Konnichiwa!! Welcome to the official chapter one of "No Strings Attached"! Thanks to all who reviewed! And sorry this took so long to get out! please R+R!

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"..." Spoken Words

*...*(w/ italics) Thoughts

~~~~~~~~~ Scene Changes/Flashbacks/change in P.O.V

[...] Authors Notes

Disclaimer: The CCS characters DO NOT belong to me, ok! They belong to © Clamp...so please don't sue me!! ^^'

~No Strings Attached ~

Chapter 1: There's Always Someone There

Sakura quickly drew her frightened gaze from Kero's livid face.

*Oh no....h-how am I going to explain this? I've already lied to Kero, and everyone else for that matter...what should I tell him? Maybe...the truth...NO!,* Sakura shouted in her head while shaking it furiously.

Kero's expression turned from angry to worried as he quickly drifted toward her shaking form.

"Sakura," he said softly, "I know you're tired and confused, but if Ryu is hurting you, you've gotta tell someone..."

Sakura suddenly stopped shaking and looked at Kero with tears in her eyes.

"Oh Kero...I-I just can't talk about this right now...Just drop the subject for now and let me get some rest...please..." she softly cried, her delicate hands covering her bloodshot, crying eyes.

Kero sighed in defeat.

"Very well, Sakura. Get some rest and I'll have a talk with you about this little matter tomorrow...But Sakura," he started.

"Yes," she replied, wiping her tear-stained face.

"You do know that I won't be the only one asking you what happened. In fact, your father and Touya will probably be the first ones to ask you...Don't lie to them, it just makes things more complicated and frustrating."

Sakura sighed heavily as her response and plopped onto her soft, bouncy bed.

*Tomorrow is going to be one heck of a day...I can feel it....and Kero's not helping by scaring me...*

"Good Night Kero," yawned Sakura as she pulled her covers to her chin and closed her emerald eyes.

"Good Night Sakura," replied a worried Kero as he turned off Sakura's bedroom light.

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The next day...

Kero groggily rose from his little bed and pushed open his drawer. He rubbed his little black eyes fiercely as he flew toward Sakura's alarm clock. When Kero's eyes adjusted to the numbers and the two long, black hands, he screamed and quickly flew in the direction of Sakura's bed, only to find her not there.

*Hmm, that's funny...Why did Sakura leave for school so early this morning?* Kero floated over Sakura's bed for a moment before the smell of pancakes disrupted his train of thought. Kero's mouth began to water heavily as he followed the heavenly scent of the cooking cakes out of Sakura's bedroom, down the stairs and to the kitchen door. That's when he realized that he had almost flown into the kitchen, not knowing whether that was Sakura in there or one of the other two men that lived with her.

Kero receded back for a moment then quickly flew behind the ball on the banister of the stairs. Just as he flew from the door, Touya emerged holding a large stack of pancakes in one hand and a large bottle of syrup in the other.

Kero, again, began to drool uncontrollably. He was beginning to contemplate how he could manage to sneak a pancake away from Touya with out him being noticed, when Sakura's father ran in through the door and into the kitchen. Touya stopped momentarily, but within seconds returned to his delicious meal.

Kero was beginning to get fed up with himself drooling, and decided that it'd be best if he returned to Sakura's room and went back to sleep until everyone left.

Although he tried, his mind kept returning to, not only the pancakes, but Sakura's problem as well. Soon enough, his mind was off the subject of food and focused more on Sakura.

*...Hmm, maybe that's why she left so early today, so she wouldn't have to face me, Touya or her father this morning.*

Kero sighed and stared at the wall briefly.

*She's gonna have a hard enough day as it is, everyone grilling her about her boyfriend is not gonna make it too much easier. I wonder if she'll tell Syaoran what happened. She did tell him what was going on with Ryu before Tomoyo even knew...*

Kero sighed once more and rose from his spot on Sakura's desk.

"I suppose that I shouldn't butt in unless Sakura wants advice...b-but I'm her guardian! I'm supposed to protect her from gaki's like Ryu! Err!! If only her brother knew about me and about what's going on with that little baka, then I could have someone to gang up on the kid with."

Kero sighed once more before descending to this drawer and drifting into a not-so-restful nap.

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Lunch at Tomeda High...

"Hey Sakura," said Tomoyo, as cheerfully as possible.

"Oh, hey Tomoyo; what's up?" she replied, giving her best friend a fake smile.

Tomoyo didn't respond right away, as she was examining her best friend's appearance: Her hair was frizzy and sticking up [AN: which it usually isn't], her eyes were wet and bloodshot, as if she'd been crying and her left arm was bundled up chaotically within ragged, white bandages.

"Sakura," she started with a concerned expression, "I'm worried about you..."

Sakura looked in Tomoyo's direction.

"Huh? Well, why on earth are you worried about me, Tomoyo?" she asked, pretty much knowing the answer.

"Sakura, I see you just about everyday, and on the days that I see you, you always look a little more...uh...inhospitable than the day before...Do you wanna talk about it, Sakura? I know I can help you! Just tell me and I'll find a way to set things right...Just please, trust me, Sakura...You never tell me anything anymore," said Tomoyo, as she lowered her purplish eyes toward the ground.

