Hey guys! Another chapter! One of you mentioned that the chapters were too short... This one is little bit longer. I'll think about making all chapter longer, if you would really like it... I just didn't want to overwhelm anyone with too much stuff. I can get pretty carried away - I didn't want to bore anyone.
Anyhow! Enjoy this chapter! And don't forget to review! I really enjoy reading everyone's comments.
Previously of Queen of Clubs:
'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!"
Chapter 7 – Crash!
After Sakura figured out a theme for the new wing, she got a credit card from Meilin, who then also offered up her personal errand boy Seiriu to accompany her. Seiriu, with his overly-friendly personality, was more than eager to help Sakura with paint shopping. So after getting a nice little BMW from Tori – who was in charge of all cars for that week – Sakura and Seiriu went to a store and bought the best paint they could find.
After finally getting all colors that she needed and returning home, Sakura changed into less fancy clothes – some plain jeans and a t-shirt – and began painting the rooms.
Unfortunately for Sakura, painting the rooms turned out to be a more difficult and a more time-consuming task than she originally thought it to be. Only at the end of the fourth day was Sakura finished with paining the last room.
"Phew! Done!" said Sakura, putting down her paintbrush. She proudly looked upon her work. The first bed and bathroom set was painted in a soft green; the second set of rooms was done is a beautiful shade of peach; the next bath and bedroom were colored in a calming lavender; the fourth set of bed and bathrooms was painted in alight red; and the last set of rooms was done in a powdery pink. The lounge of the wing Sakura decided to paint a nice shade of gold to go along with the elegance of the rest of the mansion.
Tired after many hours of work, Sakura decided to grab something to eat. She glanced at her watch and screamed, "Eleven o'clock at night!" Her eyes saddened, "That probably means that Naoko is already in bed…"
Yet she still decided to go to the kitchen and get herself a snack. Alone or not alone - a girl has got to eat!
As Sakura was walking through the house on her way to the kitchen, she began to feel as if she was being watched. A creepy chill ran through her body and she quickened her pace. When she heard some footsteps behind her, however, Sakura broke into a run and made her way to the light of the kitchen door.
By the time Sakura actually made it into the kitchen, she was deathly pale and out of breath. Stepping into the comforting light of the room, Sakura closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of relief.
Opening her eyes, she found that despite the late hour, three people were still in the kitchen: Meilin, Seiriu, and the one and only Syaoran Li. They were all sitting at the table, each enjoying a warm cup of tea. When they saw Sakura run into the kitchen, they threw her a concerned look. Well, Meilin and Seiriu threw Sakura a worried look; Syaoran merely threw Sakura on weird glance.
"Is everything alright, Sakura?" asked Meilin. Sakura let out a nervous laugh.
"Y-yes. I'm alright… It's just that on my way here, I got this creepy feeling – as if I was being watched. And I could have sworn I heard footsteps behind me! That just really scared me… I don't know how I'm going to make it back to my room…" she said, fearful tears filling her eyes.
Syaoran's eyes narrowed as he continued to silently drink his tea. Meilin only gave Sakura a sympathetic smile while adding, "That's odd… Say Syaoran, didn't Sirota just leave to go and check up on Sakura?" Syaoran grunted, furrowing his eyebrows.
The mention of Sirota made Sakura wrinkle her nose in disapproval. For the past few days it seemed to her that Sirota hardly left her side - always "checking up" on Sakura's work, always asking her if she needed any help. It seemed as if whenever Sakura happened to be by herself for more than 10 minutes, Sirota would show up and begin his usual staring. Sakura began to feel like that creepy ambassador was purposely attempting to get her alone. Numerous times Sirota would get close to Sakura – too close for her own comfort. Luckily, every time Sirota would try to advance even further, he would be interrupted by Meilin, Naoko, or an always grave-looking Syaoran.
"Come to think of it, you're right…" drew out Seiriu, "You didn't run into him, Sakura?" Sakura shook her head and walked over to the fridge to get herself a snack.
Syaoran watched Sakura from where he sat, his amber eyes closely following her movements as she rummaged through the fridge and took out a sandwich. 'Sirota must have been following Sakura on her way here… He just won't leave her alone, will he?'
Despite his best attempts to keep Sirota busy with all sorts of work, Syaoran seemed to simply not be able to get Sirota away from the green-eyed inductee. Not knowing himself why, Syaoran did not like the idea of Sirota hanging around Sakura that much. 'The last thing I needed is me having to worry about a silly little girl's comfort,' he once again scolded himself.
Grabbing a sandwich and closing the fridge, Sakura turned to sit at the table but noticed The King looking at her with dark eyes. She blinked at him with a lost expression. 'Is there something on my face?'
Yet Syaoran quickly turned his gaze away from Sakura and once again concentrated on his cup of tea.
