Disclaimer: I do not own CCS! That's something Clamp owns okay!

Summary: The Card Mistress, Sakura Kinomoto, has her brother, Touya, leaving for America for his studies and had no choice but to leave Sakura somewhere else with both their parents gone and Tomoyo, Sakura's best friend in England. He only had one option… the Li Mansion. But Sakura has a grudge on Lindao Li, her ex-boyfriend who had caused her nothing but pain and her sudden change. The once cheerful Sakura was now an irresponsible, and daring 17 year old! She joins gangs and bullies people to the extent that she now lost her guardians! She puts up a fight at first but was forced to have it her brother's way. Luckily, Lindao was in Taiwan for studies as well, and no one except a certain Syaoran Li is left at home. How can she put up with such an obnoxious and authority grubbing person?


CHOICE OF THE HEART

Chapter 4: Conflicts Get Deeper

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"KINOMOTO!" Syaoran continued to shout as he saw the bright light rush towards Sakura's direction.

Suddenly, huge wings covered Sakura and defended her from the danger that was about to hit her. Sakura slowly opened her eyes and gasped at the sight of her defender. Tears started flowing through her face and for the very first time, a genuine smile appeared on her lips.

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"K-Kero…" Sakura muttered as warm tears continued to flow from her eyes, showing no sign of ever stopping.

The large lion-like creature purred loudly as he turns to the sobbing lady at his feet. He bowed his head down and comforted Sakura with his wide wings as a visible smile appears on his fierce face. "Sakura…" he said in his deep voice.

Suddenly, amidst the reunion, a blazing energy ball hit the calm, winged creature. "AARRGGGGHHH!" Kero screamed in agony as he turns to where the ball came from and flies off to fight back.

"KERO!" Sakura shouted at him as she rans to where the fight was taking place.

"Oh dear…" Syaoran muttured as he catches his breath from the running he just did, trying to catch up with Sakura. 'I didn't know this girl could run so fast!' he commented strongly in thought. "Damn! She doesn't know what she's gotten into!" he murmured with a sigh as he walks inside the thick smoke made by the continuous exchange of fires.

"Key that uses the power of the stars…" Sakura began chanting as she stops, pulling her nacklace where a small star-like key was hanging. "Appear before me in your true form, I Sakura, the one with the contract with you commands it…" she continued as the key levitates from her hands in bright lights. "Release!" she finally shouted as the key turns to a long staff about two meters long. A golden star circling elevatedly with cherry blossom petals floating elegantly around it. A pair of bird-sized white wings on both sides, flapping slowly as the staff rested on Sakura's hand.

"K-Kinomoto…" Syaoran uttered as he stops on his tracks, gasping for breath. "You're the…" he trailed off, eyeing the pink staff Sakura was holding.

"Big surprise?" Sakura teased, as she raise an eyebrow in a perfect arc. "Fly!" she shouted as she resumes her attention to the battle, taking a pink card with elegant, epic star designs a size of a tarot card and throws it in the air. She placed the staff above it and a circular star crest appeared below her in sining lights as white wings materializes on her back and she glides in the air.

'The annoying and irresponsible Japanese girl is the legendary Card Mistress I have heard so much about?' Syaoran exclaimed unbelievably in thought. "UNBELIEVABLE!" he has to shout out loud.

>>>>>

"Kero! KERO!" Sakura continued to shout as she searches the sky, her wings flapping vigorously as her hair flies freely with the winds. 'Where are you!' she thought racingly, stopping at a slow rate, giving up her search after flying for about a few meters away from the smoke filled park.

"Who WAS that?" Syaoran asked form behind her. Sakura was startled and almost lost her balance up in the air. "Was that who I think it is? The legendary CERBERUS?" he questioned more, never hiding his confusion and ignorance.

Sakura simply turned away as she starts to walk away on foot, hiding the staff as a small necklace once more. "None of your business!" she answered sternly as she stomps her way past Syaoran.

"I was TRYING to be nice…" Syaoran pouted back. Sakura halted and turned to him with a serious and fierceful face. "You could've at least answered decently…" he insulted her more with the tone that he didn't like the way she acted.

