Hey guys! Another update! Told ya I'd do it a lot! Thanks for the reviews! Me happy! They make me work really hard on this. I hope you guys will enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: CCS is not mine... Too bad... BUT! The story line is! YAY!

Previously on Queen of Clubs:

Reassuring herself of Li's complete lack of interest in herself, Sakura drifted off to sleep. Yet her thoughts turned out to be just the opposite of reality, for as Sakura went to bed thinking of the bigheaded King, Syaoran tossed and turned in his own bed, trying his best to NOT think about the emerald-eyed inductee.

Chapter 6 – Brainstorming Blues

When Sakura awoke the next morning, she found that all of her friends were already awake and packing up their sleeping bags. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Sakura got up and greeted her friends, "Morning!"

"Good morning, Sakura!" they chorused.

"Sorry if we woke you up, but all of us have early flights… And it's already 7 o'clock! " said Rika.

Sakura merely mumbled out a "That's alright" and began to gather her own things.

After packing up their belongings, the girls separated to take showers and get dresses, later on meeting for a quick breakfast. By that time, the kitchen was already filled with people trying to get some food into their stomachs before embarking on their trips. After eating, Rika, Chiharu, and Tomoyo left to go to their rooms to get their baggage. When the three girls arrived at the front entrance of the caste, they found very dejected looking Naoko and Sakura waiting for them by the door. Both of the new inductees had to fight back tears at seeing their friends leave – even if it was just for a few days.

"W-we'll miss you guys," stammered Sakura, tears filling her bright green eyes.

"AWWW!" was heard coming from every other girl and the friends shared a tight group hug.

After saying their goodbyes, Rika, Tomoyo, and Chiharu got into a cab that was waiting to take them to the airport and disappeared. Naoko and Sakura stood at the front entrance and watched their friends drive away. Periodically, Naoko had to stroke Sakura's back to comfort her and keep her from crying.

"Aww… Is little Ms. Kinomoto scared without her friends to keep her out of harm's way?" said a mocking male voice behind the two friends.

Sakura whirled around only to find herself face to face with a leering Syaoran Li. Instead of sadness, her eyes immediately filled with anger. 'How can a person simply take advantage of another's misery only to mock them?' she thought, throwing Syaoran a glare. Yet deciding not to repeat the purse incident of the day before, Sakura took a deep breath and turned to Naoko.

"I believe it would be best for us to start working on our tasks. We only have six days to finish them, so we better start right away."

Naoko, sensing the tension between her friend and The King, nodded and started walking away. "Alright, Sakura. I'll see you at lunch?"

"Sure!" said Sakura and was about to start walking away herself when a strong hand tightly grasped Sakura by the arm.

"You know," said Syaoran in a dangerously low voice, "it isn't polite to ignore someone. Especially if that someone holds a lot of power over this society."

His tone was cold and overconfident. Sakura looked him straight in the eyes and said, "I also know that it isn't polite to mock people of their unhappiness." At that she forcibly yanked her arm out of Syaoran's grasp and turned to walk away.

Syaoran watched Sakura's retreating form, thinking about what she had just said. 'This girl is always trying to point out the wrongs in my actions.' A smirk appeared on his thin lips. 'It's too bad she doesn't know that I always get the last word.'

As he watched Sakura make her way to the left wing of the mansion, Li noticed that Sirota was also watching her from across the room. Syaoran's eyebrows furrowed, forming a deep crease in the middle of his forehead. 'Is he staring at her again?' His eyebrows furrowed even more as he saw Sirota move after Sakura and Syaoran found himself unable to keep down an unpleasant growl.

Sirota watched Sakura walk across the floor of the front hall. "There she is – my beauty…" he whispered as his maroon eyes engulfed her form.

Sakura was wearing an outfit that was, of course, one of Tomoyo's creations: form-fitting white pants and a light pink top that was adorned with white and pink rhinestones. Her amber-brown hair was neatly brushed and pinned at one side with a pink, flower-shaped hairclip. To Sirota, she looked like freshly-opened spring blossom, just waiting to be picked by him.

"Gorgeous…" whispered out Sirota and, moving some of his jet-black hair from his eyes, he made his way after Sakura.

On her way to the new wing, Sakura stopped by Tomoyo's room and picked up a notebook and a pen for jotting down some decorating ideas. When she arrived at her final destination, she began to brainstorm for theme ideas for the new wing.

