Dangerous Love

By TriGemini

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of C.C.S. only CLAMP does. Therefore, please do not sue.


Chapter 4: A Second Meeting


I am remembering a time, when you promised that you would never leave me

So I think to myself now…

Did you really keep that promise?

Still, you died and left me all alone

I was inconsolable and I felt as though I lost my only lifeline

I didn't care anymore what happened afterwards

Only memories do I have of you

The good, the bad, and everything else too

You were my guide

My family

My life

You were my brother

I cried many tears for you

I always remembered the promise that you made

You promised you wouldn't leave

In the end though, you did

Now you're dead and nothing is the same anymore

Just so, you know nothing in this world will ever replace you

Nothing that happens will ever make me forget you

Big brother

My only brother

You were the only person who understood who I was

Even through the hardest times

You always said, 'Your life for mine'

I never believed those words to be true

Did you die for me? Did you mean it then?

Even now when the world is set against?

I'll always love you, dearest brother, no matter what

I'll never give up; I'll try to move on

Words can't say what I want to express

I'll always miss you no matter what happens

Your memory will always live on that's what counts


(Memory)

"Don't forget that today's my birthday and you promised that we'd spend it together!" said a fourteen year old Sakura to her older brother. For she was reminding of the promise he had made earlier that week. A deep chuckle resounded from the young man that was sitting next to her on the bench.

"Yeah, I know I promised to spend this day with you 'Kaijuu'!" said Touya teasingly to his younger sister.

"Argh, Touya even on my birthday you still manage to be terrible, for you know how much I hate that name. Besides don't you think I'm getting a little too old for that childish nickname?" asked Sakura curiously.

"Nope! You'll always be 'Kaijuu' to me. No matter what age you are," he said with a grin on his face.

"Sometimes I wonder why I put up with you." Sakura said in a huff as she attempted to pout at her older brother.

"Come on, sis don't do that. You know I don't like seeing a pout on that pretty face of yours. Besides, no matter what happens you'll always be my little 'Kaijuu' for all time!" said Touya as he playfully tousled Sakura's hair, even though she tried to swipe away his hand before he could mess it up. If there was one thing Touya loved to do, it was tease his younger sister. Even though, everybody knew that both brother and sister were close to each other. Some thought that it was strange that they would seem that close. In the midst of their playful antics, Sakura a serious face and found its way onto her face and said to her brother,

"Promise me Touya that you'll always be with me, no matter what happens." Sakura said in a straightforward tone. At that comment, Touya was surprised to hear that from his sister and looked at her closely. He could tell that she wanted him to make that promise not that he would be able to deny her. Still, he felt that he didn't have the right to make that promise to her. Especially, with the life he had.

Being the leader of the Panteras wasn't an easy job, especially when you happened to involve your own family, as well. At first, his father had been against it. Of course, he had his reasons to be that way. However, in the end he had accepted it as apart of his children's lives. He decided he didn't have to like the idea entirely; he just went along with it because it made his two children happy. Touya knew that most families wouldn't be so accepting of this sort of thing no matter what the situation was. Nevertheless, he was appreciative that his family was supportive during most of the times. It also of course depended on what the matter at the time was, also. Other than the gang being his life, his sister made up the other half of his priorities. He tried to protect her from the unpleasantness of life that there was outside the walls of her school and home. Still that didn't mean he could keep her out of trouble. Because at times, it seemed that trouble followed her like a shadow. However, in the end though he vowed to do whatever it took to protect his little sister from it. As he always told her, 'Your life for mine,' for in the end Touya would do anything, even make promises that he knew that sometimes he wouldn't be able to keep to her, to just keep her safe. Therefore, he decided to tell her something important,

"Let me tell you something 'Kaijuu' no matter what happens. I'll always be with you," he said honestly. He then pointed to her heart with his finger and said, "I'll be in here," and then pointed to her head, "and in here. No matter what happens I'll always be with you," with that said he simply smiled and hugged her.


(Memory switches to another one)


Then it happened. The last thing in her mind that would ever occur happened in an instant. Some more shots had been fired.

In a slow motion, Sakura saw it.