"So are you finished painting the rooms, Sakura?" asked Seiriu as Sakura took her seat beside him.
"Yup! Tomorrow I'll be going shopping again. This time I'll need to buy furniture, linens, and accessories for the rooms."
"Wow. Seems like you'll have your work cut out for tomorrow…" said Meilin with a smile. "Do you think you'll need any help?" she pointed towards Seiriu.
Sakura feverishly nodded her head. "Great! I'd love to come along with you!" chirped Seiriu. I helped you with buying the paint, so why not go this time? Will that be alright Meilin?" he asked, turning to The Page with big puppy eyes.
Meilin laughed at Seiriu's expression and said, "Sure. Just be sure to be back by five – I'll need you to do some filing for me."
Sakura smiled happily, "Thank you SO much!"
"It's entirely my pleasure," beamed Seiriu, but before he could further express his excitement he was stopped by Syaoran's icy death glare. Seiriu blinked at Syaoran, 'What did I do now?'
Meilin, noticing the looks that her cousin was throwing at Seiriu, gave out a knowing laugh and patted Seiriu on the back. "Come on... There's something that I still need you to finish for me before we can call it a night." Seiriu nodded and followed Meilin out of the kitchen, more than glad to get away from Li's threatening frown.
"I'll see you tomorrow morning? How about 7 o'clock - at the front door?" he asked before completely disappearing from the room.
"Sure! See you at seven!" waved Sakura, going back to eating her sandwich. She quietly munched on her meal as Li continued to slowly sip his tea. Although they were the only two people in the room, neither uttered a sound to the other.
After a few minutes Sakura noticed that Syaoran had already finished his beverage and was now simply sitting at the table, looking out into space with a slight frown adorning his otherwise perfect forehead.
"Are you waiting for someone, Li?" Sakura asked timidly, afraid of angering him for breaking the silence.
His amber eyes quickly shifted to her face. "Waiting for you to finish your food," he said in a sharp tone and looked away.
"Hoee…?" Sakura blinked at him.
Li let out a heavy sigh, "You said that you were scared to walk back by yourself. I need to stop by the left wing tonight – to see if the other inductees are working on their tasks, so…" His cold voice trailed off as Li found it hard for him to say that he wanted to walk her to her room.
'Jeez! What is it about this girl?' he thought angrily.
He coughed to clear his throat and barked in his usual icy manner, "So hurry up and finish your sandwich before I leave! I don't have all night to sit here! Unlike you, I actually have important business to take care of." He stood up from his seat and put his tea cup in the sink.
Hearing that Li would walk her to her room made Sakura's heart soar. 'He might be a jerk, but it's better than walking alone and risking bumping into Sirota!' She quickly stuffed the rest of her sandwich into her mouth, nearly chocking on it, and then put away her plate.
"Thank you so much for waiting for me, Li!" she smiled at him as they began walking through the halls of the mansion. Syaoran only grunted in reply.
'Stupid girl. She's probably still scared of the dark. I wouldn't be surprised if she only imagined the footsteps. And yet… Sirota has been hanging around her a lot… I wonder if it was him who was lurking behind her.' Syaoran shifted his eyes from one side of the hall to the next, trying to see if anyone else was in the room. 'Empty…'
Walking through the dark halls of the house once again made Sakura feel very uncomfortable. She quickened her pace and unknowingly moved her body closer to Syaoran's. Noticing that Sakura was scared made Li smirk. 'She IS scared!' Thinking of how he can best take advantage of the situation, Syaoran slowed down his pace and let Sakura walk in front of him.
Sakura turned her head and noticed that Syaoran was no longer by her side. She stopped dead in her tracks. "L-li?" she said in a trembling voice.
She felt her body tense up in fear and found it hard to breathe. When she was about to call out The King's name once more, she felt a strong hand touch her shoulder.
"Boo," said a low voice right by her ear.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sakura screamed and shut her eyes in terror. She had her heart set on running away but felt a set of muscular arms wrap around her body to prevent her from escaping.
Sakura could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest and knew that any moment tears would start falling from her eyes. "Please, let me go!" she cried and shut her eyes even more tightly.
Yet the reply she got was unlike any that she was expecting. The grasp around her loosened and she heard Syaoran's laughter right in front of her face. She slowly opened up one of her eyes and found an amuse Syaoran looking at her scared face.
"YOU!" she bit out and attempted to break free of his hold. "How could you! You scared the living daylights out of me!" Her soft hands pushed against Syaoran's well-built chest to try and push him away.
Yet Syaoran only kept laughing. "You should have seen your face! God, who would have knows that you're such a scaredy cat!" His amber eyes glimmered with genuine mirth as he observed Sakura's pathetic attempts at breaking free.
