Tied by Fate
By: pnaixrose
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS! CLAMP does.
Chapter 5: The Trail's Trials
A tiring week of Syaoran teasing Sakura about ghosts later...
It was a quiet, sunny Saturday morning as a group of tired teens waited under the shade of a tree. They were all patiently waiting at the meeting bridge where most people met to hang out. But today was silent and they were the only ones there.
"Who the hell are we waiting for again?" Syaoran asked aggravatingly. He was the only one who wasn't patient. He was leaning against the bridge's railings, looking up at the blue sky. Never before had he seen such a blue sky. Even in the great city of Hong Kong, the skies weren't as blue as this. It was probably because it was usually blocked by the buildings.
"Syaoran, stop being rude," Eriol snapped. He too though was secretly tired of waited, but he was used to it. "Sakura-san's just running a bit late."
"A bit late! You call twenty minutes a bit late!" he argued.
Tomoyo giggled. "You'll have to get use to waiting if you're going to be seeing Sakura-chan a lot," she said.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, Sakura-chan's not exactly on time for anything," Chiharu said with a smile.
Naoko's wide rimmed glasses sparkled as she laughed. "So if you're going to date her, Li-kun, remember to tell her to come an hour before you actually come."
Syaoran eyes boggled out in shock. "WHAT! DATE! Who ever said I was going to date her?" he said angrily.
"Well, Li-kun, all this week you've been teasing her about the ghosts and stuff. And you do seem like you kinda want to her to come," Chiharu said smirking playfully.
"I just want to leave and get this day over with. Hiiragazawa was really the one who wanted me to come," Syaoran said taking a quick glare at Eriol. He in turn, just smiled as usual.
"Why do you call Eriol by Hiiragazawa still, Li? I thought you two have been friends for a long time," Rika quietly and curiously asked.
"Yeah, Syaoran," Eriol said smirking, "Why do you still call me Hiiragazawa? I'm practically your brother."
Syaoran narrowed his eyes. "Well brother, you didn't exactly help me out when I needed it, like when I was ten years old," he snapped coldly. With one more glare, he whipped around and went to look at the flowing water beneath them.
Eriol sighed as Rika, Chiharu, Yamazaki and Naoko wondered what happened between them. Now Rika wished she hadn't brought anything up and she silently scolded herself for bringing any bad memories for Li. He really did seem like a lonely person. Only Tomoyo had a pretty good idea though and she also sighed. But she hadn't known that Eriol and Li didn't exactly get along even now.
"Hey Syaoran, I said I was sorry, you know? I was forbidden to help you even though I wanted to!" Eriol said, breaking out of his usual cool, composed ways.
It was silent for a minute as they all just heard the rushing water.
"But you decided to help Kinomoto with her problem rather than mine?" Syaoran asked quietly, his back still to them.
This caused Chiharu, Naoko, Yamazaki and Rika some shock. What was happening here? Li knew Sakura before too? Well, whatever it was, it seemed pretty deep. It seemed as if they had this special, secret relationship or something. They knew they shouldn't get into it.
Eriol sighed deeply. "Syaoran-"
"Look, just forget it. It's past now," he said crossly.
"Even so, I want you to forgive me for not helping you," Eriol said. "I truly am sorry. You know that. I was forbidden to help, okay?"
Syaoran turned just a bit so he can stare at Eriol straight in the eyes. "Fine, I'll give you what you want. I forgive you, Hiiragazawa."
With a note of finality and some hatred, Syaoran turned around again to look down at the flowing water. He spotted a rock, stuck in the middle of the stream. The rock symbolized him, he realized. He was stuck in the middle of normal lives flowing past and around him, leaving him unmoved except for the small splashes of pity.
"You know what, I'm gonna take a walk," Syaoran said already walking off the bridge, not looking at them, "Call my cell when Kinomoto finally comes. Hiiragazawa knows the number."
And off he went, noiselessly and briskly, into the trees.
Sakura ran as fast as she could, her shoes slapping the pavement noisily. She was slightly sweating from rushing so fast and also from nervousness. Ever since she had called Tomoyo to tell her she wanted to come after all, she's been nervous and she sort of regretted it. But she told herself over and over again that Yuki was going to be there so she eventually forced her to go. But since she had been contemplating whether or not to go this morning again, she realized she was late and had to rush.
As she ran, her small handbag was being thrown recklessly around in the process. Kero appeared from out of the zipper.
"S-S-a-a-k-k-u-u-r-r-a-a...s-s-l-l-o-o-w-w...d-d-o -o-w-w-n-n!" he said, his voice going with the rhythm of how she was running. His eyes were swirls due to the dizziness that he felt.
"Kero-chan! Get back into that bag! I'm twenty minutes late!" Sakura yelled still running.
Kero, eyes still swirling, fell down into the bag once more and closed the zipper.
She was practically there. She was already inside the park where the bridge was. That was where they were supposed to meet. Just a few more minutes and she'd–
Suddenly a sharp pain rushed through her body. Sakura stopped running abruptly.
No, not again. Sakura placed her hand near her heart, where it hurt the most. The pain didn't give mercy. It was sharp and just wouldn't stop hurting.
But it was different this time. It was stronger, more intense than before, and it actually caused serious, physical pain to her.
She dropped the bag with Kero inside and sank down on her knees to the ground. Kero immediately came out. "Hey! Sakura! Are you okay?" He floated over to his mistress worriedly, "Sakura!"
"Make it stop..." Sakura muttered closing her eyes tight, trying to block the pain with no avail. Anger, sadness, loneliness, pain, isolation, misery...they all were felt as she trembled under the pain. She never knew that emotions could ever hurt this much. But then she realized...the only reason she felt like this was...
"L-Li..."
Syaoran walked slowly and silently through the empty park. He was alone again, as always. He had his eyes narrowed as he stared down at the ground. He couldn't believe Hiiragazawa! How could he not have helped him through those years! And yet, he had went running to Tomoeda to help Kinomoto with the Clow Cards! And he wants him to call him by his first name! Hah! Hiiragazawa had said that they were practically brothers! He wasn't even a proper friend! No one was! He was alone! A loner! He would always be one, no matter what! He had no friends at all in Hong Kong, except for a few relative acquaintances. He went to school in a normal high school, but never once had people talked to him willingly. They all knew where he stood. He was a Li, part of the infamous Li Clan. The Li Clan was well known. They had many successful businesses and were wealthy. But they didn't know that Syaoran managed all those businesses and was the leader. They didn't know anything about what he had gone through. They avoided Syaoran as if he was a fly on the wall. Besides, he wasn't exactly the friendliest person in school. He was silent throughout the day and was out absent on most days when the Clan needed him. But he didn't care about them.
