Another update! Phew! I've been writing like crazy! Muahaha...ha.
Anyhow! I know some of you had a few questions... So I'm gonna take the time and answer a couple of them! Here goes:
Q: Why 'Queen of Clubs' and not 'Queen of Hearts'?
A: Because that's what everyone would expect:b But seriously,
I just couldn't picture Syaoran as the King of Hearts... He's just not
the Hearts kinda guy, you know...
Q: Why is everyone a club?
A: Because they belong to The Deck's branch in Japan, which
represents the suit of Clubs. The other suits are in other countries...
Alrighty... That's it for now... More Q&A later! Read on and review! I hope you enjoy reading this story... I'm working on the next chapter already, so watch out!
Previously on Queen of Clubs:
"I suggest that tonight you stay with your friend Naoko. I shall take care of this. Meilin, walk her to Naoko's room."
…
Li stood in the middle of the room, watching the open window. 'This is going too far…'
Chapter 8 – Jealous Acts
After making sure that Sakura has made it safely to Naoko's room, Syaoran decided to take matters into his own hands and find out if his suspicions were correct.
'There can be only one person that would go to such lengths to get Sakura's picture…' Making his way to the fourth level of the mansion, Syaoran's thoughts became as dark as the halls he was walking through. 'Sakura was lucky I stayed behind to walk her to the room. Who knows what would have happened if she had to go by herself.'
In his brooding thoughts, Syaoran didn't notice how he already came to the door of Sirota's bed chamber. 'This is it…'
Without knocking, Syaoran threw open the door and surprisingly found Sirota in his bed. Surprised, Sirota sat up in his bed; his jet-black hair tussled from laying down. His bedcovers lid down his upper body, revealing his bare chest. Obviously, Sirota has been in bed for some time.
Syaoran watched Sirota throw him a questioning look as he tried to understand the situation. 'If HE'S been in bed, then who…?'
"What the hell is going on, Li?" said Sirota in a less than friendly tone. Immediately Syaoran's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
"Where did you go after you left the kitchen?" Li decided to cut straight to the chase – he felt that there was no need to waltz around the subject.
Sirota seemed to be surprised by Syaoran's question but calmly answered, "I went straight to bed."
Syaoran's amber eyes focused in on Sirota's face. "But didn't you say you were going to check on Kinomoto's before you would retire?" He knew he got him there, yet Sirota showed no sign of intimidation. "I did indeed say so, but I felt so tired that I decided to check on Miss Sakura in the morning."
Li stared at Sirota for a few moments before mentally cursing and turning to walk away. "Anything else, Li?" Sirota's voice sounded almost like a challenge, making Syaoran look back at the ambassador with a newfound dislike.
"No. That will be it… for now," drew out Li in a chillingly fearful tone. With that, Syaoran walked out of Sirota's room and closed the door behind him.
Waiting until he heard Li's footstep die away behind the door, Sirota breathed a sigh of relief. 'That was a close one…'
He then reached deep underneath his pillow and took out a small photograph. Smiling down at the picture, he traced its outline with his fingertips. "My beauty…" he whispered, placing a soft kiss onto the piece of paper and replacing it to its hiding place. "Soon I will make you mine, my dear Cherry Blossom…"
After spending the night with Naoko, Sakura woke up and quickly got ready for her shopping trip with Seiriu. Though last night's frightening incident still loomed over her head, she decided to not let it occupy her thoughts too much.
'If I want to make it through this task, I'll need to focus,' she thought with determination. After putting on another one of Tomoyo's custom-made outfits – a light blue skirt that reached down to her knees and a silky white blouse - Sakura made her way to the front door of the mansion.
'It's almost seven. I hope I won't make Seiriu wait for me…' thought Sakura, clipping her hair to the side with a sky-blue rhinestone hairclip as she entered the front hall. She momentarily thought that may be she was overdressed for a simple day of shopping. After all, she even wore a pretty little pair of low, white heels to go along with the outfit! But deciding that it was too late to go back and change anyways, she made her way straight towards the entrance.
To her surprise the person that Sakura found waiting by the front door was NOT Seiriu.
"L-li?" Sakura stuttered out in a shocked voice. 'What's he doing up so early? It's only 7 o'clock in the morning!'
Syaoran's eyes slowly made their way towards Sakura and lingered at her sight. Noticing her elegant outfit, Syaoran couldn't help but once again think of how beautiful Sakura was. Though he's noticed her gorgeous curves on the very first day of their meeting, seeing Sakura in a skirt for the first time made him reevaluate her body. The outcome was pleasing.
Traveling her body up and down, making sure to take in the sight of Sakura's long, slender legs, Syaoran felt his cheeks warm up in a blush.
'W-what the-? Since when do I blush!' he cried to himself, unwillingly turning his eyes away from Sakura's body before his thoughts would get him in deeper trouble.
He coughed instead of greeting Sakura and explained, "After yesterday's incident I thought it would be best for me to accompany you. You know – just in case something happens."