One of the bullets had hit her brother. He obviously hadn't seen it coming. For he had his back turned at that particular moment. However, the second that the bullet had struck him he had immediately fallen to the ground.

Sakura's eyes widen in alarm. It took her a moment to realize what just occurred.

In an instant, she screamed his name, "Touya!"

With that shout of alarm, Yukito turned around to see what she was screaming about, when realized it he froze taking in the scene before him, for there lay his best friend on the floor in a pool of blood. At that moment, Sakura yanked her arm away from Yukito and towards the fallen body of her brother.

As she ran towards him, she thought to herself, 'He can't be dead, he can't'.

When she got close enough to him she knelt beside him and started to shake him and in a soft voice she pleaded, "Please Touya wake up! Tell me you're alright please," she continued to shake him more and with tears falling down her face, she pleaded once more to the unmoving form of her brother and said, "please you promised you would never leave me," with one last effort she tried, but had to sadly accept that her brother wasn't going to wake up anymore. Therefore, she sat back on the floor in a dejected state while the world she knew shattered completely.

(Memory ends)


Sakura whimpered softly while she was sleeping, "You promised that you wouldn't leave me…you promised!" With that, she continued to toss and turn in the bed.

It was apparent to the four observers in the bedroom, that the girl lying in the bed was having a bad dream and weren't sure what to do about it. That was when Tomoyo spoke up,

"Should we wake her?" she whispered in a concerned voice. After everything that had happened, she wondered if her friend would be all right. Mei Lin on the other hand just shook her head and whispered something back to Tomoyo.

"Nah…let's just let her sleep. It's possible this could be a side effect from whatever happened at the club tonight. I hope by morning though, she's feeling better. Come on let's go to bed, too, it's late and I'm tired after everything that's happened. Besides, we need to think of what we're going to tell her in the morning." With that, the two girls left whispering back and forth, about what would happen the next day. As for the other two occupants in the room, they had both stayed silent while the girls talked about their unexpected guest. In someway they too were curious as to who the mysterious girl was. After all, it was a bit unusual for Mei Lin and Tomoyo to make friends outside their usual crowd. Not that either of the guys had any problems with either of the girls associating with people outside their group, it was just that both girls mostly stuck to Dragons' or other people that were associated with them. Not high-class, rich girls that they'd just recently met. Therefore, the two of them were trying figure out what was so special about this one particular girl. With that last thought on both their minds, they also left the room. Neither of them realized that the next day things were about to get a little exciting at the Li mansion.


(The next day)


"Whoa! My head hurts," muttered Sakura, as she sat up in the bed that she found her self. While wiping away the sleepiness from her eyes, it became obvious to her that she wasn't in her own bedroom. In fact, she hadn't a clue as to where she was at present, or how she'd gotten to the place, she was in the first place. This worried her. As a result, she began to think to herself, 'Okay, Sakura think back how did you get here? Oh my God, I don't even remember what happened last night.' At this point Sakura started to panic a bit. Even though, she was racking her brain about the events from the night before. It was becoming clear to her now that she wasn't going to remember anytime soon. Therefore, she rushed off the bed, only to the notice the clock on the table, noted that it was already 2:00 in the afternoon. At seeing this, she thought, 'I must have slept in.' Therefore, in coming to that conclusion, she looked around the room and saw that some of her stuff was there and hurriedly picked up her purse, her shoes, and anything else that looked as if it belonged to her. That was when it hit her, 'Yukito,' she thought, 'he must be soooo worried, if I disappeared. He's most likely going out of his mind with worry. Not to mention, dad, Aunt Yolei, and the girls. Everybody must be worried about where I am! Argh! I have to find a way out, quickly.' With that, she stumbled a bit when she was trying to make her exit out of the room. She gathered it was probably due to the fact she still felt a bit dizzy from whatever it was that happened the night before. As soon as she got to the door, she opened it, stumbled a bit more, and came out to a long hallway. She immediately began to walk in one direction when she finally saw the staircase. Holding on tightly to the rail, she began to walk down the set of steps. Finally, after a few minutes, she came to the last set of steps, when she suddenly heard some familiar voices coming from a nearby room.