He couldn't take it anymore...the sadness...the loneliness...it was all too much for him now. But he couldn't find a way to let it out. He definitely couldn't tell anyone how he was feeling, and even crying didn't help. In fact, he hadn't cried since he was around five years old. He didn't even cry when his father died...and had never cried again. But how? How! How could he let off some steam when there was absolutely no one to talk to? None of his family would like the subject of the conversation and neither would his friends...wait...he didn't even have any fucking friends! No one was with him...he was alone...
Syaoran stopped walking suddenly as the thoughts still ran through his mind. A frantic voice was heard in front of him. It sounded vaguely familiar. He then remembered the annoying little voice. It belonged to that Cerberus stuffed doll! Sakura's guardian! Was Sakura here then? Syaoran listened closer. The voice was frantically yelling. It sounded worried...
Syaoran, not even knowing he had left his spot where he was standing, suddenly felt the urge to run towards that frantic voice. He felt something was wrong...terribly wrong...
When he arrived at the scene, he spotted a person knelt down on their knees. The small guardian was frantically flying around her. His eyes widened in horror. Oh no...
"Kinomoto?"
The person looked up slowly. One of her emerald eyes were closed in pain, the other one barely opened. But it was her. No one else had those most captivating emerald eyes that she had. When she noticed him there, she forced a strained smile. "Li..."
Kero flew up to Syaoran, frowning, nearly wanting to punch the guy in the face. "It's all your fault Gaki! Stop doing it to her!"
Syaoran was alarmed and looked at the guardian in confusion. "What! I didn't do anything!"
"Stop thinking! Stop thinking the thoughts that hurt you the most!" Kero yelled, his small eyes beady and angry and his round head covered in teeny tiny bits of sweat, "In fact! Stop thinking at all! You're only hurting her!"
Syaoran's eyes widened and he immediately knelt down in front of the pained figure of Sakura, his hands on her shoulders. "Kinomoto...are you okay?"
Sakura ignored the question as she cringed in pain. "Li! Wh-What's wrong? Why are you in pain?"
His grip on her shoulder tightened a bit. "Stop thinking about me and think about yourself, dammit!"
Sakura just looked at him sadly as she trembled under his hands. "B-But y-you're the one who's in greater pain..."
Syaoran was struck by this. He realized that it was indeed true...but why was she worried about him? Why would she worry about someone else when she was in pain, too.
"GAKI! Stop thinking the thoughts!" Kero yelled.
Syaoran immediately tried to rid of the thoughts. The thoughts...the anger...hate...loneliness...NO! He couldn't think of them! He shut his eyes, trying to find anything...anything at all that was happy. School? No. His mother? No. His sisters? No. His home? No. His wealth? No. His clan? Definitely no. But what else was there? Was it true that nothing in his life was happy? Nothing at all in his life was happy!
"Ah..." Sakura groaned. Syaoran bit his bottom lip trying to think more. He tried to find something, anything that was at least content in his life. But he realized that his whole life was pitiful. Nothing seemed to be happy.
He was about to give up hope when suddenly he remembered the day before, how he had been talking to Kinomoto at the park. He had been quite content at that time. It had been quite peaceful just being with her, the cherry blossoms falling to the ground around them. He didn't even regret spilling his feelings about his life to her. He had never felt that way before...to anyone...except her...
Suddenly he felt the shivering stop and he opened his eyes. The sight he saw was simply...beautiful – no...even more beautiful than beautiful. Those gorgeous emerald eyes looking up at him, that innocent face...she was better.
"Are you okay?" Syaoran whispered.
Sakura nodded. In one second the pain had just vanished slowly but surely. She wondered what he had been thinking about. What had made him stop those awful, sad thoughts of his?
Syaoran helped her up and looked at her guiltily. He never knew that thinking would ever harm anyone. But then again, this was a very unique connection they had. He didn't want it anymore. He didn't want to just think and hurt someone. His thoughts were his and only his. No one else should be able to feel it...or even worst...get hurt by it. Sakura had the worst side of this connection. She had to feel all the pain he felt while Syaoran only felt a bubbling, joyful feeling whenever she was thinking or feeling something. She would never feel any sadness or barely any real anger, so he would never feel any pain...just her happiness. Syaoran bit on his bottom lip. He was always the one causing the pain. To his mother and sisters, because he looked exactly like his father...to the Elders, because he wouldn't be as great as his father was...to Hiiragazawa, because Syaoran will never forgive him...and now Sakura. He didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want it anymore. But how can he hide his thoughts especially now that he barely could keep it all inside. He hid his eyes from Sakura guiltily. He couldn't look at her knowing that he had caused her to double over and feel all those sad emotions.
Sakura felt the guilt from him and smiled. He was worried? The Li Syaoran was guilty and worried?
"Why are you smiling? I practically hurt you," Syaoran said, looking away.
"But you're worried...that's something I never thought you'd be."
Syaoran was silent. But he knew she was right. He wouldn't have been worried usually, but here he was helping her. What was wrong with him?
"Li...what made you so sa-"
Kero suddenly cut her off. He flew between them. "STOOOOPPPPP!"
He went to whisper to Sakura. "If you remind him, he might start thinking about it all over again!"
Sakura nodded. "But it wasn't like anything I felt before. It hurt more because he's in a deeper pain, Kero-chan...can't you see it? He's sad and lonely and depressed. It seems as if he can't take it anymore..." She cast her emerald eyes towards Syaoran who stood there awkwardly.
Kero narrowed his eyes, feeling animosity towards that gaki. "Oh, who cares?"
Syaoran was the one who interrupted this time. "Kinomoto, you'd better go on ahead. They're not that far from here."
She nodded. "How about you?"
"I'll catch up."
With one last look to Syaoran, she then picked up her bag and walked away silently. When she was completely gone, Syaoran sighed.
Kero went up to his face. "Finally we get to talk." But he wasn't in his usual good mood. His mistress had been hurt and there was nothing he could do. It made him feel helpless. And this gaki was the one who was causing the hurt and anguish.
