"Goodnight kiss!"
Touya's scowl lightened a fraction and he half-turned in preparation to receive Sakura. But Sakura never even looked at her brother as she flew right past him and threw herself on Li.
Who froze.
Chapter 11
'truth'
Yukito dropped the plate in his hands, the loud clatter on the metal floor echoing horribly in the sudden quiet. Tomoyo, who'd been following Sakura at a more sedate pace, stood immobile in the doorway with her hands over her mouth and eyes round with shock. And Touya… only stared. Stunned disbelief blackened his eyes but he did not explode in anger or gasp with surprise or even move at all. Face stone neutral, he only stared and helplessly Li stared right back.
Nobody spoke for what seemed like a hundred years but couldn't have been more than a few seconds. Sakura was still clinging to Li's shirt and bouncing on her toes, totally oblivious to the tension she'd created, and again demanded her goodnight kiss. The captain and everyone else were still staring at him and oh no, this was not good. He had to come up with something and fast.
"Ah, Sakura," he finally got out. "I think you've got me mixed up with your brother."
There. Terrible, but he'd done it. Sakura, in her persistent way, refused to take the hint and shook her head briskly and her short hair flicked him in the face. But he'd broken the spell of silence on the room and Touya found his voice at last.
"That shirt." He took a step toward Li and Li took a step back, attempting without success to gently pry Sakura off.
"What shirt?"
"That shirt," Touya elaborated, his tone absolutely even but loaded with menace, "that you're wearing."
Ah. Shit, no. Li blanched and tried even harder to disengage from Sakura but she wasn't budging.
"Goodnight kiss, goodnight kiss!" she chanted. Touya took another step forward, he responded with a step back.
"Sakura was sewing something yesterday with material like that."
"Was she? Come on, let go now…"
"She was." There was something very unnerving about the way his expression didn't change, still stepping slowly and deliberately toward him. "She's never sewed anything before."
"Oh?" Li said as nonchalantly as he could, which wasn't all that much considering Sakura was now trying to peck him on the jaw with her own goodnight kiss and he had to crane his neck just to stay out of reach.
"Yeah." And then Li bumped into the wall behind him and there was nowhere else to go, no more distance he could put between himself and the brother. In all of a second Touya closed the gap and slapped his hand against the wall by Li's head, who refused to flinch. Almost nose to nose, Sakura sandwiched between them, Touya's black glare smoldered with a barely-controlled possessive fury. Li did not drop his eyes, chin lifted defiantly but holding his breath.
"Is there something," Touya asked very, very quietly, "that you would like to tell me about you and my sister?"
Li could feel Sakura's rapid heartbeat, pressed against his chest like she was. So close but so vulnerable to her brother's dictatorial abuse. As things stood, the truth would only rip them apart.
Li backed down. "No," he answered reluctantly.
"Good." Those eyes flashed another warning, with maybe just a spark of fear, before Touya dropped his stare to his sister. "Time for bed, Sakura." In one determined tug he wrested her away from Li, and ignoring her whine of pain dragged her out of the galley. Tomoyo almost had to jump out of his way.
Li sagged against the wall with relief, inhaling a much-needed lungful of air. Yukito and Tomoyo were staring still, but when he looked up and made eye contact Yukito hurriedly looked away. It seemed nobody knew exactly how to react to what just happened, and the pilot fumbled to pick the plate off the floor and put it back in the sink before he fled the room.
"Li?" Tomoyo ventured timidly, and was rewarded with a furious glare.
"I hate that man."
"Oh, I know that was awkward, but still…"
"Awkward? The guy wanted to kill me, Tomoyo, and I wanted to kill him right back. If it wasn't for Sakura I'd have taken him out a long time ago."
Tomoyo swallowed as she watched Li punch the air in frustration. She was sure he didn't really mean it, but all this talk of killing made her nervous.
"Try not to take it personally, Li, he's just very protective -"
"Obsessive," Li corrected. "He tries to control everything in her life!"
"He's a good person, I promise -"
"Why do you keep defending him?" Li snapped, and she cringed. "Are you afraid of him?"
