Chapter Seven: Mission Complete or Compromised?
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS
Author's Note: Thank you to all those who reviewed: Wishful Thinker of Worst Intentions, Sirenic Griffin, krista, Knda Crazie, ElysianWinter, Heaven wouldn't take me and Hell was afraid I would take over, .x.original.star.x., Kagome854003, star sapphire, Lady Golden Flower, Cat, BlueMeteorGirl, Chloena, Anime Flower, The 116th's spy, and meow-mix23. I really appreciate the support. Also, thank you all for answering the poll too. The results are:
Air (6 votes)
Water (9 votes)
Sword (12 votes)
Gun (3 votes)
Needles (11 votes)
Pills (3 votes)
Young Child (1 vote)
Teen (14 votes)
Opponent (8 votes)
Friend (7 votes)
You won't see all off the things I asked in this chapter. If you read closely, you'll find that I only used one. There'll be some that you might not be able to pinpoint like the young child vs. teen. The rest of what I asked will come up in later chapters. One hint about the poll: the last question, opponent or friend is really about a character I've already introduced.
Recap of Chapter Six:
"In about 5 minutes, Li's plane will pass over us and we'll take off right after the pass. It'll take us approximately five minutes to catch up and attach the stealth plane with Li's plane. As soon as everything is secure the green light will appear and Nakuru will open the hatch for you to enter Li's plane," said Yukito.
Four minutes……Three minutes…..Two minutes…..One minute……30 seconds…..5…..4….3….2….1 and takeoff!
"Everyone get ready, we're almost right under Li's plane," said Yukito seriously.
The Kinomotos and Koji took off their seatbelts, put on their masks, and gathered near the hatch, waiting for the green light. A few moments later everyone could feel the plane connect with Li's plane. The green light turned on and Nakuru opened the hatch for everyone.
Meanwhile inside Jing Long's plane, a soft thud was felt.
"Did you just feel something," Jing Long asked his henchmen.
"Must've been the turbulence, nothing to worry about boss," said one of the guys.
As for Sakura's group, they were all currently inside the cargo room.
"Alright, Touya and I will be at the front to keep guard," said Fujitaka. "Nadeshiko, you and Sakura will dismantle the bomb. And Takawa you will help remove the waste from this plane."
With that, Touya and Fujitaka made their way towards Jing Long's crowd. In the mean time, Sakura, Nadeshiko, and Koji searched for the bomb and the toxic waste.
"I think I may have found the bomb," said Takawa breaking the silence.
Nadeshiko and Sakura walked over and started to examine the contraption. It was a huge case with a clear screen at the top that revealed red digits that clearly showed 30.
"What does 30 mean? Is it supposed to go off in thirty day or in thirty minutes or in thirty seconds?" asked Sakura.
"I don't know. I've never seen a bomb like this before. We're going have to break open the lock on this case to get to the bomb and dismantle it," said Nadeshiko.
Sakura got out the decoder that Nakuru had given her and placed it next to the handle of the case. In less than ten seconds, the code was broken and the case opened itself.
"I don't see the detonator anywhere," commented Koji.
"It has to be there somewhere or else the bomb won't go off," replied Nadeshiko.
After carefully examining the contraption again Sakura spoke up softly, "I don't think this is a bomb. Look, the waste is being transferred into those tubes filled some sort of liquid. Li's not trying to fuel a bomb; he's manufacturing some sort of hazardous chemical. Look, the liquid is being heated and preserved at the other end of the machine. The 30 means that it's being heated at 30 degrees Celsius."
"That's a lot of bottles to be carrying out. We don't have much more time; we have to hurry before Li suspects anything," said Nadeshiko with panic.
"The containers we brought might not fit all of the waste. It will only hold a little more than 2 gallons; we're going to have to arrange all the bottles carefully if we want to take it all out," said Koji.
"Let's hurry, we don't know how well otou-san and onii-chan are doing in the front," said Sakura.
The three quickly filled the first container with the first gallon of the toxic waste and moved it towards the hatch and into the stealth plane but as luck would have it the plane rocked a bit causing Koji to drop the container.
Jing Long's sharp ears caught on quickly to the dropping of the container and quickly sent his men to check on the cargo. Alarmed, Touya and Fujitaka started to shoot at the men. The men shot back but both of them managed to dodge all the bullets and had successfully knocked out all the men, while Jing Long ran towards the pilothouse.
"Hurry, let's get out of here," said Touya.
Fujitaka and Touya ran back to the cargo room to find Nadeshiko and Sakura working hurriedly to fill the container with the bottles of the liquid mixed with the waste.
"What's with all the bottles," asked Touya.
"No time to explain. Hurry help Koji get the first container into the stealth plane," said Nadeshiko.
Touya and Fujitaka went down the hatch to receive the pass.
