"Change Requires Trust"

Syaoran grabbed the ice cream from the freezer. He had just left work and came straight to the store to relieve his stress from the day by giving in to his guilty pleasures.

He had lost a patient today due to him responding negatively to the treatment. Whenever he would lose a patient, he always reasoned that it was out of his control and that there was nothing else that he could have done to prevent it instead of brooding and blaming himself.

What he knew he could do is control how he handled and coped with it. That just happened to be buying a bucket of ice cream and eating the entire thing in one sitting. For some reason, ice cream always soothes him. He always reasoned that it may have just been because he is a hot-headed person at times and always felt "up" when out of control.

He closed the refrigerator, standing up straight with the chocolate ice cream in hand.

"Strange seeing you here at this time, Dr. Li," a familiar voice said, making him pause in his actions for a moment.

Syaoran turned to the direction of the voice, only to see the one man he prayed to every god out there to make disappear.

"And with junk in hand," the man said.

"Kobayashi-kun," Syaoran called tightly, trying to keep himself together.

He did not have the energy this evening, especially after losing a patient and not talking to Sakura as much as he would have normally liked to. And now, the last man he wanted to see today, is here, making things worse.

"It's, uhh...pretty late—10:00 and—"

"Why the hell are you in Tomoeda? Sakura is happy and with me now, so—"

"Woah, woah, woah. There is no need to get hasty here, Doc. It's only a matter of time before that all changes anyway," he said gently, only further pissing Syaoran off.

"You even think about coming near her, I will really have you dead," Syaoran threatened dangerously, holding on to the bucket of ice cream tightly to hold himself back from jumping the man. He just wanted one hit in, and he would be satisfied enough.

"I'm not here to hurt Sakura," he said in a confident tone.

At the mention of him calling her by her first name, Syaoran had to use everything in his will to not attack the man. Even the ice cream in his hand was not cooling him off. "And you being here isn't doing that? Get the fuck away from here before I make you," he threatened again, genuinely meaning it. Though he did not know much about the man, he would dig something up to ruin him.

Eichii chuckled softly, making the the alarms go off in Syaoran's head. "I find it funny how she responded differently than you."

Syaoran dropped the bucket of ice cream and in one swift motion, grabbed the collar of the man's shirt, jerking him up. "You've been near Sakura?" he asked in a dangerously low tone, tightening his grip on the man's shirt, wishing it were his neck instead.

Eichii grabbed his hand tightly, almost to the point of pain, but Syaoran ignored it, pulling him further off the ground with his grip. Being a few feet taller than the man made him feel at an advantage for once. "Answer me, damn it!" he said, letting his voice rise a bit.

"We have been in contact," Eichii said, tightening his grip on Syaoran's hands, making him falter in his hold a bit.

"What have you done to her?" Syaoran asked, yanking the man towards him.

"This behavior of yours won't leave a nice name on you. And I'm sure you don't want to wind up in jail, leaving me out of the hospital and with no choice but to pursue Sakura again," Eichii said smoothly. "I won't be losing anything by retaliating in the most gruesome way."

At that statement, Syaoran thought about the man being in the military and in combat before coming back a crazy man. But then he thought about exactly what he had just said.

He would find himself in jail, leaving the man to try and win Sakura over again.

He released his collar with a shove, causing Eichii to stumble back a little. Eichii situated himself with a smug look on his face, irking Syaoran's nerves.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Syaoran asked again tightly. "Fucking tell me now."

Eichii chuckled, turning away from Syaoran before he shrugged. "Isn't she the cutest when she's all flustered? She looked exactly how she used to look being under me when I saw her today."

Without thinking or rationalizing any consequences, Syaoran grabbed the back of the blonde's neck and yanked him back before slamming him into the glass refrigerator, shattering it into hundreds of shards on the floor.

"You better not ever fucking touch or come near her again," he said in a threatening tone.

Within a blink of an eye, Eichii reversed their roles, pushing Syaoran against the now broken glass, making him wince at the sharp glass pierce into his back. "I'm not someone you want to mess with," Eichii said in an equally threatening tone, to Syaoran's surprise.

