"I didn't. Listen, I know you don't like me — but this is too important. When Sakura and I get back, you and I can go through whatever it is you want, but right now, I have to go. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone that I was here — not even Fujitaka." Syaoran hoped that Touya wouldn't argue with this, but he was wrong.

"He's your boss, Li." Touya spat. "You have to tell him everything."

"That's... that's not what I meant. I meant, please don't tell anyone that I was here in a matter of seconds without taking a plane. Listen, you might not like me, but this needs to be kept quiet. Sakura knows about it, she'll do what she thinks is right when this is over, but right now I don't need it getting out. Please, Touya," Syaoran added. Touya didn't seem to like what he was asking — at all.

"Fine. You can say Sakura recognized that ring — and you can say that I sent you those photos, which I will be getting — even if she's not in there, I don't want you in her room. At all. Ever," Touya added.

"No worries there..." Syaoran muttered under his breath. What did the guy think? Syaoran would be sneaking into Sakura's room for a late night conversation? To sleep with her? This wasn't someone he was interested in — and he knew he'd have to get Touya to realize that.

"Yeah, well just watch it — and stay away from my sister."

"Kind of hard to do considering we're partners in the same mission, don't you think?" Syaoran asked.

"I meant outside of work."

—

"Stop! Stop this at once! You said you wanted to talk to our guest, not harass her!" Yelan's voice yelled, and Sakura let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness she had showed up — Sakura could handle herself, she could fight for herself. But getting involved in the politics of this Clan was something she didn't need or want — and getting in a fight when she was Syaoran's partner probably wasn't the greatest thing to do.

"Yelan this is not of your concern, you were not invited into our —"

"Until Syaoran is of age and has become the Leader of this Clan, you are still following my order's. Sakura may leave now — and you will not be bothering her again in the future." Yelan replied firmly, putting her hand on Sakura's shoulder to offer some comfort. "Go on now," Yelan told Sakura softly. "Syaoran will be back from — his walk," She improvised, realizing the Elder's were listening in, "Very soon." Sakura nodded and ran out of the room quickly, not at all regretting Yelan's sudden appearance.

"Yelan, you cannot interfere! You will not be Leader of this Clan much longer, you shouldn't have been at all — when Syaoran's father passed away, you should not have —"

"Are you contradicting what Syaoran's father told you in his last order? His last demand from you? You can not harm them. And you know they don't have the answers yet, why are you questioning them? Leave them alone, I will not allow this to happen under my roof again." Yelan turned on her heels and left without giving them a chance to argue with her, and the Elder's narrowed their eyes, glancing at each other.

"Yelan," the one Elder, who seemed to be like their leader, hissed. "You will not interfere again."

—

Syaoran saw that when he arrived back in his room, Sakura was sitting on his bed, looking genuinely disturbed by something. She jumped when she heard him arrive, but when she realized that it was just him she sank back down and looked at the file in her hands.

"Did you get the pictures?" Sakura asked, and Syaoran nodded.

"Yeah. But I didn't bring them to help with the mission — your brother was there. Saw me transport to your living room — I had to make him keep his mouth shut about it. But I asked him if this was your mother's. He's sure it is — 100. I didn't want to stay there when he seemed upset, so he grabbed the pictures, wouldn't let me in your room of course, and handed me to them and practically shoved me out. But... I thought maybe you'd like them. And they might come in handy, for something else." Syaoran sat at the end of the bed and looked at the contents of the file folder that Sakura had spread out on his bed.

"Here's the things that didn't make sense — my mother went to the Headmaster, and gave him her resignation — she dropped off the keys to her apartment at the front desk — and she left. As if she was planning on leaving — but if she was planning on leaving, what happened so that she didn't? Why is it that she somehow knew in advance she'd be gone?" Sakura tried her best to forget that she was talking about her own mother's disappearance, just because the thought that she may have known... it was too much for Sakura to handle.

"Wait a minute — do you have the original of the list of victims Hymatchii sent us?" Syaoran asked suddenly. Sakura nodded.

"Of course — I gave the Headmaster a copy of it. But — what are you thinking?" Sakura asked. Syaoran rummaged through their case file until he found the sheet.

"Do you remember, very clearly, that girl he was after when we were at the school?" Syaoran asked. Sakura shuddered.

"I... I'll never forget." She replied softly. Syaoran looked over the list, muttered something that sounded like, 'I knew it,' and handed the list to Sakura.

"Do you see that student on here anywhere?" He asked her, and Sakura looked closely at all the students, trying hard to ignore her own picture. And then she looked it over again — and again — before coming to the same conclusion.

"But... she's not on here!" Sakura exclaimed, still not believing it. Syaoran nodded grimly.

"Exactly. So, he's working off the list now. Which means the list is useless —" Syaoran began.

"— or the student found something out." Sakura finished for him. Syaoran nodded. "So, does this mean we should investigate that student?" Sakura asked.

"I think so, yeah. Pass me the laptop, and I'll —" Syaoran stopped speaking — he eyed the door which was starting to open. There was only a few things it could possibly be...

"Oh dear brother, mother said she thought you were back. You shouldn't be up so late, you need a good — and whose this?" Syaoran felt like being invisible, like disappearing from the spot — it was one of his sisters.

"My — my partner, Sakura... Kinomoto," Syaoran quickly added. His sister was grinning widely now, and dropped to her knees at the foot of Syaoran's bed.