"Mei Lin, I'm worried now. Sakura hasn't woken up yet and it's already past noon. Do you really think she's okay? I wish we called Wei last night, after all she didn't look so good after what happened at the nightclub," said Tomoyo in a concerned voice.

"Tomoyo relax, she'll be fine. Besides, I'm quite sure all she needed was rest, so quit worrying so much! What I'm more concerned with at the moment is how we're going to explain why she's here at the house with us," said Mei Lin worriedly. She had been racking her brain for ideas all night on how to explain to Sakura how she ended up at their house. Especially, since they had told her they weren't able to go to the club last night. By this point, Mei Lin was entirely lost on what to do about the entire situation and Tomoyo wasn't helpful by being edgy either. At this point, it was clear to Sakura that both girls were worried about something. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, but in all honesty, she was more concerned about knowing what happened last night, calling Yukito, and her father, so neither of them would be anymore worried then they were already. Although, in a way she was more concerned for Yukito right now, since he had the tendency for overreacting on most occasions then her father did in a lifetime. Therefore, it was better now to make an entrance than later, Sakura just knocked on the door and walked right into the room in which both Mei Lin and Tomoyo were sitting in. In hearing the knock both girls immediately snapped out of whatever deep thought, they were in and noticed right off that Sakura was standing right in front of them.

"Sakura, you're up. That's great! We were soooo worried about you last night. You looked as if you were completely out of it. Are you feeling a bit better now? Although, you still look a little pale. I'm sure with time you'll feel much better," said Tomoyo breathlessly. Sakura in return just smiled and said,

"Yeah, I'm still kind of feel out of it. However, I'm sure the feeling will past eventually. Not to be rude or anything, but how did I get here?" asked Sakura curiously.

At this comment, the two girls were a bit shocked. It didn't occur to either of them that it was possible that she'd forget the events that transpired the night before. In this case, they weren't sure as what to say to her. Therefore, Mei Lin decided to risk it and ask,

"Don't you remember anything from last night?" she said in a worried tone.

"To be quite honest, last night is a bit hazy. I remember getting knocked by someone who ran by me in hall, then I picked myself up only to realize that I was slightly hurt, then I heard shouts and saw people run in different directions, and then I heard gunshots. I think that it was around then that I began to lose track of what was going on around me. Besides, I wasn't in the best shape either at that moment. For some strange reason, I ended up feeling dizzy all of sudden and I think that someone at the club put something in my Coke. Aside from that, I'm not sure of what happened last night and the next thing I know is that I woke up here. Which brings me back to my next question, again…why am I here? Also, how did I get here?" asked a very concerned Sakura.

At this point, both Mei Lin and Tomoyo looked very nervous from where Sakura was standing. She could also tell that they were trying to think of something to tell her, as well. However, after several moments of complete silence, Mei Lin finally spoke up,

"Well here's the thing Sakura," Mei Lin said as she took a quick intake of breath and continued,

"You see we thought we'd surprise you and the others if we caught up with you girls at the nightclub. However, by the time we arrived there at the club. The entire situation that seemed to be going on at that moment was in complete disarray. When we didn't see the others, we assumed that they'd gotten out earlier. However, when we saw you, you were standing between two guys who were shooting at each other. Not to mention, when we saw you, we immediately realized that there was something wrong with you because you weren't moving from your spot. Furthermore, you looked extremely pale. Therefore, we thought to help you by getting you out. We tried looking for the others when we got outside, however we couldn't find them and so instead we thought to bring you home with us. I'm sure the others were probably worried about you missing, so I called Rika last night and told her that we found you and that you were staying here until we could take you home in the morning. As for the others, I'm not sure if she called them to tell them you were all right. However, I just thought you'd like to know since I didn't know your house phone number and I thought that she'd call them for you, also. So in any ways, there's the great explanation," said Mei Lin with all the sincerity she could muster. Because to be honest, Mei Lin had called Rika last night only to tell her that they had found Sakura and that they had taken her home. As for the rest, both she and Tomoyo thought it best that if they told Rika the truth about what happened to Sakura, she'd only worry more than necessary and that would only cause more problems for the other two girls, who were already risking a lot. Even though, Mei Lin really liked Sakura's friends a lot. However, there just was something about Sakura. That set her apart from the rest of them. At first, Mei Lin thought it was all just friendliness. However, it was something more and she knew that Tomoyo felt it, too, making both girls determined to discover what it was that made Sakura so unique. At least, in their minds she was. What they hadn't realized at that moment was that Sakura was just standing there looking at both of them in confusion. Even Sakura thought, their behavior was a bit odd for what they were telling her, so in the end she was thinking, 'There's something they're not telling me. Oh well, I'll figure out what it is later.' Brushing off the feeling that she had, Sakura instead asked if she could do something, "You wouldn't mind if I borrowed the phone would you? Not that I don't think that Rika wouldn't call my dad, it's just that another friend was with me last night and he's probably going out of his mind, because he doesn't know what's happened to me. I just wanted to call him to reassure him I'm all right.