"Of course not, he's my cousin." Tomoyo felt limp and sank into one of the chairs, watching him pace. "But he's very, um, strong willed. And smart, and makes the decisions, and… we all know that he's in charge, period. It's just how things are done."
"Well it shouldn't be. He doesn't even understand anything about his own sister, he doesn't even try!"
"But," she protested, "he is the reason she's free."
"She's not free," he said coldly. "He just traded this ship for that satellite."
She had no answer for that and he stormed out of the galley, down into the cargo hold to vent through more of his drills. But he'd made up his mind. Tomorrow when they got to Little Heavens, he was leaving this ship and taking Sakura with him.
And there wasn't a thing anyone on this crew could do to stop him.
- - - - - -
When Yuki reached Sakura's bunk, Touya had managed to get her down into it but could not persuade her to sit still for a lecture. He seated himself comfortably on the edge of the doorway and watched Touya push his wriggling sister down on the bed and try again.
"You do NOT kiss strangers goodnight, Sakura, are you listening to me? Me, Tomoyo, Yuki, that's it. No one else!" She uttered a rebellious noise and tried to get up again, looking cross. "Hey, sit still when I'm talking to you! I don't want you anywhere near that Li kid, do you understand me?" Impudently she stuck out her tongue and Touya slammed his fist into the nearest wall, looking to Yuki like he was near panic. "Do you understand me?"
"Well," Yukito interjected mildly, "at least now I know why you dislike him so much."
"Don't start, Yuki, I don't want to hear it." Sakura tried to slither off her bed again but Touya clamped a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down. "Sit still, damn it, we are not through!"
"Don't you think you might be overreacting a little?" His response was a venomous glare. "This isn't an interplanetary disaster, Toya. She's probably just got a little crush on him."
It was a bad choice of words. Touya almost turned crimson.
"Crush? Crush? She can't have a crush on him! She knows she can't have a crush on him!"
"Toya," Yuki remonstrated, his tone getting sharper, "she's eighteen years old. I don't think she needs your permission to like a boy."
Touya pushed his bangs out of his eyes, looking wrathful. "We both know that this has nothing to do with her age, Yuki. She doesn't… she can't…" He gestured helplessly to Sakura, who was glaring sullenly at her older brother and making clicking noises with her tongue. "She just can't."
Yukito heaved a sigh and rested his head against the doorframe, watching the two siblings glare at one another. "Do you remember the first fight we ever had?" Touya's back stiffened, and he crossed his arms. It was clear he did remember, but wasn't about to say so.
"Sakura had been on the ship for three days," he continued, "and you were still spoonfeeding her at every meal. You didn't even try to see if she could feed herself. I don't think you really wanted to know."
"I hadn't seen her in seven years," Touya muttered tersely. "I just wanted to take care of her."
"But was it better for her?" An uncomfortable silence stretched between them, broken only by Sakura's random mouth noises. Yuki decided he'd had enough and moved to stand. "It's late; we're tired. Can we just go to bed?"
Uncertainly Touya tried to brush Sakura's hair back from her face, but she scowled and twisted away from his reach. Aside from her occasional panic attacks, she'd never pushed him away before and Yuki glimpsed Touya's miserable eyes before he turned his face away.
"In-in a minute."
"Fine." Yukito departed noiselessly and Touya tried to get Sakura's attention again, but she wrapped her knees against her chest and stared defiantly at the far wall. Gingerly he sat on the edge of her bed, swallowing his anger with some effort.
"Sakura, I'm sorry I yelled. I'm not angry at you." No reaction. "You just scared me, that's all. I don't want you to get hurt." She was just so damn stubborn, curled up like that and ignoring him. That stubbornness worried him, coming as it did from his own bloodline, and part of him wondered if it was even a good idea to leave her alone tonight. Then he decided he really was being paranoid. It's not like she was going to go crawling into Li's bed or anything, right?
"Go to sleep. We'll talk more tomorrow." She didn't blink, but he stood up with a weary sigh and bent over, dropping his – unasked for – goodnight kiss on the top of her head. "You're still my girl."
