Author's Note: Hi, there! I'm Abisinia and this is my first Card Captor
Sakura Fan fiction!!!!!!!!!!!! Just to make a few things clear: 1) Sakura and
friends are about 17 years old in this fic 2) Since they are about 17, they
don't think or act as the 10 year old children they were in the series, if you
know what I mean 3) Eriol has gone back, just like in the series 4) Syaoran
hasn't told Sakura about his feelings YET 5) Syaoran hasn't gone and won't go
back to Hong Kong (yessssssss!!!!!!!!!!!) 6) Since I'm not used to those "kun",
"san" and "chan" stuff, I won't use them 7) Don't be too hard on my pitiful
grammar skills, since English isn't my first language
Firstly, I want to thank Kyralea, Absolut Angel, Satashi and THE
MOUSE, the four wonderful authors who inspired me to write this story (although
they probably don't know me)! I'd also like the readers to know that this is MY
story, so don't hate me if you don't like it, because I did my best. And
please, I beg you, send me FEEDBACK (flames or whatever)!!!!!!!!!! Thanks!
I'd also like to thank the first reviewers of this fic:
Moshimoshiqueen, Nako-chan, LiNa, Lyss chan, sakura, nonie77, DawnRising, Cherry_Blossom,
chescaOtaku, Sakura Li, CATGIRL, Happy Individual, Flower Kid, ~*princess
icestar*~, Yeslek25, Star Mistress, Sakura Kinomoto Li, ~lil~ Sakura~chan, Jane,
Silver Kitsune, kari, Intrams and AyaChan! You've helped me a lot!
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Card Captor Sakura. Clamp
does. Sue THEM if you want to…
Disclaimer 2: I DO own Lin Su Hin (the pronunciation is "Lin Su HAN" and
"Lin" is the surname)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't forget:
"……….." = Thinking
- ………… = Speaking (duh!)
~*~*~*~* = Change of scene
or/and POV
(A.N.:……) = Author's note
There are also a few thick black lines in the middle of the text,
I'm not sure where. Please ignore them: it was an error I wasn't able to do
anything about! L
Love or Hatred?
By
Abisinia
Chapter 3: Beyond Control
"Fight him? It will be my
pleasure..."
He
turned around and knelled beside Sakura. How could such a vulnerable-looking
goddess be the Card Mistress?
"I
guess I'll have to carry her back to her house... Touya is going to kill
me…" He tried to grin at that, but he just couldn't. Not after all that
had just happened.
Syaoran lifted
her easily. Placing one arm under her back and another one under her tights, he
started walking away to Sakura's house. He was trying hard to ignore the soft
touch of her silky skin and the knowledge that she had just been closer than
that to Su Hin. The sorcerer hadn't even moved ten steps forward when he heard
Tomoyo, calling out for him.
- Li! - she shouted, as she ran towards
him. Then, in a heartbeat, she noticed an unconscious ethereal figure in his
arms. She was taken aback by the sight of her best friend in such conditions
and her eyes widened in fear - Sakura! What happened to her?
Syaoran felt a stabbing, freezing pain in
his chest as he remembered… he preferred not to talk about what he had seen and
tried to hide all the feelings that could be shown by his sunset amber eyes.
- I don't know... when I arrived, she was lying
on the ground, and that Su Hin guy was beside her... – It was partially true,
actually - I'm sure he's done something to her! – This last part was really the
truth… Although it had been difficult to be perceptive and observant, the
sorcerer noticed it hadn't been an ordinary kiss. It was difficult to describe,
but it seemed that Sakura's kind, pink aura was being sucked away and being
replaced by Su Hin's dark one…
"And he's going to pay for it...for
hurting her..." The Card Captor frowned a little as he felt his blood
boiling in fury.
- I knew that something was wrong... –
Certainly, Tomoyo had noticed that Li was keeping her in the dark about
something… or at least about a good part of it. But it wasn't the time to argue
about that - You're taking her home, aren't you?
He nodded in response.
- I'll go with you, then. I wouldn't pay
attention to any of my classes, knowing that Sakura wasn't OK...
They walked silently all the way to the
Card Mistress's house. Syaoran hadn't taken his eyes away from her angelic
face, picturing every impeccable detail and hoping to see her long, curved
eyelashes batting and revealing her bright jade eyes, signaling that she had
came back to her senses... but nothing had happened so far...
Strangely, she was smiling… a peaceful,
warm and pleasant smile, like she was having a good dream. Suddenly, her mouth
opened slightly, bringing Li's senses alert, as in a soft whispering voice she
mumbled:
- Syaoran… - and
the she just silenced again, smiling, as she pressed him tighter against her
body.