Sakura watched Syaoran explicate himself to her, not understanding why he couldn't seem to look her in the eyes while talking. Sakura gave him an awkward smile, not knowing how to react to Li's concern for her well-being.
"T-thank you for worrying," she began, "but you shouldn't have troubled yourself over me." Syaoran gave her a surprised look as Sakura continued. "I know that after last night I should be worried, but I'm sure I'll be Ok. After all, Seiriu will be with me!" She gave Li a reassuring smile to try and calm him down, yet to her surprise the effect it had on Li was just the opposite. Instead of calming down, Li was now looking at her through an ice glare.
'Seiriu. How could I have been so stupid as to forget that she would be going with him? Is that why she is all dressed up…?' Syaoran began to feel an unpleasant tugging inside of his chest that made his hands roll into tight fists.
"But wouldn't it be better if you had an escort that could actually protect you if anything dangerous happened?" Li tried to reason with her. 'Surely she can see that I would make a much better protector than that Seiriu…'
"Seiriu is perfectly capable of protecting me!" said Sakura defensively. She didn't know why Li has all of the sudden taken such an interest in her, but she didn't appreciate him undermining her new friend. "Besides," she added, trying to convince him not to bother, "I'm sure you will be busy with all that 'important business to take care of', as you said last night," grateful as she for his concern, she wouldn't let his arrogance be forgotten. "Seiriu will make the perfect escort…" she said in conclusion and tried to give The King a small smile to lighten the mood.
Syaoran's frown, however, only deepened as he felt a sting of jealousy run through his body, making his fists clench up hard enough for his knuckles to become white with anger. 'She's choosing Seiriu over me, is she?'
As if right on cue, Seiriu himself came strolling into the front hall. "Ah! Sakura! Li! Good morning!" he cheered as he neared the couple. His smile quickly faded as he caught Li's infamous death glare.
"Good morning, Seiriu!" beamed Sakura, "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes!" smiled back Seiriu, once again wanting to get away from Li's fear-provoking stare.
"Have a good day, Li" said the smiling Sakura before she turned to leave with Seiriu. Syaoran, however, only growled in response and stomped away full of jealous rage.
"Hoee…?" Sakura tipped her head to one side, trying to figure out what just happened to The King. 'Why does he seem so angry all of the sudden?' But before she could think any more on the subject, she was dragged away by an overly-excited Seiriu.
Walking towards the giant stairway in the hall, Syaoran grumbled under his nose, "Stupid girl! See if I ever offer her help again!"
"You know, if you want to impress her that much, you should really try being nice to her for a change," said a loud noise from the top of the stairs. Syaoran's eyes shot up and saw a grinning Meilin look at him.
Frowning at his cousin's sly grin, Syaoran bit out, "What are you talking about, Meilin?"
Meilin snickered at Syaoran's pathetic excuse at sounding unaffected by her comment. "And I thought it was obvious," she said through her own laughter, "Judging by the daggers you've been shooting with your eyes, I'd say you don't like seeing Sakura with any other man but yourself."
Syaoran glared at Meilin and continued his walk up the stairs, Meilin right at his heels all the way up.
"I also saw the way you were acting around her yesterday. Holding her close, laughing with her, protecting her…"
"That means nothing!" yelled out an annoyed Syaoran.
"It means you like her, you blockhead!" cried out Meilin, giving him a playful tap on his head. Syaoran growled in response and continued walking to his room.
"I DON'T like her!" he said in an angry voice before trying to loose Meilin by quickening his pace. Yet Meilin was not about to give up. 'It's been so long since I've seen Syaoran give out a genuine smile. I will not allow him to blow this because of his idiotic pride!'
"If you really don't like her, then I suppose you wouldn't care to know who stole that picture of Sakura…" This immediately caught Syaoran's attention and made him stop dead in his tracks.
Although he could not prove that Sirota was the one that stole that photo, Syaoran knew it could be no one else. If Meilin had any information to prove his instincts right, Syaoran was not the one to wait to get it.
"Who?" he said, getting straight to the point. Meilin gave him a knowing smile, "So you DO care…"
"Cut the crap, Meilin. Who stole that picture?" growled out Syaoran in his impatience. Not liking his tone, Meilin gave him a small glare and said in a very stubborn voice, "I won't say anything until you admit to me that you care about Sakura."
Syaoran stared at his cousin with emotionless eyes without muttering a sound for a few minutes. Although he looked cool and composed, he could feel his heart race within his chest. 'D-do I…like her?'
"I…" he finally said, "… care about her well-being. I can't have her be killed by some psycho before I get my revenge on her for her throwing her purse at me!"
Sighing, Meilin decided to give the matter up. "Knowing you, this is as close to a declaration of love as I'll ever hear coming out of your mouth…"
"Just tell me who stole the damn picture!" growled out Syaoran, glaring at his cousin. Meilin's expression immediately sobered. "Sirota," she flatly stated.
"I knew it!" cried out Syaoran, at once glad that he was right and angry at himself for doubting it. "How did you find out?" he asked, shaking Meilin by her shoulders.