Kero pointed an accusing paw at Syaoran as he just looked back at the doll emotionlessly. "I'm sworn to protect her but I couldn't do a thing! She was hurting from the inside but there was nothing I could do! It was all because of you that she suddenly felt immense pain. Now, I know that you're not exactly the happiest boy on earth. But, if being gloomy and thinking painful memories hurt Sakura too, you can count that I'll be right there to kick your ass. So if your thoughts ever hurt her again, I'll be there."
Syaoran nodded and sighed.
"I wish you hadn't come, Gaki. Life was so much easier just a few days ago. Then Sakura wouldn't be all stressed out trying to be your friend and then she wouldn't get hurt at all with your sad memories."
"I wish that too."
Kero glared at him. "Just try not to think about all those things...or else it'll be better for you not to think at all...and I can arrange that if you want." He then turned around, his cruel words still vivid in the air, and tried to catch up with Sakura to hide in her bag.
Syaoran stood there. Even a stuffed toy had rejected him. But Cerberus was right...maybe it was better for him not to think at all. As weird as it was, Syaoran absolutely didn't want to hurt Kinomoto again...ever...
"Sugoi!" Chiharu exclaimed as she saw the building where the virtual monster place was.
"Isn't it cool, Rika-chan?" Naoko asked smiling. Rika nodded.
There was a huge sign in front of the building. It read, "The Trail's Trials" and on one side of the sign was a huge person shooting the monster on the other side of the sign with a laser gun.
"They say that it's as if it's reality!" Naoko said excitedly.
"They say that it's fun and thrilling!" added Chiharu.
"It's also not that expensive!" Rika said with a smile.
"There's also many various kinds of monsters inside! Maybe some are-" Yamazaki was cut off by Chiharu's mallet which had appeared out of thin air.
Eriol frowned at the sight before them. "There's also a huge line..."
They looked down from the sign at the line and sweat dropped. It had to be at least a mile long! Some people were impatient and were complaining, while others were content and waiting pleasantly. But all of them were eager to play the new popular game. Tomoeda never really had a big attraction since it wasn't that big. But now that they had "The Trail's Trials," it seemed like even Tokyo residents were there!
"Hoee...oh well. I guess we can't go then!" Sakura said nervously.
But Chiharu grabbed her hand and ran towards the line. "Oh, c'mon, scaredy-cat! Let's go on line before it gets any longer!"
Chiharu dragged the anxious Sakura towards the line while the others followed. Syaoran, his mind somewhere else, was the last one to follow. Eriol, feeling a speck of Syaoran's magic being used and noticing his quietness, was instantly curious on what was on his mind. But after their little conversation at the park's bridge, he didn't want to anger his friend again so he kept quiet.
Rika yawned. "Oh gosh. I'm so tired! We've been waiting here for an hour! No wonder so many people are complaining."
Chiharu was restless and paced back and forth in front of them. "But it's a good thing we got here at 10:30 in the morning...I'm not sure how much longer we're going to wait!"
Yamazaki stretched out his arms as he looked at the long line behind them. "Whoa! Look at that line behind us!" The line was even longer than it was when they had first gotten there. "Oy, Naoko-chan, you okay?" he asked as he noticed his friend standing there quietly.
Naoko was standing as still as a statue. Her mouth was opened and her eyes were drooping behind her wide-rimmed glasses.
"Remember, Naoko-chan," she said to herself, looking like a complete maniac, "The wait will be worth it once you go inside...there's going to be monsters and all sorts of scary things..."
Yamazaki waved his hand in front of her face. Suddenly Naoko began to fall backwards. Rika caught her as Chiharu fanned Naoko's fainted face. Her eyes were swirly with dizziness.
"T-Too hot..." she groaned.
"Whoa, she fainted..." Chiharu said.
"No wonder too. It's so hot!" Eriol added.
Tomoyo however didn't mind the waiting or the heat from the sun. She was having a blast! She of course had her camcorder out recording everyone. Tomoyo sighed with pleasure as she focused the camera on Sakura. Sakura's tense face made her giggle.
"Oh, Sakura-chan, are you still nervous? There's nothing to worry about!" she said from behind the camera.
Sakura frowned. "Hoee! Tomoyo-chan! There are ghosts and monsters and ghouls and...and...everything else scary in there!"
Eriol smiled. "There's also Tsukishiro in there!"
Everyone grinned except Syaoran, who was still as silent as a rock, not even looking at the group of friends. They all knew that Sakura had a crush on Tsukishiro Yukito ever since she was young.
Sakura's face immediately lit up. That's right. That was the reason she came in the first place. Yukito was here! "Oh all right...I'll go," Sakura said sighing. What she would do just for Yukito...
Tomoyo winked at Eriol for thanks while he just smiled.
Suddenly, a wave of muttering from the tired people was heard as they started to move forward. Naoko magically jumped out of her fainted state.
"Look! Look! We're moving! We're moving!" Her eyes were teary with excitement. Everyone else jumped out of their immobile states and followed the line. Syaoran of course, was the last in line, thinking deeply, while trying not to think. Sakura was the only one to notice his even more depressed expression.
"Finally! We're near the entrance!" Rika said with glee.
They were the next group of people ready to go inside. Right now however, the line was stopped to wait for the people who were already inside.
"There's no doubt that we'll go in this time," Chiharu said.
"Wai! We're going in!" Naoko yelled. "I can't wait to see all the monsters!"
At that, Sakura froze. She giggled nervously as she looked around. "I-I don't see Yukito-san anywhere..."
Tomoyo, still recording Sakura, said, "Oh, he's here. I'm sure of it."
"Look Kinomoto-san, isn't that him there?" Yamazaki said, pointing somewhere.
Sakura pushed him out of the way as she went to see where he was pointing to.
"Where? Where?" she said excitedly.
"Ouch..." Yamazaki said from the ground. They all laughed.
Suddenly they all heard a happy Sakura yell, "Yukito-san!"
Yukito and Touya were seen walking up to them. Yukito had his usual cheery face and Touya had a small grin...that is he did until he saw Syaoran with the group.
"YOU!" he yelled, attracting the crowd around them.
Syaoran looked up for the first time since they had gotten there and noticed the angry Touya. "Oh, you again," he stated simply.
"What are you doing with my sister?" Touya yelled.
"Oh please, baka. Can't you see I'm here with lots more people than just your sister?" Syaoran asked rolling his eyes.