Syaoran moved back from the refrigerator, wincing at the pain of feeling the glass disconnect from his skin. Syaoran was at his side in mere seconds, landing his fist against the man's cheek with as much force as he could muster up at that moment.

Eichii glared at him, returning the favor to his stomach, causing Syaoran to stumble back into the opened fridge, knocking some of the packaged foods out of the refrigerator.

"Oi! Break it up, you two!" Syaoran heard a familiar voice he always heard coming here. "What the hell are your problems?! You know you'll have to pay for this!"

The man made his way over to them to step in front of them before they could continue anything. "Get the hell out of my store!" he said angrily, glaring at them.

Syaoran took a deep breath, releasing it loudly before he made the decision that the man was not worth his time anymore. "I'll pay for the damages," he said before storming out of the market to rush to his car.

He needed to pay a visit to Sakura to get the answers he needed before believing anything the man had said. He promised her that he would not screw up like he did last time. He knew better than to believe another person's word over hers like he had last time.

Sakura had said that she would never be involved with Eichii again, so he would believe her word. He would not lash out at her like he did last time. He would just believe her word.

Syaoran knocked on the door gently, not wanting to scare her awake. It was a bit late, after all. He was sure she was not sleep though. She rarely went to bed this early.

He pressed the doorbell before he heard the lock of her door unlock and then it opened slightly with her peeking in the corner of the door. At seeing him, she opened the door fully. "Syaoran?"

"Can I come in?" he asked calmly, not wanting to mess this up like he had last time.

He learned his lesson. He did not want to ruin what they had so far. She had come to the hospital earlier and performed the most selfless act in the world, bringing him to the utmost pleasure.

At the thought of the day's events and her little scandalous act, everything else stopped mattering. He had never had a woman who could pleasure him as good as she had. Sakura was full of so many surprises that he knew would never seize to amaze him.

He did not know what had gotten into her, coming to his office like that and being so demanding. He nearly lost all the control he worked so hard to keep. But for some reason, he did not mind one bit if it meant that Sakura would have all the control.

"I—of course," she said, stepping to the side to let him in.

He looked at her, seeing her in nothing but a thin camisole and boy shorts. His eyes trained on her perky nipples, seeing she did not have a bra underneath. He moved over towards her in a swift motion, pressing her body against the door and closing the gap between their lips tightly.

One part of him hoped to wipe away all the insecurity and fear of losing her to that bastard, while another wanted to talk and find out if everything that was said had been true.

She would never lie to me...

With that thought in mind, he pulled back from her lips before anything could transpire from the kiss, though he could already feel his body ready for it. "Where were you today?" he asked, resting his forehead against hers with his eyes closed.

"Work," she said shortly.

"Tell me everything you did today," he demanded to reiterate his message.

"U-umm...I went to work, the hospital, back to work, and then Tomoyo's..." she said quietly, sliding her arms around his body before she gasped, alarming him.

"What is it?" he asked.

Her fingers pressed into his back, making him suck in a tight breath at the sharp pain that shot through his body. She pushed him back slightly so she could move around to look at his back. "What the hell happened to your back? You're bleeding—and your clothes are ruined," she said worriedly.

And that was when he remembered everything at the supermarket and the glass stabbing into his back, ripping his shirt. His adrenaline must have been rushing that he forgot about the pain he felt when Eichii pushed him back into the glass.

"That doesn't matter—"

"It does. These cuts are deep and you're—"

"Who did you see today?" he asked, making her pause at that question.

"W-what?" she questioned, letting her hands glide down his back gently, making him clench his muscles. "We need to get you to the hospital because these cuts are deep—"

"Sakura," he called sternly, turning towards her, making her stand taut. "Who did you see today?"

She swallowed, looking uncomfortable as she wrapped her arms around herself.

He hate when she did this. It showed her discomfort with situations or people. He never liked when she did that because of him.

"I... saw Akari-san and Momoko-san," she said, looking away nervously.

He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at him. He had not expected her to say that. "Why would you bother involving yourself with the likes of those women?" he asked gently, caressing her face softly to let her know that he was not upset with her decision to do that. He trusts her and knew she had very good intentions and reasons to.