"Tomoyo said to make every room different, But I also want to have a theme to tie all of the rooms together." She walked from room to room, trying to imagine different shades and themes for the rooms.

She ended her walking tour the lounge of the new wing, sat down on the bare wooden floor, and sighed in desperation.Suddenly, an unpleasant chill ran through her spine, making Sakura involuntarily straighten her back.

"Having some trouble, my dear Cherry Blossom?" said a silky voice behind her. Sakura turned her head and found Sirota leaning on a wall near the doorway. His eyes were intently watching her face, and Sakura began to once again feel uncomfortable.

"Umm… A little. I'm having problems deciding on the central idea to tie the room together."

Sirota strolled across the room and kneeled in front of Sakura, making her move her body slightly away from his direction.

"Would you like me to help you?" Sirota said, inching closer to close the gap Sakura formed between them by moving away.

"Umm…" Sakura was able to mutter out before…

"I don't think that would be a good idea, Sirota. After all, the inductees are supposed to do their assignment with no help but their own friends'," Syaoran's voice boomed across the room, making both Sirota and Sakura flinch.
Sakura looked at Syaoran and, although she noticed that at that moment Li looked more brooding than usual, she threw him a thankful look. Sirota, on the other hand, threw Syaoran an icy glare.

"Ah, but what is a better way to become friends than by spending time together, right Ms. Sakura?" Sirota's eyes bore into Sakura and she found herself feeling even more uncomfortable.

"Ummmm….."

"Just let her do her own work. If she can't complete this simple task, she has no place in The Deck.

'OK,' thought Sakura, 'I'm grateful that he's saving me from this creep and all, but he doesn't have to be so harsh!'

Sirota's eyes narrowed into tiny slits as he looked upon Syaoran's emotionless face. "Perhaps you're right," he bit out through clenched teeth, but turning back to Sakura, he changed his voice to a once again silky tone. "But if you ever need my help, my dearest Sakura, you can be assured I will be there to lend you a hand." He then gently took one of Sakura's hands into his own, lifted it to his lips, and gave it a lingering kiss.

Syaoran watched the scene with pure rage roaring in his amber eyes. 'She won't let me say a word to her without it blowing up in my face, yet she'll let him take such advantage of her!'

"Umm…" muttered Sakura as Sirota got up and left the room, giving Syaoran one last glare as he passed him by.

After Sirota exited the lounge, a deadly silence filled the room. Sakura wondered if she should thank Li for saving her from creepy ambassador's advancements, but before she could even think of how to begin, Syaoran broke her thoughts.

"You need to learn how to say 'NO'." His amber eyes were staring at her startled face. "You seem to have no trouble being defiant with me, so why do you let others push themselves on you? If you don't want his help, simply say 'No'…"

Sakura blinked at his serious face. 'Is he… worried about me?'

Syaoran turned to walk away but stopped as he heard Sakura's soft voice call out a small "Thank you." He glanced back at her and saw her giving him a grateful smile. He felt something deep within his chest contract, making it difficult for him to breathe. Scared at his body's reaction to Sakura's smile, Syaoran quickly turned and walked out of the room, leaving Sakura to her thoughts.

'Perhaps his majesty Syaoran Li really isn't as bad as I thought he was…' Sakura smiled to herself.

Getting her mind back to her task, Sakura once again began to brainstorm for theme ideas. While thinking, Sakura's eyes shifted to the large window that adorned the lounge's walls. Looking through the glass, Sakura saw the beautiful gardens that surrounded that part of Clubs Castle.

The green grass peacefully glowed in the April sunlight, giving off a warm aura to the flowers that bordered the lawn. Beautiful roses – in shads of red, pink, and white - adorned the walls and hedges of the castle. Brightly colored lilies, peonies, and violets grew in thick flowerbeds right outside the huge window.

Sakura took in the natural beauty of the landscape and smiled. She noticed that Takahiro – the inductee in charge of the castle's gardens – faithfully attended to his task, watering the variety of flowers that grew by the window.

'Flowers,' though Sakura, "Of course! Flowers! The theme will be flowers!" Smiling brightly, she picked up her pen and jotted down a few ideas into her notebook before quickly running to find Meilin.

"I need that money card from Meilin t go to the store and buy paint to start coloring the rooms." Sakura sighed happily, "The worst part is over! Now all I have to do is follow through with my ideas!"