I Love Her? I Love Her Not?

By:  PnAiXr0sE8

meimei: sry…another cliffhanger!!! =( don't hurt me!!!

kawaiisakura: don't worry!!! Here's the next chapter!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS or the characters. CLAMP does.

~~~~~

Chapter 9: "Where's Ryu?!"

Shun angrily got into his fighting position.

Ryu did the same.

"Shun, wait!" Himiko pleaded.

Ryu chuckled. "Dear Himiko…wait for me, I'll be done with this pest soon and you can finally be mine!"

"Wh-What?!"

"Wait…you mean this is all about Himiko?" Toji asked.

Ryu nodded, his red eyes blazing. "Himiko's the only one for me. We're destined to be together! But this little pest is in the way."

"B-But…!" Himiko stuttered.

"This is stupid!" Zak shouted.

"This isn't only about her! It's about Shun taking all the fame for himself!" Ryu shouted.

"So wait, wait, wait…I do not really understand this but basically…you're jealous?" Kumei asked.

Ryu's eyes turned even redder. "I'm not jealous! All of you, shut up!"

Suddenly Himiko, Kozue, Toji, Zak and Kumei were trapped inside a bubble. They tried to break through but it was impossible to penetrate through it. Shun couldn't even hear them shouting.

Ryu laughed. "That's better. No more interruptions. Just you and me."

Shun stared into his eyes and everything was silent as they were in their fighting stances. Shun widened his eyes in realization. "Y-You're not Ryu!"

Ryu narrowed his fiery red eyes and attacked by charging towards Shun and giving him punches. Shun dodged them easily. Then they paused a little giving Shun time to talk.

"Who are you!? You're not him! Where's Ryu?! I won't fight until you tell me who you are!"

"Shut up and just fight!"

Ryu continued to punch and kick while Shun kept on dodging.

But when Ryu looked like he was about to try to punch him, he sneakily took his sword out and slashed Shun in the arm as he was dodging.

Shun winced and staggered back, clutching his arm. It wasn't as deep as it could have been but it hurt like heck.

"H-Hey! We never talked about using swords!" Shun shouted.

"Well…you never asked," Ryu countered.

Shun cursed. 'Great…now I only have one good arm…'

~~~~~

Kozue's eyes widened. "Hey! That's unfair!!"

She glanced at the others. Kumei was covering her eyes so she couldn't see the blood dripping from Shun's arm, Zak was gritting his teeth in rage, Toji was helping Kumei calm down and Himiko was shaking all over.

Suddenly Himiko began pounding on the unbreakable wall almost in tears.

"Shun! Ryu! Stop!!! Don't fight!! Please!!" she yelled the tears now streaming down her face.

Kozue shivered then tried to keep Himiko calm but she just kept on pounding on the wall uselessly and shouting.

Kozue closed her eyes, seeing her little brother wincing in pain. 'Shun, please be all right and I'll never tease you again.'

~~~~~

Shun heard muffled noises coming from his friends and he looked over to them.

His heart burned when he saw Himiko crying…crying for him.

Suddenly Ryu attacked and tried to slash him while Shun was occupied. But luckily Shun dodged the sharp sword in time. It was so close that he could feel the wind as it slashed by him.

"You better concentrate," Ryu said laughing.

Shun gritted his teeth. 'Okay…that's it…'

He used his magic to get his sword. The handle was golden and the sharp blade glimmered in the street light revealing how sharp it was. "Ryu or not…I'll beat you!"

This time it was Shun who attacked slashing at him first, while Ryu dodged with a smile on his face.

But then while Ryu was dodging and smiling his face off as if he already won……

"LIGHTENING!!!!!!!"

Ryu widened his eyes as he saw great bolts of lighting heading towards him.

He screamed and jumped out of the way as the lighting barely missed him. He fell on the ground.

"H-Hey!" Ryu yelled as he got up slowly, "You cheater!"

"You should talk!"

Ryu gritted his teeth in anger and his eyes burned redder. Suddenly red flames surrounded him.

Shun stiffened, his arm still hurting. "What the…?!"

The flames engulfed Ryu although he wasn't getting burned at all.

Shun winced. 'His aura is much stronger now. It feels like his aura actually…hurts. But…Ryu's aura was dark blue…why is there red in it now? And it feels like the red is taking over the blue…What's going on?'

Shun gaped at Ryu who was glaring at him with those red fiery eyes. Shun felt pain. He wasn't sure if it was Ryu's aura and killing glare, or if it was his arm. Maybe he was going crazy because he lost a good amount of blood.

"That's not the magic of the Li Clan…" Shun muttered to himself, "And I'm sure that no one in the Li Clan has an aura that…can actually hurt you."

~~~~~

Syaoran still lay sprawled on the couch. His wife who was asleep, snuggled next to him as he watched TV and hugged her. Kero was also next to him sleeping and snoring soundly. Syaoran glanced at the clock.

'It's 10:00 already…where are those kids,' he thought sighing.

He looked back at the TV screen.

"It's 10:00…Do you know where your children are??"

Syaoran sighed. 'Damn commercial…I don't know okay?!'

He lay there quietly and closed his eyes as the TV was on.

Suddenly his eyes widened and he winced in pain at the same time Sakura and Kero woke up.

"Ugh…" Sakura said quietly clutching her head in pain, "What the heck is that?!"

Kero's eyes twitched as he tried to ignore the pain. This was the first time in his life where he was woken up and didn't complain. "I haven't felt this since…"

"Oh Kami-san…Katana's here!" Sakura cried out in worry.