She shook her head as her eyes began to water a bit. "I just wanted to have a woman to woman talk with them about something. Well…us, to be exact. Can we please go and tend to your wound? I don't want you to lose too much blood. I have a first-aid kit here," she said, grabbing his hand on her face, pulling him with her.

Each step he took, the more he could feel the pain shoot through his body from the cuts and loss of blood.

He pulled his arm back from her. "Not until you tell me what you had to talk about with them," he said.

"Syaoran, stop being absurd before you pass out," she said, grabbing his arm again to drag him in the kitchen.

The moment they got there, his eyes scanned the kitchen to a familiar place he had looked the first time he came to her apartment.

"Is there a particular reason his picture is still up?" he asked calmly. He was trying his best to keep himself together, but she was making it damn near impossible.

He was trying his hardest to be different this time to show her he learned from his mistakes. He did not want to act out, but she was almost giving him no choice but to.

Patience, Syaoran. At her pace...

"Hoe?" she said, turning towards him after she had gotten the kit from under her cabinet.

His eyes looked at everything else in the kitchen except her. He did not want her to read how incredibly jealous he felt right now. He wanted her to see how much he was trying to change for himself...and her. He wanted her to see he could control his emotions. He wanted her to see...

"Why is Kobayashi-kun's photo still in your house?" he asked again, walking towards the counter to lean against.

He leaned his elbows on the countertop, feeling something slide underneath them. He looked down, seeing a sheet of paper. He heard her open the kit before he read a number and name that he did not expect to see there. Before she could look and see that he saw it, he slid the paper under his elbow to hide that he had seen it.

It was getting harder and harder to keep it together the longer he stayed here and discovered more things. He wanted to tell her she better start talking or he would snap but knew better than to do that.

"Sakura?" he called again.

"It's nothing, okay? I just haven't thought to get rid of it," she said, making his blood boil.

"Get rid of it now then," he demanded tightly, balling the paper up in his hand to control himself.

"Syaoran, please don't think anything of this..." she said quietly, walking towards the photo on the counter. He could not understand how he had not even noticed it there the last time he came here.

She laid the photo down, so he did not have to see it anymore. He wanted her to trash it though. How could she tell him not to think anything of it when she would not even tell him that she had his number and had possibly seen him today?

She grabbed the portrait and threw it in the trash as if she had read his mind. "I really have nothing for him anymore. I didn't even notice it was still there," she said in a promising tone.

"So, you didn't see him today either and haven't been trying to keep it from me then?" he asked, not able to hold it together anymore.

"W-what?" she asked, her eyes wide as she stood frozen now.

"I'm really trying, Sakura. It is your word over everyone else, but I just need you to give it to me. I promise I will be on your side no matter what you tell me," he promised.

She swallowed nervously before nodding her head slightly.

He could feel himself begin to tremble in anger at the man being truthful back at the market. "You did see him?" he asked in an extremely calm tone, not wanting to scare her off.

"Yes..." she said quietly, looking away from him in shame, which hurt him more than he thought it would. What would she have to be ashamed of if she did nothing wrong?

"When? Where? And with who?" he found himself asking.

She shook her head slowly. "It was at work today...he showed up unexpectedly after one of my patients left and he...just wanted to talk," she said softly.

"About what? What could you two possibly have to talk about?" he asked, sitting up from the counter and stuffing the paper in his pocket. He made his way over to her slowly to take the first aid kit from her. He could feel himself starting to get fatigue from the loss of blood he could feel himself losing.

He took out a few things that could be helpful in temporarily fixing his wounds.

"Us...and... the relationship, but I made it very clear to him that I am happy and want to be with you and no one can change that," she promised.

He reached behind him, pulling his shirt over his head, and then sat down on the stool. "Try to stop the bleeding by applying pressure with the clean bandage," he instructed blandly, hoping he could hide how he truly felt about what she had just said.

"I—okay," she said, doing as she was told.

He sucked in a breath, trying to hold back from letting her know how much it hurt. He could tell that it did not look the nicest either and would need more care than this, but this would have to do for now. He did not want to take a trip down to the hospital tonight.