He left her bunk and shut the door behind him, wishing not for the first time that he could lock it and then feeling guilty that he would even consider it. The ship was quiet, lights already dimmed to their nighttime softness, and peaceful. This was Sakura's safe place, her haven, and yet somehow an interloper had disturbed that peace in a way no passenger ever had before. Touya stared at the closed door to Li's bunk, not knowing whether he was actually inside or not, wishing he knew why this one made him simmer with fear and distrust.
He'll be gone tomorrow, Touya told himself firmly, no exceptions this time. He turned away and opened the door to his own bunk, crawling down into the darkness and not minding it. He'd rather not have to look Yuki in the eye right now. He undressed and crawled over the covers in the pitch black, avoiding Yuki's long legs with practiced ease. On any other night his fair-haired lover would nestle up to him and drift off to sleep, or maybe initiate something more. But tonight the mattress only jostled slightly as Yuki rolled onto his side, well away from Touya's side of the bed, and pretended to be asleep.
He was irritated with Touya and that was Li's fault too; everything was Li's fault and the sooner he was gone the sooner things on this ship would get back to the way they should be.
Grouchily Touya tried to get comfortable on his cold and empty half of the bed.
Tomorrow, he was gone.
- - - - -
Across the hall, Li fell into an exhausted sleep after another round of strenuous drills. Formless and meaningless dreams wove through his mind, eventually fleshing out into a memory, one he hadn't thought about in years.
He was only ten, it was the first time they'd been allowed to walk to town without a servant chaperone. His mother had rewarded them, after a particularly grueling week of lessons, with money for ice cream. His cousin clutched at his hand and skipped with joy, so excited, and he couldn't help but smile at her good mood and the fine day. Everything was wonderful.
And then two men turned on them and attacked. It happened so fast that he barely reacted quickly enough, throwing himself back a step before the incoming fist could connect with his face. Without the added edge of magical reflexes, Meilin was not so lucky and hit the sidewalk with a squeal. A furious rage bubbled up inside Li and he attacked, kicking, punching, throwing whatever fire and lightning he could summon. His long years of training kicked in and he fought almost without thinking, reacting automatically with the appropriate block for every strike, counterattacking without hesitation. At the tender age of ten he'd been thrown into his first real fight and they couldn't even touch him. It felt so good, hurting someone who tried to hurt him, and he found himself caught up in the rush of battle adrenaline. When Meilin tried to assist he only pushed her away again, knowing that she could fight but still swept up in his first real moment of manhood.
Finally they broke up and ran, effectively disappearing and leaving no clue for the reason for the mysterious assault. Panting but exultant, Li braced his arms against his knees and struggled to return his breathing to normal, calm his rapidly beating heart. He must tell his mother and Wei of this, they should go home.
He lifted his chin and for the first time saw the man across the street, watching him.
"Li."
I know that face, Li realized, through the fog of the dream.
He was dressed in a crisp black suit and tie, arms crossed, making no move to turn away when he met Li's eyes. Instead his thin lips stretched into a cruel and satisfied smile, like a predator that had spotted a tasty ungulate and was preparing to devour it.
"Li Syaoran."
I've seen that face before, he decided, his thoughts resolving into consciousness. I saw that face…
A large truck rumbled past and when it was gone so was the man, vanished into thin air. And then Meilin was on him, squeezing him too tight and demanding to know if he was all right and why he was such a jerk that he wouldn't let her help. The brief encounter was all but forgotten as they sprinted home to report the bizarre attack.
But I saw him. I saw that face somewhere else too…
Li stirred in bed with the effort of thought, and again he heard his name. "Li…" It echoed tauntingly in his head and then abruptly he woke, his disturbing dream scattering like shards of a broken glass. His loud and heavy breathing filled the bunk and automatically he clutched at his sword pendant.
"Li Syaoran," the disembodied voice said again, echoing not in his head but all around him, through the ship. "I know you're here. Don't hide. Come and speak with me."
What the hell?
It was a male voice, but certainly not the captain's or pilot's. He'd never heard it before. But someone was calling him by name, someone that was most definitely not supposed to be on this ship. A prickle of hostility ran through Li and he pulled on his khaki shirt.
