Shotgun Marriage

Chapter 3 – Meetings…

By anime-freak

A Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction

Previously on Shotgun Marriage…

"You don't want to marry him?"

With everybody's eyes on her, she starts feeling uncomfortable. "Well, with the pregnancy and stuff, I didn't really have time to think about the marrying him…" Sakura answered then turning to Syaoran, "So, alright?"

Now it was Syaoran's turn to feel nervous as everyone in the room turned in his direction and stared him in the eye, waiting for a response.

As he looked into the eyes of Sakura, he sighed. Then, suddenly he smiled. "Yeah! Let's go for it!"

Later that night, Takeshi Yamasaki was walking Chiharu home from Eriol's house. As it was quite late, they were the only one on the street.

"I didn't think I helped that much…" Chiharu suddenly said aloud, interrupting Takeshi's thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I was referring to Sakura's problem…"

"Oh…"

As they walked on, Chiharu decided to make a move on Takeshi and slowly moved closer to him. Takeshi, who felt uncomfortable with this, suddenly stopped in his stride, surprising Chiharu.

"Is there anything wrong, Yamasaki?"

"No…I can only send you up to here today…"

"Eh…why? You always walk me all the way home…"

"I-I've got things to do back in the office…"

"I see…" 'Looks like I'll have to use Plan B…'

"Yeah…um…good-bye…"

As Takeshi walked away, Chiharu pretended to trip over something and fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

"Ow…it hurts…"

Seeing this, Takeshi rushed to Chiharu's side.

"Are you ok?"

"No…looks like you'll have to send me back after all…ow…" As she said this, she suggestively pulled at her skirt, showing off her shapely legs. As Takeshi resisted the temptation to look at her legs, he suddenly stood up.

"I-I am sorry! I have to go…" After saying this, Takeshi ran away from her.

"Hey wait…" 

When Takeshi finally rounded the street corner, he sighed in relief as he chanted to himself, "I will no succumb to temptation, I will not succumb to temptation…"

Meanwhile, Chiharu was still sitting on the ground, thinking.

'Why can't my methods of seduction work?' She thought to herself as she looked down at her clothing. 'It should work…unless he's…a homosexual!?'

Next morning at B&B advertising, Video editing room…

"What in the world are you guys doing? Are you working or slacking? All it takes is some cutting here and there and you're done…"

Syaoran and Takashi looked up to find their boss, Saotoshi Ryu, staring down at them. "…so what in the world is taking you guys so long?" he continued as he sat down on one of the empty chairs around him.

Syaoran responded by fiddling around with the AV controls, replaying a scene from their latest television ad. "I don't send out an ad of which I am not satisfied with…it's this part…" On the television screen, was a scene of two people making out on a bed. Seeing this, Saotoshi rolls his eyes.

"Well, how am I to know? It's only a hotel commercial! It all depends on the people watching it…besides we've already overshot our budget." He said, handing Syaoran a sheet of paper stating some account balances.

"You're right…" Syaoran answered after glancing through the balances. Then, Saotoshi stood up and started to leave.

"Remember, we need something quick, cheap and good…" Saotoshi said just before leaving the editing room.

As the door closed, Syaoran sighed as he watched the video again. "I guess I'll have to take his advice…" he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Later that evening…

The mansion was dark and foreboding. There was silence. Suddenly, a tinkling sound was heard and we hear a key enter the keyhole. The front door is unlocked and it swung open, revealing a dark figure covered in shadow. The dark figure lifted up his arm and pressed into the wall and a click sound was heard. A white light lit up the entire apartment, revealing the dark figure to be Li Syaoran. As he started taking off his shoes, thoughts of what happened the day before appeared in his mind.

("You see…just don't tell him that first. Say you're getting married first. Then if he agrees to the marriage, then the problem is solved. Pregnancy after an engagement is a common occurrence, isn't it?"

"You don't want to marry him?"

"Well, with the pregnancy and stuff, I didn't really have time to think about the marrying him… So, alright?"

"Yeah! Let's go for it!")

When his bare feet touched the floor, he stepped onto the smooth acrylic tile floor of his apartment and walked towards his room as he checked his mail, throwing the junk mail into the dustbin and stuffing the rest into his shirt pocket. Just as he was about to enter his room, there was a tapping of feet from the upper floor and sound of moving feet echoed through the hallway as this mystery person came down the stairs and it is…

"Mom! You don't have to stay up late to wait for me you know! I am a grown man, not a little boy…" exclaimed Syaoran.

"I am YOUR mother you know, can't I show a little concern for my son…besides you'll always be Mommy's little boy…" Mrs. Li said, smiling, as she came down the stairs, holding a blue mug from which she had been drinking coffee.

"Yeah…whatever…"

"Well, since you're back, I'll go have a bath before I sleep then…"

"Um…mom…I've got something to tell you…"

Syaoran suddenly had a serious look on his face. He had been steeling himself up for this moment.