At this, the two girls nodded their heads and Mei Lin pointed to the telephone on a nearby table. Therefore, Sakura went over to the table, picked up the phone and dialed Yukito's cell phone number. Finally, after a couple of rings, somebody picked up.

"Hello!" asked a weary voice on the other end.

"Yukito, it's me. Sakura!" she said calmly into the telephone.

"Sakura, where are you right now? Are you okay?" asked Yukito in an anxious voice.

"I'm fine, Yukito. By the way, where are you?" asked a nervous Sakura.

"I'm in my car looking for you. Where are you by the way, so I can go and pick you up?" asked Yukito anxiously. It was obvious by the tone of his voice that he wanted to find Sakura as soon as possible.

"I'm at the house of some friends right now. Why don't we meet at Solaris? I'll have my friends take me and drop me off. We can then have lunch together, talk, and then you can take me home…all right!" Sakura said in a calm voice. However, with the silence coming from Yukito, she could tell he wasn't happy with the arrangement, but went along with it because it was the only good idea so far they had right now.

"Fine, we'll meet at Solaris in fifteen minutes. If you aren't there by then, I'll call out the guards, okay!" he stated in a serious voice. With that last comment, the conversation was officially over. However, before Sakura got off the phone, she wrote something down on a piece of paper and shortly afterwards she hung up. Then she looked up to find both Mei Lin and Tomoyo staring at her with a look of curiosity on their faces. Sakura took a deep breath before answering,

"Sorry about that, it's just that if I don't tell him where I am, he tends to overreact. He's very protective of me and that's why it gets unnerving for him, if he doesn't know what I'm doing or where I am," she explained to the two girls. The other two girls just nodded their heads in complete understanding for they too knew people like that, as well.

