Konnichiwa minna-san!! I hope you didn't have to wait too long for this chapter. I kinda got the idea from one of the Ranma 1/2 mangas, but it fit the story nicely. ^_^ Gomen, if that upsets anyone. I hope everyone has been enjoying the story to this point, 'cause I've been working at trying to make it interesting. I appreciate reviews a lot, and I hope you can spare the time to tell me what you think. Arigato again to all the people who reviewed so far! You guys rock!!^^ I once again dedicate this fic to you! Happy reading! ^_^ ~Manda-chan

Disclaimer: I don't own any of CCS, if you try to sue me, I'll sick my Kero-chan plushy on you!^^

The Forbidden Clow Chapter 5: Don't Wanna Fall In Love

"You seem quiet tonight, Sakura." Fujitaka pointed out, "Is something bothering you?"

Sakura gave a reassuring smile to her father from across the table.

"No, everything's fine, otousan."

Toya grunted.

"It better not have anything to do with that gaki..." he mumbled.

Sakura glared at him.

"Syaoran's not a gaki, Ni-chan." she stated.

"Whatever, Kaijuu."

"And I'm NOT a KAIJUU!" Sakura added irritably.

Just when it looked like a war was about to erupt between the siblings, Fujitaka decided to step in.

"Alright, that's enough you two." he said firmly, "We're eating right now, save you squabble for later."

Toya and Sakura exchanged glares and reluctantly went back to their meal. Sakura was the first to finish and rose from her chair to put the dishes in the sink.

"Arigato otousan!" she said appreciatively, "The meal was excellent."

Fujitaka nodded and smiled.

"I know how much you like noodles." he chuckled.

Sakura rummaged through the refrigerator for desert and found some chocolate pudding and some jello.

'Kero-chan is going to be ecstatic!' she thought, 'He LOVES chocolate pudding.'

She grabbed one chocolate pudding and one green-colored container of jello. Grabbing a couple spoons in the process, she headed for the stairwell.

"I'm going to have desert upstairs." she announced.

Fujitaka nodded and went back to eating.

"Two again?!" Toya asked, eyes wide.

"Why not?" Sakura countered.

"Because you've been doing that for months now!" Toya said.

"But I'm a growing kaijuu!" Sakura replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

He didn't argue any further and walked into the family room. Sakura in the meantime, headed to her room. She heard loud noises coming from inside and wondered what was going on. She opened the door and instantly sweat-dropped, finding Kero in the corner playing video games.

'I'm amazed Ni-chan and otousan haven't found out about him yet.' she thought, 'He's so LOUD!'

She walked in and shut the door, which to her dismay, still didn't get the guardian beast's attention. He was tapping the controller buttons intently and moving along with the game.

"Kero-chan?" she asked, trying to pry his attention from the glowing TV screen, "Hello over there!?"

He continued to ignore her (or perhaps the TV was too loud for him to hear anything else). Sakura sighed and flopped down on her bed.

"And to believe I went through the trouble of bringing you pudding..."

Kero's ears twitched slightly and he dropped the controller, immediately flying over to the bed.

"Did you say...pudding?" he asked, tiny bits of saliva forming at the corners of his mouth.

"Maybe." Sakura said casually, pretending to be very interested in the fabric of her blanket, "But SOMEONE seemed to be too caught up in his game to say anything."

"Gomen!" Kero apologized, realizing that he would need to do some kissing-up to get his paws on the chocolate pudding, "I was getting really far Sakura, and I almost made it to the boss! I guess I didn't hear you come in."

"Well, here you go." Sakura said, tossing him the pudding, "One of the last two chocolate puddings."

Kero's eyes lit up as he caught the pudding in midair.

"Arigato!" he said, ripping the lid off and digging in.

"Y'know Kero-chan, you might want to use a spoon." Sakura commented, raising an eyebrow at his chocolate-streaked golden face.

Kero took the spoon from her outstretched hand.

"Heh heh...gomen."

Sakura watched wide-eyed as he practically inhaled the rest of the pudding.

"Better hope you don't get a stomach ache." Sakura reprimanded.

Kero shrugged her off.

"Nah." he said, patting his tummy, "I'm the Guardian Beast of the Clow cards, I can handle it."

Sakura chuckled.

"Sure you can, just like you handled guarding the Clow cards."

"I want to see you guard a book that long and not fall asleep!" Kero said indignantly, "It's tough to stay awake for so many years!"

Sakura smiled lopsidedly.

"Oh, and your job was just SO tough!"