Mrs. Li had a curious expression on his face.

"Well, what is it?"

'Got to let her relax…' "Well, why don't you sit down first, mom?"

Mrs. Li had a smile on her face as Syaoran pulled out a chair from the dining table and motioned her to sit down.

"Why, thank you Syaoran…so what do you have to tell me?"

'Ok…it's now or never…' "Well, actually it's about me marrying…"

Syaoran never had a chance to finish his sentence as the front door suddenly burst open, revealing four ladies, clad in various dresses and carrying an obscene amount of shopping bags.

"TADAIMA! We're home!" Fanren, the oldest sister announced cheerfully as the four sisters of the Li family started running around the house with their shopping bags. One by one, the sisters took turns kissing their mother's cheek.

"Nice to see you home!" Mrs. Li called out to them as they happily went up to their rooms before turning to Syaoran, who had a pained look on his face. "Anything wrong…wait a minute, you were talking about marrying someone…"

"Brother, getting married? This is news…" Fuutie, the second sister, said as she came down the stairs, catching what her mother said to Syaoran.

"Um…yeah, I am getting married…kind of…"

"What do you mean 'kind of'? I haven't even seen how she looks like yet! What kind of person is she? What does she do for a living?" Mrs. Li asked excitedly as Fuutie stared curiously at Syaoran.

"Ok…look, she's a VERY normal person, with a VERY normal job in a departmental store…"

"So how old is she?" Fuutie asked as the other three sisters came down to join them, attracted by their mother's excited voice.

"About…twenty…" Syaoran answered with some effort as he felt the pressure piled onto him.

"Well, that's ok…about your age…" Feimei, the younger sister said calmly.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were about to marry her? You could have brought her here so that mom could look at her…" Mrs. Li complained.

"Well…you see…there were…other factors involved…" Syaoran answered nervously.

"Hmm…xiao di (younger brother) wouldn't marry so easily. You got the girl pregnant didn't you?" Fanren said with an evil grin.

"What!" the other three sisters and Mrs. Li shouted incredulously as they stared at him, waiting for an answer.

A pained look formed on Syaoran's face as he sighed in defeat.

"Ah ha! I knew it! With his character, he wouldn't marry so easily, there HAD to be a catch…" Fanren said triumphantly as she happily walked to the kitchen to find something to drink, leaving the rest of the family to interrogate Syaoran. 'I can easily find out the facts later.' she thought.

Meanwhile, Syaoran was getting the brunt of the interrogation.

"Is it true?" "How does she look like?" "Do you have her hand phone number?" The questions came fast and furious as Syaoran tried to edge away from them. Suddenly, a loud voice boomed from among them. "SILENCE!"

The sisters stopped talking as Mrs. Li, with a slightly shocked look on her face, approached Syaoran.

"Tell me…is it true?"

Syaoran sighed again as he hung his head down guiltily. "It's…true…"

Mrs. Li froze when she heard the answer. Then, all of a sudden, she went emotional.

"Why, Syaoran, why? How am I going to answer to your deceased father? This kind of irresponsible behaviour…how could you shame the family like that…"

As Mrs. Li started bawling, the rest of the sisters helped her into her room upstairs as they tried consoling her. When Syaoran started following them up, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Xiao Di, just let her have some peace…maybe tomorrow will be back to normal…" Fanren said as she started sipping her coffee from her mug. Syaoran nodded his head and turned back into his room. As he lay down on his bed, he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep, hoping that he will wake up the next day and find out that this is all just a nightmare.

Just outside, Fanren shook her head disappointingly. 'Sigh…how did you get into so much trouble, Xiao Di…'

A few days later…

Syaoran sighed as he waited patiently for Sakura to come down. He had woken up that day to find his with a very disappointed look as he said Ohayo (good morning) to her. Then he finds his sisters suddenly giving him advice on how to treat a girl well and a few suggestions on where to hold his wedding. From this, he intelligently concludes that, number one – Last nights events were not a dream and number two – he was still in deep trouble.

This eventually leads to the situation he was in now. Today, he and Sakura will drive to the Kinomoto family house and beg for mercy and permission to marry their one and only precious daughter. 'Ok…maybe not the mercy part…as long as they don't find out the fact that Sakura's pregnant, the chance of getting slaughtered by Touya is reduced by half.' he thought. As he tried to think of ways to counter Touya's Judo and Kendo moves, the sound of Sakura and Tomoyo coming down the stairs of the apartment interrupted his thoughts.

"Ohayo, Syaoran!" Sakura greeted happily when she reached the foot of the stairs.         "Ohayo, Sakura, Tomoyo." Syaoran greeted back, though not as cheerful as he tried to hide the glum look on his face. Tomoyo just nodded her head in response.

"So, this is what you're wearing there…" Tomoyo said, pointing at Syaoran's suit and tie.

"Yah…doesn't it look good?" Syaoran said proudly as he adjusted his blazer.