At that moment, two other people made their entrance into the room in which the three girls where in. That was when Sakura immediately took notice of the two guys standing in the front of the room. They were both tall, possibly around 6'2, both were very well built, probably due to working out a lot, and both had their hair pulled back into a braid. That was what had caught Sakura's attention from the start. Because when she saw the braid, the two guys were wearing, it had somewhat shocked her to see that style again, for it had been awhile since she'd last seen a guy wearing his hair like that. In fact, the only time she had ever seen guys wear it like that was when she was with the Panteras. Usually, only the leaders or people of high importance in the gang wore their hair long and braided it back. It was traditionally worn in the Asian gangs, especially. Again, she would know, because her brother used to wear his hair that way for a while and so did Yukito. However, with time, the style lost popularity amongst the Japanese gangs, but some of the other Asian groups still sported it at times. By this point, Sakura had to quickly tear her eyes away from the two guys that she'd been looking at. For she also became aware that her pulse was beginning to race and her breathing a bit erratic, as well. She knew that if she didn't calm down, she was going to pass out. At least, in her mind that was what she thought would happen. 'Relax, Sakura it's no big deal. So what if they are wearing their hair in a braid? It doesn't mean anything. So just try to relax,' she kept saying to herself as she looked in the opposite direction of the two strangers and thought, 'How can one little bring out such a reaction from me? Relax Sakura! You need to relax. Focus on anything else, but that one thought,' she kept telling herself. However, at this moment she felt compelled to look back in the direction of the two guys. As she gazed a bit longer at them, she noticed their more apparent features. One of them had dark brown hair that a silvery streak running down the middle of his hair. He also had blue-gray eyes that were framed by glasses. Sakura noted that he had the appearance of an intellectual. 'He must be really smart, thought Sakura as she looked at him. Then she looked over to the second guy who was standing next to him. That was the moment when their eyes met and it happened. Once again, amber-eyes met emerald-eyes. When this happened Sakura froze in her spot, she couldn't believe that she was seeing the same guy from the day before. By the way, he looked at her it sent chills up her spine and from where she was standing; she got the greatest view, noticing every detail of detail of him. He had light brown hair that was sleekly pulled back off his face that showed a hardened expression on his face, for his amber-eyes were void of any emotion. He also seemed the type that nobody would want to mess with. Not to mention, he also seemed the type of guy that was dangerous and that girls like her would be told to stay away from for their own good. However, it appeared that there was something else about him. Aside from the coldness, that Sakura could obviously perceive from him. She concluded that his outward appearance was simply an excuse to keep everyone else at a distance and in order. He also had the look of authority that was in no doubt unquestionable. Meaning that he was probably the one in control of what went on around this place. Not to mention, he was probably used to getting his own way in everything and having everyone follow his every order. Although, what got to Sakura was the way he looked at her. She didn't know whether he was pleased with her being around or bothered with it. Either way, the way he just stared at her unnerved her greatly. For his amber-eyes looked deep into hers as if they were trying to see deep inside of her and trying to discover if she was hiding something. Unfortunately, that didn't make Sakura feel any better. Because she knew that she had too many secrets that would be better off buried and left alone. However, that didn't stop the fact that he was staring at her intently and that she didn't understand why. With a sudden impulse, Sakura immediately turned away from him. She felt a sudden flush from the sudden attention she was getting. Whatever it was she was feeling around this guy it scared her and for once she didn't know what she was going to do. As for Syaoran, he was in complete shock. Sure, he wasn't showing it outwardly but he was still reeling within. Because he realized that, this had been the girl from the day before. The one he'd seen at the school where both Tomoyo and Mei Lin went. Once more, his mind was reeling. Since it turned out that, the same girl was the one that both Mei Lin and Tomoyo had brought home after last night's mission at the club. At this point, Syaoran didn't understand why he was being so worked up about it. After all, she was just another girl. Still he couldn't stop thinking about that honey brown hair of hers or those emerald-eyes. He looked at her fully now that he had the chance to do it properly. In his mind, he would've liked to believe that she was average looking. However, everything else proved otherwise, especially her eyes. They seemed different from most eyes he'd ever seen before. It was if something in them had been lost. He looked at her eyes again trying to find out exactly was so interesting about them. Then suddenly without any reason, she looked away from him. He scowled at that act. Somehow he got the feeling that there was more to her than he knew, what it was exactly though he didn't know. However, he'd find out somehow. Presently, though he decided it was better to say something and figure out what was going to happen next. After all he and Eriol had heard the girls talking and wondered what was up.

"It looks as if Sleeping Beauty has finally woken up. Why don't you introduce yourself to us," he said with an impassive voice towards Sakura. He could tell by the way she was looking around the room that she seemed a little uncomfortable when he spoke to her.

Mei Lin while trying to grasp what was going on decided it was best to interrupt before Syaoran did something or better yet before he said something to Sakura that would be insulting. She knew what her cousin was like around people he didn't know already. Not to mention, she had gotten the feeling that he was up to something and she didn't like it one bit. For it was obvious that Sakura was too nice a girl and she didn't seem the type who was used to getting attention from guys like Syaoran. Besides, she and Tomoyo had stayed up the night before and discussed that it would be a good idea to have Sakura join the Black Dragons, even if Sakura didn't seem the type of person to do this sort of thing. However, Mei Lin figured that Sakura could learn to live this kind of life, if she had someone to help her get used to it. Anyway, she had wanted to have a new girl join the gang for a while now. Especially, since she or Tomoyo didn't have that many close friends in the group. Besides, the other point was that she really did like Sakura a lot and wanted to be friends with her. For this reason, she knew that she had to do was convince Syaoran about letting Sakura in, make sure she passed the initiation, and then everything would be great. Now all Mei Lin needed was the perfect excuse to bring it up. However, at this moment it would have to wait because she wanted to make sure first, that Syaoran didn't alienate Sakura before she had the chance to get to know all of them and before Mei Lin could bring up the subject of Sakura joining the gang. Therefore, she jumped into the introductions.