The crowd whispered and mumbled while noticing Touya's uniform as a worker here at "The Trail's Trials."
"Baka! You..." Touya immediately lunged at Syaoran.
Fortunately, Yukito held him back and Touya struggled against him. "Touya! You're attracting so many people! Stop shouting!"
"B-But that Gaki-"
"Oh leave Li-kun alone. I'm sure he didn't mean any harm. And he is right. He's here with his other friends too, not just Sakura-chan," Yukito said, desperately trying to calm him down.
Touya sighed and stopped struggling. "Okay, okay. But if he goes even a step close to Sakura, then..."
Sakura sweat dropped. "Onii-chan, don't worry so much."
"Well," Yukito said looking at his wristwatch, trying to break the tension, "It's noon now. We're on our break, so we can go in with you guys if you want."
"Really? WAI!" Sakura yelled, stars gleaming in her eyes.
Syaoran raised an eyebrow at her as he felt an overwhelming happiness fill inside him. Wow, she really did like him after all. This was the first time he witnessed her being in one of her 'floaty' moods.
"Would you mind telling us the rules and stuff first?" Rika suggested.
"Oh right," Touya said, beginning to recite his lines. "The Trail's Trials is a virtual monster trail. It is one big, enormous trail with 50 different places where the teams start. They split you into groups of two and set you into the different places where you start and when you hear that the intercom says to go, you start. Throughout the trail, you may see your other friends and you can join up with them. Before all that though, they'll give you electronic eye visors, so that the monster holograms will seem real and to add a fun twist to the game, and your laser gun which will be attached to your vest. Monsters -holograms of course- will pop up here and there to try to hit you. If they do, you'll know when your vest starts vibrating. You're Health Points will also go down. You have 2000 HP when you first start, and you can see how much you have by looking at the right hand bottom corner of your eye visor screen. When your HP is low, your eye visor screen will blink red and say 'CAUTION'. If your HP does goes down to zero, then your eye visor shuts down and you are considered as non-active. You have to stay in your spot and an assistant will then go get you and lead you to your nearest exit. Your partner, however can either keep playing, or forfeit with you unless you both got killed at the same time.
"The monsters on the trail are both easy and hard. The easier ones can be found more at the beginning and the harder ones in the back. The easy ones are usually smaller and are killed with only one shot, while the harder ones are bigger and it will take a couple of shots to beat it. There's a treasure chest filled with gold deep at the end of the trail. If you ever reach that and beat the boss monster, you'll win a prize and your names will be on our plaque showing all the people that have finished it. But be careful, near that area is the hardest monsters.
"You have 30 minutes to try to get that treasure chest. But usually, you just kill as much monsters as you can to get the highest points. You don't get a prize, but you can compete against your friends that way. You can view your points by looking on the left hand bottom corner of your visor screen, opposite to your HP. And I think that's all."
"Whoa...it seems fun!" Chiharu said jumping in excitement.
"And look," Yamazaki said pointing to something, "The plaque is empty! No one has even beaten the trail yet!"
"Remember, Yamazaki-kun," Naoko said, "This is a new attraction. Maybe we'll be the first ones!" Her eyes were bright with thrill.
Sakura sweat dropped. "I don't think so..."
"Oh c'mon, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo said, focusing her camera on her, "Have a little faith!"
Yukito smiled down at Tomoyo. "Oh yeah, I just remembered! Sorry Daidouji-san, but no electronics allowed. You'll have to leave your camera inside where they keep all the bags and coats," he said.
Tomoyo sighed with disappointment as she turned off her camera. "Oh, all right. I won't be able to record my Sakura-chan winning that treasure chest!"
"You should pick your groups now, actually," Yukito said, "We're about to go in."
Rika and Naoko looked at each other, smiling. "We're partners!" they said in unison.
Tomoyo whispered to Eriol. "I have a feeling Sakura will pick Yukito so we can't continue our plan..." she said in disappointment.
Eriol smiled back. "Don't worry; I have a plan. Just get ready for the next phase of our plan."
"What is it?"
"You'll see inside."
Tomoyo frowned. "Aw...I hate it when you're all secretive!"
Eriol smirked his flirtatious smirk. "Ah, but my dear Tomoyo, being mysterious is exactly why the ladies go crazy for dear sweet, innocent Eriol."
Tomoyo smiled at Eriol's joke and punched him lightly on the arm playfully. "Maybe it is."
Eriol raised his eyebrow in confusion. He hadn't expected her to flirt back. The great Clow Reed reincarnate was actually puzzled. "Uh..."
But before Eriol could say anything, Tomoyo smiled a warm smile and grabbed his arm. "I call Eriol!"
Chiharu grabbed her boyfriend's arm. "I guess I'll be partners with you as long as you don't tell any stories..."
Yamazaki smiled. "Okay. But did you know that virtual games such as these are sometimes dangerous because if you play it too long, your mind becomes entranced with it and you get stuck in the game? If-"
Chiharu sweat dropped and smacked him across the head.
Sakura shyly looked at Yukito. "Umm..."
Yukito smiled. "Yes?"
"Umm...I...uhh..."
"Wanna be partners, Sakura-chan?" Yukito asked gently.
Sakura blushed crimson as she shyly nodded. You'd think at age sixteen she'd be confident enough to ask a boy something, right? Well, talking to boys wasn't really one of her strengths, especially when it came to Yukito. She only talked to boys normally when they were good friends like Eriol and Yamazaki.
This got Sakura thinking. If she didn't exactly talk to boys a lot, then why had she been talking to Li so easily at the park the day before? She had poured out her heart and soul about her mother. She had been so relaxed and comfortable with him, unlike most of the time in school when the boys were staring at her. The weird thing was that he wasn't even friendly to her! There was just something about him. As she reminisced the week that had just passed, she suddenly remembered how Li had been so eager to see her and her fear of ghosts, and now he wasn't. Did it have something to do to what have happened earlier?
Suddenly, she felt a speck of confusion that wasn't hers. Sakura glanced at Li curiously and was surprised to see that he had been staring at her. But of course, he quickly looked away.
Syaoran almost smacked himself when he saw Kinomoto glance his way and catch him looking at her. He had just been curiously listening in when she had asked Tsukishiro to be her partner. He felt a small fire inside of him and quickly hid it away before Kinomoto could have felt it too. He had just been wondering what that fire was. It wasn't anything that he had felt before. Maybe this is what they called...jealousy? No, that couldn't be. Why would he be jealous? He was so confused that he didn't even notice he was staring straight at her until she looked at him.