"Oh well…"

That was when Sakura noticed Syaoran's car.

"Wow…nice car…" Just as Sakura put her hands on the hood of the car, Syaoran exclaimed.

"No! Don't touch it…"

Tomoyo observed this with interest as she approached the pair.

"Ah…it looks like quite an old car…nicely restored…" Tomoyo mentioned to Syaoran.

"Of course…it's a 1970s Volkswagen Beetle…took me several months to restore it too…" Syaoran responded as he lovingly wiped the windshield with a piece of cloth. 

Sakura walked over to the passenger side and tried to open the door.

"It's stuck…" Sakura said as she tried to pull at the door handle.

"No. Wait…I'll do it…" Syaoran walked over to the passenger side and gently opened the car door. "Here…please go in…"

Sakura smiled at Syaoran as she eased herself into the car. "Thank you…"

Tomoyo sighed as she moved closer to Sakura to speak to her. "You were very happy just now when he did that, weren't you…do you really think he did that for you alone, he did that because he did not want anyone to damage his car…"

Sakura turned to Syaoran and asked, "Is it true?"

"Of course not…I was sincere when I did that…" Syaoran said.

Sakura gave Tomoyo a 'Nah, it can't be…' look as she playfully played with the gear box in the car.

"No!"

Tomoyo and Sakura turned to Syaoran and gave him a curious look.

"Um…just don't touch it…" Syaoran said lamely as he went back to the driver's side of the car. 

"Told you so…" Tomoyo said to Sakura, who suddenly had an unsure look on her face.

Midway through the journey, Syaoran tried to strike up a conversation with Sakura.

"So…tell me about your parents…" Syaoran said.

"…Actually, they both died when I was three years old in a car accident…"

"Oh…sorry about that…" Syaoran apologized.

Sakura just shook her head. "No…its ok really…I don't really remember them anyway. Since then, my brother has been taking care of me…we're really close you know…"

Syaoran gulped nervously as he thought about-facing Touya alone.

Later that day…

"Um…you wanted to see me, Chiharu?" Eriol said as he sat himself down on one of the chairs at the table.

"Yes…I…I've got a problem…tell me what do you think of me?"

"Huh?" Eriol asked confused.

"What I mean is…how do I look…" Chiharu said as she brushed her long hair back. Eriol unconsciously looked at Chiharu's chest area, starting to get attracted to her.

"Well…before I answer, just promise me you will not say anything to Tomoyo about this…" Eriol said as he stared into her eyes.

Chiharu just shrugged. "Sure…"

"Well, I think you look hot…"

Chiharu sighed in relief when she heard his answer. "Phew…and I thought I actually lost my powers of seduction…I wonder why he ran…"

"Huh? What do you mean 'he'? You mean I am mistaken…"

Chiharu stared at him for a while before realizing what he meant. "Seesh! No way! Why in the world would I want to be with you anyway? "I was referring to Takeshi…"

Hearing Takeshi's name aroused Eriol's curiosity. "Takeshi? What's wrong with him?"

"I am beginning to think that he prefers the opposite sex…you know… gay…"

A few hours later…

'Takeshi…gay? I just don't see it…' Eriol thought as he slowly walked home. When he reached his apartment building, he was surprised to see Takeshi waiting at the steps leading to his apartment on the top floor.

"Eriol! I am so glad to see you!" Takeshi exclaimed as he approached him.

"Oh…um…hi…" Eriol said nervously as he started fearing for his sex life.

Meanwhile…

"We're here!" Sakura announced to Syaoran as he eased his Volkswagen to a stop near the Kinomoto family house. "Remember what we went through in the car together, alright? You're deeply in love with me, so much that you decided to propose to me and…we've not been intimate before…"

"What about kissing?" Syaoran asked.

"No…we've not even kissed…"

Syaoran groaned in disappointment. "Why?"

"Look…my brother is a little bit protective of me, so…please bear with this alright?"

"Ok then…"

As they approached the house, Syaoran slowly became more and more nervous.

"Um…maybe we should do this some other time…" Syaoran said as he tried to turn back towards his car. Seeing this, Sakura dragged him to the front door of the house and rang the doorbell.

"W-what are you d-doing, Sakura?" Syaoran said nervously.

"You are going to see my brother…" Sakura answered, shrugging her shoulders as she smiled.

After a few moments, the door opened, revealing Touya, dressed in his Judo uniform. When they both saw each other, they both exclaimed at the same time. "You!"

Sakura looked surprised for a moment as both Syaoran and Touya stared suspiciously at each other.  "Y-you mean you both know each other?"

Just as Syaoran was about to answer Sakura, Touya rudely cut him off.

"Of course I know him…I would never forget a guy who would go so low…" Touya said as the staring contest continued.

Next Chapter: What happened between Syaoran and Touya in the past? Is Takeshi Yamazaki really gay? Find out in the next chapter of Shotgun Marriage!