"Uh….Sakura this is my cousin Syaoran Li and his best friend Eriol Hiiragizawa," said Mei Lin breathlessly. She then turned to look at Tomoyo who was staring straight at Eriol and with this; she slightly smirked at what she was going to do next.

"Eriol also happens to be Tomoyo's boyfriend. So if you see them staring at each other you know why," Mei Lin said amusingly. Tomoyo on her part gave Mei Lin a quick glare. However, when she looked in Eriol's direction, she turned a bit red just to prove Mei Lin's point. At all this Sakura just smiled at the scene unfolding before her. She couldn't believe that the guy she had been staring at earlier was Mei Lin's cousin. At knowing this, she felt a bit embarrassed for starting at him. She also deeply hoped that no one had noticed her either.

"Syaoran, Eriol this is Sakura Kinomoto. She goes to Reeds Private School with us also we happen to have some classes together, which makes it a lot easier since she knows her way around. Aside from that yesterday happened to be her birthday. Which by the way, we still have to celebrate properly since last night didn't count due to what happened, so we better think of something to do," said Mei Lin in an enthusiastic voice. At the sight of Mei Lin's enthusiasm for wanting to celebrate Sakura's birthday, Tomoyo sighed. It was already clear to Tomoyo that if they weren't careful Mei Lin would plan something truly outrageous. Moreover, whatever the plan would be, Tomoyo could bet that it would only lead to trouble in the end. Considering that was usually where any of Mei Lin's plans always lead. Furthermore, it could only have two results. One Syaoran would get angry (as always when Mei Lin did something she knew she wasn't supposed to be doing) and second it could only end in disaster. Therefore, Tomoyo believed that the only way to make sure Mei Lin didn't plan something too extreme was to help plan it with her.

"Well whatever we do plan it can't be too outrageous. After all Mei Lin, you have a flair for creating chaos. Even when you aren't planning something, you tend to do it considerably well without help," Tomoyo said sarcastically. Mei Lin on her part just looked at Tomoyo with a mischievous glint in her eye and with a look that said, 'What can I say? I have a flair for the dramatics,' and a slight smirk to top it off. Even though, Mei Lin knew that what Tomoyo had said was meant to be an insult, she on the other hand took it, as a compliment considering what she said was true. Sakura was still watching with amusement at the two girls who were playfully arguing back and forth. As for the guys, she noticed from the corner of her eye that both had rolled their eyes at this entire occurrence. 'They must be used to these kinds of scenes,' Sakura thought as she watched all of them from the side. While Sakura observed the others once again, Mei Lin spoke up,

"Whatever! All I know is that we have to celebrate grandly and in style. We can have the party here at the house or better yet at the 'Fly Away Lair' nightclub. It'll be an awesome event for sure and Sakura is bound to have a fantastic time. We'll invite lots of people and introduce her then to everybody."

By this point, Tomoyo knew that it was time to interrupt Mei Lin from planning the party yet.

"Mei Lin! Let's not start planning the party just yet, okay. First let's talk about it with Sakura and then we'll make arrangements…all right!" said Tomoyo in calm voice to Mei Lin. Mei Lin however looked a bit put out at the fact that nobody wanted to discuss planning the party. Nevertheless, she shrugged it off and figured that she needed to concentrate on her first objective; getting Sakura into the gang. Afterwards, then she could plan the party for two reasons. The first would be to celebrate a new friend's birthday and the second one would be to welcome a new member into the gang. With that plan in mind, Mei Lin smiled to herself. Even though, she realized that she was going to have to put her plan into action quickly. Once again, everybody was silent and during that time, Sakura noticed the grandfather clock that stood in a corner and realized it was getting late. By this point, she knew that she had to get going fast or else Yukito would definitely flip out. Therefore, she spoke up to the others.