Meanwhile at the front of the plane, Jing Long was raging mad.
"Syaoran, go to the cargo room and stop them! Don't let them take any of the chemicals! Wear a mask too! I'll have to initiate plan B and it won't work if they figure out who you are," yelled Jing Long.
"Why should I do your dirty work! You can't push me around!" retaliated Syaoran.
"You know what'll happen if you don't! The consequences are dire, are you willing to take that risk?" said Jing Long maliciously.
Syaoran was cornered with no other options. Angrily, he put on the mask and ran to the cargo room. There he found three masked figures tampering with the waste. He heard a deep voice belonging to Koji say, "Let's go now, even if we can't get all of it, we've still got most of it."
Nadeshiko quickly closed the half filled container and went through the hatch. Koji quickly passed the container and started to climb down the hatch as well.
"Come on, it's too dangerous! We have to go now!" Koji screamed at Sakura.
"No, I will finish this. You go down first. I'll be there momentarily with the rest of the tubes," replied Sakura seriously. With that, Sakura pushed Koji down the hatch and closed it, blocking it with a huge crate. 'I'm sorry but I can't put anyone else in danger.' Sakura thought.
"What makes you think that you will get away," Syaoran asked calmly.
Sakura turned around to face the mysterious stranger. "What you are doing is wrong and I will stop you!" said Sakura.
"I can't let you do that. There's a lot more at stake than you think," replied Syaoran.
'Who is this guy/girl' thought Sakura and Syaoran.
"If you leave now, you won't get hurt," said Syaoran.
"I won't leave without those bottles," replied Sakura fiercely
"Then there's no turning back now, prepare to fight," said Syaoran getting into his stance.
Sakura too got into position. Both of them walked in a circle, examining their opponent. Syaoran was the first to attack by kicking a crate towards Sakura. Sakura broke the crate in midair with a jump kick.
"Not bad for a girl," Syaoran commented with a tiny smirk playing on his face.
"Don't underestimate me," replied Sakura.
Sakura ran towards the bottles but was stop by Syaoran's tornado kick. Sakura quickly dodged the kick by bending backwards and trying to kick Syaoran at the same time. However Syaoran caught her foot and threw her backwards. But Sakura had quick reflexes and landed safely on the ground. Syaoran continued to charge at her, throwing a series of kicks and punches. Sakura avoided all of them by cart-wheeling backwards once and doing two back-flips.
'He's/She's better than I thought' thought Sakura and Syaoran.
Sakura saw a few pipes on the floor and quickly picked one up and swung at Syaoran. Syaoran ducked and rolled on the ground and quickly picked up a pipe for himself. However he was caught off guard. Sakura swung her pipe at Syaoran's legs and tripped him. Sakura quickly ran back to grab a few bottles but while she was doing so, Syaoran recovered quickly and swung his pipe at Sakura. Sakura was hit on the side and fell on her shoulder.
As Sakura picked herself up Touya had broken open the hatch and quickly ran towards Sakura and dragged her down the hatch.
Before Sakura left, Syaoran said, "You were a worthy opponent. I underestimated your abilities. I look forward to facing you again."
"You were good too and I'm sure that we'll meet in battle again. It's inevitable," replied Sakura before she left.
Sakura's Side
"What were you thinking!" yelled Touya. "You could have been killed!"
"Oh, I thought I almost lost you! Please don't ever do that again," said Nadeshiko.
"You had us really worried Sakura," added Fujitaka.
"I was sent here to help you, please don't go off like that again Sakura," Koji pleaded.
Sakura felt really bad for making everyone worried but she felt that she had done what she had to do. She had completed the mission to the best of her ability even though it was not a total success.
"But I took a worthwhile risk. We've got three extra bottles of liquid," said Sakura meekly.
"But we still failed Sakura. We didn't get all of it," said Koji.
"But we only left them with five small bottles. They won't be able to do much for awhile," replied Sakura.
"But you still shouldn't have put yourself in danger!" Touya yelled.
"Touya's right Sakura, we would have found another way," said Yukito.
Defeated, Sakura said, "I'm sorry for worrying you all. It's just that I've never failed in a mission before. You don't know what it means. I'm always judged by a different standard because I wasn't brought into this world like all the other people. The other agents are extremely critical of me. I'm supposed to be perfect. I have no room for error. This is a disgrace."
"Don't cry. I know that we're being hard on you but it's just because we love you so much. We don't want anything to happen to you," said Nadeshiko.
"I know," said Sakura softly.
Everyone hugged and made up. Yukito directed the plane back to the base and everyone went home and rested.
Syaoran's Side
"You are worthless! How could you let them get away with so much of the chemical! I can't believe we're related! No family of mine would fail so miserably!" Jing Long raged. "You just can't get any good help these days! All those stupid men I hired were gunned down in less than a minute. How pathetic!"