Syaoran sighed. It was so hard not to try to think of anything saddening. But during the time when they were waiting on line, he had actually found out someway to block his feelings from hers. He created a sort of shield with his magic somehow and shielded his emotions from hers. But he needed complete concentration on it. That was the reason he hadn't talked the whole way here. Another way he discovered was by...now you won't believe this but...by thinking of Kinomoto. Kinomoto was just...different. There was something about her.
As he was thinking, he suddenly realized something as the people around him paired up. If Hiiragazawa was with Daidouji, Sasaki was with Yanagisawa, Mihara was with Yamazaki, and Kinomoto was with Tsukishiro, then he was with-
Touya grunted angrily. "I guess I'm with you, Gaki."
Syaoran glared at him. "I don't really care, baka."
They had another quick glaring contest before they were interrupted by Naoko's excited scream.
"AH! We're going in!"
Sakura started shivering as she stood at her starting point, next to Yukito. They were between two rocks – most probably fake – while a long grassy road – probably fake too – lay before them. A door was behind them, where an attendant was waiting to start activating the game. Sakura had her vest and laser gun and even her eye visor on. She trembled and bit her bottom lip with the nervousness that had disappeared when she had seen Yukito. But now that she was here, it had come back.
Yukito smiled down at her small frame from behind his eye visor screen. "Ah, Sakura-chan, you don't like ghosts and monsters all that much do you?"
Sakura froze at the mere mention of them and nodded slowly.
He chuckled. "Don't worry it's just a game."
"B-But-"
"To make you feel better, just remember that I'll be there to protect you, Sakura-chan!" Yukito said his arm in the air.
Sakura blushed and nodded with a blush on her face. It wouldn't be that bad with Yukito.
"Naoko-chan! This is so exciting!" Rika said. She and Naoko had started in a place where there was a small, running waterfall to one side of them, a big rock to the other side of them and a grassy road in front of them.
"It's great so far!" Rika added taking in the scenery. She still couldn't believe that all this was inside a building! Everything was fake, but that was better than nothing. The company who owned this must be really rich to afford it.
"Just wait until you see the monsters, Rika-chan!" Naoko said, smiling underneath her visor.
Rika smiled and sweat dropped. "Oh Naoko-chan..."
"Hey, Rika-chan, do you think the plan will really work?" Naoko asked her.
"What plan?"
"You know, Operation S&S."
Rika blinked in confusion. "Huh?"
"That's what I decided to call matching up Sakura-chan and Li-kun."
"Why S&S?"
"Sakura and Syaoran."
"Oh!" Rika clapped. "That's really clever."
Naoko glowed with pride. "But do you think it will work? It doesn't seem it will."
"Well, to tell you the truth, Naoko-chan, I'm scared of Li-kun!" Rika said blushing in embarrassment.
Now it was time for Naoko to blink in confusion. "Why?"
"Well, he's so quiet and it seems like his past is so sad or something. Remember when we were waiting for Sakura-chan at the bridge? It seemed as if he was hurting inside from what something Hiiragazawa-kun did."
"But I can't imagine Hiiragazawa-kun doing something bad," Naoko mused.
Rika nodded. "I know. But Li-kun said something about him helping Sakura-chan? How can helping be bad? I don't get it."
"You know what? Maybe Li-kun is one of those paid assassins! Or maybe a serial killer!" Naoko's eyes brightened. "COOL!"
Rika however, being as innocent and proper as she is, shuddered. "Naoko-chan! That's not true! Li's not a serial killer!"
Naoko grinned. "I'm just kidding, Rika-chan. But it would make a good mystery. Maybe I'll start a book! 'The Assassin and his Match up with Sakura.'"
Rika giggled. "The title could use a little work, don't you think?"
Naoko smiled and the two girls giggled.
"Sugoi! Look Yamazaki-kun!" Chiharu said as they entered their starting point. They stood awe struck as they stood beneath a huge bridge made of rock. In front of them, like all the others, lay a huge grassy road.
"You'd better stay by me, Chiharu-chan," Yamazaki said, "You don't want to get killed by those petty monsters do you?" He teasingly placed an arm around her shoulder.
Chiharu sighed but smiled. "You know, when you're not telling stories and when you're flirting, you seem like a normal guy, Yamazaki-kun."
He grinned proudly. "Ah ha! So you do love me!"
Chiharu rolled her eyes. "Of course I love you, you nitwit."
"Oh! Did you know that the word 'love' originated back in colonial times in America? Usually the wives would do all the housework and go to the market to shop for their food, but when they were really tired and couldn't get up to get the food from the market, they used to tell their husbands to get it for them even though it was weird for the males to buy the food. But the husbands of course didn't know what or how much to get so they just bought lots and lots of loaves of bread. When he returned home, the wife would be so surprised at the loaves of bread because there was so much that they could survive on the loaves for two weeks. She would get so happy and the husband wouldn't even know what he did. So the word 'love' originated from the word 'loaf' as in loaf of bread," Yamazaki said.
Chiharu sighed and slapped him across the head as always. Yamazaki and his stories would never change. But she secretly liked him that way.
He laughed. "They would even sometimes make 'loaf' to each other that night. That's why the couples where the husbands bought food more often had more children that didn't."
Chiharu giggled. "You baka."
Yamazaki smiled cutely at her. "I 'loaf' you..."
She rolled her eyes but smiled at his cuteness. "I 'loaf' you too."
And then she kissed him quickly on the lips. Yamazaki grabbed her before she moved away and kissed her back, sweetly.
"See Chiharu-chan? I knew my stories would benefit me some day!" Yamazaki said grinning.
Chiharu laughed and punched him lightly on the arm.
"This is where we start?" Eriol asked as they entered the room after following an attendant. They were stationed what looked like a cave. Rocks and dust covered the rocky cavern.
"It's supposed to be kind of like rock tunnel. But as we walk on, the road will turn out to be the other grassy ones the others have," Tomoyo said fixing her hair into a bun.
"Ah, I see," Eriol said curiously. Tomoyo seemed to know too much about this place. Maybe she found out from somewhere? "What are you doing?" he asked seeing her struggle with her beautiful long hair.