Tomoyo hadn't heard anything, so low were
the teen's words spoken, but the warrior by her side was totally taken aback.
He allowed himself to grin, as his intense eyes filled with deep affection. The
young man didn't even mind the slight red color on his cheeks… She was thinking
about him…
Finally, they arrived at the Kinomoto
residence. Li stopped hesitantly at the front door. Behind it, he would
probably find a maniac-over-protecting-older-brother-ready-to-kill-him-mercilessly
or either a
proud-annoying-yellow-stuffed-lion-bear-Guardian-ready-to-bite-his-finger.
- Aren't you going to ring the doorbell? -
Tomoyo asked, breaking the long silence.
- I don't know if it's a good idea... – he
pondered. Kero wasn't such a problem, but Touya…
- Don't worry, Syaoran... He will
understand... - she smiled encouragingly. "I pray for that" she finished
mentally.
- I hope you're right - he replied. Then,
he glimpsed at the girl who was lying fragilely on his arms and sadness
suddenly changed his features.
- So many years and you still haven't told
her... – Tomoyo stated, as he looked up to the door, not bothering to answer.
"I wish I had..." - he though,
while he hesitantly rang the doorbell.
In a few seconds, a young man appeared at
the front door. His dark eyes immediately glared menacingly at a pair of deep
amber eyes which were just in front of him; Touya was always surprised to see
that the little arrogant and annoying brat Sakura had talked about for so many
years was now as tall as himself.
Without saying a word, he glimpsed at a
delicate figure that was in "the brat's" arms...
- SAKURA?!
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY LITTLE SISTER? – Tomoyo stood calmly between them and asked
the hysterical older brother, in the friendliest tone she could manage to:
- Please,
Touya… Let us in. You know Li didn't do anything and we won't help Sakura in
any ways just standing here.
He hesitated. But he had known Tomoyo for many
years and he was positive that SHE would never hurt her best friend. The
dark-haired man went back a few steps to let them in, his eyes observing every
slight move of the suspicious teen that was carrying his beloved sister.
- Please explain it to him... I'm taking
her to her bedroom - Syaoran said to Tomoyo, while he ran past the dangerous
older brother and up the stairs, still carrying Sakura carefully.
- HEY! No way you're going into-
- She'll be fine... let him take care of
her, Touya - Tomoyo smiled, cheerfully, as he frowned in displease.
- What
happened?
- Li found Sakura unconsciously lying on
the ground, near the sakura tree... But we actually don't know why...
- I thought I'd have a nice, relaxing day,
since my classes finished earlier... I was so wrong! - He said, while he sank
tiredly on the comfortable sofa - Sit down, Tomoyo...
- Thanks, but I'm fine like this.
Touya sighted. The "brat" was in his
house, with his fainted sister, in her own bedroom and he wouldn't do anything
to protect his little squirt? He didn't want to show everyone how much of an
over-protecting-older-brother-who-didn't-stand-that-the-Chinese-brat-got-close-to-his-Sakura
he was, so he'd just make up an excuse not to leave those two alone for a long
time. If that pervert-minded brat thought that he was going to let him take any
kind of advantage on her, he was so damn wrong!
- I guess we
should take a few things upstairs... Sakura will be hungry when she wakes up -
Touya stood up and went to the kitchen, strangely calm.
- I'll help
you... - Tomoyo said, following her best friend's older brother. He had a weird
grin on his face, and that couldn't mean anything good… especially to Li.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Syaoran pushed the door with a shoulder,
and went inside Sakura's room. It wasn't much different from what it used to be
like… maybe the only difference was the huge amount of photos on the walls,
showing mainly the Card Mistress and her friends, such as Tomoyo, Chiharu,
Yamazaki, Naoko, Rika, Meiling- hey! What was Meiling doing there? – and
himself.
The rest was generally the same. Brought
back from his scanning by a tired feeling in his arms (Sakura didn't weight
much, but he had been carrying her for quite a long time), Li placed the
sorceress gently on her bed and, after making sure that she was comfortable,
sat down beside her.
It was when he remembered someone (or
something) who could help them to find out what was wrong with the
auburn-haired beauty:
- Hey, stuffed animal, where are you? - He
asked, mockingly. Syaoran Li and Kerberus, the Guardian Beast of the Seal,
hadn't gone along well since the first day they had met… and none of them was
willing to change their behavior towards one another.
In a heartbeat, Kero went out of the
drawer, fuming with a red, angry face:
- I'LL SHOW WHO'S THE STUFFED ANIMAL,
BRAT! – But then he saw Sakura, lying unconscious on her bed, and forgot about
everything else - WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?