"If you're just going to complain, why didn't you bother to try and help out," Syaoran said under his breath.
"What did you just say, you little brat!" Jing Long yelled.
"Nothing, sir," replied Syaoran coldly.
"Thanks to the loss tonight which is entirely your fault, our schedule for Project X will be delayed. We'll just have to speed the process up and pick up the pace. Pilot! I want you to land this plane in Paris, we have a change in plans," ordered Jing Long.
"Yes sir, we'll be landing in about 15 minutes, sir," replied the pilot.
"As for you, you'll be attending Seiju High as of tomorrow. I can't show myself anymore after this little fiasco for awhile. You'll enact all of my orders while I'm in hiding. Got that! This is your chance to redeem yourself. I will not tolerate another failure. You know the consequences if you fail. You wouldn't want your mother to know what happened, now would you?" smiled Jing Long maliciously.
"I'll do my best sir," replied Syaoran emotionlessly while inside he was fuming with anger.
"I will also confiscate your sword as punishment. Let that be a reminder to you that I hate failure," said Jing Long menacingly.
"You can't do that!" yelled Syaoran. "You know what it means to me. It was given to me by…"
"Exactly why I'm taking it away from you; it will give you more incentive to succeed and prove your loyalty," replied Jing Long as he walked away.
Next Morning
"Wake up kaijuu! You're going to be late for school!" Touya screamed into Sakura's ears.
"Mou…five more minutes…" replied a half-asleep Sakura.
"There isn't another five more minutes! Now get up!" Touya pulled the covers off and dragged Sakura's pillow away.
That finally caused Sakura to wake up, "I'm up! Oh no! I'm going to be late!"
Touya sweat dropped and went back downstairs to finish his breakfast. Within five minutes, Sakura rushed down the stairs in her school uniform and sat down at the breakfast table.
"Ohayo!" greeted a cheerful Sakura.
"Ohayo Sakura-chan," said Koji.
"Eh! What are you doing here so early Koji-kun?" asked Sakura while hurriedly eating her breakfast.
"I invited him over for breakfast," said Fujitaka.
"Koji-san will be staying with us from now on Sakura-chan. We're on the same team and working on the same mission so it's only logical. Anyways, it makes communication a lot easier and people won't be as suspicious since you've already claimed to be cousins," said Nadeshiko.
"That's great! Oh no! We have to hurry or else we're going to be late for school! And we were supposed to meet everyone before school starts!" said a frantic Sakura.
"Meh, don't worry, it's only 6:40 right now. School doesn't start until 8:15. You still have plenty of time, kaijuu," said Touya.
"I'm not a kaijuu, you baka!" replied Sakura. "But I thought you woke me up at 7:30. That's what my alarm clock said."
"Hehe, I set your clock one hour back," smirked Touya.
"What! So you mean I could have slept another hour! You're so mean onii-chan," said Sakura.
"You know, this is actually a good thing Sakura-chan. We can go to school early and do some investigation," Koji interrupted.
"That's right, we still don't really know what Li's up to," replied Sakura worriedly. "We still have to report what happened last night to headquarters."
"Don't worry about it Sakura, your mother and I will take care of that," said Fujitaka soothingly.
"What happened last night was not your fault. We didn't know that Li was producing another chemical with the waste. That caused our calculations to go wrong. There was a little over three gallons of chemical there and we could have only carried out 2 ¼ gallons," said Touya.
"I…it's just that…what happened last night should have happened," said Sakura softly. "I just can't forgive myself. I was supposed to do better, I was supposed to succeed. If I fail my missions, then the government won't need me anymore. I was designed to handle all situations perfectly."
"No! Everyone has their limits Sakura. You're no different. Though others may tell you that you are different and expect more from you, you can only do so much. You're not a machine like some people believe. You're still a human being. You're allowed to make mistakes. So please stop punishing yourself," said Nadeshiko.
"Your mother is right Sakura, you accomplished more than any other agent. You handled last night's situation better than anybody else from the government could," added Fujitaka. "Now go to school, do some investigating with Koji-san."
"Arigatou everyone," said Sakura gratefully before leaving with Koji.
While walking to school, Sakura and Koji talked about the mission.
"From the files you recovered, we now know that Jing Long has some ties to the school. He's connected with a few people there, we just don't know who yet. We need to observe the teachers and all the faculty members," said Koji seriously.
"I know. Where should we search first?" replied Sakura when they reached the school.
"It's still pretty quiet right now and half the staff probably hasn't arrived yet," commented Koji.
"I think we should get into the administration building and tap into their computer system. We can transfer information to your mother's laptop. Then she can do more extensive searches. We won't be able to do that here," said Sakura.
The two silently entered the school and headed towards the administration building. However as they neared the room, they were greeted by Principal Beaumont, "Bonjour! Vous êtes très tôt!" (translation: Good morning! You are very early!).
