Sakura: Knight of the Clow
Chapter 35
It hit the newspapers and the TV news, though honestly that wasn't that surprising. The 'Knight' had been in the news before, mostly in Tomoyo's stories, but so far they had only photos to prove she was real. Now she, and the monsters she fought, were splashed on the nightly news.
"Oh no," Sakura whimpered as she saw the video get reused again. The silly jump off the building, her skirt fluttering embarrassingly...
"I think you look fine," Tomoyo patted her on the arm as they sat watching the news in her apartment. 'GOD Sakura looked hot,' she thought dreamily.
"The costume is lovely," Sakura said diplomatically, not wanting to hurt her lover's feelings, "but I look ridiculous."
Tomoyo smiled wryly, "No, Mei-Lin looks bad. You're fine."
"Well, look on the bright side...," Sakura sighed, "no one is going to question your stories about me any more."
Tomoyo made a face at that comment. "Don't remind me... apparently several TV stations want to interview me," she sighed. Pouting she added, "I cover the news, I don't want to BE it."
Sakura hugged her, but didn't remark that it had been Tomoyo's choice to write stories about her in the first place. It would be mean, under the circumstances. "If the reporters get too pushy, you could always ask Kaho to handle it," she suggested.
Tomoyo snickered softly, "I bet she'd enjoy it too."
In fact, Kaho Mitsuki WAS enjoying dishing out a little payback. The Times had faced a certain amount of ridicule for running the Knight stories, and several news services in the city had openly mocked them. They were not mocking them now that the heroine had been caught on the news, live and in colour.
"No, I will not offer you and exclusive," Kaho noted, sitting back in her chair, feet resting on her desk, "why?" She smiled coldly, "You DO remember the opinion peace you published on 'Tomoyo's fantasy' right?"
Mei Lin watched with some amusement as her boss clearly enjoyed herself.
"Yes, I nurse grudges a long time. How? Tough nipples. Bye bye," and Kaho hung up on him with a loud thump.
"Who was that, if I may ask?" Mei Lin wondered.
"A Chinese based broadcaster who ragged on Tomoyo," Kaho shrugged. "I will pass on the message to her, though."
"Oh?" Mei Lin asked.
"Apparently there are monster sightings over in China too," Kaho noted. "Might relate to our local problem."
Mei Lin raised her eyebrows. "I'll contact my family, they might have additional leads," she offered politely.
"We'd appreciate it," Kaho nodded. She smiled impishly, "That was a cute costume you were in, by the way."
Mei Lin rolled her eyes, "Your reporter is nuts, you know that?"
"We prefer calling her eccentric," Kaho laughed.
"Either way...," Me Lin laughed. "Anyway, I'll put in some calls. If things are getting crazy in China, it could be big news."
Kaho picked up the phone, dialing smoothly. "Tomoyo?" she asked.
"No, this is Sakura. May I ask who's calling?" the amused voice noted.
"Doctor, my apologies," Kaho started, then laughed. "I think you picked up Tomoyo's phone, miss." she noted.
There was a moment's silence then Sakura sheepishly replied, "Oops. I'll put her on."
A few seconds later Tomoyo came on, "Yes, boss?"
"We're fielding a lot of calls for you," Kaho came right to the point, "and there are news crews parked in front of the building."
"Crap," Tomoyo sighed. "Sorry boss."
"Hey, more publicity equals more newspaper sales," Kaho shrugged. She continued, "I would suggest you lie low a few days until the heat dies down. Have they hit your home yet?"
"I lease via a third party, so my name isn't listed publicly," Tomoyo shrugged, having learned the value of privacy as a young woman. "But I expect they will figure it out eventually, and I have a retreat set up if needed."
"Occasionally, you worry me," Kaho joked. Somewhat more seriously she continued, "You should also work out a story about how you met the Knight, for interview purposes."
"I...," Tomoyo started.
"And don't tell me you won't do interviews," Kaho cut her off, "we both know you'll have to do one eventually. So be prepared."
"Yes mother," Tomoyo drawled mockingly.
There was a pause. "Considering I'm dating your mother, that was just a bit creepy," Kaho sighed. "Which reminds me, have you phoned her lately?" she asked.
"She's nagging you again?" Tomoyo sighed.
Kaho laughed, "I will neither confirm or deny that, as I value my continued health."
"I promise I'll call her," Tomoyo gave in gracefully.
"And now I'll let you get back to whatever lewd things you were doing to your girlfriend," Kaho teased.
"We were not..." Tomoyo started, but Kaho hung up on her.
Kaho smiled to herself cheerfully. It was always fun to rile up Tomoyo, she was way too serious at times. Still, there was work to be done, including a editorial she had to write. Possibly a comment on noble perseverence in seeking the truth no matter what anyone else said.
Kaho smirked. It was good to be editor...
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The man who called himself Yue Susanoo was nervously pacing the front enterance way of the museum. "Where IS she?" he muttered.
Caroline, real identity Keroberos, hurried up the steps. "Sorry," she apologized, the attractive young woman's breasts bouncing as she ran.
"You rally should wear a bra," Yue sighed.
Caroline looked amused, "The men I deal with clearly enjoy the view."
Yue ran a hand through his hair tiredly. "Let's just get out of here," he said as they hurried down the stairs and away.
"Had any luck sniffing out Clow Reed?" Caroline asked quietly once they were away from the museum and any co-workers of Yue.
"Nothing," Yue shook his head, "I tried using the real artifacts in the museum to track him, but no luck."
"And I can't pick up his trail from the tower," Caroline grumped, "It just... isn't there."
"So he's either hiding from us, or we're much less sensitive than we thought and can't find him," Yue concluded grouchilly.
"Why would he hide from us?" Caroline complained. "We're his allies! We even sent Water to that woman's party, just to make sure she awakened."
"Being reincarnated may have changed his mind," Yue sighed. "Either way, we can't rely on him to be friendly."
"Well, crap," Caroline muttered. She looked thoughtful, "Should we offer our assistance to Sakura?"
Yue looked at her in surprise, "Are you insane?"
"We know how bad it got last time," Caroline noted, "And if Clow refuses to help... we may HAVE to turn to her."
Yue shuddered visibly. "We'll see if she can even capture the remaining cards," he said, "besides, we could still contact Clow."
"Let's hope," Caroline sighed.
To be continued...