In the bunk opposite his, both Touya and Yukito woke with a start.
"What is that?" Yukito whispered, fumbling for his glasses with one hand.
"It's the p.a. system." Surprised fear filtered in Touya's eyes, barely visible in the dark bunk. "Someone's on the ship."
"That's impossible!"
Apparently not. Again the voice called out that name, presumably meaning Li, and Touya slid off the bed and into his pants. His gun was here but the bullets were in the cockpit, if he could just –
He pressed his hand against the panel and nothing happened.
Oh no.
The voice woke Tomoyo too, and her eyes fluttered open with a frown. Who was that? Was that Li he was calling for? She tugged on her robe and pressed her hand against the panel, but the door did not slide open. What was going on?
Li finished lacing up his boots and stood, then on second thoughts took the gun he'd acquired on Partine from his shelf. He pressed the panel and took an immediate step back when it opened, gun raised at the ready. But there was no one waiting outside to greet him, and he jumped the short height easily, crouching and sweeping his weapon from one end of the dark corridor to another. No one.
"I am waiting, Li," sang the voice, resonating clearly through the ship. All the other doors were shut, and when Li pressed his hand against the panel by Tomoyo's nothing happened. Swearing under his breath, he crept toward the rear of the ship. "It's not polite to keep me waiting, not when I've gone to so much effort to find you."
Definitely the cargo hold, Li decided, and sidled away from that stairway, back towards the galley.
"I was so close, on Tyrinthia. I'd just managed to tail you to the right town when you disappeared again, I didn't think you'd leave so quickly. Of course, after breaking into a federal base I can understand the rush."
Every word sounded clear as chimes on a frosty night, and Tomoyo cringed. So did Li, moving past the galley and towards the engine room.
"Of course, there was no call to blast your way out of the planet's atmosphere. You should not have attracted attention like that. I was surprised at how fast this ship moved, but I kept up long enough to figure out Crossworlds was your next hit. And I got there just in time to retrieve a security camera disc. What an interesting scene. Li Syaoran, the infamous criminal Lone Wolf, murders three policemen and then…"
Li edged up to the opening overlooking the cargo hold and pointed his gun, but the man standing below simply turned his face up and smiled. "And then he gives a flower to this pretty little thing."
Crumpled at his feet was Sakura, hugging her chest and staring at the floor. The man pointing a gun at her head was somewhat older than Li, clean cut and well-built, with only the weapon in his hands to bely his smile and cheerful tone.
"How sweet."
"Get away from her." He cocked the gun but the stranger shook his head.
"Mm, I don't think that's going to work, Li, not unless you've got ceruleum bullets in there."
Damn it, a sorcerer. Li didn't lower his gun but eased his finger off the trigger. "Who are you?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm a bounty hunter."
"I've killed a lot of bounty hunters," Li said coolly, ignoring his racing heart. The barrel of that gun was almost brushing Sakura's hair. "I thought they'd stopped trying by now."
"I'm sure most have. But I could never give up on a half-finished project and you were such a challenge. I've been shadowing you for so long, I feel like we've become very close. You just don't know it." He beamed at Li, who said nothing. "At least at Crossworlds I was able to pin down the name of this ship and interview the man who'd given her work. Chubby, isn't he? Luckily I have a contact on Partine that could plant a homing device on this ship's hull for me, even if it did mean I had to track you down in space. I prefer boarding a ship to capture criminals anyway; there's nowhere for them to run."
Just another line in the sand, all right.
"If you want me so bad, then get away from her and come get me."
The response was another shake of the head, and a finger pointing down. Li took the hint and vaulted smoothly over the railing. It was a fair distance but he landed easily, crouching to absorb the impact and never dropping the gun for a second. His sword he held loosely in his right hand, keeping it hidden for the moment.
"She's not a part of this, just let her go."
The bounty hunter looked amused. "We are worried, aren't we? Don't tell me the most ruthless thief and killer in the system is in love. But then, she is rather cute."
"Let her go, damn it!" Li snapped, his composure slipping. "You don't need her for anything."
