Author's Note: For all who are reading this on Friday- CC 'new' episode tomorrow

Author's Note: For all who are reading this on Friday- CC 'new' episode tomorrow! And for the people reading it on Saturday, a 'new' episode! YEAH!

*~*

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS.

*~*

*~* Chapter Nine *~*

Wolfe-sensei's Strange Behavior

Sakura ran down the street in nothing but her thin nightgown. The crisp night air whipped her nightgown. Her bare feet hit the pavement, the sharp stones cutting her feet.

She ignored all of the pain and kept running until she reached the gates of the Li mansion.

Sakura reached for her key that usually hung around her neck- but it wasn't there. She mentally cursed when she remembered that she'd taken it off when she'd gotten into the shower.

She gripped the iron bars of the gate and hoisted herself up. She climbed it and jumped to the other side. Sakura ran through the yard and pounded on the front door.

"Someone please let me in!" she cried until the door flew open.

Sanori stood there. "Oh, my, Sakura! What-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Sakura ran into the house and bounded up the stairs. She had no idea where Xiefa would be, but she had to look.

Sakura had just reached the top stair when an earsplitting scream rang throughout the house. She turned and ran in the direction of the scream.

She ran past several people who'd come out of their rooms to see what the noise was about.

Sakura fell to her knees when she saw Xiefa lying on the floor in an empty hallway.

I was too late . . . I couldn't help her . . .

"Sakura? What-" Kero hovered just over her shoulder. "Holy . . . what happened here?!"

Sakura turned to Kero. "Xiefa . . . was . . . a-attacked."

Kero went over to the girl on the floor. He felt for her pulse. It was still there. "She's alive, just drained. In more ways than one."

Suddenly, there was a large group of people surrounding them. Among the group were Sanori, Sunni, Mei-lin, Klein, Dio and Syaoran.

"Oh, my god! Did you do this to Xiefa, Sakura?" cried Mei-lin.

Sanori sent her an evil look. "Don't be silly! Why would she?"

Syaoran swept Sakura's limp body into his arms. "How did you get here? What are you doing here?"

"I knew something was going to happen to Xiefa," whispered Sakura. "I wanted to get here before anything happened."

Everyone looked at each other.

Klein cleared his throat. "Okay, okay. Syaoran, why don't you take care of Sakura? Sunni and I will take care of Xiefa. Everyone else should go to their rooms and stay there to be safe."

They all shuffled away.

Syaoran began to move down the hallway, but stopped when Sakura protested.

"You don't have to carry me. I can walk," said Sakura.

Syaoran reluctantly set her down on the floor so that she could stand. Sakura straightened out her clothes, then looked up at him. "I'm sorry. I tried to stop him . . ."

"Him?"

Sakura nodded. "I had a . . . vision, I guess you could call it. I saw Xiefa being attacked in this hallway by a man. He stepped out of the shadows . . ."

"Is that why you ran all the way over here?" asked Syaoran.

She nodded. "I had to try to help her."

Syaoran wrapped his arms around her. "I'm glad you tried. It's okay . . . I'm sure Xiefa will be alright when she wakes up."

Sakura bit her bottom lip. "I hope so."

Syaoran took her hand. "Let's go into the kitchen and get you something warm to drink."

*~*

Kero examined Xiefa carefully. The girl was now lying on her bed, her face pale and her body almost lifeless. He circled her body, his little fingers stroking his chin.

"Yep. She's defiantly had some magic power drained," declared Kero.

Sanori appeared surprised. "Magic power? Why, I didn't know Xiefa had any powers!"

"A lot of people have special powers and they just don't realize it," explained Kero. "For instance, Sakura's brother. He has the power to sense the presence of sprits, but he doesn't know that."

"Ohhh! You mean like in that movie where the little boy could see dead people?" asked Klein.

Everyone in the room sweat dropped.

"Uhh, yeah . . ." muttered Kero. "Sort of . . . Anyway, this means that someone who was low on power attacked Xiefa. Like . . .?"

"Yukio."

They all turned to look at Sunni.

Klein sweat dropped. He knew Sunni, and by the look on his face, he'd slipped into the detective mode Sunni had always tried to hide. "Here he goes . . ."

Sunni began to pace around the small room. "Yes . . . I makes sense . . . of course . . . why didn't I see it before . . . It was right in front of my face . . . all the clues . . ."