"It was sometimes!" Kero shot back.

"Whatever." Sakura replied, giving up on the subject.

"By the way, I get the last pudding tomorrow, right?" he prodded.

"I'll think about it." Sakura said, opening her jello.

She smiled at the small container of jello.

'Green...Syaoran's favorite color.'

Sakura couldn't help but blush at the thought of him.

'I wonder what he's doing right now...' her mind wandered off, 'Maybe he's practicing with his sword.'

An image of Syaoran shirtless, swinging his sword around, suddenly popped into her mind and her blush deepened into a dark pink. Kero raised an eyebrow at her.

"Off in la-la land?" he questioned.

"Hanyaaaaaaaannnnnnn...." Sakura sighed mindlessly.

"I take that as a yes." he muttered, floating over to the few new cards that Sakura had captured.

He grabbed them off the desk and brought them back over to Sakura. Unfortunately, she was still in 'hanyan' mode and currently ignoring him.

"Sakura?"

"Huh?" she asked, popping out of dreamland.

She saw Kero standing there holding the cards and looking up at her.

"Hai?....Did you say something?" she asked cluelessly.

Kero sweat-dropped.

"Done daydreaming about the Chinese gaki now?" he asked, somewhat annoyed.

Sakura's face reddened noticeably and she opened her mouth to deny it, but the words didn't come out. Kero raised a paw up and she blinked back at him.

"Save it. I already know how much you like him, there's no use denying it."

Sakura looked down, smiling sheepishly.

"U-un." she admitted.

"Anyway," Kero started, changing the subject, "These are the cards you caught so far, am I right?"

Sakura nodded, unsure of what he was getting at.

"Did you notice anything...weird about them?" Kero asked curiously.

Sakura shook her head in the negative. Kero turned the card around and held it up to her face.

"Oh! It's white!" Sakura realized.

"The black Clow cards turn white after you seal them." Kero explained.

'And after they've finished their role in this test...' he added mentally.

"Why?" Sakura asked, puzzled.

"It's a mystery." Kero lied.

"Kero-chan?"

"Hai?"

Sakura's eyelids were fluttering up and down and she looked drowsy.

"I feel...kinda...dizzy...lightheaded"

'Damn!' Kero cursed inwardly, 'I know what this is...'

"Close your eyes." Kero instructed.

Sakura did as she was told.

"Okay...why?" she asked.

Kero ignored her question and continued on.

"Does anything feel different?" he asked.

Sakura stopped for a moment.

"This may sound weird, Kero-chan," she started, "but it feels like my heart is on fire or something!"

"I was afraid of that..." Kero mumbled to himself.

"Can I open my eyes yet?" Sakura asked, "I don't feel dizzy anymore."

"NO!" Kero yelled.

Sakura seemed a little taken aback by his tone of voice. He cleared his throat and corrected himself.

"Gomen." he apologized, "I mean no, not yet."

Minutes passed by and Sakura groaned.

"Alright, Kero-chan, tell me right now!" she demanded, "You know something, don't you?!"

Kero sweat-dropped and faked a laugh as best he could.

"Ha ha..heh...Now why would I know anything?"

"Then if you don't, I can open my eyes." she decided.

"No! Don't open them!" Kero warned, "You'll regret it."

"Then tell me what's going on."

Kero sighed in defeat.

"Okay, okay. It's a black Clow card..." he said.

"It is? How can you tell?" Sakura questioned.

"I remember this one."

"Well....what is it?" Sakura pushed.

"The Cupid card." Kero explained, "To put it simply, the first male person you lay eyes on...you'll fall in love with."

"HOOOOEEEEE!?!?!" Sakura cried in disbelief.

"Don't panic!" Kero said, "And whatever you do, DON'T open your eyes!"

"What do I do?!" Sakura pressed, "I have school tomorrow!"

Kero seemed to be in thought.

"Hmmmmm....You're going to need to call the Chinese gaki." Kero decided.

Her heart skipped a beat at the mention of him, but she tried not to pay attention to it.

"Why him?" Sakura asked, bewildered.

"It's not by my personal choice, but I think we can trust him to help you out with this." Kero admitted.

"Un. You should find the phone on my desk, press the green button to dial Syaoran's number, and then hand me the phone." Sakura instructed.

Kero obediently retrieved the pink cell phone and handed it to Sakura after he pushed the button she indicated. After a couple rings, Syaoran answered the phone. He was laughing from his side of the line, apparently watching something on TV.

"Moshi moshi." he said, in between chuckles.

"Syaoran-kun?"

