Chapter Seven: Sparkling Emerald, Piercing Amber
A week passed, and Sakura had still not returned. They'd gotten into a fight with Midnight Wolves and won, but it wasn't the same without Sakura. Aika was normally a very patient person but even she was fed up at how Syaoran was acting. Tomoyo and Eriol went through the day in a haze too. Meiling and Yamazaki called three times a day to see if they'd found her. But the answer was always the same.
"Okay! That's it! This girl must be really special to you that you're all moping around and Yamazaki and Mei are calling forty times each day but we never did this if we lost a gang member. We just pulled ourselves up and moved on" Aika said critically but gently. "It's been a week"
"Aika, you didn't know Sakura like we did, she was a lot like you but...had her own streak that set her apart from the rest" Tomoyo whispered.
Has this Sakura replaced me? Maybe...I don't belong here anymore. No! Aika, you were here first. Your territory, not hers. Little Miss Sunshine disappears and it's all dark and gloomy, Aika thought.
"Hey Sakura, Matsuka wants to see you in his room" Rae said, popping her head in Sakura's room.
Rae was a member of Blood Game, and Sakura was in their mansion. Not as big as Eriol's though. Rae had long blonde hair and her pretty blue eyes turned to ice if you annoyed her. Sakura nodded and made her way to Matsuka's room and knocked. A faint call of 'Come in' was heard.
"You wanted to see me?" she smiled.
"Yeah. I did. Listen, Sakura, you know when you said you were absolutely sure you wanted to join Blood Game?" Matsuka said.
"Uh-huh" Sakura answered.
"Well, we need you to pass initiation. Yours is different because of your...past with Speeding Blade. What you will do, is fight them. And you must kill one of them. You won't be alone, we'll be with you but I want to make sure that you're positive about this, and your loyalties lie to us" he told her.
Her jaw dropped ever so slightly and a sick feeling swirled in her stomach. Sakura drew in a deep breath and then gave him her answer half-heartedly. "I'll do it"
He smiled at her. "Great. Um..hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go to that new restaraunt in town, I heard it was really good"
"Like...Like a date?" Sakura grinned questioningly.
"Yeah" Matsuka looked sheepish. "It's cool if you don't want to"
"I'd love to" she nodded. "What time?"
"How about seven thirty?" he asked.
"Sounds perfect" Sakura flashed one last smile before heading out the door.
Little Wings – Okay, I know you all hate me at this point in time but let me give you the lowdown on the Blood Game members that live in the mansion. There's Matsuka, Rae, Seishuu, he has reddish brown hair and brown eyes, Fujimato, he has black hair and black eyes and then there's Haniko, he's got light brown hair and green eyes, like Sakura's and Emika, wha has long black hair and light blue eyes, so there's Four guys and two girls, not including Sakura
Rae walked by and frowned. "What was that all about?"
"I have a dinner date at seven thirty!" Sakura squealed.
"Oh my god! We so have to get you looking way cute!! Let's go!" she gave a little jump.
Rae dragged Sakura to her own room and sat her on a chair.
"Okay, you stay right there, I'm going to do everything for you!" Rae disappeared into her gigantic closet and erupted a few minutes later with an armful of clothes.
Sakura ended up wearing a black A-line hipster skirt that went to her high-calf with a cute pink cherry blossom print in the bottom left corner. She also had on a fitted pink v-neck halter top. Chunky black platforms that had straps that tied up to her lower shin were on her feet. Sakura's make-up was very light, pink lipgloss and black mascara. A black beaded necklace hung around her neck. Her hair was loose.
"What if I don't like the food? What if he doesn't like it? What if he doesn't like me?" Sakura flopped down on Rae's bed.
"You will love the food. It's great, trust me, I went there with my boyfriend last week" Rae assured her.
"Okay" Sakura blushed.
"Look, it's seven twenty-five already! You'd better go downstairs" Rae ushered her out of her room.
Matsuka was downstairs, he'd ditched his baggy jeans for ones that were more his size, but still a bit baggy and a short-sleeved collared shirt. His black and red hair was spiked as usual though. He grinned at Sakura. Seishuu, Fujimato, Haniko, Emika and Rae were staring at them and snickering.
"You look...really pretty" Matsuka complimented.
"Thanks. So do you" Sakura smiled. This caused howls of laughter from the other five
"Cool. Um...Do you want to go?" he asked.
"Sure" she answered.
Matsuka led Sakura to his car and they drove to the restaurant, chatting on the way. When they were inside, Sakura looked at her surroundings. Rae was right, this place was nice. A waiter came to them and sat the two of them at a table.
"I like it here" Sakura said.
"Yeah, so do I" he replied.
"Why are you and Tomoyo so mean to each other? I mean, she's never told me a reason" she questioned.
"Well, it's kind of stupid now" Matsuka blushed.
"Ohhh, spill!" Sakura looked interested.
"I was five, Daidouji was four and there was a deserted wreck of a house in a secret little place just off the main street. Anyway, I went in to check it out one time but she was there and she told me to get out. When I didn't want to, we started chucking rocks and small bits of wood at each other and it turned into a game and we were laughing and having a good time. Then we ran smack bang into each other and a shouting match came on. I left and we've hated each other ever since" he said. Sakura screwed up her nose.
"Pretty dumb, huh?" Matsuka laughed.
"Just a bit" Sakura giggled.
"So you're still in school, aren't you? Why don't you go?" he asked.
"Um..well, I kind of just stopped going after I completed my training but I'm not missing out on too much I
guess" she sighed.
"Oh" was all Matsuka said.
Sakura woke up two days later with her stomach churning. The day she had to fight Speeding Blade. She reluctantly got up and put on some black tight flared shiny leather pants Like the charlie's angels ones and a ¾ black fitted shirt with a pair of black ankle boots. Sakura strapped her gun, the one Tomoyo had given her and the blade she'd received from Syaoran to her ankle. She'd had them on the day she 'disappeared'. A long black coat was over her small shivering body, a bit like the coat Meiling had given her. Sakura went down to breakfast and for the first time, didn't have coco pops. She had to leave behind those memories so Sakura unwillingly settled for a pop tart while Seishuu munched on his coco pops. They were all dressed in black, traditional for arranged fights with other gangs.
"Hey Sakura" Matsuka said.
"Hi" she simply replied.
The rest of the meal was eaten in silence. Finally, it was time to go. They went in twos because the cars only had two seats, Emika would go on her motorbike. Sakura paired up with Matsuka. She didn't speak a word, although he tried hard to make conversation.
"Listen Matsuka, I really appreciate you trying to make me feel better but I'm feeling a bit anti-social at the moment" Sakura said apologetically.
"Understood" he gave her a nod.
When they arrived at the place. The six of them piled out of the cars and stood in the cold, smoky mist. Sakura had butterflies. She was so excited to see Tomoyo and Eriol again...and Syaoran. They stood in a line, muttering tactics when a voice called in front of them.
"Matsuka" a familiar voice rang through Sakura's ears. Tomoyo.
"Daidouji" Matsuka called back. Just like at the club.
Four figures came closer. A gasp escaped Tomoyo's lips, Eriol's eyes widened, Aika frowned and Syaoran remained emotionless. But Sakura could've sworn that a twitch of surprise and sadness lurked behind his eyes. That was when her sparkling emerald ones met his piercing amber eyes.