Syaoran held his head with one hand while his other hand was still around Sakura's waist. "I feel another aura too…I-It's…"

Sakura's eyes widened in realization. "Shun!!!!"

~~~~~

Toji, Kozue, Himiko, Kumei and Zak all watched wide-eyed as flames suddenly engulfed Ryu but he didn't get hurt.

"I'm not an expert in these kinds of stuff but, flames engulfing a person while he doesn't even get burnt to a crisp, is bad right?" Zak asked.

Kozue clutched her head. "Ugh do you feel that? It hurts like hell!"

"Ahh…damn that hurts…" Toji muttered clutching his own head.

Himiko furrowed her eyebrows in worry. "Are you guys okay?"

Kozue still clutched her head and groaned in pain as she slowly began to melt onto the ground.

Toji kept standing, using the wall of the bubble they were in for support, but it still hurt.

"O-Oy! Kozue!" Zak yelled.

He caressed Kozue in his arms as she yelped in pain. Zak could even feel her shivering and flinching.

"What's happening?" Zak asked.

Kumei bit her lower lip seeing Toji in pain. She helped him keep his balance.

"You guys have a lot of explaining to do…" Kumei said to Himiko.

"That can wait 'til later…" Himiko said, her voice quivering, "Look at Shun!"

~~~~~

Shun's sword dropped to the ground with a clatter.

"Ahhh!" Shun yelled as he dropped to the ground clutching his head. The arm was long forgotten as the aura got even stronger.

He closed his eyes and winced as he felt sharp pins going through him.

"Wh-What the hell's h-happening?!" Shun asked, his eyes still closed shut.

~~~~~

Himiko's eyes widened as she saw some of the fire leaving Ryu, shooting out towards Shun who was on the ground in pain.

"SHUN!!! LOOK OUT!!!"

~~~~~

'SHUN!!! LOOK OUT!!!'

Himiko? Why did he hear Himiko in his mind?

Shun forced one eye to look at Ryu. He saw fire shooting out towards him. He opened both eyes in shock and just about when the fire was going to hit him he stood up and held his sword out in front of him, creating a shield of magic just in time.

When the fire finally stopped shooting towards him he panted and looked at Ryu who was still engulfed in flames.

"So you're one child of the Cardmistress and the Li Clan leader…"

Shun widened his eyes. That sounded nothing like Ryu! It sounded cold, chilling, with evil in it. He still winced from "Ryu's" aura.

"Wh-Who are you? What did you do with Ryu?!" Shun asked.

He chuckled. "I'm not that lowly child. Now then…where are your parents."

Shun narrowed his eyes. "Why do you want to know?!" he asked shivering.

Ryu's face got a disgusted expression on it. "You're just like you're parents you know…NOW WHERE ARE YOU'RE PARENTS?!" he roared letting out more of his aura.

Shun felt knives cutting his skin and a pounding feeling in his head. "AHHHHHH! S-STOP IT!!!!"

"TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!!!"

"……………n-never…………"

At Shun's reply, the aura just got even stronger.

~~~~~

"AHH!!"

Toji and Kozue were yelling in pain while the others stood there not knowing what to do.

Himiko looked out at Shun.

She widened her eyes. "SHUN!"

Zak and Kumei looked out too. Shun was on his knees, his eyes shut tight, his hands clutching his head, flailing about yelling in pain.

Himiko looked away. It hurt seeing Shun like that. She could almost feel his pain.

"Shun…"

"I guess…since we're inside this bubble…Toji and Kozue aren't as affected as Shun is out there…" Zak said holding Kozue in his arms.

"Yeah…imagine what he must be going through…" Kumei added holding Toji up.

Himiko peeked out the bubble again. Shun was still in the same position, but he looked like he was going to give up. While Shun squirmed, Himiko looked at him in horror as Ryu, still engulfed in fire, neared the squirming Shun.

~~~~~

Shun's head pounded, knives felt like they were piercing his skin, his whole body was trembling and his insides felt like they were on fire. He was too busy with the pain to notice "Ryu" towering over him.

Ryu glared at Shun. "Your family is pitiful, you know."

Shun weakly looked up. "N-No…Y-You're wrong…"

He gave a disgusted look in reply.

"Wh-Who are you! What d-did you d-do to R-Ryu?!"

Ryu gave a confused look. "You hate the boy in this body. Why would you want to know?"

"I n-never hated h-him…h-he's the one wh-who hated m-me…"

Ryu's body still gave a confused look. He shook it off after a while and gave a stern one.

"You're not going to tell me where your parents are…are you?" Ryu asked in that unfamiliar tone of voice of his.

"………………no…"

"Then you're in my way. I must eliminate you."

Suddenly Ryu picked Shun up by the collar, his aura still causing him pain.

Shun tried to free himself by kicking and punching but soon he felt "Ryu" using his magic again and Shun couldn't move.

"Once I suck you magic up, you won't remember a thing. Not who you are, who your parents are, not what has happened to you and," Ryu glanced at Himiko who was screaming and crying inside the bubble, "certainly not your love."

"M-My…love?!"

Ryu nodded then gave a wry smile. "So…do you want me to just take your magic along with your memories? Or would you rather that I kill you afterwards to save you the trouble?"

Shun narrowed his eyes. "Y-You can't t-take my magic."

"Just watch."

Suddenly along with the pain of Ryu's aura, he felt a painful tugging feeling in his head. Then it got stronger and soon it was a painful pulling sensation. He felt his energy just drain out of him. What's worst was that he also felt his memories fading. He asked himself questions in his head…but soon it was too hard to think anymore and he didn't have a clue.

'Wh-What? What's happening?! Who am I? Where am I? Kuso…'

Suddenly…

"KATANA DON'T YOU DARE HURT MY SON!!!!"

Shun felt "Ryu" drop him and he fell with a thud. Shun took one look at the people before totally blacking out. It was his parents.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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