"Calm down, Little Wolf! No need to kill the messenger…" said Meilin, escaping his grasp. "I had my suspicions all along, so I sneaked into his room just now while he was taking a shower. I found a picture of Sakura underneath his pillow. Pretty disturbing, if you ask me…"
Syaoran clenched his fists, "I knew that creep was up to something. Too long has he been watching Sakura…"
Meilin smirked once more, "So you noticed someone staring at Sakura? Interesting…"
Catching Meilin's tone, Syaoran gave her a quick glare. "Shut it! Sirota was just making it really obvious. It was hard NOT to notice." Syaoran began to feel ridiculous, always having to explain himself to his cousin. 'Why can't she just let the subject go…?'
"Well," said Meilin with the same smirk plastered on her face, "I can't deny Sirota's lack of discreetness, but… I know that there's more to it than you're telling me. I've known you for my entire life, Syaoran – no matter how much you try to hide, I'll always find you out."
'How can there be something to find out when even I don't know what I'm hiding…' Syaoran thought to himself. Desiring to escape the subject, Syaoran switched the conversation to the matter at hand – Sirota.
"I need to go and take care of Mr. Tsu. I think The Ace won't have a problem if I kick this creep out." Syaoran almost turned to go, but was stopped my Meilin.
"Are you crazy! He's the Ambassador to China! You can't get rid of him now – we're in the middle of peace talks!"
Syaoran's brows furrowed. 'Damn! She's right… The Deck's houses of Japan and China have always had problems –but never as much as they have been lately. The competition between the two Suits is beginning to be unbearable… and even dangerous. We can't kill our only link to the Suit of Spades right in the middle of peace talks!'
"Well, then what am I supposed to do! I can't just let him hurt Sak- umm…. I mean Kinomoto!" stammered Syaoran. If he was trying to conceal his growing attraction to the emerald-eyed inductee, Syaoran was failing miserably. Luckily, Meilin chose not to pick on Syaoran's name blunder.
"Warn Sakura. I'll alert Uncle of the situation. Also, do your best to keep Sirota busy. You know that the peace talks will be over in a week or two… So you just have to keep him away from Sakura for that long. After that, we can send Sirota back to China," said Meilin with a serous face.
"I suppose you're right… I'll tell Kinomoto about it today. But keeping Sirota busy is harder than you make it out to be," sighed out Syaoran.
Meilin gave her cousin a firm pat on the back, "And I'm sure you would know! I've noticed how you've been trying to keep him away from Sakura these past few days." She gave out a loud laugh as she watched Syaoran's face color with a pink flush.
"I wasn't trying – I was just – I -" Syaoran was, for once, at a loss of words. Meilin laughed even harder at his reaction.
"Syaoran," she said with mirth, "you and I need to have a heart to heart talk about your courting procedure. Quite frankly – you don't have one."
Syaoran growled at his cousin and said, "I will worry about that when I'll be trying to court someone. It's ridiculous of you to assume that I would ever be interested in someone as common as Kinomoto! Now if you'll excuse me, Meilin, I need to go and take care of some business."
Meilin watched her cousin stomp off into the direction of his study. Though she knew that a match between Syaoran and Sakura would be perfect – after all, her cheerful nature could soften up her cousin's harsh ways – Meilin understood that it would take a lot for Syaoran to let go of his pride. She knew very well that Syaoran would never settle for someone that isn't even a Face Card.
Showing a distressing smile, Meilin sighed out and hoped with all her heart that her too-proud-for-his-own-good cousin would forget about his big head and would go after Sakura like she knew he wanted to.
Stomping into his study, Syaoran loudly slammed the door behind him. Grumbling to himself, he sat in a black leather chair by his mahogany desk.
"Stupid Meilin… What does she know?" he muttered angrily. Yet his own thoughts kept brining him back to the moment when he held Sakura tightly in his arms after scaring her half to death. In that moment he knew he didn't want to let her go. He knew he liked feeling her in his arms. He knew… He knew that he liked her.
Sighing, he a hand through his already messy chestnut-brown hair. "Great… I've fallen for a nobody! She's not even a face card, for goodness' sake!" he cried in attempt to talk himself out of the idea of perusing Sakura.
Yet his own mind seemed to be as insistent as Meilin, reminding him, 'You're The King. You can change that…'
Leaning back in his chair, Syaoran closed his amber eyes and tried to compose his own feelings. He WAS The King. He COULD change Sakura's status. But… 'Why bother? She seems to like that Seiriu much more than she likes me, anyway…'
Opening his eyes, he stared at the top left drawer of his desk. Slowly opening it, he pulled out a small, black velvet box. Holding it in his hand, Syaoran traced the small package with his fingers, feeling the soft texture of its covering. Opening the container, Syaoran revealed a tiny clubs-shaped pin. The gold of the brooch sparkled in the light of his study, bringing out the "Q" that was engraved in it.
Letting out a final sigh, Syaoran closed the little box and put it back into its drawer. "Whether I like her or not, she still has to pay for throwing her purse at me!" he grumbled out loud, mentally adding, 'And for choosing that little boy Seiriu over me…'