"In your room, at this time? Honestly Syaoran, you're awful you—"

"We're working on our mission," Sakura informed her, not liking the insinuation in Syaoran's older sisters voice. The girl smiled even wider now.

"Ahh, I see. Wait right here!" She told them, leaving the room. Syaoran eyed the door.

"Do you think she'd get the wrong idea if I locked it?" He asked jokingly. Sakura gaped at him.

"Did you just make a joke? That didn't involve me? Or... that poor secretary back at KSA?" Sakura asked him, feigning amazement. Syaoran rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah whatever. You have no idea how annoying it is to have four sisters like th—"

"...there are MORE of them?" Sakura asked weakly. Syaoran nodded.

"Welcome to my world," He muttered. The door opened again, and both spies heads shot in the direction of it. Syaoran's sister had returned with a tray.

"You shouldn't be up so late, but since it's work-related I guess I'll let it slip. Here, drink some of mother's special tea.." Syaoran's sister put the tray down on his bedside table and smiled before leaving. Syaoran stared after her, surprised.

"Wow. She didn't once say how adorable you were." Syaoran commented, truly shocked. Sakura raised her eyebrows.

"You think I'm adorable?" She asked him teasingly. Syaoran's face started to heat up and he shook his head rapidly.

"Th— that's not what I meant! She... she thinks everything's adorable. I just... I only meant, that —" The look on Sakura's face made him stop speaking instantly.

"Relax, I... was joking?" Sakura told him, surprised at how quickly he had tried to correct himself.

"Oh, r-right. I knew that. So, um... the laptop?" Syaoran replied again, indicating the computer near Sakura. She passed it to him and he took it without another word.

"So what do you want the laptop for again, anyway?" Sakura asked him, as he began typing on it. Without looking up, he replied, "Looking at the school website."

"They have a website up?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, and I might be able to find a student list — here! So this is the person next on the list," Syaoran replied, turning the laptop around so Sakura could see it, and indicating the girl that was on the list. "But this is who was taken instead."

"Carly Miller. She's not on this list at all, though. Wait a minute... Syaoran!" Sakura exclaimed suddenly. He looked up, startled.

"What?"

"That girl! I saw her before! She... remember, when I came up to you and said that I had overheard Hymatchii talking to someone, saying to meet at 8 o'clock?" Sakura asked him, and Syaoran nodded.

"Yeah, before we got kicked out. What about it?" He asked her, not seeing what she was getting at.

"Well, this girl — Carly Miller — I saw her too! Before Hymatchii came around, she came running, and she tripped, and knocked me down. She apologized, and said she was just trying to get back to bed quickly. I thought it was weird, but I said it was okay, and all of a sudden I heard voices, and when I turned back, Carly was gone. Do... do you think she heard them too? And maybe she knew what they were saying?" Sakura asked excitedly.

"It's possible, but what good does this do us? She's captured, remember?" Syaoran said. At this, Sakura looked away sadly.

"Yeah, but... Syaoran... I... I'm on the list too. He'll be coming after me at some point. And when he does — maybe I shouldn't fight him. Maybe, if... if I'm prepared enough before hand... I can let him capture me, so I can investigate from the inside. Literally. And get away."

Syaoran didn't say anything; was she crazy? She actually wanted to allow herself to be captured? There was no way, first of all, that Syaoran could ever let her — her father, his BOSS, would kill him. Her brother would kill him. And what if she didn't escape? And what if he never found a way back in?

"Sakura," He began, not wanting to hurt her feelings, "You can't let him take you. You have to avoid being captured, not walk into his trap. I know you think you can handle it — maybe you can — but we don't know anything about what happens once captured. Nothing. What if he just kills you right away? He knows you're a spy, he'll know to check you for anything you might use to help yourself. It's... it's just too risky." Syaoran finished.

"I know that, but... if I let him capture me and I escape, we'll know what happens to them — we'll know where to go. We'll know a lot more than we do now," Sakura added.

"Look, let's... let's just agree that for the moment, you aren't going to try to get captured, not until we've done as much as we can without resorting to that. Alright?" Syaoran asked her, and Sakura nodded reluctantly.

"Fine."

"So, what... what did the Elder's want?" Syaoran asked, changing the subject.

"They... wanted to talk to me about the sobbing. Your mother came in, she... she stopped them." Sakura finished lamely. Syaoran stared back at her, confused.

"Stopped them from what?" Syaoran asked curiously.

"Well... they were a little... forceful... when asking me about it. They demanded to know why my mother would be haunting you, and when I said I didn't know... well, they just kept asking. I kept answering the same, and then... things got a little ugly. I couldn't fight them, though, I mean — I doubt that would be considered proper. If she hadn't come in, well... I'm just grateful that she came when she did." Sakura said finally.

"They ... tried to hurt you?" Syaoran asked, sounding like he was pretending to be calm. Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, but it's not a big deal, don't worry about it."

"Not a big deal? You don't understand! This... this isn't right! They've been getting out of hand ever since..." Syaoran trailed off.

"Ever since what?" Sakura prodded gently. Syaoran looked away.

"Ever since my mother got sick."

A/N: Well here's a bit of a longer chapter for you guys :D I tried to make it longer, anyway. Thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed! I'm pretty sure I replied to everyone already through since it was all signed reviews. Anyway, please review, and let me know what you think so far!