"I am NOT a scaredy cat, you insensitive jerk! I just don't like it when people sneak up on me!" Sakura yelled in response, trying her best to get away from Li's firm grip on her body.
Feeling Li's body so close to her own made Sakura's chest fill with a strange, warm feeling. She looked up to see his face and mentally gasped. His normally handsome face looked absolutely gorgeous when it was adorned with a smile. Suddenly she became painfully aware of her palms pushing into Syaoran's muscular torso. She noticed that even through the fabric of his forest-green shirt, she could feel the radiating heat of his body. Being so close to him allowed her to sense a faint aroma of sandalwood coming from his clothes. His warmth and alluring aroma began to make her feel relaxed, but luckily she was able to control herself and pushed harder in attempt to bring herself out of the range of his sensual scent.
Li noticed that the feisty girl he was holding in his arms hesitated for a split second before she began to pry herself away from him even more. Catching her indecision caused something within him leap. He was taken aback when he realized that 'something' was HOPE. 'D-do I really hope she likes being close to me?' he asked himself, curiously looking at the struggling Sakura. He tightened his grip on her to prevent her from escaping, admitting to himself that he liked their proximity.
Feeling Li's grasp tighten around her made a faint blush appear on Sakura's cheeks. However, before anything else could have happened, the two of them heard heavy running footsteps echo down the hall. In a few moments a very concerned Meilin ran towards them.
"Is everything alright? I just heard Sakura's scream what happe-" her sentence was cut short as the scene before her eyes hit her in realization. A blushing Sakura was desperately trying to push herself away from Li, whose arms were still tightly holding her in place. To add to the oddity of the scene, Syaoran was smiling. And not the cold, mocking smirk that Meilin's cousin became known for, but a genuine, pleased smile.
"What's going on here?" Meilin asked in disbelief.
"Your JERK of a cousin decided to give me a heart attack – THAT'S what's going on here!" bellowed Sakura. Meilin slowly arched one of her thin eyebrows and shifted her eyes towards Li. When Syaoran saw the look Meilin was giving him, he awkwardly cleared his throat and hastily let go of Sakura.
A big grin formed on Meilin's lips. "Oh, I see. Well, if that's all, I'll be going back to bed. Do try to keep it down… People DO need their rest." She gave the couple a playful wink and was about o leave when the trio heard a crash coming from Tomoyo's room where Sakura was currently staying.
"What was that?" Sakura asked in a frightened voice, once again moving closer to Syaoran. Both Meilin and Syaoran frowned. "I don't know," replied Meilin, "but I think it would be best for us to go check it out."
Sakura gulped and nodded. 'Great… Juuuuuust great.'
Walking closer to the room, Sakura began to tremble more and more, being slowly overpowered by fear. Suddenly, she felt something warm push her slightly to the side.
"Stay close behind me," said Syaoran in his cold tone, his strong arm pushing Sakura behind himself. Sakura nodded and followed his orders.
Meilin watched her cousin protect Sakura with shock and amusement. 'Who would have thought? Syaoran is actually worried about out little inductee.'
When the three of them neared the room, they noticed that the door stood wide open. Syaoran looked through the opening and found that no one was inside. He did, however, notice that the window of the room was open, letting the cool night air breeze through the room.
Seeing that no one was inside made Sakura let out a sigh of relief. "May be the wind simply knocked something over?" she asked, looking around the room.
Soon her eyes caught the origin of the crash – on the floor by the opened window, a glass picture frame lay shattered in pieces. "Oh no," Sakura screamed as she rushed towards the precious object. She picked the frame up, holding it face down in her hands.
"What?" asked Meilin. "This picture frame! It was custom made for one of Tomoyo's favorite pictures. The picture was of me wearing for the first time one of Tomoyo's outfits that she's made for me. See?" Sakura turned the picture frame towards Meilin and Syaoran. Yet they couldn't see – the picture was no longer in the frame.
"Hoee!" screamed Sakura. "But that's impossible! The glass of that picture frame was especially sealed - with no way to get the picture out. Tomoyo wanted to keep that photo safe. Where could it be?" She began to frantically look around the floor of the room.
Syaoran's face became grim. "I suppose that is why he broke the frame…" he said in a slow voice.
"Who broke the frame?" asked Sakura, looking up at Li; Meilin, too, gave Syaoran a questionable look.
"Whoever it was that came to take that picture," he growled out. "I suggest that tonight you stay with your friend Naoko. I shall take care of this. Meilin, walk her to Naoko's room."
The two girls watched Li with surprised faces. Noticing that they were not moving, Syaoran yelled, "NOW!" and Meilin grabbed Sakura by the arm, dragging her out of the room.
Li stood in the middle of the room, watching the open window. 'This is going too far…'