After hearing the melodical voice, Syaoran instantly knew who was on the other line.

"H-Hai, Sakura?" he asked, surprised that it was her.

"What's that sound? Are you watching a movie?"

"Ano, Iie."

Syaoran was desperately fiddling with the remote, trying to shut off the video of one of Sakura's early card captures before she heard anything. He finally managed to turn it off and turned his full attention to the phone.

"There's a slight...problem..." Sakura started, hoping not to sound too worried.

"Problem?" he asked, a hint of concern in his deep tone.

"Un."

She paused, taking a deep breath.

"A black Clow card problem..."

Syaoran silenced on the other end momentarily.

"Okay, what can I do?" he asked, becoming very serious, "Do you want me to come over?"

"Ano, ano...."

"Is Toya there?" he asked.

"Iie..."

"I can come through the front door then?"

"Iie..."

"Doushite? What's going on?"

"I don't think I'd be able to make it to the door to let you in..."

"Nani!?!"

"Gomen, I'm not supposed to open my eyes."

"Okay, now I'm thoroughly confused."

"That makes two of us." Sakura said, "Do you want me to have Kero-chan let you in?"

"Don't bother. Just have him open the window."

"The tree again, Syaoran?"

He shrugged on the other line.

"I'm used to it by now."

"Alright...if you're sure." she mumbled.

"Hai, I'll be there soon."

*Click*

"Kero-chan? Can you open the window please?" Sakura asked, gesturing toward that side of the room, since she couldn't see the window.

He didn't answer, but she heard the sound of the window being pulled up.

"Here." Kero said, handing her a piece of cloth, "Put this on."

"As a blindfold?" she asked, smoothing her fingers along the cloth.

"It should do for now, until we find something better."

Sakura shrugged and tied the fabric around her head, making a knot in the back. ***************************************

Li Syaoran walked toward the Kinomoto's house, hands in his pockets, a wistful expression glued onto his face.

'Baka...stop thinking about how enchanting her eyes are...you should be worried about what's wrong with her...' he thought.

He sighed and tried to focus on what the problem could be, but his mind kept wandering away.

'I wonder if Sakura realizes how kawaii she is when she's frustrated, when she's flustered...when she says "hoe"...when she's deep in thought...when she's clueless...'

A goofy grin spread across his face and remained all the rest of the way there. He climbed up to the room with ease and made his way to her bedside, where she was seated. He raised an eyebrow at the white cloth tied around her head, but didn't say anything about it. Suddenly, Kero popped out of nowhere, making a face at Syaoran.

"Chinese gaki."

"Stuffed animal."

Sakura cleared her throat loudly from the bed.

"Now that everyone is acquainted, can we get this explained?" Sakura asked, a small sweat-drop forming on her head.

"What's this for?" Syaoran asked, making a gesture toward the blindfold.

He reached his hand out to take it off of her, but was stopped by Kero.

"Don't touch it! You'd regret it if you did."

"Why? Do you know what card it is?" Syaoran asked, aiming the question at Kero.

"The Cupid card." he stated.

"Nani? What's a 'cupid'?" Syaoran asked, never having heard the term before.

"Cupid was a being that made people fall in love."

"I don't like the sound of this..." Syaoran muttered, "Does it have anything to do with Sakura being blindfolded?"

Kero nodded.

"That's the problem, the first person of the opposite sex she lays eyes on, she'll fall hopelessly in love with." Kero explained.

Syaoran's mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out.

"How long can this go on Kero-chan?" Sakura asked.

Kero shook his head sadly.

"Don't know. I guess it stays in effect until the card is sealed."

Syaoran still seemed almost speechless.

"H-How is she going to be able to walk around like that?" he asked.

"Ah! That's where you come in!" Kero announced.

"Me?" Syaoran asked, pointing to himself, "What do you want me to do?"

"Let Sakura look at you." Kero said nonchalantly.

"HOE!?!?!!?!?"

"NANI!?!?!!?!?"

Kero glanced at the bright red faced, sputtering Syaoran, and sweat-dropped.

"I was JOKING!!" he yelled, "Do you think I would actually put Sakura through something as horrible as that?!"

Syaoran made an angry face at the insult.

"Honestly!" Kero continued, "Like I would knit my mistress's heart and soul to a Chinese gaki like you!"

"Kero, that's enough." Sakura said, hoping to change the subject.

Kero gave up on insulting Syaoran and turned away from him and Sakura, crossing his arms.

"Would you mind telling me what I really need to do?" Syaoran asked.