"I really hate to breakup this lovely get-together all of sudden. However, I just realized the time and if I don't get to where I'm going, my friend is going to freak out for sure. Therefore, if it's not too much to ask, I was wondering if one of you could give me a ride downtown. It would be greatly appreciated," Sakura, asked nervously not knowing what the reaction would be to her question.

"Sure we'll give you a ride," said Mei Lin happily to Sakura.

"Yeah just tell us where to take you and we will," said Tomoyo.

"Okay, I'm meeting my friend at a place called Solaris. If you don't know how to get there, I'll give you directions," Sakura said to both Mei Lin and Tomoyo. Both girls just nodded their heads and the guys were curious as to where they were taking their new friend so they decided it would be a good idea to tag along.

"If you girls don't mind we'd like to accompany you," asked Eriol politely.

Both Mei Lin and Tomoyo looked at each other and wondered why the guys wanted to tag along. Then they looked over towards Syaoran who as usual was wearing of his indescribable expressions. They both turned to Eriol who just smiled politely and shrugged his shoulders. Since neither of the girls could understand why the guys wanted to come along, they both just shrugged it off as they figured that the guys had nothing better to do except to hangout with them until something else came up. Sakura, herself hadn't objected to the guys tagging along since she figured that it couldn't hurt to have them come. After all what could possibly happen, right.


(Somewhere in L.A. in the Downtown District)


A man with dark hair and in his early thirties was wearing a dark suit and was sitting in a chair at his desk. At this particular moment, he wasn't in the best of moods. Since he just found out that, a nightclub he owned in Tokyo, Japan had been destroyed the previous night. He knew who had done it, the one who would have the nerve to pull it off in plain sight of everybody. For this reason, he was positively outraged at the audacity of the Black Dragons for destroying his property and after that demanding an outright confrontation. In Noda's mind, Li was in position to demand anything. Still if Li wanted a war, then he was going to get one and the consequences would be dire to all. It was well known that Shidoui Noda wasn't a man to be meddled with under any circumstances. For none who dared to oppose him lasted very long amongst the living. He hadn't gotten to where he was today by letting others take what he considered belonged to him and slacking off. In truth, he hadn't always been a man of power or wealth, as he was today. He hadn't been from a rich family or a gang. No! He started like every miscreant in society…from the bottom. He had worked extremely hard for it, at least in his mind he had. Sure, he knew that he also had succeeded by getting rid of his rivals. If they had posed as an impediment to what he wanted, he wouldn't be where he was if it hadn't been for his cunning tactics, and his ruthless ways. All he cared about was power and money, for in his mind those two things were the most important elements that a man needed to have today in order to succeed. Because of that, he could care less for anything else. Since creating his own gang, the development of his business had grown. For this reason, he was glad because soon he would be able to take his business and start overseas. Then finally, he'd be able to tie up loose ends by putting an end to the rest of the Panteras in both the U.S. and Japan, for once he'd be rid of their legacy, as well, as destroying the Black Dragons. Syaoran Li had been a thorn on his side since the day he took over his father's clan. Noda was convinced that the son wasn't any better than the father was. However, he had been proven wrong many times, for Li had demonstrated to be quite resourceful when it came to keeping him out of business. That nightclub which he established in Tokyo had managed to survive only a month and already it was in ruins. At this thought, Noda clutched his fist tightly. He truly hated the Li family. Syaoran's father had ruined him in Hong Kong. However, he managed to settle that score quite easily. Of course, all he had gained in the end was an enemy in Syaoran Li and a promise to seek vengeance whenever they met again. What's more, if there was another thing in the world that Noda truly despised aside from the Black Dragons, it was the Panteras. The Panteras were a powerful gang that was originally from Tokyo, Japan but they were mostly based in Los Angeles now. What Noda had hated the most about them was that their leader much like Li made it so that Noda couldn't do business in Los Angeles. Sure, he knew that he'd been treading on another gang's territory, but business was business and Noda didn't care who he had to step on to achieve his goal. He'd managed very well until Kinomoto had made a pact with the other gangs to keep Noda from expanding his business. To Noda it seemed as if they were conspiring against him to make him leave the city. However, Noda wasn't a fool. He wasn't about to let years of work go down the drain just because nobody liked the way he did business. He also knew that the only way to deal with the problem was to be rid of it. If he got rid of Touya Kinomoto, the Panteras would be lost, and the pact between the gangs in L.A. would end. Therefore, he carefully planned it out. He made sure nothing linked him to the murder of Touya Kinomoto. In fact, he made sure nobody would ever find out he had planned it. The day Kinomoto died Noda celebrated in triumph. However, there had been a slight setback and it was something that Noda hadn't counted on. After the unfortunate death of Kinomoto, there had been rumors of a situation that Noda had never expected, for it seems that Kinomoto had managed to acquire certain documents that could ultimately destroy him both publicly and financially.