"I'm tying it into a bun. The eye visors look terrible with my long hair left down," she said as she finished up the hairdo and fixed and adjusted her visor. "There...done." She gave him a pretty smile.
Eriol faced her until they were only a few inches apart and smiled. She looked beautiful either way. He loved her amethyst eyes and her smooth, pale skin. He loved how she was refined and poised, yet pretty athletic, really smart and a bit kooky especially if you gave her anything that had to do with electronics. He lovingly lifted a stray strand of hair on her face and tucked it behind her ear. "Tomoyo, you know that with either your hair up in a hairdo, or down, you always look beautiful..."
Tomyo's heart beat faster and she felt a small tint of blush come across her face. Her nose filled with the smell of his cologne. Whoever made that cologne probably made it especially for him. He was acting unusually flirty these days. She wondered if he acted that way with every girl he got close to and felt a tint of jealousy. But she couldn't help it if he was desirable to every girl, including her. After all, Eriol was handsome, athletic and perfect in every single way. He was polite, gentleman-like, helpful, mysterious, romantic, smart, and she could go on and on and on. "Eriol?" she said quietly, her head starting to spin from bliss. Oh, how she loved the way he smiled; lopsided yet perfect.
Wait, what was she thinking? This was one of her best friends and a sorcerer named Clow Reed! Was this wrong to love the reincarnation of the former most powerful sorcerer in the world?
Eriol immediately frowned and turned away from her. She swore she heard him say, "Is that all I am to you? Just Clow Reed?"
Tomoyo blinked and asked, "What?"
He smiled a fake smile and said, "Hmm? I didn't say anything."
Tomoyo however knew otherwise just by looking at his eyes and nodded, knowing that he was lying. She wished they could start the game soon, or else she'd die with the uneasy silence.
Syaoran scanned the area they were stationed at as Touya looked blankly at his surroundings as if he knew it already.
"Pretty hi-tech isn't it?" Touya grunted as Syaoran looked around.
Syaoran just nodded. He hated Kinomoto Touya. But he had to be the one partnered up with him! Just his luck.
"Kinomoto," he said suddenly, "You do know that your sister likes that Tsukishiro guy, right?"
Sakura's brother raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Where'd that come from?"
"Just answer," Syaoran said forcefully.
Touya was silent for a minute until he finally answered. "Yeah, I know that the kaijuu likes Yuki. She's liked him since she met him."
"You do know that Tsukishiro is Yue's other form, right?"
Touya nodded. Boy, this gaki went straight to the point.
"Don't you think that Kinomoto likes Tsukishiro because she's attracted to his magic?" Syaoran asked.
Touya looked ahead blankly. "I don't think that's it. Sakura hasn't really liked anyone else besides Yuki, so I think she doesn't realize that she doesn't love him more than like a brother. But she stills gets floaty around him."
"...Do you stalk her or something...?" Syaoran asked
Touya glared at him. "No! In fact, Yuki was the one who pointed that out to me."
"Tsukishiro knows that she likes him?" Syaoran said in surprise.
Touya nodded. Then he realized who he was talking to and suspiciously looked at Syaoran with fiery eyes. "Why are you so interested in my sister?"
The teen quickly looked away. "I-I..." Why the hell was he asking all these questions? This wasn't like him at all.
Touya grabbed Syaoran's shirt collar suddenly. "Gaki, I don't like how your attitude was the first time we met so I wouldn't approve of you," he said with narrowed eyes.
Syaoran, in realization, narrowed his amber eyes in return. He pushed Touya back forcefully. "Wait, wait, wait! You wouldn't approve? Look Kinomoto, the day I liked your sister is the day that I would completely change! No offense, but I don't think your sister is definitely not my type."
Touya glared at the young gaki, glaring back at him. Just because he had no longer had magic in him (he had given all of it to Yue so he could sustain himself) didn't mean that he couldn't sense things with his feelings. And right now, he definitely felt that this stupid gaki would play a major role in Sakura's life. That meant only one thing; try to separate them as much as possible so that he wouldn't grow close to her. If Li did grow close to her, it was definite that his sister would get hurt.
"Li," Touya said staring straight ahead blankly once more, "Stay away from Sakura."
Suddenly, a loud intercom went on. "Attention monster slayers! Welcome to The Trail's Trials! Thank you very much for waiting! Now that's you've gotten your equipment and now that you know the rules, it's time to slay some monsters!" Touya and Syaoran heard cheering from the other players. "We will now be closing the entrance doors!"
The attendants smiled and said little things like "Good luck!" before closing the doors where our friends have entered through.
"At the sound of the bell, we will start the holographic monsters and your eye visors! Ready? Set? GO!"
Suddenly a sharp ringing was heard as Syaoran and Touya's eye visor screens turned on, the points on the left bottom hand corner – currently zero – and on the right, a number saying 2000 HP.
Touya looked at the brat. "Let's get this over with..."
And off they went on the trail.
Naoko and Rika walked down the grassy trail with various rocks on either side of them, cautiously looking all around them.
"Oh! I can't wait! I can't wait!" Naoko shrieked.
Rika smiled. "Naoko-chan! Calm down!"
Suddenly a monster that looked like a purple cat with grey wings and a furry pink tail appeared. "WAI! It's a monster!" Naoko said excitedly.
Rika pointed her laser gun at the hologram, looking at it timidly. "Naoko-chan! We're supposed to be killing the monsters! Not rejoicing to see them!"
Immediately, a laser sprang out from her gun as she pulled the trigger. It hit the monster and it turned red then disappeared.
"Sugoi, Rika-chan! You did it!" Naoko squealed.
Rika smiled, lifting her arm in victory. "Yatta! Well then again...the monsters here in the beginning are sure to be really easy."
The Points number on Rika's visor screen switch from 0 to 20.
Sakura grabbed Yukito's shirt after the intercom finished and the bell rang. "H-Hoee..."
Yukito smiled gently. "C'mon Sakura-chan, let's try our best."
"H-Hai..."
They slowly walked forward on the fake grass, Sakura still clinging on to her knight in shining armor. Suddenly from behind a rock, a little creature flew in front of them. It looked like a little brown furball with big yellow and black eyes and small claws sticking out as arms. It blinked confusedly at them as it made a high pitched noise. "Kree?"
Sakura stopped hiding from Yukito's back. "Kawaii!" she said, her eyes twinkling.
Yukito smiled. "Careful, if it gets too close, it'll scratch you."