"Since I'll be unable to accompany Sakura to school and elsewhere, I need you to play aide and bodyguard for her."

"Aide I understand, Kero-chan," Sakura interrupted, "But bodyguard??"

"I get his drift." Syaoran replied, "People are going to be trying to pull that blindfold off of you."

"Oh...I see."

"Sakura, can you come up with a story to fool your family with?" Syaoran asked.

"Un." she nodded, "I'll think of something."

Syaoran turned to Kero.

"I should come pick her up for school tomorrow then, right?"

"Sounds good. But whatever you do, don't let her brother take the blindfold off."

"You don't have to worry about that." Syaoran scoffed, "I won't let him come near her."

"Alright, now that everything is clear, the Chinese gaki can leave." Kero said, waving Syaoran away.

"Just a minute." Syaoran said, removing a green sash from around his waist.

He sat on the bed just behind Sakura and she let out a small "hoe?".

"Relax." Syaoran instructed, "Don't open your eyes, I'm just removing the blindfold."

"O-okay." Sakura stammered, unsure about what he was doing.

He untied the cloth from her head and set it on the bed next to her. Then he took his green sash and proceeded to tie it around her head.

"Hoe?"

"I thought my satin sash would be more comfortable for you than that grainy white linen thing." he explained, carefully (yet expertly) tying a firm knot with the green cloth.

Sakura blushed, feeling the tips of his fingers brush the back of her neck.

"Arigato, Syaoran-kun." she said softly.

"Go ahead and get some sleep." Syaoran instructed, taking his weight of the bed, "I'll be back tomorrow morning to bring you to school."

Syaoran went to the window and gracefully leapt to the ground, leaving Sakura on her bed in a daze, a faint blush painted across her cheeks. She breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of the sash.

'It smells spicy...like cinnamon.' she thought dreamily, rubbing a piece of the excess green cloth against the side of her face, 'What a wonderful smell...'

With Kero's help in finding her clothes, she changed into her pajamas and hopped into bed.

"Good night, Kero-chan." she whispered, hugging the soft satin trails of the cinnamonny-smelling satin.

"Good night, Sakura." Kero answered, going to his little bed in the drawer.

**************************************

Toya narrowed his eyes at the Chinese boy outside the front door.

"What are you doing here?" he spat.

"I came to pick Sakura up for school." Syaoran replied casually, trying his best not to look suspicious.

"She won't be awake for a good fifteen minutes yet." Toya said, checking his watch, "Go on to school gaki, you're not welcome here."

Syaoran clenched his teeth together.

'I should have known it was going to come to this.' he thought.

"She...uh...said she would be up already." Syaoran pushed on.

"Well she's not." Toya said coldly, "So LEAVE."

"Let me just go wake her up then." he replied, walking into the house uninvited.

"EXCUSE ME!?!?" Toya exploded.

Syaoran kept his cool.

"What?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Toya looked ready to erupt at any second.

"Do you think it's NORMAL for Chinese gakis to break into people's houses at seven o'clock in the morning!?!?!"

"We're working on a very important project." Syaoran stated, matter-of-factly.

Toya glared at him, using in arm to prevent him from getting any closer to the stairway.

"Do you really think I'm going to buy that one AGAIN!?"

Syaoran ignored him and tried to make it by the outstretched arm.

"WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS TRYING TO GET INTO HER ROOM!?!!?" Toya yelled, grabbing the front of Syaoran's uniform.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Syaoran asked irritably, wrenching his shirt from the iron grip.

"YOUR ATTITUDE IS REALLY STARTING TO PISS ME OFF GAKI!!!"

"I don't think you should try to pick a fight with me." Syaoran warned, narrowing his eyes.

'I've got to stop him from seeing Sakura somehow...' Syaoran thought, "Even if I have to fight him...'

Toya assumed a fighting stance and Syaoran took out one of his ofuda [is that what they're called??]. Syaoran smirked.

'This ought to buy me some time.'

He threw the paper at Toya's head and it landed on top, immediately setting his hair on fire. It took a moment for Toya to realize what happened, but he panicked as soon as he felt the burning.

"AGGGHHH!!! DAMN YOU, GAKI!!!!" he cursed, running for the bathroom.

Syaoran saw his chance and ran up the flight of stairs, coming to a stop at Sakura's door.

"Are you up yet?" he questioned, knocking on the door.

"Hai." came a muffled reply, "You can come in, I'm all set."

Syaoran opened the door and found Sakura sitting on the edge of her bed in her school uniform. The sash was all messed up and lopsided.