At first in the beginning, Noda managed to overlook the theft of the papers. However, with time he eventually began to wonder if they'd been kept at all. Why, isn't it that after Kinomoto died weren't they used against him? He knew that if the documents still existed the Panteras were probably the only ones who had them. Therefore, Noda knew that those documents were dangerous to have in the hands of his enemies. For it implicated, him in many illegal activities and that could discredit him in so many ways and truly ruin him in the end. Unfortunately, for him he had no idea who could have them. His first thought was of Kinomoto's younger sister, but she no longer lived in the United States. Not to mention, as far as he was concerned he even knew that she didn't ever join the Panteras. Still he couldn't rule her out. For in his mind, Sakura Kinomoto had every right to be angry with him and want revenge for the death of her brother. However, there was also the present leader of the Panteras, Yukito Tsukishiro. He could possibly have them. As mentioned before, Noda wasn't sure who had them. However, it was something that was obviously worrying him. Therefore, in an act of desperation he had come to a final solution. He knew the only way to deal with this problem was to get rid of the Panteras that were still living. He figured that they've been a long-lasting threat against him for too long that it was time that they were eliminated. He didn't care how it happened; he just wanted the job done. For that reason, he sent out word to his gang in both continents that the Panteras were to be gotten rid of. That also included the Kinomoto family. Noda couldn't take any chances of having any Kinomoto staying alive. In theory if one proved to be a nuisance, the rest would only follow suit.


(Back in Tokyo, Japan)


It took awhile for everybody to leave the Li mansion. First both Mei Lin and Syaoran got into a heated discussion on which ride to take. For Mei Lin wanted to take the car, but Syaoran wanted to take the bikes. After what seemed like forever, they finally came to a compromise. The girls would take the car and the guys would follow on their bikes. Five minutes later in the driveway Tomoyo said, she'd forgotten her video camera. She said she wanted to have it in case she found something exciting to tape. Mei Lin just rolled her eyes, as if she wasn't surprise to see that coming. As for the guys, well Eriol looked amused to see his girlfriend acting like that. However, Syaoran looked as if he was quietly counting to ten to keep himself in check. Sakura on her part, was wondering how she was going to explain them to Yukito. Not that he would mind, of course. Still, the place they were going to, she wasn't sure how to explain to them where they were going. She figured that she'd leave the explanation for when she really had to. Therefore, instead of dwelling on the matter she jumped into the backseat of the car that she and her friends were going in and instantly gave Mei Lin directions to where they were going.

Somehow, things were going to get interesting for sure. Not just for Sakura but for the rest of them, as well. None of them ever imagined what was going to come next.


A/N: Hi! Everybody I know it has been awhile since I have last updated and I am hoping none of you are giving up on this story. I am going to continue it so do not worry about me not updating. The reason it is taking me a lot longer to update is because my computer at home is on the fritz and I am using the one at school. This means I can only work on it when I get the chance. I hope that I will be able to get a new computer soon so I can work on it at home. In the meantime, be patient with me, all right! At least, I have updated this chapter. Hope everybody likes it and reviews it.