Note: Few responses to reviews:

Tenses: As far as I'm aware I'm using tenses correctly, or at the very least am taking only a little license with their use. I'm not much in the habit of mixing them up; there is a chance that I might be using the continuous present of a verb corresponding to an earlier part of the sentence; but from memory I can't think of anything outright wrong. Although feel free to correct me, I'm a terrible proof reader if it's not on paper.

Length: Yes I was aware that the last chapter was a might short and perhaps I should have merged this and the last chapter together; but I decided to keep them separate for the purpose of a more frequent update. From now on I imagine chapters being longer as the story really starts to get rolling.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

The week passed with no other developments. Standard, relaxed days. At last, Saturday arrived and Sakura slid open her wardrobe door and looked at the long clothes rack, contemplating what to wear. As her eyes wandered over the different dresses and outfits her phone began to ring, vibrating loudly on her desk.

She turned around and walked over to her desk as she tried to guess who it was. She glanced at the call number but it wasn't a number stored on her phone and the area code wasn't for Tomoeda. She answered it anyway, flicking the phone open and holding it to her ear.

"Hello?" She asked. Silence greeted her; but then she heard a faint sound in the background. She wondered if the person on the other end had their volume turned right down or perhaps was too far away from the mouthpiece. She strained to make out the words; but there were none. The sound was someone breathing and hairs pricked up on the back of Sakura's neck. There was something about that sound which put her on edge.

"Who is this?" She tried again, forcing away the icy feeling clawing at her insides.

"Have a good day." The caller hung up and Sakura closed her phone and slowly placed it on the desk, staring at it as if it had transformed itself into something alien. The phone started to vibrate again, making her jump. She read the call number and sighed, the tension leaving her body. It was only Shaoran.

"I'm going to leave in about ten minutes; do you want me to stop by at your house?" He asked after they had exchanged standard greetings. Sakura worked out how long it would take for him to get to her house and decided she could make it in time.

"That'd be great." She replied. There was silence for a moment before Shaoran, once again, surprised her.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" He asked, he sounded concerned. Shaoran had always been honest in his emotions. That was a large part of why Sakura liked him so much.

"It's nothing, there was just something scary on TV. I'll see you soon then. Love you."

"You too." They both hung up at the same time and Sakura twirled around, the mysterious caller forgotten as she retraced her steps back to the wardrobe and made a decision quickly, grabbing a fairly casual outfit from the rack and began to get changed.

*****

Julius relaxed his muscles and walked over to one of the walls of his small fitness room. The room contained the standard fitness apparatus: A treadmill, rowing machine, stepper, weights of varying mass, a cycling machine and other machines which he had never really bothered to learn the names of. Then came the more unusual equipment: Swords of varying weights, balances and shapes and a long, thing stretch of space with a target at the far end with a fibreglass bow and metal arrows with real goose feathers carefully stacked in brackets along the wall.

Julius lifted the sword he had been practicing with, one where the blade was made of a dense metal so that the balance was shifted forwards slightly. The purpose of this was simple: To enable Julius to use any weapon that came to hand. He rarely used the other machines in here and even more rarely the weights. Julius knew full well how to keep in shape and he preferred the more traditional methods of actually engaging in sport rather than endless exercise indoors using modernised equipment. He found it tedious.

The boy wandered over to the door of the room which opened into a long corridor adjacent to the archery range. Originally the house had had a large basement but Julius had converted it, splitting it into two sections and then halving one section into a corridor and the archery range. The result had been pleasing and Julius was satisfied.

Climbing up the stairs at the end of the corridor, Julius wiped his face with a hand towel draped around his shoulders and glanced at the antique grand father clock tolling out the hour at that moment. He made his way into the kitchen and clicked the on button of the kettle, turning around without stopping and moving towards the fridge from which he took out a bottle of skimmed milk. This he placed on the counter next to the kettle and a small teapot. He opened up an ornately carved box that sat on top of a standard wooden breadbin and took out a square tea bag and laid it on top of the counter next to the milk before returning the box to its home.

While the kettle boiled he turned and left the kitchen and took a left up the stairs to the first floor where he walked into his room and grabbed a towel from the heating rail and disappeared inside the ensuite bathroom for a morning shower.

That completed he changed into his regular clothing: Plain blue jeans with a light coloured aertex (usually a light shade of blue) and a light blue v-neck which he slid over the top, folding the aertex's collar over the v-neck opening. Now changed he headed downstairs and poured a little hot water into the kettle, sloshed it around and then put the teabag inside, filling up the rest of the kettle. He briefly skimmed through the newspaper he had brought in earlier and then poured himself a mug of tea which he drank, savouring it.

Supposedly people were meant to become used to a taste, smell, sight, sound or feel of something if they came into contact with it enough; but a mug of tea was always the same bliss for Julius, as it was for many Englishmen. The stereotype wasn't for nothing.

Finishing is drink he opened a dishwasher that was concealed as a cupboard, standard style in kitchens these days, and placed his mug inside before closing the machine and starting it off. He brushed his teeth and left the house, locking it after him. As soon as he had locked the door and turned around he stopped.