"Want me to fix this?" he asked, tugging one of the trails of the sash.

He didn't really wait for a reply though, he just removed it and retied it quickly.

"How's that?" he asked.

She smiled.

"Perfect."

"Let's go then." Syaoran said, taking one of Sakura's hands.

She involuntarily blushed at the tiny action and allowed him to lead her downstairs. Just as they were about to leave, loud footsteps quickly entered the room.

'Damnit...we almost made it.' Syaoran cursed.

He turned around and faced Toya, who was breathing rather hard and had a smoldering mass of black on top of his head.

"JUST A DAMN MINUTE!!"

Syaoran shrugged.

"What?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT?'!?!!?" Toya raged, "YOU SET MY HAIR ON FIRE, AND THEN I FIND YOU TAKING MY SISTER OUT OF THE HOUSE BLINDFOLDED!!! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?!"

"Ni-chan, just calm down." Sakura advised.

"NOT UNTIL I FIND OUT WHAT THIS GAKI IS PLANNING!!!" Toya demanded.

Sakura sweat-dropped.

"It's another project for school." she lied, "I'm supposed to be blind for a day, and Syaoran is supposed to help me so I don't run into things, fall, stuff like that."

Toya blinked a few times, trying to take in the information.

"How much is the gaki paying you to say that?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing Ni-chan, it's true."

"Well I don't buy it." Toya said, stepping forward, "I'm going to take that thing off your head."

Syaoran jumped in front of Sakura, narrowing his eyes dangerously at Toya.

"No you're not." he stated coldly, emphasizing each work separately.

'I hope I don't regret this...' Syaoran thought.

With one swift movement, he kicked Toya in the stomach. As he doubled over, Syaoran grabbed Sakura's hand and ran out the door, taking off for the school.

"Syaoran...slow down..." Sakura pleaded, running out of breath, "I can't keep up!"

Loud curses filled the air not to far behind and Syaoran halted.

"This will make things easier for both of us." Syaoran said, picking Sakura up in his arms.

Sakura's face flushed as he ran and she gripped the front of his shirt for balance. As they entered the school, Syaoran put Sakura down, but continued to hold her hand.

"I...think we...lost him..." he wheezed.

"Sorry about Ni-chan..." Sakura apologized.

"Don't be." Syaoran said, "He's just worried about you, I can understand that."

Sakura silenced for a few moments, contemplating something over in her mind.

"So, what are we supposed to tell everyone?" she questioned, a little fear present in her voice.

"We'll think of something." He assured, carefully leading her into the classroom.

As he approached their desks, he received countless strange looks and glances from the other classmates. Eriol was smiling a little too mischievously, and that caused a lump to form in the young warrior's throat. Eriol was clearly going to be a problem today.

As for Daidouji Tomoyo, you didn't have to guess what she was doing. Camera ever poised and ready, she was taping the unfolding scene with a large grin plastered to her lips.

"Explanation?" Eriol asked casually, his smile stretching out a little farther.

"Maybe later." Syaoran replied none-too-nicely, "For now, consider it as 'Doctor's orders'".

Eriol ignored his descendents comment and quickly snatched one of the trails of the blindfold as Sakura sat in her seat. He gave it a small tug to get Sakura's attention, un-noticeably receiving a scowl from Chinese youth.

"What's this for?" he asked innocently.

Syaoran wrenched the green cloth from his grip and narrowed his eyes at his dark-haired ancestor.

"Try to touch that again and you won't have a hand." he said coldly.

Eriol just smiled in response. He was half the reincarnation of Clow Reed, so he could sense the strange reddish glow of the magic that seemed to radiate from the Card Mistress. Magic was at work here, that much was obvious.

'But what?' he questioned himself mentally.

Eriol seemed to be deprived of some of the important memories previously belonging to Clow Reed. But there was a familiararity that seemed to dawn on him about these new Clow Cards. Perhaps if he probed further in his mind, he could come up with something to help the dear Mistress and her protective warrior with this card.

'Or cause them a little more mischief.' He thought with a wicked grin.

Sure, Hiiragizawa liked helping them out, but he also took a strange pleasure in adding his own little quirk to the puzzle.

Besides, he could plainly see how attracted his descendant was to the kind-yet-naïve Mistress of the Clow cards, and he was sure the feeling was mutual from her. He kind of banded with Daidouji Tomoyo on the subject, who also was sure of the unseen love between them.

Eriol let out a small gasp as a memory of Clows' suddenly floated into his mind's view.