"Why do you have a paper with his name and number on it then?" he asked to distract himself from the pain.

She applied too much pressure on one of the cuts at that question, causing him to suck in a breath tightly. "A little gentler," he told her.

"S-sorry…" she said under her breath as she eased up on the pressure. "If you would tell me how you got these cuts...I'll tell you..." she said softly.

"No, you don't get to fucking hold information from me when you promised to be honest with me after the little stunt with your bastard best friend," he said tightly.

She sighed, sounding a little annoyed with him now. "No," she said stubbornly.

"Excuse me?" he said, taken aback by her sudden change of behavior.

"You don't get to come to my place late at night, injured, and demanding me to talk as if you didn't just barge into my place," she said defensively.

He sighed, shaking his head. "Don't do that, Sakura. Please...don't make me feel bad for wanting the truth from you. I don't want to hear it from anyone else—" He gasped, arching his back slightly when feeling something cold sting his back with pain.

"Sorry...I'm trying to clean the wounds..." she said softly.

He took a deep breath, trying to get it together.

"Eichii told me that Momoko-san is the one who told him about...you and how you are and—"

"That wench—"

"Don't do anything irrational, okay? Just...suspend them for now, okay? They seemed genuinely sorry and—"

"No, I warned them not to mingle in our relationship anymore. They're dead—"

"Don't, Syaoran. You're better than them and—"

"How dare they fucking bring your abusive ex back in the picture like that? To come between us? This is the reason that bastard is out? Because of them?" he asked, feeling even more furious about all of this. And then she had the nerve to tell him not to do anything irrational.

To hell with that.

"Suspension is an understatement of what they deserve—"

"It was Momoko-san, not—"

"I warned them both if they were to do anything related to drama, they would lose their jobs. I gave them one more chance after the many chances I gave before the warning, so—"

"That's taking it too far, Syaoran. We don't know how bad they will be affected if they lose their job. It wasn't—"

"Why the fuck should either of us care how it will affect them? They will deserve whatever bad that happens to them because they're trying to hurt a good person who's done nothing wrong to them," he said, feeling his anger increase towards them more. Not for his own sake and possibly losing Sakura, but for hers alone.

Sakura deserves none of what they were putting her through. He would never even have the chance to begin to understand what she may be going through with Eichii so close after the years of abuse with the man.

"Syaoran, please think this through—"

"I have already thought this through," he said in a finalizing tone.

"Syaoran—"

"Look, Sakura, this isn't about anyone but you and the reason you have that bastard's number on a paper as if you're going to contact him. Were you planning to contact him?" he asked, deciding to get back on topic. She would not let up on the idea of him getting rid of the women because of her caring nature of the human's mental health, but he already had his mind made up.

When she did not respond, he turned around abruptly to look at her, ignoring the pain that shot through his body.

"I already did," she said as soon as they made eye contact.

"What?" he whispered, not believing what she had just said. "W-why would you ever do such a thing when you say you want to be with me?" He could hear the fear in his own voice, hoping it would go away as soon as he heard it himself.

"I contacted him to tell him...that I will never ever be with him because I... want to be with you. I told him to never come to my office again because you wouldn't like it and neither do I..." she said, relieving some of the tension in his chest.

"Let me..." he started, not sure if he wanted to ask her. He did not want her to feel like he did not trust her, but he wanted to see for himself. He wanted to see that she chose him over her ex.

She picked her phone off the counter before scrolling through something on her phone before she showed him the text. It always seemed like she could read his mind.

He sighed in relief, motioning her to kiss him, which she did briefly before pulling back. "I told you that you have nothing to worry about. I'm sorry for not telling you about Eichii earlier..." she said softly. "I was afraid of how you'd react and I... didn't want to lose..." she stopped, looking away.

"That bastard...he tried to make me think that..." He shook his head, not even wanting to get into it. "I need you to cover my cuts. My fingertips feel like ice," he said as his fingers flinched at the mention of them.

Sakura was quick to continue what she had started before patching him up on each of the cuts. It did not make the pain stop completely, but it was a lot more manageable now. He would probably have to get stitches, he noted.

