Jagged Amber

Card Captor Sakura

Chapter Three

*starjade*

Fights

Sakura twisted her hands behind her back as she walked down the long, narrow driveway, leading up to a large, intimidating mansion. Surrounded with trees and flowers, the mansion stood tall and high, and Sakura knew she was about to tutor a kid from quite a wealthy and important family.

If she failed...

She gulped as she climbed up the steps, one by one. The wind was soft, and ruffled her hair gently. She had dressed in a conservative skirt and shirt, trying to appear as professional and mature as she could. Too bad she felt like an inexperienced, immature loser. God, she needed to get a grip on herself!

Finally, she reached the top step and tried to breathe normally. Breath in, breath out, she reminded herself as she tried to prepare herself.

Don't worry, Sakura, you'll do fine...she thought to herself, as she rose a fist to knock.

The door opened before she even touched it and she let out a surprised squeal. A face appeared, a woman's face and she smiled.

" You must be the peer tutor we hired, is that right?" The woman asked. She opened the door wide and Sakura gasped. The woman was tall and wise, her hair black as midnight and wrapped in a bun, her appraising eyes full of experience.

" Y-yes, m-my name is K-Kinomoto, Kinomoto Sakura..." Sakura stammered.

The woman nodded. " Come in, why don't you?"

Sakura took a hesitant step inside, and her jaw dropped. The inside of the mansion was magnificent. It was well furnished, with a crystal chandelier , a grand staircase and marbled floors. Servants rushed back and forth, cleaning or carrying platters of food. It was all so grand, Sakura couldn't believe the richness. Now she felt even more uncomfortable.

" I hope you had a nice flight," the woman said, warmly.

Sakura sweat dropped. " It was a bit different from what I was used to, but it was okay."

The woman smiled and called a butler to bring some tea. She motioned to the chairs set in the middle of the grand room and Sakura sat, a bit awkwardly on the well furnished chairs.

The woman cleared her throat. " I hired you because I thought my son needed a bit more interaction with other people his age, as well as the fact his Japanese is horrible. I hope you will make yourself at home in my house and make some progress with my son."

Sakura nodded, fervently. " I'll try my hardest, Mrs. Li."

The woman smiled, a bit sadly. " My son is quite cold, however. I'd just like to warn you a bit, before you meet him. Please don't take to heart everything he says...its just he has never forgiven himself for his father's death and well...."

Sakura's eyes widened and the woman took a deep breath before smiling at her. " My son is quite interested in the Martial arts...that's all he does. He sits out there, practicing with a sword, a staff, or a pair of knives or just kicking and punching his heart out. He wants to prove something, that I know. Prove what...that still remains a mystery. I hope you can get him back on track, let him know that he has many paths in life and he does not need to choose the one that is most apparent at this stage of his life.."

Sakura let out a smile, trying to appear as reassuring as she could. " I'll do everything in my power, Mrs. Li, to help your son."

Mrs. Li smiled back. " Well, here, let me call him."

Sakura blinked as the woman called, " Xiao-Lang! Your peer tutor is here!"

The woman turned back to her and led her into another room. " Sit down, he'll be here shortly."

Sakura twisted her hands as she waited, trying to calm her nerves. If he was cold and mean, how could she make much progress with him? She hoped-

" What the hell is she doing here? I thought she wasn't coming! I THOUGHT I told you I didn't want her here!!" An angry voice yelled.

Sakura was jolted out of her thoughts as an furious young man came storming in. Sakura looked down at the floor, her face burning as Mrs. Li tried to calm the boy down. Mean and cold...checkmark.

" Look, Syaoran , as long as she is here, I want you to treat her with respect and curtsey. You will attend every one of her lessons and come with her wherever she invites you. The elders have advised you to become a bit more social in order for you to be a qualified leader of the Li Clan."

The boy growled deep in his throat, " But its a girl! She's probably some fluffed up loser and I want her OUT!"

Sakura grew a bit angry at that. Did they not notice she was right there and could hear every word?

Mrs. Li must have given him a serious look or something, for he shut up fast. " You will do it, Xiao-Lang. Understood?"

The boy spit out, " Understood."

The mother then walked over to Sakura and smiled cheerfully. " I'll leave you two to be acquainted and then one of my daughters will show you to where you will be staying. Alright?"

Sakura nodded, a bit sadly, as she watched Mrs. Li leave the room , after another reassuring glance. Sakura didn't feel quite reassured. She was in a country where she knew no one except for Tomoyo and she was stuck tutoring a spoiled rich brat who clearly did not want her there.

She stood there for quite a while, but silence just met her ears. Can you talk please, she thought a bit impatiently. He probably already walked off and then she would have to go chasing after him. Finally, she looked up and realized he was staring at her, a ferocious glare on his face. Sakura noticed sadly that his eyes were unfocused and wondered dimly how he knew exactly where she was.

Quietly, she made her way over to the boy, her footsteps clicking through the silent room. She gulped as he flinched at the sound of her footsteps and tried to soften her footsteps to no avail.