"Well for one thing, I didn't bring her here. She was sitting on the floor when I came through the seal. And as for whether I need her… did you really think I wouldn't check her face in the police records? Kinomoto Sakura, I believe, and quite the little prize. She's worth even more than you are! Perhaps I'll just take you both."
"NO!" Touya shouted desperately, throwing himself at the sealed door again and banging furiously against the unyielding metal, hands already bruised and bleeding. Yukito had to drag him away from the door and wrap his arms around him.
"Don't, please Toya. You're only hurting yourself!"
"He's going to take her! He's going to take her, I have to -" He struggled against Yuki's grip, panicked, the sour bile of helplessness rising in his mouth. "Please, I have to…" He swallowed a sob and Yuki hugged him close, giving as much comfort as he could. For the moment, neither could do anything more than that.
"You're not taking her anywhere," Li informed his hunter, "her or me. I won't let you."
"Not a matter of 'letting', Li," the other man said breezily. "I've come to bring you in and I've never lost a criminal yet. I especially like nailing the sorcerers, since you're so determined to give the rest of us a bad name."
Tomoyo whimpered and buried her face in her arms, curled up on her bed and listening. Touya could hear every word of this and she knew, no matter what happened out there, one way or another it was over.
"All I'm doing is searching for the truth."
This earned him a patronizing smile. "Angry at the big bad government, Li? Still mad that they took away your pretty mansion and servants?"
"They took more than that."
"Holler all you like, but it was your family that broke the law."
"It shouldn't have been a law."
"And now you know better than Congress. You certainly think highly of yourself for a criminal -"
"I am not a criminal!" Li shouted, exasperated. "I'm a citizen of the republic just like everyone else and I never took anything until they took everything from me. I only kill those who try to kill me. All I want is answers for what the government did!"
"Oh stop it," the bounty hunter complained, "it's so tiresome. Always about you, isn't it? Don't think you should have to follow the same rules everyone else does, just because of a little magic. You don't see me attacking policemen at every turn, you don't see me breaking and entering federal offices. Somehow I managed to find an honorable profession, working with the law. I don't have to kill everyone around me just to exist!"
He smirked proudly and lifted his chin.
"You killed someone last night."
It was so unexpected that both of them almost dropped their guns. Li had momentarily forgotten all about Sakura, still huddled at the bounty hunter's feet. She stared glazedly at the wall, face expressionless, voice in monotone.
"A girl," she continued, "in the town in space, you killed her." Li knew he shouldn't take his eyes off the other man but he couldn't help himself, drawn in by her unceasing hypnotic tone. "Looking for a good time? I might be. I can be fun. How much you asking? Fifty siyong, sir. Hmm… maybe not. Forty then. Make it thirty and I won't report you're not registered. Oh- oh, you're a hard one, aren't you? I'll show you how hard I can be."
Tomoyo clapped a hand over her mouth, horrified but riveted. On the other side of the corridor, Touya listened with bated breath to the words spilling out of his sister's mouth like an impersonal recording.
"Do you like that bitch say that you like it I- I can't breathe stop I know you like it you want more and we'll stop when I say it's time to stop I'm in charge you're just a criminal you're a dirty dirty whore -"
"Stop it!" the bounty hunter screamed, the smile long since wiped away and his eyes bulging with horror. "Shut up!"
" - I could kill you like an insect you're not worth anything I could kill you and I will -"
"Make the freak shut up!" The bounty hunter moved his hand to clock her across the temple with his gun and Li snapped out of his trance, all the tension and adrenaline exploding into a burst of speed. An ordinary person would have never seen him coming but the bounty hunter managed to jerk back just molecules away from his activated sword. He brought his gun up but Li's sword caught it and knocked it from his hand, in that moment of imbalance, and it skittered away into the shadows under the stairs. The bounty hunter fell back against the floor with a snarl. Li planted himself firmly in front of Sakura, sword raised in an attack posture.
"Sakura, go back to bed." Naturally she didn't move, but at least she'd stopped reciting the prostitute's murder. The bounty hunter picked himself up, looking annoyed.