"That little cute thing?" Sakura asked.
Yukito nodded. "Why don't you shoot it now?"
Sakura nodded reluctantly, not wanting to hurt the monster. But then she remembered they were holographs and she pointed her gun at it. She pulled the trigger and the laser beam shot the furry, cute monster.
"Hey! I got it!" Sakura said jumping. Her Points changed from 0 to 20.
"See? This isn't so bad..."
Sakura nodded and blushed. "Th-Thanks for coming with me, Yukito-san!"
"No problem," he answered with a bright smile.
Sakura felt all mushy and lovey dovey inside. It was so great being with Yukito! And she was sure that he'd protect her from any ghosts. She glanced at him secretively. She loved his caring personality and the way he always seemed to make all things right. Sakura beamed. She was definitely in her 'floaty' moods.
Kero however felt quite the opposite of what Sakura felt. Hearing the conversation from Sakura's pocket, he rolled his puny eyes. "Gosh...I hate mushy stuff..."
Eriol and Tomoyo walked on through the cave silently, the uncomfortable tension still lingering between them. Suddenly two live sized bug looking monsters crossed their way. They were brown with fangs, sharp claws and horns.
"Finally," Eriol said, trying to lighten the mood, "I'll get to protect dear Tomoyo from these fiends!" He pointed his gun at one of the monsters and shot it. It disappeared immediately. But as he turned to shoot the other one too, he suddenly saw a laser beam hit it first and kill it. Tomoyo gave him a cute smile.
"Dear Tomoyo can fight too, you know," she said happily.
Eriol laughed as both their Points switched from 0 to 20.
Chiharu and Yamazaki, like all the others, walked on their trail, chattering about some things here and there. After a while, a monster flew from behind a tree. It was a weird looking monster. It looked like a bright yellow 5 corner star, except with two eyes, a mouth, rainbows and ribbons flowing from its back and lastly, brown shoes on its bottom two corners.
Yamazaki, of course, was instantly yapping. "You know, stars are said to be really, really bright things in the sky right? Well, that's not all it is. I heard they were planets home to hundreds and thousands of orange and yellow colored, glowing aliens! There are so many that they cover the whole planet! So when people look at the stars they're really seeing-"
Yamazaki stopped when he realized that Chiharu and the monster was gone. He looked frantically for her, hoping that the puny looking monster didn't get her. He saw her a few feet ahead of him, walking. He ran to her to catch up.
"Hey, where'd the monster go?" he asked when he caught up.
Chiharu kept walking, an annoyed expression on her face. "I killed it."
Yamazaki laughed. Yet again, he had irked her with his stories.
While Yamazaki was telling the bizarre story, Chiharu's Point count had raised to 20.
Expectedly, Touya and Syaoran weren't talking to each other as they walked slowly. But as four little waddling purple penguins carrying small swords and red shoulder armor walked towards them, things actually sped up. Touya shot one which instantly destroyed it but as he turned to shoot the others, Syaoran immediately killed the three remaining ones.
Touya glared at the young teen as he just looked ahead, expressionless. Syaoran's Points went to 60 as Touya's went only to 20. Suddenly Touya sprinted ahead. No matter what, this gaki would not get higher points than he would.
Syaoran narrowed his eyes, knowing that a competition was on.
Some Minutes Later...
Yamazaki and Chiharu were surrounded by six monsters that looked like black, overgrown hounds with large fangs.
"Oh no...the monsters are getting even harder..." Chiharu said worriedly.
She was right. As they had walked on, the monsters had grown stronger and now, they had to be hit about six times to disappear. Right now, Chiharu's HP was down to 200 while Yamazaki's was 300. Both their visor screen were blinking with the word CAUTION.
They stood back to back, watching the monsters carefully. As they lifted their guns to shoot, one monster leaped to Chiharu with its sharp fangs. She screamed and dropped her gun in fright which caused Yamazaki to be momentarily distracted while he tried to calm her down. A few seconds later, both their HPs were down to 0 and their visor screens shut off.
"Gomen, Yamazaki-kun..." Chiharu said sadly, "I know that was stupid of me to get frightened by holograms." They could see an attendant in their recognizable uniform coming towards them.
Yamazaki smiled. "Oh don't worry. It was exciting. I hope you had fun though."
The attendant arrived and led them to the way out. Chiharu turned to Yamazaki and smiled. "Yup. I had a wonderful time! I'm glad you were my partner, Yamazaki-kun!" She quickly kissed him on the cheek.
Yamazaki beamed.
After the couple had taken off their equipment and handed them in, they exited to the building's waiting lobby where people were waiting for their friends who were still inside.
"Oh look!" Chiharu said spotting someone waving to them, "It's Naoko-chan and Rika-chan."
They walked over to them who were sitting on a long couch attached to the wall.
"How long have you been sitting here?" Yamazaki asked.
"Just a few minutes. I died when a bunch of huge insects blocked our way," Naoko said sadly. But then she perked up. "Oh well. It was fun! Rika-chan didn't lose all her HP but she decided to come with me anyway."
"Are the others still in there?" Chiharu asked.
Rika nodded and pointed to something on the wall. It was a huge big screen TV. It showed the players' statuses who were inside. There were only 12 groups left from the original 50 inside the trail and it seemed that every minute, a group would get eliminated. They scanned down the list of names and saw the line that said:
"Group # 03: Hiiragazawa Eriol & Daidouji Tomoyo
Location: Midsection
Eriol Hiiragazawa: HP: 800 Points: 460
Tomoyo Daidouji: HP: 900 Points: 380"
"Sugoi!" Yamazaki exclaimed, "They're doing really well!"
"Yeah, I know. And they're almost done too! After the Midsection of the trail, there's only the Final Section left and that's where the prize is!" Rika said, "It's so exciting!"
"There's Sakura's and Tsukishiro's info," Naoko said. They all looked at the screen.
"Group # 04: Kinomoto Sakura & Tsukishiro Yukito
Location: Midsection
Sakura Kinomoto: HP: 1200 Points: 440
Yukito Tsukishiro: HP: 900 Points: 500"
"They're doing well too." Chiharu commented.
"I bet Sakura-chan's dying of happiness for being in there alone with Tsukishiro," Rika said smiling.
"But I thought we were supposed to be hooking up Sakura-chan and Li-kun," Yamazaki mused,
"Don't worry about that," Naoko said, "Eriol probably has one of his evil plans brewing in his mind..."