"Know what…" Sakura started deeply, a threatening tone on her voice. "You shouldn't give a DAMN SHIT about my life!" she blurted out as she runs angrily out of the park.

"No wonder they all left you alone…" Syaoran pitied her behind her back.

>>>>>

"I told you not to see her!" a deep and strong voice echoed in an antique decorated dark room. Cerberus knelt before the angry, hooded figure with an irritated expression, which he hid below his thick fur in his bow. "You didn't have to get hurt if you'll only LISTEN!" the voice shouted even more. If the figure was to be visible, sterned veins would be appearing on its neck considering how loud it had yelled at Cerberus.

"I'm sorry Master Eriol…" Cerberus simply answered, trying to cover up the irritated tone on his voice. The hooded figure shrugged. Cerberus immedietly took the hint and bowed his head low as he disappears. 'At least I saw her…' he said to himself as he completely disappears.

"She really IS getting in the way of my plans…" the hooded figure, Eriol, muttered to himself as he takes his seat on the wooden chair behind him. "What is with that… GIRL?" he exclaimed in a low voice. "Why can't the guardians forget about her?" he continued enviously as he glares out the window beside his seat.

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"Welcome back Ms…" Wei trailed off as Sakura continues to walk inside the mansion, paying no attention to Wei's greeting. It was rather unsusual and unrespective of Sakura, considering it was Wei she ignored. "What happened Master…" he once again trailed off, being ignored by Syaoran as he continues to walk inside as well. 'Oh boy…' he thought tiredly, walking towards the kitchen where Syaoran had went. "Master Syaoran!" Wei called after him as he catches up with him.

"Just leave me alone, Wei…" Syaoran simply replied as he opens the refrigerator and pulls out some sandwich contents. Wei shrugged and pouted in response. "It was nothing of importance so leave it be," he continued, fixing himself a sandwich.

"You two should TRY to get along Master Syaoran!" Wei insisted, showing no sign of ever leaving the problem alone. Syaoran sighed and continued to eat. "I for one must say that you two have a lot to agree on… you two are PERFECT for each other!" he pointed out strongly.

"If you mean PERFECT as in PERFECT OPPOSITES then, I agree…" Syaoran replied with strong beliefs. Wei made-face. "She is NO WAY near the discription as a girlfriend material…" he started to defend himself. "She's hardheaded, insensitive, temperamental… not to mention CHILDISH!" he insulted Sakura, who doesn't have a clue on what's going on, one after another. "Two words… NO WAY!" he concluded.

"Aaarrrggghhh!" Wei muttered as he walks calmly towards Sakura's room upstairs.

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"Excuse me… Ms. Kinomoto… may I enter?" Wei asked as he knocks on the door lightly. "Come in!" Sakura shouted faintly behind the door. Wei opened the door and slowly entered the room like a shy visitor. "Perhaps YOU might want to tell me what happened…" he started as he takes a sit on a chair beside Sakura's bed. He turned to the veranda where Sakura was standing and was staring at her gloomy face.

"It's nothing," Sakura answered plainly as she walks inside the room and takes a sit at the bed. "You don't need to worry about it," she assured him.

"I'll tell you what I have told young master… You two should TRY to get along…" Wei said seriously. Sakura sighed and looked at Wei tiredly. "Again… I for one must say that you two have a lot to agree on… you two are PERFECT for each other," he pointed out as he did with Syaoran.

"If you mean PERFECT as in PERFECT OPPOSITES then, I agree…" Sakura answered as well, unintentionally. 'Wow… that's weird!' Wei thought, remembering how Syaoran uttered the same response. "He fits in NO description as a boyfriend!" she insulted the not-knowing Syaoran. "I mean… he's such a nag, irritating, insensitive, and not to mention UNFRIENDLY!" she added more as she stomps irritatedly out to the veranda once more.

Wei simply sighed, nonvictorious of the task he wanted to achieve.