"Fine, I tried to do it the easy way, but you're only making it worse for you. You want a fight, Li, you got a fight." He extended his arms, and Li glimpsed something glittering around each wrist before a long blade materialized in each hand. They were not as long as his sword, but sharp and obviously belonged to someone who knew how to use them. The bounty hunter assumed a prepatory defensive stance, his swords positioned horizontally across his body.
"Inner blade guard," Sakura pipped, and for just a moment the man was distracted.
"What?"
Li attacked savagely, almost ending it right there with a daring straight thrust, but the bounty hunter recovered in time and swept his blade aside. Li had to jump back to avoid the second sword slashing through his torso, and warily they circled one another.
One sword versus two weren't great odds, but Li had done it before. But it had been a long time since he'd fought another sorcerer, and Sakura was right there… he mustn't allow himself to be distracted. To fight, he would have to forget about her.
But first he'd move the fight to the other side of the room. Again he took the offense, driving the other back with short, sharp strikes that kept both swords fully occupied in blocking and no time to counterattack. Now the loud clanging of metal against metal filled the ship, and Tomoyo curled her fists so tightly that her nails bit into the skin, trying to control her trembling. Li must win. Please, Li, win.
Both blades swept in from opposite sides with the intent to cleave him and Li retreated just out of their path, then drove in with a low stab when the bounty hunter's arms were momentarily crossed. The older man recovered just in time and brought his swords down in a low X-block. Li's sword was forced to the floor where it made a grating sound along the metal surface. Before the bounty hunter could slice upward with his swords Li struck him hard across the jaw with his left fist. He hadn't been expecting that and reeled back a few steps, shaken.
"I should have guessed that you'd fight dirty," he spat, and Li shrugged.
"All's fair."
"If you say so." He lunged forward, blades whirling, forcing Li to defense. Automatically he moved his sword side to side, blocking every strike, no time to spare for a counterattack. Finally he twisted his body to one side and caught both swords simultaneously, wrenching hard before his opponent could react. It didn't disarm him, but it did force him into a spin and Li helped by planting a hard side kick over his kidney. The bounty hunter was almost knocked off his feet again and as it was had to stumble a few steps before he caught his balance. Li backed up, putting more space between them, desperately recovering his breath after that last assault and trying to flick his sweat dampened bangs out of his eyes. His arm muscles were starting to ache a little, protesting the unexpected activity so soon after sleep.
The bounty hunter's breathing sounded rather labored as well, and he too hung back for a moment to recover. Yukito pressed his hands anxiously against the wall, as if by leaning closer he could somehow hear better.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know," Touya choked, and collapsed on the edge of his bed fighting back the panic. His sister was in the middle of that mess and he didn't even know what was going on. He was trapped, powerless, Sakura somewhere out of his control… Touya could feel his breath rasping painfully in his lungs and knew he was hyperventilating, but he couldn't seem to stop.
"Toya? Toya, get a hold of yourself!" Dimly he felt Yuki's hands cup his face, saw those brown eyes examining him fearfully.
"I… can't…"
"She'll be all right, Toya, I promise. Just hang on." He found Touya's hand and clutched it, knowing that if this dragged on much longer Touya would pass out. Anxiety gnawed at him too and he prayed that whatever happened, it would end quickly.
Li took a few measured steps to his left as the bounty hunter sidled in on the right. The first round had passed, now they were becoming more acquainted with one another's fighting style. This was the stage where the very skilled combatants would adapt their technique to fit the attack, discover a weakness and exploit it. Li was one of the best but this guy was good too, just waiting for his chance. He swept in with blades slashing in large horizontal arcs, pushing Li back again, determined to pin him against the wall. Li retreated, sensibly, but did so studying the attacks with fierce concentration. Even an expert in double bladed combat would favor his dominant hand and Li was sure the left-handed sword had a longer reach, a surer stroke. In the brief moment of its follow-through he darted in, metal blade screeching against metal blade as the bounty hunter tried to parry the unexpected thrust. Instinctively Li bent over double to avoid the right-hand blade sweeping toward his face, and swiveled his entire body into the motion. His leg swung up and forward, connecting with a satisfying crunch. A pained yelp followed and Li continued through with the motion, upright again, rotating to the right to slice his sword right into the neck.