Kero stared at the young Elder. He was getting annoyed with his muttering.

"So stupid, really . . . it is all so simple . . . how could I have missed it . . ." continued Sunni.

"JUST SAY IT ALREADY!" exclaimed Kero.

Sunni flushed. "Oh, yes, of course." He cleared his throat. "Yukio was somehow resurrected, so he must be low on power. Therefore, he had to get it from an outside source so that he could carry out his devious plans."

Kero shook his head. "It took you that long to say THAT?"

Sanori ignored Kero. "Yes . . . I see. You're right! It does make sense."

Sunni beamed. "Really?"

Kero cleared his throat noisily. "You do realize, then, that none of us are safe, don't you?"

*~*

Sakura's mouth hung open as she saw the state of the kitchen. "What in the world . . .?"

Syaoran frowned at the empty food boxes and wrappers lying on the floor. There were cookie crumbs along with some unidentifiable pieces of food lying all over the place. "This must be why that annoying stuffed animal was over here."

"Oh, Kero! Yes, I forgot about him. He never stays at home anymore," said Sakura, sitting on the cleanest chair she could find.

"I'm not cleaning this up," grumbled Syaoran. He began to boil some water and searched for the hot cocoa mix.

Sakura closed her eyes. She was so tired. Sakura hadn't sleep properly for several nights out of fear. And she was very busy with school, the whole Yukio thing, stuff around the house and the wedding plans . . .

Wedding plans? Sakura's eyes snapped open. "Oh, no . . ."

Syaoran turned to look at her. "What? What's wrong?"

"I can't believe I FORGOT! About the wedding plans! Don't get me wrong- I still want to marry you, Syaoran but-"

Syaoran smiled. "That's what you're worried about? Don't worry. We'll start planning once all of this is over."

Sakura peered up at him. "That's fine with you?"

"Absolutely." Once the water was done boiling, he carefully poured it into a mug and mixed in the cocoa mix with milk and sugar. He set it in front of her. "Careful- it's hot."

Sakura blew on the steaming contents of the cup. "Thanks. Have I told you lately that I love you?"

Syaoran pretended to think. "Well . . ."

Sakura smiled. "So I'm telling you now. I love you."

Syaoran pulled a chair next to hers and sat down. "I love you, too."

*~*

Mei-lin glared at Syaoran and Sakura form the arched doorway of the kitchen. Damn her! What is taking Yukio so long? Why doesn't he just take her now?!

"Well, isn't this cozy?" she sneered.

They both looked up at her.

Sakura forced a smile on her face. She didn't feel like putting up with Mei-lin at that moment. "Hello, Mei-lin. Why aren't you in bed?"

"Like I could go to bed with all of that noise you and everyone else were making." Mei-lin eyed Sakura. "And why aren't you back at your house?"

Syaoran spoke up. "She'll be staying the night here." Syaoran picked up Sakura's mug. "Come on- you can finish this in the guest room."

Mei-lin watched them leave.

Enjoy Syaoran's company while you can, Kinomoto, because soon, he'll be MINE.

*~*

The next morning, Sakura, Syaoran and Mei-lin went to school. Sakura had to borrow an extra uniform from Mei-lin, who reluctantly handed it over. They stopped by Sakura's house that morning so that she could pick up her things.

They got to school thirty minutes before the bell would wrong. Mei-lin went her separate way and Sakura and Syaoran sat out in front of the school.

Sakura bit her bottom lip. "What do you think happened to Sumitomo? Where did he go?"

Syaoran shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? The guy was obviously not all there, you know?"

Sakura glared at her fiancé. "Something tells me you were jealous . . ."

"Of HIM?!! NO WAY!" Syaoran sighed as Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Ok, ok, so I was a little. All that stuff he said to you got on my nerves!"

Sakura grinned. "Oh, like how cute I was, or how good I looked in a dress or-"

"YES!! I'M your fiancé! Where did he get off saying those things?"

She giggled. "He was just being nice. Besides, you know that it's YOU who I love."

Syaoran nodded sheepishly. "Okay, I know. I . . . just can't help it."

Sakura smiled. She couldn't help but wonder about Sumitomo and where he was and what he was doing. Had he actually killed himself? She nibbled on her bottom lip. It was a possibility.

Sakura stood up. "I . . . uh . . . have to go somewhere, Syaoran. I'll meet you in homeroom."