Syaoran's amber eyes rolled as he heard
the same question for the second time. What made that annoying magical creature
and Touya think that it was his fault every time something happened to
Sakura?
- Stop shouting, hairball! Her brother is
downstairs!
- Ops... –
Kero covered his mouth with his paws, ignoring the new nickname the Chinese
brat had given him.
- And it wasn't me, it was the owner of
that presence we felt who attacked her – The warrior frowned.
- Presence? … Sure… Sakura told me about
it... – It was Kero's turn to frown. Maybe he'd search for Yue to get some
advice, although he really didn't like to depend on him. Unfortunately, Sakura
couldn't be left alone to take the risk of being attacked again… - Take care of
her around here... I'm going out to do some research... maybe I can find out
anything - he finished, flying through the open window.
- Hey, wait!
Too late... Kerberus was already gone. And
now he was alone with the Card Mistress. The warrior wondered why had the creature
left so suddenly… To get to the point of relying on him to take care of the
young sorceress, the situation was probably critical!
Li sighted. He stared at her angel-like
face for a few minutes and then caressed the soft skin of her cheek with the
back of his hand, ever so gently.
- Wake up, Sakura...
He suddenly caught a glimpse of her lips.
They were teasingly rosy and parted… the smile that had been there before had
faded away…
"They've kissed..." His mind
repeated incessantly for him, making the warrior shake his head almost
violently to push away those painful words. His spirit seemed to calm down
again as he focused on the fragile teenager lying down beside him.
- I guess it's late to say this now,
but... maybe it can bring you back to your senses... - he said. Then, he leaned
forward and whispered softly and hesitantly in her ear - You're a very special
person to me... – but then he corrected himself - The most precious...
Then, Syaoran looked down at Sakura's face
again… Before the sorcerer could control himself, he closed his eyes and leaned
forward… He didn't care about holding back his feelings at that moment.
Finally, the warrior felt her easy breath
against his skin… and then, he felt the touch of her warm lips, joining his...
just like he had dreamt about feeling for so many years. For a few seconds, he
didn't dare to move, as his whole body seemed to flash with new, sweet
sensations… Was Sakura feeling that, too? Li opened his eyes, although his lips
didn't leave hers for a single second...
"Not even with this you've woken
up..." But his thoughts were interrupted by the suddenly loud sound that
filled the room… the sound of something that had just crashed on the floor.
When he backed away, finally and
reluctantly breaking the kiss, Syaoran saw, in complete amazement, that Tomoyo
and Touya were standing at the door. Both of them had a terrified look on their
faces (which were now blank), and the second one had a shattered plate and some
cookies, which were probably for Sakura, on the floor, just in front of his
feet.
-YOU! - Touya exclaimed, with a voice full
of uncontrollable anger. He could feel a huge amount of veins popping, and his
eyes were flaming. How did the Chinese-perverted brat dare to lay his dirty
hands- no! Worse than that: his lips! – on his lovely-innocent-younger sister?!
The fuming older brother had to use all his self-control to keep himself from
strangling the young man.
- Syaoran! - Tomoyo had now a bright smile
on her face. Finally, he had done something! Sakura had been sleeping, but it
was still a first step, wasn't it? If only she had her camera…
"I can't believe that he's done that
to my sister... He's a dead brat!" Touya had never been so angry in his
entire life. Clenching his fists, he gave Li a cold, judging look and then
said:
- I guess we should talk... Tomoyo, please
take care of Sakura.
He turned his back at the three teens and
went downstairs, followed a few seconds after by a hesitant Syaoran, who had never
been so red, embarrassed, ashamed and anxious.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When they reached the living room, Touya
turned around. They were both glaring at each other; the older one with his
furious, dark eyes... the younger one with his intense, amber eyes, as he tried
to hide his deep blush.
- Just what did you think you were doing
there?
- I was just... - before Li could thing of
an excuse, Touya interrupted him.
- You've brought Sakura home, and I'll
give you some credit for that... Instead of throwing you out of here right
away, I'll give you five seconds to give me a good explanation for what I've
just seen... and if I don't like it... we'll, you'd better make me like it! –
He stated, menacingly.
Syaoran took a deep breath. There was only
one explanation to that… but no way he was going to confess it to Touya, of all
people! Still looking into the other man's eyes, he said:
- I was trying to wake her up.
"And it's true... not all the truth,
but yet..."
Touya laughed, ironically. That brat was
just too much for him to handle...
- Yeah, right! This is NOT a fairy tale,
brat: you won't wake the princess with a kiss, you know? Come on, I'm sure you
can do better than that... – He smirked.
- I'm not lying – Li's voice was
emotionless - If you believe it or not, it's none of my business...