'Let the cards play their role in the enlightenment, bringing forth the truth hidden from blind hearts. Love undefined, let the two stand as one, to face unimaginable challenge from the impending disaster.'

Eriol let his breath come out in slow, shallow gasps, barely allowing enough time for the intake of air.

'If only I could have realized this earlier...' he thought, trying his best to calm down, 'My descendant and the Clow card Mistress are the two mentioned in the legend...the fate of the earth is lying on their shoulders alone.'

He stole glances at each of them from behind the shield of his glasses. Though the teens had no knowledge of it, their future held unfathomable danger and the fate of the entire planet.

Tomoyo turned around to face Eriol, lulling him from his thoughts on the sudden revelation.

"Eriol-kun, are you alright?" she questioned, worry reflecting in the depths of her amethyst-colored eyes.

"Fine." He replied, letting a small smile cross his face.

His eyes spoke a whole different story to Tomoyo, but she didn't press any further.

'No need to reveal this to her or the others now,' he thought, 'I'll have to have a chat with Keroberus about it though...'

"Alright class, settle down." Terada-sensei instructed, "Roll call."

When he spoke out Sakura's name, his eyes glided over to where she was seated. He raised an eyebrow quizzically in her direction.

"Kinomoto-san, how do you expect to take notes with a blindfold on?"

Sakura stiffened in her chair, alerting Syaoran to her lack of an immediate answer. He quickly stood up in her defense.

"She's been ordered by her doctor to keep her eyes covered for twenty-four hours." He explained, trying to make himself as believable as possible, "Emergency eye surgery last night has caused her loss of vision."

"What exactly is the blindfold for then?" Terada asked, a note of disbelief in his voice from the Chinese teen's story.

"Her eyes are extremely sensitive to any type of light." He stated.

Sakura groaned inwardly. She was gratefully for his help and support on the matter, but he was creating quite a story for her to live up to. She silently pleaded that Terada-sensei wouldn't push into the matter by talking to her father. That would definitely create un-needed problem and a lot of stress in the process.

The sensei sighed in frustration.

"I trust that you will pay extra attention in class today, Kinomoto-san?" he questioned, giving in to Syaoran's story.

"HAI!!!" she exclaimed, unable to contain her relief.

Sakura could audibly hear a large sigh from Syaoran and stifled a giggle that was rising in her throat. Even though she couldn't see him, she turned around in her chair to face him.

"Arigato, Syaoran-kun." she near whispered.

Syaoran felt his face heat up but made no attempt to stop it, because he knew that she wouldn't be able to see it.

"I-It was nothing." he stammered.

Sakura smiled brightly, causing his already bright red shade to darken. He silently wished he could see her bright green eyes, full of life and happiness, but he knew that at least for today, it wasn't possible.

She turned her attention back to the lecture Terada-sensei had been giving and Syaoran slowly fell deeper into his sensual, almost tangible daydreaming of the cherry blossom Card Mistress. He was overjoyed that he could think freely again. Finally safe from the torture of the horrible card duo that had haunted him two days ago.

'Why did Clow create such cards anyway?'

He turned to glance at Eriol, who seemed to be deciphering something silently to himself. Syaoran couldn't help but wonder why he didn't seem so intent on causing trouble today, as he normally did.

This was indeed, not very Eriol-like behavior. It almost struck some curiosity in the Chinese card captor.

As if realizing that he was being watched, Eriol turned to his descendant and gave him the all-too-familiar evil smile. Syaoran sweat-dropped and sighed mentally.

'Hiiragizawa Eriol change? Not a chance. He probably only had a brief "Clow Reed" moment or something.' Syaoran's mind assured.

He turned his attention back to his object of affection, who was seemingly trying to take notes without her eyesight. He chuckled slightly at how she was trying so hard to concentrate what the teacher was talking about. She finally gave up on scribbling endless unreadable markings on the notebook page and let her pencil fall to the desk with a small clang. Syaoran leaned forward over his desk and whispered the best words of comfort he could come up with.

"Don't worry, Sakura." he breathed gently against the back of her neck, "You can copy either mine or Daidouji-san's notes later if you'd like."

Sakura almost melted at the feather-light feeling of his warm breath against her bare neck. His voice was so soothing and full of reassurance. It gave her a slight boost of confidence, as well as a pink-tinted face.

"A-a-arigato." she replied, voice almost silent.