There was a jarring clang of metal as his opponent brought up a sword to block Li's just in time, and Li twisted away before the other sword could cut into his back. As it was he didn't get away cleanly; a searing pain raked over his lower ribs and he took a hasty step back, gulping for air, unwilling to actually stop and check the injury though he could feel blood oozing over his skin.
The bounty hunter smirked. "Got your blood."
"Broke your nose," Li replied without missing a beat. It was furiously red and swelling, smashed completely by Li's boot heel. Already he must be having a more difficult time seeing, but Li might not be much better off. He could hardly breathe with that crippling pain just under his lung, and he had no idea how deep the cut was.
The bounty hunter was far past trying to conceal his irritation. "I was going to bring you in alive, but I don't think I want to do that anymore. They'll still pay every siyong for your dead body."
"What am I worth these days?" Li panted, struggling to keep his breathing light and even. "Still ten thousand?"
"Whoa," Yuki murmured softly, still keeping an eye on his pale boyfriend.
"Actually since Tyrinthia you've been upped to fifteen. Congratulations."
Tomoyo's jaw dropped. He'd nonchalantly informed her he was a criminal, but she'd never dreamed he was wanted so badly. The price on his head could buy this ship.
Li merely shrugged. "Good to know." Injury bedamned, he charged, breaking up the attack in small rapid strikes that would be hard to defend with blurry vision. The bounty hunter didn't do as well this time, backing up from Li's furious assault and blocking a little more desperately, a little closer to his own body than before. But in his weakened state Li couldn't maintain the relentless advance and when he slowed, the bounty hunter struck back by sweeping his blades in simultaneously, this time at widely differing targets. Unable to block them both, Li braced his sword against the left blade and bent far over to avoid the right. Smoothly he dropped to his knees and completed the rotation, his right leg sweeping the bounty hunter right off his feet. He hit the floor with a thud and Li brought his sword down like an axe, just missing him when the other man rolled away.
Li pursued, rising to stand again, his sword arcing right toward that face. But somehow the bounty hunter managed to block it in time, pushing to his feet and almost throwing Li back to the floor again. They parted, briefly, but Li was losing more blood by the second and could not afford any more delay. Again he drove in with a thrusting stab, narrowly evading another swipe that cut a fringe from his bangs. Far too close for comfort, and for a heartbeat his vision lost perspective.
High downward strike.
The attack's name flashed through his mind, courtesy of Sakura, and he raised his sword to block before he could even see. This was his injured side and the pain flared up again with the motion, but he'd stopped the left blade just short of a fatal connection with his skull. Just as quickly he twisted away to the outside of the arm and elbowed the bounty hunter solidly in the back of the head. Both whipped around and swords clashed near the hilt.
The right sword was swooping for his ribs again and he turned his wrist over, momentarily trapping the left blade under the gilded hilt and driving downward to block the right one's trajectory. He succeeded, but the blade of his sword was trapped and he was still vulnerable to the left sword. Before the bounty hunter could exploit that Li twisted his entire body, biting back the pain, and brought his arms up over his head in a tight arc. His sword slid free of the other two and he slashed at the neck.
He did it without conscious thought, body moving like clockwork, and it happened so fast that Li almost didn't realize he'd ended the fight. The man whose name he'd never learned stared at him with horrified astonishment frozen onto his face, and tried to speak. The thin red line across his neck bubbled up with blood at the attempt.
"Don't," Li growled, "ever call her a freak."
The bounty hunter collapsed, dead, on the floor and Li braced his swordtip against the floor next to him, gratefully sucking in a lungful of air. Adrenaline melted away and his body throbbed with pain; the wound in his side protested with every breath. Hell of a fight, perhaps his closest ever. His sword withdrew in his hand and wearily he stumbled across the cargo hold and dropped to his knees in front of Sakura. It was his fault, she'd nearly been killed tonight and he almost wasn't good enough to save her, almost couldn't protect her.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, voice cracked with fatigue and guilt. "I'm so sorry, Sakura."