"What did he try to make you think?" she asked. "Is it better?"

"Yes. And he..." At the thought of the man trying to toy with his head like him and Sakura had...

Syaoran shook his head. "You would never sleep with that bastard again when I'm clearly a better lover anyway," he said in a concluding tone. "...right?"

Sakura raised a brow, looking at him curiously. "Is... the Li Syaoran doubting his skills in bed?" she asked teasingly, lightening the mood a bit from the awkward tension in the room.

"N-no, I just...just answer the question, damn it," he said, getting a little frustrated with her avoiding the question.

"I'm not going to compare you guys. I enjoy being with you, okay? I don't want to be with any other person but you. I don't think about anyone, including Eichii, but you, so don't ask such nonsense questions. I feel like you've asked me that before, but I'm not quite sure. You're always worried about the wrong things though," she said, caressing his face.

He closed his eyes, leaning into her loving touch as his cheeks warmed. The feel of her touch always made everything else not matter. "You're right," he said quietly. "You're with me and not him because you want to be."

"Right," she said.

"I'm sorry for barging in like this so late at night too...I just had to have the answers from you after..." he stopped, shaking his head before he could tell her what happened. If he told her about what happened at the market, she would be so disappointed and reprimand him.

"After? That's how you got hurt, isn't it?" she asked with a frown on her face. "When did you see him to know he said anything about us?"

He shook his head. "So, you don't think about when you guys used to be involved?" he asked, hoping to shift the conversation from that direction.

"I don't," she said softly. "But that won't work on me. Where were you before you came here?"

"The market. I was getting ice cream because I lost a patient today. For some reason, ice cream always brings me back to a happy place of my life, so I usually eat an entire thing of it when something like that happens, so..."

"You lost a patient today?" she asked, looking at him sadly.

He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't want to talk about it, really. We were a bit busy at the hospital, so that was the reason for me not responding to your text," he explained.

She shook her head with a sad smile on her face. "You don't have to explain anything to me," she said sadly.

"I know. I want to, is all," he said, standing from the stool now to tower over her.

"There's also...something that I need to talk to you about..." she started slowly.

"What is it?" he asked, suddenly feeling a bit light-headed from the abrupt movement. He decided to sit back down, realizing it might be because he lost so much blood.

"I... have not made the decision yet because I wanted to discuss it with you first, okay?" she started.

"Okay," he said, ready to hear what she had to say.

"I... received an offer to be the leader of a new research about addiction and some future treatments for cravings because of this forum I'm involved in online. Often, I communicate with other psychologist all over the world and we share our ideas on different treatment plans," she started.

"That's awesome," he said, smiling at the new information.

"Right, it is. I was just talking to Aki and Tomoyo about how I feel like I'm not as far ahead in everything like everyone else in my life and then this offer presents itself to me today," she said.

"If you feel like you would really love this, you should take it," he said.

"And I want to, but there's one huge downfall to it..." she trailed off.

For some reason, that did not settle well with him at all with the tone she used. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's in Hong Kong."

A/N: Ahh, I know I suck at this consistency thing with uploading, but I'm trying, guys! Thank you so much for sticking around with my terrible uploading schedule D:. I don't deserve such supporting fans like you guys! I'm really grateful for the support still coming in 3. I know that I responded to more than half of the reviews, but I will get to responding to the rest after I post this chapter.

This may be one of the shortest chapters I've written thus far in the story, but I didn't want to add any extra unnecessary scenes to make it longer. Everything that happened in this chapter contributes to the plot of the story significantly, so I didn't want to add anything to ruin what I have planned xD.

What did you guys think of this chapter? Thank God the owner of that market was present to stop a war that wouldn't end nice between two men fighting over a woman! I know it's probably hard to tell if Eichii is a bad or good guy right now, but I like the mystery of his nature and what it brings to the story right now :P. Hmm... when will Sakura make her decision for this new opportunity? Will she really move to Hong Kong? Will her decision be in the next chapter along with her test results? :o. Let me stop before I let too many spoilers slip :P

Ja ne!