Before Syaoran could protest or even ask where she was going, she had already run into the school building.

He thought about following her, but decided against it. If she'd wanted him to go with her, she would have said so.

*~*

Sakura hesitated outside of the teacher's lounge. She peeked into the lounge through the tiny window on the door. Wolfe-sensei sat there, sipping on some dark liquid and going over some sort of notes.

Sakura knocked and pushed the door open. "Um . . . Wolfe-sensei? Can I ask you something?"

Her teacher looked up from his notes and smiled. Wolfe-sensei quickly tossed the papers into his bag next to the chair he sat in. "Of course. Come in, Sakura, please." He gestured to the chair next to him.

Sakura sat, keeping her eyes on the floor. There was something about Wolfe-sensei that made her edgy. "W-would you happen to know Sumitomo's address? I-I . . . I'm worried about him. H-he wasn't looking too well yesterday when I spoke to him after school and I want to check up on him."

Wolfe-sensei was wearing a strange grin on his face when Sakura looked up from the floor. "Hmm . . . are you and your boyfriend having problems? Oops, or should I say fiancé?" He sneered when he said the words 'boyfriend' and 'fiancé'. "What other reason would you want to see Sumitomo, who is obviously in love with you?" Wolfe-sensei shook his head. "Why go to a boy, Sakura, when you could have a man?"

Sakura stared at her teacher like he had grown three more heads. She stood up, trying to hide her uneasiness and fear. She stepped closer to the door. "Something must be in your drink, Wolfe-sensei, or you lost your mind when you decided to say those things to me."

Wolfe-sensei chuckled and sat back in his chair. "Oh, quite the contrary. I'm a very sane man, Sakura, who knows what he wants- and gets it."

Sakura shuddered. He reminded her of Yukio- and Alan, for that matter. Both of them had taken that tone with her. Without saying a word, she left the teacher's lounge. As she walked down the hallway, she could still hear his sinister laughter.

*~*

Sakura was, needless to say, not anxious to go to homeroom that morning. Tomoyo and Syaoran had to drag her into the classroom where she avoided the teacher's eyes the whole time she was there.

At lunch, Syaoran asked her about her strange behavior. She just smiled at him and said that she would tell him all about it after school.

She didn't spend the whole lunch hour with her friends. About halfway through, she left them and went to the office.

Since Sakura was familiar with the secretary, she was able to go into the student records room. Although she was supposed to be looking for a certificate of completion for her driver's Ed class, she began the search for Sumitomo's file. When she found it, she began to pull papers out. She wrote down his address and put everything back where she'd found it.

Sakura left the room and thanked the secretary, clutching the paper, which had Sumitomo's address on it in her hand.

*~*

Once Syaoran had dropped Sakura off at home, she immediately left the house and walked over to Sumitomo's apartment, which happened to be pretty close to her house.

She went up to apartment number sixty and knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

Sakura went to peer into the window. All of the furniture was gone. The room was totally bare.

She let out a huge sigh. So he moved away? But why so fast . . . and where did he go?

Sakura's hunt stopped there. She let out another sigh- this one of defeat- and turned away from the window. She began to walk back the way she had come.

Suddenly, a huge gust of wind began to blow dust. Sakura turned her back to the wind and closed her eyes.

When the gust died down, Sakura opened her eyes and gasped.

Attached to the door of Sumitomo's apartment was a white envelope with a slight bulge in it. It definitely hadn't been there before.

Sakura ripped the envelope off of the door. Her name was scrawled on the front of it. She tore it open and took out a note.

Sakura-

I'm very flattered that you're concerned about me. But do not give me another thought- you have a full life ahead of you with Syaoran.

The only regret that I have is that I will not be at your wedding, will not be a part of your life any longer. But that is something I must live with. I have done terrible things, and I guess I deserve this.

I wish you all of the luck in the world, my angel. Thank you for making the past week or so the best in my life.

Sumitomo

Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes as she read the note over and over again. She wiped them away and pulled the object in the envelope out.

She smiled.

It was a simple gold chain with a little angel charm hanging form it.

Sakura clutched the gift close to her chest and let the tears fall as she hurried back to her house.

Author's Note: Woah! I was about to at the end myself. I just realized how dramatic my story actually is, so I'll add that genre with romance. You won't be seeing a new chapter for a while because I won't be around a computer form Monday to Friday. Please R+R!