Sakura winced when she heard the phrase 'Do you wanna talk about it.' She hated that phrase, even if it was coming from someone that meant well.

*M-maybe I should tell Tomoyo...I mean, she is my best friend and all...b-but I wouldn't really know where to start...*

Sakura hung her head and twiddled [AN: funny word, lol] her thumbs.

"Um, Tomoyo...I really would tell you, and all, but I just don't know where to start...This is all so....so overwhelming. I-I don't know what else I could possibly do to explain that to everyone...especially you..." Tears began to form in Sakura's emerald eyes again as she shifted her gaze to the tops of her knees instead of at her hands.

Tomoyo look up at Sakura and watched her helplessly as she saw her best friend begin to cry.

"Sakura?" Tomoyo asked, still looking at her quivering friend's face.

*Sniff* "Yes, Tomoyo?"

"Uh...does this have anything...um, to do with....erm, Ryu?" she asked cautiously.

Sakura's unusually gloomy eyes suddenly shot up and look straight at the frightened Tomoyo.

Sakura wiped her tear-stained face with her free arm and slid closer to Tomoyo.

"Y-yes Tomoyo...T-this does have to do with...R-Ryu....In fact, all of it does," she said before burying her face in her hands and sobbing for the hundredth time that day. Tomoyo hugged Sakura tightly and smiled.

"Don't worry Sakura, he won't do anything else to you...I promise...Syaoran, Meiling and I will do everything we can to keep that baka away from you. But first, Sakura, you're going to have to have to break up with him before he tries to hurt you even wore than this," she said, pointing at Sakura's hurt arm.

"B-break u-up with him? He'd definitely wanna hurt me then, Tomoyo," said Sakura, fearfully.

Tomoyo smiled slightly.

"Like I said Sakura, he won't ever touch you in any way, shape or form again, ok? I promise you that," she said, squeezing Sakura a little [AN: not like THAT!], who she was still embracing in a tight hug.

Sakura smiled slightly; her first smile in a whole week.

"Thank you, Tomoyo, that means a lot to me," she said, holding her smile.

"Now," said Tomoyo, smiling back, "we've gotta go talk to Syaoran; c'mon, I think I know where we can find him. He'll definitely be willing to help you out Sakura."

Sakura blushed a little from her comment and rose from her spot on the grass.

"Ok then, let's go find him," Sakura said with one more smile as she followed Tomoyo out of the courtyard.

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Uh, in Syaoran's training room...

"A little harder, Master Li, you can kick better than that! C'mon!" said a slightly older man in a suit, holding a large, green mat-type thing [AN: I don't know what the things that martial arts ppl use to practice kicking and punching are called; and no I'm not talking about a punching bag ^^'].

"Wei! Hold it still! You're moving too much! You're either gonna make me fall, or hit you, so stand still!" lectured an edgy and tired Syaoran.

When Wei finally managed to hold the mat still, Syaoran took another shot at it with a high, rolling kick that missed the mat Wei was holding by about 2 inches, making him land, no not on Wei, on the hard, wooden floor of the training room.

"WEI !! I TOLD YOU NOT TO MOVE!!" Syaoran shouted as he rubbed his butt and glared at Wei. Just then, with Syaoran still on the floor easing the pain in his butt [AN: lol], Sakura and Tomoyo walked into the room.

The two girls looked at each other, then back at Syaoran and Wei who hadn't noticed they'd come in. Syaoran was getting ready to yell at Wei again when he spotted the two bewildered girls staring at him, on the floor.

An intense, crimson blush crept up his face when he saw them and he quickly got back on his feet.

"How did you two get in here?! Wei is with me!" cried an exasperated Syaoran, who was still blushing.

Tomoyo laughed a little at his actions.

"Well, when we knocked on the door, no one answered and we found that the door was open so we came in to find you." she said, concluding her explanation with a smile.

Syaoran's anger melted away when he saw Sakura.

"Wei," he said.

"Yes Master Li?"

"I'm done training for the day, you can do whatever you please, as long as it's not in here," he said, still looking at Sakura.

"Thank you Master Li; Have a nice day girls," Wei said as he left the room.

Syaoran quickly walked over to Sakura after Wei was out of site.

"Sakura, what happened to you? Where'd you get all these...bruises?!" he asked examining her bruises with care.

Sakura winced a little before he made contact, but found him gentle and tender.

"I...uh....um..." she stuttered.

Syaoran looked her straight in the eye.

"Did Ryu do this to you Sakura?" he asked as calmly as possible.

Sakura returned his heated gaze with her sad and gloomy one.

"Y-yes, Syaoran....." she replied, right before totally breaking down again and falling onto his chest sobbing.

Syaoran, being a little surprised, blushed a little but then embraced Sakura tightly.

"It's Ok Sakura...please don't cry," he consoled.

~ To Be continued ~

~~~~~ End of Chapter 1 ~~~~~

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So what'd ya think?? sorry this took so long! I've been really busy, but luckily I found time to write this, ne? (lol, sure)

Questions? Comments? Advice? or Suggestions?

Email me: silverserenity2000@yahoo.com or silvr255@bellsouth.net

Ja ne until next time!

Storyline © Angel: da Newsies fan

Character © CLAMP

Story name © JC Chazes of *NSync (the title is an *NSync song that he wrote, just thought I should give him a lil' credit, eh!)