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"I can USE him…" Eriol concluded slyly as he stares at a chestnut colored haired boy with amber eyes in a crystal ball laying next to him. "No doubt about it…" he added as he removes the boy's picture in the crystal ball, as if turning it off.

"Yue said you called for me," a cold woman's voice asked as a kelt figure with distinguishly long hair on a high ponytail. Eriol nodded in authority. "Is there anything I can do for you?" the girl asked as she reveals her golden eyes, void of all emotions.

"I want you to go to HongKong and be a part of Sakura Kinomoto's life," Eriol simply explained as he turns his back at them. The girl shrugged. "Turn Li Syaoran against her… I reckon he'll do the rest," he added.

"Sakura Kinomoto is…" the girl started as she stands up errectly. "The Card Mistress," she ended the sentence. Eriol simply nodded again. "Consider it done," the girl responded without further question, her total loyalty visible with her actions.

Eriol smiled slyly with an evident pleased expression despite his evil grin.

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Rain poured heavily that night and thunder and lightning stroke stronger than all the other days of rain. The Li mansion was extremely quiet without the continous back fighting of Sakura and Syaoran. Suddenly, with the loudest thunder and the brightest lightning, a girl of seventeen with a long periwinkle hair and dark blue eyes appears in front of the mansion, hooded and badly injured. She managed to hit the doorbell a few times before completely collapsing by the front door.

Wei opened the door, assuming a vistor must've arrived. He was startled at the teenage girl laying in front of him as soon as he opened the door. "Oh my!" he exclaimed as he carries the hooded girl inside. "Anika! Hurry and straighten this girl up," he ordered as he passes Anika who was following closely behind.

"Who's that?" Syaoran asked confusely as he runs into Wei. He followed to the guest room where Wei had taken the girl, who was by the way, completely ignoring his question.

"I found her in front of the mansion door," Wei finally answered. "I think she collapsed there due to the bad weather," he added as Anika enters the room and Wei pushes Syaoran outside and closes the door behind them. "Anika will take care of her," he stated as he walks away.

"Oh well…" Syaoran responded as he continued walking to where he was headed, his room.

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Midnight, Sakura, for some reason, cannot get to sleep and just had to go down stairs for a glass of water. She walked slowly down the stairs, fighting the slight haziness she was having. 'The strom must've been affecting my sleep…' she thought tiredly. 'It always does…' she added in thought.

When she finally reached the kitchen, she opened the lights and walked straight to the refrigerator to get herself a glass of the water her throat was craving for in the last few minutes. She halted a few steps from the refrigerator, finally making out a figure that was siting in the kitchen's table from the moment she walked in. She turned to the figure and eyed the unfamiliar periwinkle hair and dark blue eyes, perfectly matching the girl's pale skin.

"Uh… excuse me?" she asked as she raises an eyebrow at the innocent girl. "Who are you?" she continued in a bossy and irritating tone of voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" the girl replied in a sweet and charming voice. "I got caught up in the rain earlier and just had to ask for help for I was cold," she started to explain. Sakura's eyebrows met in confusion. "It just happen to be this house… er… mansion… I guess who ever opened the door took me in," she added as she stands up and bows in respect. "I'm Maemi Hin… nice to meet you," she intoduced herself finally.

Sakura eyed the awfully nice girl and looked at her from head to toe unrespectfully. "I'm Sakura… Sakura Kinomoto," she introduced herself as well. "It was NICE to meet you too," she added sarcastictly as she walks out of the kitchen. The girl who was innocent simply smiled in return.

When Sakura disappeared in the stairs, the girl sat back at her chair and frowned emotionlessly. "We'll see…" a deep voice from within echoed silently, her lips not even moving a muscle.


O…..kay… that took TOO long than usual… I know, but… what the heck! At least I finished it right? Thanks for all those who reviewed… you keep me inspired in writing on guys! THANKS! Oh, and sorry for those who LIKE Eriol, I just thought giving him a new image wouldn't hurt… Promise to turn the tides a little as the story gets deeper okay? Again… I never get tired of it… REVIEWS!