" Look, Li," She started, and winced at the sound of her voice. She softened her voice and said comfortingly, " I know you don't want to do this, you made that pretty clear. But I came here to do a job and that was to tutor you in Japanese and show you how to open up a bit more. If you can let me do my job, I'll leave you alone. I'll be here for a short time, so please don't make this hard on the both of us. Okay?"

Syaoran didn't say a word and the only sign that he was listening was the muscle that jumped in his jaw. He turned his face away from her and Sakura thought at the back of her head that this boy was quite handsome. He was around her age and wow, was he good looking. Amber eyes and those chestnut bangs, damn. Must have a lot of girls following him-

Okay, now where were her thoughts leading her?

" Let's start this over again , shall we?" Sakura asked, trying to calm her voice and keep it from shaking. " My name is Kinomoto Sakura, and I'm from Japan."

Before she even finished her sentence the boy rolled his eyes and tried to walk away. Sakura reached for his arm, to prevent him from leaving and with an enraged yelp , he pulled away from her.

" What the hell are you doing? Don't you dare touch me!" Syaoran yelled.

Sakura blinked. " What?? I was just trying to get you to stay, calm down-"

" Just shut the hell up and leave me alone! Got that? I don't need you simpering and going all psychotherapist on me, alright? Go back to Japan, what ever hell hole you came from and if you even try talking to me, you'll regret it."

With one last piercing glare, Syaoran whipped around and stomped out of the room. Sakura was left, gaping after him, her jaw dropping open. She looked around the room, and let out a tired laugh.

" That went well."

**********

Sakura twirled around the spacious room, her eyes wide and joyful. This was absolutely beautiful, she thought excitedly, taking in the curtains and the leather sofas and the huge canopy bed and the TV and the pearl tables and the washroom with a Jacuzzi..

It was all quite magnificent and Sakura was once again shown the difference between her world and Li's world. He lived in such glamour, such richness that she couldn't even dream of! And here she was, in their guest room, and her whole job was to...tutor him!

He was blind and spoiled and emotionally cold and dangerous. Sakura knew he was hurt way too many times in his life...she wondered how much of a toll his father's death had on him. Sakura felt her heart soften in sympathy. She wished she could help him...but he just didn't want her help.

She remembered his cold amber eyes and shivered, involuntarily. It was frozen, like glass or stone.

" Your the new tutor, right?"
Sakura jolted out of her thoughts and turned to the doorway. She gasped at the person standing there. Long, black odangos flowed down to her hips and her ruby red eyes flashed dangerously.

" Yes, I'm Kinomoto Sakura!" Sakura said cheerfully. This girl seemed around her age, maybe she could make some new friends.

The girl sniffed, disdained. " You'd better not try nothing, girl. I know what your up to."

Sakura blinked. " What?"

The girl growled, " Your like the others, sniveling and conniving who were just after money and fortune. I bet your just here because you think you can make my Xiao-Lang fall head over heels for you and then give you everything we have. Well, guess again!!"

Sakura gaped at her, wondering what she had said wrong. " I'm not like that, I just needed to raise my marks and they had this program at school-"

The girl glared at her. " Just save it. I'm not letting my Xiao-Lang get hurt, got that?" With one last dirty look, she whipped around and stalked off, leaving Sakura gaping after her.

This really was her day, wasn't it?

Sakura collapsed onto the window seat, no longer amazed and joyful at the new experiences she was living. Now she was more homesick then ever. How she longed for that small room that she had all her life. She may have lived simply, but she never was treated like this!

Everyone hated her here, she thought to herself, sorrowfully. I don't even know what I did, and they're all lashing out at me like I'm some scheming evil person, or something. I'm not like that...

Slowly, anger began to boil inside her. She wasn't going to let everyone push her around like this! She was a Kinomoto! And Kinomotos do their duty, no matter what happens!

She got up quickly, a determined look on her face. She was going to become friends with Syaoran and tutor him and teach him how to be human, just like her job asked her to do. She had a goal and she was going to accomplish it!!

She looked out the window and gasped. Syaoran was out in the expansive garden, practicing martial arts. She felt her breath catch in her throat as he spun in the air and her heart seemed to stop for a second as she watched him come down to earth.


He was going to get killed, she thought faintly but he had landed on two feet, launching once more into dangerous moves. He was dressed only in a black sleeveless top and black pants and his stance was even more dangerous. He sure was hot, she thought, and then shook herself. Now wasn't the time for those kind of thoughts, she had to complete her job here! She turned around and walked out the door, heading to the backyard to make the first step towards completing her job.

**********

Syaoran practiced his martial arts, kicking an invisible person and ducking, trying to combine as many difficult moves together as he possibly could. There was a competition coming up soon and he was sure going to be ready for it.


Martial Arts was all that mattered to him ever since...that night. It took away all the memories, all the emotions and feelings that made a person weak. It taught him to be cool and commanding and be able to control his bodily actions and help him....overcome his disability.