- Oh, but it actually IS! - Touya was
slowly shortening the distance between him and the golden chestnut-haired young
man, who didn't make any attempt to move. He just gave a sad smile and added:
- I guess I was just trying to kill two
birds with one stone...
That serene smile made the other one's
blood boil even more. That kid was playing with him, and, worse than that... he
was playing with Sakura! There was only one way to show that jerk that he had
already gone too far and that he wasn't supposed to mess with him or with his
younger sister… The dark-haired man couldn't restrain himself anymore… The
Chinese brat would be SO sorry for that!
"He's asked for it..."
Touya approached quickly, and aimed his
right fist right on Li's face, concentrating all of his strength... His eyes
widened in surprise as he noticed his hand had stopped just before reaching its
target. Another firm, strong hand was blocking his; and although Touya was
pushing forward, it didn't move back more than two centimeters.
- How did you... - the older one started,
gazing with a mix of anger and amazement at the blasting sunset-colored eyes
which were very close to him, now. Suddenly, the fire in those eyes seemed to
settle down.
- Sakura wouldn't like us to fight, Touya
- Syaoran said, while he slowly let go of the fist he had been holding. If he
hadn't been trained to be alert at all times, the dark-haired man would've
surprised him and hurt him badly.
Sakura's brother took his hand away,
trying to hide his shock with his angry face. He'd never allow that brat to see
how much he had impressed him… Hey! What was he saying? He wasn't impressed by
that lousy showing-off move, was he?
- Like you cared about that! - He added.
- That's the problem... I do care... - Li
almost whispered. But that "almost" was loud enough for the other man to hear.
Touya's eyes widened. Did that mean what he thought it meant?
"I'd never expected the kid would say
that..."
His expression softened a little bit… so
little that Syaoran didn't even notice. The Card Mistress's brother looked down
curiously at he other one's face.
- What did you mean by "killing to
birds with one stone"?
"I guess I'll just have to say
it..." Li took a deep breath. How was he supposed to tell Touya, of all
people, about his feelings towards his sister????
- I meant that... - Syaoran hesitated - kissing
your sister was a way of trying to wake her up... and...
- And... - Touya continued, impatiently.
The brat would better take that second chance of saving his life… or he really
didn't know what a furious older brother was capable of… or he was just too
stupid.
- And... Maybe make her realize that I...
- it was too difficult for him to say; even the sorcerer was getting impatient
about his own coward behavior.
- You...
Li stared seriously at the dark,
interrogative eyes, which were focused on his.
- Look, Touya... I... Your sister means a
lot to me...
- ... – Unpleasant silence filled the room
for a few moments, but then Syaoran continued, not taking his eyes away from
the other mans.
- Since I was ten... I've wanted to tell
Sakura... about my feelings... – That was it: he had finally spat it out!
Touya was speechless and petrified. So, in
other words, the brat loved his little sister...
- I know that we don't go along very well,
Touya... since the first day we met... and I don't think I can blame you for
that... - Syaoran continued.
- Why did you attack Sakura that day? -
Touya had always hated that boy for what he had done to his sister on the day
he arrived at Tomoeda, with his arrogant and full-of-himself attitude... but he
had never asked himself why Li had harmed her...
Syaoran hesitated. The Clow Cards... that
was something he really couldn't talk about…
- She had something I thought that
belonged to me... – That was really true - but I was wrong, as you can see... Sakura
has forgiven me for what I've done to her-
- But don't
think that I'll do the same - Touya interrupted. He wasn't willing go be the
oh-so-very-nice-guy now just because of the brat's confession.
- I don't - the younger one added,
surprisingly, with an emotionless tone and a fake smile. Looking at the front
door, he sighted - I guess I should go now...
Then, the warrior looked upstairs,
worriedly. He pictured the unconscious loveliness of the Cherry Blossom who was
lying on her bed just above and said a mental good-bye. A sudden pain squeezed
his heart as he felt that something was still going to happen that night...
- Go, then... - Touya looked at him, and
ALMOST smiled - I'll take care of her...
- I'm sure you will - Li finished, while
he turned around and reluctantly left the house.
He heard the door being closed and then
locked behind him and instinctively turned to look at Sakura's window, catching
a glimpse of her pinkish aura, that was a little weakened.
"I think I'd better stay... Touya wasn't
even able to hit ME... imagine if that creature showed up at night..."
Making up his mind, Syaoran climbed the tree on Sakura's yard and then jumped, with the agility of a cat, to the roof of the house, just above the fainted girl's room... He landed graciously, without a single noise, and sat down in the most comfortable way he managed to. If anything happened to her, he would know, and he would be there to help...