"Oui," responded Koji and Sakura.
"Vous désirez quelque chose?" asked Beaumont. (translation: Did you need something?)
"Non," replied Sakura.
Principal Beaumont smiled at the two and walked off towards her office.
"That was close," said Sakura.
"We were unlucky. Anyways, we'll have to investigate the administration building at a different time. There are already a lot of people inside working," replied a disappointed Koji.
"They do begin work around here pretty early. The best time to come back would probably be at night," added Sakura.
"Well we still have another hour before school starts and we can't do any investigating. We still don't have a clear idea of what Li is up to. He's holding his ball in 4 days and we have no leads. I want to avoid having to crash that party, it will be a very dangerous task," Koji reflected.
"Whether or not we get any other information, we will still have to go as a precautionary measure. Who knows what else he might have up his sleeve. He might have changed his plans after he discovered us raiding his plane," said Sakura.
"Where do you want to go now?" asked Koji.
"Let's go to the front and wait for everyone else to arrive," said Sakura cheerily. "And let's stop talking about Li for awhile. This is my first time I get to go to school and make new friends. Let's not spoil it alright?"
"Alright," replied Koji.
"Ano…Koji…what's your favorite color?" Sakura asked.
"Uh…blue. Why do you ask Sakura?"
"It's just that I don't really know you. We weren't on the best of terms until just yesterday. All I know is that your name is Koji Takawa, you work for the same people that I do and your favorite color is blue. There's bound to be more to you than just that," Sakura said with a smile.
"Well, what do you want to know?" said Koji.
"Why did you become an agent? What's your family like? What's your favorite food? Stuff like that," said Sakura brightly.
"My favorite food is noodles. I'll eat them in any form, fried or in soup. My family life was okay. Only my mother and my sister are still alive right now. They currently live in Hong Kong. My father was my idol. He was a great man. He was always kind to others and took care of me and my family well. We were always happy. But he died when I was 12. He was killed while on a mission. He was an agent too; a really great one. He's the main reason why I became an agent. He always told me that he took the job to make the world a safer place for his children and for others. I hope to do the same as well for the children in our world," replied Koji.
"I'm sure your father would have been proud of you," smiled Sakura.
"Ohayo Sakura-chan!" said a bright Tomoyo.
"You're here early," added Meiling as she walked up with Ken.
"Yeah, onii-chan set my alarm clock one hour back so here I am," said Sakura.
"Sakura's usually late," added Koji when he noticed the weird stares given by the others at Sakura.
"Oh, does you brother often do this," asked Eriol.
"He has a lot of tricks up his sleeve," replied Sakura.
"Eh, Sakura-chan did you hear the news? We're going to have another transfer student!" exclaimed Tomoyo.
"We sure are getting lots of transfers," reflected Meiling.
"It's such a coincidence that this one is arriving just a day after you two," added Ken.
"I guess," said Sakura.
The morning bell chimed and the gang headed off to class.
« Bonjour! Aujourd'hui nous avons un nouveau élève, » said Monsieur Meunier. « Entrez , s'il vous plaît» (translations : Good morning ! Today we have a new student. Please enter.)
In stepped a tall boy of sixteen with messy chestnut brown hair and intense amber eyes.
With his entrances, three distinct gasps were heard.
The first surprised person was none other than Meiling. 'Oh my god, what is my cousin Syaoran doing here. I haven't seen him since…'
The second gasp came from Eriol. 'I can't believe my cute little cousin Syaoran is here. I thought he was still with Uncle. There must be a reason behind this.'
The last gasp came from our dear Sakura. 'Oh no, that's the boy I bumped into when I broke into Li's building. I can't believe he's Jing Long's son. I hope he doesn't remember me. Please don't remember me.'
"Please introduce yourself to the class," said Meunier.
« Bonjour. Je m'appele Li. Syaoran Li, » (translation: Hello. My name is Li. Syaoran Li.) Syaoran said to the class without emotion.
"Thank you. Now please take your seat behind Mademoiselle Sakura Kinomoto. Please raise your hand Mademoiselle Kinomoto," said Meunier.
Sakura nervously raised her hand. Syaoran hid a small smile as he saw her. As he was about to take his seat behind her, he said, "We meet again. Who would have thought that the mysterious girl I met a few days ago near the café would show up here?"
Sakura tensed up and thought to herself, 'Oh dear, he remembers me. This is not good. Hmm, his voice sounds really familiar…exactly like the one with whom I fought with on the plane. It really does sound similar and it would make sense if he was on the plane. I'm in trouble now.'
CS88: That's all for now. Sorry if this wasn't up to your standards but at least I brought Syaoran back. You can probably expect another update around Thanksgiving. Please review! Thanks!