**************************************

The first half of the day went well enough, but lunchtime seemed to carry an invisible cloud of trouble. Kinomoto Sakura frowned at the sudden chills she was getting. Syaoran had to leave temporarily for a request from a teacher and she had refused to go with him, despite his efforts of coaxing. As it was, he only agreed because he was sure Daidouji and Hiiragizawa would be with her.

But she hadn't even seen Tomoyo or Eriol once since the end of class, which left her to fend for herself. She had only been sitting under the shelter of the tree for a few minutes before she heard footsteps approaching. She silently hoped it was Syaoran, or even Eriol for that matter. But her feeling grew slightly more anxious as not just one, but many footsteps approached her.

"What's with the blindfold?" a rather commanding male voice asked.

"N-nothing." Sakura stuttered nervously, trying not to sound as afraid as she was.

"Are you blind?" another one questioned, ignoring her previous answer.

"N-no..." she replied.

She silently contemplated telling them Syaoran's story, but couldn't seem to find enough courage to even begin.

"Why hide your eyes, beautiful?" a tall brown haired, ebony-eyed boy asked.

Sakura recognized the voice and frowned. She knew who the group of antagonizers were now. They were from her sixth hour class, a group that seemed to despise Syaoran for some unknown reason. As Tomoyo put it, the group of boys "hit on her", but she never really could figure out what that meant. Nonetheless, she didn't particularly like any of them.

"I see that your protector doesn't seem to be with you today." he pointed out, with a smirk that Sakura didn't see, "Where is Li-san today?"

"He...He went to take care of something." Sakura replied softly, slowly backing up toward the tree for some form of protection.

"I see." the male voice continued on, coming closer to the helpless form below the tree, "I don't think he would mind if I took this off, would he?"

He tugged on the end of the green sash, in turn getting a gasp from the Clow Mistress. Before she could say any word of protest, he removed the blindfold with one large pull. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut tightly, desperately trying to keep them closed. The light that reached her eyelids begged her to open her emerald pools, but she wouldn't give in. To fall in love with one of these guys was the last thing she wanted to do.

'Syaoran!...' she called through her mind, hoping to reach him somehow, 'Please help me...'

"Still won't open your eyes?" the same boy questioned, "Did that Chinese gaki do something to you?"

Sakura shook her head vigorously.

"Syaoran would never harm me!" she almost yelled.

She toned her voice down in fear, still struggling to keep her aching eyes shut.

"What do you want from me?"

***************************************

Syaoran felt a ripple of what seemed like fear from his beloved's pink aura. He stopped moving the boxes for a moment, waiting for another sign from the magic aura. However, instead of receiving any signal from her aura, he could have sworn he heard her calling for help in his mind. Without wasting another second's time, he dropped the box of books he was holding and dashed for the spot where he had left Sakura.

He cursed at himself silently as he ran. He shouldn't have left her there alone to wait for her friends. He would be damned if he would let anything happen to her.

As he approached the tree, his amber eyes flared to life in a sudden fury. His delicate cherry blossom sat at the base of the tree, huddling to herself as best she could, surrounded by a group of four boys. His scowl deepened, especially at the dark blue-eyed figure holding his green sash-turned-blindfold.

He disliked the stuffed animal, Toya, and Hiiragizawa, but he hated this group even more. They were always flirting around with Sakura, who was too naive to realize the perverted tricks they played on her constantly. They toyed with her innocence, and that pissed Syaoran off more than a thousand Hiiragizawas or Toyas could.

He charged forward, ready to beat the living daylights out of each and every one of them. They would pay for picking on her like this. They would pay dearly.

Before the shocked group could realize what was going on, Syaoran brought his fist in contact with the tall boy's jaw, sending him back a few feet. He dropped the sash as well, which Syaoran caught with ease.

"So the wolf returns." the ebony-eyed boy quipped, rubbing his jaw.

Syaoran narrowed his eyes dangerously, the amber liquid in them burning like fire.

"That's your last warning, Lukoe." he stated, forming a protective shield in front of still-frightened Sakura, "Stay away from her."

Syaoran and Lukoe exchanged glares, each trying to bore each other down. However, it was clear Syaoran was the victor.

'For now.' Lukoe thought with a satisfied smirk.

Taking one more glance at the frightened cheerleader, Lukoe and his group turned and went back the way they came.

When they were safely out of sight, Syaoran rushed to Sakura's side and kneeled in the grass next to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concern edging every little sound of his voice.

Sakura suddenly launched herself at him, burying her lovely tear-stained face into his shoulder.

"I was so scared..." she whimpered, sobs violently racking her body.

Syaoran wrapped his arms around her waist in a protective hug, wishing he could take all this pain away from her.