Some kind of primitive instinct had made him stop and stretch out with his sense, an icy feeling spreading up his spine. There was no rational thought for this but Julius had long learnt to trust the basic programming of the human psyche. However, on this occasion, nothing appeared to be wrong despite his close surveying of his surroundings. He shrugged and walked down the pathway.

Just outside his gate a postal worker was sliding a package into his mailbox and looked up as Julius pulled the waist height gate open to let himself out. The boy greeted the worker cheerily before he strolled down the street towards Tomoeda proper.

"Have a good day!" The postal worker called after the boy's retreating back.

*****

Tomoyo was the first to arrive at the town square, Shaoran and Sakura turning up together at ten minutes to eleven. They waited together, Shaoran searching the streets as Sakura and Tomoyo chatted about what sounded to Shaoran like nothing in particular.

At last Julius appeared, looking around himself with great interest.

"A lot of buildings here using older architecture, it's rather fascinating." He commented. Tomoyo admonished him for taking so long and he apologised for his tardiness, his excuse being that he had been distracted by the sights along the way.

"So, where are we going to eat?" Sakura asked Julius who looked completely nonplussed.

"Erm, well seeing as I've never been to this part of town I'd suggest asking someone else?" He suggested. He was teasing her of course and she knew it; but Sakura liked Julius' witty manner.

"There's that restaurant opposite the flower shop. We always wanted to eat there, remember Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo pointed up one of the avenues leading off the town square.

"But it was really expensive in there!" Sakura protested. Tomoyo glanced at Julius but he was already saying it was no problem; his pockets were lined well enough to pay for an expensive meal or two. Sakura's face lit up and they headed off to the restaurant. Sakura skipped ahead, humming to herself with Tomoyo standing next to her. The two boys followed a few paces behind the two girls.

"She still has so much energy. I'll have to find out what her dad feeds her, it'll be a breakthrough for office workers." Julius commented and Shaoran laughed, causing the two girls to look back at them questioningly which only increased their amusement.

Once inside the restaurant a waiter took them to a table where they sat down on expensive look chairs what seemed to be a solid marble table. The waiter handed out menus and informed them that he'd be back shortly. The four discussed, compared and finally decided meals just as the waiter returned with a notepad at the ready. He took their orders and collected the menus back in.

"We won't be long. Have a good day."

Sakura flinched at those words. Shaoran looked at her questioningly but the girl waved him off, saying a cold draught had just come through as the door opened to the kitchen. Shaoran knew better than to push her so he accepted the feeble excuse but Julius, who was reading a drinks menu, watched Sakura with sharp eyes. Tomoyo, he realised, was watching him in turn. He glanced sideways at her, not turning his head. She understood the message and engaged Sakura in some kind of meaningless conversation.

Julius engrossed himself back in the drinks menu. When the waiter returned with trays of food he wasn't surprised to see that it was a different man.

*****

"That was great! Thanks Julius." Sakura exclaimed as they exited the restaurant, stretching with renewed vigour.

"My pleasure. To the cinema then? The adverts start in ten minutes so we should get in somewhere in the middle of them." Julius said, glancing at his watch. The four set off again in the same formation as earlier, girls in the vanguard and the boys in the rearguard.

"Something's bothering her." Shaoran said to Julius conspiratorially. Tomoyo was talking loudly and Shaoran had caught the hint.

"Anything happen?" Julius asked, watching Sakura's face. She was smiling again; the strain he had seen earlier was gone. He was glad she was such an easy going girl, anyone more serious would probably have snapped under the same circumstances she frequently found herself in.

"She sounded a bit off when I called her this morning but she said it was nothing." Shaoran recalled and Julius nodded. The icy feeling was crawling up his spine again and this time he wasn't just about to dismiss it.

*****

In the cinema Julius bought tickets while the other three looked around in the refreshments area. Traditional cinema etiquette indicated that when out with friends the group had to buy at least two large popcorns to share and oversized soft drinks for all. Julius handed over the money to the cashier who put into the cash machine, taking out the change and handing it to Julius.

"Thank you. Have a good day." The cashier said. Julius froze in the middle of putting the change in his wallet.

"Pardon?" He asked. The cashier looked at him quizzically.

"I said have a nice day." The cashier responded in an unsure tone. Julius forced a smile.

"Thanks, you too." He called to the others and they gathered their purchases before heading to the screen, finding their seats in the middle. Julius had bought them seats in the best place, the middle of the cinema and on the side where there were only four seats between the wall and the aisle so no strangers would be seated next to them. The two girls sat in the middle with the boys flanking them, Shaoran sitting next to Sakura and Julius next to Tomoyo.

They sat down just as the adverts were coming to a close, perfect timing. The doors to the screen were closed to darken the room sufficiently and the film began to roll, the company logos involved in its making coming up first. The things you'd seen half a million times.

Tomoyo had the salt popcorn while Shaoran had the sweet. Tomoyo dipped her hand into the packet and picked one out. She offered it to Julius but he shook his head. Tomoyo popped it into her mouth and turned to watch the film.

Sakura and Julius both sat up straight at the same time, their instinctive senses kicking in at the last moment; but they were too slow.

Tomoyo was already keeling forwards.