He remembered his young years with bitterness. He never had a friend in his life. There was a time where he was open to friendships, but the kids teased him and tripped him as he went to school. They called him names and led him places and ditched him, causing him to find his own way home.

It was in junior high, when people tried to make friendships with him, but he knew what they were all after. The Li Name, the Li power, the Li money. It was all Syaoran was about to them and so he had succumbed to training, night after night, practicing to be the best martial artist there was. No matter that he was...couldn't see.

He was getting along fine! Syaoran jutted a punch out with a ferociousness and shut his eyes tightly as he did a spiral spin with a kick. He didn't need no tutor in Japanese, he didn't need no girl following him around like a puppy!!

What was his mother up to? Did she want to punish him or something?

" Your really good."

Syaoran jerked and stopped training. The voice came from the general direction of the house. Syaoran felt an aura that was pink and lively and he growled. It was...her.

" What the hell do you want? I thought I told you to leave me the hell alone!" He snapped, turning away from her.

He could hear her walking up to him and he groaned inwardly. What did he have to do to get her away from him?

" I just saw you practicing from the guest room and I thought maybe I'd come downstairs, see you practice. Your mother tells me your really good-"

" Just leave me the hell alone!" He finally burst out, not wanting to listen to her voice anymore. This girl was one of the best actresses in the world. Usually, the girls had a syrupy sort of sound when they complimented him and then they would try touching him. She didn't have a syrupy voice but he could tell she wanted to make some connection with him.

The girl was shocked and he smirked. Finally, it was getting through her thick head he did not want her there. " No one wants you here. So go. Get out. Get away from me and leave."

The girl seemed to back away a bit. " Alright, alright. Continue your...practicing. I'll leave."

Syaoran heard her footsteps fade away and he relaxed his shoulders. Maybe she'd leave by the end of the week. He'd have to do something to chase her away. He let out a yell and fought an imaginary person, ducking and swinging around. Maybe he would scare her into leaving...

Suddenly, he heard a faint gasp as he jumped into the air and kicked out, falling to the ground softly with a roll. He froze and groaned. She was freaking still there!!

" Didn't I tell you to LEAVE??" He yelled finally.

A crash was heard near the mansion. " Uh...um, I was just. uh..." The girl stumbled.

Syaoran snapped, " When I tell you to leave, you leave. When I tell you to shut up, you shut up. Listen to me now. Shut up and leave."

Silence met his words and Syaoran felt the wind swirl around him , hitting his skin hard. He was only wearing a sleeveless black shirt and black pants. Had she left yet?

" Who the hell do you think you are?"

The yell shocked Syaoran and his eyes widened. " What?"

The girl continued, her voice angry and hurt. " You want to know why I came here? I was failing in Math and I needed to raise my marks. So I took the job, thinking maybe I could make a difference in someone's life and benefit my marks as well. You know how lucky you are, to never worry about money, to never see your parents or parent struggle to support you?"

Syaoran opened his mouth to retort, but she wasn't done.

"I come here, and it's like your living in heaven. Yet you don't even appreciate it! Your being so spoiled, all you ever do is think about yourself! Feeling sorry for yourself won't get you no where! And treating other people who may not have as much money as you do with such contempt, with such superiority, like their only purpose is to do what you want and get what you need is absolutely disgusting! I'm not leaving anytime soon and I'm not shutting up so get that through your head!!"

The angry words hung in the air between them and Syaoran's eyes were shocked. This girl just kept on astonishing him. She had enough guts to do that....but soon, the impressed feeling was washed away by anger. Who the hell did this girl think she was, talking to him like that, like she had a right to yell at him??

Slowly, he walked toward her, toward her aura. He felt her stiffen and back away a bit as he walked closer and closer until he could hear her uneven breathing.

He leaned down until he reached her face and said dangerously, " Your going to regret you ever said that."

He could tell she was scared but she shot back, " I don't think I will, Mr. Li. Can you just please co-operate with me, so I can leave? I'm not leaving until my job here is done and your just keeping me here by acting the way you are."

Syaoran tried not to show how surprised he was by her behavior. What kind of girl was she?

" This is me. Got a problem with that? Solve it. But I'm not cooperating with nothing, so you can run around in circles as long as you want, but you aren't going to get anywhere."

The girl was glaring at him and Syaoran glared back, not noticing that his mother and the butler, Wei, were watching the whole thing.

" They're really getting along, aren't they?" Yelan whispered.

Wei grinned. " Oh yah."

a/n: Omg, I love all you people who have reviewed so far! You guys have made me so happy! Lol! This story is hard to write, whenever I do Syaoran's point of view and you guys might be thinking, man is Syaoran mean. Well, yah, he is, his character right now is quite cold but Sakura isn't the type to give up without a fight! lol! This story isn't just about disabilities and overcoming them, it's also about status in society, the rich and the poor. Aight?

KEEP ON REVIEWING, I neeeeed reviews to keep this story interesting! lol! Tell me suggestions, opinions anything! Even just the I Lub U will be great! lol!

See ya latez

*starjade*