"It's alright now..." he soothed, gently rubbing a hand against her back, "Everything is going to be okay, don't you worry."

Her crying died down and the sobs slowly ceased.

"Thank you, Syaoran-kun...for everything..."

She pulled back with a small smile, which was generously returned by Syaoran, although she couldn't see it. Suddenly remembering something, Syaoran took the green sash from his pocket and tied it back around her head.

"Gomen, Sakura, that you had to go through that."

Sakura shook her head, denying him to place any guilt on himself.

"I won't leave your side until the card is captured, I promise." Syaoran vowed.

"But Syaoran, your classes-"

"They'll understand." he interrupted, "There's no way you're going to your sixth hour class on you own, I know Lukoe will try to pull something."

Sakura didn't argue any further, she knew that Syaoran could be as stubborn as she was when he wanted to be. Besides, she was honored that he was so devoted to protecting her today.

'Or maybe he just wants to be sure the card is captured.' the dark side of her mind thought to voice.

She tried to ignore the nagging voice in her conscious, but it brought her spirits down slightly. The voice was right and she knew it. Syaoran may care for her like a friend, but it would never be more than that. He was more worried about capturing the Clow cards than he was about her.

***************************************

After Syaoran had cleared the situation to the rest of his teachers (with the help of the already-informed Terada-sensei) he was given permission to accompany Sakura to the rest of her classes for the day. They met up with Tomoyo and Eriol before lunch hour was completely over, and Syaoran took this opportunity to chew them out for leaving Sakura by herself.

"It wasn't our fault!" Tomoyo stated, "We thought she was with you!"

Syaoran didn't seem the least bit satisfied by her answer.

"How were we supposed to know you left her on her own?" Eriol asked, clearly not enjoying being blamed for the Card Mistress's distress.

"Gomen, Sakura..." Syaoran apologized again, "I should've taken you with me."

"Let's just hope we can survive the rest of the day." Sakura said jokingly, a tiny smile adorning her features.

Syaoran silently agreed and apologized to Tomoyo and Eriol.

When sixth hour came, Syaoran saw Lukoe with a smug look on his face, chatting with his three cronies. However, after catching sight of Syaoran, protectively holding Sakura's delicate hand, the smug look disappeared, replaced by a look that clearly demanded, "What in the seven hells are you doing here?!". Syaoran didn't pay him any more attention. Lukoe wouldn't be bothering Sakura this hour, that was for sure.

'Ah, just a couple more minutes to go.' Sakura thought, stretching her tired limbs out.

She had just received notice from Syaoran that the bell would be ringing soon.

'But what about this card?'

She frowned slightly, mindlessly playing with the tail of the soft green fabric.

'Not so much as a clue on how to capture it, the whole day!' she thought in frustration.

Her thoughts were suddenly cut short as the unmistakable ring of the last bell echoed through the classroom. The students hurried out, eager to go home after the torturous day of studying, as well as the sensei, who had some papers to pick up in the office before he left.

Soon the room was vacant, except for the teen card captors. Syaoran suddenly chuckled, grasping Sakura's attention as he laughed at some inside joke.

"What's so funny?" she asked, unable to stop her lips from curving up into a smile at the sound of his laughing.

Syaoran calmed down his laughing a little and Sakura turned to face him, blindfold still on her face.

"Nothing," he said nonchalantly, trying to hold back another fit of laughter, "I just liked the look on Ukiro's face when he saw me walk into the room with you sixth hour."

"You mean Lukoe-kun?" Sakura asked, unsure of his last name.

"Hai."

He started laughing all over again and Sakura joined in this time. She loved hearing him laugh, there was no doubt about that. They continued to laugh, until Sakura felt the sash fall from her face. She gasped outloud and her eyes fluttered open involuntarily.

Surprised emerald green met sunset amber and their world froze.

OOOOO!!! My first cliffhanger!! ^^ I hope everyone enjoyed that chapter. Now you'll just have to wait and see what happens next! I'm not trying to be evil, I just talk to Eriol-kun a lot (he seemed to rub off on me a little bit, gomen). The real plot is slowly beginning to develop too. Please review if you have anything at all that you would like to say! I would like to know how I'm doing and if I'm keeping the readers interested! ^_^ Arigato! ~Manda-chan

Japanese terms: Hai-yes gomen-sorry arigato-thank you otousan-father/daddy gaki-brat Ni-chan-(short for:)big brother Kaijuu-monster hanyan-lovey-dovey sigh un-yeah iie-no sensei-teacher