"Speaking of Li-kun," Rika said, "Wait until you see his and Kinomoto's status."
As Chiharu and Yamazaki scanned the list and as found what they were looking for, their jaws dropped.
"Group #07: Li Syaoran & Kinomoto Touya
Location: Final Section
Syaoran Li: HP: 1600 Points: 1038
Touya Kinomoto: HP: 1500 Points: 1050"
"Whoa! They're in the Final Section and they still have over 1000HP!" Yamazaki exclaimed.
Chiharu said, "They even have over 1000 Points!"
Naoko smirked. "Looks like Li and Kinomoto are going head to head to try to exceed each other."
Rika smiled. "I just hope they don't hurt themselves in the process."
Eriol and Tomoyo walked slowly. More monsters were popping out now so they became more cautious. As they rounded a corner, the ground started to quake.
"Wh-What's happening?" Tomoyo said quietly, getting her laser gun set.
In front of them, one enormous monster made up of entirely of rock was seen. It gave one loud war cry and looked at Eriol and Tomoyo.
Eriol and Tomoyo looked at each other and nodded. In a flash, they both separated and began shooting the monster while they ran. But even after about five shots from each of them, the monster was still alive. Then unexpectedly, the monster whipped his large rock arms around and hit both of them. Instantly, they felt their vests vibrate and their visor screens started flashing red with the word CAUTION. Eriol's HP was down to 300 while Tomoyo's was down to 400. The attack had easily whipped away 500 HP from them both.
"Uh-oh..." Eriol said, cursing under his breath. "If this monster is this hard, imagine how hard the boss monster is!" He started shooting the monster while trying to avoid another hit. Tomoyo was doing the same.
"The boss monster takes away 800 HP each time it attacks...that's why barely anyone has beaten it yet," Tomoyo shouted back.
Eriol stopped shooting and stared at her with confusion. "Tomoyo, how do you know so much about this place?" he asked, "From the beginning, you've known almost every turn to go and how it was made and everything."
Tomoyo was silent as she continued to shoot the monster which looked like it wasn't even weakening. "Well..." But right then, the monster had prepared to whip his arms around again. "Watch out!" Tomoyo yelled.
Within a second, their visor screens stopping blinking as their HP went down to zero. Tomoyo took the heavy visor screen off her head.
"How in the world could you make Sakura-chan go through all this fighting? It's so tiring!" she said as an attendant approached them.
"Stop changing the subject, Tomoyo. How do you know so much about this place?" Eriol asked again.
Tomoyo just smiled back. "You'll see when Sakura-chan beats all the monsters and gets the prize!" she exclaimed.
Eriol stopped a moment and smirked remembering his plan. "You mean Sakura and Syaoran..."
Touya and Syaoran glared each other as they finished off another set of monsters. They were in front of a cave.
"Stop trying to outdo me, Li," Touya said, "It'll never work."
Syaoran just continued to glare at him. He even had to admit though; Kinomoto wasn't so bad when it came to this game. He was agile, really quick and had a very good aim.
Touya couldn't say anything bad about Li when it came to the game either. He also was really quick and avoided attacks easily. But one thing they both had was a desire to beat each other.
They stood so long just glaring ferociously at each other that it seemed that they would start shooting each other with the laser guns. Suddenly they heard a voice behind them. They turned and saw Sakura and Yukito coming towards them. Sakura was waving happily as she ran swiftly to them.
"Onii-chan! Li!"
Yukito jogged behind her trying to keep up with the energetic teen. But it was clear that he, too, was having a great time.
As they neared, Syaoran got a good look at Sakura's face. She was happy. No, she was happier than happy. She was happy times infinity. Just by the look on her face, it almost...almost...made him feel happy too...as if just by looking at her could scare away all the blues. He immediately felt the tingle shock through his body; that cheerful, joyful, jolly, merry tingle that he felt whenever she was happy. But he was surprised at one thing. He didn't find it as irritating as before he had come to Japan...
What his amber eyes didn't notice was Touya glancing down at Syaoran as Sakura and Yukito neared them. Touya narrowed his eyes. This was the second time that day where he felt that Li had feelings, even if they were teeny tiny feelings, for Sakura. He definitely didn't like this kid. He was arrogant, rude and certainly not gentleman-like. But he stayed silent as Sakura and Yukito finally reached them.
Sakura panted awhile before talking. Whew...that was a long run. Almost as long as the run she had to take everyday to go to school. But at least she got to run along side with Yu-ki-to!
"Wow kaijuu," Touya said smirking, "I'm surprised that you're still alive at this point..."
Sakura frowned angrily and stomped on his foot...hard...
Syaoran was taken aback with the brother and sister connection. It was...weird seeing such playfulness and happiness between siblings. He had siblings too. He had four older sisters. They used to be so full of energy, bouncing up and down whenever they saw Syaoran's "kawaii" face, dressing the poor kid up in their clothes and teasing their little brother playfully, acting the way hyper, little children do. But after their father died...well everything changed. Their amber eyes became emptier, although definitely not emptier than Syaoran's gaze. Even though they still had their taste for "cuteness," they never jumped with glee whenever something of the sort passed their way anymore. They actually acted their own age. It was even worse that Syaoran had inherited the countenance of their father. Every time the four sisters looked at their distressed brother, they'd see an exact replica of their own father. However, Syaoran's thoughts broke apart as he noticed a pair of wondering, beautiful jade eyes were staring at him. She and her brother had stopped arguing a second ago when she had felt something. She had felt his yearning for his annoying yet loving sisters back they way they were. Syaoran quickly looked away from her curious eyes.
Yukito said smiling, "Well, Touya, Li-kun, do you think we can join you?"
Touya nodded. "Sure."
"Wai!" Sakura shouted, "Now we can all fight together!"
"So have you run into any ghosts yet?" Touya asked.
Sakura surprisingly smiled. "Nope! That's why I was wondering why Tomoyo-chan said that there were ghosts in here."
Touya and Yukito's eyes locked for a moment and they both smirked knowingly, but quickly hid it.
"Well, this is the last place..." Yukito said staring into the dark cave.
"If we're going to finish this and win, we have to do it now..." Touya said, "We only have 12 minutes left."
"Well, let's go in!" Sakura said feeling confident.
She and Syaoran entered first as Yukito and Touya followed them into the ominous, mysterious cave.