Her eyes held no accusation in them, only tender understanding. He had to touch her, embrace her, hold her close and feel her heartbeat before he truly believed that she was safe and it was over. Gratefully he pressed his face to her hair and inhaled.
"Get away from her."
The cold and measured words fell across the cargo hold, splintering his relief. Li turned his face up and saw Touya on the top stair, pointing a gun at him, but didn't move.
"That's not going to work," he said in a low voice. "Not unless you have ceruleum bullets in there."
"Only kind I use," Touya assured him.
His eyes warned Li not to resist. Reluctantly he let go of Sakura and backed away, hands raised.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Li Syaoran. Touya, I'm sorr -"
"Keep going." Touya was descending the stairs now and motioned with his gun.
"I am a sorcerer," Li continued obediently, retreating a few steps. Touya inhaled sharply and moved to stand in front of Sakura, who'd lapsed into staring at the floor again. "And a criminal but that's only because the government seized my home -"
"You brought this onto my ship." Touya's eyes flicked in the direction of the dead body crumpled on the floor. It was not exactly a question but Li nodded, his heart starting to beat faster again in spite of his exhaustion. "You brought this on my sister."
"I never let him touch her, I kept her safe -"
"Kept her safe?" Touya repeated, voice rising in pitch. Li nearly cringed at the repressed fury. "It's your fault! My sister was nearly killed tonight because of you!"
"I'm sorry," was all Li could say, faced with that harsh truth. "I never thought something like this would happen, I would have never put her in danger."
"Well you did." The loud click of the gun cocking echoed clearly in the cargo hold, and Li was suddenly very sure that Touya would shoot him. Involuntarily he tensed, waiting for the shot that would end his life, but what followed was even worse.
"Get off this ship."
At the top of the stairs, Tomoyo squeaked softly. He couldn't! She almost started forward to object but was held back by Yukito, who shook his head in warning. His face was pale with apprehension but it was obvious right now no one could intervene, Touya looked ready to kill.
Li shook his head minutely. "You can't make me leave now."
"Oh can't I?"
"Touya, listen to me. I know things about your sister -"
"You don't know anything about my sister!"
"No," Li pressed, "you have to listen, please. She's told me things, showed me what they did to her, she trusts me." Unhappily he watched the hatred intensify in Touya's eyes. "I promised her -"
"Do you think I won't pull this trigger?" Touya questioned, voice almost trembling with rage. "Venga didn't think I'd pull this trigger."
"Don't do this, Touya, I love her!" Li flinched at the gunshot but didn't have time to move before he heard the whistle of a bullet past his head. Behind him the wooden casing of a crate splintered loudly and Tomoyo jumped. Yukito's heart was pounding but he took Tomoyo in his arms and held her comfortingly, hoping to calm her shivering.
"I missed on purpose," Touya informed Li. "I won't do that again."
Helplessly Li's eyes fell to Sakura. She met his gaze and tugged on her brother's pants with a whimper. Touya ignored her.
"You have five seconds to stop looking at her and get off this ship," he snarled. "Five."
Li took another cautious step back. I have to go, Sakura. I'm sorry.
"Four." She whimpered louder, more visibly upset, and yanked harder. Touya shook her off without taking his eyes off Li. "Stop it. Three."
Come with me, Li pleaded, a last ditch effort to keep her close, keep her safe. It seemed that actually took her by surprise, and she stared in astonishment.
"Two." But she didn't move to get up, and remained huddled in her brother's shadow. It was too much to ask of her, too fast, and now he would have to leave her. Break his promise.
I'm sorry.
"One!"
"I'm going," Li said brokenly, giving up at last. "I'll leave." A pair of tears rolled down Sakura's cheeks and he had to turn his face so he couldn't see her.
"Now," Touya prompted when he didn't move. The cargo hold was quiet, nobody spoke as Li backed up to the airlock door and opened it to reveal the bounty hunter's ship sealed outside. He paused just long enough to look back at Sakura, fill his eyes with the sight of her face for the last time, and then he was gone.
The door slammed shut, an engine roared to life, and Sakura cracked the silence with a sob.
Hope was gone.
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Disclaimer: I do not own these characters